Shotgun & Devillic Log: Getting Summer Ready

[mikazuki_chan]

With the promise of a great beach birthday date at the end of the summer, Kaiya had had to stare a certain fact straight in the face: she didn't have an acceptable swimsuit. Sure, she had a serviceable one from the high school, but even at her new school, it wasn't *cute*. It wasn't something she wanted to wear while sitting on the beach with her boyfriend!

Thankfully, her big 'sister' understood her woes. And when he suggested going out to get her a new, cute swimsuit, she was over the moon with thankfulness and excitement.

And~ Today was the day~ She headed on over to the Traveller, then headed on up to Mikoto's apartment. She knew her brother was at a job right now, so there was no chance of walking in on something awkward, so she walked right in when she got there. "Miko-chan! I'm here~" She called out, loud enough to be heard over the ever-present music.

Mikoto also wants Kaiya to have a swimsuit so she can hang out with her fan friends -- they may well say 'hey let's go to the beach' around one of the concert dates, so it was worth being prepared. And even if Kaiya had-had a nice swim suit, with the way she's been filling out, it wouldn't've fit anymore anyways. "Hi Kaiya-chan~" He calls out, his voice coming from the bedroom -- well really from the ensuite because he was finishing up his hair. He swiftly heads out to the living room -- in full gorgeous girl mode. He's got a black tank top with a hot pink sparkly rib cage and spine on it, a pink and black ruffled, layered skirt, and some pink, with black and white wedge heels - they're high but they're wedge so he thinks he'll be ok to walk around in them all day. He has cute makeup on, a little cardigan stashed in his purse for if he gets cold in the mall, and his hair in that classic Japanese style of straight but falling into gentle curls right at the bottom. "Let's go~"

Kaiya had *not* been prepared for Miko-chan that day, but her eyes widened in delight at her friend looking *so* cute. "Oh my god! You look so cute, Miko-chan!!" She gushed, loving the look that he had going on for that day. She had gone with a rather simple top and skirt with slip-on shoes that day, mostly because she anticipated a lot of getting in and out of her clothes and shoes to try on swimsuits that day. As much as she loved having more elaborate styles, layers, and cooler shoes, those all made getting undressed and redressed more time consuming. "Okay! Let's go!" She agreed easily, as Mikoto let them out of the apartment.

"I was feeling very summery~" Mikoto replies. And if he is going to have to leave his cool house into the Tokyo heat, well, at least he's going to look like he's dressed for the beach even though that's the THEME of the day but not WHERE THEY"RE GOING. Look. It's fine. As they head down the stairs, he explains, "I figured, if I have to help you in the dressing room, or anything like that, nobody will think twice if I'm just your girl friend tagging along, ne?"

"Ooooooh~ That's a good idea!" Kaiya praised, thinking that Mikoto was very smart indeed. "And no one's going to think it's weird at all that you're helping me choose stuff like a bathing suit either." Not that it would necessarily be weird if Mikoto was in boy mode for that. They could just say he was her boyfriend, if it became an issue. Wouldn't be the first time they made that claim, after all. "And, it's almost summer, so feeling summery is good, ne~?"

Honestly, Mikoto would rather just be a couple of gals than pretend to be Kaiya's boyfriend - although he has done that and it could well happen again sometime. He hopes he's not *too* dressed up for Kaiya, but he understands her simple outfit too. That's important if you're going to be changing clothes a lot. "It's so summery. Actually this is the best part of summer - It's hot but the true humidity hasn't hit yet." So you can show a bunch of skin and not feel cold -- but not be covered in sweat. "Did you have a specific mall in mind?"

"Agreed~ It's so nice and hot!" Kaiya replied. Though... it *was* verging on making the apartment almost unbearably hot. Lack of aircon would do that. And.... she couldn't just go over to her boyfriend's willy nilly, especially on school days, either. So.... few layers, lighter fabrics, and not moving too much (or cooking much), were the most helpful things. The question about the mall brought a shake of her head. "I've never actually gone swimsuit shopping before." She admitted.

"Hmm. Well, we could try Shibuya and places like 109, which would have very trendy things - but they might not have as much longevity for the money. For a more regular swimsuit shop we probably want a proper mall. The closest one is the one attached to the Sky Tree... but I don't remember them having anything like that? The other option is Odaiba. Which is... very far away from us, but has TWO large malls close to each other..." Mikoto lists off what he thinks are the best options off the top of his head.

Kaiya listened to the various options. Of course, she loved the idea of trendy things, but.... she was far too quality-conscious to go with that option when Mikoto explained that they weren't the best purchase for the money. "Maybe... we should look up the malls and see which ones might have stores that we're looking for?" She suggested, not against going to Odaiba, but not wanting to go all the way out there for there to be nothing available.

"Ok. Let's go to the station and chill out there while we google stuff," Mikoto suggests - this being so Kaiya can use the station wifi and not any of her precious mobile data. Once there, he says, "I'll check sky tree, you check odaiba?"

"Okay! Sounds good!" Kaiya agreed, immediately starting to look up the first mall in Odaiba. It was kind of nice that they could just hang out while they decided where to go, and there wasn't any real time pressure. At the first mall, she found one store that seemed to cater specifically to swimsuits, but she thought she would check the second before making a decision. Also, the sky tree mall might end up being better.

"Hmm, yeah, I'm not seeing anything specific at sky tree: Like GU or Uniqlo might have some, but they'll have those at the Odaiba malls as well I'm sure," Mikoto admits. And he's not sure those brands would have the cutest swimsuits.

"The first mall I checked in Odaiba has a store specifically for swimsuits, and this second one........ has two! One that's definitely swimsuits, and one that.... at least has some? Mostly sundresses, I think, but still, swimsuits." Kaiya grinned, looking up at her friend. "Guess we're going to Odaiba!"

"Well~ Sundresses are important too so that works either way. Let's go!" Mikoto agrees -- then using a transportation app up to figure out a route to Odaiba because that is not a place he goes to often enough to remember the station names they need.

Kaiya giggled at that decision, though she was definitely more focused on the necessary item, than any other cute clothing they might come across. "Yes! Let's go!" She exclaimed, then realized, "How do we get there?" Then she noticed that Mikoto was looking at just that, and she peeked at the phone screen to see what route they were going to take.

"Dunno," Mikoto replies with a giggle. Soon enough he's chosen a route though. Since Kaiya's trying to look, he shows her the screen, "This way, apparently." Their first train arrives and they get inside, "Have you been to Odaiba before?"

"Oooh~" Kaiya intoned, looking at the proposed route. Once they were on the train and settled, she shook her head at the question. "No! Never! This will be my first time~ What about you?" She asked, curious if they were both going somewhere brand new.

