Chapter 309: Convention

[Private] Shiro: "When will it begin?"

[Private] Kuroneko: "On the afternoon. Which world are you in?"

[Private] Shiro: "Madoka's world."

[Private] Kuroneko: "Oh."

[Private] Kuroneko: "I think I'll need you here after a few minutes there."

Each of Kuroneko's replies are delayed. Shiro had to wait for minutes just to receive them. It showed the difference between the two worlds' time ratio.

"Well, I need to go."

"Good luck." Romani replied. "By the way, you can cosplay. You are going into a convention, right?"

"Cosplay... A good idea."

After changing his outfit into pure black, he began the input to travel.

[Traveling into [Kuroneko]'s world.]

[Yes / No]

After tapping yes, a countdown began.

[10... 9... 8...]

[2... 1... 0...]

Moments later, Shiro found himself inside a public bathroom.

"A cosplay, huh..."

He recalled Kuroneko's favorite characters.

"Characters from Maschera... Hm..."

Her most favorite character is [Queen of Nightmare]. It is the person she always cosplayed with. She really liked her, to the point of cosplaying as her almost every day. She was also the motive behind Kuroneko's hobby of cosplaying.

"No, wait..."

Shiro remembered a similar anime from Maschera. Its theme and character design bears many similarities to it. That was why Kuroneko loved it when she found it on the Aincrad world.

"Darker Than Black..."

Unlike Maschera, Darker than Black was way more serious and thrilling. It follows the member of Syndicate, a top-secret group that manages supernatural power users behind the scenes.

"Hm..."

All Shiro needed was to change back to his [Fenrir] look. He changed into a black trench coat and wore a white Pierrot mask on top of his head. He does not want to be mistaken as a random public shooter.

Upon leaving the cubicle, he saw himself on a mirror.

"The hair."

After arranging his hair, Shiro became a perfect cosplayer.

An aurora curtain engulfed him, transferring him into the underground parking lot.

"The car or the motorcycle?"

Suddenly, he recalled the main purpose of Kuroneko's visit. She wanted to bring her autographed manga on their booth.

"The car, then."

He summoned forth [Koenigsegg Agera RSR]. It was one of the random UC rewards he gained from the Random Spins. He booted it up and drove to Kuroneko's place. While doing so, he sensed his current location.

"Chiba, huh? My luck never failed me."

Kuroneko and her family is living in Chiba. The convention will also be happening in Chiba, too.

[Private] Shiro: "Where's your house?"

[Private] Kuroneko: "You're already here?!"

[Private] Shiro: "Well, yes. We can't be late on that event."

[Private] Kuroneko: "Alright. Here's the address..."

Shiro inputted her address into the GPS. The world he was in is a normal one. There are no problems whether he uses his powers, but he is sometimes sentimental. He wanted to experience mortal things he did once.

Soon, he arrived into her house. He parked the car on a convenience store not far away so as to not inconvenience others. Basic parking etiquette is always observed in Japan.

Knock-!

Knock-!

"It's me. Shiro."

The door opened. A shadow guard greeted him. He could not help but notice the apron worn by him.

"Hello, Igris."

Igris could not speak, but he could express himself through his eyes.

(It's you?! I knew it!)

He met many people during Kuroneko's interdimensional travels. Shiro is one of the few that stood out among them.

"What do you mean?"

(Th... Nothing. Her majesty is on the process of preparing.)

Igris made him a glass of mango juice. He looked very experienced while doing so.

"Well thank you."

While waiting for her, Shiro became curious about something.

"What made you change jobs?"

(It's not. I am just serving as her majesty's support...)

Igris saw Kuroneko's previous lifestyle. She always took care of her younger siblings since their father is always busy working. She often prioritized them instead of studying, which led to her receiving failing grades sometimes. She also partook in several part-times when it became more difficult for them financially.

It is not wrong to say that Kuroneko, Gokou Ruri, has been struggling before she received the chat group. Just the investment advices and guides made by Shiro helped them get through it. There's also her mangaka career. In fact, she only summons Igris whenever her siblings went to school.

She asked for his help since she's also working on her manga. Even with a cloning skill, her workload is still much to bear. After all, she does not have the fame yet. She could have hired other people, but it'll force her to leave the house. It contradicts to her responsibility to take care of her siblings.

In the end, she used the clones to finish deadlines. That is also the reason behind her growing fame. The Deadline Breaker of the mangaka industry completes deadlines without the help of many people.

"I see."

Shiro read Kuroneko's entire story. He was simply curious on Igris' perspective on it as well as on how Kuroneko is currently living. If it turns out she's tiring herself, he would reprimand and assist her. That was what he did back when he worked with Kal'tsit.

"I'm done!"

Kuroneko left her room. She is wearing [Queen of Nightmare]'s outfit. She copied everything down to the smallest details such as the artificial roses on her head and the cross-shaped designs on her black skirt.

Overall, she looks very adorable.

