Tokyo: Oreimo

Ryosuke stood beside her, feeling her shoulder lean slightly closer.

"Aren't you in a hurry to go back about your doujinshi circle?" Saori asked.

"The club president went to the printing shop; there are plenty of people at the booth."

"That's good."

Saori put one hand into her pocket, then suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, I mentioned it to you before, our next project should be on the agenda."

Ryosuke looked at the blurry silhouettes of the two people reflected in the glass of the display case.

"Yes, I know. I'll tell you my general idea before the end of the month."

Saori remains as radical as ever; SAO has only been released a short time ago, and she's already preparing to start a new project.

Her workaholic tendencies were on full display, but thanks to her independence in this area, she was a great help to Ryosuke.

He has some ideas about the subject matter of his new work, but it hasn't been finalized yet due to recent activities at the manga club.

Saori turned her head and looked at him for a while.

"What story are you planning to write this time? To be honest, the range of your works is always very wide, making it impossible to guess what you're thinking next."

As a person, Saori always thought Ryosuke was easy to guess, but as a creator, he always surprised people when he came up with a new work.

Ryosuke said, "It's probably just an ordinary story about another world."

Saori remained silent for two seconds.

"When you said 'just average' last time, the work you wrote was called 'Clannad'."

She reached out and gently pinched his arm.

"Looks like someone's going to generate revenue for the company's blade division again."

Aniplex does not have a blade division.

However, on the "Future Dimension" forum, the topic of "sending blades to Gen Urobuchi" has remained high on the trending list since the forum was founded.

The queue for hands-on demos at the exhibition area was still growing, and the staff at the Blu-ray sales area were sweating profusely as the loudspeaker kept announcing, "Limited-edition bonuses will be distributed soon, please line up to receive them."

Ryosuke's phone vibrated. He took it out of his pocket, and the screen showed a message from Ryouno.

"How's it going with the Female Titan?"

He smiled slightly and replied with two words.

"fine."

Ling Nai's reply arrived instantly.

"What do you mean by 'alright'?"

"It's alright."

"What about your end?" he replied.

The message input box lit up for several seconds, then went dark, and then lit up again.

"I went to an illustration club booth with Ayumi and the others. The illustrations were pretty good. There were also a few booths selling doujin games, but the quality was so-so."

"Didn't you find anything you wanted to buy?"

"I bought two art books."

Then she followed up with another one.

"It's not what I wanted to buy, it's what Ayumi-senpai wanted me to help her choose."

Ryosuke chuckled.

Before he could reply, Ling Nai sent another message.

"No need to reply to me, go do your thing. I'm having a great time outside, I'm not bored at all."

He glanced at the sentence for two seconds, then put his phone back in his pocket.

Saori turned her head to look at him.

"News about Ling Nai?"

"Ah."

"what did she say?"

"She said she had a lot of fun outside."

Saori paused for a moment, then smiled softly.

"lie."

She tightened her grip on his arm a little more, raised her chin slightly, and turned her gaze back to the replica of the musket in the display case, which gleamed coldly under the light.

“However, you’re on my side this afternoon.” She lowered her voice a few decibels. “Let her play by herself for a while.”

"By the way, speaking of which, the leader of the DC idol group came to ask me about it today..."

Phoenix Inu Saori looked over, a mischievous smile on her face.

"She asked several times whether President Takashiro would come to see her performance today."

Chapter 251 I still hope he can come

Hayakawa Shizuka stood in the makeshift backstage cubicle, the light bulb from the makeup mirror casting a warm white glow on her face.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

The costume was a modified battle dress themed around SAO, white with red trim, a tightly cinched waist, and silver metal embellishments on the cuffs and collar. The stylist had spent nearly forty minutes braiding her hair into an Asuna-style side ponytail, tied at the end with a red ribbon, hanging down in front of her shoulder.

"Shizuka, the show starts in fifteen minutes."

Asakura Mirai peeked out from behind the partition, holding two bottles of mineral water.

"The line outside the exhibition area has already stretched out. Aniplex's booth is really over the top today. I just went out to take a look, and there are more than two hundred people just waiting in line to try out the products."

"Ah."

Shizuka took the mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and took a small sip.

"Your reaction is way too calm." Mirai leaned against the partition, tilting her head to look at her. "It's a rare opportunity to be on the Winter COMI stage, and to sing the theme song for Aniplex. Why don't you seem excited at all?"

"Just nervous."

Asakura Mirai paused for two seconds, then placed the water bottle on the vanity, walked behind Shizuka, and put her hands on Shizuka's shoulders.

"Is it because of that guy again?"

Shizuka's fingers tightened slightly, and the water bottle made a soft plastic sound in her palm.

"I do not have."

"Who are you trying to fool?" Future's voice lowered a few decibels. "You've been distracted ever since you received the invitation. You spaced out four times during rehearsals, and last night you tossed and turned in your dorm until 2 a.m. without being able to sleep. You think I don't know?"

"Let's not talk about the future."

"He already has a girlfriend, right? Don't even think about it now."

"I know."

“That girl named Phoenix Courtyard is the co-founder of Aniplex. She’s very tall and beautiful.” She said, pursing her lips. “I’ve already met her, and she is indeed an outstanding person.”

"Shizuka..."

"I'm fine. As for the future, so much time has passed, I've already figured it out."

Actually not.

From last autumn until now, she has thrown herself into the idol career, rehearsing, recording, performing, and rushing to announcements every day. Her schedule is packed with activities, and she is so tired that she falls asleep as soon as she gets back to her dormitory, without even the energy to dream.

Dream Chaser is no longer the underground idol group that struggled to perform at small music festivals.

They have singles, regular variety shows, and fan clubs.

The sales of "No, Thank you" broke the quarterly record for idol singles, and the agency began to arrange larger-scale performances for them. Their names even appeared on the audition list for the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle).

Her dream is coming true step by step.

But one late night, when she was alone in the studio, after singing the last syllable of "Unreachable Love" into the microphone, she would stare blankly at the flashing indicator light on the mixing console for a long time.

That song was written by Ryosuke.

Those lyrics, that melody, that line "Even though we can never meet," when she sang it back then, she only thought the melody was nice. Now, when she sings it again, every syllable feels like a needle piercing her heart.

She had been quietly keeping tabs on him.

SAO broke sales records in its first week of release, the Blu-ray of Puella Magi Madoka Magica sold out, DEATH NOTE topped the reader survey in JUMP, and the latest job posting from Aniplex was shared tens of thousands of times online.

He was admitted to Waseda University, joined the manga research club, lived in Chiba's house, and commuted to school by train every day.

Also, he was dating Hououin Saori.

She found out all of these things.

“I know he has a girlfriend,” Shizuka said again, as if speaking to herself. “I also know he’s doing well now, and I sincerely hope he’s happy.”

She paused.

"But today, I still hope he can come, just to take a look."

A hand from the future gently squeezed her shoulder.

“He will definitely come. There are events at Aniplex’s booth today, and as the president, it’s impossible for him not to attend.”

"I hope so."

Shizuka placed the bottled water on the table and gave her makeup a final check in the mirror.

The eyeshadow was light brown, and the lipstick was an orange-toned shade. The stylist said that this combination would make the outfit look more vibrant.

She stared at herself in the mirror and tried to force a smile.

It's been two years.

It's been almost two years since we first met at a café in Akihabara. Back then, he was just an ordinary high school student she called out to at the entrance of a convenience store, and she was just a disheartened girl struggling on her path to becoming an idol.