"If you can't read, that doesn't mean you can't understand."
The afternoon after I went home from school, I stood before the television while Sera sat on the couch. It felt like nothing happened yesterday. The whole day, her back was hunched down, her shoulders lost their energy. Our eyes didn't even meet a single second.
I decided to initiate. I don't want her to remember her despair. She could adapt to the modern world with ease but was probably just hesitant due to culture shock. If she knew how to open doors by turning knobs, she should've hidden in our room covered with a blanket.
"You can understand me, right?" I asked, holding myself not to smile due to the excess excitement I'm feeling. Right now, I'm in front of someone transported from another world… And that was what I set myself to think about her.
She nodded and asked with withdrawn eyebrows, "What are you going to do?"
"Can you describe what you see in this image?" I asked, showing her a poster of Shizu-sama's appearance in Fantasy Chronicles Online 1st.
"... The mix of colors are creative… and vibrant? I don't know what liquid paint was used to create such outstanding artwork."
"Not just colors! This is a person… An elf. Try harder and squint your eyes. Analyze."
Sera squinted her eyes and after a minute of examination, she flinched back with a wide open mouth, like a bulb lit up inside her mind. "Wow! That really seems like an elf's body… But why are her eyes so wide?"
I flicked my fingers and pointed at her. "Good observation! Artwork comes in style. In Japan, where we currently live, Anime is the culture. Drawings of people with wide eyes are common as a vessel of expressiveness and the primary way of communicating human emotions. Do you even wonder why people with huge eyes are easy to read?"
"I remember a friend, Emmyth was her name, and I could easily know if she was happy or sad. Her eyes mirror the shape of her upturned or downturned mouth."
I flicked a finger and smirked. "Exactly, Psychology never fails. Now, back on track, you're familiar with stories, aren't you? What kind of stories are you familiar with?"
"Stories? The great Elvian stones were divided into three, and one created the world where our home was. There are also stories about how races began. Elves were a product of the belief in Infinity, promoting longer lives. Humans, as the records say, came from the skies with a strange-looking boat."
I groaned, tilting my head sideways. "Argh, so boring. I didn't understand a thing you said. By the way, do you know what a television is?" I took the remote and pressed the On button. The screen behind me showed the afternoon shopping channel. "This is called revolution."
"Yeah, I already saw that when I came here. But why are there people moving on this glass wall?"
"Wall? That's called a screen. Depending on the context, what happens in there are real-life scenarios or produced visual stories. With this invention, you can see, hear, and feel the immersion of a story. Luckily, there's a story I would like you to watch," I smirked with smugness and showed the DVD cover of one of Shizu-sama's movie adaptations.
"Watch? Is it like a stage performance?"
"Exactly!" I took the disk and placed it in the DVD reader. "Don't worry, this is the most appealing story I had, and even three-year olds could understand it. I don't want you to be bored to death sitting all day and doing chores."
I intended to leave her so I could do my duties, but a phrase made me halt my walk.
"T–Thank you, Kou-nii."
A flush creeped across my cheeks as I swallowed excessively. My body released a sudden burst of sweetness and stiffened.
KOU-NII!!? How did she learn that forbidden word!?
"MOM! What are you trying to teach her!?" I shouted when Mom entered the dusty room full of covered mannequins. I only stood before the Shizu-sama costume, my crowning jewel, and visualized the adjustments I needed to make.
Mom only chuckled while covering her mouth, like a rich lady laughing at a commoner's joke. "Don't you like it? Since she's staying here, it would be best for you to treat yourselves as siblings… Or maybe you're suggesting that you two will have some sort of romantic sparks."
"I know I'm too romantically hopeless, knowing that my unreachable preference is 2D girls. I wouldn't care for any girls entering my life. Anyway, did you get her measurements?"
Mom pulled her pocket and gave it to me. It listed all the necessary numbers of Sera's waist, hips, bust, shoulders, and sleeves to match her figure. Also, Mom followed up a question, "Did you get her permission for this? Your plans might give her too much of a shock."
"This is my last favor to her, and my goodbye to the path that always rejected me. Even just a glimpse, I need to feel what it means to become a manager. Also, she's down in the dumps by now… I need to show her she's not a monster… That she belongs to this world, and everyone is willing to accept her."
Mom clapped with a smile that warmed the atmosphere. "Good boy, Kou! You're more like a brother to her now."
"You really enjoy embarrassing your son. By the way, aren't you aware she will leave us soon?"
"I'm aware she'll part ways with us…"
"Then, it's no reason for you to invest a million in her and–"
"But this favor for her will not be your last."
I pivoted my head at her, my eyes widening. I noticed she was already walking towards the door. "What? What do you mean by that, Mom?"
When she opened the door, she responded, "Do what you want, Kou. If you really want to follow your passion, you know the first step." She closed the door, not finishing her advice, but I already knew the answer to her riddle… Cleaning the room.
I sighed, followed with a smile. It made me happy knowing Mom still supported my dreams after all this time. But it wasn't clear to me what she was thinking. Does that mean Sera's not leaving anytime soon? Once we found her home, she might immediately depart, needing to see her family again. My lips slowly slanted, staring back at the mannequin that stood in the spotlight.
Thinking about the future will only make my head burst. I need to go with the flow for now.
