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“I want scars on my face like Noel!” Ace pouts while sitting crossed-legged on the bed in our hotel room.

“Your character doesn’t have them,” Grady tells him while checking out his outfit in the floor-length mirror, striking pose after pose with a cocky smile.

“You don’t like the hero you chose? I thought he fit you quite well,” I tell Ace, who’s in a dark green hero suit.

“Ugh, I do! But you guys look so sexy. Seriously, spandex is so flattering on your figure.”

“You look good too; stop pouting.”

He sticks his tongue out, throwing up an L with his hand. His attention is diverted when the door opens and Levi steps out wearing his cosplay.

And it looks amazing.

I chuckle, shaking my head.

Levi steps in the room with an all-black outfit, weapons strapped to his thigh, and a sword in his hand. “I can’t believe you guys are making me do this.”

“People are going to want pics with you. You’ll be really popular,” I tell him, fixing my wig on my head and finishing up the overall look.

Of course I’m a character from Commander Kendo Demon Assassin. I’m cosplaying Narushiki, the teen who’s enemies/best friends with Shinso Kendo, the demon assassin.

And Alex is of course cosplaying the MC, Shinso.

I helped him get all the things for today, the proper makeup and outfit, and with his incredible skills in art, it was easy for him to get involved too. The sword was the biggest thing to accomplish for the look. It’s fucking huge. We used a 3D printer that Ace bought for us so we could make it.

Ace called it our getting together present.

Alex comes out next, his cocky grin and confident demeanor so on point with his character that I almost choke on my tongue, a faint sheen of sweat breaking out on my neck from being starstruck. My cheeks heat up too.

Oh fuck. He looks exactly like Shinso.

My eyes take in all of his outfit, and when I see the sword he’s carrying like a baseball bat over his shoulder, I actually whimper a little.

“Damn, Alex,” Ace says while laying back on the bed, instantly popping up to stare. “Glad we got separate rooms for tonight—”

Grady laughs loudly. “Noel, you good?”

“Y-yeah,” I say quietly, rubbing at the back of my neck, dropping my gaze from Alex’s smirking mouth.

It doesn’t matter, though. Alex saunters over, completely in character, or, I guess not, I can’t tell because they’re so similar it now makes sense to me why I latched on to Shinso the way I did…

“Am I making you fan-boy?” he asks roughly, eyes lighting up at my discomfort.

“Absolutely yes,” I admit, my face flaming hot.

He chuckles under his breath, bringing a hand up to move a strand of my wig hair back. My breath catches, eyes widening. He leans forward, his lips almost touching my ear.

“We’re gonna have so much fun later.”

He leans back, and I have to remind myself that our friends are all present in this room, and grabbing him so we can kiss on the bed would be inappropriate.

“You look good, doe eyes.” The tip of his finger pokes my nose, and I laugh.

“You too, although you know that already.”

“Okay kids, mama is coming in!”

My mom peeks through the slightly open door, and when we don’t object, she comes in, wearing her own cosplay. In a white kimono, long purple hair, and detailed makeup designs on her face, she looks incredible.

“Damn, you do not look like a mom.”

“Ace,” I warn him.

“Hey, I’ll take the compliment.” My mom smiles, and we all tell her how good she looks, but appropriately.

“Are we all ready to go?”

“Yeah, so if we get separated, just meet up at the CKDA panel, got it?”

Everyone agrees, and then we’re off, stopping at artist alley to buy keychains and anime merch as we make our way through crowds of other cosplayers. We’re stopped often for pictures with other attendees, and Ace loves the attention.

He eats it up every time someone comes up to him to ask for a photo.

The day goes by quickly, and we’re exhausted after a couple hours of walking around. We meet up for the Q&A panel with my favorite voice actors, and Alex watches me freak out over it. He squeezes my hand and smiles.

This is our last time together before we start college. Ace is going to Redcrest University with Levi and Grady, and Alex and I are going to Agreste University. They aren’t too far away from each other, thankfully. About a two-hour drive.

I know we’ll meet up often, but still. It’s going to be hard to be away from them.

I recently had to get used to Alex being gone. He moved out of my mom’s house when his aunt asked him to live with her. He’ll stay there during college breaks, too.

I guess I can forgive him for that. I do have him rooming with me in a dorm when school starts. His aunt was able to help with Alex’s admission tuition, and he also has scholarships. He hasn’t spoken to his father since the incident.

“Hey, they’re doing tattoo’s here!” Ace whispers loudly at us while reading the event pamphlet. I take it from him and see there is a tattoo artist panel going on all weekend at the con.

“No, Ace. Tattoos are forever.”

“So is our friendship!” He grins and blinks at me coquettishly.

Grady pipes in with an unhelpful, “I’m totally in.”

I look to Levi for his input, but he just shrugs.

Alex is my last voice of reason, and yet what does he do? He says, “Fuck yeah, let’s get tattoos.”

I close my eyes with a sigh, rubbing at the bridge of my nose. I remember the night as we all stood in a circle before doing shots in a toast. A night I’ll cherish forever. “ To the Knight Blade Boys,” we cheered in unison, and I smile fondly at the memory.

“Fine. What kind of tattoo are we getting?”