As they walked toward the train station, Saori slowed her pace slightly, walking side-by-side with Asakura, who was carrying many bags at the very back.
"How was Asakura-shi's time at Comiket this time?" Her eyes peeked at Asakura's expression from the side of her bottle-bottom glasses while she questioned him.
"I don't know much about this kind of thing, so should I say it was magnificent, or unexpected..." Asakura muttered, finding it hard to judge, "But if I had to say, I suppose I played to my heart's content."
Corrected Utaha, saved the world, and even went blind in one eye.
If even that didn't count as playing to one's heart's content, it was hard to imagine what kind of intense adventure would qualify.
"That is good, then."
Seeing that Asakura didn't seem to be lying, Saori pursed her lips and nodded with satisfaction: "This one was actually quite worried. After all, Comiket isn't exactly a 'newbie-friendly' event; for example, Sawamura-shi seemed to have a very hard time."
"She reaped what she sowed; she doesn't deserve sympathy," Asakura said solemnly.
"Haha, Asakura-shi is quite strict. However, this one wasn't talking about that, but rather that even before that, Sawamura-shi seemed to be very 'nigate' with the crowded and stuffy convention hall."
Saori said cheerfully: "This one, you see, organized this offline meeting mainly wanting to 'leave everyone with summer memories'."
"Summer memories?"
"Asakura-shi, look, aren't all the girls in our community otakus? If no one invited or organized anything, most of them would surely stay cooped up at home, spending a summer that is no different from the past—so monotonous that it wouldn't leave a single ripple in their memories."
"I don't think so." Asakura shook his head: "Setting aside Ruri for a moment... ah, sorry, can you pretend you didn't hear that name?"
"Kuh-kuh-kuh, actually Asakura-shi was exposed a long time ago. However, this one shall show great mercy and pretend not to know Kuroneko-shi's real name~"
"Then many thanks. In short, Ruri herself is a hero among otakus. Even without you organizing this offline meeting, she would have come to Comiket anyway. After all, that girl worked herself to the bone part-time recently, presumably to prepare for today," Asakura said with a smile, looking at Ruri, who seemed to still be bickering with little Kirino up ahead, "And as for little Kirino and Kitagawa, they are the 'riajuu' sunny-type characters who wouldn't worry about having no friends to go out with."
"Umu, that is true. It seems this one was being sentimental. Ah-haha, how embarrassing. Please, Asakura-shi, forget what I just said~"
Saori scratched the back of her head and spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
"That's not the case. Although Ruri looks like she doesn't care on the surface, she was actually very happy that you asked her to join the offline meeting."
Asakura said.
"Really? Kuroneko-shi always has a stiff face; it's hard to tell what she is actually thinking," Saori asked curiously.
"Yeah. The proof is that she agreed to participate."
"Er... does that count as proof? If called by a friend, anyone would come out as long as they had nothing else to do, 'joukou'."
"Exactly. The premise is 'as long as they have nothing else to do'," Asakura said with certainty.
"Eh? Could it be that Kuroneko-shi originally had other things to do? But... are-re? Didn't Asakura-shi say she originally planned to attend Comiket anyway?" Saori tilted her head, appearing a bit confused.
"Originally, Ruri's plan was to come to Comiket on a date with me."
"Maji-ka?! Oh no, this time this one might be kicked by a horse..." Saori couldn't help but clutch her forehead, making a 'screwed up' expression. She pressed her hands together and bowed toward Asakura: "Gomen, Asakura-shi..."
"It's not quite at that level."
Asakura waved his hand dismissively: "It's also very nice for everyone to come out and play together like this. I had a lot of fun. And summer memories... yeah, this isn't bad either."
"Asakura-shi is really a nice guy~"
"What's with this subtle sense of 'inyou'..."
"It's not 'yayuu' at all. This one truly admires Asakura-shi. Even though I ruined your date, you still comfort this unworthy one. Besides, look, even though no one asked, Asakura-shi still took the initiative to carry most of the luggage," Saori said softly.
