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In Japan, there are many big events that carry big traditions, but one certain event had a slightly different tradition, so to speak. Despite it being looked down upon by so-called “normies” and businessmen, this event was important to every otaku who loved anime and games: The Anime/Gaming Convention!
At this wonderful convention many people dressed up as their favorite anime and game characters, which many would get confused about if they don’t know the series or franchises. Still, it was one of these events that Chiaki Nanami could not miss out on, and, of course, she wasn’t alone.
“Finally!” Chiaki exclaimed with stars in her eyes. “We’re here at last!”
“Indeed, it was all worth it, especially after that long bus ride to get here,” Hajime said with a smile.
“Hm? I mean, yeah, it is for me, but you’re not an otaku like me or the others, Hajime,” Chiaki commented as she looked at her boyfriend.
“Well, yeah, I’m not really an otaku, but seeing you happy makes it all worth it,” Hajime said as he blushed a little, which Chiaki did as well.
“Saying things like that makes you sound like a romcom protagonist. Maybe you should’ve dressed up as that anime character with many girlfriends and has ‘love’ in his name,” Chiaki said.
“But I only have you as my girlfriend, and that’s all I need,” Hajime retorted. “Besides, I chose this character because he’s my favorite video game character: L*on K*nnedy,” Hajime said as he looked at himself with his blue t-shirt and gloves, while being armed with a fake knife and shotgun.
Chiaki giggled, “I know, I was just joking. Also, you look good as K*nnedy… but did you have to dye your hair blond to complete it? Couldn’t you have worn a wig like me?”
Hajime scratched his cheek as he answered, “Well, honestly, I’m not a fan of wigs. Also, it’s only temporary, so I’ll just wash it off when we get back to the academy.”
“That’s good- Oh!” Chiaki exclaimed as she noticed the line. “We have to get in line now!” Chiaki exclaimed as she pulled Hajime by his hand with so much speed and force that he almost leaped from the ground.
Once the pair made it to the line, the only thing they could do was wait till it moved, which it did slowly but continuously.
“Wow, just look at all these cosplayers,” Chiaki said as she saw many different cosplayers, who were either dressed at the newest, oldest or most popular characters.
“By the way, speaking of costumes… I didn’t get to say it at the dorms, but you look cute and cool in your cosplay as R*gina from “D*no Cr*sis”, Chiaki,” Hajime said as he blushed, which Chiaki did as well.
“Thanks, I think,” Chiaki said as she corrected the hair of her red wig and pulled up her fake gun. “I chose this character because, while I do love C*pcom games, I also like the obscure forgotten ones, which includes “D*no Cr*sis”. But it also makes me wonder if anyone will even recognize this character…” she said as she started frowning a little bit.
“Chiaki…”
“But I thought that maybe, with this cosplay, people might get interested in her, and then they’ll look her up, and play those games again!” Chiaki said with excitement in her eyes, which made Hajime chuckle a little.
“So, that’s your plan? It might actually work…” …but maybe for a different reason then you think, Hajime thought while looking away with a little blush on his cheeks.
“Also, I think you look quite handsome in your cosplay, Hajime,” Chiaki said, which was a bigger impact on Hajime as he let down his guard earlier.
“T-Thanks…” Hajime said as he covered his mouth, thinking he had hidden his blush. Spoilers! They weren’t hidden at all.
After making it through the line, Chiaki couldn’t help but throw her hands in the air and exclaimed, “We made it!”
“Yes, we sure did,” Hajime said, however, he then noticed something he didn’t think his girlfriend did; the gazes from the men in the area that were directed at Chiaki.
He, of course, recognized those gazes all too well, especially when he compared them to those from Teruteru every time he saw a girl… or a man in the chef’s strike zone. Although, he can’t blame them, since he basically gave the same look to Chiaki at the dorms before leaving with her. And who could blame him, or the other guys, since her tights and leotard showed off her curves and figure, which Hajime wouldn’t protest to tou-
*SLAM!*
“H-Hajime! Why did you slap yourself?!” Chiaki asked all concerned for her boyfriend as she could see a huge hand-shaped red mark on his right cheek
“I-I’m alright,” Hajime said, trying to reassure his girlfriend. “Just some heavenly retribution was needed,” Hajime explained, but Chiaki just looked confused.
