Kai and Kotobuki engaged in some anime talk as they waited for Jun to arrive. Since Kai had joked about Water Breathing earlier, they went straight into their thoughts about episode seven of Demon Slayer. The anime only started airing the previous month, but Kai had already read up to the latest volume of the source material. However, Kotobuki was an anime-only fan, so he had to be wary of spoilers.
“I suppose such excellence is only natural for ufotable, but was Muzan’s sinister aura not exquisite, Kotobuki?”
“Quite exquisite, indeed. However, I can’t help but feel that Kibutsuji is merely a stepping stone toward the true villain.”
“Oh? And your reasoning?”
“The source material is a Jump manga. When compared to the plots of its peers, Kibutsuji’s appearance is far too early. If he were the final boss, then would it not be difficult for the manga to reach a run of thirty or forty volumes?”
“A fair point, one I hadn’t considered myself.”
“If I were to make a prediction, I would say that the true villain will be a fire-type, one that Tanjiro could prove to be a trump card against once he’s mastered Water Breathing.”
“I see, that would be quite the dramatic twist. I’d like to see it myself.”
Kai figured that Kotobuki’s predictions probably wouldn’t come to pass since he’d read ahead and knew how the plot played out from there, but he didn’t let his judgment show. To a dyed-in-the-wool otaku like Kai, this kind of sensitivity was second nature. But the real reason was that he truly did enjoy listening to Kotobuki’s theories, and he wasn’t lying when he said that he wanted to see those twists if they really did happen.
Given Kotobuki’s tastes, she’ll definitely get really into Shinobu. I hope she shows up in the anime soon; I’d love to talk about our favorite characters.
Kai continued their discussion while being quite excited for the coming weeks.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
“That’s probably Jun,” whispered Kai. He could tell that Kotobuki immediately tensed up from the news, making him worry about how long she could last if she was already on edge. They heard Jun’s voice greeting Kai’s mom in the foyer...and the next moment, they heard the footsteps of Jun bolting up the stairs.
“I’m here!”
“Does anyone knock around here?”
Then again, those footsteps told him exactly what to prepare for.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself! I’m Jun Miyakawa! Call me Jun!”
Jun sat down right next to Kotobuki (opposite from Kai) with no remorse and aggressively introduced herself. The outfit she chose was a springtime sweater with vertical stripes, a lightly colored skirt, and black stockings; she looked just like the kind of hot older lady an otaku would love. Yep, she was desperate to get on Kotobuki’s good side.
Truth be told, Kai had his concerns when Jun said she’d be “dressing up.” Was she going to go overboard? Was she going to show up absolutely cracked out wearing cutting edge fashion that was far beyond the understanding of any otaku? Kai worried that she might really creep Kotobuki out.
Fortunately, his fears proved to be unfounded. This was Jun, the woman who walked the earth with the power of normies and anime on her side. Her shots always hit their marks. Given that Kotobuki didn’t seem too nervous, Kai would say her hard work paid off.
“I am Kotobuki Hotei. A pleasure to meet you.” Kotobuki’s cheeks twitched a bit, but she was still able to manage a proper introduction.
“Gotcha, Hotey! The pleasure’s all mine!”
“P-Please don’t call me by my last name!”
“Was that rude? Is that a no-no?”
“Calling me ‘Hotei’ makes people think of Buddha, and that fatso’s image doesn’t suit mine.”
“But isn’t it cuter if I add a ‘y’ to the end of it? I think it works!”
“D-Does it really?”
“When I was a kid, I hated when people called me ‘Miyakawa’ since it was so hard to pronounce. But when my friends thought up a cute version of it and started calling me ‘Myaakawa,’ I started to like it.”
“I-I see, that’s fine for you, so...”
“So ‘Hotey’ it is!” shouted Jun as she tried to close the emotional and physical distance between them. Kotobuki recoiled from this invasion of her personal space. “By the way, to celebrate our newfound friendship, I bought you some ice cream!”
She actually went through with that, huh...
“I wasn’t sure what brand you liked, so I went with Dazs!”
And she went all out, huh?
“Here’s yours, Kai! It’s vanilla! I went with cookies and cream myself!”
“Oh, thanks.”
Jun took out a few cups of ice cream out of the supermarket bag she brought over. Kai happily accepted his, while Jun put hers on her lap.
“And for Hotey, I got strawberry and rich milk and green tea and macadamia nut and double belgian chocolate chip and even assam-ceylon tea latte!”
Jun handed over more ice cream cups than Kotobuki could handle.
“Hold up, how come Kotobuki gets so many?!” asked Kai. The shock of her gift made Kotobuki freeze so she couldn’t do it herself.
“I mean, I didn’t know what flavor she liked, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong if I just bought them all!”
“Don’t act like that’s the logical choice here...”
“Anyway, Hotey, feel free to eat however many cups of whichever flavors you like!”
Jun pressured Kotobuki to eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, and eat. It was a lavish power play funded by the generous allowances of her brothers. She came fully prepared to buy Kotobuki’s affection. However, Kotobuki wouldn’t give in so easily.
“Miyakawa, what machinations do you have in forcing me to eat all this?” Something flared up within her, and it was strong enough to melt away her hesitation.
“O-Oh dearie me. ‘Machinations,’ you say. Don’t be silly!”
Jun gave a muddied response, as though she would never even dream of buying a person’s affection. Kai wasn’t going to bail her out, though; she was only getting her just deserts. But Kotobuki’s real point of contention took an entirely different angle...a rather obtuse one, at that.
“Your scheme is to feed me all of these and fatten me up, isn’t it?”
“Huh?” Kai and Jun blurted out in unison. Their expressions were mirror images of each other’s befuddlement.
“A-Are you not?” said Kotobuki, figuring her assumption might have been off after seeing their reactions. But she’d apparently committed too much to pull back, so Kotobuki the emotional trainwreck continued in a pitifully shaking voice.
“D-Did you not calculate that making me gain weight would be the quickest avenue to eliminating me as a rival? You ‘partiers’ have crafted a sinister hierarchy beneath your jovial surface, so is this not one of your underhanded tactics obtained from years of survival in your dog-eat-dog world?”
“K-Kai?! Hotey’s got a bias against normies! An incredibly deep one!”
“Uhh...I mean, that’s not too far from what I always figured they were like...”
“Don’t get me wrong, lil’ Hotey! This ice cream comes from the goodness of my heart! It’s a hundred percent honest!”
“Bull, we know what you’re after...”
“Besides, it’s just five or six cups! You won’t get fat off of that, so don’t worry and eat up!”
“...Miyakawa, what basis do you have to speak such nonsense?”
“I mean, I’ve never gotten fat, so I’m living proof!” Jun’s desperate defense made Kotobuki’s eyes roll back in her head.
“And besides, the parts you want to grow need some nutrition to do it!” Jun supported her prominent, sizable bust with her hands and showed them off with a bit of jiggling. Kotobuki’s eyes retreated even further.
“It can’t be,” said Kotobuki with a shaking voice. “You say that all the nutrition that should be going to your stomach or head instead goes only to your boobs? I can’t believe the anime stereotype...exists in real life...”
“K-Kai?! Hotey’s super funny! It’s not fair, how come she gets to be cute and funny?!”
“You’re definitely the one with the cheat powers to her.”
“Aww Hotey, you don’t think that, right?”
“Miyakawa is the enemy of all women. The enemy of the world, Contra Mundi...”
“Oh noooooooo! I can’t go on living if Hotey hates me!” Jun’s eyes teared up as she clung to Kotobuki. She was completely unaware that bouncing her bust against Kotobuki at point-blank range was having the opposite effect.