Antique Shop?BEAR? - Chapter 29
Chapter 29 – Princess Hand Mirror
At five in the morning, she took the first train home from her workplace.
Hah, this is so tiring.
Otokawa Ami looked down at her chubby legs stretched out from her skimpy miniskirt. After graduating from high school, she had been working as a freelancer for two years, with her coming-of-age ceremony approaching in two months.
Ever since the early days, she had been overweight, but now she stood at 160 centimeters and weighed over 80 kilograms. Even so, she was now earning money as a cabaret girl in a chubby cabaret bar, therefore neither trying to lose weight nor her health was of any concern to her.
Upon arriving at Hosho Station, where she lived, she got off the train and walked through the ticket gate. The commuters cast glances at Ami. She passed through the station wearing a bra camisole, a denim miniskirt, and a chain enamel shoulder bag over her shoulder, making clattering noises with her snapping heels.
The morning sun was reflecting off the river and creating a glow on the surface of the water, but Ami paid no heed to that and continued walking along the river. She planned to swing by the convenience store, have sweetened bread and juice for breakfast, and then head home for sleep.
At that moment, Ami halted, suddenly feeling a sense of incongruity on the road she always took. A sound originated from the back of the stone pavement. As Ami made her way across the stone pavement, a man in a kimono was cleaning the entrance.
“Antique shop…?”
Ami was intrigued and peeked into the shop.
“Would you like to browse?”
“Well… it’s not open at this hour, is it?”
“No, it’s right before closing.”
“Eh?”
“It’s still open today, if you don’t mind, please have a look.”
Ami was struck by the owner’s mystifying smile and stepped into the shop.
“Wow… beautiful!”
Looking at the jewelry shelves, Ami marveled. Although her customers gave her branded bags, watches and accessories, each piece of jewelry here radiated a certain sparkle that was all different discretely. Each one seemed extraordinary.
But… it may be too small for me.
Ami turned to the opposite shelf. A variety of things were displayed on the shelf, but nothing caught Ami’s interest. Her eyes suddenly landed on a hand mirror to the right of the bottom shelf.
The mirror was a golden hand mirror like those possessed by a princess, with a large mermaid design on the back, and detailed patterns of shells and waves.
“Shall I bring it out for you?”
“Eek!”
She was totally immersed at the moment and failed to notice the owner was next to her. The owner inserted the key into the cabinet, put on a pair of white gloves, and retrieved the hand mirror.
“This is a hand mirror made in France. It’s made of brass and has mermaid and sea motifs on it, it’s a very lovely hand mirror.”
The instant the owner reflected Ami’s face upon the mirror, she was awestruck by what she perceived in the reflection. Perhaps it was the fact that the morning sun was penetrating the interior of the store, or it could be that she was misjudging, but her own face appeared to be more bright-eyed and endearing than usual. Despite the heavy makeup, fake eyelashes, and even colored contacts, her skin was translucent white, with full, crimson lips and delicate pink cheeks. Her face had the look of something that had been altered with an app.
“Huh? Is this mirror processed in any way?”
“Pardon?” The owner peeked into the mirror. “It would be nice if it was processed.”
The owner was staring at her face and Ami almost blew up.
“How much is this?”
“4,000 yen.”
To be honest, it was rather costly. It wouldn’t be usable for makeup, plus holding it in her hand would make it impossible to view her phone. However, she wanted to see her face again, the way she appeared earlier.
“Okay, I’ll take this.”
“Thank you very much.”
Ami pulled the money out of her purse and was about to hand it to the shop owner.
“I’ll wrap it up for you.”
Seeing the neatly wrapped presents at the register reminded her of the day she received a birthday present from her parents as a child, but the memories dissipated in a fraction of a second.
?????????
After returning home, she took a shower and wrapped a towel around herself before heading back to her room and grabbing the mirror out of its wrapping paper. When she glanced at it, her skin seemed more luminous than usual. Her eyes looked brighter, and she wondered why.
“Ah… maybe it’s because my face looks a little sharp.”
Would she be as lovely as this if she were to lose weight? Since she was overweight, her face appeared to have hidden double-eyelid, but if she slimmed down, she might develop a bright double-eyelid.
Well… if she was as slim as this mermaid…
Something within her exploded.
“Alright! Starting today, I shall start my diet!”
Ami tidied up her disorderly room and made her first major cleanup of her room since moving in. For meals, she quit eating from the convenience store products and decided to cook for herself. In the evening, after a nap and before heading to work, she finished her heavy makeup in the washroom as always, and when seeing her face in the hand mirror, somehow she found herself to be very attractive.
“What’s with this?”
She was so enthralled by the hand mirror that she checked her clock and realized that twenty minutes had already passed.
Ami hurriedly left the house.