Day 36 Chapter 5
- Location
- Around here
[X] Plan Dinner Prelude
"Oh! I know!" With a snap of her fingers, and a dirty look directed towards you, Kure Kirika says "You can hand over that present Archer got me so you can teach me how to use it! It's gotta be ready by now, right?"
Yes, of course her present is ready; you have a three-hour nightmare that can attest to its readiness. But it isn't simply enough to just hand a pistol over to someone that's never had proper firearms training before. "It is ready," you say, before moving on to press Kure Kirika for information. "But first, I need to figure out where the best place to go to teach you would be. Where does your mother live?"
"She lives a few stops before Oriko does. Get off the train, head northeast for a bit, then hang a few lefts once you reach the shadier-looking parts of town. You'll see a convenience store a little after your second left, and that's when you hang a right. Keep going and you'll eventually see a four-story apartment complex, and that's where mom and I have lived since the divorce. Well, just mom now, ever since I moved in with Oriko."
Given the location of the Kure residence relative to the MIkuni mansion, there's only one place that would work for your purposes. "Then we'll head up to Mikuni Oriko's mansion after school. I'll teach you proper safety and handling behind her Bounded Field, and then we'll head back to your mother's apartment at seven."
"Sounds great!" Kure Kirika says, slapping you on the back as the first bell of the morning rings. "I'll see you then! Gotta run!"
It dawns on you, as you watch Kure Kirika run off to her class, that you haven't seen Tomoe-san at all this morning. You hope everything is alright.
Going anywhere with Assassin was bound to be a harrowing experience, given the combination of Presence Concealment to make her hard to keep track of and her poisonous body making sure you have to keep track of not just her, but the people around her as well. Combine that with the general level of excitement she's displaying at being allowed out of the apartment, and it's a miracle that you've only had to say "Don't touch that" to her once this entire trip.
Assassin darts to the other side of the aisle, pressing her hands and face against the glass display window. "I have never seen a bazaar like this before," she says, staring at the wedding dress on the other side of the window. "There are so many different things for sale, I do not know where we should start."
"Not there, that's for sure," you say, laughing. "That's a wedding dress you're looking at."
Assassin pulls herself away from the window, blushing furiously. "Ah, this country's wedding customs are much different from what I am accustomed to." But her eyes can't help but wander back to the wedding dress, and she asks "Tell me- Will master and her girlfriend wear something like that when they are wed?"
"Maybe." To be honest, you can't really see Homura as the kind of girl to wear a dress for her wedding. Madoka, sure, she'd look perfect in something like that. But for Homura, you're seeing her wearing a nice suit. Yeah, that's a bit more 'her', you think. "Come on, I'll show you where we'll be shopping."
You lead Assassin through the mall to a mid-scale establishment. The clothes aren't cheap, but they won't break the bank either, and there should be at least one outfit Assassin ends up liking. Mentally, you review the shopping list, before saying the shopping itinerary out loud. "Alright, for you we need... Pretty much everything. Shoes, socks, underwear, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, gloves, and probably a jacket or a hoodie or two."
"In other words, everything I am already wearing."
"Right. Homura wants you to be able to live a normal life, and it'll be that much easier for you if you have your own clothes so you don't have to borrow from her every time you need to go outside." Getting Assassin's sizes is going to be the hardest part of shopping for her, probably; but given that she's only two, maybe three centimeters taller than Homura, it shouldn't be too difficult. And you've done her laundry enough to know what sizes Homura wears, so... "Alright, undergarments are first," you say, leading Assassin over to the oh, no; you don't want to go there.
"Is something wrong, Archer?" Assassin asks, her eyes switching between you and the racks of bras.
"I, uh, it's nothing," you say, forcing yourself to power through the unease. You've had to wash Homura's underwear before; this isn't too much different from that. "There-" You point to the sizing chart standing beside the bras, specifically to the size that Homura wears. "You and Homura are about the same size, so something like this should fit you. Same goes for underwear and socks. Just find whichever pairs you like that are in these sizes and you should be fine."
You stand back a polite distance, allowing Assassin to browse the women's delicates in peace. Ten minutes later she returns, and you take stock of the damage. Black bra, nondescript; black panties, cat print; black socks, cat print. You wonder if this means that Assassin likes cats, that she's made her choices in order to appeal to Homura's liking of cats, or if it's a statement on her own cat-like nature. Then again, you can't think of any domesticated cat that would display anywhere near the degree of dependence on an owner that Assassin displays for Homura.
