"Why are you two so slow? And… have you not had enough of playing 'Protagonist and Hero' yet?"
Seeing the two with their arms slung over each other's shoulders, Kamishiro teased them.
At this moment, Kamishiro was radiating confidence from head to toe!
Like a fish returning to water.
The past two days in Tokyo had been far too stifling and now he finally had a place where he could freely unleash his charm!
How could he not seize this opportunity?
Right now, Kamishiro was like the only rooster on the farm with his chest puffed out, scanning the surroundings for his future concubines!
Judging by his attitude, he had completely turned Ikegoshi san's party into a personal hunting ground.
How heartbreaking for Ikegoshi san~
"Kohei's a bit nervous. You know how social anxiety attacks are."
"Ah, true. This kind of occasion really is a bit too much for Kohei."
For once, Kamishiro did not bicker with Iori. Instead, he moved to Kohei's other side and supported him.
"By the way, do you want to go to the restroom and fix your makeup?"
Looking at the makeup on Kohei's face smudged by sweat, Kamishiro suggested.
If this keeps up, he could go join a Hyakki Yagyō parade soon.
There would be absolutely no sense of mismatch!
"J-just somewhere with fewer people is fine…"
Kohei said shakily. Even though they were already inside the hotel, he did not feel like the eyes on him had decreased at all!
If anything, he felt like more people were staring!
Please!
Just give me a place with fewer people!
"Well, looks like your social anxiety has gotten worse. Let's get you a drink to calm down first."
As he spoke, Kamishiro pulled out a bottle of the "water of life" from behind him and shoved it straight into Kohei's mouth.
This scene instantly stunned everyone around them!
Was someone trying to assassinate the freshly married "Ikegoshi san"?!
Damn it!
Was this the work of some crazed fan of Yurika?!
The crowd immediately stirred, with some people striding over, ready to stop these two from assaulting "Ikegoshi san"!
They had thought earlier that his trembling was just nervousness—now it looked like fear of kidnappers!
The NPCs' eyes sharpened as they started thinking about how to rescue "Ikegoshi san" without a scratch.
However—
What happened next completely shattered their expectations…
Before they could even act, "Ikegoshi san" stood up on his own?!
And he did not look coerced at all!
Wait?
So he really was just nervous earlier?
And that bottle was a sedative?
What kind of tough guy is "Ikegoshi san" to treat the water of life as a sedative?!
Watching "Ikegoshi san" chug alcohol so boldly, the NPCs were utterly dumbfounded!
This was a side of "Ikegoshi san" they had never known!
Including that nervous look earlier, they had never seen that either!
Clearly, this must be the real "Ikegoshi san"!
Silently, everyone pulled out their little notebooks and made a note:
Next time we drink with Ikegoshi san, prepare the water of life!
Thinking back to previous drinking sessions with him, everyone could not help but sigh in admiration.
Ikegoshi san truly was a powerhouse of an artist!
Even when drinking stuff that was basically low-proof "juice" to him, he could convincingly act drunk—
Giving them all plenty of face!
Respect!
Truly admirable!
Without even realizing it, Kohei had once again boosted Ikegoshi san's image in everyone's minds!
Though the consequence was…
Ikegoshi san might have to train at the pub a lot more in the future to maintain this persona~
"Well?"
"How do you feel?"
"Much better"
Seeing Kohei's blissed-out expression, the two senpai exchanged knowing smiles.
Good!
The three rookies had completely taken on the shape of the pub already, handing the pub over to them would be very reassuring!
Although Kohei's social anxiety had eased for now, the makeup on his face still needed fixing.
Perfect!
Might as well use the restroom while they're at it!
And so, with arms over shoulders, the three headed toward the restroom under everyone's astonished gazes!
"Mm, the three of them really get along well~"
Watching their backs, Nanaka rested her cheek on one hand and said gently.
Even though they were always bickering, when a friend was in trouble, the others would still step in without hesitation~
"That's boys' youth, I guess."
Azusa echoed beside her, sighing like an old lady.
But speaking of youth…
The first person that came to mind was Aina, right?
Azusa shifted her gaze toward her.
Little Aina was always talking about youth albums and such so she must know a lot about it.
However, Aina was not paying attention to Kamishiro and the others at all right now. She had not even looked up, her head lowered as she pondered something.
"Hm? What's wrong, Aina chan?"
Azusa bent down so their faces were at the same level.
Still trying to mentally ease her embarrassment, Aina was startled by the sudden voice and that flash of pale whiteness!
What is that?!
So white!
So big!
