Time had passed, and the Commander and I were changing our outfits.
To be precise, I was standing in the living room, while the Commander sneaked into the bathroom like last time.
I felt a bit guilty, but it was unavoidable.
And for good reason… I was in a dress.
There was nothing I could do.
It was genuinely a reason I couldn’t change.
Suits are easy to wear, but dresses? Not so much.
It wasn’t even a super flashy dress; just your average evening dress.
“…Hah.”
Honestly, I didn’t even know what type of dress this was.
Anyway… since I had to wear this dress, I had no choice but to use the living room.
Originally, this was an outfit that required some help, but there were only the Commander and me in the room anyway.
Asking the Commander for help felt a bit awkward, so I had to put it on by myself.
“Ugh.”
But I couldn’t not wear it.
I had bought it, brought it with me, and choosing not to wear it now felt strange, so I decided to go for it.
Honestly, it wasn’t that I disliked dresses at all.
I just felt shy to wear it.
Tonight was a party, and suddenly saying I wouldn’t wear it felt just as strange.
“Ugh… It’s so uncomfortable to wear…”
Wearing it uncomfortably was just part of it.
I wasn’t someone who wore dresses often anyway, and this felt floatier than a regular one-piece, making it even weirder.
“…But still. It does look pretty.”
I said that while looking in the mirror.
Well, calling it nonsense would be wrong since it did look pretty.
When I looked at myself and thought I looked pretty, I felt a little shy, but the truth was it actually was pretty.
“…Will he compliment me?”
Saying that, I couldn’t help but be amused, but such thoughts crossed my mind.
What I found pretty might not be the same for someone else.
“…Commander. You can come out now.”
I knocked on the bathroom door and said that.
The Commander purposely hadn’t come out until I said so; otherwise, something could go wrong.
If he had suddenly come out while I was half-dressed, it would have been a mess.
Originally, if the Commander hadn’t insisted I wear a dress, this wouldn’t have been a problem at all.
It was a situation where the Commander shouldn’t say anything to me.
“Uh… Did you finish dressing?”
“Yes, I’m all dressed now.”
“…I see.”
The Commander emerged from the bathroom, looking sharp in a suit.
Well, he usually didn’t wear suits sloppily.
Unlike his usual suit, this one was completely new.
“…It suits you.”
“Really? This suit is a bit darker than my old ones, so I was a little worried…”
“It suits you too well for that.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
The truth is, there weren’t many clothes that didn’t suit the Commander.
He looked good in whatever he wore, so I didn’t think too much about it.
Hoodies, t-shirts, shirts—it didn’t matter. He was just handsome and tall.
“Are you all ready?”
“Um… Should I put on a little makeup before we go?”
“Really?”
“…Why do you look at me like that?”
The Commander made a genuinely surprised face upon hearing that.
Why did he look like that?
It was a party, after all.
Going to a party in just a dress without any makeup felt a bit off, doesn’t it?
Socially, it would be rude to show up without any preparation.
“…Nah, it’s just I’ve never heard you say you’re putting on makeup before.”
“…?”
Did I never mention it?
I didn’t put on heavy makeup most of the time.
I was going there for work, not for something ridiculous.
“Don’t you usually not wear makeup?”
“…Huh?”
“…?”
“What are you talking about…?”
I don’t wear makeup…?
I seriously didn’t understand.
I always put on light foundation when going to work.
Of course, I hadn’t used to, but at some point, I started to look into makeup.
Even I thought it was odd to show up to work unprepared.
But I didn’t know he didn’t realize that…
“I wear makeup normally.”
“…?”
“…? Your eyes don’t look different, and your lips aren’t super red…?”
“…That’s not the only thing about makeup.”
Seriously…
This guy seemed worse than I was.
I knew that when girls were around, makeup was basic even when I was a guy.
I couldn’t help but sigh at the Commander, but I thought it was better just to let it slide.
Is that why he didn’t have a girlfriend?
But his looks should easily crush that issue…
“It’s just that my face gets a little whiter, and a bit on my lips…”
“…Really?”
“…Yeah. Of course, I keep it subtle, so there’s not a huge difference… but that counts as makeup.”
“…I never knew that.”
“…Seems like it.”
I just let it be.
