Time moves on to the point where you, Akiha, and Catoblepas have reached the festival event area, and you remark in surprise about the crowds, ask if everyone is here for cosplaying, and note that there are photographers too. This festival is the Akihabara Festa, an all inclusive otaku event covering things like anime, manga, video games, light novels, and cosplay. There are cosplay okay zones in every direction as you three ooh and ahh at things.
Akiha expresses his amazement at there being so many people coming to cosplay. Catoblepas laughs and says cosplaying has become mainstream. He's heard that there are people who can actually go pro at it, so sometimes talent scouts come around too. This is notably the first time of the day that Catoblepas is smiling, and Akiha decides to agree that cosplaying is awesome. He attempts to throw his arm around Catoblepas's shoulders, but Catoblepas backs away and apologizes, saying he's too close. He then quickly excuses himself to go change into costume.
After Catoblepas walks off, Akiha turns to you in shock and asks why Catoblepas ran away. You remind him Catoblepas just said he was getting too close, tell him to pay better attention, and/or offer to act as a go-between for the two of them. He quickly nods and agrees as he calls you Dr. Otaku and then Master Otaku. You object to the titles and/or start to regret your decisions in life.
The game decides to play a flashback towards the end of the previous episode of Akiha telling you he wants to be friends with the nerds of Akihabara but can't figure out how to do it and asks you for help. Once that's done, Akiha declares he's totally going to be friends with everyone in Akihabara with your help. When he notices you spacing out, he asks you what's wrong, so you tell him that everything's fine, then think to yourself about how you can't say you aren't an otaku now and feel guilty. Akiha is still confused, but he decides to not ask.
Some time later, the scene shifts over to where Catoblepas is. There was a line at the changing room area and he managed to get changed, but he comments that there's a lot of people out and about, so now he can't get back to where you two are. A couple of deity cops warn him to watch where he's going so he won't bump into anyone, so he quickly says he'll be careful. Catoblepas then sighs to himself and worries about being rude earlier, wondering why he is the way he is. He wanders off with his eye(s?) hidden by his hair, and the cosplay area has gotten more crowded with time, so much so that it's easy to bump into people even though he's trying not to.
Nearby where Catoblepas is, a cosplay maid is having her picture taken by a couple of objecthead men acting as scouts. They ask her to look their way then thank her as they snap some pics. The mobs talk about her and some other people they were looking at being charming, but they haven't found anyone yet who makes them go head over heels at a single glance. But finding diamonds in the rough is their job though, so they're confident they'll know right away if they come across anyone like that. Catoblepas accidentally bumps into one of them around this point, and he apologizes for it but then meets them in the eye (somehow) when his bangs shift to the side.
Back to your end of things, a PA announcement starts up asking everyone to be careful not to bump into anyone and get hurt since there's so many people around. You comment on the crowd and how the place is heating up. Akiha cheerfully agrees, and you comment on his good mood, ask if he likes otakus, or be taken aback at how much he likes otakus. B gets an extra line of him saying yes, then asking you to keep calling him just Akiha.
Akiha starts talking about how he likes Akihabara and not just otakus because he likes the heat that comes from people gathering together. He admits he still doesn't get otakus much yet, but he says he thinks it's amazing how the flames of passion spread out and gather again. You either agree, say you understand, or comment that his innocence is stabbing you in the feels. C gets an extra line where Akiha interprets this to mean chest pains, so he quickly assures you he's taken a course in emergency aid. You have to tell him that's not what you mean, so he then thinks it's some kind of otakuspeak like 'oof' is or something. When you tell him that's hard to understand, he scratches his head and comments on otakus being really hard to get.
Akiha then talks about how having large crowds like this means it's a lot more likely for accidents and fights to start happening. There are policemen around as security though, so he figures he and his youth firefighter volunteer squad won't need to be involved. You are curious about Akiha being a firefigher and/or comment on his clothes looking like a firefighter's uniform. Akiha realizes he's never told you before, so now he tells you he's part of Akihabara's youth firefighter volunteers. He has to do a lot of training every morning, which has been buffing him out. He also knows of a secret evac route near the park the event is happening, so you can rely on him if a sudden emergency pops up.
Akiha slightly changes the subject as he talks about how he likes Akihabara and people who have something burning inside them. There's been plenty of times when those burning emotions end up spreading into disastrous situations though, and he's seen it happen a lot himself. If the city ever is burning too much then he and the others will protect everyone. He admits he just said that to sound cool, but he actually might just want to get along with everyone. He hates being lonely, and he laughs that he might just like it when things are fun. You either tell him not to get too rowdy, say he's a good guy, or say you like that about him. In B, he's surprised but thanks you. In C, he blushes and says he hasn't heard that in a while since coming to town. He then yells and thanks you, saying he likes that side of you too.
