As they arrived at the venue, the three of them were stunned by the sight before them.
They had left home at 8 AM, and even though they arrived at the signing event before 9 AM, the entrance was already packed with a massive line stretching as far as the eye could see.
A rough count showed no fewer than 200 people—and there was still more than an hour before the event even started!
'This was way too over the top! It wasn't like they were heading into some holy war or something.'
Eriri muttered to herself in disbelief, then suddenly grabbed Shiina Mahiru's hand and dashed toward the end of the line. As she ran, she waved back at Akifumi.
"See you later!"
'So many people… just don't make things harder for me, alright!? Damn it!!'
Although Akifumi wanted to complain, it wasn't like two more people would make much of a difference when he was already expecting to sign over 200 books today.
"At least I'll get to chat with them a bit and waste some time!"
With that thought, he stopped paying attention to the long line outside and pulled out his phone, dialing Mihari.
"Alright, I'll wait for you there. Hurry up."
After a quick exchange, Mihari hung up, and within moments, she appeared before Akifumi.
"Follow me."
With swift movements, she led Akifumi through the back entrance.
Only after stepping inside did Mihari finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, you finally made it."
"How can you say 'finally' when I'm here a whole hour early!?" Akifumi couldn't help but retort.
"With this many people already waiting, I was honestly afraid you'd take one look and turn around."
Akifumi had briefly considered it, but it wasn't like he'd run away over something this trivial. He scoffed.
"It's just going to be a bit tiring, that's all."
"We'll see who collapses first."
Mihari grinned.
"You're talking tough now, Akifumi-sensei. Let's see if you can keep it up after the event."
Then, as if remembering something, she handed over a small, adorable Mami Tomoe figurine.
"Oh, right. Here's a little gift we prepared for each fan attending the signing. What do you think?"
Mami Tomoe's face radiated bravery, her eyes filled with unshakable determination—almost as if whispering, 'There's nothing left to fear anymore.'
Akifumi's eyes lit up. "Oh, it's finally done!?"
He took the figurine and playfully placed it on Mihari's head, then gave it a little twist.
'Click'
A soft sound rang out as the head detached, revealing a metal USB connector inside.
"Not bad!" Akifumi praised.
The texture was pleasant to the touch, and that crisp "click" when twisting the head off—so satisfying!
Mihari fell into stunned silence.
From the moment she saw this design, she had been internally screaming: 'Who the hell came up with this cursed idea!?'
And that click—it was way too much like actually snapping her head off!!
Sure, she knew it was just a USB, but why did it have to twist off!?
Even Satan himself would be taking notes on this design.
While Mihari was mentally ranting, Akifumi had already started playing with it.
Twist off. Put it back. Twist off. Put it back...
"Nice, I really like it! I'll be keeping this one."
With that, he casually slipped the USB into his pocket and added his thoughts:
"If you could tweak Mami's expression, that would be even better."
"How so?"
"Her current expression before detaching is perfect, but after the head comes off, it should change to something else."
"Like what...?"
"Something with empty, lifeless eyes—maybe a look of shock and disbelief."
!!!
[TL Note - ....................whut?]
This is wrong. Completely wrong.
Even Satan himself would be getting a tattoo of you on his back.
Mihari felt a chill run down her spine and forced an awkward smile.
"I'll… pass that along to the design team."
"Hahaha."
Akifumi laughed and patted her on the shoulder.
"Relax, I'm just joking."
"J…joking?"
Mihari's laughter was stiff.
Based on her experiences with Akifumi, this definitely did not sound like a joke.
Looking outside, Akifumi asked, "By the way, can we start the signing early?"
"Huh?"
"I'm guessing even more people have arrived by now. I don't want anyone to leave disappointed because they didn't get a signature."
"A lot of these fans probably traveled a long way just to be here. I don't want them to feel like they wasted their trip."
It was called a signing event, but it wasn't just about scribbling a name and sending fans on their way.
There would be handshakes, small talk—each interaction would take time.
Even if each fan only took 30 seconds, that was just 120 people per hour.
And that was assuming nothing went wrong. Just signing alone took 10 seconds—completing everything in 30 seconds per person might not even be realistic.
In short, time was tight.
"Well," Mihari mused.
"You do have a bit of a mean streak, love playing pranks, and enjoy writing stories that break people's hearts…"
"But at the end of the day, you're still a pretty good guy, huh?"
With a smile, she said, "The event runs until 3 PM. That's going to be exhausting, you know?"
Akifumi waved it off. "It's just one day. I'll power through it."
"Just don't start whining later."
"Come on, I have my pride as a man. No way I'd do that."
"Well, since you're so determined, who am I to stop you?"
They exchanged smiles.
Meanwhile, outside, the crowd continued buzzing with excitement.
Even though they were strangers, there was an unspoken bond—"If you love Madoka Magica, we're basically family."
Fans from all over the country chatted eagerly:
"Only an hour left! I can't wait!"
"I'm finally going to meet Sensei!!"
"The limited edition of Madoka Magica… and a special gift. I wonder what it'll be this time?"
"I couldn't afford the collector's edition, so I'll just buy two regular copies to support Sensei."
Just then, the bookstore's doors opened.
A staff member stepped out with a loudspeaker:
"Attention, everyone! Because Sensei is worried about the large turnout and doesn't want anyone to miss out, the signing event will start now!"
"Please stay in line and proceed in an orderly manner!"
"We know you all love Sensei, but please try to move quickly so everyone gets a chance!"
"Now then—the signing event officially begins!"
With that, the first person in line was guided inside.
The remaining fans outside gasped in delight.
"Sensei is amazing!! This alone feels like a special gift!"
"No wonder he creates such incredible stories—he's an incredible person too!"
"Even in a small detail like this, you can feel his love for the fans!"
"It's not even 9 AM yet… So including a half-hour lunch break, that's six straight hours of signing!?"
"That's insane!"
"For Sensei's sake, we should all be quick so we don't waste his effort!"
"Agreed!!"