Tokyo: Oreimo

I want to see you.

He replied "okay," then put down his phone and stared at the ceiling for ten minutes.

He had expected that Saori and Ayano would both appear at the Winter COMI venue, but as the event drew closer, he still felt that the variables today were far more unpredictable than the sales expectations for the booth.

"Let's go." He tossed the empty coffee can into the recycling bin. "If we don't leave now, we'll miss the club's opening."

The group wrapped their coats tighter and blended into the crowd heading to Tokyo Big Sight.

On a winter morning at COMI, the air is filled with the rusty smell of early morning trams, the soy sauce aroma of convenience store buns, and the restless atmosphere unique to large-scale doujinshi conventions.

Along the way, people kept passing them; some were carrying banners taller than themselves, some were making phone calls to confirm the exact location of the stalls, and some were stuffing rice balls into their mouths as they ran.

Tian Zhongxue walked at the front of the group, carrying the flag of the Anime Research Club.

It was a flag that I painted myself with acrylic paint. The front of the flag featured a silhouette of Ryougi Shiki, the heroine of "Kara no Kyoukai," and the back had the name of the manga club.

The flags fluttered in the morning breeze, attracting the attention of many passersby.

"Which club is that? They're really well-prepared."

"Waseda Manga Club? It's a new university club, I didn't see them last year."

"But judging from that flag, at least the artwork isn't bad."

Ryosuke walked in the middle of the group, discreetly wearing a mask and a baseball cap. When he heard the whispers, he lowered the brim of his cap.

Shota Okubo leaned closer and whispered, "Takashiro, are you nervous?"

"Fortunately."

"I haven't slept a wink since last night. What if we can't sell any of our 500 doujinshi copies?"

"Then take them back and sell them slowly." Ryosuke chuckled.

In fact, based on the current quality of the finished product, there are only 500 copies, so selling them all should be quite easy.

However, it seems that the members of the manga club lack experience in this area and are unable to make an accurate prediction.

If Saori were present, she would probably have directly said something like, "We need to prepare for an extra print run."

However, Ryosuke didn't mind; he just found it very interesting.

Today's occasion reminded him of that first winter COMI with Saori and Ayano, when they went all in to build "FSN".

It's something to miss.

.......

Club members entered an hour earlier than regular participants.

The comics research area is located in a corner of the East 4 Hall. Although it is not a main road, it is one of the necessary routes to the corporate exhibition area if you come out of the East 5 Hall.

When Tian Zhongxue was initially disappointed to draw this spot, Ayumi analyzed the flow of people and concluded that this spot was more likely to be noticed by tired participants, which cheered him up.

They laid out tablecloths, displayed doujinshi (fan-made comics), set up roll-up banners, and affixed price tags. Okubo and Kobayashi Yosuke were responsible for staying at the booth.

Okubo was in charge of hawking the goods and giving change, while Kobayashi was in charge of replenishing inventory and tracking sales.

As the president, Tian Zhongxue is responsible for external liaison and patrols, while Ayumi is responsible for displaying the original illustrations around the booth.

Ryosuke is in charge of mobile support.

Misaki Asakura was in charge of leading the way and attracting customers outside.

Ayumi gave her a well-sealed sample display book and asked her to open it and show it to passersby outside the booth aisle.

Ryosuke, who was in charge of mobile support, stayed inside the booth, ready to fill in at any time.

"Opening!"

At 10:30, a thunderous cheer erupted in the stadium.

The iron gate was slowly pulled up, and the first batch of participants surged into the passage like a tide. The sound of footsteps, cheers, and the rustling of paper bags blended into a deafening roar.

The manga club booth was still empty.

Occasionally, someone would pass by, glance at it, and continue walking.

Tian Zhongxue's palms were sweaty, and Okubo Shota's legs were shaking uncontrollably under the table.

Just after nine o'clock, the first wave of people began to pour into Dongsi Museum.

"Waseda Manga Club...Kara no Kyoukai?"

"Is this a fan fiction of FSN? I've never seen this character before."

A boy wearing a beanie stopped in front of the stall, looked up at the club's flag, and seemed quite confused by the image of 'Ryougi Shiki'.

"But this art style really looks like Rumiko Takashiro's."

Then came the second and the third.

"That's quite impressive! I wonder what the content is like?"

"Is it a novel, not a comic? A fan fiction?"

"What's with that line on the cover? It looks pretty cool!"

