"Byakuya-oniichan?"
Just then, Nashiro's voice came from outside.
She had finished changing and emerged from the fitting room only to find that Byakuya had vanished.
"Rize-san, where did Byakuya go?"
Kurona addressed Rize, who sat nearby.
"Him? He just went into Mayu's fitting room. Who knows what those two might be doing in there?"
Rize's words carried more than a hint of mischief.
Still inside the fitting room, Byakuya heard the conversation between Rize, Kurona, and Nashiro. This wasn't good.
He found himself in an awkward position—stepping out seemed wrong, but staying put wasn't any better.
On balance, leaving directly seemed like the better option.
Fortunately, Mayu was already putting on her dress. Once she was mostly dressed, he walked out with complete composure.
He immediately found Rize, Kurona, and Nashiro right in front of him. Having formed an unusual "united front," the three girls appeared ready to barge in and see what he and Mayu were up to.
Being stared at by three girls simultaneously, Byakuya maintained his calm expression.
"Byakuya-oniichan, why were you in a girl's fitting room?"
Nashiro asked immediately.
"Yes, I'd also like to raise the same question as Nashiro."
Kurona chimed in.
"Darling, if you were really that desperate, you could have just told me directly."
Rize looked like she was thoroughly enjoying stirring up trouble.
She could more or less guess that Byakuya hadn't done anything inappropriate in there.
"I asked him to come in and help."
At that moment, Mayu spoke up in Byakuya's defense.
With that, Byakuya felt there was no need for him to explain anything himself. Besides, he couldn't be bothered to waste his breath.
As the little commotion drew to a close, Kurona and Nashiro asked Byakuya to evaluate the new clothes they had tried on.
The sisters' tastes in clothing were nearly identical—they had both chosen light, flowing dresses, differing only in color.
Kurona's was naturally black, while Nashiro's was white.
"They both suit you well. More precisely, you both look cute."
Byakuya spoke frankly.
"Then I'll take this one."
Nashiro nodded with satisfaction.
"Is 'cute' really the only comment you have...?"
Kurona seemed somewhat exasperated.
Byakuya had called her cute before too.
But she was definitely happy about it on the inside.
Just then, Rize suddenly took hold of Byakuya's arm. "Since everyone's finished picking out their clothes, come with me to look at shoes."
This clothing store didn't sell shoes, so they would need to find a shoe store.
Rize quickly pulled Byakuya away.
Before leaving, however, Byakuya paid for Mayu's clothes first.
As for Kurona and Nashiro, they received salaries from both the CCG and Anteiku, so money wasn't an issue for them.
...
The original clothing store was just two shops away from a shoe store.
So Byakuya and Rize turned left out the door and arrived after just a few steps.
Rize selected a pair of white canvas shoes and a pair of purple casual shoes.
Compared to high heels, she actually preferred wearing this kind of casual footwear.
Taking off her original shoes, her feet wrapped in flesh-toned stockings, Rize first tried on the purple casual shoes.
"How do these look?"
Rize looked down at the shoes on her feet.
"They're nice. They suit you."
When it came to evaluating girls' outfits, Byakuya was consistently at a loss for words.
"Then these will do."
Rize didn't mind that Byakuya's evaluation was only a few words. For her, as long as his assessment was positive, that was enough.
Then she changed into the other pair of white canvas shoes.
"What about these?"
"Also nice, though comparatively speaking, white stockings would match these shoes better than the flesh-toned ones."
Byakuya offered a perfectly serious critique.
Only when it came to this sort of commentary that somewhat touched on personal preferences did his evaluations not sound so perfunctory.
"...Is it really appropriate to be so seriously evaluating a girl's white stockings~?"
Rize's lips curved upward as she asked Byakuya in an amused tone.
"It's fine. I'm just offering an objective observation."
Byakuya's expression remained calm.
"Understood~ Next time I wear these new shoes, I'll pair them with white stockings."
Rize said with a smile.
...
Apart from Byakuya himself, everyone had finished buying what they needed.
They were ready to head back, yet Byakuya alone seemed to have nothing he wanted to purchase.
"By the way, Byakuya, aren't you going to buy some new clothes for yourself?"
At that moment, Rize suddenly spoke up.
"I have enough clothes at home. There's no need to buy new ones."
Byakuya said.
"But isn't the CCG's Promotion Ceremony coming up soon? You can't show up dressed so casually. At the very least, you should wear formal attire, right?"
Rize recalled the matter of the Promotion Ceremony.
"Now that you mention it, I really do need at least one suit..."
Reminded by Rize, Byakuya nodded slightly.
For such an important formal occasion as the Promotion Ceremony, wearing a suit was indeed appropriate.
Japan was quite strict about wearing formal attire for formal occasions. Although as a transmigrator he didn't need to follow every convention, he didn't want to stand out awkwardly at the Promotion Ceremony either.
If all the investigators attending the Promotion Ceremony were dressed formally while he alone wore casual clothes, wouldn't that make him conspicuous?
"Then let me help you pick something out."
Rize said, seizing the opportunity.
"You mean us. This isn't just your affair alone, Rize-san."
Kurona corrected her in a cool tone.
"That's right. I'll also provide the most reliable advice I can for Byakuya-oniichan."
Nashiro added.
"I... I want to help too!"
Mayu said softly.
"Alright, let's go take a look then."
Byakuya said, "Compared to other colors, I think I prefer a white suit."
After that, he was practically dragged by Rize and the others to a men's clothing store.
The salesperson inside was somewhat startled by this grand procession. He had worked here for years and had never seen anything like this.
Four beautiful women, each stunning in her own way, accompanying a single male customer to look at clothes!
...
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