Chương 87: Chapter 24 A Rare Day Off (Part 1)

"No, simple clothes are fine. Shorts and a T-shirt, maybe. Sandals would be fine too." The smartphone she showed me displayed pictures of all kinds of clothes—cute styles, clean and elegant styles, punk, and everything in between. My dear wife, I'm an old man. A husband. I may look like a girl right now, but inside, I'm still a man. I'll wear those things once in a while, but if possible, I'd like something with more of a unisex feel.

And the dog had wandered in on his own and was acting like none of this had anything to do with him.

"What are you talking about? If you've become cute, then you wear cute things. Besides, you're already doing the magical-girl thing in gothic lolita clothes, so let me choose some things for you too." Magical girl... A magical girl, huh... Literally speaking, I was a girl who used magic, so I supposed it wasn't wrong. Yeah. When I considered what the public would think, it really wasn't wrong at all. This was a world where burly-looking guys wore gothic lolita. Was this the apocalypse?

People had certainly said it before: Welcome to this crazy time. However, I had my own objections. I had said I was willing to dress up, but at least, couldn't it be something a little more... Nope. I couldn't think of anything other than gothic lolita, but that didn't mean I wanted to wear it as everyday clothing.

"Rina... I'm not wearing that because I want to. That's what they gave me as my streaming outfit, and the image just stuck."

"Then at the very least, when you go outside, you should wear clothes that don't ruin your image! Right, Mochida-san?"

"Yes, absolutely, Rina-san. Tsukasa is far too defenseless. And then there was the way she made such a cute little request to Tachibana-san... And what's with that trunk?" No matter what she said, I didn't know either. Chiyoda had simply given it to me before we parted ways. It felt reasonably heavy, but what was inside? Maybe supplementary documents concerning what we had discussed this time? Considering what had happened in Akihabara, there would probably be various things that needed to be coordinated.

If I could get information from both inside and outside the country, I might as well take it. The warning I had received before about being kidnapped was starting to feel disturbingly realistic.

"Chiyoda-san gave it to me when we parted. Might as well open it." I unlocked it and opened the trunk.... Clothes? There was a huge amount of clothing inside. Wait. Is Chiyoda psychic? I jokingly asked for clothes, and he immediately handed me a trunk full of them. Even Sebastian would be impressed.

"... Tsukasa. Did you say something to Chiyoda-san?"

"... On the way back, I joked around a little and called him Dad while asking for clothes."

"Oh! These are clothes bought by volunteers!" Mochida raised her voice as she looked through the clothes. Clothes from volunteers, huh? I took them out and spread them open. There were girly outfits, and then there were things that looked like they could only be used for cosplay—a cheongsam, a maid outfit, and so on. The selection criteria were probably nothing more than the buyers' own desires. Something along the lines of, "If we put this on a doll, it would look cute."

Since I barely had any clothes at all, I was perfectly willing to wear whatever I could actually wear. But I would have to decline the maid outfit and cheongsam. The sizes were probably all exactly right, though. The women, however, seemed to have very different opinions. Every time they pulled out another piece of clothing, they reacted with excitement or disappointment. At this rate, I really was going to become a dress-up doll. I hurriedly escaped by saying I was going to take a shower.

As warm water poured down over my head, I thought about what lay ahead. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! I probably had to accept the role of advisor after all. If I was going to be involved with the new laws from here on out, I needed to understand them. I also wanted to visit the acquaintances who had survived and were now hospitalized. As for the brief respite I had been given, I still didn't feel like attending the memorial service.

They were the main characters here. If I went, attention would inevitably shift toward me, to some degree or another. I couldn't do that. This was an occasion to remember and send off the people who had fought with their lives on the line. Still, as for the contents of the card Tachibana had given me, I would have the amount that had accumulated so far distributed among the bereaved families. Then there was a personal concern. I wanted to be able to go outside normally again.

I was willing to accept the price of fame, but constantly going back and forth between hotels and workplaces was beginning to wear me down mentally. It wasn't burnout, exactly, but now that the Akihabara incident was over, I felt as though some tension had suddenly left me. As I continued thinking under the shower, I apparently ended up staying in there for quite a while. Someone knocked and asked if I wanted to come out and eat. I dried myself off and then started thinking about what to wear.

I had my shark hoodie and jeans, and my underwear was fine too. However, there was an unfamiliar outfit in the basket where I kept my clothes. The clothes were probably from the volunteers. There was a long red T-shirt that reached down to my thighs, denim shorts that left my thighs glaringly exposed, and a black sukajan jacket with long sleeves and a body shorter than the sleeves. At a glance, it looked like I was wandering around wearing nothing but a T-shirt, but the real hurdle was actually the shorts.

An old man... Well, once a man becomes an adult, he spends most of his time in long pants. Even when wearing shorts, they're usually knee-length. At worst, swim trunks or boxers when sleeping. Remember this: men actually show less skin than women. Not that I want to see it even if they do.... Maybe I'll wear them for a change of pace. Even if I was going out into the city, something that differed from my usual image might actually make me harder to find.

