Tsukiko and I were first introduced to Cosplay (role-playing) in 2013.
We were both in our second year of junior high school at the time and had known each other for 5 years. From my “Family Teacher” to her “Guardian Sweetheart,” from the 6 p.m. Emerald Channel on my Panasonic color TV to my new desktop monitor, from Japanese manga to Mandarin dubs with a recitation accent, she and I sat in line in front of my home screen every weekend afternoon when kids her age were out on the town, brushing up on countless old and new anime titles.
Unlike me, who was cranky, socially awkward, and just loved to stay home, Tsukiko, at 14, was the kind of cute girl who would be discussed endlessly by the lovesick backseat boys. She had crystal skin, flowing eyes, and a smile with tiger teeth like Kirino Takasaka in “My Sister” (short for “My Sister Is Not So Cute”), and even her family background was a bit like the heroine: her parents were divorced, her father was far away, her mother was busy working, her brother was in college, and she was the only one left at home all year round.
I was under the control of my parents every day at that time, and envied her for being able to play games and watch anime freely at home, while she always came to me. Maybe it was because we were both isolated by the girls – I was a loner who didn’t like to bunch up, and Tsukiko was jealous because of her bad grades and her beauty – maybe it was because we had the same interests and shared the same interests.
At that time, every time I finished reading a hot teen manga, when I was lying in bed recalling the plot, the heroine would turn into Tsukiko’s image in my head. I was sure that the friend I was most proud of would be the shining heroine of my life.
“You’re just like the people in the anime.”
This phrase was said countless times to Tsukiko by various people in various tones, and she always laughed and listened. Neither of us expected that this lame compliment would soon really become a reality, but not the happy ending in the manga.
1
During the long, boring summer vacation in July 2013, we were in an air-conditioned room, just finishing up an old movie, when I ran to the fridge to get Tsukiko a drink, and came back to see her browsing through the pictures posted by a cosplayer (cosplayer). The cosplayer was playing “Little Round Face” (a fond name for the female protagonist of the anime “Magical Girl Little Round”, Kagome Yuuka), and her makeup and costume were very sophisticated, which was a shock to two 14-year-olds who had just started using computers.
“This seems to be called Cosplay, the ability to dress up as your favorite character.” Tsukiko’s eyes shone brightly, “Can we play this together?”
“It feels like you have to prepare a lot of things oh, will it be a lot of trouble?” I looked at the side of her face and thought to myself, Tsukiko must be invincibly cute if she goes to dress up any character from any anime.
“It’s okay, let’s find out how to get it done.”
For the next many afternoons, I was typing in various topics related to Cosplay in the search engine, Yuezi came together next to me and added a bunch of Cosplay exchange groups, two or three hometown Coser groups, photography appointment groups, followed by registration in posting bars and forums, newcomers posting …… We slowly became clear that out of a set of beautiful Cosplay photos, requires extremely much preparation and human help, from planning, costumes, props, makeup (full makeup) to scenes, photography, post, not only take time, but nearly a thousand dollars cost fee, obviously not a working family of junior high school students can single-handedly handle.
However, the more you know about what you like, the more you will want to have. During that time, we were both brushing up on the cosplayers’ various shoujo and footage every day, and although Tsukiko didn’t say it, I knew in my heart that we spent less time watching anime together and more time discussing cosplay in online messages.
I was taught by my parents and teachers that “the Internet is like a mountain”, and I was always skeptical about the true identity of cosplayers on the Internet. She soon made a group of cosplay friends, and in order to have more common topics with her, I accompanied her to various cosplay-related postings and qq groups, watching the “seniors” on their daily shoots and learning about nearby stores that could make costumes and props. After a round, my understanding of cosplay deepened.
Yuezi decided that the character she wanted to cosplay was “True Red” from “Rosebud Girl” – she especially liked the noble and arrogant doll. The two of us are obviously unable to hire professional photography and lighting, so I quietly took my dad’s camera off the top of his bookcase and volunteered to be the videographer. I wrote in a small book full of ideas for the photos, and Tsukiko brushed the original several times, studying the various details of the character. The two of us scraped together our pocket money, and Tsukiko also hid the fact that I worked for two weeks in a small milk tea store in front of the school for 30 yuan a day, and finally saved a small amount of money at the end of the month, barely enough to buy costumes and props.
