—Aurelion Vireth
"Then? Where should we go" I asked
"Whatever works, Since it's your treat we'll go wherever you go" said Jill as she walked with her hands crossed behind her head
Step step step
We walked without direction, the way old friends do when what matters was not the place but the journey, in the end after a while the sushi restaurant I chose was a small place tucked between a bookshop and a vintage clothing store.
Its entrance marked only by a faded curtain and a hand-written menu board. Inside, the chef—a man in his seventies with hands that had been shaping rice for half a century—greeted me by name.
"Vireth-san. The usual table?"
"Please."
"Coming right up!" said the chef with enthusiasm,
"Oh you go here often huh?" Jill asked, her voice curious, after all they were the famous Aurelion Party, she probably expected us
it didn't take long for the sushi to actually arrive.
The sushi came in waves. Salmon that melted on the tongue. Tuna so fresh it glistened. Uni that tasted like the sea into a single bite. Gabe ate with the enthusiasm of a man who'd been surviving on convenience store onigiri for the past decade.
Click Click Click
On the other hand. Jill was taking photos of every plate before eating, Fang ate in silence, but the slight upturn of his mouth was the closest thing to a smile he'd shown all day.
Kiana sat at the corner of the table, picking at a piece of tamago (egg) with her chopsticks before shoving it inside her mouth and eating it slowly, I did to, so did Gaby, so did the rest of us, then at some point
"You're staring," Kiana, not looking up. It's not like I didn't notice, after all I am quite sharp, but obviously a Pillar would be sharper.
"Sorry," May muttered, her face flushing.
"Don't be. Gabe stared for three minutes straight before I said anything."
"It was NOT three minutes."
"It was four."
"IT WAS NOT—" Subconsciously he stood up.
Ahem
The chef cleared his throat causing Gabe to sit back down. Kiana's smirk was barely perceptible, thankfully the place itself wasn't really crowded it didn't take long for
After the meal, We returned to the streets once more. The sun had begun to fall, painting the buildings in shades of gold and amber. A beautiful sight, but that wasn't exactly the main focus, instead something else piqued our attention
"Hey, aren't those cosplayers?" Jill said in a whisper after all in Japan it is quite rude to point at something directly, a glance at the place she was pointing using her eyes showed countless people moving towards a single place.
Many familiar faces one could say, I could see someone cosplaying Artoria, another cosplaying Ken Amada, Oh? a Rimuru cosplay? and many more one could say, then Gaby suddenly spoke
"A cosplay event, look there's a sign" she said as she subtly pointed at the sign. It was set up in a public square not far from the restaurant—a temporary stage, rows of folding chairs, a judging panel, and a crowd that had swelled to several hundred.
The banner overhead read "TOKYO CROSSOVER COSPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP NOTE : NO POWERS ALLOWS, JUST PURE COSPLAY"
"Man," Gabe said, his voice carrying that particular tone of regret that only cosplayers who've left their costumes at home understand. "Too bad we didn't bring our stuff." he said with a sigh
"Yeah," Tanner muttered, finally looking up from his phone. "My Sunday cosplay would've crushed it here. I've got the wings. I've got the halo. I've got the—"
"The credit card debt from pulling for his light cone?" Jill interrupted.
"That's unrelated."
"Is it, though?"
Cough
Fang shrugged. "Doubt we'd win anyway. The competition here is insane. Look at that guy—is that an actual working Gundam cosplay? With moving parts?"
It was. The Gundam cosplayer was currently adjusting their shoulder cannon while a small crowd filmed them. Nearby, a group had set up what looked like a full-scale recreation of the Astral Express parlor car, complete with a Pom-Pom cosplayer serving actual tea.
"Yeah," Gabe said, scratching his belly. "Who'd want to vote for a dad-looking guy with a belly, right?"
"True lol hahaha" The laughter that followed was warm and self-deprecating and entirely genuine. These were people who'd been cosplaying together for decades. They knew their limits. They knew their strengths. They didn't need to win anything to enjoy the scene.
There is a saying after all, 'Cosplay is for everyone, no matter your age, gender, body type, or skin color'
Of course not everyone would agree on that, some may argue that oh if you're body type's different you shouldn't cosplay if you're skin tone doesn't match the character you shouldn't cosplay but—Who cares, As long as we're having fun that's all that matters
"Wait aren't they the Pillar of Deviation and Recollection" My eyes had stopped at 2 specific people who looked extremely familiar, one having that ethereal glow, the other seemingly giving of a mysterious aura.
Kiana's head snapped around. They were on stage, The Pillar of Deviation, was standing in the center of the stage wearing what appeared to be a perfectly accurate Victorian-era gentleman's costume—which, given that he always dressed like that, might not have been a costume at all.
