7

August was coming to an end, and summer vacation had already started. The time had come—it was the day of Wonder Festival at the Makuhari Messe.

At six thirty, much earlier than I’d usually get up, my alarm blared into my ears. Since I’d been informed that looking clean was the most important thing, I hopped in the shower and started styling my hair. Kokoro had also chosen my clothes for me—at least, as best as she could from my limited wardrobe.

“I haven’t forgotten anything, have I? I’ve got my costume, my wig...” Kokoro nervously checked the contents of her travel bag. She’d gotten up much earlier than I did to get her makeup and outfit ready.

“You’ve got your camera, right?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Kokoro’s enthusiasm about this whole festival thing was overwhelming. You could tell how much she hoped to befriend a handsome cosplayer there. As for me, I was so concerned with the Yume/Mashiro problem that I was struggling to get excited at the prospect of meeting other girls, but after asking Ai for advice and having practiced my photography skills with Kokoro, I felt a responsibility to go.

Our plans for the day were as follows. In the morning, Kokoro would change into her cosplay, then I would follow her, taking pictures. We would check out the anime and game figures—the main focus of WonFes—on display, while hoping to run into attractive cosplayers so that we could take pictures and exchange business cards. At one o’clock, the anime presentation hosted by Elena would start. Kokoro and I would head toward the stage thirty minutes in advance so that we could find a good spot to cheer on our cosplaying friend.

We left the house at seven and got on the train to the festival venue.

“Today’s the day! I’ll keep my eyes peeled for all those gorgeous guys, awaaah!”

“You wear that boy-hungriness on your sleeve, don’t you? It’s almost refreshing.”

“Don’t talk like you’re not nervous! You’d better find some cute cosplayers too!”

“W-Well, you have a point, but after what happened recently, I don’t know whether I should even be looking for girls in the first place.”

“But neither of those two have even asked you to be their boyfriend, and you’re not sure whether you like either of them that way. Am I right?” Kokoro asked.

Taken aback, I let her continue.

“Say you meet a girl that you really like today. What would the problem be? We don’t have that much time left, remember? We can’t waste any chances to find someone.”

I was surprised, but hearing her say those things made them sound rather plausible... true, even. After talking with Kokoro, I already felt much better.

“I-I think you’re right...” I said.

There’s no reason to waste this chance. I’ll give it my all today. It’s for the best, isn’t it?

We soon reached Kaihin Makuhari, the station closest to the Makuhari Messe. I’d been to the Tokyo Big Sight, a similar venue, for other events, but this was my first time here. Despite the early hour, the station was already crowded with other Wonder Festival attendees.

“Whoa, look at all these people! Is this what Summer Comiket looks like?” Kokoro asked me.

“This is your first time at an event this big, right?”

“Yeah! And I’m super excited!”

We waded through the crowd and finally entered the event hall. Kokoro’s excitement had started to rub off on me too. I was looking forward to seeing Elena’s show, the cosplayers, and the figures. I told myself that, if I did find a cosplayer that I fancied, I would ask them for a picture. Of course, I’d also keep Ai and Kokoro’s advice in mind.

“I’ll text you when I’m done changing. You can, like, walk around and stuff if you want to, just as long as you meet me back here,” Kokoro said.

“Okay then. See you in a bit,” I replied as she headed to the changing rooms.

Now left to my own devices, I thought I’d use the time to check out the figures on display. I walked over to a couple of the areas that I was interested in and looked through the booths of various companies. There were a lot that caught my eye—either because they were figures of characters that I loved or because they were sexy as hell—but I didn’t have enough money to actually buy any.

While moving between the many halls of Makuhari Messe, I walked into the cosplayer area. The cutest cosplayer of the bunch already had lines of people waiting to point their cameras at her. One by one, the photographers would snap a few pictures, thank the cosplayer, then move on.

There’s barely any interaction going on! I don’t think I’ll be able to befriend any of the popular ones...

Business cards were also being exchanged, but what were the chances of a cosplayer actually remembering you once the event was over? Slim, I thought, unless you can make one heck of an impression on them.

