NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: Operation Neko Part II
“Which clothing store are we going to?” I ask
“Well, we can go to a couple of them but I know this one store around the corner which has a very wide range of fashion.” Élise says while leading us on “So you can find clothes that suit your taste more easily.”
“Hmm, that sounds good.”
“And we can dress you up in all of the clothes we like too.” Nikki squeezes my hand.
“Also that.” Élise smirks.
“Please no.”
“Don’t act like you won’t enjoy it, because we know you will.” Élise winks at me which makes me pout. “Anyways, we’re here.”
A store clerk who’s standing at the entrance welcomes us inside “Please let me know if you need help with anything ladies!” She says with a huge smile on her face.
“Thank you, we will!” Nikki waves at her.
“No flirting with the clerk Nikki.” Élise reprimands
“Awh…”
“Amicia, want to go explore on your own or do you want us to help?” My sis turns her attention to me.
“I-I don’t know the store yet s-so…”
“Okay, roger that, clothing stores can be pretty overwhelming.”
“Y-ye...”
“So, skirts first?” She looks over to Nikki.
“Yeah, they’ll look good on her! Anything will, but still.” Nikki smiles in my direction.
Élise and Nikki drag me off to the heart of the store as they begin their work. In my entire life I swear I’ve never had to try on as much clothes as I did today. From your classic anime girl outfit with thigh highs, pleated skirts and nice blouses. To your more casual jeans and blouse combo and some amazingly pretty dresses, this one white dress with little birdies on it and a thin leather belt was definitely my favourite. Birdies for the cat hehe. They also tried getting me into more ‘cool’ clothes with faux leather jackets and while I felt like most of them didn’t really fit my personality that well we did get a light brown one because it paired really well with some of the lighter blue jeans we bought and a black one because according to Nikki black is timeless. Typical vampires.
“I think this is enough for today, we can always come back later if you need more clothes.” Nikki takes the clothes and motions towards the register. “Otherwise we don’t have any place in the car left.”
“Hehe, sorry.”
“Don’t worry Amicia, did you have fun?”
“I did!”
“That’s good to hear, which outfit do you want to wear now?”
“Skirt and thigh highs.”
“You aren’t trying to hide your weebieness at all are you?”
“Nope.”
Nikki laughs and pats my head.
We pay for all the clothes and I change into my new clothes, a light pink blouse with a pale blue skirt and white thigh-highs. It feels incredibly liberating.
“So, back to the shoe store or do you want to go eat something first?” Nikki asks my sister.
“Uh, either is fine for me, really.” Élise says, looking a final time at the store. “Hey, we forgot to buy you a choker.”
Nikki laughs. “We can do that next time. What about you Amicia?”
“Same for me really.” But the moment I say that my stomach makes the loudest growl I’ve heard, ever.
“Well, sounds like Amicia's stomach decided.” Élise laughs out.
I didn’t get time to properly react before I hear something from behind me.
“Wow, so cute!” A girl’s voice exclaims which makes us turn our head around.
A girl is standing there in a college sports jacket and some jeans, she’s a bit taller than me and has somewhat darker, long blonde hair, partly tied into a side ponytail. What jumps out to me after a closer look, are her beautiful red eyes.
Having noticed we turned around she promptly covers her mouth. “Oh, sorry! I...uhm… didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Élise smiles at the girl.
“U-uhm, this happens to me sometimes, I j-just thought y’all looked really cute with the cat ears and all…I-I really should go now. Sorry again! Bye!” The girls face grows redder by the second before she turns around and runs away.
“What a peculiar girl.” Nikki laughs and slowly turns around again.
“I think she was most interested in Amicia though.” Élise turns around again after waving at the girl.
“W-what makes you say that?” I blush.
“I mean, you can’t blame her, she is incredibly cute.” Nikki squeezes my hand to signal to start walking again.
“That’s true, but Amicia, wasn’t that jacket from your university sports team?”
I shrug, still a bit flustered by the encounter and my banes their comments. “I-I don’t know, I don’t go to watch their games, nor do I know anyone in a team.”
“You never were that sporty, that’s true.”
“I always had to play with the guys…and the locker room...”
“Oh...Ye, I can see what that sucked for you. Sorry sis.”
“It’s fine, it’s all over now. And I bet I’m a lot faster and flexible now.”
“You are part-cat, that’s basically cheating.”
I stick out my tongue at Élise, and my sister does the same at me.
“Children, please.” Nikki says with a laugh.
The food court offers many different kinds of food, and it’s up to me now to choose.
“What about pizza?” I say hesitantly.
“Sounds good to me!” My sis says, confidently walking over to the pizzeria. “Giorgio’s pizzas are the best!”
“Looks like the hunger awakened in her as well.” Nikki quickly follows suit.
“Already know what you are going to eat, Élise?”
“Yep, Pizza Prosciutto.” She sits down at a table near one of the fountains. “What about you?”
“I’m debating between Frutti di mare or a pizza Napoli.”
“Tough choice.” Nikki gets seated as well.
