Lucky Legacy


Chapter Nine
Comiket Part 1
The Deep Breath Before the Plunge
(In Which Minami Takes a Level In Badass)
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"Uh…um…what about this one?" Yutaka said, pointing at the picture on the screen. "She's got a pretty cute outfit."

"Um…I-I don't think I could pull that one off, Yutaka…" Minami mumbled, blushing and looking away.

"Why not?" Yutaka frowned at the picture. "That dress is pretty cute, isn't it?"

"Well y-yes, but I…" Minami stuttered, absently tugging at her lapels.

"And it's from the same series…I think…" Yutaka cocked her head to one side. "Yeah…so you could match mine!"

"Yes, b-b-but I don't really feel like I have…the, ah…ah…" Minami's face went several shades darker as she hugged herself self-consciously.

"C'mon Minami-chan!" Yutaka pleaded. "You still haven't picked out your costume and we only have a few days left!"

"I don't know…maybe I should just get a hoodie or something…" Minami said, scrolling down the page with a small sigh. "I'm not sure if I'll have time to pick out a costume."

"Ah, it'll be alright Minami-chan." Yutaka said dismissively, collecting their empty glasses. "I'm sure we'll work something out before the weekend…do you want a refill?" Yutaka asked, heading towards the kitchen

"Yes please…" Minami sighed, mouse lingering over a character's name and a brief description of the game she was in. She clicked on it, and then flushed red as scantily clad model winked at her coyly as she leaned on a long rifle.

Definitely not…Minami thought, hastily clicking back a screen. Why do all these girls wear so little…something about "fanservice" or something like that…I think Patty mentioned that while talking her outfit...

Minami scrolled down the page a little longer, stopping on a picture of a young woman wearing a black kimono and posing dramatically with a white sword.

Not too bad. It looks like her outfit is pretty simple…hmm, she's a small character though. I could pull it off but…I would stand out, especially next to Yutaka…

Minami fought the rising urge to groan in despair as she scrolled further and further down the page. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…I thought it would be like acting again, but I've never had to pick my own costume…

Exasperated, Minami randomly typed her name into the search bar to see if she got a match off of any characters who at least shared her na-

Oh…

Minami's eyebrows quirked at the outfit on screen. Mainly black, splash of red, not revealing…what's more, the air of brash overconfidence surrounding the character would be a disguise in and of itself. Absolutely perfect. Perfect, except…

Hmm…oh shoot…Minami's eyes fell as she glanced over the character bio. Shoot, I can't believe I didn't notice it before! Oh…it was perfect too…

Minami paused as he finger hovered over the key that would take her back a page. Once again, Minami's eyes were drawn to the tilted cap, the red bandanna and the short coat rolled up to the elbows. Something about the outfit resonated with Minami and the thought of wearing it caused a pleasurable shiver to shoot up her spine. Maybe it was the outfit; maybe it was the character. Patty always said cosplay was like acting; maybe her drama roots were rousing after almost two years sleep…

A little known fact about Iwasaki Minami is that she spent her junior high years as part of the drama club. She had started off as the unofficial pianist and musical director for the school's production but Minami was surprised when she became a full member of the club when a case of tonsillitis struck and Minami (having attended every rehearsal) was asked to step in. Even more surprising was her unintentional reinterpretation of the role, masking a quiet venerability on a normally ostentatiously pompous romantic lead. Needless to say, with good actors (stress on actors) short in supply Minami was a welcome addition to the drama club. Minami benefited from the older girls' mentoring and the drama club gained an actress that was able to play roles that other girls found…challenging, to say the least.

Minami looked back at the costume laid out before her, fidgeting with the mouse as her mind turned over her options one more time.

I…I don't know… A shy, unsure part of her said. Maybe I should just dress normally

On the other hand… A braver voice awakened inside her. This is a perfect disguise…your friends aren't looking for…well, someone like this…

It seemed as though the shy voice in her head lost out because Minami quickly placed the order before she could talk herself to death. It would be fine…no, it would be better than fine. The model in her new costume smiled at her and Minami felt her own lips curving up into an almost perfect mirror of the arrogant smirk on screen. What the hell, she thought to herself as she finalized her order. This could be fun…

"Um…M-Minami-chan?"

Minami looked up to see Yutaka fidgeting nervously in the doorway. "Um…a-are you alright?"

Minami cocked her head. "Alright?"

"Well…um…you k-kinda have a…" Yutaka bit her lip. "Well, the look on your face is…"

Minami looked down at her computer screen to see a smirk still pulling one side of her mouth up. Without even realizing it, her eyes had narrowed and the look of total arrogance she gleaned from the brief interaction with the character had spread to her whole face.

"Oh…sorry Yutaka." Minami said smoothly, clicking away from the screen but allowing the character, her character, to linger in her mind a few seconds longer. "I just found the perfect costume and it's…well, nice."

Yutaka nodded. "O-h, that's good Minami-chan!" Yutaka sighed in relief, bringing the tray of drinks in. "Can I see it now?"

