"Since it's almost the same..."
Xia Liang smiled and leaned two steps toward Emerald Sparrow, her voice playfully teasing, "Hehehe, little junior, why not give it a try?"
Emerald Sparrow, who had been somewhat distracted, slowly came back to reality and, after gradually understanding the meaning behind Xia Liang's words, looked emotionlessly toward the various outfits in the store. After staring at the clothes for a while, she turned her head back and said to Xia Liang earnestly, "I'm not wearing them."
Xia Liang expressed her disappointment, "Little junior, you don't have many regular clothes, do you? And most of them, like the one you're wearing, are basically children's clothing. Why not try something that makes you look a bit more mature?"
"I'm not like the rest of you."
Furrowing her brows slightly, Emerald Sparrow crossed her arms and said with heartfelt sincerity, "For me, as long as the clothes are enough for daily changes and don't look too shabby, that's sufficient. I don't need, nor do I like to dress up all fancy like that."
"Have you ever worn them before?" Xia Liang suddenly asked.
This question made Emerald Sparrow stiffen, and after making eye contact with Xia Liang for a moment, she nodded her head reluctantly, "I have."
What she didn't outright say was that it wasn't just a matter of having worn them, but rather that she had practically worn them all.
Not to mention the styles that had been popular in the past ten years, at least twenty years prior, she had tried on every fashion that was trendy among young girls, all at An Ya's request.
If one were to delve into the reasons, they would have to start from a long time ago.
From the beginning, An Ya showed a very active attitude toward Lin Yun becoming a Magical Girl.
At first, when she met the Magical Girl Lin Yun, she thought she was a girl from another area, but when Lin Yun revealed her identity, An Ya was overjoyed and readily accepted the truth.
An Ya never had thoughts like "It's disgusting for a boy to become a Magical Girl." On the contrary, she seemed to adore the Magical Girl form of Lin Yun even more.
Using An Ya's favorite cheesy line to express it:
"My favorite boy is Lin Yun, my favorite girl is Cornflower, my two favorites combined is the most invincible favorite in the world."
And because of this, An Ya was actually very keen on dressing up the Magical Girl Lin Yun.
It started with just matching some of her old clothes, but as time went on, it evolved into casually picking out clothes while shopping, and eventually turned into a bizarre tradition proposed by her, called "Cornflower Image Renewal Day."
Every so often, the Fangting City squad would take the Magical Girl Lin Yun to specially select clothes and customize new everyday outfits for her.
Most Magical Girls look decent after transformation, even though their styles focus differently, but most are also cute, pretty, delicate and unique. The appearance and temperament of Cornflower, however, can be described as rare. Described by her old teammates, it gave off a "noble feeling," "like a noble lady from somewhere."
A few teammates, especially An Ya, treated the Magical Girl Lin Yun like a dress-up doll, trying various styles of dress on her.
So, although Emerald Sparrow herself wasn't interested, she couldn't deny that she had worn various kinds of women's clothing. With so many occurrences, she became completely accustomed to wearing various dresses in that appearance.
"So you have worn them!"
Hearing Emerald Sparrow's response, Xia Liang excitedly clenched her fist, "Since it's not your first time, I also want to see little junior in different clothes. Just try them on!"
"Yeah, I want to see too!" chimed in the store clerk nearby.
Emerald Sparrow looked at the two people in front of her and, recalling Xia Liang's inexplicable smile and suggestion at the restaurant, she instantly knew: this had been her plan all along.
However, since the purpose of her outing today was to make Xia Liang happy, and the experiences of the morning couldn't exactly be described as delightful, it didn't hurt to go along with Xia Liang's wishes now.
"But let's get this straight first."
She looked up at Xia Liang, her tone serious, "I won't wear clothes that reveal too much skin."
As her words fell, Xia Liang and the store clerk high-fived in celebration, cheering in succession as if they had conquered some challenge, the atmosphere buzzing with excitement.
Then, led by Xia Liang and with suggestions from the clerk, the two began to enthusiastically discuss what type of clothing suited Emerald Sparrow's temperament and figure.
Off-shoulder jackets, dungaree dresses, cartoon hoodies, knitwear... various types of clothing passed through Xia Liang's hands and into Emerald Sparrow's, who then put them on with an indifferent face and stepped out of the dressing room with a chilly expression.
And even though her reactions were cold, the enthusiasm of the other two did not wane in the slightest.
According to the outfits Emerald Sparrow put on, the sales clerk even personally helped change her hairstyle, including but not limited to ponytails, buns, and braids... while Xia Liang took photos from all angles with her cell phone on the side.
Looking at the girl in the mirror wearing unfamiliar clothes and listening to the clerk's flattery, Emerald Sparrow's eyes widened slightly as she suddenly felt a sense of temporal dislocation.
It was as if she had returned to the times when she went out with the old squad, and outside the dressing room, laughing and joking, were An Ya, Margaret, Su Shengzi...
Only, such feelings lasted for merely a brief moment before she snapped back to reality, her thoughts shifting from the past back to the present.