Saturday, August 9, 7:30 AM, CP Convention Venue

Inside the Witch’s Workshop booth.

“Damn, these four girls look amazing. My God—look at those curves!”

Rinka, Liuliuzi, Tian Xi, and Lei Meow Meow stood in a line. Everyone except Liuliuzi had a little anime-style anger symbol (#) floating over their heads.

Wearing sunglasses, Wu Qinglan strolled past them like a sleazy old perv, even letting out a whistle. I could barely resist the urge to smack him.

Trailing behind him was Miss Marika and a short-haired girl with her head and arms wrapped in bandages, sucking on a lollipop. I figured she was the other member cosplaying for the group.

The girls visibly recoiled from Wu Qinglan’s borderline harassment.

“Guess creeps hang out with creeps,”
Lei Meow Meow snapped, shooting me a glare as if it were my fault, then turned to leave.
“I only came because of Xiao Xi, but now I’m out. I’m going home.”

Seeing she was serious, I dove to grab her leg in desperation.

Thankfully, she was wearing jeans today.

“Big sis, wait! The CP event is packed—it’s a perfect PR opportunity for idols!”

She blushed, trying to shake me off like some overly clingy gum on her shoe, shouting:

“I know, you idiot! Let go of me! Stop touching me!”

Wu Qinglan whistled again.

“Wow, grabbing a girl’s thigh in public? Little Kai, you're braver than you look. If I’d been this aggressive back in the day, I’d probably have a couple of kids by now…”

“Excuse me?! Whose fault do you think this is?!”

If he didn’t give my dad rides to work every day, I’d have already launched a Rider Kick right into his smug fox face. This guy’s getting more unbearable by the day.

As if on cue, Marika kicked him hard right behind the knees. His knees buckled and he collapsed. That hit looked heavy enough to have even broken the meniscus.

Then the bandaged girl pushed his head down… no, wait—

Saying she "pushed his head down" was inaccurate. What actually happened was that she suddenly pulled out a pair of pointy scissors and pressed them to his throat.

“Bow your head before judgment, you trash.”

Yup. Kinda scary this kid carries around scissors like that.

“Sorry you had to see that,” Marika apologized with a sigh. “Our leader’s a bit... much.”

While she spoke, Tian Xi was already pulling Lei Meow Meow back into the group, soothing her.

I quickly got back on my feet—Tian Xi was in a business-style skirt, and staying clung to Lei Meow Meow’s leg would’ve made my eye level a little too dangerous.

“Alright, big sis, since you’re already here, just think of this as another work event, okay? Relax. I know training every day must be exhausting.”

What an angel. She really was becoming more and more angelic by the day.

Ahem! Marika clapped her hands.

“Okay, my little beauties! I know that was unpleasant, but we’re on the clock. Let’s head backstage and get changed. I’ll be counting on you all today!”

She glanced at Tian Xi and added, “If the outfits don’t fit, we may need to do some tailoring, so please be quick.”

Liuliuzi didn’t say much—she was the first to head in.

Seeing this, Tan Rinka dragged her square suitcase over and jogged to Marika’s side.

“I’m not cosplaying, but I can help with makeup. Can I come in too?”

“No problem! In fact, having a makeup artist is a huge help.”

Of course Marika welcomed any helping hands.

“Wait, Rinka knows how to do makeup? That case of hers looks super professional.”

Tian Xi, still holding Lei Meow Meow’s hand, walked over to me with a sigh, as if recalling some traumatic memory.

“We took some makeup classes before, hoping to help sis Meow Meow out, but it turned out to be way harder than we thought. We ended up giving up. People who can do makeup really are amazing.”

“Then you’re in good hands—Rinka fooled me for an entire year with her crossdressing. Her makeup skills are no joke.”

I said it proudly, even though it didn’t feel like something to be proud of.

Lei Meow Meow nodded.

“I don’t get all those bottles and tubes either, but an idol who can’t do her own makeup won’t last long… Though our teacher did say our style had... 'death metal vibes.' Said she couldn’t help us.”

That must’ve been terrifying.

Tian Xi and Lei Meow Meow had already recognized Rinka at the entrance. After all, they’d paddled kayaks together, played volleyball—plus Rinka’s face hadn’t changed much. Not recognizing her would’ve been weirder.

