Her favorite white summer dress with blue jeans and sneakers. Komi moved from side to side, examining herself in the mirror. She double-checked to make sure her outfit was well-put together...then she triple-checked.
Satisfied with her appearance, she nodded to herself and then stepped out of her bedroom door. As she passed by the living room, her mother called her.
"Shouko! Are you going to meet your literature friends at the mall now?" She asked.
"Mhmm." Komi nodded.
"Oh, how fun! Don't forget to take your purse! And carry some money on you, okay? And it might rain today, so you should bring an umbrella just in case. And now that I think about it-" Komi's mother started to overwhelm her daughter with suggestions, gathering some of things she would need and giving them to her all at once.
Now armed and ready for her trip to the mall, Komi made the walk to her local mall in the city. As she got close, she took a moment to glance up at the sky; she saw that the clouds were starting to roll in. Perhaps it might rain later after all.
Komi suddenly paused, feeling uncomfortable as she sensed eyes on her. She looked around at the people around her. With a sudden jolt, people continued on their way normally. Komi nervously hurried into the shopping mall.
She took a moment to catch her breath before looking around. She had been to this mall before, but she wasn't entirely sure where the food court was – that's where she had agreed to meet up with Natsuki and Sayori.
She stopped by the nearest directory, tracing her finger across the map until she found the right place. She nodded in confirmation and went on her way. Once she had reached the food court, she took another look around...
But she couldn't find Sayori and Natsuki anywhere. She began to shake nervously again, feeling lost as her eyes frantically scanned through the crowds. It was a busy weekend day, however, so it would be all too easy to gloss over two particular faces amongst the sea of people.
"Komi! You're here already!" Sayori called to her, jogging in her direction while smiling and waving. She had on an oversized purple hoodie that had one white sleeve and one gray sleeve, along with black leggings and sneakers.
"Hello, Sayori. I like your outfit." Komi greeted her, holding up her notebook after writing it down.
"Aww thanks! I wanted to try something different today, so I stole this hoodie from a friend," She said with a giggle, twirling back and forth. "I looove your outfit. The dress is super cute! And it looks great with jeans actually! I never would've thought about that!" She complimented her.
Komi's cheeks went red, and she began to feel flustered and heated because she didn't know how to respond. A simple 'thank you' didn't seem like enough, and yet she couldn't come up with anything else – nothing that would match the energy of Sayori's compliment.
She fidgeted awkwardly in place for a few brief moments before she was saved by Natsuki arriving and joining them.
"Hey! Man, you two are all punctual today, huh? Even you, Sayori!" Natsuki teased her with a light laugh.
Natsuki had on a black sleeveless top with white lettering on it, along with a red and black plaid skirt and white sneakers. Her hair was tied up with her usual red ribbons, which matched the skirt. Komi's eyes widened upon seeing her.
"I'm engaging in better habits!" Sayori said proudly in response to Natsuki's comment.
"Heheh, well better late than never. I'm glad at least the three of us could...whoa, Komi? Wh-What're you looking at me like that for?" Natsuki asked in concern after noticing that Komi was staring at her with big eyes, leaning closer while breathing heavily in and out of her nose.
"I'm super excited! I've never been on a shopping trip with friends before!" Sayori exclaimed.
"Really? Well, I guess that's not a huge surprise. I used to go all the time. What about you, Komi?" Natsuki asked curiously, "Probably not, right?" She presumed.
Komi answered by holding up one shaky finger.
"Oh, really? What did you guys do?" Natsuki asked curiously.
"We picked some potential outfits for me to wear. That's how I found this dress." She wrote her answer.
"What?! No way! That sounds super fun! We should totally do that!" Sayori said excitedly, jumping up and down with her hands on both of their shoulders.
"Heheheh, alright, alright! Komi, you pick out a store, and we'll all try to find brand new outfits." Natsuki decided.
"Let's do it! I know you wanna stock up on more cute clothes, Natsuki." Sayori said with a giggle.
"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Natsuki asked, raising an eyebrow while resting the back of her wrist against her hip.
"You always pick out the cutest clothes to wear! And you always look super cute wearing them!" Sayori said with a smile. Natsuki blushed in embarrassment and looked away.
"Hey, I-I'm not cute. You know I hate when you tease me like that." She muttered.
"I think you look really cute, Natsuki." Komi complimented her. Natsuki's eyes widened a little. She gritted her teeth slightly as she choked back the response she wanted to give.
"Urk! Come on, you two. You're embarrassing me! Let's just go to the shop already!" Natsuki said, retreating from the conversation and leading the way out of the food court.
The three girls made their way through the mall. Sayori was chatting away to Komi, but Natsuki was distracted from the conversation because she was starting to notice that a lot of people there were looking in their general direction...
