Ore ga Suki nano wa Imouto dakedo Imouto ja Nai
Volume 3 Chapter 1
What do you mean by writer retirement?!
Part 1:
"Thank you very much!"
Handing a customer a doujinshi, Islightly bowed. Normally, I was doing something similar to this at mypart-time job in the bookstore but I didn’t have any experience withan event of this scale, resulting in my voice being a bit shaky.Giving my regards to the leaving customer, I, Nagami Yuu, took adeep breath and observed my surroundings. In this almost unbearableheat, I was standing in a big hall that could almost fit 100.000people, all of them walking around, looking at countless booths beinglined up next to each other. Of course, as one would suspect, most ofthese booths were selling things like doujinshi or self-made games,basically all the otaku heart would desire.
……Yep, currently, I was in theepicenter of Japan’s famous Comiket. (The official name is ComicVacation). Adding to that, it was currently during our summervacation, resulting in the name [NatsuComi], Japan’s—no the world’sbiggest otaku convention.
(TLC: Natsu = summer)
Representing derivative works ofpopular manga, anime and even light novel, it was a festival forpeople with a deep liking for their favorite things. With anattendance count of over 500.000 people over the course of threedays, it was an event that was still searching for a rival.
….So, if someone where to as me why Iwas here, of course I would answer them that I am also a big fan ofdoujinshi and the like—sadly not. I came here because of variousreasons.
"T-Thank you very much…."
One of these reasons was Suzuka, whowas currently standing next to me, also handing out doujinshi to acustomer while averting her eyes. Realizing my gaze, she seemed to besulking and she slowly started moving her lips.
"Why are you spacing out for? Theguests will keep on coming so please help me out here." She waslecturing me as always.
That being said, her words seemedsofter than usual. Can’t really blame her though after being pulledhere, especially on the Comiket, to help a circle of creators out,even though she has next to no knowledge about the otaku world. Ontop of that, she’s being forced to sell such doujinshi whilecosplaying…..this will probably leave a scar or two in hermemories.
"…..I came here with the goal tocollect data but I didn’t expect this Comiket thing to be such a bigthing."
Just as she had stated, the two of uscame here to conduct research on the Comiket. My little sister,Nagami Suzuka, is a student at a prestige all-girls middle schoolwhile also acting as the student council. Being a super popular lightnovel author named Towano Chikai in her spare time, she was flawlesssuperhuman. To surpass her previous novels, she came here to collectdata for her research but just like I said earlier, she wasn’t allthat familiar with the otaku world to begin with which is why sheasked me, her stand-in, to come with her. By the way, just like itentitles, I am acting as Suzuka’s representative because of variousreasons……that’s all I can say for now. I on my part was stillstruggling to advance in the light novel contest that I’m trying towin, although I always fall out in the first preliminaries (last timeI made it to the second round though!). It really didn’t feel allthat pleasant to debut under these circumstances but it’s for mytroubled little sister after all….yeah.
"Onii-chan? Are you listening?"
"I am. Since this is your firstComiket, I’m not surprised that you’re a bit shocked."
"Although I heard beforehand that ahuge mass of people would take part in this, I didn’t expect it to beon this scale…..It makes me realize once more how many people arecreating these doujinshi."
"Well, not everyone walking aroundhere is actually creating them, it’s only the people in the booths,you know?" I tried to clear up a misunderstanding in the happening.
Suzuka answered me with an "Is thatso? I totally thought that this is an event where everyone wouldbring their own works with them."
"If everyone here would really open abooth like you suspect, this place wouldn’t suffice at all. Not evenit if was ten times larger."
"Eh? So it would’ve been fine even ifwe merely came here as guests?"
"That’s what we planned on doing atfirst, you know?"
In the end, we ended up acting asvendors at this booth, although there is another reason for that.
"D-Don’t tell me….there was neverany reason to participate while cosplaying?"
"Ah, it certainly isn’t essential, Iguess."
Hearing that, steam started rising fromSuzuka’s head and she started hiding behind me.
"S-So it really was like that…. Ithought that it was weird beforehand….All the other people aroundus are wearing normal clothes!"
"I do think that there are a fewother booths were the vendors also wear cosplay but there really arefew yeah."
"W-Why are you stating that socalmly…..! D-Did you have a part in this to make me embarrassmyself…..? O-Onii-chan is wearing plain normal clothes after all!"
"Don’t say something like that outloud! And that was because they didn’t have any fitting cosplay forme remember?!"
All they had were cosplays for femalesand they still tried forcing me into one……
"Uuu….for a while now, a lot ofpeople were staring at me….!"
"You know, since this is the Comiketafter all, it really isn’t all that weird for people to go aroundwearing cosplay. Also, they were probably staring at you because youare—-"
—really cute! Is what I was about toblurt out but I hurriedly closed my mouth.
….Ah that was close, really. Itcertainly wasn’t an overstatement that she was cute but saying it outloud here would be, you know, bad… Recently, I am always pullingher in all sorts of weird situations, making her suffer as result. Ihave to make sure that this doesn’t happen here.
"I am…what?"
"N-No, it’s nothing."
"Mu, you’re hiding something, aren’tyou? Trying to cover it up won’t work." She said with an poutingexpression. She’s plenty cute already but at times like these, sheshines like a real beauty
—-Hey, I just said that thesethoughts were bad, didn’t I?!
….Cough.That being said, seeing Suzuka in a cosplay like this, completelydifferent from her every day clothes, her impression was prettystrong on me. Her clothes, to be specific, were designed after afantasy-type browser game. Wearing cute magician clothes that reallyfit her, she attracted a lot of the eyes of the people around us.
"N-Never mindthat, wearing cosplay clothes isn’t weird at all, so let’s continueour research alright?"
"Muu, if itreally had been possible to conduct this research with being merecustomers, why are we standing here at this booth? W-With thisoutfit….and these obscene books…." While saying that with ared-face, she reached with her hand towards the doujinshi in front ofus.
Well, merelylooking at the illustrations on the cover completely reveals the factthat the content is plenty R-18 material.
"Oho, whathappened, you two, desu?"
At that time,beaming blond-hair drifted into my field of vision.
"DoublePeace-sensei? No, this being Suzuka’s first Comiket, she was just abit overwhelmed."
"Since this ispretty similar to a festival, you just have to have fun, desu! AndSensei? It really frustrates me if you don’t call me Ahegao DoublePeace-sensei!" She said as she was smiling at me with a doublepeace. Her face was nothing like an ahegao though which really mademe question why she even chose that name.
This blue-eyedblonde haired beauty in front of me is actually the illustrator ofSuzuka’s novel, as well as a super doujinshi and eroge enthusiast,A-he-ga-o Double Peace-sensei. As a side note, she was actually fromEngland, which explained her hair and eyes.
"Even if youkindly ask me like that, you know….And also, this is a first forthe both of us being vendors at such a convention."
"That iscertainly no good, desu! Being a normal customer is one thing butbeing on this side has it’s own benefits, you know? We can personallyexplain all the points that the customers should pay attention towhile reading our doujinshi, desu!" Saying that, she picked up adoujinshi from the table, opened it and showed it to me.
Shown there was,how do I say it, an illustration of the heroine, looking like she wasin a trance or something. It was a straight-forward ero-drawing asalways, troubling me to no end. I can’t really help it when it’s thetaste of the illustrator, I guess….
"The point ofinterest this time is this expression, overflowing with sexiness,desu! Mixing up the feeling of sadness and also pleasure was whatmade it really difficult but the result is totally worth it, desu!"
"The fact that Idon’t really like all of this doesn’t change even if you explaineverything step for step….."
"Being familiarwith Sensei’s tastes, we made sure to give her enormous breasts,desu!"
"What do youmean by that?! And as always, you’re totally not listening to me?!"
"B-Breasts! S-Soit’s really all about breasts…..! What kind of lewd things are youforcing Double Peace-sensei to do….!"
"No, no matterhow you look at it, it’s Double Peace-sensei’s fault this timebecause she did that without asking!?"
"Drawing outSensei’s hidden desires and putting them into drawings is my destinyafter all, desu. Heh, something like this is self-explanatory,desu….."
"Why are yousaying it like it’s the coolest thing ever?! And don’t say stuff thatcan be misinterpreted so easily! Suzuka is glaring at me because ofyou!"
Since we met her,things like these kept on happening but why does it always end upwith me being the bad guy? Because of that, my self-esteem keeps onsinking lower and lower….
"D-Don’t tell meOnii-chan, you agreed to help here so that you could get your handson this doujinshi as fast as possible….?"
"Yes, that isthe truth, desu!"
"Of course not?!Please don’t go spurting lies like that!"
