"Eriri, did you finish buying everything?"
Aki Tomoya, standing at the end of the line holding up the sign, smiled and called out the moment he spotted Eriri.
He quickly noticed, though, that there was a girl standing beside Eriri — and though she was bundled up head to toe, even wearing a face mask, he still pinned down her identity from the silver-white hair peeking out at the edge of her hat.
Why was Shirai Mio here?
And from the way she was together with Eriri, she seemed to have arrived even earlier than he had.
Had Eriri already let her in on her identity as Kashiwagi Eri?
Although Mio would have preferred Aki Tomoya not notice her at all, from the look on his face it was pretty obvious her cover was blown.
So she didn't bother hiding anymore, instead greeting him with a sunny smile. "Hi there, Aki-kun~"
"G-good morning."
Not entirely sure what was going on, Tomoya was at a loss for what to say for a moment.
It was right then that Sawamura Sayuri suddenly appeared at Eriri's side. "Eriri, did you manage to buy Mommy's happiness?"
"Everything that needed buying's been bought. How're things over here?"
"As you can see — your work's still as wildly popular as ever~"
At that, Sawamura Sayuri seemed to think of something, then looked over at Mio. "Oh, that's right — Mio's work has been selling really well too. Feels like we under-printed it."
Hearing this, Mio gave a slightly embarrassed laugh. "That's probably thanks to Eriri's reputation rubbing off on me. It's not like I've got any name recognition of my own."
"That's not it. Quite a few people came specifically for your name."
"Really?"
Mio thought it over and over. The only thing she could come up with was her followers on a certain social platform — she'd promoted the doujin on her account before Comiket started.
But with only a few hundred followers, she'd figured hardly anyone would actually show up to support her, so she hadn't paid it much mind.
Who'd have thought — her promotion had apparently worked out pretty well?
Listening in on the side, Tomoya was a little dazed, but he did pick up on one thing: the seemingly pure and innocent Shirai Mio was, just like Eriri, a doujinshi artist.
A moment ago he'd been puzzled — puzzled as to why an unknown artist's work would be sitting at Eriri's booth.
Turns out that unknown artist was none other than Shirai Mio.
The revelation hit Tomoya pretty hard. No matter how you looked at her, Shirai Mio just didn't seem like the type to draw doujinshi.
No — he was letting his preconceptions get the better of him. Just like Eriri: if he didn't already know, he'd never have connected her to an 18+ artist either.
Now that he understood Mio's identity, the relationship between her and Eriri seemed to make sense.
But — were the two of them really just ordinary fellow enthusiasts?
"What are you spacing out for?" Eriri had noticed Tomoya's gaze lingering on Mio, and asked, inexplicably a little irritated.
"N-nothing. I just didn't expect Shirai-san to be one of us, that's all."
"She's one of mine. What's it got to do with you?"
At Eriri's words, Mio immediately pressed up against her side. "I never expected Eriri to say something like that. I'm so happy."
Eriri awkwardly nudged her with her shoulder. She had the nagging feeling Mio had misunderstood something.
But she had no time to explain anything right now, because an even bigger crowd had already surged their way. She tugged Mio into the booth and the two of them got to work helping out.
Although the stock still looked plenty full for now, at this rate it'd probably be wiped out in under a day.
With Mio and Eriri pitching in, the flow of customers through the booth sped up noticeably.
Even so, they still didn't manage to eat lunch on time.
They stayed busy clear through until afternoon before they got even a sliver of free time.
"Finally, a chance to rest~" Mio stretched lazily, then pulled out a boxed lunch and started in on her overdue meal.
"At this rate, things should ease up by tomorrow. I'll show you around the place properly then." Saying this, Eriri seemed to remember something, then asked, earnest, "Oh, right — I forgot to ask. Is there anything you wanted to buy?"
"Nope. It is my first time at an event like this, after all, so I haven't really thought of anything I want yet. I'll take my time and browse once I've got some~"
"Fair enough. No problem if you don't buy anything. I picked up a bunch of great works this time — I can lend them to you later."
"Eriri's so good to me. Looks like I'll just have to give myself to you to make it up~"
"Nobody asked you to give yourself to anyone. Don't flatter yourself." Eriri rolled her eyes at Mio. This white-haired little bitch — always saying things designed to be misread.
Good thing she was a straight girl.
Since things outside were still hectic, the two of them wolfed down their boxed lunches and went to take over for Eriri's parents.
And just as Mio was repeating the same mechanical motions, a familiar voice suddenly rang out. "Well, well, if it isn't my dear little kouhai. What are you doing here, selling doujinshi of all things?"
At the sound of that familiar voice, Mio stiffly lifted her head — only to find Yukinoshita Haruno standing in front of the booth at some unknown point, watching her with a smile on her face.
"M-miss, I think you've mistaken me for someone else." Mio said in a roughened voice, attempting one last struggle.
How on earth was Yukinoshita Haruno here?!
Forget being here — how had she found out Mio was at this place?! And recognized her on top of it.
This was shaping up to be a complete disaster!
As if she'd long anticipated Mio would say exactly that, Haruno let out a soft laugh. "A second ago I wasn't quite sure. But after seeing your eyes, I'm certain."
Mio blinked her red eyes, hesitated a moment, then finally gave up the struggle.
"How did Senpai even find this place? ...Never mind, tell me later. If Senpai doesn't mind, you can wait for me over in that rest area — I'll come find you in a bit."
"Sure."
Haruno nodded. On her way out, she even picked up one of the works on display — which, as it happened, was one of Mio's own.
As she handed the doujin over, even Mio felt oddly embarrassed. Handing a doujin she'd drawn herself to someone she knew — no, this was the one thing she absolutely did not want!
But it was fine. Haruno had no idea that any of Mio's own work was among the booth's offerings. As long as Mio acted like nothing had happened, she could bluff her way through.
As long as she wasn't found out, it didn't count as social death!
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