LIGHTNOVELONLINE “What the…?”
“Don’t just stand there, try this on first.”
“Yeah! It’s a waste not to use that pretty face of yours!”
“……”
I definitely finished my work as usual and left earlier than planned, just like yesterday.
I had finished my afternoon tasks and was planning to rest in my room before dinner.
With an hour or two to spare, I honestly just wanted to relax.
But my plans didn’t exactly unfold as I hoped.
Well…
“Why the heck am I in a store?”
“Well, you always wear formal clothes, right? Even on weekends, you wear only shirts or whatever… It’s not like you’re going to wear something revealing like at the last company dinner.”
I found myself in a clothing store.
And it was sudden.
The Commander and Midori unexpectedly dragged me in, and before I knew it, we were in the car headed here.
I was just trying to leave work when they grabbed me and brought me along…
“……”
“Hurry up and try it on! If you don’t!”
“If I don’t?”
“Uh… there’s no helping it.”
“….”
I really don’t understand why they care so much about my outfit.
I wasn’t even thinking about clothes at all.
It was kind of ridiculous that the other two were more concerned about my clothes than I was.
But… well, they were doing it for me.
I decided not to think too poorly of it.
“Okay. Hand it over.”
“Alright, go try it on.”
“…Yes.”
The good thing is that it wasn’t a skirt.
It wasn’t even a bottom; it was a top, so it couldn’t be a skirt.
But still, looking at the design, it didn’t seem too problematic.
Just normal casual wear—no exposure, nothing strange about it.
-Swish!
Anyway, I took the clothes and headed into the fitting room.
It was absurd to suddenly come to a clothing store in Babil, but it was an act of kindness directed at me.
I figured I might as well accept the favor and try the clothes on.
“Hmm…”
Well, I had a pretty face, after all.
So of course, even clothes sold in a regular store would look good on me.
It was just a plain knit.
Just a regular gray knit.
“……”
I put it on.
Yeah, I put it on.
Maybe because I usually wore shirts and suits and pajamas?
Wearing a knit felt awkward in many ways.
It felt really… really awkward.
“Is it because of my chest…?”
Honestly, it felt strange in every way.
When I wore shirts, they pressed against my chest just right, but this knit didn’t do that at all.
Because of that, my chest, which was already on the bigger side, felt even larger.
-Swish…
“…What do you think? It’s my first time wearing something like this… so I’m feeling a bit awkward.”
“Ah wow…”
“……”
“Why is there no answer?”
Neither Midori nor the Commander responded.
I stepped out feeling awkward with less pressure on my chest.
But the ones who told me to wear it were totally silent.
“Commander? Midori?”
“Ah wow wow…”
“……”
“Can I get an answer…?”
Honestly, the silence was so frustrating.
I didn’t even come in here first; they dragged me here!
Why were they so quiet?
Am I not pulling it off?
I mean, Lindera’s looks were above average, so I didn’t think I would look bad.
But with their lack of reaction, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Could it be bad?
I thought it looked okay.
But besides my own opinion, who knows what others thought?
“Ah… ah…”
“Why are you acting this way? This isn’t like you, Commander.”
“…It’s nothing.”
“Then that’s a relief. But what about it? I don’t know if it was chosen by Midori or you, but I think the outfit itself is pretty.”
To begin with, if it’s ordinary, then most of the time it wouldn’t be bad.
Well, neither of them had any ill feelings toward me, and they had brought me here, so there was no way they’d hand me something weird.
So I was just thinking it wasn’t bad; it was pretty.
But with both of them not replying, I didn’t know what to think.
“…It’s pretty. Definitely… feels very different from a suit.”
“Is that so? It definitely has a different feel from a suit.”
“Ugh! It really is … um… nice!”
“Thank you for the compliment. Midori and Commander, I don’t know which of you picked it, but you clearly have good taste.”
Their reaction was a bit delayed, but at least it didn’t seem bad.
Still, I couldn’t understand why they were so late to respond.
“Wow… this is unbelievable…?”
“…Just be quiet.”
“What were you two talking about?”
I was distracted checking my fit in the mirror when I heard a noise coming from behind.
