Behind a strong man [Ushiwaka /Oc]

Chapter 56 - A loneliness

Stay frosty :)

Chapter 56 - A loneliness

"I can't do this anymore, Izumi." Tamiko grumbled. "Hearing him is one thing but I want to see him. That's all I want."

Tamiko was lying on her friend's bed in her new home while Izumi was drawing. Izumi's university course as a manga artist was in full swing and she was drafting some ideas. A few months have passed and summer was slowly approaching. The days were getting warmer and the trees now wore their full plumage of green leaves. The girls were feeling the heat on that day. With cool drinks they had tried to cool themselves off. Now they sat in the firing line of the fan and the air conditioning was roaring.

"I know it's tough, Tamiko-chan. But I'm sure he feels the same way."

Izumi evaluated her piece of paper and then placed her things on the table. Tamiko, who had become a regular visitor, pouted and dropped back onto the bed, hugging the cat pillow tightly.

"I just want to hold him," she admitted.

"I get it," Izumi said. "You miss him. You complain about that every time you visit me."

"I'm sorry," Tamiko sighed.

"Don't get me wrong," Izumi interjected. "It's good that you miss him and you should. But it would be nice if we can talk about fun stuff instead of," she gestured at her friend, "that, you know?"

"Yeah you're right," Tamiko admitted.

"Maybe we should go out to town," Izumi suggested. "Shopping for example. We can get you some cute new outfits. Now that you have a boyfriend that you will visit one day you should dress to impress."

Tamiko blinked. Dress to impress? She had never thought about her clothing. Her wardrobe mostly consisted of simple things that didn't stand out. Onecoloured tops, no dresses, nothing fancy. She tried to picture herself in Izumi's attire and scrunched up her nose.

"No," she heard Izumi say. "My style doesn't suit you. We will have to find out what suits you best."

Tamiko looked at her friend who wore a huge mischievous grin. The student homes for the university weren't that close to the city centre with its shops, so Tamiko was dragged to the closest bus stop. It had been a while since Tamiko had last ridden on a bus. It was a simple thing to do. You got on in the back and pulled a small piece of paper out of a metal box. The number was displayed at the front with the yen price climbing the further you went. As you got off, you paid the driver. Simple as that.

The girls got off the bus right next to the big mall. Since it was starting to drizzle they quickly sought refuge underneath the glass canopy. This mall housed a lot of shops and restaurants under its roof. One of Tamiko's favourite shops was here too. A bookstore that was decorated with old-looking shelves and the occasional sofa to test read. But she had no chance to escape there.

"Oh no, you don't," Izumi said and grabbed her wrist. "We're going there first."

Tamiko looked ahead to where she was pointing and gulped. It was a clothes shop that had a big reputation for being ahead for popular fashion. Izumi wanted to start big and Tamiko already grew worried. It wasn't the first time she had gone clothes shopping with her, but then it was Izumi looking for clothes. She knew how frustrated Izumi could become when it came to matching her top with her trousers or vise versa. Hopefully if she went shopping for Tamiko's clothes Izumi would be a little more relaxed.

Tamiko hated clothing shops specifically for women. The ships that sold for women, men and children seemed to be more organised with their wares. In this shop the clothes were all over the place. A table with trousers and jumpers was placed in front of a shelf with dresses. They weren't even sorted by colour. Wasn't order a human necessity? Didn't humans crave objects to be there where you could easily find them? This didn't seem to be the case here.