“Okay, I think… Also,” Chiaki said as she paid more attention to her surroundings this time, “why are all the guys staring at us?”
“Y-Yeah, who knows…?” Hajime said, but he knew the truth, he just didn’t know how to say it.
How in the world can I tell my girlfriend she looks sexy in her outfit? Is it even possible in a subtle way? Hajime wondered as he sweat dropped like he was in a sauna, but then an idea came to mind. I know, if I think deeply, like logically diving or something, then maybe I can-
“Hajime?” Chiaki asked, which pulled him out of his thought progress. “Could it be because of my…”
In normal time, Chiaki was speaking at regular speed, but for Hajime it felt like a second was a minute, and he couldn’t help but hear his heart beat out of fear and nervousness. But then he got another idea!
“Hey! Look! Games!” Hajime said as he turned Chiaki around, where she could see many games being shown, both the new ones and the classics, which made her eyes turn into hearts.
“SO MANY NEW GAMES TO PLAY!!!” Chiaki exclaimed before she took Hajime’s hand and was about to run and drag him to it, which Hajime could only chuckle to as this relieved him.
Chiaki couldn’t look any happier than she was now, especially with all the games she tried and bought, and Hajime was happy too, of course. However, they were quite surprised when they noticed a familiar classmate. Despite the black hair, they could instantly recognize him.
“Mitarai? Mitarai, is that you?!” Hajime called out, and the black-haired person looked in their direction and looked surprised.
“Huh? Hinata? Class rep- Oh, wait, you’re technically both class reps, when I think about it,” Ryota said as he scratched the back of his neck.
“Hm? Oh, are they your classmates, senpai?” the girl with long orange hair next to him asked.
When Hajime and Chiaki approached the two, Ryota answered, “Y-Yes, they are. These two are the class representatives of my class, Hajime Hinata and Chiaki Nanami.”
“Hey hey,” Chiaki greeted with a bow.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” Hajime waved. “You must be his girlfriend we’ve heard about. Shirogane, right?”
Tsumugi smiled and nodded before clinging to the animator’s arm, which embarrassed him. “That’s right! I’m senpai’s girlfriend,” Tsumugi said, not at all feeling embarrassed, but just proud.
She kinda reminds me of someone I know… especially with that wig, Hajime thought as he thought of a specific teacher in mind.
“Funny seeing you guys here, I think,” Chiaki said. “Also, good costumes. Are you guys dressed as K*rito and As*na from “Sw*rd *rt Onl*ne”?”
“Yup, you’re correct!” Tsumugi said with a proud smile. “In fact, it was me who designed them for us.”
“Oh, then are you the Ultimate Costume Designer?” Hajime asked.
“No, I’m plainly the Ultimate Cosplayer,” Tsumugi stated.
“Oh, then it makes even more sense why you two are here,” Hajime said, which somehow cooled down Ryota’s embarrassment.
“Yeah, we also both wanted to s- Huh?” Ryota wondered as he picked up his phone that seemed to be making a ringing sound and opened it. “What could it be ab- Oh, the event we wanted to see is about to-”
“What?!” Tsumugi yelled, which surprised the boys, but not really Chiaki. “We have to go now!” Tsumugi exclaimed as she quickly dragged Ryota away.
“Wai- Tsumugi! My Ph- ARGH!” Ryota tried protesting but couldn’t say much against such a force from his girlfriend.
Déjà vu… Hm? Hajime looked down and saw Ryota’s phone on the floor.
“Seems Ryota must have dropped it when Shirogane dragged him away, I think,” Chiaki noted as she picked up the phone.
“Yeah, seems like it,” Hajime said as he scratched the back of his neck. “I’ll go after them,” Hajime said as he went in the same direction as Tsumugi dragged her boyfriend to.
“Wait,” Chiaki tried to exclaim, but Hajime couldn’t really hear her due to the crowd. “You forgot the… phone…” Chiaki said as a kaleidoscope of colors flashed from the phone’s screen, completely mesmerizing her and losing focus.
