章 13: Chapter.13: Confidence Check
Koutetsu had no decent clothes to wear for his meet-up with Itsuki. He had workout clothes, one pair of jeans and boots, basic necessities, and Akane's jacket in all. The only decent clothing he had was the school uniform and disciplinary coat. That and he hadn't cut his hair yet since he arrived, it grew out and was terrible looking.
'Damn, I look like a bum. I have a good-looking face at least but that's not enough. Truthfully I wasn't handsome before either. I was plain looking. I was even surprised at the fact one girl talked to me at all. Come to think of it do I really deserve this body? I worked hard on it in military school, I had to really work harder than others just to be able to do basic things without breaking a pinky bone. But it still feels like a cheat in a way because I was born with this all. I didn't put myself through the hell others did to reach this level. Honestly, maybe I'm more self-conscious than I care to admit about myself'
Koutetsu's self-confidence at the moment was low. Training at the military school was easy since he focused on improving his combat abilities and strength, it was a huge distraction for him not to look at his insecurities.
He never went on dates or social events when the opportunities came up at the school. The only social thing he did was movie nights with the other kids or going to an arcade during the weekends to play fighting games. He was way out of his league here when it came to hanging out with a pretty girl, especially a childhood friend at that.
The doorbell sounded off. Koutetsu smacked his face to pump himself up, he wasn't going to let his low esteem for himself ruin the day. After he opened the door he saw Itsuki looking very pretty, more than usual. He couldn't help but be flustered at how she looked in front of him. Itsuki saw his eyes, she got a little embarrassed turning her head away for a brief moment, but was happy he saw her like that.
"Hey, Koutetsu. Are you ready?"
"Huh, oh umm yea I'm good to go."
Itsuki looked at his outfit. She was a little disappointed he dressed so casually. Ratty training shoes, gym shorts, and a plain T-shirt. She saw he had the ribbon still around his neck, but she felt like he didn't care about hanging with her at all with how he was dressed.
"Umm, Koutetsu did you just finish working out?" Koutetsu could hear the disappointment in her voice.
"I'm sorry. I don't have anything good to wear other than my school uniform. Sorry to disappoint you." Itsuki could see in his face and tone he was regretful. She didn't realize he must not have had good clothes to begin with. It made her feel bad she thought he didn't care.
Itsuki shook it off and invited him into the car. The two went to the shopping area in town that was popular for the best stores in all of Tokyo. The area was owned by the Five Families, so only the best and elite items would be sold there. Itsuki figured it was the best spot for them to go to to help Koutetsu not look like a hot mess.
The driver reached the destination, she dropped Itsuki and Koutetsu off as they walked into the store area. Even with his clothes, people stared at Koutetsu, he could see the ogling eyes checking him out.
He even heard one of the girls ask if he was a trainer from his build. Koutetsu felt a little relieved, he didn't feel like he was embarrassing Itsuki a hundred percent with his terrible fashion sense.
"You ok?" Itsuki asked.
"Hmm, oh yes, sorry. I thought I would look like an eyesore around you cause of my hair and clothes. I'm glad I didn't inconvenience you."
"You should stop apologizing. You're doing nothing wrong."
Itsuki felt appreciative of Koutetsu's concern for her. He really had changed since childhood, It made her happy more how much he was honest with his feelings.
'Ok Itsuki, it's your first time hanging out. Gotta help him feel better about himself. I'm gonna make him feel as great as I do today. Hang in there Shirayuki Itsuki.'
Itsuki felt pumped, she was committed to helping him feel better about his appearance. The first step was one of the clothing stores in her view, her eyes brimming with opportunity.
'Bingo! If he's worried about his clothes then I'll help him buy new ones. That'll boost himself up definitely.'
Itsuki grabbed Koutetsu's wrist, pulling him in the direction of the store.
"Oy, where you taking me."
"Hehe, first step in making you feel better."
Itsuki made it to the store with Koutetsu in tow. Koutetsu felt overwhelmed, all the clothing was very stylish, and even the workout clothes were very popular brands. They were way above his price range, he didn't understand what Itsuki was thinking at the moment.
One of the employees came to them. She pretty was with long violet hair and blue eyes.
"Welcome, I'll be your help for the day. How may I assist you?"
Itsuki looked at the employee, her sense of fashion was great, even better than hers. She saw the name tag and recognized who she was, she was a student at Kamui Academy.
"Oh, I know you. You're Kisaragi Rina, you're part of the fashion club aren't you."
"Yep, I almost didn't recognize you at first Vice-President. What brings you here."
Itsuki and Rina made small talk after getting a chance to meet each other outside of school. Not like what happened earlier with Natsume. Itsuki pointed at Koutetsu who was dumbfounded at what they were trying to do.
"I see. So you two are on a date." Itsuki blushed again, while Koutetsu felt annoyed.
'Not a date. Argh, even for an otaku who would kill for this moment would still find this a headache.'
"Hehe just kidding. I can see he needs some professional help in picking clothes. Let's see. Judging from how I've seen you fight at school and how you handle yourself you need something light to wear for movement but also with style. You're also very active, so no tight clothes or anything baggy for you."
"Huh, uh right."
"You use fire magic as well so has to be heat resistant too. I know just what to do for you." Rina went through the selection of outfits. Her expertise in fashion was a passion of hers. Rina was an Esper, her skill in emotional reading and image projection helped her know how to read people's feelings and thoughts and make a perfect picture in her head, nearly recreating any scene with all the information present to her. If she was to try this in analyzing crime scenes or interrogations she would be a great police detective, but she wasn't interested in anything but being a designer.
