Tokyo: Oreimo

"I'm just telling the truth."

“That makes me even happier.” Shizuka paused, her gaze sweeping between Ryosuke and Ayano. “Did you come with a university club today?”

“Yes, the Manga Club’s Winter COMI is exhibiting,” Ryosuke said.

"How are the doujinshi sales? I heard from Miss Phoenix that you sold out the first print run of 500 copies this morning?"

"An additional 800 copies have been printed and will be delivered tomorrow."

"So fast?" Shizuka's eyes widened. "I thought that when a club releases a doujinshi, they usually print a couple hundred copies and sell them slowly."

"Thanks to someone, it sold a little faster," Ling Nai added casually from the side.

Ryosuke felt that the "someone" in that sentence was quite clearly referred to.

But Shizuka Hayakawa seemed completely oblivious to the implied meaning, and instead laughed: "That's true, after all, you're here."

The three of them fell into a brief silence.

Hayakawa Shizuka switched the prop rapier to her other hand, and the red ribbon at the end of her hair brushed against a piece of her costume on her shoulder, making a slight sound.

"Actually, besides performing, I also wanted to thank Takashiro-kun at the CM exhibition today," she said, her voice a little softer than before.

"thank?"

“It happened two years ago.” Shizuka lowered her eyes, looking at the silver-gleaming prop rapier in her hand. “If it weren’t for the ‘No, Thank You’ you gave me back then, I probably would have given up long ago.”

Ryosuke remained silent for a moment.

"You made that song famous yourself; I just provided the song."

"I knew you'd say that." Shizuka looked up. "Anyway, seeing that you had a good day puts my mind at ease."

Ling Nai remained silent until Shizuka uttered those words, at which point her expression subtly softened.

Hayakawa Shizuka took a step back and resumed the proper smile befitting an idol.

"Well then, I'll head backstage now. I have a media interview this afternoon, so I need to touch up my makeup."

She nodded slightly to Ryosuke and Ryouno, then turned and walked towards the backstage area.

"...He's such a blockhead."

Ling Nai watched Shizuka's retreating figure and muttered something.

"Ok?"

Ryosuke tilted his head, looking quite puzzled.

"Hmph, I'm going back to my stall first."

.....

In the evening, after dealing with the last-minute situation at Kadokawa, Saori returned to the exhibition area, where the backstage area was almost completely cleaned up.

She pushed open the door to the lounge, where Ryosuke was sitting at the table reviewing today's demo feedback. He looked up when he heard the door open.

"Are you done with work?"

"Hmm, it was a small problem, but it's been resolved." Saori walked over and glanced at the documents in his hand. "How's the feedback on the demo?"

"Not bad." Ryosuke handed her the file.

Saori took the document, flipped through it, then placed it on the table and sat down next to him. "Where's Ryouno?"

"I'm going back to my stall now."

"Didn't say anything?"

"Let's go back together later."

Saori chuckled softly, leaned back in her chair, and let down her low ponytail that she had been wearing all day. Her long hair fell over her shoulders, and she closed her eyes, revealing a rare hint of fatigue.

"I stood all day today, and my legs are a little sore."

"Should we go back first?"

"No need." She opened her eyes and turned to look at him. "It's rare for the first day of Winter COMI to go so smoothly. Sit with me for a while. It's too noisy outside. It's quiet here."

Ryosuke did not refuse.

The only sounds in the lounge were the low hum of the air conditioner and the faint broadcasts from the exhibition area in the distance. The sky outside the window had already darkened, and the lights of the exhibition hall cast long, thin stripes on the table through the blinds.

Saori leaned on his shoulder, closed her eyes, and her breathing gradually became steady. After about ten minutes, she suddenly spoke.

"By the way, how's the reception in DC?"

"After the performance, I took them to the backstage dressing room. The media interviews went through the proper procedures without any problems."

"She didn't say anything to you?"

Ryosuke was silent for a moment, then thanked him and talked about what happened two years ago.

"anything else?"

"It's gone."

Saori opened one eye, stared at his profile for a few seconds, then closed it again. "Alright."

She didn't ask any further questions.

This wasn't because she didn't care, but because she knew Ryosuke too well.

If this person says "gone," then they really are gone. Whether Hayakawa Shizuka said anything else is another matter.

The two stayed in the lounge until the exhibition hall began to be cleared before getting up to pack their things and prepare to leave.

.......

At the comics research booth in Dongsi Hall, the promotional posters that were temporarily made in the afternoon were still pasted on the edge of the table.

The additional 800 copies of the doujinshi won't arrive until tomorrow morning, so the booth was basically empty in the afternoon. Kobayashi and Oku only handed out a few dozen promotional cards during the day, and even the sample copies were worn out from being flipped through so many times.

