She who found bonds of friendship

X

"Is it normally so busy?" The first words out of Asia's mouth were already enough to have Issei and Romani look at one another in a knowing fashion. Coupled with the sheer awe of amazement the girl held, it further solidified the belief that she had very little experience in regards to public outings.

Something unfortunate but on the cusp of being remedied.

Romani cleared his throat gently, Asia turned her head in his direction while not quite taking her eyes off the crowds of people moving around, each of them absorbed in their own little world and wholly unaware of the effect that they were having on the mind of the little Italian nun.

"This is actually quieter than usual." He explained to her in a slightly amused tone of voice, it wasn't all that funny but her reactions were enough to seep through whatever guilt he felt over laughing at her ignorance. It really wasn't funny but he just couldn't help it. The fact he was laughing at a nun of all things just made the guilt feel ten times worse than it should have.

Then when Asia whirled around on him and stared at the man as though he'd just told her he'd been paid a visit from God himself, he bit his lips to avoid bursting into laughter. What she was doing was downright criminal. The parting of her lips, the widening of her eyes and the innocent surprise in her expression were pushing him to his limits.

He nodded his head up and down, placing his hands in his pockets and electing to explain it to try and lessen his guilt. "It's the evening and nearing the end of the week. So it'll only be a few people out and about."

Asia's jaw dropped further "A-a few?" she voiced out in clear disbelief before spinning back around and staring at the traffic of humans at least two hundred strong, perhaps more. "T-this is a few, Roman? Surely not!"

If she was looking towards Issei for support, she received none of it. Rather, the boy jerked his head in the direction of the nurse and gave a small noise of affirmation. "Oh, yeah. It's usually waaay more jam packed than this." he chuckled "You should see it on the weekends. There's normally like…three times as many people out here. Then again, this is where most of the big shops are located so it sort of thins out as you go on."

"Not to mention that there are peak times when it's busiest." Romani added on, raising a single finger and using a more earnest tone of voice. Asia turned her attention to him with rapt attention. "Normally around lunchtime, perhaps a couple of hours before and after. Most people will stop by the cafes and restaurants for food during their shopping. Not to mention how busy it can get on the holidays."

Asia tilted her head "You mean Christmas and Halloween?"

Romani opened his mouth before he closed it, both he and Issei shared a glance before they nodded their heads at one another. "Well…for the most part, yes." The nurse affirmed as he turned back to Asia "There's also the summer holidays when people get time off work and all the kids don't have to go to school and all that."

Another blink from the nun "...You can have holidays during the seasons?" she voiced out in slight puzzlement "It is a pagan festival that is celebrated in Japan?"

"Pretty much everywhere." Romani corrected with a shrug, then his expression turned thoughtful "Not so much pagan festival as it is just giving all the people working a break. There's like a couple of breaks dotted around the year but the big ones are in summer and winter. Summer because people like to go on vacations abroad or to some other place for a week or so, winter because it's Christmas."

Asia made a small noise of understanding "Then it is like resting on the seventh day?"

Issei scratched his chin "...I guess?" he ventured slightly "Probably?" Another thoughtful pause followed. "I won't lie, I didn't really give it that much thought beyond 'I don't have to go to school' sort of thing."

"Same but replace school with work."

The trio fell into a silence before Issei looked towards Asia. "So…Any idea where you wanted to check out first?" He asked as he clapped his hands together. "I mean, I don't think there's a rush so we should have enough time to check out most of the good sights before Romani has to get home for his curfew."

Romani nodded his head up and down before the words registered with him, his expression thinned out and he aimed a flat look towards Issei. The boy noticed and flashed him an innocent smile as if to ask what he had said wrong. Romani knew Issei understood what he said.

And he couldn't even argue against it when he had actually been told to be home at a certain time.

Asia bit her lip, puffing out her cheeks slightly as she hummed to herself. Soon reaching up and tapping the tips of her fingers together. "I've never been offered something like that before…um…" she glanced at Issei "What do people normally go shopping for?"

Issei opened and closed his mouth "It normally depends on what they actually need." he replied with a shrug of his shoulders, raising up his right hand and raising a finger each time he made a point. "Food, clothes, toys, games…Ummm…"

"General utilities." Romani added on for the benefit of Issei, the boy raised another finger and gestured to the nurse.

Asia blinked "Wow…I didn't know there was so much that people needed." she stated after a few moments before she made a small face "Well, I understood that there was a lot in the world but I didn't know that there was so much. The monastery where I used to be was always supplied with the things I needed to live." she frowned "I don't think I ever took it for granted but I didn't think that there was so much…"

"Honestly, that just describes kids in general." Romani bluntly commented, looking around with a carefree expression, earning looks from both Issei and Asia. The nurse paused and raised an eyebrow at the pair of them. "What?" He inquired, shrugging his shoulders at them, pulling his right hand out of his pocket and pointing to Issei "You mean you've personally thought about all the stuff that goes into living by yourself?"

Issei flushed "W-well…I…" he looked away "Not really."

Romani offered Asia a faint smile "See? Nothing to feel strange about." he pointed at himself "I didn't really understand a lot of that sort of thing either until I was looking for a place of my own." his features started to drop "Then you learn about such a thing as taxes. There's so many of those…Also you don't realise how expensive food is either. Or clothes. Or toiletries. Or entertainment. Or hobbies." he let out a long and weary sigh, his body slumping forwards and his head drooping down. "...It's way too simple when you're a kid."

The expression Issei was giving him was best described under the words of 'What in the hell are you doing?' at the way the nurse had somehow taken the rather dour mood that Asia had brought about with her self-depreciation and somehow made it infinitely worse.

Loudly clearing his throat, Issei brought the attention of the young girl away from the depressed face of the nearly middle aged man. The teenager was absolutely certain that if this had been a manga, Romani would have had storm clouds above his head. He needed to do something to turn the mood much lighter.

"Want to have a look at the shops?" He blurted out with a confident smile, then his brain froze as he realised a second later what he had actually said. For a split second, he was somewhat hoping that he had just thought those words, however the fact Romani's imaginary stormcloud vanished into nothing and the nurse aimed a baffled expression at him quickly disproved that theory.

