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36: Driving Miss Megpoid

I'm pretty sure I was the one who was the most startled by Miku showing up. I saw her standing out by the entrance of the shop, for a split second, and almost reflexively, I had shrunk into the corner, lamely attempting to hide.

And then Yuma grabbed both my arms and shoved me right into the changing room. I put my ear to the door and listened.

"What would look nice on me?" Miku said.

"W-Well, nothing, really." This sounded like Gakupo.

"He just kept going on about how everything would look so nice on Luka, like, 'oh this shirt would look so cute on Luka' and 'these glasses would really bring out her eyes' so we asked him to stop." This was definitely Piko.

"That's all there is to it," Oliver said. I pressed my forehead to the door, exhaling. Miku was giggling.

"Yuma, right?" She asked. "What're you wearing?"

"Midriff exposure," said Gakupo.

"It's only temporary, dear," Yuma said, his tone rubbing me the wrong way. Miku had a boyfriend, after all.

"It looks funny," she said. "Very different from what I've seen you wear."

"It's my shirt," said Piko.

They kept yammering away about the shirt and other strange, little things, before suddenly going quiet. I heard footsteps, but nothing else. I turned and saw my shirt hanging on the hook, so I decided to change back.

"Well, alright," I heard Miku say as I pulled an arm out of my sleeve. "See you guys at school!"

I exhaled, pulling both arms out of the too-expensive sweater. If she had seen me, she'd probably wonder what I was doing here. And earlier, I had told her that I'd be busy this afternoon, so we wouldn't be able to hang out. I didn't want her to think I was lying to her. Except I kind of was.

As I was mulling over my actions and questioning my inherent capability of being her friend, someone pulled the door open and I stared at him.

Piko screamed and slammed it shut. I was a little too frightened to scream, honestly.

"What, what?" Yuma opened the door as my fingers started to fiddle with the lock. I looked up at him, holding the sweater to my chest.

"Go, go! Shoo!" I said, my cheeks flaring.

"Put it back on, Gumi!" He said, very calmly. "We're not done the photo shoot!"

"Okay, okay! Close the door!" I pushed the door with my side, hard, nearly getting his fingers caught in between. Quickly, I pulled the sweater back over my head and opened the door again, looking out at the guys.

"Everything alright?" Yuma asked. My face was red.

"What was that?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's not like I saw anything," he said. Piko nodded furiously, perhaps looking redder than me. "Are we going to finish the photo shoot?"

"I don't really see the point," I said.

"The point is to have fun!" Oliver said. I shook my head.

"I'm tired," I said. "And I still don't have anything for Miku."

"She almost saw you, you know," Oliver said.

"Well, crisis averted either way, eh?" Yuma proclaimed proudly.

I frowned. "Look, can we get this over with, please? This silly photo shoot thing..."

"Hah! Right away, milady..." Yuma started snapping pictures almost immediately.