Genjitsu woke up to the busy sounds of the bathroom sink, which meant the Hanagumi were already in the process of being called. He saw a bleary-eyed Wayne and Skuld:

Genjitsu: Wow, you guys look like crap. When did you two finish the Aoi costume? Wayne: Around 4 or 5 in the morning. Skuld: Zzzzzzzz...yeah...zzzzzzz Genjitsu: (Looks at clock, 9:00) Oh...

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Nevertheless, Aoi turned out to be a very cool costume, complete with one of the best hairpieces Genjitsu has seen in a while! By 11:00, the Goddesses had transformed into the Hanagumi. Genjitsu was surprised at Belldandy turning into Kohran, amazed at Urd turning into Sakura, and jaw-dropping astounded by Skuld turning into Sumire. (Literally, his jaw dropped, he was yawning and when she walked in his jaw chose to lock in place!) It's a shame Sumire didn't smile much that day, she looks so much cuter! (Then again, I wouldn't be smiling much either if I was on 4 hours of sleep and had to wear a very uncomfortable kimono all day) Not to be left behind, Genjitsu donned his trusty suspenders, aqua tie, and handcrafted vest, went a little creative with the hair gel, and became...Oogami, fearless leader of the Hanagumi! Sakura Taisen group complete!

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Fully costumed, the group had to set their priorities straight, since there were many things to do today. Of course, this meant first hitting the video rooms to catch the Rurouni Kenshin OVAs, of which Kohran needed as "a religious experience".(Mad scientific geniuses, who knows what goes on in their minds) Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the OVAs couldn't be shown, but they did see the first three episodes of Gainax's hit shoujo show, "His and Her Circumstances". Oogami still remembers Kohran's loving hands caressing his face, then turning it towards her and asking softly:

Kohran: Oogami-san, you'll be getting more of this show, right?

Oogami: Well, uhh...

Kohran: (Grabs Oogami's neck and shakes) You WILL be getting more of this show, RIGHT?!!

Oogami: Hai hai!

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The group then hit the dealer's room once more, as they were flooded by photographers. Oogami still remembers how his precious Hanagumi all turned their heads at the same time and ran to chase the Squall cosplayer that passed them by. What can you say, guessed they couldn't suppress the fangirls within them. One cute person walks by and they're all putty. You'd never catch Oogami or Aoi acting like that!

Then a yellow Pikachu was spotted in the dealer's room, and being Pokeman fans, Oogami and Aoi calmly ran to have their pictures taken with it. All for the admiration of the accuracy of the Pikachu costume of course.

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After hitting the con suite for a break (with Aoi disappearing in that evil sort of way), the group then headed back to the hotel room in the afternoon to practice their skit. Stress levels were rising as Nerf balls came up missing and Oogami kept missing his cue on the "final" part of the skit. They were ready when it was time to go to the masquerade check-in though. They absolutely needed to be one of the first groups up there, not to set a good first impression, not because they were nervous and wanted to get it over with...but because Violinist of Hameln was showing at 8:00, another religious experience for Kohran.

Unfortunately, the group ended up as skit #53 (poor Kohran, first the Kenshin OVAs and now this, maybe this is a message for her to stick to being a mad genius!). The cosplayers were shuffled into the back-back stage, with poor ventilation (as compared to NO ventilation with Anime Expo!). To make matters worse, they announced that the masquerade would be cut off at 10:00, even if there were skits left. Tensions rose as the group prayed their skit would go up before the cutoff time: Kohran was getting trigger happy with the Nerf gun, Sakura was starting to get fidgety with her sword, Aoi's serpent was drooping, and Sumire...was falling asleep. Oogami, fearless leader that he is, was not one to lose his cool however!

Oogami (10 minutes before skit): Uhh, I have to, uh, go to the bathroom, yeah, I'll be right back...

Oogami (backing up as he's face to face with a nerf gun, katana, and spear): Then again, maybe not.

The skit was wonderful though; everybody played their parts perfectly, and the audience loved it! (For a step by step renactment of the Sakura Taisen skit, please visit Aoi's section) The group snuck back in to see the remaining cosplay skits. After sitting through a series of somewhat non-anime intermission performances, the judges finally came back and announced the winners.

The group was so happy to get the award, especially Oogami, since this was his first winning cosplay skit! No doubt, Oogami's fearless leadership abilities (as well as his knack for finding the best hiding places) was what gave the group the edge they needed!

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That night, above all else, everybody was exhausted. Oogami, Aoi, and Skuld stayed in the room to do various things (such as grabbing a photo with as many of the Cosplay ML people as possible). Surprise surprise, when Oogami went to the cosplay ML gathering, the Naga from Anime Expo showed up! She wasn't in costume, but she was really excited to meet the ML people. Fortunately, she didn't remember Oogami's rather embarrassing promise to buy her dinner the next time he saw her (especially fortunate since she lived in Texas and probably knew the most expensive restaurant in the area!). Kohran caused some trouble somewhere, then fell asleep, while Sakura wandered around the hotel.

Having a flight at 11:00 AM the next day, Genjitsu knew his part was over for Akon 10. Having done his role as Oogami, he goes to sleep, with that #$&*#$(*#& Sakura Taisen opening still playing in his head...