Naked Truths & Secondhand Clothes

Nitsuki groaned as the electric fan in her hand blasted her with as much air as its little motor would allow. It wasn't that the afternoon was particularly hot. In fact, the weather was quite nice. But right now, she needed something to get her mind off of things as she stared at the secondhand store down the road.

It had been a week since she and Tachibana had confessed to each other, and things were going great—almost perfect, honestly. It was extremely hard to complain, especially with her new baseline ‘normal’ coloring things.

However, the bliss of being in a relationship had blinded her to something rather important: she'd been more or less using the same three outfits on rotation this entire time. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that impactful. She'd dealt with it by just washing her clothes every other day, and it had worked decently well.

At least… until last night.

The heat of embarrassment rose in her cheeks as she remembered what happened.

Her mind had been a little distracted by a certain someone before she'd entered the bath—stupid, handsome Tachibana—and by the time she'd finished, she'd realized that she had forgotten to bring a change of clothes. 

Not wanting to be a nuisance, she'd decided to quickly dash over to her room to find something to wear, except there wasn't any clean clothes to wear anymore since she'd forgotten to wash them. What made it worse? Her stupid self had decided to let her frustrations out by half-groaning, half-screaming.

Of course, Tachibana, the lovable, concerned, and extremely dense boyfriend that he was, had rushed over to make sure she was okay and… right into her completely exposed self.

The fan's buzzing seemed nearly deafening as she remembered his reaction. 

Big eyes, red face, averted gaze, a quick apology, a brief parting glance back to perhaps steal one last peak, and then a sudden slam of the bedroom door.

He had said she was beautiful after.

The way he had looked at her… It made her both want to dance in glee and bash her head into a wall. 

She'd been planning to do a big, dramatic reveal of herself once they were both ready to take that next step—not that she'd thought she was anywhere close to confident for that yet—but no. She just had to stumble like a deer in headlights and play out a stupid romcom trope.

"Stupid past Nitsuki," she muttered to herself, angling the fan away to cool down her neck and ears. It'd been a little while since she'd cursed her old self, but if there was ever a time to blame her, it'd be now. She wouldn't be in this situation had her past self not donated all her other clothes after all.

When she was done sulking, Nitsuki sighed and turned the fan off, tucking it into her bag.

She would be remedying the clothing issue today while Tachibana went to grab groceries for tonight's dinner. He'd offered to come and shop with her, but she'd politely declined. As much as she loved the idea of spending the entire day with him, she still rather not rouse the suspicion of the town yet. She'd already begun hearing some whispers here and there about why they were living together.

"Okay, enough stalling. Just go," she said, giving herself a little pep talk before making her way to the front of the secondhand clothing shop. "The sooner you get this done with, the sooner you can be in Tachibana's strong, steady—"

She tapped her cheeks to pull her mind out of the incredibly pleasant fantasies that were threatening to pop up. Focus, Nitsuki. Focus.

***

The interior of the secondhand store was quiet. It was a small place on the corner of one of the main streets of town, tucked in between the bakery and an old bookshop. A few racks of clothes, both women's and men's, lined the walls. Each one was sorted by clothing type and size, and the air smelled faintly of detergent.

"Welcome, dear customer!" A middle-aged woman called out from behind the counter. She had dark hair pulled back into a neat bun, wore glasses perched on top of her nose, and sported a simple blouse paired with a pencil skirt.

"Hey, Miss Hasegawa," Nitsuki muttered quietly as she walked in. Her nervousness somewhat faded when she saw the owner herself was manning the store today. Despite not exactly being friends, Hasegawa was one of the few people in this forsaken town that didn't treat her completely like a freak.

"It's been quite some time since I've seen you come in here. Are you looking for some more clothes?" She paused, then chuckled to herself. "Of course you're here for clothes. Why else would you come to a second-hand clothing store?"

"Yup… that's why I'm here," Nitsuki said, her bottom lip jutting out as she glanced around. "I should be fine though, no need to worry about me."

There were a few other customers browsing the racks and shelves, all of whom seemed to take notice of Nitsuki's arrival. She briefly recognized some of them as being part of Inoue's circle of friends and acquaintances, which was about the worst luck possible for her, but she really hoped they wouldn't bother her if she just kept to herself.

The older woman hummed, not content with just letting her go. She got out from behind the counter and walked closer to Nitsuki. "You know, I got a nice selection of sundresses and light blouses that would suit the warmer weather coming up. They'd look good on you."

She awkwardly smiled. "Ah ha, I'm flattered, but it's fine. I can pick out my own clothes. Thank you for the suggestion though." She tried to be polite as she gave a quick bow of her head in respect.

Unlike Tachibana, Nitsuki was pretty sure that Hasegawa's cordiality and compliments were mainly there to try and make her buy more things. The woman had always had a bit of an odd fixation on Nitsuki's appearance too, and it was something that made her a bit uneasy, even if it wasn't really malicious.

