Silence | Book 2

3-5: Tailored

His parents had brought him to a small but high end cafe for their late lunch, before they would go out for shopping. The decor was simple but elegant, and so was the food. As usual he didn't fit his surroundings, but today he'd made extra sure to stand out: he'd put on a pair of boots, ripped jeans, and an old hoodie. In silent protest he had let his hair fall loose and forward, only doing the courtesy of brushing it somewhat.

It wasn't just his parents that had come with. They all had their own PA, and a set of three bodyguards. Even when they tried their very best not to get in the way, it wasn't like he couldn't see them. But on some level he was glad they were there, even when it made privacy practically impossible: it was quite busy in the streets outside, and that unnerved him. Especially with his flashback the day before, and what had happened on his birthday, he was afraid of being alone in a packed street. Not just because he feared getting kidnapped, but also because he was scared of having a flashback and embarrassing himself.

「So where do we want to go first?」His father asked, more to his mother than to him.

「If we go clothes shopping, we will be sure we have what we need. Then afterwards we can leave you at the hairdresser's while we go shopping for the gifts.」

As much as he wanted to protest, he knew it would be futile as his father nodded in agreement. So instead he took a quiet sip of his ice water, and bit down aggressively on a half-molten ice cube, causing it to crack loudly. It didn't intimidate his mother much, instead she gave his hand a little pat and smiled – he frowned back but didn't object.

The shop his parents took him to was high end, and even on a busy day had few people inside. Wooden shelves were topped with formal brand names in tasteful brass, some well known, others more obscure. On tables there laid neatly folded clothes, but in muted colours that he couldn't help but feel were like the clinically depressed versions of the standard brightness: bordeaux instead of red, mustard instead of yellow, navy instead of blue, and so forth.

A well-dressed store clerk immediately walked up to their group, and gave them a friendly bow. The body guards waited outside, as the store wasn't big enough to host such a large group. His mother immediately took charge, holding his shoulder as if to show him off.

「We are looking for something formal for him.」She was a bit too enthusiastic to put him through this, but he figured he'd best just humour them for a while.

「Is there anything specific you had in mind? Any tastes or styles?」

Before his mother could answer, he signed his preferences to her.

'I want dark colours. No ties.'

「Are you sure you don't want to try something more cheerful?」She suggested, but he adamantly shook his head.

「You need to be presentable, at the very least.」His father added, which made him want to groan knowing he'd get particular about this again. Even the slightest bit of formality and social pressure was enough to make his father overly concerned with how he'd reflect on the family.

'I can be presentable in black'

「He wants something dark, that doesn't need ties.」His mother said quickly to the store assistant, before he and his father could argue about it.

「We can manage that, certainly. If you wish, we can go through the store and gather a few outfits.」The man made a polite gesture for them to follow him, so he could show them to the clothes.

It took a surprising amount of effort to assemble outfits that both he and his parents agreed to – at some point it even required the weighing in of all three PAs for his parents to decide on whether a particular outfit was too dark, or could pass. If anything, Hibiki had to commend the store assistant for sticking with them through the entire ordeal, as he himself would have bailed thrice over if he could. And at the end of an hour long search, a few options had been put together for him to try on.