Finally, the main goal

With or without vacations, on Sundays the mart was closed. Therefore, it was always a free day. Gym was also closed, so on those days Ken usually stayed locked in his room doing his otaku things. He wanted to spend that Sunday the same way, but:

—I’m boooooored —said Mirena—. Bored, bored, bored…

Ken was trying to read a manga lying on the bed, but the sounds of Mirena walking in circles and talking out loud was distracting and irritating.

“I forgot how hyperactive she can be… God dammit.”

—The day is so beautiful, and I’m locked here, like a prisoner. Oh, cruel fate. Oh, cruel gods. What did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this treatment?

He finally gave up and put down the manga.

—What do you want to do?

—I don’t know, you tell me. What can we do on a day like this? Where can we go?

—We’re not going anywhere.

—Oh, c’mooooon…

Ken stood up.

—We’re going to stay here because we need to talk about very important issues.

­—Eh? —Ken’s sudden “serious” tone caught her attention. She sat down on her knees, like an obedient children listening to his teacher. Ken began to walk around her, holding his chin in a thoughtful pose.

—Not this Saturday, the next one, is the event. That means we have 13 days including today to prepare ourselves for that.

—Prepare? What do we need to prepare?

—Like I already told you before, Yoriyuki Yamahito is a famous person. And famous people are difficult to get contact with. We need him to notice you somehow.

—If I can’t talk with him, how are we going to do it?

—Your look.

—Eh?

—If you appear in front of him at the autograph signing dressed as you, with your armor and your sword, I hope he’ll be able to recognize you.

—That doesn’t sound like a solid plan…

—It’s not, but is the only one. You’ll be cosplaying yourself, if we can call that cosplaying.

—Cosplaying? What is that?

—Is to dress like a fictional character you really like.

—Oh, I see. Sounds like fun! Have you ever tried?

—No, it costs money. Luckily, in your case, we don’t need to spent one buck.

—But I don’t have my sword.

—Oh it’s okay, it’s not like you are going to participate in the cosplay contest and expect to win… —Mirena’s eyes turned on, and Ken knew he made a mistake.

—A contest? A want to go in!

—What? No, it’ll be like cheating!

—And?

—Oh wow, this world has already corrupted you.

­—Also, if the “costume” is not fully complete, maybe Yoriyuki won’t recognize me… —The sudden sad eyes were too strong for Ken. There was no way he could say no to that face.

—Fine, fine. But those kind of things cost money, so how are we going to get a sword like that?

—We can do it ourselves.

—The materials probably are not less expensive, and if we try to do it ourselves, it’ll be a disaster.

They both thought in silence, trying to find a solution to the new problem that had appeared. Since Mirena was still new in this world, she had absolutely no idea. However, Ken kind of found something. He took out the small table and the laptop.

—What is that? ­—asked Mirena, curious about this new machine.

—It’s a computer —replied Ken while turning it on—. It can do many things, such as accessing the internet.

—Internet?

—It’s really hard to explain someone from out of this world what is the internet. To be honest, it’s hard to explain even to someone of this world. Let’s say that it is like a parallel world, not physic but made of information.

—A world made of information? How’s that not magic?

—It’s not. It’s technology.

The previous days he was too busy to turn on the laptop. Because of that, he forgot that his wallpaper was Mirena. It wasn’t a bad drawing though, not lewd at all (unlike the one on his cellphone. He already changed it by the way), but still embarrassing. When he remembered, it was too late.

—Eh? Is that me?

—I-i-i-it’s a good drawing, isn’t it? —Trying to control his shaking voice felt like a trapeze artist balancing on a rope, in the middle of an abyss.

—How much did you like Sekaunmei… and me?

Ken had his eyes glued to the screen. The real Mirena was sitting next to him, but he was unable to see her. There was no escape that time.

“It’s fine. If I say the truth normally, it won’t be weird.”

—I… really like it. It’s my favorite story ever. And yes, you were one of my favorites characters… —Actually she was his number one favorite, but he didn’t have the bravery to tell all the truth.

—I see…

—Well, anyways, let’s continue with this.

Ken grabbed the wireless mouse and started to open navigators and web sites at such speed that Mirena got dizzy. Before she was able to understand anything, she was seeing a lot of pictures of different and unknown people wearing colorful costumes.

—Whoa, what the hell? Who is all this people? Why do you have pictures of all of them, weirdo?

—This is called “social media”. There are a lot of types of social media: to chat, to discuss, to express opinions, to find people with the same tastes. This one in particular is to upload pictures. They upload these photos by themselves, so don’t call me weirdo.

—Sorry. And why do they upload them?

—To show the world theirs bodies, foods, pets or, in this case, cosplays.