"Are you sure?" the older woman asked, sounding a bit disappointed. "Every time you come here, you always just go for the same kind of outfits. Don't you think you'd benefit from a little change in your style?"

Nitsuki's eyes lingered on some of the daintier looking outfits, or the ones with exposed shoulders and flowing skirts. The truth was, she did like those sorts of things, but not in Hoshimura. The way people looked at her here was bad enough already. If she wore anything even slightly more girly than usual, she'd probably have the whole town breathing down her neck.

"I don't have the money for that," she mumbled in response, already looking for the plain unisex tops and pants in her size. "How much for these? They're pretty cheap, aren't they?" She pointed at the rack of clothes.

Hasegawa tilted her head, her eyes narrowing a little bit as a slight smile formed on her face. There was something mischievous about it that made Nitsuki feel uncomfortable.

"Actually," the older woman said, her voice taking on a conspiratorial tone as she leaned in closer. "I'd like to make a deal with you."

Nitsuki raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

"What kind of deal?"

Hasegawa straightened herself up. "Well, you see, I've had some inventory just sitting around for far too long, and I'm looking to offload some of it. Most of the townsfolk are too old or reserved to wear anything remotely fashionable. But you? You’re still young, full of life—and a little more adventurous, considering your situation.”

Nitsuki grimaced. Her 'situation'? That was a pretty poor euphemism for being trans. Still, she held her tongue, not wanting to make a fuss. The sooner she could get out of here, the better, and it wasn't like Hasegawa was trying to be mean.

"So, what are you suggesting? I buy some of that inventory you mentioned? I already told you I don't have the money for that."

The older woman grinned. "Oh, I figured I'd give you a steep discount since you'd be doing me a favor. Think of it as an exchange of sorts. After all, it's the least I can do considering how generous you are with your donations." She gestured towards the back of the store.

Nitsuki blinked. "Donations? I've given some, but—"

She lowered her voice a little. "Yes, donations. I still feel rather honored that you would entrust me to find new homes for all the clothes you send my way. And I don't mean the ones that came from your grandma and sister, although I still greatly appreciate them. I mean the pretty ones that you occasionally left 'discreetly' in the bin every once in a while."

Nitsuki gulped. Oh, that. Every once in a while before this all happened, she would occasionally shop online for some cute outfits that didn't suit her, try them on in a vain hope that maybe they'd look alright, and then eventually give up on them. It was a habit she picked up in the year after her sister died. It was an escape of sorts, an expensive one that she'd given up about a month ago.

"Well… they were just taking up space," Nitsuki mumbled, scratching the side of her cheek. Her stomach felt tight, and her chest felt heavy. She didn't want to think about the outfits, nor the fact that Hasegawa had traced them back to her.

"If you say so." The older woman shrugged. "Regardless, my point and deal still stand. If you agree to buy at least one of those pieces of clothing, everything else will be ¥300 per top, ¥400 per pants or skirt, and ¥600 per dress or outerwear."

She stared at Hasegawa after her quick pitch. That was insanely cheap. Like, suspiciously cheap.

However… she had to admit, the idea was tempting.

"I'll think about it," she said, her voice low.

The older woman's smile broadened. She looked smug, like a cat that had caught its prey. "Take your time. I'm sure whatever you choose will suit you perfectly. Who knows, maybe you'll even find something that'll catch the eye of a certain young man."

Nitsuki's heart thumped, and her face immediately flushed red as her eyes widened.

"Y-you! How do you know about—" She stopped herself and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. No, there was no way she could've known about her and Tachibana. "W-what are you talking about?"

Hasegawa's smug expression remained firmly planted on her face. "Don't worry, unlike some of my other clientele, I don't judge. I've seen how you've looked at him ever since you two were kids. You're just one cute outfit away from finally getting his attention, dear." She winked.

Nitsuki's face went from pink to scarlet in a matter of seconds. She didn't say anything; she couldn't say anything. Instead, she just spun on her heels, stomping away to look for clothes, leaving a self-satisfied Hasegawa behind.

She allowed herself a sigh of relief once she was far enough. Good, Hasegawa didn't know the truth. She'd just guessed. Probably thought she was just crushing on him or something. 

On another note though…

"'One cute outfit away,' huh?"

Obviously, Nitsuki already had Tachibana's attention given that they were in a relationship, and yet… her gaze drifted over to the more girly clothes again.

She bit her lip and let out a shaky breath. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want to try at least one of them on and take it home, but it would probably only be for Tachibana's eyes and her own, and she didn't know what type of outfits he'd prefer even if—

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head: a dangerously devious one.

Couldn't she just glimpse into the future to see what kind of reaction Tachibana would have to each potential outfit? It would be simple, easy, light on the wallet, and a harmless way to put her gift to good use. After all, it'd been a little while since she'd last used it, and this could be counted as a significant moment, right? 

Hehe, she was a genius!

Her mind now made up, Nitsuki started walking towards the section of the store that had the 'prettier' clothes. Her determination grew stronger as she softly cackled under her breath.

"Time to indulge myself a little."