The cosplayers that people lined up for, however, didn’t give out their own cards. Instead, they had their cosplayer name and Twitter handle printed on a large sheet of paper or written on a piece of cardboard next to them. The idea was probably that, by taking a picture of the sign along with the cosplayer, there would be no need to hand out your information to photographers one by one, which would require a large amount of time and an even larger stack of cards.

Might as well take some pictures while I wait for Nishina, I thought, quickly scanning my surroundings. Not far from me there was a girl cosplaying Fumiko, one of my favorite IMS characters. The cosplayer was cute, slim, and accurate in her rendition of the character. I was immediately thrilled by the sight.

A character I love, done by a cute girl! Let’s go with her.

Of course, I was only the latest in a long line of people who had also thought, “Let’s go with her.”

Even if I couldn’t actually get to know the girl, I wanted to try out what Ai and Kokoro had taught me. I also wanted to give her my card and follow her on Twitter. Finding her there so I could send the pictures I’d taken was enough.

As the line moved and I got closer to the front, I started getting nervous. Of course, I was looking forward to my turn, but my hands were literally shaking. Since there were even more people waiting behind me now, I started preparing the camera in advance so that I could start taking pictures right away.

Given how popular this girl was, taking just one or two pictures would be the most considerate thing to do, but all the other photographers before me were clearly taking more than that. Since Ai had told me that it’d be rude to take too many, I decided I’d take around half a dozen.

When my turn finally came, I approached the cosplayer, who had a smile that seemed permanently plastered on her face. To her, this was probably already routine.

“Hi there!” she said.

“H-Hi. Say cheese, I guess...” I replied, pointing the camera lens at her.

I changed up the angle and zoom just as Kokoro had taught me. The cosplayer was obviously used to this kind of thing, as she changed poses every time I closed the shutter. So this is how an experienced cosplayer does things...

Moments later, I’d already taken five pictures.

I thanked her for posing and lowered my camera, and she thanked me back. But of course, walking away just like that would have made the whole thing pointless.

“I-If you don’t mind, please have my card...” I said, cautiously handing it to her.

“Oh, thank you!” she said, politely accepting it.

“I-I can send you the pictures I took if you want!”

“Oh, really? That’d be great! Thanks! You can find me here,” she said, grabbing a sketchbook that she had beside her and opening it to reveal her name and Twitter handle. The whole motion had the seamlessness of something that had been repeated many, many times.

I thanked her and took a picture of the info.

Is this all I can do? She’ll have forgotten me in five minutes if this is the scope of our interaction.

I remembered something that Ai had told me: one of the things a cosplayer appreciated most was to receive non-creepy compliments.

“Y-Your Fumiko cosplay is really great, by the way! Fumiko’s my main, so it’s great to see her done so well! Thank you so much!” I said, trying to speak as fast as possible so as not to make the other people in line wait too long.

She smiled. Was this also routine? I didn’t know, but she looked genuinely happy. I was glad I’d found the courage to compliment her.

I’ve got to remember to follow her on Twitter once I’m back home. I don’t know whether I’ve made a good impression, but it’s worth trying...

After taking my leave, I noticed I’d received a LINE message from Kokoro, so I headed back to the place where we’d planned to meet. She arrived a few minutes later.

“Did I keep you waiting?” she asked.

“N-No...”

This wasn’t the first time I’d seen her Unithorn cosplay, but even with all these other cosplayers to compare her to, it held up surprisingly well. Actually, if I had to be honest, it was probably the best cosplay I’d seen that day.

If she went to that cosplaying zone, she’d have people lining up within minutes, but then she’d be so busy that she wouldn’t be able to meet the handsome cosplayers she’s looking for.

“Did you go to see the other cosplayers then?”

“Yeah... The cute ones all had tons of photographers lining up for them. I managed to take pictures of a Fumiko from IMS, actually, but...”

“That sounds great! I’ve gotta check it out!” she said, leaving no room for objections.

“If you go there,” I began to warn her, “you’ll get people lining up for you too. You know, Unithorn being so popular and all. Then you might not be able to leave the area for the rest of the morning.”

Actually, it was her cuteness rather than her choice of character that I thought would gather attention, but I didn’t really want to admit that.

