For starters, I’m not a silver-haired aloof girl. I see myself as kind-hearted, a good person, with expressive eyes (probably).
And you’re no frail loli girl either—I’ve seen you bouncing around with energy equal to Guang Yu’s the whole way. So yeah, nothing to misunderstand.
Guang Yu considerately circled behind to pick up the toppled plush toy and dusted it off.
Sigh, you humans~ never caring about the feelings of little toys.
Didn’t you see it got stepped on?
At least brush off the dust.
She patted it twice.
Guang Yu smacked its head, knocking it askew. A corner of the stuffing poked out.
“…”
No need to worry about the plush doll’s feelings.
Shoddy craftsmanship—what kind of rip-off merchant sells defective junk like this!
After that, Ye Zhibai handed a few doujinshi to Little Qiu and kept Citrus Saga 2 for herself.
Everyone had gotten what they wanted, and Guang Yu had even pounded on the plush doll to let off some steam.
They should have been able to leave the Doujinshi Exhibition Hall—the kind of place you didn’t want to linger in—happy and content.
But just as Little Qiu stared in confusion at her brand-new-yet-already-half-ruined plush doll,
A somewhat urgent shout suddenly came from behind the group.
“Hey!! Little sister cosplaying as a fox over there! Please wait, please wait!! Can we talk for a sec?!”
Huh?
Ye Zhibai turned to look.
It was two otaku guys decked out in anime character hoodies!
One fat, one slim, huffing and puffing as they jogged toward them.
Anime hoodies—one with a Kurumi print, the other with Kotori.
Holy crap, there really are people who wear stuff like this out in public!
Oh, right—this was Comic-Con. Never mind, then.
“Cosplaying as a fox, little sister?”
Hey, hey, hey… Guang Yu, did you swipe something from a shop without paying again?!
Guang Yu shrugged, playing innocent.
And hey, don’t just assume a little fox is guilty! That’s so unfair!
With no choice, Ye Zhibai paused and turned back around.
She also tugged her baseball cap lower to better hide her face.
Sure enough, these two otakus were indeed calling out to Guang Yu.
They stopped about a meter from a nearby pillar, panting for breath. The fat one looked like he was about to float away on a cloud of his own hot air.
Little Qiu’s severe social anxiety kicked in on reflex, and she shrank back behind Ye Zhibai.
Ye Zhibai, with her mild case of the same affliction, naturally stepped up to block the front.
“What do you want?”
“Uh…? Are you friends with that little sister?” The slim otaku guy—who looked about college age—asked politely.
Ye Zhibai nodded to show she was with Guang Yu.
At that, the two otakus lit up with hope.
They exchanged a nod, and then the Fat Otaku in the Kurumi hoodie clasped his hands together. Without a word, he bowed at a perfect forty-five degrees!
All traces of human dignity vanished in an instant!
“We saw that little sister buy the last copy of Citrus Saga 2! Miss, if you don’t absolutely need it, could you sell us the doujinshi? Please! We’ll pay three times—no, four times the price!”
There are some real social butterflies among the otakus! Begging for doujinshi without a shred of shame!
But… four times the price for a resale?!
Ye Zhibai could practically see the cash waving at her.
Little Qiu discreetly nudged Ye Zhibai’s back with her shoulder from behind, signaling that they couldn’t sell it—total loss if they did!
Sure enough, the Slim Otaku’s bitter follow-up confirmed Little Qiu’s hunch.
“Sigh… Embarrassing to admit, but that was the only copy of Monogatari 2 in the whole Doujinshi Hall. The shopkeep had just put it out on the shelf when it got snatched up. That was the hall’s crown jewel—no, no, just a super rare doujinshi! We’d been staking it out all day, but that fox-cosplay little sister was lightning-fast. Blink, and poof—all the rare ones were gone! So we were hoping to buy it back at a premium? Please think it over! Four times isn’t enough? Five times works too!”
Hey, hey, you almost let “crown jewel of the hall” slip out there.
So, in other words, this treasure is one-of-a-kind—no more to be had.
I’m not an idiot. No way I’m selling.
And nice one, Guang Yu! All that practice swiping snacks off tables paid off!
Uh… Guang Yu?
Ye Zhibai glanced back. That rude little fox had already scampered off to chase her tail in circles nearby!
