Hollyshadow the medicine cat: Thank you, and I most certainly will.

Also, note of warning, this chapter may or may not be terrible.

A lighthearted chapter this time! (It's also short.) Claire takes Tom clothes shopping. Needless to say, Tom is very sad.

Chapter Three

A Day in Hell

"I'm back, Claire," a voice said from outside the hotel room door.

"I'm aware."

The door opened and Tom stepped inside. "As you no doubt know, the Professor is still deciding whether or not to help me."

"Do you think he'll say yes?"

"I...don't know," Tom admitted.

"It's alright," Claire reassured him. "You tried your best. Though I must say, your style is certainly...direct."

"I like tackling problems directly," Tom said. "I told him I would return tomorrow. That leaves me with a whole afternoon of nothing to do."

Claire smiled. But it wasn't a typical Claire smile. Not a sweet, kind smile. This smile seemed more...sadistic.

"Well," she said, "I guess I'll just have to get you some new clothes."

"No need," Tom hastily replied. "I-these clothes do fine."

"Nonsense. You look so old-fashioned. I'll get you something more suitable. Now, come along, we've got no time."

"No time? We have a whole afternoon!"

"Hush, you. This sort of thing takes a great deal of time and patience. I think we'll get back by six, though."

Tom, knowing there was no way he could possibly win this argument, admitted defeat and let Claire drag him out of the room.

"I just have one request."

"Yes?"

"Can we please only buy one of each article of clothing? I tend to stick to one outfit."

"...You just want to spend less time there."

"That's also true."

Claire laughed. "Deal."

Outside, they took a bus and arrived at the same destination.

Claire called it the mall.

Tom called it Hell.

"You look pretty good in that!" Claire said.

Tom grumbled, "Fantastic. Can we leave now?"

"Nope! That's just one shirt. You still need pants, an accessory, and that shirt is good, but not great. There's probably something better."

"Okay, okay." Tom sighed. "So how long will this all take?"

"Let's leave. There's nothing else here."

"We're going back to the hotel?" Tom asked hopefully.

"No, silly! Did you think this would be the only place we'd go to? There's more than one clothing store in the world!"

Tom swore.

After spending an hour looking for the right shirt (and failing to find one), Claire decided to first look for a suitable pair of pants instead.

"No, those make you look fat."

"Claire, I honestly don't-"

"Of course you don't." Claire sighed. "No fashion sense. All men are the same."

Tom sighed. "No common sense. All women are the same."

"Hey!"

"Well, I'm just saying, if you had any, we would be back at the hotel by now."

"Be quiet, will you? I'm trying my best to-oh, this looks pretty good!"

She held up a pair of jeans.

Tom was incredulous. "So we've spent this much time...and in the end we decide on a pair of jeans...?"

"Oh, come on. Jeans are fine!"

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"Quit complaining. We've got to find you a shirt! And a jacket! And a hat!"

"Why a hat...?"

"Because you'd look great with a hat on!"

"Just because the Professor wears one doesn't-"

Claire glared at him.

"...yes ma'am."

"I wasn't going to get you a top hat, you know. I was thinking maybe a cap."

"Sounds delightful ma'am."

"Now, let's go find you a shirt."

"Right away ma'am."

"Could you stop addressing me as 'ma'am'?"

Tom grinned. "No ma'am."

Claire glared at her infuriating companion, silently wishing for him to jump off of a cliff.

It was some time before the pair found a decent shirt for Tom. Well, one that Claire considered decent, anyway.

"No, this one is too small for you."

"No, this one doesn't go well with your jeans."

"No, this one doesn't really suit you."

"No, I don't like this one."

"No, too colorful."

"No, these buttons are ugly."

Tom, bleary-eyed, bored, and exhausted, put each shirt back and followed Claire to wherever she was going.

Finally, after what felt like hours of searching (and it actually was hours of searching)...

"Amazing! What do you think?"

"Claire...it's a typical white shirt. There's nothing really special about it."

"Perhaps, but you do look quite nice in simple attire."

"...Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Maybe. Hershel's still better looking though."

"I don't doubt that, especially since you're the one saying it."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you have the world's most obvious crush on him, and he has the world's most obvious crush on you. I don't care if you are aspiring young adults, crushes are crushes."

Claire pouted. "Well, I bet you've liked someone before too."

Tom laughed. "Actually no. I spend most of my time performing Time Guardian duties. Pursuing romantic interests only gets in the way. When I die, the role of Time Guardian is passed on to someone else randomly if I don't have a child, so it's not like I need one anyway."

"Hmph. One day, you'll find someone you really love. And you'll marry her. I just know it."

"Do you really?"

Claire hesitated.

"Well, of course, you'd have to spend time with her, and buy her stuff, but yes. I'm sure you'll find that special someone."

"Whatever you say."

"So what's the last thing we need?" Tom asked as he and Claire walked toward yet another store (their fifth).

"Two things, actually. One, your jacket. Two, your cap."

"Oh. Right."

"By the way..." Claire turned to face him. "What's your favorite color?"

"Blue. I like blue."

"Okay. I'll see if they have any blue jackets or caps."

As it turned out, there weren't very many.

"There HAS to be one somewhere!" Claire was frustrated. Of all the colors, why was blue the hardest to find?

"Red, green, yellow, orange, gray, black..." Tom muttered. "I already hate this place."

Luckily, they eventually found a neon blue jacket and cap that fit Tom perfectly.

"You look really good."

"Thanks," Tom replied. "I have to admit, this does look better than my old attire."

"I told you I was good." Claire smiled.

"You are by far my superior in this field."

"Thank you. Of course I am."

Meanwhile, Professor Layton had to make a decision.

It's such a simple choice...yes or no?

Is it true, what he said?

That my friends, that the people I helped still care about me?

The Professor pondered.

Well, there's only one way to find out, I suppose.

To anyone who's curious, I got the idea for Tom's new look from Red, the Pokemon trainer. They look pretty similar, except Tom's garb is blue.

Please review, follow, or favorite this story! As always, they are much appreciated.