After freezing for a moment, Aina realized that was exactly what she had always longed for!
Because Azusa bent down, the neckline of her evening gown opened wide, giving Aina a full-on bonus view!
Of course, only Aina got to enjoy it~
"Ah? Me? Ahaha, I'm fine! I just suddenly thought of something…"
Aina scratched the back of her head, smiling awkwardly.
Under everyone's puzzled gazes, Aina explained what she had just thought of.
About—Kohei and Ikegoshi san.
"Well, since Kohei looks so much like Ikegoshi san, will this not cause some bad impact on Ikegoshi san?"
Hearing that, everyone realized what they had forgotten!
The look-alike problem!
Forget the NPCs—even they themselves could not clearly tell Ikegoshi san and Kohei apart just by appearance!
After all…
Kohei had literally been Ikegoshi san's stand-in before!
A full-face stand-in, at that!
That was practically twin-level!
Normally, it would not matter much. Even if something happened, as long as it was not excessive, it would be fine.
But… today was special.
It was Ikegoshi san's wedding day!
The women thought about Kohei's usual behavior…
"Maybe we should have Kohei wear a mask when he comes back?"
"Is that really safe enough?"
"What about cross-dressing?"
"Would not that just make Kohei go completely wild?!"
"Then what do we do?"
"..."
For the sake of Ikegoshi san's happiness, the four women began seriously discussing how to deal with Kohei.
They had to seal his face fast, before he caused a major incident!
Otherwise, Ikegoshi san might end up with even more bizarre character settings.
If it were just Ikegoshi san, it would be fine, he and Kohei were basically mutual stand-ins anyway, so more personas would not hurt.
The real issue was—
The bride was here today too!
They had to consider whether she could accept all these personas. It would not be good to damage the marriage on the wedding day.
But then again…
They felt that Ikegoshi san's bride was probably very open-minded.
After all, Ikegoshi san's "image transformation" program…
Anyone who could accept that version of him must have a pretty strong mental fortitude!
The real concern was whether she could accept Kohei's hardcore otaku attributes!
Wait!
Yurika is a voice actress?
Emmmm…
Suddenly, they felt like maybe it was fine to just leave Kohei alone?
Surely Ikegoshi san would understand~
Meanwhile, Tokita and Kotobuki were not thinking that deeply at all, they had entered full daydream mode.
"There has to be alcohol here I have never tried before!"
"This formal wear is so uncomfortable… I wonder if there is a 'second half' later. I heard you can go fully naked in the late night."
Just—
So nice!!!
…
Ssssss—
A thick stream of water sprayed out from a massive object that was impossible to look at directly.
It scared Iori so much he did not even dare pee!
(°ー°〃)
Ever since the hot spring incident yesterday, Iori could no longer calmly use the restroom with Kamishiro around!
Did this bastard grow up eating miracle fertilizer?!
"You're not going?"
Kamishiro looked at Iori with a half-smile, clearly waiting for something.
Waiting to mock him again with just his eyes~
(??? ?-? )~
"No need in that department!"
Iori said darkly, then turned and walked toward Kohei, who was fixing his makeup.
Watching Kohei's godlike makeup skills, Iori took another critical hit.
Normally, Iori would not be affected by something like this.
But after just having his defenses broken, he was currently in a state where he could not handle any more stimulation!
And this idiot Kohei was this good at face-swapping techniques…
That was a serious blow!
It made Iori feel like a useless person with no redeeming strengths at all!
Damn it!
The more he thought about it, the heavier the resentment around Iori grew!
Kohei could practically see a pitch-black monster roaring out of him!
"Huh? What are you doing now?"
"I'm thinking about how to make you lose your memory and forget this makeup technique."
"…You bastard, are you trying to start a fight?"
Kohei sighed helplessly, his hands moving even faster.
With those strange gazes gone, he had completely returned to normal.
And yes, the makeup on his face was fixed again.
This level of makeup was as easy as eating and drinking for Kohei!
The reason he chose to wear makeup to the party…
Was not to make himself look more attractive.
Nor to distinguish himself from Ikegoshi san.
It was simply a matter of etiquette!
After all…
Showing up to someone's wedding with a bruised and swollen face would be extremely rude!
(▼皿▼＃)
Thinking about the injuries on his face, Kohei shot a vicious glare at Kamishiro and Iori!
When he was doing his makeup that afternoon, he had already figured out why his injuries were taking so long to heal.
With those two's beating techniques, there was no way he would recover in just a few days!
What?
How did he know Kitahara had hit him too?
