[log] Tanegashima Shuuji & Tachibana An
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tennis_hellWho: Tanegashima Shuuji & Tachibana An
What: Shuuji and An go on a fancy date that involves a trip to the spa, picking out new fancy clothes, going to a lingerie store, and dinner. They also plan their next date. This went on for so long we finally just cut them off. :|
When: Late May???
Where: All over the damn place.
Rating: G as can be
An let out a sigh as she sat herself down in the lobby of the spa that she had spent the last few hours with Shuuji getting various things done. She hadn’t expected him to actually be serious when he had invited her out on a date again and not to mention the sort of plan he had for them.
At first she thought about saying no but then figured it didn’t have to be serious and he seemed like a nice guy so why not? An needed a good distraction from the thoughts that had been bubbling up in her head as of late.
They had pretty much done everything from pedicures to massages to even make up and going through the hair salon. While this all felt like a little too much? An decided that she’d just go with the flow for now since it seemed like this was the life that Shuuji was used too.
She fiddled with the slightly curled ends of her now shortened hair as she waited for Shuuji to finish up.. The stylist was certainly happy when he asked what she would like to do and just said to cut it up to the nape of her neck, it certainly had been a few years since she had it that short but the change was welcomed.
Relaxed and with a fresh coat of paint, Shuuji felt ready for their date after the spa. Knowing that they were going to be wearing something a bit fancier for the evening portion of their date, he had asked the stylist to partially slick back his hair to get the mess of curls mostly off his face and ears. He wore just a touch of makeup to highlight his features, something he did so often for work that he thought nothing of it, and he had a clear coat over his fingernails and toenails to help keep them healthy and strong. Maybe it was a bit much, but he wanted to treat An. In his mind, every lady ought to be treated like a queen.
When the stylist was done with him, Shuuji went to the front counter to pay and reunite with An. He was glad to see that she had taken advantage of the chance to get in with the hairstylist - both the cut and the style were flattering on her. “I love it,” he said, motioning to her hair. “You wear short hair well.” He absently placed his credit card in the payment tray, half paying attention to the transaction, but mostly focused on her.
Fiddling with her bag she placed her phone next to a smaller bag that she’d be saving for later. Having heard that Shuujis birthday was coming up she thought at least a small gift was in order and while it was still a few days away she thought it’d go with what he had planned for them later.
At the sound of footsteps she quickly closed her bag and smiled up when she noticed it was Shuuji looking just as produced. “ You’re not looking half bad yourself.” She replied as she stood up. “It’s been awhile since I've had it this short but thank you for all of this.” Somehow she felt self conscious for a moment as she ran a hand through her hair, “ I don't think I’ve ever had a spa day before. I was surprised that you even fixed up your nails.”
Shuuji glanced down at his hands, admiring his nails for a moment. “‘Course I did.” He grins at her, collecting his card back and signing the receipt. “Making time for a spa day every now and again is important - it’s good for your body. No less important than showering or exercising for your skin and muscles.” He bowed his head to the attendant at the desk and then went to the door to hold it open for An to head to their next destination.
Outside, it was sunny and warm - there had been a few cold, rainy days earlier in the week, but the summer heat was starting to appear in the forecast. Beach weather is what Shuuji always associated it with, but just generally it was good weather for water sports and being outside. He settled his sunglasses on his face and motioned An forward. “After you.”
An shook her head with a smile, maybe it was important but it wasn’t exactly something she could see herself doing a lot. Also giving a polite bow she turned and made her way out with the older boy, “ Thank you~ You know.. I thought you had lost your mind for a minute when you asked me out on a date in front of my brother.” She teased as they started walking.
“A mind is a terrible thing to lose,” He replied with a wink. If Tachibana Kippei was anything like he had been as a younger man, he was not the sort to lie to your face or pull punches. It gave him a fair amount of confidence to be open and upfront in front of him. Not to mention, An was not exactly the sort to pull punches herself. She had, after all, accused him of being a serial killer upon their first interaction. “I could have asked him out on a date in front of you, instead - would that have been worse?”
“They're pretty hard to find after, it takes a while...To be fair my brother is pretty understanding to so I guess it's fine.” She did sometimes make him out to be scarier than he actually was..at least most of the time.
At his question , An raised an eyebrow before laughing “ Well, my brother is a great guy so I'd understand but I'm not complaining.” Shuuji seemed like a genuinely fun person to spend hang out and maybe she really did want to get to know him better.
Not to say that Kippei was not handsome, himself, and had his own charms… and Shuuji was not the type to discriminate by gender when it came to his romantic partners. He offered her a winning smile and extended his elbow to her invitingly. “Well, since I askedyou, Ladybug, may I escort you?” The place they were going was just down the street, but if they were going to do this date thing properly, they ought to do, well, date things.
Escort her? What a chivalrous act on his part. Stifling back another laugh, she tilted her head up at him with a playful grin and enlaced their arms, “You may, kind sir.” An did promise herself that she would follow along. “I assume we’re going to get some karaage and takoyaki all dressed up?”
Shuuji let out a boisterous laugh. “That would be funny - might as well just go to the McDonald’s in the train station, if we’re already doing that. Or just stop at Family Mart in our Sunday Best.” He did, in fact, have a plan - but they had to get dressed up, first. “Here, this is the spot up here on the left.”
The store they were going to was that type of store that didn’t bother to put price tags on anything - they would have a personal shopper while they were there that would help them pick out an outfit, make any alterations if needed, rent out or sell them jewelry, and probably offer free champagne while they were trying on clothes. This, he knew, was going to be a new experience for An, this was high class even by his standards, but it was fun to let someone else play dress-up with you. The only time women normally got that was shopping for a wedding dress.
“Hey, the kaarage at family mart is pretty good.” She half joked. Occasionally when she got a hankering for something unhealthy the family mart a few blocks from her apartment was a life saver.
Once they actually stopped and entered the store, that was when An realized that maybe she was in over her head. While she continued to smile as a clerk came to attend to them her eyes couldn't help but dart to different areas of the store taking in all the different outfits that were styled on mannequins and racks. “Well, this sure doesn't look like WEGO.” She mumbled and with that she resigned herself to her fate. She was pretty sure any article of clothes in this store probably costed at least half or a full year of her rent.
Shuuji chuckled to himself, knowing full well how thoughts were racing through An’s mind just based upon the look on her face. “No, you’re not in Uniqlo anymore, Toto.” He handed his card to the attendants to hold on file while they tried on clothing. “Make sure you try on everything - it’s half the fun.” He gave her an encouraging smile to try to lighten the mood.
Letting out a breath, she smiled back as she let go of the older man. “ Are you planning on choosing for me? I think that would be fun to see what your taste in clothes are...Of course I’d pick a few things out myself.”
He had not been planning on playing dress-up with An, but if she was asking for it… well, why not? Shuuji nodded, “Sure, I’ll help you pick out some stuff, too. Let me just get measured for my suit and then I’ll start throwing stuff at you to model.” She certainly had the look of a model - not the high end fashion magazine sort, per se, but the unassuming department store kind. She had a pretty heart-shaped face, bright eyes, and she was petite. Not that it had not occurred to Shuuji before that An was pretty, but now that he had the pleasure to go on a date with her, he took a moment to enjoy that his escort for the evening was easy on the eye. “So don’t have too much fun before I come over. And don’t let the sales ladies give you a hard time.”
While she preferred to be out of there as quick as possible that wouldn’t as fun and she wasn’t going to become a downer now, “Great I’ll look through a few options while you go do that-” A thought popped into her head when Shuuji mentioned his suit. Pausing for a moment , her hand went in to her bag and pulled out a small grey gift bag. “Here, this is for for you.” She smiled extending it out to him, “Think of it as an early birthday present but I thought you might like it since you mentioned wearing a suit.”
Shuuji took the gift bag, his face clearly displaying his surprise. He had mentioned to An that his birthday was coming up, but he was not expecting any sort of gift. He briefly glanced up at her to see if it was okay to open the gift, then opened the bag to pull out what, at first glance, looked like a nice tie. But on closer inspection, he saw that what he thought to be some sort of checkered white pattern on it was actually a bunch of white bunnies. He could not help the grin that came to his lips as he rolled out the tie to get a better look at the pattern - it was absolutely adorable and would clash wonderfully with any suit he would be picking out today. He loved it. “This - this is a great gift.” He hung it over his shoulders to display it to her. “Thank you.”
Seeing Shuuji face brighten up after seeing the tie made her own smile grow. An had stumbled upon the tie when she was shopping for herself and thought Shuuji might appreciate it. It looked pretty normal if you looked from far enough or didn’t pay attention but the rabbits were there. “It’s nothing really. You like rabbits so it was either that or maybe some bunny slippers.” She teased.
Shuuji winked at her. “Would you still go on a date with me if I wore bunny slippers with my suit?” He was the sort of person who had been known to show up to his modeling jobs in his suit and a pair of bright red chucks.
“That depends on how cute they are.” It would be an odd way to show up to a date but it wouldn't be that different to wearing an ugly shirt or maybe Crocs to a date.
Man, this girl was up for anything. Shuuji chucked to himself and laid his new tie over his arm. “I’ll see what they have in the way of bunny slippers.” With that, he parted ways with her to go get fitted for suits - he knew they would take good care of her and be throwing outfits at her in no time.
She raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure they sell high end bunny slippers here.” She had mainly been kidding and she supposed that Shuuji was as well.
Watching Shuuji leave she let out a small sigh before smiling back to one of the sales ladies. Well she had to start off somewhere and there was a blue dress that caught her eye so there simple. She’d start her way on that side and see what else she could find.
As she began to look through the racks, some dresses were nice, some just over the top, and some she wasn’t even sure they were allowed to be called dresses and were more ready to be hanged as curtains or used as a rug. They’d throw out names like Oscar de la renta, Valentino and even Kenzo. At least she knew that one. She didn’t really care who made it but cared only if she found that it it fit two simple criterias. 1) it looked nice and 2) it might look good on her. Making her way around she picked out a coral lace dress , a longer blue floral number and a simple white dress that had some colored broidery at the bust. Those three would be enough.
Fitting for suits wasn’t as much of a process as looking for a dress. He showed the sales team the new tie (which they all clearly wanted to switch out for a nice, designer silk tie, but little did they know Shuuji would just wear a Jerry Garcia even if he wasn’t going to wear the bunny tie) for matching of the color and to pick out shoes. He gave his measurements, they found the suit, and then he was pinned to tailor the suit to his dimensions. They would complete the alteration while he waited and all of this was done while An was still trying on dresses.
So, as promised, he went about looking for dresses for her to try on. He had always been a fan of Christian Dior designs, they were elegant but not overly fluffy or weirdly revealing. You didn’t wear a Dior dress to be sexy, you wore it to be classy. Not to say he did not appreciate a pretty lady in a sexy dress, just that he would much rather that the sexy part be under the clothes for him to discover when they were alone. Nothing got him faster than lacy lingerie… which made him wonder if they ought to maybe slip over to the lingerie store while they were waiting on any alterations. He wasn’t thinking that An was going to be showing him that, but every lady deserved to feel drop-dead sexy.
As he passed through the Dior dresses, the first to catch his eye was a knee-length green dress that was a simple satin kelly green from the front, but had a bow with long tails tied at the nape of the neck in the back from the vintage collection. He asked the attendant that was working with An to pick out her size so he could bring it over. Near it was a cute floral dress with a tiered skirt - white with blue flowers, strapless, and with a blue satin belt. The bottom of the skirt was blue twill to match the blue flowers of the dress. It was cute and felt like a summer dress - he added that to the rack.
But then he encountered it - the dress. It was floor length, flowing (though cinched at the waist), and was the color of the evening sky and stars. It was a gradient from a soft grey-blue to a deep twilight blue, then back to the softer blue near the hem. It glittered with tiny silver sparkles worked into the top layer of fabric. Any woman would turn heads in this incredible dress. Wordlessly, he grabbed that as well and brought it over to the rack for her to try on. Then, he sat himself in the dressing area to provide feedback.
After a few minutes of waiting, An had decided that she’d start trying on the dresses that she had picked up. She would have waited for Shuuji but the idea of hanging out in a changing room sounded like the perfect idea to avoid the sale clerks for a while and worse case scenario she could just show Shuuji the one that she really liked. He did say he was going to pick out some for her so she still did have a few to try on.
She decided to try on the last dress that she had picked out. It was all white with a halter neckline and an open back. Thee only color found on the dress was a few sequins and rhinestones found on the bodice. It seemed elegant enough to her but when she tried it on, she realized that it wasn’t cutting out for her and not to mention that she somehow felt shorter than she already did.
Next, she tried on a navy blue floral printed dress, the chiffon was quite nice and the dress had a front slit so she could actually move her legs out from the fabric. It was an option but either she would need some very high heels or the dress needed to be cut a few centimeters.
Finally she got to the coral colored dress. It was short which was already a plus since she didn’t have to worry about it being to long and the lacy skirt was classy. Out of the three it was also the simplest but it was also another reason why she liked it.
Surveying herself once more in the mirror she opened the door and poked her head out and found Shuuji to be waiting. Smiling she opened the door completely and put a hand on her waist. “All done?”
Shuuji looked up at her. “Yep, just picked out a few for you, too.” He regarded the dress she was wearing - it was cute and flattering to her figure. The lace was a nice touch. “You look good - maybe a pair of nude pumps with that?” The sales clerks had already set aside some accessories including some jewelry, shoes, and boleros for her to try with her dresses.
An had almost completely forgotten that she actually had to wear something on her feet as well. Her simple flats weren’t going to really well with anything she got at the store. Her eyes slid over to the rack near the door. “Thanks~ And maybe, are those the dresses you picked out?” They were three very different styles, especially the very sparkly blue full length one near the end.
“That would be them.” Shuuji motioned to the dresses. “What size shoe are you, I can go look at some shoes for you to try on.” A nude or black shoe would be a good fit for any of them, but a sparkly, strappy, silver heel would bring out the best in a couple of the dresses. He would be able to find at least a couple things. “Any must-haves so far?”
Picking the three up she moved them over to the changing room, “ Your taste isn’t half bad, they all look to be very pretty.” An would give him that much, but she wasn’t exactly sure about how the green dress would look on her.
“I probably should actually try these dresses with some shoes on, I dont think going barefoot is a trend at the moment..”She joked, half closing the door, “If you want to my size is 22.5cms...The only thing I ask they not be super tall unless you want me to hold on to you the entire time.” With a grin she closed the door and started working her way out of her dress.
“I wouldn’t mind~” Shuuji joked as she did, smiling brightly. He got back to his feet and went to examine the shoes that were on display on the far wall. They were mostly the type that would match with one of three looks: the evening gown, the cocktail dress, or the business suit. He figured if he brought back a few different things ranging from practical to ridiculous he would get close to pinpointing her taste as well as possibly making her laugh.
He picked out a pair that had a nice, low heel that would be practical for walking, but would definitely be better suited to one of the more casual dresses. Next, a taller but classic pump that would go with anything, but might be a bit more boring than the other shoes. He found a pair that were the strappy, silver heels he had hoped to encounter - they were a bit taller than the pumps, but they were about as pretty as dress shoes for women came. Then, just to gauge her reaction, a pair of brightly colored platform stiletto boots just for the reaction.
That’s too bad Shuuji because An would prefer to actually walk as much as she could. Having slipped on the green dress she let out a small laugh. Even though it didn’t look bad on her she somehow felt like shiny green present or a candy wrapper. Either way she stepped out and watched as the older man came back and with the the clerks carrying a few boxes. “ So what do you think?” She gave him a small twirl, “ Find anything nice?”
The green dress was prettier on the hanger than the girl - it was one of those types. “You look good, but the dress is only okay,” Shuuji conceded, sitting back down in the chair. It would look better on someone darker skinned where the color would pop nicely against their skin tone. He then pulled the ridiculous boots out of the box, “well, there’s these....”
That’s what she thought. That shade of green was never really her color to begin with. Taking a few steps closer she took in the shoes and could only blink, “I’m assuming this is joke because those look..well they look awful.” She said truthfully with a laugh.
Shuuji also laughed. “Guess you caught me.” He tucked the boots away and showed her the three other pairs of shoes. “Do any of these catch your fancy?”
Okay, now they were getting somewhere. Her eyes looked each pair over and it was hard. All three were nice, she did like silver heels but they were a bit tall for her liking but they looked nicer than the other pair. “I think…” She picked up the silver pair, “I’ll try these on and see if they’re doable.” They’d look nice with the other two options that Shuuji picked out.
Giving Shuuji a smile she made her way back in and decided to try on the more sparkling of the pair. Once on, she could only stare and turn and stare back at herself again. It really was a lovely dress and while usually she wasn’t big on very sparkly dresses it somehow didn’t feel over the top.
Strapping on the heels she took a second to balance herself out because honestly? An did not want to fall on her face in front of Shuuji and everyone else in the store. The dress still was slightly long even with the heels but it would do for now.
“So...Is this a little too much?” She asked as she stepped out completely trying to not look awkward as she did.
Shuuji watched her come out of the fitting room, watching how the dress caught the light of the store and glimmered. It would probably need to be hemmed a centimeter or two, even with the heels, but it otherwise fit her beautifully. Just as he had hoped, it was absolutely stunning and brought out her eyes. “If it’s up to me, that one is the one,” he told her, making a motion for her to do a twirl for him.
Maybe it was the dress or just everything in general that she felt a smidge self conscious for a moment. Either way she gave Shuuji a small twirl before walking closer to him, “Really? I did try on one with a flowers that was nice but this one does seem more night ready.”
When she twirled, it was like a swirl of stars around her feet. “Hm, well, can you dance in this one?” He offered her his hand with a little bow of his head. Only one way to test if a dress was the right dress, after all.
An had thought that just being able to walk would suffice but no, she was wrong. Her face flushed lightly but she extended her hand to meet his all the same. “Just so you know maybe it might not be the dress and just me.”
Shuuji gently pulled An closer and took her other hand, pulling her into a slow dance in the middle of the store. There were a couple surprised gasps from the clerks, but otherwise he seemed to get away with it, though An’s cheeks were flushed. “I don’t know what you mean, you’re light on your feet… unless that’s the dress, too?” He smiled teasingly at her, keeping them moving as though this was a ballroom.
