Chapter 34: CH 33

Today is the second day of Comiket, and since we have no obligations to help out at the circle, Kaoru-san, Yura-san, and I thought we’d head to the cosplay plaza to cosplay together.

I headed to the dressing room, just like yesterday, and changed into the costume that Kaoru-san handed me.

“Waa… this is such a pretty costume…”

This costume, shimmery despite in black, is what you’d typically call a dress.

It’s something you’d expect a princess or a noblewoman from the Middle Ages to wear.

“And a hair ornament too…

Maybe I’ll put it on with their help later.”

The hair ornament, designed to resemble a lily flower, matches the black dress well.

“Okay! Looking good, I think.”

As soon as I finished changing, I heard voices around me.

“Man, he’s next-level.”

“He’s way too pretty to be in the men’s dressing room!”

“I wonder who he’s cosplaying as…”

“So it’s a dress today…it looks good.”

“Is he coming tomorrow too…? I wonder what he’ll wear then…”

I could hear these voices talking about me, which made me feel a bit bashful.

But none were negative, so I guess the costume looks good on me.

Ignoring the comments, I finished packing my things and headed to our meeting place.

During this time, I switched my persona.

As I approach the meet-up area, I see Kaoru-oneechan and Yura-oneechan waving to me.

They’re both dressed in the same outfit; we’re all matching!

[Sorry for the wait, onee-chan!]

“No worries, we just got here ourselves. Oh, let me put on your hair ornament.”

“Yeah! And the costume looks great on you!”

[Ehehe, I’m glad! And thank you, Kaoru-oneechan!]

“You’re welcome. We’re going to the cosplay plaza over there, and if you sense any creepy photographer, don’t hesitate to turn them down, okay?”

“You have to give them a firm no, or they won’t stop!”

[Okay! I’ll be sure to give them a firm no!]

And with that, we arrived at the cosplay plaza.

[Oh, wow. It’s incredible here!]

Around us are people in various kinds of cosplay.

There are girls cosplaying as the main character and friends from a popular magical girl anime.

There are also men dressed in the same costumes.

Some are recreating famous mecha characters out of cardboard and various famous live-action heroes.

Among them are people who just had the robot’s name written on a piece of cardboard, but they look like they’re enjoying themselves too.

“Excuse me! May I take your picture?”

A man approaches us as we stand still in awe.

[Sure! Make sure to take a nice picture, onii-chan♪]

“Guh!”

The young man with the camera hesitates for a moment but then composes himself to take the photo.

“O-Okay, ready?”

[Readyyy♪]

“Go ahead.”

“Cheese!”

The three of us smile toward the camera, with me in the center.

“Thank you! Are you okay with me posting this on Tweeter?”

[It’s totally fine! I’m Yuka Shirahime! Nice to meet you, onii-chan!]

“Kh…”

The young man quickly leaves the scene after a prompt reply.

“He must’ve taken a hit to his heart just now.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.”

Then, voices could be heard from around us.

“Isn’t that Yuka Shirahime?!”

“Yuka Shirahime? You mean that trap VTuber?”

“Huh? Yuka-chan’s here?”

“Where is she? Where is she?!”

“Uoooooooh! I’m definitely gonna meet Yuka-chaaaaaaaaaaan!!!”

As peopled buzz about, many of them start heading our way.

“Ahhhhhh! She’s so pretty and cute!!! Can we take photos?!”

“C-Can I, too?!”

“Me, too!”

“Me, too!!!”

“Me, too!!!”

“And me, too, please!!!!!!”

[Y-Yeah, it’s okay! But no low-angle shots, okay, onii-chan, onee-chan?]

“OKAYYYYYY!!!”

The sound of camera shutters echoes around us.

A crowd begins to gather in response.

[Awawawa, t-there are so many people!]

“I didn’t expect this.”

“T-This is making me feel shy…”

Once everyone finished taking photos, they thanked us and left.

However, one man remained.

“I’m glad I got to meet you, Yuka-chan! I wanted to buy your book yesterday but couldn’t, so I’m really happy to see you today! I’ll keep supporting you, so do your best!”

[Mm-hm! Thank you, onii-chan!]