When Ryosuke returned to the stall, he found Ayano casually eating a box of candy she had bought at a convenience store, looking neither happy nor sad.

"Is Saori done with her work?"

"Ah."

"Let's go home."

Ryosuke responded and went to help Tianzhong Middle School pack his things.

The group put the roll-up banner into a canvas bag, folded the tablecloth and stuffed it into a cardboard box, and Tian Zhongxue carefully took the club flag down from the stand, rolled it up and put it into a special storage tube.

"Takashiro's sister said she wouldn't be having dinner with us, so the four of us went. Asakura wanted to eat conveyor belt sushi, Kobayashi said anything was fine, and Okubo wanted to eat yakiniku. We're at an impasse now, playing rock-paper-scissors."

Tian Zhongxue, carrying a storage container, adjusted his askew glasses and said, "Be careful on your way back."

"The president has also worked hard."

"What's the hard work! Today is a historic day! We still have eight hundred more copies to sell tomorrow!"

Ayumi patted him on the back from behind, "Don't shout in the corridor."

The group of manga club members headed towards the station. Tanaka Middle School's figure, carrying the club flag, disappeared into the crowd, while Ryosuke and Ayano walked side by side in another direction.

“It’s hard to believe that this president is the same age as you,” Ling Nai suddenly said.

"Ok?"

"He's impulsive and clumsy, just like the boys in our class."

"Heh, it's alright, the president just retains a childlike innocence."

"I wasn't praising you, I just wanted to say that compared to others, you're practically an old man." Ling Nai glared at him and handed him the candy in her hand. "Have one, I haven't seen you eat anything all day."

Ryosuke took the candy, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. It was strawberry flavored and a little too sweet.

The two walked to the tram stop. The crowd of people leaving the Winter COMI event had gradually dispersed. A few participants carrying paper bags were standing sparsely on the platform. Some were looking down at their phones, while others were counting their spoils for the day.

When the tram pulled into the station, Ling Nai boarded first and found a window seat.

Ryosuke sat down next to her, and she moved a little closer to the window, creating some distance between them. But after a while, probably because she was too tired, her head began to droop little by little, and finally rested on Ryosuke's shoulder.

She didn't move, but simply closed her eyes and breathed evenly.

Ryosuke glanced at her sideways, said nothing, and let her lean against him.

.....

It's 10 PM, and I'm still at home.

Gokou Mao rubbed her sore eyes, finished the last sip of her instant noodle soup, and placed the empty cup on the stack of crooked programming textbooks on the corner of the table.

Overtime, more overtime.

Since signing the 'contract of servitude' with Ryosuke, she has never had to worry about money again. However, the corresponding price is that she spends almost all her free time studying technology and system administration forums.

Only the monitor was lit in the room, its blue and white light reflecting on her face. Several empty instant coffee packets were scattered next to the keyboard.

The servers of the Future Dimension Forum have been running non-stop since a week before the opening of Winter COMI.

Because of its cooperation with the organizer, many groups also use the forum for promotion, which is one of the main ways the forum makes money. Most importantly, Aniplex's cutting-edge intelligence and information can only be found here.

Recently, the number of new user registrations has increased nearly three times compared to usual, and the number of concurrent online users has repeatedly reached new highs. She had to temporarily add two load balancers to prevent the server from crashing on the spot.

All of this stems from Dong COMI.

Aniplex set up a playable demo booth for SAO and sold Blu-rays of Madoka Magica in the corporate area, while a live performance by DC idol groups completely blocked the area outside the booth.

She scrolled through the forum discussions about her new work from morning till night, and the homepage was refreshed with new content every ten minutes. She was so fast at deleting ad posts that she could practically see afterimages.

But what kept her staring at the screen at 2 a.m. wasn't SAO, it wasn't Madoka Magica, and it wasn't DC's performance photos.

It is a fan fiction.

There's a post on the discussion forum that's been floating on the homepage since 8 PM, with the number of replies jumping up every few minutes. It's already reached nearly 300 replies.

The poster's ID is "Akihabara no Lost Child", which was registered less than two months ago, and the poster only occasionally posts in the gaming section.

But the title of the post he made tonight was quite sensational—

"I've struck gold in Winter COMI! A fanfiction of FSN, I was blown away after reading the first chapter, is this written by a newbie???"

The main content isn't very long.

"To sum it up: Today, while browsing the East Fourth Hall, I randomly picked up a fan fiction novel at a booth called 'Waseda University Manga Research Club.' The title was 'Kara no Kyoukai,' and I thought it was just a regular fan fiction set in the 'FSN' universe."