Chapter 109: Small win? Big win?

"I know, I know." Elmyra was someone who had experienced this before, how could she not tell that Aerith was feeling shy? She said bluntly, "I actually hope something will happen between you two. That way, I can raise another little Aerith. Ah, I really hope she can be as cute as little Marlene."

"Ah! Mom, what are you talking about!" Aerith grew even more embarrassed. "Don't say that."

"But you've already grown up, Aerith. When I was your age..." Speaking to this point, Elmyra didn't continue speaking and instead fell silent.

She remembered her husband who died in the Wutai war against Shinra. If it hadn't been for the war, she definitely would have had her own biological child.

Aiden, who was listening beside them, clearly noticed Elmyra's emotions were a little off. He took the phone from Aerith's hand.

"Ms. Elmyra, are you still listening?" Aiden asked.

"Yes." Elmyra sniffled and said.

"It's like this, Ms. Elmyra. Aerith and I probably won't come back until very late today. I'd like to take her out for a walk. What do you think?" Aiden shifted the topic to himself and Aerith.

"Of course, you can." Elmyra threw away the thoughts in her mind. "I hope you two have a good time."

"Don't worry, we absolutely will." Aiden said with a cheerful smile.

After that, he chatted with Elmyra for a while longer before hanging up the phone.

After handing the phone back to Tifa, Aiden then said to her, "Want to come with us?"

How could Tifa possibly refuse? She nodded vigorously.

Seeing that Tifa also wanted to go, Aerith was actually a bit unhappy in her heart. She had thought it would be a two-person world between herself and Aiden, but now there was an extra person.

With a dissatisfied little snort, the brief sisterly bond formed earlier when she held Tifa's hand vanished without a trace.

"Tifa, you're coming too? Then what about your bar? Don't you open during the day?" Aerith probed.

"Whether I open during the day or not doesn't matter. Most customers are at work during the day anyway. Sitting in an empty bar all day without seeing a soul, might as well go shopping with you guys." Tifa knew full well what Aerith meant. If it were before last night, she might've backed down just from that line… but now, she absolutely wouldn't retreat.

So she said, "Instead, it's you, Aerith. I heard from Aiden that you usually take care of your flower garden during the day. Hm, flowers left unattended must be quite pitiful, right?"

"The flowers I grow are very resilient. Even if I don't care for them for a day, it won't be a problem at all." Aerith glanced at her. "Besides, I plan to spend the whole day with Aiden, including the night. Tifa, doesn't your bar have customers at night too?"

"Even if the bar doesn't open for a day, it's no big deal. I'll go hang a 'closed today' sign at the door later." Tifa was unbothered and held her ground.

"Anyway, it's not like it'll go out of business if it's closed for a day."

The passive-aggressive exchange between the two women gave Aiden a bit of a headache. Seeing them getting closer while arguing, he had no choice but to squeeze in between them to separate them.

"Let's talk about where we're going shopping later." he said.

Seeing that Aiden had spoken up, the two girls naturally couldn't keep bickering. They exchanged a glance, each snorted, and turned their heads away, leaving Aiden to smile bitterly once again.

Next came the discussion about where to go shopping.

Aiden had been in this world for quite a few days already but had only visited Sectors 5, 6, and 7, and the upper plates of Sectors 1 and 8.

So after discussing for a while, they decided to go shopping on the 8th plate.

Before they left, however, Aerith said she wanted to take a shower first. After all, she had been wearing the same clothes all day, and they still smelled like alcohol.

But she ran into a problem, she didn't have any clean clothes to change into.

Originally, Aiden said they could just find a clothing store nearby and buy something to make do. Then later, they could pick out something nicer in the shopping district.

But then Tifa suggested Aerith wear her clothes instead.

"They're all brand new and haven't been worn yet." A sly gleam flickered in Tifa's eyes.

Aerith didn't want Aiden to go out of his way, so she agreed to Tifa's suggestion. And then, she regretted it.

After finishing her shower and preparing to change into Tifa's clothes, she discovered that Tifa's clothes were a bit too loose on her, especially the underwear, which kept sliding down after she put it on.

'So annoying. She definitely did this on purpose.' Aerith clenched her little fists angrily. She knew from visual comparison before that she would lose, but she hadn't expected to lose this badly.

