It's Saturday and I'm at the mall with Ayumi. She's trying a swimsuit on in a changing room. The curtain opens and she looks at me with a broad smile.
"I think I found the one!" she says happily. "What do you think?"
It definitely looks good on her. Light pink is her best color. Not many girls can pull off small flower patterns but she really looks cute with it. I give her the thumb up.
"Great!" she says. "Now we'll find something for you!"
At that point, I notice a couple in their forties. The woman is searching among the racks and the man is staring at Ayumi with a strange light in his eyes. He looks like a dog who wants to eat a steak.
"What are you staring at?!" I ask.
"Nothing!" he says.
"She's barely 13, you perv!"
Ayumi turns red and rushes back into the cabin. The pervert's wife grabs his arm and drags him outside, mumbling something about a "little tease wearing close to nothing." I can't believe my ears. She was trying a swimsuit on, what was she supposed to do? Should girls hide all the time from the moment they start growing curves?
Ayumi pays for her swimsuit and I start looking for mine. Unlike her, I don't want to look cute. I want something bold, edgy, maybe slightly intimidating. I try some and I eventually find a black, asymmetrical one. Ayumi stills looks a bit sad after the way that perv looked at her. She gives me the thumb up in turn.
"It's sophisticated," she says. "And classy. Just like you."
"Thank you. But I'm not sure. My butt looks huge with this one."
"Your butt is NOT huge. But maybe you want to try something else?"
I want the black one. I pay and then Ayumi suggest hanging out with the boys in the park. Why not? So we spend the afternoon together. Mitsuhiko is into computer science now and Genta wants to become a professional wrestler but we still solve cases together. Mostly lost cats and dogs. We talk, we have fun and I leave when Genta suggests having ice-cream together. I have stuff to do.
Now I feel sad and I don't know why…
To be continued…