For a moment replicating the wide-eyed grimace from a few moments ago, Naruhiko jerked himself at the sound of her voice, coming from behind her back, and stared at her through the entire duration of her speech... Which wasn't motivating - at all! He was glad she found herself at home, but he wasn't glad that she was going around and criticizing his clothes. Pouting his lips childishly and snitching the T-shirt away from her, to cradle it against his chest almost as if it was a child or a puppy, a quiet whimper made its way out of his throat.<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"But that's Rangiku! And it was a <span style="font-style: italic">gift</span>! Don't grab it like that! It's special!"</span>he exclaimed.<br/>At the comment about his shirt, he just gave her an unimpressed frown.<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"It's an old one... But hey, what... Like, what do you have against my clothes all the time? I'm not a CEO, or an editor, or an... Uhh... Anything!"</span>he shrugged, still clenching his fists around the black T-shirt.<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"I'm a mangaka, no one cares whether I dress like Sebastian or I don't wear anything at all..."</span><br/>If he wore nothing at all, people might pay a little attention to him, though, but not like that would make such a difference. He simply didn't understand why she was getting so worked up about clothes! It was just something to keep him from going into the streets stark naked and guarded him from wind and snow and sun... And showed how much he<span style="font-style: italic">loved</span>his favorite anime. Yes, that too.<br/><br/>Somewhere among the definitions of 'normal clothing' in Naruhiko's mind had to be a pair of black jeans, a simple grey T-shirt, and - no, not kidding at all - also a<a class="postlink" href="http://img.amiami.jp/images/product/main/131//CGD2-53939.jpg">jacket</a>from the popular series Attack on Titan, complete with all that belonged to it, even the insignia of wings, printed on the back. Fans came in many forms; Naruhiko was one of the sort, inclining to showing off as much as possible. And no one could make him stop... Fortunately enough, he managed to grab the jacket before locking his apartment and leading Hinata out, and once they were far enough, no one could stop him from wearing it. Indeed, he has made a masterful plan.<br/><br/>Good lord, how he wished he had another masterful plan prepared for this moment. For right now, he stood before the gates of<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">hell</span>a men's clothes store, full of boring, ordinary clothes, such as shirts, suits, jumpers, and plain pants. He was terrified of setting foot in such a place, but in the end, but no matter how much he tried to oppose, Hinata didn't let him. He tried running away and disappearing in a supermarket, but he was found out. He tried vanishing among countless volumes of manga in a book store, but he was discovered. He tried convincing her, but wasn't heard out. He tried argumentation, but wasn't able to summon convincing-enough reasons NOT to go shopping...<br/>So there he stood, clinging onto the rail like a drowning sailor, clutching the last board of his ship's wreck before it sinks to the bottom of the sea. And as he was finally forced to enter the shop, he let out a tiny whimper, shutting his eyes tightly.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Whyyy..."</span><br/>But alas, she was adamant in her goal. He had at least commend this dedication, and he surely would have, would he not be stuffed into an uncomfortable, stiff, hard, and awfully formal and boring white shirt. He glared at his reflection in the mirror, swiftly flicking his purple ponytail, bound low as always, over his shoulder.<br/><br/>Truth be told, despite him being as skinny as he was, the shirt, complete with a pair of dark grey pants, looked quite complimenting on his figure; but it was too formal, stiff and boring for his liking. Unbuttoning the top buttons and loosening the tie, he shifted a bit to the side to look at his reflection, but in his eyes, he still looked like a scarecrow.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"It's awful."</span>he concluded, stating it plainly as he shrugged.<br/>Something else, moving behind his shoulder, what he saw reflecting in the mirror, got his attention right then. He narrowed his eyes. Must have been another person in the shop, but-<br/><br/><span style="color: #BFBFFF">"Izumi-sensei!"</span>a quiet, but still cheerful voice greeted him. Kinuye, pushing herself through the narrow space between two clothes racks, flashing a warm and cheerful smile at him.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"I didn't expect to see you today, here in all of the places."</span>she spoke, still smiling, her hands clutching a small handbag.<br/>However, he wasn't half as glad to see her. Kinuye was a nice girl, she really was, but she was a tad too clingy for his liking... And something about her scared him. He smiled nervously at her, instinctively taking a step towards Hinata as he reached at his neck, rubbing its back to alleviate the sudden disappearance of any words, appropriate for the situation.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"H-hello, Iijima-san... Ye-yeah, I wasn't planning on... Going shopping... Either..."</span>he muttered, slowly making another step towards the pink-haired woman. She was a strong woman, at least someone to rely on, someone confident and opinionated that wouldn't let a university student in a miniskirt and blouse cause this amount of stress to him, right? Right, yeah, that was right, or at least he kept telling himself so.<br/><br/>Softly poking Tachibana with his elbow, he gave her a short, but utterly desperate glance.<span style="font-style: italic">Save me from this, Tachibana-san, please save me from this and I'll be willing to shop with you all day,</span>his eyes cried out to her.<br/><br/>Kinuye still kept smiling warmly, even as she tucked a strand of her silky black hair behind her ear.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"Bud I'm glad I met you. I really liked the last chapter of Thousand Blades... I hope the next one is going to be just as interesting. Is it going well? If you ever need any help, I'm always in the office, you know that."</span>she assured him.<br/>Not that Naruhiko needed that. Her assuring just came off as a bit creepy to him. She has been approaching him on places he didn't expect her to be on at all for the past month, and he was growing unnerved from it. No matter how kind and nice a girl she was, when you keep meeting someone on a steel-hard schedule every week, you develop a natural reaction of stress to them. Especially the fact that this was a<span style="font-style: italic">men's</span>outfitting store they were in. And she seemed to be alone.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Thanks a lot, Iijima-chan... I'll remember that and stop by if I need it..."</span>he muttered, still grinning nervously. At this moment, all of his hopes were placed in Tachibana. Women understood women better, maybe she might be able to chase her away, then!