TL/n: Due to College, I will only submit 2 chapters per day instead of 5.
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Throughout the trip, no one noticed that Pochita was a devil, nor even that he was a living creature.
Unless someone paid special attention, they would assume it was just a stuffed toy a little girl carried around.
Thus, Chiya smoothly entered the shopping mall with Denji and Pochita.
He had no knowledge of 1990s fashion brands, so he simply picked a large, well-decorated clothing store.
"Denji, just pick whatever you like."
Chiya didn't have much sense when it came to fashion, so he let Denji choose for herself. At most, he would help check if the fit was right.
"Let me see..."
The store was filled with various styles of clothing, leaving Denji dazzled.
Her eyes instinctively fell on pants—long and short—because that was what she was used to wearing.
But then, she suddenly thought of Chiya.
She immediately changed her mind, shifting her gaze toward the pretty, cute dresses, thinking that wearing them might make her look more feminine.
"Little girl, have you decided on what clothes you want? If you have, you can try them on in the fitting room over there."
At that moment, a beautiful young saleswoman approached Denji with a smile.
Seeing the older sister in front of her, Denji noticed how pretty she was, how nice her figure was, and how feminine she seemed. She immediately stood on her tiptoes and whispered into the saleswoman's ear, "Nee-chan, can you tell me how to dress in a more feminine way?"
"Eh...?"
The saleswoman hadn't expected such a question from a little girl and was momentarily stunned.
After collecting herself, she thoughtfully offered a suggestion. "Feminine, huh... I think you could try on that dress and pair it with black stockings. That should do the trick." (tl/n: ....)
"Okay, I'll give it a try."
Denji nodded.
She had never worn anything like that before, but she had heard of black... something stockings. She also heard that men liked them, so chiya probably would too, right?
Since Denji and the saleswoman were whispering and even covered their mouths with their hands, Chiya didn't hear their conversation.
His Mangekyō Sharingan couldn't enhance his hearing, and without reading their lips, his vision was useless in this case.
But he didn't plan to pry. He guessed it was a girl's secret topic, something inappropriate for him to overhear.
Denji temporarily placed Pochita on a nearby sofa chair, then carried the black dress and black stockings into the fitting room.
Pochita lay motionless on the chair, belly-up, looking perfectly like an ordinary plush toy.
Just to be safe, Chiya picked Pochita up and held him like a stuffed animal.
Since Denji had never worn a dress or stockings before, she struggled quite a bit. She even had to call the saleswoman inside to help her adjust the outfit.
Now, as Denji looked at herself in the mirror, she did seem more feminine, but because she wasn't used to wearing dresses or stockings, she felt strange.
"Does this really look okay...?"
She hesitated, unsure if she suited this style, and also a bit anxious about what Chiya would think.
"Trust me, you look adorable," the saleswoman encouraged her.
"Mm!"
Denji took a deep breath, adjusted her outfit, and then stepped out.
Chiya had been lost in thought when he suddenly saw Denji appear in front of him in her new attire.
"Chiya-nii..."
Denji's posture looked somewhat shy. Her face showed embarrassment, her eyes darted around nervously, and she hesitated to meet Chiya's gaze.
Her hands unconsciously clutched the edges of her dress—a common nervous habit.
Meanwhile, the saleswoman peeked out from behind a wall, secretly cheering Denji on.
She wasn't sure what the relationship between the two was. A middle school girl and a high school boy? School romance was pretty common.
In Japan, early relationships were widely accepted. There wasn't even a term for "premature love" in Japanese—only "first love." Many boys and girls had already experienced their first love in elementary school.
Apart from age restrictions on marriage and a ban on certain inappropriate behaviors, there weren't many limitations.
However, Chiya held relatively conservative views. After all, he wasn't originally Japanese, and his values had long been shaped before transmigrating.
"How do I look...?"
Denji asked nervously.
Her heart was a mix of anticipation and fear—hoping Chiya would compliment her, yet afraid he might say she looked weird or bad.
She was so anxious that she could hear her own heartbeat.
Chiya examined her for a moment and gave an honest assessment. "I didn't expect you to have such a good sense of fashion. This outfit suits you really well."
Denji's new look made him do a double take—she was unexpectedly cute.
That surprised him. Did Denji really pick this herself? Or did the saleswoman suggest it?
Hearing this, the nervousness and embarrassment on Denji's face immediately transformed into joy. Her tense heart finally relaxed.
"Then I'll buy this one!"
But she quickly hesitated. "Wait... if it's too expensive, maybe not..."
She had lived in poverty for so long that she was scared of spending money, and she didn't want Chiya to spend too much on her either.
"It's fine. A single outfit won't cost that much. You don't need to worry about money at all."
Chiya casually said, "I actually wanted to buy you two more outfits. Pick whatever you like."
Being a Devil Hunter was a high-risk, high-reward job, and the money flowed in fast.
In just two or three days since transmigrating, he had already earned over a million yen. Buying a few outfits was nothing. It wasn't like he was getting luxury brands.
"Alright then."
Denji finally let herself relax.
She then asked the saleswoman for more recommendations and picked out two additional outfits, including a white skirt and white stockings.
She was very satisfied with these new clothes, because Chiya thought she looked cute in them.
After paying, Chiya had Denji wear her new dress right away, rather than changing back. Her old clothes were packed into a bag to take home.
"Alright, let's check out some other stores next—maybe get some snacks, toys, and games."
Chiya wasn't planning on heading back just yet. They still needed to stock up on daily essentials for Denji and Pochita.
Otherwise, when he was out on jobs, Denji and Pochita would probably get bored at home.
Pochita might pretend to be a clueless pet, but he was actually quite smart. He might even end up playing co-op games with Denji.