Chương 61: Murphy's Law
Making their way towards the children's section of the store, both Alaukik and Divya were looking around the shop.
'It seems that the fashion sense of people is still the same as the one in my original world. Well, I guess it must have been hard to have a fashion revolution in the middle of a World War right?'
'So many clothes… and they're all so pretty!'
Within just a few minutes, they had reached their destination. Without pausing for a second, Alaukik walked straight towards the girls section and started to pick out clothes. After picking out nearly 10 or so clothes, he walked back to Divya.
"Extend your hand," he said, looking at her.
Despite not knowing what he wanted to do, Divya extended her left hand towards him and returned his gaze. However, when he saw her do this, an annoyed expression formed on his face, before disappearing quickly.
"I meant both hands. That was my bad."
Hearing this, Divya quickly extended both hands outward, and the moment she did, Alaukik took the clothes from his hands and dropped them in hers. Reacting a bit late, Divya tried to balance all the clothes on her two hands, before realising that they didn't need to be balanced.
'What is this? Obviously the clothes are in my hands, so why are they no in contact with my palms? They're … floating?' she thought, before looking at Alaukik with a questioning gaze.
"Don't look at me like that. Obviously I won't let you carry all these clothes yourself. The clothes are being held by the space around them. Well, it's complicated to explain, but just think of it as multiple chains surrounding them, holding them together and above your hands. Ah, remember to keep your arms extended though, we don't want everyone to know that we can do magic. That would not be good."
'That would expose us too easily, and I still want to remain on the low for a bit longer. At least until Uday brings me the information I need, I don't want to be assassinated everyday,' continued Alaukik inside his mind.
"Anyways, take those clothes and go to the changing room. I was guessing when I chose the clothes since I don't know your size, but just try them on and tell me what you think… Or don't. Anyhow, let's just get you to the trial rooms now," he told Divya, before he started walking off in the direction of the trial rooms.
Standing in front of the entrance of the trial rooms was a young female employee, and seeing two children walking towards the trial rooms by themselves, she thought to herself,
'Aww, these two look so cute! But why is the boy wearing sunglasses…? And wait a second … is that little girl carrying all those clothes by herself? How cruel! Look at this young boy, walking in front of the girl without a care in the world, while she has to carry all those clothes. However, looking closely, those seem like girl's clothes, so maybe she chose them to wear for herself? No matter, I shouldn't interfere unless something bad is about to happen.'
And with that thought, she just watched as Alaukik brought Divya to the entrance to the trial rooms. Stopping in front, Alaukik just stood there, and Divya, not knowing what was happening, stood there with him.
Seeing this, a big question mark rose on top of the lady's head.
'What are these two doing?' she thought, looking at the comical sight of two children standing in front of the ladies changing rooms, one wearing sunglasses and the other drowning in clothes.
Suddenly, Alaukik realised something.
'Wait a second, Divya's never been to a shopping mall or the like, so she doesn't know what changing room means! So that's what she was confused about as we were making our way here!'
And with that thought, he turned back to face Divya and said,
"A changing room is meant for a person to try out the clothes available in the mall before purchasing them. So you just head inside, choose a room, and try out the clothes. Choose whichever ones you like and we'll buy them. If you can't choose, just wear them one at a time and come out and I'll choose. Ah, and don't worry too much, I'll be keeping watch."
Hearing this, Divya realised the reason they came here for, and promptly headed into the trial rooms.
Meanwhile, an even bigger question mark grew on the employee's head.
'Keep watch? Are these two playing a game of some sort? And what are those clothes she is taking with her? They look horrible even without needing her to wear them!'
Of course, it wasn't a game. Alaukik had said that because he thought that Divya might not feel comfortable enough changing in an unknown area. After all, it was different from their house, where Asha was usually with Divya whenever she was awake.