"I have been before, but only for concerts? I don't think I've been to the malls," Mikoto replies. Malls don't usually have the most stylish clothes, and if he wants a mall experience he could go to sunshine ikebukurou or the sky tree mall.

"Ah~ Okay, but at least you kinda know the area a little! Then we won't be completely lost. Hopefully." Kaiya responded brightly.

"I have some idea yeah," Mikoto agrees - and he knows something about Yurikamome train line that Kaiya doesn't, and with a sparkle in his eye, deciding not to tell her just yet anyways.

"Yay~" Kaiya responded, having no idea at all that Mikoto was holding back a surprise. She figured that happy sparkle in his eye was all about the shopping trip to come. She knew she was excited about getting to get a new, actual, swimsuit.

Eventually they transfer from the JR line to a different line, riding the Yurikamome monorail. And when they get in the train, Mikoto points out his favourite thing about this train line. Up where there's the usual train map of the order of the stations, on this line the background of the image is drawings OF the big locations at each of the stops, making it amazingly easy to know where you are.

Once they were on the new line, Kaiya found herself amazed by the map that Mikoto pointed out. "Oh! That's so cool! Now I wish all the lines had that! It's so helpful!" She enthused, animated and happy to share in this thing that Mikoto seemed to find so enchanting.

"Well, I'm not sure every stop has something worth showing off, and it'd probably get really messy for stops that have too MANY cool locations, but... yeah, it's really cool," the blond agrees. And shortly after they leave the station he adds, "And now we get to go across rainbow bridge~"

Kaiya nodded along with Mikoto's observations, but it was his last comment that made her eyes widen with even more interest than before. "Rainbow Bridge? What's that?"

"It's a big bridge, kinda like the famous one in San Francisco?" Mikoto does not recall the phrase suspension bridge in literally any of his languages, "They light it up with rainbow colours at night, which I obviously appreciate, and you're basically crossing the ocean so it has a great view."

"Oooooooooh~ That's so neat! I wanna see it at night sometime!" The idea of the rainbow lights on a bridge like that really did seem like something to see to Kaiya. She considered suggesting it as part of a date with Setsuna, but then realized that they'd have to wait a few months to do that, at least, so maybe she would just keep that in the back of her mind for now. Then the other part of what Mikoto had said registered. "Oh! I've never been across any part of the ocean before! This is going to be so neat!!"

"Yeah, Odaiba is a... man made island, I think? So we'll be crossing the ocean to get there," Mikoto agrees, feeling pretty confident in that fact even though he doesn't know where exactly he'd've picked it up from. And sure enough, they're soon on the bridge, looking out at water both to the left and right.

"Oooooooh~ Neat!" Kaiya responded, not having known this before. For all that she had lived in Tokyo all her life, there were a lot of things she didn't know about the city, or the areas immediately surrounding it. As they got onto the bridge, Kaiya was almost plastered to the nearest window. "It just goes on forever..." She said, wonderingly, looking out at the water. Of course, 'ocean' really should clue one in to the fact that you wouldn't see the other side, but she really hadn't ever made her way to the ocean to actually experience that before. "Can people walk on the bridge?" She asked, glancing at Mikoto. She couldn't see anyone out there right now, but that didn't mean that no one did it.

"Hmmm, I think so? I know that the street is the top level," Mikoto explains. He hasn't tried to walk across it himself though so he doesn't know for sure. He smiles at her taking in the ocean. He supposes that if you're too poor to really get out much, your life can end up being really small, and he's proud to be able to help Kaiya open that life up.

Truly, it was only thanks to the internet that Kaiya's world wasn't contained to just her school, the streets she had lived on, and the surrounding areas. Ever since she'd become friends with Mikoto, and especially since she'd started dating Setsuna, her world had opened up incredibly, and she loved every new experience that came her way. "Oh neat! Maybe you, and me, and our guys could come walk here when the lights are on, someday~" She suggested, carefully not using names *or* the word 'boyfriends' to describe Keiji and Setsuna. And since Miko was dressed to very much pass as a woman today, she didn't have to worry about saying 'their guys' either.

"Hmm, that could be fun," Mikoto agrees, understanding that experiences that cost nothing are best for Kaiya and Keiji, if nothing else so they don't have to feel like they're relying on their boyfriend's buying them stuff ALL the time. It's not too long before their train reaches the first of the malls, so they alight from the train. Mikoto, not feeling like wasting too much time, heads to a directory to find the stores they want.

Kaiya smiled at that agreement. Obviously, they would have to wait until after her birthday for a public date like that. And if they were going to be out late enough to see the lights, they might have to stay over somewhere. Hopefully not (for the money situations), but if they did... well.... hotel with her boyfriend sure sounded nice~ She didn't voice any of that, though, as they continued their way toward the malls, and soon enough, they were before the directory. Kaiya pulled out her phone to double check the names of the two stores that looked promising at this mall, then pointed them out on the directory. "Here and here."

"OK... they seem pretty close to each other, so that's pretty convenient," Mikoto admits. He leads the way up the escalator and after a little wandering in what he believes is the correct decision, they find the first store, "Aha, here we go~" He starts looking through the nearest rack immediately, not the least of which because he hopes they have sizes. They would probably need a larger size to accommodate Kaiya's blessings.

Kaiya nodded at that, then headed on up to the correct level with Mikoto. Once they came to the right store, Kaiya was happy to see that it really was mostly full of bathing suits of all shapes, sizes, and colours. She also hoped that she would be able to find a suit that would fit her new figure. Over the last several months, her body had changed quite a bit. She had gained a couple of inches of height, and her bust and hips had filled out to give her quite the hourglass figure. She was unbelievably indebted to her big sister where bras were involved (not to mention letting out some of her favourite tops and dresses), because having D cups in Japan was not cheap.

Now, Kaiya had always envisioned her beach date wearing a bikini. But.... she knew how her boyfriend felt about anything that could possibly be sexy on her, and she resignedly felt like she should probably at least *start* by looking at one piece suits. So, that's where she started. Surprisingly, she actually found two that looked pretty nice! Not exactly what she had been imagining, but not bad either. The first was black, with purple stripes, and white accents. She liked the lines on it, and thought it would accentuate certain assets~ The second felt more modest, with a faux crossover on the top, and black with just a nice white design on it. Not too sexy at all, but still something she wouldn't mind wearing.

Mikoto is a little surprised at her focusing on one pieces, although he gets that she's probably trying to be kind to Setsuna, honestly. He looks at what she's found, and says, "Those are nice -- I know there's a tendency to black, but straying a bit more into colours can make everything feel more beachy -- did you think about Bikinis? or something with cutouts?"

