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"I wash this, Chika! I know how to keep it clean!" Duo didn't put up much of a fight, though. Mostly because he knew if he did, Solarmon would never let him hear the end of it. Also, he liked hanging out with Chika. She was much better company than Solarmon, that was for sure.

Of course, he wasn't expecting to go to a mall, and the size of the place...well, it wasn't as big as the colony, but it definitely reminded him of it. He stopped just inside the door and gaped at the size of the place. "Woah..."

"That doesn't matter! You need to have at least a few sets of clothes. What if something happens and you need to leave quickly and you're in the middle of washing it?" she asked. But well... even she could tell that he wasn't really fighting all that hard.

She had people fight her hard before. Back home, sometimes.

She couldn't help but smile a bit when Duo noticed what everything looked like though. His reaction was pretty adorable. "Yeah. It's pretty big. I was a bit surprised the first time I came here too."

He had no retort to the question. He was too busy staring because it was almost like a smaller version of his colony. Well, except there was no Alliance running around.

"I've seen bigger places. I mean...the colony is much bigger, but it's still pretty big. I don't think I've seen so many stores, though. You can't even fit them all in an Alliance warehouse..."

Solarmon floated around near Biyomon and simply rolled his eyes at Duo's description.

"Isn't a colony supposed to be like a town though. I mean, it'd make sense that it's bigger than the mall," she said. Though she giggled at the comment about the stores.

"Well, I don't know how big those are, but malls like this are pretty awesome."

Biyomon looked over towards Solarmon for a moment, waiting for Chika to grab Duo's hand and start dragging him over to another one of the stores real quick before he decided to say something. "He's pretty homesick, isn't it?"

"...Nooooo, a colony is huge. I mean, it's gotta be to keep so many people up in space, ya know? And there's more than one, but I never went to any of 'em." He continued following Chika, letting her drag him this way and that without a fuss. "I don't know what colony you're talking about, but I can tell you not they're not suppose to be small."

He doesn't further explain the warehouse because, well, that was just a topic he'd rather not think about. He didn't even really mean to say it to begin with, but he could still steer the conversation elsewhere if she didn't bring it up again.

Solarmon, on the other hand, simply hovered in place. "I wouldn't know. He doesn't talk to me about home. He only tries to tell me what to do and insults me--" Solarmon, you're not much better. "So I'd just take what he says with a grain of salt."

"I'm not saying that a colony is small," Chika answered, frowning a bit. "I've... never been to any place called a colony, but it can't be bigger than most countries."

Well, Duo, you're not going to have to worry about much of anything, because Chika's not going to be asking about the warehouse. Probably because they ended up right in front of the clothing store, but still. "Come on! Let's go find something that looks good on you!"

And with that, she's going to keep dragging him into the store.

Biyomon nods. "That's understandable. If that's how he's acting around you, I mean. Hopefully he'll open up to you sometime soon. I think it really takes time for a lot of people."

He was just about to reply before he was dragged into the store. All he could manage was a quick "Hey!" as Chika pulled him inside.

Solarmon didn't follow. He didn't need anything in there, and would likely just get in the way of the workers. So he remained out in the main hall.

"Honestly, I don't think he'll change. He's been like this since the beginning, and if you ask me, it won't matter how long it takes for him to get use to the place. He'll still be the same trouble-seeking child he is now."

Sorry Duo, Chika's not really going to be listening much to your protests. Because more clothes were definitely something that you needed. She's going to just giggle instead while she drags you over to the boys section. But hey, at least you two weren't teenagers so this wasn't as awkward as it could be, right?

Biyomon just shook his head. "But if he does get used to it, and gets used to you being here, then even if he does stay as a trouble-seeking child, well... at least he'll be trusting you now." Of course, this is assuming that Chika doesn't yell at him enough to get him to stop causing trouble... but Biyomon figured even mentioning that right now was a bit premature.

If Solarmon could shrug, he would. He honestly didn't believe Duo would ever trust him, but he would keep that to himself. The shops and different beings walking from one place to another managed to keep his attention while the two Chosen Children did their shopping.

