Maybe that was why Kotobuki was so tight with money. Maybe her parents were the strict kind and chose to limit her allowance to teach her the value of a yen.
“No, I’m afraid not. My family is a rather distant branch of the family tree.”
“Ah, so you aren’t!”
“My father often gripes that middle managers at the big corporations make more than him.”
“He sounds picky!”
“That’s why my father aims to use this plan as his big break in the family. It might even result in my entrance to high society.”
“Ah, so those are your priorities,” joked Kai. He understood from her tone that that last one was at least half-joking. Kotobuki soon returned to the topic at hand.
“My father plans to create a website advertising the event. This image is a prototype of its homepage.”
“I see, but the people in the photos all seem to be rather serious cosplayers. Almost as though they’re professionals.”
“We actually did commission professional models for these photos.”
“Ah, figures.” While Kai was only familiar with internet hearsay, he’d heard that many cosplayers these days were signed with model agencies.
“However...don’t you agree that we have depressingly few photos for an advertisement?”
“A site is more than its homepage, so a few more certainly wouldn’t hurt. Could you not commission more photos from these cosplayers?”
“It would be difficult for our budget.”
“Oh my. Pro models charge quite the premium, I see.”
“They do, but we also have to get a professional photographer to take the pictures, hire a pro stylist to do their makeup, and then go through the proper channels to rent the location that the photo is taken at. That’s apparently where it all adds up.”
“Ah... I suppose pro models would be particular about that.”
“While they may welcome the work, having a low-quality photo in their portfolio would harm their image.”
“I must admit I wouldn’t have given thought to that normally.” Kai’s usual thoughts when seeing a photo of a godlike cosplayer online were more along the lines of wow, cute.
“However, this event is intended for attendees who cosplay as a hobby to gather and enjoy themselves. As such, I feel that not all of our promotional images must be top-quality pictures of top-quality cosplayers. A few amateur photos might excite those who’d like something more accessible.”
“You raise quite the fair point,” said Kai as he nodded deeply. When he put it all together, he figured out why Kotobuki went with Hestia. “So, you plan to take pictures with your mother’s handmade costumes to help with your father’s work?”
“I figure I may as well do something with all the costumes I have. Besides, I have a high society debut to ensure.” Kotobuki seemed to shift to her adorable snide talk due to being embarrassed for having her filial piety commended. Still, Kai understood.
“I’m quite interested in this proposal myself, so I believe I can help take pictures. That would surely help you capture a wider variety of poses than you could by taking selfies.”
“Are you sure, Nakamura?”
“But of course, I’d be glad to. Now, lend me your smartphone.” Kai extended his right arm with a smile.
However, Kotobuki seemed to take that offer a different way, and instead stared closely at his open palm. She wavered. Hesitated. And then, she suddenly grabbed his hand with both of hers. The sensation of Kotobuki’s smooth skin made Kai’s heart skip a beat.
“Er, well, you see,” stammered Kotobuki. Kai was dumbfounded, but her muddied response suggested that her head wasn’t any clearer. “If you wouldn’t mind, perhaps you could cosplay as well? That is...if you’re not opposed to the idea, we could use it as promotional material. It’d be quite the help.”
Kai didn’t expect this request. His eyes widened slightly as he gave it his honest consideration.
“I must admit that I’d love the chance, and I wouldn’t be opposed to having my photograph used.” Cosplaying was about becoming a character, which meant the photographed results were often quite far from what one normally looked like out of costume. As such, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about being found out if any photos were put on the internet. “However, the financial hurdle would prove quite the bottleneck.”
He imagined that costumes, wigs, and accessories were far from cheap, but Kotobuki shook her head with great dynamics.
“Of course, we would cover those costs!”
“Really? Is that something I could ask for?”
“This is a company project, so it’s only natural! If anything, we’d pay you a wage!”
“Oh no, I don’t need that much.” Having it treated as a job would mean that much more responsibility for Kai. His interest in cosplay was really just as an outlet for playing pretend, so he’d rather be carefree about it. Kotobuki took this explanation as quite the shock.
“Nobody would blame you if you simply pocketed the payment... You’re quite the principled one, Nakamura.” Despite her compliments, Kai couldn’t help but feel a bit of heat in the look she gave him, so he flinched and returned to the subject at hand.
“If those are the conditions, I would gladly cooperate with this cosplay experience.”
“I should be thanking you, Nakamura.”
“Incidentally, this promotion would work best with more contributors, correct?”
“Indeed it would. The more images we had to work with, the more exciting the project will seem.”
“Well, I just so happen to have a rather trustworthy contributor in mind. Someone who just so happens to be well-versed in otaku culture, yet has looks rivaling any pro model.”
“Geh... Would this someone happen to be Miyakawa?”
“Correct you are,” confirmed Kai extravagantly. A pro model would be an expert in how to appear photogenic; their knowledge of what poses to take and what expressions to give would be far beyond anything an amateur like Jun could compete with. But in terms of raw beauty, Kai was certain that Jun was on their level. Since Kotobuki was also a strong contender in that regard, a photo with both of them combined would have a power many times greater—if not exponentially so—than the sum of its parts.
“You might be right, but...”
Kotobuki seemed unsure as to whether she should or shouldn’t ask Jun. Kai figured that maybe she still didn’t quite get along with her, or maybe there was some other consideration. Her prior suggestion for the three of them to hang out seemed to have a different purpose to it, so maybe she’d had a change of heart since then.
“Nakamura...could you be the one to ask her for me?” In the end, she couldn’t argue against the benefits of having Jun in the promo shots.
“I think she’d be more motivated if you were the one to beg her for it.”
“I dare not imagine what unsavory intentions she’d hold if I did! We’ll pay Miyakawa for her time, so I’d prefer this be kept as strictly business.”
“Ha ha, I kid. I’ll ask her. But I suspect she won’t accept a wage either, so be prepared for that.”
“Oooh... Just as I feared...”
“Hah, I’ll be sure to stop her if she goes overboard,” said Kai as he cheered up his forlorn friend.
With the deal now settled, they took a ton of promotional photos. One after the other, Kotobuki dressed up as Nezuko, Kaguya Shinomiya, bunny girl Mai, Yuuki, Albedo, Kurumi Tokisaki...just about anyone with black hair. Since this was primarily a hobby she didn’t show to others, she didn’t have any wigs or hairpieces. However, these were going up on a website; no matter how amateur the cosplay, portraying a blonde character while keeping one’s hair black would just come off as lazy. They wanted to make things casual, but they figured there were limits.
That aside, Kotobuki just couldn’t make the poses or expressions that the pro models could. As an emotional trainwreck, her bashfulness at being in front of the smartphone camera Kai held never fully vanished.
Well, figured Kai as they looked over the photos they took, I think people will cut her some slack.
Kotobuki’s cosplays were cute as hell, so it’d even out. Who’d disagree?