It didn’t take long for Hajime to take Ryota with him back.
“Sorry for burdening you with me dropping my phone like that,” Ryota apologized.
“No, don’t be,” Hajime objected. “I should’ve taken it with me instead of dragging you over here, but I guess I wasn’t thinking straight. Though I trust that Chiaki is keeping an eye… on… it…” Hajime trailed off as he saw his girlfriend having an expressionless face right now.
“Um, is she… okay?” Ryota asked, and instead of answering that question, Hajime just walked over to Chiaki, but then the animator had a bad idea what happened. “Wait, she couldn’t have…”
“C-Chiaki, are you okay?” Hajime asked with worry in his tone as he put a hand on the gamer’s shoulder, but then he suddenly hit the floor with a big slam.
“AW!” Hajime cried in pain and the wind knocked out of him.
“Oh no! This is not good,” Ryota said nervously as he saw Chiaki looking down on her boyfriend with a hardened look.
“Civilians should not sneak up on an officer like that! You could’ve been killed,” Chiaki(?) said, which just confused Hajime, and then ran off in a hurry.
“Wait, Chiaki!” Hajime yelled after her as he tried to stand up. “Why did she throw me like that, and why did she talk like that? Like we were strangers…” Hajime wondered, but when he remembered the phone Chiaki looked at earlier, and with how Ryota was acting, it all started fitting into place.
“Mi-ta-ra-i?” Hajime asked with some anger in his tone, which scared the animator, but he knew he had to come clean.
“Y-Yeah, it was probably- No, it might be entirely my fault,” Ryota apologized as he picked up his phone and pointed at it. “You see, I created an animation that makes a person think they are the person they are cosplaying as.”
Hajime already knew about Ryota’s incredible animation skills, and the fact that it can hypnotize people – despite how concerning it sounded – so he wasn’t surprised about the phone being at fault. But still, it did raise one big question in his mind.
“Why did you invent a hypnosis like that in the first place?” Hajime asked, but when it was asked, Ryota looked the other way in embarrassment with red cheeks.
“Well… you see…” Ryota tried to explain as he looked at Tsumugi, which just made the blush on his face grow bigger, and it was at the point where Hajime might have gotten the answer, but didn’t need to get confirmed.
“I-I’ll… just leave it at that… But seriously, how do I get her back to normal again?” Hajime asked his classmate.
“It’s actually pretty simple,” Ryota said as he pointed at his phone. “All you need to do is show her this animation again, and she’ll get back to normal.”
“Oh, okay, then I need the phone… now!” Hajime demanded, which Ryota without hesitation. “Thanks. I’ll give it back to you after I’ve shown it to Chiaki. See ya!” Hajime said as he ran off… but then stopped as he looked back at Ryota and pointed at him.
“We’ll be talking about this type of behavior on Monday, got it?” Hajime said as Ryota just sweated buckets.
Now, to get Chiaki back to normal… or as normal as she can get…
As Hajime tried to look for his girlfriend, he instantly realized this might be tougher than he thought, especially with all these people at such a big convention. He was at one point worried she might kill someone but threw that thought away when he remembered that her gun was made of a cardboard box.
How can I get her out in the open…? Hajime wondered as he saw a guy in an inflatable T-Rex costume just walking about, but then he chuckled. Yeah, like that’s gonna be enough to-
Suddenly, Chiaki showed up out of nowhere and beat the living crap out of the poor guy, almost like in a cartoon.
“It actually happened?!” Hajime exclaimed, but shook his head to not lose focus, and immediately ran towards his girlfriend.
However, Chiaki noticed him and evaded him with ease before he could touch her.
She’s fast! Was she always this fast… or is it Ryota’s animation at work here? Hajime wondered.
“Hey, aren’t you that civilian from earlier?” Chiaki asked as she pointed at Hajime, who sweat dropped at the civilian remark. “Are you stupid? You need to get into a shelter! There are dinosaurs lurking about!” Chiaki exclaimed before she ran off.