Kaiya tilted her head at the advice. "Yeah, I want to keep looking for something colourful, these two just looked like they would be okay immediately, so I grabbed them." She admitted. The question about bikinis or something with cutouts, though? "Ah... well.... I'd *like* to wear something like that. But.... I don't want to cause... problems?" She explained, sure that Mikoto would understand her dilemma.

"I do like the lines on this one especially; they're well designed to emphasize curves," Mikoto replies. He smiles at her concern, and admits, "At the same time, if you're someone who doesn't seem like they're be conservative in style and you wear a conservative style, that could be kind of sus, right? And if you get a nice cover-up, that will help as well. Besides, I really think you ought to have two suits anyways..." The blond says, while looking through a nearby rack.

Kaiya hadn't considered the idea of a coverup! That would solve so many things! Especially since she really wasn't all that interested in one piece suits anyway. Just... wanting to be kind to her boyfriend. "Oh! That's true! I mean, I'm not really a conservative style person. And if I go to the beach with friends this summer, I don't really want to wear a one piece..." She admitted. And then Mikoto mentions *two* suits. "But... I only need one, don't I?" She asked, not able to think of a reason to need a second, though she was certainly willing to bow to Mikoto's experience, if he said she needed more than one. She would just have to be careful of price, in that case. That in mind, she set the two one piece suits she'd pulled back on the rack, and started looking at the bikinis instead, because that was really what she was interested in, and a coverup would totally make it okay~

"Absolutely not. You want to wear the same thing with Setsuna as with your friends? What if you go to the beach two days in a row? You wanna wear the same, probably still damp suit? What if one day you feel more comfortable showing a lot of skin, and one day you're feeling kinda bloated and want to be a little more covered up? Options~" The blond insists, thinking two suits only makes sense. And he had told Setsuna as much. And had enough money, he thought, for swim suits, a cover up, sunglasses, beach bag, beach towel and maybe a sunhat too. Maybe shoes. "Besides, while you're trying to be careful of his situation, he'd rather you be you most of all, ne?"

Kaiya blinked at all of that. She really hadn't thought about any of those situations at all. "Oh.... that's all true, huh?" She said faintly. Of course, with the way Mikoto had worded all of that, now Kaiya was wondering if *two* suits was enough, and if she should maybe be getting three: one for definitely wearing with Setsuna, one for wearing with her friends, and one more covering one for the possibility of feeling bloated. But.... three seemed wildly too many to her. Two would be better. One mostly for wearing with Setsuna, one that was for wearing with her friends. And just one of them would need to be more covering for that bloating situation.

She did smile at that reassurance, though. "Yeah, that's true. Any time I try to dress for what I *think* he'll want, it never works out well. I know he likes it better when I'm just me." Just, so far being 'just her' hadn't involved showing off nearly as much skin as she was going to be. And she was pretty sure he'd been doing his best to pretend not to notice the way her bust was growing with her height. He had commented on the latter, though, since she was now just about the same height as him. He kept insisting she was going to grow some more, but she wasn't so sure. 5'7" was already plenty tall to her. Still, wearing what *she* wanted to the beach would likely leave her boyfriend without a way to ignore the other changes to her body.

"Again, he knows you're a little fashionista - if he saw you in one of those one pieces -- and I'm SURE they'd look great on you -- but if he sees you in one of those he's gunna know it's not what you really wanted. So get what you want; and he'll figure out a way to keep his eyes inside his skull. And if he has to help himself out that evening, well, so be it!"

Those words made Kaiya blush, but also made her giggle. Mikoto was right: dress for herself, and let Setsuna be the responsible adult that he was. With that thought in mind, she started searching in earnest. Obviously, black was still pulling at her a little, as the first bikini she pulled was completely black with full bottoms and a stylistic tie at the front of the top. It was fine, but not as cute as she was hoping for. Still, it might be nice as the 'more covering' option, depending on what she ended up deciding on in the end. Continuing to look, she spotted something much more in line with the colourful beach theme. Sure, she wasn't normally a fan of pink on herself, but the pink tropical flowers with the vibrant green leaves on the white background of the bikini looked too pretty to pass up. Also, she really liked the wrap-around style of the top, and the slightly skimpier bottoms. "What do you think of this?" She asked, holding up the tropical-ish suit for Mikoto to look at.

"Oh, I love that one," Mikoto enthuses. He instantly gets a mental image of her in this, hair up in a messy, curly ponytail, a beach hat, a cover up, and some accessories that make it still feel edgy and goth despite being so tropical, "I honestly think it'll suit your colouration so nicely."

Kaiya smiled happily at that reaction to the suit she'd found. "I know I don't normally like pink, but I really think it would work~" She agreed. Though, there were still a ton of suits to look through. And, of course, trying on. Just because she liked something on a hanger didn't mean it would look good on her body.

"Do you want to try that one on before we look at more?" Mikoto suggests. They can use it to figure out what kind of neckline she likes, what's an acceptable level of support from straps for her, what kind of cut of the bottom she'd prefer and stuff like that.

"Oh! That's a good idea. I also have this one." Kaiya replied, holding up the black bikini with an entirely different cut from the one she'd shown to the bassist. "I know, it's black, but it's kind of less.... revealing?" She explained. Still, it would be helpful in finding out what cut would be good for her, even if she likely wouldn't be getting *that* suit in particular.

"Hmm, yeah. Well trying it on will help show if the cut is what we want - we could try to find something else in a similar shape if we don't want the black. And I mean, black isn't terrible, it's just --" The blond tilts his head, considering how to phrase it, "Black is very much seen as a safe colour of swimsuit, so a lot of people on the beach will be in black, so I think unless a black suit has something super stylish about it, then it won't seem stylish?"

Kaiya nodded at Mikoto's thoughts on the black bikini. She agreed that it was good to try on for cut alone, and she also thought he was right about black being very.... safe as a colour choice. And 'safe' wasn't really what she was going for, honestly. "Okay, well, then I'll go try these two on to see how they fit." She decided, heading for the change rooms to do just that.

"Sounds good," Mikoto replies. He continues to look around while she's in -- finding a sunhat he likes and putting it on while he waits for her.

Kaiya disappeared into the change room and tried on both of her first picks. She tried on the black bikini first, looking herself over in the mirror to decide what she thought of it. The high cut of the bottoms didn't fit exactly the way she wanted them to, but they did seem fairly comfy. The top, however, was not comfortable at all. The way they were made, her boobs felt like they were very squished together. Yes, she knew her chest had grown, but the way this top fit made them look almost obscene. She shook her head and took it back off before trying on the floral one. The bottoms on this one immediately seemed sexier in their cut, which she liked, but the real winner was how the top fit! She'd been worried that all of the bikini tops would fit like the first one, but this one looked nice on her, and her boobs were separated and actually supported (at least as much as a swimsuit top would ever support her). That discovered, she stuck her head out to call, "Miko-chan~ Did you want to see any of these on?"

