"Jhin, could you accompany me to buy some clothes?"
"Sure. It's rare for you to take the initiative to make a change like this."
In a bedroom filled with a faint, girlish fragrance, Kato Megumi lay on her stomach on the soft large bed. Her slender, pale hands held her phone, and upon seeing Jhin's reply pop up on the screen, she turned over and rolled around on the bed twice before finally getting up.
"Isn't it a bit too rash to invite Jhin like this? After all, he is a harem protagonist..." Kato Megumi muttered to herself, though not a trace of the worry implied by her words could be heard in her flat tone.
She opened her wardrobe. No matter how she looked at it, the clothes inside seemed excessively plain. It wasn't that she thought plain was bad, but to solve the problem of her thin presence, she had to make changes to make herself stand out.
Appearance was innate, and growing long hair couldn't be accomplished in a short time, so she could only choose to start with her attire.
Using a more intimate form of address with Jhin previously had indeed raised her presence a bit within Mihama Academy. However, the effect was limited to the school grounds. Once she left the school, she was still that girl who would be subconsciously ignored by others, like a drop of rain flowing into the sea—silent and traceless.
It wouldn't be good to waste time agonizing over clothing issues in her room, so Kato Megumi simply closed her eyes and pointed; she would wear whatever she landed on. They were all quite plain anyway, so no matter what she chose, it wouldn't make much of a splash.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Hearing her voice, Jhin looked up. He was just preparing to compliment Kato Megumi's outfit, but after his gaze circled her for a long time, he simply couldn't find any adjectives other than 'ordinary' and 'plain'.
To be able to dress to this extent... Saint Megumi, as expected of you!
"I think it's better if you don't let your gaze wander all over a girl's body. Be careful, or I'll call the police and have you taken away." Although Kato Megumi said this, she made no move to cover herself, walking openly and naturally up to Jhin.
Jhin shook his head with a bitter smile. "Megumi, I think I know why you wanted me to come out and buy clothes. Your usual clothes... are just too plain."
"As I thought, you think so too."
"Although simplicity is also a form of beauty, when it's on you... well, you know."
"I'm just like a mob character in an anime who wouldn't survive past two episodes, right?"
"You really don't show any mercy when roasting yourself."
"Because it's the truth."
"However, I didn't expect you to watch anime. I thought your interests would be closer to those of a normal high school girl."
Kato Megumi blinked, her eyelashes trembling slightly. She asked curiously, "Do you not see Sawamura-san as a high school girl?"
"Eriri naturally is one." Jhin shook his head, denying Kato Megumi's implication. Judging by appearance, surely no one would think Eriri didn't look like a high school girl. "But her interests are mostly the same as mine, so... they aren't like a girl's interests."
"I feel like Sawamura-san would get angry if she heard that. No matter what you say, she is still a girl."
"Uh... You wouldn't tell her that, would you?"
"That's troubling. Should I tell Sawamura-san or not..." Kato Megumi tapped her cheek lightly with her finger, the corners of her mouth carrying a hint of a smug smile.
Jhin's reaction was even bigger than she imagined. He clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "That's it! Megumi! It's exactly that kind of little gesture!"
"? What are you talking about?" Kato Megumi looked dazed.
"Your expression and movement just now! If you had more moments like that in your daily life, you could absolutely become an eye-catching beautiful girl!"
"Did I do some special movement or expression just now?" Kato Megumi was even more confused; she didn't remember her actions at all.
Jhin imitated her appearance from a moment ago. "Just like this. You follow me and do it again."
"Pfft... Jhin, your expression right now is so strange." Kato Megumi covered her mouth and chuckled covertly. Jhin's action looked very goofy to her—a boy poking his cheek and smiling mischievously or something.
"Nonsense, this is what you looked like just now. Of course it's strange for a guy like me to do it." Jhin kept a straight face. "If you laugh again, I won't go shopping for clothes with you."
"Sorry, I'll try." Kato Megumi put away her smile and posed according to Jhin's previous demonstration. Clearly, she had no talent for performance; the corners of her mouth twitched forcedly, and the action of tapping her cheek looked more like she was poking her face.
"Forget it. It seems that was just an accidental event. Trying to get you to replicate it is basically unlikely."
"Was I really that stunning just now?"
Jhin clicked his tongue, his heart filled with regret. He hadn't pulled out his personal terminal to take a picture of that scene. "If I used a word like 'stunning', I guess you wouldn't believe it either. How should I put it... You were like a flower bud with morning dew dripping onto it, blooming towards the sunlight in that instant. It was memorable."
"Even if you say such pretty words to praise me, I won't relax my guard against you."
"I'm just telling the truth, I'm not harboring an attitude of wanting to seduce you."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Hearing you say that is actually a little hurtful too."
"I think we should stop this topic." Jhin didn't want to continue; in this kind of conversation, the guy was the only one who would lose no matter what. "Aren't we going to buy clothes?"
"That's true. Let's go."
...
"Jhin, what do you think of this piece?" Kato Megumi picked out a bright red knitted cardigan and asked.
"Megumi, you don't think that eye-catching clothes just mean the color has to be bright, do you?"
"Because that's the simplest way."
"What you say makes sense..." Jhin actually couldn't find a reason to refute her for a moment, but he stuck to his opinion. "You should still choose some clothes that have more of a girlish aura."
"Girlish aura? What counts as that?"
Jhin couldn't say for sure either. After all, this concept was very vague, and often directly linked to personal personality. If Irisu Makina went out wearing literally anything, people would still feel she was a lively and active girl.
As for Kato Megumi... it felt like she could wear any clothing and make it look utterly unremarkable.
Jhin rubbed his chin with his hand and tentatively offered a suggestion: "How about... you try a maid outfit?"
"As expected, you are plotting something improper against me."
"Just kidding. Try this one, and this one." Jhin selected two pieces that looked inexplicably familiar to him and gave them to Kato Megumi, telling her to go into the fitting room to try them on.
It was Kato Megumi's first time trying on clothes picked out by a boy. It felt a bit strange, but she still changed into them and pulled open the curtain of the fitting room.
"What do you think?"
A pink hoodie jacket, a white one-piece pleated dress—isn't this the Saint Megumi Championship Skin!?
Jhin never expected that this outfit of Kato Megumi's was actually selected by him. A sentence suddenly popped into his mind.
Whoever dares to provoke me, I will end her life—Kato Megumi Championship Loadout has been equipped with one click.
____
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