Chapter 246 Chapter 57.2 - We do a little bit of 'shopping'
?"This one would look great on you!"
Inside one of the clothing shops of the academy, the red-haired girl exclaimed while holding up a sleek black shirt.
Astron eyed the shirt skeptically but took it from her, deciding to humor her.
He disappeared into the changing room and emerged a moment later, donning the black shirt. Irina examined him with a critical gaze, nodding approvingly.
"See? I told you! It suits you well," Irina said a triumphant grin on her face.
Astron simply sighed, not bothering to argue. Irina was on a mission, and he had a feeling it wouldn't end anytime soon.
'Sigh....Why did I misspoke?'
He himself knew it was his own decision that brought them here. Well, saying that was a decision was actually wrong since, in reality, he just mumbled about buying clothes.
"You want to buy clothes!"
And Irina's response was immediate as she appeared right before his face. From that point on, he was on a shopping spree, going from one place to another.
Though most of the time, rather than him buying clothes for himself, it was Irina choosing clothes for him.
Undeterred by Astron's lack of enthusiasm, Irina continued her fashion assault. "Wait, you need more variety. Here, try this one," she declared, presenting a stylish graphic tee with a unique design.
Astron, feeling the weight of his compliance, took the shirt from her and retreated to the changing room. As he emerged once again, Irina's eyes widened in excitement. "Wow, that looks amazing on you! You should definitely get it."
Astron sighed, realizing that he had unwittingly entered a fashion battle with Irina. She continued her onslaught, bringing forth more shirts, each seemingly more expensive than the last. "This one is a limited edition, and it's on sale today. You can't pass up such a deal," Irina insisted, her persuasive skills coming to the forefront.
Astron found himself surrounded by a growing pile of shirts, each adding a different touch to his usually plain attire. "Irina, do I really need all of these?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.
She looked at him with determination. "Absolutely! Trust me; you'll thank me for this later. You can't keep looking so plain and uninteresting all the time."
Astron crossed his arms, a hint of annoyance in his expression. "I don't dress to impress anyone."
Irina smirked, undeterred. "Well, maybe you should. A little style won't hurt, and who knows, it might even boost your confidence."
Astron gave her a skeptical look, but Irina wasn't finished. She rummaged through the racks, finding a particularly stylish jacket.
And then she continued to look at him from the side to gauge his physic.
'This may look good?'
In her mind, she pictured what this jacket would look like. She wanted to see Astron in white clothes, but that annoying guy never let her grab one of those. Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.
He said the color white never suited him.
'What is even his deal anyway?'
That was suspicious, but she decided to brush it off.
After thinking about the jacket, she grabbed another T-shirt.
'If we tuck this t-shirt into his trousers, then....'
Immediately picturing the combine inside her mind, she decided to test it off. Grabbing the black trousers, black T-shirt, and jacket, Irina couldn't resist the temptation to experiment further with Astron's wardrobe.
"Hey, Astron, try this one."
Astron sighed, taking the clothes reluctantly. "This better be the last one. We've been at this for a while."
Irina grinned, not caring about his mild protest. "Trust me, this is the perfect combination. It'll be worth it."
As Astron headed to the changing room with the new set of clothes, Irina couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.
She imagined the transformation she had orchestrated, eagerly awaiting Astron's reaction.
The new clothes accentuated Astron's features in a way that made her view him in a different light.
'This is....'
She even salivated a little (?) as she looked over him.
Astron, seemingly unaware of the reaction he had elicited, glanced at Irina. "What?"
Irina shook her head, trying to regain her composure. "Nothing. You just look... different."
He raised an eyebrow, uninterested. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
'Definitely a good thing,' she thought inwardly, looking away to hide her embarrassment.
"What? Give me an answer?"
After going to all this trouble to change, this was the reaction he had gotten from Irina, and that seemingly bothered him.
'If he goes around like this.....'
Realizing the monster she was about to release to the world, for some reason, she felt bothered. Whether or not she accepted, the words those girls had just spoken seemingly had taken effect.
Adding the fact that just recently, she had witnessed how close he was with Sylvie.
'No, he absolutely can not.'
The decision was made in an instant. There was absolutely no room for him to go around like that.
"It was not good," Irina stated abruptly, her tone firm.
"Ha!" Astron's eyebrows furrowed in mild irritation. "What do you mean, not good? We spent so much time picking these out."
Irina sighed, attempting to hide her true feelings. "Well, they looked better on the rack. Maybe it's the lighting in here."
Astron scowled, feeling a bit frustrated. "You dragged me into this, and now you're saying they're not good?"
"Look, it's just clothes. You can wear whatever you want," Irina replied dismissively, urging him to take off the clothes. "Let's just leave them. No need to waste any more time here."
Astron grumbled in annoyance, feeling like he had been played. However, sensing Irina's insistence, he reluctantly began removing the clothes and was about to return them to racks, but at that moment, Irina stopped him.
"Let's just leave them here; the employees will take them away anyway."
"...Tch..."
With a click of a tongue, he left the combine here and started walking to the cashier.
Astron walked towards the cashier, leaving the clothes behind as Irina called over another store employee. When the woman approached, Irina spoke up, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
"Um, could you do me a favor? Can you reserve these clothes for a while? I'll come back to pick them up later."
The employee raised an eyebrow, giving Irina a knowing look. "Sure thing. We can keep them aside for you. Just come back when you're ready."
As the employee took the clothes to make the reservation, she couldn't resist making a subtle remark, "You've got a good eye. He looks quite handsome in those clothes. Smart move, keeping it to yourself."
Irina's face turned even redder, and she stammered, "I-I... it's not like that."
The employee chuckled knowingly and winked, "Whatever you say. Enjoy your day, you two."
Irina hurriedly followed Astron out of the store, still blushing at the unexpected turn of events.
Astron, seemingly oblivious to the exchange, continued walking with his usual indifferent expression while still muttering under his breath about the wasted time.
The episode added a new layer of awkwardness to their shopping adventure, though it was almost about to reach its end.
---------------------A/N--------------------
This is enough for fanservice chapters. I wasn't in the mood to write fighting scenes after my uncle passed away.
Anyway, now it's time to progress with the plot.