“Just sit and relax a bit. Besides… I won’t be doing heavy makeup anyway.”
I said this to the Commander while sitting in front of the vanity.
No matter how I thought about it, it was funny that he thought I didn’t wear makeup considering we’d been sharing the same room for days.
As for the Commander, I just accepted it.
Now, can I do my makeup like usual?
My normal routine was just basics, but…
It was a party, we’re going there as the Commander’s partner.
Doing it too casually felt…
“……..”
“Why?”
“Nothing.”
Seeing the Commander just sitting there focused on his phone, I decided to just do my thing.
Asking him seemed pointless since he was clearly clueless about how much makeup girls usually wear.
*
“…Finished?”
“Yes, isn’t this enough?”
I answered while tying my hair to one side.
I thought I could leave it untied like when we were in the room, but since this was part of my identity, I thought it was better not to.
Leaving one side untied felt strange now.
“…Seems like it.”
“Then it’s fine. Commander, you won’t be doing anything with your hair, right?”
I hadn’t seen the Commander groom his hair much.
He typically just let it hang casually where it needed to be while keeping it neat.
Sometimes he looked cute with it all neatly down, but at a party, a more refined look would fit better.
I had no intention of fussing over his hair.
“Let’s go.”
“…Right.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…It’s nothing. Get up.”
“Yes.”
Anyway, we stood up from our seats.
The Commander was neatly dressed in a black suit, while I wore a pretty sky-blue dress.
Well… I looked pretty.
And the Commander beside me looked handsome going out.
“Oh… The hallway looks… strangely different…”
“There are people.”
“Indeed.”
Both the Commander and I couldn’t help but have the same thought.
It made sense since there were lots of people in the hallway, right?
Could it be because today was the founding celebration party?
There were many more people than usual milling about in the hallway.
“…Let’s take the elevator.”
“Sure.”
The party was set to start in the evening, and even though we had a while to go, we decided to head out early.
Simply put… there was time to kill.
It wasn’t a problem just to go there and sit.
“………”
“………”
Normally, the Commander and I would chat while walking through the hallway and talking on our way to the elevator, but this time, we couldn’t do that.
It made sense…
“………”
“………”
There were a lot of unfamiliar faces in there.
There were clearly people heading to the same floor and likely to the same party as us.
“…Lindera.”
“Yes.”
“…We should stick to the corner.”
“Right.”
After stepping out of the elevator, I had to agree with the Commander’s suggestion.
We really didn’t know anyone else there.
Until now, while wandering around Zone 0, I had barely met anyone… but today was different.
Commanders from various areas and executives from different companies… the atmosphere seemed a bit heavier.
Of course, it would change once the party started.
But for now, there were some rather… different men around, and it felt off.
Thinking about it, the only man I had talked to was the Commander.
“………”
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Just. Nothing.”
Still, it felt exciting since it was my first party.
I didn’t know what to expect.
We stepped into the party venue, and as soon as we entered, I was a little surprised.
It was bigger than I expected.
“It looks like they made the whole floor for the party.”
“Seems so… it’s wider than I thought.”
It really was enormous.
Even though it hadn’t started yet, the number of people in there was quite a bit, but that was just part of it—there was space for even more.
If we brought all the Agents from our ship, it probably wouldn’t feel cramped.
That said, our ship didn’t have many Agents, to begin with…
“Let’s head over there. If we’re too central or in the front…”
“It’ll be quite cumbersome.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
For real.
If the Commander suddenly wanted to draw attention by going to the front or the center, I would’ve had a serious talk with him.
Though it wouldn’t hurt much given how tiny my punch was…
It was genuinely a relief we didn’t have to go to a spot that might attract that level of attention.
“…By the way, there seem to be more young people than I thought.”
“Definitely… looks like there’s a lot of people who seem like Commanders or Vice Commanders.”
“Probably younger folks holding those ranks, with the rest being the higher-ups.”
There were indeed more young people than I had expected.
I thought it would be just a bunch of old guys for the founding celebration, but it was surprisingly lively with younger faces.
Around our age, to be precise?
There were many young men and women in their twenties, as well as people in their thirties and forties…
“This party seems like it could get quite lively.”
“It sounds tiring.”
“…Yeah, I get what you mean.”
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