Haru-Naru ♪♪♪ Love is a Comedy

Having arrived on the lower level, we entered into the hall from the entrance marked "East 4."

"Bro… I'm thiiirstyyy… it's hooooot… I feel groooss… ugh, I'm feel like I'm going to die…"

"I felt the same way you did, Naruko… But there's nothing I can do now."

For a while, Naruko had been hanging onto my shirt while we were walking, and had been ceaselessly complaining. Can she really make "good memories" this way? I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Arriving at the sales floor, I twisted my neck to and fro, taking stock of my surroundings. Of course, the terrible crowd was still here. The ceilings were incredibly high, and bare concrete was showing on the walls. It seemed like a factory or a warehouse, and its lack of decoration seemed unrefined. There were tables in large quantities lined up in a row, and each one was selling some kind of doujinshi or other goods. And there were quite a number of these rows of assembled tables.

"You probably already know from reading the catalog, but these shops are each called circles. You can use the same word to describe colleges and things like that, but in the case of doujin, the word is usually used to refer to much smaller groups. It refers to the author or authors, and those people who help them." Mio offered me that simple explanation.

Ah, I see now. Last month, I had gone to a doujinshi shop, but Comiket felt different. Comiket was… well, how do I put it… this is probably a bad way to say it, but… it was much more barbaric.

"Hm. It's like a huge, blown up version of a high school cultural festival."

"Hahaha. Because everyone who comes here is a child at heart."

Was she trying to say something clever or something? In any case, Naruko was gasping for breath as she followed behind me, continuing to hold onto my shirt. She began to pull on my shirt more strongly, and mumbled, "I can't take it anymore. I'm at my limit. Break… let's take a break soon. Somehow or other, quickly…"

She's annoying, isn't she? Even if she tells us to do that "somehow or other…"

Watching my sister who had already completely lost interest in buying doujinshi and was completely exhausted, I raised my eyebrows. "Alright… for now Let's take a break, can we duck outside for a bit through that door 2 over there, Mio-chan? I'm pretty tired too."

"Ah I see… let's do that then."

Going out through the door, a gentle breeze from the cloudy skies wrapped itself around us. A long line snaked its way out from the hall, but the population density out here was not as high as it was inside. Being able to take a small break like this definitely hit the spot.

"Ahhh… it's so much cooler outside."

"Ugh, I can't believe this. My head is spinning."

Naruko and I wiped the sweat off our faces, our energy drained.

"How pathetic, you two… the weather wasn't like this at all yesterday or the day before yesterday, you know?" Ruby, who had come to the event all three days, sent Naruko and me a scornful look.

Well, even if you put it like that, it's not like I can do anything about it. It was really sunny the day before yesterday, and it was raining yesterday… so today's weather was probably actually more agreeable. But even so, to beginners like us, this was definitely tough. By the way… and this might be a stupid question… this event… was it actually supposed to be fun? Frankly, wasn't it just tiring?

As I began to regret ever having come, Mio handed me a bottle of cold tea. "Come on, everyone, if you don't keep hydrated you won't last very long. For now, let's rehydrate, shall we?"

Could it be that she actually froze plastic bottles to make these drinks? Ahh, I'm grateful. Downing around half of the tea I was given, I let out a single breath. Mio, almost seeming like she could read my mind, spoke, "Well, you two… what do you think? Any thoughts on Summer Comiket?"

"It's really boring, It's hot, gross, and I want to go home!" Naruko spoke sulkily.

It was a pretty inappropriate thing to say to the person who had gone through so much trouble to invite her… but unfortunately, I felt the same way. But, in spite of Naruko's abusive words, Mio did not seem hurt at all. Rather, she looked as if she was expecting a reaction like this.

"Fufufu… so it's like that, hm? Well, there's no helping that. Because at the start, you have to deal with all the troublesome parts of Comiket at once."

"Huh? What's with that attitude? It's like you were expecting me to react this way or something… annoying." Seeming very irritated that Comiket turned out to be much more boring than she was expecting, Naruko once again began to tug on my shirt. "Bro, you're the host, aren't you? So entertain me."

"I did say I would, but…" Well, what exactly do you want me to do? Feeling lost, I put on a stiff smile and turned towards Mio. "Hey Mio-chan. Is there anything here that she might enjoy…? "

"Well…" Mio slowly shook her head, and then turned the edges of her lips upwards. "That depends on Orange-chan."

"What do you mean?"