In a chance chat in the group, Yuezi found a sister in the same city group “circle name” called “Wenya”, opened a custom cosplay costume tailor store, close to us, 300 yuan deposit.
The moon is quite trusting of Wanya, and I also have a good feeling about this sister who has been “taking” us since we entered the group. So we both picked a sunny afternoon and hid from our families that we were going shopping, and then caught a bus to the west side of town. At that age, it was the “second stage”, I think with a good friend to keep a secret for a common thing, to go to a “secret base” that has never been, is really a hot glowing event.
2
Wenya’s store is located on the street, and when we pushed the door in, she was hemming the hem of a cosplay costume of “Sakura” (the heroine of the classic anime “Moka Girls Sakura” and “Tsubasa Chronicles”), and when she let go, the skirt bloomed like a flower.
Tsukiko’s eyes went straight, I pulled her sleeve and stepped into the store first, turned my head and was so amazed by the two rows of cosplay costumes that I couldn’t help but let go of Tsukiko’s hand to touch the bows on them. The two of us were like Hansel and Gretel in a candy house. We didn’t even bother to say hello to Wanya at the sewing table, but we first put on the little dresses with our eyes.
It was Wanya who smiled and came up to greet Tsukiko: “Are you Tsukiko? So cute looking, haha.” She affectionately stroked Tsukiko’s head, looking like a 25-year-old sister with long, curly hair like a mermaid, which dispelled some of the doubts I had before I arrived.
“Are you Sister Wanya?” Yuezi was very happy and pulled me up, “Sister Wenya, this is Yumian, we talked together, accompany me today to order a ‘cos costume’ of true red.”
“No problem, I have already found the ‘persona chart’, probably look almost a bottom, come inside to measure the size.” Wenya cheerfully took us to the back room, “The price is as we agreed.”
I felt something was wrong when I entered the door to the back room, but Tsukiko had already followed me, although Wenya also greeted me to go in, but I stood outside the door curtain, listening to the movement inside, clutching the phone to death, thinking that if there is a problem, at any time run out to call the police.
But I thought too much, there seemed to be no one else in the back room, and Wanya was just doing the work that a tailor has to do to measure the clothes, and occasionally came across the ticklish moon, there was a clear sound of laughter.
The Cosplay costume thing was just finalized. Wanya was very considerate, heard that we were junior high school students, but also took the initiative to reduce the final payment, but the workmanship did not cut corners, the details changed and changed.
The month child almost every day after school to run to Wanya’s store to see the progress of clothing, I also accompanied a few times to see her and Wanya very chat. Because I returned late a few times, my parents strictly ordered me to go home on time.
At school, I listened to Tsukiko excitedly describe the gradually completed “cos costume”, from the waistband, frills, cuffs to the flowing skirt, and the details of her and Wanya playing back the animation together and picking up the chest of the skirt. The joy of her hand dancing is very infectious, so I also went to the library to borrow a large part of the introduction to photography home to turn up.
What I care about is that Tsukiko once mentioned that Wanya took her to meet a “camera brother” who said he was a college student from a nearby media school and could help her shoot and fix the film for free, as a practice. I think the world will not have a free lunch, hurriedly asked her, that person did not do anything inappropriate? Tsukiko’s eyes widened in surprise and she immediately laughed and said, “How is it possible?” and told me not to think.
Although I thought it was strange, I didn’t want to say anything more because Tsukiko was so happy on rare occasions. Tsukiko’s family ties were indifferent since she was a child, and I couldn’t replace everything after all, so it would be nice to meet an older sibling who would take care of her.
I thought about it and threw the borrowed photography book into the return box.
3
A month or so later, Tsukiko called to say that the cosplay costume was finished and she was now at Wanya’s store ready to try it on. I gritted my teeth and took a taxi to Wanya’s store. Pushing the door in, Tsukiko just happened to walk out wearing a crimson velvet dress with a wig on, a little shyly, lifting the hem of her skirt with her head down, smiling, and asking me, “Does it feel ‘real red’?”
