Fashion is dumb.

Sengoku was the first home. He didn’t have the luxury to take time away, if he wanted to build Saki the best machine he could.

He had the cooling system, which had leaked once or twice… the carpet had turned a lovely shade of orange.

He had the video card, top of the line, that he was saving for his upgrade but immediately put to use in this project once he coloured it the signature white and orange.

But it was here that he ran into trouble. The CPU, motherboard and power supply he had spare were either not up to spec or were just broken altogether. And the chassis? Wouldn’t that be something she should choose?

Buying some of the parts online would be easy, but Sengoku was the type that hated to put his faith in delivery, as, in the past, he saw countless, expensive parts, be broken beyond repair before even reaching him. That, and even the places he trusted were expensive. He needed her seal of approval, and though they had messaged one another about the cost, it took Sengoku a good ten minutes to reply each time because he had to ask one of the guys to read his reply first.

She did have a budget, but it was more than Sengoku had ever spent on one machine, and he didn’t want to push too far; some of the more important parts would eat away at least half of said budget.

So, it was finally time to speak to her.

“Hi Saki

I’ve made some progress with your pc, I will just need to pick some things up. By the way, do you have any preference on the casing or lighting?

Best regards,

Sengoku.”

He was getting more confident in his messages, though he still typed it out like an email to a company he was applying to. At this point it was more like a conversation between a store and a customer.

“Yo! Dope would love to see it! ❤️ Dunno bout the other stuff…”

“I’ll send some pictures shortly, would it be okay if I pick a few options while I am out and get your opinion?

Best regards,

Sengoku.”

“y don’t we just go together???? 🤔 🤔 🤔

Need to go to Nishimori Saturday, wanna go then?”

Uh oh, gotta think about this first…

“Sure thing! I’ll meet you there!” He realised what he had typed.

“Naisu~~~! It’s a date!”

“eh?”

The doors to the living room couldn’t have swung open harder without leaving their hinges, set free to slap the unaware residents right between the eyes. Those same residents swung their heads to the doorway almost as quick.

Sengoku, who had opened said doors, definitely didn’t mean to open them that hard…

“Just what we need, broken doors… can you get coupons for those?” Natsuki questioned from his seat, he was upside down for some reason.

Sengoku was a little blindsided by that “-what?”

“I’m kidding”

Sengoku tried to regain his train of thought. “We have a problem”

“Shoot…” Miyamura was focusing on the tv instead of the mountain of paperwork at the table. Who could blame him? Champions League group stage, with Fake Madrid V Manchester Town.

“I’ve been messaging Saki about the pc build. I told her I needed parts”.

“HELL YEAH!” Miyamura jumped out of his seat, the excitement of a goal breaking the deadlock scared Natsuki out of his seat, he landed on his face.

“Will you two shut up? Miyamura, get back to studying.” Usui said, “Go on, Sengoku”

He continued.

“I told her I need parts, so she mentioned getting them together… a date” his face was panicked.

“That’s great”

“No, no it isn't,” he countered. “I said yes. I don’t know what to say, what to do, I’m freaking out a little here! What if I fall on my face or something?”

“I’m just surprised it’s going so well. The other day she didn’t even know your name” Natsuki said as he sat back down. “You’ll be you, don’t matter how much you panic.”

“Gee thanks, that’s mighty reassuring there Natsuki”.

“You’re welcome”.

“This is a step forward, Sengoku. You wanted to ask her to the ball, well this was always going to be a hurdle to overcome.” Usui advised. “The pact is in effect boys. It’ll be our job to come up with a game plan!”

“True, though step one is the wardrobe. If you go on your first date wearing loose jeans and an anime shirt I might cry.” Miyamura added. Half-time had hit and he got more into the conversation, mainly cause he was bored.

“I can’t borrow some of yours, Miyamura?”

“I’m 5’ 9”, you’re 5’ 4”. Good luck”

“That and random team jerseys aren’t exactly better than anime ones.” Miyamura was wearing one of those random jerseys. Blue and white stripes with some Spanish looking sponsor and a white crest with a crowned tree.

