Chapter Text
Later that evening, the six of them reconvened in a small, traditional Japanese restaurant a few blocks away from the show. Nodoka and Uzuki were sitting opposite one another, with Mai and Sakuta (as they finally found out was the name of the mysterious boyfriend) sitting next to Mai's sister. Wakana and Marin were sitting opposite them. Mai had rented out a small room in the back of the restaurant, and had insisted that the two cosplayers join them for a late dinner and drinks.
Wakana was feeling immediately out of his element, surrounded by so many larger-than-life girls, but Sakuta seemed to radiate a gentle calm that helped put his mind at ease.
While they were chowing down on appetizers, Marin had fetched her phone out of her clutch and was now in the process of holding it over Zukki's to capture the offered QR code from her Line account.
“Okay, who else? Doka-chan?” Nodoka shrugged and offered her as well, which Marin scanned with a smile. “Don't worry, Sakurajima-sensei, I know better than to ask for yours,” she said with a wink. Mai looked a small bit relieved. Wakana hoped that the other two show-business girls wouldn't take that as a slight against their relative fame, but if they did, they didn't let it show. Zukki was already eagerly working on another pod of edamame, and Nodoka was typing away at her phone.
“Now you, Azusagawa-san!” she waved her phone impatiently at the boy seated across the table from her. “If that's okay with Sakurajima-sensei, of course!”
“What do you say, Sakurajima-sensei?” Sakuta asked, with a little amused emphasis on the honorific. Mai looked like she was holding back a giggle, but waved her hand.
“I'll leave it up to Sakuta-kun,” she smiled. Sakuta for his part let out a short breath, then shook his head at Marin.
“Can't,” was his one word reply.
Marin frowned for a split second, but it was quickly replaced by her signature grin.
“What do you mean, Mai-sensei said it was okay.”
Oh so it's already Mai-sensei now? Wakana thought, but said nothing. He could feel his lips curl up in a gentle smile, though.
“Does your phone not have a screen or something?”
She leaned over the table, waving her phone around in encouragement. As she did so, Wakana noticed he was in the awkward position of having a direct eyeline to Marin’s ample bosom. He averted his eyes respectfully, face flushed. If Marin noticed, she gave no sign, she was too caught up in the moment.
“I don't have a phone.” Sakuta replied. Marin couldn't hold back a laugh.
“Good one.” She returned to her seat, much to Wakana's relief. “If you didn't want to share contact deets, that's fine. We did just meet, after all,” she conceded, contritely.
“No, he means it,” Zukki interceded. “Onii-chan threw it into the ocean.”
Martin's mouth went wide, as though she had just been told the sky was yellow. “How can you not have a phone? How do you live?”
“You sound just like my kouhai.” Sakuta's face was expressionless, but Wakana thought he could detect a hint of a smile in his voice.
“Well, I guess I'll just have to write Zukki or Doka if I want to get in touch with you then!” Wakana was still in awe of how easily Marin seemed to be able to make friends. It was a skill he often wished he could tap into. For now, though, it was enough for him to merely be caught up in the flow of Marin's current.
“You were so pretty on stage!” Marin exclaimed to the two idols, already changing the subject. “Who makes your costumes? They were totes to die for!”
“Thanks!” Zukki grinned with delight. “Our costume designer makes them all for us, though she does ask us for our input. What about yours?” She gestured at Marin's bunny girl costume. “Did you make that yourself?”
Though Wakana had been carrying her street clothes around with them in the overnight bag that had held their costumes on the way from Saitama to Shibuya, Marin had opted to stay in her cosplay even as they sat down for dinner. Her wig was a little askew, and her makeup was already starting to show signs of deterioration, but Marin seemed not to mind one bit. Wakana could tell that she felt at home in her costumes, perhaps even more so than in her street clothes.
“Oh this?” Marin leaned against him, once again wrapping her arm around his. “This is a Gojo-kun original! Isn't it the best! Gojo-kun makes the finest cosplays in the world, doesn't he?” she exclaimed.
