That wasn't acting at all!
"Do you really have to walk around the hot-spring inn wearing this kind of Cosplay outfit? Isn't it showing too much? The Cosplay outfit you picked for Xinjing isn't like this too, is it?!"
"No, of course not. Everyone dresses like this. What's the problem when everyone except Hachiman President is a girl? Of course, if Juju-sama doesn't want to show that much skin, you can wear flesh-colored stockings."
"This isn't about whether I wear flesh-colored stockings or not!"
Cosplay preparation room, a corner, in front of a changing room.
Wearing a low-cut maid outfit with a blue halo floating above her head, Kitagawa Marin was chatting cheerfully with a particularly petite and cute pink-haired girl beside her, except the pink-haired girl's face was somewhat flushed.
Juju-sama was an independent Coser who went by the online name Juju, whose real name was Inui Sajuna.
Kitagawa Marin really liked this amateur hobby Coser who was only active online and never appeared at offline conventions. Although she was an amateur Coser, she put more effort into it than those professional Cosers!
However, she was clumsy with her hands and couldn't make clothes, and she didn't want to buy low-quality Cosplay outfits. Before, she had only been a Cosplay enthusiast and hadn't reached the point of actually Cosplaying. Later, with Hachiman's help, she finally began to look like a real Cosplay enthusiast.
She hadn't expected Juju-sama to take a liking to the quality of her Cosplay outfits right away and want outfits of the same quality.
Today wasn't the first time the two had met. She and Lumilya had gone to meet Juju-sama and the younger sister who served as Juju-sama's photographer beforehand.
Although yesterday had been the first time they formally invited Juju-sama to participate in the Cosplay event.
The Cosplay task she was responsible for today was basically finished. Everyone had already changed into Cosplay outfits suited to themselves, so she could concentrate on giving Juju-sama, who still hadn't made up her mind, some reference.
"Marin, just call me by my name. You don't have to use my online name with an honorific…
I'm really happy you invited me to a hot-spring convention of this scale. But this hot-spring convention of yours really is a little different from what I imagined…"
The pink-haired, short girl, Inui Sajuna, let out a helpless sigh and corrected Kitagawa Marin, who still instinctively called her by her online name, then turned her head toward the other people in the Cosplay preparation room.
This Cosplay preparation room was extremely large. Although some of the girls had put on their Cosplay outfits and gone outside, there were still many people in the preparation room discussing whether to prepare a few more backup Cosplay outfits.
It had to be said that every girl here was very attractive, and the quality of the Cosplay outfits was also high. On top of that, almost everyone had chosen characters suited to their body type, hair color, and hairstyle, so the resemblance of the characters they portrayed was especially high.
After learning what the others were Cosplaying for, Inui Sajuna had originally wanted to leave immediately, but after seeing so many extremely high-quality Cosers, she hesitated again.
Although she usually had her younger sister act as her photographer to save money on taking photos, and had never Cosplayed at an offline convention, she also knew very well that the Cosplay circle absolutely didn't have such a powerful lineup. This private Cosplay convention that wasn't open to outsiders was much more impressive than anything she had known about.
If she couldn't Cosplay together with everyone, it would absolutely become a lifelong regret for her!
But!
High resemblance was one thing!
The Cosplay outfits these girls were wearing! They were even more revealing than those paid service Cosplays! Some of the Cosplay outfits could basically be described as wearing underwear on the outside!
There were indeed a lot of Cosplay events in the Cosplay circle, but it was very abnormal for all the Cosplays at one convention to be like this!
Was this really not some kind of lewd Cosplay party venue?
Although she really hadn't seen a single man so far, she only knew that the Service Club president was the one male participant.
Aside from the beautiful idol girls she knew, beautiful idol girls whose names she couldn't remember, and many seemingly high-status daughters of conglomerates, all these girls were staring eagerly and waiting for that one man.
Even if this really was an extremely lewd Cosplay party, someone like her, who had neither breasts nor a figure, probably wouldn't have to worry about any of that anyway…
"S-sis… I've changed…"
"Hm? Xinjing's changed?! Come out and let me see!"
Inui Sajuna was still hesitating when she suddenly heard her younger sister Inui Shinju's timid voice. She hurriedly turned toward the changing room.
