Chapter Text
“Wakana-kun?”
The sound of his name felt like a bucket of cold water thrown over Gojou’s head. As his head snapped up to find the source of the voice the rest of the world snapped back into dizzying sharpness, his mind trying its very best to remember where they currently were.
Right.
Comiket. He had found a shade to stand in to escape the blaze of the sun that had come down on him ever since he left Kitagawa’s apartment. In an obvious attempt to betray him in the worst of places, his brain started to immediately replay a vivid slideshow of what had happened there, his cheeks flushing almost violently.
“You good?” The voice prodded at him once more and he wheeled around.
“O-Oh, uh…” A cute girl stood in front of him with an inquisitive look on her face, her head tilted to the side. It wasn’t strange to see a cute girl here, of course – it was still early, but the lower area of Comiket had already started to fill up with cosplayers just exiting the dressing rooms before moving up to the outside exhibition area, which was where a lot of the cosplayers would be posting up. Suddenly, Gojou felt himself go pale. Would Kitagawa be okay in the sun? Was there any chance of standing inside in one of the exhibition halls there instead? Ah, but there would be stands there, so that might be an issue. Gojou put a finger to his chin. “Hmmm… That is indeed problematic.”
“Wanna come back to the land of the living? You’re not overheating, are you?”
Once again, the voice yanked Gojou straight back into the real world, his eyes trying to focus on the girl in front of him. She wore a beautiful pink wig and some sort of uniform jacket posted on top of a gorgeously crafted uniform skirt. Probably something out of an idol anime or game, if Gojou was indeed starting to understand the distinctions.
“You’re staring, dude. And yes, this is the skirt I was talking about!” The girl put her hands on her hips and smiled softly, nodding her head up and down. “Thanks for the advice, Wakana-kun. I’m really happy with the outcome.”
Gojou blinked, his mind partly somewhere else and partly engrossed in the wonderful craftmanship of the cosplay in front of him. He blinked again, his gaze returning to the girl’s face. She tilted her head to the side.
“So, what do you think?”
“A-Ah! Amane-san!” Horrified at his own oversight, Gojou straightened his back suddenly. “Good morning!”
“Good morning!”
“It’s…” He subconsciously stepped closer to get a better look at the skirt. “Amazing… Truly…”
Amane grinned widely, once again reminding Gojou that he was in fact a man – it became visible whenever he smiled. “You think so?”
“Y-Yes!” He nodded enthusiastically, an almost childlike smile spreading across his face. “It’s beautiful! Truly!”
“Thank you.” Amane closed his eyes in a happy smile, before he opened them again and was back to looking inquisitive. “Somehow… I kind of get the feeling you’ve been standing here for a long time.”
“Ah…” Gojou smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head as yet another batch of cosplayers filed out of the dressing rooms – there had been many already, really cementing just how long he had actually been standing there. “Kind of… I was standing over there at first, but then, uhm… I felt weird, standing outside the women’s dressing room for so long.”
“Indeed…” Amane chuckled. “It must take a long time to put on, huh?”
Gojou nodded. “Y-Yes… Suzuka-san and Akira-san must be hard at work.”
“Right, they also came early to help…” The cosplaying boy looked almost frightened, although he still smiled. “I hope Akira is okay.”
“Me too,” Gojou sighed. He had already spent a lot of time worrying about it. “I’m very grateful that they offered to help, but… I feel bad for making a costume that’s so difficult to wear.”
“Don’t worry about it, Wakana. I’m sure they’re happy just to see how it all comes together. I came early just to make sure I can get a good look at it myself.”
“Huh?” Gojou blushed. “R-Really?”
“Yeah,” he nodded thoughtfully. “They’re gonna swarm her up there, you know. I thought you surely must have peaked with Haniel, but I’ve been starting to think you’re gonna outdo yourself once more.”
“That’s… Uh… Hahaha…” Gojou laughed awkwardly. “I don’t know about that…”
Amane wasn’t able to get another word in before he noticed something moving in his periphery. He turned his head to look, eyebrows raising a little, prompting Gojou to look for whatever he was seeing. Rounding the corner from where the women’s dressing rooms were was Akira, kind of almost stumbling forward. She looked… lost, almost. Confused.
“Oh, boy,” Amane sighed, clearly amused. “Over here, Akira!”
