I’m Spying on the Heroine in an Otome Game World 2623 min read
Volume 2 | Chapter 7: August (Up) – Part 1
I went to the shopping mall together with Yumi-chan today. My goal is to buy a new swimsuit for our pool date later. As for Yumi-chan, she said her last year’s swimsuit is fine for her because of her wallet situation.
Normally, the brooch Designer-kun designed will hang on her school bag, but today it was on her going-out bag.
“Despite what you say, you like it a lot, don’t you? The brooch, I mean,” I commented.
“Maybe I do. At first I was really frustrated since it was expensive. But the more I look at it, the more I realize the design is really beautiful,” Yumi-chan smiled like she was more pleased than she thought she would be. “Maybe I’ll peek into Kamura-kun’s shop just to window shop.”
“Maybe we should. Well, I don’t think he’ll be there though.”
Before summer vacation, Designer-kun drew up a bunch of designs for new summer accessories. As such, the line-up in his store might have changed now. Since he does hold meetings with girls to get design ideas every other week, it must have given him some results back.
On the first level of the shopping mall, I noticed there was some special stage installed. There was a large banner saying ‘Swimsuit Fashion Show’. Still, our destination was in another area, so we didn’t pay much attention and passed by it.
“More importantly, are you sure?” Yumi-chan asked me. “About us swinging by the bookstore and game shop today.”
“It’s fine. You mentioned how the game you pre-ordered stocked today, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, it did~ It’s a sequel but the first was good, so I can’t help but get my hopes up,” Yumi-chan said with a sparkling smile.
I see. And that’s why she decided to let a new swimsuit slide away from her.
“Shiori-chan, what kind of swimsuit do you want to buy?” She asked.
“Let’s see……. If I’m going to buy one, I want to buy a cute bikini,” I admitted.
My ideal is a bikini with lots of frills at my chest. Something cute but doesn’t show off the line of my chest. Thanks to my efforts of jogging every morning, I’ve been able to keep my body figure to a point it wasn’t hard to look at. I didn’t mind showing my stomach either. Cost-wise, the less fabric the swimsuit uses, the cheaper it’ll become for my wallet. On top of that, there were a lot more styles for bikinis than the other kinds. There were only upsides to this.
“I’ve never bought a bikini before,” I added.
“Really?”
“Yeah. My cousin is pretty annoying about it, you see.” Yes, that’s right. Kazu-nii will go on and on endlessly about how I should wear only tankinis or one-pieces. As such, I haven’t once bought a bikini in my life yet.
To begin with, I wasn’t buying swimsuits for Kazu-nii’s sake. I wish he would stop pushing his tastes and interests on me. One-piece type swimsuits don’t have many variations and cost a lot. I want to tell him if he wanted me to wear one, he should fork over some money and then ask me. Unfortunately, if he actually hands over some money, I’ll be stuck, so I’m not asking.
“It’ll be nice if it suits me…….”
“Then we have to make sure you try out a lot of bikinis then~” Yumi-chan laughed with joy.
Afterwards, we wandered around the mall and soon an hour passed by. Jeez, I’m pretty tired now.
Anyways, there was a women’s clothing store on the second floor of the shopping mall. Once you stepped in, there was a special corner for swimsuits.
I tried out whatever I could grab. I pondered between flower patterns or striped; whether or not to have a ribbon; the colour: red, blue, or black; and many other things. I couldn’t decide on what kind of swimsuit I wanted.
Yumi-chan came back with swimsuits after swimsuits for me to try as well. The ones she picked were mostly on the sexy side. In the end, we came to the conclusion that they don’t suit a teenage girl in their 10s. I suppose this also means different swimsuits will suit a woman depending on their age.
“If you are going to buy one, then I say a bikini with a T-back is nice. Instead of a big ribbon, having these thin strings tying up the bikini is sexier and better. I can’t help but feel I want to untie everything,” Yumi-chan told me.
“…….Yumi-chan, I didn’t expect you to have such tastes. Actually, what the heck are you thinking while looking at swimsuits?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Kamura-kun will think the same too,” Yumi-chan interjected.
“If it’s a girl in a swimsuit, then I don’t mind any style.”
“What a boring response~”
Yeah, no, I don’t think there is an interesting or boring respo—— Wait, wait, wait. Why the heck is Designer-kun here!?
“Why are you here, Kamura-kun?” I asked him directly.
