The morning sun shone brilliantly over the city, casting a warm golden hue that seemed to bathe everything in a dreamy glow. The light filtered through the windows of the Kasumigaoka household, illuminating each corner with a gentle radiance.
Kasumigaoka Residence —
After neatly hanging the freshly laundered clothes in the courtyard, Kasumigaoka Touji returned the basin to the bathroom, humming softly as he walked up to the second floor. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that his older sister, Kasumigaoka Utaha, was still in her room. Shrugging slightly, he continued on his way without saying a word, heading straight to his own room and opening his laptop with practiced ease.
Recently, a very bold and somewhat questionable idea had taken root in his mind—he wanted to train his beautiful onee-san in the art of being a proper maid. Or at least, that was the excuse he gave himself. The real reason...
Well, it was the classic adolescent dream.
After all, what self-respecting otaku wouldn't fantasize about having their girlfriend—or in his case, an incredibly sharp-tongued older sister—dress up in a frilly maid outfit, call them "Goshujin-sama," and obediently play along with all kinds of roleplay scenarios? Maid punishments, secret tea-time rendezvous, and all the sweet, forbidden flavors that came with them—just imagining it made his heart race.
"Ahem, this is for research purposes... totally normal," Touji muttered to himself as he opened his browser and logged into Yahoo.
He typed "maid outfits" into the search bar and began scrolling, setting the results to sort by best-selling. In a flash, the top listings loaded.
"Eh? The best-selling one is... a lewd maid outfit?" he blinked.
The outfit in question had a dangerously minimal design—black and white color scheme, lace trims, exposed shoulders, a deep V-cut neckline, an open back, and just enough fabric to barely qualify as clothing. The model wore it with a sultry expression, but the overuse of filters made her look slightly uncanny.
"Man... Japanese people sure have unique tastes," Touji whispered, swallowing hard as he stared at the scandalous design.
Before he could add it to his cart, a soft voice chimed in behind him.
"What is my dear younger brother doing~?"
Startled, Touji jerked slightly as Kasumigaoka Utaha approached with graceful, measured steps. A faint, floral fragrance drifted in with her presence.
She leaned slightly over his shoulder, hands clasped behind her back, her chestnut hair brushing lightly against his arm.
"Ara... a maid outfit? And such a revealing one, too?"
She squinted at the screen, lips curling into a smirk before reaching out and gently tugging on his ear.
"What exactly are you looking at, baka-otouto? Is this your idea of fashion? Or are you secretly hoping your onee-san would wear something like this?"
"Cough..." Caught in 4K, Touji refused to retreat. If anything, this only fueled his resolve.
He cleared his throat, feigning calm. "Well, I just thought you'd look even better in it than the model does."
"Fufu... so you're saying I'm cuter than a heavily filtered internet model?" Utaha narrowed her eyes playfully.
"Exactly! You totally get me, Onee-san!"
Touji nodded shamelessly, flashing her a thumbs up.
Utaha clicked her tongue in mock annoyance, then let go of his ear and smiled. "I suppose I could take my dear younger brother's words seriously... If you really want me to wear it, I might consider it."
She paused.
Touji's eyes gleamed. "Wait, seriously? What's the catch?"
"Simple," she replied, holding up one slender finger like she was announcing the terms of a sacred contract. "All you have to do is get on your knees and beg me—dogeza style."
Dogeza?! Just like that anime, 'Dogeza: I Tried Asking While Prostrating'!
Touji stiffened, the image of himself kneeling, forehead to the floor, begging for Utaha to wear a scandalous maid outfit flashing in his mind.
"How about this instead—you prostrate yourself and beg me to let you wear it for me?"
"Ara ara~ Is this a reverse trap? Me, begging, and you wearing the lewd maid outfit? I could get behind that." Utaha tapped her chin thoughtfully, clearly amused.
"I meant you kneeling and you wearing it!"
"Oh my, my dear Touji-kun, just what kind of fantasies are you having about your older sister today?"
"Oi, don't twist my words!"
Still giggling, Utaha moved behind him and leaned half her body onto his back, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck as she peered at the search results.
"So... you're telling me that my adorable otouto wants to help me train my 'moe power' by making me wear a maid outfit, call you 'Master,' and follow your every command?"
