"Ahh… Sorry, I got a little too excited. I never expected to run into you here. Last time I wanted to talk to you, you suddenly disappeared." Kitagawa Marin realized her behavior had been inappropriate and quickly let go of Diego, covering her mouth as she gave a serious apology. "But Kessoku Band's performance was really amazing! I wonder when the next one will be…"
"I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kitagawa Marin, and this is Kita Ikuyo beside me. Nice to meet you!" Kitagawa Marin placed her hand over her chest and introduced herself to Diego.
"Nice to meet you!" Kita Ikuyo clasped her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and smiled at Diego.
"Diego Brando. Just call me Dio."
"They won't be performing again anytime soon. Kessoku Band is a newly formed group after all—there are still a lot of areas that need polishing. If they performed at last time's level again, they probably wouldn't be satisfied themselves." Diego took the milk tea from Kita Ikuyo and happily enjoyed the sensation of getting something for free.
"How did you know that, Dio-kun?" Kitagawa Marin asked, puzzled.
"I'm the manager of that band." Diego scratched his cheek. "Besides, they still haven't found a vocalist yet, and the guitarist who was supposed to handle the singing parts ran off. Damn that guitarist!"
Kita Ikuyo suddenly shivered beside him, a bead of cold sweat rolling down her forehead.
?
What's this girl scared of?
"So that means… the songs they were supposed to perform weren't purely instrumental…"
"That's right. The pieces they were going to play originally had vocal parts. What a shame…"
Noticing that Kita Ikuyo seemed unable to join the conversation, Kitagawa Marin naturally pulled her in. "By the way, Ikuyo-chan, it was really a shame you didn't come to the performance last time. You were looking forward to Kessoku Band too, right?"
"Eeeeeeeeeek!!" Kita Ikuyo let out an ear-splitting scream, then quickly composed herself when she felt Kitagawa Marin and Diego's gazes on her.
"Y-Yeah… it really was a shame. I really liked that band's title track… but I caught a cold that day, haha…"
A clumsy lie. What title track could a band that had to drag random people off the street just to fill seats possibly have… This girl knows Nijika and the others…
Gulp gulp… He finished the milk tea in one go.
Burp~~ Whatever, it's got nothing to do with me. Kita Ikuyo bought me milk tea. Kita Ikuyo is a good person.
The rest of the walk passed in silence.
Not long after.
"Ah, we're here, we're here!" Kitagawa Marin pointed ahead. A plaza brimming with thick otaku elements suddenly came into view.
Diego looked around, feeling both curious and nostalgic.
Whoa… so many people. It feels like coming home… Why are there so many outfits like the ones those old court geezers liked to wear?
"What's this?" Diego casually picked up a box containing a small figure from a roadside stall and asked Kitagawa Marin.
"That's a figure. It's a character from a really popular game right now."
"How much? Let me see the price tag…
What the hell?! They're charging me 1000 dollars for this tiny piece of junk?!"
"That's just how 2D culture is~ Let's go check out the other cosplayers! It'd be great if Master Juju were doing an offline event…"
"Wait, I'm buying this plushie. This little thing looks so dumb and cute—I like it." Diego happily paid for the oversized fufu. Anyway, SPW was footing the bill.
Dio-kun actually likes this kind of dumb-cute stuff, huh…
"Marin, got a free hand? Hold this for me." Diego stuffed the fufu into the somewhat distracted Kita Ikuyo's arms and turned to follow Kitagawa Marin to look at cosplayers.
"Look, look! This is Kuroe Shizuku from『The Shameless Miraculous Life of the Saintly Slime-Slick Lady Academy Young Miss in the Shame Club: Second Generation』!" Kitagawa Marin hugged Diego's arm and introduced the cosplayed character to him.
"The face doesn't quite match. This seems like an eroge character. You like playing those kinds of games?"
"Yeah! You guys must understand these games really well, right?! Shizuku-chan is one of the main heroines in the prestigious academy in the game."
"Marin-chan even tried making her own Shizuku-chan cosplay outfit back in high school, but both of us were too clumsy with our hands and it ended up a total failure—just a half-finished mess…" Kita Ikuyo said with a nostalgic look.
"What are you saying, Ikuyo-chan!! I already told you it wasn't your fault! Giving up on cosplay was completely my own decision!" Kitagawa Marin lightly patted Kita Ikuyo's cheek.
"A failure… what a shame… Then who's that cosplayer taking photos with her over there?"
"Ah—!! This one, this one!! It's Nikaido Shion before her transformation as the『Flower Princess Reri』!! I love this one too!"
"What's the point of a convention anyway? Munch munch~" Diego asked while chewing on a freshly made beef roll.
Hearing this, Kitagawa Marin covered her face with both hands, the corners of her mouth curling up uncontrollably:
"Dio-kun~ I knew you'd love this circle just like me!
Conventions are gatherings centered around cosplay and photography, where tons of cosplayers participate. There are also doujinshi sales events where people sell fan-made books while dressed in cosplay.
The organizers will rent out an entire street or amusement park like it's Halloween, giving cosplayers places to take photos.
Some cosplayers post their finished photos online too."
Kitagawa Marin pulled out her phone from her pocket, opened Twitter, and held it up to Diego.
