Uminari Shopping Strip! Home of the fashionable and trendy, a place where people come to get the latest trends and the prettiest jewelry! Or... something like that. Right now, however, there is someone making a fairly large commotion, because Suzuki Natsume is walking down the street in her usual traditional garb! Well, usual being... well, what her parents force her to wear. More importantly, on her back, she seems to have a large weapon of some sort, in a cloth bag. Of course, that's just her wooden naginata that she uses for kendo...
But that doesn't stop people from looking at the oddity of what almost looked like a geisha of ages past walking down the street. Suzuki Natsume was also well known enough to not know much about modern fashion that people trying to hawk wares are trying to surround her with perfumes and new jewelries, trying to convince her to buy them! ... Suzuki, being her usual socially awkward self is trying to very quietly and awkwardly reject them. "A..ah.. uhm.... n..no thank you..." She says, her tone keeping that cool tone it almost always seemed to have, in spite of the almost timid response. "Ah... that's... kind of nice... uhm... excuse me, I'm trying to..." "You should wear this perfume deary! It will help you get the man of your dreams!" "B...but... I just..."
Yeah. Suzu is a bit stuck.
"Look, you have Luna with you. If you decide for a break...she'll take over for a bit. Just think about it, okay? I'll buy you coffee~!"
She waits for a moment, listening to the other side. Her lip twitches. "Yeah. Just let me know if she does wake up. Yeah, okay. Okay. Whoop, shopper in distress needs rescued. Call me!"
Bloop! Off goes her phone.
"Suzu-chan~!" Dive through the crowd! Arm glomp! "Thank you, people offering their wares, but we're both very broke right now! It's not allowance day, you know!"
Tug, tug, tug, pull Suzuki along.
Finally!
"Sorry! I won't call you Suzu-chan if you don't want, I just figured it'd make it more believable. But hi! How are you! I haven't seen you in ages! Where've you been?"
"Ah, uhm... please... I'm, uhm... just... trying to..." Suzu says, shifting a bit in place. Crowds. She really doesn't like crowds. And then! A familiar voice! "...Ah! Tsukino-san!" That glomp, the arm-grab... well. It was allowed, though Suzu did reflexively tense up slightly as she's pulled along.
The people hawking their wares let them leave when Usagi explains they're broke. Phew! Saved by the blonde! "...Thank you, Tsukino-san. I, uhm. I'm not good with crowds." She says with a nervous little smile.
The apology gets a slight shake of her head. "It's okay, Tsukino-san... you can call me Suzu-chan. I, uhm. I don't mind. You did just help me out there, after all." She says, her cheeks tinging a bit of a shy pink. The cool Suzu-chan's one weakness: Social interaction! She lifts her hand to cover her mouth, giving a little cough to clear her throat.
Regain the cool demeanor! "...My house was one of the ones torn apart in the incident before. My parents have been keeping me busy helping get everything restored and repaired, as well as helping with their business to help get it up and running again. Mostly helping salvage things from the building they worked in."
"I'm ... well, though. Beyond being a little overwhelmed. Most of my more normal clothing has been worn through from all the work, so I was coming to find some new clothing. How about you? Have things been alright for you? Did your house get damaged in that freak storm too?"
"Okay, one thing to remember. If you're on your own, either look grumpy and stomp along, or look at your phone like you're in a deep text conversation! That helps if you don't wanna be bothered when you're alone!" A nod!
Usagi sighs. Suzuki's house got hit by Walpurgisnacht, too?
"Things have been...interesting. My house got hit, but the repairs have been finished! ...just in time for the whole pink flower infestation..."
She clears her throat and puts on a smile! "I can help you! I'm just here to...take my mind off things. So I'm really not busy!"
"Look grumpy or stomp along..." Suzuki says, her lips shifting into a frown, she was trying to look grumpy; but because of her generally rather striking features, she looked less grumpy, and more furious -- almost hateful! "..Like this?" She asks, looking towards Usagi. Though that grumpy look fades away back to a small smile again quickly enough, demure but still friendly. "..Thank you for the advice, Tsukino-san." She adds with a polite bow of her head towards her. "...Is... it... okay if I call you Usagi-san?" She asks quietly.
The mention of things being interesting. Her house being hit, and repairs being finished. Okay, that's... relatively unsurprising with what happened. "Pink... flower infestation? I haven't heard of this. I've been out of it a lot because of how busy I've been. Though! Uhm. Let's... not talk about that, if you're wanting to take your mind off of it!" She has /some/ tact at least!