“For real?! It’d be great to have good photographers taking pictures of me and all. That way, I could upload them myself... But I wanna be able to enjoy the festival,” she replied.

“Now that I think about it, are you okay with your pictures being online? Some photographers could upload them themselves, you know?”

In the past, Kokoro had told me that she only uploaded heavily retouched pictures so that none of her offline acquaintances could recognize her and find out that she was an otaku. But it wasn’t rare to see online threads where people posted all the pictures of cosplayers that they’d managed to take during events like these, even without permission.

“I thought about that, and I figured that... heh, it doesn’t matter that much. My real-life friends won’t be looking at cosplay pictures online anyway, and even if they did, I could just tell them it’s someone that just happens to look like me. Between the wig, the colored contacts, and the makeup, they’d probably believe me.”

“Oh, I see...”

Pretty soon, we were back in the area where the cosplayers were having their pictures taken.

“Look, look! There are cosplayers everywhere! There’s Yumeno☆Saki! And that’s an IMS group! They’re so cute! Ohhh, over there! These girls are crossplaying as A4 characters! They look so good!”

Kokoro was squealing left, right, and center as she noticed cosplayer after cosplayer.

“Do you want to go around as I take pictures of them, or should we take yours first?” I asked her.

“Um... Let’s take some of me, but just a few. Then we’ll walk around and look at the other cosplayers. Oh, tell me if you see a cosplayer you like though!” she said.

I pulled out the camera, mounted the lens, and put the strap around my neck.

“Okay then. Whenever you’re ready,” I told her.

Kokoro began by striking one of her well-rehearsed Unithorn poses. Even through the camera, she looked astonishingly cute. Aware of my lack of artistic talent, I snapped as many pictures as possible from different angles, hoping that I would stumble upon one that made her and her cosplay shine. If I took a bunch of pictures, at least one of them would have to be good enough for Twitter.

After I’d taken roughly ten pictures, Kokoro looked in my direction with a very surprised expression on her face. Intrigued, I stopped and looked back at her. As it turns out, she was actually looking behind me, so I turned around... and saw a line of photographers waiting to take pictures after me. They couldn’t have known that I was her private cameraman, so to speak, so they must have assumed that I was just some random guy who had asked her for photos. I did the only thing that made sense to me: step aside and let the next guy have his turn.

“Hey, nice cosplay,” the photographer said, smiling at Kokoro.

“Wha...?! A-Ah! Th-Thank you!” she replied, quickly going back to her pose. This time, however, she looked way more stiff and contrived.

The man took seven or eight pictures and thanked Kokoro, who grabbed one of the business cards out of her bag and handed it to him. One down, plenty to go. Some of the photographers only took a couple of pictures, while others took more than a dozen, which obviously required a considerable amount of time.

Just as I feared...

The line was growing longer and longer. Even if it stopped growing, there were probably enough people there already to take up our entire morning. However, since Kokoro herself had said that she’d like a good photographer—myself obviously not included—to take pictures of her, I thought it better not to intervene. That being said, I didn’t have the courage to start up conversations with the cosplayers passing by, and lining up in front of someone else didn’t seem like a good idea, so I just stood there, waiting.

I noticed that in the few seconds between one of the photographers leaving and the next taking his place, Kokoro was staring at me as if desperately trying to tell me something. Intrigued, I walked up to her.

“I just saw the most handsome cosplayer doing Toppo from HypMic! And he’s probably a guy too!” she whispered, clearly excited.

HypMic, short for Hypnotic Mic, was one of the games that Kokoro was obsessed with. It starred several voice actors in the roles of various handsome rappers.

“Yeah? Where?”

“He just walked past us!”

“Wha—”

“Excuse me...” one of the photographers interrupted, as if to ask whether it was his turn yet.

Kokoro and I had limited time, and the event venue was huge. If we didn’t hurry, we probably wouldn’t be able to find the cosplayer she liked again.

“What should I do...?” Kokoro muttered to herself.

She probably doesn’t have it in her to make a choice right now... I’ll have to make it for her!

“E-Excuse me! She wants to go to the restroom! Can we stop with the photos for a while?” I shouted at the line of waiting photographers.