"Chika, what am I even suppose to be looking for? I don't even know if any of this will fit me." Duo moved around the different racks of clothes, his fingers brushing against the shirts and pants and various other articles of clothing. He didn't care a girl was taking him shopping. He just felt a little out of place being in a place with so many nice things.

He grabbed a pair of shorts from a nearby rack, blue jeans that were at least two sizes too big. He holds them up to where Chika could see. "What about these?"

"We're trying to find anything that looks like that it'd fit you and look good on you. And figuring out if it'll fit you is what trying the clothes on is for, silly!" Chika answered, her eyes darting around the store for a few moments before he interrupts her.

And then she just giggles a bit. "I think those are going to be way too big for you, Duo."

"But how do I know what looks good on me?" Clothes shopping Duo had never done before. It was find things you could wear, and if it didn't fit right, you MADE it fit right, usually with rope or cable or something that could act as a belt.

He looked to the shorts and then back at Chika to voice as much. "I could wear a belt thing, right?" It made sense to him, at least.

Chika nodded. "Yeah. You could definitely wear a belt if you wanted too," she said, smiling when he took a look at the shorts. "But even those will really only help a little. Sure, it might keep shorts that are seven sizes too big for you on you, but it's going to look really silly."

"Oh...okay." He put the shorts back on the rack and moved around to where he's closer to Chika, looking at the stuff she had been looking through. "There's so much stuff here. I've never seen so many clothes before." He scuffed his foot against the floor and looked away with a faint blush covering his cheeks.

"C'n you help me?" The words were mumbled, and ran together. He hated asking for help, but he had no idea what he was doing.

Chika blinked, turning her head to Duo when she heard him ask if she would help him. And then she smiled, and let out a giggle. "Of course I'll help you find something!" she said. "I mean, there's not reason for me to be here with you if I don't help you look, right?"

The giggling made his cheeks turn even more red. He wasn't trying to be funny. He huffed, and blew his bangs up off his forehead briefly before they fell back into place.

"Okay, okay. Where do we start?"

Chika stopped giggling, noticing that he didn't really like it that much, and frowned a bit in concentration. They really needed to find something that'd look good on him, after all.

"Hmm... we should probably start by finding a shirt and pants or something that looks good on you. It's pretty cold this time of year," she said. She grabbed his hand, moving to pull him over towards the more wintery stuff. She had a couple of ideas of what colors would look good on him, but she kinda needed him there to check them out and know for sure.

"Oh...okay. Um..."

He turned to the racks again, looking at the shirts this time. It was easier for him to judge the size of a shirt than shorts or pants. Especially when he's actually smaller than most kids his age.

Huffing quietly, Duo reached up to pull down a black t-shirt off the rack. It was closer to his size than the shorts had been, and had a picture of a skateboard on it. He held it out Chika. "Like this?"

Chika looked at the shirt for a moment. She wasn't too sure about the skateboard symbol, but the point was finding something that Duo liked that wasn't too ridiculous. She went ahead and grabbed the shirt, from him, before going ahead and holding it up against his chest.

"Yeah. This looks pretty good. Now we just need to find a pair of pants and then have you try them on."

He went stiff when Chika held the shirt up to him. He had no idea what she was doing so he stood as still as he could. She was the expert here, after all, even if her methods were odd to him. If she thought the skateboard was bad, he'd put it up. He didn't have a preference, really. So long as they were clothes, he was fine.

"Uh, okay. What kinda pants?" He felt silly asking, but what could he do? This was all new to him.

"Well, that's going to depend on what we find," Chika said, pulling back from him now that she was sure that the shirt was going to be a good thing for him. "Like... there's a bunch of different types. Though we might want to get you a pair of jeans or something with a lot of pockets."

Jeans seemed to be pretty durable, though a lot of pockets would definitely be a good thing too. Especially if Duo ended up going out of the city a lot for missions and things.

Lots of pockets? Duo could easily get behind that. Especially if he fell back into his street rat ways, which was likely possible in a place like this since he didn’t really have anyone to temper such behavior. There are people who could possibly keep him out of some trouble, but only if they were able to keep up. Of course, Duo wasn’t about to say it out loud. There was no sense in it.

