"Yaaawn~ What'd you need me for all of a sudden?"
Eriri let out a lazy yawn. Ever since the manuscript issue had been resolved, she'd slipped right back into her slothful lifestyle. Last night, she'd even stayed up late to finally beat a game she'd been stuck on.
Which meant she was seriously sleep-deprived today.
If Mio hadn't called her over, she probably would've already been passed out on her desk by now.
Mio put on her best fake-shy smile and handed the document folder to Eriri.
The moment Eriri—who had been drowsy just seconds ago—laid eyes on that folder, something clicked in her brain. She perked up instantly.
But this was still school, after all. Playing it safe, she pulled out a key and unlocked the club room. Once Mio was inside, she carefully closed the door behind them.
Only after making sure the coast was clear did Eriri pull out Mio's manuscript from the folder.
She noticed right away—Mio's drawing technique had improved again. Compared to the unfinished draft from before, the progress was more than just a little.
It hadn't even been that long, and she'd already improved this much. Give Mio a bit more time to learn and practice, and they might have another Shiina Mashiro on their hands.
"Sawamura-san, could you check if there are any problems?"
"Leave it to me."
Eriri patted her not-particularly-prominent chest with confidence, then began carefully reviewing the manuscript.
She'd already seen the unfinished draft before, but seeing the completed work was an entirely different experience.
After a good while—and several thorough read-throughs—Eriri was satisfied there were no issues. She slipped the manuscript back into the folder and returned it to Mio.
"I just checked everything over. There shouldn't be any problems. Just send the files to my email when you get home." Something seemed to occur to her, and she added, "Oh, right—have you decided on a pen name yet?"
"How about 'Eromanga-sensei'?"
"No can do. That name's already taken—by a pretty famous illustrator who's really good at drawing flat-chested characters. He's in the group chat too."
Speaking of the group chat, Eriri suddenly remembered she'd promised to add Mio to it earlier, but then a million things happened and she'd completely forgotten.
Scratching her head sheepishly, she said, "About that group chat—I'll add you when I get home. For now, try to come up with a pen name."
Mio had only been throwing that out there off the top of her head. She'd actually seen the book The Reincarnated Silver Wolf at a bookstore before—she just hadn't expected that Eromanga-sensei would be in the same group chat as Eriri.
Then again, it made sense. Both of them liked drawing... questionable things.
Mio hadn't said a word, but Eriri couldn't shake the feeling that she was thinking something incredibly rude.
Without evidence, though, there wasn't much she could say.
Since Mio genuinely had zero talent when it came to naming things, she racked her brain and still couldn't come up with anything good or interesting. Left with no choice, she turned to Eriri with pleading eyes. "Sawamura-san, why don't you pick one for me? I really can't think of anything."
"You sure you want me to decide?" Eriri raised an eyebrow.
"Mm!"
"Then how about... 'Shiro-ke.'" Eriri looked at Mio's silky silver-white hair as she said it.
She'd only meant it as a throwaway joke, but to her surprise, Mio nodded with complete seriousness. "That works! Let's go with that!"
"W-Wait, no! I was just kidding! There's no rush—go home and think it over properly before you decide!"
Under Eriri's persuasion, Mio ultimately agreed to figure out the pen name situation later.
With the issue temporarily settled, drowsiness flooded back into Eriri's brain. But there were only about fifteen minutes left until lunch break ended. She cast a longing glance at Mio's thighs—she still remembered how it felt to use them as a lap pillow last time.
Too bad there wasn't enough time today. Next time, she was definitely finding an excuse to do it again.
To avoid being late for class, the two quickly left the activity room.
Eriri had just finished locking the door when she spotted a familiar figure nearby—the club president, quietly watching them from a short distance away. Despite the girl's thick glasses, Eriri could clearly feel the excitement radiating from her gaze.
Normally, Eriri would've gone over to explain that there was nothing going on between her and Mio. But on second thought, she decided against it. The more she tried to explain, the deeper the misunderstanding would get.
Still, she couldn't help but wonder—why did she and Mio always manage to run into the club president whenever they came here?!
While Eriri was lost in thought, Mio had already walked up to greet the club president. "Good afternoon, senpai! What brings you here?"
The club president held up her easel. "I'm here to put this away."
She spent most of her lunch breaks painting. After all, she wasn't a natural talent like Mio or Eriri. If she wanted to produce better artwork, she had to put in the hard work and practice.
She always came by before lunch break ended to store her easel in the activity room. And it was precisely because of this routine that she kept running into the little couple having their rendezvous here.
The "little couple," of course, being Mio and Eriri.
"I see."
Since class was about to start, Mio only exchanged a few words with the club president before heading briskly toward her classroom.
As the club president passed by Eriri, Eriri suddenly felt a pat on her shoulder. Then, in a soft, gentle voice, the club president said: "Go for it, Sawamura-san!"
"???"
The completely random encouragement left Eriri utterly baffled.
Before she could even begin to decipher what the club president had meant, she heard Mio calling her name from down the hallway.
Once Eriri caught up, Mio asked, "Sawamura-san, you look confused. Did the club president say something to you?"
"She told me to 'go for it.' Go for what, exactly?"