Comiket Chaos – I

Beta tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and then took a look around the area.

It was 9 AM. The gates to the convention center had opened and people were starting to filter in. Cosplayers, casuals, otakus... a crowd of people from all walks of life were slowly filling the area.

By chance, Ars Nova Productions had managed to get a booth near the entrance, so they would be one of the first few booths that visitors saw.

Because of that, Beta was slightly nervous.

Everything was settled. The demo was uploaded and approved by Steem. They printed out promotional cards and made a banner advertising The Jade Talisman: Golden Oath unto Snow, with the main characters turning towards each other as the jade talisman floated between them. A snowy scene with the Golden Emperor turning towards the Snow Fairy Princess... Not only that, but they even had life-sized cardboard cutouts of both standing on the opposite sides of the booth.

It was sure to be eye catching. And Beta was confident in the work they put into everything else as well. But even so...

"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Emily smiled and then adjusted the stack of Steem download code cards in front of her. "I've never been to an Anime convention before! Or done cosplay!"

Ichiro sighed and pulled out his tablet, idly sketching some concept art. "Well don't get too excited. It's one thing to be walking around in cosplay. It's another entirely to be sitting here the entire day... Speaking of which. Do I really have to be here, Miss Beta?"

Sakura adjusted her purple kimono and then said, "Are you really going to leave three beautiful women alone to manage a stall in a place like this, Ichiro-kun?"

"...Hah. You're right." Ichiro adjusted the tie on his black suit and muttered, "Might as well use this worthless mug for something. At least if I'm here, most guys will think twice before flirting with you guys."

Emily double-checked the buttons on her white dress shirt and smoothed down her skirt. After that, she looked over at Ichiro and hummed. "I guess you do clean up pretty well... It'll be up to you to stop people from getting handsy with us then, Ichi-kun!"

"Hai, hai..." Ichiro let out a deep sigh and then tucked his tablet away.

Beta smiled. After seeing everyone else check their clothes though, she took one last look at her own.

Since it *was* a cosplay convention, Beta decided that it wouldn't be too odd to wear some of her old clothes from the Three Realms. Not only that, but it would match the theme of their game.

So, at the moment, Beta was wearing her old martial sect uniform. Nothing too fancy, just a plain white martial robe with a crimson sash. But there was something that she noticed had changed about her clothes. And that was...

"...Did my clothes shrink in storage?"

Yes. It was that. For some reason, her uniform was a bit tight. Both around her chest and her waist. Not only that, but the hem was a bit higher up than she remembered it being...

It wasn't a big deal since she just had to loosen it a bit. But still, it was odd...

Sakura laughed. "See? I told you eating all that sugar would get to you eventually, Betty."

Emily glanced over at Beta and then blushed. "W-Well... It's fine! Betty looks as pretty as always!"

Ichiro sighed. "You mean as drop dead beautiful as always. Honestly, how did I get roped into this again? Last time at Comiket was hard enough being dragged around by Yuri and getting mistaken as her boyfriend. Now I'm here with a whole group of beauties..."

Sakura walked up to the counter of the booth and checked the prints of both the Golden Emperor and the Snow Fairy Princess. After making sure the piles were straight, she nodded and looked back at Ichiro. "You've got no one to blame but yourself, Ichi-kun. You could have turned the paycheck and job down, you know?"

"Maybe. But then I'd have to start drawing one-shots or commissions again while grading homework... And forget that."

Beta finished fixing up her clothes to not look too immodest and then glanced over at the crowd. "It looks like people are coming over. Get ready everyone."

Ars Nova Productions... Beta, Emily, Sakura, and Ichiro. With the first guests walking over, the four pulled up their chairs and sat behind the counter of their booth, waiting along with the promotional items and the game merch.

And then the first couple of customers arrived.

A pair of young girls dressed in CapsuMon hoodies ran over.

The first girl wore a hoodie modeled after a black and gold fox CapsuMon. With the ears flopping as she ran, she stopped in front of the cardboard cutout of the Golden Emperor and gasped. "Sister, Sister! Does this not look like father?"

The second girl gasped. "It does!" Like her sister, the girl wore a hoodie modeled after a CapsuMon as well. It was even a side evolution from the one that her sister wore. Another fox-type creature, but with white skin and light blue ears.

