112 Kasumigaoka & Eriri
Inside the subway station, among the bustling crowd, office workers in business attire could already be seen. The busy people hurried forward with quick steps, as if racing against time, waiting patiently on the platform.
When the train arrived, it was already packed with people. After those who were disembarking stepped out, the crowd behind pushed those in front forward, flooding into the train.
Fortunately, Senpai's house was in the same direction as Shirou's and Eriri's, so they didn't need to transfer to another line.
Senpai skillfully made her way to a corner inside and stood there.
"Wah!" Eriri was bumped by someone beside her and almost fell backward.
"Be careful, falling here would be dangerous." Shirou caught the girl from behind, guided her further inside, and reminded her seriously.
"Th-thank you…" the blonde girl, leaning against the boy's firm chest, said with a blush. It seemed like it had been many years since she had been this close to him.
Eriri thought to herself: Although Shirou's personality hasn't changed, he really has grown a lot…
Shirou said with concern: "Well, Eriri, since you're pretty small and not used to crowded trains, you should just stand next to me."
"Who's small! Don't touch me, idiot!" Eriri turned angrily and pushed him, baring her teeth like an angry little cat.
"Hey, I'm helping you here, so just accept it honestly," Shirou said unhappily. He had already been more than tolerant of her bad temper.
"I didn't ask you to help! Idiot! Idiot! For your information, I'm a woman who has fought in the Holy Wars! Crowds like this are nothing to me!" Eriri bared her little fangs proudly.
"Holy Wars? What kind of battle is that?" Shirou asked curiously.
"…Sigh, poor Sawamura-san. Pathetic to the point where I don't even know what to say anymore," Kasumigaoka-senpai covered her face, unable to watch.
"What do you mean by that!?" Eriri asked unhappily.
"I mean, just give it up! He doesn't belong to our world, right?"
"Which world are you talking about? Or are you saying the distance between me and you has already become a whole world apart?" Shirou asked.
"You, a moe character—a resident of the 2.5D world—still want to be with a protagonist straight out of a sports shounen manga? When the protagonist reaches Koshien, or is
selected for U-17, and is facing the most crucial match… do you plan to reply to him, 'Ah, sorry, my manuscript deadline is coming up, I have to pull an all-nighter, so I can't cheer for you on-site'? Any reader would want to tear you apart."
"Uu… it doesn't have to be mutual understanding… right?" Eriri pouted and stubbornly retorted.
Kasumigaoka Utaha shook her head and continued: "Imagine it. When he sees the real you, with an expression of complete disapproval. Even looking at you like you're some paramecium."
"You don't need to say it, I already know…" Eriri's eyes filled with tears. "But I… I… Even if Shirou nags a lot… even if Shirou is more like my mom than my own mom! Even if Shirou is so old-fashioned that all he does is train and clean… and besides studying, chores, and his looks, he's basically useless…"
"Wait a second! Don't say all my hard work amounts to nothing while you're crying! And for the record, I do play games, like FGO and such," Shirou protested.
"Eh? Shirou, you actually play FGO?!" Eriri exclaimed in surprise.
"Well, you always come to my house just to play with Komachi, and at school you turn your head away as soon as you see me—how was I supposed to tell you?" Shirou countered.
"Th-that's… fine then! Now tell me your ID!" Eriri pulled out her phone.
Kasumigaoka-senpai also took out her phone, entering numbers. She first habitually checked the support lineup, then said lazily: "Don't jump to conclusions. Just because he plays FGO doesn't mean he's… Merlin!"
"Merlin…!!!" In that instant, a group of men on the train, regardless of age or appearance, all turned and looked at Shirou with jealous eyes.
A few flashy host-like guys glanced over at the boy with an expression that said not bad, bro, as if recognizing a fellow comrade.
Meanwhile, a few plain-dressed but refined veterans merely shook their heads indifferently, lips curling into a bitter smile as if from a high, lonely peak: Ah, so young… Spending every last yen after savings and loan payments on the gacha, living off instant noodles every day—of course that's how it goes.