Barely a minute had passed by when suddenly Divya came out of the changing room, but this time, she was wearing one of the clothes Alaukik had picked out for her. Seeing this, Alaukik understood that she wanted him to choose. And so, he made sure to check if it was a good fit for her or not. And a second later, he nodded to himself and said,
"Well, this one seems to be a good fit. What about the other ones?"
On the other hand, the employee who was standing on the side just stared at this with horror on her face.
'Does he not see the horrible print on the top? That's for old ladies! I really hope the other one's are better than this one…'
Hearing this, Divya walked back inside the changing room. And so, they quickly cycled through all the clothes Alaukik had picked, and most of the time it was just Alaukik checking if it fit her or not. His thought process was simply that if it fit her and the design seemed good, then they would buy it. After all, Asha had given them quite a large budget.
Now that they had gone through all the clothes Alaukik had chosen, it was time for them to head towards the checkout counter. However, just as they turned around, they heard a loud shout,
"Don't you dare buy those clothes!"
Turning around to look at who had the gall to shout at him, Alaukik was surprised to find that it was the female employee who was standing by them the entire time. With a scary expression on her face, she walked up towards Alaukik and said,
"Can't you see how horrible she looks in those clothes? And it's not just one or two of them, all of them look equally horrible! How could you even choose these clothes for such a young and beautiful girl like her? No, NO! I will not allow you to buy those clothes for her, you'll have to walk over my dead body for that!" she said, as she straightened out her back and towered in front of Alaukik, as if trying to threaten him.
Unfortunately for her, she was threatening the wrong person. In fact, even now, Alaukik was holding back the urge to just cut her into pieces.
"Then, Miss … employee," he said, sarcasm filling his voice, "Why don't you choose something good for her to wear?"
Letting out a smile at her victory, before quickly assuming a serious stance again, she agreed saying,
"Then allow me," after which she promptly headed towards the section of the store where they kept clothes for young girls and the like.
Knowing she left, Alaukik turned to Divya,
"Did your magic affect her in some way?"
To this, Divya just slightly shook her head, as she herself was confused as to why the employee suddenly shouted at Alaukik. To her, all of the clothes Alaukik had picked looked quite good. But then again, she just didn't have much knowledge about current fashion, or fashion in general.
However, Alaukik didn't have the time to figure out what caused the employee, whose name he still didn't know, to burst out like that, since in just a minute, she had returned, but this time, with a lot of clothes in her hands.
Between huffs and puffs, she spoke to Divya,
"Here - you - go," she said, handing the clothes to Divya, "Try these on."
Suddenly having so many clothes thrust on her, Divya didn't know what to do, and so instinctively looked to Alaukik. Noticing this, Alaukik just gave a slight nod, seeing which Divya walked back into the changing room.
"Now, Miss Employee," Alaukik said, turning towards her, "Why are you doing this?"
Slightly confused, she asked,
"Why wouldn't I do this? I mean, who would allow such a young girl to wear those horrible clothes?"
"But how are you benefiting from this? You don't get anything in return for wasting your time picking out clothes for her."
"I don't know why you think like that," she said, with a slight smile on her face as she bent down to look straight at Alaukik through his sunglasses, "But not everything you do has to benefit you. Sometimes, you do things just because you like to do it."
"Like…" whispered Alaukik, realising that he no longer had anything he liked. Even the activities he used to like in his previous world: watching anime and reading novels, seemed so foreign to the current him.
Yet, before that realisation could sink in, Divya stepped out of the dressing room, wearing one of the clothes the employee had chosen for her. Turning to face her, for a second Alaukik wondered if she also had something she liked to do. However, before he could ask her that question, the lady beside them exclaimed in joy,
"Yes! This one suits you perfectly! You look really good!" she said, as she ran over towards Divya, twirling around her, looking at her from various angles.
"Indeed, I was right again! This really does look good on you!" she said again, as she looked at Divya. However, she paused for a second, before slowly continuing,
"It's just, it's not really that cheap."