—But why?

—I mean, when you helped someone with a problem, wasn’t nice to receive their compliments?

—Yes, it really was.

—This is the same. The people share the things they are proud of, and want to receive likes and nice comments from the others. Of course, this entails exposure to haters, but if 9 out of 10 people say nice things, I think it’s worth.

—I guess, but I still don’t understand why someone would want to look at the photos of other peop… Oh my god she is so cute! Go back, go back, I want to see her again!

It didn’t take long before Mirena fell in love with the cosplay culture. She demanded Ken to give a like to every single cute girl and handsome boy and write nice comments. At the end he just taught her how to use the keyboard and the mouse so she could do it herself.

—But remember that you are on my account, so don’t do anything weird. I’m watching you.

—Don’t worry, I know how to behave.

Scrolling and scrolling down through tons of pictures of different cosplayers, Mirena stopped suddenly at one in particular. It was a guy doing a Mask cosplay. And it was really good.

The green wig was perfectly combed back. Thanks to the makeup and filters, the skin was very white and clean, without imperfections. The carnival mask, golden and black, gave the guy the exact same mysterious aura of the original. Also, his dark green suit was flawless: all the buttons, all the decorations with golden thread, all the designs, everything was in the same spot than the original.

It was perfect. Anyways, she wasn’t so excited as before.

—Are you okay? —asked Ken.

—Yes, it’s just that… I don’t know.

—Do you feel nostalgic?

—Nostalgic? Yeah, maybe that’s the word. But there is another thing. When I see this guy, I think that this is how Mask was supposed to look. But, in my memories, I see him like… like a drawing. And that’s so exasperating. I feel like if my entire life was a lie. Well, I think it was. Maybe I should start to understand that.

—We still don’t know it. Maybe that world exist, and it’s just different to this one.

—It could be… —He tried to cheer her up, but it was futile. Like always, he was unable to say the right thing in the most important time. He was also feeling exasperated.

They continued to scroll down, watching the cosplays. However, the atmosphere was sadder than before.

At least until they found another very interesting cosplayer, who made Mirena’s eyes shine again.

—Dear god… She’s… beautiful. I-I mean! It’s weird to say that talking about a girl that is dressing like me but… Kyaaa! This is so weird!

Indeed, that girl’s cosplay of Mirena was as perfect as the Mask one. Her armor and the one Ken had in his wardrobe were identical.

—I feel so…

—The word you’re looking for is “flattered”.

—Flattered… Yes, that’s it. I’m so flattered! She is more me than me!

Not only the armor was perfect, but also the sword. It was an exactly-made replica, confirmed by Mirena herself. Immediately, she wrote a comment.

—If only that girl knew she’s receiving compliments from the real Mirena… —said Ken.

—Do you think she will lend us her sword?

—What? No, there is no way. First, we don’t know where is he from.

—Down here says her location…

—Oh, looks like you learn quick. And that city is not that far away… Still, look at how high are her numbers of likes. She is famous. And like I already said…

—Famous people is blah blah blah.

—Exactly.

—But we must try!

—What do you want to try? Do you think we can just send her a direct message entering in her profile and clicking were says “send a DM”, and she will just answer us like nothing? It’s impossible.

As long as he finished to talk, she already sent a DM to the cosplayer.

—Eh???!!!

—Thanks for telling me how to do it.

­—What did you do?!

—I sent her a, how did you called it? A DM, that’s it.

—I told you not to do anything embarrassing using my account!

—Why would it be embarrassing?

—She will think I’m flirting! And of course, she is going to reject me.

—Oh come on, have some self-esteem.

They waited quietly, looking at the screen. After some minutes, like expected, nothing happened.

—If this were a rom-com, this would be the time when she quickly responds, creating a comical contrast between what I said and what happened. But of course, this is real life, and she’s not going to answer. Probably she receives tons of messages like that from other males.

—That’s too bad. Why has to be so hard to get along with famous people?

—They are on another level. They only talk with people like them: beautiful, charismatic, successful and talented. The rest of us, the normal people, are excluded from that elite circle. I think we already saw enough pictures and we’re not going to gain nothing from… —He interrupted himself and looked to Mirena.

—Wh-what happens? Why are you looking at me like that?

Ken realized something. Maybe there was a chance.

—The cosplayers are the equivalent to top models in the anime culture. They conform that elite circle everyone wants to get in but only a few can. Of course, I can’t. I’m not handsome, charismatic, nor do I have any talent. But you… You fulfil every standard! You may be able to enter into that select world! You are the chosen one!

—Huh?

That way, the main objective was stablished: Make Mirena fit into the elite of otaku culture. And it only took 14 chapters!