I didn’t catch what they were saying, but they were definitely talking about something.
Were they… having a thing?
Midori sometimes acted weird, but she was cute, so I got it.
“It’s nothing.”
“Y-yeah! We literally weren’t saying a thing!”
“…?”
“By the way, why don’t we look at some other clothes? We came out today since we had the time, but we might not get another chance.”
“Is that okay?”
Since Midori said it first.
Also, I… honestly had no clothes other than formal wear, and it was a bit of a hassle.
I could say shirts wouldn’t be a problem, but I still needed other clothes.
If the weather suddenly got extremely hot, I wouldn’t last in just a shirt.
Of course, even beyond that, I wanted some variety.
“Then I’ll look for other clothes.”
Normally, I would’ve refused, but… it wasn’t that bad.
Was shopping this fun?
I’d never thought about this before.
Just browsing through clothes was surprisingly pleasant, and I wanted to see more.
Of course, I would check out a few things, buy a little, and head back.
“Commander, don’t you need other clothes?”
“Me?”
“Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in anything other than uniforms.”
I wasn’t doing it because I had keen observation skills.
It was just that I spent the most time with the Commander!
There was no way I couldn’t have noticed!
“Why don’t you get some different types of clothes too, Commander? You’re tall, and your face is… pretty decent, so I’m sure almost anything would suit you.”
I figured if I mentioned an add-on compliment, he might be more inclined, even if it wasn’t much of a compliment.
I mean, he really was over 180cm and… honestly, it was almost frustrating how good-looking he was.
If I had known him when I was a guy, I would’ve definitely teased him while drinking!
Not that I actually disliked how good-looking he was.
“Y-yeah! Commander! Let’s shop together! Huh? Since Lindera asked, it would be pretty bad if you refused.”
“Is that so…? Is it really necessary?”
“Hey! A true gentleman never leaves a lady in need!”
“Hmm…”
“Right? Right?”
“Uhm… I guess so?”
Midori suddenly hung onto me and asked like that, so I replied.
I really had no idea why she was acting that way all of a sudden.
Oh, maybe Midori wanted to see the Commander in something other than a suit?
That definitely made sense.
Casual wear would surely be more interesting to look at than formal wear.
“Commander, how about this hoodie? Or a coat? It wouldn’t hurt you to have a nice coat since you have good proportions.”
“…Anything is fine.”
“Then I’ll do just that. It would be great to prepare something casual for you as well.”
“Wouldn’t that be hot? I mean, it’s a coat.”
As soon as coats came up, the Commander said that.
But that concern wasn’t really an issue at all.
In fact, it was more a concern to find other clothes.
“Don’t worry too much. Babil 07 where our ship is… has no summer.”
“…What?”
“When winter comes, it only gets a bit cold, but the climate doesn’t change much for a year.”
Well, it’s due to Kritienium and pollution and stuff.
I heard that’s why it ended up like that.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand it at all.
I mean, this isn’t Greenland or anything. No summer? That’s nonsense.
It sounded utterly ridiculous.
“Don’t stress too much about it. Babil is quite different from regular climates.”
“Ha…”
That was a perplexed tone.
Of course, it made sense.
If I had been suddenly thrown into this world not knowing the original story, I would’ve been really upset!
I mean, I had no clue at all!
It wasn’t much, but still, phew.
“Let’s just pick out some clothes first. I’d recommend thicker ones since spring is still a bit away.”
“Ha… got it. I’ll leave it to your judgment.”
He’s leaving the clothing coordination to me.
It felt a bit unfair.
It was originally because Midori kept asking, and I just went along with it.
Somehow, it felt like I had transitioned into being the Commander’s helper.
“…Where did Midori go?”
She was following us at first.
But now she had vanished, and I had no idea where she went.
“…Let’s just keep shopping.”
“Yeah, I don’t do this often, so I’m not really sure. You’ll need to guide me.”
“Hah. Hah…”
I also didn’t really know much about shopping.
Hmm.
I think I might’ve messed this up.
Really.
If I hadn’t brought it up at all, I could’ve just bought my own clothes and been done with it.