As a side note, in terms of the quantity of Comiket loot, little Kirino ranked first—even though Asakura helped her carry several paper bags, she still held the bag containing the True Little Sister Great War game and the special edition setting book, as well as several doujinshi she particularly liked. Then came Ruri, and finally Saori herself (actually, she bought quite a few doujinshi too, but she entrusted them to circle friends she knew to take back for her). Meanwhile, Eriri and Utaha bought almost nothing.
"This is just a boy's self-esteem acting up. And rather than calling me a 'nice guy', I'd be happier if you called me a 'gentleman'."
Asakura said seriously: "Besides, I'm not just comforting you. Just like I said before, even though little Kirino and Kitagawa would surely have other 'riajuu' friends to play with if you hadn't called them out, it's precisely because their friends are all 'riajuu' that a non-'riajuu' friend like you—with whom they can be themselves and enjoy their hobbies without worrying about being judged—is so precious. At least, without you, neither little Kirino nor Kitagawa would have come to Comiket and seen so many things they are interested in, right?"
"...Heh!"
Saori playfully punched Asakura's shoulder with a sense of purpose.
"What's wrong?" Asakura was completely baffled.
"This is how Asakura-shi stole Kuroneko-shi's heart, isn't it! And being so gentle to all girls... you're like a 'gal' protagonist! Heh! Heh!" Saori pursed her lips, continuing to lightly thump Asakura's shoulder as if joking, but the tips of her ears turned slightly red. This gave the usually tomboyish and careless but delicate-minded girl a hint of bashfulness.
As if to cover her shyness, she said: "I shall judge you on behalf of the players!"
—To be honest, it felt quite comfortable.
"I have a face," Asakura protested.
"If you were really faceless like the common protagonists in 'gal' CGs, wouldn't Asakura-shi's existence become an urban legend..."
"That sounds quite interesting."
"Speaking of which, Asakura-shi quite likes things like urban legends."
"It's not that I like them that much, it's just that as a magician, I have to crusade against the urban legends that cause trouble."
"Is that the setting? Then this one, Saori Bageena, shall also lend Asakura-shi a hand! Nin-nin!"
Saori pulled a poster roll from her backpack and waved it like a sword, looking like a boy who had found a perfectly straight stick, and said.
"You two in the back, stop dawdling," at this moment, Marin, who was walking ahead, shouted to Asakura and the others: "It feels like it's about to rain, hurry to the train station, or it'll be a hassle later!"
"Understood~" "Coming."
Asakura and Saori smiled at each other and then quickened their pace.
The cloud layers in the sky grew thicker, dyeing everything a shade of gray; it was indeed an atmosphere quite suitable for a grand finale.
Then, just as the group was about to reach the station, they suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Eh, eh? Kirino?"
Walking in front, Kirino, who was forced to have her real name exposed, suddenly stiffened up, and then she turned toward the source of the voice.
Asakura looked in the direction of the sound just like she did, and as a result, saw that the person standing there was actually the long-unseen Aragaki Ayase.
The young girl was currently wearing an all-black sleeveless vest paired with a half-sleeved white jacket, with sunglasses and some very stylish small accessories worn decoratively on her head; a youthful aura immediately radiated from her.
Because the clothes allowed one to clearly see her body lines and even revealed her navel, Asakura couldn't help but be stunned for a moment upon seeing her; in his impression, she was supposed to be the quite conservative type.
However, perhaps influenced by her own temperament, even while wearing such clothes, the first impression she gave was not overly seductive or charming—it couldn't even compare to Utaha wearing Eriri's clothes.
Beside Ayase was the kind of small van often seen on film sets, and Ayase's hand was resting on the car door, looking as if she had just stepped out of the vehicle.
"It really is Kirino! What's wrong, why are you here?" The girl looked at little Kirino in pleasant surprise.
"A-Ayase..."
Kirino was clearly completely unprepared for this; her entire person looked very shaken and her movements remained stiff, which Asakura found easy to understand.
Evidently, the other party did not know about her hobbies as an otaku, and right now, the paper bag in little Kirino's hand contained the special edition setting book for "True Little Sister Great War," which featured illustrations of defeated and clothes-bursting young girls.
