We were still close to town, so we decided to walk. Teruhashi said she knew some good places to shop.
"What kind of dress are you looking for?" she asked me.
"I'm not sure," I answered, gazing around at the many stores available.
"That's okay! I'm sure I have just the right place. They have clothes that would fit you perfectly!" She beamed and folded her hands together.
What she was really thinking was, Well, if you don't have anything in mind, this will be the perfect opportunity to sabotage you! After all, nobody could resist my advice!
She led me to a store. When we walked in, I was actually surprised. The dresses were cute and not too over-the-top.
"I have the perfect idea of what could fit you!!"
I turned around, dropping my hand from grazing the line of dresses on a rack. "Hm?"
"Over here!" she chirped, waving for me to come. She stood in front of a gorgeous f/c cocktail dress. My eyes widened in surprise. If she was trying to sabotage me, why offer me this pretty dress? It came to about the knee, decorated with cute ruffles. The sleeves were long, but it still gave spring/summer vibes. Tights and some Mary Janes would go perfectly with it.
"Wow-" I started, reaching out for the dress. Before I could, Teruhashi pulled the dress away to reveal another behind it. This new dress was hideous. It was the color of barf, and random rhinestones were placed about like sprinkles.
"See?" she exclaimed, pulling it off the rack, displaying it. "It's gorgeous, isn't it?" Her smile only made the dress uglier in contrast.
I swallowed and shut my mouth. "Err- it's-"
"Well," she cut in, "maybe it wouldn't suit your body type. It actually might be a little too small, anyways."
I decided to ignore her sugarcoated insult and tried again, "Yeah- that dress in front of it. It's really cute."
She looked back at the cute dollish dress. "Hm? Oh yeah!" She replaced the barf dress with the cute one, observing it. "Wow. It is really cute. You have great eyes, Y/n!"
I smiled back at her, nodding. If I could just get the damn dress-
"How nice of you to recommend this to me!" she exclaimed. My jaw dropped wide open.
"Uh- Teruhashi, I was actually hoping I-"
"Of course I'll try it on. You'll be the first one to see first hand! What do you think, will it make the boys say 'oh'?" She held it to her chest as if she were calculating how it would fit. Of course no matter what she would wear would earn her an 'oh'. I couldn't say the same, especially if I ended up with that barf colored dress.
"Don't worry, we'll find you one too!" Teruhashi observed my face. I tried to stay calm, but this girl really worked my nerves. Controlling my facial expressions wasn't very easy. Kusuo could only do it because he was an alien or something.
"Okay. I'm going to try this on, now. Wait over there and give me your feedback!"
I sighed, taking a seat on a plush leather ottoman while the perfect girl rushed inside a dressing room. Everyone already knew she would outshine me anyways, and I didn't need any extra attention. I guess it was best if I let her show off.
Teruhashi emerged from the curtains. A bright light blinded me, and I shielded myself from it.
"What do you think?" said an angellic voice. Godly music played in the background, glorifying the angel's beauty.
"Y/n?" said Teruhashi. The lights faded, and Teruhashi's inhuman beauty was revealed.
"What do you think?" she put a finger to her lip and posed innocently. A bead of sweat formed on my cheek. I could in no way compete with her.
"Well? Does it make me look fat?" She frowned, only making her cuter.
"No, you look pretty good." I said, looking away before I could sob in jealousy. That compliment was completely watered down, but I couldn't let her think she had some sort of control over me. Besides, no word in the Japanese language could possibly describe her level of beauty.
Pretty good!? thought Teruhashi. That's it?! Pretty good?! Does this girl know who she's looking at? Take another look! Behold my image!
"Really? Are you sure? Take another look."
"Yeah, you're fine. Are we gonna find me a dress now?" I stared at my feet, looking unbothered and impatient.
She forced a smile and folded her hands. "Yes, of course, Y/n! I'll make sure you look even better than me!"
"That's not possible," I said back, smiling through gritted teeth. She just had to rub that in.
"No really!" she insisted, laying a hand on my shoulder. It felt cold and unwelcoming. "Since these clothes are obviously too small for you, let's go somewhere else!"
She got up and packed her clothes in her bag, still wearing her dress.
"Teruhashi? Don't you have to pay for that dress?" She feigned shock and forgetfulness.