Hajime would’ve run after her, but he couldn’t just leave an injured guy by himself. He helped the guy in the T-Rex costume up and asked, “Hey, are you okay?”
“What do you think…?” the guy asked, which made Hajime almost want to apologize on his girlfriend’s behalf. “I just got beaten up by a cute girl with a great rack and candy ass… I feel great!” the dude said with a smile, which made Hajime throw away his apology.
“Hey, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about,” Hajime stated with a bit of anger in his tone and a stern look.
“That was your girlfriend?! Nice dude, pound it” the guy in the dinosaur costume said and he raised a fist towards Hajime.
I would rather pound your head right now, Hajime thought as he later rolled his eyes and took off. “I don’t have time for this.
Hajime tried running after his girlfriend in the direction she just ran, but she was nowhere in sight.
“Dammit,” Hajime cursed. “Where could she- Oh!” Hajime then finally saw the back of a girl in a red wig and the clothes that R*gina wore, and since Chiaki herself said earlier that not many would know about R*gina, then it could only be her!
Found her! And she does indeed have a good… behi- No, stay focused! Hajime thought as he shook his head and ran towards the girl.
As Hajime approached the girl with her back facing him, he quickly grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him.
“Glad I found you Chi-… aki?” Hajime said when he saw her face, only to realize that this girl had a different face, and was also a bit taller than his girlfriend, which he should’ve noticed sooner. In his defense, he was just happy he thought he found his girlfriend, and really didn’t think any other was dressing up as R*gina.
“Watch your hands, you creep!” the girl in the R*gina cosplay exclaimed as she shook her shoulders away from Hajime’s grip. “You also ruined the photoshoot. I was just getting in the zone!”
Photoshoot? Hajime wondered as he looked behind the cosplayer in front of him and saw people with cameras, who looked a bit confused.
“Marin!” a boy with black hair and a white t-shirt called out. “I think this guy might have confused you for somebody else,” the boy explained to the girl in the R*gina cosplay, which seemed to have calmed her down.
“Wait, is that true?” Marin asked, which Hajime replied with a nod. “Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!!!” Marin said as she bowed in apology.
“N-No worries!” Hajime waved his hands. “In fact, I should’ve apologized. I’m actually looking for my girlfriend, who is also wearing a R*gina cosplay.”
“Wait, your girlfriend knows about R*gina from “D*no Cr*sis” and is cosplaying like her?” Marin asked, which Hajime just answered by nodding, again. “Is she… one of my people?” Marin asked herself as she put a hand under her chin and smiled, which just confused Hajime.
“Don’t mind her,” the boy next to her said as he smiled. “She’s just a big fan of characters from different anime and games, and she honestly thought that not many knew about her character.”
“But Wakana!” Marin exclaimed as she looked at Wakana with excitement in her eyes. “There’s someone who gets R*gina! Like really gets her! Especially if her boyfriend confused her for me!”
Are you proud of me for misunderstanding you for my girlfriend? Hajime wondered. “But I guess you two haven’t seen her or anything?”
Wakana shook his head. “Not what I’ve seen. I hadn’t taken my eyes off of Marin during the photoshoot.”
“Awww, Wakana! You say such sweet words~” Marin said as she put her hands to her chins with hearts in her eyes.
“I-I didn’t mean it like t-that!” Gojo protested.
“But why not?! We ARE dating, after all!” Marin exclaimed, which just left Hajime standing there with a blank look in his eyes.
What am I watching?
“But to answer your question: sorry, but I didn’t notice anyone like that either,” Marin said. “But you looked pretty hectic to find her. What? Does she easily get lost?”
“Well, the thing is…” Hajime tried to explain, but in all honestly, he wasn’t sure if he should tell the honest truth, but he might as well. “…she saw an animation my classmate made, which made her believe she’s the character she is cosplaying as, and I’m out here trying to find her before she beats up another guy in a dinosaur outfit.”
Both Marin and Gojo looked spaced out from that explanation, as if they thought that stuff only happened in anime, manga or visual novels.