In fact, even without flipping through that special edition setting book, one could tell what kind of nature this work had just from the covers of the game and the setting book.
Not to mention those few doujinshi with the bright "R18" labels on them...
On the other side, Ayase appeared to be purely shocked because she ran into Kirino, along with the simple joy of unexpectedly meeting a good friend.
"This is wonderful, I didn't expect to run into you so suddenly, Kirino! Great, I'm really happy, after all, we haven't had any time to meet since the holidays started," Ayase said with pure happiness: "I heard from the magazine staff that after the Obon festival ended, you had to pause your magazine modeling work for a while because your club activities were too busy... This is the first time we've met since summer vacation!"
"...Ugh, um... what a coincidence...!"
In front of the friend who appeared out of nowhere, Kirino could only show a stiff expression, struggling to force a smile: "Ayase, why are you here..."
"Naturally, I'm taking photos needed for the next magazine issue. What about you, Kirino? Are you here to buy things?"
As Ayase spoke, she unobtrusively glanced at the other people beside Kirino.
However, because Asakura was carrying too many packages and had part of his body blocked by Utaha, she wasn't able to see him.
"Are they your friends?" she asked.
"Eh, ah~... that..."
Kirino-chan looked even more nervous now.
Clearly, whether it was Saori—who wore a plaid shirt and a backpack with thick-bottomed glasses and, aside from not being "dull, fat, and round" herself, looked exactly like an otaku stereotype—or Ruri in her Gothic Lolita black long dress; or Kitagawa cosplaying a character from an adult game; or even Eriri, who was draped in a trench coat but could still be seen from the front wearing a school swimsuit underneath... none of them looked like they were dressed normally.
Even the most normal-looking Utaha, because her clothes were one size too small, somehow gave off a sense of dissonance, like a fallen girl from a red-light district forcing herself to dress as a high school student...
"Um, well~ they..."
Looking back at her otaku friends, little Kirino was breaking out in a cold sweat, stammering "aba-aba" without knowing how to explain.
"Hey, fat woman, we're leaving, we still have work to do."
At this moment, the one who understood little Kirino best was likely Eriri, who was also masquerading as a normal person in front of her friends; she flicked her twin tails and spoke to Utaha beside her.
Utaha gave a soft huff, clearly dissatisfied with Kirino's behavior, but she didn't expose her either; she simply nodded slightly toward Asakura and followed Eriri.
On the other hand, Saori showed a gentle smile with a rare troubled expression, somewhat unsure if she should leave as well.
Ruri was the only person on the scene maintaining a poker face; her wine-red eyes coldly watched the development of the situation, and then she suddenly spoke up: "It seems we've been misunderstood by someone... let's go, if we don't hurry back, we won't catch our favorite anime."
After saying that, Ruri turned around nimbly, intending to leave with Saori and the others.
Kirino bit her lip, her expression changing constantly, looking as if she were struggling fiercely inside.
Asakura let out a soft sigh.
"Alright, everyone calm down for a bit."
He stepped forward and said: "It's not a big deal in itself, no need to be so worried."
Eriri turned her head, grinding her teeth with an expression that said 'What kind of nonsense are you talking! I finally managed to muddle through!', whereas Utaha seemed to have guessed long ago that Asakura wouldn't stand by and watch, a faint smile merely appearing on her face.
Ruri also stopped her pace, looking toward Asakura with some concern.
Marin was still looking blank, completely out of the loop—her "normie" friends knew she liked cosplay, so she didn't empathize with Kirino's feelings at all.
Only Saori had a teasing smile on her face that made Asakura feel a bit awkward, a look that said 'See, I told you you were a good guy,' mixed with a bit of happiness and admiration.
While everyone was waiting to see how Asakura would solve the problem, they saw Aragaki Ayase looking at Asakura with an incredibly shocked gaze.
"Asakura-nii?!" Immediately after, she abandoned Kirino and jogged to Asakura's side with an attitude ten times more enthusiastic than when she saw Kirino: "You're actually here too! This is great! This must be what they call fate—hehe, just kidding—sorry, that sounds a bit like a stalker, but it's really great to see you again!"
The others: ""?""