"Hm… well… how do I put it…" Carefully choosing her words, Mio began to explain it to me. "Well, in my opinion, Summer Comiket is a festival where the attendees have to be actively participating to enjoy themselves. So, for example, it's not like an amusement park, where they deliberately prepare things for the guests to enjoy. Taking this to the extreme, I could say that if you don't like manga or anime or games, even if you came here you would definitely not find a single thing that you would enjoy. In the same way, if you come to this event treating it like some leisurely excursion and think that you'll be able to find something entertaining here, then in the end you won't be able to have fun at all."

"In other words, nobody forced you to come." Ruby summed up the situation in a short sentence.

So, if you're not already an otaku, or if you have a casual attitude about this event, you really shouldn't have come in the first place. That's what I got from their explanations. But…

"Hahaha… but well, in this case, such worry is unnecessary! It'll be alright! For me, this place is a mountain of treasure! Leave it to me to navigate your way through this thing with a bang!" And as she said, she hit her chest with a bang.

"Well, Naruko's one thing, but I'm not an otaku."

"I'm not an otaku either."

Naruko, you shameless liar.

Hearing her statement, Mio began to laugh uproariously. "Hahaha. Well, if you can last the entire day without enjoying yourself a bit, then you two are certainly not otaku."

Oh, how interesting. I'll accept that challenge. Spurred on by Mio's words, my mood improved a bit. In retrospect, this might have been part of Mio's plan all along, but I'm not sure. Naruko also seemed to have decided on something, and suddenly stopped her complaints. Continuing to pull on my shirt, Naruko spoke with an arrogant attitude, "We've rested enough. Hey, stop talking so much and guide us."

"Yeah. Thanks, we'll leave it to you, Mio-chan."

Geez… as the princess's humble servant, I had to communicate the princess's intentions to her navigator.

"Leave it to me!" Holding her chin with her hand, Mio laughed heartily. Right after, Ruby snorted with a "hmph." And so… taking a single breath outside the convention center, we once again headed into the hall.

While skillfully finding her way through the crowd, Mio began to talk with Naruko. "By the way, Orange-chan, did you take a look at the doujinshi I sent you?"

"Eh? Well… of course I read them all… why do you ask?"

"Well… did you like any of the authors in particular?"

The minute she was asked, Naruko let loose the joyful expression that had been waiting just below the surface… and then barely managed to push it back down, making her expression stiff again.

"W-Well… none in particular… b-but, if I had to pick any… there's Sai Sensei's Lucchan book, and Reedus Sensei's Roz-chan book… and then, oh right! That art collection… that one by Valkyrie Sensei, the one that made Zodiac Angel Lucifen into a manga! Ehehe! That one was reaaaally cute!"

She really gets pretty excited when she talks about stuff she likes, doesn't she? What the hell is up with that "ehehe"? When you do that, it's really pretty sickening. Geez, I seriously can't see how you're the same person as that one who up to now had been groaning nonstop about how super boring everything was. As these pleasant thoughts made the edges of my lips turn upwards, Mio said something that got Naruko even more excited.

"To be honest, all the doujinshi I sent you that day were made by people I know."

"Huh?! R-Really?!"

"Yes, really. I was going to go around to say hello to them right now… does Orange-chan want to come along?"

"I-I… I-I-I…" Naruko repeated that sound intermittently quite a few times, and then painfully spit out her next words. "I-I guess I'll keep you company…! If you say so!"

Her breathing labored and her posture stiff, Naruko looked like she was going to go meet an Idol or something.

"Oh No… ! But! What should I do?! Ehhh?! I'm so nervous…!"

"Hahaha, you seem to be pleased by this surprise I planned for you. Ruby-chan, Haruto-chan, how about you two? If you want, you are more than welcome to—"

"I'll pass." Speaking in a tone of voice that ruined the happy mood instantly, Ruby turned her back towards us. "Unfortunately, I have a sublime mission to go collect the decent looking Xgate Online doujin from the center island circles that do not consign their books to bookstores."

"I'm fine too. It would be strange for me to go meet with the authors of books I don't know… I'll just stroll around here and look around. You two just go by yourselves."

"Huh?! W-Wait just a second, what irresponsible things are you saying?!"

"Mio-chan is going to be your guide, so it's not like you need me to follow you around, right?"

Why is she angry?

"Or rather, do you have a reason why you need me to follow you?"

"N-No, but…! That's not the issue…! Are you an idiot?!"

"Hey, hey," went Mio, trying to calm down Naruko, who had suddenly started looking quite menacing for some reason. With that, Naruko obediently quieted, but began to rapidly click her tongue in what appeared to be annoyance.