"Thank you for the help, Usagi-san. My parents make me wear mostly formal things, so I don't know the less... formal... stuff as well." She says, motioning towards the rather long and formal kimono she was wearing. "I might be able to get you something as well." Suzu adds, reaching one hand into the large arm of her kimono to withdraw a small purse. After glancing left and right briefly to make sure nobody was looking at her directly, she flashes... the joy of joys, the savior of teenagers everywhere; a CREDIT CARD. "...I'm not given an allowance, my parents just pay this off for me." Suzu says, sliding it back away again as she begins to make her way towards one of the nearby clothing stores.
Usagi's eyes widen before she giggles brightly! "Grumpy, Suzu-chan, not murderous!" She hooks her arm though Suzuki's again. "And of course you can! I like it better than Tsukino-san!"
She's pretty sure everyone and their gramma calls her Usagi-chan.
She sighs. "Yeah, you see them more in parks. And my house. All up in the drains..."
Though she had taken Mamoru's advice, using her wand to cleanse what she could when her parents weren't home. That's...helped. Some.
She gasps at the credit card! "Golly!" She snugs Suzuki's arm and giggles again. "And don't worry, I'm not actually broke!"
Usagi sees where they're going and gently steers Suzuki to the one next to it. "This one has a better sales rack and doesn't price their things overly too high."
"...Murderous? A...ah. I'm not used to looking grumpy." Suzu says awkwardly. In fact, from the way her face usually looked, she was used to looking completely neutral! "Usagi....chan... then." Suzuki adds, smiling a little bit wider. It didn't seem to help with that somewhat shy blush though.
"In parks and your house... that's /very/ odd for flowers to do. Are they releasing a pollen or something that makes people tired or anything else when they get near it?" She asks curiously towards Usagi.
Her arm is snugged again, which Suzuki seems to be ... just... accepting at this point, even the tenseness was fading! "Ah, really? That sounds good, then." Suzuki says, beginning to step into the shop she was guided towards! "Let's see... mmm..." Suzuki looks around from the entrance, trying to see if there was anything familiar. Buuuut she just kind of ended up looking lost. And out of place, wearing the formal kimono. "Uhm... maybe... some.. nice pants... and shirts... dresses..." She mumbles, to help Usagi help her.
A beaming smile in return!
After all, this is Usagi!
She shrugs a bit. "I...haven't noticed any of that yet." The unease she feels around them is probably more psychological than physical.
She looks around and hums in thought! Then looks at Suzuki! Then at the store again!
Finally she leans in and whispers quietly.
Basically, she's asking Girly Questions like size and shape and all that.
Hey, it's hard to see through a kimono!
It is Usagi! And she wasn't all depressed like one of the last times Suzu had seen her.
"Hmm, well... that's good then." Suzuki says softly. "..." Of course, something about her look said 'I'm going to be looking into this later'. Excessively honest, even when she doesn't speak!
"Wh... why are you ask.... o-oh! Right." Suzu says in response to the Girly Questions. "I, uhm..." She begins to whisper her sizes back to Usagi. "...I think I can get away with most colors because of my skin tone and my silvery hair... but probably ... similar colors to what you would tend to wear. I wear black and purple frequently because they're easy." Luckily, a blonde and silver hair don't wear /too/ different of colors! Meanwhile, Suzuki /had/ seen something she knew at least a little about. Jeans! Which she begins to look through. "Hmmm... do you know if they carry any with neat designs on them..?"
Usagi hums. "They probably do! I haven't been here in awhile. Let's look around!"
As they meander, she grabs several tops of various sizes, cuts, and colors. A few shorts. A skirt or twelve. And finally, jeans!
"There are others around here, but why don't you look here? I'll see what I can find elsewhere!"
She practically skips away as she hums, totally throwing herself into this. After all, DISTRACTION!
"Okay!" Suzuki says, a bit of excitement entering her voice. She was having fun with what she was certain was a friend!
Soon she'd picked out a few pairs of jeans, and had moved on to looking at several dresses. Ones that fell around the knees and were mostly cute rather than formal. She grabbed a few of those.
And then she was off following after Usagi, watching, trying to learn from the more trendy girl's example!
"What fun things have you been doing besides this? To just spend time with friends?" Suzuki asks curiously. Partially to check that Usagi /had/ been. After all. Suzuki Natsume is a worrywart who likes to protect people! This includes their emotions! Even if she's awkward and not very good at that part.
