New Clothes? Aren't these ones fine? [PRIVATE | Tsubine]

Tsubaki Koezuka

Tsubaki noticed the hint of red on her daughter's cheeks. Combined that with her tone, she knew not to press further. Erika probably thought that dating was just a gateway to leaving people. It wasn't, but she had every right to think of it that way. Tsubaki would just have to show her the errors in that line of thinking—eventually. So she spoke on the second half of Erika's response. "I don't want to go to those dinners either. That's why I need someone to go with me that I can complain about them with." Tsubaki gave her daughter a playful wink.

As the conversation turned serious, Tsubaki began to think more. This probably would end up becoming one of the few times in the current climate they could spend together. Tsubaki needed to make more time for Erika but she needed to replace the many vacant Warden positions now. She had an idea on what to do about this after reading recent reports on the allies, but that would be a very, very, very drastic change. Tsubaki shook her thoughts away from the Vanguard and onto her daughter. "I'll consider your input, but I'm the one with the wallet." Tsubaki wasn't going to pick out anything outlandish, but she wanted to look nice.

The two split and Tsubaki was immediately disappointed in the selection. Few things were actually... good. She passed odd shirts with "QUICK" "BUSTER" or "ARTS" on them, but they were not her taste. She picked up a pair of jeans and slid into the fitting rooms. They fit, thankfully, and she picked out a green fur-hooded jacket and a white T-shirt. It was nothing special, but it was comfortable. Tsubaki looked around and saw something—a purple-ish jacket too small for herself, but it might just fit Erika. She was about to search for Erika when her daughter arrived with a pile of sameish clothes. "...I'm beginning to regret my compromise." Tsubaki sighed as she went through the outfits.

"Just know that the more of stuff like that you pick out, the more I'm going to find for you. Like this jacket. Try it on." Tsubaki handed Erika the jacket, and it seemed like it would fit fine to Tsubaki's eyes. Whether or not Erika liked the jacket, Tsubaki pointed to the pile of clothes. "I'll buy those, but that's not what we're out here to buy for you. Next time we spend time together, I don't want it to look like you're about to hit the gym or you just came out of a historical reenactment." She wanted Erika to look casual, and that was something the young girl had trouble with.

"I had hoped to get here before the good stuff was gone." With a sigh, Tsubaki put the outfits on the coutner for checkout—and was glad Erika did her bulk shopping here. "Ok, the next shop is a little pricier... but I'd like you to at least try on some of the stuff I pick out." While the first store was a bargain bin, this next one was nothing but designer. It was quite the difference, and Tsubaki mentally calculated her finances. She'd be fine—so long as Erika didn't like everything she saw.

The first thing that caught Tsubaki's eye was a pair of mannequins wearing shoulderless long sweaters and dark leggings as pants. She dragged her daughter over to that section and began to rifle through colors and sizes. Eventually, she found a pink one in about Erika's size. "Go try this on while I," Tsubaki pulled out a red sweater of matching design, "try this one. We'll match, see?" She was really enthusiastic about them having one matching outfit.