The next day, Burchard finds himself sitting in front of the decorative fountain of a shopping center. He casually looks down at his watch while saying to himself, "I'm a bit early so I probably won't see her for a bit."
With a thought coming to mind, he asks himself, "I'm not sure why she told me to meet her hear instead of us just walking together?"
He pulls out his phone and looks at the message he got from Yuzuru last night which reads, "inquiry: since you are still new to the area, Yuzuru was wondering if she can show you around the nearby shopping center?"
He looks at the message with intrigue while continuing, "and I don't remember giving her my number either?"
Figuring it wasn't important to mull over, he slides his phone back into his pocket then with something else coming to mind, he asks himself, "come to think of it, for the most part I've only seen her in her school uniform. Wonder what she's gonna wear?"
"Reply: if you look over here, you'll find out."
Caught off guard by the familiar monotone voice he hears coming from next to him and feeling a bit embarrassed that she heard him say that, he slowly looks over, only to be surprised to see a smiling Yuzuru standing there with her hair and make up done up while wearing a light blue strapped sundress decorated with a few tropical looking red and yellow flowers. Caught off guard by the stunning view before him, he found himself staring back at her wide eyed while all he was really able to do was think, "geez, she's more beautiful than I could have ever imagined."
Though she liked when he checked her out, she still felt a bit embarrassed and while turning a bit red, she glances away while asking in a slightly shaky tone, "request: could you please not stare at Yuzuru so intently?"
Her words seem to snap him out of the trance he found himself in and realizing what he was doing, he turned beet red and while looking away he blurts out, "sorry!"
Still feeling a bit embarrassed, she continued to look away while saying, "reassurance: it is fine. Yuzuru is okay with you staring, but her heart can only handle so much."
Starting to feel bad that he was negatively affecting her health, he looks back at her with a guilty smile while saying, "I usually try not to stare but it's kinda hard not to when you're looking this beautiful."
Caught off guard by the compliment, and with her heart fluttering uncontrollably, she could only turn redder and while still looking away, she responds, "gratitude: thank you for the compliment."
Though he was happy to hear this, the awkward silence that soon followed was a bit worrisome to him but before he could say anything, a still looking away Yuzuru asks, "inquiry: shall we start your tour?"
Glad for a away out of this awkward situation, he stands up and while smiling, he replies, "yeah, let's."
With a worrying thought coming to mind, he couldn't help but look around the area while saying, "I'm kinda worried though, this place is pretty big, and I don't wanna get separated."
After another moment of her standing there and silently looking away, she finally looks back at him and with a soft smile, she tells him, "reassurance: Yuzuru has already determined a way for us not to be separated."
A bit surprised to hear this, he asks, "oh really? What do you have...."
Fortunately for him, he wasn't able to fully ask his question but still gets his surprising answer when she walks up to and gently takes his hand. Caught off guard by the new turn of events, he could only turn a bit flushed in the cheeks while saying, "uh.... Yuzuru? What are you doing?"
With her grip on his hand unchanged, she continues to smile at him while replying, "rebuttal: if Yuzuru holds your hand then we can't get separated."
Though she did make a fair point, he still felt a bit embarrassed and since he wasn't sure if he could handle holding a cute girl's hand for so long, he was gonna argue but before he could say anything else, she seems to see the unease in his eyes which causes her to ask, "inquiry: does holding Yuzuru's hand make you feel embarrassed?"
With the redness in his cheeks a dead give away, all he could really do was look back at her guiltily while replying, "well yeah, I'm not used to holding hands with a cute girl."
Caught off guard by the sudden compliment, Yuzuru once more turns red and while looking away to hide her embarrassment, she simply responds, "surprise: oh.... That is surprising to hear."
With an embarrassed smile crossing his face, he couldn't help but chuckle sheepishly then says, "yeah, it's technically the second time that I can remember after our walk to school the other day."
While still looking away, she responds, "agreement: Yuzuru isn't used to holding hands with a boy either....
After standing there silently for a moment, which only adds to the nervousness he was feeling, Yuzuru finally looks back at him with a small smile while responding, "confirmation: then this will be good practice for you and Yuzuru."
A bit surprised to hear this, all he could really do was stare blankly at her while trying to figure out what to say but before he could, She starts pulling him towards the main shopping center while saying, "instruction: come, there is much that Yuzuru wishes to show you."