"If you wanna show me," Mikoto replies. Of course he wants to see but not if it's going to make her uncomfortable. But he also knows that he asking was her offering so he heads on in to the changing area. "The floral one is pretty nice honestly." It wasn't the most revolutionary suit ever but the style and color both look great on the redhead.

"I totally do~" Kaiya replied, wanting her 'big sister's' opinion. "I like it too. The pattern is nice, but I really like how the top fits. I don't know if it's just the crossover that makes it work like that, though, so I'll try others and see if they fit nicely too." But since it sounded like both of them thought this suit was somewhat nice, she added, "I'll hold onto this one as a good option, for now." There might be better later, but then again, there might not. "I didn't like the black one at all, though. The bottoms didn't look right to me, and the top made my boobs go like this," She said, bringing her hands up to squish her breasts together to mimic what the black top had done to her.

"Yeah we'll have to experiment more with tops then," Mikoto replies, definitely not an expert in how tops would fit breasts despite the pair he's wearing now. "We could see if they'll keep it at the register for us? Or buy it and just return it later if we change our minds?"

Kaiya nodded at that thought. "Yeah, I think the tops might be more difficult than I thought they would be." She admitted. "Did you see anything else out there while I was trying these on?" She asked, side-stepping the idea of buying, then returning. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable with that, given that she already knew she wasn't going to be paying today anyway, it was just that she assumed that Mikoto would know better than she did about what would work best in this area.

Mikoto prefers buying it so you don't have to back track but he's less likely to return something after he's bought it anyways. He removes the sunhat from his head with a flourish, holding it towards her, "Tadaa~"

Kaiya giggled at the hat being an answer to her question. "I meant more swimsuits!" She protested, but added, "But that is a cute hat!" Because it definitely was.

He gets the hat on her head, and arranges it, and he thinks it, with her hair, with the swimsuit all look pretty stunning together, if he does say so himself, "Oh my god, but the hat is so good!"

Kaiya giggled some more at the hat being put on her head, then waited for Mikoto to arrange it perfectly before checking it out in the mirror. "Oooooh~ You're so right! It looks so good!" She agreed, posing just a little. "I look ready for the beach!"

"The hat adds a lot; and I swear the curliness of your hair feels beachy somehow? Am I crazy?" Mikoto asks. And honestly, it's definitely a good idea to have a sun hat too. "... we should find sandals..." that's missing but otherwise it's a perfectly beachy outfit.

"I don't think you're wrong at all!" Kaiya replied, thinking that Mikoto was weirdly right. She looked at herself in the mirror a little more, then laughed happily at that statement. "Well, I'm not going to argue against sandal shopping~" She said. "I guess that means I should get changed back now, though."

"Mhmm~ I wonder if they have cute sandals here? I will go look~" Mikoto says, heading off to check. Sure they're not a shoe store but since they sell just about everything else for the beach, it's definitely possible.

"Okay~" Kaiya agreed with a light laugh, then disappeared back into the changeroom to get back into her clothing. Once she was dressed, she set aside the black swimsuit, but kept ahold of the floral one, and went to go looking for her friend to see if Mikoto had found some sandals. She'd redonned the hat after getting dressed, though, enjoying the look of it even in her street clothes.

Mikoto spots Kaiya as soon as she emerges - that hat and that hair are unmissable even out of the corner of one's eyes! He excitedly waves her over, "They have wedge espadrilles! Look at these!" They are cute wedges, equal parts black and the classic espadrilles cork that makes them feel so summery, and even have bows on them. They're absolutely what his Miko-chan 'character' would wear if she went to the beach -- now whether or not they're practical in ANY way had not crossed the blond's mind.

Kaiya didn't even hesitate to follow that wave over to see what Mikoto had found, and her eyes widened in delighted appreciation at what she saw. "Oh! They are so cute!" Given that she had never actually gone to the beach before, she didn't really know how they would handle sand, but they definitely were adorable!

"They are literally perfect," Mikoto replies. He's not always the biggest fan of the espadrilles, even though when he thinks 'women's summer shoes' they are precisely what comes to mind, and this particular pair are both cute and stylish. And frankly... she can just take them off and go barefoot once they're actually in the sand if needs be, "Try them~ They'll match anything, and the hat."

"Okay!" Kaiya agreed immediately. Once her size was found, she moved to remove the shoes she was wearing, then put the lovely, wedge-heeled sandals on. Once done up, she stood, which with her new couple inches of height made her feel like she was towering over the blond. However, looking down at the shoes on her feet, they still looked cute, stylish, and not a little elegant. And a few steps in them proved that they were not going to be a 'pain is beauty' situation either. She might not go as far as 'comfortable', but once broken in, they might actually be in that category. "Oh my god, they are so nice~" She looked back over at Mikoto. "They are, right? I don't just have a good angle on them from up here?" She trusted her friend to give her honest feedback on whether the shoes made her feet or legs look weirdly proportioned somehow.

" 'From up here', you seem to be throwing shade," Mikoto jokes, since that could be misconstrued as a comment about how short he is, although he knows she doesn't mean it that way at all. "No, they look really great." He says, not the least of which because they're giving her an eloquent, modelesque look. Like... that's all the increased height really makes him think, and all the proportions are great. "We're getting a real beach look together, ne~"

"Miko-chan~" Kaiya whined slightly, "You know I don't mean it like *that*! I mean 'up here' as in looking straight down on them, rather than getting a good profile view!" Even with mirrors, she could only get certain angled views, not a proper straight on from the side. Sure, it *should* be good enough, but she was well aware of the tricks that could be performed by stores to make you think you look better than you do when trying things on. It was all about the sale, after all. But Miko would give it to her straight.

"Okay, good, because I think they look soooo good!" She enthused happily, then laughed at that observation. "I mean, the shoes and the hat aren't really what we came for..." But, they did have one suit as a candidate already, and Mikoto had said they should probably get two, and a coverup.... and *he* had suggested the hat, and the shoes.... but there couldn't be *that* much money, right? She'd have to look at the prices of everything to see if they were staying on budget. As she took the shoes off, she looked at their price, and her eyes went wide in surprise. She had expected them to be expensive, but.... they didn't seem that bad.

Mikoto giggles at Kaiya's whining, and while he's sure that she knows it's fine, he reassures her nonetheless, "I know, I know. it was just too good a joke to not make. I can take some low angle photos if you really want." Although he doesn't think that's necessary. The blond grins -- this is the closest Kaiya has come to asking about the budget. In that familiar, fake sweet/innocent voice, he muses, "Hehhh? Who says that a hat and shoes aren't part of what we came for....?"

