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The next clothing store was simple enough. I got some looks but I think it was mostly 'what is a girl like that doing with a guy like him?' That sort of thing. Yukinoshita was visibly too good for me but all it took to ward off the sales people was a bit of close proximity to Yukinoshita. Who would have thought?
Yukinoshita would pull something from the shelves and stretch it sideways and vertically. Testing its durability I guess. "You know, I've never picked out clothes based on how sturdy the material is. Somehow I don't think Yuigahama thinks about the protective power of her clothing or whatever."
Clothes were clothes were clothes. I didn't put much thought into them. I know that's not a riajuu attitude but it was mine. A riajuu might think the clothes made the man, in which case I was pretty screwed. I did all right in a plain v-neck and jeans but that was the simple side of me winning out. Besides, there was always my eyes which would detract from any look I tried to put together. I was dead inside.
Yukinoshita sighed. "Well, excuse me. I can only make judgments based on the quality of the material and the stitching." She fell silent for a moment. "You know, I never knew what Yuigahama‐san liked or what she was interested in… nothing along those lines."
"Should we try something… I don't know… cute? Her cell phone stands out to me. All bedazzled but still heavy like a brick. Sturdy yet something Yuigahama would say is adorable. We also know she likes dogs. She has her pet after all."
Yukinoshita glanced at me at my genuine helpfulness. "I-I-I suppose."
"What's cute in here? Anything? I don't know cuteness when I see it. Except Yuigahama and you of course." And Totsuka but that was neither here nor there. Bad potentially bisexual thoughts. Stay down and repressed where you can fester softly as a mental illness.
"Can you really not tell?"
"Not really…" I trailed. "Sorta relying on you to bail me out here. I don't know. Maybe we'd fall short. Sort of like sending wine to a sommelier when you only have a vague knowledge of wine yourself. Yuigahama knows cute. Maybe if we try to show up with something cute we're doomed to fail."
"That makes sense… it stands to reason…" Yukinoshita nodded in agreement as if she understood what I had just said.
You know, my dad did that so often when he got me a birthday present. He got Playstations and Sega Saturns mixed up and that kind of thing. The Super Famicon was sold out, but whatever, the Sega Genesis and the 3DO made the same beeping noise to him. Whenever you give a present with half‐assed knowledge of the other person, the result was usually less than satisfactory.
"…your twisted sense of values comes in handy sometimes," Yukinoshita said, half‐impressed, although I didn't feel like I was being praised at all. "Yet indeed, one's chances of winning are slim when you fight against the other person's strong suit. To win, you must pierce their weak point instead…"
"Hey now. Don't make this sound like a battle against Yuigahama. We're doing this for her sake after all."
"But it is a battle. Everything is a battle."
"Even with me."
"Against your illness."
"I am my mental illness. I don't know who I'd be without it."
"I suppose that's true to a certain extent. But you have to admit that it wasn't always there or like this. What about the you underneath the mental illness? Who you really are? Who you have the potential to be?"
"I don't think that's in the cards. Better to prepare myself for whatever horrors may come. It's better to be prepared."
Yukinoshita cast her eyes at the next store in line. We stopped in front of the lingerie shop diagonally facing the clothing store. Yukinoshita disappeared into a kitchen utensil store right next door, leaving me stranded on my own. I couldn't be the only one who felt that, more than the fact it was a lingerie shop that emphasised cuteness and outright sexiness, the mere presence of an underwear store surrounded by the likes of retail stores made it feel way more perverted than it was supposed to. Also, they sold school swimsuits this time around June, which felt even more perverted, in my opinion.
But I digress.
Besides basic cookware like frying pans and pots, there were oven gloves that looked like the Muppets and tableware sets that resembled Matryoshka dolls lined up in the kitchen utensil store.
"I see…" I said. "That really is Yuigahama's weak point."
Yuigahama was a drop dead awful cook. But she liked it and it was something we had done as a trio. I'd tried her cookies the once or twice. They were in a word bad. But it seemed to be something Yuigahama would enjoy getting from the two of us. Well, mostly Yukinoshita. I was just a passerby. I was a leaf on the breeze. I'd hurt her before and I'd do so again. Accidentally on purpose. That was just the loner in me.
That said, this was quite a fun room to be in. Like whoa, what was with this saucepan lid? I was left spellbound over how it would put in the seasoning for you when you took away the handle part. Oh man, I was gawking like an idiot.
