After being rejected by Mashiro, Tomoya Aki formed a doujinshi circle by recruiting galgame enthusiasts online. As someone capable of running a fan site for Utaha, Tomoya Aki possessed strong initiative.
After being shut down by Mashiro with the line, [This is your dream, not mine], he immediately began recruiting members online. Upon hearing this, the competitive Eriri made a bet with him to release their games at Winter Comiket and compete in sales.
This wasn't some high-stakes wager with serious consequences. Tomoya Aki and Eriri simply wanted to prove themselves; if anything, their pride was the only thing on the line.
Among the 25,331 circles that won the lottery, ending up sharing the same table wasn't some fateful 'Stand users attract each other' anime trope. When circles applied for the lottery, there was an option for two circles to link their applications and be placed together.
Before the lottery, Eriri had told Tomoya Aki to link their circle applications, and naturally, Tomoya Aki wasn't going to chicken out.
Originally, the organizers added this feature so friends in different circles could share a table, but now it perfectly facilitated the showdown between these two circles.
Last time, at Utaha's new book signing event, Megumi Kato had explicitly stated that Rin Ito was her fuck buddy!
If he were a boyfriend, Tomoya Aki wouldn't have cared as much. But a fuck buddy... that made Tomoya Aki feel extremely uncomfortable. His heroine, 'Meguri Kano', was based on Megumi Kato.
Strictly speaking, it was based on the exact moment he picked up Megumi Kato's hat on the slope; her personality and everything else had nothing to do with the actual Megumi Kato. At the time, he didn't even remember they were in the same class.
But the prototype was the prototype. It was precisely because he picked up Megumi Kato's hat that he was inspired to make a game.
A boyfriend would be fine—he knew he couldn't dictate whether Megumi Kato dated someone or not. But a fuck buddy... Tomoya Aki felt as if his precious Meguri-chan had been NTR'd by Rin Ito.
Even though Tomoya Aki knew it was impossible for a fictional character to be NTR'd, it still left a bad taste in his mouth, making this reunion rather awkward.
Seeing Tomoya Aki's conflicted expression, Rin Ito wanted to laugh... He's in way too deep.
Actually, Tomoya Aki's case was pretty mild. Rin Ito had seen hardcore fans who genuinely felt cucked just by accidentally stumbling across a doujinshi of their favorite character.
And those poor souls usually ended up completely bombarded by R18 fanart and doujinshi.
Of course... whether that was just an elaborate, 5D-chess scheme to bait out more R18 fanart was something Rin Ito couldn't know for sure.
"We meet again, Aki-kun," Rin Ito tried his best not to laugh. He greeted him, opened a box, and handed him a copy of their game. "A gift for you."
"T-Thanks..."
The corner of Tomoya Aki's mouth twitched, but he accepted the game anyway, handing Rin Ito a copy of his own game in return.
Megumi Kato leaned close to Rin Ito to look at the game in his hands.
"Cherry Blessing... A blessing of cherry blossoms, or a cherry-colored blessing? Ah, I remember now. Both sides of the slope where you picked up my hat, Aki-kun, were lined with cherry blossom trees. You're quite detail-oriented, Aki-kun."
"Ah... mmh." Tomoya Aki nodded with a stiff expression. "It's getting late. We should set up our booths."
"We'll have plenty of time to chat later. Let's get the booths set up first," Rin Ito didn't continue teasing him... There will be plenty of time to chat later, and plenty of time to tease him later, too.
Circle lotteries were drawn day by day. They were extremely lucky to have secured spots for all three days. Even though they'd be in different halls on the second and third days and would need to set up their booth again, they were still incredibly fortunate compared to those who didn't win at all or only got one day.
If they could make a name for themselves this time, they wouldn't need to enter the lottery next time. Popular circles didn't have to enter the lottery and were given much larger spaces than regular circles.
To be perfectly honest.
They had applied for the lottery under the names 'Baumkuchen Studio' and 'Blessing Software'. If they had applied using Eriri's or Utaha's names, they wouldn't have needed to enter the lottery at all, and they would have definitely been allocated at least two tables.
But that was a matter for next time.
With the clamps spreading her open deep inside, Megumi Kato set up the tabletop display. Rin Ito and Shinju unpacked the boxes and handed her what she needed.