“Oh? You wanna talk fashion sense, Natsu? Bad English and ripped jeans? Stuck in 2014 much?”

“Hey! Those were a gift from my grandmother!”

“Dear god, just one day of quiet would be bliss” Usui was praying for some reason.

“Uhh, guys. This isn’t really getting us anywhere”. Sengoku added.

*-*-*

The local shopping mall was a favourite of the students of Hosokai. The stores liked the students, as most of them had parents with deep pockets, and the students of Hosokai liked the stores, as they catered to them.

Just walking through the entrance was brilliance. Guests were greeted by the large water feature in the centre of the hall. Past that, the escalators, giving you the perfect view to the floor below and the giant jumbotron hanging by wires above it all.

They had been here before, they usually split up, going to their stores and reconvening after a few hours to go home. Miyamura would head to the sports section, Sengoku had the electrical department, Natsuki would have a look at the entertainment, and Usui, being the clean freak he was, scoured the isles for the weapon against filth.

This time however, they were here on official business.

Natsuki took the lead “So what’s the game plan? Get the kid drip and bounce?”

“What does that even mean?”

“We’ve all got an hour. Pick an outfit you think’d work for Sengoku’s date and majority vote chooses the winner.”

“What about me?” Sengoku queried.

“Find something you like, if it works it’ll get voted for.”

“Remember, we’ve got a budget. Natsuki, if you come back with a purple suit and top hat Imma slap you”

“Oh nyo, scawwy Mya-chan…”

Mya-chan proceeded to slap Natsu-chan.

*-*-*

Natsuki’s choice was a place he heard of from a classmate. A trendy new store opened the week prior, and caught ablaze on social media. This was surely the place to be… it was unfortunate how pricey it was.

Just prying the money he’d saved for the next big CPU away was annoying enough, “not gonna cut it with these prices, huh?” He complained under his breath.

Each one he tried was more expensive than the other, or uglier… maybe both?

Onto the next store, it was cheaper, but none of it was what he wanted. But luckily, he had something the others didn’t have, experience.

“Watari mentioned a good place around here the other day. Newly opened and pretty cheap… there!”

The store he needed.

“Shamrock”.

*-*-*

To Miyamura next. He bought the majority of his clothes from sports stores. When he was out of his uniform he was sporting the jersey of a team no one has ever heard of. This time around it was quite the elegant red and gold piece from Lisbon. His bottom half was usually matching shorts or random sporty pants. Shoes were always of the running variety, with the ones he was wearing being a deep blue fading to orange.

“Damn! Silverwing’s looks sick! Yo, they even got Van Leeuwen’s shirt from the euro finals! 1-1 drawing into the final 10 until Oliva lofts it over the top for the wild Dutchman to hit the acrobatic strike past Alexander…”

“Oh shit, Sengoku’s outfit.”

*-*-*

Usui had a secret, an ace up his sleeve. This store was unassuming, yet despite his lack of knowledge on fashion, he had confidence all because of this very secret.

He reached the front desk, “Ah, fancy seeing you here, Honoka”

Honoka was the store clerk, and was not best pleased.

“Like hell, you might sound more convincing if you didn’t ask me where I worked just yesterday”.

“How’re things with Asahi?”

She rolled her eyes “still a crybaby. He’s captain of the judo club, is taller than 90% of Hosokai and is built like a brick shit house and despite that he never stops whining!”

“But…?” He lead.

“But… he’s sweet” she was extra bashful. “And he’s ripped”.

“There’s her obsession with muscles again” the thought played in his mind as he chuckled.

“Enough about me. Whaddya want? I’ve seen you shop here once and that was for change.”

“Sengoku’s going on a date. We’re having a competition to see who can get him the best outfit for it.”

“Hold the phone… Sengoku? THE Sengoku?! Has a date?! How the hell’d that happen. Wait lemme guess, chloroform? No no, you aren’t going to dress Miyamura up as a girl are you?”

