Nice.

"You know, Aruji… from the perspective of a cat who has just lived for only a few years, I'm kind of amazed."

"Uhh, care to elaborate?"

"How should I say it… I guess the emergence of the 'otaku' culture from just being a niche?"

"Oh, you mean it being mainstream. You're not really one that got interested in it even until now but it really has become the normal since 2020, huh.

In some ways this country is still different from the North, say for instance the differential of how the culture is seen upon. I don't think the Western approach really gets in contact with the Japanese."

"But I watched a Japanese speaking anime girl in YouCube that claims she's a dragon that reviews memes."

"…

Oi… don't tell me you've fallen down the rabbit hole…?"

"You're scaring me again, Aruji."

"That's the one place of the internet that you shall ultimately avoid, neko. You would not want to be trapped in this inescapable chaos peko," said in a very deep tone.

"Forget being weird or an idiot, Aruji is creepy."

"I thought at first I was saved… but I kept being swallowed to its depths… All I hear are screams… laughter… mischief… bottom left… puns… cat not fox… friend…

I'm telling you… it is ina-scapable…"

«The cat in human form suddenly felt a chill on his spine as his hair stood up, feeling the fright creeping out from Gin's body.»

"It's better for you if you don't understand the pain, Haku… It is better for you to be ignorant, for it will save you…"

"Konpotato! **From the Yololive 7th generation, Yagamine Chika desu! Good morning everyone!"

At the most (in)convenient time where I am asserting the depth of my heartfelt emotions to someone I am trying to save and make him leave in complete peace, Rin suddenly went down my stairs with her phone at full volume… with the you-know-what.

But just to clarify, I am by no means talking badly of them; it is actually the opposite. All these are harmless satire. I have already spent like 2000 Laxes this month on Super Chats to attest to that.

Oh, have I not yet said that I'm talking about vtubers?

"Woah… Chika has been only streaming for four or five months now? Felt like a year already…"

"You say that every time a new generation debuts, Potato."

"Says the one who went crazy when you heard that a potato is becoming an idol. You nearly beat me to no return."

※ It was a real occurrence and Gin had to take work off.

Anyway, I'll try not to get ahead of myself on this one. I promise that we will talk about some things unrelated to the story at some point.

Speaking of unrelated things, this start of the chapter isn't actually that irrelevant. Well, it is, but on a narrow sense.

It is as Haku and I discussed. I personally did not experience the social stigma that was experienced back then (as I didn't really go to elementary school), and so is our generation, but back then talking about anime especially as a child was not really a good idea due to differences in culture to the present. While the decade of 2000's was roughly considered as the Golden Age of the medium, it only blew a few more years where the hype has been thrown a small fire as its fuel. Perhaps, take note of the perhaps, it was by 2015 that the whole industry had blown up and has been in the international gamut by then. Come 2019-20 and it has gotten bigger more than ever before.

I would surmise that the same thing has happened before when the radio was the thing and the televisions just emerged. While anime and manga have been an extremely niche form of entertainment outside Japan in the past years, it felt like it had become a very well accepted piece of media at this point, finally taking the mainstream title even before 2022 came.

2021 had seen a sudden surge when the pandemic has been completely controlled by the end of 2020. I am talking about the emergence of animation companies that strive to get up the ladder of anime production all throughout the world. They are standalone animation companies, which is different from Orio-based Stylo which is an affiliate of UsaPyon. And by the time '21 said bye-bye, there have been seven shows that have been produced entirely outside of Japan, and eleven announcements coming on the following years.

And so here we are.

Walking to the station, to the mall, and to other public places around the country, the illustrations that you would only see on the SNS can now be seen as tangible posters out and about. No, the industry has not taken over the world, it has adapted to it.

In accordance to that, the multimedia sector has broadened. The once small Orion illustrator accounts from Instanyan have gained some traction, and so did the TAC in spite of its spotty activity and decline in overall viewership.

And while this spring season has felt a long one for us excluding the other's requisites, it might be going to conclude with something special.

On the very moment that we graduated from high school, TAC has cut the necessary connection between us and Blue Ink, obviously because we are not students there anymore. But that does not mean that our affiliation has been broken. At the same time, Mato is not leading any more of the regulations within our group, thus we are all in equal footing at this point while it boils down to professionalism now.

As mentioned before, it is up to our decision if we will be registering TAC as a business or organization.

On that note, a new convention has popped up for its announcement. While "ONrio" sounds like a really bad pun, it's just an abbreviation for "OrioNotOrario," which is the name of the convention. At least, that one is a little witty. Anyway, we unanimously accepted the invitation sent to us and cleared our schedules for the weekend that is expected to be packed with all sorts of things, weird ones included probably.

My only concern is its venue which is Cotona Square. Yeah… that's where our people nearly got extremely hurt by an explosive while my arms got absolutely destroyed. It has been 140 chapters since then. But weirdly enough, the main venue is actually not going to be the open space itself as there will be concerts related to it, or rather, the booths will not be on the Square itself. Nevertheless, it seems that this convention is going to be a very open one so screw everything if it rains.

