The girls finally went shopping for summer clothes, and that made everyone quite excited. Ari was especially looking forward to it because she liked everything related to fashion. As their tastes differed a lot, though, the group split up in two. The sisters and Anna went to an outdoor fashion store while the other three tried to max out the cuteness scale.

  “By the way, don’t you have something like a dress code because you’re the princess and all?” After having entered the outdoorsy store, Steph became curious if Anna could wear whatever she wanted even though she was such an important figure.

  "During formal events, there definitely is a dress code." She nodded. “Ari hates those events, but she loves putting me in dresses.”

  “I still have yet to see you in a dress.” The dog-girl liked the idea.

  “Same!” Sophia nodded.

  “You’ve been invited to many events by father, yet you declined all of them, so you have no right to complain about that.” Anna stared at her fellow tiger.

  “Because it sounds like a massive pain!” She had good reason to decline.

  “Anyway,” The princess looked at the dog-girl again. “I should avoid looking sloppy in public, but other than that, there aren’t any special rules for me. Or at least none I know of, and if I don’t know those rules, they don’t apply.”

  “I love the reasoning.” Steph nodded a few times.

  “Why are you asking, though?”

  “Well, your plan was to go for a short skirt and a stomach-free top, right?” The little sister tilted her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I deeply appreciate it, but I wasn’t sure if it isn’t unbecoming of a princess, or something like that.”

  “Ahh.” She finally understood her intent. “I don’t see any issue with my choice of clothing. Otherwise, Ari also would’ve stopped me.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “If anything, I’d say it fits perfectly!” Sophia smiled at the tall tiger. "I need to see the denim skirt first, but the stomach-free top, preferably with a sporty cut, screams adventurer princess, and that's just the best kind of princess!"

  “Ohh!” Steph clapped her hands. “And that’s why you’re the older sister! I still have much to learn! It is true, an adventurer princess is peak! I’m disappointed in myself that I hadn’t thought about that!”

  “I’ll try my best to not fail the expectations of the sisters.” Anna could only roll her eyes.

  “We’re looking forward.” The two were on the same page.

  “While we’re at it, I’m more surprised that you’re also thinking about going for the midriff.” The princess then focused on Sophia. “I still remember how fussy you were about your clothes last year and how you didn’t like showing off your body even though you have all the reasons for doing so because it's very show-off worthy!"

  “Well, I don’t like attention, so I wanted to avoid gaining more of that when I mess up with a skirt.”

  “Stop lying!” Steph and Anna matched up perfectly when they raised their voices.

  "Hey!" Sophia didn't like that.

  “Nobody likes attention more than you do!”

  “Nobody needs attention more than you do!” The two had the same opinion on the matter.

  “That is absolutely and 100% not true!” The blonde started pouting.

  “Sure.”

  “Unrelated to that, I have become more confident in myself since then. Also, showing off my stomach is not something I overly care about, I guess? Especially when compared to accidentally revealing some way more private bits in skirt-related incidents. Panties or not.”

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  “Fair enough.” Anna could follow her logic. “While I’m not worried about that, because I’m not clumsy, I get it.”

  “Skirts can give off a sense of uncertainty, huh?” Steph nodded. “Which is kinda interesting because shorts usually show off more in the legs, thighs, and butt department than skirts do.”

  “They’re not open on the bottom, though!”

  “True.”

  “Alright, with that being settled, let’s take a look at what the store offers!”

  ----------------

  “Oh, we’re getting somewhere now!” After a bit of browsing the ware inside the store, Steph soon found something that piqued her interest. The clothing section was filled with many mannequins that displayed various outfits. All of them were giving off an outdoorsy and adventurous feel, and the dog-girl stopped at a particular one that matched her idea pretty well.

  “It’s cute!” Anna stood next to her and looked at the mannequin, which was wearing a white crop top with an off-shoulder neckline on one side. It was a little oversized, as well, creating a bit of an overhang below its chest, and barely covered anything of the stomach area. It was combined with super short black shorts with a fluffy-looking white fur lining at the bottom around the legs. It greatly accentuated the curves on the display dummy. “I could never wear this outside, at least the shirt, because of how I’m built, but I love the style!”

