Tokyo: Oreimo

"When Asakura comes back, she goes to buy lunch for Okubo and Kobayashi."

Just then, Misaki Asakura came running back carrying several convenience store bags. Her scarf was askew, and her cheeks were red from the cold. "I bought them! I managed to snag four discounted rice balls and some hot canned corn soup."

Yosuke Kobayashi took a rice ball, adjusted his glasses, and asked, "Who's staying behind later?"

"Kobayashi and I will stay here for now." Shota Okubo had already unwrapped his rice ball and taken a bite, his cheeks bulging. "Anyway, my legs are already killing me from standing all morning, so I'll just sit down and rest for a bit. You guys go ahead and shop around, and come back this afternoon to relieve us."

Unlike Ryosuke and the others back then, the manga club doesn't have that kind of confidence.

After some discussion, they decided not to pack up immediately, but to leave people at the stall so that if tourists passed by, they could use the remaining display books for promotion.

Although the notebooks were sold out, the foot traffic at the event couldn't be wasted.

Ayumi dusted off her hands and said to Lingna and Asakura, "Let's go. It's a rare trip, and we can't just sit at the booths all day. I know there are a few good illustration club booths in East Hall 2. Lingna should be interested."

Ling followed behind Ayumi, and after a few steps, she turned back to look in the direction Ryosuke had left.

The passageway was full of strangers, and his figure had long since disappeared into the crowd.

She put her hands in her coat pockets and quickly followed Ayumi.

.....

On the other side, Ryosuke walked out of the side door of the East Fourth Hall, passed through the connecting passage, and entered the exhibition hall in the corporate area.

Unlike the noisy doujinshi area, the corporate booths were set up in a more orderly manner, with the logos of various publishers and companies hanging in mid-air, huge display boards hanging from the ceiling, and the lights being several levels brighter.

Aniplex's booth is located in the middle of Zone A, the corporate area.

Ryosuke spotted the huge lightbox sign with white lettering on a black background from afar. It displayed the Aniplex logo and below it, in smaller print, "Bringing beauty to the world."

The exhibition area is divided into four sections: the far left is the SAO demo area, where a long queue has already formed in front of twenty demo machines.

In the middle is the sale of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" Blu-rays and related merchandise. The display case shows replicas of Mami Tomoe's musket and Kyubey dolls. On the right is an original artwork display of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" and life-size standees of the SOS Brigade.

There are also FATE series merchandise and exclusive art books for sale.

Times have changed.

In just two or three years, Aniplex has grown to its current size, receiving an official invitation from CM and having such a large exhibition area.

"It's really lucky to have such a capable girlfriend as Saori."

He knew about the exhibition in advance, but he had almost never thought of getting involved or cooperating with any parties. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

However, Yarn is very adept at handling this kind of thing, and the overall effect of the booth can be described as very professional.

Ryosuke stood outside the exhibition area for a few seconds, his gaze sweeping over the people queuing to try out the games, before walking toward the staff entrance on the side of the exhibition area.

A young female employee wearing an Aniplex uniform saw him, paused for a moment, and then bowed deeply.

"President! You've arrived!"

"Don't speak so loudly, you're disturbing others." Ryosuke gestured for her to lower her voice, then looked around. "Where's Saori?"

"Miss Phoenix is ​​backstage, confirming the schedule for tomorrow's joint promotional event with the people from Kadokawa."

Kadokawa?

Ryosuke remembered that Saori had indeed mentioned this to him, probably because of the "Haruhi Suzumiya" incident. Kadokawa Bunko had also joined the production committee for this anime adaptation.

Because Hayakawa Rumi acted as an intermediary, Ryosuke did not refuse.

"I'm going to find her."

Ryosuke walked through the temporary passage at the back of the exhibition area and pushed open the door to the backstage lounge.

The break room was piled with cardboard boxes and promotional materials, and several laptops were placed on a table against the wall, with real-time sales data and trial feedback scrolling on the screens.

Phoenix Inu Saori was sitting behind the table, holding her phone in one hand and flipping through a printed event schedule with the other, muttering to herself.

She's dressed much more formally today.

A dark gray suit jacket was draped over the back of the chair, over which was a white shirt with the cuffs rolled up to her forearms. Her long black hair was tied into a low ponytail at the back of her head, and she wasn't wearing thick glasses, revealing a pair of cool-toned eyes.

She heard the door open, looked up, and her eyes crinkled into a smile.

"You're here?"

"Hmm." Ryosuke closed the door behind him. "Busy?"

"It's alright, it'll be free by the afternoon anyway." Saori put down the schedule and leaned back in her chair. "How's the doujinshi section?"

"Five hundred copies sold out in one hour and forty minutes. We've already decided to reprint them, and all the proceeds will be invested in this project, which will amount to about eight hundred copies."

