Kai knew roughly where Kotobuki’s house was; his mom just so happened to drive Kotobuki there when she stayed over late. “Hotei” was also a pretty uncommon last name, and since there didn’t appear to be many family-owned dressmaking shops these days, it came up pretty quickly in an internet search once he narrowed down the general area.
It took about thirty minutes of pedaling like mad to get there. Kai found himself in an old shopping plaza with plenty of stores with their shutters still down. And there, on a street corner, was a building labeled “Hotei Dressmaking.”
It seemed a good deal fancier than the obviously dated buildings that surrounded it; the colors on its sign weren’t faded, the walls were all glass, and the lights inside were still on. But instead of looking like an impersonal, gaudy shop from the big city, it had a friendly feel to it. Despite the store’s small size, it didn’t seem particularly cramped from the outside looking in; maybe they purposely kept stock low, which left quite a bit of breathing room between the dresses hung for sale.
...Okay, here I go. Kai readied his gift box of sweets and entered the store.
“G-Good afternoon!”
“Welcome,” came a warm greeting from a woman emerging from the back of the store. She seemed to be maybe in her mid-thirties and looked like a grown-up Kotobuki with brown-dyed hair.
Kotobuki said her only siblings were brothers, recalled Kai. That means this person isn’t a much older sister, right? This is probably her mom, right? But she seems so young...
Kai wasn’t as much of a wallflower as Kotobuki, but he couldn’t pretend he was a social butterfly. He nervously corrected her misunderstanding.
“My apologies, but I’m not a customer. I’m here to see Kotobuki—”
“Oh! Are you that Kai boy I’ve heard so much about?”
The woman figured out Kai’s name before he had the chance to say it. It seemed like being intuitive ran in the family.
“Ah, yes, that’s me. My name is Kai Nakamura.”
“Knew it. There’s no other boy who’d come over to visit her.” Mrs. Hotei cackled with a smile that seemed just a little too shameless to be called teasing.
But their personalities couldn’t be more different, noted Kai. Her bluntness is like the polar opposite of Kotobuki...
Then again, maybe that was a given for someone who chose to work in customer service, especially as the owner of a one-of-a-kind store. Now that he had put the pieces together, Kai offered his gift box to Kotobuki’s mother.
“Er, it might not be much, but...”
“Oh my! Why, thank you. Good ol’ Kai, just as dependable and considerate as I’ve heard.”
“Oh no, I’m really nothing much...” Kai couldn’t bring himself to say that he only learned from Kotobuki’s example of bringing a gift to his own home and that he’d surely have come empty-handed otherwise. “But, er, what does Kotobuki typically say about me?”
“Only every compliment in the dictionary!”
“I-I don’t know what to say...” Kotobuki’s respect was certainly heavy.
“Anyway, c’mon in. She’s in her room.” Mrs. Hotei welcomed Kai in with an easygoing laugh. It was a far cry from being met by Jun’s brother, a schoolteacher, who once assumed a battle pose to block his path.
Either way, Kai followed Mrs. Hotei’s lead to the back. His stomach tied itself in a knot out of his growing nervousness. What kind of face should he show to Kotobuki after she refused to respond? Would she even let him show his face when he barged in unannounced? There was no shortage of things for him to worry about, but he couldn’t turn back after coming this far.
A door in the back of the shop led to a warehouse area used to organize dressmaking tools, fabrics, and completed garments. There was also a sewing room, an office, and other rooms down the hall. The second and third floors made up the living space for the Hotei family; the building was what was known as a shop house. Kotobuki’s room was on the third floor.
“Heads up, Kotobuki, your dear lil’ Kai’s come to visit.”
Mr. Hotei opened the door wide after just two knocks. She left Kai with no time to object to her use of the word “dear,” and nowhere near enough time to prepare himself to meet his coworker for the first time after such an awkward situation.
Kai faced Kotobuki with no preparation, and his jaw fell to the floor at the absolutely bizarre sight he was faced with.
Kotobuki was posing in front of a full-length mirror. Her hair was uncharacteristically styled into pigtails. Her body was covered by a white, skintight minidress and accessorized by a lone blue ribbon that ran under her breasts before being tied into a bow by her bicep. To put the clues together, she was cosplaying as Hestia from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
✦ ✦ ✦
Why are you wearing...that? Kai was too stunned to put his thoughts into speech.
“Nakamura...what are you doing here?”
Kotobuki froze in a classic Hestia pose that featured a wink and a thumbs-up. And the next moment...
“Eeeeeeek! Mom, why didn’t you knock?!”
“I did, though?”
“Well, don’t open the door until I tell you to!”
“My oh my, they grow up so fast. Well, don’t forget whose roof you’re under!”
Kotobuki protested with tears in her eyes, but Mrs. Hotei just cackled and fanned the flames. Kai found the dynamic somewhat entertaining. Not that he’d dare let that thought leave his lips.
“Anyway, I’ve got to attend to my shop, so you two can take your sweet old time now.”
“Thank you for showing me the way!”
“I should be thanking you! My little girl can be a handful, but take good care of her!”
Kai bowed to Mrs. Hotei as she shamelessly walked down the stairs, leaving her daughter emotionally scarred. After that, he turned to Kotobuki from the hall.
“Uh...may I come in? Or would you prefer I wait outside while you change?”
“Well, it’s not like it even matters anymore, so sure, come on in!”
Kotobuki screamed through the tears as though she’d completely given up. Kai was relieved to see that she was the same flustered Kotobuki he always knew. Nothing about her was out of the ordinary...besides the cosplay.