MCFW 08

chapter :08

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“Is this the shop you wanted to visit, Kana-san?”

I asked in disbelief, staring at Kana-neechan.
She smiled and replied,

“Yeah. There’s some lingerie I’ve wanted for a while, but I wanted to see if Kaede-kun would like it too.”

Right.
This place is a lingerie shop that specializes in women’s underwear.
To be perfectly clear — it’s the last place a guy like me should be in.

“No way! That’s impossible!”
“Why?”
“Even if you ask me about women’s underwear, I wouldn’t know anything!”
“Oh, come on. I just want to see which kind of lingerie you’d like best.”
“Seriously, that’s not happening, Kana-neechan! Please just pick it yourself!”
“Aww, but I went through all the trouble of bringing you here…”
“What are you even trying to do by bringing me here?”
“I wanted you to help me choose.”
“There’s no way I could pick your underwear for you! Besides, just being here makes me look like a total pervert!”
“That’s not true. You’re with me, so there’s no problem.”
“There’s definitely a problem! Who in their right mind comes to a lingerie store as a couple? Everyone’s staring! It’s so embarrassing!”
“Is it really that embarrassing? I don’t feel anything even when I look at men’s underwear.”

Kana-neechan said that with a thoughtful expression.
It’s true — girls don’t seem to get embarrassed looking at men’s underwear.
Sometimes I wonder if their nerves are made of steel.

“It’s completely different! For a guy like me, just seeing women’s underwear is embarrassing enough!”
“Really? I don’t get that feeling at all…”

Her words were definitely not what you’d expect from a well-behaved young woman.

“Even if you’re fine, it’s way too stimulating for me. Anyway, I’ll wait over there while you shop.”
“Wait.”

Just as I tried to step away, Kana-neechan grabbed my arm and stopped me.

“Stay with me, okay? You don’t have to pick anything.”
“What kind of logic is that…?”
“Well, I feel safer when you’re with me. And besides, I can help you shop too.”

That means I have to go inside the lingerie store with her.
Didn’t I just say it was embarrassing? Was she even listening?

“Please? Just for today, stay with me.”

She smiled brightly, completely ignoring my internal screaming.
Ugh… with a smile like that…

“Fine. Just this once, okay?”

I couldn’t turn her down when she asked me like that.
This is exactly why I’m hopeless…

“Hey, Kaede-kun, what do you think of this one? Would it suit me?”

Kana-neechan happily picked up a bra and showed it to me.
What was I supposed to say? I know nothing about women’s lingerie.
All I could do was give a wry smile and mumble,

“Y-yeah. I think it would.”

If it were a normal outfit and not underwear, I probably wouldn’t have been this awkward.

“Then what about this one?”

She picked up another set and showed me again.
Same result — I smiled awkwardly and said,

“I think it’d look good on you.”
“Kaede-kun, you’re totally just saying random things, aren’t you?”

She gave me a suspicious look.
Well, yeah — how could I not be embarrassed?
But I tried my best to keep my cool.

“No, I’m being serious.”
“Liar. Then look at this one properly.”

And then she held it up for me to see —
a white and pink bra and panty set. Totally normal.
Nothing unusual about it.

“What is it, Kana-neechan? Is there something special about that one?”
“Not really. I just thought… maybe it’d look good on me.”

She said it shyly.
Now that I think about it, was her bust really that big?
Well, not my problem anyway.

“I think it’d look nice. Though whether you show it to anyone else is another matter.”
“I will show it. To you, Kaede-kun…”
“Huh?”

I froze.
Kana-neechan blushed furiously.

“Ah… I mean, what I meant was, I’ll wear it for sure if you helped me choose it.”
“I see…”

Not that I really chose anything.

“Okay, I’ll try this one then.”

She told the clerk she wanted to try it on and headed into the fitting room.

“I’ll be right back, wait here, okay?”

She disappeared behind the curtain.
God, please don’t let me run into anyone I know right now.

And of course, the universe laughed.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Kaede-kun. What are you doing here?”
“Uh—”

I turned around in a panic.
It was Nao Kitagawa, our band’s guitarist.
She was holding a shopping bag, probably doing her own errands.

“This is, uh…”

Of all the people to run into right now!
And worse — Kana-neechan was in the fitting room trying on lingerie.
Which meant I was the only guy standing around in a lingerie store.

Think. Think!
What can I say?

“Wait a second…”

Nao-san looked me up and down, seeming to piece things together.

“I… uh…”
“Are you waiting for someone?”
“N-no, it’s not like that…”

Crap.
No matter what I say, it’ll sound suspicious.
And then, as if on cue, Kana-neechan peeked her head out of the fitting room.

“Hey, Kaede-kun, how does this look? Does it suit me?”
“What—?”

Nao-san turned toward her voice.
Before I could stop her, she walked straight over to the fitting room.
And yeah… that meant she saw Kana-neechan in her underwear.

“Kana? What are you doing here?”
“Huh? Nao-chan? What are you doing here?”

Kana-neechan looked surprised.

“I was just shopping. You?”
“Oh, uh… I came shopping too. With my little brother.”
“Uh-huh. With your little brother. To a lingerie store. I see.”
“It’s not like that! I just saw something I liked, that’s all! No hidden meaning or anything!”
“Hidden meaning, huh… I see, I see.”

Nao-san nodded knowingly and glanced at me.
Kana-neechan blushed and quickly pulled the curtain closed to change.

“…Rough day, huh, Kaede-kun?”

Nao-san smiled.

“Yeah. But at least I didn’t have to see my sister in her underwear, so that’s a win.”
“Would you have wanted to?”
“Of course not! I’ve already seen that when we were little, so no thanks.”

After a few minutes, Kana-neechan came out, paid for the lingerie, and we left the store.

Once outside, she puffed her cheeks in embarrassment.

“Geez! You could’ve told me she was here!”
“Haha, sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Sorry, Nao-senpai startled me, that’s all…”
“I just saw a guy standing in a lingerie shop and thought, ‘what’s going on here?’ Then I realized it was you.”
“Oh… yeah. I panicked because no matter what I said, it would’ve sounded bad.”
“I get it. Sorry for startling you. I didn’t mean to butt in on your date.”
“It’s fine, really. Actually, you kind of saved me.”

If she hadn’t shown up, I might’ve ended up spending way too long there.

“I see. Well, I’ve still got some shopping to do, so I’ll get going.”

Looks like she wasn’t done shopping yet.
Part of me wanted to tag along, but that’d break my promise to Kana-neechan.

“We were just about to head to another store anyway,” Kana-neechan said, clinging to my arm again.

“Got it. Well, see you tomorrow then.”
“Yeah, see you.”
“Good luck on your date!”

And with that, Nao-san disappeared into the crowd.

At least the lingerie ordeal was over.
I turned to Kana-neechan.

“So, where to next?”
“Next is your turn! Anywhere you want to go?”
“Hmm… I kind of want to get some new clothes. How about you?”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Okay!”

Kana-neechan smiled happily and started walking.
Somewhere along the way, I’d stopped calling her “Kana-san” and gone back to “Kana-neechan.”
Guess it’s just more natural that way.
And she didn’t seem to mind anymore.
So, it’s probably fine.