The woman perked her head up, looking disoriented as all hell. She finally seemed to realize who was talking, though, and she hesitantly made her way over to the pair.
“Amane… Wakana… ‘Sup…” She mumbled.
“Morning,” Amane grinned. “You doing okay?”
Akira just shook her head without even hesitating. Gojou felt a pang of guilt in his chest just at the sight of her. It must have been hard.
“It was that taxing, huh?” Amane hummed.
“Nah, that’s not it.” Akira walked past them and leaned on a pillar that supported the little roof they stood under, eyes glued upwards at a spot on the ceiling. “I just don’t get it.”
“Is… Something wrong?” Gojou gulped. Akira lowered her head and stared incredulously at Gojou.
“You don’t even…” She pinched the bridge of her nose before directing her attention towards Amane. “It’s ridiculous. Seriously. I thought I was prepared since I’ve seen so much of the progress already, but I wasn’t. There’s no way anyone could be ready.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Amane smiled nonchalantly. “I’ve just accepted that it’s gonna knock me over at this point.”
“Doesn’t matter if you’ve accepted it. It’ll still mess you up.”
Gojou swallowed nervously. “U-Uhm… I’m not sure I understand.”
“Of course you don’t, Mr. Unbelievably Humble.” Akira shook her head. “I don’t like people who are full of themselves, but come on… It’s not fair that someone can stay this unbothered by their own… frickin’... godhood.”
“Yeah,” Amane agreed. “It’s quite admirable.”
Gojou, still not entirely sure what they were talking about – or rather wilfully turning a blind eye to the praise they were indirectly showering him with – nervously started to throw his gaze around.
“She’s almost done,” Akira sighed, straightening up and removing herself from the pillar. “Though I’m imagining Suzuka is gonna have to hold her hand coming over here. That thing is probably, uh… not easy to move around in.”
As if on cue, the sound of PVC foam shifting across skin and fabric made itself known around the corner. The three of them turned towards the sound and saw Suzuka coming around the corner, holding onto one armored arm that was barely visible from where they stood. Suzuka spotted them and shot them an excited smile, and then…
And then Kitagawa was upon them. Almost immediately, Gojou heard Amane whisper something along the lines of “holy sh*t”, and he even felt his own heart flutter at the sight before them.
Even though he had been there for every part of the process, he wasn’t fully prepared for how it would look with every element present. The light purple markings that adorned Kitagawa’s body and face, the wig that was half visible beneath the cleaved helmet, and the terrifying contact lens that covered her entire eye. The height of her, which was almost entirely imagined, considering the fact that he had barely put any platforms in her shoes.
More than anything, Gojou was entirely taken aback by how beautiful she looked. Imposing – scary, even – but so very beautiful. It was the same feeling he had when he and Kitagawa had watched Knight/Day together. The feeling that he wanted the royal knight to protect him.
Suddenly, Kitagawa’s words rang clearly in his mind. Dependable muscle mommy.
Everyone’s eyes were on Kitagawa, including other con-goers that passed them by, every single one of them completely and utterly enraptured by the sight before them. Already, whispers were spreading through the scattered morning crowd at the Summer Comiket, and yet–
And yet Kitagawa’s eyes were fixed solely on Gojou, a look of pure joy and adoration on her face, obvious even despite only half her face being visible.
Suzuka and Kitagawa moved towards the group at a crawl, the armored up girl very obviously struggling to utilize her full range of movement. Eventually though, they came to a stop in front of them, and Suzuka stepped away to get a good look out in the sunlight. She smiled widely and turned to Amane.
“Terrifying, isn’t it?”
Amane nodded, his face pale. “Inhuman,” he gulped. “The outdoor exhibition area might just combust at this point.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. The more parts we put on her, the more we started losing our minds. I seriously feel like I’m dreaming.” She turned to Gojou, whose eyes were locked onto Kitagawa. “You’ve outdone yourself, Wakana-kun. This is really something else.”
After a moment, Gojou turned towards her with a blank look on his face.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.” She smiled softly. “It’s beautiful. Seriously. A work of art.”
Gojou turned to look at Kitagawa again. “She really is, isn’t she?” He mumbled, making Suzuka blush profusely.
“Ah… Damn,” she whispered. “I ship it so bad.”