“Huh?!”

Kokoro was looking at me, half bewildered, half embarrassed. The people in line didn’t look any less surprised. Unfortunately, that was the best idea I could come up with on such short notice...

“Let’s go, Nishina! To the restroom!” I told her.

“What...?! O-Okay. Sorry, everyone!”

She bowed apologetically to the photographers, picked up her stuff, and followed me.

“What’s going on with you, Ichigaya?! What’s this all about?!” Kokoro asked as we ran.

“It was the only way to get rid of those people! Now, where did that cosplayer go?”

“Which cosplayer?”

“The handsome one! You know, in the HypMic cosplay!”

“O-Oh, so you were trying to... Anyway, he went that way!”

We started running in the direction she’d pointed, ignoring the strange looks directed at us.

“Now I see...” she continued. “I wouldn’t have had it in me to disappoint those people myself, so thanks, I guess. But did you really have to tell all those people I needed the restroom?!”

I couldn’t tell if Kokoro was trying to thank me or if she was mad at me again.

“What else was I supposed to say?! That was the only way to get you out of there without seeming really rude. More importantly, do you see your guy or not?”

“Hm? I, er—Oh! There he is!”

She came to an abrupt halt, quickly followed by me. I looked in the direction she was pointing and found the cosplayer from before standing next to a wall, with a line of girls beside him. I wasn’t all that familiar with HypMic characters, but male cosplayers were somewhat rare, and handsome ones all the more, so I could tell at a glance that it was the right guy.

He had bright red hair and wore a black suit with a striped shirt.

“Whoa! He was right by us just seconds ago and he already has a huge line!”

Even men had hoards of photographers—female ones, in this case—waiting to take pictures of them if they were handsome enough. The world that cosplayers live in is an incredible one.

“For the time being, why don’t you line up too? You can get his picture and try to get his card,” I suggested.

“R-Right!” she said, nervously joining the end of line.

This is why she’s here in the first place. I’m glad we’re working toward her goal at least.

I felt my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my jeans, so I pulled it out to see who was calling me.

“What the...?”

It was Elena, who was supposed to be on stage in about an hour. Why was she calling me at a time like this?

“Hello? Minami?”

“Hi, Ichigaya. I’m sorry for calling you at a time like this...”

The reception was bad in the event hall, but I could just about hear her.

“It’s no big deal. Is something wrong?”

“Can you speak right now?”

“Well... sure,” I said, glancing over at Kokoro. It was finally her turn, and she was the last in line. After taking a few pictures and giving the cosplayer her card, she was now chatting with him.

Good for you, Nishina. Seems like you’re going to be able to chat with him for a while. Perfect timing.

“I’ve just finished preparing,” Elena said, “so I was browsing the internet on my phone, and...”

Her voice was shaking. Could this be some kind of emergency?

“...people found out that I’m Emily Saionji...”

“What?!”

Her words came as a shock. “Really? But how?!”

“Recently, I got my first role as a supporting character in an anime. A clip from the TV show was uploaded online, and someone looked up my information on the company website. Then they compared my voice to my YouTube videos... It all happened between last night and this morning. The timing couldn’t have been worse!”

“This morning? So they’ve only just found out?!” I asked, trying to keep my voice down as much as possible.

“Yeah. I went to check my Twitter account—my voice acting account. My followers have skyrocketed, so I searched around for the reason and found a thread on 3chan, where someone posted about it. People are tweeting loads and the news is spreading! I haven’t been able to read the whole 3chan thread, but I read some posts from people who are attending WonFes today that plan to come see me on stage.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Completely. The only picture of me that I know about online is the one on the company’s website, and it’s a really old one. So people really want to see Emily’s real face for the first time. No one’s allowed to take photos during the show, but there are already posts saying that they’ll take pictures and upload them to the thread!”

Elena sounded like she was about to start crying. Eventually, someone had been bound to discover her identity. As long as she was both a voice actress and a VTuber, that was unavoidable. But this truly was bad timing. She was already nervous about having to appear on stage in such a skimpy outfit, but now she also had to deal with the weight of expectations from Emily’s fans and people who were going to try to take photographs without permission. Knowing that this was her first time performing on stage, I felt bad for her.