An unfortunate side effect of hanging out with Komi.
Komi pointed them to a store that she had been to before with Tadano and her other friends. She was nervous about attempting to pick out clothes herself – she wasn't used to that.
However, before they could get started, they were approached by a certain Naijimi-like individual.
"Hey, Komi! Didn't expect to see you here, especially without Tadano!" Naijimi greeted her with a laugh. Komi blushed in embarrassment at the comment.
"Hi! Are you one of Komi's friends?" Sayori asked curiously.
"That's right! Naijimi Osana at your service!" Naijimi greeted her with a smile.
"Nice to meet ya, Naijimi! I'm Sayori! And this is our friend, Natsuki!" Sayori introduced the both of them as she shook hands with Naijimi.
"Nice to meet you." Natsuki said formally.
"The pleasure's all mine! Any friend of Komi's is my friend too! So whatcha three up to? Just hanging out? Picking out some cute clothes?" Naijimi asked curiously.
"That's right." Natsuki answered with a nod.
"Sounds fun! You know last time we were here, we all made a game out of picking out outfits for Komi to try on." Naijimi brought up.
"Ooh really?! That sounds super fun! We should try that, Komi!" Sayori said to her. Komi flinched in surprise.
"Hmm," Natsuki stroked her chin and turned to look at Komi. "You know, I might actually have some ideas of things you could wear, Komi." She said.
Komi flinched again and started to get nervous as she realized that she was about to become the center of attention.
"Then it's settled! Let the second round of the Komi outfit battle royale begin! For all of you at home, the rules will be exactly the same as before!" Naijimi declared.
So Naijimi and the two girls quickly set off to find outfits for Komi that would look nice and fit into her budget. Komi looked back and forth in shock as she was suddenly left alone. She was forced to wait for the others to return now.
"Alright! As the one with the most experience in this game, I'll go first to show you how it's done!" Naijimi decided, "Behold! My pick for Komi's new outfit!"
Komi came out of the dressing booth wearing a white collared shirt underneath a black sweater with a white heart over the left breast. Naijimi paired that top with black ripped jeans, a studded belt, and black leather boots.
"Ooh, that looks so cool!" Sayori exclaimed.
"It's giving...edgy girl pop idol energy." Natsuki said out loud. "Man, it's the perfect combination of goth and cuteness. This Naijimi person really knows their stuff." She thought to herself.
"Judges, your ratings out of 10?" Naijimi gestured to Natsuki and Sayori.
"It's an 8 from me!" Sayori said.
"A 7 from me. I would've paired that top with leggings and a skirt." Natsuki chimed in.
"Shoot, you're right! Komi? Your rating?" Naijimi asked.
Komi fidgeted awkwardly before settling on a 6. No, a 7.
"You always get a 10 from me, Komi!" Yamai said enthusiastically.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Natsuki said in surprise.
"Alright! 32 points out of 40! Talk about coming out strong out of the gate! Who's next?" Naijimi asked.
"Alright! That was nice, but now it's my turn! Try this on for size!" Natsuki exclaimed. She was now starting to get into the competitive nature of this game.
Next up for Komi was a red sweater with extra fabric at the ends of her sleeves. Natsuki matched this top with a long black dress and dress shoes. Natsuki smiled proudly, resting her fists on her hips.
"You look so nice, Komi! Like you're going out to a fancy restaurant!" Sayori pointed out.
Komi pressed a hand on her cheek and tilted her head downwards. She agreed with Sayori's comment, and she also did like the look.
"Don't forget your ratings!" Naijimi reminded Sayori.
"Oh yeah! Hmm...7!" She decided.
"That's one less point than what you gave Naijimi's! Who's side are you on here?!" Natsuki pointed out.
"I really like both! I'm just being honest!"
"It's a 7 from me too. It's nice, but it just doesn't scream 'going out casually', you know?" Naijimi said with a smug chuckle.
"Grr," Natsuki growled. "What about you, Komi?" She asked.
Komi thought about it for a few moments before deciding on a 9.
"Wow! A 9?! Uh, uh, Yamai?! Your rating?!" Naijimi tried.
"10 points just isn't enough to properly measure the beauty of our goddess, Komi." Yamai said with an adoring sigh.
"How many points is that?" Sayori asked.
"Uhh...10 plus 9 plus two 7's, so that's 14...33! Ha! 33! I beat you by one point!" Natsuki pointed to Naijimi once she realized her victory.
"Aww man! So close. Shoot!" Naijimi sighed, accepting defeat.
"Maybe next time don't make Komi look like a K-Pop stan," Natsuki teased with a laugh. "Ahem. Now it's your turn." She gestured to Sayori.