“Um… are you sure she doesn’t just try to live in in the role-” Marin tried to suggest before she saw a guy in an inflatable T-Rex costume – who might be the same guy from before – and a girl in a Regine Cross outfit, who proceeded to kick the poor guy’s butt, again.
While in shock, Marin pointed at the scene she saw and said, “I think that’s your girl over there.”
When Hajime heard that, he instantly turned around and saw a scene he had seen before, leaving him flabbergasted and his jaw almost dropped. Déjà vu…
“Hm, she has a good candy ass,” Marin said with a hand under her chin, while Wakana could only sigh by his girlfriend’s antics and Hajime sweat dropped.
“A-Anyway, I have to stop her!” Hajime said before he ran off, but Chiaki noticed him quickly.
“You again? You civilians can be so persistent,” Chiaki said before she ran off and Hajime had to follow her.
Wakana silently rooted for Hajime, but then looked at Marin as he could see she was deep in thought. “Anything on your mind, Marin?”
Marin answered, “I just thought… if I could see that animation, I could become any character I wanted to become!”
“Yeah, let’s not do that,” Wakana said with a serious expression.
“OMG, I was just kiddin’,” Marin admitted with a smile and tried acting cute, which didn’t make Wakana doubt her any less. “Seriously though, he just kinda reminded me of a character from a game that was really interesting, but the sequal kinda sucked. I just can’t remember the name…”
“Was it…” Wakana said as he tried fishing after the name himself. “L*on K*nnedy from “B*o H*zard”?”
“Yeah, that’s the one!” Marin said as she hugged and kissed Wakana on the cheek, which surprised and embarrassed him. “I love you, Wakana!”
*Munch*
“Hm~hm! This is delicious!” a girl with long black hair said as she enjoyed some chocolate on a stick.
“Right? Not only are the chocolate formed perfectly after a person’s favorite anime character, but they also taste incredible,” the shorter boy next to the girl said with pride.
The girl nodded with the purest of smiles before she swallowed. “Thanks for bringing me here, Ichikawa,” the tall girl said, while the boy looked away in embarrassment.
“I-It’s nothing… I’m actually more surprised you wanted to come here in the first place,” Kyotaro said, which the girl looked surprised to hear.
“Why would you think that?!” the girl asked, which took Kyotaro aback a little. “It’s true I don’t watch a lot of anime like you, but… I’m just happy being anywhere with you,” Anna said with a smug smile, which Kyotaro can’t help but admit he loved.
“Anyway, didn’t you wanna buy anything?” the girl asked.
“Well, yeah, but most things here cost more than my allowance, even the thing I wanted,” the small guy said.
“Like that purple-haired witch figurine you stared at?” the girl asked.
“Yeah, like that fig- Agh!” Kyotaro stopped himself from continuing when he noticed the girl next to him stare at him with blank eyes.
“It’s understandable. It really is,” the girl said, but every word just scared the boy even more. “That witch girl is beautiful, has a nice figure, and shows her stomach with pride. You must really like those figurines, huh?”
A little too late to say this, but Kyotaro knew he screwed up. He shouldn’t have let down his guard, not when he was with his girlfriend. Still, he had to defuse the situation.
“N-No, I was just curious since she is a character in an anime where a ranger gets isekai’d. P-Plus…” Kyotaro tried to explain, but he was quite embarrassed to say the last part. “…she reminds me of my girlfriend a lot.”
The anger in his girlfriend disappeared and instead she just smiled and giggled, which relieved him a whole lot. Also, he wasn’t lying, he liked that character a lot more when he saw the comparison between his girlfriend and that character… but not with their personalities.
“Maybe I can… cosplay as her… for you…” the girl said in a low tone, which Kyotaro couldn’t make much out of.
“Wait Yamada, what did you sa-”
“N-Nothing! Just forget about it!!!” Anna exclaimed as she waved her hands in front of him.
“Um, excuse me,” a voice said that destroyed the awkward situation and made the two middle schoolers look at the blond-haired person. “Can I ask you two something?”
“Sure…”
“What is it?”
“Well, have any of you seen…” Hajime was about to ask, but then realized something. Wait, these guys look about my age – well, not that kid – so they might not know about R*gina or “D*no Cr*sis”. I should try a different approach.