“There’s not much time left before the show, but I’m getting really dizzy and my hands are shaking, so I panicked and called you. I’m sorry...”

“No, it’s okay. I totally understand. There’s no reason to apologize! If I could help you in any way, I really would!”

I wish I could do something more, but right now, helping her calm down is my top priority.

“Thank you... Having to go out in this costume in front of Emily’s fans is making me so scared, but I’m even more scared of not living up to their expectations...”

“Minami...”

Even at a time like this, Elena was thinking of her fans first and foremost. She really cared and had the mindset of a professional.

“Don’t worry! No fan of Emily’s would ever be disappointed with you!”

I tried my best to find words that would cheer her up. Of course, I was just being honest...

“I-I’m sorry, but the reception is so bad that I didn’t quite catch you...” she said. I was still finding it difficult to hear on my end too.

This isn’t going to help... Even if we could hear each other better, cheering her up on the phone can only do so much.

“Minami, do you have a minute? Away from work, I mean.”

“W-Well, yes. If it’s just ten minutes or so...”

“Where are you?”

“In the dressing room near the stage...”

I checked the map of the venue and found the right dressing room, which was luckily not too far from where I was. It was also close to a restroom.

“In that case, can you head over to the restroom? The closest one to where you are.”

“If I ask my manager, I think he’d let me go...”

“Can you go there alone? I’ll meet you there for a minute, if that’s okay with you.”

“Really?! You’ll come see me?”

“Yes! I’ll be there in five minutes!”

“Th-Thank you so much!”

At first, I’d thought I’d just be a nuisance if I asked to see her in person, but since I was the one that she’d called in her panic, maybe she felt like I was reliable enough. Well, maybe that’s just because I’m the only one who knows her secret, but still...

“Okay! See you soon!” I said, hanging up the phone and walking quickly up to Kokoro. She was still talking to that cosplayer.

Maybe things are going well with him. I’ll have to ask her later.

“Ichigaya! Where were you?!” she asked as she saw me approach, despite still being in the middle of a conversation. The grin on her face was enough for me to figure out that it was going well.

“I’m sorry! It’s kind of an emergency. I’ll be back in around fifteen... twenty minutes, tops! I’ll text you when I’m heading back!”

“Huh?! What’s this about?” she asked, but I left her to her confusion and quickly made my way toward the correct hall.

I felt bad about not explaining the situation to Kokoro, but she seemed to be having fun chatting with the guy, so I figured that she wouldn’t mind too much. I couldn’t tell her about what happened to Elena anyway, since it was still supposed to be a secret.

There were so many people around by this point that running wouldn’t have been safe, but I walked as fast as I could to reach her. Elena was already there.

Now that I think about it, I really should have chosen a better place to meet... Oh well, at least it’s easy to find.

“Ichigaya!”

She was so cute and sexy in that costume that I had to look away, lest my heart explode. Ugh, it’s no time for something like this!

“M-Minami! Are you all right?”

She looked incredibly pale, and I couldn’t really blame her under the circumstances.

I looked around to see if anyone had noticed us, but fortunately that wasn’t the case. Even though her identity had been leaked online, she still wasn’t that famous.

“I know I have to do this,” she said. “It’s my job. I can’t let fear get in my way, but if I think of the fans... They could say that I don’t look anything like Emily, or that Emily would never wear a costume like this. They could get mad at me and tell me to give them their Emily back! I’m so scared...”

“Minami...”

We didn’t have much time. I had to cheer her up before the show started, and I needed to find the right words to do so. That’s why I was there.

“No one’s going to think that! I would know! I’ve been a fan of Emily’s for a long time now. All Emily’s fans know how seriously she takes her work. This is the first time you’ve cosplayed, but you’ve gone through so much trouble to prepare. You look so good I can barely believe this is your first time! Fans are only going to appreciate Emily even more for that!”

“I-Ichigaya...”

“And I’m a hardcore Emily fan. I’ve watched all her videos, and I even watch the live streams when I can, and I read all her tweets! I’ve been doing it since long before I met you.”

