Even though the event hadn't started, he felt tired for some reason.
"We're finally coming!"
Ebina shouted excitedly as she faced the Tokyo Big Sight.
On the other hand, Shishio and Yumiko were right behind her, looking at Ebina with exasperated faces. After all, Ebina had been selfish and did whatever she wanted from the beginning.
While it wasn't his style to follow Ebina's selfishness, he tried to be patient since he knew the time he would get his revenge would come soon.
"It's amazing that you can befriend her for so long."
He looked at Yumiko, wondering what made her stick with Ebina for so long.
Yumiko sighed. "I just can't leave her alone. I am worried about what will happen if I leave her."
Shishio stared at Yumiko silently and didn't expect such an answer.
"Wh-What's with that stare? Don't look at me like that!" Yumiko blushed and felt shy at his gaze.
"No, I think you'll become a good mother in the future, Yumiko-senpai." This was what he felt after he understood Yumiko. She might seem rough and rude, but she was so gentle and cared about the people around her. She was like a strict and loving mother.
He felt that it was stupid for Hayama not to see Yumiko.
However, he also understood why Hayama reacted that way toward Yumiko.
Maybe, in Hayama's eyes, Yumiko was nothing but like other girls who fawned over him. There was no difference between them. Only she might be more beautiful. However, this was what made him wrong since Yumiko was different from other girls. She was a special and amazing girl.
He felt Hayama should just give up on his forlorn love and go after Yumiko, but he was also grateful for it since it gave him a chance with Yumiko.
"Wh-What are you saying all of a sudden?!" Yumiko blushed before looking away, feeling embarrassed and happy.
However, he had to say that this girl was quite easy. Still, he didn't feel surprised since his appearance gave him a lot of advantages over all the guys in the world.
"Hey, hurry up! We're going to be late!"
"Wait a moment, Ebina! Don't run all of a sudden! What if you get lost?!"
"Haha, there's no way that I will get lost! This is my battlefield!"
Ebina stood on the stairs, overlooking everyone as if she was the king of the world.
However, it wouldn't be weird to call this place a battlefield since the number of people that gathered at this event was more than tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. Those numbers were more than the number of participants in any wars in this country.
"Geez, what are you saying? Don't say something weird. What if people think of you as a weirdo?"
'Mom.'
He wanted to call Yumiko by that name, but he shut his lips. He looked at Ebina and thought that this girl was really unpredictable. He thought for a moment and decided to focus on Yumiko since he felt Yumiko was cuter.
"Come on!"
He looked at the group of people that walked toward the venue. Even though this was only an otaku event, he could see their eyes were blazing like a hellish flame. All of them were coming here to join their battlefield.
Yet he sighed when he thought about the theme of this battle since the theme of this battle was BL.
"Shishio! Hurry up!"
"I am coming!"
---
When Ebina entered this event, she was like a fish that entered the water.
On the other hand, Shishio and Yumiko felt that they were in a different world.
"Are you okay, Yumiko-senpai?"
"Yeah, but it is too hot."
Yumiko wiped the sweat off her slender neck with a handkerchief. She might not have realized it, but the sweat made her skin glisten and appear more beautiful.
'It's bad...'
He didn't expect Yumiko would have such a beautiful neck, so he looked away, trying to avert his attention. "There should be an air conditioner inside. Let's go inside."
"Okay."
Yumiko agreed and quickly entered the venue.
As expected, the venue was quite cool, with the air conditioner blowing the cool wind everywhere. It felt nice on their skin, yet they had to say the scent of this place was quite unique.
Comiket was held twice a year. During summer and winter, it was held for a week. In such an event, naturally, many people came, but everyone had their own taste. Some loved something normal, harem, and some, like Ebina, loved a BL type of work, so during that week, each day was divided into different types of genres.
That was the reason why even though the Comiket had been held for a week, they only came on the fourth day, at the beginning of the girls' days, where the girls' otaku and creator could release their creativity and imagination into reality.
However, he had to say that it was fortunate that they came on the fourth day when the majority of people that came to this event were female.
If they came on the first to third days, where the majority were male, he could imagine how horrible the scent was.
He had an "Enhanced Sense of Smell," so this crowded place where everyone sweated, which intensified their body odors, was the worst place for him.
