Coffin Arc

*For the fictional game, see Coffin.*

The **Coffin Arc** is the tenth story arc in *My Dress-Up Darling*.

Upon meeting up with Amane-san and his friends at a cosplay event, Marin and Wakana learn about a group cosplay shoot they’re putting together for Coffin, a horror game. Unfortunately, the older cosplayers have life commitments that get in the way of hitting the studio for their appointment!

Cue Marin and her ever proactive mind! She rings up a certain someone to see if they’d be game for an impromptu cosplay collaboration, but it’s going to be a hard sell!

At the Coffin group cosplay, a big surprise awaits JuJu-sama!! While wearing a costume she never thought she'd wear, she reveals to the others her shocking plans for her cosplay career! What will the older cosplayers have to say when they hear her out, never mind Marin and Shinju?!

Later, Marin puts an uncomfortable question to the gang about Akira, and eventually the truth comes out about why she seems to be avoiding Marin!

## Summary

### Main Plot

Marin, Wakana, Chitose, Akira, Suzuka, and Miyako were all in attendance at the afterparty. During the party, Chitose noticed that Akira was acting unusual. As the party was going on, the conversation arrived at dolls. Wakana saw Miyako keeping her doll inside her bag and also talking to it. He lit up, knowing that he, too, kept a hina doll which he talked to with him all the time.

Later on, Miyako and Suzuka shared that they were planning on doing a group cosplay the following weekend, but their friends had to cancel so they were short on people. When Suzuka told them that they were planning on cosplaying *Coffin*, a horror game, Chitose asked if he could join them and invited Marin as well. This suggestion drew reactions from Suzuka, Miyako, and Akira. Since they needed a total of six people for the meetup, Marin called Sajuna to join them, too.

Sajuna flat out turned Marin down. She told Shinju about Marin's group's plan to cosplay *Coffin*, and her younger sister immediately became excited at the thought of seeing her favorite characters come to life. She informed her that she turned it down, but when Sajuna saw Shinju's face fall, she changed her mind and went to the afterparty with her sister.

The group asked Shinju to join them and cosplay as one of the *Coffin* characters. They all then decided who which characters they would all be cosplaying as. Wakana, who wouldn't be cosplaying, offered to help out. Suzuka suggested that he help in making the props for the meetup. Marin invited him over at her house so he could borrow the *Coffin* game.

Later, Akira excused herself so she could go take a smoke break. Chitose went with her, and Wakana also left to go to the bathroom. Chitose asked Akira if she found Marin too hard to handle. He went on to say that it was obvious that Akira was behaving differently when Marin was around. Wakana was outside and overheard everything. He joined their conversation while Akira shared the reason why she didn't want to be around Marin and why she wanted Marin to stop being around her.

**Subplots**

The following are the subplots occurring within the Coffin Arc:

### Sleepover Subplot

Wakana went over to Marin's house to play the game "Coffin" so he could have a reference for the props he was going to make. Unfortunately, the train system was shut down due to an accident. Marin told Wakana that he should stay the night since he wouldn't be able to go home. The thought of sleeping over alone at Marin's house caused Wakana to panic, but since he had no choice, he tried to keep his mind off the topic. They left to buy some clothes and food.

At the store, Wakana saw some energy drinks and decided to buy some. He figured that it wouldn't be a sleepover if he stayed up all night. He was intent on finishing the "Coffin" game that night instead of sleeping. Unfortunately, Marin mistakenly thought he was buying sex energy drinks since these were located next to the regular energy drinks.

When they arrived home, Marin prepared for what she thought would be the first time she and Wakana were going to have sex by putting on some sexy underwear. The night didn't turn out the way Marin thought it would as Wakana was playing "Coffin" while she fell asleep. In the morning, she realized that Wakana never intended for them to have sex but was planning on staying up because he wanted to finish playing "Coffin."

The following day, Wakana shared with everybody his thoughts on *Coffin*. Everyone was amused by his first reaction to the story. They proceeded to plan for their upcoming photoshoot. Wakana and Akira were tasked to make the props, so Wakana thought of inviting Akira over to his place so they could make them.

Sometime later, Marin was hanging out with Nowa, when the latter noticed that she looked depressed. She asked Nowa what she would do if someone she only saw as a friend confessed to her. Nowa, without hesitation, replied that there no way it would work. This left Marin feeling more dejected as she went on her way to Wakana's home.

She arrived at the Gojo's and they all ate dinner together. She was touched that Wakana prepared fried mackerel because he remembered her saying that she wanted to eat fried food the other day even when she merely said it on a whim. She was further moved when Wakana stuffed it with plum and shiso leaves so she could enjoy it without any sauce.