Hearing this, Alaukik let out a small chuckle, and whispered,
"Well, there it is."
Facing the employee again, he said,
"Don't worry about the money, just choose whatever you think looks good on her. And Divya, you also take a look at the clothes and choose some for yourself if you want."
Saying this, Alaukik simply sat down on a chair beside the changing rooms, watching the lady bring clothes for Divya, before rejecting them and bringing her another pair.
Exactly one and a quarter hours later, they were finished. Wiping off imaginary sweat from her forehead, the lady looked at Alaukik and spoke,
"We're done. I picked the best clothes I could find for her, and I guarantee that she will look the best no matter where she goes," she said, grinning at Alaukik, who immediately stopped her.
"Don't, don't do that. It's nauseating," he said, scrunching up his face.
"Don't do what? Smile?"
"No, don't - don't grin. It's hideous."
Hearing this, her mouth curved down into an angry expression, before she let out a defeated sigh.
"Fine, but just because of that, I'm going to charge you. Anyways, just take these clothes to the counter. And remember, if you ever want to buy more clothes here, you can always come to me."
Surprised at her willingness to go this far for two random children, Alaukik simply gave a small nod as acknowledgement before heading towards the checkout counter, Divya following behind. However, before she left, Divya gave a slight bow towards the employee, as a show of thanks for all that she had done for them. While she had not yet become accustomed to a normal life, she knew that she should thank people who helped her. It was the basics of what her mother had taught her.
Thankfully, since it was midday on a weekday, there wasn't much of a line at the counter. And so, the duo didn't have to wait at all for their turn. Walking up to one of the cashiers, Alaukik took the bag of clothes from Divya's hand and handed it to the cashier, who promptly began to scan each of the clothes. And as he was, Divya's face slowly started losing colour, as she realised just how costly the clothes the lady had chosen were. After having scanned all of them, he looked at his screen and said,
"Your total comes to ₹7500 sir."
"Very well then, use this," Alaukik replied, handing the cashier the card Asha gave him.
While he was scanning the card, the cashier spoke,
"You're very lucky young sir, to have caught the eye of our boss. She doesn't offer discounts so casually to strangers. But I guess she really liked you both."
Confused, Alaukik asked,
"What do you mean by that?"
Surprised, the cashier asked,
"You don't know young sir? The boss told us to offer a 75% discount on your total purchase. Otherwise, your total would've come to a total of 30 thousand rupees young sir. I really don't know how you managed to do that, young sir, convince our boss to offer you a discount that is. She never does that, unless the other party is really close to her."
"Is that so…" muttered Alaukik, knowing that this boss must have been the employee they met before.
"Would you mind telling me your boss's name?" he asked the cashier, who in turn answered, albeit a bit confused,
"It's Rita young sir, Rita Pathani. Ah, and here's your bill and your clothes sir," he finished, handing Alaukik two large carry bags.
Now that they had the clothes, Alaukik turned around to leave the store, only to realise that Divya was rooted to her spot. Perplexed, he asked,
"What happened?"
However, it was as if she couldn't hear him, not even glancing in his direction. Her eyes were rooted to the digital screen on the counter, showing their total bill. Following her gaze, Alaukik also focused on what she was looking at, but couldn't make out what it was. After all, he couldn't really 'see' in the truest sense of the word. And so, he turned to the cashier and asked,
"What is she looking at?"
Once again confused, the cashier gazed at Alaukik weirdly before answering,
"The total cost of your purchase young sir. Is something the matter, young sir?"
"No, nothing," replied Alaukik, before continuing, "Just remove that number from the screen."
"Yes, young sir," replied the cashier, before quickly clearing the screen. And immediately, Divya blinked a bit, before turning around to Alaukik. Slowly raising her trembling hand, she pointed at the screen and mumbled out
"Thi-th-thirty thou-thou-thousand?"
"Yes, thirty thousand. Is there something wrong?"
