“We’re ready, Nakamura.”
“You could’ve practiced your Water Breathing, you know.”
“I-I’d never do that just because I’m alone!” Kai’s voice cracked during his response as the two girls arrived.
Kotobuki was dressed as Shinobu, wearing her Slayer Corps uniform of a button-up with a hakama. She also had a hairpiece in the shape of a swallowtail butterfly, and its pattern was mirrored on her coat.
Jun was dressed as Kanroji, and true to the source material, she wore a super-short minidress made from the typical Slayer Corps uniform along with thigh-high socks. Kanroji’s boldly exposed cleavage that would have made even Hestia blush was filled out well by Jun’s voluminous bust. Hmm, yep, she didn’t need any pads. She actually wore a flesh-colored undershirt this time, but even knowing the truth didn’t stop Kai’s eyes from being glued to, well, them.
“...Nakamura?” Kotobuki realized what his gaze was focused on and faced him with a death glare. Kai hurriedly looked away.
“So, who shall we photograph first?” asked Kai as he strained himself to smile. For the past four rounds, they typically started with solo shots of Jun or Kotobuki, and then maybe took shots of Kai or took group shots in rotation. But not for round five.
“Let’s start with us two!”
“If you’d please.”
Jun affectionately sidled up to Kotobuki, and Kotobuki agreed without her usual disdain. Kai was suspicious and wondered what had gotten into her, but he didn’t have any reason to argue. When he pointed the smartphone camera at them, the two began posing while staying just as close to each other.
“Whoa,” said Kai unconsciously. The image displayed on his smartphone screen was nothing short of art.
Now that they’d made it to the fifth round, Kotobuki had finally loosened up. Shinobu exuded a complex aura; she was both gentle and stern, happy-go-lucky yet tinged with ennui, and mature with a dash of danger. Kotobuki was knocking it out of the park! Kai had to wonder if she’d suddenly become a model.
Jun, meanwhile, was unrecognizable. No matter who she cosplayed before, from Ryuu to Kaguya to Atalante, she was still Jun. She single-mindedly threw up peace signs the whole time. But now, her poses and expressions had become unmistakably Kanroji’s. Maybe because she was an easy character for Jun to play; Kanroji was boundlessly energetic and had an endearingly klutzy side to her.
“Lookin’ good, you two!” encouraged Kai. He lost himself as he snapped the shutter repeatedly. Impassioned praise poured from his mouth as he begged for more expressions, more poses, and more everything for the camera. Jun and Kotobuki enjoyed themselves as they shined in the limelight. Something was different about this round from the previous four.
Let’s rewind the clock a bit to after lunch, and move to the room where the girls dressed up in their Demon Slayer cosplays. It only had one full-length mirror, so they took turns using it. Jun was battling the forces of gravity to fit her bursting breasts into the costume’s massive boob window (while also making them look nice).
To prepare for this group cosplay, Kotobuki gladly borrowed the manga and read it over, so she understood Kanroji’s character even though she had yet to appear in the critically acclaimed anime that was currently airing. Despite being so popular that not a day went by without Kotobuki coming across new fanart of her online, Kanroji’s charm was straightforward and understandable. And, unfortunately, she had to admit it was a character that suited Jun. She didn’t want to think about how many pads she’d need to pull off that cosplay. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t jealous of how Jun had the goods ready to go.
Being slender is better if you want to cosplay, thought Kotobuki, but if you want boys to chase you, bigger is better. Like, if you had to choose. Or if Kai had to choose.
Her thoughts eventually spiraled into a grudge, and she even started glaring at Jun in resentment. Jun noticed Kotobuki’s look in the mirror and spun around to face her. She lifted up her breasts, showing them off in a way that emphasized their gravitational pull.
“Wanna touch ’em?”
“I’m not into that.” She wasn’t into that questionable smile of Jun’s either.
“Just because I’m older doesn’t mean you need to be polite. All of my friends have asked to touch ’em at least once out of curiosity.”
“Why, thank you for the humble brag.” Kotobuki turned away in a huff, but Jun was undeterred.
“Don’t worry, Hotey. Yours will get this big too. Give ’em a year to start growing.”
“Is that true, are you certain you can look me in the eye and say it?” Kotobuki’s neck snapped forward as her glare locked on to Jun.
“Aha, gotcha to look at me again.”
“...Argh.” So that was her goal all along. These were the social skills of a normie. Kotobuki was frustrated to have been read like a book by someone just a year older.
“You know, Hotey,” continued Jun as she kept her mature smile. “I really have to thank you.”