“Huh? O-Oh...”

Elena looked at me, dumbfounded.

“And when I met you and found out that you were the girl behind Emily Saionji, I was far from disappointed! When people imagine Emily’s voice actress, they think of a girl just like you.”

She continued listening without saying a word.

“As a fan, finding out that Emily is voiced by a girl as cute as you was great!”

“C-Cute...?!”

Up until now, I’d never found the courage to tell her something so embarrassing, but that’s what I’d always thought. It was nothing but the truth—she looked like her character, and she was just as cute. I couldn’t imagine many fans complaining.

Upon hearing it, Elena’s pale face turned red.

“N-Not only cute, but you also have the kind of style I thought you would, and you also have a great f-figure! Just as great as Emily’s! And with a costume like the one you’re wearing today, fans will notice that!”

“What?!” she exclaimed, blushing even harder.

Wh-What did I just tell her?! I must have sounded so sleazy!

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that in a weird way. What I meant is that you look and sound very much like Emily. Your personality, of course, is just like hers. So I think the fans are going to be glad to know that you’re the one behind her! I’m telling you this as a fan, so it’s probably... no, definitely right!”

Elena continued to stare at me, her face still glowing. I wanted her to know what a true fan really thought, but I was afraid that I might have come off as creepy. “You’re cute,” was one thing, but “You have a great figure,” was probably too much.

Just as I was thinking that I shouldn’t have opened my mouth, Elena let out a rather unexpected sound.

“Hehehe...”

Is she... giggling?

“You know,” she said, “I was so scared about the fans’ reactions after they found out. So much so that I was in no state to go on stage. But... it’s so weird. Now I don’t feel scared anymore.”

“Minami?”

“I don’t know what everyone will think. At least, I can’t know until the show is over. But right now, one of Emily’s fans... You told me those things. And that’s enough to give me the strength to go up there. So thank you.”

“O-Oh, I haven’t done anythi—”

“I should get going,” she said, looking at her watch. Then she looked back at me, her calm smile breaking into a beaming grin.

“See you later, Ichigaya.”

“S-See you later! Good luck!”

I stood there, watching her walk back to the dressing room.

Once she was gone, I took out my phone and saw that Kokoro had left me several messages.

“Where are you?! It’s almost time for Minami’s show!!!”

And later:

“I’m heading to the stage! I’ll save you a seat, so call me when you’re finished!!!”

I hurriedly did as I was told.

“I’m sorry, Nishina! I’ll be there in a second!”

“The show’s about to start! Where are you?!”

“Really close by!”

“I’m in the third row from the front, on the seat farthest to the right!”

“Got it! I’m coming!”

I ran right there and took my seat next to Kokoro, who promptly asked me where I’d been.

“I’m sorry! It was just... you know...”

“Wait, did you come from that direction? The restrooms are that way. So you were the one who needed to go to the toilet!”

“Well, haha, I guess so...”

Since I couldn’t tell her about Elena, I lied my way out of it. Thankfully, I didn’t have to explain any further because it was time for the show to start.

“Hi, everyone!”

Elena stepped confidently onto the stage. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.

“Thank you all for coming! Today we’ll be introducing I Became the Strongest Paladin in Another World, a new anime that will begin airing in July. I’m Elena Minami-Williams, a debuting voice actress and your host. I hope you all enjoy the show!”

And to think that a few minutes ago she looked like she was going to cry...

Elena didn’t look the tiniest bit nervous. She was so bold and energetic that you’d believe she was a professional host who’d been doing this kind of thing forever.

“Wow! She’s great!” Kokoro whispered.

The comment made me snap out of my Elena-induced trance, and I looked at the people sitting close to us.

There are people here who have come to see Emily’s voice actress... and there are even some who are going to try to take pictures...

A big sign on the stage read “NO PHOTOS,” and I wondered if anyone was really going to go against that. At the very least, I couldn’t see anyone with cameras or phones in their hands.

Elena was soon joined on stage by the anime’s director and some of the show’s voice actors. She was doing her job perfectly, introducing each guest one by one. As for the audience, most of them seemed to be clapping, shrieking with excitement, and just generally enjoying the show. Nobody was causing any trouble as far as I could see.

