After lunch, Shin stayed in the living room with Kessoku Band, playing party games on the console.
Japan's gaming industry was indeed advanced, with an endless variety of party games on consoles. When inviting friends over, there was no need to worry about awkward silences due to poor conversation skills.
Of course, another reason for choosing games was that Hitori Gotou could barely utter a word otherwise.
Considering her socially anxious personality, Shin decided to lighten the mood with games—communication through gameplay was probably more comfortable for Hitori than direct conversation.
And indeed, once she had a controller in hand, Hitori became much more natural, occasionally even speaking up during the party games.
After all, at home, Hitori spent her days either playing the guitar or staring at her computer.
Though she hadn't played many console games, as a video content creator, she had some exposure to them.
…
Just as Shin was engrossed in the game with everyone, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Holding the controller with one hand and continuing to steer his Mario Kart character on-screen, he picked up the phone with the other and glanced at it.
The screen clearly displayed "Eriri"—a surprise, since she rarely contacted him on weekends.
Did she want to drag me to some weird place again?
After a brief hesitation, Shin set down the controller, gestured to the others in the living room that he was stepping out to take the call, and left.
Once he found a quiet corner, he answered, immediately hearing Eriri's complaining voice through the receiver:
"You're so slow! What were you doing?"
It sounded like she was angry, but that wasn't the case. She just had a habit of speaking this way with people she was close to.
With strangers, Eriri was far more polite, which often gave off an air of refined elegance.
Of course, Shin was used to this tone—especially after hearing it during their more *intimate* moments.
To him, it didn't carry any negativity. If anything, it felt a bit like playful banter.
"I was entertaining guests. Bocchi and Kita brought their band over to my place today," Shin replied with a chuckle. There was no reason to hide it—Eriri probably already knew.
"…Oh, right. I think they mentioned it during lunch earlier."
Eriri seemed to recall the conversation from the lunch group, where Kessoku Band had mentioned visiting Shin's house over the weekend.
At the time, Megumi had even asked if Eriri wanted to join, but she had declined, citing "important weekend plans."
Though Shin hadn't asked, he could guess—those "important plans" were likely related to her doujinshi.
Since most of her weekdays were occupied with schoolwork, weekends were her only free time to work on her art.
"So, why'd you text? Want to 'study' again?" Shin teased.
That said, even if Eriri invited him out now, he'd probably refuse.
Kessoku Band's members were still at his place—it'd be rude for the host to abandon them just to meet another girl.
Not that maintaining ambiguous relationships with multiple girls wasn't already rude, but some decorum had to be maintained.
"Not that… Honestly, I'm relieved Gotou and the others are visiting you today."
Eriri didn't ask him to come out. Instead, her tone sounded almost relieved.
"You're free tomorrow, right?"
"Tomorrow? Yeah, no plans."
Shin thought for a moment—tomorrow was indeed open. *Was she trying to reserve his time?*
Sure enough, upon hearing his answer, Eriri continued:
"There's a comic convention tomorrow. Can you come with me?"
"A convention?"
It clicked—tomorrow must be the day her doujinshi was being sold.
Back when Eriri was racing against her deadline, she'd even risked bringing her artwork to school.
Now, it seemed the release was just two weeks away—no wonder she'd been so desperate.
Though that desperation had led to… quite the unexpected development between them.
··· (Flower petals…) ····
"Sure. Are you selling your book in person?"
"Of course not! I'm having someone else handle it!"
Eriri sounded exasperated—there was no way she'd sell her doujinshi herself.
Even with a disguise, someone might recognize her. Her reputation at school would be ruined.
Her mother, Sayuri Sawamura, would handle sales at the booth, while Eriri planned to wander the event incognito, checking on her book's performance.
As long as she wasn't at the booth, the chances of being recognized were slim—few would pay attention to a random masked girl in the crowd.
In the past, she'd gone alone. But now that she knew Shin was a fellow fan, she wanted to bring him along.
It might not be a conventional date setting, but to Eriri, this *was* a date invitation.
"Alright, see you tomorrow then."
Hearing the slight nervousness in her voice, Shin agreed.
For a tsundere like Eriri to openly invite him—even if she didn't call it a date—was a big step.
She must've mustered a lot of courage.
"Great! You better not bail on me!"
As expected, Eriri's voice brightened instantly. He could practically hear her jumping for joy through the phone.
After finalizing the time, Shin hung up and turned to head back—only to find Megumi standing silently behind him.
Honestly, in the mundane world where nothing threatened him, Shin didn't constantly monitor his surroundings with heightened awareness.
So Megumi's sudden appearance genuinely startled him.
"What's up, Megumi?"
Putting away his phone, he smiled at her.
"You were just talking to Eriri, right?"
Megumi had overheard the call—though faintly, she recognized the voice from their many shared lunches.
Under Shin's slightly surprised gaze, she stepped into his arms, wrapped hers around his waist, and buried her face in his chest, mumbling:
"I'm a little jealous. Can you comfort me?"
To be continued…
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