“Well, cause, I coincidentally peeked into this store, and there I saw my classmate trying out swimsuits in the special sales corner. Of course I’ll come and check,” Designer-kun replied.
“Well, yeah, of course he’ll come.” Yumi-chan easily agreed with Designer-kun’s statement.
Needless to say, I lost my words. Yumi-chan, when did you realize Designer-kun was around?
“Come to think about it, they’re doing a swimsuit fashion show on the first floor today. If you can’t pick one, how about checking it out? All the models are amateurs but they’ll be wearing this year’s new designs,” Designer-kun recommended.
But even if he did advise me this way, I’m already exhausted. I didn’t want to waste even more time thinking about which swimsuit I wanted.
He had business with his store, so he gave a flyer to me and Yumi-chan before heading off. Accessory Design Awards Ceremony? …….Hmmm, I see. A few days from now, they will be holding an awards ceremony for fall accessory designs at some public hall. It’s probably the norm for the fashion world to try and make the next trend first. However, even if you tell me about these new fall items, I don’t feel one bit excited because of this summer heat.
“Since he went out of his way to give this to us, I wonder if Kamura-kun will be participating?” Yumi-chan wondered.
“Probably.”
I couldn’t muster any interest for this awards ceremony even if he gave this to us, so we decided to put the flyer away in our bags.
In the end, I decided on a native pattern and a denim pattern layered style bikini. I can’t help but feel like I just said some tongue-twister spell. It’s like a multi-structured bikini. There was a bikini with a native pattern, and on top of it was another bikini, but denim pattern this time.
However, I could wear them separately if I wanted. When you look at the bikini from behind, you’ll notice there were a lot of strings holding it up. This was my way of respecting Yumi-chan’s opinion that strings were better than ribbons. Compared to last year, my chest grew one size, so I decided to give it my all with this bikini.
I bought extra money with me but this bikini went over the budget I first envisioned. It made me worried for a while. Is this really okay? I won’t regret it, right?
“Come on, let’s go to the cashier. Next is getting my new game!” Yumi-chan encouraged me, so I decided to boldly buy this new bikini.
When we left the store and headed to the next floor, we had loud cheers from the levels below. Yumi-chan and I looked at each other reflexively before we went to the atrium and looked down the railings.
It looks like the swimsuit fashion show just started. There were already a number of models wearing swimsuits as they lined up. I wonder who thought this up but you could see the whole stage from up here. Well, naturally, you couldn’t peek into the changing rooms but you could see the models waiting for their turns.
One by one the models will walk out to the stage and come by. I assumed at the end of the show, they will all gather on the stage together.
One model was grumbling in the backstage and the staff was trying to console her. Hm? That’s…….
That model was covering her chest as she fidgeted restlessly.
“Huh? Hey, Shiori-chan. That girl down there, she’s……” Yumi-chan said. It seems she recognized her too.
Yes, it was Maria-jou. I see; I understand the situation now.
Maria-jou visited the shopping mall. I don’t know the purpose of her visit today, but there were many stores here. Or maybe she was just window-shopping and not buying anything. It wouldn’t be strange at all.
And today was also the day where the mall held their swimsuit fashion show. One of the models couldn’t make it because they were sick… Or maybe Maria-jou caught the eyes of one of the staff who called out to her. “Please come on the stage!” They shouted.
Maria-jou agreed and changed into the swimsuit they provided to her. This was when she got embarrassed about what she was wearing. Soon it will be her turn on the stage, yet she couldn’t decide on what to do and is fidgeting her fingers instead. Well, it was probably something like this.
Eventually, the staff pushed her back. Maria-jou stumbled forward but still made it to the wing of the stage. She paused there for a while; however, she eventually made a decision. She straightened her back and stepped out onto the stage.
The cheers grew even louder. After all, Maria-jou’s beauty surpassed the rest of the models. And with her in a swimsuit, you could tell even easier now that her body figure was good. The line of her body was beautiful enough to shock me.
I’m glad I saw her after I bought my new swimsuit. Otherwise, I might have lost my energy to buy a swimsuit with a new inferiority complex on hand.
Oh, I can see Designer-kun in the audience. He said he didn’t mind what swimsuit if a girl was wearing it. But I bet he can’t say that anymore after seeing Maria-jou. Complimenting other girls after seeing Maria-jou in her swimsuit glory should be hard for just about anyone.
“Aikawa-san is amazing. She has a really nice figure~ I wonder if that swimsuit is new?” Yumi-chan commented.
