After a long effort to calm herself down, Eriri finally managed to stabilize her emotions.
Tanaka Masao looked at the inexplicably angry Eriri, completely puzzled.
[Is it because I found out she's a doujin artist?
But shouldn't she be scared or worried instead?
Why is she angry…? I really don't get tsunderes.
That said… this feels like the moment to use that line, doesn't it?]
Tanaka cleared his throat lightly, a faint smile on his lips, his voice low and dull as he spoke.
"Sawamura-san, you wouldn't want other people to find out you're a doujin artist, right?"
[Degeneration Points +1]
[Huh? Why did I suddenly gain Degeneration Points?
Was it me… or Eriri?]
Still fuming over Aki Tomoya, Eriri was interrupted by Tanaka's voice.
When she looked up, she was greeted by his smiling, chubby face.
That expression, combined with such a painfully familiar line, made Eriri instinctively clutch her chest and take a step back.
She questioned him nervously,
"What are you trying to do?"
Tanaka replied,
"I'm not trying to do anything. I just want to show Sawamura-san something."
As he spoke, he took off his backpack, reaching inside to pull out some manuscript paper.
Seeing this, Eriri mistakenly thought Tanaka was about to strip, and she screamed in panic,
"I'm not looking! Don't come any closer!"
She took two more steps back—only to realize she was in a dead end.
Her eyes locked onto Tanaka as she searched desperately for a way to escape.
At that moment, Tanaka pulled the manuscript paper out of his bag and handed it to her.
"Kashiwagi Eri-sensei, this is the doujin I drew. Please take a look."
"Eh?"
Eriri stared at the papers handed to her, momentarily stunned.
But when she clearly saw the illustration on the cover, her cheeks flushed.
Not from shyness—if anything, the more shameful the image, the more she liked it.
The redness came from excitement. The fear and tension on her face vanished completely, replaced by pure exhilaration.
"You draw doujinshi too?!"
...
Thirty minutes later.
Inside the Sawamura family mansion, Sawamura Sayuri heard the sound of the door opening and came out to greet them.
"Eriri, you're back—"
She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Tanaka Masao standing next to Eriri, the corner of her eye twitching slightly.
Seeing the youthful and beautiful Sawamura Sayuri, Tanaka hurriedly greeted her.
"Hello, onee-san. I'm Tanaka Masao."
Hearing herself called onee-san, Sayuri quickly adjusted her expression and smiled.
"So you're Tanaka. You're Eriri's classmate, right? Come in, make yourself comfortable."
After having Tanaka sit down in the living room, Sayuri used "preparing tea and snacks" as an excuse to pull Eriri away.
The two entered the kitchen. Sayuri closed the door and asked quietly,
"So… what's the deal with that Tanaka guy? Your new flame? Well, he doesn't look like a bad person, but his appearance is, um…"
Sayuri knew her daughter's feelings very well—she knew Eriri liked Aki Tomoya.
She was also fully aware of the conflict between the two.
Because of that, Sayuri had quite a few grievances toward Tomoya herself.
Not because she disliked otaku—she was an otaku woman too.
And it wasn't that Eriri refused to talk about otaku culture with Tomoya. She just didn't want to do it openly at school.
That was completely normal.
Otaku boys and girls were practically born targets for bullying at school.
Her daughter simply wanted a normal school life. What was wrong with that?
Did Tomoya really want Eriri to end up like him—enduring people's cold stares, with no friends at school except Tomoya himself—just to be satisfied?
But when it came to her love-brained daughter, Sayuri was helpless. Every time the topic came up, Eriri would dodge it.
Now Eriri was finally willing to interact with another boy—it's just that his looks didn't quite pass Sayuri's standards.
[Sigh… could it be that my daughter is into this type?]
Sayuri couldn't help thinking.
"New flame?!"
Eriri immediately bristled.
"Mom, what are you talking about?! There's no way I'd have a new flame—No, I don't even have someone I like!"
Her mind flashed to Aki Tomoya, and she turned her head away, tsundere-style.
Watching her daughter's reaction, Sayuri felt helpless and complained inwardly.
[My daughter, my daughter… being this tsundere really won't do.]
Knowing Eriri's personality, Sayuri didn't press further and changed the topic.
"Then who is this Tanaka? How did you two meet?"
"We just happened to meet," Eriri answered honestly.
"By coincidence?" Sayuri clearly didn't believe it. "You don't usually bring someone home just because of a coincidence."
Facing her mother's suspicious gaze, Eriri explained, "He's my junior. He came to ask me for advice."
"Oh? Advice about what?"
"Well… um… about drawing doujinshi."
Eriri felt there was no need to hide it from her mother and said it outright.
"Doujinshi?!" Sayuri widened her eyes.
"You mean that boy just now draws doujinshi too?"
Logically, Sayuri should've been happy that her daughter had found a friend with shared interests.
But… weren't their interests a little too special?
A guy and a girl discussing doujinshi—even doujin plots themselves didn't go that far.
In Sayuri's mind, a scene already formed: Tanaka and Eriri in a room, studying doujin plots together.
Studying… studying… and then moving on to hands-on practical research.
After hesitating for a moment, Sayuri spoke up.
"Then how about this—later, I'll look at them with you. Mom's an artist too, you know. I can give you some advice."
Hearing that, Eriri nodded.
"Okay."
She also felt that a lone man and woman discussing doujinshi wasn't ideal. Having her mom around would make things safer.
...
Tanaka Masao waited in the living room for quite a while before Eriri and her mother returned.
Each of them was carrying tea and snacks.
Sayuri smiled and said,
"Tanaka-kun, sorry to keep you waiting."
Looking at Sayuri's radiant smile, Tanaka suddenly felt his heart skip a beat and couldn't help thinking,
[Mrs. Sayuri's destructive power is way higher than Eriri's.]
Sitting stiffly on the sofa, he replied a little awkwardly,
"N-no, it's fine. I didn't wait that long."
Seeing Tanaka's nervousness, Sayuri didn't mind. She set the items down.
She personally poured him a cup of tea and said,
"Here you go, Tanaka-kun. Don't be shy."
"Thank you."
Once the three of them sat down, Sayuri spoke first.
"Tanaka-kun, I hear you draw doujinshi too, and you came today to ask for advice."
"Ah—!"