That required mentioning a kind-hearted inn owner~
Perhaps out of gratitude for Kohei and Iori's "saving grace," the inn owner had directly copied last night's surveillance footage for them.
Under the pretense of "keeping a souvenir."
And then—
Victim Kohei, please watch the VCR!
After clearly seeing how he had been brutally abused, Kohei wanted nothing more than to drag those two down with him!
Luckily, the senpai were there!
They successfully stabilized Kohei by telling him there would be magical girls at Ikegoshi san's wedding party!
Otherwise, their Tokyo trip might really have been completely destroyed!
Because when Kohei talked about mutual destruction back then, he meant real mutual destruction!
The kind where he would expose his location on forums!
Yesterday, although they had successfully tricked a bunch of main forces from a certain high school into the police station…
They were released that same night!
After all, they were just high school students, and there were so many of them. Without concrete evidence, how could they all be detained?
They were just given a verbal warning and then picked up by their parents to be disciplined at home.
That farce ended like that, at least on the surface.
But!
That did not mean those beasts from that high school had given up on capturing Kamishiro!
Because of this incident, their hatred toward Kamishiro had skyrocketed!
And not only that, this time Iori and Kohei were included as targets too!
Before, they had been half-doubtful about the two being accomplices.
(After all, Kamishiro tricking people was not exactly new.)
But now—
They were completely convinced!
The bounties on the two had increased who knows how many times!
(The bounty could only be claimed if you actually caught them!)
Even Yamamoto and the others… had been put on the wanted list too!
After being "educated," those beasts did not back down, instead they intensified their search!
Some even mobilized their pet cats to help look!
Yeah… that one probably watched too many movies or read too many novels. Dogs would've been more effective than cats, right?
Clearly, these beasts were already in a deranged state!
But regardless, the intensity of the manhunt had definitely increased.
Tokyo was now dangerous enough that Kamishiro no longer dared to wander around.
They had rented cars to get here, and he had already decided—
From now on, his movement range in Tokyo would just be a straight line between the hotel and the inn!
Safe!
Thinking about what he had done yesterday, Kamishiro could not even imagine what kind of death he would face!
He could not provoke Kohei anymore!
So, when Kohei shot him an angry look, Kamishiro uncharacteristically turned away and pretended nothing happened.
Iori beside him also snapped back to his senses, turning his head away as well and exchanging silent looks with Kamishiro.
Watching the two of them, Kohei snorted coldly, deciding to settle accounts later!
Now that he had calmed down, he had completely given up on the idea of mutual destruction!
The danger was not a joke!
Where were they right now?
This was Yurika's wedding party!
As the voice actress of a magical girl, there had to be lots of voice actors among the guests!
Just imagining the upcoming VA feast had Kohei completely hyped!
Praise Ikegoshi san!
Of course, if this were just a normal party and not a wedding…
He would praise him even more!
By the way, did Ikegoshi san not once say that he could also marry a voice actress?
Should I try this time?
Preferably Maya sama!
No!
I'm not worthy of Maya sama!
Maya sama is unique in the world!!!
A god!
How could a mere mortal possess a god?!
"..."
Just as Kohei was lost in his delusions, a sudden commotion came from outside the restroom.
"Quick! It looks like Yurika and Ikegoshi san are having a conflict!"
Kamishiro, Iori, Kohei: (?｀;)?
Th-this… did that wish just come true?!
"What's going on outside?"
"No idea, but it seems to involve Ikegoshi san?"
"Let's go take a look!"
The three of them exchanged a glance and headed straight for the restroom entrance.
Ikegoshi san was the star of the day, who would dare bully him?
For the sake of a happy party, they absolutely could not ignore this!
And then…
As Kamishiro and the others stepped outside, they were met with a shocking scene—
A girl in a pure white wedding dress was straddling Ikegoshi san's waist, gripping a fountain pen and stabbing it toward his throat!
Ikegoshi san was desperately holding her wrists with both hands, struggling to stop her.
Judging by how his hands were shaking, the girl was using a terrifying amount of strength…
But wait, why are you crying while stabbing him?!
Miss! You're the one on top!
No matter how you look at it, you should not be the one crying!
The scene was so bizarre that the three of them forgot to rush in and help.
Until—
"Yurika! Yurika, what's wrong?! It's me, Yuichi, your husband!"
Ikegoshi san shouted in terror. He had only stepped away for a short while, how had his wife turned into a completely different person?!
Damn it, was this some curse from a deranged fan?!
His mind instantly jumped to Japan's infamous hypnosis.
Of course, hypnosis was not famous because it actually worked so well—
It was famous because it showed up everywhere in Japanese cultural exports.
