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Booting up her computer, Tomoko was, for once, excited to do research. Instead of the usual boring homework, this time she'd be researching for herself. And Yuu, too.
When it came time to enroll into college, Tomoko and Yuu ended up in the same one and even the same liberal arts course, which naturally led to them becoming roommates. It was nice to be back at the same school as her childhood friend; it was even nicer that it came with the bonus of being under the same roof, too. Purely because it was a no-brainer to save money by bunking together - no other reasons to look forward to!
Okay, well, there was the additional reason that being so close for so long, they had fun together. More fun than they had in middle school - when they could only see each other during school hours - and high school - when they could only see each other when their schedules allowed. Within the same apartment, they could hang out whenever, sometimes at the drop of a hat.
This time, their plans were taking them out of the house, but that was still several weeks away. An upcoming convention in town had caught both of the girls' eyes, with anime, manga, video games, and other related media as the main focus. They had to go. And since they were going together, they might as well coordinate outfits together. Because outside of Halloween, the only other acceptable time to go costuming was at cosplay events.
Such was the reason for Tomoko's research. What franchise should they cosplay? What characters should they pair up as? Those were the primary questions she was focused on. There were so many fandoms to choose from, though, that even trying to think up one on the spot was tricky. Her brain was racing so much, with so much information, that nothing could be processed. So instead, she'd use an outside source to narrow things down.
Simply googling "Popular anime", "Popular anime for cosplay", "Trending anime", and the like was drawing up too general of a pool, though. Not that she hated all of the options; but she didn't like them enough to take the time and effort to cosplay, though. Cosplay should be reserved for your highest ranking favs, in her opinion. It was an art for in-general cosplayers, but an act of pure loyalty by fans.
Switching gears, she closed the browser and headed for her computer's files. With them - her library of downloads - she thought she might find inspiration. Because she must really like the fandom, if she went so far as to keep it in her limited storage space.
Her eye caught on a yellow two-legged cat and memories flooded through her. It was from the RPG Maker game Mogeko Castle, a pixelated horror game she had first discovered in middle school. Despite the mature nature - no, because of the graphic maturity - she had played it to the point of unlocking all the endings and the secret bonus room. Once she was done, she played the other games from the same creator - enjoying them for being themselves, but also searching for crumbs of Mogeko Castle references, since the creator had formed a shared universe between her works. For years she anticipated the announced sequel, but it never came; at least, it didn't release while she was still actively in the fandom. Maybe she should check in on it? See if there were any updates in the last decade?
Googling it led to pictures of the popular main characters to show up, which distracted her from her distractions. She glimpsed a girl with brunette braids, even more memories following it. She didn't just remember that this was the protagonist of the game, Yonaka Kurai - she also recalled Yuu's looks back in middle school. Yuu had also worn her hair in braids, her natural hair color being close to Yonaka's, too. All she needed was the outfit to complete the look.
Hmm... If Yuu dressed up as Yonaka, who could I do as a match? She searched her memories for an answer, before remembering the resourceful search engine in front of her and the results already on screen. Oh, that's right. There's Moge-ko.
Moge-ko was one of the antagonists of the game; she only entered the story after you got far into the game, but after that she was constantly making appearances. Unlike most other characters and residents of the titular Mogeko Castle, Moge-ko was a cat girl - a kemonomimi, specifically a nekomimi. The color of her long and wild hair matched the yellow fur of the cats, with two pointy triangles being ambiguous as to whether they were part of the hairstyle or genuine cat ears. Her eyes were usually a pure black, but when she got angry or fired up they would turn red. That’s what was physically iconic about her - character-wise, she was a crazed yandere for Yonaka, with one of the bad ends being fuel for toxic yuri between the two within the fandom. Well, the entire game was basically fuel for it.
Moge-ko is a no-brainer for a duo cosplay, especially since she's the only other notable girl in the cast, anyway. And if that's the pair we went with... Tomoko found herself gulping down some pooling saliva. The kind of poses we could do for pictures... The quotes... The LARPing...! That would totally be wicked, but-
"Ah, that one looks like you."
"She does, doesn't she?"