T-This is bad!!There’s a pitch black aura forming around Suzuka!
"Cough….Thereason we came here to help this circle is because DoublePeace-sensei invited us, you know. Since we were planning to collectsome data anyway, we might as well gain some experience in sellingthem…is what I thought."
"Mhm….so it’slike that…….?" Looking like she was still dubious, she staredat Double Peace-sensei, expecting some sort of reaction.
Shit….she’s notputting any trust in her big brother at all! Well, I do feel like ourrelationship took a turn for the better after I became her stand-inbut in her eyes, I’m still an unreliable big brother like before so Ican’t really help it…but come on!
"Yes, that’s thetruth, Imouto-san, desu. He’s really helping us here and there’s alsohis own reason, making it a win-win situation, desu!"
"I see, so hereally was telling the truth. Thank you for clearing that up, DoublePeace-sensei."
"Why are yourather believing her than your big brother…..?"
"Did you saysomething?" She hissed.
"N-Nothing atall." I answered while straightening my back.
S-Scary!!!
It hurts my prideto say so but this is how the power balance is like in ourrelationship.
"W-Well, takingthe role of the vendors is one thing but I still can’t come to termswith this cosplay." Suzuka once more nervously fiddled with herhands.
Her already smallstature seemed to be shrinking even more.
"In the end,we’re all together here, so we should just enjoy this Comiket, desu!No need to be embarrassed, Imouto-san, it really fits you!" As shesaid that, she puffed out her chest.
By doing so, hervoluptuous breasts were shaking back and worth, making me focus myeyes at them. Normally, her doing so wouldn’t be a big problem butthis time, she is, just like Suzuka, also wearing a cosplay. A femaleknight outfit with too many open places—the so-called bikini armor,strengthening the destructive power of her breasts by 5.
"….Onii-chan,where are you looking?"
"Ha?!N-N-Nowhere at all?! I was just, uhm, thinking about how this cosplayreally fit Double Peace-sensei after all, something completely normallike that?!"
"Ehehe, thankyou very much, desu! It makes me happy that Sensei compliments me!"
"Muuuu….."
Originally, I wasplanning to twist the topic of our conversation a little bit but itended up with Suzuka glaring at me.
"Hey, you guys!Why aren’t you serving any customers!" This time, Mai also joinedin our meeting. Pushing the conversation in another direction was agood job on her part and all but with her current appearance, Iwasn’t all that happy about that.
"I was justtelling them how glad I am for their help, desu. Ah, of course I’malso grateful that Mai tagged along too!"
"I-I just camehere to follow Yuu for my research. My chances to meet him during oursummer vacation aren’t all that high after all so I can’t just ignorethis opportunity."
"Now that yousay it, you really keep good track of Sensei’s plans and such, aren’tyou, desu?"
"Haha! That’s tobe expected from Towano Chikai’s number one fan!"
I really don’t getwhat’s so respectable about that but that’s not important right now.This girl here is my classmate Himuro Mai. In reality, she is also aprofessional light novel writer named Enryuu Homura and she fell inlove with my (Suzuka’s) novel, always declaring that she’s my (her)number one fan. Though, that resulted in her being more like astalker than a normal fan.
"That remindsme, why is Himuro-san here?"
While DoublePeace-sensei and Mai were gleefully talking with each other, Suzukaasked me with a quiet voice.
"Well, even ifyou ask me like that….for some reason, she was already here when wearrived…."
The moment we camehere, she already greeted us with an "Took you long enough!"while standing in front of the entrance.
"I really hope Iam wrong about this but did you possibly tell her that we would becoming here…?"
"Of course Ididn’t?! She probably found out some way or another!"
"That’s to beexpected, Onii-chan is too easy to read after all. Reflect on that ifyou would."
Listening to hernon-pardoning lecture, I couldn’t say anything in response.
I-I can’t help it,okay? Mai’s stalking skills are weirdly high-level, in contrary toher other life skills.
"For crying outloud Onii-chan…..Even after the events at the beach, you’re clearlynot being careful of Himuro-san’s actions at all…."
"B-But wemanaged to clear up Mai’s doubts after all and it’s not like she’sobstructing your research. No need to scold over such a minor matter,don’t you think?"
"That is clearlynot the problem here."
"Then whatexactly is it….?"
"It’s fine ifyou don’t understand." With these few words, she averted her eyes.
What’s up withher, really….
"Ah, hey Yuu!Don’t go slacking off. These weird doujins seem to be really popular,so the guests just keep on coming."
"Hey, thesedoujinshi were drawn my Double Peace-sensei, you know!"
"I can’t help itsince the content is….you know?" Her cheeks were slightly flushedas she was tapping on the doujinshi on top of the table.
She’s probablytalking about the fiendish erotic drawings in them.
"The drawingsare really well done, so wouldn’t this sell more of it was a normaldoujin?"
"Iam really happy for the praise, desu, but that won’t do! SinceSensei’s editor prohibited me from adding full-on ero drawings in hissecond novel, I have to somehow let out all this build up stress,desu!"
Confronted withher pure smile, not only Mai but also Suzuka and I were merely ableto utter a "I-Is that so".
"W-Well, withdoujins, you should just draw what you like after all……And Ithought it would be fine to cosplay to attract new customers." AsMai said so, she looked at her own clothes with uneasiness.
Just like Suzuka,Mai was also wearing a cosplay. With dog ears on her head and adog-tail on her butt, she wore a fur-centered costume, making herlook like a werewolf.
"There are alsoa lot of other people cosplaying and I probably won’t stand out toomuch since this the Comiket though."
She might besaying that but she was, just like Suzuka, a real beauty, causing herto attract a lot of the customers stares lately. Adding theoutstandingly beautiful blonde-haired beauty Double Peace-sensei tothat, it was no wonder that this booth was getting a lot ofattention.
….And justbecause I was in the middle of these women, all of them are glaringat me with pure killing intent! Although I can perfectly understandwhy!
"Still….doinga cosplay like this in front of so many people isn’t exactly apleasant feeling."
"You say thatbut you didn’t hold back at all when you were doing it at my home."I retorted.
"B-Back then, Ipurely did it for my research! A-And if it was just Yuu, I wouldn’tmind….." Mai panicked.
"Why only me?"
"F-Forget it!Rather than that, isn’t there something that you should be saying tous?!" She was blurting out some nonsense again as her face wasgradually getting red.
"W-What do youmean?"
"That’s…youknow. Your impression of my cosplay….and so on."
"He? Myimpression…?"
"Ah, now thatyou say it, desu! We didn’t hear anything yet from Sensei!"
"E-Even DoublePeace-sensei?….Is there something wrong with your clothes?"
"That’s not whatI meant! H-Hurry up and say it already….!" Muttering that, shetook one step forward towards me and tried to emphasize her clotheswhile puffing out her chest.
For some reason,she was averting her face. Her flushed cheeks were perfectly visiblethough, making it seem like she was embarrassed because of something.Being confronted with this unlike behavior of hers, my heart startedbeating for some reason.
"Uhm, even ifyou say that…."
Being completelylost on what exactly she wanted to hear from me, I decided to justhonestly tell her my feelings.
"Well, I thinkyou look cute…..?"
"C-Cute?!H-Hmpf, that’s to be expected! But….ehehe…" Hearing my words,it looked like smoke was coming out of her head.
Is it that?Because she’s a girl after all, she wants to be complimented on herclothes….? Even though it’s cosplay?
"Sensei Sensei!What about mine, desu?"
"….It fits youas well, Double Peace-sensei. You really look stylish with that."
"Muu, ratherthan hearing such critic-like phrasing, girls get happier when youtell them straight like you did with Mai, desu!"
"Ah,well….Double Peace-sensei is also cute, yes"
"That’s wrong,Sensei! You should’ve said erotic, desu!"
"These wordsaren’t exactly a praise—-no, in Double Peace-sensei’s they are thebest praise there is I see!"
"Yes! Erotic isa compliment, desu! By the way, I also think that slutty dog-likecompliments would’ve been appropriate.
"That’sdefinitely a no-go!"
"Ah but, bitchisn’t really a compliment for me–"
I wonder why—shekept on muttering to herself while tilting her head…..Yup, I don’tget her reasoning at all!
In that moment, Ifelt like someone was pulling at my clothes and as I turned around,Suzuka was looking up to me with a pouting expression.
"U-Uhm, you’renot going to compliment me on my cosplay….?"
Letting out suchan unexpected phrase, I could only mutter a confused "Eh?"
"No, uhm!P-Please don’t misunderstand me?! I-It’s not like I think that it’sunfair you only called the other two cute or anything?! I do thinkthat it’s not fair to be the only one left out though! In fact, Iwould like it if you would only look at me—No! It’s definitely notsomething like that?!" She fiddled with her hands as she screamed.