“Have any of you seen a girl with red hair in a leotard?” Hajime asked.
The two nodded simultaneously.
“Great! Where?!” Hajime asked and was answered with Kyotaro and Anna pointing in different places, which at first confused Hajime, but when he looked around and saw a whole bunch of cosplayers in red wigs, but not as R*gina.
“Okay, let’s try something else…” Hajime said as he thought about his next move. “Have you seen someone who kicked a dinosaur’s butt?”
The two middle schoolers looked confused at first before looking at each other and then shook their heads.
“Okay, that didn’t help…” Hajime said. He then realized he had one more thing he could try, but he was personally against it, but desperate times call for desperate means, as they say.
“She also has a c-c-candy ass…” Hajime said, which made Anna and Kyotaro look at him with disgust. He thought he now knew how Teruteru felt, but unlike the chef, Hajime might not like it.
“No, and frankly, you shouldn’t talk like that about a girl,” Anna said.
I completely agree with you, girl-I-have-just-met, Hajime thought.
“I might not have found that girl you’re looking for, but I see a guy in a dinosaur costume over there,” Kyotaro said as he pointed behind Hajime.
Hajime looked behind him and saw that it was true, not only that, but it was the same guy from before.
He’s still here? Wait… Hajime thought as he noticed something about the guy. Is he… mumbling? I feel like I can sorta hear him.
“When I… find that girl… I’m gonna…”
Hajime gulped a little, thinking he had to hurry and find Chiaki, but was too late when he saw Chiaki beat up the dinosaur guy one more time, while Hajime and the two middle schoolers just watched with deadpan expressions.
“Whhhhhyyyyyyy…..?” the guy in the T-Rex costume cried.
Hajime then quickly ran off to his girlfriend, but, like the last times, she evaded him with ease and ran away.
“You again?! What’s with you?!” Chiaki said. “Are you my boyfriend or something?!” was the last thing she said before she was out of sight.
“Actually, I am…” Hajime sighed out of exhaustion and irritation. “At this rate I’ll never get her back to normal.”
“I think you’re approaching this all wrong,” Kyotaro said from behind Hajime, which made the latter look behind him.
“What do you mean?” Hajime asked.
“Observe,” Kyotaro said as he fished out a piece of chocolate on a stick from his paper bag, and slowly approached it towards his girlfriend, who suddenly leaned down to eat it in a snap.
When Hajime saw that, an idea came to his mind!
“Now it’s all coming together!” Hajime exclaimed. “Thanks, you two. Hope you have a nice day together,” Hajime waved off before he left, leaving the two middle schoolers to themselves.
The tall girl leaned at her smaller boyfriend and chuckled with a smug smile, “Indeed we will.”
Kyotaro just stood there silently and blushed from ear-to-ear. “Y-Yea- Hey! All the chocolate are gone!” Kyotaro said as he noticed the bag he was carrying was empty.
He instantly looked at his girlfriend, whose mouth looked completely full before she swallowed it in one go and smiled innocently.
“Drop the innocent look!” Kyotaro exclaimed as he pointed at his girlfriend. “You took them when you leaned at me, didn’t you?!”
Anna just continued smiling, but not so innocently anymore. “And? Does that change anything?”
Kyotaro sighed at first before smiling and said, “Seriously? What do I do with you?”
Unlike the other times, Hajime finally had a plan, and while he found it genius at first, the moment he sent it into motion, he instantly regretted it.
I can’t believe I’m doing this… Hajime thought as he was wearing a green, inflatable T-Rex costume in the middle of a hall. …This better work or- Huh?
Hajime then noticed a familiar girl in a red wig and a black leotard, who glared at him like a hunter after a prey. While this should’ve made Hajime happy, he couldn’t help but feel fear from his girlfriend’s glare.
Did I think this through? Hajime wondered before he tried to run away from Chiaki.
As Hajime was running away with his tail literally behind his legs, he realized he could use this to get her away from the crowd. So, he ran out towards the exit, only to see a familiar guy. Or should I say dinosaur?
