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In the end Hijiri became more invested in selecting Kou’s clothes than anyone expected, and Kou had to suffer at her hand until it was nearly time for the hospital’s lights-out call.

Since it was so late, Sora suggested he could take Hijiri back home in his car, and so they left together.

The next morning Kou woke up surprisingly early, realizing that she had been more excited about going outside after so long than she had thought. And so she finished getting ready soon after.

Then she went outside, which was bathed under a Sunday’s morning rays.

“Hijiri, Subaru, over here!!”

A girlish, very slightly childish voice echoed across the hospital’s parking lot.

Sora’s navy blue crossover SUV was parked in the patients section of the lot. Kou was sitting inside alone, since Sora said he still needed to do something at the hospital and would be back soon, and she sat there nervously waiting for her friends.

The car’s windows were covered with an anti-UV film, installed by Sora as a precaution for Kou and Amari’s particular skin constitution.

Kou had been watching the outside world through those windows for a while, enjoying that sight she had missed for so long, until she spotted Hijiri and Subaru arrive at the parking lot.

Seeing them, Kou opened the parasol with a gothic design that Sora had given her for shade, and stepped out of the car. The twins recognized their friend’s voice, and then spotted Kou, waving her free hand rapidly.

“…Somehow it looks like a really cute creature is beckoning us.”
“Heheh, I know. Kou looks so stylish now.”

Subaru was stunned by his friend’s new appearance, and her movements that reminded him of a small animal. Meanwhile Hijiri sounded proud of Kou’s new look.

Kou’s current getup was a checkered skirt and a white summer sweater with a hood.

While it was still early summer, Kou’s delicate skin meant she could not wear anything too revealing, and she even wore black knee high socks to protect her legs, and most of her head was covered by the hood. But her thin shoulders and waist were still visible, as well as the silhouette of her legs.

Some of her pure white hair was visible inside the hood too, which glistened brightly in the sun.

That appearance was far more girly than Subaru had expected, leaving him lost for words, as it was also rare to see someone who looked like that in the city.

But while he tried to recollect his thoughts, Kou was already walking up to them, her feet slightly unsteady under her own weight, and once she was in front of Subaru she spread her arms to let him see better.

“Sooo…what do you think?”

There was no hidden intent behind that question, she simply wanted to get an unbiased and honest opinion from someone other than Hijiri and Sora, who would only repeat that she looked cute.

But the target she chose, Subaru, was already struggling to comprehend what he was seeing.

“Well…I mean…”
“Stop stammering and say something, if you keep doing that I’ll get embarrassed instead.”

Subaru struggled to find the right words to reply. He was also a developing high school student, so his eyes were constantly drawn to Kou’s exposed collarbones, and something of a light blue color slightly visible through the sweater below.

Meanwhile Kou was oblivious to that, and only moved closer to Subaru to demand an honest reply.

“Heheheh, I wonder why you’ve gotten so nervous all of a sudden, hmm Subaru?”
“No…I’m not…”
“Come on, don’t be shy and praise the outfit your sister selected for Kou already~”

Hijiri seemed to be enjoying teasing her brother to give an answer, so eventually he took a deep breath and gave his opinion.

“Well, I guess you look cute.”
“I…I see, that’s good then.”

It was rare for Subaru to get so flustered, so Kou was starting to get nervous too and had to look away.

A very confusing emotion was taking root in Kou’s heart, so she ended up convincing herself that being cute was better than not being cute, then cleared her mind and turned around to re-enter the car she had left earlier, but then…

“Kou, your skirt!”
“Huh…ah!”

An uncommonly loud shout came from Hijiri, and in response Kou hurried to pull the hem of her skirt down as she climbed into the car’s front seat.

“Oh Kou… You really need a lot more training to behave more ladylike.”
“…I know…”

Hijiri sighed with a forced smile, and Kou pouted about it.

I can already tell this is going to be a huge pain.

Kou also felt desolate, having a strong premonition about the future.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting after you had to come all the way here.”
“Don’t worry, we know you’re always working hard, Uncle Sora.”

Sora returned from the hospital, both of his hands busy carrying stuff, and he apologized to Hijiri and Subaru, who were sitting in the back seats.

The items he was carrying were the devices and equipment he had brought there to work remotely from the hospital. He no longer needed them there, so he had gathered all of them to take back, and as he loaded them into the trunk he apologized for not being able to pick up the twins at their home, and for making them wait there until he was back from the hospital, but Hijiri recognized how hard he always worked.

Once everything was loaded, he went into the driver’s seat and pressed the button to turn the car on, which was followed by the low whirring of electric motors powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

“Self-driving activated.”

A robotic voice announced that in the car and the steering joystick Sora was holding retracted down into the center console.

Then the car began to carefully drive out of the parking lot, joining up with the rest of the traffic on the street, at which point everyone took a deep breath and reclined on their seats.

“So, how does it feel Kou, being outside after so long… Wait, are you alright?”
“I don’t know… I just feel really restless being outside.”

Kou tilted her head as she replied, while her hands constantly fiddled around her chest whenever no one was looking. Her fingers could feel a somewhat stiff sensation underneath her sweater, which was surrounded by lace.

But what bothered her the most was the feeling of her chest, the sensitive parts of which felt like they were gently embraced and protected by something made of extremely fine nylon fabric, with soft pads inlaid.

This day she was not wearing the sports bra she had gotten used to in rehabilitation, which just felt like a tightly fitting piece of cloth, but a cutesy half cup bra with lace that she was forced into wearing.

In kind terms, Kou’s body was slender, but put bluntly she looked less developed than other girls of her age, so she essentially had no cleavage to speak of.

But feeling the upwards pressure from the bra, which gave her chest a better form and created a more visible pair of bulges under her eyes, was something she struggled to get accustomed to.

On top of that, the summer sweater she was wearing had a wide neck, leading to the straps of her bra peeking out constantly. So she was worrying incessantly if it was alright for that to be visible, or if the rest of the bra was visible through the loosely knit sweater. All of that worry made her pick and fiddle with the position of the straps, but she could never find the right spot for them, making her feel lost.

“Erm… Well, just try to not overdo it, it’s not good for Subaru or my mind.”
“..?”

Sora had to clear the awkwardness with a light cough before giving that advice, but Kou only tilted her head in confusion.

“Say, Hijiri… Do you think Kou believes we aren’t affected by things like that because we have known her since before the change?”
“Ahahah… Sorry Subaru, I’ll make sure to explain e~everything to her before we go to school before, alright?”

There was nothing but confusion waiting for Kou, as she noticed that Subaru was covering his face with his hands while reclining further into the seat, while Hijiri’s seemed to be staring right at Kou, even though she believed she was sitting normally with her knees pressed together.

She was unable to figure out why her friends were acting that way until the very end.