Mitsuko had not emerged from the wardrobe yet. ‘Is this really suitable for a high-society clan family party?’ Nava called over her shoulder.
‘If you’re unmarried,’ Mitsuko called back. ‘Married women are expected to dress more formally, though the trend over the last decade or so has been for… more risqué gowns? I think that’s the best way to describe it. In society, the rule has become “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”’
‘And you think I have it to this extent?’
‘I’d accuse you of fishing for compliments, but I suspect you genuinely don’t understand how attractive you are. I can understand that from Mel, who is a shy girl at the best of times, but not in someone with your confidence.’ Mitsuko’s voice got louder as she spoke the last sentence, and she appeared soon after, dressed for the party. ‘As you can see, I haven’t dressed you up in anything I wouldn’t wear myself.’
Nava would have gawped if she was not more or less physically incapable of that level of expression. Mitsuko was practically naked. Her dress was a bib-fronted design with an extremely low back and a hem which barely covered her crotch. Since the garment was largely composed of fine, black mesh, it did not really conceal anything anyway. The only areas of solid black were the hem, the trim at the sides, and the collar which held the dress up at the front. Mitsuko was wearing a lacy black G-string and pasties under it. She was in outrageously tall high-heeled pumps which lengthened her legs. She looked incredible, but Nava could not believe the girl’s parents would accept their daughter walking around in an outfit like that.
‘Is your plan that I become so aroused that I won’t allow you out of the bedroom?’ Nava asked.
‘You know, the way you speak, it’s very difficult to tell whether you’re joking or not.’
‘I’m aware.’
‘Just wait until you see what the other women our age are wearing. This is nothing out of the ordinary. We need makeup.’ Mitsuko turned to the dressing table and began examining her supplies.
‘I’m going to refrain from judgement until I’ve seen the other guests then,’ Nava said, also stepping over to the table. ‘Keep in mind that I can kill you in one strike and reduce your body to its component atoms. They would never catch me.’
‘Now I’m sure you’re joking.’
‘Really?’
‘No,’ Mitsuko whined.
~~~
Mitsuko was safe from atomic decomposition for another night, but Nava had to wonder how such a ridiculous double standard had developed. The men at the party were either in formal suits or military uniforms. The women… were not. Well, except for a couple of women who were wearing ASF uniforms, and those came with cleavage windows only partially obscured by a mesh cape which was what passed for a ‘dress uniform.’ As Mitsuko had suggested, the older women, the ones more likely to be married, were in gowns, but those gowns tended to be low-cut or have skirts split to the hip or both. The women at a party like this could afford medical and magical treatments to keep them looking young and beautiful for more or less as long as they wished, so the outfits did not show off anything the owners would not wish seen. The younger women… Well, Nava almost felt overdressed.
It was possible, she reflected, that this kind of dress code had developed because it could be developed. Modern social conditioning within the Clan Worlds and most of the other societies had finally done away with gender discrimination and the ‘she’s just asking for it’ culture of earlier centuries. That need not lead to a society where women felt the need to wear basically nothing since they had the freedom to, but it partially explained the female school uniform and Nava figured it was at least one possible outcome of a society like that. She was moderately sure that this undress code did not apply to the lower ranks of society, however. Further research was needed, but that was going to have to wait.
‘Nava Ward, I’d like to introduce you to my parents,’ Mitsuko said. ‘This is Commander Zackery Trenton Sonkei.’
Mitsuko’s father was indeed a tall man and he had indeed given his looks to his son. There was the strong jawline and carefully chiselled features. His hair was dark brown, like his son’s, and Ruben seemed to have inherited his father’s slightly misty-blue eyes. Zackery was bigger, more muscular, and there was a hint of strong intelligence in his eyes, more so than in Ruben’s. He was dressed in a formal black suit with a black shirt beneath it. It made him look like a gangster, but he pulled the look off perfectly. This was a man to be reckoned with, mentally and physically. If he had also been a strong sorcerer, he would have been a real threat, but there was no hint of magic about him.
Nava took his offered hand.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nava Ward,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard much about you.’
‘The pleasure is mine, Commander,’ Nava replied. ‘I hope what you’ve heard hasn’t been too bad.’
‘On the contrary.’
What had Mitsuko been saying about her?
‘And this is Yuzuki Trenton Sonkei,’ Mitsuko went on, indicating her mother.
Yuzuki bowed to Nava rather than offering a hand. Nava knew enough about the etiquette of Japanese culture to return the bow, with added depth. Mitsuko’s mother was a beauty on a par with her daughter, but shorter. She was wearing a formal kimono in dark blue with a coral-and-white flower design which threw her pale skin into sharp contrast. The height difference between Yuzuki and her husband was even greater than that between Nava and Mitsuko. Yuzuki looked like a delicate china doll beside the