"Oh, me?! Right! Uhh...well to be honest, Komi, I don't know too much about your preferences." Sayori said. Komi grabbed her notebook and started writing.
"I'm not picky." She wrote her response to Sayori.
"Okay! Well here's something I think you'd like! I made sure to get something both cute and comfy!" Sayori smiled and held the clothes out to her. Komi nodded appreciatively as she took them and disappeared behind the dressing room curtain once more.
Komi emerged from the booth wearing a white long sleeve top with see-through fabric for the sleeves, along with washed-out blue jeans and brown open-toe sandals. She crossed one arm across her body and held onto the other one in a shy manner.
"10! 10 10 10 10 10!" Yamai chanted, applauding enthusiastically.
"Wow, Sayori! You actually knocked it out of the park! That's a 9." Natsuki nodded approvingly.
"I've been beaten again...8." Naijimi muttered.
"Haha, maybe we should change our name to the fashion club!" Sayori joked and giggled, "So what do you think, Komi? Do you like it?" She asked.
Komi paused for a few seconds before holding up a 10.
"Yayyy! Looks like that's the one!" Sayori cheered.
"A near perfect score. Incredible," Naijimi said quietly. "Haha well that was fun! I gotta get going! I've got 3 more appointments to get to. Nice meeting you guys!" Naijimi waved and trotted off.
"Byeee! Nice meeting you!" Sayori waved back. "I like him. He seems nice." She said to the others with a smile.
"That was a dude?" Natsuki asked bluntly.
Komi shrugged.
"That was fun picking out clothes! Now that Komi has her outfit, I want you to pick one for me too!" Sayori said, doing a quick spin in place.
"Sure! But no competing this time, haha. I got pretty worked up." Natsuki said with a sheepish chuckle.
"Can I joinnn?" Yamai requested.
"Sorry, I just don't have the energy to pretend like I want you hanging out with us." Natsuki answered sarcastically.
"Tch. Whatever. I didn't wanna hang out with you anyways. Later," Yamai waved Natsuki off and started to leave. Then she turned back around and spoke to Komi in a higher voice. "Bye, Komi! I miss you already! See you at school!
"Maybe think about getting better friends like me, okay?" She winked and ran off.
"That was kinda mean, Natsuki." Sayori pointed out.
"What? She's been mean to us. All I did was give her a little sass. She'll be fine." Natsuki brushed it off.
"I get confused by the way you speak sometimes, Natsuki." Komi wrote.
"Confused by the way I speak? What do you mean, Komi?" Natsuki asked, raising her eyebrow with a concerned expression.
"Sometimes you say things that I think mean one thing, but you actually mean something else." Komi explained.
"Oh! That's just sarcasm! That's kind of how it works." Natsuki said with an ironic chuckle.
"How does it work?" Komi asked, looking embarrassed that she had to ask.
"Uhh...I've never had to explain it before. It's kinda like...you exaggerate things that you say so that the other person knows you're joking or whatever." She sloppily explained.
"I think I understand. I would like to try it." Komi requested.
"You want to try being sarcastic?" Natsuki asked with a laugh.
Komi nodded her head yes.
"I can't see you having an attitude like that, Komi. You're too sweet and nice," Sayori said with a giggle. "For Natsuki, it just comes naturally." She added.
"Hey!"
"Kidding!" Sayori laughed at this too.
"Uhuh." Natsuki chuckled in response.
"Well I think that Sayori is the meanest." Komi wrote.
"Huh? But I'm not meannn." Sayori said with furrowed eyebrows.
"She's kidding, Sayori." Natsuki translated.
"Huh...? Ohh! You were trying to be sarcastic!" She realized.
"Did I do it wrong?" Komi trembled a little with worry.
"Well the idea was right, but I think it works better spoken aloud, Komi." Natsuki said.
Komi paused for a moment. She looked down at what she had written and stared at the page for a couple seconds before lowering her notebook dejectedly. Sensing this, Sayori quickly changed the focus of the conversation.
"Hey, we still gotta find some more outfits. I wanna see what you pick out for me, Komi." She suggested, putting a hand on her arm.
"Hm?" Komi lifted her head and considered this before she wrote: "I've never really picked out clothes before. I'm not sure what you would like." She expressed unsurely.
"That's fine! Just pick something you would like and I'll try it!" Sayori said with a smile.
Komi thought about this...and then her face lit up once she had an idea. She started writing quickly, "This is the store where I got this white dress from. Would you like that?" She asked.
"Ooh yes! Let's hurry and find it!" Sayori nodded excitedly.
"I'll try one too." Natsuki agreed.
They ended up buying matching dresses...