☾☾☾
“COME on, Urara, let’s go.”
It was morning. Clutching my hollow head, I lugged my heavy body down to the living room, where I found Shizuku sitting in the middle seat at the table for some reason.
“Hello...?”
“Hurry up and get ready. You look awful today.”
Yes, I was well aware. Why was she here?
“Thank you,” Shizuku said, accepting a cup of tea from Kirara. She then looked back at me.
“I tried calling you over and over last night. So I thought it would be better just to come by myself. Hehe,” she giggled, seemingly proud of herself for surprising me. Kirara nodded approvingly as she spoke.
They both seemed to be enjoying this.
“Anyway, hurry up! Get ready! We don’t wanna be late for our appointment!”
“What...appointment?”
“For our dresses! Our alterations are done. Come on, let’s go!”
“Ehehe. She said I can go, too!” Kirara announced.
They both grabbed me from either side, giggling.
B-But how could I face the others after what happened yesterday?! I couldn’t tell Shizuku Chouko’s secret, but I wasn’t ready to just sit quietly with it, either.
I was steeped in anxiety.
“Aww...Tendou, are you all right?”
“...Uh, yes. More or less.”
Less was more like it.
I had somehow managed to keep up appearances, but my eyes were puffy, and with no way to hide it, I merely looked away while responding.
It was only natural that Shimozuru, who was coming with us, would have heard what happened. He was acting awkward around me. I could feel his probing gaze on me every now and then, but I just pretended not to notice as we walked to the boutique.
However, as we were led back into the same salon as the other day and laid eyes on the dresses, their brilliant appearance managed to chase the clouds in my heart away.
“It’s gorgeous...,” Shizuku, Kirara, and I all said in unison, unable to take our eyes off the dresses.
New ribbons had been attached at the chest and cuffs, but somehow, they weren’t overly gaudy. The lace adorning the front had been embroidered with dainty roses.
The base was still the same dress I had tried on the other day, but the customizations were less alterations and more turning the dress into something brand-new. Glancing at Shizuku’s dress, I saw hers was now cuter and more glamorous than before.
“Well? Do you like them?” Mr. Agatsuru asked with a smile, having shown up at some point while we were entranced by the dresses.
“Wow! Yes, of course!” Shizuku repeated over and over, still mesmerized by hers.
“How about you, Urara? Anything I need to fix?”
“No, it is wonderful. But was it really all right for you to go to so much trouble?”
It was normal for people to wear dresses each day in my past life, but I had a feeling we would be wearing these for only a few hours. No matter how great the technology, going to all this trouble in such a short amount of time must have been difficult.
As soon as I asked him that, his smile widened.
“Oh, no, I had great inspiration. Our designers and pattern maker all worked together on these.”
“But...”
“We would have liked to make you a dress from scratch but didn’t have the time. Next time, we’ll really make you something special. So don’t worry,” he said.
“What are you saying?! Commoners like myself don’t get beautiful gowns like this. We have nowhere to wear them.” Flustered, I turned the kind offer down.
He raised his eyebrows, confused. I couldn’t figure out why. All of a sudden, he leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.”
I leaped up in surprise.
I knew what he was trying to say.
He was Shimozuru’s cousin. And considering he had his own fashion brand, he likely prepared all of Chouko’s clothes.
I couldn’t feign ignorance.
Even so, I wasn’t ready to answer him. If I did, I was so afraid it meant I would have to discard everything I knew about Chouko until now—
I struggled to gather my thoughts. Finally opening my eyes, I addressed Mr. Agatsuru.
“Ah—”
“Ahh!”
“Huh?
“I-It’s the grizzly guy!”
Shizuku, you’re actually a lifesaver for once. She was clearly referring to his now-absent beard. Apparently she hadn’t noticed it was Mr. Agatsuru until now.
After we tried on the altered dresses and did a final check, we made our way to the café from yesterday, having made a proper reservation this time.
Shizuku had also heard of the café, so she and Kirara chatted happily about the different items on the menu.