"Ah ah ah…" Minami said, navigating away from the page as Yutaka came to look at the costume. "You'll see it soon enough, Yutaka."

"Wh-what?" Yutaka pouted. "Oh, c'mon, Minami-chan! Let me see!"

"I'll show you on Saturday." Minami chided softly, scrolling down a wiki page that offered enough information about the character to go off of. Normally cosplayers didn't go this deep but…it wouldn't do to have Patty and Hiyori wise up to them being there. So maybe a few phrases, a mannerism or two taken to effect…

"Um…Mi-Minami-chan?" Yutaka laughed nervously. "Wh-what's with the smile?"

Minami felt her smirk widen. "Part of the costume, Yutaka. Part of the costume."

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"Part of the costume?"

Patty nodded, adjusting the wreath on her head until it rested lightly on her ears. "Yeah, it's like a symbol of…whatever in classical mythology." Patty frowned at the thought. "Are you telling me you completed three chapters of this story without doing your homework?"

Hiyori rolled her eyes. "Like the average Japanese manga fan is going to call me on an obscure Greek Mythology reference."

Patty reflection shot a disappointed glare at Hiyori. "Tch, tch, tch…it's the little things that matter, Hiyorin. What if your story takes off, gets picked up by some distributor and winds up in Greece where some mythology buff is going to be like "Wow, these are great drawings and lovable characters but I spot some historical inaccuracies! YOU FAIL HISTORY FOREVER!"

"Great…on the off chance that my little ten-yen piece makes it to Greece, you have full bragging rights." Hiyori said with a chuckle.

Patty frowned, spinning around in a huff. "That's not what I meant!"

Hiyori nearly dropped her pencil as the hem of her skirt swirled around. "Woah! Uh, P-p-p-Patty!"

"Hm?" Patty asked, twirling back around, prompting a similar reaction

"Uh…d-don't you think your skirt is a little too…well, what I mean to say is…your skirt is a little…"

"What?" Patty turned again which caused Hiyori so blush and look away. "Is there something wrong with the hem?"

"Um…well, it's just that it's…it's a little short." Hiyori coughed.

Patty looked back in the mirror. "Oh Hiyorin! I asked you if it was too short a half an hour ago and you said it was fine!"

"I-I know but…it's just when you turn around like you were doing it-it-it…lifts…" Hiyori finished, taking interest in the erasure scraps on her drawing while Patty turned around to check herself.

"Hmm…" Patty swished back and forth experimentally, noting how the hem rose. "Oh come on, it's not like you can see anything unless I go like this" Patty did a perfect pirouette and Hiyori looked up in time to catch a glimpse of something lacy and blue.

"Gah!" Hiyori squawked. "P-P-P-Patty!"

"Yes?" Patty asked.

"I-I told you it's too short!" Hiyori stuttered.

"Yeah…too short for ballet." Patty giggled at Hiyori's fidgety expression. "But I don't plan on doing this." Patty said, twirling for emphasis. "On Saturday." Patty adjusted the top to her dress with a satisfied smirk. "Besides, Ko-sempai said she liked it."

"Ko-sempai is a deviant and a pervert of the highest caliber." Hiyori said, reddening at the thought of her sempai's unsettling smirk. "She's worse than most of the boys I know."

"I wouldn't say that." Patty said. "Kensuke and Daisuke seemed pretty enthused when I mentioned these little beauties." Patty said, motioning to her knee-high sandals.

"Kensuke and Daisuke have been attached to Ko-sempai at the hip since they were in junior high." Hiyori said with a chuckle. "Hard to tell if they corrupted her or it was the other way around." Hiyori paused in her sketching, looking back at Patty's sandals. "By the way, where did you get those?"

Patty crossed her legs, looking down her sandals thoughtfully. "Liz gave them to me."

"Ah, your big sister, huh?" Hiyori said, reflexively looking at the picture on Patty's desk of an older blond girl, wrapping an arm around a younger Patty's neck. "And you figured it's better not to ask her huh?"

Patty shrugged. "Liz always had weird stuff lying around. I'm just happy she let me have them when she grew out of them. They go great with this little dress." Patty flopped back on her bed. "Speaking of which, why aren't you dressing up?"

Hiyori sheepishly erased a scribble mark. "Oh…well no one else is really dressing up that much…"

Patty rolled over onto her stomach, kicking her legs behind her. "I thought Daisuke was going as Daisuke and Ken-sempai was going as Ken…"

"Oh, well they're different…Ryou was doing a D-gimon doujinshi so…"

"Yeah, but last I checked that wasn't yaoi so they're not doing it for the club." Patty said thoughtfully. "I got the impression that they just wanted to goof off in costume."

"Well, I guess they should." Hiyori said. "It's their last year with our circle after all so they should have fun with it."

"So does that mean, you're going to dress up next year?" Patty asked

"I…well…" Hiyori mumbled

"C'mon…" Patty ribbed. "I'm sure there's something I can pick out for you…"

"I don't think I'd-"

"I'm sure I could think of something…" Patty said, regarding Hiyori with a thoughtful glance. "Hmmm…with that hair color you could pull off Tomoe Hotaru."