While An tried to maintain a smile, she could feel her ears burning up as she followed along with Shuuji’s movement. She’d been dancing a few times so she wasn’t that awful. Either way, dancing to little to no music while people just watched was in a ways an experience. “How sure are you about that? You’re lucky I haven’t stepped on you yet.”
“If you do, I'll cover for you,” Shuuji promised. He was a perfectly capable dancer, but the beat kind of dancing was with a beautiful person, spontaneous, and without music other than that in his imagination. The real humor of this had to be that she was stunning in this incredible gown and shoes and he wore the outfit he had worn for their date. He would need to change into his new suit to match with her. “I think this is the dress, Ladybug.”
An could tell that Shuuji seemed to be more well practiced in this than she’d ever be but she assumed that it was just one of those things you needed to know when you lived his lifestyle.
“That’s really sweet of you.” She said honestly as she ;let go Shuujis hand and stared down at the bottom of her dress. “Okay, let’s go with this one then.” While it wasn’t the type of dress she was used to wearing she did find it to be very pretty and her date seemed to think so as well so why not with it. “Should I get changed back?”
“Sure, do you want to get it altered? We are going to have to kill a bit of time before my suit I ready, anyway, so if you want it a little shorter or don't like the straps, now is your chance.” He took a step back to evaluate her once more - it would be pretty as is, too.
“Oh actually I like the straps..Though I should probably get it cut some.” She motioned to her feet, wiggling one of them, “I might catch on the fabric and kiss the concrete. We wouldn't want that now would we?” Her eyes twinkled as she took another step away and a clerk was quick to come and pin where the adjustments were needed.
Shuuji headed back to the front of the store to pay for their clothes, the alterations, and the shoes while An was being pinned. He let them know that their dinner date was next on the agenda and they agreed to work on the alterations immediately. Pleased with his handiwork, Shuuji waited for An to finish up.
Once they finished the pinning, An made her way back to the changing room and put back her normal clothes and took the chance to slip back into her flats. She would need to rest her feet for as long as she could if she planned on wearing those heels.
A clerk came and picked up the heels that she would be wearing later that evening and An found herself feeling relieved that all that was taken care of. Closing the door behind her she made her way over to the white haired man, “ Thanks for all of this...I’ll have to make it up somehow.” She smiled , “All I can offer you really is a nice home cooked meal.”
Shuuji lifted his eyebrow at her, a smile coming to his lips. “Now that sounds like an excellent second date-date.” He shrugged flippantly, he had no delusions of a second date unless that was what she wanted at the end of the night. It seemed to him like maybe this girl had a lot on her mind. “Or if not a date-date, a way to spend time with my new friend.” He offered his arm to her once more to lead her out of the store.
A second date? She was about to speak but he finished of with another possible option. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought, “ Either way I’d still like to treat you to some dinner..” She laughed, “I think I’d have to treat you at least a 1000 times to make up for all of this.”
Shuuji thought maybe the two of them understood the concept of equivalence differently. “Mm, I think maybe you and I see it a bit differently - you seem like you have a lot on your mind, so I wanted to give you a day when you don’t have to think about any of it. Maybe some of these things have a high monetary value, but the real thing I wanted to give you was an escape and the feeling of being treated with both respect and delight. Every lady deserves days like that, I think.” And if they were to do something equivalent… “So, if you were to pay me back for that, I would think getting a home-cooked meal is basically the best possible thing. I live pretty far from home and don’t have anyone but me to cook at home, so…”
An listened to Shuuji and her cheeks flared.He really was considerate and kind and plenty of more things. She was glad that she got meet him and getting a chance to know him better. A warm smiled made its way onto her face, “Then I’ll definitely will have to cook you up something super nice. I take any request.” She took his arm and gave it a squeeze, “I’ll even make some dessert if you want.”
“Oh, even dessert.” Shuuji grinned. “I like bunny-shaped mochi best of all, if you’re into that sort of thing.” He led them back out onto the street, thinking back to what he had been planning for them so they could kill some time between now and when the alterations are done. “But… while we have some time, wanna make one more shopping stop? If you’re going to wear that sparkly dress, you’re going to want some cute lingerie to go with it, right?”
She grinned back with a nod, “I do like mochi though I don’t think I’ve ever maken mochi shaped like a rabbit before.” She’d look it up and worst case scenario she could always make something that was bunny themed. An was only paying half attention when Shuuji made another proposal. “Yes, Lingerie-” She stopped mid sentence and thought about it, “What? I think I heard you wrong.”
“Did you want to go look at lingerie? There’s a nice shop just down the street on the left, here.” He motioned ahead of him to the Wacoal store. They would have a selection from basic to sexy and everything in between.
As much as she didn’t want to she could feel herself blushing. Why was Shuuji even asking this!? “ Do you usually ask people if they’d like some underwear on a first date?” She was actually being half serious with the question.
“I donno… now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a first date. I know it’s not okay to ask a girl to see her underwear on the first date.” Shuuji shrugged his shoulders. “I want to take a look at the boxes while we’re there, if we’re going.” He looked back at her with an easy-going smile. “I was just thinking before that for me, some of my confidence comes from feeling sexy in my underwear… so, it’s probably the same for women.”
Once blushing, now she was letting out a bubbly laugh. “I’m sure some women feel the same way, but that’s really not my kind of thing.” She stifled another laugh, “But I mean if you want to go look then I don't have a problem.”
“Then let’s go look.” Shuuji led her down the street to the store - if she was worried about being embarrassed or standing out, she had not really thought this all the way through. The store was filled almost entirely with women with a couple men who were there with their girlfriends or spouses, holding their purses and looking uncomfortable. Shuuji held the door for An and ushered her in, “After you.”
An hadn’t thought there’d be that much people in the store but it was a welcome change though she did notice that the store mainly was female lingerie than male underwear. “What did you want to get, I assume you don’t mind me asking.” She asked with a smile.
Shuuji nodded, “No, not at all. They have nice options for boxers - super soft silks and stuff like that. They also have nice pj’s which I have a weakness for.” He headed over to the small men’s section, just assuming she would come with him. As hoped, they did have a good selection of the boxers he liked and it looked like he was even going to get lucky with the sizing - sometimes his waistband could be hard to find because he was a bigger guy. Not heavy, just generally more physically large than the average man.
Her eyes looked towards a pair of lacy bras that were hanging towards the wall, “ Do they sell pj’s with rabbits on them? You seem like the type of guy to wear bunny pjs.” She joked as she went back to looking at the men’s section.
“Not here, but I do have a couple sets of bunny pjs.” He grinned at her over his shoulder, also catching the lacy bras on the opposite wall. “You sure you don’t want to look at some of the cute underoos?”
“I’m sure they pair well with the bunny slippers.” The image of Shuuji decked out in all rabbit clothing was actually pretty cute. She shook her head with a smile, “ Don’t worry, I’m fine with what I have.”
“”Kay,” Shuuji agreed, leafing through the display boxers to find a pair that was a nice royal blue. They also had a deep purple color that caught his attention. He grabbed both in his size and went on to examine the PJ’s. “I’m all about the bunny outfit,” Shuuji agreed. “I’d wear a bunny kigurumi to lounge around the house if I could find one in my size.”
An really didn’t pay too much attention to what the older man was picking up besides maybe his tastes in color, “ I’m sure if you looked up on amazon you could find one your size. I mean you can pretty much find anything on there.”
Shuuji nodded solemnly as though recalling some event long in the past, “That’s true, Amazon is sort of horrifying like that.” He put his hands on one of the sets of pajamas and made a happy little hum low in his throat. “Feel these - they really are the best pajamas.” He held out the sleeve of the pajama shirt for An to touch.
The way Shuuji made it sound perplexed her, “ You make it sound like you found something super weird on there.” She mentioned as she pressed her fingers into the sleeve and giving it a feel. “Oh that really is soft~What’s your favorite color? Just out of curiosity.”
There were a lot of weird things in internet shopping. Shuuji figured he didn’t need to even explain that… anyone who had gone too deep into one of those online stores knew the pitfalls of clicking too many times on the “recommended for you” items. It was like falling into the wiki void and never coming out. Absently, Shuuji said, “the color of water - the color of the ocean, the rivers, the lakes. Always feel most connected to the earth when I’m with water.”
That was an interesting way to describe his favorite color. “ So all hues of blue or maybe green depending on what type of area you’re talking about..” She thought for a moment and laughed, “Mainly just blues I suppose. Mine is blue.”
Shuuji grinned brightly at her, “Just blue, huh? I should have said something like that, then.” He lifted the pajama sleeve higher to touch the soft material to her cheek. “You look incredible in blue - I think it’s your eyes.”
“If mean I like all types of blues... I like cobalt blue, electric blue, sky blue , especially midnight blue.” An grinned back. She remembered having a debate with some male classmate a while back on how girls seemed to have a name for every shade of color that ever existed.
With Shuuji’s compliment she somehow almost felt sheepish maybe out of her own humility. She was pretty confident in herself but hearing someone else say it was always a nice thing, “ I think blue looks pretty good on you too..maybe it’s the hair?” She said with a smile.
A laugh bubbled out of Shuuji. “Yeah, it’s definitely the hair.” He regarded her with a warm smile for a moment, his eyes lingering on hers silently. “Thanks, Ladybug. You say sweet things.” He took the pajamas off the rack, deciding these were a keeper, too. After all, they were An’s favorite color, he thought with a bit of private amusement.
