At 8 o’clock when the venue opened, as Uesugi Sakura noticed the gradually approaching crowd, he knew he was going to be busy for a while.
"So many people!" Aei exclaimed with her mouth open, her small legs swinging back and forth in front of the chair, looking rather restless.
"That’s the third time you’ve said that today. So, do you want to help out Hanabi sister?"
"Will brother buy me cake?"
"Hanabi sister will treat you." Uesugi Sakura rubbed her head, and she giggled twice.
Such interactions always reminded him of how he used to rub Hanabi’s head when they were kids.
Little Hanabi would always appear so fragile when her head was rubbed, her eyebrows drooping, her bright eyes swirling with a hope for attention.
Now, being patted on the head... she should be quite happy, right?
Just as Uesugi Sakura was reminiscing about the past, the first fan hurried to the scene, and not only him, but a large group of people followed behind.
Though the crowd was large, fortunately, order was maintained, and everyone queued up properly.
As soon as the crowd arrived, it became noisy at once.
Curiosity was inevitable, they craned their heads trying to see how the artist they’d been looking forward to meeting actually looked in real life.
"Is it right up there?" the boy with a backpack nudged his friend next to him.
"I think... yes." The boy with glasses checked the sign again, confirming this was indeed the spot for SG Library Company.
"Hey, haven’t you noticed? It’s Teacher Hanamaru, it’s Teacher Hanamaru!" The boy with a cap got a bit excited, shaking his friend’s arm.
"From which high school?"
"Teacher Hanamaru shouldn’t be a high school student, right."
"Never heard anyone say Hanamaru-sensei (pen name) is a girl, you all said he was a man, didn’t you?"
"Everyone knew saying she was a girl was a joke—! Who knew it was true!"
"Think about it, Amami Nana Akatsuki, such a perfect girl, shouldn’t she be imagined by a girl?"
"June Bright is what the author described, right?"
"Fool! A light novel author describes a rough idea based on impressions, but it’s truly Teacher Hanamaru who brings the character to life!"
"Let me propose a hypothesis, if SG Library’s former official artist was to draw the original image of Amami Nana Akatsuki, would you agree?"
"Zix? No way, that’s absolutely not okay," another bespectacled boy quickly shook his head, "SG’s light novel sales were so dismal precisely because the original art illustrations didn’t fit."
"There’s also a figurine sale up front, right?" the boy with the cap poked his head towards the crowd.
"Yes, didn’t you see Teacher Hanamaru took out a figurine while signing in the front?"
"Speaking of which, Teacher Hanamaru is so cute."
"A beautiful girl indeed."
"When it’s our turn for autographs, should we ask for her Line?"
"What’s there to be scared about? Once it’s our turn in line, I’ll ask immediately."
The venue buzzed with excitement as Uesugi Sakura sat at the side watching Hanamaru Hanabi signing for enthusiastic fans. Of course, whispers about her being a girl were inevitable, and most people were very excited.
Since he wasn’t needed to restock for now, he took out his phone to check Twitter.
Underneath the latest post retweeted by Hanamaru Hanabi on behalf of the company, there were already fans’ latest comments.
The comments mostly expressed excitement over discovering that Mr. Hanamaru was a beautiful girl.
A beloved artist turned out to be a beautiful girl?
This could perhaps be the plot of yet another unborn light novel.
Fans kept coming, and the 500 figurines had long sold out. Although it was said she’d be busy for just an hour, seeing the long queue of fans, soft-hearted Hanamaru Hanabi felt too embarrassed to take a break.
As for the boy who mentioned asking for her Line, when it was his turn, he was too shy to even say a word to Hanamaru Hanabi.
After they bought their commemorative merchandise and went back, his companions teased him.
"Haha, Abe, didn’t you say you’d ask for Teacher Hanamaru’s Line? Why didn’t you even dare to ask?"
"I...I was just..." the boy named Abe blushed, "So what about you guys, did you dare to ask?"
When he said that, everyone fell silent.
When Hanamaru Hanabi was seriously signing, she looked so graceful, with a beautiful face and attire that made everyone instinctively avoid eye contact.
For them, since they hadn’t even had a decent conversation with a girl, how could they have the nerve to ask a beautiful girl for her contact?
The whole morning, she kept signing, and Uesugi Sakura stayed busy with her, helping with restocking and collecting money.
Once they got busy, lunchtime passed quickly.
When all the prepared merchandise for the morning was sold out, staff announced the signing event was over, causing those who hadn’t arrived in time to leave in small groups to have lunch.
"Excuse me, is there going to be another signing event this afternoon or tomorrow?" asked a fan.
The staff explained, "No, there’s only this one today, but there will still be merch available, just not as much as prepared."
Many people had come for the art books and merchandise, so not being able to get an autograph was disappointing, but it wasn’t disappointing enough to make them leave immediately.
"Thank you to Teacher Hanamaru and Mr. Uesugi, we originally said it would only be an hour." After the busy session, editor Kawaichi smiled at Hanamaru Hanabi in front.
Hanamaru Hanabi smiled back, "It’s okay, seeing so many people happy makes me happy too."
"Most people who came were fans of Teacher Hanamaru, after all, it’s hard to find original art as distinctive as hers, haha."
Hanamaru Hanabi smiled in response.