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.”