As she was leaving, she asked Wakana to walk her to the station. Wakana noticed Marin's mood was a bit off, so he asked her if she was okay. Without answering, Marin asked to come over again the next day, to which Wakana answered yes. On the train, Marin thought of Wakana and started to cry. She realized that she was afraid that if she confessed, it wouldn't work out with him. However, she was determined to stop worrying. She decided to tell Wakana that she loved him after their meetup that week.

### Surprise Cosplay Subplot

Akira arrived at Wakana's house so they could work on the props for the *Coffin* group cosplay. There, Akira explained to Wakana how she got into cosplaying. She also shared how she met Suzuka and Miyako back in college and how they saved her life.

Meanwhile, Suzuka and Miyako met up with Sajuna and they had an improptu Black Lobelia cosplay for Sajuna.

During their previous afterparty, Miyako had asked Shijun if her older sister ever cosplayed as anyone besides Magical Girls. Shinju replied that Sajuna once mentioned that she wanted to cosplay as Black Lobelia, but the older sister had always thought that she was too short to make it work. Miyako assured Shinju that all of the things that Sajuna was worrying about would work out somehow. They devised a plan to surprise Sajuna with her very own Black Lobelia cosplay from a ready-made costume that Miyako bought previously. They would make all the arrangements in advance and just make sure that Sajuna was present. Marin then asked Shinju to also cosplay other *Blaze!* characters with her during that time.

At the time of the surprise, Sajuna was initially resistant. However, Miyako was able to pinpoint Sajuna's real insecurities and reasons why she refused to cosplay as anyone other than Magical Girls. Sajuna was convinced and Miyako and Suzuka started to do her makeup and prepare her costume.

Marin and Shinju arrived at the venue and saw Sajuna dressed as Black Lobelia. They all gushed at how awesome the cosplay was and they started their photoshoot. Marin and Shinju also changed into their respective cosplays and joined the shoot.

While they were viewing the pictures, Sajuna revealed to the older cosplayers that she had planned on quitting cosplay. While her parents were supportive of her hobby, she thought that she was getting too old for it. However, Miyako and Suzuka shared that in cosplaying, age didn't matter. In fact, there are those who are in their 40s and even older who still cosplay. They added that cosplaying while being an adult is much more fun because you had the money and resources to fund your hobby.

As the group was eating, Marin asked the older cosplayers where Akira was. She asked them if Akira hated her, and if so, she assured them that it didn't bother her. Suzuka and Miyako were unable to respond and simply apologized to Marin.

### Main Plot (cont'd)

On the day of the *Coffin* group cosplay, Wakana had done Marin's makeup before they went to the meetup venue. While Wakana was doing her makeup, Marin was already psyching herself up for her planned confession to Wakana.

At the venue, as everyone was preparing their costumes, Sajuna started to freak out about the horror scenes that they were going to shoot. Wakana also helped in setting up the scenes.

Once everyone was ready, they started their photoshoot, with Wakana and Suzuka behind the cameras. After the initial scene, Wakana started to setup for the dining scene which required the body part props that Wakana made with Akira, as well as the fake blood provided by the studio. Everyone noted how realistic the props looked like. Sajuna, on the other hand, refused to look at them in fear. She realized that she actually had no idea what the dining scene was since she was too scared to finish the game.

Wakana started to splash the fake blood onto the cake, and it splattered all over the cosplayers. This was when Sajuna decided to look down on her plate. There she saw the fake eyeballs and flesh and started to call out for her mom.

The rest of the photoshoot went on without a hitch. They started to look at the pictures that were taken. Shinju thanked everyone for giving her the opportunity to cosplay as one of her favorite characters. Afterwards, Marin offered to help Shinju loosen her sarashi so they left for the changing room.

Meanwhile, Wakana found Sajuna alone on a couch and commended her for a job well done, despite her hating horror games. Sajuna explained that despite hating anything horror, she did the meetup because she knew that it would make Shinju happy. As an older sister, she wanted to make her sister's dreams come true.

In the changing room, Shinju ran into Akira and realized that she was not able to take a picture of her and Marin. Marin tried to stop her, knowing that Akira hated her. It was then that Akira lost her composure and started to simp for Marin, confessing her love for her "Princess." This was actually what Akira admitted to Wakana and Chitose during the afterparty.

This made Marin so happy, as it was her first time having a fan. Shinju then arrived with her camera, so Marin asked that the former take a photo of her and Akira. Because of this, Akira started to bawl her eyes out.

## References

1. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Volume 10.
2. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Volume 11.
3. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 9 Chapter 71.
4. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 72.
5. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 73.
6. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 74.
7. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 75.
8. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 76.
9. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 77.
10. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 78.
11. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 10 Chapter 79.
12. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 11 Chapter 80.
13. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 11 Chapter 81.
14. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 11 Chapter 82.
15. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 11 Chapter 83.
16. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 11 Chapter 84.
17. ↑ *My Dress-Up Darling* Manga — Vol. 11 Chapter 85.