“That’s for sure!” A person behind me spoke up before me, “Our sister Tsukiko is so good looking, cos who doesn’t look like that!”
I turned around and saw a fat man with a big greasy head and a big back, a small SLR camera hanging from his thick neck, and he looked at least 30 years old. The fat man crossed me, came up to the moon’s shoulders a sweep: “Another day let Wenya to get you on the ‘makeup’, big Liu brother I give you a good set of films, the clothes should be very out of the film.”
Said the fat man and pinched the moon’s face, Wenya immediately crossed the fat man glance, came over a hand to open his hand.
This is where the greasy fat octopus? I could not wait to kick the bastard’s nose, immediately shouted: “Who are you ah? Don’t move your hands and feet!”
“Hey, you’re a kid who talks really tough.” The fat man was not angry, smiling and sizing me up.
“This is the ‘camera brother’ I told you about before, Big Brother Liu.” Yuezi hurriedly broke away from the fat man’s hand and blocked between us, “He is very good at taking pictures, ‘Yun Meng Dada’ (a pseudonym, a Coser who was famous at the time) is responsible for his camera and retouching.”
“Just this is also a photographer?!” I reached out and pulled out the end money that Tsukiko put in my backpack and threw the envelope on the sewing table, “Let’s go back, we got the costumes too, I’ll shoot the rest for you!”
“Yuemian, I’ll be fine.” Yuezi soothingly took my hand, “Brother Dailiu is a good man.”
“Dailiu, don’t hurt Yuezi, apologize quickly.” Wenya interjected at the right time to round up, “Yumian, don’t be too angry, let Daliu teach you how to shoot later.”
“I don’t want him to teach!” I dragged Yuezi’s arm and wanted to leave, but Yuezi was nailed in place, helpless, and even looked at me a little pleadingly.
I was stunned – what was wrong with Tsukiko?
At this point, Daliu came up and said with a smile, “Little sister, don’t be angry, I’m not that nasty, Yuezi is just like my sister, what’s wrong with pinching her face?”
Wenya also came over to gently persuade me a few words, between the words, did not even think in the direction I was worried about, as if I only thought I was angry because Daliu hurt Yuezi.
Yuezi kept pulling my hand and looking into her eyes, I still stayed, the equipment was sent to Wenya’s store, waiting for Yuezi to finish trying on clothes and go home together.
I still think Dailiu is odd, I couldn’t help but persuade her on the bus back: “Yuezi, do you really want that Dailiu to take pictures of you? I always think he’s not a good guy.”
“I’ve known Big Liu in the group for several months, he is a very famous photographer, rare that he is willing to give me a free shot, and also with retouching, besides he did not do anything ah.” The moon slowly said, “You also do not fight with him again, I do not want you to get angry. And, you know, Yu Mian, I really want to cosmetic real red ah!”
“Then …… I want to go with you, and call your aunt or your brother, find a time when they are available.”
“No la, they will not agree to me to shoot.” The eyes of the moon child darkened for a moment, then smiled, “You can go ah, have you accompany me on the line. Besides, Sister Wenya will take care of me.”
“Then I’ll get my mom to accompany us, she’s free next weekend ……”
“Yuemian, this can only be our secret, you don’t tell the adults, okay?” Yuezi seriously interrupted, “If you tell the adults, then it’s better for me to go alone.”
We were silent for the rest of the journey that day, and the way Tsukiko looked made me feel a little strange.
4
I didn’t tell the adults about Tsukiko’s cosplay photo shoot after all, but only watched “Rosemary’s Girl” with her a few times on the Saturday before the shoot, discussing what kind of poses we should strike to better recreate the characters.
The “studio” promised by Dalyu is actually the back room of a small photo studio, where you shoot against a blank background and then key in the pictures. I agreed with Moonchild to help with logistics during the shoot.
When we arrived at the photo studio, Wanya had already arrived with her makeup kit. She helped Tsukiko get dressed, put on a long blonde wig, poked blue contacts into her eyes, and then skillfully applied her makeup. The moon child was not quite accustomed to rolling her eyes when Daliu came in with two or three camera bags, smiling and praising the moon child’s beauty, using a handheld DV to press a few times against the moon child in makeup, then set up the camera, adjusting the position of the headlights and letting me help test the light.