Now stopped in the main hall with multiple shops on either side of him, Burchard couldn't help but marvel at it all while thinking, "geez, this place is huge."
When she looks over at his dumbfounded expression, Yuzuru could only smile warmly while thinking to herself, "confirmation: he is quite adorable when he's lost for words."
Realizing something though, she quickly shakes her head back to reality and with a look of determination filling her expression, she continues her thought, "determination: Focus Yuzuru, you did not stay up all night planning this tour just to spend it staring at him?"
With a newfound resolve filling her, she starts to look around the area while thinking, "confirmation: the first stop Yuzuru wants to take should be...."
Her thought trails off when a different store comes into view. Though it wasn't what she was looking for, the mischievous idea it gives her was too much to overlook as she continues her thought, "reassurance: one little pit stop shouldn't affect Yuzuru's plan."
With Burchard still looking all around in amazement, she looks over at him with an innocent smile while asking, "inquiry: could you help Yuzuru with something?"
Her voice takes him back to reality, and as he looks back at her with intrigue, he asks, "okay. What do you need help with?"
While looking towards her destination, she starts to pull him there while replying, "reply: Yuzuru wishes to get your opinion on something?"
A bit surprised to hear this, he looks past her at the store that she was walking to but what he sees causes him to stop dead in his tracks while simultaneously turning red and going wide eyed. Noticing him stopping, she stops and looks back at him with fake confusion while asking, "inquiry: why did you stop?"
With his eyes still fixated on the store, all he could really do was reply, "uh.... Why are we going into a lingerie store?"
While continuing to look back at him with fake confusion she replies, "rebuttal: there is something here Yuzuru wishes to purchase but she wants to get your opinion on how she looks wearing it before buying it?"
Hearing this only causes his attention to turn to Yuzuru but before he could say anything, she looks back at him with her head tilted to the side and with a curious look, she asks, "inquiry: is something wrong?"
With panic setting in, he tries his best to look back at her innocently while asking, "I mean, this doesn't seem like the kind of place a guy should go? Don't want people thinking I'm a creep."
Her expression remains unchanged as she responds, "rebuttal: these creeps you speak of are the ones that go into these kinds of stores alone, however since Yuzuru is with you, you should not worry."
Though she made a good point, he still wanted to figure out a way out of not going in but before he could, she turns away and starts more or less dragging him into the store while saying, "confirmation: let us go, there are still other stops Yuzuru wishes to make after this."
With his fate sealed all he could do was drop his head in defeat while thinking, "this isn't going to end well."
Though they had passed multiple perfectly good chairs on the way, for some strange reason Yuzuru felt the need to leave him on the only chair that faces the dressing rooms. Now alone, all Burchard was really able to do was stare down at his phone while thinking, "for the love of god, do not look up at any merchandise or any of the customers in here! Even glancing up is a death sentence."
He notices someone walk up to him and even though they were standing directly in front of him, he still refused to look up from his phone until he hears a confused voice asking, "inquiry: Burchard?"
Since he recognized the voice, he slowly looks up only to see Yuzuru with her hands behind her back and looking back at him. After sighing in relief, he asks her, "you find what you were looking for?"
She nods in agreement though for some strange reason, a look of embarrassment slowly crosses her face while she asks, "inquiry: if Yuzuru wears it and shows you, could you tell her you're opinion?"
With her words slowly registering in his head, he goes wide eyed while asking, "uh-uh I-uh, what did you get?"
With her cheeks turning a bit red, she looks away while responding, "rebuttal: it's to embarrassing to say."
All he could do was look back at her confused while thinking, "and wearing it in front of me isn't embarrassing?"
Realizing something though, he asks, "If it's embarrassing, then you don't need to show me?"
While still looking away, she takes a step backwards into one of the changing rooms while responding, "rebuttal: it is important for Yuzuru to get your opinion."
Before he could protest, she grabs onto the change room's curtain while saying, "reassurance: it shouldn't take Yuzuru long."
With that, she swiftly closes the curtains and leaves a very nervous Burchard sitting there with his eyes darting around and thinking, "what's gonna happen? We barely know each other so it would be weird to let me see her in lingerie, right? Especially when she got super embarrassed when I almost saw up her skirt on the way to school the other day.... But she was so adamant on showing me something from this store...."
