Makoto reluctantly followed them. He pretended not to care while he checked the seams of their pajamas in his arms.
The lingerie section was a stark contrast to the cute world of Pokémon pajamas. Dimly lit, perfumed, all black lace and red satin. Hushed whispers of women on a mission. He was the only man in the entire department. The other shoppers eyed him with suspicion, amusement, and pity.
Yuna was a predator in her natural habitat. She flitted between the racks with practiced ease, fingers tracing the delicate lace and silk. Mika followed a few steps behind, eyes wide with awe and a little fear.
"So," Yuna said, holding up a ridiculously skimpy black lace teddy, "what do you think of this one?" She didn't look at him. She looked at Mika. "Is it too slutty for you?"
Mika smiled. "It's lovely, Yuna. But I was thinking about something a little more..." She pulled out a delicate white lingerie set, all silk and pearls and innocence. "Classic."
Makoto grinned. "Hmm, I think you'd look good in that black lace, Yuna. And you'd look good in that delicate white one, Mika." He looked at them both, eyes sparkling. "So why don't you two just buy both? In case I want to see the slutty Mika and the shy Yuna?"
The atmosphere crackled with new tension.
Yuna froze, the black lace teddy clutched in her hand like a weapon. "Shy?" she repeated. A blush bloomed across her cheeks. "You think I can't be shy? Is that a challenge, you fat pig?"
She snatched the delicate white set from Mika's hands. "Fine," she snarled, shoving it into her own basket. "I'll be so shy you'll think I'm a goddamn Victorian virgin. And you'll have to beg me to even look at you."
Mika just smiled. It was slow and devastating, the kind of smile a predator gives right before the kill. She took the black lace teddy from Yuna's stunned fingers, her movements fluid. "Slutty Mika," she murmured. She held the scrap of fabric up, examining it. "I think I could do that."
Her eyes, which had been a soft, innocent blue, seemed to darken. She looked at him, her gaze traveling from his eyes down to his crotch and back up again. "But if I'm going to be slutty, I'm going to need the right accessories."
Makoto ended up buying the pajamas and two sets of lingerie for each of them, which cut deep into his meager salary.
"Phew, I'll make sure those are worth my money later," he thought as he carried the bags and followed them to a suspicious-looking adult shop. "Are you sure we should be getting a collar in here? Maybe we should just order it from Amazon instead." He retorted as he reluctantly followed them into the shop.
Yuna laughed sharply, turning a few heads. "Amazon? Don't be a coward, big bro. You're not going to find a good-quality, BDSM-grade collar on Amazon. They'll just send you some cheap pleather piece of crap that'll fall apart after one good tug."
Mika smiled sweetly. "She's right. And besides," she added, "I want to see the look on your face when we put it on you."
The shop was a lot, its air was thick with the scent of leather and silicone. The walls were lined with a dizzying array of whips, paddles, and things he couldn't even begin to identify.
Yuna was completely unfazed. She marched up to the counter, where a bored-looking, heavily-pierced man in his late twenties was scrolling through his phone, and slapped her hand on the glass.
"We'll need a collar," she said loudly. "For him." She pointed a thumb at Makoto.
The man looked from Yuna's defiant grin to Mika's serene smile, and then to Makoto, a sweating man holding way too many shopping bags. He didn't even blink. "Leather or vegan?" he asked in a bored monotone. "With a bell or without?"
Makoto groaned. "What the fuck is a vegan collar? They're not food."
The bored man let out a long-suffering sigh. "It's not made from an animal's hide, dude," he said with the weary patience of a man who'd explained this a thousand times before.
Then, Makoto noticed a familiar face at the corner of the shop. "Hey, Yuna, is that... Mafuyu-nee? What's she doing here? She looks restless."
Yuna's head whipped around, following his gaze. Her eyes landed on the corner of the shop, where a familiar figure was anxiously examining a rack of very intricate-looking vibrators.
It was Mafuyu-nee, the sweet, mature waitress from the family restaurant. But she didn't look sweet now; she looked stressed. Her usual warm smile was replaced by a worried frown, and she was muttering to herself, brow furrowed.
Yuna's jaw dropped. For a moment, she was speechless. "No," she whispered. "It can't be."
Mika tilted her head. "Oh. How interesting."
She looked from Mafuyu's anxious face to Yuna's horrified one, and then to Makoto. A wicked smile spread across her face.
"Well," she said cheerfully, "I guess we know where she goes after her shift is over." She turned to Yuna, eyes glinting. "Should we say hi?"