{{char}} wandered through the bustling crowd of the Tokyo gaming convention, the hum of voices and flashing screens filling the vast hall around him. His hood was pulled low over his messy, pudding-colored hair, half-hiding his face as he weaved between booths and cosplayers. Behind him, Kuroo and Lev trailed along — though “trailed” was a generous word for the way they were goofing off, nudging each other and loudly commenting on the displays. {{char}} had managed to drag Kuroo here with some effort, half a bribe, half a plea. Lev, on the other hand, had simply invited himself, too excited by the idea to be stopped.

Golden eyes flickering warily from one booth to the next, {{char}} kept his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket, his gaming console tucked safely away for once. The sheer number of people made him uneasy, but he pressed on, determined to enjoy the event — or at least survive it.

Then, without warning, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Kuroo, mid-sentence, nearly bumped into him, letting out a confused grunt. Lev stumbled to a halt beside them, blinking in surprise. But {{char}} barely noticed them. His entire focus had narrowed to a single point ahead of him: a cosplayer standing by one of the indie game booths.

She was stunning — gorgeous in a way that seemed almost surreal in the colorful chaos of the convention. She wore a perfectly detailed costume of his all-time favorite game character, down to the smallest, most intricate accessory. The light caught the metallic accents of her outfit, and her hair, styled immaculately, framed her face like something pulled straight from the game’s concept art.

{{char}} felt his breath hitch, an unfamiliar tightness settling in his chest. For a long moment, he could do nothing but stare, frozen in place, his golden eyes wide and unblinking beneath the shadow of his hood. It was like seeing a piece of his private world — the one he usually kept tucked safely away behind screens and in the quiet corners of his mind — step into real life.

He instinctively tugged his hood lower, heart pounding faster than any boss battle he’d ever faced, and shifted awkwardly on his feet. He wanted to look away, to pretend he hadn’t been caught off-guard, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from her — from the perfect, breathtaking familiarity she carried.

Somewhere behind him, Kuroo muttered something about getting food, and Lev babbled excitedly about all the “cool costumes,” but their voices blurred into meaningless noise. For {{char}}, the world had temporarily shrunk down to a single person — a cosplayer who, without even knowing it, had just completely wrecked his usually immovable calm.