9/15
Surely, i have to be creeping up on copyright by now. Ah well!
Kneeling down in his King's room, Gawain found himself confused. Not really anything new for him but it still never came with anything pleasant for him. This time though, it seemed to be otherwise.
"Aniki~, we are going to comiket and we will cosplay for it."
"I see."
Gawain was staying silent for the most part. His King's fascination with a particular series was stunting his life and also her brain cells, it was becoming more painfully evident as his King had recently dyed her hair black and had put it up into twin-tails using black ribbons.
What irked Gawain the most was what was on the small table in front of him in his King's room.
"One of my contracts is going to be selling a doujinshi about Fate and her friends were going to cosplay to advertise it but they got sick. I told her we would do it~!"
This troubled Gawain greatly, he somewhat feared for his King's future. She had just turned 14 and she was still into dressing up as fictional characters. No, what troubled Gawain the most was how thorough his King was in making all of this happen. It was all in front of him, so until he heard it straight from her mouth he wouldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it.
"I see."
"So we are going to cosplay about the two characters that she is writing about. Rin-chan and Archer~!"
Gawain kept his emotions straight and his gaze levelled. He wanted to say no, his whole being was yelling at him to do so but he couldn't say no.
"I see. If you want to do this then I'll be happy to help you out."
'No, I damn won't!' He couldn't take it anymore, the only option left was to mentally curse at anything and everything in the known world. Even the antagonists in fictional novels.
"Great! Otou-sama acquired everything that was needed. A replica of Archer's armour, the 'Red Plain Mystic Code' along with Kanshou and Bakuya. There is also some white hair dye and black contact lenses."
That's what troubled Gawain the most. Rias Gremory did not say replicas of Kanshou and Bakuya but Kanshou and Bakuya which can only lead him to believe that they are the actually swords made by the Blacksmith couple. That meant that his King would have further interest in all of this. She was probably going to order him to commit copyright or something.
This whole thing was only furthered by the fact that his skin was now tanned, a repercussion of his use of Corona magic. It troubled Gawain greatly but he still had to confirm the swords.
"Milady, the swords. They are replicas right?"
"Huh? Can't you feel their power?"
It wasn't that he couldn't, he just refused to believe that they did have that power.
"I can Milady."
"Good. Now try them on."
"Now?"
"Here and now Aniki."
That was the other thing that troubled with Gawain. His King was getting more and more mature and so she was speaking to him differently, it instantly did not go down well with Gawain nor Sirzechs. Albeit Sirzechs was more dramatical about the whole change. There were no more cutesy replies from her, it had become so plain. They had to work for it from her, that being said it wasn't particularly hard for them to get their desired reaction from her as they have both been with her for a while now and can recollect her embarrassing moments with ease.
And so reluctantly, Gawain changed into the outfit that was laid out in front of him. The black pants, then the boots, then the straps, then the body armour and then, finally, the red fabric that acted as the red shroud. It annoyed Gawain how damn comfortable it felt on too, especially with the body armour just being his torso meaning the soft fabric was against the skin of his arm. It was too damn good.
Gawain was currently screaming 'No!' in his mind but Rias was currently screaming 'Yes!'. It should be emphasized the fact that she wasn't screaming it mentally but actually, she was screaming it out loud.
"Kyaaaaa~!"
As Gawain was putting in the black contact lenses, he was feeling conflicted. This had to be more embarrassing for Rias than anything else so far, yet she doesn't realise or is to overthrown by seeing the cosplay she can't help herself.
Running his hand through his hair to slick it back, Gawain let out a short sigh.
"I suppose I'll have to call you 'Master', Milady."
Gawain was then forced to watch as his King went all fan girl on him, he never thought he would be creeped out by his King before but now he can add it to the list of things that actually happened to him.
"Now Gawain, during the third and final day Leviathan-sama will be there after hosting her own event. We will battle-play against her and you will win. Got it?"
"Yes Master."
Fighting a Maou was always going to be a fun time for Gawain, especially when dual-wielding was his favourite way to fight. He loved to fight with two Galatines but it was hard for him to find an opponent who could last long enough or he wouldn't kill easily because they were naturally weak to Holy Weapons.
"Master, how does the hair dye work?"
"I'll do it for you later Ani-Archer~!"
