Chapter 17 Part 1

My prediction was right on the money. Seriously, I should stop being an artist and become a psychic.

The convention turned out to be much, much bigger than any of us anticipated. And, even though Nitro’s booth was tucked away in a lost corner of the floor, we had a steady stream of visitors.

The reason was more than obvious—I could tell from the faces of the 80% male attendees that visited our booth during the morning period.

“Thank for your purchase!” Mana said with a smile to a group of teenage boys buying a print of one of my artworks.

“N-No problem…”

They left, their eyes wide open, apparently happy beyond just having bought a print of an anime character I had drawn. Deep inside me, though, I felt something strange stirring. I should be happy my prints were flying off the shelves—but at the same time, it was a hollow victory.

“Do you think she realizes?” Sunhi said to me on the side, interrupting my thoughts.

“Probably. She might be a ditz, but even she can tell that much.”

Those boys were the last in line, and so Mana made a big stretch.

“Phew. That’s exhausting!” She said. “I really could go for a drink now.”

“Want me to get you something from a stall?” Sunhi said.

“Green tea, please!”

“Alright.”

And with that, Sunhi disappeared into the crowd.

I looked at Mana, trying to strike up a conversation, but she had a sort of melancholic look I rarely saw on her.

So I’m not the only one feeling a bit down, huh?

“What’s up?”

“Hmm… well, those boys, you know. They didn’t even look me in the eye once!”

“What did you expect? You came out with such a sexy cosplay. You’re basically a booth babe.”

“Ugh… I didn’t consider that! I just wanted to look cool, you know?!”

Oh, I know.

“But there’s something else on your mind, isn’t there?”

“Hmm… Kinda.” She slumped over the booth. “It’s like… I thought that when people saw me in real life, they’d see me, but… all they still see is that girl in the photos. The sexy girl with the big boobs and the pretty face. Even Aru-chan was the same way.”

Ah, so that’s what’s going on.

“Well, so far, you’ve just been a model, so people have that image of you in their minds. They don’t know who you really are, so they just see your body.”

“I guess…”

I was going to stop the conversation there, letting Mana sit through her thoughts a bit longer. But apparently, she had other plans.

“And what about you, Ju?”

“What about me?”

“You also have something on your mind, dontcha?”

“Huh?”

“I can see it in your eyes, you know,” she said. “You have this taciturn look to you. That might be scaring away customers!”

Am I really that annoyed?

The truth was, I wasn’t feeling all that great. Yes, the impromptu booth was a success, and my art was getting out there more than at any other time.

But it didn’t really feel like my accomplishment.

“Well, I—”

But my words got interrupted by an approaching customer. When I turned to see him, I immediately knew he was going to be trouble. He was a tall, overweight guy, with an expensive-looking camera hanging from his neck and with that sort of expression that tells you he was boiling with rage inside.

“So you’re Nitrochilla, huh?” He asked.

“Yes… I am, yes,” Mana replied, probably sensing his strange vibe too.

“Liar,” he spat out.

“Huh?”

“I said, you’re a liar,” he repeated. “You’re just a hired booth babe, aren’t you?”

“What? No, I’m—”

“Then prove it to me,” he said, presenting Mana with a blank piece of paper and a pencil. “Draw something right now.”

Here, Mana froze completely. She didn’t take the paper; how could she? After all, he was right. Mana wasn’t the artist Nitrochilla. She couldn’t draw.

“See? I was right,” the guy said. “You’re nothing but a fake. The moment I turned into the stream, I knew something was up. After all, you never commented about what you were drawing even once.” Aww, shit. He noticed that?! “The real ruse wasn’t that the pictures were AI. It’s that the girl in the photos wasn’t the artist. You’re just a hired hand, aren’t you? An actress hired to promote the account. I will say, the lengths you were willing to go to to keep up the pretense are admirable. You even fooled Aru-chan.”

“W-wait, how did you know that?! The convention wasn’t even open when we met!”

“Here,” he said, shoving the phone in Mana’s face. “She fweeted about it earlier. Saying she was wrong and apologized. After I saw that, I knew I had to set the record straight. You might have fooled everyone else, but not me.”

What the heck is this guy’s deal?

I’d never seen Mana look so small, shrinking into herself in fear. The man wasn’t touching her, and they had the booth physically separating them. But just his aura was intimidating even to me. It was no wonder Mana felt like that.

I looked around, and it seemed like the entire floor space went quiet. People were staring at us, trying to understand the situation.

What should I do?

I couldn’t just stay quiet. If this kept going—

But I didn’t act fast enough.

“Hic…!”

Wait, is she crying?!

I turned to Mana, her shoulder convulsing as tears began falling to her skirt.

“So, what’s the problem?” The guy said, clearly rejoicing in her misery. “If I’m wrong, you can take this paper and draw—”

“Hold it,” I said, standing up. “What the hell is your problem? You’re making a girl cry over here! Have you got no shame?”

“Huh? And who the hell are— Oh… oh, I see,” he said, boring holes into me with his eyes. “You’re the real Nitro, aren’t you? The actual artist. You have so little presence I didn’t even notice you before.”

“That doesn’t matter,” I said, trying to control my voice. “Why are you doing this? Do you have any beef with Nitro or something?”

Here, the guy paused. “You… you didn’t respond to my DM,” he said.

“…Excuse me? A DM?”

“That’s right! I said I could take better pictures than those ones taken with a smartphone, and you never responded! I was offering my services for free, you know! I’m a professional photographer!”

I just looked at him with a completely blank look.

Wait, I vaguely remember a message like that…

“I remember your message,” Mana said weakly. “But you have to understand, I got so many messages that day that—”

“No excuses!” He bellowed. “If you won’t accept my goodwill, then I have no reason to accept yours. Now, confess to your ruse. You’re Nitro, aren’t you?!” He said right to my face.

There was no escaping it now. Even if we somehow had this guy removed for being a public nuisance, enough people were watching us that this incident would spread like wildfire.

So I did the only thing I could.

“That’s right, I am—”

“No, Ju, wait,” Mana said, pulling on my sleeve. “Please, don’t say it.”

“Mana…?”

“If you say it… if I’m no longer Nitrochilla… then what else is left?”

“Huh? What are you talking abo—”

I stopped as I heard a shout from the crowd.

“What the hell is going on here?!”

A booming voice that I couldn’t mistake for anyone else’s.

“Sunhi!”

My sister, holding the cup of iced green tea in one hand, was standing menacingly behind the stalker.

“Who do you think you’re harassing here?”

“Huh? And who the hell are—”

“Careful there,” she said, showing the object on her other hand. “If you don’t want to get zapped with 200,000 volts, that is.”

She brought the taser with her?!

Seemingly, the stalker didn’t take Sunhi’s threat seriously. “What, another chick? What are you going to do with that little AA battery-powered toy, huh?!”

“Dude, I really think you shouldn’t be messing with her—”

But the guy wasn’t listening, so there was nothing I could do. He tried to use his might to intimidate Sunhi—but this is my sister we’re talking about here.

She didn’t hesitate to press the taser onto his round belly and push the button. Instantly, a jolt of electricity coursed through his body, and the man collapsed onto the floor like a very fat ragdoll.

“Serves you right. The only person allowed to harass my kid brother and his partner is me.”

Yeesh, such wonderful family love. I’m so lucky!