Asia, meanwhile, was staring at Issei with some strange sense of wonder. "You mean…I can experience shopping?" The fact she actually sounded excited about doing shopping - and not the fun sort, like ero-game hunting - was something that Issei found himself briefly stumped on. On the one hand, he hadn't expected it to work out that well. On the other hand, it actually worked out that well.

"Y-yeah!" He grabbed hold of the sudden light mood, tightening his metaphorical grip on it and refusing to let go. No way was he letting this chance slip through him and if Asia was happy enough to do something as mundane as shopping for whatever, then he was alright with it too.

Now that he considered it, there were plenty of things that they could go shopping for that could turn out to be fun. Though how many would clash with Asia's rather innocent nature was a rather large list. His usual choice of adult games and manga had been removed from the equation, not least of all because he had Romani looming over his shoulder and there was little doubt that he would report back to his wife what happened.

Issei had the lingering notion that if Mrs Archaman found out he'd taken Asia to go shopping for Hentai then he would be in considerable trouble. Not the type of trouble that he would ever really want to be on the receiving end of.

The question remained, however, what type of shopping they would even go on.

Clothes shopping? A decent enough choice, girls liked that sort of thing or so he had been led to believe. He briefly glanced at Asia as he considered it, whether or not she even had more than what she was currently wearing was up for debate. That was the same nun attire he'd seen her in when she first arrived.

He could ask about it but he didn't want to come off as rude.

"...What about clothes shopping?" He suggested in an even tone of voice, somewhat suggestive but for the most part phrased as a rather innocuous question. "You know, some outfits for casual weekends or when you aren't working at the Church?"

Asia blinked once "Really?" she glanced out at her attire, gently pinching her black frock and pulling it aside to give herself a better look at it, her expression somewhat surprised before she looked back towards Issei. "I've never worn anything apart from this sort of outfit so I don't think I'd know what to look for…"

"Wait, really?" Romani suddenly snapped up, looking towards Asia in surprise "Not even when you were younger?"

To her credit, Asia paused and considered it, releasing the hem of her skirt and letting it drop back down to her ankles. "I might have done so when I was very, very young." She responded before frowning "But I can't remember all that well…The only time I didn't wear this was before a bath and before I went to bed."

Now Issei was frowning somewhat "Wait, really?" his head cocked to the side "But didn't you have that suitcase when we first met? Weren't there spare clothes in there?"

"Spare robes." Asia nodded her head up and down "In case this one got dirty." there was a brief pause "Also some underwear-"

"You don't need to tell us that." Romani raised his hand, ushering the girl down with a strained tone of voice as he glanced around awkwardly "T-that sort of thing is a given."

"Ah, yes." The girl flushed in embarrassment "My apologies."

"Nah, nah." In comparison to the other two, Issei shook his head from side to side in a negative "This is actually something to address. You could definitely do with some casual clothes, couldn't you? I mean…The nun's attire suits you really well but I think it would be better if you had some clothes for when you wanted to just go out on the town and enjoy yourself."

"Suit me?" Asia blinked at his wording "What do you mean?"

"...You know what? Nevermind." He quickly responded to her, then raised a finger and pointed it to the sky "First stop! We're gonna go and get you some clothes!" he paused for a moment, then looked at Romani "...You're still paying for this, right?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the nurse exhaled and then nodded once silently.

"Great!"

Asia, meanwhile, approached the nurse and gently placed her hand on his forearm in a comforting fashion. The nurse glanced down to the limb and then towards the girl in question, her expression set in a worried frown as her big eyes stared up at him with barely concealed guilt "I'm not being a burden, am I Roman?"

"No, no!" Romani hastily moved to assure her, waving his free hand from side to side in a dismissing motion. "Nothing like that, just that I…erm…fashion is more of Leona's speed so I'm not going to be much help if you ask for anything." There was a brief pause before he winced "Also the stigma attached to a guy following a couple of teenagers into a clothes shop when they aren't even related to him." he muttered the latter part of the sentence to himself in Japanese.

The puzzled look from Asia as she failed to understand his words was contradicted by the somewhat jerky reaction from Issei as his enhanced senses did pick them up and his mind automatically translating them. The boy choked on air and turned to the side as he moved to cover his mouth, muffling back a wheezing sound.

Romani shot him a faint glare for a split second before he returned his attention to Asia, switching back to Italian for the benefit of the girl. "There are other places you can go out shopping as well. There's a few cafes and restaurants dotted about that are different from the ones that Leona showed you out to last time." his hands moved back to his pockets "Whole bunch of them."

There was a brief pause before he continued on, sending Issei a curious look "There are arcades around here, right?" he shrugged "Other sort of gaming locations and recreation stuff, right?"

Issei raised an eyebrow "Is this a repeat of that amusement park thing again?"

"Alright, do I actually look like the person to go out and do those sorts of things?" Romani asked with genuine bafflement, gesturing to himself "I get stressed out enough at work, Issei-kun. What am I supposed to do at an arcade?"

"So you've never been to one?"

"What? Issei, I grew up with Arcades." Romani scoffed somewhat good naturedly "I'd like to see someone beat my score at packman or pinball." His semi-boast was accompanied by a faint hint of a smug smile before it diminished somewhat. "Actually, now that I say that someone probably could beat my score." he added on with his expression dropping slightly "...Meh, probably fine."

"You mean you don't have like…a game console at home, or something?"

"...I have a playstation 2." Romani responded back somewhat defensively "I'm not that out of touch."

"Really?" Issei blinked "What games do you have on it?"

"Road-trip adventure." Romani listed off, pulling out his left hand and raising a finger each time he listed something off "That one is my personal favourite, by the way." he added on with a bright smile "Guitar Hero although Leo is more fixated on that one, I'm still stuck on easy for the most part…I did try medium difficulty but I couldn't get my fingers onto all four of the buttons."

"Aren't there five?"

"There are but I'm being realistic here." He remarked with a faint shrug of his shoulders "I do speed it up somewhat if I'm after a challenge though."

Issei, meanwhile, was nodding his head up and down while giving Romani a respectful look "Those are some decent choices."

"There's also Ratchet and Clank, me and Leo both play that one at times." He grimaced slightly. "There's also Shadow of the Colossus…Leo played that one and I just watched." letting out a sigh, he shook his head while sniffing slightly "...Yeah."