After about an hour of prep, the shoot started.
She was a bit restrained in the camera, posing for several poses, and Liu turned the photos over and over, feeling unsatisfied, and went straight to her shoulders, holding her ankles to correct the position of her feet, and pulling her hands to her chest to make a prayer pose. The month child very obediently did, but Wenya from time to time to go up to block away, Daliu is a smiling face look. He took a businesslike look for a while, then took the SLR to the moon child to see the effect, I also came over to see, the small screen in the moon child is indeed very like a doll “real red”, good-looking a little distorted.
“The effect is okay, go back to me to repair you, and then add a scene.” Big Liu patted Yuezi’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Brother Daliu!” Yuezi flipped back and forth the sets of photos, the screen fluorescence to her eyes so bright.
“Okay, next we’ll shoot bloopers and stuff, less formal stuff.” Daliu took Yuezi’s shoulders again and casually added, “Add one or two more ‘benefits’ to send out to more people.”
Welfare? I immediately remembered to rely on the exposure of the body to earn popularity of the “welfare Ji”, immediately dislike back: “Yuezi is a serious shooting role, not that kind of person, do not rely on ‘welfare’ what eyeballs. ” Said they wanted to pull them away, but the force is really small, Dailiu ripples.
“Nerves so nervous why, I’m just saying, do not shoot forget.” Dailiu stall, “not many people watching, don’t blame me when the time comes.”
He did not insist, and let the moon child changed a few poses, waved his hand and said “finished shooting” and left.
After so long preparation, so soon after the shooting, I still feel a little not worth. But the moon with a wig happily came to help me organize props: “Yu Mian, how do you think the finished film will be ah? I cosmetic real red still look like?”
“You are so cute, the finished film must be OK.” I wanted to talk to her about which of Dailiu’s actions were not so good, but when I thought the film was finished, I didn’t want to upset Yuezi, so I talked about the shooting process as if nothing had happened. Wenya also came over to help Yuezi carefully remove the clip on the wig, remove part of the makeup, and gently asked Yuezi “how does it feel to shoot for the first time”, holding back the words I wanted to ask her.
A cosplay girl being watched
The next working day, we went back to school as usual. The first semester of the junior year, even if we have poor grades, we can go to the high school of a private school, so there is no pressure of the midterm.
The final photo came out mediocre, and Tsukiko and I were looking for people to forward it around the group, but the number of hits was pathetic, and one of the few comments was that Tsukiko was a bit fat and didn’t look like a “real red”. In fact, Tsukiko’s body is very proportional, only her cheeks are a little bit cute baby fat, but it’s only natural for her to put on a few pounds in the photo, and it’s also normal for new cosplay works to not get much attention.
But Tsukiko was very upset, although she said “it’s okay”, but I could feel her smile was forced. Maybe it was because she had talked too much that Tsukiko started to avoid me, and she refused to go to the usual anime parties on weekends, and could only be seen chatting for a long time with her new “friends and family” in the group.
I thought, “Tsukiko has put so much effort into this cosplay, it’s normal for her to feel unhappy, so it’s counterproductive for me to pester her about it.
I thought I was right in guessing what Tsukiko was thinking, and this retardation later made me regret it.
5
I withdrew from all the Cosplay exchange groups and was estranged from Tsukiko for a while. After the winter break, when I returned to school at the start of the second semester of my junior year, I noticed that she had lost a lot of weight, and her hands actually had protruding bone joints.
The month will occasionally come back to my house, watch a while anime, write a while homework, and prepare for the midterm. I seem to have reached a tacit agreement with her not to mention the cosplay photo shoot, but to talk less and less, I always feel that she is hiding something secret in her heart.
Soon after, this secret was revealed by a set of photos.
The girl who had been playing well in the cosplay group, Violet, sent me a link to a website where Tsukiko and a few other girls had taken a set of “male-oriented” anime cosplay photos of American girls – a screen full of ill-fitting The first few were normal anime scenes, but at the end, they were all “welfare pictures” with the stockings hooked, the skirts lifted or even more out of place. The comment section below the photos is a variety of discussion boobs waist legs lewd words, but this post is very hot.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for Moonchild to take these, Yu Mian, you are Moonchild’s friend, you must talk to her about it.” Xiao Zi followed the link with this line, “There are also jokes about the moonchild in the group, saying things that are very excessive, and the moonchild still looks like nothing.”