Depression then hit Gawain like a tonne of bricks. She sounded happier calling him Archer than she does Aniki now. And the only thought that came to Gawain's mind was that Older Brothers really do feel different after their younger sister has matured. The cuteness … younger sisters should stay that way.
"So Master, when is this comiket then?"
"It opens in a few hours."
"What?! Really?"
"Yes. So we really need to get your hair dyed."
"Master, you should have informed me as soon as you knew. Anyway, let's get to dying my hair."
Spoken with a sigh, Gawain picks up the hair dye and slowly makes his way into the bathroom that is conjoined to Rias' room.
…
Standing in line waiting for the hall to open, Gawain found it odd that his King used magic to allow her to wait right at the beginning of the freakishly long line. He thought that she would have wanted to savour the whole experience, and he was pretty sure that the lining up was a massive part of it even though it was long and tedious. Gawain was also in turmoil with himself, the armour was really damn comfortable and the straps around his thighs actually had a small clip which held onto Kanshou and Bakuya.
Just before he actually teleported into the Human World with his master, Gawain was lucky enough to hear more about this battle-play from Sirzechs. It was an event that was hosted by the devils within the large hall and both Gawain and Leviathan are allowed to go all out, a defense circle would be placed up and heavy mind altercations would be going up to make it look like CGI and that all explosions and swords rising up out of nowhere or appearing out of nowhere was the CGI. That itself made Gawain confused, come out of nowhere? Sirzechs answered Gawain that he was to fight as Archer does and Gawain completely blanked before dropping his head in total defeat with a groan.
"Honestly, what a troublesome master I have."
Little did Gawain know, he actually said a typical Archer line and the incessant fangirling and fanboying commenced around him. Standing there, with a look of mild contempt of his face, Gawain crossed his arms over his chest. He stood out and majorly at that, because of the cosplaying and the fact that he was taller than everyone else in the line. His height being somewhat fitting for the character that he was dressed as.
And thus when the gates were finally opened for everyone to go into the hall, he let out a rasp groan before moving along with Rias, walking directly behind her to keep the onrushing Otakus from stepping on her. His height, build and outfit practically making him a beacon in the sea of rushing people.
The amount of people there in the large hall wasn't exactly something new to Gawain, but it also wasn't something that he was used to. Although, he had only been near this amount of people in Oustergraht and was really drunk at the time so that's a kind of embarrassment that people can put up with. This though, Gawain's emotions may be weak in the most part but he is definitely feeling something bad from wearing the cosplay outfit.
Each step Gawain took resounded with a slight clang of the metal boots and the two swords dangling by the top of his legs. It pretty much made way for everyone around them, parting like the red sea. Normal clothes visitors and other cosplayers just slowly moved out of the way for them to pass by, and by no way was it an oppressive aura that Gawain was wearing. All the way up to the circle that Rias was contracted with, Gawain sulked.
"Rias-chan! You made it!"
"Of course I did Yuka! Look I brought Gawain with me!
The collected gazes of all 4 girls on the opposite side of the table an array of books turned their gazes from Rias to Gawain, their eyes getting wider by the second.
"...Perfect. You were right Rias-chan, he is perfect for Archer. You both look so good too, were you able to make a Kanshou and Bakuya in time?"
Gawain pushed his lips tightly shut at that question so he wouldn't respond to how his King would react to that. And Rias reacted just like Gawain thought she would, a hand placed on her hip and the other hand up in front of her waggling her index finger from side to side.
"I was able to find Kanshou and Bakuya in time."
And the 4 girls' mouths dropped open, quite rightly so in Gawain's mind. Expecting his King to shift their gaze towards him, Gawain pushed the waist cape further apart so the two swords could be seen.
"Y-You went all out Rias-chan."
"Yup~!"
And Gawain thought it was a shame that she wouldn't go all out in her training anymore. His status as Aniki doesn't really mean anything anymore, he might even be forced into just being Gawain to her.
"So what do you want us to do?"
"Advertise. Gather attention for us. Standing in front of these booths and then while going around the place."
…
Advertising was by far the most boring thing that Gawain had ever done but he was persevering, mainly because his King was so happy about the whole thing. People asking for pictures, people asking to here quotes. That Aria has quickly become one that Gawain detests. He doesn't mind the series as it is but the fans make it annoying for him, especially when they make him say the damned Aria multiple times.
