Day 5 - Style/Fashion: Suits and Dresses
Takeru walked down the streets of Odaiba towards his father's apartment. Yamato invited him to spend the day over there and do brother stuff together, since they barely hung out together anymore. He noticed he was attracting some attention from people on the street and couldn't help but wonder if there was something with his clothes. He quickly shook his head and pushed these thoughts away.

He politely knocked on the door before letting himself in, though he already permission to come in without having to wait for someone to open the door for him. Patamon immediately flew off towards the kitchen when he smelled food.
"Yamato?" Takeru walked into the kitchen after he had put on his usual blue flip flops that were still by the door.
"Hey." Yamato turned around and greeted his brother with a grin. "I'm preparing some snacks for us."
"Do you need any help with it?"
"No, I'm almost done. But thank you." He examined his younger brother up and down carefully.
"What?"
"Nothing." He turned back to his task. "I was just looking at your outfit."
"People on the street were too." Takeru looked down at his own body. "Is there something wrong with it?"
"No, but it's quite… bold for you. I didn't know you were into dark tones like this dark blue on your T-shirt."
"Usually I'm not. But I thought I'd try something new, you know? Expand my horizons a little and allow myself to try different clothes and accessories."
"That certainly explains why you're wearing a black hat."
"Oh." He looked up and immediately took it off. "I forgot about it for a moment. Do you think it's too much?"
"No, I think it's great to change your style sometimes. But you're not doing it to impress someone, are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't have any feelings for someone and are trying to impress them, do you?"
"I don't, I swear." Takeru replied quickly and nervously. "I'm not doing this for anyone, believe me."
"Good."
"However, I'm inspiring on you." He admitted. "So I was thinking you could give me some advice."
"I'm inspiring you?!" Yamato was completely caught by surprise and raised his eyebrows. He stopped what he was doing and turned to face his brother, leaning against the sink. "But I don't dress well enough to be an inspiration."
"Please, you're one of the top five best dressed guys from Odaiba High School."
"What? Who came up with this list?"
"I don't know, but it has certainly run around the entire school. I'm surprised you didn't know about it until now."
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. It's just a stupid list. So… what kind of advice do you want?"
"I don't know." Takeru shrugged. "Where did you get your inspiration from?"
"Anywhere, honestly. I make up my own fashion sense, just like you do."
"Are you saying you never bought anything to please Sora before?"
"That's right." Yamato looked at him and then rolled his eyes, annoyed. He hated how well Takeru could read him sometimes. "Okay, fine. I might have once or twice."
"I knew it."
"Anyway, what kind of advice you want?"
"I don't know… maybe we could go shopping together?"
"Okay, but I think you should find your own style. I mean, clothes are very personal. Not everything that looks good on me would look good on you and that's perfectly normal."
"I know, that's why I'm not inspiring on you completely. I want to have my own style too."
"Great. So we can do it later today, if that's okay for you."
"Of course."

.

"There's this store I usually go." Yamato said when they walked in the mall. "Sora said we should check it out when we were window-shopping a few months ago and I really liked their clothes. I think you might do too."
"Great, where is it?"
"We're right here, actually." The older blonde looked up and Takeru followed him suit. "Come on, let's go in."
"Let's go."

Takeru quickly went to the T-shirt area, as that's where he usually starts his shopping sessions. He looked over the clothes hanger looking for his brother, but he was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged and returned his attention to what he was doing. He would find Yamato later. He got a few more pieces of clothing and then headed to the fitting rooms.

When he was about to go in to try on what he had chosen in his first batch, he found Yamato walking out of one of the many cabins with a small pile in his hands as well.
"There you are. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist buying new clothes for yourself."
"What can I say? I'm dating a future fashion designer, I have to look good."
"Yet you said you didn't buy anything to please her, only a couple of times."
"That doesn't mean I have to dress badly whenever I go out with her."
"That's a really good point." Takeru looked down at the pile of clothes in his hands. "What do you have over there?"
"Oh, just a few shirts I tried on, but I'm not going to keep all of them." Yamato separated the ones he was going to buy and handed the other ones to his brother. "Try them on. If you're that willing to expand your horizons when it comes to fashion, you might want to consider wearing shirts from time to time. Women love them."
"Hmmm." He stared at them suspiciously before picking them up. "I guess it won't hurt to try."
"You won't regret it, I guarantee."
"We'll see."
"Do you need me to go pick some other items for you?"
"No, I think these will do for now. But I'd love it if you could stick around to give your opinions on my outfits."
"Sure."
"I'll be right back."

After trying out five different combinations, Takeru ended up taking a black shirt, a light gray one, a pair of jeans and two trousers, a red one and a dark blue one. And of course he couldn't leave the store without buying at least two hats.

.

"I feel bad for Jou not joining us." Takeru said in a sad tone after watching his friend walking away over his shoulder.
"I know what you mean, but try not to be." Sora assured him. "It was his decision. Besides, he had other things to do before we invited him, so…"
"That's a very good point."
"So what exactly do you want to buy Kimi and how can I help you?"
"Come on." He grabbed her wrist and led her to the fancy area of the store. "Let me show you first."
"Okay."

