“Waaah! Snookums, my costume ripped again!” Tio cried.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, I’ll handle it. Where’s the tear?” Kimihito asked.
“Right over my chest!”
“Huh?!” Kimihito seared red.
They were back in the green room, and Tio was once again clinging to him in tears. This time, the costume had split along the center buttons, right between her breasts. Thanks to their height disparity, when her massive breasts were unleashed, they just narrowly missed a violent impact with his face.
He took a second to compose himself, then took out the sewing kit and assessed the damage. “All right…you’ll be returning this to the theater soon, won’t you? Wouldn’t it make sense to leave fixing this to the professionals?”
“Oh, no! ☆ They prepared these outfits specially for us, so they said we can keep them.”
Of course, it’s not like a human idol could use a costume tailored to fit Tio.
“Isn’t that great, Papi? ☆” Tio asked.
“Hooray! Boss can see my Papi dance whenever he wants!” Papi shouted.
“Yeah! Maybe when we get home you could show the rest of the girls your dance, too,” he said.
“Yaaay! Get ready for, err… How did it go again?” She tried to repeat the steps, but it seemed she’d already forgotten. All she could manage was spinning around and around.
She’ll get dizzy if she keeps at it… Kimihito was worried, but for the moment, his hands were tied, or maybe laced, as he mended Tio’s frilly costume. He couldn’t split his focus between them. He wove the needle in and out almost as fast as a sewing machine while trying not to look too closely at the bust looming over his face. “Okay, Tio, I’m done. The stitches aren’t that secure, though, so at some point you’ll need proper repairs to prevent another tear.”
“Really?” Tio asked. “Would you be able to handle those too, Snookums?”
“Of course.”
“Aww! ☆” Tio gave him a warm smile. “It’s a date! I’ll make lunch as a thank-you, and we can have a picnic.”
“That’d be, uh… It’s not that big a deal.”
“Hm? Why not?”
“It might be—” He thought back to a similar occasion when he’d been caught up in Tio’s healing aura. She’d made him feel so relaxed he couldn’t bring himself to leave…couldn’t even bring himself to want to. It made future invitations dangerously tempting. “—too much.”
“Awww!”
“Beloved?” came a voice from behind him.
“Ah, Mero,” Kimihito answered.
Mero, in her automatic wheelchair, had returned from drying her hair. “Thank you for assisting with the performance. The sprinklers were a lifesaver.”
“Your gills had dried out, right?”
“So you did realize.”
“Yeah, your voice sounded kinda off. Since I knew the spotlight could be really hot, I thought that might be the issue.”
“‘Elementary,’ my beloved! Your powers of observation are amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” She pressed her hands together with a smile.
He had detected the change in Mero’s voice and asked the director where the control panel for the sprinkler system was. He could have set them off manually by lighting a fire under the sensor, but that would have soaked the audience, so he went directly to the switchboard and activated just the sprinklers over the stage.
“I must admit, though, I’m surprised how easily you detected such a small change in my voice,” she said, looking a bit shy.
“Huh?” He tilted his head in confusion. “Well, I guess I’m always listening to your voice, so of course I’d notice when it changes, Mero.”
Mero was speechless. She hid her face in her hands and started to cough, painful and dry.
“M-Mero?! Are you all right?! Are your gills too dry?!” Kimihito checked her over in concern.
“N-no, I’m quite fine, just surprised that you’d be such a tease,” she said through her hands.
He tilted his head so far it seemed like it’d do a full rotation, unable to understand what she was talking about. He’d become so used to the forwardness of Miia and some of the other girls that Mero’s restrained shows of affection didn’t quite register with him.
“Ahem. Not to worry. Thank you again for all your help, Beloved. Your intervention meant I could do my job well.”
“Yeah.” He looked around the room. “Mero, Tio, Papi—you all did a great job!” They’d managed to work as idols for a day with no issues.
Papi was still spinning, though she was tilting and stumbling from dizziness, and Tio was worried enough about the repairs to her outfit that she was holding her chest in check, a breast cupped in each hand. Sure, there’d been problems, but the show had gone on.
“Anyway.” Kimihito looked back at Mero. “If it’s okay to say, you and your family don’t have any trouble with money, so did you really need to do the work program?”
“It was an important life experience! Besides…” She trailed off.
“Besides?”
Mero opened her mouth to continue, then thought better of it and covered it with both hands. “Nothing.”
“Huh?” Kimihito wasn’t used to her clamming up like this, and he was stunned for a moment. He was about to continue the interrogation, when—
“Um, Boss!” Papi chirped, until she was interrupted in turn. “Papi and everyone are—”
“Papi!” Mero said. “ANM48 are starting their concert soon. The director prepared seats, shall we go and watch?”
“Yeah? Yeah, yeah? Let’s do it!”
“Hey, wait!” While Kimihito was still gathering his wits, Mero and Papi had changed the topic. Now that I think about it, Miia and Rachnera had some secret plan for their money, too…
Their determination to earn money from these jobs, and the fact that they were clearly keeping something hidden from them—those two facts were clearly connected. What were the girls scheming? They could be splitting the cost of something between them. Although given the varied body types of each of the girls, it was hard to imagine an item they’d be able to share.
“Papi, let’s change our clothes before we head out,” Tio said.
“Right!” Papi agreed. She grabbed the hem of her dress with her clawed wings.
That slammed the emergency brake on Kimihito’s train of thought. “Whoa! Papi, wait! You can’t take that off here!” He fumbled to stop her.
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because I’m here!” he shouted, fleeing the room before she could continue.
Many liminals had different morals and levels of shame than humans, Papi included, and didn’t realize the discomfort they could cause by changing clothes in front of others—particularly others of another sex.
“Waaah! Mero, Papi’s wings are caught!” She shouted from beyond the door.
“Oh, goodness, whatever shall we do with you, Papi? Let me fix that,” came Mero’s voice.
“Remember to take good care of your outfit! ☆ If you’re not careful, it’ll rip like mine did,” Tio said.
It sounded pretty lively in there.
Kimihito could do nothing but wait, face red hot, until they were done changing. He’d been so distracted by the whole situation that he’d completely forgotten about the mystery of what everyone intended to buy with their pay. It seemed answers would have to wait for another day.