There was a significant and obvious difference! The dusty floor made of planks glowed sparkling clean. The walls that looked like a giant geographic map in the museum turned pure white which I could even take an ID picture against. I removed the mannequin covers and put them in the laundry. Now, it felt like I was in a cosplay exhibit.
I sat on my workstation and flattened the dress on the sewing machine table. Shizu-sama's slip dress had embroidered tapestries woven to fill the revealing parts. The combination of natural green and light colors depicted scents of forestry and innocence.
However, with the measurement that was given to me, it may take me some time to finish. The top part had too much coverage, and offering it to be worn by an innocent girl would send me to detention. Also, the lower tights were way too loose, and if worn, it would look like excess plumps of body fat.
It felt like the cloth was talking to me internally. The unsaturated color of the cloth screamed the need to repaint and laundry in my mind, but I need to fix the stitches first. Also, since Madam's business was tight on a budget when I was crafting this, the gold accessories were all fabric. The flower stuck in the brooch of the wig appeared synthetic due to the lost gloss of some parts of the plastic.
In cosplaying, durability matters. One's career will crumble down once a single malfunction happens. With the excess fabric that Mom had in her stash, I measured and tore the excess millimeters, making the fabric fit, accurate, and breathable for Sera. Seam ripping the embellishments and the side of the body would give the illusion of a creaseless suit without needing any fabric manipulation.
Still, the problem would be the golden panels and attachments. We don't have a 3D printer in the house, but I still need to cut them off. It will ruin the quality if I don't. Risking loss to quality improvements, I wasn't sure if my back-up plan would work… Yet, I still did it. This is called a sacrifice for success!
I drew patterns of the accessories over a two-millimeter-wide foam board, sealing them with glue and heat afterwards. With slight polishing, I sanded the wooden slipper and marked the parts that require attachments. The only problem remaining would be the 3D prints, the acrylic painting, and the assembly.
With all the adjustments that I got done, two hours flew by… I just ended my knitting session when I heard Sera's howl outside the room. She drummed the door, trying to barge in.
"Kou-nii! I don't understand!!" She shouted, her voice cracking.
"Turn the knob!" I replied and clicked my tongue. She's been living here for the past few days; Mom should have taught her how to do that already.
When the door creaked slightly open, I noticed her face completely flooded with tears. She approached me lightheartedly with drooped shoulders, her hands flying over her chest, her eyes appearing red, and her face puffed.
"Kou-nii… Is… Is Shizu-sama real?"
I flinched and stood up immediately, facing her. My eyes widened… as the burst of surprise turned to euphoria enveloping my body with goosebumps. I leaned in and squeezed her shoulder out of amazement.
"I WISH SHE WAS TOO! She was too precious to experience those suffering. If I saw her in that state of loss, I would immediately adopt and protect her."
"S–She shouldn't have experienced it! I hope she finds her way back home…"
"It looks like you had fun."
"I'm sad, Kou-nii… It feels like I'm in her position–" She shook her head, "No, I'm like her, but I don't know if I'll end up the same as her. She had the opportunity to go home, but the human became important to her, not leaving his side. Though I sympathized with her situation, I understood something… Will I be permanently staying in this world? If something holds me back from returning, will I depart immediately? Or will I insist on staying?"
"Just like Shizu-sama, you also became a victim of cliffhangers. Though it's a complete story, it doesn't end there yet," I replied with a smirk. "Do you know why Shizu-sama became the most popular character in FOC5, and even my favorite goddess? In the middle of her arc, where her exhaustion nearly pushed her to death, she never gave up. She wasn't known in the game's first patch, but she boosted the sales of the second."
"Game? Does she play hide-and-seek or tug-of-war?"
I scratched my head and chuckled, realizing that online games don't exist in another world. I don't know how to explain it to her yet. "Let's just stick with the movies. You're still a normie, and I don't want to spill all the beans yet. You should take your time enjoying every bit of this place while you're still here," I said, emphasizing the 'place' word since she doesn't know my assumptions of her being an otherworlder.
She nodded with upturned lips and said, "Thank you, Kou-nii. Without you and Mom, I might've not experienced this joy… And I might still be worrying about how to survive and go back home."
With a smug and crossed arms, I replied, "Hmph! That's just the start, Sera. You know little of the Otaku culture yet. Shizu-sama's story doesn't end there yet. If I have the time, I will watch it with you."
"Really!?" She clasped my hand, her eyes glittering with enthusiasm. "I'm excited about what will happen next! Please tell me!"
"Uh–Oh! I don't want to provide any spoilers yet! It's best to grind your way until the end of the story. I promise you'll enjoy it," I recommended, closing my eyes briefly as the tension in my body was unexpectedly released. Honestly, the satisfaction of hearing her enjoy this world lightened my chest… I'm glad that I was able to help her clear her mind of worries.
I don't know what I was thinking when I instinctively recommended the story to her. After all, her story was the same as Shizu-sama's Retreat Arc. Though they have the same face and story, the ending Sera wants didn't happen in Shizu-sama's timeline.
This means only one thing… Though I don't want to put my hopes up, there might still be a chance that Sera will stay. I lied to myself the whole time, fooling into the ideal of solitude, of not needing somebody.
But deep inside, I also want to become the main character and say the line,
Should I stop time for you to stay?