Kasumigaoka Utaha felt like she was about to suffocate. Why did she draw these things?
Perhaps at the beginning, it was just a vent for some kind of rebellion, a twisted resistance against the perfect image she had to maintain in reality. Later, it gradually became a habit, and she even found some secret pleasure and sense of accomplishment in it.
But she never thought that one day, she would be analyzed face-to-face by someone she knew in reality, using such an academic tone to discuss her shameful creative thoughts!
What creative thoughts? It was just her own repression!
"I... I'm going to the restroom." Kasumigaoka Utaha wanted nothing more than to flee this place right now, even if just for a few minutes.
After asking Sagiri to help watch the booth, she walked away quickly, squeezing into the crowd not far away as if fleeing in defeat.
Watching Kasumigaoka finally unable to endure his torture, Kanzaki Saku nodded with satisfaction.
He rubbed Sagiri's hair. "I'm going to buy some food. You stay here and watch the booth obediently."
"Got it!"
Inside a stall in the restroom, Kasumigaoka Utaha leaned back against the door panel, took off her stifling mask, and took several deep breaths.
That Kanzaki Saku, he definitely did it on purpose! He definitely recognized me! Every single one of his questions was poking at my sore spots!
What to do? Run away now? But the booth is still there, and what if he actually didn't recognize me and it was just a coincidence? If I run now, wouldn't that be an admission of guilt?
She scratched her hair irritably. No, I can't mess up my own footing. Maybe he was just chatting idly without using his brain?
After all, judging from the observations in the Student Council over these past few days, this guy is just a straw bag who climbed the ranks relying on his face and, um, certain talents. He shouldn't have such keen observation skills and scheming...
After giving herself some psychological reinforcement, Kasumigaoka Utaha put her mask back on, adjusted her hat and hair in the mirror, and only then walked out of the stall.
When she returned to the booth, Kanzaki Saku hadn't come back yet. Sagiri saw her return and smiled at her.
On the other side, Kanzaki Saku was navigating through the crowd at a leisurely pace, looking for snack stalls.
As he searched around, his gaze inadvertently swept across a relatively quiet corner of the exhibition hall. There were also a few booths there, but the flow of people was obviously much sparser. The standing sign of one of the booths caught his attention.
["Metronome in Love" Author · Kashiwagi Eri On-Site Signing Event]
The handwriting was quite beautiful, but there was not a single person in front of the booth. Only the booth owner sat lonely behind the table, head lowered, her golden twin-tails drooping listlessly.
A small stack of brand-new novels was neatly piled in front of her, along with several posters printed with the novel's cover and author's biography. Against the backdrop of the lively exhibition hall, it exuded a sense of desolation that was out of place.
Isn't this the legendary King of Losing Dogs, Eriri?
He raised an eyebrow. Seeing this deserted state, he estimated it wasn't because it had just opened, but because it truly had no popularity.
'Sales are too poor, so she wants to gamble on the Comic Expo's foot traffic?' Kanzaki Saku speculated inwardly. She was quite unyielding; even if she was flopping, she still wanted to struggle hard.
Since he had bumped into her, it would seem unjustifiable not to go say hello. It just so happened that he had bought a copy of Metronome in Love before.
With a slight shift in thought, he slightly [Reversal]ed the state of the book over there, and his right hand pulled out the novel, which he had left on his desk at home, from his jacket pocket.
He adjusted his expression and walked towards that deserted booth.
Behind the booth, Eriri was swiping her phone screen with her finger, head drooping in dejection. The screen showed dismal sales data, and in her irritable mood, she kept stomping her feet.
She had been sitting here for almost an hour. Apart from two passersby who took the wrong path, glanced at the cover, and walked away, there wasn't a single real reader.
Could it be that she ultimately couldn't escape the fate of cancellation? Even though the popularity was quite decent when the first volume was just released.
Just then, a shadow fell over her booth.
Eriri raised her head. What entered her vision was a tall, exceptionally handsome beautiful youth.
He was wearing simple casual clothes, his temperament gentle. He was looking down at the novels on her booth, and in his hand, he was holding a novel—it was precisely the first volume of her Metronome in Love!
A reader! A live one! And a rare male reader!
At this moment, Eriri's mood was no less than that of a web novel author discovering there was a cute little fangirl or a pure female college student among their readers!
Eriri's eyes lit up with a "swish," almost emitting light.
"Hello! Are you interested in Metronome in Love?" Her voice rose slightly due to excitement, carrying obvious elation.
Her gaze was fixed tightly on the book in Kanzaki Saku's hand. That look was as if she had seen a savior.
Kanzaki Saku was stunned for a moment by her sudden enthusiasm, then he raised the book in his hand. "Yes, I just bought it a few days ago. I didn't expect to encounter a signing event today."
Although she was very excited, Eriri still maintained her reserve: "Thank you very much for your support! Please sit, please give me the book, I'll sign it for you right away! What would you like me to write?"
Kanzaki Saku sat down on the chair and handed the book over. "Then I'll trouble Teacher Kashiwagi Eri. Just write 'To Mr. Kanzaki', keep it simple."
"Mr. Kanzaki... Okay!" Eriri nodded, took the book, opened the title page, and began to write seriously.
Golden strands of hair slipped from her shoulder. Her side profile, under the not-so-bright lights of the exhibition hall, actually revealed a bit of focused cuteness.
Kanzaki Saku quietly watched her sign. Her handwriting was elegant and strong, consistent with the writing on the booth's standing sign.
Next to the signature, she also meticulously drew a small, chibi-style avatar of a girl with golden twin-tails, obviously her own original image.
"Nice drawing," Kanzaki Saku praised.
Having finished signing, Eriri smiled a bit shyly upon hearing this: "Thank you! I usually like to draw things... Ah, this is a gift for you!"
As she spoke, she took out two postcards printed with novel illustrations from under the table, clipped them into the book, and handed it back to Kanzaki Saku with both hands.
"Um, Mr. Kanzaki, what do you think of this story? Do you have any feelings or suggestions?"
She asked cautiously. For a flopping author, a living, breathing reader who was willing to buy the book and come for a signature was simply sweet spring water in the desert.
Since Eriri had asked, Kanzaki Saku, as her book fan, naturally had to spur her on properly.
"My evaluation of this book is that it's like a bottle of soda. The first taste is very fresh and refined, but afterwards, you never want to open it again."
"The plot can be seen to the end at a glance; it can cure a reader's nearsightedness."
"Readers feel a unique sense of security reading your work. It's like one rainy day, I had a fever, and mom carried me on her back, walking dozens of miles against the current in a river, sending me to the hospital."
____
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