“Oof… It must be tough in this heat, so here’s a sports drink. Feel free to drink it! I just bought it from that vending machine over there, so it’s still cold!”

[Oh, thank you so much; I appreciate it! I still plan to sell voice packs later, so please listen to them if you’d like!]

“For real?! I’ll definitely buy them!

Be careful of heatstroke, okay?

You too, Yuru-sensei!

And um…”

“Hahaha, you probably don’t know me.

I’m Yura, Yuka-chan’s rigger!

Please keep yourself hydrated, too!”

“Rigger?! So you’re essentially Yuka-chan’s papa! Also, it would be an embarrassment to all otakus if I collapsed here, so I’ll take care!”

With that, the man leaves.

[H-He was really something, wasn’t he, onee-chan…?]

Just as it was about noon, I heard a familiar voice.

“Ah… I finally found you…”

[Huh? That voice…]

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you’re so cute, Yuka-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!”

There stands Fuwari-oneechan, eyes in a trance.

“Hey! Can I take your photo?”

[S-Sure…]

Fuwari-oneechan takes a flurry of photos.

[U-Um, Fuwa-]

“Hana. Call me Hana-oneechan.”

“I don’t wanna get doxed here…so, you know.”

True, revealing onee-chan’s identity here would be a disaster.

[Okay! Got it, Hana-oneechan!]

“I think I don’t mind dying this very second…”

[Onee-chan?!]

“You must be Yuru-sensei…

Wait, there’s one more person? W-What’s going on?”

“Oh, me? I’m Yura, in charge of Yuka-chan’s rigging. Nice to meet you!”

“Ah, nice to meet you, too. You’ve probably guessed it, but I’m Hana Utsurogi, the one who’s behind you-know-who.”

“And I’m Kaoru Yusa. My pen name is Yuru Kakizaki, as you have guessed.

Nice to meet you.”

With that, the three of them exchange handshakes.

But is it just me, or are sparks flying between Kaoru-oneechan and Hana-oneechan?

“I’m glad I was able to meet you today.

Yesterday was supposed to be my day off, but my manager made a mistake, and I couldn’t buy the new book…”

[You couldn’t buy the new book? …Er, I think you know that I’ve been saying you’re my favorite VTuber, but, um! Here’s the book set!

I was thinking of bringing it to the corporate booth later… You can have this if you’d like, Hana-oneechan!]

“Oh gee… I’m so happy I could cry…”

H-Hana-oneechan is more emotional than I imagined.

“My manager told me she’d get it no matter what, but she couldn’t! I was so desperate, but this made my day! Thank you, Yuka-chan!”

Being thanked with such a radiant smile makes me happy too.

“But I shouldn’t stay too long; I might get in the way of others. It’s a pity, but let’s meet next time.

You still have an offline collaboration with me, okay!”

Waving goodbye, Hana-oneechan leaves.

“(That person might become my biggest rival…)”

Kaoru-oneechan’s comment didn’t reach my ears.

Noon came and made it unbearably hot for us, so we returned to the hotel early.

—A Certain Casual Photographer’s Day—

Call me a casual photographer, a low-angle enthusiast, if you will.

Stumbled upon a real doll today, hence I simply had to capture her in that miracle shot from the bottom up.

Like always, I swiftly made my move to immortalize her with my trusty lens. But then she tossed a single phrase my way.

Not that it stopped me. Nothing can.

[Hmm, you’re into that kind of stuff, onii-chan?

Creep.]

A shiver ran down my spine.

In one fell swoop, her words gave me a pang of guilt.

“I-I’m sorry. May I take a normal shot?”

Unlike usual, I took a regular shot and checked the photo.

The girl who had been looking at me coldly was not there. Instead, a dazzling smile was shining on me.

“Huh. I can take a miracle shot even without using a low angle, after all.”

I apologized to the people I had upset until now in my heart and decided to change my ways.

However, when I posted that photo on an online forum, I found out that the girl was, in fact, a boy.

I couldn’t believe it.

bro i miss going to cons. tling this mini-arc reminds me of those chaotic but fun times

oh, here’s a little more something about “low-anglers” as they call it in japan. tl;dr pantsu-shot photogs.