"C-Calm downSuzuka?!"
Being confrontedwith that non Suzuka-like behavior of hers, even I was lost on whatto do.
"U-Uhm…..!Y-Yes, it’s a problematic for the balance! It’s not fair for me to beleft out, I think! Something trivial as this might even turn intobullying after all!"
"Why did itsuddenly turn into such a serious conversation?!"
"B-Bullying hislittle sister….Onii-chan really is a cruel person!"
"And why does itturn into false accusations?!
"B-But if it’sOnii-chan, I wouldn’t mind if he was to tease me a little bit…."
"H-Hey?Suzuka-san?"
"…..Wha-?!Y-You’re wrong! I didn’t mean it like that! It’s certainly not thecase that Double Peace-sensei’s work had some influence on me oranything?! So, uhm!" For quite some time now, her talking speed wasaccelerating like crazy.
After a shortmoment, she seemed to have made up her mind and while she was pullingmy closer, she said something in a small voice.
"F-For now, justtell me your opinion of my cosplay….! Onii-chan is Towano Chikaiafter all! Doing that is completely natural in a situation likethis!"
A-Ahh, I see,that’s what she was on about.
Towano Chikai is alittle sister novel writer after all, so when I am acting as him, Ihave to make an appeal that I love little sisters.
I see, I see. Ifinally understood Suzuka’s intentions. I was worried for a momentthat she might’ve really wanted to hear my opinion of her cosplay…Well, thinking about it with a calm mind, it makes sense. Really,what was I imagining honestly.
"Uhm….yeah,your clothes really fit you, Suzuka."
"I-Is thatso…" She looked away.
Alright, with thisSuzuka will be satisfied—is what I thought but her hand on myclothes wouldn’t let go.
"Isthat….all?"
"Eh?"
"You saidsomething else….to the others…" She once more looked at me.
Although I was abit surprised because of her reaction, I immediately realized thatshe wasn’t satisfied yet.
….T-Truth betold, that really seemed light compared to Mai and DoublePeace-sensei.
"I-I reallythink that this mysterious feeling really fits you….."
"That doesn’tfeel like praise to be honest."
"Well, but, itreally is arranged very girly, so I think it looks very good."
"Thank you. But,isn’t there something else….?"
"Somethingelse…? Ah, of course, that magic wand looks very good on you."
"No, that is notwhat I meant." She looks at me with irritated eyes.
Was that not it? Iran out of things to complement her for. Ugh, no choice but to usethe words I didn’t want to say out loud.
"Ah-……yeah,Suzuka wearing that cosplay looks really cute, yup."
"…?! Y-Youfinally called me cute…."
It seems like Ifinally managed to satisfy her—nope, she still isn’t letting go atall!
"I-It’s stillnot enough….S-Say something else because you made me wait solong…"
"M-More?! ….Okayokay I got, stop glaring at me already….!" Since she still wasn’tsatisfied, I continued complementing her.
Only for the sakeof the little sister appeal of course!
"This differentthan usual look of yours is really refreshing."
"I-Is thatso…. Ehehe. W-What else?"
"You’re plentycute already but seeing you like this makes me want to see you wearthese things more often…."
"Ehehe, ehehe.Really, Onii-chan is no good after all! But, it’s not like I’m happyabout these words! Ehehehehe…." Her face was even more red thanbefore and she was shaking with her whole body.
I know that she’sexaggerating because we’re in front of Mai and Double Peace-senseibut her acting is really on point I have to say….
Well, I know thatI said similar words like these before but doing it in front of otherpeople is a bit embarrassing after all, you know! It is anindisputable fact that Suzuka is cute and I’m well aware of that buttelling her that face to face so frequently is bad for my heart….ina lot of ways.
"I-I wonder if Ishould wear some cosplay at home as well? But the impact might lessenif he were to see this too often, right? I really should try toattack with my normal cuteness as well…." Suzuka seemed to havecalmed down but she was still snickering about something.
"H-Hey, Yuu! Whyare you only complementing Suzuka-san?! To make it fair, complementme some more!"
"What?! I did soa few moments ago, right?!"
"Fu fu fu, youreally are naive, Sensei. We are girls after all so we want you tocall us cute as often as possible, desu! That being said, saysomething more to me as well!"
"Wha-?! EvenDouble Peace-sensei?!"
H-How did it turnout like this?!
"Uhmmmm, I wouldlike this one….."
Though, at thattime I heard a voice and as I turned around, I realized a gueststanding there.
"Ah, yes! Sorry!Thank you very much!"
I tried to be aspolite as possible but the second I handed him the doujinshi, heclicked his tongue and said "Che, normies should just die". Thesewords felt like an arrow going through my heart.
….S-Shit! It’strue that this looks like I’m some sort of light novel protagonist,being surrounded by three beautiful girls, but in the end, I’mnothing more than a stand-in so it’s really not like that?! I reallywant to scream out that I’m also the same as you! But I can’t! I cando nothing more than grief inside my heart! Ugh….this really hurts.
"Excuse me, Iwould like to by the new book." While I was still sulking on top ofthe table, another guest came.
Behind me, itsounded like they were talking about something but unlike the two ofthem who didn’t show any interest in serving the customers, Igathered the rest of my willpower and kept going.
Just like I wouldexpect from Double Peace-sensei’s circle, the amount of peoplewanting to buy her new book is astonishing but I didn’t think thatthere would be so many women here as well. Not that it really shockedme, since we’re talking about the otaku community. It really gives ofthe feeling that all of the people here share the same taste….orsomething like that.
"Ah, is this thecircle of Double Peace-sensei? Might I have one book please?"
While I was lostin my thoughts, another customer came up to me and I answered with ashort "Ah, yes" as I raised up my head. But, the second I lookedat the person in question, my eyes went wide.
"H-Huh?Minazuki-san?"
"….Eh? Huh?!Towano Chikai-sensei?!"
She seemed to beas surprised as I was. Although she merely debuted one year ago, shegot herself the role of the main heroine in a very popular animeseries. It was the super famous voice actress Minazuki Sakura. Shewas a big fan of Suzuka’s novel and I met her when she came to asigning session…..But, why is she here?
"U-Uhm, why isMinazuki-san here at Comiket?"
"Sakura wantedto use her break from work to come here and buy any doujinshi relatedto Towano Chikai-sensei’s novel. While doing so, she saw hisillustrators, Ahegao Double Peace-sensei’s booth and even though itwasn’t her favorite genre, it had some connection to Sensei afterall."
Oh, I was a bitperplexed at first but after hearing her reason, it makes sense.
"Rather thanthat, why is Sensei here? Sakura was so surprised, she almost startedscreaming. And actually, she wants to scream because she hasn’t seenyou for so long!"
"No, please holdback on that if you would…You already have such a high vocal volumebut if the fact that Minazuki-san is here came out, things would gosouth really fast…"
"It’s fine!Sakura didn’t show her face to the media yet! No need to be afraidabout that!"
"People wouldrecognize just by your voice alone I tell you! Don’t forget about thefact that you are a voice actress okay?!" I retorted.
Minazuki-san said"T-That’s right!" and it looked like she received a huge shock.
"T-Then I willtalk with a quiet voice like this, okay? What is Sensei doing here?"
"Ah….how do Isay it, I came here to collect some data but I also happened to helpout Double Peace-sensei with her booth here."
"Data, you say?"
"Yes, I wantedto gain some more experiences for my novel, which is why I am here."
That is of courseSuzuka’s side but I was also coming here for more data on acting likethe protagonist in my own novel so I wasn’t actually lying to her.
"Ohh! I that so!Your relationship with Ahegao Double Peace-sensei is really good Isee! I wonder if a relationship like this between author andillustrator is normal after all…..?"
"Well, I don’tknow how it is for other people but I guess you can say that we arepretty close…to each other….?"
Although it feelsnot like a normal friendship-like relationship, I couldn’t really saythat. Even though I told her countless times to sop, she still keepson sending me erotic drawings via mail so doesn’t that count as beinga bother? Well, I do keep on saving them on my smartphone so I can’ttalk all high and mighty about that…..That being said, it’s notlike I hate or anything, she feels more like a colleague or a weirdfriend.
These were myhonest feelings at least.
"How nice!Sakura also wants to be friends with Towano-sensei…." She foldedher hands together as if she was praying for something.
Being toldsomething like that from the a super popular voice actress likeher….thinking about it, isn’t that something pretty incredible?
"Ahh, Sakurawants to be even closer with Onii-chan…"
"U-Uhm,Minazuki-san? Your way of speaking changed…."