"Oh! Yes, you're right!" We reached the cash register and greeted a young woman. I wasn't stupid; I knew Teruhashi's plans. She figured she wouldn't have to pay for her dress just because she was pretty. She didn't bring enough money for herself. But because we were facing a female, surely she wouldn't fall to Teruhashi's pretty privilage.
"21,450 yen please," the short haired cashier looked annoyed and distracted on her phone.
"Oh... it appears I don't have enough money!" Teruhashi smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. She tilted her head like an innocent puppy.
"That's too bad. I'm sorry, but you'll have to take that dress off." The girl remained looking down at her phone.
"Oh no!" Shit. This is bad, thought Teruhashi. Y/n has money, so if I can't get this dress, she might for herself!
A man emerged from behind. He came from the room behind the counter.
"Sayu, is there an issue?" He greeted the girl, who instantly put away her phone and looked at the older man. "No, grandpa, this girl just can't pay for the dress."
Teruhashi looked at me, but I just shrugged.
"S-sorry for the problem I've caused," she said in a gentle, sad voice. The man's cheeks reddened and his eyes widened in shock. Damn it. God loved her way too much.
"N-no problem at all! Take the dress for f-free! Take the cash register if you want it too!" He began trying to pull the register up from the table, knocking his apparent granddaughter out of the way.
"Aw thank you!" she said, voice dripping with kindness. "I'll be sure to pay you back sometime!" She bowed and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of the store. I reluctantly shuddered from the softness of her hand and her delicate grasp. I heard an 'oh' muttered before we escaped, but I denied the possibility of me. Unfortunately, Teruhashi had gotten her way.
"That was close!" she said, laughing. "I shouldn't have forgotten my wallet! I'm such a ditz!"
We walked to another store. This store had loads of dresses, but they weren't as cute as that other store. I wasn't surprised Teruhashi was so eager to get me out of that place, of course. She couldn't stand for having me in a cuter dress than her.
After a while of looking and politely declining her ugly requests, I decided an average/medium-cute dress would suffice. It's not like I was there to please anybody. I couldn't care less if Kusuo thought I looked nice. Teruhashi, on the other hand, was obsessing over it. A few times she offered me gorgeous dresses on accident because her thoughts were absorbed with making the alien boy say 'oh'.
"This will do," I said, holding up a f/c knee-length dress. It was almost similar to Teruhashi's, but definitely no where near cute. She allowed me to check out, relieved that I was no longer a threat to her existence.
"So who do you like?" she asked me as we walked back to Takahashi's house.
"Oh, nobody," I replied. My eyes were staring at my feet, but I could still feel the intense glare she was shooting me.
"Really? What about Kusuo? I heard you guys were hanging out a lot?" So she was using his first name... Did she really think they were close?
"No," I said through gritted teeth. if I wanted to stay invisible, I'd have to blend in. Still, my urges to show off were hard to silence. "I only get dragged into stuff like this because of those two idiots."
"Kaidou and Nendou, huh?" she laughed. "Yeah, it's funny how he hangs out with them so much. He's kind of a loser, isn't he?" She was observing my expression.
I just shrugged. Finally we made it to Takahashi's. The boys were watching a movie in the living room, waiting for the guests to arrive. The party would start in about an hour and a half.
"Ahh!" screamed Kaidou, falling out of his chair.
"Eh? You okay, buddy?" asked Nendou, trying to help him up. This only made him scream more.
"You're such a wimp, Shun," huffed Aren, lugging the frail boy back onto the couch. I assumed they were watching a horror movie, but when I peeked at the television, I saw it was just some Cyborg cyder-man 2 ad. He was fighting some ginger creature that had provoked Kaidou to a state of terror.
"He said we could get ready in his mom's room," said Teruhashi, interrupting my analysis. "I brought makeup in my bag."
"Oh, yeah."
. . . . . . . . . .
A/N: TYSM for reading!!! We've reached almost 4k reads already!! I appreciate all of you who comment and/or vote :) I'm sorry I haven't updated much, and I won't be able to soon again because I'm about to be grounded for having a C on my report card so- Oh well. Anyways, I'm also working on a Kaidou Shun journal book. It would mean the world to me if you followed to keep up with my updates :) As per usual, here is your chapter saiki pic!!
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