Issei gave him an understanding look "Yeah, that got me as well…that ending." he paused as he glanced at Asia, seeing her looking completely and utterly lost with the conversation that the pair were having in front of her. For all intents and purposes, they might well have switched back to Japanese considering she had no idea what they were actually talking about at all.

"Umm…Video games." Issei offered to her, giving her a light smile.

Asia's polite expression remained fixed on her face, despite how vacant her eyes were of understanding. It was something that deeply wrangled Issei's inner gamer.

"Alright." The boy decided with a suddenly serious tone of voice, the sheer determination in his words jolted both Romani and Asia. Clenching his right fist, he slammed it into his chest just above his heart. "First thing is first. We're gonna take you shopping for casual clothes, then we're gonna go educate you on how to become a gamer by visiting the Arcade…then we're gonna finish up with something to eat."

He looked to Romani "A sound plan? Right, Roman-sensei?"

"H-huh?" The nurse jolted, then looked to Asia before glancing back to Asia "I mean, yes. That is actually…did you come up with that on the spot just now?"

"Um, yes?" Issei's expression faltered slightly, his right hand lowering while his left came up to scratch the back of his head. "I mean…it doesn't seem that bad, does it? We're sort of pressed for time as it is and I would consider it the three main things to do when you're going out to have fun. Shopping, games and then food. I guess we need to think about where to get food but we can decide that afterwards…"

He hummed for a moment before his eyes widened and he snapped his fingers "Burgers." he declared "Perfect junk food for someone!" The fact his voice came out practised and somewhat silted, all while looking directly into Romani's eyes somewhat mechanically almost caused the nurse to facepalm then and there.

Asia, innocent girl that she was, remained blissfully ignorant to Issei's poorly concealed machinations as she nodded her head up and down somewhat excitedly. "This sounds very interesting!" She paused for a moment "...What's a burger?"

Issei offered her a saintly smile "Do not worry. You'll love them."

Turning around, the boy stabbed a finger towards the shopping plaza while striking a pose "Let's begin the education!"

While Asia held an awe filled expression as though she was about to follow someone into battle, Romani merely raised his hand to hide his face, turning his body to the side somewhat as the raised voices and the three of them, combined with the foreign language, had actually started to attract the attention of some of the afternoon shoppers.

Romani felt even worse when Asia started to clap lightly and Issei continued to hold that pose for far longer than he really should have. When the children started pointing and their parents pulled them away, he just felt like stopping this in its tracks.

"H-hey, Issei-kun?" He cleared his throat loudly, the boy lowered his arm and turned towards the nurse with a slightly curious expression. In response, Romani raised up his right arm and flashed the teenager his watchface, tapping the glass with his left finger to produce a faint noise and alert the boy to the time constraints they had.

Understanding dawned on him almost immediately as a slightly abashed look came over him "R-right. Sorry…I got lost in the moment there."

"Don't worry, Issei!" Asia reassured the boy with a purely angelic smile "I thought it was very impressive!"

Issei, of course, lapped up the compliment like a starving man. His cheeks burned as he looked down towards his feet, idly scratching his cheek and now sporting a somewhat goofy smile.

For a brief moment, Romani considered whether he was this bad when he and Leona first met.

Then he remembered how he stumbled over his sentences every time he opened his mouth and that had been after he froze up like a statue and stared at the woman for a good ten seconds without saying a single word.

He quickly concluded he was hardly in a position to judge. All things considered, Issei was off to a better start than he was..

Issei kept his face remarkably devoid of emotion as he stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes firmly fixed ahead of himself while making a clear effort to not let them wander around their environment.

"...Being here is a little strange." He couldn't help but comment after a moment, he didn't mean it in a bad way. It was just strange, like one of those things he never imagined himself doing without his mother or father around. Well, his mother in this particular instance. His eyes slowly wandered away from the safety of the wall and towards the corner of the shop.

They instantly locked onto the lingerie, his eyes suddenly becoming far more attentive as he stared at underwear and bras. "...Huh…" Making a small noise, Issei gradually tilted his head to the side as he became more entranced by the sight of women's underwear. All other noises started to fade away as his vision was filled with something he would never imagine seeing in his life.

Well, that was a lie. He had seen all of this before when he and his mother went clothes shopping but it was completely different without her. Almost as though it was some manner of excitement in his blood, a feeling like live electricity running through his brain.

"-ssei?" And just like that, the voice of Romani snapped him out of his trance, making a small noise as he turned towards the nurse.

Romani was staring at him with a raised eyebrow and a slightly suspicious look "...Are you actually staring at women's underwear?"

"What?" Issei responded defensively, frowning slightly "It's there. It's literally hanging up! It's meant to be looked at and I'm just doing my part in ensuring that it is gazed upon."

"Yeah, it's meant to be looked at by the target audience." Romani dryly responded as he turned his head back to stare at the mirror in front of the pair, right beside the curtain of the changing booth. "Which you are not."

"What am I supposed to do in this situation, close my eyes?" Issei scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head from side to side. "No way! You know how often a chance like this comes upon me?"

"Probably not often-"

"Not often at all!"

"Yeah but…" Romani turned to face him once more, his expression somewhat perturbed "It's just clothes though?"

"I'm using my imagination to picture the people who will wear those." Issei supplemented with a sage nod of the head, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands on his hips. Then he glanced at the nurse knowingly "You mean you wouldn't want to see your wife in those?" he jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

Romani really shouldn't have looked.

He really shouldn't have, but he did.

His eyes fell upon a black lace set. The image of Leona wearing them flickered through his mind before he coughed into his hand, turning his head to the side and flushing colour into his cheeks as he tried to pry that mental image out of his head. Not because it was disturbing.

It was just way too exciting for him to consider.

"See? That's what I'm doing."

"F-fine." Romani's voice cracked slightly, clearing his throat and lowering his hand "But right now of all times?"

Issei just gave him a guilt free shrug "I'm an equal opportunist when it comes to these sorts of things. You never know when the next chance will arrive so I'm going to make the most of this one. Asia-san is still my priority but that doesn't mean I can't find other ways to enjoy myself while I wait."

