Chapter 9

At the end of the year, I was participating in the winter Comiket at the international exhibition center.

Thirty minutes after it started.

"Phew...! Haa...! Haa...! Finally, it's over..."

"Good job, Rika."

Rika, a gal from my class, was there.

Today, she was supposed to help me with my sales.

Next to me, Rika was completely exhausted.

"Three thousand doujinshi sold out in thirty minutes... The turnover was so fast, my head was spinning..."

Just then, a giant figure appeared.

"Hey, hey, Shinji-kun's girlfriend, good job, good job~"

A large man, like a Terminator, spoke to us casually.

Next to him, a beautiful Russian woman smiled and offered Rika a drink.

"Here, if you want, please~♡"

"A, e, um... thank you... I mean, thanks? G, good morning...?"

Rika was taken aback by the beautiful Russian woman.

"It's okay. Tanya-san is good at both speaking and understanding Japanese."

"A, ah, really? Thank you."

Rika took the tea from the beautiful woman, Tanya-san, and drank it.

I thanked the two helpers.

"Thank you both so much!!"

"No problem, I'm having fun too, right, miss?"

"Yes, cosplay is fun♡"

This beautiful cosplayer was also helping me sell my doujinshi.

After finishing her drink, Rika asked me.

"Who are these Terminator and Russian beauty, Shinji?"

Ah, right, this is the first time Rika has met them.

I introduced them to her.

"Friends of mine. Saburo-san and Tanya-san."

"Nice to meet you, I'm the Terminator."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ayataka from KanColle♡"

The giant was Saburo-san.

The Russian beauty in cosplay was Tanya-san.

"How do you know them?"

"Through family connections, I guess. They've been helping me with my circle for a long time because they share my otaku interests."

Saburo-san grinned at Rika.

"By the way, Shinji-kun? Is this your steady girlfriend?"

"Eh!? E, um..."

What should I do?

It's fine to pretend we're not dating outside of school...

"Hey, hey, Saburo, that's too personal."

Tanya-san stopped Saburo-san with a smile.

"But...! Doesn't it bother you? I mean, it's Shinji-kun! If he brings a girl, doesn't it make you wonder if they've already... you know?"

"Private matters, don't pry. That's rude."

"Che-"

Rika, perhaps because she was meeting strangers for the first time, was silent.

Just then...

"Hello, teacher."

"Ah, the editor... thank you."

A tall man in a suit appeared with a pleasant smile.

Rika tilted her head.

"Who is he?"

"Someone from a publishing company."

"Shu...!?"

He smiled and bowed.

"Nice to meet you, miss. I'm Okaya."

Okaya-san bowed to Rika, thinking she was part of the circle.

He took out a business card and handed it to her.

[Takanawa Books Editor, Okaya Masahiko]

"Takanawa...! The one from Dejimas!?"

While Rika was surprised, Okaya-san spoke to me.

"Teacher, would you consider it? Mr. Hata is planning a new work for next year."

"Hata-sensei? E, is [Senmochi] ending!?"

Senmochi is a popular light novel series that was even animated.

No way, it's ending...

"Can we keep this off the record?"

"Of course!"

"Then, I'd like to ask you to illustrate the new series."

A job to illustrate a new series by a popular light novel author.

It's an honor, but...

"Um... I'm sorry."

I bowed.

"I do this as a hobby. I'm not interested in commercial work."

"I see. That's very disappointing."

Okaya-san handed me a few copies of my previous works.

"If you change your mind, please contact me anytime."

"Sure. Thank you for the purchase!"

"Thank you."

Okaya-san left.

"Phew... That was tense... Hey, Rika? What's wrong?"

Rika was looking at me with a stunned expression.

"Shinji... You're at the level where you get noticed by publishers... That's amazing..."

"Thanks... It's an honor, but I feel bad. I just do this for fun."

"Is that so... What a waste."

"Really? As long as it's fun, that's what matters, right? It's a hobby, after all, right?"

After that, we were asked for sketches and autographs.

By just before noon, all the back issues were sold out.

Saburo-san looked at the situation and said,

"We'll take care of the shop and cleanup, so go on a date with Rika-chan, Shinji-kun."

"Have a good time~"

Leaving the scene to Tanya-san and the others, Rika and I left the circle space.