"Eh? …Ah!S-Sorry! It just sort of happened!"
By the way, this[Onii-chan] she was talking about was actually me. It seems like shegot too into it while reading Suzuka’s novel, so she sometimes mixesher way of speaking with that of Yuuka. She was even looking at melike I was Ryou in these moments…..I told her countless times notto do that though. Ah, just as a side note, she is actually olderthan me.
"….Are youthinking about something weird again, Onii-chaaaan?"
"No! I didn’tthink about anything! Ah, you changed your way of speaking on purposedidn’t you?!"
Faced with aninnocent smile, I felt a dark aura building up around me. This is thereason why I absolutely can’t be happy about the fact that such asuper popular voice actress calls me Onii-chan!
"Ahhh! Youare?!"
In that moment,just when I thought that I heard Suzuka’s voice from behind me, sheappeared in front of me and after looking at Minazuki-san, she turnedaround to stare at me.
"What ishappening here, Onii-chan?! Why is this person from the signingsession here!" Even though she was spacing out just a few minutesprior, she was now firmly demanding an explanation.
What’s thistension about? It feels like she is questioning me about a shady jobI did….
"I-If I remembercorrectly, this was the person that called Onii-chan [Onii-chan],right? Why is she here….D-Did she come here to meet you…?"
"Somehow itfeels like you’re advancing the conversation on your own but you’rewrong, okay? It’s a mere coincidence that I happened to meetMinazuki-san here."
Why is Suzuka sowary of Minazuki-san anyway?
"Eh? Onii-chanshe says….? Eh? Huh?"
Minazuki-san onher hand seemed to be confused at the sudden appearance of Suzuka.
"U-Uhm,Towano-sensei? Is this girl an acquaintance of yours or something?Sakura might’ve just misheard that but did she per chance call youOnii-chan…?"
"No, you heardright. This girl is Suzuka, my little sister."
"….Excuse me?"Minazuki-san tilted her head after hearing my words. She had aserious look on her face….looks really scary… "L-Littlesister…? In what way is this your little sister if Sakura may ask?"
"No, sheliterally is my little sister?!"
"Is this somesort of password? Like the codename [Little sister]….some sort ofunparalleled hitman! In that meaning?"
"What’s up withthis novel-like deducing?! It’s just my normal little sister!"
"That’s right.I’m not actually a hitman with the codename [Little sister] butmerely a girl from his neighborhood with that name."
"As if there wasa girl with such a name around me?!"
"Ono no Imoko!We learned about this person in Japanese history class!"
(TLC: Imoko iswritten with the kanji for little sister and child)
"I don’t evenknow where to start retorting if you follow up with something likethat?!"
"For now, themost important fact would be that Ono no Imoko was actually a man."Minazuki-san chimed in.
I applaud you foryour try Minazuki-san….
"Rather thanthat, Suzuka is my normal little sister! In the siblings meaning!"
For some reason, Ipointed that out in a more aggressive way than I normally would.
"N-No way….Tothink that Towano-sensei had a real-life little sister…."
"Why is thatsuch a big shock for you?" Suzuka asked.
I don’t know,maybe because the title of my novel is [The story about a littlesister who loves her big brother way too much to cope]?! Come on!Take a hint here!
"Onii-chan, if Iremember correctly, this person is the voice actress MinazukiSakura-san, right?"
"Ah right, yousaw her back then at the signing session, right? She’s a big fan ofTowano Chikai and it seems like she came over here because she knewabout Double Peace-sensei."
"At first Ithought that you used your influence as a popular writer to make fanscall you Onii-chan….but it seems like she was doing it of her ownaccord."
"I told her notto do that at that time as well, you know?!"
"That’s notimportant. In any case, I should introduce myself as Onii-chan’slittle sister."
"Eh? Uhm,Suzuka?"
Although this wasa completely normal action, somehow it didn’t seem thatnormal…..—is what I thought as she turned towards Minazuki-sanand slightly bowed her head.
"Nice to meetyou, you are Minazuki Sakura-san if I’m not mistaken."
"Eh? N-Nice tomeet you….?"
"Iam Onii-chan’s little sisterSuzuka. Being also a fan of his novel, as his littlesister, I wanted to give you mygratitude as well. Thank you very much."
"Eh? Eh?!"Hearing Suzuka’s introduction, Minazuki-san was taking a step back.
Well, it makessense. From the standpoint of her big brother, I am once morereminded of the fact that Suzuka is always talking in the most politeway possible, just like this time. But, was it just my imaginationthat her emphasis was sometimes off…..?
"A coolOjou-sama?! And a beautiful little sister!"
"Iam well aware of that fact that Onii-chan might have some imperfectpoints about him but as his little sister,I will take full responsibility of that, so I look forward to yoursupport."
"Oh!!"
Minazuku-san’seyes grew even wider as Suzuka continuously bowed to her.
Somehow….itfeels like I saw lightnings cracking in the atmosphere….was thatjust my imagination again? And why is Suzuka boasting like that?
"……."Minazuki-san just continuously stared at her feet, without moving aninch.
What happened….?Should I speak out to her?—- When I started thinking that, shesuddenly raised up her head and started moving her lips.
"T-That’s soawesome!" She almost screamed, approaching the both of us.
"Wha?! What’s upwith you all of a sudden!?"
"That’s soamazing Sensei! To think that you had such an incredible littlesister! Sakura feels so impressed by her! How do I say it, it feelslike Sakura already lost."
"C-Calm down?!And what do you mean by that?!"
"Fu…..being alittle sister is something unfathomable like this. It’s fine as longas you understand…."
"S-Suzuka-san?!Why do you look so satisfied without any apparent reason?!"
It looked likeSuzuka had a pleased smile on her face….But that soon changed afterhearing Minazuki-san’s next words which made her freeze up in aninstant.
"Sakura thoughtof little sisters too naively it seems! Seeing how Sensei has such anadmirable little sister, Sakura realized that she has to put more andmore effort into acting like one so that she can come out on top ofhis little sister!"
"Exactly, youhave to put more into——eh?" In a second, all of her composurewas gone and she was staring at Minazuki-san.
Yep, I wasn’t ableto follow the conversation for a while now.
"U-Uhm…? Whatdo you mean by that?"
"Sakura realizedthat, in order for me to become even more of a little sister forSensei than his real one, she have to put in even more effort! Ehm,Nagami Suzuka-chan was it? Thank you so much for making her realizethat!"
Having a smile onher face that could make any flower bloom, Minazuki-san took Suzuka’shand. It looked like I really heartwarming scene.
"Really, thankyou so much! With this, it feels like Sakura can be even closer tobeing an ideal little sister! When Sakura gets the role of Yuuka, shewill definitely say her thanks to you once more!"
"Eh? What doesthis mean…? I thought that I made her position clear but….Ehhh?"
Still holdingSuzuka’s hand, Minazuki-san was shaking it up and down. Suzuka’s bodyshook every time as if she was hit by something
…. Is it just meor are there red damage numbers flashing up every now and then?Really, I’m so lost on everything. It seems like I lost all abilityto understand everyday Japanese…..
However, whileMinazuki-san seemed the only one happy in this situation, Suzuka kepton taking damage while being at a loss for words.
"Ah, that’sright Suzuka-chan. You really are completely different from thelittle sister in Sensei’s novel!"
Even though thisphrase seemed to have no ill-intent at all, it looked like Suzuka’schest was pierced by something as she heard these words….
No, it really did,okay? I heard the sound as well and it looked like a lightning hitthe ground behind them. I thought I even saw the words [KO!] flashingup.
"Wha…..What….."
As I was wonderingif we really should go to a hospital, Suzuka took a step back to puther hand on the table.
"T-To think thatMinazuki-san would be so stubborn…..I didn’t expect to receive adirect hit like this…."
I didn’t reallyknow what was going on but it looked like a tremendous battle washappening before me.
….No, I reallywas completely lost here but for Suzuka to be this cornered, Iclearly understood how powerful Minazuki-san really was.
"Huh?Suzuka-chan? Did something happen?"
Although it wassupposed to look like a cheerful girly smile, it looked moreterrifying to me….
"Hey Yuu, whyare you still talking to that guest?"
At that moment,Mai came over to us, shortly followed my Double Peace-sensei.Imagining how this situation will probably turn out, I felt myshoulders dropping in defeat already.
"Huh? It’s not aguest? Who is this girl?"
"Ohhh that’sanother cute one, desu! There are many beauties around Sensei itseems, desu!"
"…..Eh? Otherbeautiful girls enter the stage? And one of them is a mysteriousblonde-haired one! D-Don’t tell me, are these girls also your littlesisters?!" Mikazuki-san asked.