“Isn’t it new? I mean, that’s what Kamura-kun said earlier,” I replied.
And I have to say, Maria-jou really suited cute-style bikinis. Unfortunately, this fashion show only had their models wear one swimsuit. Damn, what a waste. I want her to try out a bunch of other swimsuits for me.
“But that swimsuit… Was it in the special corner either?” Yumi-chan questioned.
“Who knows? They might have separated the ones for the show elsewhere… Well, either way, I would have crossed out such a cute bikini from my try list to begin with.”
Once the fashion show ended, Maria-jou received a special judges’ award and the audiences’ award for her efforts. She also received some money. I have to say though, where did all the audience vote?
I thought this might have been an event since Designer-kun was in the audience, but from what I can see, nothing was really happening.
At any rate, Yumi-chan and I continued on to our destination once again. Today, Yumi-chan had her eyes on a game with all sorts of good-looking guys on the package.
“What kind of game is it?” I asked.
Yumi-chan blushed slightly. “It’s an otome game. The seiyuu I like is voicing one of the characters.”
Otome game! I was shocked to hear the same phrase I think every single day come out of her mouth.
“What kind of seiyuu?”
“He voices this character here and…… keep this a secret, okay? His voice is just like Kaneshiro-senpai’s!”
How could this be. Yumi-chan’s going out of her way to buy a game just to hear a voice similar to Kaneshiro-senpai’s! You should just talk and listen to his voice at school.
I gazed at the package illustration once more. The character Yumi-chan pointed at was a good-looking guy. While he was a good-looking guy, the type of his face was completely different from Kaneshiro-senpai’s.
“Yumi-chan, do you know a lot about otome games?” I questioned.
When I think about it, Yumi-chan is the second person who said the phrase, ‘otome game’, to me after Kazu-nii. Maybe she could teach me something I could use as a reference, so I tried asking.
Yumi-chan merely smiled wryly. “You see, my friend from middle school lent me the prequel and I liked it.”
In other words, there were many people like Kazu-nii’s past life’s little sister out there in the world.
“My friend completely cleared and captured the game, but I only saw this character’s ending,” Yumi-chan continued.
“Completely cleared and captured?”
When Yumi-chan saw me tilt my head in questioning, she explained it to me. “After you see all the endings with the capture targets, a new ending gets unlocked. As for this game, this new ending was basically a reverse harem……”
“Reverse harem…?” I haven’t heard this phrase before, so I got more and more puzzled.
“Oh, you don’t know? Reverse harem……. Ummm, you know what a harem is right? Where a man will have women fawning over him left and right. So a reverse harem is the opposite. In the game, the heroine will have an ending where she’s lovey-dovey with all of the capture characters.”
When I heard this, I got deeply distraught. “……Is that, a real ending?” I asked.
“Yes,” Yumi-chan confirmed.
How could this be. Kazu-nii said this world was a world of an otome game. When I heard his explanation, I assumed that once Maria-jou hooks up with one of her capture targets, it’ll come to an end. Yet…….
Is there a possibility of an ending where everyone gets captured?
“Y-Yumi-cham, is that kind of ending… ummm… standard?” I asked.
“Eh~? I wonder. There’s lots of games out there without reverse harem elements, but I feel like there’s a lot with them lately,” she answered.
This is bad. I need to hold a strategy meeting. I need to consult with Kazu-nii tonight, if possible.
Yumi-chan went to stand and read at the bookstore attached to the game shop, I went and messaged Kazu-nii while I waited for her to finish. I know how this was our shopping date, but I have a feeling I’ll be only restless and nervous for the rest of the day. As such, I said goodbye to Yumi-chan with my head in the clouds.
I returned back home with my new swimsuit. Kazu-nii had been waiting for me and greeted me back.
“You wanted to consult with me? Did something happen?” He had rushed over and looked a little concerned since I messaged him out of the blue.
But, first, I peeked into the living room and the kitchen.
Kazu-nii noticed and helpfully told me, “Auntie went out, saying she was going to buy some things.”
“Then we can talk in the living room,” I decided.
I stepped into the living room with my shopping bag in hand, sat down on the sofa, and looked up at Kazu-nii. Kazu-nii probably knew I wanted to discuss matters involving Maria-jou, so he sat beside me with a serious expression on his face.
“Kazu-nii, about the otome game in your past life… Did that game have a ‘reverse harem ending’ to it?” I asked directly.