▪ ▪ ▪

Unlike the usual fashion, the main characters are the ones that actually came the earliest.

"Ahhhh, I haven't felt this air since ages," Rin stretched after putting down the heavy load on her shoulders.

"At least it's not going to smell like a warzone this time and it's not summer."

"It's gotten a little warm though…

Let's set up our tent…!"

"Ooh, someone's excited."

"Duh! It has been so long since we all got together completely."

"You got a point. Alright, let's guess who will arrive after us. Loser has to pay for our lunch!"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Please tell me that it's just for the two of us! I can't feed that many mouths!"

"Hahahaha! Of course just us. I already know you're stingy."

"Hey, I'm not that stingy. Well, I am still though."

"Of course, of course."

…

Well, this wasn't what or who we were expecting.

"Hoshino? You're going around the convention, I see?"

"Ah, no. I actually came here to help. I heard from Uncle that they sponsored your prints so I might as well help out a bit."

"Hm, another hand is always appreciated. Thanks."

"Also, Reina and Obi are on their way. I don't know if Sora and Aomine can come."

"What, Rin, is there actually a thing between her and Obi?"

"Nah, there's none."

"Huh. Anyway, how's college treating you, Hoshino?"

"I actually went for a three-year vocational course. We just can't get a rest, Yuka…"

"Well, college sucks."

"Don't talk like you know our pain, Potato."

And here comes the aforementioned two.

I honestly can't help but get a very fluffy feeling between those two. It feels like Kuro is telling me that they are more of an OTP than Nagi-Shiro or Jean-Ai, which just means that my intuition is telling me to exert some of my brain cells reserved for shoujo manga. I know I'm sounding like a creep right now but at this point I don't care anymore.

How come these two are so friendly and no one has been telling them to just go out already? But actually, it might just be a better story in that state. I don't really know if there will be a chapter centered on that but we'll see. I'm personally looking forward to that.

A/N: Please don't get ahead of yourself.

But isn't this the same as Kaizo and Ichika-san?

A/N: Now that you think about it… Wait, are you going to talk about marriage again?

No, what I'm going to ask is if you're actually not ashamed of your self-insert.

A/N: I am.

"Oh, oh? Didn't expect to see unusual faces first," Akira arrives. "Aomine and Sora can't come?"

"Yes! Lunch is on you, Rin!"

"Uuuuggghhh…"

"What's gotten on those two?"

"They are simply stupid…" said Reina on a chuckle.

"Heeeyyysu, do we still have room for some stuff?" the autumn couple came immediately on the lookout for space to drop off the equipment on their shoulders.

"You really bring a bit of your gear anywhere, huh."

"Well, I'm a film student."

"Well, I'm a photography student."

At least their load is quite small this time.

"We bought some gold Sharpy on the way. This event doesn't come by anytime."

"Ooohhhh. We're finishing up on the setup so let's practice our signs.

Hoshino and the other two, can you please scout the map of the convention?"

"Aye, sir!"

Actually, was I actually thinking quite a lot about the convention? No. I suppose what I am looking for is the sentimental impact in this convention. Truly, the only people that we see the most regularly are Nagi and Shiro, and sometimes G. Of course, Jean is out of the count. It's been nearly two years since all of us have gotten to one place again, and the opportunity has only come.

What's Mori been doing these days? How about Yuuga? This might sound cheesy, but the trip on Chikami Inn wasn't all for naught. While we now have our own responsibilities that we need to attend, I'm glad that we were able to make time for this one.

"Woah, who are you mate?"

In front of us stood a man whose length of hair is the same as mine but which bangs are barely holding on from falling to his forehead.

"I gotta tell you, Gin, having hair this long sucks. How can you live with this?"

"Then why did you even let it grow in the first place, G? You have more time than when you were at CSU right?"

"I've not been getting much sun and you already know the reason anyway. 'Once you go V…'"

"'…you can never be free.'"

Alright, let's stop right there.

Jean and Ai, Mori, then Yuuga and Minase. At the back of our booth, all of us stood on a circle. Surprisingly enough, this might actually be the first time that we have gathered on our own, and as a team at that. Well, aren't I pumped that we are more than complete for this day. It seems that even we have left a tiny legacy that brought us here and with our juniors on top of that. It's rather unfortunate that Ms. Sora and Aomine had to attend to their own things, but quite frankly, our booth isn't able to fit 14 people at once in this state.

And thus, the convention began.

~ ~ ~

This was well under our expectations, but it is still a bit overwhelming to see the amount of people lining up for our booth. Just like I said, TAC had lost some traction in two years, but sitting beside us is the author of Rabumonogatari—a manga series with 4 million sold copies in circulation, and expecting a yet to be announced anime adaptation.

Just imagine watching an anime based from a story written by your friend.

So basically, he has become our bait. Honestly speaking, our booth won't do as well as what we did in ManCon, but Yuki Amagami really is pulling us up quite significantly. Here's the pattern: majority of the customers will be attracted by Yuuga's signing event while TAC will be at second glance without the sensei's advertising.