“Well… I wouldn't say that…” Wakana stammered, his face already feeling warm again. No small part of that, he was sure, was due to the way Marin's breast was pressed against his upper arm.
“So,” he managed to squeak out, before clearing his throat and trying again. “So, how did you two meet?” He felt that was a safe conversation topic, much better than listening to his friend sing his praises.
Marin looked at Wakana, then to the couple sitting opposite them, looking just as eager to hear the story of their romance.
“Yeah, how did you land this handsome fellow, Mai-sensei?”
Mai leaned back and smiled. Her cheeks turned the lightest shade of red, and she reached around to grab Sakuta's arm in much the way that Marin was currently still gripping Wakana's.
“Sakuta was my kouhai in high school. He confessed to me every day for a month. Eventually he wore me down.”
“Aren't you forgetting something?” Nodoka spoke up for the first time since they had sat down. She set down her glass of lemonade and grinned. “What about the part where he shouted out how much he loved you in front of the whole school?”
Marin's eyes, already wide from the excitement, somehow grew even larger, and Wakana could almost see pink hearts forming where her pupils should be.
“Oh my gosh! That's so romantic! No wonder you said yes!”
“It was in the middle of exams too!” Zukki, not wanting to be left out of the storytelling, chimed in. “I hear he was a legend to the entire school. And that was even before Mai-san started acting again and got even more famous!”
Mai and Sakuta exchanged a glance. Wakana had a hard time reading what was expressed. It was full of tenderness but also a kind of sadness, deep within. “Yes, well, either way,” Mai continued, “I managed to win him over to me somehow. And assuming he works hard and gets into the same university as me, I see a long future for us”
In a way he envied how close the two of them were. They didn't seem like teenage lovers, they almost gave the impression of an adult married couple. They were so comfortable in each other's presence, so effortlessly intimate, in a way that was rarely physical but not any less meaningful for it.
It was the kind of relationship he would love to have with someone. Someday.
He once again did his best not to notice the fact that Marin's arm was still linked with his.
“What about you?” Mai asked, picking the conversation back up. “How long have you been together?”
“Oh, no-no-no-no-no!” Wakana jerked his arm away from Marin's grip and was now flailing both of them in front of him to ward off the misunderstanding. “We're not together. No. Definitely not!”
Marin retreated a little into herself, her face just the tiniest shade of pink. Wakana was afraid he had embarrassed her with his outburst, so he clamped his mouth tight and clasped his hands together in his lap, staring down at the table.
“Hmmm I see,” was Mai's enigmatic reply. Sakuta seemed immensely amused by something, but Wakana had no idea what it might be.
“It's true,” Marin said. Her voice was chipper, but Wakana thought he could detect something strained underneath, as though she was forcing herself to smile as she spoke. “He and I are just cosplay buddies! He makes the most beautiful costumes, they're totally to die for!” By now Marin already had her phone out again and was swiping through pictures till she found the ones she wanted to show. “See!”
Marin proceeded to show off some of her favorite shots of herself in cosplay, starting with the most recent ones, and working her way all the way back to her first outing as Shizuka-tan.
Zukki oohed and ahhed at each new photo, while the other three nodded in silent approval.
“Those are really good,” Mai offered, after they had reached the end of the presentation. “Have you been making them long?”
“No, not really. I started at the beginning of the school year, actually.”
“That's really impressive, Gojo-san,” Mai's voice was full of sincerity. “I know from my own shoots how much goes into making a costume. You must be a fast learner.”
“Well, he didn't start from zero, exactly. He had been training to be a kashirashi for hina dolls since he was a kid.”
Wakana blushed. He was happy to let Marin do most of the talking for him, she was better at it anyway, but the note of pride in her voice as she talked about him made his spine tingle in a not unpleasant way.
