Homu International United Mega Mall.
These large neon characters hung on the exterior wall of a thirty-story building, clearly visible even from across a wide street.
In front of the mall was a massive plaza. A fountain refracted shattered spots of light in the sun, and a giant sculpture attracted countless tourists taking photos. Several children ran around the pool while young parents sat on nearby benches watching.
There were also various vendors in the plaza peddling their wares to the passing crowds.
Shu stood at the edge of the plaza, pulled by Kiana to look up at those neon characters.
He suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Shu~"
Kiana's voice drifted over from beside him, her tone sounding a bit strange.
Sweating profusely, Shu kept a straight face and looked down at her.
Kiana was also tilting her head up, staring at the sign. She looked at Shu, then at the sign, and then back at Shu.
In those pure blue eyes, emotions were shifting at a visible rate... from surprise, to confusion, to sudden realization, and finally to something that sent a chill down his spine.
"This mall," Kiana said, enunciating each word carefully, "is less than a ten-minute walk from your house?"
Shu was silent for a second.
"...If we walk fast, about five minutes."
"Oh~"
Kiana let out a long, meaningful sound.
Then she turned her head and stared at him, like the smartest woman in the world staring at the guy who stole her cake.
"Shu."
"Yeah."
"You know about this mall, right?"
"I know."
"You know there's food here, games, and all kinds of good stuff, right?"
"...I have a general idea."
"A general idea."
Kiana repeated Shu's words.
Then she took a deep breath, put her hands on her hips, furrowed her brows, and shot him a glare as sharp as a knife.
"So for these three days—a full three days—you'd rather have me stay at home, watching me play that broken game that kept killing me and laughing at me, than bring me here to have fun?"
Shu: "..."
He guiltily averted his gaze.
"It's only a ten-minute walk!" Kiana's voice rose a pitch. "Ten minutes! If I ran, I'd be here in two! And you actually—you actually—"
"Weren't you having fun playing Honkai Impact 3rd?" Shu defended himself weakly.
"You clearly had more fun watching me cry! Ahhh, you definitely did it on purpose!"
Kiana puffed out her cheeks, the resentment in her eyes practically taking physical form.
"Do you know how long it's been since I went to a mall? Do you know how long it's been since I've seen this... this normal world? Do you know how excited I was when I saw that snack street?!"
Shu fell silent.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
What kind of personality did Kiana have?
In her own words... it was a personality that would "grow mushrooms if left idle."
And he had locked a person like that in a house for three days.
Even though there were games, food, and drinks, she was still "locked up."
Yeah, he did it on purpose.
Because he didn't want to go out.
This realization brought Shu's guilt to its peak.
"Um..." He opened his mouth, wanting to make excuses.
Kiana looked at him, waiting for his excuses.
Shu opened his mouth and found he couldn't make a single excuse.
Because I have social anxiety and think going out is too troublesome, and I just went out three days ago, so I'd rather die of boredom at home than accompany you out?
Great answer. That'll really spin my image in Kiana's heart.
"I'm sorry." This was his answer.
Kiana paused.
"Pfft."
Looking at Shu's somewhat pale face, and seeing the guilt and unease hidden in those dark brown eyes, she burst out laughing without mercy.
Shu sneaked a glance at her.
Kiana's smile had completely changed from just a moment ago.
Where was the resentment on her face now?
There seemed to be nothing but sunshine on her face.
Hm? Why am I reading a doting 'I knew you were this kind of person' vibe from it?
Shu felt like he was at the end of his life.
"Forget it." Kiana tilted her head up and waved her hand, pretending to be magnanimous. "I didn't really blame you anyway."
"Oh."
"I know you don't like... eh, eh, eh? Why did you just say 'oh'?! Weren't you supposed to ask me 'really?' first?"
"...Really?"
"Ugh—" Kiana huffed in annoyance, then let out a sharp sigh and simply gave up explaining.
Shu was silent for two seconds.
"So what did you want to say?" he asked.
"Nothing!"
Kiana righteously withdrew her hand, then took a deep breath and looked back at the massive mall.
The sunlight shone on her face, reflecting brightly in her pure blue eyes.
Then she reached out and pointed at the sky.
"Alright!" Her voice was full of energy, brimming with the desire to become the Idea King. "Since we're out today, I'm going to—"
She paused.
Shu looked at her.
"—buy a hundred new outfits!"
Shu: "?"
A hundred?
He suspected he misheard.
"A hundred?" he repeated.
"A hundred!" Kiana nodded vigorously, her ahoge bobbing happily along. "One! Hun! Dred!"
"Can you... even wear that many?"
"If I can't finish wearing them, I can hang them up to look at!"
"Then..."
"Didn't you also hang up a whole wardrobe full of figures?" Kiana shot back righteously. She even tugged at her collar right in front of Shu. "And you bought this outfit just to hang up, didn't you?"
Shu was left speechless.
She guessed right. He really did buy this outfit just to hang up and complete his collection's synergy.
Kiana was already counting on her fingers.
"Look, for a girl, at least twenty skirts, right? In different colors!"
"And twenty tops and jackets, otherwise it'd be too cold wearing skirts in the winter, right?"
"And dozens of pairs of pants, right? Plus pajamas, sportswear, swimsuits... and that kind, you know that kind!"
She suddenly lowered her voice and leaned in close to him.
"Underwear~"
Shu: "..."
He didn't show any reaction of embarrassment, instead staring straight at Kiana.
"I don't get it," he said.
"You get it."
"I totally don't get it." Shu stuck to his guns. "I suspect you've never even owned a hundred outfits."
"Ahem, ahem." Kiana coughed awkwardly twice and averted her gaze. "Well... well, it's rare for me to get a chance to buy clothes..."
Shu was silent for a full three seconds.
"Then I might really not be able to afford you."
Kiana fell silent, Kiana was shocked, Kiana had a sudden realization.
Oh right! Right now, Shu isn't the billionaire leader of the Fire-Moth, and I'm not the 'Finality' of the first Pioneer Squad.
She didn't know how much money Shu had right now, but she was definitely dead broke.
Their food, clothing, and expenses all relied entirely on Shu's savings from who knows where.
She paused, then somewhat embarrassedly asked Shu what her budget was.
Shu thought for a moment and gave a relatively conservative number.
"That much?!" Kiana exclaimed. "It's enough, it's enough, it's more than enough!"
She was just bragging when she said she wanted to buy a hundred outfits. In reality, Kiana wasn't very good at shopping for clothes herself. Mei usually helped her pick them out. If she really went shopping herself, she'd buy two or three outfits at most.
So what is the main point of coming here today?
Kiana smiled.
"It's to enjoy it!"