'I'll kill anything that's alive, even a god.'

This is Tanaka's little secret; if he had to pick the most eye-catching line in the entire "Kara no Kyoukai" series, it would be this one.

The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception is so captivating that, after discussion, it was printed directly on the cover of the work.

In fact, the effect was excellent.

The boy wearing a beanie slammed the trial book shut and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. "One book!"

The sound was like a starting pistol.

"Two books!"

"Give me one too!"

"Do you have any bonus items? This cover is so beautiful, could I have an illustration card as well?"

While making change, Shota Okubo called out to Misaki Asakura, "Bring out another box! We're almost out of them on the table!"

Misaki Asakura carried a whole box of unopened doujinshi (fan-made comics), running back and forth between her booth and the temporary storage area twice. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was out of breath and unable to speak, but her eyes shone as if all the lights in the venue had fallen into them.

"This...this is too fast!"

The first time she tried to solicit customers, she was so nervous that her voice trembled and her palms were sweaty as she held the price tags.

But as one person after another stopped in front of her booth because of the sample copies, and as people in line began to ask about the content of the works, she found that her nervousness had disappeared without her noticing.

Instead, a strange kind of excitement prevailed.

This was the first time since she joined the club that she felt so closely connected with everyone in the club.

President Tanaka was still sending messages at 3 a.m. to confirm the layout; she hadn't slept either.

Vice President Ayumi had to cover her wrist with plasters to revise the illustrations, and Ayumi also helped apply plasters to two of them.

Senior Lin may seem indifferent, but he takes every proofreading step more seriously than anyone else.

Although Okubo-senpai usually talks a lot of nonsense, he never complains when it comes to moving goods, setting up shelves, or packing notebooks.

Now, she personally hands the price tags to each reader.

She redid those price tags one by one last night, writing the club's full name on each one and marking each one with the "Kara no Kyoukai" logo.

"Thank you all for your hard work! The water and rice balls have been delivered!"

Tian Zhongxue squeezed back through the crowd carrying two large bags of convenience store supplies. His hair stood on end due to static electricity, and his glasses were fogged up.

"Ayumi! Eat one first before continuing! You haven't eaten anything since this morning!"

Ayumi took the rice ball he offered, glanced at his untouched portion, broke the rice ball in half, and stuffed one half back into his hand.

"You eat too."

Tian Zhongxue paused for a moment, then scratched his head and laughed.

The queue in front of the stall continued to grow, from the initial dozen or so people to more than twenty, and then from more than twenty to the point where support staff had to help guide the end of the queue.

Ryosuke stood inside the booth, holding a doujinshi (fan-made comic book), and was signing it for a reader who had just bought it.

That was a pre-arranged bonus service. If the title page of each doujinshi had the author's autograph, it would sell for almost 30% more. This was based on market research conducted by Ayumi.

It's true, he wrote novels and screenplays for two or three years, and only held one book signing event with the publishing house.

On the contrary, people signed their real names at this kind of event.

"Gao Cheng, your handwriting is really beautiful."

Misaki Asakura whispered something to Ryosuke, but before he could reply, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

At the end of the passage, a blonde girl with a high ponytail was walking towards them through the crowd.

She was wearing a beige wool coat, a dark red scarf around her neck, and her face was still covered with a three-piece disguise. She was carrying a paper bag, and the crowd automatically parted in two in front of her.

Ling Nai has arrived.

She walked up to the stall, her gaze sweeping over the crowd in line, a slight smile playing on her lips, before settling on Ryosuke.

"There are quite a lot of people."

You're late.

“There are too many people on the train.” She said matter-of-factly, then shoved the paper bag into Ryosuke’s hand. “I bought you coffee, drink it while it’s hot.”

Ryosuke took the paper bag and found that there were two cups inside.

He raised an eyebrow.

"The other cup is for myself." Ling Nai turned her head away, lowered her voice, and then glanced at the busy crowd behind the stall. Her gaze lingered on Ayumi for a moment. "Ayumi-senpai, I'm here to help."

Ayumi looked up from the original manuscript display area, saw her, and gave a tired but genuine smile.

"Ling Nai! I'm sorry, I've been too busy to greet you today."

"No need to greet me, I'm here to help out today too."

Ling Nai stuffed her bag behind Ryosuke's chair, walked directly to the display area, and began to help tidy up the manuscripts that had been messed up.

A few minutes later, someone in the queue suddenly exclaimed.