My dear wife, I still love you more.

It took a full half hour before it was Hasegawa's turn. Once inside, Aki Tomo couldn't help but beam with excitement. Hasegawa was the same. Eriri also seemed somewhat excited, while Kasumigaoka Utaha's expression was relatively calm.

“Let’s go over there. They mostly sell doujinshi there. I think there will definitely be Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi. Let’s go check it out,” Aki Tomoya said excitedly to Hasegawa.

"A Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi?" Hasegawa glanced at Eriri instinctively, remembering the first Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi he'd ever seen—no, manga, doujinshi. That doujinshi was Eriri's work.

The four of them looked at each stall, which displayed a wide variety of doujinshi (fan-made comics), covering almost all the popular games, manga, and novels. Hasegawa even saw his own Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi.

I picked up a book and flipped through it briefly. Well, it was alright, I guess. However, the writing style wasn't as good as Hasegawa's improved writing. As for the content, since it's a doujinshi, the plot is pretty much the same as usual, just trying to make up for some plot points that readers might find regrettable.

It doesn't seem any different from a typical doujinshi, so it probably doesn't hold much appeal for Hasegawa.

However, since it was a Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi, Hasegawa decided to buy it anyway.

"Hasegawa, is this doujinshi well-written?" Kasumigaoka Utaha asked softly as she watched Hasegawa buy a doujinshi.

"Well, it's alright. After all, it's a Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi. As long as it's not too bad, I'll buy it." Hasegawa explained to Kasumigaoka Utaha with a smile.

"Oh, I see." Kasumigaoka Utaha understood what Hasegawa meant. After thinking for a moment, she also picked up a doujinshi that Hasegawa had bought and chose to purchase it.

Eriri listened from the side, her expression changed for a moment, and then she also picked up a book: "I, I'm just drawing manga, so I'm just looking at this doujinshi to see if there's anything new or interesting that I can borrow from."

If Eriri hadn't explained, Hasegawa wouldn't have thought anything of it, but after hearing Eriri's explanation, Hasegawa felt a little... well, strange.

Kasumigaoka Utaha covered her mouth and smiled at Eriri without saying a word, but even this kind of goal made Eriri blush.

With a snort, Eriri turned and left, seemingly avoiding Kasumigaoka Utaha's gaze.

At this moment, Aki Tomoya also came over, looked at the book in Hasegawa's hand, and flipped through it: "This book doesn't seem to be very good. Hasegawa, do you really want to buy it?"

"Hey, young man with glasses, this book is really good. You won't regret buying a copy." The man selling the doujinshi was a young man in his twenties, also wearing glasses. He couldn't help but defend himself after hearing what Aki Tomoya said.

"But it's really not enough. The revised Tokyo Ghoul is of very high quality. Look at the doujinshi you wrote. In terms of quality, it really can't compare to the original. Also, in terms of plot—" Aki Tomoya was very serious as he spoke to the other person, whose expression changed from dark to light. Hasegawa was about to hit him when he saw this, but Aki Tomoya still seemed not to notice and kept talking.

Hasegawa quickly covered Aki Tomoya's mouth, saying, "I'm so sorry, my friend... he has some mental issues. I'll buy the book, goodbye." Hasegawa apologized to the stall owner, then pulled Aki Tomoya away.

Seeing that Aki Tomoya was being pulled away, the stall owner finally put down the weapon in his hand—well, a model of an Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon.

"Hasegawa, that doujinshi is really not good quality. Why won't you let me say it?" Aki Tomoya couldn't help but complain to Hasegawa after he pulled her away.

"Didn't you notice that the other person was about to hit you? Besides, they're just writing doujinshi as a hobby, not as a professional author. Why are you taking it so seriously?" Hasegawa couldn't help but shake his head.

“That’s right. If their doujinshi could be written to the same standard as the original Tokyo Ghoul, they wouldn’t need to write doujinshi; they could just publish the novel directly,” Kasumigaoka Utaha added with a smile.

"But compared to the original work, this fan-made comic is really not good enough," Aki Tomoya muttered.

Seeing Aki Tomoya like this, Hasegawa couldn't help but shake his head. Aki Tomoya was too obsessed with anime and manga.

Chapter Seventeen: Tch, so small!

Wow, there are so many people!

Walking through the anime convention, you often encounter traffic jams, Hasegawa couldn't help but sigh. Seriously, there were just too many people; it was practically no different from the Spring Festival travel rush.

In particular, there are often groups of people blocking the road. When this happens, it's obvious that a cosplay performance has attracted too many people.

"It's normal for there to be so many people. After all, there are only two anime conventions like this a year." Aki Tomoya looked around excitedly while casually answering Hasegawa's question.

"Yes." Hasegawa nodded.

"However, it seems like there are more girls at the anime convention," Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't help but remark from the side. Although there are quite a few boys at the anime convention, there are far more girls. A quick glance reveals that girls make up about 60% or even 70% of the attendees.

"That's because today is the first day of the anime convention," Aki Tomoya said casually.

Hasegawa found it a little strange: "Are there more girls on the first day of the anime convention?"