Kazu-nii opened his eyes wide. For a while, he knitted his eyebrows in deep thought. “…….Reverse harem, huh. I didn’t think of that possibility,” he muttered bitterly. “The person who played the game was my little sister. And I’m sure she didn’t finish capturing Tsukishima back then. She would have been busy with him, so if there was a reverse harem ending, there’s a chance she hasn’t gotten around completing it.”
“Then, essentially, we have no idea?” I asked.
“Yeah. ……But Aikawa seems to be progressing her capture efforts for all the targets at the same speed. It’s possible she’s after a reverse harem ending then,” Kazu-nii said. His words were not comforting one bit. “I told you before, didn’t I? Shiori. Those stones. If you obtain all the stones from the capture targets then a reverse harem will form just like that. A man who’s [heart] is taken away wouldn’t be able to turn their eyes to look at another woman anymore.”
That’s right, there was still the matter of the stones. I still haven’t told Kazu-nii about what I learned about the stores from Katsuragi-kun and Designer-kun back in July. I didn’t have any reason for not telling him; I just forgot.
“That reminds me, I heard from Katsuragi-kun and Kamura-kun about their stones,” I said to begin telling Kazu-nii about the two.
Katsuragi-kun’s story was about what he heard from his foster parents’ when he was really young. He would then seal away his stone with his own hands. As for Designer-kun, I told Kazu-nii how he would let girls touch his stone frequently.
Kazu-nii’s reaction after I explained everything was slow. To put it in different words, he was so shocked that he couldn’t react properly.
“I can’t calm down without my stone near me…… Who would have thought those two can do something like that,” Kazu-nii mumbled as he looked down at his pendant, which was around his neck as always. “When you sent me that panicky message, I was pretty worried. But our current condition hasn’t changed, I think. If anything, if she’s after a reverse harem ending then it might actually work in our favour. She has to capture all the targets. In other words, if she fails capturing even one target, there’s a chance she’ll get an alone ending since a reverse harem won’t let her focus on one person’s events. All I have to do is avoid my main events somehow and she’ll eventually realize I can’t be captured. She might give up on the troublesome progress of building a reverse harem and focus on one target instead.”
“Will it really go that well?” I questioned.
“This is reality. As long as Aikawa can’t reset the world, there are only so many chances,” Kauz-nii declared strongly.
“What if… she can reset the game……?” I asked as I looked down.
“Then I’ll do the same again. No matter how many times I might repeat, I will make the same choices over and over again.”
“…….I see.”
As I kept my eyes down, I stood up, making my paper shopping bag on the side of the sofa fall over. The sound of it falling with a swoosh made me snap back to my senses.
“I’m pretty thirsty now. Kazu-nii, do you want something to drink too?”
“Is there beer? ……Wait, that bag, did you buy that earlier today?”
“That’s right. I’m going with Yumi-chan to the pool soon, so I bought a new swimsuit,” I told him.
“…….And what kind did you buy?”
When I announced I was going to buy a swimsuit, this Kazu-nii immediately ordered me to buy either a tankini or a one-piece. He didn’t think I’d obediently agree with him, yet he was still interested in the end.
“Yumi-chan’s recommendation — a sexy bikini to kill all minds,” I answered.
Kazu-nii slowly slid down the sofa, just seconds away from falling off it completely. “W-Wait, what… you……!?”
“I’m kidding. It’s a normal one,” I said. I could only smile tiredly when Kazu-nii glared at me with half-lidded eyes. “I said it was a joke. Well, it is a bikini. We’re going to a leisure pool, so I don’t want to wear something too plain.”
After I told him that, I went off to the kitchen to take out the jug of barley tea in the fridge and prepare cups for two. He said beer earlier, but getting drunk before dinner is, frankly, questionable behaviour.
When I came back to the living room, Kazu-nii was frozen with his eyes fixed on the bag with my new swimsuit. Yes, I could tell he wanted to know what’s inside, but at the same time, he couldn’t just open it without permission. He was fighting with himself in his mind. Jeez, he’s helpless~
“Okay, okay, I’ll show it off to my big bro with a sister complex~” I announced. Also, while I’m at it, I did want to brag about this swimsuit since it was expensive.
I took out the swimsuit from the bag and spread it down on my living room’s table. Once again, Kazu-nii made a conflicted expression.
“Wait, hey, this swimsuit is mostly strings,” he pointed out.
It didn’t look this way when it was on a mannequin. However, when you spread it out like this on a table, the strings do stand out. Mostly because the strings were long, I thought.