He canted his head faintly to the side as he looked around for some jeans. Being so short had its disadvantages, but then again, he was able to notice some on a lower shelf rather quick. He dashed over and pointed. “These, right? I think these have a lot of pockets. Oh! And a loopy thing!” A pair of carpenter pants were pulled from the shelf, these more likely to fit than the shorts he had grabbed at the beginning.

Chika grinned when she saw him pick out something that looked like it'd actually fit. "Yeah! Something like that will be perfect for you!" Of course, they needed to make sure that the pants fit, but that was easy enough. She moved a bit closer to him, looking at the pants again for a few more moments before nodding. "Okay. I think it'd be best if we go to the dressing room so you can try that on."

Chika could do the same thing that she did for the shirt, but with pants it could probably get a bit awkward. To say the least.

Duo wouldn't have flinched from the possible awkward situation. After all, he was use to having to change in front of other kids since he lived on the streets. Privacy wasn't a problem. It was more a problem of someone he didn't know that well doing something he didn't know the purpose of.

Still, he took the pants and the shirt, and gave Chika a confused look. "Dressing room? What's wrong with changing out here? S'not like I gotta hide anything."

Okay, that really gets a big blush coming from Chika now. Good job Duo. "Because that's really not appropriate Duo! They have the dressing rooms so you can do that without showing everyone what you look like without clothes and... just go in one! It's right over there!"

And there she is, pointing over to the dressing room which isn't really that far away at all. She knew that Duo hadn't gone into all the detail about how things were back home, but she wasn't really able to think about that right now. Like, not at all.

"Okay okay! Geez, fine, I'll go." He huffs at Chika, blowing his bangs up some before he goes into the dressing room. It takes him a few minutes to get changed, though truthfully most of that time is spent folding up his cassock. It's evident when he steps out in the new clothes, and his old clothes are nice and neat on the bench in the room.

The pants are a size too big, but the shirt seems to fit fine on him. He looks down at himself and then back at Chika. "How's this?"

Good boy Duo. At least you knew when to actually listen to people. There were a few people that she could name that didn't, so you're already doing better than them.

Once he comes out though, Chika moves a bit closer, taking a good look at him. "It looks pretty good. The pants are a little big, but they're not so big that using a belt to hold them up would look silly," she said, frowning in thought a bit. "We can try to find a pair a size smaller if you want though, but that's up to you."

After all, for all she knew, Duo could grow into the pants easily enough anyway. Didn't her mom say that boys grew like weeds anyway?

Most boys grow like weeds. When malnutrition is involved, growth is often stunted. Such as the case with Duo, but it's not like he would know any of that. He just looks at the outfit and turns around, as if trying to see all angles of the outfit.

"I think this is okay if I can find a belt." His eyes focus on his socked feet for a second before he ducks back into the dressing room to put on his slippers. He smiles and steps out.

"There! Good, right?"

Chika giggled. "Yep! That's definitely good! At least for a first outfit anyway. We should probably get you a few more things too, that way you don't need to wash your clothes everyday. But at least if we get something similar you won't need to try on every single pair of pants, since they should fit you the same if they're the same brand and size."

Well, for the most part. And if they're a little bit bigger, then that just means he'll be able to grow into them a bit more.

Duo nodded in agreement. He liked these new ones, but he much preferred his cassock. Trying on new clothes was a much different experience than what he was use to. This way, he could wear something he was comfortable with and still get new things.

"I think I like that idea better than getting all fancy with other stuff." His cheeks were tinged pink as he started for the dressing room. "But this is more than enough. We don't hafta get more." It just seemed like he was asking a lot from Chika. And he was quite honest when he said it, though. He really did think the t-shirt and jeans were plenty to get.

Chika pouted a bit. "It's really okay. I mean, we're not going for the super expensive stuff," she said when she watched Duo head back towards the dressing room. "And well... umm... it'd really make things a lot easier for you to have more than one or two pairs of clothes." After all, you can't really wear the same thing for a while without washing it Duo. That just was... eww.

He knew how to wash his clothes! He would wash them, huff huff.

Duo quickly changed into his cassock again and exited the dressing room with the other clothes folded neatly in his arms. The toes of his slippers he tapped against the floor, making sure they were in place.