“You make hina dolls?” Nodoka's ears perked up at the mention, now seemingly ready to engage with the conversation that she had mostly been observing up till then. “I didn't know anyone younger than, I dunno, 80 still made them!”
Wakana laughed, happy to finally have found a topic he actually felt like he could join in on. “Not at all! People of all ages make hina dolls. My grandfather is the one who is teaching me, and he's a bit older, sure, but there are workers in our shop that are in their thirties or even twenties. It's really all ages these days!”
Wakana continued energetically, talking about how he first fell in love with the dolls when his grandfather showed him his shop as a small child, and how even then he had decided that he wanted to make hina dolls himself, and how he stayed up late at night painstakingly painting their faces week in and week out, and how he had gotten much better but still had so much to learn.
Marin watched him as she sipped on her barley tea, a warm glow surrounding her as she listened to her friend talk about his passions. The rest of the table was similarly enraptured, excited that the boy who had thus far been quiet was starting to come out of his shell somewhat.
“Where did you say your shop was, Gojo-san?” Mai asked when Wakana had finally started to run out of steam.
“It's in Saitama, why?” he asked, reaching for his drink. All that talking had left his throat dry.
“Hmm, I was just thinking, it was maybe about time we got Kaede her own set, don't you think?”
“Oh, that's a great idea! I'll come with you, onee-chan,” Nodoka agreed. “Just let me know when you're free next and I'll see that I get out of practice that day. It might be nice to get our own set too, one that isn't tied to either of our mothers.”
The way she said that made Gojo think there was a deeper story there, but he didn't feel like it was his place to pry any deeper.
The evening continued as the servers brought the main course. The conversation slowed as they ate, moving to talking about how well the concert went off and what costumes people were wearing that had stood out to them. It was pushing ten by the time they wrapped up and gathered outside the front door of the restaurant, saying their goodbyes.
“Hopefully we'll see you again soon, Gojo-san,” Mai said with her trademark winning smile. “And maybe we'll run into you too, Kitagawa-san.”
“Probably, I'm at Gojo-kun's house, like, all the time. Except when he comes over for home dat- er, I mean, when he comes over to watch anime with me.”
Wakana bowed deeply to each of their new friends in turn, thanking them for the invitation to dinner and for the lovely conversation.
And with that, Wakana and Marin headed back to the station, while Mai and the others waited for a car to come pick them up.
Marin was practically walking on air as they made their way back to Shibuya station, squeeing excitedly about how she was going to tell all her friends at school about how she had had dinner with the Sakurajima Mai-chan. (Wakana noticed she had already dropped the “-senpai”)
As he watched the two high-schoolers disappear around a corner, Sakuta leaned in to his girlfriend conspiratorily.
“Don't they remind you of someone?”
“You mean, because of the bunny costumes?” Mai smiled, leaning against Sakuta and soaking up his body warmth.
“That too,” Sakuta admitted.
“You know, the times we wore those were some of the worst days of our lives.” Mai mused.
“True,” Sakuta nodded. “But I also know that I wouldn't trade them for the world. It's why we are where we are now.”
Mai rewarded that statement with a squeeze of his hand. Maybe a little tighter than was strictly necessary, at that.
Nodoka called out and waved as a white minibus driven by Mai's manager pulled up to the curb, and they started piling in. Sakuta and Mai took a moment before joining them, enjoying the crisp fall air as the streets started to die down from the earlier flurry of activity.
“I'm sure they'll be as happy as we are,” Mai looked around to make sure they were away from prying eyes, then wrapped her arms around Sakuta and pressed her lips to his for a quick, soft kiss. “Almost as happy, at least. Once they figure it out, that is.”
“No fair, I wasn't ready for that kiss,” Sakuta complained. “I didn't get a chance to enjoy it.”
“It will have to last you a while. Now come on, Ryouko-san is waiting.”
As they joined the rest of the group in the minibus, the restaurant's light flickered out behind them. With that, and as the city lights dimmed, the light of the twinkling stars above grew just a little brighter.