Beta blinked.

Wait. Those childish voices and that manner of speaking...

"Argh!" An irritated voice called out from the distance. A female teenager's voice. "I told you two to not run off without us!"

Following that voice, a young female teenager ran over.

Like the two young girls, she was cosplaying as someone from CapsuMon. But unlike the girls, she was cosplaying as a trainer.

A white beanie with a CapsuBall print and pink earmuffs. A white scarf with a pink coat and boots. A bag with the CapsuBall logo printed on it, and a pair of red and white CapsuBalls dangling from the strap... She was dressed just like the protagonist from one of the recent remakes. The only thing different was that her hair was a light green color with some golden streaks.

But even though the teen was wearing cosplay, Beta recognized her. And when Beta realized that, she froze, feeling a faint trill of panic.

"Hm?" The girl... No. Meggie stopped to look at the life-sized cut-outs. Then she read the booth name and banner, her eyes narrowing as she did. And finally, she lowered her gaze to look at Beta.

"U-Um." Beta let out a strained smile. "H-Hello there, Meggie. What brings my cute little sister to this convention?" She paused and looked at the two young girls standing in front of the booth. "...Sisters, I mean."

Xuan and Wu. Those were who the two young girls were. And it seemed like the theme that Beta's younger sisters were going for were a trainer and her CapsuMon.

Of course, that thought was just a distraction to get over the fact that Beta completely forgot to mention to Meggie that she was making a game with a story basically the same as how their parents met. And a game that could also tell a story about what happened if they didn't meet, and if their father chose someone else instead.

...Maybe Beta shouldn't scold her father so much next time for being forgetful...

Meggie crossed her arms. "I dunno. What brings my big sister here with a game retelling Mom and Dad's story?"

"T-That-"

"Wait!" Sakura stood up and said, "This story is based off of John and Yue!?"

Beta cleared her throat. "W-Well-"

"Hey!" Another female teen ran up to the booth, dressed almost the exact same as Meggie. "I thought we promised to not run off!"

Meggie turned around and said, "Sorry, Tsuki. But these little rascals ran off first." She turned to glare at Xuan and Wu.

"S-Sorry, Big Sister." Xuan lowered her head.

"Y-Yes. My apologies, Big Sister Meggie..." Wu lowered her head as well and then fiddled with the zipper on her hoodie.

Tsuki fixed her beanie, causing her light brown hair to shift. After that, she looked over at Beta with her clear blue eyes and waved. "Oh! Hello again, Meggie's big sister! It's been a while! Ah, and Sakura nee-san too! Hi!"

Sakura blinked. "Tsuki? You're here? Then where's your Dad?"

"Oh." Tsuki turned back and pointed. "Dad's over there with Maji-san and the other big brothers."

"Hm?" Sakura frowned and looked to where Tsuki was pointing. And then she sighed. "Goddammit, Kai."

"Kahaha! I told you, Kid! This is the Maji everywhere system! Now, since we made eye-contact, you've gotta fight!"

"This isn't a game, Maji-san! And aren't we supposed to keep an eye on the kids?!"

"Don't worry about them! Kiri and my bro's watching them. Now come on! Let's put on a show for these folks! En garde!"

"Freaking- John had better take me out for a drink after this!"

Beta blinked and then noticed two men walking over towards them. The first was a middle-aged man with a stern face and a dapper white suit with a fedora. The second was a man with bulging muscles and a karate gi, along with a fake spiky-haired wig.

Both of them had CapsuBalls strapped along their waists, matching the CapsuMon theme of the girls.

And in the back, there were two other men. One was a man with a lithe build and a ponytail, wearing a fisherman outfit with a fishing pole that had a CapsuBall attached at the end.

The other was Kai, who was dressed normally in a business suit... and carrying a bag stuffed with CapsuBalls.

Kai ducked under a swing of the fishing pole and then said, "How am I even supposed to stop you?!"

"You're a trainer, aren't you? Use your CapsuMon!"

"This isn't a game! I don't have any!"

"Then catch me!"

"What?!"

"Figure it out, Kid!"

"Aaaaargh!"

Tsuki laughed and said, "Go Daddy! You can do it!"

Beta sighed. "...This is going to be a long and hectic day, isn't it?"