"Exactly! Your resolve is dazzling, onee-san!"
"You're praising me way too early. I never agreed to any of that."
"Too soon to back down! Your resolve is severely lacking!"
"Mou, why does Touji-kun's mood swing faster than a tsundere's temper?" Utaha-san huffed softly, brushing her fingers against his throat.
For some reason, she'd recently started to notice—her otouto's throat was... alluring.
A completely inappropriate thought surfaced.
She wanted to lick it.
Suppressing a smirk, Touji raised both hands innocently. "Actually, my noble goal is simply to create more fun, youthful memories between us. That's all. Really. I swear it on my limited edition light novel collection."
Believe it or not, she found herself believing it.
"Hmph..."
Hearing him say that, the girl leaning against his back fell quiet for a moment, her breath tickling his ear. Finally, she spoke in a mischievous yet compromising tone:
"Since you put it that way... refusing would make me seem like a cold-hearted Onee-san, wouldn't it?"
Touji blinked. Did she just... agree?
His eyes lit up, only for her next words to hit him like a plot twist.
"If you want me to wear a maid outfit and call you 'Master,' that's fine. But in return—you'll be buying a butler's uniform. On odd-numbered days, I'll serve as the charming maid. On even-numbered days, you'll be my devoted butler. Deal?"
Utaha-san wrapped one arm around his neck, her other hand drifting down his chest, fingertips tracing along his 'midline' through the fabric like she was outlining a forbidden route.
We're both young. We both have desires. If you want me to call you 'Master' in a frilly maid outfit, then I want you to wear a tailored butler uniform and call me 'Onee-san'... maybe even 'Ojou-sama'... just kidding (not really).
"Butler uniform...?"
Touji blinked, genuinely surprised.
"Yup. That's right. Seems fair, doesn't it?" Utaha-san purred, her voice soft as she leaned closer, blowing a teasing breath into his ear.
Touji flinched slightly. Goosebumps.
But fair was fair. And besides... a butler costume rebellion? Sounded like a shounen subplot waiting to happen.
"Alright! Deal! That's very fair!" he nodded with resolve.
What followed was an oddly harmonious scene of sibling collaboration—
The two huddled together, enthusiastically scrolling through various maid and butler outfit designs.
They saved image after image of the ones they liked best, excited chatter filling the room. Once they had enough samples, they looked for a reputable tailor with great reviews.
Mass-produced cosplay outfits had sizing issues and returns were a pain—so they opted for custom tailoring.
They retrieved their mother's old tape measure, once used for knitting sweaters, and got to work.
Measuring each other.
Yes, measuring.
"Otouto-kun, how many times do you need to measure my bust exactly...?"
"For accuracy, Onee-san! At least three... no, five times minimum! Precision is everything!"
"Should I praise your dedication... or slap you for being a pervert?"
"Please do both, but start with praise!"
"...Breast fetishist."
"That's not praise at all!!" Touji cried, his face aflame.
He quickly moved on to her waist—
"61..."
Astonishingly slim.
After confirming her hip measurements as well, Touji took the data and added his own: shoulder width, arm length, bust (yes, he had one too—don't judge), waist, hips, leg length, and more.
He sent everything, along with their favorite designs, to the tailor.
The tailor responded quickly, helping confirm fabric, style, and details. The quote? 110,000 yen for both outfits.
Delivery time? One month.
"Ugh, that's pricey, and the wait's so long... Should we just buy them offline at some cosplay store?" Utaha-san mused aloud.
"If Onee-san's feeling impatient, I'll support your offline shopping spree."
"I'm trying to save you money, baka." Utaha rolled her eyes.
In Japan, the AA system—splitting bills—was the norm, even among couples. Unless they were married, it was expected.
But Utaha-san wasn't just aiming for some casual high school romance. Her ambitions were... bigger.
In her mind, she was already the bride.
So, she felt completely justified using her future husband's wallet.
"Still, you don't have to worry about it too much..." Touji said, tapping his chin.
"A livestream or two, some sponsored videos or store promotions, and I'll make that money back easy-peasy."
Kasumigaoka Touji, high school student and future multimedia mogul, grinned with quiet confidence.
And so, their slightly weird, wonderfully awkward, and completely unforgettable cosplay project moved forward—
One custom stitch at a time.