Chapter 60: Eriri Appears Again
Faced with the convention's inner hall blinding full-party red name effect, Kazama Chiba decisively shut off his spiritual vision.
If he kept it active any longer, he feared his retinas would burn out on the spot. He wasn't from the Uchiha clan—no need to suffer that punishment.
With his magical radar disabled, Chiba could only rely on instinct to blindly search through the sea of people.
He had to admit, as a holy land with extremely high otaku concentration, the atmosphere here really opened his eyes.
Just the high-quality cosplayers around him and the dazzling array of merchandise booths made for decent entertainment—he could treat it as supplementary education in otaku culture.
And since The Move card wanted to play hide-and-seek, he'd let it play all it wanted.
The convention was only so big anyway. Unless it could teleport into outer space, it would eventually slip up sooner or later.
While wandering around, just as Chiba was preparing to squeeze into the more crowded areas, a figure blocked his path.
"Hey, you there who looks pretty dumb!"
The one blocking his way was a pink-haired girl who appeared to be around Chiba's age—youthful and pretty, wearing somewhat old-fashioned over-ear headphones around her neck.
Chiba stopped, looking down, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the girl's extremely rule-breaking chest curves first.
Holy crap, that big?
Though the girl's massive chest might have startled Kerberos, Chiba still politely responded with "What is it?"
The girl acted like she'd found a kindred spirit, moving closer.
"Let me introduce myself—I'm Shinjou Akane. This is your first time here, right?"
"I saw you staring at those tokusatsu suits earlier. Are you also part of the kaiju faction?"
As Shinjou Akane said, Chiba had indeed been staring at someone cosplaying Ultraman Tiga earlier, but that was because he was imagining what he'd look like when he transformed into Tiga in the future.
Not what the girl seemed to be implying.
Before Chiba could deny it, Shinjou Akane pulled out a book from her obviously heavy shoulder bag like she was presenting treasure, shoving it into Chiba's hands.
"Since we've met by fate, why not check out my new work?! It's tokusatsu doujinshi—still just the rough draft outline, but I think you'll love it!"
Shinjou Akane's overly familiar attitude caught Chiba off guard.
But out of courtesy, he casually flipped through a few pages.
Then Chiba's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch.
Good grief.
This wasn't tokusatsu fanfiction—it was practically a war criminal manifesto.
The book depicted a story set in ancient Osaka.
An ultra-ancient kaiju named Golza awakened from slumber, causing earth-shaking destruction, not only wreaking havoc but enslaving humanity.
The humans drawn on those pages wailed and fled beneath the monster's feet, finally kneeling in despair and worshipping that beast that only knew destruction as their king.
Though it was just an outline—
The entire story was saturated with pure worship of monstrous violence.
That desire for collapsing order between the lines practically overflowed from the paper.
"How is it? Isn't it amazing?"
Shinjou Akane stared at him expectantly, seemingly awaiting some approving reaction.
"..."
Chiba closed the book, stuffing it back into the girl's arms.
"First, I'll acknowledge the artwork is decent."
"But as for the plot, how should I put this... kid, I suggest you get your brain checked, or watch less tokusatsu and go outside to get some sun."
"Also, you're writing Ultraman fanfiction, right? Why isn't there any Ultraman in it?"
"Eh?"
Shinjou Akane took back the booklet, tilting her head.
"Because in tokusatsu shows, the kaiju are the real protagonists."
"Don't you think so? Those so-called Ultraman are completely unnecessary. Compared to them always spouting justice, the kaiju's pure power—that will to exist for survival or destruction—isn't that the most beautiful thing?"
Chiba looked at this smiling girl before him.
If this were the old him, he might have thought she was just a late-stage chuunibyou patient.
But now? He could only categorize her as mentally ill.
"Sorry."
He took half a step backward, opening up a safe social distance, afraid her aura might infect him.
"The writing's decent, but I don't like this kind of bad ending. And I'm not interested in destroying the world."
"Eh? Is that so..."
Shinjou Akane tilted her head, a hint of regret in her tone.
"That's too bad. I thought I'd found someone like me. How about adding me on Line? If you change your mind later, we can discuss other kaiju."
"No need."
Chiba refused decisively without any room for negotiation.
This was clearly a dangerous element with questionable mental stability—getting involved for even one more second would be irresponsible to his own life.
He sidestepped around the girl and quickly melted into the crowd without looking back.
The rejected Shinjou Akane didn't seem upset, just watched Chiba's departing back while thoughtfully twirling a strand of hair beside her cheek with her finger.
"Doesn't like the ancient setting..."
"I guess so—it's too distant, no sense of immersion. Sure enough, the background should be set in modern times to be more interesting, right?"
...
Having shaken off that strange pink-haired girl, Chiba continued his search operation.
Before he knew it, he'd wandered into the doujin circle booth area.
This area was even more crowded than outside, with various doujinshi and merchandise displayed on tables while otaku waved their cash around with eyes as fanatical as pilgrims.
These people really have money—truly living up to the otaku reputation.
While Chiba marveled at this, about fifty meters away at another circle booth—
Sawamura Spencer Eriri sat behind a table piled with doujinshi and merchandise, looking like a wilted plant that hadn't been watered.