"Are you beingserious?!"
"Yes! I am Yuu’slittle sister, desu!"
"There isabsolutely no need to go tell any lies just because you want to joinin on the fun!"
Minazuki-san willdefinitely take it serious after all! Really…..no other choice butto honestly introduce them!
"You two, thishere is Minazuki Sakura-san. She is a voice actress who came to thelast signing session. And Minazuki-san, this girl here is myclassmate Himuro Mai. She’s also like me a professional light novelauthor with the pen-name Enryuu Homura. Next to her is ourillustrator Double Peace-sensei."
"Voice actressMinazuki Sakura…..? You mean that Minazuki Sakura?! Y-Yuu! Why doyou know such a famous person! And with such a high level like this!"
"I told you thatshe came to the signing session, didn’t I!"
What do you meanby level anyway?
"W-Wait asecond, will you! If she went out of her way to come to the signingsession, then that means that this girl is…."
"Yes! Sakura isa huge fan of Towano Chikai-sensei!"
Hearing thesewords, Mai’s body stiffened up.
….T-This is bad.Words like these are a taboo in her presence!
"….Hey, you.Becoming a fan after reading Yuu’s novel is obvious but I’ll tell younow just in case! I am Yuu’s number one fan! Remember that!"
"You?! What areyou saying to a person you met moments ago?!"
And she eventechnically is our Senpai, so talking so rudely to her is a totalno-go?!
However, I wasn’tgiven the time to actually say that out loud.
"Eh?! N-Numberone fan?! Is that so, Sensei?!"
"Although it ismostly self-proclaimed, her enthusiasm isn’t missing….or somethinglike that."
Of course, I wastalking about her stalker activities.
"….Amazing. Sothere was a person like that…"
"Uhm, pleasedon’t take her so serious. She’s just selfishly saying that but sheis no way superior or inferior to other fans, okay?"
Mai raised hervoice at my words, saying "Hey Yuu! What are you saying!" but I’mgoing to ignore that.
"No, Sakurareally received a shock. She was also supposed to be a huge fan ofSensei but to think there was somebody that would boldly declare thatin front of other people without any shame…."
"Hooh? Fu fu fu,you really seem to get it." Mai seemed to be really proud aboutMinazuki-san’s words but no matter how I look it at, it didn’t seemlike she was being praised…..
"W-Well, as longas you understand. From now on, you can be a normal fan and—"
"Thank you verymuch! Enryuu-sensei!"
Mai was spurtingwords of victory but she soon was interrupted by Minazuki-san’ssparkling eyes and outburst.
"Eh? Thankyou….?"
"Thanks toEnryuu-sensei, Sakura realized just what it takes to become a big fanof Towano-sensei! From now on, she will aim to be an even bigger fanof Sensei than Enryuu-sensei currently is!"
"W-What did yousay?!"
Grabbing Mai’shand, Minazuki-san really looked thankful. Although she was smilingat her, these words were clearly meant to start a fight with Mai.But, she probably wasn’t even aware of that.
"Y-You, are youeven listening to the people talking to you?! I told you that I amhis number one fan, didn’t I?!"
"Eh? ButSakura’s feelings are way stronger….?"
"Don’t make itsound so obvious while tilting your head in confusion! Listen here, Ieven bought volume one and two of Yuu’s novel at least one hundredtimes!"
"Ah, then Sakurabought two hundred copies each."
"Then I will buythree hundred!"
"….Why are youmaking a fight out of this?"
I tried to stopthem but I was completely ignored……how sad.
"A-And also, Iam Yuu’s classmate you know! The time we spent together is much muchmore than he does with you!"
"Is that so?Then, Sakura will transfer schools to be in the same class as Sensei.Please tell her the name of your school!"
"Somehow thisdoesn’t sound like a joke at all?!"
"Eh? Oh come on,of course Sakura was joking~ Ahahaha."
Scary! I felt itbefore at the signing session but her smile is frightening!
"Hmpf! Also, Igot Yuu’s very first autograph! Of course, that means that only I amworthy of being his number one fan!"
"Sakura isreally envious of that! Then, Sensei! Please give Sakura anotherfirst time of Sensei! If it’s for Sensei’s first time, Sakura will doanything!"
"Hey! Yuu’sfirst times are all mine so don’t just monopolize them!"
W-What should Ido? Minazuki-san’s aura seems so calm that it’s almost scary! In anycase, even though I was supposed to be at least a part of theirconversation, I was clearly just left out. Yep. And I’m merely astand-in….I’m really not supposed to be in this situation don’t youthink?!
"Hmm, MinazukiSakura-san was it, desu…. What an outstanding talent!"
She’s clearly notwrong here…..in a lot of ways.
"Uhh…. what’sup with her….!"
It seems as theirquarrel was finally over because Mai was taking a step back withtears in her eyes.
…..So it reallywas Mai’s loss. As expected, Minazuki-san doesn’t back down at all.
As I was thinkingthat, Double Peace-sensei went forwards and introduced herself toMinazuki-san.
"Nice to meetyou, desu, Minazuki-san. I am Sensei’s number one partner, AhegaoDouble Peace-sensei, desu!"
"Nice to meetyou too, Ahegao-san. Sakura is pleased to meet you!"
Both of them weresmiling at each other….will this finally be a normal conversation?But….what is this feeling? It seemed really pleasant but I feel acertain uneasiness in my heart….?
"Still, for sucha popular voice actress like yours to come in contact with Sensei,just what I would expect, desu!"
"Sakura didn’tknow that Ahegao-san was a foreigner! You are so pretty! But, bynumber one partner, you mean it like the relationship from your job,right?"
"No, itcertainly isn’t only that, desu? With partner, I don’t only meanjob-wise but we’re also supporting each other, desu! Because ofSensei, I awoke to new levels of ero and in return, my ero drawingsare giving Sensei energy! The so-called give and take relationship,desu!"
"Would you notmake it seem like I basically live off ero drawings?!"
"Ohhh,how nice….Sakura also wants to be partners withTowano-sensei….But Sakura can’t draw like an illustrator….Oh,that’s it!! Sakura will prepare various voice recordings for you onvarious occasions! Like a good morning call or a good night call!"
"How magificent,desu!" Don’t you think?" The both of them seemed to be agreeingwith each other.
If only one wasn’taware of the contents of their discussion, one might call this acalming scene to look at….Reality really is harsh….
"With that beingsaid Sensei! Please tell Sakura your phone number!"
"No, don’t comeat me with a [That being said]?!
"It’s fine, youdon’t have to worry. As a voice actress, Sakura will definitelyfulfill your wishes! [It’s morning you know? Wake up….] Somethinglike this!"
Ugh….! Just whatone would expect from a super popular professional voice actress.With these few words, I felt pure happiness from my ears….!
"Ohh, that’s avoice actress for you, desu! I really have to step up my game inorder to make Sensei even more happy with my drawings, desu!"
"Exactly! Let usboth aim to be the best partners of Sensei!"
As Minazuki-sansaid that, both of them were gleefully shaking hands.
…..Ahh, I gotit. It took me a while to realize but these two are exactly the same!Lulling in the clueless people around them with innocent smiles butmaking me the victim! Shit, to think that their nature would be soterrifying….!
"Being partnersthat continuously support each other is so great! Ah, but….ifSakura really wants to become Sensei’s little sister in the nearfuture, wouldn’t something like [It’s morning, Onii-chan] fit muchbetter?"
"That’s soundsnice, desu!" "You think so as well?"
In case you werewondering why I wasn’t retorting on anything, it’s because I don’tget a chance to do so. Scary.
"W-Wait amoment, please!"
In that moment,the recovered Suzuka joined the conversation.
"O-Onii-chan issuch a weak-willed being that he won’t wake up just from suchrecordings! It is the duty of his little sister to make sure he wakesup, so there is absolutely no need for Minazuki-san to go this far!"
"Ah, that makessense. Then, Sakura will come over every morning and will wake him updirectly!"
"Why did it endup like that?!" I screamed.
"Oh, maybecoming every morning would be a bother? Ah, then what about Sakurastarts living with you!"
"Uwuuu….wecan’t hold a decent conversation…." Suzuka once more startedsulking.
What a raresight–Is what I thought.
"Just as Ianticipated, Minazuki-san really is on a different level, desu!"
"W-Why is such agirl appearing now…! Still, I won’t lose!" Mai seemed to muttersomething to herself.
I know very wellthat Minazuki-san doesn’t mean to hurt anyone with herwords…….but for her to spread this much chaos in such a smallamount of time is still frightening.
"U-Uhm, would Ibe able to buy the new release, please?"
"Yes….Pleasedon’t be bothered by the atmosphere behind me…."
