You couldn’t remember the last time you found shopping this fun as you wandered around town with Rima, talking about anything and everything as the two of you looked for dresses. Well, you were the only one really looking for a dress, seeing as she already had one. But still, shopping was way more fun when you had someone to talk to with you, and also when you weren’t dirt-poor. There wasn’t much to miss about living on the streets, that’s for sure.

“So, (f/n). Have you decided whether or not to ask him out yet?” Rima then asked you, completely out of the blue. “Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?” you ask shyly, trying to avoid the subject as best you could. “Just answer, I’ve been wondering for a while now” she said sternly, looking you right in the eyes as she did. Immediately breaking the uncomfortable eye contact she had made, you looked down on the ground before answering. “I honestly don’t know what to do. I will admit, I like him alot, but that doesn’t really matter. He only sees me as a friend, so confessing to him would only damage the what we’ve built up thus far” you said with a sad smile adorning your features.

“Do you honestly believe that?” she mumbled after a moment’s silence, making you look up at her confusedly. “What do you mean?” you ask her while tilting your head to the side like a lost puppy. “Nevermind...” she replied boredly while looking off to the side, which made you pout at her in response. When she doesn’t let up, you instead decide to change the topic. “Rima, you’re in love with Shiki, right?” you say, smiling innocently at her. At that sentence she immediately snapped her head to look at you, a deep blush covering her cheeks. “W-We’re just friends!” she yelled defensively at you with eyes shut tightly and hands raised. “Yeah right...” you say mockingly with a smirk playing on your lips as you roll your eyes at her. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?!?” she yelled at you yet again, making your smirk grow tenfold before answering her. “Nevermind...” you say in an extremely mocking tone as you look off to the side, making her really pissed at you.

As you turn back your head to look at her she’s sending you a serious death glare, which only made your victorious smirk grow even more. Before once again starting up a conversation with you she made an audible sigh out of sheer irritation. “Anyways, are you planning to go to the ball?” she asked, the death glare replaced with a curious expression. “I guess so, but the real question is how long I’ll be there. It all really depends on how good Takuma is at distracting people. If I start getting crowded I’m leaving” you reply honestly, suddenly finding your shoes really interesting to look at.

“Well, it’s be better if he didn’t have to be the one to distract the fangirls... Tell you what, me and Senri will keep them occupied so you and Takuma can have some time alone” she then said, her voice becoming extremely suggestive at the end of the sentence, making your face yet again heat up. “I’d much rather you and Shiki got some time alone” you then said, mimicking her suggestive voice perfectly as you did. The two of you then started glaring daggers at each other for a good few seconds, before both breaking out in laughter at your own stupidness.

“Hey, how about we check in there, it seems like it’ll be more your style” Rima then said once she had finally managed to stop her laughing. She was pointing to a store where the dresses were a bit less flashy, and instead more casually fancy. You liked the way she was thinking, and immediately dragged her inside the store. After about half an hour of rummaging through the store, you finally found one that suited your taste.

It was a (f/c) dress that reached down just underneath your knees. It was strapless and tight from the top down to the waist, where the skirt became looser, falling into a wavy pattern at the bottom. It was a very simple design all together, but it still looked completely gorgeous on you. As you walked out of the changing rooms a wide smile grew on Rima’s lips before she gave you two thumbs up. “That looks great, you absolutely have to get it” she said as you did a spin to make sure it looked good from the back as well. “You think so?” you said, wanting to be sure she gave an honest opinion on the matter. “Yes, definitely” she answered, still smiling from ear to ear. As a response, you gave her a quick nod before getting back in the changing rooms to change back into your normal clothes.

Once you were done, you paid for the dress, and then the two of you headed back to campus. After all, it was the middle of the day, and it would probably be wise to get some sleep before the classes started.

Author's note! Alright, so this is a really short chapter where nothing much really happened, but I actually have an expanation for once. Shit's going down next chapter and I just wanted to get this in before that. Next one's going to be about the ball, so you can probably guess what's going to happen, or at least to some degree. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this short chapter and that you're looking forward to the next one! //Yours truly, Handsomesquid :3