Ch 96 – 03 June, Going to cosplay event 01

Utaha sent the message, [ Yes, me too. I want to ask you something. ]

It happened around late Saturday evening, after Kouta texted Utaha. The message's content expressed his concern that Utaha did not return and acted as if he was unaware. At the same time, Kouta invited Utaha to a cosplay event, while implying there was something he wanted to talk about.

Kouta was currently waiting at the nearest station to the cosplay event venue. It wasn’t long after Kouta showed up at the station, someone tapped his shoulder and said.

"Oh, Kouta. You’re already here…" Kitagawa Marin gave a silly smile as she said hello to Kouta. She was dressed in a white t-shirt under an open army jacket with blue jeans and waved energetically with both hands.

Kouta looked at Marin and nodded at her while greeting her back. "Yes, I'm quite looking forward to this."

Kouta replied, making Marin smile wider as if she were happy that Kouta had the same feeling of anticipation as her. After all, she was looking forward to this cosplay event. She would be happy if she could join, but the costume was still not finished.

Although, actually, Kouta had another reason to look forward to

"Hehehe, I can’t wait too." Marin said it happily. "Ah, by the way, my friend is coming too." Marin realized something as another girl came out from behind her. A small girl with black hair tied into pigtails.

"Hello, Nowa is here too…" Nowa greeted Kouta cheerfully and enthusiastically.

"I see. Hello… I’m Kouta." Kouta greeted her back. He floated a good natured smile as he could see from her eyes how passionate she was. Kouta never really knew about her, since she was the only side-character that barely exists in the manga.

Of course, Nowa had her moment, which made an impression on Kouta’s mind, but it was still not enough to pique his interest.

"Un… I see you in the video, and Marin also talks about you too. Also… you’re really different at physical education. I never expected you to be the same guy." Nowa spoke as she drew closer.

"Is that so…"

"Yes. Also, when I heard you came to a cosplay event. So I was expecting you to do cosplay too. I kinda want to see that." Nowa said that she put her index finger on her lips and tilted her head in wonder.

"Eh, you're thinking like that. No wonder, you are eager to follow me to this kind of event that you were never interested in before." Marin said it in surprise.

"Hahaha… too bad for you. But I never cosplay for free." Kouta replied without being surprised at all. He just put Nowa in the category of a dangerous girl who is like a girlish boy.

Nowa herself still tilted her head while staring at Kouta as if she were watching something about him, before she actually leaped onto him.

"Hm… This is it!!" Nowa said that, as she actually put her hand on Kouta's stomach and touched it pretty aggressively.

"Wait! What are you doing! Nowa!" Marin was surprised by Nowa's shameless action.

At the same time, Kouta, of course, liked to be touched by girls, especially the way Nowa touched him as if she checked his abs. His abs became more muscular after months of training.

Of course, even though he was happy. He couldn’t just show it, right? He needed to play hard to get.

"Geez, you can’t touch me like that, you know? If I do it to you, it will be counted as sexual harassment."

"But… this is… even though you had such a cute face. Your body is good too. This is amazing."

Kouta never expected her to be someone like this. It was such a different kind of image Kouta had of her. Well, it's not like she had many appearances, but Kouta could remember how straightforward she was. One of her scenes that Kouta remembered was when she asked if Marin and Gojou were going out with each other.

When Kouta was about to say something,

"You’re really popular. Huh…" There was someone talking.

Kouta automatically turned his head and saw the person he had invited, Utaha, had already arrived.

Utaha looked at him with such displeasure.

"You arrive, Utaha-senpai."

""Eh! Kasumigaoka-senpai.""

Marin and Nowa were surprised by Utaha's presence. From their perspective, Utaha was famous as a cold and smart senior. Especially, when she came with such a bad mood on her expression.

Utaha's sharp glare and stern expression made it clear how unhappy she was. Those two cowered behind Kouta’s back instinctively. Marin and Nowa were gals that didn’t look afraid of anything in manga and couldn't help but feel a bit scared of Utaha.

"Wait, why Kasumigaoka-senpai here?" Nowa asked Kouta.

"Of course, she’s here. I was invited here to play after all." Kouta replied quite lightly, which made Utaha more annoyed. Especially, she had trouble sleeping last night after what happened at his house yesterday.

"No way, perhaps… Kasumigaoka-senpai have any interest in doing cosplay?" Marin heard the Kouta word and interpreted it to that motion. Her pinkish colored contact eyes twinkled with her excitement.

"Of course not, I came here… because I need something with this child…" Utaha replied while shaking her head.

"Eh… Is that so…" Marin dejected when she heard Utaha's answer, as she felt Utaha’s profile figure would be good for many cosplay characters. She had such a smart and beautiful appearance for someone their age, or, as some might say, a mature one.

"That’s too bad…" She continued.

"In that case, are you two close?" Nowa asked Utaha while still behind Kouta’s back.

"Well, of course, we’re close. Right now, we’re making a game together after all." Kouta replied to those questions. Marin and Nowa nodded since they knew that Kouta from the GCC and made those Floopy Bird.

"She is a good writer after all. I really respect her." He added with a gentle smile planted on his mouth.

"Yeah, that’s true." Utaha added to back Kouta’s answer. But her expression remained unchanged and her eyebrows twitched since Utaha realized after seeing how Kouta interacted with other girls. Which he was actually such a womanizer.

"Eh, I can’t wait…" Nowa responded.

"Well, rather than a game. It’s a dating sim, though…" Kouta told her the truth about what he made.

It was an answer that piqued Marin’s attention.

"Eh!! Dating sims!? Really?" Marin's twinkled eyes shifted the focus to Kouta. "I wonder what kind of dating sims you make…" She expressed her interest.

"Yes, we may release it at summer comiket." Kouta told Marin their game schedule.

"Really!? That’s awesome. I will buy it."

"Ah… Wait. How about you help us?"

"Help you?"

"Yes. I think you will be perfect for cosplaying as one of the main heroines. You looked gorgeous with such dazzling blonde hair." Kouta threw his most attractive smile and expression at her.

It was a surprising attack that Marin blushed furiously for a moment and replied it back.

"Is… that soo…"

"Yes."

Seeing how serious Kouta was, actually made Marin somehow feel embarrassed, and she averted her gaze.

"U~ummm… I will think about it. Especially if I really had the same profile as her and wouldn’t give the wrong expression to other people…" Even in her embarrassment, Marin still holds firm on her cosplay values.

"Really, I’m glad to hear that."

While Kouta had those conversations with Marin, Utaha could only see how smooth his sweet-talking was.

‘This guy… is he flirting in front of me!?’ Utaha couldn’t help but think like that when she saw Kouta and Marin. Even after what happened yesterday, somehow Utaha felt jealous of Marin. She never thought that she would still feel jealousy and possessiveness even though she saw Kouta and Eriri's relationship.

"Hm… By the way, Gojou-kun, until when will you hide there?" Kouta asked Gojou, who looked anxious and hid behind a pillar not far away from them.

"Ah… Sorry, I just feel like I can’t enter your conversation. You look like you had fun. So I'm thinking of waiting until you’re done." Gojou answered with such a typical introverted protagonist.

"You don’t have to do that. It will make us wait longer… Well, anyway you don’t have to worry about little things and just call us out. We are friends after all."

"Ah… I’m sorry."

"You do that next time. Since you’re already here. We’re going…"

Kouta told the group as they were finally moving from the station to the cosplay event venue.