“Ah!” the guy in the red T-Rex costume exclaimed. “It’s you again! Listen, I-” he tried to say, but was cut off by a flying kick to his stomach, which knocked the air out of him and sent him flying till he hit the floor.
When Hajime looked back at the scene, he wanted to facepalm but couldn’t in his costume. It didn’t take long for Chiaki to switch target, so Hajime had to run away again.
Hajime then reached the nearest exit out of the hall with Chiaki in tow, and since most of the guests being at a specific expo, there wouldn’t be many outside.
Good, now no one will intervene or get hurt, Hajime thought before he turned around to face his hunter of a girlfriend. Just need to show her this ph- Hajime thought when he tried to reach his for Ryota’s phone, which was inside his pocket… inside the costume… which his dinosaur-hand couldn’t reach.
…
Did I think this through?!
Yeah, did he?
Unfortunately for him, Hajime didn’t have time to think further about it, when Chiaki pushed him to the ground with her on top of him. In any other case, he might secretly liked this, but right now he couldn’t when he feared for his life.
“You won’t get away, you reptile!” Chiaki said before hammering Hajime with her fist, which hurt more than he thought.
However, she luckily stopped doing that but instead grabbed around his head and was ready to rip it off… though it was quite easy since it detachable, which surprised the red-wigged woman.
“Y-You again?!” Chiaki exclaimed. “What’s with you?! And why are you in a-”
Before Chiaki could finish her sentence, Hajime used the confusion to take out Ryota’ phone from inside his costume and took it out from the neck opening in the costume. He instantly activated the animation and showed it to his girlfriend. At first, she was confused and surprised, but quickly she looked expressionless and had empty eyes, just like earlier today.
Hajime sighed out of relief and exhaustion, “Finally… it’s over.”
When Chiaki finally came to her senses, Hajime sat with her at a nearby bench and told her the whole and honest truth. About how Ryota’s animation made her believe she was R*gina, how she hunted down and beat up guys in dinosaur costumes. Even though she only beat up one random guy, and her boyfriend, she still felt embarrassed and guilty for what she did, despite knowing she wasn’t completely at fault.
“While I am glad, I could be like one of my favorite characters, I still can’t believe I acted like that,” Chiaki said as she was looking down on the ground, feeling regret and guilt about her actions. “I couldn’t even recognize you, and I even hurt you in the progress.”
Hajime put a hand on her shoulder and assured her, “It wasn’t really you who did all that, but that other personality, so it’s more that animation’s fault.”
However, Hajime could see it wasn’t enough to lift Chiaki’s spirit, and he could see why. Chiaki came here in that costume, hoping people would get interested in R*gina and “D*no Cr*sis”, but now she might be thinking she had ruined it.
“You know… while I was looking for you, I actually met a person who was also dressed up as R*gina,” Hajime said, which made Chiaki look up a little. “When I mentioned that you also dressed up like her, she had quite the excited expression on her face, and said ‘she knew her stuff’, or something like that,” Hajime said with a sheepish smile at the end of his sentence.
“P-Plus, I don’t think you knew, but there were some guys who looked at you. So, you probably made them interested in R*gina,” Hajime said, feeling a little embarrassed.
“I already knew… and also know they looked at me like Hanamura does,” Chiaki suddenly said, which surprised Hajime. “They had the same eyes you had earlier today at the dorms before we left,” Chiaki explained, which made Hajime feel even more embarrassed than before.
This whole time she knew?!- No, that’s the point! Hajime thought as he shook his head.
“But even so, I still ruined her image, and there’s no way to fix it,” Chiaki said with a slightly sad tone to her voice as she almost wanted to cry.
“No, that’s wrong,” Hajime objected, which stopped the tears in Chiaki’s eye from flowing out and looked up a little. “I don’t think it’s too late to fix everything. No security guards came around, so maybe the guests thought it was a part of a show or something, which means you might not have ruined her image at all. And regarding the guy you beat up, we could just explain the situation to him, and maybe he’ll understand.”
Chiaki straightened her back a little while looking at her boyfriend. “You think it’ll work out?”
