6

It was already past noon, so we decided one of us would go to a convenience store to buy lunch for all of us. Since Kisaki and Kokoro could take care of the booth by themselves, I stepped up to go.

The store had mostly been emptied by the other attendees, so I only managed to buy a couple of rice balls and a few sandwiches. When I brought this bounty back, we took turns eating, sitting on the chair furthest away from the table.

As the crowd thinned and the number of customers decreased, Kisaki left the booth in my and Kokoro’s hands for a few minutes to go meet some of her online friends.

When the clock was approaching half past one, Kisaki was back handing a doujinshi to another customer.

“Thank you so much!” my sister said, before pausing and murmuring to herself. “That was the last copy...”

“Really?! You mean you’ve sold out?!” I asked her.

Kisaki had quickly sold all twenty copybooks she had made, but what was more impressive was that she’d also managed to sell fifty of her bound doujinshi.

“That’s amazing!” Kokoro congratulated her.

“Thank you. I can’t believe it! I never thought I’d be able to sell all of them...”

“G-Good going,” I said.

For a middle schooler publishing her first doujinshi, it was an incredible achievement.

Once we’d finished cleaning up our space, Kokoro suggested that we all go and enjoy the rest of the afternoon together.

“I don’t know if they’re still here,” she added, “but would you mind if I invited our friends?”

“You mean those girls who visited the booth earlier? Sure! Go ahead!” Kisaki replied.

Friends? She means Iroha and Mikoto, surely, but... does that also include Minami? But she came to our booth so early that she’s probably already gone home...

“Oh, they replied! Awww, Iroha and Mikoto went home already... Oh! Minami said she was just leaving too, and that she’d love to come!”

“Minami... Is that the blonde girl?”

“Yep! That one!”

I can see her again... That means I’ll get another chance to have a proper conversation with her. But now that I think about it, didn’t Nishina already have plans for after Comiket?

“Hey, didn’t you say you wanted to meet that cosplayer guy after the event was over? Did you manage to invite him?” I asked her.

“I-I didn’t...” she replied, looking understandably disappointed.

“Why don’t you invite him now then? You exchanged LINE contacts, right?”

“What?! I can’t text him like that out of nowhere! We don’t know each other that well yet! I just can’t!” she objected, furiously shaking her head.

And to think she was planning to have dinner with him... Good luck with that, if you won’t even invite him.

“I’d sound totally desperate if I invited him right after he gave me his LINE!” she continued.

“Just tell him that you’re going out with some friends and ask him if he’d like him to come too.”

“W-Well... I guess that could work. But he was here with a friend too, and I wouldn’t wanna be a nuisance, you know? Like, I’d come across as super demanding...”

“Come on, Nishina. Don’t be a wimp. Just tell him a friend of yours wants to meet him or something. The worst that can happen is that he says no, right?”

Of course, if I were in her shoes, I’d be just as nervous about inviting my crush like that. That didn’t make her dilly-dallying any less infuriating though. It’d be a waste not to act when things were going so well, and, more importantly, I wanted to meet this Yuya guy in person myself. He looked harmless enough from his Twitter account, but you can’t judge a book by its cover.

“A friend of mine? Who, though?” Kokoro asked.

“Me, Kisaki, whoever. Just make something up. Tell him we saw a picture and want to see his cosplay in person,” I said, then I turned to my sister. “You do want to see him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I do...” she replied, glancing at me in a weird way. I could tell that she wanted to tell me something, but I couldn’t for the life of me guess what it was.

“Hmmm... Okay! I’ll do it!” Kokoro announced. “But first I have to ask Minami if she’s fine with it. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to come with a stranger there, you know, being a voice actress and all.”

She texted Elena, who quickly replied saying it wouldn’t be an issue. Then Kokoro started carefully crafting her next message to Yuya, writing, deleting, rewriting, and editing it for what felt like an eternity.