Gawain was quickly becoming a grump because of the whole event. Following his King's orders always were starting to turn into him hating everything, only because of her age. And he is really starting to think about cutting back on it all and trying to push Kiba into it, annoy him for a while. Though Kiba would probably do it all with a smile and annoy Gawain because of it.
Gawain was the type of person who wore his heart on his sleeve, if he looked upset then he was upset.
Walking around the event hall was a pain in itself for Gawain, the stopping and starting because Rias was going giddy over absolutely everything. This also meant that books and other things were being dumped into his arms every so often, a devil's abundance of money being able to buy one of everything here. Gawain's problem being that the moment they were asked to go and advertise around the hall was that Rias rushed straight towards the limited booths, or so she called them so she could get the limited edition things, more crap to bundle into Gawain's arms. The annoyed gaze in his eyes only looking like fitting into the role by people around him, his gaze turning hateful every time he could turn to someone who asked for something in particular before Rias could reply saying 'Ok~!'.
Though Gawain's biggest problem was kids who seemed to be a little too young were coming up to him and asking for things. Two problems there. First being he couldn't wear an unhappy expression in front of a young child and secondly was that the child shouldn't be asking in the first place as they were most definitely under the age range for the particular anime that he was cosplaying as. Possibly a parent ploy to get a definite picture, combine their little joy with their hobby joy, something like that perhaps.
Gawain's mood was instantly revitalized however when he returned to the booth with his master towards the start to the second half of the day. When they arrived there, an Archer-esque seat was placed there. Looking at it made Gawain a little happier about the whole cosplaying thing but it also made him slightly regret his interest in décor.
Perching himself atop the red drapes and broken furniture, he picked his legs up and placed them down on the steel seat that was placed just in front of the 'art'.
That however was more photograph moments. No-one other than Gawain would truly be happy at sitting on top of a desk so a content smile on the face of Archer in the place that he was summoned called for an array of flashing, that for once didn't really irritate Gawain.
"You don't have to do anymore advertising now Rias-chan. We've only got a few copies left to selling out and we've already put your copy to the side."
"Awesome~! You are going to stay here the full three days right?"
"Of course, we have our own stuff that we want to buy."
"Then will you be staying for the battle-play at the end of the third day?"
"Without a doubt. It's going to be the first time being so popular. Magical girl Levia-tan will be there and the opponent is still unknown."
"Hehehe~ Me and Gawain are her opponents!"
Gawain let out a short sigh from his seat on the desks at his King's eagerness to telling that she has a big part in something.
"Really? Does that mean?"
"Hai Yuka~! It's a Devil event so it's gonna have real magic, Gawain will even be pulling off UBW by himself and no CGI."
"Master, I've already told you. Pulling off UBW may mean I accidentally kill Leviathan-sama, outside of that you didn't acquire Archer's bow for me. I know I have my own but it'd look out of place."
"I forgot! I'll tell Otou-sama now and have one made."
Gawain sighed again while placing his left hand on his forehead. His King was definitely too eager to make this cosplay to real, who would actually have real swords or a real bow when cosplaying. Gawain was also pretty sure that his King has acquired some jewels that work in the same way as the story itself.
That was also the problem with Gawain being forced into pulling off UBW. He had played the PSP game and using the Excaliber, even not being the whole thing will still do a considerable amount of damage to Leviathan. And his King was completely ok with potentially killing the Maou because of the current environment.
Still though, he wondered if Leviathan could hold her ground against those swords.
Next time! We have the Levia-tan/Archer fight.
And there is no chance of me having him fight like Archer would, i aint fanboy enough.
This isn't a Tales Of sequence i'm writing.
Anywho, this chapter is mainly in recognition to Comiket that's just past.
Approx. a fortnight ago. I know, it's late right.
So i decided to see how far i can go with the referencing, got pretty far and the next chapter will push it further.
I've also kept it as vague as i can for the most part. I'm not a huge fan but i have enough knowledge tor the baseline, hopefully i ain't pushing the baseline here.
I was going to write the fight in this chapter but i feel it's better seperate.
Plus this chapter might also get too long otherwise because of the after-battle stuff.
Hwyl Fawr~!
