Karakura Town - Shops

Arrived from Kurosaki's house , I finally find the shop that Kurosaki told us about. A little and modest shop, with a white light attracting all kinds of insects. 

Waiting for the others, I look at a night butterfly, curious and surprised.

All Shinigamis are used to Hell Butterflies, that very useful little buddy, but butterflies of the Human World are very different. Less graceful, less pretty, bigger, but, in a way, they are way more interesting.

Sometimes, while drinking with Hisagi-senpai, I talk with the 10th Squad's Vice-captain. She's always describing me the Human World, with their shops and all these kinds of things.

I can't remember if she has ever talked about butterflies, most of the time, I was drunk.

...I'll ask her later, even if butterflies aren't her biggest passion in life.

I jog behind Hanata-chan until we arrive before the store.

A light illuminates Satori's face as she stares at the insects buzzing around the lamp above the shop.

Staring at the door, I choose to make the first call.

"Well then, should we enter and strip inside?"

Hiro's words make me jump. I was lost in my thoughts. I turn, looking at my dear Hiro, and smile.

"Oh, yeah, it would be a good idea."

I look at the door, and push it open.

As soon as Satori opens the door, the scent of incense flows into my nostrils.

"Cough! Cough, cough! Ack..." 
Gasping for air, I try to hastily gather my thoughts before doing anything reckless.

Damn them clerks these days! 
Fresh air, please, somewhere! I swear! What's with that idea of blowing smoke indoors?!

...Calm down. No one wants you to make a scene in the first shop we visit into Karakura.
Cough!...the missicough! Comes first.
Something to calm down...

Thankfully a peppy song pops into my head at this exact time, pushing the irritated mood miles away.

Blinking my eyes to come back to my senses, I take a look at the inside of the shop.
The walls are painted in bright orange, and numerous clothes are arranged with efficiency around. Piles of what seem to be sweaters and underwear are set on low tables, and multiple rows of shirts, Tshirts and trousers are placed against the walls. I spot coats in the back of the small room.
Next to the door, a young man glares at us with sunken eyes. In our bland greyish clothes we must be quite a sight.

I catch Satori's gaze, my eyes still red from the smoke. Damn smoke.
"Well, looks like there's everything we need here. We could shop together, it would be more fun, right?"

I enter without an hesitation, but move backwards because of the smoke. I wave my hand ahead of me to blow it away.

"Geez, Matsumoto-san didn't tell me about that..." I whisper.

I look at the entire shop, amazed. I've tried to picture human shops with all my imagination before going to the Human World, but what I'm seeing exceeds all of them. 
I turn towards Hiro, who is bearing  the smoke a lot less easily than me. 

"Yeah, for sure! I should have asked Kurosaki how the school uniforms look like. I think we have enough money to buy clothes for both the school and the daily life, so we could share the money to go on our own in the shop... But whatever, let's go together, dear, human couples always do shopping together!"

I straighten myself at my beloved's words. 
Fate be blessed. Such cuteness and willpower in the same woman. 

"Alright my Lady! Let's go!"

Both giggling like kids on their first sleepover, we stroll around the tables and the hangers.
I stop before a row of skirts. 
If I remember the group pictures Yumichikun and Ikkaku brought back from their stay... The colors for the uniforms were...Ah damn! Stop focusing on Matsumoto's titanic br...EY! IT WAS GREY!

"Hanata, for the school uniform, lower part is grey and upper part is a white shirt!"

Hm, when in Sendai, my size is... S. And waist and legs are...28x32. Alright I'll pick those, they have large pockets.
I quickly grab a couple of grey trousers and three white shirts.

"What could I wear outside the highschool? Hmph."

Crossing my arms on my chest I scan the shop.
On my left, I suddenly spot, almost in a line, a row of black jackets, another of black jeans and a pile of colorful Tshirts.
Jackpot!

