Chapter 69: The Queen's Surrender

The world of the Comic Fest seems to fade away. The noise of the crowd, the flashing lights, the announcements over the PA system- it all becomes a muffled, distant buzz. The reality in front of me is Haruka Ito, Hime-Hime, the ice queen of the cosplay world, completely and utterly breaking down in the middle of her own booth.

Rina stands there for a second, holding out the bottle of wig spray, her own face a mask of pure panic. She looks at me, her eyes wide, silently screaming, 'I did not know this would happen! Abort! Abort!'

I just sigh. My life is a constant series of dealing with crying girls. I grab a clean towel and a bottle of water from our supply kit and walk over, stepping into the bubble of misery that is Haruka’s booth. Kenji, Miki, and Hana follow cautiously behind, looking like they are approaching a wounded, unpredictable animal.

"Here," I say softly, holding out the bottle of water to Haruka. "Drink this."

She looks up, her face a mess of tears and smudged eyeliner. She sees the bottle, then looks at me, at Rina, at the circle of her rivals who are now looking at her with… pity. A fresh wave of humiliation washes over her, and she just shakes her head, burying her face in her hands again.

"Okay, new plan," Miki says, her manager-mode activating. "This is a PR disaster waiting to happen. We cannot have Hime-Hime having a public breakdown. Hana, Kenji, start packing up her booth. Discretely. Rui, help me get her backstage."

It is a masterful takeover. Miki’s calm authority cuts through the emotional chaos. Haruka is too distraught to protest. I gently help her to her feet, and with Rina on her other side, we half-guide, half-carry the sobbing queen of darkness away from the public eye, towards the quiet sanctuary of our designated green room.

Once inside, the dam breaks. Haruka collapses onto a sofa and lets out all the frustration and misery she has been holding in for weeks.

"It is all just… too much," she sobs, the words muffled by a cushion. "The fabric was wrong, the staff broke, I was late… and I get here, and you-" she looks at Rina, her expression a mixture of anger and a strange, desperate awe, "-you are perfect. Your costume is perfect. Your team is perfect. You never make a mistake."

Rina, who is standing awkwardly by the door, just blinks. "That is not true at all," she says quietly. "I make mistakes all the time. The first time I tried to wire LEDs, I nearly set my wig on fire."

"But you have them!" Haruka gestures wildly at the rest of us. "You have Miki to handle everything, and Hana to fix your makeup, and Kenji to… be annoying but supportive, I guess. And you have Rui." Her voice cracks when she says my name. "You have a handler who actually cares. I just have me. And it is not enough."

It is the core of it all. Not just the rivalry, but a deep, profound loneliness.

Rina walks over and sits down on the coffee table in front of Haruka. She is no longer Ectiqa, the goddess. She is just Rina, a girl talking to another girl.

"I used to watch you, you know," Rina admits, her voice surprisingly gentle. "When I was first starting out. I saw your photos as Hime-Hime. You were so cool, so confident. You always had the most intricate costumes. I was so jealous of you. I thought, 'I will never be that good.'"

Haruka looks up, her tears slowing, her expression one of utter disbelief. "You… were jealous of me?"

"Of course," Rina says with a small, self-deprecating smile. "You are Hime-Hime. You are famous. All I ever wanted was to be like you. I think I pushed myself so hard, tried to be so perfect, because I was always trying to catch up to the person I thought you were."

The confession hangs in the air, a stunning reversal. Haruka is speechless. Her entire rivalry, her entire motivation, was built on the idea that she was the one chasing Ectiqa. To hear that the opposite was also true completely shatters her worldview.

"I wanted to be like you," Haruka whispers, the words a raw, honest admission. "You are just… on another level. You do not just wear the costumes. You become them. You have this… light. I tried to beat you. I tried to expose you. I even tried to… steal your brother." She glances at me, her face flushing with a deep, embarrassed shame. "I just wanted to have a piece of the magic you have. And I failed at everything."

Rina is quiet for a moment. Then she reaches out and places a hand on Haruka's knee. "You have not failed," she says softly. "You are Hime-Hime. You are one of the best cosplayers in Japan. You just… forgot how to have fun."

She stands up and offers a hand to her fallen rival. "So, let's fix that. We will help you pack up. And then you are coming with us. We are going to get the most ridiculously unhealthy victory feast we can find. My treat."

Haruka stares at Rina's outstretched hand, then at her face, which is full of a genuine, unexpected warmth. Slowly, hesitantly, she takes it. The ice queen has finally surrendered.