With that thought in mind, Tsushima Kagami turned to look at Kosaka Akane and the others.
"What should we do with all this money?"
"Just leave it here," Kosaka Akane said with a smile. "When we head out, I'll have someone from my family come pick it up."
"I'll transfer your share to your account afterwards."
Tsushima Kagami gave a small nod.
Fair enough — having Kosaka Akane's household staff come and haul it all back was the sensible move. The alternative was everyone cramming onto the subway, each person hugging a cash box to their chest like it was their firstborn.
...They'd get mugged in an instant.
"Alright, enough chatting — let's get this place cleaned up so we can head to the—"
"Excuse me, are you Xuanyayi-sensei?"
Just as Tsushima Kagami watched the girls huddled together chattering away — and was about to herd them into packing up so they could all go celebrate at dinner — a voice suddenly called out in his direction. The girls all turned their heads at once.
So did Tsushima Kagami.
Standing just outside the booth, separated by the folding table, was a man who looked to be in his early thirties. He wore a casual T-shirt, had an enormous backpack slung over his shoulders — stuffed to bursting with merchandise — and was lugging two full tote bags of doujinshi, one in each hand.
"I'm sorry, but all copies of our doujinshi have sold out," Tsushima Kagami said, assuming the man was a latecomer who'd missed his chance to buy. "We're completely sold out."
"Ah, no, you've misunderstood."
The man smiled, set down his bags, and reached inside one of them to produce a copy of *Sweet Love of the Inorganic Girl* — the very doujinshi Tsushima Kagami had been selling earlier.
"I already managed to get a copy, see."
"Is there something I can help you with?"
*He's not here to buy one... could he be waiting to ask for a signature?*
Seeing that the man had already secured a copy and had apparently stuck around specifically to speak with him, Tsushima Kagami had assumed he was a fan hoping to quietly sneak in an autograph.
"My apologies for the intrusion. Please, allow me."
The man reached into his trouser pocket and produced a business card, presenting it with both hands to Tsushima Kagami across the booth.
Tsushima Kagami accepted it with both hands. Sayuri and the others immediately crowded around to peek.
"Akansha Publishing — Editor-in-Chief Saito?"
Tsushima Kagami read the name on the card, then looked up at the man.
"That's right. I'm Saito from Akansha. Pleased to meet you."
With that, Editor Saito extended his hand with a smile.
Tsushima Kagami smiled back and shook it, then asked, "How did you know I'd be here today, Editor Saito? Is there something you wanted to discuss?"
"Actually, it was Editor Watanabe who told me," Saito said with a sheepish grin. "I hope I'm not being too presumptuous by showing up like this."
Only then did Tsushima Kagami remember — Watanabe-san had mentioned last time that both Akansha and Shueisha were interested in working with him, and he had told Akansha he'd be open to collaborating when the opportunity arose.
Come to think of it, the only person who could have pointed Saito here was Watanabe-san — Sonoko-senpai's uncle.
Editor Saito continued.
"Last time, Editor Watanabe mentioned that you were open to the idea of working with Akansha. As it happens, our editorial department is in the process of launching a brand-new magazine imprint — and we were hoping that Xuanyayi-sensei might be the one to carry the flag for us. I couldn't wait to reach out."
"So I pestered Watanabe-sensei until he told me you'd be at CM today. And what do you know — here you are!"
Looking at Editor Saito, Tsushima Kagami couldn't help but notice: this wasn't just a publishing executive — the man was a seasoned otaku through and through, clearly someone who'd happily spend his free time at a doujinshi convention scooping up stacks of books to read later.
Tsushima Kagami smiled and asked, "So what kind of magazine imprint is your company looking to launch?"
"Ah, nothing's been finalized just yet," Saito said.
"But the general direction from our editorial team is something related to the loli genre."
"Of course, if Xuanyayi-sensei has a better concept in mind, we're very open to hearing it."
Tsushima Kagami took that in. *Loli-themed... could this be COMICLO in the making?*
If he recalled correctly, COMICLO wasn't launched by Akansha until 2002 — and it wasn't spun off as its own independent imprint until 2005.
*Is it getting pulled forward early because of me?*
He thought about it for a moment, then gave a straightforward answer.
"I'm sorry, Editor Saito, but I have no intention of drawing loli content."
*[Author's Note: The term "loli" here does not refer to real children, but specifically to a type of fictional character in anime and manga culture defined by youthful aesthetics. Magazines in this genre operate under extremely strict internal review standards — all content must ensure that characters are presented as fictional, non-realistic archetypes (such as elves, magical beings, ageless supernatural entities, and so on), with deliberate efforts made to differentiate them from real children.*
*That said — Japan being Japan, well, everyone knows how that tends to go in practice.*
*Tsushima Kagami himself didn't dislike cute little loli characters. He could understand the appeal of that innocent, childlike charm — Little Nijika being a perfect example. Honestly, most kids at that age are utterly adorable as long as they're not being little terrors.*
*The 2D loli characters of the fictional world? Even more so.*
*But adult doujinshi centered on loli characters who hadn't even developed secondary sex characteristics yet — that was something Tsushima Kagami wanted no part of, on both moral and personal-taste grounds.*
*He simply found 2D loli characters cute and charming. Full stop.*
*Sure, everyone jokes online about this "loli mama" or that "loli mama" as a meme. And even those who genuinely enjoy loli content mostly confine it to the 2D realm and would never apply it to real life.*
*But there's always that fringe margin — and sure enough, even in Japan, it had given rise to no small number of crimes against children.]*
Hearing the outright refusal, Editor Saito looked a little crestfallen — but he recovered quickly, smile returning to his face as he asked.
"Well then, is there any genre Xuanyayi-sensei has been wanting to explore lately?"
Tsushima Kagami thought for a moment, then looked at Editor Saito.
"So... while I have no plans to draw loli content, I might be willing to try a different angle — *loli grannies*."
Editor Saito blinked.
"...Loli grannies?"
"Exactly. Like elves — long-lived species who still look like little girls even after a thousand years, but whose minds have been adults for ages. By human standards, they'd be the most ancient of grandmothers."
"Or take certain humans who consumed an immortality elixir as children and ended up preserving their small frames for hundreds or thousands of years."
As Tsushima Kagami spoke, Editor Saito's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"A loli body with the maturity of a grandmother..."
"There's something really compelling about that!"
"Does Xuanyayi-sensei have a name in mind for this kind of character archetype?"
Saito looked at him with barely-contained excitement.
Tsushima Kagami smiled and answered without missing a beat.
"Let's call them [Towa Musume] — Eternal Maidens."
The *Towa Musume* series was, in the original timeline, a supplemental anthology to COMICLO — one that wouldn't see its first release until June 30th of 2016.
The word *musume* — "maiden" or "daughter" — wasn't limited to the loli age bracket. It encompassed the entire spectrum of girlhood, with the emphasis placed on the contrast between youthful appearance and the weight of accumulated time.
Unlike COMICLO, which dressed itself up in lengthy disclaimers and fine print before ultimately banking on explicit content for its shock value, the Towa Musume series distinguished itself through something else entirely: compelling narratives and deep explorations of what it meant to live forever.
The loli element, paradoxically, ended up being marginalized. Many of the heroines leaned more toward "maiden" than "loli" — closer to the *musume* in the title than the genre's usual connotations.
And needless to say, the protagonists' actual ages were old enough to be your ancestors many times over, their psychological maturity having long since left girlhood far behind.
In short — *why does the ancient crone put on the airs of a blushing maiden?*
____
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