Haru-Naru ♪♪♪ Love is a Comedy

Having left the doujinshi marketplace area and feeling pretty peeved, I walked while carrying the maid's ero book under my arm. Soon after that event, we had met up with Ruby and Mio and once again were a group of four. And… in the end, I was forced to buy a doujinshi… but why the hell did my first doujinshi have to be a maid ero book? Or rather, I should be asking, why the hell were there so many ero books being sold in the doujinshi marketplace? I mean, of course there were non-ero things being sold as well, but clearly the ratio of ero books to non-ero books was pretty large.

Well, in the first place, if I had to say it… it's a fan event, so why exactly did they have to draw all their favorite characters naked and do ero things? It didn't feel like they loved the characters… instead it felt rather dirty. Was it because that kind of stuff sells? Was that really the reason?

Geez, ero stuff is everywhere, isn't it? And of course, in this world, guys who didn't think so and who weren't into this stuff didn't exist. This commonality was a shared system of values whose power exceeded that of even the Christian church. Even now, even though I had been pushed to buy an ero book, I didn't really feel that bad about it! As these thoughts were running through my head, I spoke up to Mio. "Hey… having this book out in the open like this while walking… I don't think my heart can handle this for much longer…"

"Hm. Why don't we go over there and buy a paper bag?"

I see. That was a good idea. I turned in the direction Mio was pointing.

"Mio-chan… can an I ask you one thing?"

"Ah, what is it?" As Mio leaned her head to one side, I calmly muttered my question.

"Do you seriously expect me to walk around with a paper bag that has a huge picture of a half-naked girl printed on it?"

"I thought you meant that you didn't want the people around us to think that you were into maid moe."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! Don't they sell normal paper bags somewhere? Something I can bring with me on the train."

"On the train, hmm… well, how about that one over there?"

"Didn't I say I didn't want a perverted drawing?! Do you really think I have the guts to bring something with a pervy drawing on it with me on the train?! Seriously, I'll be arrested!"

I saw big official Comiket paper bags being sold over in a corner, 300 yen each, and I bought one. On this one too there were many summer-like color illustrations, but at least I could go on a train with this one without feeling self-conscious. Returning to where the rest of my party was waiting, I walked in while Mio was talking with Ruby.

"By the way, Ruby-chan, you didn't participate in a circle this time around, did you?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be standing here right now, would I?"

It was an impatient, brusque tone of voice, as if she was trying to ask "Why are you asking me that now?" Hm. From the flow of the conversation, it seems that Ruby was also involved in that kind of thing. And then, misunderstanding some part of the conversation, Naruko interjected happily.

"Whaaat? You wanted to hang out with me that badly?"

"Don't say such disgusting things, please… hmph, it was simply because I applied but they didn't accept my application."

"Hmph. Well, why didn't you just give your doujin to another circle to sell? Ah, I'm so sorry! I forgot that you don't have any friends! How rude of me to ask that!"

Even I could understand that Naruko said that on purpose. Don't clap your hands so happily like that. Are you a toy monkey or something?

"Tch…" Ruby bit her lip while remaining expressionless. As if Naruko had hit the bulls-eye, she unhappily turned the other way. "N-Not really…? I don't exactly have that much money to spend either, so… if my own circle can't put out anything, then I don't want to try entrusting a new publication to another circle."

"Huh. What kind of stupid excuse is that, you id—mpph!" Clapping my hands over Naruko's mouth which was just about to spit out more poison, I tried to change the subject.

"Hey, so as I thought, it costs a lot to publish a doujinshi, doesn't it?"

"It depends on how you make it too. If all you're doing is copying a manuscript and stapling it together, which is what's called a 'copy-book,' then all you really have to pay for are the paper and the copies… that's fine if all you want to do is print something." Ruby faced towards the circle booth right next to her, and pointed towards the doujinshi on the table. "But if you want to make a genuine 'offset book' like that, in the end you'll end up spending a lot more."

