When the three people finally walked into the fashion district in Mountain Ridge, the Monolith Square, the sun was shining brightly. The air was warm but not hot enough to cause them discomfort.
The locale was quite serene with a few people walking around and popping in and out of the shop. However, it was not busy, perhaps because it was a fairly early Friday morning.
Madison Square did not have high rise buildings. Instead, the structures had a quiet elegance at a maximum height of three floors.
Akira looked on with at the area and smiled a little. She had thought that they would end up in an overly crowded area. She did not like being in loud places with a lot of people. So, Monolith Square was perfect.
"This is the best place to shop in the city." Sayaka looked at Akira with satisfaction.
Akira nodded.
"Let's begin," Sayaka said with excitement.
Their first stop was Tempest. The three women entered into the cool store with anticipation. Akira assessed the merchandise with a perusing eye. It had a lot of casual clothes.
"Welcome. How may I help you?" One of the shop attendants stepped forward quickly.
She was familiar with Mrs Yamazaki and Hanae, so she took the opportunity to get the sale before the other attendants could take a step.
"We are looking for something for my daughter," Sayaka said with a smile.
Even though shop attendants did not know the secrets of the aristocratic families in Mountain Ridge, they always learned a lot from the gossip they heard as people shopped. As far as she knew, the Yamazaki family did not have a daughter.
She looked at Hanae, but the girl had lowered her head. She turned to the cold-faced new person and realised that this had to be the daughter.
"We have a lot of new arrivals which are perfect for a young lady like Ms Yamazaki." The shop attendant did not focus too much on family dynamics, but she was quick to read the room.
"Show us everything." Sayaka declared.
The shop attendant smiled and led them upstairs so that Akira could try out clothes without the disturbance from new customers.
Then, she brought a load of colourful clothes for Akira to try out. Since they were casual, there were no special requirements except for comfort and size.
Akira went into the dressing room and put on a simple short blue skirt with a white short-sleeved blouse. On a normal twenty-two years old lady, it might have looked a little inappropriate. However, Akira had an ideal body for it.
She was short but curvy. The skirt did not look sleazy because of her height. At the same time, the outfit did not look childish because of her good proportions.
When she stepped out of the dressing room, Sayaka and the shop attendant gasped with joy. As for Hanae, her hands formed tight fists.
She felt incredibly jealous of Akira's appearance. Although she was already nineteen, she did not have any womanly curves. She had always shown pride in being slim, but her shape was limiting. It was the reason she always wore dresses.
If she tried on something a little more interesting, she would be exposed. She had chosen to go the conservative and pure goddess route because of this concern.
"You look amazing, Akira. Doesn't she look amazing, Hanae?" Sayaka glowed with happiness and turned to her niece with excitement.
Hanae had to force down her envy and hatred in the face of her auntie and smile.
"You look great, cousin. I could never wear something like that." Even though she was showing a complementing face, she could not resist making a snide comment. The best part was that Sayaka never noticed things like that.
Akira looked at her casually, but she did not comment.
"We will take all the available colours of this ensemble in her size." Sayaka declared.
The shop attendant beamed. "How about trying these boyfriend jeans next, Ms Yamazaki? They are quite comfortable."
Akira nodded. She liked comfort a lot. The attendant was pleased with her openness and offered her a few pairs of jeans to try out with a couple of simple t-shirts.
The young woman stepped out again in dark blue jeans with a light pink shirt. Once again, Sayaka was impressed and ordered the shop to pack all similar clothes in that size.
Hanae was steamed by the gesture. She had lived with the rich Yamazaki family for a long while, but she had never participated in such careless shopping. It seemed as if Sayaka could not wait to spend enough money.
After buying a few more dresses, Sayaka paid, and they left the store. They did not carry the bags. It was more convenient to have them picked up by the household staff.
The three women went to multiple shops. They did not buy a lot of things as they did in Tempest, but they got a few official outfits, a few pairs of shoes and even some jewellery.
Finally, they stopped outside a large shop with a large black sign with large gold letters: Pantheon.
Both Sayaka and Hanae looked excited beyond words. They could not be faulted. In terms of innovative design, Pantheon was at the forefront. It was not an old company, but they had dominated the high-fashion industry with ease.
Their clothes were worn on the red carpet in numerous events by celebrities around the world, and each of their jewellery was a treasure that was discussed for ages. Moreover, they did not mass produce the items, perhaps because of their quality.
"Akira, you might not know it, but this is the best shop in the whole Monolith Square," Hanae said.
Over the shopping trip, she had slowly stopped being quiet and withdrawn.
Akira looked at the shop, but she did not show any difference in expression. Instead, she turned her head and looked away after a short glance. Her attention was drawn away from the Pantheon by a vintage shop across the street called Moonpoint.
She had a strange feeling that someone was watching her.
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