“Huh? Where’s this coming from?” Kotobuki’s tone was accusatory, but Jun continued while bearing the weight of two celestial bodies in her hands.
“I’m an otaku too, so I’ve always wanted to cosplay. I wanted to do it a bunch as soon as I started earning money at a real job, but thanks to you, I get to live my dream that much sooner.”
“Oh...right, that. You don’t need to thank me. It’s a win-win for both of us.”
“Is it really? I was so excited last night that I barely slept a wink, and I’m so excited now that I can barely contain myself!”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Not that Kotobuki was aware of any incidence of Jun actually containing herself. But as Kotobuki’s sour mood continued, Jun looked saddened.
“Hotey,” asked Jun, “do you not like cosplaying with me?”
Her voice was wistful, her tone tugging at even Kotobuki’s heart. She gulped and tried to gauge Jun’s expression. There was a downcast look in her eyes, but not the same kind that an abandoned cat would have. Quite the opposite; she exhibited the willpower of a veteran cat who’d never let her owner find the body of its prey. Jun’s desire to befriend Kotobuki came with the acknowledgment that she didn’t need Kotobuki, which meant that if Kotobuki truly rejected her, then Jun would give up and quietly walk away. Not to mourn her own loneliness, but out of consideration for Kotobuki.
That’s the story her eyes told; and if she was acting, then she could land a leading role on any film set in the country. But that couldn’t be the case. Jun didn’t seem like the type to have a hidden side to her. That’s why Kotobuki felt a pang of sadness in her heart. That’s why the response she would give had to be sincere. She couldn’t be childish forever.
Kotobuki gave her a smile and answered.
“I never said I hated it.”
For Kotobuki, cosplay was a hobby she always enjoyed alone. Her mom made the costumes and took pictures to remember them by, but it was hard to escape the feeling that it was still a solitary pursuit. She always wanted to be part of a group cosplay, but she was too much of a coward to reveal to her friends that she cosplayed in the first place.
And today, she finally got to live that dream. She couldn’t possibly hate it. But she was still an emotional trainwreck, so she treated Jun with her usual obnoxious deflections. The idea of coming clean with her emotions made her so embarrassed that her eyes rolled back in her head. She couldn’t blame anyone for sneering at her. Even Jun was smiling. But it was a smile that contained zero percent derision and one hundred percent joy.
“Good! So, okay, Hotey, I got an idea!”
“V-Very well, I’ll hear it.”
“How about I cosplay for real this time?”
“Are you really saying this now?!”
“I said I could barely contain myself, didn’t I? But now I wanna give this a fair shot. Like, take it to the next level. And honestly, I wanna show Kai up for all that crap about how I’m ‘not Ryuu’ or ‘not Kaguya.’”
“Well, it is Nakamura.”
“Yeah, he always sweats the small stuff. He’s always complaining, even though he can’t even look at my cosplay without blushing.”
“...Well, it is Nakamura.”
“So this time, let’s really play out Kanroji and Shinobu. Let’s be a team from the very first shot.”
That would make it even more fun. It would be so much more fun together. That’s what Jun was really trying to say, so Kotobuki looked her in the eyes and nodded. She was sure she didn’t need words to get across what she wanted to say the most.
“Sweet! Now let’s make this cosplay our best one yet!” Jun turned back to the mirror and resumed her battle against gravity by searching for the perfect cleavage configuration.
“Right, and we can’t do that if we’re losing to Nakamura’s Tanjiro.”
“Nah, I bet Kai’ll look like he’s ready for a shrine visit.”
“Preposterous. After all, his Welf was flawless.”
“Hotey, honey... Do you need brain surgery?”
“At least tell me I need an eye exam instead...”
And so, that led to this cosplay shoot. The girls gave an earnest attempt to play as their idols, with Kotobuki being more like Shinobu and Jun being more like Kanroji. Well, it was by no means anything profound; in playing as their favorite characters, a part of that character became them. And of course, that was a lot of fun. Their passion was contagious, and Kai pressed the shutter button more rapidly than he had all day.
“Sick sick sick sick you two are killing it! Expressions are killer, poses are killer, you’re so in character it’s crazy. You’re like, crazy cute. Like, crazy. It’s all sick. You’re killing it!”
The poor thing seemed to have broken the part of his brain that handled speech. After seeing Kai in such a state, Jun shot Kotobuki a message through eye contact.
He’s easy to please.
Kotobuki returned with an eye contact message of her own.
Well, it is Nakamura.
And as though on cue, the two burst out in laughter at the same time. It took a while for them to settle down. When they finally came to their senses—whether they were still Shinobu and Kanroji or not—they were smiling together.