Having never seen such a big number in her life, Divya was quite nervous. And knowing that it was spent on clothes for herself, she felt even worse, knowing that that much money was enough to survive easily for nearly half a year. And yet, it was spent in under two hours, and that too on simple clothes. Once again, Divya felt jealousy rising within her. However, before it could rise any higher, it was crushed by an even greater emotion; thankfulness, towards Alaukik, who didn't even blink before spending so much for her, and towards Asha, who had been so kind to her ever since she was brought to her house that day. And so, she slightly shook her head, and whispered,
"N-nothing," before quickly moving away from the counter and towards the exit of the store.
Clueless as to what had just occurred, Alaukik simply shrugged it off and followed Divya. Catching up to her, he said,
"Shall we go eat now? It's already afternoon," he stated, before taking the escalator to the top floors, where the food court was. Following behind him, Divya once again started taking in the various sights around the mall, before they finally reached the food court.
Stepping in, the first thing that hit her was a mix of the scents from the various restaurants that were there. She could smell food she had never smelled in her entire life, and she wanted nothing more than to run up and try everything right this instant. However, she controlled herself, looking instead towards Alaukik, who was looking around the area.
'It's been quite a long time since I entered a place like this,' he thought, looking at all the restaurants lined up in rows around him. Turning to face Divya, he asked,
"So? What would you like to eat?"
Hearing this, you could see her eyes light up like never before. Immediately after, she took off, going around the entire area, trying to find the best dish. However, barely 5 minutes later, she was back, her shoulders drooped. Noticing this, Alaukik asked,
"What happened?"
However, as he expected, he received no reply. Just as he was about to say something else, he heard a small voice speak,
"d-don't know what to choose."
"Hm?" questioned Alaukik, taking a minute to process what Divya said, before realising it.
"Ooh, so that's it. Well then, how about I take you to the restaurant I used to li-," Alaukik said, before quickly walking into a restaurant called 'Tiles'. Inside, he walked up to the cashier and ordered a few items, before bringing Divya and taking a seat inside the shop. About 20 minutes later, a waiter walked towards them with a big tray in his hand, which he promptly placed in front of the two. Smiling, he said,
"Please, enjoy your pizza," after which he walked away just as fast as he came.
Looking at Divya, Alaukik said,
"Well, have a bite," pushing one of the pizza's towards her.
"Last I remember, these were quite tasty."
Hesitating for a second, Divya slowly picked up a slice and placed it inside her mouth, her emotions a split between wanting to taste something that smelled so good and feeling unworthy of it.
However, the moment she tasted the slice, she started quickly gulping down the entire slice of pizza - promptly choking on it. Seeing this, Alaukik quickly appeared behind her and patted her back, helping her properly swallow the slice. Once that was done, he told her,
"Don't eat the entire thing in one go, I don't think you're that hungry, are you? Just … watch me, I guess," he advised, before showing her how to eat the pizza, taking a bite out of a slice. However, just as he was about to chew down on his food, he sensed something.
'A fluctuation in space? And that too just a 100 metres away from us! Who could it be?!'
"Divya, we need to leave, NOW!" he said, getting up from his table immediately, causing quite the commotion in the restaurant. Surprised, Divya also got up in a hurry, upsetting the drinks that were on the table. However, before Alaukik could teleport them away, they were brought into a pure white space,
"A subspace," whispered Alaukik, now having an idea about who it might be. And as if fate were mocking him, he heard a familiar voice say,
"Correct, mister Alaukik."
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
SoManyAngels
SoManyAngels Sorry I didn't upload before, one of my exams went horrible and I completely forgot about uploading. For that, today I'll upload two chapters, and this one is super superr long.
I mean come on, 3232 words? That's in a different league on it's own. I told you that I would give you guys a longer chapter right? Hehe.
Anyways, thank you for those who are reading my novel, and as always, have a good day ahead!
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