“This should do!” she finally said. “Listen to this: ‘Hello! Thank you so much for letting me take your picture today! Did you leave already? I’m about to go have dinner with some friends, and when I told one of them about you, they said they really wanna see your cosplay! Would you maybe like to come have dinner with us? If it’s not a hassle, that is!’”

“Yeah, that sounds fine...” I said.

It sounded somewhat formal for Kokoro and like she was scared to death of offending him, but it was her first text, after all.

“Okay! Go! Ahhh! I sent it! Too late for regrets! If he says no, I’ll have to live with that!”

Once we’d finished packing up, we left the hall and headed toward the café where Elena was already waiting for us.

“Eeeek!” Kokoro squealed all of a sudden.

“Wh-What’s wrong?!”

“H-He replied! He said he’d love to have dinner together! He’s in a diner nearby with one of his friends, and he said he could save seats for us! Awaaah!”

“O-Oh, okay...” I said.

“That’s nice of him!” Kisaki added.

Kokoro was obviously ecstatic that, against all odds, Yuya had accepted her invitation.

“Pinch me! This can’t be reeeal!” she shrieked.

Even though I had been the one to suggest it in the first place, I wasn’t quite sure how I should behave in what had become such a large group: me, Kokoro, Kisaki, Elena, Yuya, and Yuya’s friend. I still didn’t even know how to approach Elena, and I was going to have to watch Yuya’s every move to decide whether I should give him my blessing.

So many people and most of them barely know each other... Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

“Hi, Minami! Sorry to keep you waiting!”

“Oh, hi! It’s a pleasure to see you all.”

When we finally reached Elena, my eyes met hers for a moment, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I just gave her a polite nod. I was happy to see her again—we’d barely exchanged any words when I was at the booth—but I was also worried about how to actually interact with her.

“I’m totally sorry I invited other people you don’t know... Are you sure it’s okay?” Kokoro asked her.

“Of course, it’s not a problem at all. Are they friends of yours?”

“They’re not all friends, really... One of the guys is a cosplayer I kinda look up to. He let me take his picture today... And there’s his friend too.”

“Oh, I see. Good luck, then.”

“Huh?! Oh, haha...”

Elena already knew that Kokoro was looking for a boyfriend, and judging by this conversation, she’d already guessed that Kokoro had invited the guy because she had a crush on him.

After Kokoro made a brief trip to the restroom (she had to fix her hair and makeup), we all went to the diner where Yuya and his friend were waiting. On our way there, the three girls were so busy chatting among themselves that I was worried the day would end without me being able to speak to Elena at all.

“This should be the place,” Kokoro said, stopping in front of the diner that Yuya had told her about. She didn’t move a muscle, standing like a statue in front of the entrance.

“Oh, come ooon! Are you going in or not?” I asked her.

Kokoro was the only one who knew the cosplayer well enough to instantly recognize him, so she had to be the first to step inside.

“I-I’m going in!” she finally said, pushing open the door and walking up to a familiar face.

“H-Hello!” she said to Yuya.

“Oh, hey!” he replied.

This was my first chance to take a good, close-up look at him. He was, beyond any doubt, handsome. You could tell at a glance that he was a popular guy. Sitting across the table from him was his equally handsome friend, who was already busy eating.

I didn’t like having to sit next to men who—unlike me—were good-looking, popular, and most likely extroverted. I was already regretting my suggestion.

As I looked at Yuya, I realized that he was very different from the other guys that Kokoro had so far described as handsome. Both Kusumi, who had worked with us at the maid café, and Bambi had more of a homely handsomeness. Sure, you wouldn’t guess they were otaku, but once you knew that, you’d just label them “handsome otaku” and call it a day.

This Yuya though... He was in another category altogether. Kokoro’s type were thin, smart-looking guys with black hair, and he looked nothing like that. He had quite a bit of muscle on him, his hair was much lighter in color, and all in all he looked like the kind of person I’d never be able to make friends with at school.

This guy is an otaku?! They make them like this?!

For some reason, he looked just as startled when he looked at me as I was looking at him. He quickly switched to a smile, but I was left feeling very confused.

