Chapter 42: The Angel Reaches an Agreement with the Devil
Shunsuke grabbed Marin Kitagawa by the collar and pulled her closer. "Kitagawa, stop messing around. If you like cos so much, wouldn't it make more sense to join a club like the Handicrafts Club?"
"Cos?" Chitanda tilted her head in confusion. "Does Kitagawa like cosine functions? Shouldn't she be in the Math Club then?"
"...Not that kind of cos."
Shunsuke didn't know whether to laugh or cry, unsure of how to explain.
"Cos is about becoming your favorite character and merging with them completely!" Marin eagerly "explained."
"I-Is that so…"
Chitanda looked even more confused, understanding each word individually, but the meaning just wouldn't click.
At this point, Eriri stepped forward to clarify. "It's short for cosplay, which means role-playing as characters. Just think of it like someone dressing up as a ghost on Halloween to scare people."
As she explained, Eriri opened her phone and pulled up the Twitter profile of a cosplayer she followed, showing it to Chitanda.
"Wait, Eriri-senpai, you follow 'Pearl' too? She's my favorite cosplayer!" Marin's eyes sparkled with excitement as she moved closer.
In just a few days, Marin had found two like-minded upperclassmen at school. For the first time, she had people to look up to, and for the first time, friends who shared her passion. It felt like a dream come true!
"I only noticed her because she cosplayed a character I drew—" Eriri abruptly clamped her hand over her mouth, but her reaction only made her words sound even more suspicious.
Marin's eyes sparkled like twinkling lights, brimming with excitement.
Now fully understanding what cosplay was, Chitanda politely returned Eriri's phone and nodded. "I see, so that's what it is. Thank you, Sawamura-san."
Being from similar backgrounds, the two girls, despite both being from wealthy families, managed to get along rather well instead of competing with each other.
"But if you're dressing up, why join the Handicrafts Club? Do you have to make the outfits yourself? Wouldn't that be a hassle?" Chitanda asked with a classic heiress's naïveté. "Why not just buy them from a store?"
"Cheap cosplays aside, those costumes don't last long and aren't meant for multiple wears. And high-quality ones are pretty expensive."
Shunsuke explained while giving Marin a light tap on the head. "Plus, this dummy doesn't just like one or two characters. One outfit might be manageable if she works part-time, but with her list, she'd probably have to sell her soul."
Marin protested, "I would never do that! Besides, I got into Sobu High, so I can't be that dumb!"
Shunsuke tapped her head again. "Our class's 'Dango/Yui' also scored well on the entrance exam for Sobu, but doesn't everyone still call her clueless?"
Koizumi blinked in surprise, quietly listening.
"And the main reason," Shunsuke continued, "is her. This girl would rather make everything herself just to show her love for the characters."
"Hehe, I'm not that intense!" Marin said, sticking out her tongue with a shy grin. "But honestly, part of it is because Shizuku's cosplay costume isn't even available in stores, so I have no choice but to make it myself."
"Pfft!"
Eriri nearly choked.
"W-What did you say? You're cosplaying that Shizuku?"
"Oh, Eriri-senpai, you still insist you haven't played it," Marin gave her a sly grin, the kind guys give each other when they bump into each other at shady places. "Didn't I mention it right at the start?"
"I thought you were cosplaying someone else!"
Despite being a popular illustrator online, Eriri was actually quite shy and reserved in real life.
Shunsuke looked Marin up and down. "With your looks, Kitagawa, you could pull it off perfectly. But as for Eriri…there's no character in Wet Girls 2 that'd suit her."
"Shun-Su-Ke Fujii!" Eriri was so furious she called him by his full name.
"Huh? What are you all talking about?" Chitanda, who had been left out of the conversation, looked on curiously.
"Are you asking about Shizuku, Chitanda-senpai? She's my favorite character in the game I'm playing right now—she's so adorable! Let me show you a picture." Marin, ever the go-getter, whipped out her phone. "And I highly recommend the game! Missing out on it would be a huge regret in life!"
"No, absolutely not!" said Shunsuke and Eriri simultaneously, lunging to stop her.
"Why, why are you stopping me? Shizuku is so cute!" Marin struggled against them.
Shunsuke leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "This is an R18 game, Kitagawa-san—you trying to commit a crime? Distribution of obscene materials?"
Eriri chimed in, "Chitanda is a good kid, Marin! Don't drag her down with you!"
"Oh? So you're already calling her 'Marin'?" Shunsuke teased.
"I-It's not like I wanted to call her that," Eriri huffed, slipping into her usual tsundere tone. "But she said she'd keep pestering me if I didn't…"
"Alright, alright, I get it. You don't have to say any more," Shunsuke cut her off, having heard it all too many times before.
Seeing herself left out of the conversation yet again, Chitanda looked down, disappointed. Even Eriri, who she usually got along with, felt somehow distant now.
"Am I…really that out of touch?"
Her long lashes and slightly tearful expression made Shunsuke stop in his tracks, mesmerized.
—I really want to make Chitanda cry, he thought, a devilish impulse taking hold of him.
"What are you, a demon?" an angel in his mind kicked the devil away.
"This is obviously a moment for eyelash-kissing, right?" the devil protested.
"Isn't it better when there are actual tears?" the angel mused after some thought.
"You're right!"
The two shook hands firmly, finding rare agreement.
Aiko Iwase, observing silently from the sidelines, tightened her grip on the book in her hands.
"I was careless. My unbreakable fortress is being dismantled from within."
She glanced at Eriri, who seemed to be genuinely enjoying the conversation.
"Sawamura-san is so different here than she is in class. Could this be her true self? If so, then she's a formidable rival too."
"But what's so great about any of this? Takagi gave up college to pursue manga, and Shunsuke is just as absorbed in these games. These things have no real value. After working so hard to get into Sobu High, shouldn't they be focusing on their futures?"
Grounded in reality, Iwase found herself entirely out of place among her fantasy-loving classmates.
"Maybe…that's why I'm the one who feels like I don't belong."
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