“…So, that friend I mentioned suddenly asked me out on a date and asked us to help…?”
“Yup!”
“…Hmm.”
That was sudden.
Of course, I was surprised because Midori brought it up out of the blue while visiting my room.
That said, it didn’t mean I was thinking about not helping.
“When is it happening? Today? Tomorrow?”
“They said they’re going this weekend. I don’t really know what they plan to do, but… anyway, they asked me out on a date… since I know nothing about it, I asked someone who has experience in romance!”
“Uh… is that so?”
“Yeah, Dolores has never been a couple, right?”
“Oh.”
…That was true, but it was a bit too blunt.
If Dolores had been passing by, she would have probably heard that and cried.
But of course, it was evening now, and Dolores was probably relaxing in her room.
So it wasn’t really a problem.
“Uh… so what exactly do you need help with? I mean, I’m not really knowledgeable…”
“I think they’d be incredibly grateful if you could help.”
“I’m not saying I won’t help. It’s just… I’m a little worried that I might not be able to help properly.”
That was true.
I genuinely had no idea what kind of advice I should give, or what kind of help I should offer.
“Um… I don’t know either?”
“…?”
“I mean, for starters… I got a random text from Nana yesterday…”
“…Then it might be good to ask where they’re meeting and what they’re planning to do.”
I thought figuring out what kind of date it was should come first.
I wasn’t quite sure what exactly I was supposed to do, but Midori needed to tell me at least something concrete.
Honestly, I didn’t know much about romance, so I probably wouldn’t have much to advise anyway.
But still, I couldn’t ignore Midori’s need for help.
Anyway, I said that to Midori and we returned to our respective rooms.
Since I had work tomorrow as well.
“What did you two talk about?”
“Midori asked me to help her out with something for a bit.”
I slipped into the arms of the Commander, who was lying on the bed as soon as I re-entered.
I mean, I was already supposed to be here anyway.
Midori had suddenly rung the doorbell and left, but there was no reason for me not to come back in.
“What about?”
“…That Nana person you mentioned suddenly asked her out on a date. She asked me for help.”
“Ah.”
“I mean, it’s the weekend, so there’s still plenty of time.”
“Then you can take your time to help her.”
“Yes.”
There was still plenty of time, and I wasn’t going to come up with anything profound or groundbreaking with my advice.
I’d probably just help her pick out some clothes and tell her what to do.
For now, I needed to actually hear more tomorrow so I could advise her properly.
By the way, a date.
Thinking about Midori going out on a date made me suddenly want to go on one too.
Last week wasn’t really a date, so…
“Shouldn’t we go on a date this weekend?”
“Out of the blue?”
“Just saying if you don’t want to, that’s okay.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”
“Then let’s go.”
Anyway, the Commander and I didn’t have much else going on.
We didn’t have anything more planned for the weekend anyway.
*
“How should I dress…? They said it’s an amusement park… I haven’t been to one in a long time…”
“Hmm…”
The next evening.
As soon as I got off work, I went with Dolores to Midori’s private room.
It would be weird for the Commander to come along when it was just girls looking for outfits.
Not that I had strictly prevented him from coming, of course.
“What do you think, Dolores?”
“I think it should have some level of exposure.”
“Same here… I think it’s better than having none at all.”
I was definitely against it being overly exposing.
Despite being slightly shorter than average, Midori has a objectively nice body.
She had the right curves in the right places, so having some exposure would be better.
“I wonder how that Nana person’s tastes are, but objectively pretty and cute is the best.”
I figured Dolores would think so too.
“How about this tennis skirt? It’s cute and has a neat feel.”
“Hmm… I think it’s okay. Let’s look for other colors too.”
“Yes.”
“Um……..”
The room’s owner, Midori, was standing by herself while we dug through her closet.
One thing’s for sure…
“…Why are there so few clothes?”
“Hehehe…”
“…I thought you’d have a lot since you’ve been buying more these days.”
“…True. I’m a little disappointed with the matching options. It feels lacking to wear a hoodie on a date.”