Usui frowned at her.

“Actually, its with Sawamura Saki.”

It was like he had slapped her across the face, she was statue-esce, all until she returned to the land of the living and almost puked out her lung laughing, it certainly got a few onlookers. She grabbed Usui’s shoulder as she stumbled, using him to keep her up and then back to her feet.

“Colour me impressed, Usui! I didn’t know you had a sense of humour” she giggled as she wiped the tear from her eyes. But Usui didn’t react, he was unmoving.

“Come on now, I’ve known you guys as long as I’ve known Asahi. Sengoku’s meek even when it’s me. You’re not seriously telling me he’s roped in the idol of the goddamn school…”

She could see it written in his eyes.

“...HAH?!”

*-*-*

All the while, Sengoku was darting around, looking for just the right store. “What’s a guy like me know about fashion?” he wondered. It was hopeless, his eyes were drawn only to the clothes he liked, and because of that, he had taken a break next to the water fountain, moping, and being a little disgusted with the stuff at the bottom of the water. When he looked up, all he saw were the couples walking together, hand in hand and flirting, he wished he kept his eye on the green pool.

Then again it’s scum the same.

But it got worse, a group of boys he knew came out of a store he had been in just a few minutes ago. Pushing each other around and swinging for each other while laughing like idiots, making enough noise to wake the dead. Worst of all, there was Hiro in the centre.

He panicked, but he wasn’t quite sure why, not like Hiro knew him. His hood went up. As Hiro passed, he looked at the figure that was Sengoku, but all he saw was some random looking down at the ground floor from the balcony. They stopped off nearby, taking a seat. Sengoku was strangely interested in their conversation even though he wanted nothing to do with them.

“Ay yo, she was cute. Shoulda got her number!” Said the irritating one with the hat hood combination.

“Nowhere near as good as Suzume tho.” Said the irritatingly tall one wearing a shirt with the English phrase “Bad Egg”, which fit him to a tee.

“Too bad she told you where you could shove it, ain’t it? Knocked your ass to the curb.” Said the irritating one wearing sunglasses indoors. Is it bright on planet moron? Sengoku muttered.

“None as fine as Saki tho. Hate pretty boys like you, Hiro. If you weren’t my boi I’d have you wondering why you spend so much time touching up your hair after I throw you over that balcony.”

Then the kingpin spoke, pinhead more like. “Way to sound like a serial killer, and cringe at the same time. Seriously tho, knock it off with the Saki talk. We’ve got other things to keep in mind for now”

They all gulp, remembering their plans, “Ryuji.” Bad egg said fearfully. Sengoku mouthed the name to himself silently, trying to see if he had heard of it but the archive that was his brain had no files.

“Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Bad egg asked, “Y’know if we mess up they’re not just gonna slap you on the wrist.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hiro acknowledged.

“Popo got by with only a stupid nickname when Yo was in charge after he tried ratting to the cops. Then Ryuji took over and neither Popo or Yo have been seen since.” Sunglasses commented.

“You remember Izuna? She’s sleeping with one of Ryuji’s guys, said one night he got up and left real late with a bin bag on his bike. You think he had Popo and Yo chopped up and buried?”

“Oh god… can’t we just call this off?” Hat hood had his head held in his hands.

“Would you shut up?! Stop being a bitch, we are going cause we have to. You think not going’ll save you? Better to try and fix it than run, dumbass” Hiro growled.

Sengoku had realised it, Hiro and his boys weren’t just arrogant asses. This Ryuji, Popo, Yo… part of the biggest gang in the area, Muto. And Ryuji was the textbook definition of trouble, and Hiro was in with him, whether that was a good or bad thing, he couldn’t figure out.

*-*-*

Finally they had gathered. All but Sengoku had bags, Usui even had a tag-along, Honoka. She instantly locked eyes with Sengoku, while he stopped and shivered, she grinned and dashed over to him. “Yo Sengoku, long time no see. I hear you’re roping in the girls now~~” She said as she elbowed his arm lightly. He didn’t lift his head, trying to hide the side effects of his allergy to girls.

