Sayuri propped up her chin, speaking in a rather troubled tone.
"After that wild boy left, Eriri turned into the listless figure she is now."
"I was even prepared to recruit that wild boy to be the son-in-law who lives in our house; unfortunately, he disappeared at the critical moment. I've searched everywhere but haven't been able to find him."
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
On the other side.
Eriri knelt on the ground, staring at that familiar face while two rows of clear tears fell from the corners of her eyes.
There was no mistake.
Even though ten years had passed and his appearance had changed, she still recognized his identity. Her hands kept fumbling through the air, as if she wanted to catch his shadow in her palms to ensure he wouldn't escape again.
Ryunosuke felt something was off; seeing the girl's reaction, it seemed she recognized him. Instinctively, he wanted to flee immediately.
By the time Eriri snapped out of it, the person had already vanished without a trace. She hugged her knees dejectedly, buried her head deep against her legs, and sobbed bitterly.
Ten years ago.
She had just moved from England to Japan. The foreign environment, coupled with her lack of fluency in Japanese, left her without a single friend. In class, only an otaku named Aki Tomoya was willing to talk to her, introducing her to the 2D otaku culture. That was where their complicated relationship began.
In order to fit in with Tomoya, plus the influence of her parents—one a high-level fujoshi and the other a pedophile—Eriri was influenced and naturally became an adult manga (ero-manga) artist. Actually, this was a secret she intended to take to her grave.
But Tomoya was different; he was her first friend, the kind of friend who meant everything. After all, the first friend in one's life always receives more attention. So, she shared the secret of her identity as an adult manga artist with him.
Unfortunately, those beautiful times did not last long. Her friend was far too insensitive. After Eriri had lived in Japan long enough to gain other friends, she didn't want anyone else to know she was an otaku. Because of this, she deliberately distanced herself from Tomoya. As a result, their relationship fractured. Even though they occupied the same classroom, they no longer spoke.
Eriri wanted to talk to the man, but she didn't have the courage. She feared the good friends she had now would shun her because they disliked otakus. To be accepted by others, she tried her best to pretend to be a normie (riajuu).
Tomoya, seeing this, felt disgusted. He stood up and left the classroom. Eriri, seeing him leave, wanted to chase after him to apologize, but in the end, she still didn't dare.
Eriri sat beneath a large tree, lost in thought.
"What should I do? I don't want to lose my friends now, but I don't want to lose Tomoya either..."
Right at that moment, an unfamiliar voice drifted down from the top of the tree.
"If that's the case, why not just take it all?"
"Who's there?!" Eriri jolted in surprise. She looked left and right but found no one. Until the core of an apple fell from the tree and hit her on the head.
Eriri didn't feel pain; instead, she stared up into the tree in confusion. There, she saw a boy clutching an apple, eating voraciously. It was an apple tree.
Ryunosuke was absolutely starving at the time, so he had sneaked into the school's apple tree and started eating his fill. If Eriri had paid attention to her surroundings, she would have noticed that the ground beneath her feet was littered with eaten apple cores. However, she had been too focused on her thoughts to notice.
Seeing his apple core hit someone, Ryunosuke jumped down with an awkward feeling while cradling a dozen uneaten apples. He apologized to Eriri.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. It didn't hurt, did it?"
Ryunosuke took an apple from his arms, wiped it against his shirt, and handed it to Eriri.
Reflexively, Eriri accepted it and uttered a "Thank you," clearly not yet fully recovered from her shock.
By the time Eriri regained her senses, the person had already disappeared, but the apple remained in her hand. It was clear that what had just happened wasn't a dream. She simply felt the person was a bit strange without thinking much further, and then she began to eat the apple.
This was their first meeting, and the beginning of the complicated bond between them.
After that, Ryunosuke often sneaked into the school and finished off the apples on the decorative trees along the green path. Almost the entire ground was covered in his leftover cores. It couldn't be helped; he was incredibly hungry because debt collectors chased him every day, forcing him to run all over the world.
He really had circumnavigated the globe once. This wasn't a boast; he had actually run a full circuit. The debt collectors didn't expect him to be able to run that far and were absolutely furious. They were determined to catch him! It wasn't about the money anymore; it was about pride. A few grown men unable to catch one small child—it was truly humiliating.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
On the highway.
Several adults dressed in black suits and sunglasses were chasing a small child. Much like Jackie Chan's character in the Jackie Chan Adventures series, Ryunosuke performed incredibly agile stunts.
He ran into a narrow alley filled with old furniture. As the debt collectors chased him, Ryunosuke toppled a bookshelf to block their path. He took a moment to stick out his tongue and flash a middle finger as if to say, "Catch me if you can," which was one of his small forms of entertainment.
The enraged debt collectors kicked the shelf aside and continued the chase!
Ryunosuke hid around a corner, grabbed a newspaper, and covered his face. The debt collectors stopped and asked the person holding the newspaper if he had seen an annoying brat pass by. Ryunosuke didn't speak; he simply pointed in one direction with his finger.
The debt collectors thanked him and immediately gave chase in that direction. Ryunosuke lowered the newspaper and sneered. "To think they call themselves adults; so easily fooled..."
By chance, one of the debt collectors looked back and recognized him. He immediately called his colleagues to turn back and give chase! Ryunosuke, getting into the spirit of things, threw the newspaper into the air and continued running.
The chase continued into a shopping mall. Ryunosuke performed a sudden brake followed by a slide into a women's clothing store. He grabbed a wig from a mannequin along with some underwear and such, then ran into a fitting room.
The group of debt collectors stormed in and searched everything, leaving only one fitting room unchecked. One of the debt collectors summoned his courage and yanked back the curtain. Ryunosuke, who had already changed into women's clothes and donned the wig, pretended to be startled while covering his sensitive parts and screamed hysterically.
The debt collector hurriedly closed the curtain and bowed in apology at the door, saying he hadn't meant to peek. Ryunosuke reached a hand out from inside, gesturing with his fingers for money. The guilt-ridden debt collector naturally pulled out his wallet and handed over all his cash.
Ryunosuke accepted the wallet and withdrew his hand with satisfaction. Only then did the debt collector realize something was wrong; he immediately yanked the curtain back again only to find the person had already escaped. Seeing a very familiar silhouette fleeing in the distance, they immediately resumed the chase.