I nod. “What about you Nikki?”
“Quattro formaggi.” She licks her lips.
“Nikki loves cheese.” Élise notions the waiter.
“Oh I see. Hmmm… I think I’ll take the Napoli, I have a craving for anchovy now.”
“You always have a craving for anchovy.”
“This is true.” I stick my tongue out again, just before the waiter arrives.
After eating our Giorgio’s amazing pizzas we again set out towards the shoe store we visited earlier today.
“Oh, I see someone got a makeover!” the store clerk excitingly exclaims. “It looks very good on you, miss!”
“T-thanks.” I reply shyly before we move on towards the women’s shoe section.
“Want to try on some heels Amicia?” Élise asks, poking my side.
“Haha, don’t do that, it tickles!” I yelp.
“Oh my goddess you two, are you going to tone down your cuteness before I get a nosebleed.” Nikki says while taking out her handkerchief out of precaution.
“Ok, ok. We’ll try.” Élise pouts. “So what about heels?”
“That’s fine for me, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to walk on them though.”
“It can be a lot of practice, that’s true, but you can’t know before you try it!” My sisters says while guiding me towards a couple of cute pairs of heels.
“Here, these go well with a couple of your dresses.” Nikki hands over a pair of red heels.
I take them and hesitantly wiggle on my feet. “So I just slip them on?”
“Pretty much. Here, I’ll help you.” She sits me down on a nearby stool and slips them on my feet. “How does that feel?”
My heart pounds in my throat. “T-they actually feel pretty nice...I’m actually getting somewhat excited…”
“Oh?”
“It’s like...something I always wanted to do, but I always thought I would be a freak by doing so… you know?” My voice stutters a bit from all the emotions raging inside of me.
My sister kneels down next to me and hugs me. “The world is so fucked up, forcing people to wear certain kinds of clothes, demeaning anyone who walks out of line. It’s just stupid. It only ends up hurting people. Who the fuck cares what other people are wearing?!”
“That’s the truth girl!” We hear the clerk yelling from behind her register which makes us chuckle.
“Hell yeah!” Nikki yells back.
Still sniggering Élise turns back to me. “Anyway, try taking a couple of steps if you are ready.”
“Okay, I’ll try.” I slowly lift myself to my feet with Élise supporting my right arm.
Surprisingly enough walking like this poses practically no effort.
“Wow, you are doing really well!” Nikki looks on in amazement. I step up the pace a little more.
“It feels incredibly comfortable.” My hearts skips a beat. I’m so happy now. I make a celebrative twirl with Élise cheering me on.
“Huh, cats walk on their toes don’t they?” Nikki crosses her arms pensively.
“Oh, do you think that’s why it’s so easy for me?”
“I think so, I’m not 100% sure but I can’t think of anything else.”
“It would make sense at least.” Élise beckons me over. “Let’s get you a couple more pairs, maybe we can even get you some stilettos!”
Just like the first pair, all the other heels and stilettos I try on are just as easy to walk with.
“A couple pair of flats and I think we are done for today.” Nikki says while putting the last pair of heels back in their box, ready for purchase.
“Ok!”
Strangely enough after wearing the heels, flats definitely feel a lot weirder to wear but not uncomfortable in any sense.
“I hope you had fun shopping at our store!” The store clerk says while adding up our total.
“Definitely! It was a very nice experience.” I say to her with a big smile.
She smiles back at me and hands over a bag with our purchases “Have a nice day!”
“You too!” we all say in unison.
“Huh, she gave us an employee’s discount.” Élise is reading the bill while we’re walking back towards the car.
“That’s nice of her.” I say, barely being able to carry my designated shopping bags.
“She definitely was very friendly.” Nikki says. “This world needs more people like her.”
“It does.” Élise pops the bill back in on of the bags. “Let’s take the elevator or Amicia will fall over.” She laughs, taking one more bag of me.
“It’s not that they weigh much, it’s just a lot of volume, and I’m so small now it’s hard to carry.”
“Ain’t got nobody to blame for that but yourself, kitten.”
“I know, I know.”
The car trip back was uneventful, the speedbumps definitely weren’t as ‘noticeable’ as the last time we went over them.
“Pocky, Pocky, I wanna cuddle Pocky!” I sing softly to myself in the elevator to our apartment.
“You’ll be reunited soon.” Élise scratches behind my ear.
I have to force myself not to purr when the elevator doors open.
“Huh, that’s strange.” Nikki says, walking out of the elevator ahead of us. “You didn’t order anything right, Amicia?” She kneels down in front of the door.
“I didn’t, why?” I say while me and my sister walk up to her.
“There’s a black velvet box here, ‘for Amicia, from G.’”
“You sure you didn’t order some super spicy underwear?” Élise softly bumps my shoulder.
“Ah, shush you.” I stick out my tongue yet again. “Can I see the box Nikki?”
She picks it up and shows it to me.
“Hmm?” I inspect it closer and that’s indeed what it says. “G… G… I don’t know anyone whose name starts with G…? Wait…….“
Could it really be?