Chapter 192: The Green Room Confession (and Utter Chaos)

The Shibuya Scramble Fest is a blur of flashing lights, roaring crowds, and my own internal, high-pitched screaming. Ichigo's "ramen bomb" – the casual, devastatingly public reference to my secret takoyaki-and-ramen dates with Izumi – has shattered the fragile, multi-faceted truce. Rina, Haruka, and Aiwa are now operating in a state of barely controlled, unified fury. Their performances during the flash mob were less "collaborative" and more "thinly veiled attempts at aggravated assault," with prop weapons swinging a little too close for comfort, and "accidental" shoves becoming increasingly common. I am pretty sure Rina tried to "accidentally" trip Haruka with her staff, who in turn "accidentally" blocked Aiwa's light with her voluminous dark cloak. It is a miracle no one is actually injured.

Kenji, of course, thinks this is the most epic, in-character performance he has ever seen. "The rivalry! The passion! The unbridled rage! It is so real!" he weeps joyfully from the sidelines, where Miki is threatening him with bodily harm if he does not stop yelling.

The main event, however, is the "Kings and Queens of Cosplay" Q&A panel, scheduled for after the flash mob. This means all four of them – Ectiqa, Hime-Hime, LUNA, and Ichigo – are on one stage. With microphones. My blood pressure spikes just thinking about it.

I am backstage in the cramped, chaotic green room, trying to make sure Rina's glowing "Cyber Magical Girl" gauntlets are fully charged, but my hands are shaking. Rina, Haruka, and Aiwa are in their respective corners, pointedly not talking to each other, all three of them shooting occasional, murderous glares in my direction. Kenji is trying to offer everyone "moral support snacks," which everyone is aggressively refusing. Miki and Hana look like they are preparing for a natural disaster, possibly by building a small bunker out of equipment cases.

The door to the green room slides open, and Ichigo strolls in, looking completely, infuriatingly unbothered. He is still in his flawless 'Crimson Striker Kai' cosplay, holding a freshly acquired matcha latte. He surveys the tense, silent room, his gaze sweeping over the three simmering goddesses, passing over a terrified-looking Kenji, and finally landing on me. A slow, amused, infuriatingly charming smirk plays on his lips, visible even with the high collar of his pilot suit.

"Ah, this looks like a fun party," he says, his voice the smooth, masculine tone of Ichigo. "A bit… quiet, though. Did someone kill the mood? Or just Kenji-kun's latest attempt at comedy?"

This is it. The breaking point. Rina, Haruka, and Aiwa, who have clearly been having a silent, telepathic "we must destroy him" conversation for the past ten minutes, all stand up simultaneously. They move, not as rivals, but as a unified, terrifying force, converging on Ichigo and blocking his path to the snack table.

"Ichigo," Rina demands, her voice dangerously calm, taking the lead. Her Ectiqa-persona is gone, replaced by the sheer, unadulterated fury of Rina Hinamata. "Are you Izumi Sato?"

The direct question, the use of the name I had only mentioned in panicked, private whispers, hangs in the air, sharp and heavy as a guillotine. Kenji gasps and promptly faints, collapsing dramatically onto a pile of soft costume bags, successfully removing himself from the impending blast radius. Miki and Hana just look on in horror.

Ichigo/Izumi does not even flinch. He/She just raises a perfect, sculpted eyebrow, taking a slow sip of his/her latte. "Izumi Sato?" he/she repeats, testing the name, the Ichigo voice smooth as velvet. "A common name. Are you conducting a census, Ectiqa-san?"

"Do not play dumb with us," Haruka cuts in, her voice like ice, stepping up to flank Rina. "The voice mimicry at the cybercafe. The insider knowledge of the convention center power grid. The kabedon. The ramen. The takoyaki arcade date." She is listing the evidence, my various betrayals, like a prosecutor reading a list of charges. My face burns with humiliation. "The data is conclusive. Your behavior patterns align perfectly. Are you Izumi Sato?"

"And what do you want with Rui-kun?" Aiwa pipes in, surprising everyone. She steps up to stand with Rina and Haruka, a united front of angry goddesses. The LUNA-Lite persona is in full effect, her voice steady and her eyes blazing, though a faint blush of anger colors her cheeks. "Why are you playing these… these cruel games with him? With all of us?"

