"Contaminate this book?" Rin Ito raised an eyebrow, looking at Utaha in confusion. Before, they at least had the plastic wrap, so it wasn't truly contaminated. What did tearing off the plastic wrap mean now? And asking to contaminate it directly? What was the point of doing this? Would this reconcile them?
Rin Ito carefully recalled the hazy plot in his mind. Although the current situation had completely deviated from the light novel plot and turned into an adult comic, Rin Ito was sure they reconciled in the end. As for the method of reconciliation... how could Rin Ito remember that much? Mutual sympathy between defeated rivals? After all, the novel's title already spoiled the final winner. Could it be that giving the other person a contaminated book would reconcile them? Besides... contaminating her own book, was this her way of admitting defeat? No, no matter what, Utaha would never admit defeat. Did they have some little secret? Too bad Rin Ito couldn't remember the plot.
However... since Utaha said so, contaminate it is.
"Don't treat me like a weird tool!" Elf protested, waving her hands while being held by Rin Ito. Was he treating her like a watering can!? However, her protest was quickly replaced by whimpering. Utaha's slender fingertips, which usually typed on a keyboard, pinched the lonely weak spot between Elf's thighs that Rin Ito hadn't attended to. Although Eri Sawamura was the main culprit, Elf was definitely an accomplice! Utaha was not gentle, rubbing the spot with her fingertip, causing Elf's pink eyes to involuntarily roll up, and her taut toes to twitch and tremble. Elf's pure virgin fluid sprayed out without restraint, staining the book pages a darker color.
"!!!!!"
"Get yours on the book too."
"...?" Rin Ito was bewildered. Seriously... your way of reconciling is too damn weird! Rin Ito slowly lifted Elf. Although contact with his body fluid increased her endurance and prevented her from being broken, her wide-open eyes wouldn't close for a while. The fluid leaking out was caught by Utaha with the contaminated novel. Elf's wide-open eyes only closed once the novel's title page was completely soaked and even seeped through to the pages below.
Just as Rin Ito wondered what Utaha would do next, she asked Shion to fetch a pen from the front desk, then, under Rin Ito's gaze, she signed her name on the sticky novel and handed it to Rin Ito.
"Just give this to her."
"This is how you two will reconcile?" Rin Ito frowned, looking disdainfully at the novel Utaha handed him... It was dirty, sticky, and gave off a strange odor. Although it had Utaha's autograph, even Utaha's biggest fan probably wouldn't want a book like this...
With a skeptical attitude, Rin Ito arrived at the tightly closed stall door of the women's restroom. Outside the door, Rin Ito could still faintly hear some sobbing.
"Eri Sawamura?" Rin Ito's tentative inquiry received no response. After a slight deliberation, Rin Ito spoke. "Are you masturbating in there because you got off from leaking in front of Utaha? If so, I won't disturb you."
In the next second, Eri Sawamura violently flung the door open.
"I'm not masturbating! After looking that pathetic, even if I'm an M, I wouldn't get off! Hmph!" Seeing Rin Ito's smirking face, Eri Sawamura sat back down on the toilet, pouting and averting her gaze. "What do you want? Did Utaha Kasumigaoka send you to mock me?"
"Not at all." Rin Ito mysteriously handed the novel signed by Utaha to Eri Sawamura. "She just asked me to give you a gift."
"What does she mean by this?" Eri Sawamura frowned, flipping open the sticky cover. She saw Utaha's signature amidst a liquid that was clearly someone's bodily fluid. Eri Sawamura's lips twitched... An autographed novel is fine, but why make it so dirty!
"Well? Can you reconcile with her now?" Eri Sawamura's expression was complicated, and she mumbled, wanting to speak but holding back. After a while, Eri Sawamura glared fiercely at Rin Ito. "Shouldn't she be the one apologizing, not me? You deliberately filled me up and wouldn't let me use the restroom... You just wanted me to leak in front of her, didn't you!?"
"Cough, cough, cough... I did this to help you two reconcile."
"Hmph... Pervert!" Eri Sawamura pouted. "Even if I'm a total M, you shouldn't mess with me like this! Any normal girl would have gone crazy!" After saying this, Eri Sawamura walked over to the hand dryer with a look of disgust and put the novel inside... If she didn't dry it, it would stink by tomorrow!
"Speaking of which... why would this novel reconcile you two?"
"..." Eri Sawamura pouted and remained silent for a while before finally speaking. "I... I'm actually her fan."
Although the sound of the dryer was loud, Rin Ito heard it.
"That's a plot point?"
"What do you mean, plot point!?" Eri Sawamura was annoyed. "Tomoya Aki recommended her novel to me... I didn't want to read it! The school library had her novel, I didn't want to read it! She... her novel is actually quite good." Eri Sawamura's voice grew quieter. "When I found out she was the author of Love Metronome, I even thought about asking her for an autograph... But somehow, she went to my studio and found out I was Kashiwagi Eri."
"I asked Tomoya about it, and he said he didn't tell her. Hmph, traitor! Who else could have known? And he must have told her that I wanted her autograph too!"
"So that's why you two became enemies back then, right?" Rin Ito suppressed his laughter. "But I don't think Tomoya Aki would lie about something like this... I'll go ask Utaha."
"Hey!" Eri Sawamura stopped him before he left. Blushing and full of tsundere pride, she said, "I'm just forgiving her for what happened today. It doesn't mean I'm becoming her friend!"
"Alright, alright." Eri Sawamura continued to dry the novel in the restroom, while Rin Ito, looking like he had just heard juicy gossip, ran back to Utaha.
"What did she say? Did she say she forgives me for today but isn't becoming my friend?" Utaha looked calm and confident, as if she had expected this.
"She also said she's actually your fan." Rin Ito smiled and nodded. "Speaking of which... why did you go to her studio in the first place? Did Tomoya Aki tell you Eri Sawamura was Kashiwagi Eri?"
"No." Utaha shook her head. "My novel was in the school library. I looked at the borrowing record and saw Eri Sawamura checked it out... She's much more famous than me at school. I wanted to ask for her thoughts, and, incidentally..."
"Incidentally?"
Utaha averted her gaze, looking a little shy. "Incidentally, see if I could get her to do the illustrations for my novel."
"Pffft...." Rin Ito couldn't help but burst out laughing. Good grief, Rin Ito thought.
Two stubborn tsunderes!