In the end, with no choice, she had to wear her own underwear.

Coming out of the bathroom with a dark expression, Aerith saw Tifa waiting by the door.

Tifa asked with a calm face, "Aerith, do the clothes fit?"

That question reignited Aerith's emotions, which had just calmed down. She glared at Tifa, but since Aiden was watching TV in the living room, she could only snort and walk past Tifa, going straight to Aiden's side and stuffing her towel into his hand.

"Dry my hair." Aerith said gloomily.

Hearing Aerith's seemingly unhappy tone, Aiden was a bit confused, but still started helping her dry her hair.

Meanwhile, on Tifa's end, even though Aerith didn't answer her question, she already knew the result. She glanced into the bathroom and sure enough, the underwear she had given Aerith was mixed in with the clothes Aerith had taken off.

Tifa silently made a victory pose in her heart. After all, a small win is still a win, and in this case, it was a big win.

With a victor's mindset, Tifa straightened her back and walked into the living room. But when she saw Aiden attentively and skillfully drying Aerith's hair, she felt her earlier "big win" wasn't that big after all, and her posture softened again.

Seeing Tifa's posture change, Aerith guessed why she looked like that. A smug smile instantly appeared on her face.

'No, I have to bring up the house-buying plan soon.' Looking at the smile on Aerith's face, Tifa felt she couldn't delay any longer. Right now, Aiden was living with Aerith. Even if she won in some areas, in the end… she'd still lose.

———

They woke up late in the morning.

And as with most women, even Aerith took her time in the shower. Plus, drying her hair also took extra time, so when the three of them finally set out, it was nearly noon.

Just like in the real world, Midgar also had rush hour traffic in the morning, afternoon, and evening. It took them quite a bit of effort to finally reach the 8th plate.

The 8th plate wasn't as lively in the daytime as it was at night, but there were still plenty of people around. And the people casually strolling on the streets were all upper-class residents.

Tifa and Aerith were both more familiar with the area than Aiden, so after getting out of the vehicle, it was basically the two women dragging him to the places they wanted to go.

In truth, when women go shopping, it's nothing more than buying things and eating snacks.

Since it was already past lunchtime, they didn't bother looking for a restaurant. They just bought some snacks and street food and ate while shopping.

Aiden wasn't very used to the taste of snacks and treats in this world, so he only ate when Aerith or Tifa fed him. This led to a rivalry between the two women, one would feed him, and the other would immediately follow with another bite.

So even before they'd finished one street, he was already close to bursting.

But it was both painful and pleasant, after all, not everyone gets this kind of treatment.

Unexpectedly, Aiden discovered a drink that tasted like cola. He was so delighted by the find that he immediately bought a large cup and walked along sipping it happily.

After more than an hour of snacking and strolling, the shopping expedition entered its second phase, buying things.

Women love many things, pretty clothes, jewelry, cute trinkets.

And men also love many things, like watching the women they love wear those pretty clothes and accessories. That's the ultimate visual and emotional enjoyment.

So, they entered a large department store.

The mall wasn't very crowded during the day either, and after they arrived at the fourth floor, which was dedicated to women's clothing, they found even fewer people.

"As expected, shopping is more fun when there are more people around." Aerith glanced around and didn't spot more than a few customers passing by, and couldn't help but comment.

"Mm, that's true." Tifa nodded in agreement.

Then, the three began browsing clothing stores.

Soon, they picked one store that seemed to have a wider variety of clothes than the others.

"Welcome!" Seeing customers enter, the store clerk quickly bowed to greet them.

The two women nodded and then split up to look for clothes they liked. Only Aiden walked straight toward a long bench in the center, which was clearly meant for male customers to rest.

But before he could even warm the seat, Tifa called him over. Aiden stood up helplessly and walked toward her, then saw that she was holding a pink kimono.

"Aiden, what do you think of this?" Tifa held the kimono against herself and asked.

"Looks good." Aiden nodded.

It wasn't just a perfunctory reply, he truly thought it looked good, because the kimono Tifa was holding looked like the same one she had worn the night before, with the hem stopping just at her upper thighs, and this one seemed even thinner.

"Then... should I try it on for you?" Tifa asked.

"Yes." Aiden eagerly agreed.

Then Tifa took the outfit and headed into the changing room.

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