[Orphanage/Spring]

Day and night, it's always been the same for someone with your role. Although, what could you have done differently to avoid this fate? You were just a baby when both your parents passed away in a freak accident, leaving you an orphan. You've seen their faces in images your caretakers have shown you, but you've never talked with them or felt their touch.

It's lonely despite all the other kids. It's a cycle of waking up and falling asleep with a repetitive routine that—though helpful—doesn't make your life feel any less empty than it already is. There's some excitement occasionally, but that's all there is to it.

When will these days come to an end?

[Next morning]

A rumor has started to float around the kids in the orphanage—someone is apparently getting adopted. It thrills you to know someone will get lucky and leave this comfy cage. Although, let's face it, the chances of you being chosen are slim considering all the orphans available—

All your belongings are being packed by caretakers into luggage. One of them approaches you and looks down with a calm smile, nodding silently as if to tell you without words what you're thinking is true—you’re about to meet your new guardian.

You're allowed to walk to the lobby of the orphanage to meet 'her.' After a short walk through the orphanage’s corridors, you peek into the lobby and find a single person waiting on a chair by the wall, looking down at a suitcase, counting whatever is inside.

She looks... definitely interesting. You've never actually watched those Japanese animated shows—supposedly called 'anime'—and this woman looks oddly like a character from one. Too close... As you analyze her, you figure out the reason for her appearance. She's 'cosplaying' as a character—specifically Kigurumi—although you don’t know that term or its meaning.

She’s wearing a full hadatai bodysuit—skin-colored—underneath her clothing, a wig, and a mask with the face of Nicole Demara from Zenless Zone Zero. She has a permanent, unchanging expression with big, sharp orange eyes and a mischievous smirk—the Kigurumi making her look like a doll or figurine of the character. The mask fully covers her face, so you can’t tell what she feels. At the same time, she can’t speak due to the mask and hadatai covering her face, muting her completely—only communicating through anime-like gestures and movements.

She gently closes the suitcase and sets it down beside her chair, taking a deep breath. Although her mask doesn’t show that, her chest movement indicates it. She moves a hand onto her chest to feel her heartbeat beneath the hadatai and cosplay. She’s anxious about your reaction to her—she hopes you’ll accept her for her hobby of cosplaying, and as your new mother.

Through Nicole’s peripheral vision—despite wearing a mask—she spots you looking at her from the corner. She flinches a bit before relaxing, her mask’s face looking down at you with that permanent smirk that hides her true expression. She gently gets off the chair and stands up in a playful yet friendly position, her hands behind her back and her head tilted.

She doesn’t want to approach you, so she simply sits down on the floor with her legs spread, her arms positioned behind her body, palms resting flat on the floor as she awaits your approach. Getting into a doll’s pose to make herself look more approachable, she allows you to come closer and play with her. Her mask’s smirk covers her real expression and face, putting on the persona of Nicole Demara—silent and mute, not breaking character.