“I wouldn’t exactly say sweet…” At least it didn’t sound sweet to her more like just pointing out something that was true. Blue really suited the older man in general.
It seemed like Shuuji was all set, “Oh so you’re getting them, do you need anything else?”
“Nah~ don’t need anything in particular.” The men’s section wasn’t really much to write home about… they may not have killed enough time to have their alterations done, but if An didn’t want to look at anything there was no point hanging around in there like a creeper. Women could do stuff like that, but men definitely looked suspicious. “I can go get checked out.”
She gave him a smile and followed him along as they made their way over to the register, “So how many pairs of Pajamas do you actually own then?” It was a silly question but An was actually curious.
“Too many,” Shuuji admitted. His favorite place on earth was the beach, but bed was a close second. If he had a bed on the beach, that would top both of those things. But, what could one more pair hurt?
After he checked out, they had a bit of time to kill, still, so they wandered around doing some window shopping, poking their head into a few other stores. Time passed quickly for Shuuji with An, he hardly even realized how long it had been when he glanced at his phone and realized that they were going to miss their dinner reservation if they didn’t move things along. He had asked her on the date, initially, because he wanted to get to know her better and he felt like she could benefit from being treated to a nice night out… but, as far as dates went, turned out it had actually been a ton of fun. He wouldn’t mind that second date.
When they returned to the clothing store, their items were ready to pick up. Shuuji confirmed with the clerk that they could just get changed there and that the employees would bag up the clothing they had worn into the store. “See you on the other side,” he said jokingly to An as he went into the changing room to get into his suit.
It was a nice, deep midnight blue that fit him like a glove now that the few alterations had been made. He took a moment to re-settle his hair which unlike his usual look of a mop-like fluff, he had asked the stylist to partially keep back with mousse to give a more sophisticated look that matched the suit. With a pair of sharp, shiny black dress shoes and a black button-up, his ensemble was smart and sexy… and utterly ruined if you spent too much time looking at the tie and realized it was covered in bunnies. It was perfect.
The window shopping was more than welcomed and An found herself to relax some more compared to their first stop at the shop or at the spa. Maybe it was because all they were doing was talking and enjoying each others company and that was enough for her. Shuuji was a charming guy and was easy to talk too, he was a bit odd but that was part of of his charm.
Finally making their way back into the store it was time to put on their clothes for the evening. Smiling up at the older man, she shook her head and entered her own changing room. The dress certainly was a better fit now that they had cut off some of the fabric. Between the tulle and the sparkly gradient the dress almost seemed whimsical.
Strapped in her heels, An tucked a few hairs behind her ear and stepped out with her bag. Sure it didn’t match but she wasn’t to bothered by it.
When An came out of the dressing room, Shuuji couldn’t help the grin that came to her face. She looked great when they met up for the date, but with the sparkling dress, she looked like a queen - truly stunning. Shuuji rested his hands in his back pockets almost sheepishly. “Donno if I’m gonna be able to keep up with that,” he joked. “You’re quite the beauty.”
Shuuji was making it hard to not feel embarrassed but she smiled either way as she walked towards him, heels clicking adtr each step. He himself was looking quite handsome especially with the way he styled his hair. Once An got closer she noticed that he had put on the tie that she had gifted him. “Thank you~ I wouldn’t count yourself out, especially with the tie.” She laughed lightly poking it with her index finger.
Shuuji grinned back at her, taking the hand she had just poked him with. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” He bowed his head in thanks to the clerk, assuring them everything was as they had hoped, and made sure to grab the bag of their personal belongings on their way out but did not let go of An’s hand. As they stepped back out onto the street, and right on time, the towncar that Shuuji had called to take them to their next destination was waiting for them at the curb. The driver open the car for them and Shuuji waited at the door to help An inside.
Their destination was in Odaiba - an Italian restaurant called Magiare that had beautiful vistas of the water and of Rainbow Bridge. If they were lucky and the weather remained nice enough for outdoor dining, they were going to be treated to dinner on the waterfront patio.
An hadn’t imagined that he’d take her hand but it was for the best in the odd case that her feet that decided that they would like to trip her. Giving her own slight bow they soon made it outside, “ That was anything but a popsicle stand” Unless they offered the sticks encrusted with diamonds.
At this point she wasn’t surprised by the car that soon showed up to pick them up, she couldn’t really imagine them taking a train to get to their dinner date. Finally inside the car she set her bag down and waited on Shuuji, “Are we still grabbing dinner at Family mart?”
Once in the back of the car, Shuuji relaxed into the seat and chuckled softly. “I mean, I did make a reservation, but I’m happy to cancel if you’d rather do Family Mart. You’re the boss.” He shifted his weight so he could partially face her in the seat. He was used to being driven around - his agent would often drive him to jobs rather than letting him take other means.
She shook her head and smiled at Shuuji “Oh..No, it’s okay, really. You went through all that trouble and we might as well...We’re all dressed up.” Arriving to a conbini dressed to the nines would be certainly interesting.
Shuuji knew An would love the spot they were going to, anyway, but he definitely saw the value of going to the combini in their finery. “Well, that would be the fun of it, right? I think people tend to spend too much time worrying about what's expected and what makes sense, anyway.”
Shuuji was right on that, “Not to say that we can’t stop at on the way back.” Her smiled turned into a grin, “ I mean maybe if we’re still hungry after dinner that is.”
Now that was an idea. “Okay, now you’re talking.” Shuuji leaned a bit closer and lowered his voice. “We could find some random conbini that is way off the route back home to go on a joy ride. I’m sure the driver won’t mind.” It was a nice, comfortable car and he was enjoying the time with An.
“Is it really a joyride if you’re not driving?” An paused and thought for a moment, “Do you know how to drive? Either way that sounds like a fun idea.” She nodded once, it kind of was the drivers job to..well drive right?
“I have my license,” Shuuji confirmed, fishing out his wallet to show her. He was probably the only person in the world who actually had a good picture on his photo ID that looked like him and didn’t make him look portly and like an axe murderer. His passport was also a good picture, though it seemed to age him up 10 years.
Tilting her head she studied his license and picture over, “You know I would have believed you if you just had said yes but nice picture.” Most government document pictures were a pain, An was never sure if she was allowed to smile or looked depressed. It was more awkward than anything.
With a shrug, Shuuji put his license back in his wallet and his wallet back in his pocket. “Well, sure, but isn’t it more interesting this way?”
He glanced out the window for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “So, Ladybug, there’s something I’ve been thinking about.” He looked back to her with a warm smile. “There’s somebody you like, right? Someone you should actually be on this date with?”
“That’s true..would have been more interesting if you had some goofy look on your face. ” She teased as she watched him look away.
Fiddling with a few strands of hair, she listened to Shuuji, thinking about? When he looked back to her, An could only blink as her smiled faltered. She hadn't thought that Shuuji would ask her something like that. A nervous laugh escaped her mouth as she picked up her smile, “ I don’t know about that…”
Shuuji regarded her quietly, studying her face, then smiled reassuringly. “I just wanted to say I’m rooting for you, that’s all.” He rested his hand over hers, gently curling his fingers around her hand. “And I’m glad you came on a date with me, even if I’m not that person.”
She couldn’t really understand what Shuuji was thinking considering the entire context that they were in. There was one thing that she didn't understand was that Shuuji was kind and maybe a little too kind at times… An wasn’t exactly sure what to say, “I’m still working things out..I know you said you were glad but..” It was all very confusing.
“Don't think too hard about it, then.” Shuuji didn't take his hand away from hers, but also didn't press further.
Wasn’t that why she was here in the first place? It was exactly that but An felt some guilt, maybe she should have said no even if Shuuji said it was alright. Smiling lightly she looked to their hands and turned her palm up and gave his hand a small squeeze, “I’ll try...Plus I’m with you right now, that wouldn't be right.”
“Right now is always most important. Not to say later or before aren't important, too, but we shouldn't let ourselves worry about the rest and lose right now.” Shuuji laced their fingers together and gave An his trademark grin. “Besides, I still want that home cooked meal you promised me. You could come use my kitchen if you want, comes complete with bunny snuggles.”
“And now you’re just rambling.” An pointed out waiting a moment to let go of Shuuji hand and instead playfully poked his nose with a finger, “ I could do that if you’d like, you should let me know what you’d like and I can see what I can do.” She could do at least that much for him, “Bunny snuggles I’d say is a deal sealer.”
“When it comes to food, there isn’t much I don’t like.” Shuuji thought on it for a moment - he loved Chinese food, especially pigs feet, and some Korean food, but he didn’t want to ask for something strange or difficult to cook. Maybe a simpler Korean dish? “How about beef bulgogi? Do you like Korean food?”
Beef bulgogi? “I do and I’ve had it but I’ve never made it but I can certainly find a recipe and make it work..it can’t be too hard.” An mused as she noticed that the car was finally stopping at their destination. “ Oh, looks like we’re here.”
Shuuji looked out the window to confirm - this was the place. “Yep, this is us.” The culmination of their evening, the reason for the spa, the new clothes and shoes, everything, was for this fancy dinner. It had turned dinner into a journey, but Shuuji enjoyed the journey if it was with An. He opened the door for her and helped her out of the car.
Dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant, the drive home, and the promise of a second date (even if it might not be a date-date next time). Shuuji thought overall, it was very successful.
What: Shuuji and An go on a fancy date that involves a trip to the spa, picking out new fancy clothes, going to a lingerie store, and dinner. They also plan their next date. This went on for so long we finally just cut them off. :|
When: Late May???
Where: All over the damn place.
Rating: G as can be
An let out a sigh as she sat herself down in the lobby of the spa that she had spent the last few hours with Shuuji getting various things done. She hadn’t expected him to actually be serious when he had invited her out on a date again and not to mention the sort of plan he had for them.
At first she thought about saying no but then figured it didn’t have to be serious and he seemed like a nice guy so why not? An needed a good distraction from the thoughts that had been bubbling up in her head as of late.
They had pretty much done everything from pedicures to massages to even make up and going through the hair salon. While this all felt like a little too much? An decided that she’d just go with the flow for now since it seemed like this was the life that Shuuji was used too.
She fiddled with the slightly curled ends of her now shortened hair as she waited for Shuuji to finish up.. The stylist was certainly happy when he asked what she would like to do and just said to cut it up to the nape of her neck, it certainly had been a few years since she had it that short but the change was welcomed.
Relaxed and with a fresh coat of paint, Shuuji felt ready for their date after the spa. Knowing that they were going to be wearing something a bit fancier for the evening portion of their date, he had asked the stylist to partially slick back his hair to get the mess of curls mostly off his face and ears. He wore just a touch of makeup to highlight his features, something he did so often for work that he thought nothing of it, and he had a clear coat over his fingernails and toenails to help keep them healthy and strong. Maybe it was a bit much, but he wanted to treat An. In his mind, every lady ought to be treated like a queen.
When the stylist was done with him, Shuuji went to the front counter to pay and reunite with An. He was glad to see that she had taken advantage of the chance to get in with the hairstylist - both the cut and the style were flattering on her. “I love it,” he said, motioning to her hair. “You wear short hair well.” He absently placed his credit card in the payment tray, half paying attention to the transaction, but mostly focused on her.
Fiddling with her bag she placed her phone next to a smaller bag that she’d be saving for later. Having heard that Shuujis birthday was coming up she thought at least a small gift was in order and while it was still a few days away she thought it’d go with what he had planned for them later.
At the sound of footsteps she quickly closed her bag and smiled up when she noticed it was Shuuji looking just as produced. “ You’re not looking half bad yourself.” She replied as she stood up. “It’s been awhile since I've had it this short but thank you for all of this.” Somehow she felt self conscious for a moment as she ran a hand through her hair, “ I don't think I’ve ever had a spa day before. I was surprised that you even fixed up your nails.”
Shuuji glanced down at his hands, admiring his nails for a moment. “‘Course I did.” He grins at her, collecting his card back and signing the receipt. “Making time for a spa day every now and again is important - it’s good for your body. No less important than showering or exercising for your skin and muscles.” He bowed his head to the attendant at the desk and then went to the door to hold it open for An to head to their next destination.
Outside, it was sunny and warm - there had been a few cold, rainy days earlier in the week, but the summer heat was starting to appear in the forecast. Beach weather is what Shuuji always associated it with, but just generally it was good weather for water sports and being outside. He settled his sunglasses on his face and motioned An forward. “After you.”
An shook her head with a smile, maybe it was important but it wasn’t exactly something she could see herself doing a lot. Also giving a polite bow she turned and made her way out with the older boy, “ Thank you~ You know.. I thought you had lost your mind for a minute when you asked me out on a date in front of my brother.” She teased as they started walking.
“A mind is a terrible thing to lose,” He replied with a wink. If Tachibana Kippei was anything like he had been as a younger man, he was not the sort to lie to your face or pull punches. It gave him a fair amount of confidence to be open and upfront in front of him. Not to mention, An was not exactly the sort to pull punches herself. She had, after all, accused him of being a serial killer upon their first interaction. “I could have asked him out on a date in front of you, instead - would that have been worse?”
“They're pretty hard to find after, it takes a while...To be fair my brother is pretty understanding to so I guess it's fine.” She did sometimes make him out to be scarier than he actually was..at least most of the time.
At his question , An raised an eyebrow before laughing “ Well, my brother is a great guy so I'd understand but I'm not complaining.” Shuuji seemed like a genuinely fun person to spend hang out and maybe she really did want to get to know him better.
Not to say that Kippei was not handsome, himself, and had his own charms… and Shuuji was not the type to discriminate by gender when it came to his romantic partners. He offered her a winning smile and extended his elbow to her invitingly. “Well, since I askedyou, Ladybug, may I escort you?” The place they were going was just down the street, but if they were going to do this date thing properly, they ought to do, well, date things.
Escort her? What a chivalrous act on his part. Stifling back another laugh, she tilted her head up at him with a playful grin and enlaced their arms, “You may, kind sir.” An did promise herself that she would follow along. “I assume we’re going to get some karaage and takoyaki all dressed up?”
Shuuji let out a boisterous laugh. “That would be funny - might as well just go to the McDonald’s in the train station, if we’re already doing that. Or just stop at Family Mart in our Sunday Best.” He did, in fact, have a plan - but they had to get dressed up, first. “Here, this is the spot up here on the left.”
The store they were going to was that type of store that didn’t bother to put price tags on anything - they would have a personal shopper while they were there that would help them pick out an outfit, make any alterations if needed, rent out or sell them jewelry, and probably offer free champagne while they were trying on clothes. This, he knew, was going to be a new experience for An, this was high class even by his standards, but it was fun to let someone else play dress-up with you. The only time women normally got that was shopping for a wedding dress.
“Hey, the kaarage at family mart is pretty good.” She half joked. Occasionally when she got a hankering for something unhealthy the family mart a few blocks from her apartment was a life saver.
Once they actually stopped and entered the store, that was when An realized that maybe she was in over her head. While she continued to smile as a clerk came to attend to them her eyes couldn't help but dart to different areas of the store taking in all the different outfits that were styled on mannequins and racks. “Well, this sure doesn't look like WEGO.” She mumbled and with that she resigned herself to her fate. She was pretty sure any article of clothes in this store probably costed at least half or a full year of her rent.
Shuuji chuckled to himself, knowing full well how thoughts were racing through An’s mind just based upon the look on her face. “No, you’re not in Uniqlo anymore, Toto.” He handed his card to the attendants to hold on file while they tried on clothing. “Make sure you try on everything - it’s half the fun.” He gave her an encouraging smile to try to lighten the mood.
Letting out a breath, she smiled back as she let go of the older man. “ Are you planning on choosing for me? I think that would be fun to see what your taste in clothes are...Of course I’d pick a few things out myself.”
He had not been planning on playing dress-up with An, but if she was asking for it… well, why not? Shuuji nodded, “Sure, I’ll help you pick out some stuff, too. Let me just get measured for my suit and then I’ll start throwing stuff at you to model.” She certainly had the look of a model - not the high end fashion magazine sort, per se, but the unassuming department store kind. She had a pretty heart-shaped face, bright eyes, and she was petite. Not that it had not occurred to Shuuji before that An was pretty, but now that he had the pleasure to go on a date with her, he took a moment to enjoy that his escort for the evening was easy on the eye. “So don’t have too much fun before I come over. And don’t let the sales ladies give you a hard time.”
While she preferred to be out of there as quick as possible that wouldn’t as fun and she wasn’t going to become a downer now, “Great I’ll look through a few options while you go do that-” A thought popped into her head when Shuuji mentioned his suit. Pausing for a moment , her hand went in to her bag and pulled out a small grey gift bag. “Here, this is for for you.” She smiled extending it out to him, “Think of it as an early birthday present but I thought you might like it since you mentioned wearing a suit.”
Shuuji took the gift bag, his face clearly displaying his surprise. He had mentioned to An that his birthday was coming up, but he was not expecting any sort of gift. He briefly glanced up at her to see if it was okay to open the gift, then opened the bag to pull out what, at first glance, looked like a nice tie. But on closer inspection, he saw that what he thought to be some sort of checkered white pattern on it was actually a bunch of white bunnies. He could not help the grin that came to his lips as he rolled out the tie to get a better look at the pattern - it was absolutely adorable and would clash wonderfully with any suit he would be picking out today. He loved it. “This - this is a great gift.” He hung it over his shoulders to display it to her. “Thank you.”
Seeing Shuuji face brighten up after seeing the tie made her own smile grow. An had stumbled upon the tie when she was shopping for herself and thought Shuuji might appreciate it. It looked pretty normal if you looked from far enough or didn’t pay attention but the rabbits were there. “It’s nothing really. You like rabbits so it was either that or maybe some bunny slippers.” She teased.
Shuuji winked at her. “Would you still go on a date with me if I wore bunny slippers with my suit?” He was the sort of person who had been known to show up to his modeling jobs in his suit and a pair of bright red chucks.
“That depends on how cute they are.” It would be an odd way to show up to a date but it wouldn't be that different to wearing an ugly shirt or maybe Crocs to a date.
Man, this girl was up for anything. Shuuji chucked to himself and laid his new tie over his arm. “I’ll see what they have in the way of bunny slippers.” With that, he parted ways with her to go get fitted for suits - he knew they would take good care of her and be throwing outfits at her in no time.
She raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure they sell high end bunny slippers here.” She had mainly been kidding and she supposed that Shuuji was as well.
Watching Shuuji leave she let out a small sigh before smiling back to one of the sales ladies. Well she had to start off somewhere and there was a blue dress that caught her eye so there simple. She’d start her way on that side and see what else she could find.
As she began to look through the racks, some dresses were nice, some just over the top, and some she wasn’t even sure they were allowed to be called dresses and were more ready to be hanged as curtains or used as a rug. They’d throw out names like Oscar de la renta, Valentino and even Kenzo. At least she knew that one. She didn’t really care who made it but cared only if she found that it it fit two simple criterias. 1) it looked nice and 2) it might look good on her. Making her way around she picked out a coral lace dress , a longer blue floral number and a simple white dress that had some colored broidery at the bust. Those three would be enough.
Fitting for suits wasn’t as much of a process as looking for a dress. He showed the sales team the new tie (which they all clearly wanted to switch out for a nice, designer silk tie, but little did they know Shuuji would just wear a Jerry Garcia even if he wasn’t going to wear the bunny tie) for matching of the color and to pick out shoes. He gave his measurements, they found the suit, and then he was pinned to tailor the suit to his dimensions. They would complete the alteration while he waited and all of this was done while An was still trying on dresses.
So, as promised, he went about looking for dresses for her to try on. He had always been a fan of Christian Dior designs, they were elegant but not overly fluffy or weirdly revealing. You didn’t wear a Dior dress to be sexy, you wore it to be classy. Not to say he did not appreciate a pretty lady in a sexy dress, just that he would much rather that the sexy part be under the clothes for him to discover when they were alone. Nothing got him faster than lacy lingerie… which made him wonder if they ought to maybe slip over to the lingerie store while they were waiting on any alterations. He wasn’t thinking that An was going to be showing him that, but every lady deserved to feel drop-dead sexy.
As he passed through the Dior dresses, the first to catch his eye was a knee-length green dress that was a simple satin kelly green from the front, but had a bow with long tails tied at the nape of the neck in the back from the vintage collection. He asked the attendant that was working with An to pick out her size so he could bring it over. Near it was a cute floral dress with a tiered skirt - white with blue flowers, strapless, and with a blue satin belt. The bottom of the skirt was blue twill to match the blue flowers of the dress. It was cute and felt like a summer dress - he added that to the rack.
But then he encountered it - the dress. It was floor length, flowing (though cinched at the waist), and was the color of the evening sky and stars. It was a gradient from a soft grey-blue to a deep twilight blue, then back to the softer blue near the hem. It glittered with tiny silver sparkles worked into the top layer of fabric. Any woman would turn heads in this incredible dress. Wordlessly, he grabbed that as well and brought it over to the rack for her to try on. Then, he sat himself in the dressing area to provide feedback.
After a few minutes of waiting, An had decided that she’d start trying on the dresses that she had picked up. She would have waited for Shuuji but the idea of hanging out in a changing room sounded like the perfect idea to avoid the sale clerks for a while and worse case scenario she could just show Shuuji the one that she really liked. He did say he was going to pick out some for her so she still did have a few to try on.
She decided to try on the last dress that she had picked out. It was all white with a halter neckline and an open back. Thee only color found on the dress was a few sequins and rhinestones found on the bodice. It seemed elegant enough to her but when she tried it on, she realized that it wasn’t cutting out for her and not to mention that she somehow felt shorter than she already did.
Next, she tried on a navy blue floral printed dress, the chiffon was quite nice and the dress had a front slit so she could actually move her legs out from the fabric. It was an option but either she would need some very high heels or the dress needed to be cut a few centimeters.
Finally she got to the coral colored dress. It was short which was already a plus since she didn’t have to worry about it being to long and the lacy skirt was classy. Out of the three it was also the simplest but it was also another reason why she liked it.
Surveying herself once more in the mirror she opened the door and poked her head out and found Shuuji to be waiting. Smiling she opened the door completely and put a hand on her waist. “All done?”
Shuuji looked up at her. “Yep, just picked out a few for you, too.” He regarded the dress she was wearing - it was cute and flattering to her figure. The lace was a nice touch. “You look good - maybe a pair of nude pumps with that?” The sales clerks had already set aside some accessories including some jewelry, shoes, and boleros for her to try with her dresses.
An had almost completely forgotten that she actually had to wear something on her feet as well. Her simple flats weren’t going to really well with anything she got at the store. Her eyes slid over to the rack near the door. “Thanks~ And maybe, are those the dresses you picked out?” They were three very different styles, especially the very sparkly blue full length one near the end.
“That would be them.” Shuuji motioned to the dresses. “What size shoe are you, I can go look at some shoes for you to try on.” A nude or black shoe would be a good fit for any of them, but a sparkly, strappy, silver heel would bring out the best in a couple of the dresses. He would be able to find at least a couple things. “Any must-haves so far?”
Picking the three up she moved them over to the changing room, “ Your taste isn’t half bad, they all look to be very pretty.” An would give him that much, but she wasn’t exactly sure about how the green dress would look on her.
“I probably should actually try these dresses with some shoes on, I dont think going barefoot is a trend at the moment..”She joked, half closing the door, “If you want to my size is 22.5cms...The only thing I ask they not be super tall unless you want me to hold on to you the entire time.” With a grin she closed the door and started working her way out of her dress.
“I wouldn’t mind~” Shuuji joked as she did, smiling brightly. He got back to his feet and went to examine the shoes that were on display on the far wall. They were mostly the type that would match with one of three looks: the evening gown, the cocktail dress, or the business suit. He figured if he brought back a few different things ranging from practical to ridiculous he would get close to pinpointing her taste as well as possibly making her laugh.
He picked out a pair that had a nice, low heel that would be practical for walking, but would definitely be better suited to one of the more casual dresses. Next, a taller but classic pump that would go with anything, but might be a bit more boring than the other shoes. He found a pair that were the strappy, silver heels he had hoped to encounter - they were a bit taller than the pumps, but they were about as pretty as dress shoes for women came. Then, just to gauge her reaction, a pair of brightly colored platform stiletto boots just for the reaction.
That’s too bad Shuuji because An would prefer to actually walk as much as she could. Having slipped on the green dress she let out a small laugh. Even though it didn’t look bad on her she somehow felt like shiny green present or a candy wrapper. Either way she stepped out and watched as the older man came back and with the the clerks carrying a few boxes. “ So what do you think?” She gave him a small twirl, “ Find anything nice?”
The green dress was prettier on the hanger than the girl - it was one of those types. “You look good, but the dress is only okay,” Shuuji conceded, sitting back down in the chair. It would look better on someone darker skinned where the color would pop nicely against their skin tone. He then pulled the ridiculous boots out of the box, “well, there’s these....”
That’s what she thought. That shade of green was never really her color to begin with. Taking a few steps closer she took in the shoes and could only blink, “I’m assuming this is joke because those look..well they look awful.” She said truthfully with a laugh.
Shuuji also laughed. “Guess you caught me.” He tucked the boots away and showed her the three other pairs of shoes. “Do any of these catch your fancy?”
Okay, now they were getting somewhere. Her eyes looked each pair over and it was hard. All three were nice, she did like silver heels but they were a bit tall for her liking but they looked nicer than the other pair. “I think…” She picked up the silver pair, “I’ll try these on and see if they’re doable.” They’d look nice with the other two options that Shuuji picked out.
Giving Shuuji a smile she made her way back in and decided to try on the more sparkling of the pair. Once on, she could only stare and turn and stare back at herself again. It really was a lovely dress and while usually she wasn’t big on very sparkly dresses it somehow didn’t feel over the top.
Strapping on the heels she took a second to balance herself out because honestly? An did not want to fall on her face in front of Shuuji and everyone else in the store. The dress still was slightly long even with the heels but it would do for now.
“So...Is this a little too much?” She asked as she stepped out completely trying to not look awkward as she did.
Shuuji watched her come out of the fitting room, watching how the dress caught the light of the store and glimmered. It would probably need to be hemmed a centimeter or two, even with the heels, but it otherwise fit her beautifully. Just as he had hoped, it was absolutely stunning and brought out her eyes. “If it’s up to me, that one is the one,” he told her, making a motion for her to do a twirl for him.
Maybe it was the dress or just everything in general that she felt a smidge self conscious for a moment. Either way she gave Shuuji a small twirl before walking closer to him, “Really? I did try on one with a flowers that was nice but this one does seem more night ready.”
When she twirled, it was like a swirl of stars around her feet. “Hm, well, can you dance in this one?” He offered her his hand with a little bow of his head. Only one way to test if a dress was the right dress, after all.
An had thought that just being able to walk would suffice but no, she was wrong. Her face flushed lightly but she extended her hand to meet his all the same. “Just so you know maybe it might not be the dress and just me.”
Shuuji gently pulled An closer and took her other hand, pulling her into a slow dance in the middle of the store. There were a couple surprised gasps from the clerks, but otherwise he seemed to get away with it, though An’s cheeks were flushed. “I don’t know what you mean, you’re light on your feet… unless that’s the dress, too?” He smiled teasingly at her, keeping them moving as though this was a ballroom.
While An tried to maintain a smile, she could feel her ears burning up as she followed along with Shuuji’s movement. She’d been dancing a few times so she wasn’t that awful. Either way, dancing to little to no music while people just watched was in a ways an experience. “How sure are you about that? You’re lucky I haven’t stepped on you yet.”