Romani stared at him in silence for a few moments before he grunted and looked to the side "Well…We're not in school so I can't really say I have a lot of authority over what you do in your free time. Maybe try not to advertise it as much?" he offered in a somewhat helpful tone "Look a little disinterested and glance around, maybe look for a moment and break eye contact. You'll creep out fewer people that way."

Issei blinked "...Are they actually creeped out?"

"I don't know, but I'm not gonna take any chances." Romani responded with, accompanied by a nervous half chuckle. "Take it from someone who has been through this sort of thing before."

"Uhm…Roman-sensei? So have I."

"You went with your parents, right?"

"Well, yes-"

"Trust me. Big difference." Romani made a small sweeping motion with his hand "For starters the person you are with will always somehow know…Okay, maybe not Asia but someone else." he tacked on when he realised who he was actually speaking with. "Also with your parents you have this aura of being tired all the time, people can sort of tell you're not really there of your own volition."

"...How the heck do you know this?"

"I know all about social cues." Romani responded in a confident manner, then his expression dropped "I mean, I can't actually recognise them to save my social life nor can I really do anything if I accidentally stumble into an awkward situation. But, hey. At least I know about them?"

"...So it's like me watching a detective show but knowing next to nothing about police work or how to actually catch criminals?"

"...Yes."

The gentle rattle of the curtain railing drew the attention of both Romani and Issei, the jet black covering behind pulled aside as the young girl stepped out slightly and unveiled herself. A slightly embarrassed look on her face "Sorry it took so long, I've never worn anything like this before…"

"Really? I'd say it's natural enough that it grew on you." Romani commented with a completely straight face. Asia looked down at her white sundress with the pattern of golden yellow sunflowers lining the surface of it. The reactions of the two teenagers could not have been further apart.

Issei made a noise akin to a dying animal as he face palmed while Asia looked back up at Romani with an odd expression for a few brief seconds. Something visibly clicked in her expression because it brightened a moment later into a mirthful smile "Hehehehehahaha!" raising her hands, she covered her mouth, muffling the giggling fit she was having.

"...I felt like I had to make that joke." Romani said after a moment of silence "I regret nothing."

"I do." Issei muttered quietly, shooting the nurse a tired glare "Really? A pun?"

"It worked." Romani defended, bringing up his right hand and extending it towards the blonde girl. The matching white sunhat was placed atop the girl's head as she laughed, Romani released his grip on the item of clothing and drew his arm back. "...I mean, I'd say that looks nice, right?"

Issei leaned towards him, dropping his voice into a whisper "Why are you phrasing it like a question?"

"Because I don't know anything about women's fashion." He hastily replied back in an equally quiet voice "I just thought it would be nice because Asia said she liked flowers."

"Whatever." Issei rolled his eyes, then flashed Asia a smile "Come on, have a look at yourself." he gestured to the mirror just next to her, built into the wall and facing the pair. "It really suits you, actually."

He noticed the raised eyebrow from Romani "What? I never said I disagreed with your choice." it was the nurses turn to roll his eyes this time.

Asia waddled forwards, reaching up and grabbing the rim of her hand somewhat nervously as she moved to the front of the pair. Slowly but surely, she turned back around and stared towards her reflection. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she beheld herself, lips parting as she slowly released her hold on the hat.

Her hands slowly moved themselves to her front, clasping together as she glanced down at white pattern dress and then back towards the reflection, almost as though she didn't quite believe what she was looking at.

"S-so…" Romani awkwardly spoke up "What do you think?"

The pair could see Asia's lips move but neither of them heard a sound, not even Issei seemed to be able to pick up her voice. The pair furrowed their brows at her and angled their bodies forwards to get closer.

"Pardon?" Issei asked, cocking his head to get his ear closer.

"It's wonderful…" Asia whispered out "I didn't think…I would ever wear clothes like this." she reached out to the hem of her skirt, tightening her hold on it ever so slightly. Biting her lip, she snuck a glance behind herself at the pair "Am I really allowed…to wear this?"

"...I mean, not until I pay for it." Romani remarked with an amused smile "So, I take it that means you like it, right?"

Asia rapidly nodded her head up and down, so quickly Romani was actually afraid her head would go flying off. "I do!" Her voice took on a more excited tone of voice as she looked between the two of them. "Is this what people do? Pick out clothes for each other?"

Issei nodded up and down "For the most part, depends on the friends I suppose." he admitted with a shrug before he glanced at Romani, arching an eyebrow "I mean…I haven't but I don't know about Roman-sensei." reaching up, he scratched his cheek and made a small noise "Well, I can't imagine me doing it with my friends though. I just sort of buy my own clothes…"

Asia looked down slightly "O-oh…Okay."

Romani glanced at her expression for a few moments, then sighed and tilted his head to the side "You know…I could probably do with a new outfit…" he rather clumsily mentioned in an obvious tone of voice. Not that Asia seemed to notice as her eyes suddenly brightened and she focused in on the man with the intensity of a laser.

Issei looked at the nurse, then to Asia before he similarly coughed into his hand, looking towards the ceiling lights. "Ah, ha. Yeah." His voice was similarly faked to an embarrassing degree, neither of the two males having any experience with acting before causing their words to flow with all the grace of an iceberg. "I could really do with some new clothes as well. If only someone could help me?"

Slowly but surely, Romani turned his gaze in the direction of the teenager and stared at the back of his head. His brows slowly creased themselves and his neck inclining itself so he could get across just how he felt about Issei's crooked acting. The boy clearly felt the stare as he shot a glance over his shoulder, catching sight of Romani looking at him with the mystified expression before he made a 'what is it?' face.

The nurse shrugged his shoulders and looked to the side.

Asia was still staring between the two of them before she tapped her fingers together, a small smile working its way onto her face. "You know, I can tell when someone is acting." She pointed out rather wryly, earning embarrassed flinches from the pair of them. "But if you're alright with me…I would like to return the favour with you!" she hastily spoke, as though worried the chance would be taken away from her. "But I don't know anything about casual clothes!"

Romani and Issei looked at one another, then back to her "Umm…neither do we." the pair replied at the same time. In truth, both Romani and Issei had only ever picked out the clothes they wore because they were reasonably cheap and they liked the colours of them. Very little else went into thinking up a pattern for the pair.