The only addition was a small badge pinned to his lapel that read "CONTESTANT #47." Beside him, the Pillar of Recollection—was wearing something that Aurelion vaguely recognized as a magical girl costume from an obscure 1990s anime. Her pink hair was tied in twin tails.
Her ethereal glow had been somehow dimmed to match the lighting conditions of the stage. She was holding a prop wand and waving at the crowd with her beautiful smile. They were competing. Both of them. In a cosplay contest. In Tokyo.
The Pillar of Deviation had received a score of 9.2 from the actual judging panel, on the other hand The Pillar of Recollection had received a 9.8.
Kiana's eyes locked onto Klein's across the square. The crowd continued to chatter. The Gundam cosplayer continued adjusting their shoulder cannon. The Pom-Pom continued serving tea. But the air between the two Pillars had gone very, very still.
"They're talking," Gaby said quietly. "Not out loud. Klein's using Error to send his thoughts directly to her."
"What are they saying?" Aurelion asked. "Dunno but—"
Shiver.
Kiana's shoulders stiffened. A muscle in her jaw twitched—barely perceptible, but me and Gaby caught it and took a small step backward. "Wut?" she muttered, I couldn't exactly say anything happened but…
it seemed like a whole conversation started, one after another, their eyes didn't move but—
Shiver
The air turned cold. "…" Something seemed to trigger in her mind then she suddenly spoke. "Give me 1 minute." she went before disappearing from sight without any warning., for 30 seconds then—she reappeared, and at that time there was only one thing in my mind.
The hell? Make up???
That's right you people, I'm not even joking I recognize that look from anywhere, contours, eyeliners, concealers, foundation, moisturizers, setting spray and many more, she was holding a whole box of it, her blue eyes seemed to turn slightly red as if a fire was set ablaze.
"Oh I ain't losing this time Klein…" Her voice sounded resentful? no, it sounded like a mix of annoyance and petty, what conversation happened during that eye locking session??? "You guys, I'm doing your make up if you don't mind alright?
"Hm? Ah but we don't even have cos—"
Snap
"We're at the moon, you guys won't die by the way. I'm not that dumb" She said like it was just the most normal thing in the world. "What?" Gabe was the first to snap out of it "Yoooo , this shit's awesome"
"Wait we're seriously at the moon? holy shit I need to take a picture of this" Jill went, her phone in hand before taking countless pictures, but you see. There seems to be an elephant in the room…
"Wait. I thought you were just a Remnant?" Fang was the first one to question the elephant in the room. "She is a remnant alright, one of the 5 Pillars. Kiana Kaslana, The Pillar of Conclusion" I said expecting them to turn like May but…
Glance
…
They were looking at her, who was still wearing a hoodie, then back at me, then back at her. Then "You sure-?"
"Yep she's a really—"
"Oh I'm not losing this time…" she said, somehow louder then ever then—Snap
All of sudden, there were 7 of her, her eyes were still blue, just with the symbol of Finality now. Oh. Uhm… "Uh—Other me I think I'm going to head—"
"Nuh Uh. You're joining this cosplay session to." She said with a smirk, Gaby's eyes turned hollow as soon as those words were said, with a sigh she only said one thing. "Alright…"
"Uhm—But Kiana, We don't exactly have costumes you know?"
Points
A Portal had opened once more and coming from it was Bronya Zaychik, not Bronya Rand, not Silverwolf but Bronya Zaychik in the flesh, her panda eyes were really visible. "What is it this time Kiana…" she said her voice tired
"Help me make some cosplay accurate clothes, here are the clothes." She said as a holographic screen seemed to appear infront of Bronya's eyes, "Alright, you got their sizes?" "Sent it to you." "Alright"
Sent it???
"The authority of Sentience, illusions and the kind basically." Gaby spoke once more, she looked exhausted as she decided to drop herself on the moon's surface, yet before I could even hear a thud, a soft mattress appeared under her as one could hear her groaning.
"Alright it's done" Bronya suddenly muttered, "I'm going to head back now" She said while waving her hands, "Thanks Bronyaaaa" said Kiana before her focus returned to us once more
A closer look shows some costumes, very familiar ones. Robin, Sunday, Stelle, Welt, RX-78-2, Wait is that Boboiboy???"Alright, this should work." "Oh by the way if you feel disoriented that's normal time is slowed to an almost complete stop right now"
Snap
Another snap and I found myself seated in a comfy sofa looking chair, looking in front I could see what seemed to be one of Kiana's clones? or maybe even the real her, the make up, the foundation, eye liner—everything was floating everywhere with a purple glow
"HeH, this'll be the first time I do your make up, also you're going to be Cyrene again"
"You sure I can even still cosplay Cyrene? I am quite masculine now you know?" "Doesn't matter." The reply was instantaneous, said with barely any visible emotion, "Welp I'm gonna start now" She said with a smirk, her hands already holding the moisturizer.
…
This doesn't seem good…
Author's Note : It does not :P