While Wandering Around Naked, I Met An Exhibitionist, The Most Beautiful Half-Nordic Girl From School. - Chapter 20: I'll hug you.

I’ll hug you.

Now, where should we hide?

Moving to avoid being in the other person’s line of sight seems feasible, but on the flip side, we might arouse suspicion from the staff or other customers.

If that happens, it could draw unwanted attention and potentially reveal our presence to the girls we’re trying to avoid.

A classic hiding spot in a clothing store.

There’s only one place that comes to mind.

“The fitting rooms…!”

Yes, it’s the tried-and-true fitting room event familiar from anime and manga.

The protagonist and heroine hide together in one and end up getting cozy.

It’s exactly that kind of situation.

We quickly hid in a nearby fitting room, waiting silently until the girls’ presence vanished.

“But thinking about it now, did we really need to hide together?”

“…You might be right.”

If only Shirogane had hidden, I’m just as insignificant as a background character in our class, so there would have been no way for me to be found out. In fact, it wouldn’t have mattered if I was discovered.

“But wouldn’t it look suspicious if we come out now?”

“That’s a fair point.”

Moreover, if someone enters the fitting room after we leave, it’s game over.

As planned initially, we’ll just have to wait until those girls leave the store.

Bracing myself, I sharpened my sense of presence detection.

“…Well, with so many women around, it’s hard to say.”

But there were so many women in the store with similar height and weight, it was hard to pinpoint individuals.

There’s no handy skill like in a game for this kind of thing.

“Well, let’s peek through the gap in the curtain and see what’s happening outside.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

So, we lined up one behind the other, and from a slightly open gap in the curtain, we observed the situation outside.

“Does this one suit me?”

“But it’s a bit expensive, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’m short on money.”

“It’s like they’re having a typical girl conversation.”

“Yeah…”

“Should we give it a try too?”

“But you have no sense of fashion whatsoever.”

“That’s an understatement.”

Let’s be honest, if someone asked me the names of clothing items, I probably wouldn’t be able to answer even ten percent of them. Colors and patterns are a mystery to me. I think a single-color outfit would be just fine.

“Hey, can you come over here?”

“Well, there should be other empty rooms, so I think it’s probably okay…”

We chose the furthest dressing room to hide in.

I doubt they’d bother coming all the way over here.

But still, I have a bad feeling about this.

It feels like we’re overlooking something important…

“…Hey, look over there.”

“What is it?”

“Oh, there are two pairs of shoes.”

Ah…

“Hey, did you take off your shoes?”

“I did.”

“Me too…”

“…”

“…”

It’s strange how we’re observing etiquette in such a situation.

Two outlaws going naked in a public place…

But this is bad.

Having two pairs of shoes in front of a fitting room is practically like a prelude to a couple doing something indecent inside.

If they just ignore it, that would be great, but if not, the worst-case scenario awaits.

“Could it be what I think it is?”

“Should we call a staff member?”

Please, not that.

I beg you, let’s do anything but that…!

“…Hey, want to take a peek?”

What?

“Uh, but isn’t that risky?”

“Come on, just a little. Don’t you want to know?”

“Well, I do, but…”

I wish they didn’t.

But compared to calling a staff member, this seemed like a somewhat better choice.

As long as we can deceive their eyes…

“W-What should we do? We’ll get caught like this!”

“Can’t just like before, where I go out alone… That won’t work.”

However, that’s also quite difficult.

Now, what should we do? I desperately rack my brain.

We need to deceive them and find the best way out of this situation.

Ideally, I don’t want to expose Shirogane.

Even just her silhouette or hair could give us away.

So, we need a divine move to both conceal Shirogane and fend off the girls.

“Well, guess there’s no other choice. I’ll apologize in advance. Sorry if I touch any weird places.”

“Huh? What are you…”

I made up my mind and embraced Shirogane tightly.

“!!?!?!?!”

I can feel her being incredibly surprised in my arms, but she needs to calm down right now.

With this, Shirogane won’t be visible behind me, and it looks like we’re a couple cuddling, so it might deter the teenage girls.

…Oops, I forgot about the mirror. There’s a chance Shirogane’s silhouette or hair might be visible, giving us away.

I quickly push her towards the wall where the mirror is.

“Wait, huh, what!?”

“Shh, be quiet.”

Now all we can do is hope that the girls will obediently back off.

After a few seconds, the curtain is gently opened.

Although I can’t see it with my own eyes, I can tell from the sighs and faint voices leaking out that the girls are quite flustered.

This might work.

I squeeze Shirogane even tighter, emphasizing that we’re currently in the midst of something.

“hyaah…”

Shirogane lets out an inaudible moan.

I’m sorry.

“Oh man, this is serious.”

“Y-Yeah. Let’s go. We shouldn’t disturb them.”

“We’ve seen something we shouldn’t have…”

But it seems that our efforts paid off, as the group of girls quickly left.

It looks like they didn’t even try on any clothes and just left the store.

That’s a relief. Now we can safely leave.

“Phew, we managed to get through that.”

“…”

“I knew there was a chance we’d run into someone we know, but I never expected things to turn out like this.”

“…”

“You’ve been unresponsive since earlier. Are you okay?”

“I’m f-fine…”

Shirogane’s cheeks flushed like apples, and she seemed somewhat dazed, her gaze wandering aimlessly.

I wonder what’s wrong.

Let’s think about the cause…

…

Well, I guess I can figure it out.