Chapter 21: Denji Wants to Be More Feminine
All the way there, not a single person noticed that Pochita was a devil; in fact, no one even realized Pochita was a living creature. As long as someone wasn't paying close attention, they simply assumed it was a plushie the little girl was carrying with her.
Thus, Otonashi Chiya successfully led Denji and Pochita into the shopping mall. Having zero knowledge of 1990s Japanese fashion brands, he simply picked a clothing store that looked relatively large and well-decorated.
"Denji, just pick whatever you like."
Chiya felt he had little to no eye for fashion, so he let Denji choose for herself, figuring he would at most help check if the fit was right.
"Let me see..."
The store was filled with clothes of every style, leaving Denji dazzled. Her gaze instinctively drifted toward the long pants and shorts, as those were what she was used to wearing.
But then, Chiya-gege flashed through her mind. She immediately changed her mind and shifted her gaze toward the beautiful, cute dresses. This should make me look more feminine, she thought.
"Has the little miss decided which clothes she likes? If you've made your choice, you can head over there to try them on and see how they look," a pleasant-looking young female shop assistant walked over and said to Denji.
Denji looked at the older girl in front of her—she was pretty, had a great figure, and felt very feminine. Denji immediately stood on her tiptoes and whispered into the assistant's ear: "Big sister, can you tell me how to dress so I look more feminine?"
"Eh...?"
The shop assistant was momentarily stunned. she hadn't expected such a question from a young girl. After snapping out of it, she gave a serious suggestion: "Feminine, huh... I think you could try that one-piece dress, little miss, and then pair it with some black stockings."
"Okay, I'll try that." Denji nodded.
Although she had never worn them before, she had heard of those "black things" and heard that men generally liked them. Chiya-gege was probably the same, right?
Because Denji and the assistant were whispering and covering their mouths, Chiya didn't hear what they were saying. His Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't enhance his hearing, and since he couldn't see their lips, his vision was of no use. However, he didn't plan to pry; he figured it was a "girls' secret" topic that wasn't appropriate to ask about.
Denji temporarily placed Pochita on a nearby sofa chair, then clutched the black dress and black stockings as she headed into the fitting room. Pochita lay on the chair with his four legs in the air, staying perfectly still—there wasn't a single flaw in his disguise.
To be safe, Chiya picked Pochita up anyway, holding him like a stuffed doll.
Having never worn a dress or stockings before, Denji struggled for quite a while to get them on, eventually calling the shop assistant inside to help her adjust everything. Looking at herself in the mirror, Denji felt that while she did look more feminine, the sensation of wearing a dress and stockings felt incredibly strange.
"Is this really okay...?" she wondered. She was skeptical about whether she actually suited this look and was anxious about what Chiya-gege's evaluation would be.
"Trust me, it's fine. You look very cute, little miss," the shop assistant encouraged.
"Mhm!"
Denji gathered her courage, straightened out her dress once more, and stepped out.
Otonashi Chiya had been lost in thought when Denji suddenly appeared before him in her new outfit.
"Chiya nii-chan..."
Denji looked incredibly bashful. Her face was flushed with shyness, and her gaze flickered around, too embarrassed to meet Chiya's eyes directly. Her hands nervously gripped the hem of her dress—a classic subconscious sign of anxiety.
Meanwhile, the female shop assistant peeked out from behind a wall with only half her head showing, silently cheering Denji on. She wasn't sure what the relationship was between the young girl and the boy; they looked like a middle schooler and a high schooler. Student romance was quite common, after all.
In Japan, "young love" is the norm. There isn't even a specific word for "underage dating" like there is in some other cultures; there's only the concept of "first love," and many boys and girls experience it as early as elementary school. Aside from legal age limits for marriage and restrictions on certain intimate acts, there are very few social barriers.
However, Chiya's mindset remained relatively conservative. After all, he wasn't originally Japanese before transmigrating, and his core values were already well-established.
"How... how does it feel?" Denji asked, overcome with self-consciousness.
Her heart was a mix of anticipation and fear—longing for Chiya nii-chan to praise her, yet terrified he might say she looked strange or ugly. She was so nervous she could hear her own heartbeat.
Chiya took a moment to observe her before offering a sincere compliment. "I didn't expect you to have such a good eye for style, Denji. Doesn't this suit you perfectly?"
Denji's outfit made his eyes light up; she looked significantly cuter. He was surprised she had chosen such a look—perhaps it was the shop assistant's suggestion?
Upon hearing this, the tension and shyness on Denji's face instantly transformed into pure joy. The weight on her heart vanished.
"Then let's buy this one!"
But Denji immediately hesitated again. "Wait, if this is too expensive... let's forget it..." She had been poor for so long that she was afraid of costs, and she didn't want Chiya to spend too much money on her.
"It's fine. A set of clothes can't be that expensive. You don't have to worry about money at all," Chiya said firmly. "I want to buy you a few more sets anyway. Just pick whatever you like."
Being a devil hunter was a high-risk, high-reward profession; the money came in fast. He had only been in this world for two or three days and already had over a million yen. Buying a few outfits—so long as they weren't luxury designer brands—was a piece of cake.
"Alright then." Denji finally began to relax.
She then asked the shop assistant for more advice and picked out two more outfits in different styles, such as a white miniskirt with white stockings. She was delighted with these new clothes because Chiya nii-chan thought she looked cute in them.
After paying, Chiya told Denji to keep the new dress on. There was no need to change back into his old clothes, which they simply bagged up to take home.
"Let's go. We'll check out some other shops next—maybe get some snacks, toys, and games."
Chiya didn't plan on heading home just yet. The house was lacking in entertainment, and he needed to stock up on daily essentials for Denji and Pochita. Otherwise, when he was out on missions, they would likely be bored to death.
Pochita only played dumb on the surface; in reality, he was very smart. Chiya figured the little guy might even be able to team up with Denji for some co-op gaming.