As the changing-room door was pushed open.
A very tall girl with a mask on her face, black restraint straps around her plump, fleshy thighs, and a large, full chest slowly walked out. She had short pink hair.
However, in Inui Sajuna's eyes, her younger sister wasn't wearing any makeup, and she hadn't even changed her hair color.
It seemed that she had only put on a white mask and had a pair of ice-skate shoes on her feet.
The biggest difference from usual was that her long pink hair had been cut shorter, becoming shoulder-length pink hair.
Also, she had put on a deliberately tight-fitting Cosplay outfit that emphasized her figure… making the fullness of her chest stand out even more, unrestricted, bouncing with every movement…
———
"H-how is it, Sis… my Cosplay…"
Seeing Inui Sajuna staring at her without saying anything, Inui Shinju, whose body was much taller than her sister's, instinctively raised both hands, wanting to grab her long hair, only to realize that her pink hair that had reached past her shoulders had just been shortened. She could only clench her hands and tuck her head down.
Even though she was 178 centimeters tall, when she tucked her head down, she couldn't see her own feet. Instead, her gaze happened to meet Inui Sajuna's upward-looking eyes.
"Didn't I tell you not to hunch your back? Come on, straighten your waist… First tell Sis what character you're planning to Cosplay. I've never heard you mention it."
Seeing Inui Shinju still so shy even with a mask on, hunching and lowering her head just like usual, Inui Sajuna sighed helplessly. Only after Inui Shinju straightened her back did she continue asking.
This girl was always so lacking in confidence…
She wasn't silent because of the difference between their figures. Having watched her younger sister grow up, she had gotten used to it long ago.
However, she was still a little worried about her younger sister finally gathering the courage to Cosplay.
Before coming here, she hadn't known what her younger sister was thinking. She had assumed her younger sister would be her photographer as usual, only this time with outsiders participating.
She hadn't expected Kitagawa Marin to have already discussed with her younger sister in private and decided that they would Cosplay together. It was only just now that she learned her younger sister was planning to Cosplay and participate in the hot-spring convention, and had changed into her Cosplay outfit in the changing room.
"This character is Timido from Honkai Impact 3rd! Her personality, bearing, figure, and hair color are all very similar to Xinjing!"
Before the timid Inui Shinju could speak, Kitagawa Marin, who had long since prepared everything, hurriedly took out a character-profile book and explained it to Inui Sajuna.
"Juju-sama, you can see it too. For Xinjing's first Cosplay, this one is an absolutely perfect match!"
Unlike the previous shoot at the Ruri family, where she had been the only Cosplay enthusiast, this time the hot-spring convention was being held on a large scale, and she had invited quite a few fellow enthusiasts to participate.
But among all the fellow enthusiasts she had invited, the sisters Inui Sajuna and Inui Shinju were also among the highest-quality ones.
Inui Sajuna herself was a high-profile Coser mainly focused on child-oriented magical girls and shoujo manga. She was famous for pursuing high-quality outfits and high-quality photos, except that she never appeared at actual Cosplay events, to the point that people even suspected her photos were the result of post-processing.
After meeting them offline, she had spent a long time thinking about how to get Juju-sama and her younger sister to participate. Later, she finally found a character extremely suitable for Inui Shinju among the materials provided by the club.
There were quite a few girls in the club suited to Cosplaying pink-haired game characters. Bocchi, for example, was very suitable for Cosplaying Timido, a pink-haired beauty who was similarly socially anxious and introverted.
However, Bocchi hadn't chosen Timido. Instead, she had been dragged by Kita Ikuyo, Yamada Ryo, and Ijichi Nijika to Cosplay game characters from Arknights. That left Inui Shinju as the only person Cosplaying Timido.
Of course, if someone else also chose Timido, they could Cosplay together. It would be perfect for playing another kind of guessing game, making it even harder for Hachiman to guess.
It was just that Inui Shinju was shy and insecure, so it was better for her to choose a character that no one else had chosen. That way, there wouldn't be any comparison.
"Timido… I've never heard of that name…"
Under Inui Shinju's nervous and expectant gaze, Inui Sajuna pondered as she accepted the character-profile book Kitagawa Marin had specifically selected for the sisters.