The nurse cracked a smile at her "Don't worry. Your sense of fashion can't be any worse than either of ours." he reassured her with a wave of the hand before he looked around once more. "Now let's get those clothes in a bag and get out of this section. I'm starting to feel self-conscious."

Asia cocked her head to the side in a rather curious fashion "Eh? Why?"

Romani's expression froze for a split second "Uhhhhhh…No reason."

The curtains were drawn aside with a gentle rattle, Romani stepped forwards and glanced down at his outfit with a small noise. They weren't all that different from the clothes he owned already, however the main takeaway was the long white coat that he now wore over the top of the mint green long shirt.

In actuality, it somewhat reminded him of his work attire when he had the nurses coat on although he could actually take this one home with him. If Romani was being honest with himself, he actually quite liked it. Although having white trousers along with it felt like he was asking for trouble but he could at least try them on.

Turning and facing the mirror, he stared at his reflection while making a small noise, turning his body from side to side in order to get a more well rounded image of himself. It actually suited him, somehow at least.

"Huh…" Making a small noise, the nurse's brows rose up his forehead before he turned around to face his audience, spreading his arms slightly wider in order to show himself off. "Well…I think it's actually alright?"

Asia clasped her hands together "Really? I remembered the clothes you wore when we first met but the shirt was a bit darker and then I thought that white goes with light green so…" she trailed off, pursing her lips and giving the nurse a rather hopeful expression. "It's alright?"

With the face she was making, Romani was certain she would have crumpled if he had said no. Not that the thought of her emotionally imploding was the only reason he wasn't going to say no, he didn't think the outfit was all that bad.

"I like it, yes." Romani nodded his head up and down, Asia let out an audible sigh of relief as she pressed her hands over her chest.

"Thank goodness." She whispered, or at least he assumed that had been her intention when she spoke the words. The end result had just been her speaking in a rather quiet tone of voice but still loud enough that Romani and Issei could hear her. Speaking of the former, the older man looked towards the teenager and the choice Asia had picked out for him.

Light grey jeans with a pale blue t-shirt, and a black denim jacket over the top. The boy had his hands in his pockets, giving Romani a slightly scrutinous gaze as he looked the outfit up and down before he eventually spoke his honest thoughts. "It reminds me of your work clothes, Roman-sensei."

"I know, right?" Romani nodded in affirmation as he raised his left arm and stared at the sleeve of his overcoat "Do you think they'd let me get away with this at school?"

"...It's Sona-kaichou we're talking about here, Roman-sensei." Issei pointed out in a dead tone of voice, Romani's expression flattened as he instantly picked up on the meaning. While it might have looked nice on him, the girl was most certainly a stickler for the rules.

Maybe he didn't have to worry too greatly, but the idea of annoying her in general just didn't sit right with him. Not least of all because he just disliked making needless trouble with her over something as trivial as wearing a proper coat to work. Lowering the sleeve, he exhaled "Yeah, you're probably right." he paused for a moment before he continued on "But I think it actually suits me, don't you?"

"Honestly, yeah." Issei admitted, cupping his chin "I mean, everytime I see you it's always been with white and green so you not wearing that colour would seem a little odd to me." he spoke with an earnest tone, shrugging his shoulders "It's just sort of the fashion you're in, Roman-sensei."

The man snorted "Yeah, probably. Leo is the same with blue." he offered with a knowing smile "It's probably got more to do with the favourite colour rather than anything else." green eyes darted towards Issei's shirt "Speaking of blue…Huh." he tilted his head "I've always seen you in red, this is a little odd."

Asia looked like a deer in the headlights "Yo-you mean-"

"No!" Both Issei and Romani whirled at her at the same time with panicked expressions "Not at all!" the teenager continued onwards, letting Romani fall silent. "It's just something new to me, is all. Besides, you picked this out for me so of course I'll wear it." he picked at the shirt with a faint smile "Red might be my favourite colour, but it doesn't mean I automatically hate blue or anything like that."

Asia seemed to regain some of her colour but still looked a little worried "Are you sure you're not forcing yourself?"

Issei placed a hand over his chest "Hand on my heart. I'm being honest. They are perfectly fine clothes and I would wear them any day of the year." it might have been his smile or his earnest look in the eye, but Asia looked to be mollified with the expression that he was giving her. Looking as though she had aged ten years and then rejuvenated herself over the course of a single conversation.

Either way, as long as she was alright with it then Romani had very little in the way of complaints.

He turned to Issei, raising an eyebrow "Arcade or something next, right?"

The boy nodded his head up and down "Yeah." then grinned at the nurse, crossing his arms over his chest "I can guarantee you that you're going down, Roman-sensei." he taunted with a smirk, stabbing a thumb at his chest "You're looking at the guy who frequents these things without friends."

"..."

"...That was supposed to be a boast." Issei glumly admitted with a cringing expression "I really have to work on that sort of thing, shouldn't I?"

"...Probably."

"You shouldn't boast, Issei." Asia chided him with a slightly worried expression "Pride is a sin and-" understanding crossed her face midway through her sentence as she recalled what exactly the person in front of her was in the first place. "Umm…I mean…" She was clearly stumped for words as she opened and closed her mouth, trying and failing repeatedly to come up with something before she snapped her fingers "Aha! You don't want to hurt Roman's feelings, right?"

Romani raised his hands to cover his face, making a small noise of embarrassment.

Issei stared at her for a brief moment before he closed his eyes and nodded his head up and down, his expression turning faux-regretful as he turned to the nurse. "She's right, Roman-sensei." The boy reached out, placing a comforting hand on the left arm of the nurse "I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings, Sens-"

"Alright, stop that." Romani grunted as he pulled his arms away, levelling a flat look at the young man "I don't need that sort of thing, Issei-kun. I'm not that hurt by the idea of it." he pointed at the teenager "Besides, I'm not all that competitive in the first place." he grew a confident smile "Levi-tan says that competition is the poison for the body." There was a brief pause before he added on "And should only be embraced when you're confident that you can win."

Issei made a face "Wha-that's the opposite of competition then!" he bluntly remarked with a baffled face "And who the heck is Levi-tan."

"...Magical girl." Romani muttered under his breath "Miracle Levi-tan." he explained the name "...I like it, alright?" he threw his hands up "You can't judge me for that."