The only thing Icould do in this situation was to make sure that the other guestswon’t be bothered by the situation that was unfolding.
…..Ahh,sometimes, work is really precious, for Christ’s sake!!!
Part 2:
"For heaven’ssake! What is up with Minazuki-san!"
"Well she’sdefinitely not a normal person, in a lot of ways that is…."
Together with theinfuriated Suzuka, I was walking around the Comiket. After whathappened, Double Peace-sensei gave us some time to walk around. Ofcourse, Suzuka had changed back into her normal clothes. Minazuki-sanon her part told us that she had to go back to her job and that’sexactly what she did after she bought the new release of DoublePeace-sensei. Her parting words were "To think that Sakura was ableto meet Sensei and his friends here, she really is lucky!".
Truth be told, shereally seemed like she was having fun talking with theothers….although it resulted in almost brewing up a storm.
"This was thefirst time I met a person this difficult…Like she was in her ownworld or something…"
"W-Well, it’strue that the both of you don’t have a good affinity."
"Leaving thatbehind for now, why did Onii-chan tell her his contact information?"
"Being asked soenthusiastically, I can’t really decline, can I…"
"You wouldn’tgive out your information to just any fan, right?"
"Well, leavingMai aside, seeing people being so passionate about me, it becomesharder for me to refuse….or something like that."
"Ifshe really was to send you any weird recordings or the like, pleasedelete them immediately….No, I will delete them myself."
Just when Ithought that she was brimming with anger, she suddenly stopped withher head hanging down.
"Suzuka? Whathappened?"
"Ah…well. It’sjust, I thought that I should apologize to Onii-chan for now."
"Eh?Apologize…for what?"
"My attitudetowards Minazuki-san is one thing….but I’m behaving weirdly todayI’m sure. It feels like I can’t calm down or something like that.That’s why, uhm, I made you see some immodest sides of me…." Shelooked really honest as she was apologizing.
Mhm, it’s truethat she wasn’t as calm as she always is but it makes sense lookingat the circumstances.
"It’s noproblem. It’s your first Comiket after all and you suddenly had tocosplay while selling doujinshi. Everybody would be overwhelmed likethat. And you’re not good with big crowds as well, right?"
"T-That’s notwrong but….it is probably because I am nervous…."
"Don’t mind it.This is one of the reasons I came with you, you know? Just tell mewhen it’s too much for you, it’s one of my jobs as a stand-in afterall."
It’s really theleast I can do after all…..
"T-Thank youvery much….Onii-chan."
Seeing her crack asmile like that, I sighed in relief.
….It’s good andall for her to ask me for advice but I’m sure that, being a seriousperson like her, it probably is not easy for Suzuka…..Well, there’salso the fact that I’m not really reliable.
"Still, I’m surethat if I were to meet her again in the near future, it would turnout exactly the same like this time…."
"Minazuki-san isa rare type of person after all….But, I don’t really see the needfor you to react so negatively against her personality, you know."
"No, even I amwell aware of the fact that she actually is a good person.Regardless, I am the only one that is allowed to call Onii-chan[Onii-chan]….."
"Regardlesswhat?"
Her voice gettingmore quiet was one reason I didn’t understand her but the tumultaround us was also getting louder.
"I-It’snothing. I just thought that I didn’t want such a dangerous person toget close to Onii-chan is all. Ah…O-Of course because I don’t wantanyone to find out that you are merely a stand-in okay?! D-Don’tmisunderstand!"
"No really,there’s nothing I can misunderstand about that…And what do you meanby dangerous? I do think that she believes me."
"I-I’m notworried about that in the slightest."
"Then what doyou mean….oh huh? Personality-wise? Well it’s true that I get aweird feeling of her from time to time."
"I feel adifferent type of danger from Minazuki-san….like she’s only tryingto get your affection…."
"Affection…? Isee her as nothing more than a fan though."
"Ugh…Forgetit! Really, just how thickheaded are you trying to be Onii-chan!"
F-For some reason,Suzuka got angry at me. Did I say something wrong again…?
"Hey, if youreally don’t feel well, then how about we go home now?"
"Ah, no, I’msorry……Ugh what is wrong with me…." Suzuka sighed.
"Going to theComiket is always straining, no matter how often you come here.Especially in summer, not to forget as a first-timer."
"I’m not reallytroubled because of that…Then, can I ask you for one thing,Onii-chan?"
"Of course, Doyou want something to drink? Or sit down somewhere and take a break?"
"No, I wouldlike you to answer me one question."
Question?–I askedwhile tilting my head and Suzuka continued.
"O-Onii-chanlikes my light novel right? Uhm, in a special way…"
"He? Why are youasking me that now….?"
I tried to ask formore details concerning her question but Suzuka merely glared at mewith a serious expression, giving me the feeling that I have toanswer her honestly now.
"Ah…yeah, I dolike it. Just a while before, I clearly told you that, remember?"
Of course, I wasextremely embarrassed to openly admit in front of my little sisterthat I like the little sister novel she wrote. A while ago, I almostscreamed that into her face but I would still rather not say it toooften….
"Hmmm, is thatso….Yes, that would make sense…."
After hearing myanswer, Suzuka repeatedly went "Yes, yes" to herself…..what wasthat about?
"Thank you verymuch, Onii-chan. Hearing that, I feel like I finally calmed down."
"I’m glad tohear that but….why did you want to hear it again?"
"T-There’sreally no reason. Rather than that, let’s keep going. It’s finally mytime to be all alone with Onii-chan and—-ah excuse me! It’s timefor my research is what I meant!"
"Ah, hey?!"
With these words,Suzuka grabbed my hand and pulled me along……Her research is onething but what was that exchange about…?
"This isn’t thetime to be spacing out Onii-chan."
Well, it’s fine Iguess. The most important thing is that Suzuka’s spirits are back upagain after all.
"Still, Imentioned it before but this amount of people is ridiculous….andit’s so hot…."
Looking around thebig hall, Suzuka’s grip on my hand heightened a tiny bit.
"But, the thingsthat are sold here are all doujinshi, right? Even though they’resupposed to be made by new-comers or fans, so many people are cominghere just to buy them?"
"Mhm, there arealso a lot of pros here but you are right about that."
Hearing my answer,Suzuka tilted her head in confusion and asked "Why are they goingso far?".
"Even thoughdoujin are basically fan-made novels, books etc. of existing works,they can still give of a feeling of completion even though youalready saw everything the original has to offer."
"What do youmean by that, Onii-chan?"
"For example,you can bring together a pair of characters that didn’t end up goingout in the source material, or you can add an original story based onthe world-setting of the story. You can also bring more focus tocharacters you personally liked but didn’t get much attention or thelike."
"Is that so."
"If you likedthe novel, you will certainly try everything to get the most of theworld and story. That’s why this amount if people come here to buydoujins."
"If you likedthe novel….?"
…..Well, theones with the most energy are definitely the R-18 ones.
"It’s exactlybecause they liked the novel so much that they search for doujinshihere at Comiket. This love is the root of the otaku society."
"So if there isa novel they really treasured, they want doujinshi of that?"
"Mhm yeah, youcould say that."
Truthbe told, it’s not like I am all too familiar with the doujinshi worldeither but there was a time when I was really desperate for one froma novel I really liked. At that time…I really wanted that yeah.
"………."
Listening to myexplanation, Suzuka was keeping quiet for some reason. If she were tounderstand this heat or enthusiasm from the otakus here, it willsurely turn into great data.
"……..Mhm?"
However, in thatmoment, a certain thing entered my field of view, making me stop inmy tracks.
"What happened,Onii-chan?"
Turning her eyestowards where I was looking as well, she was at a loss for words.
"What is….?Eh? Isn’t that my….?"
The thing I sawwas a booth of a circle where they sold doujinshi of Suzuka’s novel.And it wasn’t just one or two circles, there were countless ones,taking Suzuka’s novel as a source to make doujin novels.
"….I figuredas much. It shouldn’t be surprising that there would be doujinshi ofmy own novel."
Suzuka seemed tohave expected something like this but my shock was a few timesbigger. It’s true that the first volume of her novel sold over300.000 times as off now but she was still just a new-comer that onlyrecently released her second volume. Leaving the anime productionaside, even mangas and so on were only in the starting blocks.Normally, pure light novels wouldn’t be gathering so many artists.Just shows how popular Suzuka’s novel really is.
"But still, forit to go so far…."
While I was stillunder a shock, my ability to think was lacking behind immensely. Theonly thing that entered my mind was the fact of just how big of awall there was between me and Suzuka. Her horizon was widening and Iwas still fighting with the preliminaries of the light novel contest.I was aware of the difference in talent a long time ago but beingshown like that made me realize once more.
