A Path To Freedom [Oumasai]

Fit for a Prince

     "Ta-daa!" She smirks and waves her hands around. "We're here."

I tilt my head at her, still pretty confused about what's happening. "Um, where exactly is here?" I ask her trying not to come off as offensive.

She gasps, and I begin to open my mouth to apologize but she interrupts me. "This is my family's styling house."

"Oh, of course we have one at home too, but since we come to The Town so often we decided that we might as well have one here! Y'know, incase one of us happens to spill a drink on our clothes, or something else happens."

I nod at her, somewhat astounded.

So, she seems rich.

Very, Rich.

It's not like we don't have a separate house just dedicated to styling what we'll wear back at home, but I've never actually met another person with one of them as well.

"I may not know a lot about men's fashion, but I can try and help you!" She offers.

My expression started to become embarrassed, noticing what she had just implied. Am I not wearing something fancy enough for this occasion?

Of course, what I normally wear seems fancy to the average person but I guess it doesn't seem so fancy to someone like Kaede.

Maybe I should've dressed better..

No, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I got dressed this morning anyway. I didn't know, so there's no use regretting it now.

"Follow me." Kaede commands, twirling around and leading the way to what I assumed to be the men's wardrobe.

"Ah, now of course most of these are my fathers size, but I suppose we do have a few smaller suits." She took out a golden key with a pink piano notes carved into it from her pocket and slipped it into the hole in the door knob.

After unlocking the door, she briskly put it back into her dresses' pocket and opened the door.

I stand in amazement as she walks into the room, filled with all kinds of clothes ranging from fancy tuxedos to plain white shirts. There were smaller accessories placed on racks off to the side as well.

Ties, monocles, and hair gel are all placed upon different racks. The tie one in specific is larger than the rest. It held bow ties as well as normal ties. Most of the ties are black with a special pattern sewed into them, but some are colorful and bright for more... happy occasions.

"Like what you see?" Kaede teased from behind me. I blushed with embarrassment, but nodded. "This place is wonderful." I tell her.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle at the compliment. "Shall we pick out an outfit for you?" She asks happily.

"O-oh if that's okay, I'd love to." I smile at her.

"Of course it is!" She says, grabbing my hand and leading me over to a section of the wardrobe that had tuxedos.

She looks at them, looking as if she were interrogating them for a crime, squeezing her eyes in concentration.

Then, something seems to click in her mind.

"THIS!" She says, a little too loudly.

She quickly snatches a light blue tuxedo off of its hook.

It looks to be quite expensive, because it probably is. It's mostly light blue, but it has a black outline and black buttons attached to it. There's also a small blue and black bowtie that matches the tuxedo, wrapped around the neck area of it.

Kaede holds the tuxedo up to me, trying to decide if it will fit or not. It seems to match up with my body features pretty well, and she notices that too.

"Has anyone ever told you that blue is your color?" She smiles at me.

"Hehe, a few people have said that before.." I say, embarrassed once again from her comment.

She laughs a bit then speaks again. "Alright, why don't you go try it on?" She suggests.

I look at her, confusion painted on my face. She looks confused too, until realization hits her. "Oh, of course you don't know where the changing room is. Let me show you."

I follow her down a long hallway, glancing at all of the paintings hung up on the wall. I recognize some of them from our own house as well.

The walls and floors of the house are all a light brown color, seeing as the small house is a cabin. It honestly seems like a quite cozy house, and I wouldn't mind living in something like this.

She eventually comes to a stop in front of a black painted door. "Here it is. Come out whenever you're ready."

I nod and thank her before walking into the small changing room. I sigh, sitting down on one of the benches conveniently placed there.

Today has been a long day and I'm not even halfway through it...

Examining what Kaede had decided was "perfect" for me, I decide that it's not the worst thing anyone could have picked. Besides, not like I can put together much of an outfit by myself anyway.

After a few more seconds of examining the outfit she had chosen, I begin to put the put the clothes on.

A pair of black dress pants fall off of the hanger as I grab the tuxedo, and I barley manage to catch it. I sigh a puff of breath out, scolding myself immediately.

I need to be careful with these clothes even more than I am with my normal attire. It would be just plain offensive to dirty the clothes Kaede had allowed for me to wear, even though I didn't really ask her to lend me them.

After I managed to put on my clothes, I look into the mirror examining my outfit. It doesn't look half bad, it doesn't actually look bad at all. Though it's a bit uncomfortable, I'm used to it from wearing clothes like this all the time.

Taking another final glance at my reflection, I gently grasp the handle of the door and open it. There, I see a waiting Kaede, eyes set upon one of the many paintings hung on the wooden wall.

It doesn't take her long to notice me though, her eyes flicking over to me, studying the outfit that I had put on. It was almost uncomfortable, with how much she was staring at me. It was almost as if I was the painting she had been staring at earlier, but with much more interest.

Her eyes seemingly sparked as she looked my figure up and down. I sighed out a bit, relived that she seemed to be pleased with the look. But she confirmed my thoughts when she bursted out, "It looks absolutely stunning upon you!"

"Why," she continued, "You should feel free to borrow any of this houses spare clothes whenever you want." A smile was placed upon her face as she looked up at me through her long eyelashes.

"Ah, um, thank you." I paused, not sure how to accept all of her praise and kindness. "But I wouldn't want to be of anymore trouble to you than I already have been.." I continue, my sentence trailing off at the end.

"Oh, you're no trouble!" Kaede reassured me, smile still placed upon her face.

Though I was glad for this girl's kindness, it seemed odd how nice she was being. Was this just her normal demeanor, or was there something she wanted from me? I decided on not being skeptical of her though. Besides, she hadn't done anything to be skeptical of, she had just been oddly nicer than others.

So I just smiled back at her, unsure of what to say. Eventually she spoke again, telling me to follow her out of the house.

As we made our way back out of the house, I breathed in the smell of pine from the small cabin. It was an oddly relaxing smell to me, and calmed me down whenever I smelled of it.

As we arrived outside, I just stood behind her as she unexpectedly stopped walking, seeming to be thinking about something.

A look of panic flashed through her features as she seemingly remembered something and spun around to face me. "You haven't seen him yet have you?"

currently going through a gender crisis 😍