Sigh… I probably sprained my ankle a little bit during that fall.
It reminded me of the sour pain that I used to feel when I played football back in England. The competitors were usually quite rough during the game and players got injured quite often, so this wasn't much to me. But it kinda hurt wearing the 3-inch high-heels that my friends bought me for the previous night at the restaurant.
I just clenched my teeth and decided to bear with the sharp pain that occurred every time a step was taken. I did my best to not limp so that Setsui-san would not notice and cause him more trouble than I already had.
(In English)
"Syan-san! There you are! I was looking for you this whole time.", Setsui-san said as he approached me.
"Is something wrong?"
I forced a smile and replied, "No, everything is perfectly fine! Haha. I was just checking out the dresses over there, they all look so beautiful."
"Is that so? Well, anyways follow me, I have asked the attendant to help you pick out some dresses for tonight's gathering."
I nodded with excitement and quickly followed him into the fitting rooms.
The lady worker laid out a number of dresses with different unique designs for me to see. Setsui-san and Tanaka-san were waiting outside the fitting rooms, sitting on a couch that was provided for guests to have a seat on while waiting for the ladies to change.
After taking a closer look at the dresses, I only found 2 dresses out of the 10 that I actually liked a lot, and that I felt would have fitted the dinner party well.
The first dress was a sleeveless cool-toned grey dress that was made out of many layers of mesh fabric which wrapped nicely around the bust area and was snatched at the waist. The bottom section of the dress was like any other regular dress, with the rest of the fabric puffed up more at the hips. However, this dress's fabric was cut short at the front, around mid-thigh, and the rest of the fabric was sewn in a way that gave the dress many fanciful folds, slowly making its way down the calves and stopping at the ankles. The dress also had intricate white lace designs around the torso that gave it a more modern-princess-like aura to it.
The second dress was almost the direct opposite of the first dress in terms of the whole outlook of the outfit. It was an off-the-shoulder black dress that had an inner layer of an opaque silk-material black dress which was around mid-thigh, and an outer layer of mesh with a similar design as the first dress. The black mesh-covered over the inner layer and was cut short at the front and ran quite far down to the ankles at the back, still tight-fitting at the waist so it gave me shape. Just this time, instead of lace, there were sakura flower patterns designed onto the mesh around the snatched area of the dress, which gave the whole outfit a nice color contrast of black, white and slight pink.
After much thinking, I had finally decided to go with the black dress as I felt like it would have fit such a formal event more.
I wore the dress and walked out of the dressing room.
Setsui-san looked up and saw my outfit, his eyes widened in shock but his expression slowly became a happy smile.
He walked towards me and placed both his hands on my shoulder.
(In Japanese)
"You look absolutely gorgeous in this dress Syan-san. Don't you agree, Tanaka-san?"
"Yes Young Master, I fully agree with your statement. The young Miss, without a doubt, looks extremely beautiful."
I blushed at their compliments.
I took a step back, but I forgot that my ankle was sprained. I winced at the sharp pain from the immense pressure I had placed on the injured ankle.
"Are you alright Syan-san?! Is something wrong??", Setsui-san asked in a panic.
I gritted my teeth and a placed on the best genuine smile I could muster and said in English, "Oh I'm perfectly fine! Just suddenly had um, cramps..."
He looked at me for a second blankly and realized what I had said after a while.
"Oh no... Are you feeling okay?? Do you need medication to ease the pain?"
I felt so stupid.
CRAMPS. ARE YOU SERIOUS BRAIN?? CRAMPS?! That was the FIRST thing that popped up in your mind?!
How embarrassing...
"Oh no, it's fine! I don't get cramps often, it was just sudden! Haha." I responded, trying to sound as positive as possible.
"Well if you say so... but if you feel unwell please tell me okay? Don't force yourself.", he said while patting my head gently.
What a gentleman he is.
As I was changing back into my own clothes, the lady worker had asked me to pass her the dress I had just tried on. I handed the dress over to her as she instructed and continued to change.
When I left the changing stall, Tanaka-san was holding a big bag with the dress I had just worn inside and Setsui-san had just finished paying for the dress.
Wait. Paying for the dress? PAYING? HIM??
I tried my best to quickly rush to him despite my injured ankle.
(In English)
"Setsui-san! Why are you paying for the dress?? It's MY outfit, I should be the one that pays for it."
I looked at the price that was displayed on the cashier machine and almost died.
$72 000 yen.
Seventy-two FREAKIN THOUSAND yen!!!! For this one dress????!!! What was this dress made out of? GOLD?! No, it was made out of silk but STILL. Was silk that expensive???!
I hesitated at the sight of that number, "Can I pay you back in installments?"
Setsui-san chuckled, "Just treat this as a gift for doing me a favor and being my plus-one."
But it's so expensive...for a gift...
I bit my bottom lip.
He reached out his hand to touch my lip.
"Don't bite, you'll hurt yourself."
Ah... I felt like my heart just skipped a beat. I could just feel myself totally giving in to everything he said.
"Don't worry! This isn't much anywayssss. So, jus...just accept the present okay???", Setsui-san said frantically.
My head drooped down, "Thank you very much."
I felt horrible, he has been doing so much for me even though we just met.
I shot my head upwards with a determined look on my face, "FINE! Then next time! If you have ANYTHING you want me to do, I'll do it! I'll do everything! I may not have money, but I'll return your kindness with physical favors. Okay??"
Setsui-san didn't say anything, he took a step closer to me, bent down and placed his face right in front of mine.
I couldn't breathe, we were wayyyy to close for comfort.
He smiled and whispered in my ear, "If that's the case, then, you'll be my plus-one forever right?"
I could feel all the blood just gush into my face the second I heard his statement, all the way to my ears where Setsui-san's face was.
Ahhhh... His deep and gentle voice reverberated through my head and I just stood there like an idiot.
He took a step back from me and just giggled at the sight of my flushed self.
"Just kiddin-"
"F...Fine! I'll do it!"
I couldn't go back on my word... not after I said that I would do anything he requested.
I, Aki Syan will not break my promise!
"I'll do whatever you say! If you are fine with having me as your plus-one then I'll be your plus-one. FOREVER! F O R E V E R. So you better not regret it!!", I said childishly with my lips pouting out.
Goshes. Why are you such a kid Aki??? *facepalms*
His lip lifted up slightly, making him smirk at me.
"Since you insist then, look forward to being with you here on out my plus-one."