You change the subject to comment on Catoblepas taking a while and ask Akiha if he thinks he's okay. Akiha agrees that he does seem to be gone longer than you'd expect for someone going to change, so he suggests going to check on him. He gets interrupted by screaming and cries for help, and Akiha says it's coming from the direction Catoblepas went off to. You say you heard Catoblepas yelling, so you tell Akiha you guys should go and start heading over. He agrees and runs along with you.
Over where Catoblepas is, he's getting pestered by the scouts asking him to lift his hair again. He attempts to get them to stop, but the mobs start half-forcibly moving his hair out of the way. They start ranting about how great Catoblepas's facial structure and body type are and declare him a diamond in the rough. They can't take their eyes off him, and one wonders what the burning feeling inside them is all about. But anyways they're sure they'll score a huge bonus if they get Catoblepas to sign up with them. They attempt to invite him to their agency and beg him to take their business card, but then devolve into fighting amongst each other to pick him up.
More randos start coming over drawn by the commotion, then get affected by Catoblepas's mystic eye. They beg to see more of his face, and the maid in the crowd tries pushing her way through to declare Catoblepas as hers. Catoblepas tries to beg them to stop, then yells for help. He notices you and Akiha soon after, so you signal to Akiha and reach out to Catoblepas. Akiha puts his back into what he's doing, and you follow up by activating your artifact to cut the distance between you and Catoblepas.
Catoblepas is shocked when your power has you and him flying through the air, and Akiha is surprised by what he thinks is you doing a superjump before moving to catch you two. Akiha then laughs about your crazy plan and compares what you did to a tengu's shukuchi. You are mildly surprised that Akiha can fly and comment you feel you've seen something like his wings somewhere else before. Akiha tells you he's a karasu tengu and asks if you know another one, but he then puts the thought aside to ask Catoblepas what happened.
Catoblepas starts apologizing and claiming fault to Akiha's confusion, and all the mobs down below are demanding and pleading to see more of Catoblepas's eye. Catoblepas explains that the eye he normally keeps hidden actually has a certain power to it unlike chuunibyou posers that causes people to fixate their attention on him. You ask about his eye, then process that it's the cause of what's happening.
Catoblepas apologizes some more saying it's always caused other people trouble. There's a lot of pushing and pulling and screaming coming from the crowd, which slowly starts bumping into people who haven't actually seen Catoblepas's eye. Catoblepas says he thought he could become someone else if he grew out his hair and did cosplaying. He was happy at first and gained a bit of confidence to try cosplaying outside, so he didn't want to cause a disturbance at a cosplay event.
Akiha sympathizes with Catoblepas, and you ask if that's why he avoids people and/or why he was distancing himself from Akiha. Akiha looks sad for a moment, but then brings up he never called it a bother. Catoblepas is surprised by this, and Akiha talks about how there's plenty of things in the world that spread around in a negative way. He then asks Catoblepas if it's lonely feeling afraid of that happening that you stop doing anything else. Catoblepas doesn't answer, so Akiha assures him he'll do something about this and asks that he keeps saying he likes cosplaying. He likes it when Catoblepas enjoys cosplaying, and he's always wanted to be friend with him. It's just depressing when a friend says you're being a bother.
Akiha looks for a way out of the area as it seems the policemen called in for help have also been charmed by Catoblepas's mystic eye. He talks about he can't do something about the rioting visitors and lead away the others at the same time, so you volunteer to help. Akiha decides to rely on you then, and he says he'll take care of putting out the fires since he's always done that. The episode battle then begins as he says he'll show you his artifact, and more happens after that.
After the battle, narration starts talking about how Akiha Gongen is a tengu who carries the faith of protecting against fires and suppressing fire disasters. The mantra that shows that power is the line On Hirakennou Sowaka, and it means "Flame, Burn Like Thunder." On a slightly different note, this land was once burned down before it had its current name. In order to stem the spread of anxiety, the Divided Spirit of the tengu that protects against fire was ceremonially brought over from elsewhere.
A Divided Spirit is a Shadow cut apart from the original entity, and the original entity is a different person who walks a different path. To them, Akiha Gongen was a new person who just looked a lot like him. His life then spread to the people seeking protection from fire, like a flame that burns a field. It is said that the fire prevention fields surrounding the city were called Akiha-no-hara. Akiha Gongen loved the people who live in Akihabara, and he thought of them as charming and lovely. He thinks to his other self he was divided from "would you have loved them like this too?" A hot feeling fills the inside of his chest, telling him he isn't alone. It tells him that there is someone else who loves the same things he does.