Yes.
That kind of culture.
AV culture.
Because he had recently needed to help Kamishiro get golden tickets, Ikegoshi san had ended up revisiting an industry he had gradually forgotten after middle school.
After all, he had never lacked partners in high school, then went straight into idol work. His understanding of the AV industry was stuck in a very old era.
And once he started looking… he could not stop.
Especially the hypnosis genre!
Being exhausted lately, that word had surfaced in his mind immediately—
But he quickly denied it himself.
There was no way hypnosis could be that ridiculous!
There had to be some other reason.
Please, Yurika!
Even if I have to die, at least let me die knowing why!
As if she had heard her husband's inner scream, Yurika tears streaming down her face finally revealed the truth:
"I'm sorry, my dear! I just can not accept you cheating on me on our wedding day!
And—and with a man, no less!
Do not worry, Yuichi. We're husband and wife, after I kill you, I will die with you!"
"Ohhh!!!"
The NPCs around them erupted.
On the wedding day?!
That was crossing a line!
A wedding was sacred!
They had even gotten married at a shrine that afternoon!
Wait… hold on.
Actually… cheating is wrong no matter when it happens.
Yes. That made sense now.
Back to Yurika's accusation—
Cheating was unforgivable.
And the cheating partner was a man?!
That made many people recall what they had seen earlier at the entrance.
First, a young man had supported a visibly nervous "Ikegoshi san" into the hotel.
Then another young man had joined him, and together they had helped "Ikegoshi san" into the restroom behind them.
And now—
Ikegoshi san's clothes had changed.
The more they thought about it, the stranger their expressions became.
…This information network of Ms. Yurika's seemed a little lacking.
Should it not have been two men?
But no one was rude enough to correct her now.
There was no need, one was already enough to get Ikegoshi san killed.
They just had not expected him to be into that.
They had never heard anything like this before.
Looks like there was a big scoop today.
Meanwhile, Ikegoshi san was completely dumbfounded, staring at his wife.
Cheating?
With a man?
What nonsense was this?!
He was a paragon of virtue!
Pure love!!!
There was no way he would ever cheat!
…Watching adult videos did not count, right?
That thought slightly weakened his resolve.
After all, he had a wife now and yet he still watched that stuff.
His conscience twinged painfully.
He decided that tonight, he would confess and beg for forgiveness.
That was, of course, assuming… he survived the night.
As for being with a man?
Absolutely absurd!
He, Ikegoshi Yuichi, would rather jump off this hotel than become that kind of person!
He would never be the one doing the stirring—
Nor the one being stirred!
He was a true, pure-love good man!
Lies!
All of it was lies!
"Yurika! Calm down and listen to me! I swear to heaven—I have never cheated! And certainly not with a man!
This is all a misunderstanding!"
In the crowd, Azusa and the others watched with twitching mouths.
From the clothes, they could confirm that the one being stabbed really was Ikegoshi san.
And judging from the description… this had to be caused by Kohei's existence.
"…."
Very well. They took back their earlier evaluation of Ms. Yurika.
She was not open-minded, she was just airheaded.
It was obvious she loved Ikegoshi san deeply, otherwise she would not have talked about dying together.
It was just… terrifying.
Because the one wielding the weapon was her.
This was yandere behavior.
Textbook yandere.
The possessiveness was downright pathological.
They could not watch anymore.
If no one stepped in soon, these two were about to set a national record.
Just married—dead together by nightfall.
Except one of them would be dying unwillingly.
But just as they were about to intervene—
They noticed three heads peeking out sneakily from the restroom.
Perfectly lined up.
"..."
For some reason, they were not surprised at all.
Of course.
Whenever those three were together, something weird was bound to happen.
At this moment, Kamishiro and the others were staring at the tragedy before them, completely at a loss.
Like Azusa's group, they already understood how this situation had come to be.
This was… how to put it—
A thoroughly unfortunate misunderstanding for both sides.
And for Kamishiro and Iori, this was not even the first time they had been misunderstood like this.
Damn it!
They liked big busts like normal men, stop misunderstanding them already!
"So, Kohei, what do you think?"
Kamishiro and Iori turned their gaze to the lowest head.
No matter how you looked at it, Kohei was the root cause.
"Me?"
Kohei blinked blankly, then said seriously,
"I think it works!"
Kamishiro & Iori: "???"
"Mm-hmm!"
"Works how?!"
They stared at him in disbelief. Had he even heard them?
"Are you not saying that I should replace Ikegoshi san and become Yurika's husband? I think it's doable! I'm mentally prepared!"
