Hinata was sitting at a long table, eating lunch with a few friends. Komaeda sat at a table next to them, eating lunch alone.
"There are just no hot guys at this school!" A girl complained.
"Wow thanks," Another guy muttered.
"Like, no offense, but come on! I want a tall guy with muscles and stuff! Not some twink like you,"
"You can't just say 'no offense' and then insult me!" The guy yelled. "Besides, there's plenty good-looking guys here,"
"Oh yeah? Name one,"
"Me, for example," The boy said.
Hinata sighed and shook his head, continuing to eat.
"Hinata-kun! You know a bunch of people here, right?" The girl asked. "Are any of the boys you know attractive?"
As if on reflex, he looked over at Komaeda, who didn't seem to notice it.
"That guy?! He's like, super not masculine,"
Hinata shrugged. "I think Komaeda looks nice. He's got a pretty face, kind of like a model,"
At the next table, Komaeda almost choked on his food hearing this. He turned bright red, but pretended he didn't hear anything.
"A model? That guy? You have low standards,"
"Can you just stop talking shit about people you don't even know?" He hissed. "Maybe all the guys you find ugly think the same about you, ever thought of that? People aren't born to impress you,"
"No need to be so mean!" She grumbled. "At least I try to look good. That guy obviously doesn't even brush his hair,"
"He is pretty. And his personality is better than yours too." Hinata grabbed his things and walked over to Komaeda's table. The pale boy looked up from his food.
"Hinata-kun?"
"Can I sit with you?"
Komaeda smiled. "Of course!"
When he got home, Komaeda immediately told Yumi about what happened. "He said I have a pretty face! Me! Can you believe it? Ahaha! I'm so lucky!" He crouched down and ruffled her hair. "And guess what? He asked me to hang out tomorrow! He said we can meet up before lunch and go somewhere to eat since it'll be Saturday so we don't have school. But... there is a tiny problem." He opened his closet, revealing two school uniforms, a green jacket, a pair of jeans, a shirt and the outfit he wore last time they met up.
"I have nothing to wear. I have to go shopping, so you'll be alone for a while, 'kay? But I trust you. I know you're a good dog." He smiled and hugged her before leaving his room to go downstairs. He grabbed a backpack, his keys and a wallet. Then, he left.
Komaeda took a bus to go to the mall. He had a lot of money, but didn't spend a lot of it on himself. Since he didn't have parents, no one was there to teach him about money. He also didn't have any self-esteem however, which made him refrain from buying things for himself. He spent a bunch of money on Yumi though, making sure to only get her the best food, toys and blankets.
Today was different. He wanted to buy pretty clothes. He told himself he was doing it for Hinata so it was okay, but deep down he knew a big part of him just wanted to dress up for himself too. The pale boy entered the first clothing store he saw and looked around.
"Komaeda-san!" A voice called out to him and he turned around. There stood Sonia, Koizumi, Saionji and Tsumiki.
"Oh, what a surprise to see you guys here,"
"A-are you looking for clothes?" Tsumiki asked.
"No, dumbass, he wants to buy a pet!" Saionji said sarcastically.
"Don't be mean, Hiyoko-chan!" Koizumi scolded. "Anyway, are you looking for anything specific?"
Komaeda's cheeks heated up. Telling them about Hinata would be embarrassing.
"What's with the red face?" Koizumi asked.
"Ooh!" Sonia clapped her hands together. "I know what's going on. Komaeda-san is going on a date!"
"I-I'm sure it's not a date to him!" He responded.
"So I was right! You have a crush!" She smiled. "How romantic!"
"I-if it's not t-too rude... may I k-know who it is?" Tsumiki asked.
Komaeda grabbed onto the straps of his backpack, blushing even more now. Sonia giggled.
"You're so silly, Tsumiki-san! It is obvious who it is!"
"Y-you know?" She asked.
"Of course! It's Kuzuryuu-san,"
Komaeda tilted his head. "Huh? No, it's Hinata-kun," Then, he noticed the mistake he made.
Sonia giggled again. "You fell for my trick,"
"Hinata, huh?" Koizumi put a hand to her chin. "And you need new clothes for the date? We can help with that,"
"You'd really do that for trash like me?" He asked.
"Of course." Koizumi grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the dressing rooms. "You stay here and we'll bring you clothes that'll look cute, yeah? Unless you wanna choose them yourself,"
"No, that's okay! I trust you,"
A few minutes later, the three girls came back, without Sonia, carrying tons of clothes.
"I picked out the first outfit!" Saionji said proudly. It consisted of a bright yellow shirt, light blue Jean shorts, ballerina shoes and white socks. It was definitely Saionji's style.
"It's nice, but I don't think yellow is my color... apologies,"
"The next outfit is mine!" Koizumi announced. The outfit included a pair of dungarees and a light pink blouse.
"I like this one-"
"The pants look horrible on you. You look like dry spaghetti." Saionji stated, crossing her arms.
"I guess not then..." Komaeda sulked.
The next outfit was Tsumiki's. It was a flowy, short dress made out of light fabric. It was light Grey and had daisies stitched onto it. The shoes were the same ones from Saionji's outfit.
"N-not to sound a-arrogant, b-but I think my outfit looks very nice on you!" Tsumiki squeaked out.
"I've never worn a dress before..." Komaeda looked into the mirror. "But it's such a pretty dress. Hmm... No! No way! Hinata-kun will be disgusted with me!"
"A-ah! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I-I'm sorry!"
"Hey, both of you calm down." Koizumi put her hands on her hips, "Hinata won't judge you. I bet he'll think you look good, Komaeda,"
"Really?" He turned around to face her.
"Mhm! I truly believe that!" She smiled. Komaeda did too.
"Thank you..."
Then, Sonia walked towards them with her outfit. Or, well, outfits. She was carrying a huge stack of clothes and even had an employee of the store carry another one. "Apologies for taking so long!"
Koizumi shrieked. "There's no way Komaeda can afford all that!"
"No, I can," He stated, making Koizumi let out another shriek.
"I guess it makes sense Sonia-chan would be able to afford it, but you? How come?"
"I won the lottery." He said as he grabbed one of the clothing stacks and put it into the changing room.
She sighed. "Of course you did..."
Trying on all the clothes took an eternity, but Komaeda really liked Sonia's sense of fashion, so he bought everything she recommended to him.
"Thank you all so much for your help!" He bowed down in front of his classmates.
"That's right, bow down, peasant!" Saionji laughed.
"No need to bow, haha..." Koizumi nervously laughed.
Komaeda stood up straight again. "But really, thank you! I truly appreciate it! And... please don't tell anyone that I like him..."
"Your secret is safe with us!" Koizumi promised. "But only if you tell us as soon as he makes a move on you,"
"Oh, as if. Someone like Hinata-kun could never like me..."
"I-I'm sure he could," Tsumiki said. "Hinata-san really cares about you,"
"He does?"
"Y-yes! He always looks at you during class,"
Komaeda's cheeks heated up. "He does??"
"Yup!"
That evening, Yumi had to listen to everything that happened in great detail.