The next day.
Lunch break, rooftop of the Private Mixed High School teaching building.
Summer was gradually nearing its end, but the temperature had not dropped much at all. The blazing sun hung high in the sky, and the heat remained unbearable.
When Sato arrived at the rooftop, he was somewhat surprised to discover there was now a sun umbrella there.
"Where'd this come from?"
"I got it from the student council. After the school festival, there were a bunch of unused parasols getting put into storage, so I saw one and applied to borrow it."
A puzzled expression appeared on Sato's face.
"The student council actually approved it?"
Sawamura Eriri rolled her eyes adorably at him. Her golden twin tails shone brilliantly beneath the sunlight, looking almost as though they had been forged from gold itself.
"I'm the school's treasure, you know!"
Hearing that, Sato bared his teeth slightly but did not argue, because Eriri was actually right.
Private Mixed High School was a prestigious academy focused on all-around development. Each grade basically had four different specialized divisions.
For example, there was the regular class Sato belonged to, the arts class Eriri attended, Yukinoshita Yukino's international education class, and the sports class for athletic prodigies.
The regular classes focused on domestic university advancement, while the international education classes mainly catered to students planning to study abroad. As for the arts and sports classes, those spoke for themselves.
Sawamura Eriri, meanwhile, was an artistic prodigy personally recruited by the principal with considerable effort. Rumor had it that just last semester alone, she had brought several major painting gold awards back to the school, making the principal so happy he could hardly stop smiling.
With that level of talent, naturally she was treated like a treasure. As long as Eriri claimed she was using the rooftop for artistic practice, a small matter like this was no issue at all.
"You've got this much talent, yet you use it to draw doujins. Sigh..."
Sato suddenly let out a sigh.
Sawamura Eriri immediately glared at him with an unfriendly expression.
"You got a problem with that? I'll bite you, you know!"
As she spoke, the girl bared her cute little canine teeth. Looking fierce while acting adorable, she resembled a spoiled little kitten pretending to be intimidating.
Sato could not help laughing before seriously declaring, "What I mean is that it's amazing! Artists with great skill should absolutely draw doujins for the benefit of mankind! Please continue working hard in the future, Kashiwagi Eri-sensei, and produce even more works!"
In an instant, Sawamura Eriri's face turned completely red.
The girl glared at him in embarrassment and fury.
"If anyone else hears that name, you're dead!"
"Oh? What, your family's SPs are going to kidnap me?"
SP could roughly be understood as security personnel or bodyguards.
"That's right! And then we'll stuff you into a concrete pillar and dump you in Tokyo Bay!"
"Damn, that ruthless? Aren't you supposed to be a diplomat's daughter? Why do I suddenly feel like you're the young lady of some yakuza organization?"
"None of your business!"
After joking around for a while, Sato sat down beneath the parasol.
Looking toward the distant blue sea, he comfortably narrowed his eyes. Sitting under a beach umbrella while enjoying the ocean breeze blowing in from afar really did feel exceptionally relaxing.
Japan was an island nation, after all. Sea winds blew year-round. Not only was the sky a clear brilliant blue, but even the air felt remarkably fresh.
"Where's Kasumigaoka Utaha? She didn't come?"
"That woman doesn't come every day either! I'm the only one constantly stuck here working on drafts!"
Sawamura Eriri tightened her grip on her pen, sounding somewhat resentful.
In the end, she deflated like a balloon and slumped onto the desk, pitifully staring at Sato with her sapphire-like eyes.
"Drawing manga is so exhausting... Is it still too late for me to switch to writing novels?"
Hearing that, Sato helplessly shook his head before delivering a hand chop to her head.
Thunk!
"Yah!"
Sawamura Eriri whimpered as she clutched her head and pouted tearfully at Sato.
What was that for?!
Sato calmly said, "No industry is easy. The thing you're best at is always the easiest."
"I really don't know how someone who was struggling over story plots not long ago suddenly managed to say something like that today. Or did drawing manga somehow open up your spiritual meridians?"
Sato glanced at Eriri as he spoke.
Although she had no idea what "opening spiritual meridians" meant, Eriri understood the rest.
She immediately let out an awkward laugh and stopped talking.
"Alright, let me see the drafts from before. How many chapters have you drawn?"
"Mm... around seven or eight chapters."
Sato accepted the manuscript and began reading.
When he saw the protagonist, he suddenly froze.
"A female lead?"
"Yeah! Is that not okay?"
Sawamura Eriri asked nervously.
"It's not that it's not okay..."
Sato's expression became somewhat subtle.
If that was the case, then the protagonist's reactions after eating the food really would look exactly like a doujin.
The inspiration Sato gave Eriri came from a manga-adapted drama he had watched in his previous life, "The Solitary Gourmet."
The main story revolved around a gourmet with his own private studio who constantly traveled around for business. During his trips, he would taste local cuisine or seek out good little restaurants based on his experience.
Sato had simply added some extra elements into it, such as the reactions he himself had when tasting Yukihira Jouichirou's cooking back then. He also had Eriri exaggerate those reactions in a much more dramatic style.
For example, the kind of style often seen in doujins.
A female lead was fine. A female lead was good...
Sato silently repeated this to himself several times.
If it had been a male protagonist, he definitely would have imagined Uncle Gorou (Mike Global Ver.) instead.
And if Uncle Gorou made those expressions...
Ugh!
Sato involuntarily shuddered.
That was way too horrifying, wasn't it?!
Sorry, Uncle!
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Sato suddenly shiver, Sawamura Eriri asked nervously.
Could there be something wrong with her manuscript?
Sato quickly replied, "Nothing, it's nothing."
"I'll read these drafts carefully. After club activities this afternoon, I'll write up my comments and give them to you after school."
"Mm."
(A/N: The ultimate food companion drama, "The Solitary Gourmet.")
(T/N: Link
[Official] Solitary Gourmet 1 Episode 1: Yakitori and Fried Rice in Monzen-nakacho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXODT44KKkg&pp=ygUUVGhlIFNvbGl0YXJ5IEdvdXJtZXQ%3D
)