"There's something different."

Despite seeing her wear this outfit dozens of times, Shiro felt a difference from others.

"W-well, it's still the same outfit!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" She replied. "It's just that... I have redone everything from scratch. The materials from the chat group kept getting better."

From the materials in Aincrad which allowed her to use it as an armor, each of her outfits are now made using an SSR-item. She was somehow surprised there existed fabrics so strong. Most weapons could barely hope to scratch it. Only SSR-rated items or attacks with creator attributes could destroy it.

In the first place, all of the founding members stepped into 'godhood'. It's just that they could not easily leave their prior lives.

"You look adorable today."

"!!!"

Shiro voiced out his honest thoughts. Both of them are friends since they began the first chat group mission. He saw her struggle during her first kills. She also saw his 'inhumane' side caused by his amnesia that time.

"Y-you also look good! Hei!" She replied with a slightly reddish face.

"Really... Thanks." He added, "You can recognize me immediately."

Both Hei and Shikkoku—protagonist of Maschera—looks nearly the same. Both of them has the same get-up up and Pierrot masks.

"Black gloves. The cartridge on your legs. The green detail behind your trench coat."

Kuroneko listed his distinguishable features one-by-one.

"Why did you cosplay?" She suddenly asked.

"Why not?"

She looked at him silently, asking for the real reason behind his actions.

"Aside from Romani suggesting it, I want to help resolve your past."

"You mean..."

Kuroneko is smart enough to know what he meant.

"I already got over it. There's no need to do that..."

Counting her time on this world and mission worlds, it has been more than three years for Kuroneko since their breakup. In this world, a few months had relapsed since then.

"You already used the 'boyfriend' excuse to them, no? It would happen regardless." Shiro said seriously. "I have long wanted to see that guy. He went into a relationship with you despite having feelings for other girls."

That was what pissed Shiro off. When he regained his past memories, he regained his bits of humanity. It is contradictory as he should have been more 'god' after retrieving those memories, yet he did not. It is one of the differences made when his two selves returned back to one.

"This is why you cosplayed as Hei..."

Coincidentally, Shikkoku bears a similar look as Kyousuke, her previous boyfriend. Cosplaying Hei would circumvent that matter—preventing Kuroneko from remembering bad memories. He looks similar to Shikkoku but is also easily distinguishable to those who knew two characters.

In the eyes of others, they are wearing matching outfits—Shikkoku and Queen of Nightmare. A perfect attire as couples.

(A/N: Shikkoku is the protagonist of Maschera while Queen of Nightmare is the antagonist.)

Kuroneko felt complex. She thought she had let go of everything but—

'It still hurts.'

She already has someone else she likes, yet the things that happened on the past is like an unremovable scar.

"I am your boyfriend for this day." Shiro looked at her directly. "Let me accomplish this role."

No matter how many times she had seen him serious, it always makes her heart flutter. It served to strengthen her feelings as well as regain the emotions she felt when her future self descended.

"If that's the case... you are now bound by my curse for a day!"

*****

Vroom-!

A black sportscar sped through the roads of Chiba. Whenever it stopped, some people took out their phones and took a picture, especially the males. It is simply their dream to own something as cool as that!

Soon, it arrived at its destination. It parked on an open parking lot.

The door opened, revealing a man wearing black trench coat. He earned many looks from fellow cosplayers due to his looks and his awesome cosplay. It's as if he is a living anime character.

He went to the other side of the car and opened the door. The man held the girl's hand as he assisted her on leaving. She wore a normal expression, but her cute whispers could not be heard by others.

"W-we don't have to do this!"

"I am bound by your curse, your ma—"

"Ssh!"

The girl, Ruri, stopped him from continuing.

"It's... embarrassing."

"Alright, alright."

Shiro let out a playful smile and stopped at that. After grabbing the stacks of manga on his compartment, he placed them on a cart. Then, they went inside the center. In the meantime, Shiro wore his Pierrot mask.

"It reminds me of the past."

"Come to think of it. You sold doujinshis before, right?"

"That's right."

In the past, she used to carry them on a small cart. She will board a train and carry them all the way to her booth, only to not be sold. It is the cold truth for obscure artists.

"It will sell. The story is amazing."

Shiro had read her new manga. Due to her interdimensional travels, she has something that many mangakas lack: creativity. No matter how hard they imagine, Kuroneko could dish out new ideas based from the stories she see during her travels.

"Thanks." She said in a low voice.

"Kuroneko..?"

A blue-haired girl stopped her tracks in front of them. She wore spinning glasses and a headband.

"No way... You... You really have a boyfriend?!"

Kuroneko let out an elegant laugh. She grabbed Shiro's arm and proudly declared:

"This is Hei, my new partner-in-crime!"

"Hello."

She heard a similarly elegant voice underneath the mask.

"We all thought you are joking! That you are just preserving your dignity when you've said that!"

"Hoh... This queen never lies."