Back to the present, Akiha is calling to the god Onamuchi no Mikoto for power as he casts his NP. He throws his rope around the frenzied crowd, and it is described as having the power to contain fires as well as carrying the faith of Akihabara that he shares a name with. The crowd then yells out like late season 1 90s Sailor Moon monsters of the week, and the talent scouts specifically start talking about feeling refreshed, wondering why they cared so much about bonuses and promotions.
You are surprised by everyone's reactions and wonder what just happened, asking if they attained sage mode enlightenment or something. Akiha explains that his artifact has the ability to make any fire burn itself out, even mental ones. Once he confirms that everyone has calmed down, he puts his wings away and poses. You ask if that means their flames of passions went out and are glad for the moment that things are safer.
Akiha cheers about you guys successfully solving things as he starts calling you his best friend instead of Otaku all the time. You either cheer with him, be shocked at this sudden change in social status, or say you'd be okay if the relationship went even deeper. Catoblepas starts thanking the two of you for helping him, glad that his costume wasn't damaged.
You take note of Catoblepas being able to speak more naturally with Akiha and ask if he's okay. Catoblepas is confused for a moment before understanding what you mean, so he apologizes for not speaking properly earlier. When he isn't in costume he has problems holding a conversation with people. You go 'oh' at this and ask if that means he doesn't actually hate Akiha. Catoblepas confirms as such and says Akiha's a good guy. Akiha is touched by this and moves to hug him, but Catoblepas still shies away from this invasion of personal space and apologizes. The shock of this makes Akiha facefault, and you are either taken aback at this, note that he's been going up and down, or point out the brutality of it all.
Kuniyoshi and Hecate walk by and greet you guys. Kuniyoshi says he came to see your cosplay debut(s?), and Hecate says she just finished sending something to the print shop before apologizing for running away yesterday. You take note of their presence and say it's fine, then ask why they ran to begin with. Kuniyoshi says it's because Akiha was there, though he clarifies it's not because they hate him or anything. Hecate says he tends to erase all their materials when it's time to burn through getting their work done. He just can't be there when they have works to make, though he does feel bad about it. You point out that Akiha is standing behind them, causing the two to freak out and run away when they spot him. Akiha bursts into tears about this to you. You comfort him and sympathize, and you have the option to say you're there for him. C gets an extra line of Akiha sobbing about how nice you are.
Elsewhere in the event festival area, some cops are calling for reinforcements because of some rioting happening. Sanat Kumara slips in behind them, and they freak out when he does...something. Whatever it was, the two cops react in confusion afterwards and wonder what they were doing. They realize they're on the radio still, but they're confused by the operator asking them about the riot they were talking about. Sanat Kumara then heads off, and some other cops notice him. One of them thought he was Shinjuku Police Station's Hougen, but the other didn't see him and thinks it might just be someone else. The first cop is open to this idea, though he was sure the silhouette he saw was Hougen's. He shrugs it off as just someone similar, though they did seem younger than him.
Scene shifts over to the Shining Needle Castle reversed palace where Fuxi is standing around along lining up talismans with his eight trigram board like he's playing some kind of game. One talisman is placed on the center while a bunch more are arranged around it. Fuxi then takes one of them out, like he's making a path out from the center. He starts considering what the next move will be when he hears footsteps coming up the staircase nearby, so he turns to see who it is.
The Smoky God walks up, and Fuxi comments on his casual surprise at seeing him there. He's amused when the Smoky God asks what his goal is this time, and he says he's always looking towards revolution when making his move. That should be something everyone already knows though. Fuxi then asks if Smoky God is aware of that one famous card game where which cards are valuable and which ones aren't can change in an instant. That's what he's going for, and he says the Smoky God can laugh at him for doing the same thing as usual, even if he only has one card in hand.
Fuxi picks up the center talisman and tips it against his mouth. The next instant it seems to split into a bunch of talismans that he fans out in his hand. Fuxi asks if Smoky God thinks the game will be over if it gets divided like this. It's still only halfway there, and as he moves card carefully one by one, an inescapable game end will arrive. There is no way of getting out of the eight trigrams' divination, he says. That said, it takes time to line up the right cards to call for revolution. While everyone else is shuffling their hands, he wants to make it in time. The Smoky God turns around at that and starts walking out, and the episode ends with Fuxi saying he's looking forward to seeing what his next move will be as another player.
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