Okay, that voice was highly suspect. Kaiya shot a look at her friend. "What, exactly, did you tell Setsuna-kun we were going out to buy...?" She asked, having left the entire money conversation to Mikoto, since she assumed he would know price points on these things at least a little better than her.

Mikoto smiles up at her, "I told him that you would need at least 2 swim suits, but that that wasn't enough because if you show up to the beach with no beach things except a swimsuit that's going to be almost as sus as showing up in a PE swimsuit. A girl like you? Who's interested in fashion and always presenting well? It would be normal for you to have things like a beach bag, beach towel, sun hat, sun glasses, maybe a cover up... "

The blond's goal is not to make Kaiya seem rich, but at least not give away how desperately poor she's been.

Kaiya gasped and stared at the blond. "Miko-chan!" She protested shortly, then sighed and smiled. "Thanks." Because even if part of her was almost mortified at the idea of her boyfriend spending even *more* money on her, she was also thankful that she wouldn't look completely awkward and out of place going to the beach with her friends this summer, and then with Setsuna on her birthday. It was a hard mental line to ride, but she was trying hard not to feel guilty about it all.

"If you have a few, high quality, stylish, not trendy -- and thus won't go out of style easily -- items, that keeps with you being a handy fashionista who doesn't have a *lot* of cash. It's just that they'll think you've gotten this stuff over a long time, and not one big shopping trip," Mikoto replies. He clearly has no remorse for the amount of money he'd suggested to Setsuna -- because he genuinely thinks anything less would be kind of suspicious.

That explanation just made Kaiya smile even more, and if she wasn't putting her own shoes back on at that moment, she would have hugged the blond. "That's true." She agreed. It would also make it seem less like she had never, ever been to the beach before in her life. "You're so smart, Miko-chan. I appreciate you looking out for me." She said, meaning every word. "But.... you'll let me know if we're getting too close to going over the budget, right?" She asked, not wanting to go overboard in any way.

"I will let you know if we're getting close to the budget, but... we can safely get this suit, the hat and the shoes without having to worry," the blond replies. And frankly, if they found some amazing perfect piece but it would put them over budget? He's more than happy to pitch in a little bit himself. While it's stupid, and hopefully her friends aren't people who would judge someone for being poor, it's much safer to hide exactly how poor she is -- especially since she surely doesn't want to discuss her family situation too much if she doesn't have to.

"Okay, good." Kaiya responded with subtle relief. She had somewhat come to terms with the fact that Setsuna was paying for both her monthly medication and her schooling, but she still felt rather bad about costing him so much. So, she was determined to stay well under the budget, even if she didn't know exactly what that number was. She was afraid to ask, though, worried that the amount might make her feel even more guilty. "So.... shoes, hat, and suit, then next store? Or should we look more here first?" She asked, not sure how much more this store might have to offer than they'd already found.

Mikoto can understand Kaiya's feelings, since it would probably cause his trapped feelings to go off like crazy if he was dating someone who was paying for stuff like this -- but he happens to know that Setsuna feels much the way he does about the Tanaka family -- wanting to support them enough that they can live a more normal life. It's just that 'normal life' feels extravagant to them. "I feel like I did a decent amount of looking around here," Since he'd had time to look around while she was changing, "But if you feel like you want to look a little more, feel free."

Kaiya shook her head at that. "No, I think if there was something else good, you would have pulled it while I was in the change room." She responded. Even if her style and Mikoto's weren't always the same, he knew hers (and she his) enough to know if she'd like something at least.

"Well thank you for your approval," Mikoto replies, feeling pleased that she trusts him to have properly scoured the store. They head to the register and buy everything, and then make their way to the next store, "So, we would like another suit, maybe a nice cover up, and a beach bag, beach towels maybe sunglasses..." The blond lists off what he has in mind.

As they headed for the next store, Kaiya couldn't help but laugh happily and with surprise at that list. "Okay, yeah. All those things." She agreed, because how could she not? It all sounded wonderful. "Second swimsuit and cover up are most important, though. Oh, but... I guess the bag is super important too.... and the sunglasses.... and I'll need a towel.... and okay, you're right. I need it all." She admitted a little sheepishly.

"See??? And how would you go to the beach without a towel, right?" Mikoto insists, still 100% certain in his correctness about the things Kaiya needs. There's a little part of him that thinks he should have bought a pair of those shoes for himself, but he has a lot of shoes and probably shouldn't buy shoes for the purpose of dates with Keiji... Anyways! Soon enough they're heading into the next store and starting to look around for things to check off their list.

"Mhm~" Kaiya agreed, having come to the conclusion that all the things on Mikoto's list were going to be important. In fact, the only not important item might have been the sandals they'd already bought. Once they were in the store, Kaiya headed right for the swimsuits. She completely bypassed the one pieces, and even some of the more covering two pieces. She already felt like the one they'd bought at the last store was fine for wearing with her friends, and she wanted something... more for wearing with her boyfriend~

Ok, but who could argue those sandals weren't important after seeing them though? They were very important, based on sheer aesthetics. Miko smiles as he notices them passing all the most covering suits. He lets her look at the suits though, instead looking at the accessories, trying to find something that went with the hat and shoes they already had.

Once she started seeing some things that seemed interesting, Kaiya stopped and started looking at things more closely. First, she pulled out an aqua coloured bikini where the top did a similar wrap around to the one she'd bought at the last store. She knew that style seemed to fit well, and she liked that the straps were detailed with some cute gold-toned chains. It wasn't as sexy as she had been hoping for, but it was heading in the right direction, and she liked the colour of it.

Looking further, she pulled out something that made her giggle a little. She remembered a conversation she'd had with Setsuna about 'lace bikinis', and she swore she'd just found one. It certainly looked like cyan lace, and she wasn't at all sure it would leave *anything* to the imagination. She nearly blushed just looking at it, but she still kind of wanted to try it on, just to see how it would look. She wasn't perfectly happy with the idea of either suit in her hands, though, so she kept looking. Thankfully, the selection in this store seemed to be much larger than the last, so she had far more to choose from. And just as she was giving up hope of finding anything else, she found something that she thought might just be perfect: It had the idea of lace around the edges of top and bottoms, but the actual top and bottoms were solid. The lacey parts were white and deep blue, and the solid parts were a near jewel-tone blue. She really liked it, and hoped it would look good. Suits in hand, she went looking for Mikoto to let him know she would be heading to the changeroom, as well as see if he had found anything of interest yet.

"There was a beach towel I liked, but then I realized -- black and white thick stripes? Probably pretty hard to keep it looking clean and fresh for a long time, so maybe not what we want. I found a couple beach bags though, but like... nothing I'm in love with? But they'd all work? What did you find?" Mikoto asks, looking through the suits in her hands, and then being amused, "Lace swimsuits?"