“Please, have a seat!” he said, inviting Kokoro and the rest of us over to the four seats they’d saved for us.

“Th-Thank you!” she replied.

We sat down without thinking too much about who we were near, and I somehow ended up sitting right next to Yuya. I did think about swiftly moving to another seat, but Kokoro was already sitting on a chair in front of me. On her left was Yuya’s friend, and on her right was Kisaki. So I had the cosplayer on one side, and on the other... I had Elena.

Did she sit next to me by accident?

I cursed my own stupidity for picking a seat without thinking about it first. I couldn’t have chosen a more awkward place to sit. I had to keep an eye on Yuya, but I also wanted to have a conversation with Elena... Not to mention that I was worried about Kokoro and Kisaki. My roommate looked exceedingly nervous and my sister knew less than half the people there.

If it’d only been the four of us, speaking to Elena wouldn’t have felt this difficult. It would have still been difficult, granted, but not this much.

Those of us without food checked out the menu and placed our orders, and then Kokoro started speaking.

“S-So... Maybe I should introduce us! I’m Two-Heart, and I cosplay! Over there’s Ichigaya and Minami. We all go to the same school. And this is Ichigaya’s little sister, Kisaki! Ichigaya and I are here to help her sell her doujinshi today.”

That stupid nickname again? I thought as I listened to the very anxious Kokoro. She could at least just use “Heart” like she did when she worked as a maid...

“O-Oh, so, I’m Yuya! This is my friend Masahiro from university. He’s cosplaying with me today,” Yuya said in a way that sounded polite, but also strangely nervous.

Huh, so he’s a university student...

“Awesome!” Masahiro said, turning immediately to Kokoro. “We were cosplaying Toppo and Hipumi from HypMic today, but I wasn’t around when Yuya got to see your cosplay, Two-Heart. Who’d you come as?”

This guy seemed much less polite than his friend—he looked like your standard-issue university student who parties a lot.

How? How did this guy turn into an otaku?!

“I-I was cosplaying Arimu from IMS...”

“Really?! I love Arimu! I must see a picture of your cosplay! Come on, you’ve gotta have a picture somewhere!”

Yup. Just the kind of guy I thought he was. He’s wasting no time going after Nishina. I wonder what she thinks of him...

“S-Sure, let me find one...” she replied, taking out her phone while looking tenser than ever.

“So you live in India?” a soft voice asked next to me.

“Yes! I came back to Japan for Comiket. By the way, I’ve heard you’re a voice actress!”

Kisaki and Elena, meanwhile, were already chatting with each other.

There goes the stereotype of otaku being too introverted to talk to strangers. Now I can’t speak to Minami—it’d be rude to butt into a conversation between two girls. Wait, does this mean I’m the only one being left out? I was worried about the girls, but it turns out I’m the one who’s having the hardest time...

Since Kisaki and Elena seemed to be doing more than fine, I decided to focus on Yuya to get a better sense of what kind of person he was.

“Cool! Your costume’s amazing!” Masahiro said—or yelled, rather—upon seeing Kokoro’s selfie.

“Th-Thank you...”

“May I see i—” Yuya started saying something, but he was interrupted by his friend.

“What other characters do you usually cosplay?” Masahiro asked.

“I, um... Unithorn from Adore Lane, Yumeno☆Saki—”

“Whoa! I wish I could see all of them! Actually, wait, I’ve got a better idea! We should cosplay together sometime!”

Whoa yourself! Slow down there, buddy! The one she’s after is Yuya... Dammit, I should’ve let Nishina sit next to him!

“O-Oh! That’s a great idea! We could do a group cosplay!” Yuya timidly suggested.

“A group cosplay?! That’d be totally amazing!” Kokoro replied. Her twinkling eyes, however, were clearly aimed at Yuya, and not at Masahiro, who had originally proposed the idea. This was enough evidence to confirm that she wasn’t interested in the latter.

“Ah... What about you... Ichigaya, was it? Do you also cosplay?” Yuya asked me, possibly as a kind gesture, since I’d been completely cut out of the conversation.