Issei blinked at him "Umm…I don't think I'm in much of a position to judge that sort of thing…" he frowned, scratching his cheek and furrowing his brows "Miracle Levi-tan…I don't think I've heard of that one before though?" he hummed for a few moments before nodding his head up and down "Yep, never heard of it before."

"Wait, really?" Romani did a double take "Huh…now that you mention it, I've never seen any of the merchandise online." his expression shifted to become more thoughtful "Leo was always the one who ordered it for me but I just assumed she wanted to pick something out for herself…" he shrugged "That seems a little weird, yes?"

"Maybe it's one of those hidden gems that don't get a lot of attention." Issei suggested, offering the man a life-line. "They happen every now and again, right? Not like the Magical girl genre isn't really cutthroat." he remarked with a wry expression"Can you imagine trying to get anything past the popularity of Sailor Moon?"

That elicited a chuckle from Romani "Ah, yeah." he scratched the side of his temple, his lip still remaining quirked up in a smile. "True enough, it's pretty much the dominant show in that entire genre. It's like a goliath." he paused for a moment before he sighed "...Maybe I was just hoping that Levi-tan would be the David in this situation."

Asia made a face of understanding "Ah, you are supporting the person who isn't as powerful, right?"

Romani nodded at her "Something like that…" he paused as he realised something, giving Asia a somewhat pitying look "Ah…you probably don't know what we're talking about, do you?"

The nun raised her hand "You're talking about mages, right?" her voice had a hint of confusion as she glanced between the two of them "Is them being girls important though?" was her honest question she added on, the sheer innocence in her tone of voice had the pair of them soon make a face.

"It's a…" Romani made a gesture with his hand "You ever read a book?"

"Does the Bible count?"

"...I would like to say no, but that was my bad for not making the question specific enough." He remarked before looking down at his watch and making a face "Yikes. We only got about an hour and twenty minutes left before Leo comes out and tries to hunt me down."

He caught sight of Issei suddenly paling as though he'd had every ounce of blood sucked out of his face. The boy's eyes darted towards him with no small degree of nervousness. "S-she wouldn't actually do that, would she?"

Romani furrowed his brows at the boy "Honestly? I'm not too sure and what did she even say to you." he raised an eyebrow at him "You look like I've told you a bear is just about to hunt you down."

"...Mrs Archaman is very protective of you." Was all Issei offered as a reply.

"Well, I know that." Romani waved his hand in a knowing way before he clapped his hands together "Alright then, let's pay for this stuff and then get out of here." he turned back to the dressing room and walked inside, sliding the curtain shut.

"What are you even aiming for?" Issei asked amidst his laughter as he pointed at the screen, leaning on the railings just behind the game station. Several shopping bags full of clothes hung on his forearm as he struggled to hold himself back from falling over with his laughter.

Asia stood by his side with an encouraging expression, glancing between Issei and Romani for a few seconds before she called out to him. "Try your hardest, Roman! It's alright if you did your best!"

Romani wasn't reassured in the least by her shouts of support, however it did make him feel slightly less embarrassed about failing so heavily. "Why are all these zombies even moving around in the first place?" He cried out in no small amount of alarm as he repeatedly swung the pistol shaped controller around and rapidly smashed his finger on the trigger to fire on them.

His avatar was blitzing around the screen, firing in every random direction it could happen while aiming. Which turned out to be more in an unoccupied direction rather than in the face of any of the approaching undead. Romani made a panicked noise as one of the zombies lunged at him, the nurse whirling around so quickly his long coat trailed behind him like a cape as he pulled the trigger once more. The green skinned ghoul made a groaning noise as it fell backwards.

"You know, if you didn't scream so much and your aiming was a little better you might actually look kind of cool." Issei helpfully supplied, still muffling his laughter before he moved his hand to his pocket and fished out his phone. Slowly raising it up while pointing it at the nurse, his lips folding over to contain his mirth.

Pressing a button on his phone, he giggled while Romani was continually pulling the trigger.

"They shouldn't even be moving around!" Romani continued to complain while making widely exaggerated movements "How can they be moving around like this!? How is the blood pumping around their body!" his voice turned more erratic as the zombies got in closer "They should be rotting in the-eek!"

"Stop trying to make sense of it, Roman-sensei!" Issei called out, all while holding his phone up and recording the nurse. His phone caught the amusing sight of the man panicking while trying to fight zombies. The teenager glanced out of the corner of his eye, then noticed Asia staring at him with slightly narrowed eyes. Her hands moving to her hips, body leaning to the side and lips being drawn into an almost disapproving frown.

"...Issei?" Asia spoke in a suspiciously even tone of voice as she stared at the boy.

"...Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

Issei glanced back at Romani's flailing body "...Commemorating this moment." he replied after a moment of hesitation. "I'll probably find a way to show Mrs Archaman later to show her that Roman-sensei had fun."

Asia's expression did a complete one-eighty, brightening considerably "Oh! That's wonderful." She praised the boy so sincerely that Issei almost felt a little guilty. Then he thought about the fact this would most likely pacify Mrs Archaman and decided it was well worth the risk.

"They're going to kill me!" Romani cried out, his voice cracking as he continually aimed the gun.

"You're doing great, Roman-sensei!" Issei called out from the sidelines while not even looking at the man, still focusing on Asia and cracking a half-smile. The girl stared at his expression, then turned to face the back of the nurse while clenching her hands into fists.

"Do your best, Roman!" She shouted out her own encouragement "You're doing great!"

"Next time, I'm picking the games!"

Issei snorted loudly "Like that will make a difference."

Romani and Asia stood side by side, the both of them watching the display in front of them with no small amount of mirth. Although Asia was far more reserved with her expressions of amusement than Romani was, the nurse quietly snickering under his breath as he watched Issei flail around.

"Do you have two left feet?" Romani asked amidst his laughter, moving his right hand up to cover his mouth and conceal the smile. "B-because as a nurse, I can really tell these sorts of things at a glance."

"Shut up, Roman-sensei!" Issei called back as he diverted his feet to the flickering arrows on the floor to match the rapidly descending pattern. The teen's face set in a determined line as his eyes tracked the screen in front of him, making a grimace every time he failed to land an arrow. The effort was more akin with him stomping his foot down as quickly as he could in order to keep up rather than game.