Kaiya giggled at being greeted immediately with that information. "Yeah, black and white stripes might not be it. Black and a colour, maybe, but not white." She agreed. As for the bag, she was eager to see what Mikoto had found, even if he wasn't super in love with any of them. True, it would be easier to find more bags that would work as beach bags other places, but she still kind of wanted to see. However, he beat her to asking by asking about the suits in her hands. She handed them over, and then had to laugh again at his reaction. "Only one of them is actually lace!" She protested, though how was she to explain this. "It's kinda... a joke? Like.... months and months ago we talked about swimsuits, and Setsuna-kun mentioned a lace swimsuit, and I thought that was silly, because you can't *swim* in lace. But... apparently I'm wrong, because this exists?"

"Basically, there're a lot of towels. They all seem *fine*. And there are a lot of bags, and they all seem *fine*. I think the quality and price are good, I'm not sure any of them are attention pieces, but I don't even know what I WOULD want and maybe it's better if more of the attention is on you anyways," The blond shrugs. He smiles hearing about the lace thing, "Well, with modern textiles, anything's possible I guess." He holds up the laciest one, pointing out, "You and Setsuna both might die if you wear this to the beach though." He'd be mortified if she decided not to try it on because of him though, he doesn't mean it that way at all.

That explanation just made Kaiya shrug. "I'll look at them after I finish in the changeroom, then, since nothing is really standout. Maybe once I know what I want to wear, a bag or towel will seem more.... I don't know, like they belong?" She suggested, though she agreed that it might be better for *her* to be the attention holder and her bag/towel just being what they were. Mikoto's thoughts on the very lacey bikini, though, made her blush. "Oh my god! I honestly have no intention of actually *getting* it! I just want to know how a bikini like that works, and how much it actually covers!" She admitted, also thinking that she would die, Setsuna would kill her, and Setsuna would die if she wore that to the beach. Maybe if they ever went somewhere with a very private beach/yard where she could sunbathe... and maybe like 3-4 years from now, but certainly not for her birthday.

Mikoto giggles, happy to have gotten a rise out of her, but then more genuinely says, "I fully support you. Trying on anything and everything, even things that are wildly not your taste. Because trying things on doesn't hurt anyone." Honestly? It might be good for her to see herself in this sexual light, with her new body. Well! Anyways, since Kaiya had just admitted that at least one of the suits she'd grabbed she had no intentions of getting, the blond volunteers, "I'll go look for more suits while you try these on then~"

Still blushing furiously from the teasing, Kaiya disappeared into the changeroom, trusting her friend to bring her any more options he found. Then, because she was already about as embarrassed and mortified as she thought she could get, she actually started with the very lacy swimsuit. She'd half expected it to be uncomfortable, or at least difficult to put on, but it was neither. It actually felt rather... nice. Soft and supple. Once she had the suit on, she turned to look at herself in the mirror. She had worn a thong that day so she could get the best idea of what the bottom of a suit would actually look like, and she could very easily see the vibrant blue of that small piece of clothing through the front of the lacy bottoms. Yup, definitely see-through. Then she looked up at the top, and it was very much the same story there: the lace was closely enough knit to give support and be a proper bikini top, but she could see the colour of her skin right through, and if she was paying attention, she could trace the outline of her areolas as well. Yeah, no. This was not for a public beach. Not at all. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

But.... She turned from side to side, getting as good a look in the single mirror as she could. Was she super vain for thinking the whole thing was rather hot? Like, the specific way the lace was done, she couldn't see her nipples, and she could already see that the bottoms weren't *completely* see-through either. The mystery was preserved while still being very, very revealing. And her body? Well, she hadn't really taken a chance lately to inspect it like this. Her daily yoga and better diet had filled her out and toned her in all the right places. She had a fantastic hourglass figure now, rather than just being skinny. Yeah, she really liked the way she looked in this, even if she absolutely could not wear it anywhere, ever. Still.... photos for herself wouldn't hurt, right? She smiled to herself, grabbed her phone, then went ahead and got some decent pictures of front and back utilizing the mirror.

Mikoto, meanwhile, finds a couple suits he really likes, actually. They weren't quite in the teeny tiny bikini rack that Kaiya had been looking in, so she hadn't seen them likely, but he thought they managed to be sexy anyways - using cut out type features to accentuate despite having more fabric than some of the smaller suits. But as someone who ADDS things to their figure to make it sexier, the blond definitely knows that hiding more can be sexy sometimes. AND, since he currently looks like a beautiful woman, he heads into the change room hallway. He doesn't know which of the 3 stalls his friend is in though, "Kaiya-chan~ I found some things~"

Kaiya was just putting her phone away and was still in that first suit when Mikoto came back. She'd had no idea that she'd been admiring herself for that long (though the number of pictures she'd taken, deleted, then retaken likely made up a good chunk of that time. "Oh good! I'm over here!" She called out, hoping he would follow her voice. "Ah... I don't want anyone else to see me in this..." She didn't mind if *Mikoto* saw, just no one else in the store.

Now the thing is, 'anyone else' COULD mean anyone other than Miko, or could mean anyone other than Kaiya, and since he's unsure, he errs on the side of caution. He finds the correct stall, and sticks his hand in through the curtain with the two suits.

One is a very strappy bikini in a lovely forest green colour - it had had a few colour options but in his opinion forest green was absolutely more Kaiya's colour than coral orange, and then a lovely purple one piece which not only has cut outs, but mesh panels as well, meaning it shows at least as much skin as a little bikini, but makes it a bit more tasteful.

When Mikoto's arm stuck through the curtain, and the rest of him didn't appear, Kaiya giggled a little, mostly at herself for not being more clear. "I mean, *you* can see, if you want, but I don't know how much you want to see me in the lace bikini." She admitted, taking the new suits from his hand. She was surprised to see the one piece, but seeing all the mesh... yeah, she could see how he might choose that with her ideas of something sexy in mind. "Oooh~ These are nice choices!" She praised, thinking that all of the suits she had in here now (minus the one she was currently wearing) were contenders for what she wanted. Actually... she might like them all (on hangers) more than she liked the one they'd bought at the last store. They might actually be returning that one after all...

"I'm not sure how much I wanna see that," Mikoto admits as well. He wouldn't get anything out of it himself. "I mean if you want my opinion on it I will, but otherwise probably not necessary...."