“Huh? Me? N-No, not really...” I replied, shocked by how kind he was being to me, a boy and complete stranger. He really is a good guy, I guess...

“Oh, so you don’t cosplay with her?”

“Nah, we’re just, um, otaku friends who happen to go to the same school...”

“Oh, but that’s just as cool! Being friends with an otaku girl at school sounds amazing. So you’re an otaku but also popular with girls... I wish I were you!” he said.

Popular with girls? I wish I were you? What’s this guy talking about? Is he making fun of me?! You’re the popular one between the two of us!

“B-But surely you have lots of female friends, being in university and all,” I replied. As I spoke, I realized that, a few short months ago, I would never have been able to say something like this to an older dude, let alone one so intimidatingly handsome. I owed this newfound courage to all the practice I’d gotten hanging around Kokoro: at work, meeting cute girls at events, and so on.

“Aw, not at all. It’s all pretty much men on my course. You can count the girls on one hand.”

“What? R-Really...?”

In my imagination, university had always been a place where boys and girls met and went drinking or partying together.

“Yeah, and my high school was a boys’ school too. I’m kind of envious!”

“B-But you’re friends with lots of female cosplayers, right?”

A guy this handsome must have swarms of girls coming after him. Just like Bambi did...

“Ah, you see, I’m new to this. This was my third event so far. I’ve exchanged business cards with other cosplayers a couple of times, but I haven’t become friends with any of them yet.”

So that thing about being a beginner on his Twitter profile was true...

It was then that I noticed our conversations were taking place between all the wrong people—Kokoro was still talking with Masahiro, while I spoke to her crush. Mr. Crush didn’t seem to mind, however, and he continued talking.

“S-So, by the way... you and Two-Heart are otaku friends, right?” Yuya was still smiling, but I could hear the concern in his voice.

“Huh? Y-Yes...”

“That means that you two aren’t... you know... dating?”

“What?! No, not at all!”

“I see...” he replied, looking slightly relieved.

It sounds like he’s interested in Nishina! She might have a chance with him!

“Do you happen to know if she has a boyfriend...?”

“Huh?”

“I-I just thought it’d be wrong to invite her to cosplay together if she was seeing someone!”

Okay, she definitely has a chance with him!

“She doesn’t! There’s no problem inviting her whatsoever!”

“R-Really?!” he asked, a broad smile breaking out across his face.

“Actually, she doesn’t have any other cosplayer friends, so she’d probably be happy if you asked her.”

“Oh! That’s great news! I-I’ll invite her then! Why don’t you come too? We could all cosplay together!”

“Me?! Haha... I don’t have the confidence to cosplay...”

The more I spoke with Yuya, the more surprised I became. He said he didn’t have any female friends, and that he hadn’t had any in high school either. Seeing how he wasn’t as forward as his friend in talking to Kokoro, he was likely telling the truth. He also spoke politely and respectfully to me, even though I was younger than him. In general, I had to admit that I liked him.

I thought back to that other handsome cosplayer I knew, Bambi, and the contrast between them was stark. Even though he’d tried to sound like a good guy, that handsome narcissist had been suspicious from the start. I didn’t get any such vibes from Yuya.

Considering all of this, and the fact that he seemed more attracted to Kokoro than I could have ever imagined, he probably was the perfect otaku boyfriend that she had been looking for. He was handsome and an otaku, of course, but he was also kind. Not to mention that he didn’t seem like he fooled around at all.

A man so perfect shouldn’t be allowed to exist. He’s perfect for Nishina. He has my blessing. I’ll have to tell her about how much he seems to like her later on, and then it’ll only be a matter of time before they start dating. Right... Nishina will have a boyfriend. Why does that bother me so much? I should be happy about it! I can’t explain this feeling... If it’s not jealousy from being overtaken in our race to romance, then I really don’t know what it is.

Eventually, our individual conversations merged into a collective one. We talked about Kisaki’s doujinshi, Elena’s work as a voice actress, and so on.