Kasumigaoka Utaha said to Shirou: "Hmm… even if you have a max level Merlin, that doesn't mean much. Anyway, add me as a friend, and also leave your contact info."
"Eriri, and then this one… Utako Kasumi, that must be Senpai, right? Utako Kasumi… sounds a bit familiar." Shirou added her as a friend.
Kasumigaoka Utaha leaned closer on purpose and said: "Ever heard of it? I'm happy to tell you, that's my pen name, Shirou-kun."
Eriri quickly stepped in front of the boy to block her and introduced: "You've heard of Love Metronome, right? The one that was all the rage recently? She's the beautiful girl light novel author behind it!"
"Ah, yeah, Komachi mentioned reading it. Senpai, you're amazing, a 500,000-copy-selling author." Shirou looked at the sharp-tongued senpai in a new light.
He had assumed she was just some online novelist or magazine writer—he hadn't expected her to be a genius author who published real books.
"Right? At the time, it was already a hot topic online, almost making it to the top headlines—until it got overshadowed by two genius archers." Utaha smiled at Shirou, though a dark aura seemed to be rising from her.
To say she resented it was an understatement. Back then, she had only lightly cursed the "normies" a little, never imagining the person responsible would be Eriri's childhood friend… and one so troublesome at that.
"Senpai, I don't think that's my fault," Shirou defended himself. He hadn't expected that video of the competition to blow up online.
"Hehe, I'm not blaming you, Shirou-kun.
Could you please not have such disgusting delusions? I would never blame you just because the work I poured my sleepless nights, endless effort, and careful thought into got overshadowed by a random video.
Even if, because of you, my novel sales plateaued at 500,000—when hitting the headlines could have doubled the exposure—I'm definitely not blaming you.
So, how do you plan on compensating me for my loss?" Utaha's face twisted into a broken smile, her voice ice-cold and heavy.
"…Didn't you just say you weren't blaming me?" Shirou stepped back.
Utaha lowered her tone: "Haa, are you underestimating me? As a creator, of course I wouldn't use others as an excuse for poor results. But sales represent money, glory, and recognition.
Because of you, my results fell short, my earnings decreased. Of course I'd be angry."
"So in the end, it's about money… That's too utilitarian, Senpai. Shouldn't creators be purer than that?" Shirou said.
Utaha replied matter-of-factly: "As a light novelist, isn't the ultimate goal to get an anime adaptation, sell over a million copies, then expand into games, manga, dramas, and films?
So, studying the tastes of different industries and writing marketable IPs is also a path. If I become more famous, maybe even FGO would invite me to write a script!"
Eriri said: "See? Now you understand—this guy only has decent looks and talent, but her personality is absolutely awful."
"Ah, isn't that exactly how you are, Sawamura-san? As a fellow in the same industry, I have to say this: you should just be upfront about your hobbies.
If the other party can't accept even that, then it's better to give up early," Kasumigaoka Utaha said, uncharacteristically serious.
"Enough already! I'll tell him eventually! Geez… but how am I supposed to bring it up?" Eriri covered her face.
"I could give you some sample opening lines, you know," Kasumigaoka said calmly. "Like—'Although I usually pretend to be a refined young lady, the truth is, I'm just a high school girl who loves drawing such-and-such, ehehe~'—something like that."
"I get it already! I get it already! I'll say it myself!" Eriri, her face bright red, repeatedly tried to stop her.
At that moment, their stop arrived, and the boy and the girls exited the train. After leaving the station, they walked down a green-shaded path to the right, leading to a residential area.
Kasumigaoka stopped, turned back to the boy, and said: "My house is just up ahead. You can drop me off here. Shirou-kun, make sure you properly walk this girl home."
"Alright, Senpai," Shirou nodded.
So Shirou and the blonde girl walked toward her home. On the road, lit only by the streetlamps, stretched two shadows.
