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Tenko smoothed her skirt for probably the 100th time since she had put on her costume, looking in the mirror she sighed. She had always been a big Danganronpa fan, as with most of the people she knew. Tenko had been invited to a DR2 cosplay party, and had ultimately decided to go as Mahiru. (Am I funny yet)
Needless to say, she was trying to make it as obvious as possible that she was a lesbian.
She knocked on the door to Shuichi’s house, the host of the party, and waited nervously for it to open. Tenko fidgeted with her red wig for a moment, hoping that she had styled it correctly. The door creaked open, Shuichi standing in it’s frame. He was dressed as Hajime, which made...a bit of sense. He did have protagonist energy.
“Oh, uh, come in, Tenko.” He muttered awkwardly, shuffling to the side so that she could squeeze past him. Once Tenko was inside, it was clear that she was fairly early. Only a few people were there.
Shuichi spoke up amidst the awkward silence, “Oh, uh, yeah the party is supposed to start in an hour, but when I texted a few people I may have said the wrong time, so…” he mumbled, before pulling out his phone to presumably check a message.
Tenko nodded absentmindedly, scanning the room to see who was already there. It seemed that Himiko, Kaede, and Rantaro were present, all sitting on a dingy couch in the corner with Monokuma-themed pillows and blankets haphazardly covering stains in the fabric. They were dressed as Hiyoko, Chiaki, and Nagito respectively, to be honest it was strange that Himiko had chosen to dress as someone like Hiyoko, seeing as she was practically her complete opposite.
Regardless, Tenko shrugged it off, and walked over to the small group. “Uh, Hey there guys!” She tried to sound bubbly, however it honestly could have come off a bit overzealous. Himiko looked up at her and smiled, “I like your cosplay, Tenko.” she said quietly, obviously out of character for who she was supposed to be.
The dark haired girl (Well, technically her hair is red since she’s in a wig, but I digress.) blushed and played with her skirt, looking down to avoid eye contact with the other. “Oh, er, thanks, I worked hard on it!”
At this point, Tenko has had a crush on Himiko for a little while, so it was a bit hard for her not to get flustered when the redhead was praising her like that. Well, she was technically praising her cosplay, not her, but just let Tenko have this.
“Hey, Kaede, Rantaro, get over here, I wanna make a TikTok.” Shuichi said, calling for the other two to film the video with him. “Alright.” Kaede replied in a monotone voice, bored with how the party was going so far.
And just like that, Tenko and Himiko were alone.
Tenko took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind so the conversation would go well. "So, um, you come here often?" Dangit, Tenko! Why'd you have to go and be a useless lesbian?
"Nyeh, this is the first time I've been to Shuichi's house," Himiko spoke quietly, twisting a lock of her wig's hair between her fingers. "Since you're the one who invited me to the party…" she trailed off, staring into space.
Well, that makes sense.
Tenko laughed awkwardly, trying to act as if she was joking, even though it was terribly obvious that she wasn’t. “Yes! Yes, I knew that!” She spouted, clapping her hands together in a false display of knowing what she’s doing when it comes to actually talking to people.
The redhead turned to her, “Did you watch Danganronpa 51 last night?” she seemingly had ignored everything that the other girl had been saying, clearly much more enthusiastic about Danganronpa than she was about small talk.
It was evident that Himiko was as much of a Danganronpa fan as everyone else in the room, and she was thankfully one of the more normal people of the fandom that Tenko had encountered. The two had actually met on a Danganronpa forum online, and quickly hit it off. They’d gotten together and talked in person once before, but it was a much different atmosphere than what was currently present.
After Danganronpa was brought up, the two ended up chatting for quite a while, mainly about theories of who would be killed next, et cetera. They seemed to be off in their own world for the most part, apart from greeting people who showed up to the party every now and then.
As for people who did show up, Miu was dressed up as Kazuichi, Gonta as Nekomaru, and Angie as Akane had all turned up to the small gathering at this point. Tenko only knew a few of the people at the party, Himiko knowing Tenko alone, hence the fact she invited her. It wasn’t of much importance, though, seeing as everyone seemed to find their own little groups.
“Yeah, and that’s why celesgiri, is like, a god tier Trigger Happy Havoc ship,” Tenko exclaimed excitedly, very invested in their long conversation about Danganronpa ships. “Especially after Danganronpa 34 when the whole cast was revived and-” The dark haired girl was suddenly cut off by a loud knock at the door, “I’ll get it!” she shouted to nobody in particular, before stumbling over to the entranceway.
Upon opening the door, she didn’t even have a chance to say hello before the Nagito-cosplaying figure was pushing past Tenko, bounding into the small home. “What is UP, PARTAAAY PEOPLE?!” He yelled, interrupting just about everything.
“Kokichi…” Shuichi looked over to him, annoyed with what he saw. “I,, I thought we agreed in the groupchat that you’d be cosplaying, uh, Fuyuhiko, isn’t that correct?” The dark haired boy was at his wits-end with Kokichi, at this point. So much so, in fact, that he actually, somewhat, confronted him.
