C78 Bakuman Bakulove 1 Linda Pro Extra Quality -

They spend the next hour setting up together, arguing over panel layouts, debating whether Bakuman's Mashiro should have ended up with Azuki sooner. By the time doors open, they've exchanged LINE IDs and a mutual, grudging respect. Midday. The crowd is a river of fans, cameras, and cardboard swords.

"You're Linda Pro?" A voice cuts through her anxiety.

Haruki grins. "You read it?"

Shinobu turns red. "You… you know that? I only posted it on Pixiv last week." C78 Bakuman Bakulove 1 Linda Pro Extra Quality

"You like each other. Not just me." Kanon points at them. "Your doujinshi — Bakulove — it's not really about Bakuman characters. It's about you two. A shy girl who draws feelings she can't say. A tough guy who hides softness behind action scenes."

, 24, stands with a box of his own doujinshi — a gritty action manga called Black Quill . He's handsome in a disheveled, slept-on-a-desk way. They share a circle table because the event organizers messed up the seating chart.

"Let's make Bakulove Vol. 2 . At C79."

"Extra quality?"

He blinks. Then laughs — not mockingly, but relieved. "Finally, someone who actually critiques. Most people just say 'good job' and run."

Haruki, who has never blushed in his adult life, looks like a boiled octopus. They spend the next hour setting up together,

"I read everything at C77. Your line art is sharp . But your pacing drags in the middle."

She leaves. Silence. Then Haruki laughs — that same laugh from day one.

Haruki pulls out his sketchbook. Flips to a page he's never shown anyone. It's Shinobu — at their table, frowning at a misprinted page, ink on her cheek, beautiful and real. The crowd is a river of fans, cameras, and cardboard swords

"I drew this before I even knew your name," he says. "At C77. You were sitting alone, fixing someone else's broken binding. You didn't even know me, and you fixed my comic's spine when I wasn't looking."