As his assistants even we have our pen names being K-san for me and K1 for Rin, so nobody really knows who they are. I'm saying this while doing RTA commissions that is as close as K-san's. And no one really noticed. Big 草.

"Looking lively as always, I see."

A wild Martin Arlo and Nanase Itsuna appeared.

"Ossu, SenseiofTAC. Wait, has Nanasen been interested in this kind of thing?"

"She wanted to come with me, and we're actually not on our own at the moment. They'll be here in any second."

In hindsight of what I just asked, it was stupid. Most of the conventions now aren't really that anime and manga related, mainstream that is. In general, the conventions held over the few years have become a multimedia event, being an outlet to up-and-coming illustrators and such; the same with popular artists.

"Aaaalright, kiddos. These are your elite senpai that you didn't get the chance to see at school apart from the ones featured on the club's PV. They are what you would call at least a powerhouse, and you guys can even get a chance to be inside a convention booth someday if you do your utmost.

Anyway, these once high school mobs were celebrities of the club. And I say that knowing full well that they are still unpopular, but their works are a different story."

"Hi there, I'm insignificant bug no. 1," G started.

You know how this goes.

But anyway, this is quite a surprise. At our high school times even though Art Club has actual active members, you could say that the club was beyond help with us, which is why we didn't get more members. It just so happened that after us were people that are incredibly competent on their own ways which paved a path to a brand spanking new chapter for the club. While six members are very much small in population, what we see now on these teenagers is diversity.

Wow, we're all in our twenties already (excluding juniors).

But just look at them. Different years, different departments, but same club. It is not how it used to be anymore, and I'm thankful for that. With this, I suppose the drought that has been left upon the departure of Martin Aston has been quenched.

"'Sup, Obi," I greeted while handing a bottle of cold water and climbed on a hammock just like he did first. Yeah, hammocks.

"On break, Yuka Gin?"

"Yeah, let them man the front.

What did you take for college anyway?"

"Just like Hoshino, I also went to a vocational school. Art courses in universities start on the very basics which Blue Ink had already more than covered, so we're now more about specialization. Aomine and I attend the same school, by the way."

"I see. Are there actually cheap schools around here?"

"It's not that the tuition is expensive, but most of the money goes on the materials."

"Figured as much. Are you also working?"

"The school gives us a lot of opportunities to do so. It's nice to think that the money in your pocket is hard earned."

"Totally get what you mean.

Anyway, what do you think of the new kids?"

"I only spent a year on the club so I don't think I have a say on that… but, that year was bittersweet. I wish I could have joined the club when I first transferred.

But I think the club's towards a new direction. The Art Room's always an open place so I really ought to pay a visit."

"I didn't really think of that but I guess we can do our own half-assed seminar for them."

"I didn't really know what the objective of the club is aside from the ones we have. What's your opinion on this, Yuka?"

"If you are to ask me… with the way our conversation is going…

It may have varied. Situations changed, and so is the mission of the club. If we're talking strictly about VA students, one way I can put it is to completely rid them of the burden of higher education. It is still up to them what they decide. It is a "speedrun" of art, but I can assure that they will have an adequate resume upon graduating."

"Maybe you should become a teacher, Yuka."

"Get outta here, haha. An advisor would be one, but not a teacher for those punks. I work better when shutting up and letting the knife do its job."

"Phrasing."

"Ahahaha.

Ahhh, break's over. Let's fracture some legs in there."

"Again, phrasing, Yuka."

"Deal with it."

~ ~ ~

It really wasn't about the convention itself, but the experience between us in that cramped booth. Basically, we continued on selling and signing stuff until we ran out of prints, went to a panel of full of anime YouCubers, and jammed on physical and virtual concerts on the Square, which was a heck ton of fun.

But this convention is only running for a day, and so we packed up on a tight schedule and wrapped up at 7.

"Alright, we've talked about this earlier, but are there no more bail-outs tonight?"

If anything compared to ManCon, this convention is simply larger than that. It was probably the most populated con that I have seen, and thank goodness we expected the unreal surge of people. This was the reason for Stylo's print sponsorship, because profit was pretty much raining on every single booth. As for how much we earned on that, we'll just keep it a secret. The only thing I can say is that we are 14 people and our split didn't look cute.

On that note, they have affirmed that we're all in this together. And so, we set aside a portion of our earnings to renting some sort of an izakaya room to celebrate. There is this certain izakaya-like restaurant that we found on the way, and it was rather special. It was like a hotel and a restaurant at one where there is a communal space for dining while the rooms are separated, and for 14 people, we still got it cheap.

Still, the main room was very spacious while there is a long table stretching in the middle of the space. We took our seats and bam, the food just comes and goes. We were on a time of our lives that we looked like some intoxicated idiots, but we were just drowning on water—no ambiguity, and don't bring out a lighter.

It was an insane experience from day to night. A way to wrap up this bonkers day was with nine guys tossing and turning on their futons at only just one cramp room.

And you know what, I got my usual cold the next day.