"Of course! The first day is all about BL, or fujoshi day. Although there are other things too, the majority are BL-related items, so naturally there are more girls. The second day is all about doujinshi, and the crowds are even bigger than today. The third day is all about doujinshi. If you want to buy some, you have to get there very early to queue up. You generally need to arrive before 6 a.m. Luckily, today is the first day, so there are the fewest people. We arrived a little late and only queued for half an hour. If it were tomorrow or the day after, and we were as late as today, we would have to queue for at least an hour." Aki Tomoya explained very familiarly.

Hasegawa and Kasumigaoka Utaha listened, both astonished. Neither Hasegawa nor Kasumigaoka Utaha had ever attended a comic convention before, so they were completely unfamiliar with it. They were only now realizing just how influential comic conventions were.

At that moment, Eriri returned with the books in her hands.

"Eri, what book did you buy? Let me see it," Kasumigaoka Utaha asked curiously, looking at the book in Eriri's hand.

"Um, well, it's nothing." Eriri seemed a little guilty as she hid the book.

Seeing Eriri's actions, Kasumigaoka Utaha's wine-red eyes filled with curiosity.

"Hahaha, Eriri must have bought BL books. I know very well that Eriri always buys a lot of BL books whenever she goes to anime conventions." Aki Tomoya laughed heartily. However, he completely failed to notice that Eriri's expression had darkened, and then she walked towards Aki Tomoya, raised her little foot, and stomped hard on Aki Tomoya's foot.

"Ooh-woo—" Aki Tomoya jumped up, clutching his feet.

Hasegawa shook his head with a smile, thinking that Aki Tomoya was truly hopeless. However, recalling what Aki Tomoya had said about the anime convention, Hasegawa paused slightly, then took out the book he had bought earlier and flipped through it. The beginning of the book was alright, but towards the end, it seemed to have really gone astray. This made Hasegawa's expression turn a little strange; it really was a BL doujinshi.

Hasegawa never expected that the first book he bought at the comic convention would be such a doujinshi. Holding it in his hand, he felt a little hot and wanted to throw it away, but he felt that it was wrong to do so. Holding it in his hand also felt a little uncomfortable.

Kasumigaoka Utaha, standing to the side, couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle as she watched Hasegawa's conflicted expression.

"Hasegawa, let's hurry up! Although today's focus is mainly on BL, there are still quite a few good things to find. We should take our time to browse." Aki Tomoya's enthusiasm remained undiminished; in fact, it should be said that he was extremely excited.

Seeing this, Hasegawa shook his head and followed. After all, this was also part of the anime convention, and he was always curious about anime conventions, especially those in Japan. Even though today's event was mainly about BL, Hasegawa was still quite interested.

After Hasegawa and his group passed through the cosplay area, the number of people decreased significantly. Although it was still crowded, it was no longer as crowded as during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Taking photos and group pictures is allowed in the cosplay area, but not in the non-cosplay area. Plus, today is BL (Boys' Love) Day, so there are relatively fewer people there. Of course, there are mostly girls here, but their interests are somewhat unusual.

"Hasegawa-kun, did you notice? There seem to be a lot of Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi here." Kasumigaoka Utaha tugged at Hasegawa's arm with a smile and said to him.

"Um, well, I'm not really interested in these things, so I won't look at them." Hasegawa was a little embarrassed. He had been thinking of buying every single Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi, even if the quality wasn't high. But, as for BL, Hasegawa thought it was better to skip it.

Seeing Hasegawa like this, Kasumigaoka Utaha and even Eriri couldn't help but laugh.

Wandering around, besides the doujinshi, there were also quite a few figurines, keychains, and pendants. Hasegawa bought whatever he thought looked good or interesting. After all, unlike Aki Tomoya, Hasegawa didn't need to work to afford to splurge here, so he bought almost anything that he found interesting.

Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha were the same; neither of them was short of money. Only Aki Tomoya remained, carefully calculating the amount of money in his wallet while looking at the things at the anime convention, afraid that he might accidentally overspend and end up not being able to afford the things he wanted to buy in the following two days.

"Hasegawa, look over there! Isn't that Kaneki Ken? Someone's cosplaying as Kaneki Ken!" Eriri pulled Hasegawa aside, pointed in a direction, and shouted excitedly.

Hasegawa looked in Eriri's direction and saw that her attire was indeed quite similar—a black mask covering most of her face, revealing only one eye, and wearing those black-and-red contact lenses. She was posing for photos with tourists.

"Let's go too, let's take a picture." Aki Tomoya said excitedly, and ran over.

Seeing this, Hasegawa smiled and followed. After all, Hasegawa himself wanted to take a photo with the character. It would be strange if the author, who cosplayed the protagonist of his own novel, wasn't interested in taking a photo with him.

Quite a few people took photos with Kaneki Ken, and Hasegawa and his friends had to wait in line for a while before they had a chance to take a picture with him.

Looking at the group photo, Hasegawa and the others were in a very good mood.