I was so angry that I immediately dialed Yuezi’s number. The call was answered at once, and a somewhat hesitant voice came from there: “Yumian, you ……”
“Tsukiko, why did you take that picture? Did that bastard Dailiu force you to take it?”
“No, Dailiu he just suggested it, I was the one who wanted to go.” Tsukiko answered slowly.
“No way!” I choked, “You’re not that kind of person!”
“Just one shot, when I’m a little more famous, then ‘out’ other roles, definitely not like this again, I really want to ‘out’ the role I like and need guidance from seniors ……”
“What kind of bullshit logic is this! Yuezi you must have been brainwashed by that dead fat guy Big Liu pestered on, it’s okay, I will help you, I will help you ……” I think I just can’t help students, but parents can definitely help, “so, I’ll tell my parents, they know you , you tell your parents too, we’ll get that bastard together!”
I didn’t finish my sentence, Tsukiko cut me off at once: “You don’t understand! I’ve had enough of the feeling of preparing for something I love and not getting any response! I want to be a great cosplayer! I need the attention! If you tell my mom, let’s cut off our friendship!”
When Tsukiko finished, she hung up the phone with a snap. I froze, my mind went blank, and then as if my body was out of control, I picked up the landline and dialed Tsukiko’s home number, thinking vaguely that I was going to apologize to her, but when the phone rang, the person who spoke was actually Tsukiko’s mother, who was always late. I forgot what I said, but I remembered that my mother was silent for a while, said she knew, and hung up the phone.
I sat in a trance all afternoon with the phone receiver in my hand, and my parents who came back from work were shocked by me. I talked to them about Tsukiko, and they just said that I should stop hanging out with Tsukiko.
I felt as if I had made a big mistake, and when I got up the courage to call Tsukiko’s phone again, I only got a series of busy signals.
Tsukiko didn’t come to class the next day, and when we ran into each other again on campus, she avoided me.
6
I locked myself in my room and studied hard, and at the end of the midterm, I unexpectedly got into the best high school in the city, and Tsukiko, not surprisingly, got into the high school of the private school.
I could not get through to Tsukiko’s phone, and I could not say a word on QQ, so I could not talk to her for some reason. I asked Violet about everything she had been up to and asked for her Weibo account and found that she was still cosplaying and had a small following. She usually posts her daily life on her microblog, making up for the time, playing games, and a cosplayer named “Cold River” who is quite famous will also interact with her, and she occasionally puts up one or two “welfare pictures”, and the likes and comments are extraordinarily numerous.
The first time I mentioned cosplay on QQ, Tsukiko began to “read” but did not return the message, and over time, I also avoided talking about the topic, as usual, chatting painlessly about new fans and comics, and then silently looking through her microblogging, watching her more and more black silk, absolute field (a Japanese mainstream ACGN subculture term, referring to the part of the thighs exposed when the girl wears a mini skirt and knee socks) and not small close-ups, winning the comment section full of certain otaku fans to follow – with “welfare pictures”, the next cosplay “positive” is also very hot indeed.
I don’t know when I started noticing that Han Jiang started interacting with Yuezi on Weibo more often, calling her “baby” and “little princess” in a flirtatious way – although the Weibo I noticed that she started interacting with her on Twitter more frequently, calling her “baby” and “princess” in a very flirtatious way – although there were many male fans who flirted with her in the comments section – but she would only go along with her words. The company is a rare species in the cosplay world, and in a field where girls are the majority, the status is understandable.
I quietly asked Violet and got the reply that Cold River does have a bad reputation in the circle, but it seems that he is already Tsukiko’s boyfriend.
Before Tsukiko’s 16th birthday arrived, our relationship seemed to have recovered and we were able to talk off and on for half an hour. I was about to ask Tsukiko out for her birthday when I opened the QQ dialog box and saw a message from Tsukiko: “I think I’m in love.”
“Congratulations, how is he treating you?”
