Here's the shopping trip and I hope you like it.

As they drove to the mall Linda said, “We’ll be going to stores I’ve used before and the management knows not to ask questions but some of the help might. It’s best if you can say nothing but in some cases that will be more suspicious than almost anything else so we have a cover story just in case. I’m your aunt and I’ve recently gotten custody of you. As to why try to be vague and say you’d rather not talk about it but either whatever incident or accident happened left you with nothing but the clothes on your back and you were obviously a tomboy before you came to me so you are not used to girlier things but as your aunt I want to make a proper lady out of you and thus am buying you a ‘proper’ wardrobe.”

“I think I can remember that,” Asuna said.

Linda nodded, “Good, but if you get put on the spot try to ad lib loudly enough for me to hear and I’ll just roll with it. I’ll be near the entire time so don’t worry. I’m sure things will go smoothly so just try and enjoy yourself.”

They pulled up to the mall and Linda led her straight to Victoria’s Secret. Asuna was half glad and half disappointed when she saw that it had most of the shutters down and a sign on the door saying “Closed for private viewing - Please come back tomorrow.”

Linda walked right up to the door anyway, “Don’t worry, we’re the ones it is closed for. I wanted you to be able to buy what you need without worrying about other women.”

Once they were inside the door was locked and the final shutter closed. “You are now private as you requested Agent Carter and may I say you are looking lovely as ever?” The manager was a man of middle age with a faint accent wearing an expensive suit. He kissed Linda’s hand and added, “Not to worry, I shall be excusing myself forthwith and leaving you in the capable hands of my two best employees. They are experienced bra fitters and are blessed with excellent taste as well as complete discretion.” He gestured them to come forth and introduced them as Cynthia and Maryellen then left through the back.

“Is he really gone?” Asuna asked.

“Yes,” Cynthia said. She was a tall brunette in a pantsuit that hid most of her gentle curves, “The back has an employees only door out of the mall. If you like I can go lock that as well but no one should be coming in through there.”

“I’d feel better if you did,” Asuna replied. “This is all rather new to me.”

“Certainly,” Cynthia said nodding and left.

Maryellen walked up and held out her hand to Asuna, “Hi, you can call me Mimi. Don’t worry, we do this a lot. We should first start by measuring you. If you’ll come with me to the showroom, we have a fitting station with all the right equipment.”

Asuna took a deep breath and followed her while Linda came right behind. The show room had a pedestal with a three way mirror, several dress forms and lots of cloth swatches and lingerie.

“Are we needing to take a full measure,” she asked Linda. “Or just a bust measurement?”

“The full measurement please and if you could give us a copy, that would be great,” Linda replied.

Asuna sighed and took off her clothes, “Go ahead and measure me wherever you need to. Should I step on the dais?”

If Mimi was surprised at Asuna’s lack of underwear she didn’t show it and by the time Cynthia was back Mimi was using the tape measure so she just sat with Linda until the measuring was done.

“Okay we’ll make some to order for you and send them along to Agent Carter but for now I think a pair of 34B will fit best off the rack,” she wrote that down on a piece of a paper then continued measuring. “Nice flat abs and a 26 inch waist. I wish I had that,” she smiles and writes that down. “Last but not least the hips!” After measuring she says, “Only 33 inches? Just enough to have a curve.”

Cynthia stands, “So, we’ll go get you some to look at. Just so you know, if you try them on while naked they have to be bought. Alright?”

Asuna shrugged, “Fine with me.”

“So what colors do you want to see?” Mimi asked.

“Well I mostly just need stuff to replace lost wardrobe so I guess plain white,” Asuna said.

Linda said, “I think you should a few really nice things now. Every girl should have few pieces that aren’t strictly utilitarian and everything you buy today is on us.”

“Well let me start with the basics then we’ll see what else we can get. Okay?”

After she was wearing plain white cotton she was willing to to get a bit more adventurous. Of the ten sets she bought one was black lace and one was a french cut bottom of white silk with a bandeau top. They offered her a lot of things she doubted she’d ever wear but instead of saying that she to emulate her mom and aunt, polite and soft spoken but extremely firm.

She said, “No thank you, I believe we are done considering lingerie and would now like to move to sleepwear.” When what she was thinking was more along the lines of ‘Thongs and fishnets? Are you insane?’. It seemed to work, they put away the more extreme things and moved on.

She ended up buying two long sleepshirts with anime characters on them, “The blue-haired girl is Rei Ayanami, from Neon Genesis Evangelion,” she explained to Linda, “And this is Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess.”

She kept the shirt she wore in but traded the trunks for a pair of denim shorts. “It’s good to have pockets again,” Asuna said, “even if not as many as my old cargo shorts.” They were also shorter as she was uncomfortably aware but they fit much better than the trunks and she was assured they looked good on her.

Before they left the store Linda gave her a professional once over, “You look fine. No one in the mall will think anything odd about the way you’re dressed but I predict you’ll want to burn that by the time we’re done.”

“What? Why?” Asuna asked.

“Every salesperson and teenage boy looking for something to say will point out that you look just like her,” Linda said. “But you can always say that’s why you bought it.” She nodded once, “We’re ready for prime time, let’s go finish our shopping.”

“How many more stores are we going to visit?” Asuna asked as Mimi unlocked the front door and let them out.

“As many as necessary,” Linda replied. As they walked she leaned in close and said softly, “Remember I’m your aunt and let me pay from hear on. The credit card I’ll use doesn’t have USG printed on it.”

Asuna nodded and over the next few hours she learned a lot about buying women’s clothes. “Why isn’t an 8 the same size in all brands?”

“Oh don’t get me started,” Linda replied. “The sizes are just basic guides, you’ll need to try on everything to see if it will fit. At that you’re lucky and most stores will carry things in your size. Some grown women have to shop in the kid’s section and the really tall are often stuck with either ugly clothes or men’s clothes. Remember that feeling though and you’ll be able to join in the gossip authentically.”

Asuna was thinking of getting only unisex tees in black but Linda was persuasive and she ended up with six shirts that could have been worn by either sex in white, black, and a bright red that closely matched her hair. She also got four other shirts in softer colors, a powder blue shirt with a scooped neck, an emerald green v-neck, a pink knitted croptop, and a plaid shirt with buttons.

She also had switched into a black polo shirt. Linda had been right about the salespeople. And the boys as well to Asuna’s embarrassment. She found that ignoring them worked with most and Linda shooed the rest away. She didn’t want Asuna losing her temper with them.

“It is still early July so we are only doing summer shopping today. Before you leave for the academy in New Hampshire we’ll go shopping again,” Linda said as they were trying on pants. Since she was paying this time, and because it would add to their cover, Linda was doing a little shopping too.

In the end the only things Asuna didn’t end up enjoying were shoe shopping and the boys. She bought just two pair, both sneakers and ignored anything male with a sneer of disgust.

Eventually they were done and on the way back to the car laden with bags. As the reached the car Linda’s cellphone went off and she stepped away to answer it while Asuna put their spoils of mall warfare in the trunk.