"Alright," you say, careful not to touch Assassin's skin as you hold out a shopping bag for her to deposit her wares in. "Now we can tackle everything else."
In the end, Assassin settles on clothing with a colour palette remarkably close to Homura's own liking; blacks, greys, and purples abound in her selections, and you worry whether you'll have difficulty sorting what belongs to Homura, and what belongs to Assassin, the next time you do the laundry. And again, you find yourself wondering whether Assassin's choices reflect her own likes, or if they were chosen to appeal to Homura's tastes.
As for yourself, in addition to a basic phone you snagged on the way out of the mall, you picked up another few pairs of black pants, a few shirts in varying shades of grey and one in a dark blue, and a black suit jacket with thin grey pinstripes and a matching pair of pants, just in case you need to look a bit more formal for some occasion or another. To go with your new suit, you've picked out two ties, one in a grey-to-silver fading patter that compliments the pinstripes of your suit, and one in a solid red chosen so you'll always have a bit of your signature colour even when you're without your red shirt.
You know, you think you're noticing something about the colour preferences of your new family.
All that's left now is "Dinner," you say, as you and Assassin pass by the market. "I need to pick up fish for tonight's dinner." Assassin nods, silently standing back while you peruse the fish. "Salmon, where's the good salmon..." It's not enough to just get good salmon for tonight's dinner; given what you've seen of Kure Minako's kitchen, it's likely you'll have to pick up everything you'll need for tonight's dinner, rather than picking up the most important things and trusting that she'll have the rest.
It takes a little while, but soon you leave the market with everything you'll need to make dinner a success. That means the food, yes, but also a few basic things which you don't know if Kure Minako owns or not, like salt, pepper, paper towels and foil, and the few pans you'll need to actually cook everything. And the beer. You have a feeling that Kure Minako will want something to drink with her dinner. Good thing you learned what brand she likes while you were on vacation.
You wonder if she'd like some scented candles, or if that might be a bit too intimate for a dinner that's less 'first date' and more 'family dinner'.
[Archer] Wat do?
[Homura] Wat do?
"Oh! I know!" With a snap of her fingers, and a dirty look directed towards you, Kure Kirika says "You can hand over that present Archer got me so you can teach me how to use it! It's gotta be ready by now, right?"
Yes, of course her present is ready; you have a three-hour nightmare that can attest to its readiness. But it isn't simply enough to just hand a pistol over to someone that's never had proper firearms training before. "It is ready," you say, before moving on to press Kure Kirika for information. "But first, I need to figure out where the best place to go to teach you would be. Where does your mother live?"
"She lives a few stops before Oriko does. Get off the train, head northeast for a bit, then hang a few lefts once you reach the shadier-looking parts of town. You'll see a convenience store a little after your second left, and that's when you hang a right. Keep going and you'll eventually see a four-story apartment complex, and that's where mom and I have lived since the divorce. Well, just mom now, ever since I moved in with Oriko."
Given the location of the Kure residence relative to the MIkuni mansion, there's only one place that would work for your purposes. "Then we'll head up to Mikuni Oriko's mansion after school. I'll teach you proper safety and handling behind her Bounded Field, and then we'll head back to your mother's apartment at seven."
"Sounds great!" Kure Kirika says, slapping you on the back as the first bell of the morning rings. "I'll see you then! Gotta run!"
It dawns on you, as you watch Kure Kirika run off to her class, that you haven't seen Tomoe-san at all this morning. You hope everything is alright.
Going anywhere with Assassin was bound to be a harrowing experience, given the combination of Presence Concealment to make her hard to keep track of and her poisonous body making sure you have to keep track of not just her, but the people around her as well. Combine that with the general level of excitement she's displaying at being allowed out of the apartment, and it's a miracle that you've only had to say "Don't touch that" to her once this entire trip.
Assassin darts to the other side of the aisle, pressing her hands and face against the glass display window. "I have never seen a bazaar like this before," she says, staring at the wedding dress on the other side of the window. "There are so many different things for sale, I do not know where we should start."
"Not there, that's for sure," you say, laughing. "That's a wedding dress you're looking at."