“You’re supposed to wear one on top of another. When I tried it on, it came out really cute. It’s not suited for vigorous swimming though,” I said.
“Couldn’t you have bought one that’s more… cuter? Not this……. woman-like swimsuit but a more kid-like one,” Kazu-nii replied.
“Lolicons have no right to speak.”
“I’m not a lolicon!!” Kazu-nii shouted strongly. Yet even if he tried to deny that fact, his bitter face distorted even more.
If I had picked a school swimsuit right here and Kazu-nii said he liked it, I’m going to start calling him Loli-nii forever on. I’m even going to spread rumours at school. Prepare yourself, Kazu-nii.
“Come to think of it, Kazu-nii, what kind of swimsuits do you like? Kamura-kun likes any swimsuit as long as a girl is wearing it,” I asked.
“He’s really a ladies’ man, isn’t he,” Kazu-nii commented.
Yup, I can’t argue.
“…….Hmm, let’s see……” I don’t see why he needs to ponder hard over this, yet Kazu-nii was racking his brain. “…….Maybe any swimsuit is okay with me.”
“In other words, Kazu-nii is also a ladies’ man…..”
“No! I don’t mean that… Basically, if the woman I’m in love with is going to wear one, then I feel I don’t mind what kind she wears one at all. That being said, I don’t want other guys seeing her, so I don’t want her wearing a swimsuit at all. On the other hand, if I’m not in love with her, I don’t care what swimsuit she’s wearing. I’m not interested in gravure models either.”
The woman I’m in love with. I have to say, it’s a little bit rare to phrase it that way. It echoed in a way that made my heart almost skip a beat. In any case, the only thing I learned from Kazu-nii was that he was different from Kamura-kun, and that’s it.
I wonder what Maria-jou’s favourite swimsuits are? The one she wore today was a cute bikini with frills. However, Maria-jou had defined looks and a wonderful body style. I decided to imagine… a sexy bikini that can kill all minds right here!
Maria-jou blushing from embarrassment as she wore a super sexy bikini.
Yup, I think all the men in the world will die.
As I was thinking about such things, Kazu-nii sighed loudly.
“Well, fine…… You’re going with Sasaki, right?” He asked.
“That’s right. Cause Yumi-chan said a pool’s fine with her since she doesn’t like the sea,” I replied.
“Why?”
“Cause the sea breeze sticks on her skin and stuff.”
“She’s the type that doesn’t fully enjoy summer at all, huh,” Kazu-nii said a little bit tired before he laughed.
It didn’t take long before my mom came back, and I decided to help her make dinner today. I greeted her at the front door and took the shopping bags from her hands.
Kazu-nii also showed his face and said, “I’m barging in today.” That being said, he greeted her but didn’t help us out at all. Well, the reason was simple — cause this wasn’t Kazu-nii’s house. And my mother here doesn’t like letting guys into her kitchen.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Mom asked me when I stepped into the kitchen with her.
Well, yes, I do have something to speak to you about, my dear mother.
“I bought a new swimsuit~ I’m going to the pool with my friend soon,” I bragged.
“Oh, that sounds fun~ What kind of swimsuit did you buy? Show me, show me~”
Yes, exactly this! This is what I wanted, my dear mother! I’ve been waiting for this reaction! I went out of my way to make this expensive purchase and Kazu-nii only complains and then complains some more.
“I’ll show it to you after dinner~” I promised, quite pleased with myself.
Mom looked at me with a warm smile before saying, “Yes, you should. It’s better to enjoy all sorts of fashion while you’re still young. Once you get older, there’s some fashion you can’t wear anymore. Well, the opposite is true too though, fufufu~”
My dear mother is a woman who doesn’t forget her fashionable heart even as she gets older. The reason why I think a good-looking guy needs to put effort into staying good looking is all because of her. Likewise, a woman needs to work even harder than a good-looking guy to stay a young woman at heart. I have to devote myself harder too.
“While you’re at it, you should wear it and then show it to me,” Mom told me.
Hmm, well, why not? “Then I’ll do that after dinner~” I agreed in a good mood.
Mom stepped out to the living room while I washed my hands and put on an apron. At the same time, I could hear the voices of my mother and Kazu-nii.
“Now then, Kazuto-kun, do you have anything to say to me?” My dear mother asked.
“Please let me buy and offer to you, a bottle of daiginjo1,” Kazu-nii promised.
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TL note: Loli-nii… Sadly for him, the name does suit him……