I once again check the sizes, and stack two black jeans, one pair of blue jeans, the leather jacket with most zippers, and a dozen Tshirts from light blue to dark purple. It is not long before I add a black and a white belt to the pile. I quickly pick boxers and socks and head for the changing rooms.

"Yoshi. So, how are you handling your stuff Satorisuki-chan?"

I do my best to check every spot before me, but my beloved is nowhere to be seen.
Huh? We've been separated! 
...What happened to her!?

I stay in pace with Ru-Chan, trying to draw as little attention as possible as the other two rush to the store.

Geez… those brats… why insist on running everywhere? I mean usually I wouldn’t mind… but the humans can see us! Luckily, there aren’t a lot of people on the streets yet but those that were out and about gave us weird looks. Not that I could blame them… our plain grey “uniform” along with the other two rushing to the shopping district is pretty bizarre to say the least.

Ru and I follow the reiatsu of the others to the quaint little shop Kurosaki-kun told us about. We enter the store and the shopkeeper gives us a half-assed greeting. A strong aroma, a mixture of smoke and vanilla, reaches me... It’s a little overbearing at first but after a while it had a sort of a calming effect. Glancing around the shop I notice the married couple lost in their own world.

I guess I’ll leave the two alone for a while. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to allow them to have their little date.

I walk over towards a table and grab a shirt at random holding it out in front of me. I raise an eyebrow.

The girls these day sure do wear some outlandish attire.

“Hey Ru-chan, do you have any clue on these sorts of things? D-do the girls really wear things like this?”

The Kimono is SO short!

I listen to Hiro's instructions about the uniform, and nod. Yeah, I can remember now. I look for my size and pick up a shirt and a skirt.

"Geez, that's so short !" I mutter.

I follow my husband, looking at the clothes without being able to choose, when something catches my attention. I stop following Hiro, and walk towards a pile of clothes. That blue is so cute !

I crank my neck a bit harder and eventually spot Hanata-chan in a corner.
Thank the Soul King, looks like nothing wrong happened. She seems to enjoy her time. Let's leave her be.

I enter the cabin and impatiently take off the ugly stuff Uruhara gave us before trying on black jeans, a white Tshirt and the black leather jacket.

Wow! It all fits like a glove! 

I spring out of the changing room. This calls for a move to impress the other ladies.
Here they are, each on one side of the alley, trying to find stuff they'd like.
Being a gentleman in all circumstances, I decide not to scare them by first casually waving at them.
As they turn around to face me, I remember a movie from this world I've watched while on a mission ages ago:
in a second, I pose proudly as John Travolta in the movie Saturday Night Fever.
 
"Hey hey! Check this out damsels! Camo Hiro!"

I take a blue dress on a pile of clothes, and look at it with a smile. I really like that blue, it reminds me of the sky ! ...Or the sea, I don't exactly know. Well, that's not the same color but...
Oh whatever.
I look at the size of the dress. Geez, why all human's dress and skirts are so short ? I have to find something to wear under it.
I turn around to look for thights, and see my lovely husband taking the pose. I laugh hardly.

"H...Hiro dear, you're so stylish ! I didn't know you were dressing so well."

Still posing, I wink at Satori.
Then manly moving my athletic torso in an even brighter way, I reply proudly.

"Ha! Good thing your husband can still surprise you, right?"

I notice the blue dress she's carrying. Blue again? I laugh on the inside before adding with a smile:

"Oh you found something? I wanna see how you look in this, it seems lovely!"

I laugh.

"You wouldn't be funny if you didn't surprise me everytime, dear."

I look at my blue dress, and smile.

"Yeah, and you'll see me. But I have to find some other clothes to go with it first."

I turn around after a wink, and look for tights. I finally find them in a corner of the shop. I choose black ones, and take a long black coat with it. 
I enter the cabin, and go back to see Hiro and the others, all dressed.

"Aaand... That's me !"

Ru-chan guides me to a different area of the shop then tends to her own shopping. I look around and give a sigh of relief.