Ichigo/Izumi just looks at the three of them, a slow, genuinely amused smile spreading across his/her face. He/She lowers the latte cup. "My, my," he/she says, the Ichigo voice still in place but now dripping with Izumi's characteristic, mocking amusement. "You three are very, very clever. Almost as clever as you think you are."

He/She takes a step forward, and the three girls, the most powerful and intimidating women I know, all instinctively take a step back.

"You have been so busy analyzing me," Ichigo/Izumi continues, his/her gaze sweeping over each of them, "that you have revealed all of your own tells." He/She looks at Haruka. "Yes, I know about your surveillance drones. Very high-tech, but the battery life is abysmal. You should look into a lithium-polymer upgrade." Haruka's face goes pale with shock and rage.

He/She turns to Rina. "Yes, I know about your panic button disguised as lint. And the one in your backpack. And the GPS tracker you sewed into the lining of his favorite hoodie." Rina's jaw drops open.

He/She turns to Aiwa, his/her expression softening almost imperceptibly. "And yes, Aiwa Matsuki. I know all about 'Starlight Paladin.' And I know all about the little boy in the park who gave you that pendant." Aiwa stops breathing.

They all gasp. He/She has just confirmed, in the most devastating way possible, that he/she knows all their secrets. He/She has not just been trolling us; he/she has been running counter-surveillance on an entirely different level.

"But you are all missing the point," Ichigo/Izumi continues, the amusement fading from his/her voice, replaced by something… different. Something almost exasperated. "You are all so focused on fighting each other for him," he/she gestures dismissively at me, where I am trying to merge with the wall, "that you have not even stopped to ask the most important question. The only question that actually matters."

"What question?" Miki asks from the corner, her voice a strained whisper. She is actually, for the first time ever, not taking notes, just staring in stunned disbelief.

Ichigo/Izumi's gaze sweeps past the three stunned goddesses and lands directly on me. His/Her expression is no longer Ichigo's charming smirk or Izumi's playful mockery. It is something new, something intense, and surprisingly sincere.

"You have not asked him," Ichigo/Izumi says softly, his/her voice still the deep Ichigo tenor, but the words are clearly for me, "what he actually wants."

Silence. Absolute, stunned, earth-shattering silence. Rina, Haruka, and Aiwa all turn to look at me, as if seeing me for the first time, not as a prize to be won, or a brother to be possessed, or a hero to be reclaimed, but as… just Rui. A person. With, theoretically, his own free will. The thought is so revolutionary it is almost tangible.

Ichigo/Izumi chuckles softly, the moment of sincerity passing, the mask of the charming troll slotting back into place. "Just some food for thought, ladies." He/She straightens his/her perfectly tailored costume. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have a panel to attend. A hero's work is never done, after all."

He/She turns to me, walking past the three frozen goddesses as if they are not even there. He/She stops right in front of me, leaning in close, creating that same, infuriatingly intimate bubble. Rina, Haruka, and Aiwa all hold their breath, bracing themselves, clearly expecting another kabedon or a public kiss.

"By the way, Rui," he/she whispers, and the voice is a perfect, dizzying, impossible blend of Ichigo's smooth tenor and Izumi's husky alto, a sound that is just purely, undeniably her. "You still owe me that rematch in Galaga. And this time, I am not going easy on you. So do not keep a lady waiting, okay?"

He/She winks, a full, blatant, undeniable wink that confirms everything, shatters everything, and rearranges my entire universe. Then, before anyone can react, before Rina can explode, before Aiwa can faint, before Haruka can demand a logical explanation for the acoustic miracle she just witnessed, he/she strolls out of the green room and onto the stage, the roar of the adoring, unsuspecting crowd swallowing him/her up.

The four of us (and Miki, Hana, and a still-unconscious-on-the-bags Kenji) are left in the green room, completely, utterly stunned. The secret is out. The troll has won, revealing her identity in the most confusing, public, yet private way possible. The game has just been completely upended.

And I… I think I might actually be in serious, serious trouble. Because that final, blended voice? That was the most attractive, most terrifying, most confusingly wonderful sound I have ever heard in my entire life.