Setting up the booth was simple: lay down the tablecloth, set up the sign and tapestry, and arrange the game discs for sale.
"Shinju and I are going to bring the rest of the boxes in. We'll leave this to you."
After telling Megumi Kato, Rin Ito and Shinju went back to carry more boxes. Since Eriri, Utaha, and Rin Ito had all promoted the game in their respective fan communities, Rin Ito was highly optimistic about their sales.
A game disc wasn't just a simple disc.
With the exquisite packaging boxes and pre-order bonuses, they weren't particularly heavy, but they took up a lot of space. They had to make several trips just to bring in the stock for the first day. After finishing, Rin Ito took the cosplay outfits and headed to the restroom with Shinju to change, leaving Megumi Kato at the booth.
Next to them, Tomoya Aki also quickly finished setting up his booth.
Right now, he was the only one at his booth. He had recruited his circle members online, and many of them didn't live in Tokyo. While making a game could largely be done online, attending Comiket in person wasn't something everyone could manage on time.
The convention hadn't officially opened yet. Having finished his setup, Tomoya Aki sat on his folding chair, fidgeting restlessly. He wanted to say something but held back, pretending to play on his phone. Finally, Megumi Kato turned her head, smiled, and broke the ice.
"Is there something you want to say, Aki-kun?"
"Uh... I..." Tomoya Aki's face flushed red, not daring to meet the young girl's eyes. After mumbling for quite a while, he finally spoke with a highly conflicted expression. "Kato-san, last time at the signing event... was what you said true?"
"At the signing event? What do you mean?" Megumi Kato tilted her head, a look of pure confusion on her face. "If you don't explain clearly, Aki-kun, how am I supposed to know?"
"A-About... about Rin Ito... being... your... your fuck buddy. That was a joke... right?"
Head lowered, Tomoya Aki prayed silently.
No way, Kato-san was definitely just joking before. How could Kato-san possibly do something like that?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
It was definitely just a joke. Definitely just a joke.
A boyfriend or whatever would be fine, but it absolutely couldn't be a filthy relationship like fuck buddies!
"Ah... about that." Megumi Kato blinked, a devilish, cunning glint flashing in her eyes. "The fuck buddy thing was indeed just a joke."
"Phew..." Tomoya Aki let out a massive sigh of relief. "I knew it was just a joke. Kato-san is still a high school student. How could you possibly have a filthy relationship like a fuck buddy with a man..."
Megumi Kato looked around before lowering her voice.
"I'm his cum dumpster."
"...?"
Tomoya Aki, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, froze completely... Cum dumpster!?
Although Tomoya Aki didn't read R18 doujinshi or play R18 games, he had heard the term before and knew exactly what it meant... Isn't that even dirtier than a fuck buddy!?
A fuck buddy is at least an equal relationship where both sides get what they want. But a cum dumpster...
"I'm joking~"
"..."
Not physical exposure, but psychological exposure. This feeling of seemingly revealing everything about herself while others refused to believe it... Felt amazing!
"Actually... mmh, how should I put it, my relationship with him..." Megumi Kato furrowed her cute brows. She herself didn't quite know how to describe her relationship with Rin Ito.
Lovers... not quite.
After all, Kaede was his official girlfriend.
Fuck buddies wouldn't be accurate either... Since fuck buddies implied a relationship devoid of feelings, based purely on mutual desire, calling them fuck buddies was definitely incorrect.
I... mmh, I definitely like him.
But even though I like him, and even though we share an intensely intimate physical connection, our relationship hasn't progressed further than that.
'More than friends, less than lovers' was even more inaccurate; the roleplays they engaged in and the sex parties they threw weren't things most couples would ever do.
More than friends, more than lovers? But we aren't even officially lovers, so how could we be more than lovers?
For a moment, Megumi Kato genuinely couldn't think of a suitable adjective to describe her relationship with Rin Ito.
"Aki-kun, you know how unnoticeable I used to be at school. I was completely content with the status quo and had zero self-awareness about standing out. But he... he gave me a sort of motivation. Mmh... the motivation to become a heroine. I wanted to become cuter, to stand out more, to... mmh."
At this point, Megumi Kato nodded, a smile unconsciously curling the corners of her lips. It was the cutest smile Tomoya Aki had seen in the two years they had been in the same class.
"I want to become a heroine. I want to become his heroine."