What the hell… why is she acting that way? Is there really something that disagreeable about this situation?

Sparks flew as Naruko and I stared at each other. Whether or not she was trying to diffuse this dangerous situation, Mio raised her voice.

"Well! For now, let's split up! Umm… when we're all done doing what we need to do, let's meet back here, wherever Haruto-chan is strolling around! If you can't find him, then at eleven thirty, let's meet in front of that bathroom over there."

That's a pretty ridiculous meeting place… well, certainly, the bathroom was very easy to find.

"So with that settled… let's go!"

Well, and that was that. For a little while after that, just like I had said before, I stayed around that area and casually strolled around while watching the buying and selling of doujinshi around me.

As I thought, the closest analogy I could make for Comiket was a culture festival. Occasionally, I would pass someone dressed in a strange costume and my eyes would widen, and then I might find a doujinshi from a manga I knew, and with a "ohh, so they have stuff like this too…" would casually pick it up and flip through it. Even long after the event ended, I remained surprised that such a majority of these books featured girls.

Wiping the sweat off my face with a towel, I continued to walk around. Occasionally I would find a really terrible book, but… I guess this was pretty fun. As I browsed like that, one of the shop sellers called out to me.

"Hey, that cool Onii-san over there!"

"Huh… me?"

"Definitely, definitely take a look at our new publication!"

Smiling, she held out a book to me… it was a voice that I could have sworn I heard before. You could definitely say that this girl in a maid outfit was cute, so while I was being swept away by her, I opened the doujinshi she probably drew without even taking a look at the title or the front cover.

"…!"

It was a hentai book in which a maid was doing ero things.

Nervous sweat erupted on my face. I wonder if I've ever been so lost for reaction before in my fifteen years of life. I mean, this book… the author of this book, who's also a maid too, right? She's wearing the same outfit as the character in the book. And what's more, she even looks like the character is standing right next to me while I look at pictures of this maid with her breasts exposed and her legs spread.

"How is it?"

That's besides the point. Rather, I should be thinking about what I should do. And also, she really looks like that maid at the maid café who brought me the "Little Sister's Handmade Curry, Zaraki Flavor" or whatever. If she really was her, you could call it an unexpected meeting, or rather, an unwanted second encounter.

"Do you not like it?"

"N-No… it's not… well… the drawings are pretty good…"

"Thank you. Ehehe… ah, Ayame-chan was pretty happy with how that position turned out."

"…a-ahh…" I felt sick. Of all things, why did I have to be here having this conversation with this cute maid? This is unbelievable… I feel so dirty… damn it all. Right now, in my head, I was trying with all my might to keep myself from saying that. I wanted to quickly run away from that place, but the pervy maid girl in front of me was smiling at me with upturned eyes, and staring at me as if she was expecting something, so I was rooted to the spot.

W-What? What do you want? Exactly what are you expecting from me? I know, I know. "Please buy this for 500 yen" is what you want to say, right? I know. I know all too well. But, I mean… right now I was seriously close to blowing a fuse. Could it be that she wanted more of my impressions? I couldn't help but thinking that. Ugh… I was in agony, and I creased my brow.

"?" The shy maid leaned her neck to the side. Quit it with that cute expression, dammit.

Ah, crap… I can't come up with anything else to tell her. Tch, well, I might as well ask the thing I've been meaning to ask. Getting desperate, I steeled myself and summoned up the courage to make my comment. "Umm… this maid in this manga, could it be that you were the model for her?"

"What the hell are you asking her?!"

Bang! A staggering interjection came from behind me. A slap landed squarely on my back head.

"N-Naruko, you… when did you get here?! And why the hell did you slap my head! That hurt dammit!"

"I-It was you who was sexually harassing that shopkeeper over there! I can't believe you! Even here, how could you be such a pervert?!"

"You've got it all wrong!"

She's the one who first started sexually harassing me! Right?! Don't you think so?! Completely flustered, I turned back towards the maid. "Stop sketching us!"

"Eh? A, ahaha… it's just… suddenly… Ayame-chan thought this would make a great drawing… hee hee." Hugging her sketchbook to her chest, the maid looked quite embarrassed.

What the hell… so this is what doujinshi creators are like? I sent a puzzled expression her way, and the doujinshi author happily clapped her hands together.

"Ah, yes! For my next publication… Let's make a brother & sister S&M themed book!"

I vowed to myself that I would never come near this damn circle ever again!