Her eyes skimmed over descriptions of combat skills such as white-blade assault specialist, innate great strength, ice skates as weapons, able to run along walls, grappling hooks, riding, adaptability to various terrain, and a fighting style combining strength with agility, before lingering on words like shy, socially anxious, and soft girl in the character profile.
Looking at the anime-style image in the profile book that seemed to have been drawn based on Inui Shinju, she couldn't help raising her head and looking at her timid younger sister waiting nervously for her evaluation, her gaze becoming dazed.
So alike, way too alike…
If she had seen her in a Cosplay photo, she might have thought it was a post-processing effect. Even seeing her in person for the first time, she might instinctively have assumed that the makeup was simply that good.
But after living with her younger sister day and night, she was absolutely certain that her younger sister's makeup was no different from usual, apart from having her hair cut a little shorter and putting on this Cosplay outfit that emphasized her figure.
The compatibility between this Cosplay character and her younger sister was so high. No wonder her younger sister, who was extremely lacking in confidence, had secretly contacted Kitagawa Marin behind her back.
That child probably wanted to give her a surprise too…
"It's not just Xinjing! There are also lots of pink-haired characters suitable for Juju-sama. Goldenglow, Shamare, Hoshino, Saratoga, Encore, Fu Xuan, …"
"That's right! If Juju-sama wants to Cosplay a character with a different hair color, we've already prepared for that too."
Seeing that Inui Sajuna still seemed to be hesitating, Kitagawa Marin immediately rambled on, providing her with new Cosplay ideas, while also recommending the Cosplay gadgets that Princess Lala had casually made for their Service Club.
"Just rub it over your hair and it'll change color, then it'll naturally return to its original color afterward. With Sparkle-kun, Juju-sama, you can Cosplay Malicious, Tashkent."
"If Juju-sama wants to challenge something more difficult, our Princess Lala has even provided a Rocket Launcher-kun that can temporarily change the size of the body, letting you instantly have a mature, voluptuous figure!"
"Want to try it, Juju-sama? If Xinjing decides to Cosplay Timido, you can Cosplay Timido's team captain, Big Duck, Bronya Zaychik."
"Although I think Juju-sama would be best as Fu Xuan from Honkai: Star Rail, it seems no one is Cosplaying Qingque to team up with you."
In order to give Hachiman a perfect Cosplay serving experience, it wasn't just Kitagawa Marin and Lumilya who were researching the game characters best suited for everyone to Cosplay. Princess Lala had also specifically spent most of the day researching and working out suitable Cosplay props.
Sparkle-kun, which changes color when rubbed and naturally returns to its original color after twenty-four hours;
Rocket Launcher-kun, which can adjust the hormone balance of its target, giving the target their ideal figure;
Card Face-to-Play-kun (Badge), which records the state of the Cosplay outfit being worn, contains a clothing space, and can seamlessly switch between Cosplay outfits.
Although the names of these high-tech gadgets sounded strange and had Princess Lala's characteristic alien naming style, there was no denying that they were amazing. Every time Kitagawa Marin saw all kinds of things around Hachiman that could satisfy her Cosplay dreams, she felt guilty.
She had clearly gotten close to Hachiman in the beginning to support Yumiko, but now it seemed that she and Nijika were the ones who depended on Hachiman the most, as if they were using helping Yumiko as an excuse to fool around with Hachiman.
Hmm… supposedly, Princess Lala also had a special device that could temporarily swap people's bodies, but very few people should use something like that, right?
After all, there were Empathy Bracelets and Empathy Collars. Why use someone else's body to experience it?
Of course, Kitagawa Marin also admitted that sometimes this special device could satisfy the special needs of special people.
For example, Inui Sajuna and Inui Shinju could swap bodies, with elder sister Inui Sajuna controlling her younger sister's tall, voluptuous body, while younger sister Inui Shinju controlled elder sister Inui Sajuna's petite and cute body.
"…"
Inui Sajuna didn't know that Kitagawa Marin was already thinking about new ways for the sisters to play in the future. Looking at Kitagawa Marin excitedly recommending a row of pink-haired, short characters to her, along with a series of unheard-of high-tech gadgets, she wanted to say something but ultimately could only remain silent as she flipped through the character profiles.