“If you do, I'll cover for you,” Shuuji promised. He was a perfectly capable dancer, but the beat kind of dancing was with a beautiful person, spontaneous, and without music other than that in his imagination. The real humor of this had to be that she was stunning in this incredible gown and shoes and he wore the outfit he had worn for their date. He would need to change into his new suit to match with her. “I think this is the dress, Ladybug.”
An could tell that Shuuji seemed to be more well practiced in this than she’d ever be but she assumed that it was just one of those things you needed to know when you lived his lifestyle.
“That’s really sweet of you.” She said honestly as she ;let go Shuujis hand and stared down at the bottom of her dress. “Okay, let’s go with this one then.” While it wasn’t the type of dress she was used to wearing she did find it to be very pretty and her date seemed to think so as well so why not with it. “Should I get changed back?”
“Sure, do you want to get it altered? We are going to have to kill a bit of time before my suit I ready, anyway, so if you want it a little shorter or don't like the straps, now is your chance.” He took a step back to evaluate her once more - it would be pretty as is, too.
“Oh actually I like the straps..Though I should probably get it cut some.” She motioned to her feet, wiggling one of them, “I might catch on the fabric and kiss the concrete. We wouldn't want that now would we?” Her eyes twinkled as she took another step away and a clerk was quick to come and pin where the adjustments were needed.
Shuuji headed back to the front of the store to pay for their clothes, the alterations, and the shoes while An was being pinned. He let them know that their dinner date was next on the agenda and they agreed to work on the alterations immediately. Pleased with his handiwork, Shuuji waited for An to finish up.
Once they finished the pinning, An made her way back to the changing room and put back her normal clothes and took the chance to slip back into her flats. She would need to rest her feet for as long as she could if she planned on wearing those heels.
A clerk came and picked up the heels that she would be wearing later that evening and An found herself feeling relieved that all that was taken care of. Closing the door behind her she made her way over to the white haired man, “ Thanks for all of this...I’ll have to make it up somehow.” She smiled , “All I can offer you really is a nice home cooked meal.”
Shuuji lifted his eyebrow at her, a smile coming to his lips. “Now that sounds like an excellent second date-date.” He shrugged flippantly, he had no delusions of a second date unless that was what she wanted at the end of the night. It seemed to him like maybe this girl had a lot on her mind. “Or if not a date-date, a way to spend time with my new friend.” He offered his arm to her once more to lead her out of the store.
A second date? She was about to speak but he finished of with another possible option. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought, “ Either way I’d still like to treat you to some dinner..” She laughed, “I think I’d have to treat you at least a 1000 times to make up for all of this.”
Shuuji thought maybe the two of them understood the concept of equivalence differently. “Mm, I think maybe you and I see it a bit differently - you seem like you have a lot on your mind, so I wanted to give you a day when you don’t have to think about any of it. Maybe some of these things have a high monetary value, but the real thing I wanted to give you was an escape and the feeling of being treated with both respect and delight. Every lady deserves days like that, I think.” And if they were to do something equivalent… “So, if you were to pay me back for that, I would think getting a home-cooked meal is basically the best possible thing. I live pretty far from home and don’t have anyone but me to cook at home, so…”
An listened to Shuuji and her cheeks flared.He really was considerate and kind and plenty of more things. She was glad that she got meet him and getting a chance to know him better. A warm smiled made its way onto her face, “Then I’ll definitely will have to cook you up something super nice. I take any request.” She took his arm and gave it a squeeze, “I’ll even make some dessert if you want.”
“Oh, even dessert.” Shuuji grinned. “I like bunny-shaped mochi best of all, if you’re into that sort of thing.” He led them back out onto the street, thinking back to what he had been planning for them so they could kill some time between now and when the alterations are done. “But… while we have some time, wanna make one more shopping stop? If you’re going to wear that sparkly dress, you’re going to want some cute lingerie to go with it, right?”
She grinned back with a nod, “I do like mochi though I don’t think I’ve ever maken mochi shaped like a rabbit before.” She’d look it up and worst case scenario she could always make something that was bunny themed. An was only paying half attention when Shuuji made another proposal. “Yes, Lingerie-” She stopped mid sentence and thought about it, “What? I think I heard you wrong.”
“Did you want to go look at lingerie? There’s a nice shop just down the street on the left, here.” He motioned ahead of him to the Wacoal store. They would have a selection from basic to sexy and everything in between.
As much as she didn’t want to she could feel herself blushing. Why was Shuuji even asking this!? “ Do you usually ask people if they’d like some underwear on a first date?” She was actually being half serious with the question.
“I donno… now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a first date. I know it’s not okay to ask a girl to see her underwear on the first date.” Shuuji shrugged his shoulders. “I want to take a look at the boxes while we’re there, if we’re going.” He looked back at her with an easy-going smile. “I was just thinking before that for me, some of my confidence comes from feeling sexy in my underwear… so, it’s probably the same for women.”
Once blushing, now she was letting out a bubbly laugh. “I’m sure some women feel the same way, but that’s really not my kind of thing.” She stifled another laugh, “But I mean if you want to go look then I don't have a problem.”
“Then let’s go look.” Shuuji led her down the street to the store - if she was worried about being embarrassed or standing out, she had not really thought this all the way through. The store was filled almost entirely with women with a couple men who were there with their girlfriends or spouses, holding their purses and looking uncomfortable. Shuuji held the door for An and ushered her in, “After you.”
An hadn’t thought there’d be that much people in the store but it was a welcome change though she did notice that the store mainly was female lingerie than male underwear. “What did you want to get, I assume you don’t mind me asking.” She asked with a smile.
Shuuji nodded, “No, not at all. They have nice options for boxers - super soft silks and stuff like that. They also have nice pj’s which I have a weakness for.” He headed over to the small men’s section, just assuming she would come with him. As hoped, they did have a good selection of the boxers he liked and it looked like he was even going to get lucky with the sizing - sometimes his waistband could be hard to find because he was a bigger guy. Not heavy, just generally more physically large than the average man.
Her eyes looked towards a pair of lacy bras that were hanging towards the wall, “ Do they sell pj’s with rabbits on them? You seem like the type of guy to wear bunny pjs.” She joked as she went back to looking at the men’s section.
“Not here, but I do have a couple sets of bunny pjs.” He grinned at her over his shoulder, also catching the lacy bras on the opposite wall. “You sure you don’t want to look at some of the cute underoos?”
“I’m sure they pair well with the bunny slippers.” The image of Shuuji decked out in all rabbit clothing was actually pretty cute. She shook her head with a smile, “ Don’t worry, I’m fine with what I have.”
“”Kay,” Shuuji agreed, leafing through the display boxers to find a pair that was a nice royal blue. They also had a deep purple color that caught his attention. He grabbed both in his size and went on to examine the PJ’s. “I’m all about the bunny outfit,” Shuuji agreed. “I’d wear a bunny kigurumi to lounge around the house if I could find one in my size.”
An really didn’t pay too much attention to what the older man was picking up besides maybe his tastes in color, “ I’m sure if you looked up on amazon you could find one your size. I mean you can pretty much find anything on there.”
Shuuji nodded solemnly as though recalling some event long in the past, “That’s true, Amazon is sort of horrifying like that.” He put his hands on one of the sets of pajamas and made a happy little hum low in his throat. “Feel these - they really are the best pajamas.” He held out the sleeve of the pajama shirt for An to touch.
The way Shuuji made it sound perplexed her, “ You make it sound like you found something super weird on there.” She mentioned as she pressed her fingers into the sleeve and giving it a feel. “Oh that really is soft~What’s your favorite color? Just out of curiosity.”
There were a lot of weird things in internet shopping. Shuuji figured he didn’t need to even explain that… anyone who had gone too deep into one of those online stores knew the pitfalls of clicking too many times on the “recommended for you” items. It was like falling into the wiki void and never coming out. Absently, Shuuji said, “the color of water - the color of the ocean, the rivers, the lakes. Always feel most connected to the earth when I’m with water.”
That was an interesting way to describe his favorite color. “ So all hues of blue or maybe green depending on what type of area you’re talking about..” She thought for a moment and laughed, “Mainly just blues I suppose. Mine is blue.”
Shuuji grinned brightly at her, “Just blue, huh? I should have said something like that, then.” He lifted the pajama sleeve higher to touch the soft material to her cheek. “You look incredible in blue - I think it’s your eyes.”
“If mean I like all types of blues... I like cobalt blue, electric blue, sky blue , especially midnight blue.” An grinned back. She remembered having a debate with some male classmate a while back on how girls seemed to have a name for every shade of color that ever existed.
With Shuuji’s compliment she somehow almost felt sheepish maybe out of her own humility. She was pretty confident in herself but hearing someone else say it was always a nice thing, “ I think blue looks pretty good on you too..maybe it’s the hair?” She said with a smile.
A laugh bubbled out of Shuuji. “Yeah, it’s definitely the hair.” He regarded her with a warm smile for a moment, his eyes lingering on hers silently. “Thanks, Ladybug. You say sweet things.” He took the pajamas off the rack, deciding these were a keeper, too. After all, they were An’s favorite color, he thought with a bit of private amusement.