“Wak– Eh… Gojou-kun.” Kitagawa stood entirely still, and Gojou struggled to reconcile her very Kitagawa-like expression with the way the rest of her didn’t adhere to her usual self at all. “I’m seriously blown away here. I can’t believe it.”
“Kitagawa-san…”
Akira raised an eyebrow. “sh*t, did we leave the parasol in there?” Suzuka’s eyes widened at the question. “I’ll run back in and fetch it.”
As Akira disappeared around the corner, legs almost wobbly from the continued shock of looking at Kitagawa, Gojou raised an eyebrow and just barely managed to tear his gaze away from his girlfriend.
“Parasol…?” He questioned.
“We figured you guys wouldn’t think to bring one, considering all the stuff you had to bring,” Suzuka smiled. “All the fans in the suit are working fine, but we figured it would be smart to provide some shade whenever no one’s taking pictures of her.”
“Will there ever be such a time?” Amane laughed incredulously. Suzuka giggled.
“Probably not, but it’s best to be on the safe side.”
It didn’t take long before Akira reappeared around the corner with a lengthy parasol in her hands. “Alright, we’re covered. Let’s find a spot before it starts to fill up.”
Kitagawa nodded, an almost nervous look on her face, and then she extended an arm towards Gojou. “Please?”
“U-Uh,” he stuttered.
Suzuka nodded to him. “Go ahead. I’ll carry the suitcase.”
“Are you sure?” Gojou eyed the absolutely gigantic suitcase they had brought Hinoiri’s armor in.
“Sure! It has wheels, so it’s no problem!”
Hesitantly, Gojou reached out and grabbed onto Kitagawa’s arm, and he could feel her instantly easing up at his touch. “How are you holding up, Kitagawa-san?”
“Oh, you know…” She smiled sheepishly. “I totes underestimated how bad my vision would be.”
“Is that so?” Gojou mumbled. “I guess it makes sense… One of your eyes is completely covered, and I imagine the contact lens disturbs your vision a bit too.”
“Y-Yeah…” They started to slowly move forwards. “So please, Gojou-kun… Hold me tight, okay?”
He brought himself closer to her side, linking his arm up with hers. “Of course.”
The group carefully made their way upwards towards the exhibition area, moving through scattered crowds of amazed on-lookers that just couldn’t seem to tear their eyes away from Hinoiri-sama. As they walked, Suzuka threw a couple of glances at Kitagawa’s exposed arms and stomach.
“Still, I’m super impressed by the contour work. It really looks like Marin-chan has a bunch of muscle going on.”
“That’s right,” Amane seemed to light up a bit. “I don’t think that was there the first time you guys showed us the make-up?”
“W-Well,” Gojou tried, but Kitagawa wasted no time cutting him off.
“He just did it, like, on a whim! He hadn’t even tried it before!” A satisfied hum bounced around her throat as she nodded up and down. “Genius, isn’t he? I’m totes, like, the muscle mommy right now.”
“Ah, Hinoiri-sama,” Suzuka cooed as they started climbing the stairs to the upper level. “Even her muscles shine brightly like the sun. Thank you for the meal, Wakana-kun.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, Gojou-kun,” Kitagawa breathed. “Please hold onto me a bit tighter here. The stairs are… kinda scary.”
“Sure, Kitagawa-san.”
“Tell me, is Amane-san totally adorable today as well? I could barely see with this gnarly contact lens in.”
Gojou smiled, keeping his eyes fixed on their feet while he carefully guided her up the steps. “She looks terrific today, as always. A-Ah! I mean…”
“That’s okay, Wakana,” Amane laughed from beside them. “It’s quite the compliment when you call me that. Means it’s convincing, no?”
Gojou threw a quick glance at Amane once more. “I-It really is,” he chuckled, a bit embarrassed yet relieved that he hadn’t done anything wrong. “Almost there, Kitagawa-san.”
“Ahhh, I hope so,” she panted, her legs shaking a bit on the steps. “I’m trying to focus on all the places the fans are cooling down, instead of all the places I’m hot.”
“Yeah, it’s real warm today,” Akira mumbled. “Still, I’m glad the fans are working. If only the lights were a bit more visible in the sunlight.”
“I know right?” Kitagawa made a disappointed grimace. “I totes wanna take pictures in the dark some day. Gojou-kun even proposed we put lights in the sword.”
“I just wish I’d thought of it sooner,” he sighed, earning a chuckle from Akira.
