Inside the Video Store on Sixth Street.
"Aya, you were really too reckless this time."
Ling looked at Hoshimi Aya, covered in bandages, her heart aching.
She should have spoken up and reminded her back then, otherwise, with Hoshimi Aya's strength, she wouldn't have sustained such serious injuries.
"Ling, I'm really fine."
"It's all that quack doctor's fault for bandaging me up like this."
"Ling, don't look at me with such a pitiful expression, I'm truly fine."
"If you don't believe me, I can unwrap the bandages and show you. It's really just a minor abrasion."
Hoshimi Aya started to undo the bandages on herself to prove that she only had slight scrapes.
But she was stopped by Ling.
"Aya, I didn't say I don't believe you."
"Didn't the doctor say so?"
"You have to go back in a couple of days to change the bandages. Don't take this one off now that it's just been applied."
"Get your injury healed first. Don't exercise for the next few days."
Ling held Hoshimi Aya's hand with concern.
Of course, seeing Hoshimi Aya get hit had terrified her, but thankfully, she was alright, just a bit injured.
"I'm really fine!"
Saying that, Hoshimi Aya tried to get up to prove she could jump around, completely fine.
But as soon as she stood up, Ling pressed her back onto the sofa.
"Aya, stop messing around."
"You just got these bandages wrapped on. Don't do any strenuous exercise."
"We'll talk about it once your injuries are healed."
Ling warned her.
Hoshimi Aya:...
At this point, nothing she said would be useful.
It was all that damned quack doctor's fault for wrapping her up like this.
They were clearly just minor scrapes, but he insisted on wrapping her like a mummy.
Who wouldn't think she was seriously injured looking at this?
"Ling, I think it's necessary to get Aya a set of clothes for fighting in The Hollow."
"At the time, we thought there was no way Aya could get hurt, so we only bought regular clothes that wouldn't be corroded by Aether."
"Now it seems this money couldn't be saved. We must get a few sets for Aya."
"Sister, what do you think?"
Zhe asked, after all, buying professional combat uniforms required a lot of money, especially custom-made ones.
"I think it's fine. Specialized combat uniforms will definitely offer some protective effect."
"At least they'll be better than what we bought before."
Ling agreed. When they chose clothes for Hoshimi Aya back then, they never considered that someone of Aya's strength level could get injured.
They weren't going to dangerous places like Hollow No. 0, so they never considered the possibility of injury. They only bought clothes that looked better and wouldn't be corroded by Aether.
And these clothes had a drawback: they were easily damaged and offered no protective function whatsoever.
Originally, given Hoshimi Aya's strength, they never considered she would get hurt.
Now it seemed that protective gear was quite necessary.
"...Ling, Zhe, why don't you just modify the set I had at the beginning?"
"Custom tailoring is quite expensive, forget it."
Hoshimi Aya suggested, seeing that the two were determined to get her combat uniforms.
The set she got when she first traversed over, the H.S.O.S 6 uniform, was already quite good quality, complete with arm guards and combat boots.
It was just that the elements of HAND Special Operations Team Class Six were too prominent on it, making it too flashy.
But modifying clothes would certainly be cheaper than custom-making them.
After all, the two of them had proposed getting her specialized combat attire before, but when she saw the several zeros [in the price], she refused without a second thought.
Moreover, if they bought those, the next few months they would only be able to eat instant noodles.
So that matter had been dropped.
She hadn't expected it to be brought up again after this incident.
"That works too, but first, you'll modify that set of clothes."
"Later, we'll order two more sets according to these specifications."
"What if there's a commission that requires us to go to The Hollow for several days? We need clothes to change into, right?"
Ling pondered.
Zhe nodded upon hearing Ling's words.
"Leave the design work to me."
"Sister, go take a picture of Aya wearing that set of clothes."
"I'll sketch out a draft first, then hire a professional to refine it."
Zhe thought.
Ling nodded in response, pulling Hoshimi Aya upstairs. She remembered that set of clothes was washed and put into a box.
Hoshimi Aya hadn't worn it again since changing out of it, probably because it was too eye-catching.
Soon, Ling took a picture of Hoshimi Aya wearing the H.S.O.S 6 uniform and sent it to Zhe.
"Aya, you look quite pretty in a skirt. Why don't you wear them?"
Ling looked at Hoshimi Aya in confusion. Weren't her slender black-stockinged legs quite nice? Straight and long.
She couldn't figure out why Hoshimi Aya was so insistent on pants, and couldn't she wear a skirt?
"...Skirts like that are inconvenient during combat."
"If it's something like what I'm wearing now, I can try wearing it."
Hoshimi Aya was silent. The skirts Ling picked for her before would definitely expose her if she ran. How could she possibly wear those?
But the skirt from the H.S.O.S 6 uniform wouldn't.
And it wouldn't affect her combat or running either.
"Is that so?"
"Alright, it seems that from now on, when picking clothes, I can only choose ones suitable for fighting."
Ling reflected, having understood the meaning behind Hoshimi Aya's words.
She wouldn't wear clothes that weren't conducive to fighting.
Come to think of it, the skirts she picked for Hoshimi Aya back then were all for daily wear, completely unsuitable for combat or exercise.
No wonder Hoshimi Aya flatly refused back then; that was the reason.
She had thought it was because Hoshimi Aya disliked skirts.
It turned out the skirts chosen back then would interfere with combat.
If the skirts chosen back then didn't interfere with fighting, could she see an Aya who frequently wore skirts?
"...I have enough clothes."
"Besides, aren't you getting me combat uniforms?"
"There's no need to buy me skirts specifically just so I can wear them."
Hoshimi Aya was silent, trying to dispel Ling's idea of buying her skirts.
Although she didn't mind wearing a skirt, she couldn't wear one every day.
...
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