Before he could finish this thought, the curtains finally open which causes Burchard to instinctively look away. Now looking at a nearby wall, all he could think was, "nope! Can't look now, if I do then I'd just look suspicious."
He uses every fibre of his being to not look over, even when he hears her take a step out of the dressing room which only confuses him while thinking, "she's standing in the middle of the changing area? Does she not care if people see her in whatever she's trying on?"
Before he could fully comprehend everything that was happening, he gets interrupted by a nervous sounding Yuzuru asking, "inquiry: so Burchard, how do they look?"
While still refusing to look at her, he replies in a shaky tone, "I'm sure whatever you have on looks fine."
He hoped that this was a reasonable answer but when he hears her sigh in annoyance, he figures it wasn't, especially when she says, "annoyance: Yuzuru needs you to look at her to give a proper opinion?"
Still too embarrassed to look at her, he asks, "do I have to?"
After a brief pause she asks in a slightly embarrassed tone, "inquiry: please?"
Realizing that he had no choice at this point, he relents and after hesitating for another moment, he finally looks over at her but with a look of confusion slowly crossing his face, all he could really do was ask, "huh?"
A bit confused by his response, all Yuzuru was really able to asks was, "inquiry: is something the matter?"
Though he heard her question, he continues to look at her with confusion while asking, "uh.... Your still wearing your dress?"
Just like he said, Yuzuru was currently standing in front of him while still wearing her sundress, though what he said did cause her to look back at him suspiciously while asking, "suspicion: why do you seem disappointed to see Yuzuru still wearing clothing?"
With her words slowly clicking in his head, he turns beet red from embarrassment and while scrambling for a response, he blurts out, "I'm not disappointed! Just confused."
Even though she would normally be happy to see him this red, she continued to look at him suspiciously while asking, "inquiry: why are you confused?"
With the weight of her suspicious gaze becoming to much for him to handle, he slowly looks away but when he sees the different pieces of lingerie all around, he becomes even redder while mumbling, "uh-uh well uh...."
Before he could even form a proper sentence, he gets thrown off by the sound of someone forcibly stifling a laugh. Becoming confused, he slowly looks back, only to see Yuzuru holding both of her hands over her mouth in an attempt to stop her self from laughing. Becoming annoyed by this, he asks, "excuse me? what's so funny?"
Realizing that she was caught, she was able to stop laughing but continues to smile behind her hands while saying, "rebuttal: nothing is funny, now tell Yuzuru why you were confused?"
Now glaring at her, he snaps, "oh don't give me that. It's obvious that you're enjoying this."
While still smiling, she lowers her hands and while holding them behind her back, she responds, "rebuttal: is it wrong to enjoy teasing you?"
Still annoyed, he continues to glare at her but realizing something, he simply sighs in annoyance, then while rubbing the back of his head, he tells her, "No.... but its still embarrassing."
Seeing him standing there embarrassed causes her smile to grow while thinking, "satisfaction: though it rarely happens, seeing him embarrassed is quite amusing."
Realizing something though, she focuses while continuing her thought, "though yuzuru enjoyed embarrassing him, that is not why she is here."
With a new found feeling of determination. she takes his hand and pulls him out of his chair, then starts to guide him out of the store. While she did this a still annoyed Burchard asks, "did you seriously take me here just to mess with my head?"
Though she wanted to stay serious, she couldn't help but smile while replying, "reply: Maybe."
With her response only adding to his annoyance, he couldn't help but sigh then says, "can't believe you'd do all that without even buying anything."
For some strange reason, hearing this causes her to come to a stop and looks back at him with a raised eyebrow while saying, "rebuttal: Yuzuru did buy something."
Surprised to hear this, he asks, "really? What did you buy?"
She looks back at him silently, then with her cheeks turning a bit red, she looks away while replying, "reply: Yuzuru would rather not say."
With a general idea as to what she was talking about, he responds, "ah, you don't need to tell me."
While still looking away, she says, "rebuttal: but if you ask Yuzuru nicely, she may show you later."
Caught off guard by this, all he could do was look at her wide eyed while muttering, "wa-wa-wa."
Before he could form a proper sentence, he gets caught off guard by the sound of her laughing which causes him to sigh in annoyance then responds, "haha, very funny."
While still smiling she starts pulling him deeper into the mall while thinking, "confirmation: this is when the real fun begins.