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THE PANEL WAS INCREDIBLE, it was an honour to meet the creative team of Eden’s Gate Online, even if it was from the comfort of my seat. I’d managed to snag a little of the loot they were giving away, but when I saw the way Bonnie was eyeing it up, I’d no choice but to hand it over. After all, it was all part of the experience coming to Nostalgia Con, and she needed to enjoy every minute of it.
While she was busy browsing manga and plushies with Poppy, I disappeared to make some enquiries about the cosplay competition. I didn’t think to ask Bonnie first, I thought surprising her would be better. I saw the craftsmanship that had gone into making the costumes, through the progress pictures she sent me throughout making and the finished costumes I saw hanging up in the cabin. They were too perfect to not show off, and what better way to do that than with the competition. Besides the prizes they were too good to ignore, and all that was left to do now was to get Bonnie to agree to take part. I kept it a secret until after the Eden’s Gate Online panel, thinking it might’ve softened her up for my question.
Luckily it didn't take much for her to agree, maybe it was the merch from the panel hiding in her bag or the mocha rabbit plush she was clinging on tightly too. We agreed to begin practising back at the cabin, most cosplayers who decided to put themselves forward would’ve been planning and practising their routines for months on end. We had one evening. Maybe I was crazy to even consider this being an option, but I wanted Bonnie to experience everything a comic convention had to offer. We’d watched a panel, attended a photoshoot, spent hours trailing around the market stalls and spending way too much money. Still, as long as she was happy, then my job was done.
I didn’t question her about what happened on the photoshoot yesterday, I was still under the impression that I’d caused her upset, despite Poppy informing me that it was nothing to do with me. I didn’t ask any questions about the situation as she seemed tight lipped about it, and I owed Bonnie her privacy. It was none of my business, but I’m glad she’d someone to talk to, even if she felt like she couldn’t confide in me.
As a group we decided to eat dinner on site, rather than back at the cabin. Amelia found us a table near the food court inside the convention hall. The delicious aromas were tempting my stomach, there was a variety of different meals on offer and I glanced at each one trying to make my selection. It was different to decide on just one, while my mouth was salivating.
Bonnie took the seat next to me and asked, ‘Have you decided on what to order?’
I shook my head, ‘Have you?’
She put a finger to her lips and hummed, ‘Well the takoyaki sounds incredible, but I’m not sure it’s enough on its own as a meal. I’m thinking about getting a teriyaki rice ball too.’
‘Are you sure you’re going to eat that?’ I said laughing, then I stopped the second I heard her stomach cry and apologised. ‘I guess I’ll go for the katsu curry bowl and get some of those fried chicken skewers on the side.’
‘Great choice.’
The rest of the group made their selection, and Amelia wrote each of them down on a new notepad she’d bought from one of the stalls. We all pooled our money together and handed it over to her. Jasper joined to help her carry the weight of our order, apparently we’d all chosen at least two dishes each. Maybe comic conventions just made you hungry, maybe it was all the walking and the excitement that caused you to forget about eating during the day other than the delicious snacks you could buy around the market.
Our food didn’t take long to appear and we were all more than happy about the fact. As soon as it arrived we all tucked in. I was surprised to see how many of us could use chopsticks so confidently. I offered Bonnie a piece of my fried chicken and she gave me one of her fried octopus balls in return.
‘Mhm, this is delicious,’ she said, after sampling the chicken. ‘But these takoyaki are the best I’ve ever had.’
I was inclined to believe her, I didn’t enjoy seafood too much but these octopus dumplings were incredible, and my fried chicken took second place between the two. But my katsu curry was so good that I almost licked the bowl clean. I didn’t realise I was the first on the table to have finished my meal, but after I was done I realised how bloated I felt after eating so much.
The rest of the group slowly finished, a couple of people unable to eat every bite. Amelia offered up the remains of her gyoza, but even Tristan refused. He was renowned for being the leftover guy at work, but it was hilarious to see him unable to live up to his nickname.
‘Did anyone want dessert?’ I said, making a light hearted joke. But I was quickly met with groans and whines before we all started laughing at each other. ‘Should we walk this off?’
‘Only if it’s back to the cabin,’ Poppy replied, her head resting on the table, clearly overpowered by her food coma.
Tristan rubbed his girlfriend on the back, ‘There there Pop, some fresh air might do you some good, come on,’ he said, helping her up from her seat. He was still juggling the dozen plushies she’d purchased in one hand and Poppy in the other.
‘I’ve got the rubbish,’ Bonnie announced, gathering up our mess and relocating it to the nearest bin. I waited for her to return before we took off walking. ‘Is there much to do at these conventions after the merchant hall closes?’
‘Not really, sometimes there’s an after party but I don’t think that’s till tomorrow,’ I said. ‘That’s for the closing ceremony and it’s in the style of a masquerade ball.’
‘Oh, I wish I’d known,’ she replied, casting her eyes to the floor. ‘I could’ve made some that matched our costumes.’
I smiled, ‘That would’ve been a nice thought, but don’t worry I’ll take care of it. That is if you’d like to go with me?’
Bonnie stopped in her tracks, and grabbed onto my arm, ‘I’d love to.’ She spoke so softly, that it was barely a whisper but in a way that made my heart flutter and left me speechless.
We continued to walk out of the convention hall, following the rest of the group, taking in the crisp summer air until we arrived back at our cabin.
The couples went off to their respective rooms for the evening, and after giving ourselves time to recover from the amount we’d eaten at dinner, and drank plenty of fluids, Bonnie and I discussed the plan for the competition. She’d dug out a small notepad from somewhere and was writing down ideas as they came to us.
‘Is there any prizes for the winners?’ she asked.
