Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Do You Have Those Kinds of Feelings for Me?

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"Hey, hold on a second. This is actually getting a bit out of hand." Yukino had finally realized that something was wrong. The crowd surrounding them was growing far too large.

Within the Haru-Yuki Animation, Haruto’s identity was a strictly guarded secret, and he had never participated in fan meet-and-greets or public PR events. Because of this, Yukino had a very vague understanding of his actual drawing power. Now, she was genuinely stunned. They had only been inside the convention hall for five minutes, and it felt as if every person in the building was closing in on them.

"It’s Shiori Takahashi, right? It has to be him!"

"He seems to be wearing light makeup, but that face shape, it’s definitely Takahashi-sensei."

"Maybe it’s just one of those influencers with god-tier makeup skills trying to bait clicks by looking like him?"

"Is makeup even that good? To look exactly like him? I don’t buy it."

"And who’s that Asuna with him? She’s so cute!"

"Is Sensei at Comiket with his girlfriend?"

"Don’t spread rumors. I thought Sensei was dating Shizuru-sensei?"

"What are you talking about? I read online that he and Reina-sensei are a couple."

"They’re classmates and they almost always sit together in lectures. Half the students at university say so."

The whispers and debates among the onlookers were already reaching a fever pitch.

"Are you Shiori Takahashi?" someone nearby suddenly shouted.

"No, I just happen to look like him," Haruto replied.

But the moment Haruto spoke, the crowd reached a consensus. Faces can be imitated, but a voice is a different story.

The ecstatic fans immediately surged forward.

"Takahashi-sensei, can I get a photo with you?"

"Could you give me an autograph?"

"Sensei, when are Takumi and Natsuki finally going to get some real romantic development?"

"What do you think about the debate online between you and the Warrior of Love?"

Haruto looked at the scene with a helpless expression, but he decided to stop fighting it. If he was going to be treated like a panda in a zoo, so be it.

"Make sure you stay close to me," Haruto said to Yukino, glancing at the human wall closing in. "If you fall behind, I doubt you’ll be able to push your way back in."

"Understood." Yukino moved a few inches closer to him. The crowd generally maintained a level of decorum; they were staring and surrounding them, but no one was grabbing at their clothes or getting physical.

Yukino stayed pressed against Haruto’s side, following his lead as the circle of people moved through the hall. Since this wasn’t an official work event, Haruto decided to skip the usual routine of signing autographs or posing for individual photos.

If he started doing that, they would never leave the hall. Once you open that floodgate, there is no closing it. The fans seemed to understand his intent and didn’t press the issue, instead opting to take photos to post on social media and text their friends in a frenzy.

"Oh, look! They already have Initial D merchandise?" Yukino’s attention shifted to a nearby exhibition booth.

There were beautifully detailed models of the AE86, the FD, and the FC. Beyond the cars, there were life-sized statues of Asuna, plush rabbits from To the Moon, and displays featuring the Soul Gems and transformation outfits from Madoka Magica. Everywhere they looked, the hall was filled with elements from Haruto’s various works.

Haruto explained quietly from her side, "These items haven’t actually hit the market yet."

"They’re scheduled for a rolling release starting next month. Right now, they’re just here for a promotional display."

Through his dealings with manufacturers arranged by the company, Haruto was well-informed about the merchandising timeline.

At that moment, security personnel from the convention arrived.

While they didn’t explicitly disperse the crowd, they acted as a buffer to ensure no one did anything reckless like throwing drinks or eggs, which sometimes happened between rival fanbases. If anything like that occurred, the convention would be the top trending topic on the news for all the wrong reasons the next day.

However, the reality of the situation meant that their original plan for a fun day at Comiket was effectively ruined.

No matter how mentally resilient they were, it was impossible to wander aimlessly through an exhibition area while being gawked at by over a thousand people.

Thirty minutes later, following the apologetic but firm glances from the security team, Haruto and Yukino beat a hasty retreat through an employee exit. There was no other choice; more and more fans were rushing to the hall after hearing the rumors. If Haruto stayed any longer, he would have accidentally hijacked the entire convention and turned it into an impromptu fan meeting.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss. They managed to make a few quick purchases of merchandise they liked before heading out.

Back in the parking garage, inside Haruto’s car, Yukino let out a long sigh. "What a waste. I woke up so early for this, and I finally got to dress up as such a cute character..."

"My bad." Haruto took the black sword from his back and placed it in the rear seat. "I should have worn a mask to hide my identity."

"Then what would be the point?" Yukino shot back immediately. "A cosplayer in a mask looks like they’re walking out of a sewer. It ruins the aesthetic."

"That’s true," Haruto laughed. "But it wasn’t a total waste. Even though we couldn’t stay long or interact with others, at least your Asuna cosplay was incredible. It’s the fans’ loss that they didn’t get a better look at it, but at least I saw it. So it wasn’t a waste of time."

Yukino blinked, stunned for a second.

She looked at Haruto closely and joked, "Wow, Haruto. You’ve gotten much better at talking lately. Did you finally have an epiphany? Or have you been staring at me every day until you finally realized how charming I am?"

"A bit of both, I suppose," Haruto paused, then smiled.