Usagi turns to Suzuki and starts holding shirts up, debating the color choice. Most go in the maybe pile, the rest in the no pile!
Her movements stutter a bit and her eyes grow a bit sad. But it's not something one normally talks about in normal settings. Oh, you know, lately we've been getting together to see how we can rescue one friend while I try to figure out how to get another friend to talk to me more all while fretting to death over Mamoru.
Yeah, right. Like she can say that out loud.
"Well, people have been...a bit busy lately. But usually we go to the Crown. Window shop. Or just stay in and marathon Disney movies until we fall asleep!"
Her smile is genuine, fortunately! "What about you?"
Suzuki diligently helps with suggestions on the color pile, tending towards darker colors, and only really saying outright no to the extremely light pastels, though she seems fine with whites and more vibrant colors! And she says yes/maybe to anything with a neat design on it!
A sad look in Usagi's eyes though. "...Mm. They've been busy and so you've been a bit lonely, then?" She asks softly, totally trying to probe for why she needed a distraction.
"I've been... well, working, really. That and occasionally looking for a friend of mine that disappeared. It seems a lot of people are still missing from that freak storm, though." Suzuki says with a slight shrug. "And, uhm... I'm... kind of ... bad at just enjoying myself. I work or practice for the most part." She says with a nervous chuckle. "I was partially asking to learn from you a bit." Suzu adds, holding a dress up for Usagi to see. "What do you think of this one?" She asks. It was a dark one with a purple lotus flower on the left leg!
"Um, sort of? I mean, I've been busy, too. It's just a friend's in a bit of trouble, and Mamo-chan's still sick, I just..."
She shrugs a bit.
"I'm sure you'll find your friend soon?" More Distraction! She beams. "Well, I can try my bets to help!" She gasps and ooooos over the dress. "It's so pretty! Yes. If it fits, you need this. It's imperative. It's the Law of Girl. Or something."
Mamoru is sick? That might explain why Suzuki's not seen him much. "You've been worried for him. I see." Suzu says softly, giving a small nod. "Well, you have inadvertently helped me a bit." Suzuki says with a brief grin.
"Anyway! right... okay... it should fit." She says, adding it to the 'yes if it fits' pile. "...There are secret laws of girls?" She asks with a raise of her eyebrow. She thinks quietly for a few moments, before shrugging helpless. "I suppose it is like the rules of Kendo. While certain things aren't outright against the rules, it's incredibly against the spirit to actually do it."
Usagi nods a little. "Yeah. But he's being taken care of!"
Silver lining is...well actually kind of a dull grey.
She laughs a bit. "There kind of is? I mean, the dress thing isn't. But its well known friends shouldn't try to steal friend's boyfriends, and if a friend is in desperate need of clothes for a sudden date and she's the same size, its always nice to let them browse your closet!"
She looks at the clothes they have. "Okay, I think you should try these on first, and see where we are?"
"...Well, if you ever need to borrow anything... I've gotten good at altering kimonos to fit more pleasantly." Suzuki says towards Usagi, shifting the strap for her wooden naginata off of her shoulder.
"...Stealing friend's boyfriends sounds wrong if you're a boy or a girl." Suzuki adds. Not even seeming to register what she was actually saying though! She holds the strap of the carrier for her naginata out towards Usagi. "...Here, hold this for me, please?" She says, beginning to gather the various outfits together and begin to carry them towards the changing rooms.
Usagi just sort of blinks as the heavy bag of weapon is dropped in her arms. This...is not a bag full of kittens, is it.
She follows close behind, helping carry what she can, and dutifully stands guard outside the dressing room! "I'll be out here if you need me!"
It shouldn't be /that/ heavy, being only a wooden naginata inside of it! But it was rather large and awkward and wholly out of place in Usagi's arms!
A bit of fidgeting and changing, and soon Suzuki was out of the dressing room again briefly, wearing that dress that she'd shown before! Suzuki steps out and does a turn for Usagi to see. "...How does it look?" She asks curiously. Beyond it obviously didn't go with the traditional wooden sandals that Suzuki was wearing at the moment!
Usagi gasps! "Ohhhh, so pretty! Yes, that one's a must! And we can find you some cute shoes and jewelery..." She trails off, stars in her eyes at the thought of accessorizing!
She shakes her head, though!
"Okay, put that on the yes hook!"
And then the two continued on like this for who knows how long, figuring out which outfits look good and then finding accessories and such! It was fun. And Suzuki continued to be awkward but friendly throughout all of it!