‘I think there is for the top three placements, then a couple of runners up including a judges award,’ I said, thinking back to what I saw on the poster. ‘They seemed pretty good, the first prize is to be a representative of the convention in Japan next year. There’s a little cash prize too and I think I saw there were some vouchers for sewing materials.’
Bonnie grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me close to her face, until I saw her stern expression. ‘We have to win.’
I laughed nervously, ‘I mean most people have a lot more time to practise their routines, not many people would be entering a competition of this calibre with no experience and only a night to rehearse,’ I said, wondering if I’d made a mistake putting us in for this competition in the first place, but I shook the notion from my head. ‘But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, right?’
My best friend released me from the choke hold, ‘I’m willing if you are.’
‘Deal.’
Glasses replenished with water, and we set our plan in motion, firstly discussing the overall theme we wanted to convey during our performance. I’d suggested making Bonnie the star of the show, and I’d be her accompaniment. At least that’s how the anime always portrayed my character, but it made the perfect narrative. Bonnie grabbed the props she’d brought for the photoshoot, and we reviewed them once more; the cards, the book, the staff and the bear plush. We wanted to incorporate all of them somehow.
We turned the notes into quick scene cards, laying ideas out on the coffee table and arranging them in an order we thought might work as a performance. The first idea was for Sakura to appear on stage alone, the spotlight on her with the bear attached to her shoulder and the book in her hands. She’d walk forward towards the crowd and as she did, the cards would escape from the book. This would require a little more fishing wire, like we’d used in the photoshoot.
Bonnie would then step back, stopping the book in her shock until the bear presented herself with a charm on a string. It would soon become the full staff in which she’d seal away a spirit that would become her first card.
Then it would be my time to shine, coming on stage with a sword in hand to assist with a second spirit sealing. After which the cards would be collected in a sort of ceremony, and together we would dance like a true Prince and Princess until the stage lights dimmed.
‘Are you happy with this arrangement?’ I asked, noticing Bonnie was going to be the centre of attention. This would be her first time on stage, I didn’t want her forcing herself into something she’d be uncomfortable with. ‘We can switch it up if not.’
Bonnie sat back and studied the plan we’d made, ‘No. I think this works really well for both the characters and the costumes. It also tells a little story. I just hope we can fit it all in.’
‘It shouldn’t be a problem,’ I said, ‘Most performances are between one and five minutes a piece. We just need a piece of music that would suit the theme.’
Bonnie took this as her que to get out her phone and begin searching the web for an appropriate piece of music. We discussed the use of the main theme tune from the anime, but it was a little much for what we were going for.
‘I don’t suppose you bought your laptop with you?’ Bonnie asked.
‘Actually I did,’ I replied and hurried off to fetch it. ‘Is your signal bad or something?’
Bonnie shook her head, ‘No, I just thought maybe we could make our own track. There’s nothing from the official anime that I think would suit our theme.’
I gave it some thought, ‘That’s not a half bad idea. Tell me what you have in mind and I’ll see what I can do. But no promises.’
We discussed some options for music that she thought might work well, and when I layered it with a few sound effects, we created something usable. Now all that was left was to practise our routine, like that was the easiest part.
‘You ready?’ I asked, getting ready to play the music from my laptop.
Bonnie got herself in position, ‘As I’ll ever be,’ she said.
We’d arranged the furniture to create a small practice space. The stage would be at least three times the size but we’d have to manage. I counted her in before I hit play on the music. Bonnie acted out the first part of the sequence, just walking with the book towards the front of the stage. Her expression was a mix of confusion but curiosity. We hadn’t managed to rig the cards erupting from the book, so we just pretended for now.
Everything was going according to our plan, Bonnie only stumbled a couple of times during the practice and each time she asked to restart, I agreed. I could see the determination on her face, and how much she wanted to excel at this. But soon came the parts in which I needed to be present for, and I was the one holding her back, flailing around like a deer on ice, much like I’d done in the skating rink.
Bonnie only laughed at me, explaining we’d keep going until we got everything perfect, and I agreed. I didn’t want to let my best friend down. I wanted us to place somewhere in the competition more for her sake than mine. We executed the scene where my character first meets hers, and joins her in the sealing of the second spirit of the card. We then stood together for a moment admiring what she’d achieved. A short voiceover clip taken directly from the anime was layered over the music, to which we mouthed along to. It took us a few times to get that part of the performance right but once we’d got it down, nothing else stood in our way.
The final scene was the dancing like royalty, a sweet lighthearted part of the performance that would show off the star embellishment on her costume. Every sparkle she’d added into the gown would twinkle in the stage lights and she would be the star of the show. We moved together completely in sync, as we had been this entire trip, our lips brushed together gently and when we parted the music finally stopped.
As I pulled away from Bonnie, I noticed a rosy hue on her cheeks and smiled, feeling my own aflame. ‘I’m sorry, was that not?’ I asked, remembering what had happened the last two times I tried to kiss my best friend.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I think that is the most perfect way to end the performance.’
I’d misread the signals again, and agreed, ‘That’s what I was thinking. People ship the two characters, right?’
‘Yeah, their relationship is pretty much canon.’
We didn’t bother getting out the costumes and attempting the performance in a dress rehearsal, but we continued practising until early hours of the morning until every step was perfect.
Bonnie curled up on the sofa, trying to hold a conversation with me about how excited she was for the performance tomorrow and how glad she was that I’d invited her on the trip. But out of pure exhaustion she fell asleep mid conversation.
I smiled at how cute she looked, and covered her with a blanket. While I was still slightly awake I weighed up my options when it came to Bonnie and my feelings. After tonight, I think I’d finally made my decision, I would finally pluck up the courage and tell her how I felt.
Now I really couldn’t wait till tomorrow.
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