“As expected.” Saori smiled slightly. “You seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit, having a lot of fun with these little games.”

Ryosuke chuckled, "Actually, it feels the same as when we were making the game back then, it's very interesting."

“That makes sense.” Saori blinked. “Speaking of which, your illustrator is named Horiuchi Ayumi, right? She was trained by Ayano, wasn’t she? Works of this quality are a game-changer in the doujinshi scene; it would be strange if they didn’t sell out.”

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Ryosuke's back.

"Ling Nai didn't come along?"

Ryosuke remained silent for a moment.

She said she wasn't interested in this place.

"Not interested?" Saori raised one eyebrow, then chuckled softly. "Who are you kidding, that guy?"

She stood up, walked up to Ryosuke, reached out and straightened his collar, her fingertips lingering on his shoulder for a moment.

"That cat was a little too well-behaved today."

"Anyway, it's fine, you're mine this afternoon."

Saori pressed her thumb against his chin, a light touch that carried a clear declaration of ownership, then turned and walked toward the door, picking up her coat from the back of the chair and draping it over her shoulders.

"Let's go, President. The matter with Kadokawa has been settled. The event in collaboration with DC Idol Group will start at three o'clock. Before that, accompany me on a tour of the exhibition area."

Ryosuke watched her back as she put on her coat, remembering how Ryouno had said "I'm not interested in this place" before she left.

He suddenly realized that Ling Nai had done this on purpose.

"What's wrong?" Saori had already opened the door and turned to look at him.

"nothing."

Ryosuke followed her and walked out of the lounge side by side with her.

Inside the exhibition area, the line for the SAO demo area grew even longer.

Several college students in line were standing on tiptoe, peering at the screen and discussing the information they had just seen on the forum.

"I heard that Gen Urobuchi also wrote the script for SAO."

"Nonsense, which Aniplex game, except for FSN, wasn't written by Gen Urobuchi? But this one doesn't seem as brutal as his previous works; at least in the demo so far, no one has been suddenly killed yet."

"Don't let your guard down. Have you forgotten about Steins;Gate? For the first twenty-odd hours, it was all sweet moments, but then in the middle, Shiina Mayuri was shot dead right in front of you."

"It's the kind of game where you'd fall right into a trap, but you still really want to play it. Damn it, I'm going to get played by Gen Urobuchi again after this one!"

Saori, holding Ryosuke's hand, overheard the discussion and whispered something in his ear.

"Your persona has become deeply ingrained in people's minds, 'Warrior of Love,' hmm?"

“That’s just what they made up,” Ryosuke said in a low voice. “I wrote a story that heals the soul.”

Saori chuckled but didn't expose him.

The two continued walking forward, and when they passed the original artwork display area, a girl with a camera was taking pictures of a life-size standee of the SOS Brigade.

"After attending the discussion last time, I went back and watched the animation produced by this club. It was so good."

"Yeah, the Haruhi Suzumiya series. When The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was adapted into an anime, the club was in an uproar."

"Hey, look over there! What a pretty lady! Is she a staff member?"

"This figure would be perfect for a Rider cosplay, the guy next to her is so enviable!"

Hearing the whispers around him, Ryosuke couldn't help but glance at Saori beside him, then met a pair of slightly mocking eyes.

I was caught red-handed peeping.

"You like it? How about I wear it for you in private?"

"Ok?"

"Don't you like the Medusa costume that those tourists were talking about?"

Saori chuckled.

Ryosuke chuckled awkwardly.

To be honest, after hearing the discussion, he immediately imagined what his girlfriend would look like in that outfit.

Just thinking about it makes my head spin.

"Hehe, it seems you like it."

Saori took his arm and whispered in his ear, "I'll reward you when the opportunity arises."

Ryosuke blushed in front of her for the first time in a long time, which made his girlfriend secretly laugh.

"Shi Yuze, you really are so innocent."

......

They walked up to the display case in the BD pre-sale area, where a replica of Mami Tomoe's musket gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the lights.

Next to the display case stood a display board with a number written on it:

"BD first-day sales: 35,000 copies."

Saori had seen this number several times this morning, but seeing it again now, she couldn't help but smile.

“This number is indeed a bit frightening,” she said. “When Ritsu Saito called to report the data that day, he could barely speak.”

"As expected, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is the kind of work that spreads its reputation through word of mouth."

“You’re at it again, ‘as expected.’” Saori glanced at him sideways. “Every time you say that, I want to pinch you.”

"I just have confidence in my work."

"Yes Yes Yes."

The exhibition area was bustling with people. Occasionally, staff members would come over to confirm the details of the event with Saori. She would agree to each one in a calm tone, with an unquestionable certainty.