"Onii-chan…?"
…..Even if thatis the case, there is no way that I would just give up here, youknow? I was reminded of that fact almost four months ago after all.The only thought in my mind right now was how I could manage to catchup to Suzuka, even if it’s just one step. For now, the one thing Ishould focus on is winning the grand-prize of the light novelcontest. Analyze everything and write the perfect novel thateverybody will like.
"…But thatis….No I don’t have any other choice…."
"Uhm, Onii-chan?T-They are selling doujinshi of my novel, you know…."
All of a sudden,Suzuka grabbed my sleeve, making me return to reality.
…..Ahno good no good. I can’t let Suzuka find out about thesethoughts….. For now, I have to focus on her research.
"W-Well, doesOnii-chan not want to buy any doujinshi…..?"
Hearing herquestion, I answered "Eh?" without thinking.
….I mean, if youask me if I want them then of course I do…. No, now that you saidit, I really want them! It’s that, you know? I am after all also afan of Suzuka’s novel. Of course, I’m not trying to claim the spot asher number one fan like Mai or Minazuki-san but in this world, I wasthe very first fan of hers, right?! I just wanted to clarify that!
Suddenly, I gotthe urge to buy them. I wonder how they drew the super cute littlesister heroine Yuuka….I might even get to see a Yuuka who is justas cute as in the original. With all these different doujinshi, I’msure that there’s at least one that will pick my interest….!
It happened thesecond I started moving my feet towards a booth.
"……!!"
"Eh? W-Whathappened, Onii-chan? You’re not going to buy them?"
Why did I suddenlystop? Because I saw it…. The doujinshi in the back. Just by merelyseeing the cover, I understood that they were R18 doujinshi!
Nope! Not going tohappen! No matter how hard I want to read them, I can’t just buy erodoujinshi about Suzuka’s novel right in front of her! I won’t go pastthat or I will surely go to hell!
"Y-Your researchwas pretty successful right? So, how about we go back for now?"
"Eh?! What’swith you so suddenly?! And what about the doujinshi….?"
"Well, I didn’treally want them anyway~ And I wouldn’t want to make DoublePeace-sensei and the others wait any longer~!"
"You didn’t wantthem anyway….?! H-How come….!"
Grabbing Suzuka’shand, I dashed off.
…..T-This reallyis no place where the both of us should be at! Yup!
"Even though youtold me that you clearly wanted them…..Instead you’re running awaywithout buying any…..so Onii-chan really doesn’t think of my novelas special at all….?"
Although I heardbits and pieces of Suzuka’s comment, I didn’t have the composure tolisten to her now.
Part 3:
"W-We’re back."
Coming back toDouble Peace-sensei’s booth, we were greeted with "Welcome back,desu!" and "Took you long enough!". Suzuka on her part wasstill glaring at me without saying a word.
"Sorry fortaking some free time." I said to Double Peace-sensei.
"No no, Senseicame here to collect data after all, so it’s totally fine, desu!"
"Thank you verymuch. Now it’s our turn to watch over the booth, so how about youwalk around the Comiket for a bit. Sensei? Of course, Mai too."
"I’m fine. Idon’t have any interest in anything else that’s not created by TowanoChikai after all……And why didn’t you allow me to come with youfor your research….!"
"T-That would’vebeen impossible, you know? Letting Double Peace-sensei alone for sucha long time."
"Mhm, I did losein rock-paper-scissors after all, desu~ Ah, I will also stay here. Iam the owner of the circle, desu."
…..So then thefour of us will be staying here as vendors….?—It happened at thetime I thought that.
"Wow, you stillhave so many copies left?"
Facing towards thesource of that voice, I saw two girls standing there. The one thatapparently raised her voice was pointing at us with a displeasedexpression. Her age should be….around mine? She was quite thebeauty but the impression she was giving off was similar to that ofMai, seeming quite self-confident….almost arrogant. The other girlwas snuggling up to her like a shadow. She was also prettygood-looking but her presence was clearly weaker. Merely staring atme from afar, she didn’t utter a single word.
"Ah, eh?Runa-chan? And also Kino-chan?"
DoublePeace-sensei turned towards them with a surprised face.
"Are youacquainted with them?"
Asking DoublePeace-sensei, she merely muttered "Well, yes….", which was arare response.
"Rather thanacquaintances, we are Ahi’s rivals. Right, Ahi?"
"Ah, yes,desu. Uhm, never mind that, Runa-chan? I thought I told you to callme Ahegao, desu…."
"As if I woulduse such vocabulary in public!"
"Rivals?" Thethree of us repeated in awe.
….And who isAhi? Does she mean Double Peace-sensei with that?
"Uhm, what doyou mean by rivals? And who are you anyway….?"
"Exactly what itmeans. We are rivals in the doujin industry. Did you never hear ofthe circle called [Ambivalenz]?"
"Ambivalenz…?You mean that popular circle?" Mai was asking for conformation. Ifeel like I heard that name before as well.
That circle was sofamous that even I heard of them and I’m not really familiar with thedoujin industry.
"Yes. That isour circle."
"….Eh?Your…? Eh?!"
"You all, areyou friends of Ahi? I am the one in charge of our circle[Ambivalenz], Kanzaka Haruna. And this over here is my big sister whois responsible for the scenario, writing and so on—"
"—-KanzakaAkino." said the girl in the back. Of course with a deadpanexpression.
…..These twogirls are the leaders of such a famous circle…? And they aresisters? The smaller girl is the big sister? What is happening….?
While I waskeeping quiet, the girl that called herself Haruna was staring atDouble Peace-sensei, seemingly with a criticizing expression.
"Rather thanthat, Ahi, how’s it looking? As your rival, I am very well interestedin how your sales are coming along."
"Very decent,desu. A lot of people came by to get our new release after all."
"New release,huh. Ah, as always, you’re still working on these fiendish eroones….! Are you an idiot?! Of course there would be still somecopies left! If you were to work with another genre, you would sellall of them in a matter of hours…..!" With an irritatedexpression, Kanzaka Haruna was looking down on Double Peace-sensei’snew release.
"T-There won’tbe any copies left, desu. These are all for the people that are stillcoming."
"….Hmpf. Inour case, we were about to clean up now so we don’t have to thinkabout something like that."
"Eh? What do youmean by that, desu?"
"Our circle soldout both new releases and everything else. That’s why we wanted tocheck on Ahi’s situation."
Hearing thesewords, Double Peace-sensei went "Eh?". Of course, I did so aswell.
"Why are you sosurprised? With our high-class circle, that shouldn’t be sounexpected? And if Ahi really wanted to, she would be able to do soas well….."
"No, in my case,something like this is impossible, desu."
"….Mu! I see!With such a weak resolution, your dream will forever stay a dream!"Kanzaka Haruna seemed to be irritated while Kanzaka Akino was stillkeeping quiet.
"That beingsaid, aren’t you taking it a bit too relaxed over here? Over at ourbooth, the people were coming non-stop, you know? How about you goaim for a booth near the entrance too?"
"Even if I wereto aim for that, I wouldn’t be able to get it anyway, desu…."
"M-Muu! Is thatso! I just wanted to give you a little push as your rival but fine! Iapologize! Aha, ahahaha!"
I was merelywatching this scene unfold in front of me but I was called backbecause I once more realized the stare of the big sister.
…..What’s upwith these two? Coming over here just to put Double Peace-senseiunder pressure…? They seem to be rivals…? Just what exactly istheir relationship?
"…..Haruna."
While KanzakaHaruna was still continuing her talk, she was stopped when the bigsister finally opened her mouth.
"Ah, sorryOnee-chan. We didn’t come here just to say that. Originally, we alsocame here to give Ahi some information."
"Information?About what, desu?"
"It’s not reallythat important. But, it turned out that the both of us will bedebuting as light novel creators at Ryuusei Publishing."
"Eh….? Lightnovel creators, desu?" Double Peace-sensei’s eyes went wide.
"Exactly. I willbe the illustrator and Onee-chan will write the story. As a lightnovel illustrator, Ahi is our Senpai, right?"
"Well,congratulations on that, desu… Ah, Kino-chan too, of course."
"…….Thankyou."
"Still, we willbe rivals in both the doujinshi world and the light novel world,right? Uhm, how was he called, the author you were drawing for….?"
"…..It’sTowano Chikai-sensei, desu. For your information, he is also presenthere." As she said that, she took my arm and pulled me up to thetwo of them.
When my rolesuddenly changed from bystander to a related person, I could merelymutter a small "H-Hello". And for some reason, I felt the pain ofboth Suzuka’s and Mai’s stares on my back.