They fell silent, staring at him like he was a monster.
This guy had dreamed up a whole scenario in just a few seconds.
A daydream, no less!
What a terrifying thought.
Not even trying to save him, he had jumped straight to imagining life after Ikegoshi san's death?!
Did he not hear the part about dying together?!
Even if Yurika did not die, how were you planning to replace Ikegoshi san? As a ghost?!
And even if, by some miracle, Ikegoshi san survived and you successfully replaced him—
How were you supposed to act like him?
Selective amnesia? A near-death epiphany that turns you into a public-nudity-loving pervert?
Or a hardcore otaku?
Come on!
No matter how incompetent Tokyo police might be, they could still handle this kind of case!
Calm down!
Between the two of them, Kamishiro and Iori managed to talk Kohei out of his extremely criminal idea, for now.
"I see… I guess this needs more planning," Kohei said, stroking his chin.
He really had not thought that far ahead. Maybe he was immature.
Good thing he had Kamishiro and Kitahara.
Smack!
Kohei pulled his head back and excitedly slapped their shoulders.
"As expected of my best friends!"
Kamishiro: (=_=)
Iori: (…)
They exchanged a glance.
Yeah. They should probably do something for Ikegoshi san.
"You make good points! Go on, say more…wait, what are you doing?!
Put me down! If I go out there now, it'll be a disaster!"
Kohei flailed wildly in midair.
He had been ambushed and lifted up!
Judging by the posture, they were about to throw him out.
No!
Absolutely not!
As the exit drew closer, Kohei's eyes widened and he struggled even harder, one shoe flying off.
His gray sock made intimate contact with Iori's face.
Iori's expression darkened even further.
He had said it during the eye contact earlier, he did not want to be the leg-holder!
Damn Kamishiro!
Scum!
And—
Kohei had not washed his feet!
Definitely had not washed them!
The smell seemed to unlock Iori's hidden potential. His muscles bulged as he lifted—
Kohei's legs shot higher than his head!
Kamishiro: Σ(°Д°;)
Bro, do you people break your limits this casually?!
"WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
Kohei screamed as he flew through the air.
This time, no escape.
BANG!
With a loud crash—
Kohei made his dazzling entrance.
The landing pose was… unfortunate. Head down, butt up.
Very unfortunate.
But was not this also a form of courtesy?
Look, the host of the party was sprawled on the ground.
As a side character, how could Kohei possibly upstage him?
Exactly!
This was courtesy!
Iori found the perfect justification for his actions.
Whether others believed it or not Kamishiro certainly did not.
He just felt a little sorry for Ikegoshi san, having to deal with these two idiots.
Sigh. How pitiful.
At that moment, Kohei's sudden appearance drew everyone's attention.
Including Ikegoshi san and Yurika.
Seeing that face identical to his own Ikegoshi san's mouth twitched.
He got it.
He finally got it.
He had completely forgotten about this!!!
Imamura-kun you've ruined me!
Realizing the truth, Ikegoshi san asked his wife carefully,
"Um… the person you saw earlier was him, right?"
Yurika responded with a dumbfounded stare, her face frozen in shock.
She looked at Kohei, then at the husband beneath her, comparing them again and again.
After several rounds, she finally realized—
This was a colossal misunderstanding!
"Eh—EH?!"
Blushing furiously, Yurika tossed the fountain pen aside and scrambled to stand.
"I—I'm sorry, darling, I—ah?!"
Forgetting she was wearing high heels, she stumbled straight into Ikegoshi san's arms.
After a few futile struggles, she buried her face in his chest.
Aaaah!!!
So embarrassing!
"Hehehehe…"
Holding his wife, Ikegoshi san wore a stiff, post-trauma smile.
Only now did he realize his wife was yandere.
(T_T)
Tears of joy.
These were tears of sheer relief.
He was already considering getting a tattoo somewhere otherwise, he feared he might die without realizing it.
Imamura-kun was a walking bug in his life.
Wait—
Had he missed something?
If Yurika had mistaken the person… then the one with a man earlier—
Imamura-kun?!
So this was the real you?!
Could it be that the voice actor you liked was actually a male voice actor?!
Ikegoshi san stared at Kohei in horror.
This was one hell of a melon.
Meanwhile—
Kohei was trembling.
His social anxiety was acting up.
Surrounded by so many strangers' gazes, tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.
"I told you… coming out now would be a disaster…"
Kitahara.
Kamishiro.
I will not forgive you.
Stop looking at me, please!
Someone—
Someone be a hero!
Today, he was supposed to be just a supporting character!