“I wouldn’t exactly say sweet…” At least it didn’t sound sweet to her more like just pointing out something that was true. Blue really suited the older man in general.
It seemed like Shuuji was all set, “Oh so you’re getting them, do you need anything else?”
“Nah~ don’t need anything in particular.” The men’s section wasn’t really much to write home about… they may not have killed enough time to have their alterations done, but if An didn’t want to look at anything there was no point hanging around in there like a creeper. Women could do stuff like that, but men definitely looked suspicious. “I can go get checked out.”
She gave him a smile and followed him along as they made their way over to the register, “So how many pairs of Pajamas do you actually own then?” It was a silly question but An was actually curious.
“Too many,” Shuuji admitted. His favorite place on earth was the beach, but bed was a close second. If he had a bed on the beach, that would top both of those things. But, what could one more pair hurt?
After he checked out, they had a bit of time to kill, still, so they wandered around doing some window shopping, poking their head into a few other stores. Time passed quickly for Shuuji with An, he hardly even realized how long it had been when he glanced at his phone and realized that they were going to miss their dinner reservation if they didn’t move things along. He had asked her on the date, initially, because he wanted to get to know her better and he felt like she could benefit from being treated to a nice night out… but, as far as dates went, turned out it had actually been a ton of fun. He wouldn’t mind that second date.
When they returned to the clothing store, their items were ready to pick up. Shuuji confirmed with the clerk that they could just get changed there and that the employees would bag up the clothing they had worn into the store. “See you on the other side,” he said jokingly to An as he went into the changing room to get into his suit.
It was a nice, deep midnight blue that fit him like a glove now that the few alterations had been made. He took a moment to re-settle his hair which unlike his usual look of a mop-like fluff, he had asked the stylist to partially keep back with mousse to give a more sophisticated look that matched the suit. With a pair of sharp, shiny black dress shoes and a black button-up, his ensemble was smart and sexy… and utterly ruined if you spent too much time looking at the tie and realized it was covered in bunnies. It was perfect.
The window shopping was more than welcomed and An found herself to relax some more compared to their first stop at the shop or at the spa. Maybe it was because all they were doing was talking and enjoying each others company and that was enough for her. Shuuji was a charming guy and was easy to talk too, he was a bit odd but that was part of of his charm.
Finally making their way back into the store it was time to put on their clothes for the evening. Smiling up at the older man, she shook her head and entered her own changing room. The dress certainly was a better fit now that they had cut off some of the fabric. Between the tulle and the sparkly gradient the dress almost seemed whimsical.
Strapped in her heels, An tucked a few hairs behind her ear and stepped out with her bag. Sure it didn’t match but she wasn’t to bothered by it.
When An came out of the dressing room, Shuuji couldn’t help the grin that came to her face. She looked great when they met up for the date, but with the sparkling dress, she looked like a queen - truly stunning. Shuuji rested his hands in his back pockets almost sheepishly. “Donno if I’m gonna be able to keep up with that,” he joked. “You’re quite the beauty.”
Shuuji was making it hard to not feel embarrassed but she smiled either way as she walked towards him, heels clicking adtr each step. He himself was looking quite handsome especially with the way he styled his hair. Once An got closer she noticed that he had put on the tie that she had gifted him. “Thank you~ I wouldn’t count yourself out, especially with the tie.” She laughed lightly poking it with her index finger.
Shuuji grinned back at her, taking the hand she had just poked him with. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” He bowed his head in thanks to the clerk, assuring them everything was as they had hoped, and made sure to grab the bag of their personal belongings on their way out but did not let go of An’s hand. As they stepped back out onto the street, and right on time, the towncar that Shuuji had called to take them to their next destination was waiting for them at the curb. The driver open the car for them and Shuuji waited at the door to help An inside.
Their destination was in Odaiba - an Italian restaurant called Magiare that had beautiful vistas of the water and of Rainbow Bridge. If they were lucky and the weather remained nice enough for outdoor dining, they were going to be treated to dinner on the waterfront patio.
An hadn’t imagined that he’d take her hand but it was for the best in the odd case that her feet that decided that they would like to trip her. Giving her own slight bow they soon made it outside, “ That was anything but a popsicle stand” Unless they offered the sticks encrusted with diamonds.
At this point she wasn’t surprised by the car that soon showed up to pick them up, she couldn’t really imagine them taking a train to get to their dinner date. Finally inside the car she set her bag down and waited on Shuuji, “Are we still grabbing dinner at Family mart?”
Once in the back of the car, Shuuji relaxed into the seat and chuckled softly. “I mean, I did make a reservation, but I’m happy to cancel if you’d rather do Family Mart. You’re the boss.” He shifted his weight so he could partially face her in the seat. He was used to being driven around - his agent would often drive him to jobs rather than letting him take other means.
She shook her head and smiled at Shuuji “Oh..No, it’s okay, really. You went through all that trouble and we might as well...We’re all dressed up.” Arriving to a conbini dressed to the nines would be certainly interesting.
Shuuji knew An would love the spot they were going to, anyway, but he definitely saw the value of going to the combini in their finery. “Well, that would be the fun of it, right? I think people tend to spend too much time worrying about what's expected and what makes sense, anyway.”
Shuuji was right on that, “Not to say that we can’t stop at on the way back.” Her smiled turned into a grin, “ I mean maybe if we’re still hungry after dinner that is.”
Now that was an idea. “Okay, now you’re talking.” Shuuji leaned a bit closer and lowered his voice. “We could find some random conbini that is way off the route back home to go on a joy ride. I’m sure the driver won’t mind.” It was a nice, comfortable car and he was enjoying the time with An.
“Is it really a joyride if you’re not driving?” An paused and thought for a moment, “Do you know how to drive? Either way that sounds like a fun idea.” She nodded once, it kind of was the drivers job to..well drive right?
“I have my license,” Shuuji confirmed, fishing out his wallet to show her. He was probably the only person in the world who actually had a good picture on his photo ID that looked like him and didn’t make him look portly and like an axe murderer. His passport was also a good picture, though it seemed to age him up 10 years.
Tilting her head she studied his license and picture over, “You know I would have believed you if you just had said yes but nice picture.” Most government document pictures were a pain, An was never sure if she was allowed to smile or looked depressed. It was more awkward than anything.
With a shrug, Shuuji put his license back in his wallet and his wallet back in his pocket. “Well, sure, but isn’t it more interesting this way?”
He glanced out the window for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “So, Ladybug, there’s something I’ve been thinking about.” He looked back to her with a warm smile. “There’s somebody you like, right? Someone you should actually be on this date with?”
“That’s true..would have been more interesting if you had some goofy look on your face. ” She teased as she watched him look away.
Fiddling with a few strands of hair, she listened to Shuuji, thinking about? When he looked back to her, An could only blink as her smiled faltered. She hadn't thought that Shuuji would ask her something like that. A nervous laugh escaped her mouth as she picked up her smile, “ I don’t know about that…”
Shuuji regarded her quietly, studying her face, then smiled reassuringly. “I just wanted to say I’m rooting for you, that’s all.” He rested his hand over hers, gently curling his fingers around her hand. “And I’m glad you came on a date with me, even if I’m not that person.”
She couldn’t really understand what Shuuji was thinking considering the entire context that they were in. There was one thing that she didn't understand was that Shuuji was kind and maybe a little too kind at times… An wasn’t exactly sure what to say, “I’m still working things out..I know you said you were glad but..” It was all very confusing.
“Don't think too hard about it, then.” Shuuji didn't take his hand away from hers, but also didn't press further.
Wasn’t that why she was here in the first place? It was exactly that but An felt some guilt, maybe she should have said no even if Shuuji said it was alright. Smiling lightly she looked to their hands and turned her palm up and gave his hand a small squeeze, “I’ll try...Plus I’m with you right now, that wouldn't be right.”
“Right now is always most important. Not to say later or before aren't important, too, but we shouldn't let ourselves worry about the rest and lose right now.” Shuuji laced their fingers together and gave An his trademark grin. “Besides, I still want that home cooked meal you promised me. You could come use my kitchen if you want, comes complete with bunny snuggles.”
“And now you’re just rambling.” An pointed out waiting a moment to let go of Shuuji hand and instead playfully poked his nose with a finger, “ I could do that if you’d like, you should let me know what you’d like and I can see what I can do.” She could do at least that much for him, “Bunny snuggles I’d say is a deal sealer.”
“When it comes to food, there isn’t much I don’t like.” Shuuji thought on it for a moment - he loved Chinese food, especially pigs feet, and some Korean food, but he didn’t want to ask for something strange or difficult to cook. Maybe a simpler Korean dish? “How about beef bulgogi? Do you like Korean food?”
Beef bulgogi? “I do and I’ve had it but I’ve never made it but I can certainly find a recipe and make it work..it can’t be too hard.” An mused as she noticed that the car was finally stopping at their destination. “ Oh, looks like we’re here.”
Shuuji looked out the window to confirm - this was the place. “Yep, this is us.” The culmination of their evening, the reason for the spa, the new clothes and shoes, everything, was for this fancy dinner. It had turned dinner into a journey, but Shuuji enjoyed the journey if it was with An. He opened the door for her and helped her out of the car.
Dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant, the drive home, and the promise of a second date (even if it might not be a date-date next time). Shuuji thought overall, it was very successful.