  “It’s a bit too revealing for my taste, but it does look great!” Sophia nodded a few times as she agreed with her fellow tiger.

  “I love it!” Steph lightly clapped her hands. “They have different colors for the shirt, too!” She pointed at the shelf below it. “The black and pink ones also look nice! I’m going to try them on!” Saying so, she grabbed a couple of shirts and a pair of shorts in her size before disappearing into one of the dressing rooms.

  “Your sister really is amazing! No second guessing anything ever and simply jumping headfirst into whatever is in front of her. Or it’s an Ari issue where she has to look at everything first before deciding on what clothes she wants.”

  “That’s Steph for you.” Sophia smiled at the princess. "Second-guessing or doubts, in general, are not part of how her very being works. It can be annoying at times, but she definitely knows how to enjoy life to the fullest. Well, unless she’s obsessed with something stupid and refuses to let go.”

  "I'M NOT SORRY THAT I WAS OBSESSED WITH THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY SISTER!" As there was only a curtain between the tigers and the dog-girl, she naturally could hear everything they were talking about. “Also, it made me go to paradise, so it’s another win for me!”

  “She’s also kinda stubborn and refuses to admit any shortcomings of herself.” Sophia ignored her complaints.

  “Well, you two are sisters, so it’s only natural that you two share some character traits.” Anna could easily accept this.

  “Oi!” The blonde didn't like that reversal.

  “I love you, Anna!” Steph did, though. Afterward, some more rustling of clothes could be heard before the dog-girl stepped out of the cabin to present her new look.

  “Ohh!” The princess seemed to like it as she was looking at the short girl in the white crop top and black shorts they had seen on the mannequin before. She was still wearing her usual shoes, but Steph had also gotten rid of her overknees. "Some regular socks, maybe up to your calves, would work really well, I think!"

  “Good plan!” Steph nodded.

  “I like how wide the sleeves are and that it's off-shoulder on one side." Sophia also took a good look. “The bra strap on your shoulder makes it spicy, too. Well, it’s still too short for my liking, but that’s a personal preference, I guess.” Saying so, she shifted her upper body a little to the side to get a lower point of view. “I mean, I can see a bit of the lace hem under the cups of your bra.”

  “Really?” Anna, who had an even higher line of sight compared to the blonde, also adjusted her position. “Ah, it’s true! Nice bra, by the way!” She liked the view. “I think it’s fine, though. From normal angles, there’s only the illusion of being able to see it. If anyone tries to bend over and see more, that's harassment, and using magic to destroy them would count as self-defense."

  “What a thing to say as the princess!” Sophia shook her head.

  "So, does that mean I can blow the two of you up?" The dog-girl stared at the two tigers who did precisely that just now.

  “We don’t count.” The two shook their heads.

  “How convenient!” Steph rolled her eyes.

  “Exactly!”

  “I think that’s an abuse of power stemming from being a part of the tiger family.”

  “That’s just not true.” The striped girls shook their heads.

  "It's good that I like the tigers, or else it would be time for a revolution." Afterward, Steph turned around and entered the dressing room once more. “Let me try the black and pink shirts, too!”

  “Mhm.” Around a minute later, Anna stared at the dog-girl wearing full black clothes while tilting her head.

  “What she said.” Sophia nodded. “It looks good, but it’s lacking contrast. The only thing that isn’t black on you is the white fur lining on the shorts.”

  “Yeah, you two have a point.” Steph looked at herself in a mirror and agreed with them. “The shirt itself looks great in black, though. I’ll still get it to pair with something else in the future.” She then returned to the dressing room and changed into the pink shirt.

  “That looks great!” Seeing the dog-girl wearing pink made the princess react much more.

  “True!” The blonde thought so, too. “Black and pink is such a good combination.”

  “I think I still prefer the white shirt, but you two are right!” Steph looked at herself in the mirror once more. “All things pink are amazing, after all.”

  "Ahaha." The other two had to chuckle at the apparent reference to Chloe.

  “Alright, I’ll get all of them!”

  Once the dog-girl had decided on her new clothes, she put all of them in a small basket, and the trio continued to look around the store, as the tigers had yet to find something for themselves.