“Ever the perfectionist.” She threw a glance at the ridiculously large sword Kitagawa was lumping along with the hand Gojou wasn’t holding onto. “Thing’s huge, though.”
“Hinoiri-sama is amazing, huh?” Kitagawa hummed happily. “I’d never be able to swing a sword like this.”
“That’s… I don’t think anyone could, realistically–” Gojou started, but Kitagawa didn’t let him finish, clearly wanting to keep the dream alive.
“Ahhh, she’s so amazing! And Gojou-kun totally turned me into her, so now I’m the happiest girl in the world!”
It took them far more time to scale the staircase than it normally would, the gang constantly making sure to let the people behind them pass. Eventually, though, they made it to the top. As if it just never got old, Gojou stood at the top of the stairs and stared on in awestruck wonder at the big open space that was slowly but surely filling up with cosplayers, photographers, and other con-goers.
“Ahhh,” he practically cooed, his cheeks red and warm at the sights before him. “There’s so many people… Oh, and look at that cosplay! That’s super impressive!”
The others nodded in silent agreement, while Kitagawa – whose arm Gojou was still holding onto – shuffled close enough to him that she could whisper in his ear.
“You’re so totally cute when you’re excited.” She giggled softly at the embarrassed look on Gojou’s face before she turned to the others. “Let’s find a spot! Thanks for all your help until now! Amane-san, should you take Suzuka and Akira and find yourself a spot, too?”
Amane just shook his head. “Maybe I’ll find a spot later, but right now I just want to watch this go down.” He motioned towards Kitagawa.
“Ah– Are you sure? Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.”
“I disagree,” he grinned.
“Huuuh?” Kitagawa tilted her head a little. “I guess… if you say so?”
“Let’s try over there.” Akira pointed towards a relatively open spot a ways away from where they stood. They started moving towards it, and it didn’t take long for Kitagawa to start complaining.
“Maaan, it totally sucks that I can barely see the other cosplayers! Please tell me if you see something I’d like so I can walk over and get a good look!”
“Well, I mean…” Akira cleared her voice, and it only then dawned on Gojou how incredibly level-headed she was acting so close to Kitagawa. “There’s a ‘Prince of Then’nalia’ cosplay like, right there.”
“Huh?!” Kitagawa whipped around. “Another Knight/Day cosplayer? Seriously?! Can we please head over there before we find our spot?!”
“I can go claim the spot,” Gojou offered, “If you guys can accompany Kitagawa-san over there?”
“I’ll go with you, Wakana,” Amane smiled. The two of them sat their course for the unoccupied spot that wasn’t very far away now, while the three others started to approach the other Knight/Day cosplayer who looked like they were also in the process of getting set up, attaching a sign with their social media handle to a suitcase that was set up next to them.
“Ahhh, they’re cute, aren’t they? I’m betting they’re cute,” Kitagawa hummed happily.
“Well, we’re here, so I suppose you can see for yourself,” Suzuka chuckled. Kitagawa made a little noise of surprise, promptly squinting in an attempt to sharpen her vision. It wasn’t perfect, but she was somewhat able to make out the shape of two people with their backs turned towards her, sitting down and preparing something that she couldn’t see. One of them seemed to be wearing street clothes, but the other one wore the unmistakable royal uniform of the young prince of Then’nalia.
“Ohmigosh!” Kitagawa yelped, kind of hunching over a bit in order to get an even closer look. “That’s such a gorgeous Prince Oujihi cosplay, I think I might seriously cry! I can’t believe I didn’t bring my camera!”
“Well, a camera would be a lot to drag around wearing that.” Suzuka scratched the back of her head before raising her own camera. “If you’d like, Marin-chan, I could take a picture and send it to you?”
“Oh my god, could you?!” Kitagawa’s face practically doubled in size from the sheer excitement, her mouth and her one visible eye widening impossibly much. “Then, Mr. or Mrs. Prince Oujihi cosplayer, would it be okay if I got a picture?”
As if the two people, who were sitting literally inches away from where Kitagawa was leaning over, finally seemed to realize that someone was actually talking to them, they started turning around. Even with her poor vision, Kitagawa could tell they were both girls probably about her age – and the one in cosplay was absolutely killing it.