Good… The clothes in this section of the store are less revealing… but what to wear?

As I was about to begin my search Hiro catches my eye and I start to blush.

I’m SO embarrassed! How am I even supposed to react to that? Even in the human world that's gotta be strange! How?! How can he do a pose like that with such a straight face?!!

I turn around and shake my head slowly.

I'm just going to pretend I didn’t see that. . . 

I look around once more and noticed a mannequin.

W-what a cute jacket!

I run over to it and find a jacket that seems like it should fit me, and try it on over my plain grey shirt.

“Ru-chan! Ru-chan! What do you think?” My eyes sparkling as I ask for her opinion eagerly.

I look at everybody finding their clothes with a smile. I decide to let them do their own research and to pay for my dressing. I hope I have enough money. Ukitake has given us a lot of money for sure, but I really don't know anything about clothing prices in Human World.
I should go to the cabin and remove what I'm wearing, I don't think I could buy them if wearing them immediately.

I smile at Ru’s approval.

Alright now to find things to go with this. . .

I look around the shop and decide to look at the section that Ru was looking at before she went to the changing room. As I quickly shift through the tops, I find what they call a “halter top” (according to the tag) which has a drawing of a human skull, with purple flowers coming out of it that resemble that of my hair tie.

So adorable!

I grab one that looks to be my size then continued on my search, this time for some bottoms. A sign catches my eye that says “Jeggings, 2 for ¥5100!”.  My curiosity being piqued, I walk over to see what these “Jeggings” are.

Huh… they look similar to hakama except they don’t flair out and would cling tightly around one’s legs. They also look like they’re made of a stiffer material... much like what my jacket is like. Hmm... that won’t do... I won’t be able to move properly in this...

I pull at the material and my eyes widen with surprise. Eh?! Woah! They stretch! So cool! I stretch the material more. This... might work...

I grab a couple of pairs of white jeggings, as I couldn’t decide on what size would fit me best and go to the changing room to try on my first “modern” human outfit. I put on all of my clothing and look at the mirror.

Uwaa! This is SUPER adorable! I pose in the mirror a few times and made sure to check out how the clothing makes me look on all sides. Yep! It’s perfect!

I look down at my feet. Shoot... I forgot about getting shoes... do they sell them here? Ugh... and I still have to grab a school uniform...

I hastily switch back into the grey clothing, walk out of the changing room and see Ru looking for me.
“Ehh... Well I have found this outfit and some underwear... I still need to find a school uniform and some shoes if they have any... do you know where those are?”

I look back towards the changing rooms and notice the noble brat about to change out of her new clothes.

Huh. She looks pretty cute herself. Not bad for a brat~

I smile then turn around to face Ru-chan and wait for her answer.

After finishing paying for the clothes -it wasn't very expensive thankfully, but not cheap either-, I begin to walk around the shops, curious, looking at all these various clothes that human wear. I meet Ru and Mayu, trying clothes, and smile at them.

"How does it go for you ?"

“Hm… I think I spotted a shoe section way in the back when I was looking around. As for the school uniforms, follow me I know where they are.”

I lead Mayu to the part of the store where I found the uniform. I wait for Mayu to grab her size and try on the clothing. Once she is finished and we start to head to the possible shoe section in the back, we are greeted by Tsukihô-san.

“It goes well Tsukihô-san. I have the clothes I need. Mayu and I were heading to the back to see if there is indeed a shoe section to this store. Care to join us?

All this shopping is starting to get a bit tedious. At least we are almost done with it all we need to get are shoes and hopefully Yowaiseishin-san can contain himself enough to not embarrass us further.

"Yeah, I just have this last little thing to get and I'm done." I sigh. "Shopping sure is tedious, huh?" 

I spot a pair of stylish brown boots on the back wall. Uwaa~ Those are it! Just perfect! Ehh... But what size am I? 