These guys come all earnest to ask about reselling, and your response is to run laps? Talk about manners!
Sure, the otakus were sincere, and staking out all day sounded exhausting.
But Ye Zhibai only had one reply for them.
“Sorry, not for sale. Keeping it for the collection.”
“Can’t you reconsider? I… I can pay ten times the price!”
“Fine then… cough, sorry. Not selling. It’s not about the money.”
Thanks, Little Qiu. If you hadn’t been nudging me from behind, I might’ve taken that one extra buck and sold it.
Luckily, these two otakus were pretty reasonable.
Seeing the deal was off, they shook their heads at each other and backed off.
The Slim Otaku adjusted his glasses with a sigh of regret.
“Fine, fine. Can’t win ’em all—guess we’ll wait for the official release. Too bad we can’t get a first look at Monogatari 2. The pinnacle of yuri doujinshi isn’t a joke, right, Fatty!”
“Exactly! Juzi is number one, no arguments!”
Ye Zhibai’s verdict: These two were some serious connoisseurs with refined tastes.
Alright, alright. Look how spooked Little Qiu got by their sudden appearance. Better take her and Guang Yu for a run-around to shake it off.
But just as Ye Zhibai was about to lead Little Qiu away,
The two otakus—who’d supposedly given up on the purchase—suddenly went full social extrovert mode again.
The Slim Otaku hoisted the camera hanging around his neck and blurted out,
“Can we get a photo? At least a pic with the Citrus Saga 2 owner—this con would be complete!”
“No photos.”
“Ahaha… Miss, we’re actually photography majors. Not to brag, but plenty of big-name cosplayers here have asked us to snap their shots.” The Fat Otaku beamed with pride.
But…
What does that have to do with me?!
Ugh, you’re so annoying!
I just said no once—don’t make a micro-social-phobe say it twice in a minute!
At the same time, Ye Zhibai felt Little Qiu’s grip on the back of her shirt tightening.
That was Little Qiu’s resolve.
I can’t keep hiding behind Yezi. I’m the group leader—I should handle this kind of hassle!
And so, Ye Zhibai watched as the brave Su Loli mustered her courage and sort of slid out from behind her.
She slipped on her big headphones and queued up a new track.
The song was called “Courage.”
With the brave rhythm pulsing in her ears, she shakily raised her hand, pointed at the two otakus, and said the fiercest words in the tiniest, weakest voice!
“No photos… get lost.”
“Eh? Did you say something?”
“Hiss!”
And just like that, brave little Little Qiu had burned out.
Hurry back and hide, girl. Don’t force yourself on stuff you’re bad at.
Ye Zhibai decided to dial up the impatience in her tone for the rejection.
Sigh… She’s really no good at dealing with this kind of thing.
It was pretty awkward, after all.
The guys weren’t bad people—just persistent Comic-Con extroverts who loved to drag things out.
To handle extroverts like that, you had to be firm. No wiggle room.
Like straight-up “No photos, scram,” then walk away.
Sure, it’d be awkward… but whatever.
Little Qiu was so uncomfortable—no point dragging it out. Sometimes being wishy-washy just meant suffering for the sake of face. Totally unnecessary.
Yeah, that’s the plan.
Ye Zhibai was steeling herself for some icy words, gearing up to firmly send the two packing,
When—
Thud thud thud thud thud.
A rapid flurry of footsteps rushed in!
A squad of maids from who-knows-where suddenly dashed across Ye Zhibai’s path, blocking out all the annoying nonsense.
The group charged in with impressive momentum and a no-nonsense edge.
It spooked the two otakus into stumbling back several steps!
Before Ye Zhibai could even process it, one of the maids strode confidently to the front and laid it out straight to the otakus: “No photography allowed here. Cameras detour, please.”
Ye Zhibai still wasn’t sure what was going on… but the otakus sure were rattled by the display.
They slunk off in defeat, hightailing it the way they’d come.
At the same time,
Amid the chaos, still not fully grasping the situation, Ye Zhibai felt a warm, familiar hand—soft and delicate as ever—slip into hers.
And with it came a reassuring, melodic voice that put her right at ease.
Like water droplets rippling across a still lake.
“Sister, it’s getting late. Time to head home?”