“Uhhh, well, I don’t, like, REMEMBER that, soo…” the other male stared down at his hand, seemingly entranced by his nails. “Also, you guys, like, KNOW that I kin Nagito, right? I dunno if I could even, like, stand to cosplay anyone else.” He rambled on, not paying attention to the fact that Tenko was desperately trying to squeeze past him in order to get to the safehaven that was the dimly lit “Monokuma corner”.
Rantaro scoffed from the other side of the room, “I bet you just showed up in that Nagito cosplay because you wanted to see komahina TikToks and knew I wouldn’t do them…” he said nonchalantly, current scrolling through some app on his phone.
The purple haired boy was taken aback, “Uhmm, excuse me? I don’t think that’s the case, like, I don’t even ship komahina, like,” God Kokichi, how many times can you say “like” in one sentance? “Also I’m gonna need you to like, leave? Because I can’t really, like, handle doubles??” He explained to him, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. Tenko was still trying to get past him.
She sent a distressed glance to Shuichi from across the room, but he just shrugged, equally lost on how to handle the situation. Tenko groaned, done with trying to be nice to Nagito kinnies, and shoved Kokichi out of the way so that she could walk back over to Himiko.
“H-hey!!” Kokichi was fake-crying as Tenko stomped past him, “I’m going through, like, a lot right now!! I, I got anon-hate last night!!” He whined, but the Mahiru cosplayer just drowned it out, flopping down on the couch next to Himoko in a huff.
Rantaro was rolling his eyes at practically everything Kokichi said. “We all know that’s not true, Kokichi.” He sighed, “You just send yourself anon-hate and cry about it for a week so you can get pity...you’re a terrible liar sometimes.” At this point Shuichi was trying to step in, but to no avail, as his experience with roleplaying as yanderes on Twitter didn’t exactly translate to real life.
The purple haired boy started fake crying once again, “WAAAHHHH!! YOU’RE! SO! MEANNN!” he yelled, probably loud enough for Shuichi’s neighbors to hear.
“All I wanna do is have a good time here, and what I get is kin doubles and Tenko pushing me so that she can like, go kiss her girlfriend, or whatever!” He sniffled, his semi-decent cosplay makeup getting smeared with all the faux-crying he was doing.
“No, no- uh, we’re not, err-” Tenko started to reluctantly protest as soon as she heard him say the word ‘girlfriend’. The smaller Nagito cosplayer interjected her halfhearted mumbling,
“Don’t give me that, Tenko, you two are LITERALLY cosplaying a ship right now.” His expression was almost sinisterly serious, very unlike the usual faces he makes.
At this point, everyone was looking at them, there were a few quiet whispers, maybe a snicker or two, but other than that, the room was dead silent.
Kokichi broke that silence just when Tenko was about to say something, “And to make it even WORSE, Himiko doesn’t even act like Hiyoko! Seriously, she’s like, the worst fit for her character!” He blabbered on about how different the two were, about how the two of them must have planned it, how attention seeking they were, needless to say, Kokichi was trying to start something.
Thankfully, Shuichi did attempt to cut in, “Kokichi you might want to, um, stop..ehm..” he tried, but the shorter boy was not going to have it.
“Why?! Why should I stop? I’m literally just telling everyone what they already know!” He yelled at him,
“Everyone at this party knows that those two have, like, GOT to be dating, or something! And plus, Tenko was mean to me!!” Oh boy, here come the fake tears again.
Tenko stood up, she was around 4-5 inches taller than Kokichi, so she attempted to make herself be, uh, “threatening”. Which is pretty hard to do in Danganronpa cosplay. “Stop insulting Himiko!” She said sternly, metaphorically putting her foot down.
“I’m not insulting her, I’m stating FACTS!” Kokichi responded, looking like he could honestly kill someone, despite being 5’1” and in Nagito Komaeda cosplay.
“The fact that Himiko just copies the cutesy anime girls on those, like, Tumblr gifsets and pretends to be shy!!” He sneered, clearly thinking that his anon-hate makes him invincible in every argument.
The Mahiru cosplayer gasped at that, crossing her arms. “You know what you are, Kokichi? Do you know??” She questioned.
“What? I already know I’m a Nagito-kinnie.”
“You’re a degenerate male!!” She said proudly, triumphant at her own insult that she probably, definitely, stole from the internet.
The purple eyed boy scoffed, “ Getting into character I see..., where’d you hear that one from?” he asked rhetorically, He knew it was from Tumblr. Or maybe Twitter? He didn’t know.
“Why you….” Tenko practically growled, assuming what is probably a fighting stance.
Himiko rose from the couch, which is where she had been sitting the entire time that this whole “fight” had been going on, “Will you two just cut it out?” She shouted faintly, tapping her foot on the floor. She stood there for a moment, everything was quiet, nobody seemingly expecting her to actually speak up.
Kaede was somehow passed out in a chair amidst all of this, unsurprising since she had giant dark circles under her eyes. Rantaro had since decided to back off, Shuichi was typing something on his phone in the corner very fast, and Miu was just watching quietly. (for once.)
