Alenia central

Walking out of the house, Ayame and Kasumi went through the shrine grounds. Walking past Anna, Ayame gave a quick wave signalling she was going. Anna gave a supportive thumbs up and seeing the person Ayame was with came as a shock.

'Damn she is hot, no wonder Ayame is a bit defensive.' Anna concluded because Kasumi was extremely hot that she may be dangerous. This was paired with the connotation that all hot people were involved in something evil or powerful. It is also very prevalent in kitsune families, so it was not far-fetched for Anna to think this way.

'From what it looks like though, they are getting along so hopefully nothing bad happens.' Anna did become sceptical but trusted Ayame to be able to look after herself.

"Who was that?" Kasumi noticed Anna's weary gaze and judging from the shrine maiden clothes she worked here.

"That's Anna, we just hired her, and I think she is just a little older than me." Ayame wanted to avoid telling Kasumi who Anna was, but there was no real reason not to.

"I see, how come you didn't invite her along?" Kasumi wouldn't have minded the extra company since she did want to make more than just 1 friend.

"Well, somebody has to look after the shrine and plus I wanted it to just be us two first before I introduced her." Ayame turned her head mumbling at the end of the sentence since it was embarrassing.

'I should have invited Anna.' Ayame was regretting her decision slightly as she felt if Anna was with them, the embarrassment would go away.

"Oh okay, no worries then." Kasumi smirked, liking the fact that Ayame wanted it to be just the two of them.

***

Reaching the entrance of the shrine Ayame felt a little scared stepping out. This would be her first time going out on her own that isn't with Tomoe or on a mission.

"Hmm? You okay?" Kasumi walked onto the footpath with no problems and turned to Ayame who was frozen at the entrance.

"Y-yeah I'm fine, just never really done something like this before." Holding her hands to her chest, Ayame took a deep breath. However, before she could take a step Kasumi grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Wahh~!" Not expecting to be pulled, she tried to balance herself, but Kasumi kept moving.

"No need to mull over it, it isn't like there is a minefield." Smiling at Ayame, it seemed whatever force that held her back broke.

"At least let me walk properly!" Ayame was relieved that she got over the mental hurdle, but still being dragged made it hard to walk.

"Oop sorry." Kasumi slowed down and let go of Ayame's hand so she could walk normally.

"Thank you and I was just about to move, didn't need to drag me." Ayame pouted as she was indeed about to make that step forward, but was rudely interrupted.

"Fufu~." Kasumi didn't say a word and continued to walk down the quiet street.

Thanks to the shrine being located in a secluded area with only residential buildings surrounding it, cars were few and far between.

*Sigh* Ayame let out a sigh, worried that Kasumi would be a little too much to deal with.

***

Making it to a much busier part of the city, Ayame stuck close behind Kasumi to make sure there was no way of getting lost. Hundreds of people were walking up and down the street and Ayame found herself constantly looking around and seeing the different places and people.

"Quite a different feeling being amongst it all rather than being up high." Kasumi remembered how she would look at the streets from the skyrise apartment she was put in.

"I have always wanted to explore the city, but never wanted to jump down from the roofs of the buildings I found myself on." Although different, Ayame had a similar feeling when she would look over the edge of skyscrapers getting a birds-eye view of the busy streets.

"Well enough thinking about that, we need to enjoy this. We are close to a clothing store I think so let's pick up our pace a little." Kasumi pulled out her phone to double-check the map and to make sure they were on the right track.

"Oh yes, it's over here." Taking a turn, down another street, they were met with a massive plaza. People were walking in and out of the building carrying bags and it seemed like a mall of some sort.

"Woah." Ayame hadn't seen this place at all when on her missions and wondered why as the building was massive.

"Welcome to Alenia central." Kasumi gave the name of the place and to no surprise, it was named after the city.

"So ummm where to now?" Ayame had no idea where they were going and hoped Kasumi knew what she was doing.

"Oh yes, well inside we go, it may take a while since we have to find the right stores." Kasumi expected a more excited reaction, not a tamed response that interrupted her flow.

"Like before I'll be following you." Ayame still felt like a lost child so she clung to the back of Kasumi again.

"Come on walk beside me, we need to see if anything catches your eye." Kasumi pulled Ayame from behind her as she didn't want to be used as a meat shield.

"Ahh!" Ayame once again didn't expect to get pulled and almost fell forward. Turning her head, she pouted at Kasumi but was only met with a smirk.

"I'll keep doing it." Kasumi threatened to keep dragging Ayame if she kept trying to hide.

"F-fine." Ayame gave up on trying to hide and walked alongside Kasumi. However, she felt the gazes of people around her which was rather uncomfortable.

"Do people not know how to not stare?" Kasumi also felt this and seemed to get agitated since the looks were directed at her.

"Calm Kasumi, don't want you to accidentally release your kitsune powers." Ayame freaked out for a moment as it wasn't rare for a kitsune in an emotional moment to let loose.

"Tsk I know, but having the feeling of being constantly stared at is the one thing I hate." Being extra sensitive to things around them, became a curse in certain situations. It helped in spotting Ayame as her gaze was felt in the stadium, but in a public space with hundreds of people, it felt like a nightmare.

"We should get you a mask when we are inside, maybe that will help." Ayame figured hiding Kasumi's face would be the ideal move since that was the most eye-catching along with her hair. However, her hair almost looked black when in the shade and the purple would only shine through in the sun.

Continuing their walk and ignoring the constant gazes, they made their way inside where the shopping binge would begin. Going through the revolving doors, they were met with multiple floors filled with different kinds of shops. Everywhere you looked were people and the different amount of stores was a bit overwhelming.

Nonetheless, it did not take long for Ayame to adjust as the layout was rather simple and getting lost would be rather hard.

"Alright, now we just walk around and if you spot a clothes store that suits your fancy we will go have a look. Also, don't forget to head to a general store so you can get some things for uni." Kasumi explained their game plan and Ayame nodded, already looking around.

"Damn are you sure we can look through everything in four hours?" Ayame was well aware of the time limit and them being in a big store felt like they could take much longer than that.

"Ahaha Don't worry I just need to pick up a few things, plus I don't see you taking that long." Kasumi just needed to pick up a few pens and books for university so most of the time would just be spent clothes shopping for Ayame.

"True my fashion sense is probably the equivalent to a rock soooo." Ayame had no idea where to start and even with the outfit she was wearing wouldn't mind just having a hundred copies so she never had to decide what to wear.

"Alright you definitely need my help, I have had to dress up and there is no way you are wearing these clothes for the rest of your life." Kasumi expected as much since she gathered that Ayame had never done this before.

'To think she was more isolated than I was and she is an assassin of all things.' It took a moment for Kasumi to wrap her head around it since she would have thought Ayame would have gone out a few times with her mother.

"Okay, okay I'll trust your judgement." Ayame cursed in her mind as her plan to buy just the same clothes was foiled.

"Alright let's stop wasting time we need to go exploring." Kasumi being weary of the time, it was better spent deciding on clothes than chatting.

"Okayyyy." Ayame, building up a bit more confidence, took the lead in looking around trying to spot any stores that grabbed her attention.

Many of the stores around then were of different food stalls and entertainment, suggesting they were in a certain section.

Seeing a sign that pointed to a sector labelled [Clothing] Ayame knew where to go. Kasumi followed while keeping an eye out as although she had a certain time limit her guards may come earlier.