"Takeru, this is the area for fancy clothes. You know that, right?"
"I do." He nodded. "I want to buy her a prom dress."
"Wait, what? They are a little too expensive because they are for formal occasions."
"Don't worry about it, I'm not going to pay for it entirely. Her parents are splitting it with me and will pay me back at her prom party."
"Alright then. It makes me more relieved." Sora looked at him. "So have you thought about any style or color?"
"As a matter of a fact, I do." He walked to a beautiful purple dress and picked it up. "Purple is one of her favorite colors, so I was thinking maybe this one?"
"It's actually very pretty! I like it a lot. Did you check the other ones, though?"
"A few, but after seeing this one they don't matter to me anymore. When I put my eyes on this dress I pictured her on it and that was it."
"There's nothing much you can do then."
"Exactly."
"Are you ready now?"
"Actually, I kind of need your professional opinion on something."
"Alright, sure. What do you need help with?"
"I saw this uh… strange combination the other day and have seen a few young men wear it and I started thinking maybe it's not that strange, you know?"
"Okay… what kind of combination?"
"Have you ever seen guys wearing suits and trousers with white sneakers?"
"Sneakers?" Sora raised her eyebrows with confusion. "No, I don't think so. But I'm definitely interested in it. Would you like to try it?"
"You think that would be okay?"
"Well, that's something only you can answer for yourself. If you'd feel good about it, I say go for it. You'd only be trying it out anyway."
Takeru walked to a hanger and grabbed a pair of black suit and trousers. Then he turned to his sister-in-law with a large grin on his lips. "Then I'll go for it."

Sora was waiting patiently in the hall between the stalls in the fitting room for Takeru to come out, so she could give her opinion on his new change of style. He walked out a few seconds later and stopped in front of her.
"So what do you think?"
"It's actually pretty good. It's an unusual combination, but turned out to be great. I can really see you wearing this."
"You really think so?"
"Absolutely. I 'll go as far and say you might even start a trend between the male Chosen Children."
"Do you believe that?"
"Just wait and see."

.

Takeru walked into the hamburger place the Chosen Children decided to meet. They took the opportunity he was in Odaiba to get together. He decided to wear a black shirt with jeans and white shoes, something also new he had seen in fashion.
"There he is!" Taichi exclaimed loudly and looked at him up and down with a surprised expression. "What's up with your new style?"
"Did you like it?"
"It's… unusual. Which isn't a bad thing."
"That doesn't really answer my question, but I'll take it as a yes."
"So, I see you made an alternative version of what you showed me the other day." Sora stood up and walked to him, lifting his arm to check it out better.
"Wait, what do you mean with that?" Yamato was puzzled with the whole situation.
"He asked my opinion about something similar when we met at the mall a while ago." She turned to her brother-in-law again. "I told you'd start a trend between the male Chosen Children."
"You're visionary." Takeru couldn't help but laugh. "I can't say I didn't like it though."
"It's quite clear, honestly." She smiled. "By the way, you look great in this outfit. It will attract a lot of attention, believe me."
"There's only one attention I want to attract. Do you think there's a chance it might happen?"
"A big one. But you know it better than me." She took another look at him. "See how you didn't need my help that much? You did it yourself."
"I still need to thank you for encouraging me to do it, though. It would take me a little more to do it myself then."
"No." Sora shook her head and smiled kindly. "It was all on you."
"Let me take a look at you." Yamato joined them and examined his brother carefully and then looked at his girlfriend. "Shirt, jeans and sneakers. You really think this is a good match?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." She looked at him through the corner of his eyes. "Why? You suddenly think they are stylish?"
"No. Maybe."
"Oh so now you're adapting your style to please you girlfriend?" Takeru teased.
"What are you talking about?"
"It's very clear."
"I think it's great that you're willing to try out new things."
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
"Would you mind giving me some tips, Takeru?"
Everyone in the room started laughing out loud.
"Hey, it's not funny."
"Of course, Yamato. I'd be happy to."
"I can do it to."
"This conversation is entertaining, but I'm starving, so can we eat now?" Taichi begged.

.

Takeru rang Kimi's bell and anxiously waited for her to open it. It was going to be the first time they were seeing each other since he came back from Odaiba and he was going to give her prom dress that night.
"Hey!" Kimi said in so fast she had to take a moment to breathe. "I'm sorry, I had to come running."
"It's okay." He grinned at her. "Is this a bad time?"
"No, no, not at all." She stepped aside. "Please, come in."
"Thanks." He seized the opportunity to kiss her hello briefly.
"You look different." She couldn't help but look at him very carefully. "Did something huge happen during Golden Week to make you come back as another person?"
"No, nothing happened. I just wanted to try on something different. What do you think?" He spun around, so she could see his outfit entirely.
"I think it looks great! You went for something new, but I can definitely see your style still there."
"So you don't think it's too much?"
"Absolutely not! I think you're at your best fashion moment, actually. Wanna know a secret?"
"Always."
"I get kind of turned on by men wearing dark tones, especially the ones I'm dating."
"I'll make sure not to forget that." Takeru said suggestively.
"What's in this box?"
"That's a gift for you." He handed it to her. "I bought you in Odaiba."
"But it's not my birthday or anything like that." Kimi said confused, but grabbed the box from his hands anyway.
"I know, but I wanted to give you something for prom."
"What? But Takeru…"
"Open it before you say something."
"Okay." She sat on a chair nearby and opened the box. Her heart immediately starting beating fast when she came across one of the most beautiful party dresses she'd ever seen. "Is this a prom dress?"
"That's right."
"But, Takeru, it must have been expensive!"
"Don't worry about it. Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I loved it. It's even in my favorite color, but I feel bad you spent money with me and you're not working."
"It's alright, I wanted to. I pictured you on it the moment I saw it. I just had to buy it."
"I… I… wow. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. You may have to try it on to see if it fits, but I think it will."
"So I guess ditching my own prom isn't a possibility anymore."
"It never was, to begin with."
"Okay, okay." Kimi sighed and closed the box again. "I'll wear the dress for my prom."
"Great."
"As long as you dress this way for it."
"It seems I don't really have a choice, so I'm in."
"Then we have a deal."
"It's a deal. Also, how about we take a walk? The weather is really nice tonight."
"I'll go get my purse, I'll be right back."