As for the suits he chose, Mikoto said, "I know these have a bit more fabric than the other stuff you chose, but sometimes hiding a little more can be even sexier~"

That admission made Kaiya laugh. "Really, the only opinion I'd be looking for would be whether I look as sexy as I think I do, but I already took pictures, so you can always tell me from those later, if you want." She replied, thinking that Mikoto probably wouldn't want to see *those* either. The comments about the new suits made her nod, even if he couldn't see it. "Yeah, there's definitely something to be said for leaving things to the imagination..." She replied, thinking that was almost the opposite of what she was wearing now. that said, she started changing out of the lacy bikini and selected the one piece with the mesh that Mikoto had brought as the next suit to try. She liked the way it looked, but she wasn't sure, with her new figure, if it would work on her. Best to try it now and know.

"Maybe you could ask your boyfriend that," Mikoto teases, knowing full well that that is not (yet) a reasonable option for things. "Leaving things to the imagination is my bread and butter." The okama replies, definitely knowing it's a viable option. There are some stools for people waiting, so he heads over to sit there. He's in heels! it's nice to take a break when you get the chance!

"....do you really want him to die of a heart attack?" Kaiya asked with some amusement. Someday she might spring those photos on Setsuna, but that day was absolutely *not* today! That said, she got the one piece on. The body itself looked really cool, and she liked the detail of the inverted star on top, but..... the way it fit her bust..... she felt both unsupported, and like she might fall out of the top at the same time. It sucked, because she liked the suit as a whole, but it just didn't seem like the right one for her to swim, play, hangout, and sunbathe in and still be comfortable. Sure, style wasn't always comfortable, so she wasn't going to count it out just yet, but she was hoping one of the others would tick all the boxes for her.

Next, she moved on to the aqua bikini that she had picked out. It was similar in style to the suit she'd gotten in the last store, but with the bit of gold chain in the straps. She thought it would be an easy win. However, upon trying it on, the pretty chains were already digging into her skin. Adjusting the straps didn't help, though, as loosening them enough to alleviate that problem caused the top itself to sag, making her bust look saggy too. Not what she wanted. And getting the straps back to the right place was just going to hurt. No wonder everything except the smallest sizes of this suit had still been sitting there!

Mikoto plays on his phone while he waits, and snaps a selfie of himself to send to Keiji too, because any objective person could tell that he's madly in love with Keiji, regardless of whatever he's willing to admit about things.

Meanwhile, Kaiya sighed in frustration. Three suits tried on, one of which was mostly a joke, and the only one she'd actually liked once it was on was the joke one! How disappointing! She was hoping at least one of the last two would be a winner, because if not.... She was going to be sad. With slightly less faith than before, she grabbed the forest green suit that Mikoto had brought her. She liked the style of the top, and thought the criss-crosses on the bottoms might be interesting. Trying them on, she was glad to find nothing digging into her, and her bust being supported like she wanted, so that was good. Looking in the mirror, she readjusted the way the decorative material on the bottoms sat, then smiled. Okay, *this* one both looked and felt good~ And while it wasn't as colourful as the suit from the first store, she actually liked the way this one looked better. Sure, it was sexy, but not in a super overt way (at least, not more than pretty much any other bikini), so she thought it would also work as being one she could wear on outings with friends. Especially if this last suit didn't work out. She snapped a shot of herself in the suit in the mirror, then sent it off to Mikoto with a message of 'what do you think? I like it!' before stripping down to try on the last suit she had with her.

Mikoto finds it very funny that Kaiya's sending him a picture when he's sitting like less than 2 metres away, but he's not about to complain. "Oh, it looks good! I think most people shopping here, the colour wouldn't suit them right, but it looks amazing on you."

Really, Kaiya just didn't want to yell out, also, she couldn't have been sure if Mikoto was waiting, or if he'd gone off to look at other things again, so sending a text seemed the easiest thing to do. She smiled at that reply, but didn't send one of her own immediately, working on changing suits. Once she had the last one on, she grabbed her phone and sent back, "Yeah, that's true. Guess that's lucky for me, then~", then she finally took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Her first impression was that the top made her chest look incredible. She wasn't sure how it looked like it was both covering and not at the same time, and like it was flimsy, but was still supportive enough for her bust. It just... worked, somehow. And the stylistic 'lace' was as cute as she'd hoped. The bottoms didn't cut too high or too low, and the whole thing fit well without digging into her. Honestly, she loved it. Problem was: she loved this one and the green one. She took a picture of the suit she had on as well and sent that off to Mikoto with 'Okay, I like this one too! I like both of them!' with a crying emoji next to her words.

The blond laughs at that cry emoji, and calmly replies, "Do you like them more than the tropical one from earlier?" Because the ability to return that one if necessary had always been there. Although if they're cheap enough, he's happy to get all of them.

Kaiya actually heard that laugh, so she knew Mikoto was nearby. But... they were already talking through text so she sent "I hear you laughing at me! But yeah... I think I do? But... isn't the tropical one more beach-y?" Thankfully, the sandals would work with all the suits, no matter what.

"The tropical one is definitely the most beach-y, the most summer-y, but maybe sometime you wanna go to a pool, or a water park," Mikoto argues, not really helping, since his impulse would be to just buy them all.

Kaiya groaned, very audibly, at this non-help. "You're supposed to be helping me decide! Not make it harder~" She complained via text. Getting all three hadn't even entered her mind as a possibility.

"Isn't getting all three a kind of decision on its own...?" Mikoto asks, unfortunately his teasing tone not translating well over text. 'Get dressed and we'll look at prices and budget, ne?"

That first response dropped ice right into the pit of Kaiya's stomach. Three suits? That just felt so.... greedy. And unnecessary. She didn't *need* three suits. But.... oh did she want them. That next text, though, saved her. They could look at prices, look at the budget, and she could make an economical decision, instead of an emotional or gut decision. "Okay." She sent back, then got changed back into her clothing and came out of the changeroom, three suits going to the return rack, and two staying in her hands, then moved to rejoin Mikoto.

Mikoto smiles at her as she joins him, and pats the stool next to him. Should they really be sitting here if they're not actually waiting for the dressing room? Probably not, but until someone tells him to leave, or until there's actually a line, he doesn't think it's a problem. He gets out the first receipt, having forgotten what that amount was because he's not used to paying much attention to that kind of thing. "So how much are these suits?"

Kaiya settled on the stool next to Mikoto and looked at the receipt her friend pulled out. The price of the first suit hadn't been that bad, honestly, so that was good. At the question about the new suits, she turned over the price tags to reveal their prices. Somehow, still not as bad as she had feared. Did she have an over-inflated idea of how much suits were? Or had she gotten lucky somehow? Sure, they were both a little more than the first suit, but not by *that* much.

There was a reason Mikoto had gone for mall stores and not something trendier like Shibuya 109 - cospa was necessary today. "Hmm... And we already have most of the other things - shoes, hat, bag... just need a towel and maybe some sunglasses. If we get all this stuff... We'll easily have enough for a towel. Sunglasses, well, sunglasses are the kind of thing that can cost 500yen or 50000yen, but we should be able to make it work."