“Don’t you want to ask who it is?”
“Who is it?”
“It’s that cosplayer Han Jiang Oh.” This is the first time in over a year that Tsukiko mentioned cosplay-related words to me.
“How is he?”
“He’s great, he cares about me, he’s especially talented, he’s always guiding me in cosplay, he’s taught me a lot of useful things, and the attention has really gotten higher after practice.” A big string of cold river’s merits instantly brushed the dialogue bubble full of screen, “although sometimes a little strange to me, but I really thank him for it.”
This paragraph makes me vaguely feel a bit incongruous, I can’t help but ask out, “So do you like him? Does he like you a lot too?”
“I don’t really know. But I’ve already agreed to be with him, and everyone thinks we’re a good match.”
The “person is typing” logo flashed on and off, I waited for a long time, and finally a lone bubble came up: “I think I probably like it.”
I suddenly didn’t know what to say back to her, and after holding it for a long time, I asked, “How did you meet?”
“Big Liu introduced me to Cold River, I didn’t expect to meet such a famous senior.”
It was Big Liu again. The uneasy feeling in my heart was getting stronger and stronger, I just wanted to meet her face to face: “Yuezi when are you free lately, I want to celebrate your birthday, come out together to eat something and chat or something.”
“Sorry, Yumien, I have to rehearse a stage play with Han Jiang and the others on the recent weekend, he said he can take us to perform on the stage of ‘Firefly’ (a big comic con).”
“What about on your birthday? It happens to be a Saturday in a few weeks.”
“I was also asked out by Cold River that day, and he said he wanted to give me some kind of special gift ……”
All my subsequent invitations in various forms were declined by Tsukiko, and I had to remind her to be safe.
I was worried for a few weeks, and on her birthday, I sent her a “happy birthday” message at the exact same time, but Tsukiko, who always sleeps late, didn’t give me any reply. I scrolled through her Twitter account and found a selfie from 6 hours earlier: “Let’s hang out~”
I was distracted, looking for a random online article to read at 3 a.m., and suddenly Tsukiko’s QQ dialog box popped up on my screen.
“Thanks.”
“Wow it’s so late and you’re still up?”
“I’m out with Cold River, in the hotel.”
The words seemed like a basin of ice water on the head, drenching me through.
“You and him ……”
“Well, I feel like I’ve done something wrong.”
I immediately dialed Tsukiko’s cell phone, still the familiar string of long busy tones.
The conversation box continued: “But Chie said that between male and female friends this is a normal physical need or something, I’m also 16 years old, although I’ve never been in love, so maybe it really is.”
“Are you stupid! You are not afraid of pregnancy?”
“Cold River bought me the Yuting, have eaten. I feel a little sleepy, I’m going to sleep first, good night Yuemian.”
Before I thought of what to say, Yuezi’s avatar grayed out, and then sent a message in the past, she did not reply.
7
After that, Tsukiko and I stopped talking about cosplay again, only chatting back every ten minutes and never getting back to the phone. She continued to update her “welfare pictures” and cosplay “photos” on Twitter, and she was getting thinner and thinner in those pictures. I asked Violet about the latest news of the month, Violet stammered and did not say anything.
I dialed Tsukiko’s number and her home phone once every weekend, and the landline suddenly picked up one dreary afternoon. When she heard I was looking for her, she calmly told me that she had just had an abortion and was recuperating in the hospital, and that she would be moving out of the house to live with her “boyfriend” in a few months.
I hung up the phone, and the message I sent to Yuezi was still lost in the sea, so I had to chase after Xiaozhi on QQ to find out more. The dialog box of Xiao Zi shows that she seems to have been deliberating something over there, wrote and deleted, and finally said: “You prepare yourself psychologically, Yuezi is now a completely different person, many girls in our group because of her things, quit the circle.”
What I heard from Xiao Zi was worse than I imagined.
The other day, when Han Jiang was drinking, he accidentally sent a photo of Yuezi wearing only a maid’s apron to the group, too late to withdraw it, and it was saved and passed around by the men in the group, and then posted on the forum. Some people followed up with a post under the photo asking for a “price for sex”, and then a “price list” of Tsukiko began to circulate in the “Cosplay Pocket Money” group. The “price tag” is on what pose and what costume to wear. The more the rumors spread, the more real it became. Finally, she couldn’t bear to keep asking the small purple, and admitted that she had really started to do “aid intercourse”.
