Kousuke was looking at himself in the mirror disappointed, he had no decent clothes to wear for his meet-up with Itsuki. He had workout clothes, one pair of the ratty 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 being unkempt.
'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 so I never cared about style. I was plain looking at the that time, 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 with how strong I am. 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'
The status screen popped up for him to look at again. He saw his current level at Lvl 61. He was the highest so far at the school, even Itsuki was barely Lvl 39, the stats too were insane. His strength stat was at 200, which seemed weak but in his new world even being at strength 40 meant you could bench press 350lbs with little effort. He tried looking over everything to see what he was at just to get his mind of things.
[Lvl 61. Stats, strength 200, stamina 400, vitality 300, intelligence 300, magic 300, instincts 600, resistance 200.]
The list was long with other statistics and lists of his acquired skills and magics but it didn't help him get over his over thinking brain.
Kousuke'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 in order for revenge, it was a huge distraction for him not to look at his personal 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, Kousuke knew it was Itsuki having arrived to pick him up. He was getting nervous more thinking he was going to disappoint her. He grabbed his inhaler to take another two hits just to be safe. He the. smacked his face a couple of times to pump himself up, he wasn't going to let his low esteem for himself ruin the day.
'Get it together. If I blow this with her how am I going to expect to even think about relationships in the future. Get it together old boy, do it for her.'
After giving himself a pep talk 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 like real life princess. 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, Kousuke. Are you ready?" She asked with eagerness in her tone.
"Huh, oh umm yea I'm good to go." He fumbled in his words but still replied.
Itsuki looked at his outfit. She was a little disappointed he dressed so casually without care. Beaten boots, ratty jeans, and a plain T-shirt. She saw he had the ribbon still around his neck wearing it love, but she felt like he didn't care about hanging with her at all with how he was dressed.
"Umm, Kousuke did you just finish working out?" Kousuke could hear the disappointment in her voice.
"I'm sorry. I don't have anything good to wear other than my school uniform, all the clothes I had were from the military school save for my undergarments. 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 when coming back. It made her feel bad she thought he didn't care.
Itsuki shook it off and invited him into the car to start their day. 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 Kousuke not look like a hot mess.
The driver reached the destination, she dropped Itsuki and Kousuke off as they walked into the store area. Even with his clothes, people stared at Kousuke with thirsty eyes, 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. Kousuke 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." She told him.
Itsuki felt appreciative of Kousuke's concern for her more then his own. He really had changed since childhood, It made her happy more how much he was honest with his feelings and not a grouch.
'Ok Itsuki, it's your first time hanging out together like this. 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. It may feel like a dress up Ken doll situation but she'll do whatever she can to help. 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." He asked trying to keep up with Itsuki.
"Hehe, first step in making you feel better." She said with a smile continuing the drag.
Itsuki made it to the store with Kousuke in tow. Kousuke felt overwhelmed being inside, all the clothing was very stylish like for Pop Idols, and even the workout clothes were very popular brands high paid athletes wore in their commercials. They were way above his price range with what he saved up, he didn't understand what Itsuki was thinking at the moment taking him here, a nice thrift shop in the mall would have been fine.
One of the employees came to them after seeing how lost Kousuke looked seeing all the clothes. She pretty was with long violet hair and blue eyes looking just as stylish as her store was.
"Irashai Mase(Welcome to our store), 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. I've seen your work during the club visits."
"Yep, I almost didn't recognize you at first Shirayuki-San. What brings you here today."
"Please it's just call me Itsuki, I'm not informal greetings with someone I respect." Itsuki said to her bowing to Rina in respect for her designs and fashion skills.
Itsuki and Rina made small talk after getting know the other one better now that it was after school not during club businesses. Not like what happened earlier with Natsume, she enjoyed Rina's presence. Itsuki pointed at Kousuke who was dumbfounded at what they were trying to do.
"I see. So you two are on a date." Itsuki blushed again, while Kousuke felt annoyed.
'Not a date. Argh, even for an otaku who would kill for this moment would still find this a headache. Someone just shoot me in the foot please.'
"Hehe just kidding you two are pretty close at school from what I've seen so I assumed you were a couple. I can see he needs some professional help in picking clothes from looks of him. I can tell what shop to go to after this to cut his hair, theirs a jewelry shop too if you want to get him some piercing too. Just don't go overboard like Sakurai Ryuji. Let's see. Hmm, Judging from how I've seen you fight at school and how you handle yourself you need something light to wear for movement and comfortability. You're also very active during the physical tests and breaking up fights, so no tight clothes or anything baggy for you."
"Huh, uh right."he replied hardly paying attention to their conversation.
"You use fire magic as well so has to be heat resistant fabrics. I know just what to do for you one sec." Rina went through the selection of outfits in her store. Her expertise in fashion was a passion of hers since childhood. 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 famous designer in her future.
Rina gave Kousuke a large assortment of clothes to try on after picking them out with care. 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 high grade fire-resistant fibers to avoid his flames burning them.