Rina gave Koutetsu a large assortment of clothes to try on. Ones for casual wear, formal events, and even new clothes for training as well. Other than the formal wear, all the clothes were popular sports brands she picked out that would help in making him comfortable with his fighting style, even had flame-resistant fibers to avoid his flames burning them.
Koutetsu tried them on at the girl's behest, the clothes were a perfect fit for him. He didn't have fashion sense at all so he couldn't tell if he looked good with the clothes on.
'Well better hurry this up I don't want to waste time on clothes I have no clue about. God, I feel like a Ken doll doing this. I really hope I don't regret it.'
Itsuki waited outside talking with Rina, they got along well and discussed the latest brands and models. Koutetsu announced he was coming out of the changing room, the girls looked his way and fixated on his new look. He had on designer jeans, high-top shoes, a brand-name shirt, and a black n' white parka hoodie.
"Hmm, what's wrong do I look bad?"
Itsuki shook her head. She was happy to see how good he looked. Rina saw her face, she smiled seeing the excitement on Itsuki, she felt like she needed to help the situation out since Itsuki wasn't going to make the first move.
"Nope, you look great like an idol. You made Itsuki here speechless. Now you guys look great for your date."
'NOT A DATE DAMNITT!!!'
Itsuki flustered again. She was getting more excited now. Rina felt happy helping her out, she was good at helping others make the first step. Itsuki went to the register to pay for the clothes, she was about to use the black card, but she hesitated, enough to make Rina notice. Itsuki shook it off and switched to her personal card with the money she earned working with her parents.
"Thank you for your business. Please come again Vice-President I'll help your friend out more when he needs it."
"Thank you, Rina. It meant a lot that you helped us out."
Itsuki didn't stop there. She helped order furniture for his house, and entertainment equipment and even got him to get his ears pierced and a better haircut.
Koutetsu felt a little uneased, at the situation. He thought he was being turned into a pet project now, it was a little more than he could handle for the moment. Truthfully, it made him bad like he was taking advantage of Itsuki.
They sat down at a food stall to order crepes after all the time spent shopping. Itsuki felt joy eating hers, while Koutetsu scarfed down ten of them. Itsuki chuckled at his voracious appetite, she found it humorous.
Itsuki saw her phone go off. It was telling her she was nearing her daily spending limit on her card. Koutetsu saw the look on her face, he knew something was up.
"Hey, you ok Itsuki?"
"Hmm, yes I'm good just a work text from the committee is all."
"Liar. You looked bummed. What's wrong?"
Itsuki didn't want to answer. She was enjoying the moment, but she didn't want to lie to Koutetsu either. She pulled out her wallet from her purse. She showed the black card to Koutetsu that Ayaka wanted to give him.
"What's this?"
"It's a company credit card. My mom wanted to give it to you. She wanted to help you for Akane saving us that day. I didn't want to say anything cause I didn't want you to think you needed a handout. I'm sorry."
Koutetsu knew she was lying. He saw when she was paying that wasn't the card she used earlier.
"You never once used that card for those charges. The one you used was silver. Fess up, what's the card you used to help me today?"
Itsuki didn't want to say it. But the look on his face, if she didn't answer correctly Koutetsu would be disappointed in her.
"I, I used mine. I used my personal card. That text was from the bank letting me know I was hitting my spending limit for the day. I'm sorry I lied." She looked disheartened now. She didn't want to lie, but she felt she hurt his pride more.
Koutetsu felt disgusted at himself. She used her personal money for her own needs to help him out. Everything she did today was her being nice to him because she cared.
'I'm so stupid. She wasn't just being nice, she wanted to help me so I would feel better about myself. I didn't see the signs. I can't let her feel like I just spat on her heart like that I need to do something for her.'
"Hey, can you wait a minute for me? I'll be right back." Koutetsu had taken off, and Itsuki felt ashamed, she thought he was upset with her. She got up to walk out with her head held down.
Koutetsu ran back to Rina's store to ask for help.
"Hmm, Hayashi, why are you here?"
"I need help. What's the best gift to buy for a girl."
She could see how desperate he was. Rina smiled and told him for Itsuki better to buy something that would remind her of him at all times. Koutetsu felt the words. He felt that way about the ribbon on his neck. He was always wearing it to remind him of her.
"Thanks, Kisaragi, I promise to pay back your kindness."
"You can start by calling me Rina, is that ok?"
"Yeah, you can call me Koutetsu as well. Thanks, Rina."
Rina waved him off, she was giving him a good luck wish for him.
'She's lucky. He's a real nice person.' Rina said to herself wishing that was her someone would go that far for.
Koutetsu had to think, everything was out of his price range and he had no idea what to get her that be meaningful.
'Damn, damn, what am I supposed to do here. I don't want her to feel bad. I can't hurt her again cause of my stupidity. What am I supposed to do here?'
Koutetsu grumbled trying to figure it out as he stopped running like a lunatic. A feeling hit his heart. He turned to the direction the feeling was calling him to. He saw an antique store, one that didn't look fancy like the others, he thought his mind was playing tricks, but if he learned anything it was to trust his instincts in this new world.
'Gotta follow the direction I'm being pulled to. Maybe I can fix this now'
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