Kumiko's Birthday Present (Open to 1)

Hikaru found himself wandering the crowded sidewalks of San Malarus, only it wasn't takoyaki he was looking for; no, this was much more important. Kumiko's 20th birthday was just a few short weeks from today, and his father, along with Kumiko's friends, were planning a surprise party. Hikaru would eventually be responsible for discreetly handing out invitations and bringing the cake to the house. Before that, while Hikaru was by himself today, he decided to head to San Malarus to find a present for Kumiko; shopping on Penecia would be difficult, as his sister would be likely to run into him.

"Yeah, the only problem is... I don't know what to get for her. I mean, normally she likes fashionable outfits and jewelry, but I don't exactly know what would qualify as that. Hmm... I need somebody's opinion, preferably a girl's. Might as well ask... But who?"

As Hikaru meditated on this difficult decision, the list of preparations he once had a grip on had been swept away by a sudden gust of wind. Hikaru's scrambling to grab it led to him making a leap for it and, after his foot realized that he had tripped on an uneven patch of sidewalk, falling flat on his face. The paper had finally stopped, only because somebody managed to catch it. He awkwardly approached the person.

"Hey, um, nice catch. Can I have that paper back? I'm, uh, present hunting, but I haven't the foggiest what I should get my sister. Do you, um, have advice? Know a shop?"

San Malarus was the last place they thought they'd be after all that had happened to them, but it was still the place they went to go shopping once and awhile. After walking around a bit, they'd start to look for something for their younger brother, getting the perfect idea on what he wants. With the place in mind, they would begin down the path towards said store, but of course something had to stop them. A piece of paper would come flying out of nowhere and nearly miss their face, getting caught in the back of the parasol. They would pull it out and start to read it a bit before a man approached them and requested for it back. They would do so while listening to him. "Oh! Well I'm going to buy a dress for someone, if you want you can tag along? It's like right there." If he agreed, they would walk down the street towards the dress shop that their family go to when it comes to formal events. With Quinn wearing pants for the day, they had seemed to stop attracting sleazy men and started to attract a lot more girls, which wasn't something they needed. They needed a world where no one would judge them on their clothing and stop flirting when they would assume what gender they were.

Hikaru quickly thanked the young child and accepted the list back from them. Hikaru glanced at the little child; they were dressed in a school uniform of sorts including pants, but nothing else about the kid gave him an idea of what gender they were. Hikaru decided not to poke about it and followed the kid down the street.

Almost every girl they passed seemed to turn their heads in interest at the child, some even following them. Hikaru extended his arms to create a protective wall around Quinn to keep the girls away. He felt more and more like a bodyguard working crowd control, but once they entered the dress shop, Hikaru moved Quinn through it and leaned against the door to keep the girls from getting in. Once the crowd dispersed, Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his arms, a few scratches dripping blood onto his arm.

"Whew... I guess you're pretty popular, kiddo. Ow, I think some of them scratched my arm a bit. They really should watch what they do with those manicured nails. Anyways, we should be fine in here."

"Oh, I never got your name. My name's Hikaru Ryouichi. I suppose I should thank you for offering to help. See, my sis is turning twenty pretty soon, and I'm hoping to find something really special for her. Do... you know what kind of outfits are in fashion these days?"

They would close the parasol as they entered the building, looking around at all the beautiful dresses they could see. "I'm not popular, I just always seem to attract people who want to flirt with me. It's a cruel world." They would move towards the back, looking at dresses for younger persons, picking out a pink one almost instantly. "I'm Quinn Ayers by the way." Moving towards the desk, they would place it there and ask the cashier to hold onto it for a moment, turning to the boy now. "Now, what colors does she like? Have you ever seen her wear a dress before, and if so what did it look like? Also what does she look like? It might help me find out which one she'd look best in." Just color of eyes and hair, though they didn't tell him that. Dress shopping was fun after all, so finding the perfect dress for someone they had never seen would be even more fun than finding one for their little brother.

Hikaru followed Quinn as they quickly picked out a small pink dress, likely for themselves. He silently reflected on Quinn's statement on the "cruel world" that surrounded them.

"Well, I wouldn't mind trading places with you. People aren't too drawn to me... I don't exactly stand out to some people, and I can never keep in step with what's popular, though I don't mind being out of step. It's what makes me unique."

After listening to the list of questions Quinn gave to pick out a suitable dress, Hikaru resolved the first issue by flipping open his notebook and showing Quinn the detailed portrait of Kumiko he'd drawn some time ago. Several important details could be noted in the drawing; her long, black hair; the presence of the colors red and purple in a majority of her wardrobe, and her pink-tipped nails.

"As for her previous dress, I remember she wore a purple dress with a few frills on the bottom not too long ago... Yeah, there were no straps on the shoulders, and the bottom of the dress came a little lower than the knee. Are there any other details you need? I could always try to remember more."

If they had just a few moments to analyse the situation and had no idea of the relationship with this boy and his sister, they would guess the two were dating. Of course, the situation was different, so that also meant the dress selections were very different. "Well take in example that dress I choose, it's for my little brother and it's totally his color and everything. You should learn what types of things people close to you like so you always know what to get them." They would begin to look through the entire selection of purple-ish black dresses the store had to offer, looking over each one carefully before looking back at the picture of his sister, repeating the process. Eventually they would come across a nice looking one, close to the description but also very different, but they would place it back on the rack after a few seconds. "Too bad we can't ask your sister to pick one out." They'd laugh, continuing on with what they were doing.