Kousuke grumbled a bit holding all the clothes, but he went through with it and tried them on at the girls' behest, the clothes were a perfect fit for him after all. He didn't have fashion sense at all so he couldn't tell if he looked good with the clothes on inside the changing room.
'Well better hurry this up I don't want to waste time on clothes I have no clue about. God, I really do feel like a Ken doll doing this. I really hope I don't regret it later.'
Itsuki waited outside talking with Rina more, they got along well and discussed the latest brands and models. Kousuke 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?" He asked when they gasped at him in amazement.
Itsuki shook her head after regaining her composure. She was ogling from seeing 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 on her own.
"Nope, you look great like an idol. You made Itsuki here speechless. Now you guys look great for your date."
'NOT A DATE DAMNITT!!!' He screamed in his head in frustration.
Itsuki flustered again hearing someone call her Kousuke's girlfriend. She was getting more excited now that she helped with step one on his confidence boost. Rina felt happy helping her out as well, she was good at helping others with making their move in what they wanted.
Itsuki went to the register to pay for the clothes after having them packed up to be delivered to Kousuke's house, 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 her monthly allowance on it.
"Thank you for your business. Please come again. I promise I'll help your friend out more when he needs it, he does look like a lost puppy when buying clothes." Itsuki chuckled a bit with the remark at the end.
"Thank you, Rina. It meant a lot that you helped us out, I'll definitely come by myself for you help too. We can also make a lunch date if that's ok?"
Rina nodded yes, with their business done Itsuki grabbed Kousuke's hand again for the next stop.
Itsuki started his second step for Kousuke. She helped order furniture for his house despite his pleas for no, better hygiene products and cooking tools since he mentioned he was getting better at making his own meals now. even got him to get his ears pierced and a better haircut to match his good face.
Kousuke felt a little uneased still at the situation. He thought he was being turned into a pet project now for Itsuki to live in her books where the lead got a makeover from their Godparent, it was a little more than he could handle for the moment. Truthfully, it made him bad like he was taking advantage of Itsuki and her money.
The two sat down at a food stall to order crepes after all the time spent shopping. Itsuki felt joy eating hers, while Kousuke scarfed down ten of them. Itsuki chuckled at his voracious appetite, she found it humorous.
Itsuki saw her phone go off on the table, she tried to look at it without Kousuke knowing. It was telling her she was nearing her spending limit on her card, her allowance was running out. Kousuke saw the look on her face, he knew something was up.
"Hey, you ok Itsuki?" He asked her.
"Hmm, yes I'm good just a work text from the committee is all." She tried to hide her phone so he wouldn't see the message.
"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 Kousuke either. She pulled out her wallet from her purse. She showed the black card to Kousuke 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-San 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."
Kousuke 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 with the look on his face, if she didn't answer correctly Kousuke 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 lying earlier.
Kousuke felt disgusted at himself when she told the truth. She used her personal money for her own needs to help him out with his. Everything she did today was her being nice to him because she cared. He felt like he hurt her feelings by stomping on her good nature.
'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 with her using her personal money, how could I. I can't let her feel like I just spat on her heart like that I need to do something for her back for all this.'
"Hey, can you wait a minute for me? I'll be right back, there's something I need do to." Kousuke told her before he had taken off. Itsuki felt ashamed, she thought he was upset with her for lying. She got up to walk out with her head held down hiding her eyes from small sobs.
Kousuke ran back to Rina's store as fast as he safely could to ask for help. She saw Kousuke look like he was in a hurry from when he arrived.
"Hmm, Hayashi, why are you here?" She asked confused.
"I need help. What's the best gift to buy for a girl, please it's important."
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 not something expensive that look like it was meant to hit on her in a bad way. Kousuke felt the words from Rina. He felt that way about the ribbon on his neck. He was always wearing it to remind him of Itsuki, it helped him keep his mind from completely breaking during his training days.
"Thanks, Kisaragi, I promise to pay back your kindness when I get a chance." He gave a thumbs up for the great advice.
"You can start by calling me Rina, is that ok?"
"Yeah, you can call me Kousuke as well. Thanks, Rina." Kousuke answered back before taking off again.
Rina waved him off, she was giving him a good luck wish for him on his mission.
'She's lucky. He's a real nice person.' Rina said to herself wishing that was her someone would go that far for someday.
Kousuke had to think, everything was out of his price range and he had no idea what to get her that would be meaningful. She had every fairytale book in existence, and her family fortune got her all the clothes and makeup she could ask for. Nothing came to mind that would help her think of him everyday.
'Damn, damn, what am I supposed to do here. I don't want her to feel bad after leaving like and calling her out for her card. I can't hurt her again cause of my stupidity. What am I supposed to do here?'
Kousuke grumbled trying to figure it out as he stopped running like a lunatic to settle down before he reached the point of using the inhaler again. Something touched him during his calming, a feeling hit his heart unexpectedly in a warm way. He turned to the direction the feeling was calling him to see. He saw an antique store, one that didn't look fancy like the others store, like it didn't belong at all in the mall. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but if he learned anything it was to trust his instincts in this new world.
'Gotta follow the direction I'm being pulled to. What else do I got to lose'