I sat on my workbench, designing any Shizu-sama reference with a cotton-to-silk ratio of 65:35. Almost thirty pieces of crumpled paper scattered along the floor. The shavings of my sharpened eraser cycled through the air generated by my fan. Mangas and even novels of FCO5 formed a tower on my desk after hours of research.
It was already eight in the evening when I heard Sera's knock. My arms lost their strength and fell hanging at my sides. A deep sigh, a whisper followed, "This won't do."
I need to detox.
"Where are we, Kou-nii?"
"Where art is thee." A museum. I've been holding Sera's hand as I lead her through the huge quiet room filled with paintings on the wall.
"Yeah, but… What will we do here?"
"My head seems to be floating. I need to take a breather. This is also a good opportunity to immerse you in Japanese culture." I approached a painting and asked, "Tell me, Sera. What do you feel about this?"
"Me? What do I feel? I–I don't know… it seems like a coin." Sera gazed where I pointed my finger at, an ancient coin protected by a bulletproof glass enclosure. It carved the image of a wave. Her lip bite told me how confused she was. "Should I feel something?"
"Coin it is, a heavily important object masked by its lightness. Unless something happens, this moment might be the only time it will flip. It's just regretful why its tails were the ones facing up."
"Regretful? Is that how you feel?"
"One's feelings are always personal, Sera. Questions only follow."
"I understand. Does anyone know what's on the other face of the coin?"
"You're right to ask. But how would you feel if you knew no one knows what's behind that coin?"
"Curious, maybe? I don't know what's right to feel about it. But… the other side of the coin might be more valuable than what we see now. If it's like that forever, it's just sad."
"There's no right or wrong answer if feelings are involved. What you feel is always what you believe. It's like how pictures convey thousands of words. Art echoes thousands of stories, and it would be the same with the art of cosplays."
We went to the next exhibit, explaining to Sera a display of an ancient broken compass also covered with a glass case. Brought by Japanese researchers from the 90s, I started educating her on how it works, and how valuable it is. "After all that info dump, what do you feel about this?"
"If we possessed that kind of tool, we would be elated about its discovery. But as time will pass, its value will degrade, just like how it exists in this world."
"See? You also related a story from your own unique perspective. That's how powerful feelings are. Being able to feel is what makes us human."
"I'm an elf."
"… Correction. Being able to feel is what makes us a person."
With this simple joke, our laughs were restrained so that it wouldn't disturb other people. After calming down, she asked, "How about you, Kou-nii? What do you think about this tool?"
"For me? It's far more significant." Smiling, I gently rubbed the glass case and said, "I always treat myself like a broken compass. I know my destination, but I'm always guided away from the right direction. Like this compass, I won't fix myself on my own. Luckily, I've found my way back to becoming a cosplay manager… I've found someone who's able to help fix me."
I ended my speech by fixing my view onto Sera's eyes. Our matching gazes lasted for a few seconds before I felt my cheeks burning. Here comes the confused head tilt to the side of hers, which caused my gaze to fly away.
"Kou-nii… I think you're just relating anything to cosplays."
This moodkiller!
For our next stop, "How about this painting?"
The magnanimous, monochromatic painting of a toolbox rested onto the wall way beyond our height. It contained various tools for handicrafts and furniture creation. But no matter how plain it is, it still conveyed to us an emotion coming from an unknown cause.
Pinching her chin, she asked, "Are those crafting weapons, tools, and such?"
"Partly correct. Do you have those in your world?"
Sera pointed at the tools and told their names like an elementary student, "That is a hammer! The other one seems like a saw."
Giggling, I said, "No matter the world, these tools have the same name and function, huh? Your observations are beyond the people who don't appreciate art. But how do you feel about it?"
"For some reason, I'm… I'm sad about it, and I can't explain why."
"Giving you an emotion without a logical reason has been intentionally mastered by professional artists for years. With a little bit of a vision and a lot of effort on execution, you could have others see a different perspective and perception of what the art is trying to capture."
"Then, you're feeling the same thing, Kou-nii?"
Staring at the lower right of the painting, I uttered, "This signature is from a woman's hand, and so the rest. The handles of these tools were already tattered. These tools were usually used by fathers, but in this case, the father is missing. To feed her children, only the mother works hard to learn handicrafting, sell services, and provide food for her children. This sadness that we're feeling… It's from the neverending suffering of a single mother struggling to provide a better future for her children."
After I explained my thoughts, I heard Sera sniff. The moment I turned to her, tears already popped out of her eyes. Cries are contagious. Seeing her tearful like this pumped out too much blood from my heart, nearly exploding.
"S–Sera! Are you alright?"
Wiping her tears and covering her eyes, she muttered, "So even in a peaceful world, suffering is still a thing?"
I gave a napkin to her and responded, "Suffering is human nature, and so are feelings."
When she took the napkin, I expected it to absorb her tears, but she sniffed at it instead.
Sera took a liking to the painting. Luckily, they have puzzle merchandise for most of the paintings published in that museum. It should be mostly for kids, but I bought one for Sera. Now that we're in our room, I unboxed the puzzle and taught her how to solve it.
While she excitingly took her time building the image piece by piece, the cloudiness in my mind already vanished, but it was replaced by fatigue. I lied on my bed and groaned out of exhaustion. Though I'm not yet sleepy, the moment gave me the peace to think of our next objectives.
I've been pressured by my encounter with the twins already. Rise warned me not to join OtakuMania since she needed to win for undisclosed personal reasons. Hina indirectly threatened me, and she might be exploiting our loss.
Would Hina want Rise to win, knowing they were related? That's crazy politics for the industry! With what happened before, I'm still not sure if that would be the case. I personally would not shame Sera in public and I can't just pry into the twins' lives to resolve their issues instantly.
Their interaction might be related to Rise's cosplay goal. With Hina's threat, I think I still have the chance to win the contest. Through Sera's cosplays, I'll show her what art was. I'll portray the emotion that she should feel without knowing its reason. I just know what version of Shizu-sama I need for the next performance.
"Kou-nii, look at this."
When Sera called, I pulled my back sitting straight using my abdomen. Strange indeed, I saw the puzzle nearly completed, but there are two exact pieces that are swapped off place.
"J–Just how are you solving the puzzle, Sera? You're solving the puzzle not by the image but through its piece slot? You're a hardcore!"
"I don't know if it's a compliment. I can just swap these two in an instant. But were these normal?"
Shaking my head, I responded, "It's my first time seeing this too." It's pure coincidence, but sooner, my eyes widened out of an idea. I know what cosplay I should craft for Sera.