"Eriri, do you want to go shopping with us later?"
"Idiot, Sawamura still has art club activities, and..."
Another ponytail girl interrupted her. After all, Eriri was a genuine and hardworking young lady; she didn't have that kind of free time. The Eriri of the past had never...
"Okay, I haven't gone shopping like this in a long time."
Eriri pursed her lips and said with a smile, "Anyway, I don't have anything to do, and it's nice to go out and have some fun. School life is also very important."
As soon as she finished speaking, after a brief moment of surprise, the girls immediately nodded happily and chattered as they followed her out of the classroom.
After that, she spent an afternoon like any other ordinary teenage girl.
Buying milk tea with friends; playing claw machines at the mall; choosing clothes for her classmates based on her cultivated aesthetic, and trying on different outfits at their request, constantly receiving compliments;
The photo booth pictures were perhaps a bit too heavily edited, and the stray cats on the street were quite cute...
When Eriri parted ways with her classmates, a faint smile graced her pretty face, and her heart was also very happy. "This whole day has passed, hasn't it?" she thought… But when she inadvertently looked up, she suddenly froze.
She saw the sunset glow. "After such a long time, has only two hours passed?"
She felt a sudden, inexplicable irritation. Returning home, she took a shower, finished her homework early, and then excitedly sat in front of her computer, opening a new anime website.
"Ah, I haven't watched the new anime from last season yet. Now I can watch to my heart's content. Let's see, I'll start with an anime that has a childhood friend from above!"
She clicked on a beautifully produced romance anime, but when her mouse hovered over the play button, she silently moved it away and closed the webpage.
…Forget it. If it's too good, I'll want to draw fan art. I'll watch a TV show instead. I'll watch that legendary historical drama.
She watched intently.
It felt inferior to animated characters.
So boring.
Even when she tried to immerse herself, every now and then she couldn't help but pick up her phone to check the time. "Why isn't it bedtime yet?"
Even though she had done so many things today.
The hands of the clock ticked and turned.
Eriri turned off her computer and lay down on her bed.
This is very happy. This is good.
The next morning.
She couldn't sleep well, so she rubbed her sleepy eyes and got up early to go out.
But an unexpected event occurred.
At the bottom of the slope, the long-haired Eriri turned her head. In front of her, a boy was on this road, pretending to run back and forth for exercise.
The moment she saw that figure, her heart thumped violently, and an uncontrollable joy surged from the depths of her heart.
Nevertheless, she merely raised an eyebrow on the surface, turned her face away, and assumed a posture that indicated she didn't want to communicate.
She didn't know how to face Kiyono now.
However, Kiyono always had a myriad of ways to deal with a reclusive loser girl. He looked at Eriri and deliberately said,
"Is Sawamura deliberately following me, Miss?"
"Who's following you?" Eriri's mouth twitched, instantly breaking her composure.
"Then what a coincidence." Kiyono frowned, looking solemn. "Could it be that I, a great Akutagawa Prize–winning writer, would specifically wait for you?"
— Too pretentious!
Eriri snorted. Every time she spoke to this person, she couldn't control her emotions, and he even deliberately brought up things she ignored—
Kiyono naturally walked to her side and glanced at her smooth blonde hair.
"Wasn't this a limited-edition skin?"
"Kiyono, what you're saying is very rude to a girl," Eriri said with an elegant smile, her voice sounding a little affected.
"By the way, the third volume of my novel is finished. A certain scene is truly super moving. Ah, I'm really looking forward to the illustrations." Kiyono's smile suddenly became shy.
The blonde girl's expression froze. "Did I ask you about that?"
She glared at Kiyono, trying hard to ignore him.
"I believe Teacher Kiyono can definitely do it himself. After all, this is your work, and you should be able to draw it even better."
"No, even the most perfect person has areas they can't reach. I simply can't draw that unexpected exposure and lust," Kiyono sighed.
"Isn't that just a conventional heroine's fan-service plot! What's so touching about it!?"
— She couldn't help but blurt it out.
Ah, what's wrong with this person!
The words slipped out inadvertently, and Eriri's face flushed with embarrassment, wanting to disappear on the spot.
This guy always casually steps into the softest parts of her heart.
She was a little angry because this guy was the culprit who caused her to break down. Although she didn't resent him, he was still teasing her so brazenly, which was really too much.
If she continued to stay with him like this, some change she didn't want to see would definitely happen to her.
She should be very angry, but, but—
Her heart was also thumping.
Kiyono made her realize that she hadn't been completely abandoned yet.
Two completely opposite feelings collided, making Eriri unsure what expression to use to face him. She simply tossed her hair and walked ahead with her school bag, minding her own business.