Moreover, besides this Kaneki Ken, there are other characters, Kirishima Touka, Kamishiro Rize, and even other forms of Kaneki Ken. In particular, there is one who even cosplayed a kagune, with a tentacle-like kagune behind him. Hasegawa touched it and found it was plastic.

After wandering around for a while, I bought a lot of things, ate a lot of food, and drank a lot of water.

"I'm going to the restroom," Hasegawa said to Kasumigaoka Utaha and the others.

“I’ll go with you,” Aki Tomoya quickly said.

When Hasegawa and Aki Tomoya arrived at the restroom, a girl in a pink dress came out. Hasegawa glanced at the restroom sign instinctively: men's restroom. That's right.

Seeing Hasegawa's actions, Aki Tomoya couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, Kenichi, we didn't come to the wrong place. That was a boy cosplaying as a girl."

"Yes." Hasegawa nodded. He had heard of this situation before, but this was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. He found it rather novel.

Upon entering the restroom, Hasegawa saw a row of 'girls' dressed in various clothes standing by the urinals.

At this moment, Hasegawa was at a loss for words. To be honest, while it was novel, it was also quite awkward. Hasegawa was even a little embarrassed to go to the bathroom, even though he knew that all of them were boys.

After finding a urinal a little further away from the 'girls', Hasegawa had just loosened his belt when he looked up and saw a large photo of himself. The photo showed a cute girl, but the girl in the photo was looking down with a disdainful expression, and next to her was a line of text: "Tch, so small!"

"..."

……

The first day of the anime convention has come to an end. Although some things were a bit strange, overall it was still quite good and very interesting. Before going home, I made a promise with Kasumigaoka Utaha and the others to come to the anime convention again tomorrow, and we even moved the meeting time forward a little.

"I am back."

Hasegawa returned carrying a large number of bags and packages.

"Hasegawa-kun, welcome back. Are these your spoils? There's so much stuff. Let me help you carry it." Mrs. Yuihama stood at the door, looking at the things in Hasegawa's hands, and asked with some curiosity.

"Thank you, Mrs. Yuihama. This is my spoils for today."

After changing their shoes, Hasegawa and Mrs. Yuihama brought the pile of things into the living room.

"Hasegawa-kun, may I take a look at these things you bought? I'm actually quite curious about anime conventions; I heard they're very crowded."

"Of course you can, look around as much as you want. But there are so many people, it's like a sea of ​​people, there are people everywhere." Hasegawa exclaimed.

"This thing is so cute!"

"And this looks really interesting."

Is this Tokyo Ghoul merchandise?

"And this one too."

"A lot of these are from Tokyo Ghoul."

Hasegawa watched with amusement as Mrs. Yui examined the items, occasionally offering a comment or explanation. The atmosphere was quite pleasant, and Mrs. Yui's expression was somewhat reminiscent of a Chinese woman unpacking a package, frequently letting out a gasp or exclamation upon seeing something interesting.

Chapter Eighteen: My Wife, I Love You

"Is this book also a Tokyo Ghoul fanfic? Um, but this symbol, Hasegawa-kun, you, you like it—" Mrs. Yuigahama held up the only book Hasegawa bought at today's anime convention, pointed to a BL symbol in an inconspicuous place on the book, and looked at Hasegawa with a strange expression.

"Um, well, I don't like this kind of book. I just... I just didn't realize it was a BL book when I bought it." Hasegawa's heart skipped a beat when he saw Mrs. Yuihama's expression, and he quickly explained.

"Really?" Mrs. Yuihama's eyes still held a hint of doubt.

"Of course it's true." Hasegawa nodded emphatically.

"But, but—" Mrs. Yuihama's expression was strange. She hadn't thought about these things before, but thinking about it, her daughter was quite pretty, and she liked Hasegawa and even confessed to him, but Hasegawa was completely unmoved. Also, it seemed that there were other girls around Hasegawa besides her daughter, but Hasegawa never seemed to pursue them, and he didn't seem to be interested at all.

Despite the fact that all the other girls besides his daughter were outstanding—whether it was the senior in the kendo club, the manga artist, or even the cute classmates—Hasegawa seemed completely uninterested in them.

This isn't normal, it's very abnormal. It just doesn't seem normal no matter how you look at it.

How could a normal teenage boy not be moved by so many beautiful girls pursuing him? Even if he hesitated because there were too many choices, he would at least show some affection for the girls. But Hasegawa was completely unmoved by the girls who pursued him, and even repeatedly made excuses. Even when he couldn't refuse, he would set a time for them to meet.

I used to just think Hasegawa was a bit strange, but now that I think about it, nothing seems right.

Even though Hasegawa says he prioritizes his studies and aims for the University of Tokyo, which is why he doesn't date, that reason is plausible. However, consider this: while Hasegawa is an exceptionally good student, he also does other things besides studying—writing novels, practicing kendo, and even learning music and manga. With so much already, dating shouldn't significantly impact his studies.

Therefore, the reason of prioritizing academic studies is not reasonable when applied to Hasegawa.

Therefore, the only explanation for Hasegawa's situation is this: Hasegawa actually likes boys, not girls!