After several minutes of awkward silence, Tenko tried in earnest to comfort Himiko, “I’m sorry about him saying all that stuff about us, and, uh, you-” but Kokichi cut her off once again.
“But I was RIGHT! ” He explained, this did not help the situation in any way, shape, or form. Not one bit.
Tenko almost screamed. “For the last time, we’re not dating! And Himiko is not like that!!”
The Hiyoko cosplayer burst into tears suddenly, before running into the nearest room, the kitchen, and slamming the door. Tenko turned to Kokichi, “This is your fault!!” she accused before chasing after Himiko.
“Did anyone film that.”
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Tenko stormed into the kitchen after her, furious with Kokichi, “Himiko! I am SO sorry about tha-” she tried to comfort her but was cut off by Himiko hugging her tightly.
“Tenko…” The short redhead muttered, her tears dampening Tenko’s dress. The taller girl stiffened in surprise for a moment before hugging her back, wrapping her arms around Himiko’s shoulders securely.
“H...Himiko? Are you okay?” she whispered, trying not to give away the fact that she was happy that her crush was hugging her.
The Hiyoko cosplayer sighed sadly, “Nyeh..” she whimpered out, clearly not in the mood to talk. Tenko wasn’t particularly in the mood to talk either, but she knew that it would be better if Himiko was happy again.
“I know that Kokichi was mean, and, uh, well, he shouldn’t have been making jokes about us dating but-” Tenko stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
“It’s...not that…” Himiko murmured, before shaking herself from Tenko’s grasp.
“Then...what is it?”
Himiko didn’t respond, instead twirling the pigtails of her, probably very expensive, wig. Her makeup had been ruined from crying, some of it was probably on Tenko’s dress, but the green eyed girl still thought she was adorable.
They sat for a while on the floor of Shuichi’s kitchen, not saying much of anything. At one point they started holding hands, although neither of them decided to acknowledge it. It was sort of peaceful, even though it should have been extremely tense.
“Tenko…” Himiko finally spoke up, albeit softly,
“Do you...like me?” she asked, the way she speaks made it almost sound as if she wasn’t even worried about what response she would get in return. (She was.)
Clearly not expecting her to say such a thing out of the blue, Tenko jerked her entire body forward in shock. "Wh..what did you say?" She asked, bewildered, now sitting across from the other girl
"Do you, nyeh, um, like me?" Himiko repeated, a bit anxious because of Tenko's lack of a real reply.
Tenko blushed her heart practically leaping out of her chest, unable to hide her smile, even by covering her face with her hands. "Uh, um, well, do you like, me??” She sputtered, not sure how to answer the painfully simple question. (Don’t worry, Tenko, it’s almost as embarrassing to write fanfiction as it is to confess to your crush.)
The brown eyed girl fidgeted with her dress’s sleeves, looking away from Tenko. “Ans...answe, answer the question please…” she said under her breath, stumbling over her words. She crossed her legs and looked up at the other girl, who had still not answered. “Please?” She asked, a bit louder this time.
“Yes!!” The answer came bursting out of Tenko, probably loud enough for everyone at the party to hear.
“Uh, I mean, yeah. Mhm. I do. I like, uh, I like you. Yep.” Tenko had already blown her chance at sounding nonchalant, so this coverup didn’t really work.
A light blush dusted Himiko’s cheeks, her eyes met Tenko’s, “Nyeh...I like, you, you too…” She smiled, the ‘nyeh’ thing was an annoying habit that she just can't seem to break, but Tenko thinks it’ s cute.
The taller girl put her hands over her face again, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. (It really, really doesn’t work.) “So, um… I uh, that’s good!! That’s good. I mean- I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” These are real useless lesbian hours™.
The redhead took ahold of Tenko's wrists and lowered them so that she was no longer covering her face. "...It's okay…" She muttered.
Suddenly, Tenko became brave enough to somehow actually make a move.
She leaned down and briefly kissed Himiko on the lips sweetly, before realizing what she had just done and backing off immediately.
"I'm so sorry!!" The Mahiru cosplayer screeched, waving her hands in all directions as some sort of apology.
Himiko's face reddened, "Nyeh, it's okay, Tenko." She said before leaning up to give the other girl a chaste kiss.
Before either of them had a chance to react to what happened, someone entered the room.
"Hey, uh, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about all the drama," Shuichi started to speak, not paying attention to what was going on.
"Annnnddd, Kokichi is gonna have to issue an apology on his kin blog because he tricked Gonta into posting a video of what happened and-" The dark-teal haired boy continued before finally realizing the situation.
He paused, "Y'know I didn't mean to, uh, walk in on anything so I'll come back another time…" Shuichi then turned and exited the kitchen faster than anyone Tenko has ever seen.
Tenko tried to explain it, "Wait- Shuchi it's not what it looks like!! Come back!!" But to no avail. She sighed, and then looked back to Himiko, who shrugged.
The shorter girl grabbed Tenko's hand and held it in reassurance.
"Nyeh...I guess Kokichi was right about something."
Well, if there's one downside to situation, that would have to be it.