Assassin pulls herself away from the window, blushing furiously. "Ah, this country's wedding customs are much different from what I am accustomed to." But her eyes can't help but wander back to the wedding dress, and she asks "Tell me- Will master and her girlfriend wear something like that when they are wed?"
"Maybe." To be honest, you can't really see Homura as the kind of girl to wear a dress for her wedding. Madoka, sure, she'd look perfect in something like that. But for Homura, you're seeing her wearing a nice suit. Yeah, that's a bit more 'her', you think. "Come on, I'll show you where we'll be shopping."
You lead Assassin through the mall to a mid-scale establishment. The clothes aren't cheap, but they won't break the bank either, and there should be at least one outfit Assassin ends up liking. Mentally, you review the shopping list, before saying the shopping itinerary out loud. "Alright, for you we need... Pretty much everything. Shoes, socks, underwear, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, gloves, and probably a jacket or a hoodie or two."
"In other words, everything I am already wearing."
"Right. Homura wants you to be able to live a normal life, and it'll be that much easier for you if you have your own clothes so you don't have to borrow from her every time you need to go outside." Getting Assassin's sizes is going to be the hardest part of shopping for her, probably; but given that she's only two, maybe three centimeters taller than Homura, it shouldn't be too difficult. And you've done her laundry enough to know what sizes Homura wears, so... "Alright, undergarments are first," you say, leading Assassin over to the oh, no; you don't want to go there.
"Is something wrong, Archer?" Assassin asks, her eyes switching between you and the racks of bras.
"I, uh, it's nothing," you say, forcing yourself to power through the unease. You've had to wash Homura's underwear before; this isn't too much different from that. "There-" You point to the sizing chart standing beside the bras, specifically to the size that Homura wears. "You and Homura are about the same size, so something like this should fit you. Same goes for underwear and socks. Just find whichever pairs you like that are in these sizes and you should be fine."
You stand back a polite distance, allowing Assassin to browse the women's delicates in peace. Ten minutes later she returns, and you take stock of the damage. Black bra, nondescript; black panties, cat print; black socks, cat print. You wonder if this means that Assassin likes cats, that she's made her choices in order to appeal to Homura's liking of cats, or if it's a statement on her own cat-like nature. Then again, you can't think of any domesticated cat that would display anywhere near the degree of dependence on an owner that Assassin displays for Homura.
"Alright," you say, careful not to touch Assassin's skin as you hold out a shopping bag for her to deposit her wares in. "Now we can tackle everything else."
In the end, Assassin settles on clothing with a colour palette remarkably close to Homura's own liking; blacks, greys, and purples abound in her selections, and you worry whether you'll have difficulty sorting what belongs to Homura, and what belongs to Assassin, the next time you do the laundry. And again, you find yourself wondering whether Assassin's choices reflect her own likes, or if they were chosen to appeal to Homura's tastes.
As for yourself, in addition to a basic phone you snagged on the way out of the mall, you picked up another few pairs of black pants, a few shirts in varying shades of grey and one in a dark blue, and a black suit jacket with thin grey pinstripes and a matching pair of pants, just in case you need to look a bit more formal for some occasion or another. To go with your new suit, you've picked out two ties, one in a grey-to-silver fading patter that compliments the pinstripes of your suit, and one in a solid red chosen so you'll always have a bit of your signature colour even when you're without your red shirt.
You know, you think you're noticing something about the colour preferences of your new family.
All that's left now is "Dinner," you say, as you and Assassin pass by the market. "I need to pick up fish for tonight's dinner." Assassin nods, silently standing back while you peruse the fish. "Salmon, where's the good salmon..." It's not enough to just get good salmon for tonight's dinner; given what you've seen of Kure Minako's kitchen, it's likely you'll have to pick up everything you'll need for tonight's dinner, rather than picking up the most important things and trusting that she'll have the rest.
It takes a little while, but soon you leave the market with everything you'll need to make dinner a success. That means the food, yes, but also a few basic things which you don't know if Kure Minako owns or not, like salt, pepper, paper towels and foil, and the few pans you'll need to actually cook everything. And the beer. You have a feeling that Kure Minako will want something to drink with her dinner. Good thing you learned what brand she likes while you were on vacation.
You wonder if she'd like some scented candles, or if that might be a bit too intimate for a dinner that's less 'first date' and more 'family dinner'.
[Archer] Wat do?
[Homura] Wat do?
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