Kaiya nodded along slowly, listening to what Mikoto had to say. "Yeah... that's true. I also still need a cover up, but maybe I could use a sundress that I couldn't get to work after letting it out, and maybe do some filling in with mesh, or something." After all, mesh wasn't that expensive. "I'm glad we can do it all in the budget, though!" She added, glad that the budget wasn't as exorbitant as she'd feared, even if it was still way more than she would ever feel was acceptable if she were doing the spending herself.

"Some cover ups are pretty cheap too; we might get lucky," Mikoto admits, although Kaiya's size makes that a little harder. "We didn't really look at those here yet," he adds, since the prices at this shop seemed quite reasonable.

"Oooh~ Maybe we should look at them, then." Kaiya replied enthusiastically. If they could get almost everything here for a decent price, then just a towel and sunglasses would be left. That would be awesome! And... if a cover up couldn't be found, the sundress idea would always be there.

"They could have towels and sunnies here too," Mikoto replies, although maybe not a huge selection since the selection was mostly swimsuits. He asks a clerk who points them towards the smaller area for accessories and the like.

"True~ Okay, let's go look!" As soon as they were pointed in the right direction, Kaiya happily moved to take a look at the accessories. Since she had a possible solution for the cover up, and sunglasses were slightly less important to have than a towel, she went to look at the towels first. The first one to draw her attention was one that looked, at first, to just be a bunch of shades of blue, which she thought would match pretty well with the third suit she was getting. However, unfolding it, she saw that it also had turtles in bright rainbow colours. She actually kind of loved it, but it wasn't very stylish. It was just super colourful~

"I mean, you're halfway to having a pride flag," Mikoto jokes, because of the colours. He helpfully points out, "The towel doesn't have to match what you're wearing at all, so it can be as wild or flamboyant as you want, really." He's not sure yet if she liked it, as she hasn't said much, but Mikoto loves clusterfucks of colour so he would definitely use it.

Kaiya giggled at that description of the towel. "That's true~ It kinda is, isn't it~?" She agreed. "I'm not so sure how I feel about it, though. Like... I like it, but it isn't really the style I was imagining. I might hold onto it, just in case, though." After all, if nothing else stood out, it was something she did like. She went back to looking, first towel refolded and still in hand. A few minutes of looking at either too wild, or too boring towels, she pulled another out. This was not nearly as wild as the first one, but she liked how the bars of different shades of blues made rectangles with white centers. It was a lot more like what she had been thinking of initially.

To Mikoto, this towel was immensely boring. A pattern in a safe colour, yawn. It was kind of cool that the pattern gave the impression of repeated jewel stones, but he wouldn't use it himself. This isn't entirely about him though. "Hmm?"

Okay, the look on her friend's face showed exactly what he was thinking, and Kaiya couldn't help but laugh again. "You think this is super boring, huh?" She asked him, then added, "Okay, do you see a better towel?" It wasn't so much a challenge so much as she was interested if there was anything here that Mikoto would consider a good towel for her to use.

"Just because I think it's boring, doesn't mean you can't get it! We're buying for you, not for me!" The blond protests, looking sheepish that he'd hid his feelings on that matter so poorly. "I liked the turtle one pretty well..." he looks around more, very much just looking for bright colours -- and then finding a citrus patterns towel, cute and colourful with pink, orange, yellow and green fruit, pulling it out immediately, "Oh! or this one is fun!"

Kaiya shrugged at the protest. Sure, she could choose one of the towels she had in her hands, but she was still curious what Mikoto might find. When he pulled the towel with the citrus patterns and colours, her eyes widened. It was both brightly coloured *and* had a solid pattern: both things that she'd liked individually about the first two towels. "Oh wow~ I think that might be a winner!" She exclaimed, actually really quite taken with it. "And citrus fruits are very summer-like!" She added, just thinking of that now.

"It's kind of glorious," Mikoto replies, definitely liking it in a kitschy way. Also he's old enough to remember fanfics having their sexual content level denoted with lime and lemon so it's funny in that way too. "So that's another one off our list..."

"It really is~" Kaiya agreed immediately, setting the other towels back and holding onto the citrus towel. "Okay, so... sunglasses and cover up... which one should we look for next?"

"Hmm, sundress. We have a lot more options for sunglasses than just the swim wear stores," the blond reasons. You can get sunglasses just about anywhere, especially as summer draws closer.

"That's true." Kaiya agreed with a smile. "So... cover up or sundress next, then!" She agreed, looking around quickly to find the right area of the store for that. Once she spotted it, she headed on over with Mikoto so they could start looking. Immediately, she noticed that cover ups came in varying degrees of actually 'covering'. "Ah.... I think I want one that's, like, a full dress? Not a robe, or just a skirt?" She said, since the idea was to 'cover', in her opinion.

"Hmm... I think that's best too. You could put it on over your swimsuit to run to the store for some drinks or something." He's seen on TV americans just walking around in bikini tops but he hasn't seen that in Japan, so it's probably best not to.

Kaiya nodded at that idea. "Yeah, and means that for a date, we could go to the beach, but go to a restaurant for lunch, or dinner, before or after, and not have to go home and change first." She added, thinking that would be nice. Actually, for hanging out with friends even, that could still be true. However, given that she just wanted to buy one cover up, she wanted it to be nice, but probably not too date-like, or too overly casual. With those criteria in mind, she looked at, and quickly vetoed the first cover up she looked at. It was just a little too casual, being a non-form-fitting material in neon green that reminded her more of a loose exercise shirt made into a dress than anything else.

"Oh, that would be nice," the blond agrees, looking through the racks as well, admitting, "I always imagine, like. something wrap style. You can tie it up and just look like you're in a summer dress, you can have it lose and it be showing the bikini top but still mostly covering, and you can easily take it off...." but of course, he hasn't actually shopped for such things before, being a guy, and doesn't know how common or uncommon that is.

"Oh! That might be cool!" Kaiya agreed, not sure whether they would find something like that or not, but thinking it might work really well with her particular issues with a large bust, but a fairly trim waist. That said, she didn't spot anything like that yet, but she *did* see something with colours she liked. She pulled it out, and considered it. She liked the varying colours of green on the leaf pattern on the silky dress, but she wasn't so sure about the shape. In her hands it seemed to have.. no shape. Was it more of a poncho idea than a dress?

"I've seen things like it on TV and movies... I don't know if they have it in Japan, or if it's in style, or anything like that," Mikoto admits. It certainly would be flattering on his friend though. He looks at what she'd pulled out, and based on his experiences with a lot of trans women, he suggests, "Baggy things probably won't work for you... they'll hang down from the chest and make you seem larger?"