"Offset?"

"It's a way of printing the books."

"Oh…? Around how much would it cost?"

Perhaps she was trying to tactfully prevent Naruko from interrupting our conversation, but with a casual "Orange-chan, Orange-chan, look at that Lucchan book over there—" Mio led Naruko to a nearby booth. Ruby seemed to be choosing her words carefully, and slowly opened her mouth.

"Depending on the method of printing, the ratio of color pages to uncolored pages, and additional options, it can really vary… for me personally, it's relatively expensive, and for fifty copies I would have to spend around thirty thousand yen."

"Damn… that… is definitely pretty expensive…"

For me, thirty thousand yen was an amount I could at least imagine, so my response was quite genuine. But if I calculated it, at a rate of five hundred yen per book, even if she sold everything, she would still lose five thousand yen, wouldn't she? Furthermore, if she really were to put out a real book, there would be various other expenses as well. Of course, there were the travel and food expenses… she would also have to buy the tools she needed to draw the original copy. But Ruby didn't seem to be as nonchalant about money as Naruko was.

"Yes it is. So in many ways, it is very difficult to make doujinshi as a middle school student like me. In my case, I also spend quite a bit of money on other hobbies as well…"

"Yeah… and there's not much you can do about not having enough money…" It's not like anyone could just go be a model and earn money like Naruko.

"I help around the house… and I also secretly get part-time jobs. It's enough for me if I can put out one or two books every half year."

"You'd go that far just for this? Just to put out this kind of 'offset book'?"

Looking at me with a stare that said "well, it's not like I expect you to understand," Ruby nodded deeply.

"Doujinshi authors each have their own motivations for making doujinshi. It could be for networking purposes, or simply because they want other people to see their work… or rather, it could be some mix of reasons like that. For me, I just really want to create a book by myself. So, I pick the higher price options and put out an offset book. Even if they don't sell well. So even though for me this is about self-satisfaction, there's no meaning to making anything if you don't approve of what you're doing, right?"

"Yeah." I thought she was a pretty introverted, reticent person, but like Naruko, whenever she started talking about her own interests she became quite talkative. I had recently come to understand that the minute you flipped the right switch in otaku, they would start talking. I mean, everyone likes talking about their own hobbies after all. I continued my questioning. "So, do you get any feedback? After you make your books and sell them. Do people tell you what they think about them?"

"Occasionally. After I distribute the books… at the following event, people who come to buy my books sometimes give me their opinions. Well… yeah, there's also the internet…"

"Internet?"

"Yeah. There are a few blogs that have posted their impressions about my books. I've also sometimes gone on search sites after events… and looked up how well-received my books are." How unexpected. She didn't seem like the type to care about what other people thought about her books. I was surprised, and Ruby continued to talk expressionlessly. "But, it's really awkward when I search for my book's titles on SNS and I find some article flaming it. Because, from that article, people track down and come to my site. Hmph, I wonder what they would think if they knew that the author herself was reading their insults."

As if I would know! I didn't even say anything, so why was she turning the topic onto something so disagreeable?! Dammit… she's just as difficult to deal with as Naruko, but in a different way.

"But, I mean! When you see that people like your work, you're happy, right?"

"…I guess." And then, Ruby, ever so slightly, ever so faintly, turned the corner of her lips upwards. It wasn't exactly what I would call a smile… but I thought it was certainly an expression filled with no small amount of emotion. "Being happy when something you make is praised… that's a motivation shared by all creators, I think…"

"I… see…"

"Wait… are you making fun of me? I'll curse you."

"No, I really think it's quite a meaningful thing."

It really wasn't a bad thing… I had thought exactly the same thing last month.

"Hmph." As if thinking about how exactly to interpret my words, Ruby suddenly turned the other way. "If you think that, then maybe I'll show you a few of my books later."

"Sure. But if you could, show me a few that aren't ecchi please."