I look down and very conveniently there lies a device used to measure shoe sizes on the ground. After measuring my feet, apparently I'm a size 23, and luckily find the boots in my size. (the last of its kind). 

"Yoshi! I'm all set now! Everyone else ready to go? Ru and I still have to check out... and where's your husband?"

At the rear alley of the hall I grunt while my eyes scan the sizes for boots.
Sighing heavily, I bow a bit more to check every pair available while scratching my butt.

Damn that Ukitake-sensei, his clothes itch every part of my body they can cover...

I suddenly fist-bump in triumph as I spot the right size. My feet stopped growing early so it's always hard for me to find proper shoes. 

Grabbing the pair of black boots I try them on as my back rests on the pillar behind me.
Hell yeah, this is gold! Now then, this has a nice boost for kickin' around but I need another pair for bolting and burning the asphalt.

Hmm... what could do..? 
Ha! There! Black with white lines on the sides, flat soles. The one thing I need.

Standing back on my feet I dart my eyes on both sides. None of the others are to be seen, so I decide to head straight for the cash register.
I soon see Mayu and Tachibana-san reaching the same point with their own pile of clothes.

"Ladies first."

I smile.

"Yeah, let me join you, I'm already finished anyway."

I follow Ru-san and Mayu-chan through the store, looking at what they were looking for with curiosity. Even if Ru-san seems to be a bit distant and serious, it seems she likes dressing well, and she has pretty good guts. It's funny to see how shopping can make you know people a bit more. When you understand this, it seems suddenly normal that shopping is such a popular thing in Human World.

Well.
It's also due to some kind of a greedy feeling, without any doubt. But I don't like to see things under a pessimistic point of view. It's kind of boring, and sad. 
Absolutely not cool.

Scanning the back wall of shoes I come across some knee high sneakers that come in an assortment of colors. I ponder which color to get.

Should I stick with my classic black and white colors? Hm… no I think a nice splash of color would be better.

I grab a nice red pair with sunset gold laces, check that they are the right size, and try them on to see how they fit.

Perfect.

Now that I am finally finished shopping I take my pile of items to the register to pay for them. Once I am finished I patiently wait for the others to be as well.

I walk up to the young man, who looks like he hates his job with a fiery passion, behind the check out counter. After murmuring a half-assed greeting, he quickly rings up my clothes without really paying much attention. As he tells me my total I think I might faint. 

S-so high?! That's robbery! Hmm... Well I'll see if I can negotiate with him. . . I clear my throat. 

"That price for this?" I shake my head slowly to show my disapproval. "I'll give you this much." I show him the cash. 

Cashier: "Ma'am the price is a set price... it's not negotiable..." The young man sighs seeming a little put off by the whole thing. 

Hmpt. Like I'd give up that easily. 

"You want me to pay that price for THIS?" I pick up the clothes and show the seams. "The quality on these clothing items are sadly lacking."

Cashier: "Ma'am..."

"If I was going to spend this much I could spend just a little more at the shop down the road that has high quality fabric and design." I bluff and locked eye contact with the young man.

I can feel my spiritual pressure wanting to escape as I begin getting fired up and continue my case. I always loved haggling and saving money. Growing up where I did, it became a habit to save money on everything to survive. Heck often times I didn't even have money to spend. 

I can tell the young man is starting to get nervous and tired of the conversation. 

Cashier: "Let me go talk to my manager..." He says with a sigh, and goes to talk with this manager of his. 

Yes! I almost have him! Just a little more and I think it'll work. After a short wait, the young man returned. 

Cashier: "...Okay. So here is what I can do for you. My manager said he can take 15% off all of the clothing EXCEPT the uniform."

Hmm... not bad, not bad. I smile. 

"Alright, you got yourself a deal." I pay for the clothes and walk away with a huge grin, proud of myself for saving money. I walk over to where Ru was stand and joined her as I waited for Hiro to finish paying.