"Okay. What else should we get? You're the expert." He asks that even though he's already migrating to the t-shirts.

That was a good question, actually. While Duo did need more clothes, getting the same type of clothes for everything might not be the best idea. She couldn't help but blush a little bit at the expert comment though, but she didn't pay it any mind for long. Dwelling on that won't help, and she has something more important to think about anyway. "Well, we should probably get you another couple of pairs of pants and the same number of shirts."

Of course, it would be better to get him even more than that, but she was ten. She kinda wasn't responsible enough with her money to buy Duo a complete wardrobe.

Duo wasn't paying enough attention to Chika to notice her blushing. He was too busy looking through the clothes, hoping they can find a few more things here. "Okay. So...what about this?"

He took a long sleeved tee off a rack and held it out where Chika could see it. He had no idea what it was suppose to be, but she said to find a shirt. So he found a shirt. And it was long sleeved, so it was bound to be warm, right?

Chika stared at that t-shirt for a few moments, but then her smile went wide and she giggled. "That shirt looks great Duo! I mean... I don't know what it's supposed to be a picture of, but I think it'd look good on you anyway." Green seemed to be a good color for him, and she doesn't waste any time before grabbing another green shirt as well. Though this one didn't have any designs on it, it was a sweatshirt. "What about this one too? I know it's a little plain, but it's also going to be able to keep you a lot warmer than that one will."

"I 'unno what it is either, but I like it." He was secretly glad she approved. After all, she was the expert, just as he said before. When she pulled out the sweatshirt, his smile widened.

"It could be pink and I would still like it!" And he meant it. After going so long without things of his own, he could own DRESSES and be happy. He actually hopped a little before quickly moving closer to Chika so he could look at the sweatshirt better.

Yay for not recognizing popular culture icons due to not being from a time when they're popular!

Chika giggles a bit at Duo's comment about it being pink and he'd love it, and she holds it out towards him when he comes closer. "Really? I'll have to keep that in mind," she said, ready for him to take the shirt so that he'll be able to check it out a little bit better.

Duo takes the shirt with all the other clothes he's holding and just smiles. He's going to have things of his own. They'll be his and that's...a great feeling.

He barely even looks at it before he's giving Chika a quick hug. "Thanks!" And just as fast as he hugs her, he's letting her go to check out the pants.

Chika giggled and blushed when Duo hugged her like that, but he pulled away quickly, so it wasn't like she was being embarrassed or anything for long. "You're welcome Duo! Merry Christmas!"

Sure. It was pretty early, but well, she was planning on getting him a few things anyway. Making the clothes his gift was as good as anything else, right?

Wait. Christmas? Duo spun around and tilted his head head somewhat to the side.

"Christmas is coming up? It wasn't Christmas back on the colony..."

Chika shrugged. Well, that's something that she thought someone else would've explained to him by now. "Yeah. It's in around six days," she said. "Travel between different worlds like what happened with us is kinda weird. The it can be different months and years and stuff between two different worlds."

Duo had only really paid attention to finding an exit when he first showed up, and then after that, he desired only two things: food and shelter. Everything else was trivial information that didn't need that much of his attention. However, having Chika explain it like this made it easier to focus on.

"It definitely sounds weird. I'd rather take space travel. Shuttles and stuff like that. Maybe a mobile suit, if I had to. Really, anything to get off the colony."

Chika didn't say anything for a few moments. Because she didn't really know what to say. This was all completely different than what she really knew about. "It's... kinda really confusing, yeah." She knew from experience. Her brother was here from a different world and the future compared to her, after all. But well, what he said did bring up some questions of her own.

"What's a mobile suit?"

Blink. How could anyone not know what a mobile suit is? He glanced up in thought before shrugging.

"It's a giant robot that people can pilot on the inside."

Well, at least she didn't assume it was a dancing tuxedo.

Chika blinked, because that couldn't be right. That sounded like something out of an anime!

... Which was exactly the same as a Digital World. So it could totally be true and that means.

"You come from a place with giant robots!? That's so cool! What are they like? Come on, tell me, tell me!"