Fortunately, after a brief intro, they welcomed her as a kindred spirit in transformation. As for Liuliuzi, who could still switch back to being a guy, well… that was still a secret.

The girls all disappeared into the tiny changing area, locking the door with a click.

What went on in there could only be left to the imagination.

Kind of jealous of Liuliuzi, not gonna lie.

“Little Kai… help me up…”

Wu Qinglan, his legs dead, crawled pitifully to my feet, calling me by name for once instead of “young man.”

He tried to use me to stand. That oddly sweet scent of his hit me again, so I quickly fetched him a folding chair instead.

He looked at the locked changing room with a face full of misery and muttered, “Women are terrifying… Little Kai, don’t ever become like that.”

(angry)

“Wanna see how terrifying men can be?”

“Whoa—what are you trying to do?!”

He clutched his chest and recoiled like I was actually going to assault him.

Nope. Playing along with his antics is a one-way ticket to madness. Not biting.

“That mummy girl—she’s your club member too? Why’s she wrapped like a burn victim?”

“Her? In our club her official codename is Scarlet Moonlight, though you can just call her Scarlet-chan. She’s a second year middle schooler, right at that age, you know? Her family runs a tailor shop though. She’s the one who makes all our cosplay outfits.”

“So the bandages are because she hurt herself sewing?”

“Nope. An experienced tailor wouldn't stab themselves. It’s just… her thing.”

Ah. So it's just pure chuunibyou.

“Miss Marika can draw, Flash’s good with photography, Crimson-chan can sew, and Mr. Crow… can drive?”

“Driving doesn’t count as a forte, I can drive too. Crow’s into models—he’s a hardcore plastic model otaku.”

“Wow, your club’s actually full of talented people.”

“Well most of us do have some unique skills, we still have requirements during recruitment.”

“Oh? Then what’s your skill, captain?”

“Me?”

He looked at me for a second, then grinned devilishly.

“I’m rich.”

…

I lost.

Changing and makeup sounded like they’d take a while, so I figured I’d swing by the Lilim Publishing booth next door.

Their setup was already complete—a literal mountain of books stood in the center, beneath a massive 3D sign hanging from the ceiling.

At the entrance, a pull-up banner listed all the authors at the signing event. The name “Miyanaga Kohime” had been additionally written in marker. Guess it was official.

As soon as I entered, I locked eyes with Sayocho. She stopped chatting mid-sentence and dashed over, shaking my hand like mad.

“Thank you so much! I don’t know what you sacrificed for it, but Miyanaga-sensei finally agreed to attend!”

Sacrifice…?

How did their guessing game on the way back lead to the conclusion that I was selling my body or something?

“Oh, uh… That’s great. Honestly, I didn’t do much—it was her own decision.”

“Perfect timing! She should be arriving soon. Can you come with me to meet her at the entrance? I’m worried I’ll miss her.”

Anyone without an exhibitor’s pass can’t get in and would be blocked by the event security. Just like earlier with Rinka and the others—they had to meet me at the entrance so I could bring them in. Since I didn’t have anything else to do at the moment, I readily agreed.

"Sure!"

We waited at the exhibitor entrance for a while, but Mai-chan still hadn’t shown up. In the end, it was Sayocho who got impatient before I did.

“So slow... she told me at seven that she’d already set out. Don’t tell me her social anxiety is at it again?"

"Let’s wait a bit more—she’ll definitely come."

"But the ride here takes less than thirty minutes. Did her brother not drive her today or something?"

Mai-chan can’t use Feng Wu’s license, so she must’ve come by metro. Judging from yesterday’s commute, just walking to the station from her house takes twenty minutes. At the earliest, she’d probably get here around 8:30.

I chose my words carefully. "She’s coming alone today. Her brother had something else to do and couldn’t bring her."

"What?! Alone? Is that okay? Wasn’t her social anxiety pretty serious...? Ugh, if you’d told me earlier, I would’ve gone to pick her up!"

As her editor, Sayocho really did seem worried about her “Miyanaga Kohime-sensei”.

…Though more likely, that concern came from not wanting to end up digging potatoes in Siberia.