“She’s sooo good at this, and she looks super pretty! She’s awesome!” Kokoro whispered in excitement.

“I know. She really is,” I said, watching Elena with admiration.

“And this concludes our show! Thank you for coming, and please look forward to I Became the Strongest Paladin in Another World!”

After thirty minutes, the show was over. Elena hadn’t slipped up once. Much to my relief, none of the people sitting in the crowd had done anything suspicious or even mentioned Emily’s name.

“She was so cool up there though... I mean, she’s a real pro at this point. I can’t believe I’m friends with someone so cool! Hm? Ichigaya?”

I was too busy looking at my phone to fully hear Kokoro. Elena had mentioned before that people had already started spreading the news about her identity, so I thought it was a good time to search “Emily Saionji” on Twitter.

If you so much as mention Emily Saionji’s voice actress, I’m just gonna assume you’re a hater.

That was the first tweet that came up. Talking about VTuber identities was often considered taboo, and this was a fan that played by the rules. I continued reading other related tweets.

Is it true that they found out who’s behind Emily Saionji?

Someone show me what the real Emily Saionji’s voice actress looks like!

While scrolling past all the generic tweets, I stumbled upon some more salient ones:

I saw the girl voicing Emily Saionji and she’s like... actually Emily Saionji. It’s like it’s really her.

EMILY WAS REAL ALL ALONG.

These were clearly people who had seen her on stage, and they sounded enthusiastic. I kept scrolling, but there wasn’t a single person complaining about Elena, nor was there a single picture.

It all went well in the end...

I felt a huge relief, and being such a big fan myself, I was genuinely happy about how things had played out.

“What are you grinning for? Come on, let’s go,” Kokoro said.

“Oh, sure.”

“Maybe I should text Minami...” I said, as we left our seats. I wanted to congratulate her for doing so well, but maybe this wouldn’t be the best time for her to take a call.

“Oh, totally! I should do that too!”

Kokoro and I stopped just outside of the stage area and texted Elena. I decided to tell her what I’d found on Twitter, since she still probably hadn’t had the time to look it up for herself, and I didn’t want her to worry any longer.

“You did great! You were such an amazing host that I’m speechless. I tried looking you up on Twitter, and everyone loved you! They said you were just like a real-life Emily Saionji!”

I knew Emily’s fans would love her. I’d be curious to see what a disappointed fan would have to say, if one existed.

“Okay, sent!” Kokoro said. “I forgot to tell you, but it looks like Iroha and Mikoto are here too!”

“What? Really?!”

“Yeah! They posted on Twitter. They also cosplay and stuff, you know?”

“I didn’t...”

Maybe it was normal for girls that worked at maid cafés to like cosplaying. I kind of want to see their cosplays too...

“I’ll try messaging them,” she said.

“Sounds good. Oh, now that I think about it, how did things go with that cosplayer guy you were after?” I asked her. I’d been so busy thinking of Elena that I’d forgotten to ask until now. At the mention of him, Kokoro’s face instantly lit up.

She really wears her heart on her sleeve...

“He was such a cool guy!”

“I see... Were you able to chat much?”

“Yup! Quite a bit! He said he liked my costume! We even followed each other on Twitter!” she said, unable to hide her excitement.

“Even though you’ve just met the guy? I’m getting déjà vu here...”

“I mean, I get why you’d think he’s just another Bambi, but I have this feeling that it’s different this time, you know? Out of all the girls I saw taking pictures of him, I’m the only one he stopped to chat and exchange contacts with. I guess that’s also because I was the last one in line though. And he didn’t sound as desperate to get to know me as Bambi was. It was like we both had our boundaries, if you get me?”

“Uh-huh,” I replied, unconvinced. I already knew that Kokoro lost any and all sense of judgment when it came to handsome men, but I promised myself to ask her more about him later on.

“Oh, Iroha replied! She said they’re coming h—”

“Heart-chan! Ichi! Been a while!”

“Nishina and Ichigaya! It’s lovely to see you both.”