Hikaru scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed at Quinn's statement of always being aware of what the people close to you want. Hikaru felt that, like most people, Quinn was more familiar with what was popular and stylish. They were checking plenty of racks for dressed that were primarily purple with black accents. While Quinn did this, Hikaru began looking through a rack containing dresses that were about Kumiko's size. There were a variety of colorful outfits with different tones of fashion, and Hikaru examined each one in detail, a certain thought still floating in his mind.

"Did I hear... them right? They picked out a dress but said it was for their brother? That seems odd, unless... are they some gender fluid type of person? I've heard of those kinds of people. They were neither a man or a woman, but they could identify themselves as either, I guess. Is that why I can't tell how to identify them? Either that, or they were simply cross-dressers... Either way, I'd definitely upset Quinn if I go into detail about asking them. Just leave the thought aside."

Hikaru's hands suddenly stopped as he picked out something that he believed fit Kumiko best; a purple dress, although a bit shorter than her previous one, that flowed nicely, had a few frills on the bottom but not enough to suddenly poof at someone, and had some red accents along the straps down to the sides of the dress. Hikaru attempted to visualize Kumiko in such an outfit, and he felt that it was a perfect match for her. He found Quinn as they continued to search the racks, holding out the dress he picked out.

"I think this one is her style; she a pretty tomboyish kind of girl, and this dress seems to fit that; not too poofy or anything. I might as well get your opinion as well. Would you consider this stylish or what?"

Quinny was overlooking the outfit that the boy had picked out before quickly looking at the rack and pulling one off, showing it to him. "This fits your description, but is fairly different. Though, we're going to trust your decision and go with that one. It will feel more personal since you picked it out yourself." Plus the dress that they had choose was super expensive, and probably something that they could afford but maybe not the boy himself. Quinn would place the dress they choose back on the rack, looking around a little bit more before walking up to the front desk. They would take out their wallet, placing the appropriate amount of money on the table before turning to the boy again. "Anyhow, I'm sure she'll like it, that one also fits the type of idea you gave me."

Hikaru gleefully smiled as Quinn agreed with his selection. He brought it over to the counter as Quinn paid for their dress. Hikaru paid the necessary amount of cash and accepted the hangar and bag that came with it.

"Glad to see you think I made a good choice. I'm just hoping that she Kumiko likes it as well. Now, just to get this thing in the bag. I also need to just keep it hidden until her party... Nah, I imagine that'll be easy."
With one hand raising the hangar high into the air, Hikaru struggled to slip the bottom of the dress into the bag but managed to do so. As he succeeded in zipping up the bag, he instinctively peeked his head out of the door to the dress shop, seeing that the sidewalks were less populated than earlier.
"Find everything you needed, Quinn? If you're ready to head out, the roads look pretty clear. Oh! Before that happens, I should probably give you this."

Hikaru reached into his messenger bag with his free hand and pulled out one of the invitations his father gave him to invite a few of his friends. He had some friends in mind, and there were a few extra invitations left over. He handed the invitation card to Quinn, opening it to the details of the party, written in golden cursive handwriting.

"I wanted to thank you for helping me out today. I have a few extra invitations to give to some friends, but I figured that you'd probably like to go and meet my sister. But, if you want to or not, can you please keep quiet about the party? It's supposed to be a surprise party, and I find it a touch hard to keep secrets from Kumiko for long. Please consider it."

"Yep all set." Taking the invite, they would curtsy a bit towards Hikaru, grabbing the bag from the counter. They would place it on the ground next to them, pulling out a twenty dollar bill and handing it to the cashier. “This is for part of his.” If he tried to protest, they would just smile, picking up the bag, holding it over their shoulder. “Well this is just so you’ll give me credit when she asks how you picked it out; also so that I don’t have to buy her an actual present for her birthday.” They’d laugh a bit, pulling the bag from their shoulder, realizing that they couldn’t hold it there for too long. “I would buy her one but... I did help you pick that one out; that counts right?” They’d wait for him to finish paying, and exit alongside him, opening the parasol to hide from the sun. A black car with tinted windows would pull up to the curb; the car itself didn’t look fancy, but it did look expensive. “Oh right.” Placing the bag into the car along with their closed parasol, they would pull out a piece of paper from their wallet and a pencil. Writing their cell phone number down on it, they would hand it to the boy. “If I forget to come to the party on time, this is so you can remind me.” With that, they would say their goodbyes before entering the back seat of the car; the car would drive off and towards their home island.

[Exit]

Hikaru smiled delightfully as Quinn accepted the invitation and turned to give the cashier a $20 bill for the remaining cost of his dress. Hikaru wanted to object, but Quinn responded faster, saying that it was simply to contribute to getting Kumiko's present. Hikaru had intended to give Quinn credit for picking out the dress, and Kumiko would have been delighted that they at least helped.

Hikaru stepped out with Quinn, his eyes searching up and down the road, when a black car with dark, tinted windows rolled up to the two. Hikaru instinctively threw an arm in front of Quinn but was surprised to see them step around it and place their things in the opened door. He figured it was there to pick them up, so he lowered his arm. As Quinn emptied their hands of the dress and parasol, they turned to give Hikaru a piece of paper with what Hikaru presumed to be their number written on it. He waved goodbye as the car sped off down the road. Hikaru used his free hand to input their number into his cell phone and flipped it close as he hoisted the dress bag onto his shoulder with his fingers hooked around the hook, wandering down the road to the ferry.

"Well, he...she seemed like a nice person. At least they don't seem to have a hand in this darn secret conspiracy... Well, now to find a place to hide this..."

[END]