If he was attempting to dance, it was failing miserably. If Romani was to make a comparison, it would be the same as watching someone fall over on a patch of ice. Repeatedly, while not quite falling over. It was a rather amusing thing to witness and more than made up for the earlier embarrassment that he felt when playing the zombie game or whatever it was supposed to be called.

The nurse glanced down at Asia, watching as she was doing the exact same thing she had done with him during his previous encounter with video games. That encouraging expression on her face and her hands balled into fists and she remained laser focused on the young man in front of her.

Despite the touching scene of Asia encouraging the boy, he couldn't quite hold back from calling out to him "I thought you were supposed to be a gamer, Issei-kun? Didn't you say you frequented the arcades?"

"Arcades!" Issei replied back to him with clear strain in his voice, shooting a glance over his shoulder and ignoring the beeps that went off with the arrows that went right past him. "Not dance classes!"

"I mean, this is a game isn't it?" Romani gestured to the screen, still muffling his laughter "Doesn't this still count?"

"So if I played Operation enough, I'd be qualified as a surgeon?"

"Probably not." He chuckled under his breath, then raised his thumb up towards the boy "You do your best though. Maybe you'll end up with a semi-decent score when the song ends!"

"How about you get up here and do it then!" Issei pointed towards him and then down towards the game. Romani briefly thought about what would occur if he got up there and tried to play 'Dance, dance master' at his age and with his level of flexibility. Or lack thereof. He thought long and hard about it…

"...You know what? I'm good." Romani made a slashing motion in front of himself.

Issei gave him a knowing expression "Yeah, that's what I thought." he grunted, turning back around and continuing on with the display.

"Roman…" The nurse winced as he heard the tone from next to him, glancing out of the corner of his eye and staring at the young nun staring up at him with a scrutinous gaze, her hands placed firmly on her hips and her lips drawn into a thin line. "Are you making fun of Issei?"

"...No?" Romani ventured before his shoulders slumped "Alright, a little." he admitted "More of a friendly case of banter, I suppose." putting his hands in his pockets, he turned his head back to face Issei. "It's more of a thing where you can joke with people you're close to. Like when Issei-kun was making 'helpful' suggestions to me when I played that zombie game."

"Oh." Asia made a small noise, removing her hands from her hips and straightening out her posture. "So it's something that people do with their friends?"

Romani paused for a moment as he considered the best way to answer that question. "I suppose some friends might be a little different but for the most part?" he smiled, nodding once "Yeah." then gestured to her "Although they can also shout encouragements like you can. Those can be just as big a sign of friendship."

"...Friendship?" The girl whispered back in a timid voice, eyes wide and lips slightly parted. "Y-you mean like…friends?"

"...Ummmm?" Romani turned to face her once more, both his brows raising themselves up his forehead "I'd say so." he shrugged his shoulders before he made a face "Though I would think you could make better friends than me." the nurse pointed towards himself, smiling somewhat sardonically "This is me speaking here so I'm something of an expert on the matter."

Asia stared up at the nurse for a moment before shaking her head from side to side. "I would…be alright with you as a friend, Roman."

"Hmmm." Romani just hummed in response, then looked around the arcade at all of the different games, then looked down at the younger girl and said "Do you want to have a go at one of the games?"

Asia blinked "Can I?"

Romani smiled, "Sure."

"That's just the gear stick, Asia." Romani explained in a gentle tone "Now, the most important thing to do is that shift it gradually as you speed up, it will be what lets you-"

"Right, you're in last place right now." Issei interrupted, placing his hand on the back of the driving seat that Asia was currently sat in, his expression set in a firm line as he pointed at the screen. "But that's alright, you can still make a comeback. You just need to hit the accelerator and-"

"She has to change gears while she does that or-"

"It's a game, Roman-sensei." Issei bluntly responded to the man "She's supposed to be driving really fast speeds and blowing all those other losers away!"

Asia shook her head "O-oh no! I don't want to blow anyone away, Issei."

"It's a figure of speech, Asia." Issei reassured her with a gentle tone of voice, then looked back to the screen and winced as he saw the other race cars peeling away from her at faster and faster speeds to the point where they could no longer be seen. "It's just…um…just hit the little pedal down there and speed up."

"Speed up?" Romani looked at him in surprise, now moving his hand to rest it on the back of the seat and leaning over it "She'll go speeding alright. Right into the walls!"

"I don't want to run into any walls, Roman!" Asia whined in a diminutive voice.

"You won't, you won't." The nurse reassured her "Trust me, it will be fine. Go at whatever pace you want to."

"She's going to lose." Issei muttered behind the pair of them, looking towards the ceiling and leaning back, tapping his fingers along the headrest.

"Umm…" Asia looked between the two of them several times before she slammed her eyelids shut, then stomped her foot down on the pedal. The two males looked down at her foot instantly from the thumping sound. Then the pair of them looked towards each other with wide eyes before their heads whirled on the screen.

Sure enough, they watched as the scenery blitzed past as the car accelerated as fast as it suddenly could. The one issue being that Asia was making no attempt to turn the car, nor was she in a position to see where she was supposed to go with her eyes so tightly shut.

The pair of them blanched as they watched the speedometer shoot up into triple digits.

"Asia!" Romani coughed out "The road!"

"You're gonna-!" Issei followed up.

The pair winced and turned their heads away from the horrific sound of crunching metal, soon followed by the whistle of metal flying through the air before it was followed by another crash and grinding of steel.

Romani and Issei cracked their eyes open when the noises stopped for a brief second.

Then they resumed as the cars that had lapped Asia crashed right into the back of her wreck.

Their eyes snapped shut once more, faces twisting up as they struggled to comprehend what they were seeing.

Asia was still sitting in the driver's seat, hands firmly upon the wheel. After a few seconds of silence, her voice whispered out in a faintly hopeful tone of voice "D-did I win?"

"...Well, you certainly blew all your competitors awa-ouch." Romani winced as Issei smacked him on the arm.

Issei glared at the nurse for a few moments before he injected cheer into his voice "How about we go get some food now, eh?"

"Can you pass the ketchup please?" Issei asked, gesturing across the table to the bottle of red sauce. Romani handed it to him and was rewarded with a thankful nod. "Thanks." Issei turned to the blonde girl next to him "Alright, Asia-san. You put this on your chips and they taste even better, okay?"