"Kashiwagi-sensei, perk up a bit."
Kasumigaoka Utaha beside her signed autographs for fans while glancing at this blonde loser from the corner of her eye.
"I know your sales were crushed by my novels, but you don't need to make that expression like an abandoned puppy. It's really bad for public appearance."
"Shut up! Kasumi-Uta! Who... who got abandoned?! Are you stupid?"
Eriri bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, grabbing a sketchbook as if to throw it, but ultimately put it down weakly.
"My sales didn't lose to you! And... it's not because of that!"
Kasumigaoka Utaha noticed something was off but assumed it was about Aki Tomoya again and didn't pry further.
Eriri lay sprawled on the table, burying her face in her arms, her proud golden twin tails hanging over the table's edge, swaying listlessly.
Her mind was full of Kazama Chiba.
Specifically, the words that bastard said at school yesterday.
How could he do this?
He'd always been like a lackey since childhood, a Chiba who only revolved around her—how could he suddenly say such things?
It had to be just angry words, right? Like when she'd say "I'll never talk to Tomoya again," then be fine in a couple days, right?
But a whole day had already passed! A full twenty-four hours! That guy hadn't sent a single Line message! Not even an emoji!
Just as Eriri ground her teeth, mentally stabbing Chiba's image with a pencil a thousand times, she unconsciously raised her head, her gaze piercing through the crowd to capture a figure she couldn't be more familiar with.
That guy wearing a black backpack, dressed in his eternally unchanging casual jacket, looking around like a headless fly.
She'd recognize him even if he turned to ash.
Eriri's eyes instantly widened like saucers, the gloom swept away in an instant.
He came!
He actually came to the convention!
You had to know, that guy was famous for staying away from these otaku gatherings.
Unless he came specifically for someone!
And here, besides herself—his childhood friend—who else would be worth him making a special trip?
"Hmph, I knew it."
Eriri's lips curled up crazily, and the surge of joy in her mind had barely surfaced before she forcibly suppressed it, replacing it with a textbook-perfect tsundere expression.
He must have regretted it.
He must have realized yesterday's words were too harsh and couldn't bring himself to message her, so he specifically came here to manufacture a chance encounter, then awkwardly apologize and beg her forgiveness.
It had to be like that!
Eriri didn't even care about the booth anymore.
"Kasumi-Uta, watch the booth for me! I need to step out!"
With that, this young lady who'd been listless moments ago was like she'd been recharged, straightening her skirt, striking a haughty pose, and marching out with that signature six-relatives-disowning gait.
Kazama Chiba was getting irritated by all those red light points around him.
Suddenly, his vision flashed as a golden lightning bolt blocked his path.
"Hey! You there who looks really dumb!"
Eriri stood before Chiba, hands on her hips, chin raised high, striking that signature tsundere pose.
"What are you doing here?"
Chiba, who'd been searching for The Move card's trail, was startled by this sudden shout.
He turned around to see that golden-haired girl standing like a proud little peacock, his eyebrows furrowing imperceptibly.
Why did he have to run into her at a time like this?
"Does your family own this place?"
Chiba replied coldly without stopping his steps, just sidestepping to walk around this ojou-sama blocking his way.
For this former childhood friend he'd unilaterally blacklisted, he had zero interest in reminiscing about old times.
This clearly hostile remark, to Eriri who'd already activated self-conquest mode, was automatically translated as "I'm shy, I'm too embarrassed to admit I came to find you."
"Hmph, I never said you couldn't be here."
Not only wasn't she angry, she became even more energized, tossing her twin golden tails, her lips struggling to suppress an upward curl.
Boys not being able to swallow their pride and apologize was normal—at times like this, she needed to graciously offer him a way out.
"Hey, I'm really busy today! There are tons of fans waiting for autographs at my booth! Since you're already here, I'll give you a chance—hurry up and say what you want to say! I'm not an unreasonable person..."
Eriri spoke while using her eyes to signal Chiba to apologize quickly.
As long as Chiba said "sorry, I was too harsh the other day," she'd absolutely take the olive branch and magnanimously express forgiveness.
Chiba watched her rambling on, his eyes full of the caring concern one shows the mentally challenged.
Did this woman's brain short-circuit?
"Say what?"
"You're overthinking it. I'm just passing through. If there's nothing else, please move."
"Hey! You're being way too stubborn!"
"Still playing dumb? Seriously, men are such a pain."
Eriri rolled her eyes, but a suspicious blush appeared on her face as she fidgeted with her hair, her gaze drifting elsewhere.
"It's about yesterday morning at school. I know you only said those things because you were too tired or ate something wrong. I can understand that... anyway, none of that matters now."
"Considering we've known each other for so many years, I won't really hold this little thing against you. As long as you apologize properly, even if it's not totally sincere, I can reluctantly let it slide."
Eriri dumped out all her prepared lines in one breath, then waited for Chiba's response with her face flushed red.
Chiba hadn't listened to a single word, ready to just walk away—
But after walking a few steps, he suddenly reacted and looked back at her.
"Wait, what did you just say? Yesterday?"