"My favorite creator is Juju-sama—she mainly does magical girl-themed cosplay. So cute! Incredibly cute!"
"Hm, all the characters you like seem to have black hair."
"Hehe~ You noticed~" Kitagawa Marin gave a mischievous grin and poked Diego.
"But you're wrong—I don't like this circle. It's too chaotic. Like that guy over there—he's clearly not here for any of the proper reasons. He's just wearing some cheap cosplay to hit on girls."
Diego pointed at a sleazy man ahead who was trying to pick up a petite girl.
The petite girl noticed the man's approach and tried to leave, but he grabbed her. Her body trembled nonstop.
"He's just casually insulting other people's hobbies!"
Both Diego and Kitagawa Marin's expressions darkened at the same time. They spoke in unison:
"That kind of behavior… is absolutely unacceptable!"
…
I, Diego Brando, once had a small, impossible dream: to take my mother away from the Zenin household.
Anywhere would do, as long as she could be happy.
That was Diego's childhood obsession.
Hey, Mom, wait until I grow up. Wait until I become the lord of the Manhattan Peninsula. Wait until I take you away…
And Diego's greatest hobby was listening to his mother tell stories before bed. He yearned endlessly for the vast lands in those tales, especially the stories of heroes defeating the Demon King—he could never get enough.
But Mom, you didn't live to see me grow up…
Death and misfortune caught Diego completely off guard…
Diego never fulfilled his dream, and the few hobbies he had were ridiculed by the Zenin household.
After his mother left, the only thing that had suppressed the bottomless malice within Diego vanished.
His mother's tragedy turned Diego toward evil. Hatred nurtured immense ambition.
At the same time, Scary Monsters awakened amid tremendous mental shock, accompanied by the immense physical enhancement of Heavenly Restriction.
One who has abandoned everything—an existence that cannot be bound.
Only by reaching the highest position could he complete his『revenge』. Thus he forever charged toward the summit.
…
Someone save me… If I'd known that even wearing casual clothes, sunglasses, and a mask would get me targeted by a creep…
Inui Sajuna (Juju-sama) deeply regretted coming to the convention alone in plain clothes today.
"Uh, isn't this some toy from an anime? So otaku~ Come on—ow…" The sleazy man reached toward the petite girl, only to have his hand gripped tightly by another, rendering him immobile.
Even though I've already abandoned my dreams and live like a walking corpse, this broken body might still be able to do one thing…
Protect someone else's dream…
Thinking this, Diego didn't even realize his body had moved on its own. One hand pressed down on the sleazy man's shoulder, stopping him from going further.
"Who the hell are you? Get lost!" Kitagawa Marin scolded the sleazy man with a dark expression.
"You—" The sleazy man's voice cut off abruptly. He turned his head, only to meet a pair of devouring eyes.
The man had yellow long hair and an indifferent expression. He simply stood there, yet every inch of him radiated the ferocity of an apex predator.
Instantly, the man's heart pounded uncontrollably. He felt death would arrive in the next second.
Crack!
With the sound of breaking bone, the sleazy man's shoulder was dislocated.
"Ah—!"
Finally, under the surge of adrenaline, the sleazy man endured the pain and fled in disgrace.
The World! Time that belongs only to me!
A pale yellow figure appeared. Diego left a wound on the sleazy man.
Diego coldly glanced at his dragonified hand and revealed a cruel smile…
4 seconds passed… 5 seconds passed… 6 seconds passed… Time resumed flowing.
(Hot cheese: The duration of time stop is related to mental strength. The human limit for time stop is 5 seconds, but Diego with Heavenly Restriction clearly does not fall within the category of ordinary humans.)
?! Diego's pupils dilated… Just now, the time stop seemed to have lasted longer!
"Seriously, no matter where you go, there are always creeps like this!" Kitagawa Marin put her hands on her hips, venting her frustration.
"Um… thank you both!" Inui Sajuna bowed 90 degrees in thanks.
"It's fine, little kid. Next time come with an adult. Even in broad daylight, lolicon types like him dare to act so boldly."
"You're the little kid!" Inui Sajuna instantly bristled. "I'm a college sophomore!!"
"Ah, sorry, my bad eyesight. But with your build, you really don't look any different from a little kid. What are you doing here? There are a lot of creeps like that at conventions." Diego crouched down to meet Inui Sajuna's eyes.
"There's a competition here… I came to scout the venue and see if there are any skilled cosplay outfit makers…" Inui Sajuna realized she had snapped at her benefactor and replied somewhat sheepishly, rubbing her hands behind her back.
"A competition?"
"Yeah. The organizers provide fabric and tools, and participants have to make a cosplay outfit within five hours. The winner is decided by audience vote."
"I see…" Diego stood up, tilted his head, and stroked his chin in thought. After a moment, he clapped his hands and declared:
"Marin."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"If I can make a cosplay outfit for you, would you take up cosplay again?"
"Huh?"
"But the price is that you'll only be my personal dressing doll."
"Huh—!!"
Diego narrowed his eyes slightly and slowly drew closer to Kitagawa Marin. He grabbed her wrist with one hand, leaned down, and locked eyes with her.
"Tell me your answer…"