“Ah, sorry!” The girl in street clothes said apologetically while still turning around. “We haven’t really finished setting up yet! If you’d like to be first in line, you could queue up no– BWAH!” At the end of her pivot, the girl took one look at Kitagawa and ended up straight on her ass.
“Huh?” The other girl – the one in cosplay – mumbled, finally finishing her pivot as well. She looked at Kitagawa, completely silent as she did so. Kitagawa couldn’t quite make out the face she was making, but she was quite sure she wasn’t actually making a face at all. Her expression just looked kind of… dead. And then she started crying.
“E-Eh?” Kitagawa’s excitement gave way to pure terror, convinced she had done something terrible. Now the other girl started crying too. “I– Huh? I’m so sorry, I–”
“Hinoiri-sama!” The girl in street clothes bawled, slowly trying to clamber back onto her feet, although she didn’t get much further than onto her knees. “It’s actually Hinoiri-sama!”
“What the f*ck?!” The girl in cosplay cried. “It’s not possible! How is it possible?!”
Kitagawa started waving her hands back and forth, and then it dawned on her that the cosplayer really shouldn’t be crying, so she kneeled down in front of her and gently put a finger to her chin to tip her head back a little, very carefully trying to make sure her tears didn’t run down and ruin her makeup.
“Careful! Your makeup will run!” She warned. The cosplayer went entirely still, her eyes wider than humanly possible. “There we go, that’s better. I’m really sorry if I did something wrong. I just thought your cosplay was so beautiful.”
“H-H-Hinoiri-sama,” the girl stammered. She slowly dared herself to look at Kitagawa again. “Is it really you…?”
Suzuka kneeled down next to Kitagawa and handed her a couple of tissues, which Kitagawa very gently used to dab some tears away from the girl’s eyes. “Man, I wish,” she giggled. “This really is just a cosplay, though.”
“I-I see.” After giving Kitagawa a little nod, she allowed the armored cosplayer to help her onto her feet while Akira did the same to the other girl. “I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t be!” Kitagawa beamed. “I just, uh… Still don’t really understand what just happened?”
“We told you,” Akira suddenly said, and she was totally in the middle of crying herself, as if the dam had finally bursted once more and she could no longer bear to look upon her princess without losing her mind. “We told you people would lose it.”
“R-Right.” Kitagawa laughed nervously and went to scratch the back of her head, unceremoniously knocking at the back of her cleaved helmet. “Ah, crap– Anyway… I just really wanted to come ask for a picture. Would that be okay?”
Looking like she had become entirely disillusioned with the world and its inner workings, the girl nodded slowly. “T-Together?”
Kitagawa’s eyes lit up. “I meant to just take one of you, but if you’d like that–”
“Of course she’d like it!” The other girl suddenly yelled, still not entirely over her tears, it seemed. “Have you frickin’ seen yourself?! I’d literally kill someone right here and now to be in a picture with you!”
Seeming lost in thought for a moment, Kitagawa tilted her head to the side and smiled. “Then, do you wanna?”
Another two minutes or so of crying passed before people managed to calm back down. Kitagawa started off doing a casual pose with the girl who wasn’t cosplaying, grinning widely at Suzuka’s camera with a peace sign thrown up. Afterwards, the cosplaying girl sort of almost stumbled over to Kitagawa.
“U-Uhm, so… What p-pose should we… do?”
“Hmm…” Kitagawa hummed. “I guess they haven’t actually shared any screentime while Hinoiri looks like this, huh?”
“T-That’s right…”
“I don’t think anything will change,” Kitagawa smiled. “I think Hinoiri-sama will continue to devote herself to her prince, no matter what.”
The girl nodded, cheeks redder than a strawberry. With that, Kitagawa wasted no time getting down on one knee. She smiled softly up at the girl and held out a hand.
“Am I okay to touch your hand?”
“Y-Yes…” The girl extended an arm almost in slow motion, until it rested gingerly in the hand Kitagawa held out. Suzuka snapped a picture depicting the royal knight Hinoiri kneeling in front of her prince, pledging her eternal devotion while her huge sword stuck into the ground next to her, propped up by her free hand.
A few minutes of dealing with the yet again crying girls later, Kitagawa started making her way back to Gojou and Amane together with her two friends. They didn’t get very far before the girl in the cosplay called out to them, though. “E-Excuse me, Miss Hinoiri-sama Cosplayer!”
