Despite her immense sorrow over her impending "execution," Kiana inherently understood the concepts of "living in the moment" and "having fun while you still can."
Besides, they were about to go get food!
Anyone who isn't proactive about eating is a total idiot!!
She quickly shut her door and swiftly changed into a casual outfit. Exuding a vibrant, youthful energy, Kiana reappeared before Shu, wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses that covered half her face.
Seeing her outfit, Shu froze slightly.
"Hehe, what do you think? Looks familiar, right?" Kiana happily spun in a circle, then proudly planted her hands on her hips. "Is it an exact match?"
A pair of short denim cut-offs. A T-shirt purposely tied into a knot to make it cropped. A green, sun-protective jacket with a cat-ear hood. There was even a matching thin black choker, a rose-colored thigh strap, and distinct zipper elements scattered throughout...
Aside from the fact that her hair wasn't tied into two buns, and the thigh strap lacked that completely incomprehensible QR code—which probably just redirected straight to some predatory top-up page—the girl standing before him was dressed exactly as Shu remembered from the game.
"This outfit... when did you get this?" Shu was genuinely surprised by the outfit, but his confusion was just as real.
There were a lot of specific elements packed into this design, and the material quality looked incredibly high.
Shu had never seen Kiana wear this outfit before. Combined with how eagerly she was showing it off... Shu could confidently guess she had just recently gotten her hands on it.
Over the past six months, human civilization's industrial infrastructure had been almost entirely paralyzed. The clothes scavenged from abandoned cities were certainly not this brand new, high-quality, or perfectly tailored.
Custom-made... this outfit was custom-made, and recently, at that.
It wasn't that Shu was being narcissistic... but combining all those factors, it was hard for him not to draw a connection back to his own... memories.
Shu already knew Kiana had peeked at his memories using the Akashic Records, and he didn't really mind.
In fact, he was actually a little touched that after accidentally seeing his memories, Kiana had guarded the Akashic Records with her life to prevent Mei and the others from seeing them too.
Of course, at this point, Shu didn't mind if anyone saw his memories... well, provided they were people he actually knew.
"Uh..." While Shu didn't mind the situation, Kiana clearly minded it a lot more than he did.
She stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. Shu chuckled softly. "You saw it in my memories, didn't you?"
Kiana gave a weak nod, her fingers nervously twisting together.
"Yeah, the replication is actually incredibly accurate," Shu said, his smile widening. Seeing his reaction, Kiana immediately relaxed, her earlier smugness returning in full force.
"Of course! I personally dictated the entire design! I was super meticulous about every little detail!"
"Meticulous how?" Shu asked, slightly curious. "Do you even know how to draw design blueprints?"
Kiana's lips suddenly curled into a steep, proud grin that practically reached the sun.
"Hmph!" She tipped her head up, flashing a smug cat-like smile as she proudly thumped her chest. "For me, drawing a little design blueprint is a piece of bean sprout!"
Piece of cake, you mean...
Shu was genuinely a bit surprised. But a second later, he realized why.
St. Freya Academy's uniforms were all designed by the students themselves. It actually made perfect sense that Kiana knew how to draft clothing patterns.
"Clap, clap, clap..." Shu gave Kiana a round of light applause, then threw up two thumbs up in praise.
"Impressive."
"But you should probably go change into something else." After delivering his praise, Shu reached out and took the oversized sunglasses off Kiana's face. "The base is packed with people right now. It's shoulder-to-shoulder everywhere. That outfit really isn't practical."
"Aw~" Kiana let out a disappointed whine. But as she looked down at her incredibly short hot pants, her face flushed slightly red.
The shorts really were very short—almost her entire legs were exposed. Her upper half was equally revealing, the knotted shirt exposing a good chunk of her midriff, and the various straps were...
Hiss... why didn't I realize this outfit was so... exposed earlier?
Kiana quickly reached out and shoved Shu away from the doorway, shrinking back as she slammed the door shut.
Standing a few steps away, Shu looked at the closed door and let out an amused sigh through his nose.
Those outfits from the game definitely looked good, Shu admitted that. But they simply weren't practical for daily life.
Normal clothes were better.
After another brief delay, Kiana emerged wearing a much simpler outfit.
A fitted, untied white T-shirt that fully covered her midriff. Wide-legged, straight-cut denim jeans clearly meant to pair with sneakers. And a slightly oversized jacket draped comfortably over her shoulders. A perfect, casual fit.
"Shu, isn't it a bit too conspicuous for us to just walk out like this?" This time, Kiana was seriously assessing her outfit. "If the two of us just go out to eat, won't we get mobbed by people?"
Shu pulled out two small badges. "We have Mosquito Breath. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."
Kiana smacked her fist into her palm, her brow furrowing deeply in realization.
"Oh right! Why didn't I think of that?!"
Shu: "..."
Shu silently stared at the badge in his hand—which had looked exactly like this for an entire month—and then looked at Kiana's dead-serious expression.
These things have been around for a while now... did you seriously forget they existed?
"Welp, then everything's solved! Let's hurry up and go eat!" Seeing that all obstacles had been cleared, Kiana bent down to pick up Rice Cake, urging Shu impatiently.
"It's 'everything's ready,' not 'everything's solved.'" Shu corrected her vocabulary once more. Kiana stiffened briefly before waving it off dismissively.
"I know, I know! I'm just so hungry! Shu, where are we going to eat?"
She has absolutely no intention of learning, does she...
"Let's check out Level 9... The surface is still undergoing reconstruction, so there probably aren't any restaurants open yet. It'll probably be another month before we can actually eat outside the base."
"Alright! Let's hit the commercial street and see what's good!" Kiana nodded eagerly. Then, her eyes shifted, and she blinked, locking eyes with Shu, an incredibly innocent look on her face.
The smile on Shu's face gradually flattened, while the smile on Kiana's face exponentially widened.
Not good. Something's definitely wrong.
"Umm..." Kiana began, her smile a bit stiff... and incredibly forced.
"Shu, you probably know which restaurants on the commercial street are the best, right?" Kiana smirked, sidling up to him and dragging him toward the door. "I haven't really been down that street much..."
"But didn't you previously—"