"Huh? Thisperson is Towano Chikai? The person who sold 300.000 copies…?"
"…………"
Probablyinspecting me, the Kanzaka sisters were staring at me, the littlesister with an arrogant expression and the big sister as deadpan asalways. Can’t really relax here, you know?
"….And it’s aguy? He looks weirdly normal and completely different than Iexpected….I really thought that he would give off more of aprofessional-type vibe, you know?"
….Sorry aboutthat. I am but merely a stand-in.
"Towano-senseireally is an incredible person, you know? He has a wonderfulfiendish side inside him, desu."
"DoublePeace-sensei?! Don’t just introduce me like that please!"
"…..Eh?W-What? A-Are you two friends or something?"
"Yes. We twohave a very healthy relationship, desu. Thanks to Sensei, I graspedcountless new possibilities for my ero drawing! And Sensei even saidthat he likes my drawings, desu."
It’s true that herdrawings really are high-quality but I wish you would hold back onthe fiendish aspect.
But it happenedwhen I was about to retort her.
"Wha–?!" Forsome reason, Kanzaka Haruna stopped me with a sudden outburst and shestarted shaking in anger.
What’s up with hernow….—-is what I thought but she started glaring at me and….
"Ah, is that so!This is Towano Chikai, huh! The guy who wrote that disgusting lightnovel!"
She suddenly saidthat.
"Huh? What didyou just say….?" I responded without thinking but Kanzaka Harunacontinued with puffed cheeks.
"Were you notlistening to me? The story is nothing special and he merely wrote ashitty little sister novel right?"
"Wha-?! What areyou-?!"
Being filled withanger, I almost forgot that the person in front of me is a girl.
…..W-What’s upwith her! Her words were more than rude towards Suzuka’s novel! Andshe was even being rude towards Double Peace-sensei!
"R-Runa-chan!"
"W-What do youwant! I’m just stating the obvious!"
Even after beingwarned by Double Peace-sensei, her attitude didn’t change in theslightest.
…..I really amtrying to hold back here….but as if I would stand back whensomebody is insulting Suzuka’s novel like that!
"H-Heyyou! Don’t just go around insulting Suzu—no not that, I mean mynovel like that! In the end, I sold over 300.000 copies, you know!"
"I-I do thinkthat that’s pretty amazing, you know….. B-But, in the end, you’rejust using Ahi’s name, right? That explains your high sales, don’tyou think?!"
"W-What did yousay?!"
"I-I’m surethat’s why! If Onee-chan and I were to write a novel with the samepremise, I’m pretty confident that we would do way better!"
T-This girl! Shejust says what she wants!
"Hey now,Runa-chan, saying these things towards me is one thing but don’t goinsulting Towano-sensei, desu…."
"W-What’s withyou? Why are you getting so worked up now? ……Right, since it’scome this far, then I want to say something to you as well! I sawyour illustrations in the novel but what was that! As always, you’renot thinking about your readers at all and you keep on drawing thismasturbation material! I even heard that the editor had to changesome things! They were probably way worse at the beginning, right?!"
"That should nothave been the case……desu? Right, Sensei?"
"Eh? Ah,well….."
I didn’t manage toanswer in time because I was surprised at Double Peace-sensei’sserious expression.
"……! This iswhy Ahi is so…..!! You just keep on wasting your talent, youknow?!"
"T-That might beso, desu…..but I don’t really have any talent….N-No, that’s notimportant right now, desu! Leaving me aside, apologize to Senseiimmediately!" Double Peace-sensei made a bitter expression for asecond but replied after that.
"…Hmpf, whyshould I be the one to apologize? I didn’t say anything wrong."
"No, you clearlyare wrong, desu! Sensei really is a magnificent light novel writer,desu!"
"….Perfecttiming then! Let’s see who is right and who is wrong!"
Not having asingle clue what she was talking about, both Double Peace-sensei andI went "Eh?" at the same time.
"How about wemake it a contest? We will both take Towano Chikai’s novel as asource and make a doujin about it. The one with the higher qualitywill be the winner!"
"Doujin yousay…."
"The doujinindustry is pretty simple. If it’s interesting, it sells. If it’snot, it doesn’t. With a contest, we get clear results, you know?"
Or are you notconfident enough?—-the little sister continued.
"We’ll do it ina month from now as we display our new products. As the source, we’lltake Towano Chikai’s second volume. The form will be comic and thewinner will be the one who sold more copies. In the unlikely casethat we lose, I will apologize for anything that I said. If you lose,hmm let’s see, Ahi has to obey my words. How about it?"
"Oi! For a whilenow, you’re selfishly deciding on all of these things you know!"
"You might havethe advantage because you have the original author on your side butin the doujin industry, we have the upper hand. I do think that theconditions are fair…or are you dissatisfied about something? Justhow much of a chicken are you?"
"I’m clearly nottalking about that! It should be obvious for you to apologize so whyis there any reason for us to make a contest out of this!"
"H-Hmpf, youreally are afraid like a little chicken! You’re probably self-awarehow disgusting your fantasies of your novel are, right?!"
"What did youjust….!"
"Fantasies wheresiblings are all lovey-dovey with each other are way too gross!"
I was about togive her my opinion when it happened.
"……We accept your challenge!" Before I realized it, Suzuka was standing in front of the Kanzaka sisters.
The moment I saw her, I remembered the most important fact I forgot about until now.
….The realidentity of Towano Chikai.
"Eh? W-What?What’s up with her?"
"I am TowanoChikai’s little sister! But that’s not important right now!" Suzukaglared at the Kanzaka sisters with a red face and tears in her eyes.
To be honest, Inever saw her this irritated.
"We’ll acceptyour challenge! However, your conditions are lacking something! Atthis rate, I won’t permit it!"
"W-What are youtalking about all of a sudden? Are you not satisfied with a doujincontest?!"
"There aren’tany faults concerning the rules! However, the punishment for theloser is no good!"
"Punishment? Ithought I told you that I would apologize if we lost."
"I’m saying thatI won’t be satisfied if you merely apologize! On top of apologizing,I want you to accept Towano Chikai’s novel! The love story ofsiblings….not just from the outside but also from the bottom ofyour hearts!"
"S-Suzuka…"Serious, as if she was begging for it, she was establishing theseconditions.
Y-You….I didn’tknow that it was so frustrating for you, listening to her words…..
"W-What? What’sup with that?"
"I-In return, ifwe were to lose this competition, Towano Chikai will officiallyretire as a light novel writer!"
"Wha-?!Cough Cough"
Hearing her nextwords though, I got assaulted by a sudden coughing fit.
….Wait a second,will you?! R-Retire? W-What are you saying?!
"Wai-,Suzu- cough! Cough!"I wasn’t able to get anything out.
In the meantimethough, the conversation was advancing.
"Writerretirement, are you serious about that?"
"Of course I am!After being insulted like that, pulling back is out of question!"
"So it’s finefor you, the little sister, to selfishly establish that?"
"M-My words areOnii-chan’s words!"
"Hmpf,interesting! We will accept these conditions!"
No no no no! Whyare you just accepting without my consent again, Suzuka?! Well, sheis the true Towano Chikai sure but that’s clearly not the problemhere!
As I was trying toraise my voice, the little sister started talking to me.
"Now that yoursister said it, you can’t go back on your word okay! I hope you makeup decent plot at least!"
"No, wai-,wait!" I reached out with my hand but she was already walking away.
"….Excuse us."The big sister said her regards as nonchalant as always and soonafter, both of them disappeared in the crowd.
"H-Hey,S-Suzuka?!" Finally getting a grip on my endless coughing, Iimmediately went over to her but—
"Onii-chan, wedefinitely…..definitely definitely have to win this!"
Seeing her seriousexpression like that, I swallowed my words.
It’s no use. She’scompletely in battle mode. Doesn’t look like she’ll listen to me.
She probably feltso offended by their words that she saw no other chance but to bet oneverything to get her honor and the honor of her loved novel back.
….I completelyunderstand that and it’s not like I wasn’t boiling with anger, youknow? But still…. saying that you will retire as a light novelwriter as a promise takes it a bit too far don’t you think?! Sinceit’s Suzuka we’re talking about, there’s no way that she wasn’tcompletely sober as she agreed to their conditions……so why did ithave to end up like this?
"Onii-chan!You’re not allowed to space out now! Let’s start the operationmeeting immediately!"
Unlike me, Suzukawas the the personification of calmness.
Oi oi! Are youserious?! What should we do about this?! How did it come to this?Somebody, please! Tell me!!!
Of course, therewas no way that god would answer my screams. Instead, I realized thatI was heading towards another harsh battle with a new opponent.