Yet it was still better since most of the people here were female.
Still, even if it was better, he knew that not all women had a good scent on their bodies.
Many had horrible body odors, which made him sigh and mix with the scent of everyone here. It was like a bomb of smell.
Yumiko was also quite helpless by the smell, but she was right next to Shishio, so it felt comfortable.
"Hurry up, you two! I am going to visit all the legendary Doujin creators here!"
'Legendary creators?' 2x
They looked at each other, and somehow, they felt curious.
While he had read the information about the Comiket beforehand, he realized that being a Doujin creator was more lucrative than he had thought.
The famous one sold their book for 500 yen, and they could easily sell tens of thousands of copies.
Amazing, right?
He felt that many of them could make a living from this, which was amazing. It also moved the economy of this country.
However, while it was all good, he felt speechless by all the doujin bought by Ebina.
"Wow..."
He glanced at Yumiko, who took a peek at Ebina's Doujin, and her face turned so red. His lips twitched, and he asked, "Is it good, Senpai?"
"No! No! This is bad! How can someone draw something lewd like this!"
Yumiko quickly answered, showing her indignant against BL's works.
However, he could see that she seemed to show some interest in it. He sighed and wondered whether it was a woman's instinct that wanted to see this forbidden type of relationship. It was like a man who loved to see a "Yuri-type" genre. A woman also loved the "BL-type" genre.
Yet he didn't feel worried about Yumiko since he knew that this girl could take care of herself.
"Did she spend so much money on this? If she can spend it on clothes or make-up, it would be great."
Yumiko sighed at Ebina's way of wasting her money.
"Don't say that to Hina-senpai."
"Why?"
Yumiko looked at Shishio.
"It's like you love your clothes. She also loves this kind of thing. And it is her money. As long as she is happy, it's all that matters, right?"
"Well, that's true."
Yumiko knew that she couldn't understand Ebina and why she loved this kind of thing. Even though she was quite interested since this was like a new world for her, she wouldn't enter this world since she felt it would waste her money. Yet she also understood the feeling of loving something. Something like money wasn't something that could measure this feeling.
Shishio and Yumiko didn't join Ebina. Instead, they looked at her from afar, watching her queueing on the line, before talking happily with the creators like they were long-lost friends.
While Yumiko felt frustrated, she knew it was impossible for Ebina to show such a smile in school.
In this event, Ebina was alive, flushed, and talked happily with everyone since they were all the same. No one was afraid of being prejudiced and mocked by people since they were all similar to each other.
It was like how a group of transvestites gathered together (previous chapter), so they could be strong.
The group BL loves would also gather together, so they could be strong.
When one was in the group, one felt a surge of confidence growing up, and one could do anything that one wanted to.
"Shishio! Shishio! Look! I got the limited edition! Wow! I didn't expect that I would get one!"
Ebina held a rare Doujinshi, trying to show it off to Shishio.
"Isn't that great? But don't open that book since I can't read it."
"Why? It's great! It's rare!"
"But I am normal!"
"I am normal too!"
Watching the two start to bicker at each other, Yumiko let out a sigh since she felt like she was interrupting their world. While she knew she was the one who decided to join, she had to say this feeling wasn't good.
"Tsk, how boring."
"Don't click your tongue."
"Yumiko! Look at my book!" Ebina opened the book without hesitation for Yumiko to see.
"........"
Yumiko realized that the world was vast.
In the end, the three of them ventured to many places together, talked, and saw many people with unique cosplay.
Some men wore a girl cosplay, and some women wore a male cosplay.
Some of them were quite overweight, but even so, they seemed confident wearing a girl costume and talked happily with their friends.
He could tell that this event was an important day for them to release the bottled-up emotion inside their heart.
In everyday life, it was impossible for them to show this side of themselves to everyone.
However, in this place, they could be the people they wanted to be.
They could become their ideal self without worrying about people's eyes.
"It's an amazing place."
"Right?"
Ebina looked at Shishio with a bright smile.
"The amazing one is this place. Not you."
Ebina only pouted, but then she smiled. "Well, since we have finished, how about we start to work?"
"Work?" 2x
"Let's change into our costumes!"
"......."
Shishio and Yumiko realized the day was far from over.