“But I really was spooked. How could a grizzly bear look so different without the beard?”
I still couldn’t believe she called him a grizzly bear to his face.
“Don’t I look sexy now? Makes me look more like Oboro, doesn’t it?” That was an adult for you—Mr. Agatsuru took Shizuku’s verbal abuse in stride. He punctuated his remarks with an idol-like smile and a wink.
“We so do not look alike! Go to hell Kiyoharu!” Shimozuru said, cursing for perhaps the first time since I’d met him.
Kirara, squealing, watched Mr. Agatsuru making the idol pose.
Shizuku narrowed her eyes as if scrutinizing him. “In your dreams,” she muttered.
“The pose aside, your faces do look alike,” I said, causing both Shimozuru and Shizuku to give me sour looks.
Their faces were kind of funny and somehow caused me to burst into effortless laughter.
“Oh, you finally laughed.”
“I did...?”
“Urara, you hadn’t noticed? You’ve had a frown on your face all day. Right?” Shizuku said, pressing Shimozuru for agreement.
“That’s right,” he replied, a bit timidly.
Had I really been making such an unsightly face?
Flustered, I apologized over and over to Mr. Agatsuru. He merely nodded.
“I understand why. But you do like the dress, don’t you?”
“Yes. Of course I do.”
When I had stood in front of the mirror, I had admired the dress. Even in my past life I would have not had the chance to wear something so stunning.
It was so beautiful, it felt a waste letting someone like me wear it. How wonderful it would be to dance in a dress like that.
Up until the day before yesterday, I would have been so excited, I could hardly stand it.
But for some reason, I just couldn’t see myself dancing. My partner’s face, the sequence of the steps, they were fading. Was I really worthy of that dress feeling this way?
I once again glanced at Mr. Agatsuru and noticed he was giving me a serene smile.
“It’s fine,” he chided gently. “You need to be more confident so you can properly show off my work. I know it will all work out.”
I know it will all work out.
For some reason, those words seeped into my heart.
He was right. And anyway, I needed to focus on the dance competition.
My mind was too tired to sift through everything regarding Chouko.
After all, I had hidden everything about my past life, including how I knew how to dance and ride a horse in spite of having no experience. I realized I had been putting Chouko on a pedestal, and now here I was, blaming him and demanding explanations when I had been unwilling to share my own.
Once this round was over, I wanted to talk it out. Even if Chouko didn’t believe me, at least there would be no lies between us.
So please, Chouko, tell me about yourself. I want to know all about you, too.
✦ ✦ ✦
☾☾☾
THE next day at the dance studio, I suggested to everyone that we let go of the distractions of the past few days and focus on dancing. We only had two days left to practice.
Naturally, Shimozuru looked as if he had something to say, and Shinmyou furrowed his brow, but they both remained silent and accepted my proposal.
Dancing in time with the music helped ease some of my gloom. Slowly, as we danced our way through the set, a smile emerged on my face.
Seeing me cheer up, Shimozuru and Shizuku, too, returned to their normal cheer.
“Hey! Oboro! You’re going way too fast!”
“Come on, you can do it, too! See!”
They leaped and then turned. Their dancing lacked elegance, but watching how much fun they seemed to be having brought another smile to my face.
“Hehehe. They look like they’re having fun,” I said to Shinmyou before realizing it. He was a little surprised, too, and his body gave a tiny tremble.
“Are you...um, are you really all right with things as they are?”
I had an idea of what he meant, but I pretended not to.
“No, I’m not.”
“Seriously?!”
“Well, we should be having more fun. Like Shizuku and Shimozuru.”
For a brief second, he made a silly face.
I gave him a smile in return. This was our last challenge, after all, so we might as well enjoy ourselves.
“R-Right...”
He was a bit hesitant, but little by little, he seemed to slowly warm to me.
There were three days left until the contest.
I was afraid of what was to come, but I resolved to keep my emotions and heart from sinking into despair.