221. The Surface Of The Earth And Under The Sky Is My Home

Managed to get some photos, either group photos or one by one, Izumi smiled and thanked them. They didn't introduce their names, but Izumi called them according to the characters they were cosplaying. So did those who called Izumi as Kirito.

"By the way, Kirito-san. Are you coming here alone?"

"No, I'm with a friend of mine. He's the spiky white-haired guy over there." Izumi pointed at Kakashi who looked relaxed and surrounded by people cosplaying as characters in the Naruto anime.

Izumi chatted with the girls until the cosplay contest started. The five girls who cosplayed as Vocaloid characters headed backstage because they also participated in the cosplay contest.

The cosplay contest only displays the contestants' appearance whether they are similar to characters in anime or games. Not just that. Some participants also posed related to their cosplay characters as shown by the cosplayers from the Naruto anime, in which they imitated the hand seals. The cosplayers from the Dragon Ball anime posed by launching a Ki Blast. The virtual idol cosplayers also sang and danced with their group, and so on.

Seeing that, Izumi chuckled and said to himself. "It would be interesting if Kakashi used a real Ninjutsu."

No doubt, the cosplay event was entertaining to watch. Even Kakashi couldn't help but be interested. So, he joined in like the others by forming hand seals at a quick pace.

Then…

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

*Puff*

Smoke appeared when Kakashi slammed his palm to the ground. And a little pug dog came out of the smoke.

"Ah, I goofed." Kakashi who got carried away accidentally did the summoning technique by summoning Pakkun.

Izumi himself, who was just about to take a photo with his phone, was stupefied.

After a moment, he commented.

"Oi, oi… Seriously?"

Before everyone could recover from their daze, Kakashi ordered Pakkun to get back. Then, Pakkun disappeared instantly.

The spectators exclaimed.

"Hey, did you see something just now?"

"Yeah, I thought it was just my imagination."

"I saw a dog come out of the smoke."

"Seriously, he used Ninjutsu?"

"You fool. This is reality. It must be a magic trick!"

Everyone exclaimed one by one after seeing Kakashi's performance.

It naturally did not escape Izumi's eyes. Izumi could only slap his own forehead while speaking secretly.

"What the fuck is he doing?"

— — — —

"Huff. That was troublesome." Kakashi sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Izumi glared at Kakashi.

"Whose fault was that?"

Kakashi didn't expect that just because he accidentally performed the Summoning Jutsu, so many people flocked to him. Luckily he was a ninja, so it was quite easy for him to sneak out secretly.

To get away from the crowd, both of them immediately returned to Kuroneko's stand.

A few moments later, Izumi and Kakashi arrived at Kuroneko's stand which had a long queue. What was quite surprising to Izumi was that Kuroneko's group seemed to have added two people.

Judging from their appearances, Izumi immediately recognized the two of them were a pair of a brother and sister.

"Izumi-chan, where have you been?"

The one asking Izumi was obviously Tabane. This was because she was the one who often called Izumi like that.

"From afar. Is there a problem?" Izumi replied nonchalantly. Tabane pouted in response.

"You said you wanted to help? Why did you leave? It's not fair. I want to go around as well!"

If she knew that, she should have asked Kakashi to stay, and it was Tabane who left with Izumi like they were on a date. Izumi just shrugged and replied.

"After all, you two are enough to help Kuroneko's stand. And, those two. I guess they are Kuroneko's friends."

"Humph. Just say you want to see pretty girls cosplaying."

Izumi smiled while shrugging his shoulders, not trying to deny Tabane's statement. Well, it was one of the reasons he attended the summer Comiket after all. There's no denying that seeing pretty girls in cosplay is a kind of fascination for him.

"It's the truth though." Izumi replied.

"Aren't you a salesgirl now? Shouldn't you go back to work?"

"You should help too!" Tabane dragged Izumi and made him help Kuroneko.

"Fine, fine, I'll help."

With that, Izumi also helped a little. Until finally all of Kuroneko's doujins were sold out.