Kitagawa wheeled around – slowly, as the costume wasn’t exactly easy to move around in – and made a curious face. “Sup?”
“H-How… Uhm… Where did you… How did you, uh…” The girl shuffled her feet. “How did you get that costume?”
Kitagawa beamed, her chest instantly filling with warmth as she pointed a finger in a general direction behind her – while Suzuka quickly pushed her arm a little so that she was actually pointing at Gojou – and she closed her eyes in a bright smile.
“My boyfriend made it!” Suzuka choked on her own spit at Kitagawa’s words. “Isn’t he amazing?”
“Your what?!” Suzuka practically yelled, and Marin felt herself stiffen.
“Ah!” She choked. “Ah– Ahahaha… Hahahahaha…”
Akira and Suzuka just stared at her, baffled beyond imagination while Kitagawa continued to laugh nervously.
“Hahaha, sh*t! I wasn’t supposed to say that yet!”
—
The photo session was as much of a repeat of the winter Comiket as they had all expected. Not long after they had gotten set up, and the space had started to properly fill up with people, a circle had started to form. All sorts of different con-goers flocked to Kitagawa like moths to a flame, wanting nothing more than to get a proper picture of the girl in armor. And yet, the energy of the circle was different from last time. Gojou wasn’t entirely sure what the reason was, but he wondered if it maybe had something to do with the nature of the character. He was afraid to think that the quality of the cosplay was what stopped people from yelling at her the same way they had with Haniel.
Either way, it was a good thing. He’d hate to see something similar happen again. Would hate for Kitagawa to be put on the spot again like that.
“Please look this way next!” A voice called from the circle, and Gojou could see the back of a person readying his camera. “Thank you, I’m taking the picture!”
Gojou stood a ways away from the circle, looking on in wonder at the amount of people that had gathered to take pictures of Kitagawa. He picked up on chatter here and there, people in the circle commenting on how good she looked, and he of course couldn’t help but agree.
“Man, I don’t even know what to say.” Gojou raised a curious eyebrow at the sound of two people talking. Seconds later, he saw two young men making their way out of the circle holding each their camera. “I know there are talented people out there, but I still get surprised when I see stuff like this.”
“Right?” The second boy chuckled, scrolling through pictures on his camera while they walked. “People pouring so much into their hobbies is just… I don’t know. Makes me unreasonably happy.”
“Almost a shame there’s so many people, or I’d ask for her socials.” The young man wiped some sweat from his forehead. “Did you see a sign or anything?”
The other shook his head. “Nope. It’s just like that Haniel cosplayer. No advertising whatsoever. You know, they still haven’t found her?”
“Crazy…” Soon, they were passing by Gojou, who was doing his best not to stare at them. Suddenly, though, they came to a stop next to him. “Excuse me, Mr. Monk cosplayer?”
Right. He was wearing his usual clothes today. “O-Oh, this isn’t–”
“Are you familiar with that cosplayer in there?” The first man pointed at the circle. “Know her cosplay name or anything?”
Gojou paled. “Eh… She doesn’t really have one?” The two boys made a surprised noise, while Gojou scratched his cheek nervously. “Although I suppose people took to calling her princess?”
The second boy seemed to choke on his spit, suddenly coughing violently. “T-That’s the Haniel cosplayer from this winter?!”
“Y-Yes,” Gojou smiled hesitantly. “That’s correct.”
The first boy’s eyes widened in surprise. “I guess the quality of the Hinoiri cosplay shouldn’t surprise me too much, then. I assume you know her, then?”
Gojou nodded.
“Do you know who makes her costumes?”
Before Gojou could utter a response, he felt a hand on his shoulder. “He does.” Suzuka stood beside him, smiling happily. Akira and Amane were with her, probably having just exited the circle. Akira looked like she was about to blow a fuse.
“You did?!” The the two boys barked in unison.
“I-I did, but please–” Gojou swallowed hard. “Please don’t make a scene!”
All he could picture was the crowd of people surrounding Kitagawa suddenly picking up on the explosive energy. He really didn’t want a repeat of the last circle shoot.
“S-Sorry!” The first boy bowed. “We would love to speak with you guys later, if that would be okay!”
Gojou made a face. “What for?”
“Y-You see, we run a digital newspaper!”
“An amateur one,” the other boy added.