The boy walked ahead, while Eriri followed behind, fidgeting with her fingers, biting her lip, baring her little fang, looking as though she had something to say but couldn't get the words out.
"Eriri, if there's something you want to say, just say it," Shirou told her.
"Waaah! There's nothing! Why should I have to say anything to you, huh, idiot?!" Eriri shouted in embarrassment and frustration.
Shirou looked at her and said: "But your expression right now—it's exactly the same as that time back in middle school, when I walked in on you sitting on your bed, face red, torn between whether to play the all-ages version of a game or the R-18 version."
"Ehhh?! You saw me back then?!" Eriri's face turned crimson as she yelled.
Shirou scratched his cheek and said tactfully: "Not exactly. But the Sawamura family is… unique in various ways. The neighbors all kind of
know. Ah! I don't mean you look weird or anything, Eriri. Just that, among otaku girls, you're a little unusual."
"That's not comforting at all! So you knew about my interests from the start?" Eriri asked, flustered.
"At this point, what are you even saying?" Shirou said with a complicated expression.
Back in middle school, when he used to deliver class notes to her house, Eriri was sloppy, careless, and often sick. She thought she had tidied things up, but most of the time, he was the one cleaning and organizing her things.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to persuade her not to play so many games when she was sick, telling her she should take care of her health instead.
So… back then, without knowing all this, she had just kicked him out?
"Pfft…" a burst of laughter came from behind them.
"Senpai, you've been following us this whole time. Why don't you go home already?" Shirou asked, turning back.
"No way. How could I miss out on something this entertaining?" Kasumigaoka Utaha replied matter-of-factly as she stepped out.
"Ugh… whatever…" Eriri lowered her head, tears of disappointment shimmering in her eyes.
Kasumigaoka asked: "So, Shirou-kun, did you actually know from the beginning that Eriri was drawing doujinshi?"
Shirou replied: "Not in detail. I just knew she liked that stuff, and that she was good at it. But judging by Eriri's reactions, I could pretty much guess."
"What's wrong with that?! What's wrong with me liking to draw those kinds of pictures?!
It doesn't bother you, it doesn't inconvenience anyone, and my work is recognized by readers. I pay my taxes with the money I earn!
I just love those cute characters. I want to dress them up in all kinds of outfits, draw them in different poses, see them with different expressions—I just love everything about them! What's wrong with that?!" Eriri clenched her fists and shouted, her voice breaking.
"If you were doing something illegal, like committing a crime, then yeah, I'd beat you up and drag you to the police. But this is just a difference in hobbies. I don't think it's a big deal.
My hobbies are making weapons and cleaning. That's pretty weird too, isn't it?" Shirou said with a small laugh, deliberately leaving out his pride in cooking to spare her feelings.
"…I see. If you did commit a crime, Shirou, I'd definitely be the first to call the cops. But still… weapon otaku are common enough. It's just that a guy whose hobby is cleaning—that's really weird." Eriri said coldly.
Kasumigaoka nodded in admiration. "That's true. Shirou-kun really is strange."
"Hey! You two were the ones saying weird stuff to begin with," Shirou protested.
Eriri looked at him with disdain and said: "What are you even talking about? Being into otaku culture isn't weird at all. But Shirou—you definitely are weird."
Kasumigaoka whispered softly: "Yes, exactly. Strange Shirou-kun, please don't use your own strangeness as an excuse to call other people's hobbies weird, okay?"
"…You two are actually getting along really well, aren't you?" Shirou frowned at the pair, who had joined forces in perfect sync.
"As if! You're so slow and annoying, I can't stand it! I'm leaving!" Eriri turned her head away and walked ahead.
"Well then, I'll head back too. That tsundere blonde—I'll leave her in your care. Goodbye, Shirou-kun. Next time, make sure you compensate me properly," Kasumigaoka said with a smile, turning and walking in the opposite direction.
"Shirou! If you don't hurry up, I'm leaving you behind!" Eriri's voice rang out from ahead.
Shirou sighed helplessly, shook his head, and followed after her.
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