Masahiro was just as eager to talk to these two girls as he had been to talk with Kokoro, bombarding them with questions and compliments. This might have been his way of being polite, but then again, he wasn’t even trying to talk to me. He probably just wanted to take his chances with all the girls he could find.

Despite the dude’s advances, we had a surprising amount of fun, and we all continued talking until six o’clock.

“Oh, look at the time,” Elena said after a glance at her watch. “I’m really sorry, but I have to go. I have a work appointment soon.”

I was disappointed that, despite sitting next to her for so long, our meeting would end without us having spoken to each other. Even when everyone was telling her goodbye, speaking to her was so difficult that I only managed to wave her off.

“I’ll go get my train then. The station is... over there, right?” she said, pointing in the exact opposite direction of the station.

I mean, we aren’t that close to the station, but I thought she’d have at least some idea of where we are...

“No, it’s that way!” Masahiro corrected her. “Guess it’s probably better if I walk you to it!”

Wh-What?! This guy wants to go with her! He’s definitely going to flirt with her or ask for her LINE or something! I have to do something!

“Ah! I just remembered I have to be going too! I’ll walk you, don’t worry about it!” I told Elena.

“R-Really...?” she asked, looking extremely confused.

“What? You’re going home already?” Kokoro asked.

“Yeah... I’ll text you two later,” I replied, feeling bad about my lousy lie.

“Okay then...” she said.

As Elena and I left, she and Kisaki stared after me with a mixture of suspicion and surprise.

When we could no longer see the diner, I finally apologized to Elena.

“I-I’m sorry I said I’d go back with you all of a sudden...”

“It’s not a problem, but is it true that you had to go?”

“W-Well...” I fumbled for words, knowing that, as awkward as it was, I had to tell her the truth. “Actually, I was worried about letting that guy go with you...”

I slowly turned to look at her, worried about how she was going to react. She was staring at me, looking stunned, until our eyes met and she quickly averted her gaze.

“Thank you,” she then said with the faintest voice possible. Even if she wasn’t looking straight at me anymore, I could tell that she was blushing.

Moments later, she stopped walking. This time, her voice was more determined when she spoke.

“Ichigaya?”

“Yes?” I said, stopping as well.

“The thing I told you last time...” she continued, and my heart skipped a beat. I noticed her eyes were getting wet with tears. “Please forget that I ever said it.”

“...Huh?” I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard.

“I was so grateful back then that, in the heat of the moment, I ended up saying what I did without considering that it’d be a nuisance to you... I’m sorry.”

“A nuisance? No way...”

She said it in the heat of the moment... So she didn’t really mean it?

“I meant everything I said that day,” she said as if she’d read my mind.

So... she does like me?

“But I know that you’re not attracted to me.”

“What?”

Why in the world would I not be attracted to Minami?!

“Wait...” I objected, but she had already started speaking.

“And I’d already told myself that I wouldn’t date anyone before becoming successful as a voice actress. I shouldn’t have bothered you in that way, and I’m sorry.”

Elena looked as if she could start crying any moment.

She didn’t want to date before becoming successful? But... wait a second. She basically just said that she likes me, right?! So she doesn’t want to date me because she’s only starting out as a voice actress?

I was having considerable trouble processing so many thoughts at once, but there was one thing that I knew for sure: nothing could make me happier than Elena liking me. All the same, the fact that she wouldn’t date me was extremely sad.

“I’m so sorry. I know I’ve asked a lot of you, and I promise not to be a nuisance anymore, but... would you do me one last favor?” she asked.

“One last favor?” I repeated. I wasn’t even able to come up with my own words anymore.

“Just once... would you please go on a date with me? Then I’ll give up on my feelings for you.” Elena looked at me, tears streaming down her face.

I hadn’t rejected her, nor had I been rejected by her. I actually hadn’t done anything at all. And now, hearing her request, there was only one way I could answer.

“If that’d make you happy... it’d be my pleasure.”