“And before that what the camera big Liu brother, I look and cold river is simply all the way goods. He is obviously Wenya sister’s boyfriend, but also has been unclean to the moon, maybe two pimps, just wearing the skin of Cosplay. Things are now so big, Sister Wenya actually directly to the group disbanded ……
“Yu Mian, I’ll say it here, this cos circle is very messy, I will not play this again. You also be careful yourself, do not have any more contact with her.” Xiao Zi finally said.
I looked at the dialog box that kept popping up, and the places in my head that felt wrong seemed to connect, making things more clear. I took a taxi to Wanya’s store, the roller shutter was half pulled, the door was labeled “store transfer”, and there were boxes from the moving company piled up everywhere.
I rushed in, Wanya is a “Sakura” “cosmetic clothing” into the cardboard box.
“You guys planned this from the beginning to lure Tsukiko into doing that nasty thing? I was furious.
“Yu Mian …… why are you here?”
“Why I came you do not know? Yuezi thing you do not know?!”
“I …… I won’t do cosplay anymore, I’m leaving ……”
“You’re just going to leave? What about Tsukiko? She used to treat you as a sister, so confident that you will protect her!”
“I …… I did not know it would be like this ……” Wenya sat limply on the sofa, “I started …… at first just thinking that Dailiu is my boyfriend, there will be no big deal, he should not have any idea about her, just touch it also …… I …… I also did not know that he would actually introduce Yuezi to Hanjiang, Hanjiang kind of people …… I thought Hanjiang turned sex, and Yuezi two love, did not expect him to result or ……”
“All right, less sophistry, I’ll go to the police to arrest you all!” I pointed at her and said.
Wenya’s voice is getting breathless: “Yuezi …… Yuezi will only say that it is voluntary, she is 16 years old, the police can not control her, and this kind of scandal she will not say it …… because I used to be like this. “
Wenya said, handed an ID card to me, on which was written her date of birth: December 7, 1996.
And it was the summer of 2016.
I could not hear what Wanya said again, only to feel a ringing in the ears, out of the store, the former always waiting for my month is no longer there.
8
Things were lackluster after that. When I tried to contact Tsukiko again, I found that she had blacked out all my contacts and my home phone was no longer working – I realized that for years she had always come to my house looking for me, and I didn’t even know where she lived.
I skipped my evening classes and ran to my former private high school, only to learn that she had dropped out, and the teacher said with disdain that she didn’t know her home address.
I lay at home for three days, asking people I knew one by one on my cell phone for news about Yuezi, but all I got was “she doesn’t want to be associated with you anymore” and a new Twitter account for her.
I was afraid that I would be blacked out by her on Weibo, so I silently applied for a small number and added “special attention” to her new account, looking through the “welfare pictures” and watching all the unpleasant comments below, my mind was blank.
I studied mechanically, spent my senior year alone, went to college, then picked up my dad’s camera that was on top of the bookcase and started doing “girl photography” (female photographers in the cosplay community) after school. I reminded them to be careful with male cameramen, to be careful with their costumes and makeup, and not to be obsessed with the so-called “big guys” and “seniors. “The girls always replied, “How is it possible?” and then laughed together innocently and carefree.
I never saw Wanya again, and Yuezi’s Weibo still lies in my special attention. She is still updating, her followers are rising, every three to five days she will put some “welfare photos” with titillating words, every two to three months there will also be a set of very delicate cosplay “positives”, occasionally in a forum to brush up on her posts, scratch After a few pages of men excitedly discussing her looks and the so-called “price”, I really wasn’t in the mood to look anymore.
We still haven’t left the cosplay scene, and while some people leave, there is always new blood coming in.
Sometimes I would open Moonchild’s Weibo account during the quietest hours of the morning to see her in a thousand faces, cosplaying characters I was familiar with or unfamiliar with. Looking at these photos, I would feel a trance, as if she still loves to smile, still beautiful and shiny, and everything that has happened in the past few years has never happened.
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