"Have you switched to a cold personality now? Should I call you the ever-changing Sawamura from now on?" Kiyono smiled and followed beside her.
"..."
No words.
"Sawamura?"
No words.
"Eriri?"
The tips of her ears turned red.
"The idiotic doujin artist who's good at NTR?"
The sharpness of a sword flashed in Eriri's eyes, and then—
"Ouch!"
"That hurts!?"
His arm was bitten.
The second week of July.
She now only wanted to forget everything and live a normal student life. However, for the past two days, Kiyono would approach her with a frivolous attitude to talk. She felt relieved and responded with the same subtle attitude. The two of them were like they were standing on opposite sides of a high wall, testing each other back and forth.
Incredibly, the regret and disappointment buried deep in her heart eased somewhat, replaced by another kind of restlessness.
She seemed to be looking forward to someone opening a crack in the wall, yet also feared it.
Another sunset after school, Eriri nonchalantly bought a soda from a vending machine by the street, deliberately slowing her pace, as if waiting for someone—for the past two days, a certain guy would approach her with a wide smile, accompanying her for a stretch of the road.
But—
He didn't come today.
The girl lowered her eyes, and the sunset fell with them.
The same sunset illuminated different scenes. Kiyono was in an intense battle with the blue-haired girl.
Whoosh, snap.
Whoosh, snap.
It still wasn't working. Eriri had locked herself away, and his words still couldn't reach her heart.
The problem Eriri faced was far from as simple as Lemon's back then, and she was far from as passionate and straightforward as Lemon. This was a stubborn and self-isolating girl.
He felt a bit helpless inside.
So, is there a good way?
"The sunset in Chiba feels gentler than in Tokyo."
A delicate, clear sound, like summer wind chimes, reached his ears.
Kiyono came back to his senses and looked up.
The light blue sky was draped with a warm sunset.
He was currently on the baseball field on the school grounds. Not far away, the shouts of the soccer club jogging could be heard. In front of the protective net, dust slightly rose, and the blue-haired girl, bathed in light, showed a bright smile.
After some time, Yanami seemed to have matured a bit. Her hair was tied into a high ponytail, and her azure eyes were like clear lakes reflecting the sunset. Her beautiful face was full of youthful vitality, yet a hint of maturity had quietly appeared.
At this moment, a drop of water flowed down her slender neck and delicate collarbone, slowly sliding into her chest, outlining the girl's beautiful figure.
— Today was Yanami's surprise attack day. Without notice, she had excitedly run to the school campus, wanting to practice baseball with him.
At that time, he was almost mistaken for a kept boy by an older student. "Please be more careful next time."
Thinking of how Yanami had rushed towards him in front of the crowd earlier, Kiyono shook his head.
"That's just your illusion, isn't it?"
Whoosh, snap.
He caught the ball Yanami threw and gently tossed it back—they were practicing catch. Yanami threw, and he caught it with a baseball glove.
"Kiyono, do you know? Yesterday, when I was helping my mother buy things, I accidentally got lost and ended up finding a hidden, super–delicious dessert shop. Is this what they call an urban legend?"
The blue-haired girl's eyes curved upwards as she actively shared all the interesting things that happened in her daily life. Although her name on LINE was almost always at the top, she still preferred face-to-face interaction over online communication.
Perhaps their hobbies were not the same, but they were willing to understand each other.
"Are you a gourmet radar come to life?" Kiyono quipped at the right moment.
"So, what happened?" Yanami suddenly asked.
Kiyono froze, and the ball the girl threw also rolled to the ground beside them.
After a two-second pause, he picked up the ball, moved back a distance, and threw it towards her at a slightly faster speed than before.
"How did you know?"
Snap, a crisp sound rang out. Yanami moved two steps to the right, successfully caught the ball, and proudly raised her baseball glove high—it was a new one she had bought herself.
Then, as if finding it interesting, she enthusiastically threw an even faster ball.
"I can tell from your expression. You usually don't frown when you're with me."
Was it that obvious?
Kiyono caught the ball, maintaining the increased speed.
On the fifth throw, Yanami held the ball in her glove but didn't throw it out. Instead, she slowly rotated it in her glove and then threw it with all her might into the net beside him.
Then, the blue-haired girl ran to his side.
"Anyway, you must be worrying about how to perfectly solve other girls' problems right now, aren't you?"
"Telepathy? Have you learned the superpower of telepathy!?"
"Alright, tell Anna all about it, Senpai."
A gentle smile appeared on Yanami's face, a smile that seemed to encompass all your complaints and problems, all your happiness and pursuits.