"Hikigaya-kun, this way." I heard my name being called.
When I came over, I was greeted with the sight of Yukinoshita Yukino in an apron.
The material was thin, contrary to its dark hue, and when Yukinoshita wore it, it gave off a cool and refined air. A cat's paw print was stitched onto the chest. The cord around Yukinoshita's waist was tied into a ribbon, emphasising her thin waistline.
As her head and hips were turned, Yukinoshita tested how easy it was to move by abruptly performing a twirl in front of me, much like a waltz. That caused the cord to come undone and swish like a tail. "How does it look?"
"You're asking me, huh… looks pretty damn good on you, I have to say."
There wasn't much else to say. The neat and trim sort of item in Yukinoshita's hand suited her way too much, perhaps because her hair was black too. I'd just complimented her straight, but Yukinoshita fiddled with her collar and cord and sleeves, focusing on her outfit without looking at me at all. At that moment, the only ones privy to Yukinoshita's expression were the mirror and Yukinoshita herself.
"…why, thank you. However, I'm not asking about me. I meant how does it look on Yuigahama‐san?"
"That wouldn't suit Yuigahama. Some fluffy, colourful, dumb‐looking thing would make her happier."
"Harsh, but true. I'm at a loss to react…" Yukinoshita said as she took off the apron she had been wearing up till now and began folding it carefully. "In that case, I suppose we should choose something around here."
She clutched the folded apron and her eyes made out their next target. She checked the pockets and the material of a pink little number. Probably making sure it was fireproof. Yuigahama would be in danger every time she used such a thing.
In the end Yukinoshita kept the petite ornamental apron that was light pink all over. "I'll go with this," she declared.
There was one small pocket on both sides, plus a big square-shaped pocket in the middle. It seemed to suit Yuigahama who was the type to shove as much candy as she could fit in her pockets. Yukinoshita delicately folded the pink apron and made her way to the counter. In one hand she held the pink apron and the black one too.
"You know, I was fine with that stuffed toy from before, but you're really sneaking in your own shopping here."
"…I'll have you know I had no plans to buy an apron."
"An impulse purchase, huh? Well, that often happens when you go out shopping."
Yukinoshita opened her mouth to say something in retort, but stopped halfway. She glanced at me sideways before whipping her gaze away and heading for the counter alone, not once looking behind her.
So it wasn't an impulse purchase? What an inscrutable woman. But if there was one thing I did know about her, it was that she had planned to buy that weird panda toy from the start.
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I bought goods at the pet shop and settled the bill. Yukinoshita was no longer by my side. Which was fine by me by all accounts. It wasn't like she abandoned me and headed back to her house or something. She wasn't that heartless. She'd just readily accepted my suggestion to do something else while I went shopping. Okay, so maybe she was heartless.
I considered calling Yukinoshita but she could only go so far in a place like this. Leaving the pet goods corner behind me, I headed for the cages.
And what do you know? Yukinoshita was right there.
She sat hugging her knees right near the entrance, a gentle smile on her face as she drew out a kitten and petted it, occasionally ruffling its fur. She didn't seem to be meowing this time around, probably because there were people around.
Since she was so utterly intent on petting the cat, it was hard to call out to her. Just as I was deliberating on what to do, the cat Yukinoshita was petting turned its attention my way, its twitching ears being its only discernible movement. That was enough to make Yukinoshita turn around.
"Oh my,. That was quick."
"Did you want to play with the kitten more? I can wait." That lecture on the prime numbers beckoned to me in a whisper.
"No, it's fine. So what did you buy? I can more or less imagine it, though."
"Well, it's just what you're thinking."
"I see," Yukinoshita answered indifferently, although her expression looked somewhat satisfied. She seemed happy over being right. "Still, I was surprised. To think you'd buy a present for Yuigahama‐san."
"…not really," I answered a little stiffly to her remark. "It makes sense since we're having a 'contest'. I only decided to team up with you this time."
"Never say never, I suppose…" Yukinoshita's eyes widened with surprise. "Are you ill?"
"Yes. Always."
"I suppose that's true enough as well."
"I've got stuff to finish off, so shall we go home?" I asked.
"I suppose so."
I glanced at the clock on my phone. It was around two o'clock. Time had really flown by surprisingly quickly. And here I had been planning to get the shopping over with and scuttle back to my hole straight away. Azathoth and the prime numbers called out to me across the vastness of space and time.
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-WG