"Your Asuna is truly lovely and cute. It shouldn’t be surprising that I’d be a little captivated by a high-quality cosplay of a character I created myself."

When Haruto said those words, Yukino’s eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t quite tell if he was being sincere or just teasing. "So... are we going back now?"

"It’s not even noon yet. What would we do back at the villa? The company is on break, and I’ve already turned in my manuscripts for the next two issues. I don’t have to work over the holidays," Haruto said.

"There are just too many people who recognize me at a convention. We’ll just go somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?" Yukino looked at her white knight outfit and his black swordsman gear. "In these clothes? And you’ll be recognized wherever we go."

"That brings us back to what we said earlier. Wearing a mask at a convention is a disaster for cosplay, but anywhere else, it doesn’t matter." Haruto pulled a black mask from the glove box. "Let’s go to the amusement park. I’ve always heard that the theme parks are world-class, but I haven’t had a chance to go since I started university."

An amusement park?

"Just you and me?" Yukino asked tentatively.

Going to a convention together could be written off as a normal hobbyist activity between two people.

But going to an amusement park...

"That would basically be a date, wouldn’t it?" Yukino emphasized.

"Is there a problem with that?" Haruto looked her in the eye.

The moment he said that, the atmosphere inside the car shifted. Yukino stared at him, her thoughts racing. She had known Haruto for three years, and in that time, he was the man she spent the most time with. At first, she had viewed him simply as a talented junior and a friend.

But the more she interacted with him, the more mysterious he became. His captivating novels, his manga, his animation work, and that inexplicable musical talent for composing theme songs, it was all so much. Combined with his easygoing personality, her feelings had naturally begun to shift.

After three years, her feelings had certainly crossed the line of "just friends," but she was seven or eight years older than him. That was the one hurdle she couldn’t seem to get over. But they had talked about it before; he didn’t seem to care about age gaps when it came to dating. And now...

"You don’t want to go?" Haruto asked when she didn’t respond.

Haruto had always been a direct person. He was a young man in his prime, living in a villa with three beautiful women; it would be abnormal if he didn’t have any thoughts on the matter.

When he had spoken with Reina previously about romance, she had suggested that he should spend more time with whoever he found most attractive.

Haruto had taken that advice to heart. There was no harm in spending time together. As for who he found most attractive... he looked at Yukino sitting in the passenger seat.

"I... I want to go!" Yukino’s voice faltered slightly.

"Then let’s go." Haruto smiled and steered the car toward the amusement park.

Although the original plan of spending the day at Comiket had been derailed, an amusement park sounded like a solid backup. They reached their destination quickly. During the drive, Yukino kept overanalyzing Haruto’s attitude, but she couldn’t reach a firm conclusion.

The park was crowded as always, which meant long lines, but they opted to pay for the VIP fast-pass.

Still, a man cosplaying as Kirito and a beautiful woman in a white and red Asuna outfit remained a massive focal point for the other visitors.

Unlike the convention, the amusement park was mostly outdoors.

In the January chill, Yukino began to suffer for her fashion. She was shivering slightly in the thin costume.

"Here, take this." Haruto took off his black swordsman cloak and draped it over her shoulders.

"Thanks," Yukino said, looking up at him. The fabric still held his body heat. The moment she wrapped it around herself, the shivering stopped, and a strange sensation fluttered in her chest.

However, those feelings were soon swept away by the adrenaline of the park’s thrill rides. Even for Haruto, the high-pressure stress of working at such a high intensity for the past year seemed to evaporate as they plummeted through the air and spun through inversions. The only problem was... they were both surprisingly weak when it came to motion sickness. After seven or eight rides, they were both hunched over a trash can, nauseous.

"I... I thought you were supposed to be some big shot, Haruto. You didn’t even blink when we got on that pendulum ride, but look at you now. You’re just as weak as I am," Yukino laughed. "You look calm on the outside, but you’re actually at your limit, aren’t you?"

Haruto’s stomach was doing somersaults, but he refused to concede. "Who decides to eat a full meal halfway through a trip to an amusement park? If you hadn’t said you were starving and made me eat with you... I definitely... urgh..."

Thirty seconds later, they both looked up, caught each other’s eyes, and burst out laughing.

Yukino was well aware of the suspension bridge effect. When you experience a racing heart with a member of the opposite sex, the brain often misinterprets that physiological arousal as romantic attraction.

Her heart was certainly racing now, though she couldn’t tell if it was from the rides, the nausea, or something else. Regardless, her inhibitions had lowered, and she didn’t want to hide anymore.

"Hey, Haruto," Yukino said as she sat down on a roadside bench. "This might just be me being self-centered or overthinking things, but I’m just going to ask."

She looked him in the eye. "You’ve been acting strange today. No, that’s not right. It’s been happening since yesterday when you agreed to the convention so easily, or maybe even earlier, from the moment you realized Reina and Shizuru were leaving for the holidays."

"And then today, suddenly wanting to come to an amusement park... Plus, the way you’ve been talking to me... by any chance, do you have those kinds of feelings for me?"

"Those kinds of feelings?" Haruto paused. "I don’t know exactly which kinds of feelings you mean. But if you’re asking if I have the kind of attraction a man has for a woman..."

He looked at her and didn’t deny it. "Yeah. That’s exactly right."