Tomoko had zoned out in her thoughts, but the voice had drawn her back to reality. At first, she did a double take as she fully registered it, before recognizing it as Yuu coming over to check on her progress. But then, she was flabbergasted as she followed Yuu's pointed arm, all the way to the spot on the screen that her finger landed on.
Yonaka Kurai.
"Wait, Yonaka?" It was an honest mistake, given that Moge-ko was taking up most of the screen at that moment. The image of Yonaka Yuu was pointing at had been pushed to the side, not even showing the full thing.
"Yeah!" Yuu nodded gleefully. "The hairstyles are different, but her face reminds me of yours."
"How-" She paused, bringing up the picture of Yonaka again to get a better look. After a few seconds, she reluctantly had to agree; there was some resemblance in Yonaka's overall demeanor. That was likely due to the implied character of being gloomy, reclusive, and outcast - a lot like Tomoko was even now in her college era.
"Maybe," Tomoko finally said, but without the intent to fully surrender. "But I was thinking she looks like you. At least, the you from middle school."
"Are you sure?" Eyes wide and head tilted to the side, she looked at the screen again. "She doesn't even wear glasses."
"Well, I don't wear braids, but you still insisted we look alike." Twirling a clump of her hair with her finger, Tomoko continued, "I bet the resemblance would shine through if you wore the uniform she has."
"Is that so?" Despite her denial earlier, Yuu's mouth curved at the suggestion. "Does that mean we should get to work on the cosplay? If I'm going as Yonaka, that means you should be Moge-ko, right? Or should I say Tomo-ko? And if I'm undying my hair, you can dye yours blonde."
"If that's what it takes to see Yuunaka, then it's a deal!" Tomoko grinned as she said that. It was a cocky one, but deep inside she held even more smugness than she was letting on. Because...
Oho, how innocent Yuu-chan is, not realizing the message that could be sent to others with this choice, given the lecherous, yandere feelings Moge-ko has for Yonaka! A fanart she'd seen of Moge-ko looming over a tied up and bloody Yonaka flashed in her mind. Should we bring some props for some re-enacting photos? Actually, it'd be easier if we did that at home, and left simpler and generic poses for-
She blinked. Yuu had disappeared, but there were burning questions Tomoko suddenly had that demanded answers!
Wait, how did she know Moge-ko? I did have the picture up, but how did she know the name? Does Yuu of all people know about Mogeko Castle? Is she trying to send a message?!
Suddenly, her confident smirking at cosplaying the deranged yandere fell, with her squirming in her seat just as fast as the thoughts racing in her head...
The way she smiled when she agreed... Is she also thinking what I'm thinking?
With the matter of their costume concept decided, Yuu moved on to the next set of house chores, confident in Tomoko's ability to figure out how to make or acquire their cosplays. From her perspective, Tomoko was the bigger otaku between them. She had maintained her love for the geeky mediums all throughout high school, while Yuu had hidden her interests to fit in with the new circle of friends she found herself in. She had still indulged away from their notice; but with all she had been doing to socialize as her new self, her time with anime and games diminished from where it’d been before. Even now, with more social freedom, her time was eaten away by study and adulting.
The view that Tomoko would know more led to the pondering if she knew enough to get the hidden subtext of a Yonaka and Moge-ko "couple cosplay". But that was an overestimation on her part. Sure, Tomoko had once been into the series and knew the basics of the relationship, but Yuu actually knew more. Like Tomoko, she had discovered the game in middle school; but unlike her, Yuu had kept up in the fandom, it being one of the few she continued to follow even as her overall otaku time lessened. Because of this, she saw the creator's design for a future kid between the two; she also knew that the Normal End of Yonaka becoming a god-like figure in the Mogeko world was canon, and that in this ending Moge-ko became her unwilling servant and the dynamic between them had reversed.
Could she talk Tomoko into wearing a leash or kneeling to be sat on...?
Yuu blushed at the thought, briefly stopping her washing of their few dishes for dinnertime in order to shake her head. I'd better not bring it up. Even if Mokocchi has been my friend for so long, and we both like the game, even she would think me weird for thinking of that...