The bumping from the train and the loud sounds woke me from my sleep. I wiped the drool from my mouth and looked up to see where we were currently at.

Luckily, we’re coming up on our stop. But, when I looked at the time, it was just getting late.

I can’t believe I slept for that long.

I turned to see Saya still resting her head on my shoulder, and drool was seeping out of her mouth and staining my shirt.

Cute.

I dejectedly nudged Saya awake. Her eyes fluttered, and she looked around before her eyes landed on me. She smiled before closing her eyes again.

“Hey. You have to get up. We’re almost at our stop.” I continued nudging Saya while she groaned.

“Why??? Can’t we just stay like this??” Saya moaned in protest.

I thought about it for a second. But, then I remembered something important. “You need clothes, so no.”

“I’ll wear a bag. Who cares? Or maybe..” Saya’s upturned her eyes at me. The ever present danger of her puppy dog eyes being put on full display. “I could wear nothing.”

I had to avert my eyes to prevent myself from being sucked into her pace.

“Fine. I’ll be a good girl.” Saya laughed heartily, removing her head from my shoulder. “Sorry about the drool.”

I coughed lightly, recomposing myself. “It’s cool.” I turned to face Saya with a bit more confidence.

As soon as I turned to face Saya, her face was right in front of me and our eyes locked. “~Whenever you want~”

Blood rushed to my face and another place. I was left dumbfounded and silent as Saya stretched and yawned in front of me.

“Here we are!” Saya announced excitedly as she grabbed my hand.

I winced in pain because she grabbed my injured hand, and she winced in pain as well. Saya stuck her tongue out, and pulled me along with her out of the train.

We made it to the streets and the bustling and shuffling of the city was on full throttle.

“You act like you’ve never seen downtown before.” Saya noted as we were walking hand in hand.

“Yeah…” I absentmindedly replied, the glimmer of the city distracting me.

I was dragged along as Saya searched for a clothing store.

“This is nice.” Saya spoke, stopping in front of a store called, ‘Divine Feminine’.

“What is this place?” I asked, as I analyzed the building.

The outside of Divine Feminine was a multicolor pink building with decorative paintings of various women covered in flowers. The sign ‘Divine Feminine’ were two different shades of pink that blended together perfectly. The set of double doors were designed in a similar fashion as the rest of the building.

Saya dragged me inside, and the smell of flowery fragrance tickled my nostrils.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Woah…This is nice!” Saya noted as she scanned the store like a child in a candy store.

The store was filled with clothing of all kinds and stacked high. The inside of Divine Feminine was a myriad of bright colors and a plethora of designs. Soft jazzy beats played in the background, and women were frantically running around left and right.

I was dragged along the store as Saya picked out clothes.

“Does this look good?” Saya held up a long sleeve black and white striped shirt against herself.

“Yeah…” I responded for the umptenth time.

Saya made a face as if she was in deep thought. “Maybe.” Saya tossed the shirt into the basket before going back to picking out more clothes.

I sighed, the feeling of helplessness overwhelming me.

We’ve been at this store for almost two hours now, and Saya still decided on everything she wants.

This isn’t a date, this is a nightmare!

I watched Saya running around with an excited expression.

I felt my lips curling into a smile, and my exhaustion started washing away.

You know what? If all I have to do is tolerate being dragged around a store to make her happy, then it’s more than worth it.

I patted my pocket, feeling the wad of cash sitting in my pants.

Luckily Kenzie gave us a nice amount of cash. Which is really surprising. I guess our family is more well off than I thought.

I turned a corner to follow after Saya as she raced through the store.

“Ow!” I bumped into a girl and she fell backwards onto the floor with a loud thud.

“Oh shit! I’m sorry! Are you okay?!” As I bent down and reached out my hand to help the girl up. I saw an all too familiar figure. “Hannah?!”

Hannah was sprawled out on the floor like an injured starfish. She was wearing a tight black thigh length hoodie and black converse.

Hannah’s eyes were closed as she groaned in pain. After a few more seconds, she finally opened her eyes and scanned the room. It took a few seconds before her eyes landed on me and we locked eyes. As soon as our eyes met, Hannah froze and didn’t say anything.

“Umm.. hey.” I spoke, cutting into the awkward tension.

“H-hey…” Hannah awkwardly replied, her expression unreadable.

I looked around and all of the women were throwing me vicious glares.

Hey! Don’t look at me like that! It was an accident! I’m not a bad guy!

“Do you want me to help you up?” I asked, Hannah’s awkward energy affecting me.

“Oh!” Hannah shouted, her face turning bright red. She slowly extended her hand out for me to grab, while doing her best not to look my way.

I grabbed Hannah’s delicate hand and helped her to her feet. As soon as Hannah got up, she started frantically dusting off her clothes.

I don’t know why, but seeing Hannah’s nervous demeanor brought a smile to my face. “It’s good to see you.”

Hannah stopped in her tracks, and she looked up at me. Her blue eyes sparkling. “Really?”

Why are you looking at me with those puppy dog eyes! Don’t do that!

“Uh… yeah.” My heart skipped a beat, and a fluffy feeling formed in the pit of my stomach.

“Hey.” I heard Saya right next to me, and I jumped in response.

I turned to look at Saya and she was standing completely still with a blank look on her face. “What the?! How long have you been standing there?!”

Saya didn’t respond to my question, she just stared at Hannah quietly.

I waved my hand in front of Saya’s face, but it didn’t seem to grab her attention at all. I might as well have not done anything at all. “Hello???”

Saya looked up at me, her eyes empty and cold.

The same all familiar chill ran up my spine, and it took me a moment to get myself together.

“Who is she?” Say asked me, her voice monotone.

“This is Hannah…” I pointed to Hannah, to which Saya continued silently staring at her.

Suddenly, another chill ran up my spine, even worse than before. I turned around to find Hannah staring back at Saya. She didn’t look any different, but her eyes.. I could almost feel her burning a hole to the back of Saya’s skull.

“Wh-“

“Come one, let’s go.” Saya interrupted, before dragging me away.

“What about your clothes?!” I screamed as I dragged my feet.

“Fuck em.” Saya replied coolly as we exited the store.

I turned back to see Hannah standing in the doorway, with the same look in her eyes. She was mouthing something, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. But, alarm bells were going off inside of my head.