"I can't believe it's all sold out." Kuroneko looked at the contents of the box that was previously filled with her doujin.

At that moment, her head was patted by someone.

"You've done well."

The one who patted her head was Rori. She felt that Kuroneko's hard work had paid off with all of her work being sold out.

"Thank you."

Meanwhile, Izumi looked at the pair of siblings in front of him. He said.

"So, who are these two, Kuroneko?"

Kuroneko wanted to answer, "Don't pretend you don't know!" but if she said that, it would sound like she had told Izumi about the two of them.

"My senior at school, Kousaka Kyousuke, and his younger sister, Kousaka Kirino."

However, as soon as Kuroneko finished saying that, Kirino said with an irritated expression.

"You don't have to introduce me to him, I don't want to know him anyways."

"Kirino, don't be rude!" After reprimanding his sister, Kyousuke turned to Izumi and said. "Please forgive my sister for being rude. She's not used to being in front of people she doesn't know, let alone boys."

Izumi shook his head while putting his hands in his pockets. Then he said,

"Take it easy. Just don't let your sister keep saying things like that all the time. Not everyone you meet is nice, so I hope you can control the way she talks."

"Hihihi, just like you, right? Izumi-chan?"

Tabane instead said as if Izumi was not a good person.

"Hmmm, maybe. Aren't you not a good person as well?"

"Hehe, you know me so well. It's quite fun being the bad guy, you know."

Tabane let out a chuckle. Izumi knew her pretty well since she was also a villainess in her world who loved to cause trouble. And, her head was kinda loose.

"Hacking the missiles and launching them at your close friend to test the new IS generation? That was terrible. Maybe I should stay away from you." Izumi said in a low voice.

After saying that, Izumi got away from Tabane which made her whine.

"Eh, don't! Why are you avoiding me instead? You should be playing the role of a villain!"

Izumi and Tabane's conversation gave Kyousuke goosebumps. Their conversation seemed to be joking. However, he felt that what they said was not a lie.

Rori who realized what Kyousuke was thinking said.

"Ufufufu, don't think too much about it. They're used to joking around like before."

Kyousuke just nodded and tried to believe what Rori said. Meanwhile, Tabane who grumbled because of Izumi's words that seemed to reject her made her even more annoying in Izumi's eyes.

"Stop it! If you keep going on, we will be seen as a stupid couple." Izumi pinched her cheek while saying that.

Tabane tried to get away while complaining.

"Isn't it fine if they think of us as a couple, what's the problem?"

After Tabane said that, Izumi glared at her intently, which caused her to shut up. And seeing Tabane didn't make a fuss, Izumi let go of her.

Yet, Izumi didn't know that Tabane thought of him secretly.

"What's with that look? It's too deadly charming. His sharp look was irresistible. But, I should hold myself back."

— — — —

Time goes by.

Needless to say, Izumi and the others had spent hours at Tokyo Big Sight. They visited several places after Kuroneko's doujin sold well. And it was time for them to go back home.

A group of girls cosplaying as Vocaloid idols that Izumi met earlier saw him walking away with the others. At that very moment, one of the girls stopped him and asked.

"Hello, Kirito-san. Are you going home now?"

Those girls didn't know his real name yet, but it was convenient for them to call Izumi like that.

"Oh, you girls. Yes, I'm going home with my friends. How about you?"

"Since we've come a long way here, we'll go on a tour first."

"I see. Then, be careful on your way!" Izumi said goodbye to them while waving his hand. However, another girl in their group asked.

"If I may ask, where is your home, Kirito-san?"

"Hmmm, I think above this earth and under this beautiful blue sky is my home."

"Pffft."

When Izumi answered with a joke they all couldn't help but laugh. Even so, the girl asked once again. She felt that Izumi didn't want to tell her where he was from, so she asked something else.

"Can we meet again?"

Izumi was silent for a while, then started to answer after he turned his head toward her.

"Well, it depends. If fate allows, we will meet again next time. Maybe, I'll come again at the next Comiket in January."

Izumi didn't look at them anymore and walked with Tabane and the others.