Hajime nodded, “Yeah. Well, we can at least try. Better than just doing nothing and only feel bad about it.”
Chiaki smiled before she leaned her head on Hajime’s shoulder. “Thank you, Hajime. I knew I could count on you.”
Hajime smiled as he started to lean his head on Chiaki’s. “Of course. If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll come to your rescue.”
“Just like L*nk did for Z*lda when she was possessed in “Tw*light Pr*ncess”,” Chiaki said as she smiled and blushed a little.
“I haven’t played that game, but heard it should be good,” Hajime admitted. “Maybe we should play it one day, so I can better get your reference?”
Chiaki chuckled, “Well, there was one thing I wished happened differently in the game.”
Hajime asked as he leaned his head back and looked at Chiaki, “And what’s that?”
Chiaki leaned her head back from her boyfriend’s shoulder, before getting closer to his face and whispered, “This.”
Without warning, she went in for a kiss right on the lips, and while this did surprise Hajime at first, he returned it in kind. While an Anime/Gaming Convention wasn’t the ideal place for making out, the couple thought it was perfect right at this moment, and wished they could just stay like this.
“Hey! There you are!” yelled a guy nearby, which broke off the kiss between Hajime and Chiaki, only connected by some saliva. “Huh?! Why are you making out in pub- Nevermind that! I’ve got something to say to you!” the guy in the dinosaur costume exclaimed as he pointed with his dinosaur claw at Chiaki.
While Chiaki was confused who this guy was, Hajime instantly recognized him.
Oh no, he must be here to give Chiaki an earful! Hajime thought in panic before he stood up as the guy in the dinosaur costume approached them.
“Listen, she wasn’t herself! She was jus-”
“I’m sorry!” the guy in the T-Rex costume exclaimed as he bowed at a perfect 90 degrees angle. While Hajime was left stunned and confused, Chiaki then realized the situation due to his costume.
“I understand why you were attacking me!” the guy said. “You must’ve heard my comment about your bombshell of a b- I mean, how I talked about your body.”
That quick save saved the guy’s head from Hajime’s fist.
Normally, Chiaki would’ve cleared the confusion and told him the truth, but she realized at this point she should just play along. Plus, she knew that this was more believable and less complicated reason than a hypnotizing animation video.
“Yup, you got it. But I think you’ve gotten enough punishment,” Chiaki said while looking to the side and sweating a little, which Hajime could easily see through.
Yeah, she’s lying. Glad to see she’s bad at lying, Hajime thought.
“Hey, I have an idea!” the guy in the T-Rex costume said as he raised his head. “Listen, I think you’ll both love this.”
--The next day--
Hajime and Chiaki came back the second day, but unlike the first day, Hajime was now sticking to his green T-Rex costume and was posing next to his girlfriend and the guy they met yesterday, while they were being photographed. The boys in the dinosaur costumes posed like typical T-Rexes, while Chiaki, who was in the middle, was holding her fake gun in both her hands.
“How did I get into this…?” Hajime asked rhetorically, which Chiaki could hear.
“Well, it honestly wasn’t a bad idea,” Chiaki answered. “Plus, it wouldn’t be so good if it was only one dinosaur.”
Hajime didn’t really need an answer to his rhetorical question, but he smiled regardless by the answer. “Yeah, true. And, now that I think about it, this might get other people more interested in R*gina and “D*no Cr*sis”,” Hajime said, which made Chiaki smiled and nod a little.
Behind some of the photographers and some coplayers, Chiaki noticed a couple of familiar cosplaying schoolmates, who noticed her as well. It was Ryota and his girlfriend Tsumugi, but the former was shaking out of fear, especially with the glare on the gamer’s face. Of course, that expression was noticed by the photographers, but they didn’t seem to mind it. In fact, they might have actually liked it.
Ryota then noticed Chiaki moving her mouth, and while he couldn’t hear her from that distance and all those people, he could read her lips saying, “Mon-day,” which frightened him even more.
After saying her piece - without actually saying anything – she decided to do what she had planned since day one: have fun at the Anime/Gaming Convention with her boyfriend.