“Hmm…”
“Umm…”
This was tricky.
Hmm…
“Midori, we agreed on the weekend, right? Saturday?”
“Yeah, why…?”
“Tomorrow, let’s go out and buy a nice top. This isn’t good enough.”
“I think that sounds fine. Since they even mentioned going on a date… it’s definitely better to prepare properly.”
It felt like Dolores and I were thinking the same thing.
We found a pretty skirt, but the only tops available were hoodies.
Sure, I wore hoodies a lot, but… this was a date.
I wouldn’t wear a hoodie on a date with the Commander either.
I genuinely thought she’d have a wider variety of clothes since she had told me to buy clothes for her before… but it turned out I had more options.
Of course, she had more clothes in total…
“…Why do you have so many hoodies?”
“Because it’s my style!”
“………”
“…We should probably buy some nice short-sleeve shirts tomorrow. After all, this isn’t likely to be the only date.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
*
And then the next day.
As soon as we got off work, Dolores and I dragged Midori into the district.
Of course, we left the Commander alone in his room again.
Honestly, I had thought about going on a date with the Commander since we were in the area, but right now, Midori was more important.
I felt bad about it, but there was no other option.
“What do you think about this? It has a slight shoulder exposure, but it gives off a cute oversized vibe overall.”
“Hmm… But I feel it might look a little lacking with a skirt. It’d be better paired with baggier pants…”
“Hmm… then maybe with a boxy cut rather than too oversized…”
For now, we were focused on finding a top.
But I definitely wasn’t going to recommend anything thick.
After all, we were going to an amusement park, and with all the activities involved, wearing a thick sweater would be a bad idea.
You could wear a sweater on the ship, but our district is generally quite warm…
“What about you, Midori?”
“U,uh!? Me?”
“Yes. What were you doing?”
“Uh… um… Nana texted me!”
Ah, I see.
Suddenly, Midori was fiddling with her phone by herself; I thought something was up.
“What did she say?”
“Um… she said she’s really looking forward to tomorrow and suggested meeting somewhere!”
“Hmm…”
“So, what kind of clothes are you thinking of getting?”
“I’m thinking of getting a t-shirt for now. Maybe I’ll buy a hat too.”
“Then how about going with this?”
Dolores suddenly brought us something to look at.
A hat that looked like something artists would wear and a t-shirt that looked slightly bigger than Midori’s frame.
“Put this on and throw on a suitable jacket.”
“Hmm… I think I need to see it on to know for sure. Go try it on.”
“Okay!”
With that, Midori took the clothes Dolores handed her and went to change.
The clothes were pretty, and I didn’t think they wouldn’t suit her at all, but it was good to try them on.
We needed to know the size fits and what the overall vibe would be.
Since she brought a skirt with her already, there really was no concern on that front.
“What do you think?”
“I think it’d suit her well. But we might need to look a bit more for an outer layer.”
“Yeah, I think so too. Just a t-shirt feels a bit lacking.”
Midori went inside to try on her outfit while I started discussing outfits with Dolores again.
We began looking for an outer layer since, like Dolores said, just a t-shirt felt a little inadequate.
“…Must be nice. Going on a date.”
“I’m rooting for you!”
“…But you did mention introducing a guy to me last time.”
Dolores’ expression as she said that… contained a hint of sincerity.
She really believed that I would introduce a guy to her someday… it was an undeniable conviction.
…Of course, I wouldn’t mind introducing someone if I had anyone in mind, but right now, I didn’t have anyone.
I didn’t have anyone to introduce, to be honest.
My human interactions were limited to the Commander, the agents I occasionally talked to, and the boss— that was about it.
But… for Dolores, I definitely felt I would have to introduce someone eventually.
“Of course. I’ll try my best to introduce you to someone you’ll like.”
For now… I avoided addressing the immediate situation with a smile.
What was important now was helping Midori choose her outfit… right?
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Y, yes…”
…Had Dolores always had such a scary vibe?
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