Not only did they take solo photos of Soyo Nagasaki, but also quite a few group photos—of two people, and even all three together.
After several full minutes, the two girls were finally satisfied. The blonde girl showed Soyo a grateful expression.
"Nijika, what are you doing?"
Seeing her friend tapping on her phone, the blue-haired girl leaned over curiously.
"I'm messaging my sister,"
The girl's tone carried a hint of delight.
"Telling her I met an amazing Nagasaki Soyo cosplayer…"
"…"
Soyo felt that as long as the girl was happy, that was enough.
"Sorry for troubling you just now."
After sending the message, the girl put away her phone and smiled at Soyo.
"I'm Nijika Ijichi, and this is my friend, Ryo Yamada."
"And you are…?"
"…Nagasaki Soyo?"
Since she wasn't like Kamijou Mutsuki, Soyo couldn't come up with another name on the spot.
Also—why did she say her own name with such uncertainty?
"…"
Hearing her introduction, Nijika—as expected—revealed a subtle expression.
Was she… too immersed in her cosplay?
Well, it made sense. Only someone with such an extraordinary mental state could cosplay Nagasaki Soyo this perfectly.
"…Ryo and I both really like Soyo-chan!"
Nijika forced out an awkward yet polite smile as she said this.
"Indeed. She looks like someone who'd be easy to farm money from…"
Soyo: ?
Before Ryo could finish, Nijika immediately smacked her down.
"Soyo-chan, you're here for MyGO too, right?"
Since she didn't know her real name, Nijika could only address her as Soyo.
"Do you want to come with us?"
Nijika extended an invitation.
"Ah, well…"
Faced with the invitation, Soyo felt a bit awkward.
Could she really say that she was actually a member of MyGO?
She wasn't here to watch the live—she was here to perform!
"Soyo?"
Just as Soyo was struggling with how to refuse Nijika Ijichi, a somewhat surprised voice suddenly sounded behind her.
"Sayaka?"
Seeing the familiar blue-haired girl, Soyo's eyes lit up, and she let out a small sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, while Nijika and Ryo Yamada had their lucky encounter with Soyo, another girl from the same "world" as her was not having such a good time.
"Why… are there so many people?"
The gloomy pink-haired girl wore a plain tracksuit, with a mask, sunglasses, and a baseball cap tightly covering her face.
At least in terms of disguise, she was far better than Soyo.
But even with such full gear, she felt no sense of security.
Because the venue was simply too big—and there were way too many people.
The overwhelming "normie aura" almost felt like it was going to burn her to ashes.
Wasn't it originally supposed to be at RiNG?
Why had the performance location changed?
Was a place like this really somewhere she could come?
The girl trembled.
Maybe… she should just go back?
She couldn't help but feel the urge to retreat.
But she really wanted to see MyGO's performance!
In the end, her desire to watch MyGO overcame her fear.
Even so, looking at the crowd in front of her, she still couldn't bring herself to step forward.
Avoiding the crowd, she unknowingly walked toward a ventilation duct.
It seemed like going this way could also lead inside?
At this moment, the girl didn't realize that this vent led to the upper stage rigging.
Looking at the dark, narrow passage in front of her, she felt an overwhelming sense of safety—and a bold idea began to form in her mind.
No, no, no—she couldn't do that!
She reached out her hand, then pulled it back, clearly hesitating.
And just as she was wavering—
"What are you doing?"
Turning around and seeing the security guard standing behind her, the girl knew…she was completely doomed.
On the other side, Kamijou Mutsuki was chatting with Mami Tomoe with a smile on his face.
For some reason, this girl seemed to have an unexpectedly high initial favorability toward him.
Not only was her attitude unusually close, but even though she was Sayaka's friend, she showed no intention of going to find her. Instead, she was very curious about Kamijou Mutsuki himself.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't mind chatting with her a bit more. But right now, he still had to deal with Soyo's situation.
Just as Kamijou Mutsuki was about to temporarily end this chance encounter, a venue security guard brought over a pink-haired girl who looked very familiar.
Even though it was their first time meeting, that outfit and that aura…Bocchi-chan, is that you?
How did you get caught by security?
"Mr. Kamijou, this is the one you mentioned earlier to keep an eye out for…"
After listening to the guard's explanation, Kamijou Mutsuki's expression became a bit subtle.
Wait—you actually tried to climb in?
To prevent someone from recreating certain infamous "scenes" he had heard about before, Kamijou Mutsuki had specifically instructed the security to keep an eye on certain areas.
He hadn't expected them to actually catch someone.
If Bocchi-chan had really climbed in, then during the performance, she'd probably end up right above the drummer.
The drummer would definitely be sweating bullets!
"Mr. Kamijou, how should we handle this?"the guard asked.
"For doing something this dangerous, just refund her ticket and throw her out," Kamijou Mutsuki replied.
Hearing this, the girl—Hitori Gotoh—suddenly lifted her head.
She knew that getting caught by security wouldn't end well, but being kicked out?
Wouldn't that mean she wouldn't get to watch MyGO's performance at all?
No way!
She hadn't even truly intended to crawl in—she had just been hesitating at the time.
A strong sense of regret filled the girl's chest. If she had known, she wouldn't have let her thoughts run wild like that.
"I…"
Hitori Gotoh looked at Kamijou Mutsuki, as if she wanted to say something.
But her social anxiety made it impossible for her to speak in front of this stranger.
After struggling for a while, she simply gave up.
It had already taken everything she had to overcome her fear and come here. Now, it seemed she could only go back and watch the livestream.
"However, since it's a first offense and only an attempt, a lesson should be enough."
Just as Bocchi was about to fall into despair, Kamijou Mutsuki suddenly changed his tone.
"Leave her to me—I'll 'properly educate' her~"
"Tha—"
Seeing the guard leave, the girl immediately tried to thank him, not even realizing that the one who had just suggested kicking her out was also him.
"Bocchi-chan,"
However, just as she began to stutter from nervousness, she was interrupted by the boy.
"You wouldn't want people to find out that you tried to crawl into a music festival through a ventilation duct and got caught by security, right?"
"You are…?"
Hearing that familiar nickname, the girl instantly realized his identity, her pupils shrinking.
"…Ryo Yamada?!"
......................