These character profiles that had been prepared in advance could be said to have been made with great care. It was clear how seriously Kitagawa Marin took Cosplay. This was exactly the kind of Cosplay she liked most.
Aside from the two of them, looking across this Cosplay preparation room, the vast majority of people's Cosplays were of a very high standard. Cosplays that could perfectly handle two-dimensional characters with almost no makeup at all sounded completely absurd.
So many fellow enthusiasts who pursued accuracy… To her, this was simply an amazing paradise for Cosplay enthusiasts.
Although their Cosplay outfits were basically all very revealing and didn't look much like those of serious Cosplay enthusiasts, and she hadn't heard of most of the characters they were Cosplaying.
In such a huge Cosplay preparation room, looking around, aside from the few she knew, such as Melina, Ranni, Ryza, Tifa, 2B, and Mai Shiranui, there were many, many more she had absolutely no knowledge of.
Where did they get so many obscure but good-looking game characters?!
Wasn't this obscure, niche private hot-spring Cosplay convention practically tailor-made for them?!
"S-Sis… doesn't it look good?"
Seeing Inui Sajuna remain silent again, Inui Shinju couldn't help asking cautiously.
Although she had always helped her sister with Cosplay-related things, today was actually her first time Cosplaying.
It wasn't just that she lacked confidence in herself and didn't dare Cosplay. Another reason was that she didn't have money.
She wasn't very old yet, unlike her sister, who could work part-time to earn money. She only had a tiny amount of pocket money from her parents. Making clothes herself to Cosplay was already troublesome, let alone buying Cosplay outfits.
The photography equipment and Cosplay outfits the sisters had now were almost all things her sister had slowly saved up for with money from part-time jobs.
Having always served as her sister's photographer, she had also been invited by Kitagawa Marin to participate in this extremely high-level hot-spring convention. Not only was there a character very suitable for her chubby figure, but a high-quality Cosplay outfit was also being provided for free. There was no way she could resist.
However, unlike her sister, who was suited to all kinds of Cosplay, the effect of Cosplaying with her tall figure would probably be strange, right?
It would be bad if her sister disliked her…
"Of course it doesn't look bad. It's extremely suitable for you! I'll be your photographer too and take some good commemorative photos for you!"
Seeing that Inui Shinju, who was already sensitive and insecure, had begun doubting herself again, Inui Sajuna had no time to continue thinking. She hurriedly comforted this big child who had no awareness of herself.
After comforting Inui Shinju, she hesitated for a moment before looking at Kitagawa Marin.
"I'll Cosplay together with this girl… But since there are so many characters suitable for me, I won't consider changing my hair color. I'll just choose one that suits me."
"By the way, what time does the convention officially start? I still have to look through the materials. I don't know if there's enough time."
Normally, Cosplay enthusiasts chose their favorite two-dimensional characters to Cosplay, while professional Cosers who had accepted commercial jobs were different.
But they weren't professional Cosers, so they didn't need to compete in professionalism.
She simply wanted to reproduce her Cosplay as accurately as possible. Even if this hot-spring convention today wasn't quite what she had imagined, she still wanted to do her best.
"Is there enough time?!"
Hearing that Inui Sajuna approved of her Cosplay and was willing to Cosplay together with her, Inui Shinju felt relieved. The corners of her lips uncontrollably lifted beneath her white mask.
But she also knew that time was tight now, so she hurriedly looked at Kitagawa Marin.
"No problem, there's no rush. The hot-spring convention is divided into a daytime Cosplay segment and a nighttime Play segment. Not everyone will participate in the latter. There are many people specifically responsible for accompanying President Hachiman in playing."
Kitagawa Marin understood that Inui Sajuna would definitely have questions about their hot-spring convention, so she explained with a smile.
"Besides all kinds of game-themed Cosplay rooms, people from idol agencies and the band girls will later hold a Cosplay concert together. Juju-sama, you can go watch it with Xinjing."
"Of course, once it's nighttime, if you still haven't left and continue playing around in the hot-spring inn, there's a risk of accidentally getting hit by President Hachiman."
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