“That’s right! We make a newspaper after cosplay events where we showcase cool cosplays and the people behind them, and, well… You guys are totally first page material!”
Akira’s eyes widened a little. “You guys don’t run CosWord, do you?”
“We do!” The boys nodded furiously.
Gojou felt his heart drop. He really wasn’t sure if he liked the sound of it. “M-May I ask what the purpose of it is?”
The second boy smiled reassuringly. “Mostly just so people who couldn’t come can see what’s going on. We write in English so that more people can read it. Oh, and we’ll totally add you guys’ socials, too, if you want exposure!”
“Exposure, huh…” Gojou tried to blink some sweat out of his eyes. “I see. I’ll talk to her about it once the photoshoot ends.”
“That’d be awesome! Here!” The first boy handed Gojou a card with his number on it, bowing deeply. “It’s an honor to finally meet the mind behind the Haniel cosplay that plagued our dreams! Seriously!”
“O-Oh…” Hesitating a bit to accept the card, Gojou felt a strange heat spread throughout his chest. How many times was he supposed to hear people say these things before he finally took it to heart? Was this the moment, finally? He wasn’t sure, but…
But it felt warm. It felt nice.
“Thank you… really.” He smiled.
The two young men gave their regards one final time before disappearing into the crowd of the Comiket, probably to venture over to another line to get more photos. Gojou simply stood there for a moment, a strange smile on his face as he tried to ponder the feelings that fluttered inside of his chest. Then, a hand pushed at his back.
“Come on, dude.” Akira pushed him just hard enough that he was forced to take a step forward. It seemed she had regained her composure at least a little bit. “Can’t be standing around here all day.”
Gojou wheeled around to face her, and what met him was Akira, Suzuka, and Amane, all giving him the same look. The look that was telling him to get a move on, though in a mostly optimistic looking way. He started to stutter. “W-What?”
Amane raised an eyebrow. “You should head in there and get a look, shouldn’t you? You haven’t seen her pose yet.”
“That’s…”
“Here.” Suzuka held out her camera to him. “I know you guys didn’t bring Marin-chan’s camera today, but it would be nice if you came in to take a picture, right?”
“Thank you…” Gojou accepted the camera – carefully, so as not to break anything – and then let his gaze shift between the three of them. “But the, uhm…”
“We’ll watch the suitcase, dude,” Akira huffed. “Seriously, get in there.”
Suzuka nodded firmly. “That’s right, Mr. Boyfriend, you better show up.”
A smile started to spread on Gojou’s face. “Y-Yeah! You’re right!” He turned towards the circle shoot, still as jampacked as it had been the last time he’d looked at it, and he began to move towards it all giddily, and then– “Wait, what did you just call me?”
—
God, it was almost dizzying. Wherever she turned was another face, another camera, pointed directly at her as if waiting for her to focus there for just long enough that they could snap a picture. Despite the fans blowing at her skin underneath the armor, she was burning up, heat constantly trapped inside of the parts that couldn’t air out properly. The sun came down on the top of her head, making her think she might just burn off a whole bunch of brain cells just standing there. Cosplay was fun and all, but was it really worth dying for?
Yeah, maybe.
Apart from the extreme heat, though, the situation was familiar in the way it made her feel, although she didn’t mind the lack of people literally screaming at her. It was a bit easier to relax into the role of Hinoiri-sama without the added pressure of desperate yells. Still, she wondered if it was right. Only able to show half of her face, could she properly portray the face Gojou had wanted? It’s not like she wanted it to, but that image of him in her head would sometimes force its way back. The way he stood all the way in the back.
The way he didn’t even seem to notice her.
That broken look on his face.
She never wanted to see that face again.
“Please, look this way next!”
Kitagawa drew a deep breath, steadied herself as well as she could, and turned to the source of the voice. She pulled the best face she could, hoping, hoping, hoping that it was something similar to what Gojou had asked her for. The camera that pointed her way caught the sun for a moment and reflected into her one visible eye. She flinched a little bit, but managed to recover right before the shutter sounded. The cameraman lowered his camera, and Kitagawa looked into the most beautiful eyes she knew. Suddenly she was weightless, floating, soaring through the skies as her heart fluttered to life.
Her boyfriend smiled his beautiful smile as he looked at her in the middle of the circle, that smile that she could look at for hours on end, and in his eyes was love, love, love.