The boys seemed to enjoy the show. But Sengoku showed change and pushed away her arm, “Would you please stop that.” He murmured. “And I’m not roping anyone into anything”.

“Ahhh” she smirked. “Nice to see some progress, last time we saw each other you only managed to get out, go away, with a voice break.” She wiped away a tear “they grow up so fast”.

“Anyways, I got another 20 minutes left of my break, let’s get this started” Honoka announced.

“Y’know you don’t have to be here…”

The first was Miyamura’s piece. Sporty, but still casual. The shirt was maroon with some gold highlights, he had a matching jacket and light grey bottoms, fitted with black running shoes.

Miyamura stood beside him, posing like an idiot. “Well then? Your jaws hit the ground yet?”

The others looked like they knew this would happen. It just didn’t work, the outfit screamed fitness and sport, the person screamed “let me go home”. Honoka broke into tears as she was laughing that hard, pointing at him while the onlookers stared at the scene.

“Yeah… I’m gonna change.” Said Sengoku.

Next to bat, Natsuki.

Shamrock was a hit. Sengoku stood with the store’s label shirt, emblazoned with their 4 leaf clover. He had shades, a beanie, grey jeans with a few small cuts and dark green sneakers, once again with the clover.

Surprisingly, it was more hopeful, Sengoku seemed to be at least a little into it. The others were half and half. All the while Natsuki was over the moon, he’d smashed it, knocked it out the park.

“Eh, it’s alright” Honoka rated it a solid 6 out of 10.

“Alright?! That’s top of the line! That’s what’s hip!”

“You did not just say hip. What, are you having a midlife crisis?”

“I don’t mind it” Sengoku said, “it’s just not… me?”

They seemed to agree.

Finally, it was Usui’s turn.

“Ah, actually, this was picked by me and Honoka. Thought she might be able to help.”

Sengoku walked out the changing room. It was a simple look. Black jacket, cargo pants, beige boots, and a really tight fit shirt.

“Do they have a size up?”

“Hah? It’s supposed to be like that” Honoka explained, “the tighter the shirt, the better it highlights your muscles…”

She took another look, he had none…

She dropped to the floor, “none!” She cried.

“Oi!” Sengoku replied, the shirt sapped his energy.

*-*-*

The trip was complete, though it was far from successful. They were worn out, and completely dejected. They sat around the fountain, Honoka had gone back to work.

“Not gonna lie, that was worse than I thought it would be…” Natsuki commented.

“This sucks. I’m gonna end up looking like an idiot, how can I even face her?”

“Sengoku. I know we were the ones to mention clothing, but it’s not the end of the world, y’know?”

“May as well be. I’m stupid, ugly, short, boring… she’s smart, beautiful, sweet, she’s got every eye in the country on her. I just wanted to get a little closer to her level.”

“You’re never gonna be.” Natsuki said.

“Natsuki!” Usui shouted.

“But is that such a bad thing?”

“You can put on fancy clothes, drown yourself in expensive colognes and walk with all the swagger you can muster. At the end of the day, it’s not you.”

“It’s not often I’ll say this, but he’s got a point”, Miyamura added. “You can say all these horrible things about yourself, but you have your own qualities. Stop putting yourself down, Sengoku, and just be the best you you can be.”

“…I’ll still feel inferior.”

“That’s fine. We made a pact, the four of us. If you fall, we’ll be there to pick you back up!” Usui added.

They all smiled at each other.

“So cheesy.” Sengoku joked.

*-*-*

And so, it was time. The date Sengoku was terrified about, and over the moon about. But, there was one issue. He couldn’t sleep a wink.

The black jacket of Usui and Honoka.

His own, plain white shirt from home.

The Shamrock jeans of Natsuki.

And the black running shoes of Miyamura.

They were staring at him, all the while his friends watched on down the street preparing their plan. But Sengoku was focussed on one thing only…

“I look so dumb…