Asia, the innocent girl that she was, stared with transfixed awe as Issei tipped the bottle upside down and squirted a small dollop of sauce onto the plate before turning it right side up and placing it back across the table near the man sitting opposite them.

"Really?" Asia asked, tilting her head much like a puppy. "They really taste better?"

Despite having seen all of this before, Romani couldn't keep the genuine smile on his face. Perhaps because he knew of what was going to occur next but it was simply the fact that this was an entirely different experience to running headlong into danger. Just watching as a young girl experienced something as simple as a burger for the first time.

"Yeah." Issei's voice brought him out of his musings, the nurse made a small noise as he focused on the teenager, his chin resting on his fist and his eyes glancing between the two youngsters. "Trust me. I'm telling the truth, right Roman-sensei?"

"Yeah." Romani nodded once, confidence coating his every word to encourage the girl "They taste better…unless you're allergic to toma-" he cut himself off, clamping his jaw shut and looking at the girl. Staring at her with wide eyes and then towards Issei as well, the boy gave him the same look of bafflement he had witnessed when he first saw this vision.

Even having seen all this before, Romani really couldn't control himself, could he?

Withholding a sigh, he shifted his expression into a more calm one "I mean, yeah." lifting his head off his chin, he leaned back into his seat. Moving his hand to his own fries and picking them up "They taste much better with ketchup on them." there was a pause "Also salt, but don't eat too much of that stuff or you get a high blood pressure when you get older." he remarked, putting a chip into his mouth.

As he chewed, he looked more intently at Asia "Actually, go for a balanced diet."

Issei stared.

"I-I'll just…erm…yeah." Romani whispered to himself, turning his attention to his own food. Though he did sneak a glance out of the corner of his eye and watched as the young girl dunk her fry in the red sauce and then bring it up to her mouth, taking a gentle nibble of it in a way that very much reminded him of a hamster.

Asia made a face "Ooooh!" she pulled back, staring at the fried potato in surprise before she went back for another bite.

Then another.

And another.

"...Eh?" The girl made a noise as she stared at her empty hand, then looked towards both Romani and Issei giving her amused expressions, her cheeks slowly coloured themselves. "I-erm…th-this is…uhm…"

Romani waved his hand as if to shoo away her embarrassment "It's nothing to fret over." he tapped the table just next to the fries with a knowing expression. "They are very good, there is a reason why I'm so worried about junk food half the time. It's really bad for you but it tastes too good."

Issei gave a sage nod of the head "It's like in an anime where the villainess is pure evil but she's stupidly hot." he spoke with a voice full of such wisdom that Romani almost didn't register the words that had been spoken. "If they're pure evil, why do they have to be so hot?"

Romani gaped at him "Wha-!?"

Asia clasped her hands over her face "Is it like when Satan tempted Jesus?" she asked with a suddenly worried expression now staring at the fries as if they were a coiled snake ready to leap up at her. "The temptations of the Devil are supposed to be attractive…but I did not think they would be this strong…"

"What?" Romani scrunched his face up "No, they're not-" he pointed at Issei "You're not helping things." he stated before he looked back to Asia "The Devil isn't trying to tempt you with burgers and french fries."

The girl then looked up and stared at Romani with eyes of pure innocence "But Issei is a Devil…"

Romani opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"...Oh." Was all he could say in response to that, then glanced over to Issei and saw that the boy was having a similarly bewildered reaction to her words before his expression morphed into a thoughtful frown.

"Well…uhm…" Romani gulped, glancing down at the fries and then slowly reaching his hand towards the basket and moving them away from the nun. "I can just-"

Asia's hand reached out, pinching the basket between her fingers and stopping the nurse before he could move them any further away from her. The girl glanced up at both of them. "I-it's fine if I only have this one, right?" She asked, searching the pair of them for approval "If I give up after this basket then I've resisted the temptation, r-right?"

There was another pause "I-I'm also excommunicated so it should be fine…" she whispered under her breath, moving the basket back towards herself.

Romani, meanwhile, was staring at the girl with an odd expression.

"Exco-huh?"

Asia froze. "Ah…" her face turned into one of guilt as she looked away from the pair "I shouldn't have said anything…"

"Asia." Issei's voice brought her attention back to him, the boy staring at her with an expression of genuine concern. "...What's wrong?" He paused for a moment before his face darkened slightly "...And does it have to do with why you're hanging out with those bas-" he cut himself off, closing his eyes and exhaling "Those guys." he corrected himself, earning a nod of approval from the nurse at his attempt to stay PG.

The girl wet her lips, then looked down to her hands "I…I shouldn't…w-we had such a nice time and I don't want to spoil it…"

"You can't spoil it, Asia." Romani reassured her "And if you have something you want to talk about. You can tell us…" he closed his eyes, his lips curled up into a genuine smile and opened up his emerald orbs once more. "That's what friends do, they share their burdens."

Asia sniffled, reaching up and wiping moisture from her eyes "Fr-friends?"

"Absolutely." Issei affirmed to her with a confident expression "We're friends. No doubt about it." He stabbed his thumb at his chest. "You have anything you want to tell us about and we'll tell you."

Asia mewled, causing both of the men at the table to blanch at her.

"I-I-I've never had friends before…" The girl got out amidst her crying, reaching up and wiping her eyes. Issei fretted over her while Romani shot his head around to look at the rest of the burger joint.

As expected, the sight of a young girl crying loudly had managed to attract the attention of pretty much everyone currently there.

Romani offered them a wave of the hand before turning back to Asia, shrinking his body as he did so and now sporting a nervous expression. "I-I'm very happy you consider us friends but perhaps…y-you know, crying over is a little…"

"I'm sorry…" The girl wailed out, continually rubbing her eyes "I can't help it!"

"Nice, Roman-sensei." Issei drawled at the man, the nurse glancing at the boy in surprise "You made a girl cry."

"Wha-but you-but I-!" He waved his hands around before he stopped and slumped in his seat. "Oh come on…"

AN: Well…The date went on longer than expected and ended on a gateway into a pretty dreary note.

Good news is that the next chapter will contain acts of attempted murder!