Behind us, a late customer said regretfully,

"Ah! They're all sold out already?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"Wow... Circle [Rika] is amazing~"

We walked through the venue.

"Where do you want to go?"

"..."

"Rika?"

"A, um... Let's just walk around the venue. It's my first time here, after all."

"Got it."

I walked through the venue as slowly and carefully as possible.

Suddenly, Rika asked,

"Hey... Shinji. About your circle's name..."

"Hm? What about it?"

With a serious face, Rika said,

"Why is your circle's name [Rika]...?"

Asked that, I hesitated.

It touched on my past.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to say."

"No, it's okay. You've helped me a lot, so I'll tell you."

I told Rika, who was walking next to me, the origin of the circle name.

"Rika is... the name of an important friend from elementary school."

"! H, huh... A friend?"

"Yeah. I was bullied a lot when I was little. Like being called a rich kid or something."

In my childhood, I didn't fit in with many people.

...Wait, isn't that still the case?

Oh... That's depressing...

"I didn't have any friends in class, and I was lonely. Then, there was this really quiet and shy girl in the class, and I felt a connection with her, so we became friends."

"......Huh, really."

Rika fell silent.

It seemed like she was thinking about something rather than being uninterested.

I continued.

"Her name was Rika. She introduced me to anime and manga, and we had a lot of fun together. Looking back, I think we were kindred spirits."

A lot of who I am now is due to the influence of Rika, the girl I met in elementary school.

"But Rika transferred in the middle of elementary school. Her parents divorced, and she had to move to her mother's hometown in the countryside of Nagano."

"...! S, so... that's... as I thought."

"As I thought?"

"......No. So?"

I sighed.

"Both Rika and I cried a lot and threw tantrums. We didn't want to part, but the transfer couldn't be changed, and we couldn't make a promise to meet again... So we just said goodbye."

After Rika left, I regretted it a lot.

If only I had exchanged contact information back then...

"After that, I got really into otaku hobbies and became interested in doujinshi through the influence of Saburo-san and Tanya-san... One day, I thought about drawing and making a doujinshi."

"...What was your motivation?"

"My motivation wasn't anything grand. I just thought..."

I recalled the past.

"If I named my circle [Rika], maybe I could meet Rika again at this international exhibition center someday."

If I used a person's name as the circle name, maybe someone would ask about it.

Since she was also an otaku, I hoped Rika would show up here someday and we could meet again...

"That was the reason I started my circle activities. Before I knew it, it had become like this."

"......I see."

Rika fell silent again.

Rika, who was following behind, asked softly,

"......Did you ever meet Rika again?"

"No, not yet. There's no sign of her at all... Maybe she's forgotten about me."

That was sad, but it was probably inevitable.

It's rare to remember a friend's face from elementary school until high school.

She's probably living happily somewhere...

Just then, someone suddenly grabbed my arm.

"I haven't forgotten."

Rika said seriously.

"That girl... She's still thinking about you. She hasn't forgotten. Even after moving, she's always... always wanted to see you."

"Rika...?"

It was a very confident statement.

Rika's expression was very serious.

It was as if... she was speaking on Rika's behalf.

"Surely, she's in Tokyo. Nagano doesn't have many schools, you know."

"Really...?"

"Yes. Surely... she'll appear in front of you again. Definitely."

Rika encouraged me with strong words.

She patted my back, which was slumped in resignation, gently.

Ah, she's so kind...

There are kind otaku girls after all...

"Thank you. I can have hope now."

"That's... good."

Rika turned away and said,

"By the way... What was... Rika's last name?"

"Um... I think... What was it... Ah, right. Onimuri. It was Onimuri."

It was a strange name, so I remembered it.

Rika... shed a tear.

"Wha!? What's wrong?"

"No... It's nothing... I'm just... a little... happy..."

"Huh? Happy...?"

Rika wiped away her tears and whispered,

"...That's her divorced father's last name. Matsumoto is her mother's last name."

"What!?"

Rika shook her head.

"It's nothing. Come on! Let's go on a date!"

Rika smiled brightly and grabbed my arm.

She pulled me forward.

I didn't understand... but she seemed in a good mood?

Something must have happened...

But, Rika smiling is cute, I thought.