And now that I'd tried it, I realized that long skirts were surprisingly hot. Besides, when you're young, you can resist women, but once you become an old man, it gets harder and harder to resist them. Sexual harassment is scary too. And I worry about body odor. As the things you have to protect increase, you learn more and more ways to endure things.

"I'm out~."

"That took you a while. Wait, you actually wore that?"

"Rina, you're the one who prepared this, aren't you? Well, it's just a change of pace. Does anything look strange?"

"No, it's fine. Ah, but be careful when you sit cross-legged. You might show your panties through the gap."

"I'm not planning on showing them on purpose, but would anyone really find my underwear interesting? I've got a pretty body, but there's not much to it." My chest was flat, and I had no butt either. My slender body might inspire a desire to protect me, but as for sexual desire... That would depend on the individual's tastes. People kept telling me I was unaware of how I looked, so there wasn't much point in arguing. After all, both my wife and Mochida were more experienced women than I was in that regard.

"So, Kaori, why are you covering your eyes?"

"Well, your thighs were dazzling, so I couldn't help myself... It's a matter of tradition."

"Anyway, is there anything you want to eat?"

"Ah... I like meat, so maybe yakiniku. Somewhere with a large grill. Any other suggestions?" I asked them, but neither of them seemed to have any particular suggestions, so we settled on yakiniku. We chose an all-you-can-eat restaurant since quantity mattered more than quality. Then I put on a hat and sunglasses, and had my hair tied into a ponytail to complete my disguise. After that, Mochida would guide me to the restaurant.

I told the dog to wait, and he immediately lay down where he was, so I figured he'd be fine. Ah, right.

"Kaori, I talked with Chiyoda-san today, and for the next few days, we'll have free time. You've been assigned as my liaison and guide. I don't know the area very well, so I'll be counting on you."

"Oh, really? Understood. The higher-ups are busy right now with meetings and sharing information with other countries, so I'll definitely be free for at least the next two or three days. Akihabara ended up like that, though... If you need anything, just tell me. Rina-san too. Don't hesitate to ask for whatever you need."

"Thank you, Mochida-san. Let's see... clothes, definitely clothes. We need lots of clothes to dress Tsukasa up. This person wears the same clothes all the time, and whenever he finds something he likes, he buys several of the same thing and rotates them."

"That's such a waste! I don't know what she was like before, but she's a beautiful girl now!" The two of them looked down at me with smiles on their faces. Apparently, in their minds, turning me into a dress-up doll was already a done deal. At 140 centimeters tall, I was shorter than the average adult woman, and even with boots on, I had to look up at both of them. My weight was only 22 kilograms, too, so if I tried to escape, they might simply carry me over their shoulders like a rice bale.

But I had things I needed to do as well. Until I took care of those, I had no intention of giving in.

"First, I want to take care of my business. One thing is visiting Miyafuji-san and the others who were injured in this incident. I also want documents on the new laws and the Akihabara incident."

"We'll check on the visits later. The laws are fine, but the Akihabara documents haven't been compiled yet, so we can't get them to you immediately."

"Oh, honestly. At home, you don't talk much about work, but at work, all you do is talk about work, right? Why don't you relax a little more? A lot happened, but it's over and you can go home." What should I do? The conversation had somehow shifted toward going home, but I hadn't told her about the advisor position yet. I could probably do it online, like teleworking, but somehow... That wasn't it.

Ever since watching Ses's stream, I had watched various videos, but unless I met the person directly and talked with them, I couldn't seem to get that feeling. What should I call it? An instinct? Perhaps it was the sixth sense that had been tampered with. I had seen something resembling a ghost at the hospital, but I probably hadn't seen anything like that since. Still, there was probably some kind of sense that had developed within me.

"For now, let's eat." I had thought the Akihabara incident might cause people to stop doing the job, but as I walked through the city, all sorts of colorful people were still coming and going. Apparently, sweepers were still doing their work. If nobody had continued doing it, I would have needed to think of some kind of solution. Now then. The yakiniku restaurant they brought me to offered two hours of all-you-can-eat meat at a reasonable price. And because it was the women's price, it was even cheaper!

That's right. All-you-can-eat meat! The sign even said gold coins were accepted as payment. The price was one gold coin. Whether you thought that was a remarkably quick adaptation or an expensive price depended on the person. In any case, gold coins came out whenever you entered the Gate, so I was worried about their value collapsing, but I hadn't been paying attention to the exchange rate. I would be paying with a gold coin. It had been a long time since I'd had yakiniku.

I'd always been a big eater, and I didn't order rice, but as long as I had meat and sangchu, I could keep eating for two hours. I'd slow down eventually, but I could keep going. And now, I had no such thing as feeling full! Since it was a private room, I figured I could take off my sunglasses and hat.

"Anyway, shall we order something to drink? I'll have a highball. What about you two, Rina and Kaori?"

"I'll have beer. What about you, Mochida-san?"

"Let's see... I'm technically off duty, but I'll have an iced rooibos tea." The drinks arrived. We raised our glasses. Cheers! Now, let's eat! Tonight, my stomach was hungry.