Before Kokoro could finish, Iroha and Mikoto arrived wearing IMS cosplays. Iroha was Karen Nanjo, and Mikoto was Kaede Takagi, both in their recently released new stage outfits. Their costumes looked great, but what made them stand out was how perfectly the two girls seemed to fit their characters.

“Karen and Kaede! You’re too cute! Both of you!” Kokoro shrieked.

“Yours is from Adore Lane, right?” Iroha asked.

“I didn’t know you two cosplayed,” I said.

“I’ve been a cosplayer for a while, but I didn’t want to go alone so I invited Mikoto to come with me.”

“That’s right. This is actually my first time. Iroha taught me everything.”

“What about you, Ichi? Why aren’t you cosplaying?” Iroha asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

“What? Why would I be?!”

“You know, I reacted like that too when Iroha first suggested that I go with her. She managed to convince me though. Maybe if you’d had a little more courage you’d have cosplayed as well...”

“Courage won’t make me look good!” I replied.

“Hm? You’re lugging that around with you?” Iroha asked, pointing at Kokoro’s travel bag.

“Yeah, why?”

“There’s a place where you can keep your stuff for free, didn’t you know?”

“Really?! I’ve been hauling this thing around all day!”

“I’ll show you, come on.”

“Thanks a lot!”

“Oh, I need to visit the restroom, so I’ll follow you both since it’s in the same direction,” Mikoto added.

I felt my phone vibrate—it was a message from Elena.

“Thank you so much. I actually have a bit of free time now. Would you like to meet up? I wanted to thank you in person...”

“You gonna wait here, Ichigaya?” Kokoro asked me.

“Oh, y-yeah! I’ll be here!”

“Okay, see you later then. I’ll text you if we can’t find you.”

“Okay, sure,” I said, and the three girls headed off.

When they were out of sight, I sent a quick response to Elena.

“Of course! I’d love to! I’m still near the show area!”

“I’ll come to you then! I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I was surprised that I’d get to see Elena again so soon after the show, but I was glad. She turned up a few minutes later, as promised, having changed into normal clothes with a hat and face mask. “Ah, Minami!”

“Sorry to keep you waiting! Isn’t Nishina here...?” Elena asked.

“Someone we know is showing her where to store her bag. She just left.”

“I see...”

“Anyway, Minami, you did a really great job! You were perfect! I can’t believe it was your first time on stage. No one would have guessed how nervous you were right before the show!” I said.

“Actually, that was all thanks to you.”

“What? Me?”

“After talking with you, all my anxiety was gone, and I was able to go on stage and give it my all,” she said, taking off the mask and revealing her stunning smile. “You made me realize that even if some of the fans would be disappointed, at least someone would be ready to accept me. And that was all I needed. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”

I didn’t know my words had made such an impression on her...

“You’re always helping me out so much. And you’re so kind that I end up relying on you all the time. Today I panicked and called you without even considering that you might have been busy. But you still helped me out again, and said all of the words that I needed to hear. And it’s not just today. You’re always there for me when I need help...”

For some reason, even though she was smiling, she sounded as if she was going to cry.

“I-I haven’t done that much, you know,” I said, though she was making me incredibly happy.

“All this time, I’ve always looked up to strong, cool girls. I thought that if I ever fell in love with someone, it could only be with that kind of girl. Until now, that is.”

“Huh?”

What is she trying to say?

She stared at me with tears in her eyes, pausing for a moment before speaking again.

“I’ve finally realized something. Ichigaya... you’re the person that I want to be with.”

Oh.

Wait...

What?! Did I hear that right?!

The shock stopped my brain from working.

That sure sounded like a... confession. A romantic one. Like... Minami confessing her love to... me?!

She began again, stammering this time and blushing from ear to ear. “A-Ah, I-I, um, am so... What was I saying?! P-Please forget about it! I can’t believe I said something like that. I-I’m so sorry! I’ll be leaving!” she said, bowing to me, spinning around, and scampering away.

Did she... She did just say that I’m the person she wants to be with, right? I can’t have misheard that. She really thinks of me like that? What’s going on?!

Shocked and frozen in place, all I could do was watch as Elena gradually disappeared into the crowd.