"Eh?" Hiyori said, blushing while imagining herself in a full blown fuku. "I-I-I-I-"

"Or maybe you could pull off Nina; you have the glasses for it."

"Well that's better but still I-"

"Of course you could always genderswap and play Uryuu-"

"T-that's just embarrassing!" Hiyori blurted, fixing her glasses in irritation. "I-I mean…that kinda stuff embarrasses me…I'm not really like you or Ko-sempai."

"Ah…we'll get you one way or another…" Patty said, taking cue that this conversation had some deeper undertone and Hiyori's embarrassment wasn't the whole story. But Patty was tactful enough to see that Hiyori was getting uncomfortable so she resolved to file the conversation away under "To Be Continued…" and moved on. "Next year, you'll be helming the booth yourself so make sure to learn from Ko-sempai's example!"

"Uhh…" Hiyori blushed.

"Minus the whole pervy attitude, that is…" Patty added quickly. "Although…there is something to be said for knowing what the fans like…" Patty said, swishing her skirt around and giggling when Hiyori buried her face in her sketchbook, blushing furiously.

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Yutaka held the dress up to the mirror, indulging in a self satisfied giggle as she spun around. The dress reached past her knees a few inches and was the color her hair was before…

Yutaka tweaked a strand of her now powder blue hair as she checked the back of the hair dye package. Soujiro-ojisan had said this brand would wash out easily so at least she wouldn't have to worry about going to school on Monday looking like she did. The blue was cute, lighter than onee-chan's but not really something Yutaka could see herself sporting every day.

Yutaka checked her bag again to see if she had everything she needed for Saturday. She had casually asked Konata (under the pretense of asking for a friend) what one should carry to Comiket. Yutaka checked her small purse to make sure that she had everything she needed. Aside from the cans of coffee (which Yutaka couldn't drink) she had packed everything Konata had recommended from bottles of water to a small fan to keep her cool. It seemed a little odd…but Yutaka figured her cousin know. She'd been to enough conventions after all.

Yutaka nervously ran her hands across her dress, fingering the frill. Part of her still didn't understand why she was dressing up and trekking all the way to Tokyo for a comic festival. It was just…weird.

Though, now that Yutaka thought about it, it was probably weirder having two friends and half her surviving family and knowing little to nothing about the things they like.

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Minami stepped out of the shower, toweling her hair dry as soon as she was in the privacy of her own room. As soon as she was ready, she locked the door. Her mother had gone to bed some hours ago but she didn't want to chance it; as far as she knew, Minami was taking a trip to Kyoto to work on a report with Yutaka.

She certainly didn't want to explain to her mother why her normally green hair was now died in a light shade of grey.

Minami shook her hair out, pleased with faintly white color that the box advertised. It wasn't quite the graphite color she was aiming for but it would do.

With that thought, Minami reached under her bed and pulled out the outfit she had smuggled home that afternoon. She laid it out on the bed and looked it over for a second before slipping into her underwear. Over that went the jacket, buttoned up the front and just concealing Minami's chest. It fit snug enough so that it wouldn't open up unexpectedly (which was good, because she ordered it small just in case.)

Minami checked the mirror, worried that her barely noticeable bust would betray her (While at the same time, feeling rather pleased that she was having this problem). She wriggled in front of the mirror indecisively for a few moments before moving on to the distressed jeans. Minami was at least grateful that any lacking in the chest department was at least made up for with well defined legs (She would have been mortified if the smaller sizes turned out too big). Again the mirror was consulted and Minami again allowed herself a shy smile; the jeans made at least made her butt look good. All that was left was the red bandanna under the black cap and the boots which slid comfortably on her feet.

Minami eyed her finished creation with a satisfied smirk. All that was left was the slightest twitch of her lips on one side, allowing her teeth to show in a feral smirk. Hiyori and Patty would never recognize her; Minami hardly recognized herself for that matter. The reflection staring back at her was type of challenging confidence that Minami felt safest behind. It was brazen, cocky even and easy to play. The girl in the mirror was sure of herself in such a way that Minami felt some of her confidence come through. Borrowed confidence, false confidence, but confidence nonetheless.

"Why hello there…" Minami said to her reflection. "You look zetta sexy in that coat."

AN:

Whew! Dang, that chapter was hard to write.

Well, I said the plot was going to arrive but apparently it got lost and had to take a detour. The next chapter should be longer and really get this parade started.

I'm starting what I hope to be a retool of Minami and Yutaka's characters. I plan on adding some hidden depths and character traits that I hope will make them more three-dimensional.

Brownie points for guessing Minami and Yutaka's cosplay outfits! Hint: Minami's character shares part of her name and Yutaka's character is an gag involving another role by her voice actress (HintHint: It's a Gainax production!) .

Leave a review you zetta sons of digits or I'll factor you out of the equation!