Hearing that, Eriri froze for a moment. After thinking about it, she awkwardly replied:
"Now that I think about it... I guess that's true."
After considering it, she realized that she herself had also debuted at a very young age.
"Eh? Wait!"
Eriri suddenly began sizing up Izumi Sagiri from head to toe, her eyes gradually widening as though she had discovered something.
"What is it?"
Not only was Izumi Sagiri confused, Sato also looked at Eriri strangely.
For some reason, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He had a bad feeling that Eriri was thinking about something very strange, and that it had a lot to do with him.
Eriri stared blankly at Izumi Sagiri, muttering as though chanting some kind of spell.
"Quiet, delicate, shut-in, silver hair, hikikomori, otaku girl, little sister, flat chest..."
Izumi Sagiri stared blankly at Eriri.
Who talked about someone like that the very first time they met? Even if it was Kashiwagi Eri-senpai, this was way too much!
Izumi Sagiri lightly pressed her lips together. Feeling embarrassed and annoyed, she stubbornly stared at Eriri.
Her eyes were a watery light blue, somewhat similar to Eriri's. However, Eriri's eyes were a deeper gemstone blue. Though both were beautiful and carried a fragile, pitiful charm.
Although Izumi Sagiri had not realized anything, Sato's expression changed slightly.
Eriri's muttering seemed to be describing Sagiri, but... those traits completely matched Sora's character settings too!
As expected!
The next second, Eriri looked toward him with a complicated expression.
Although she said nothing, Sato somehow read the words "you're a pervert" directly from her eyes.
Sato took a deep breath and still decided to defend himself, even though Eriri probably would not believe him.
Looking seriously at Eriri, he said:
"There's genuinely no connection between them!"
Coincidence!
Everything was just a coincidence!
"Pervert!"
Eriri's face was filled with disbelief as she spat out those two words.
Sato: "..."
As expected!
Izumi Sagiri sat there utterly confused. After enduring it for a while, she finally could not suppress her curiosity any longer and asked:
"O-Onii-chan... what are you talking about?"
"Onii-chan? Heh."
Eriri looked at Sato and sneered.
She picked up the proposal document Sato had prepared for Izumi Sagiri, flipped to a certain page, and began whispering into Sagiri's ear.
Gradually, Sato watched Izumi Sagiri's eyes widen little by little.
At the same time, the blush on her face grew hotter and hotter, eventually turning into a vivid crimson like fresh blood.
Whoosh!
Izumi Sagiri suddenly lifted her head to look at Sato, her eyes filled with hazy disbelief.
"O-Onii-chan?"
Her weak voice trembled heavily, just like the anxious and conflicted emotions in the girl's heart at this moment.
Shyness, disbelief, unease...
Sato looked calmly at Izumi Sagiri and said:
"Sagiri, you didn't actually believe what Eriri said, right? This is just a coincidence!"
At this point, all he could do was force himself to stay calm.
These character settings had somehow collided out of nowhere. Who was he supposed to complain to?
Although many of the traits were similar, different was still different.
As long as one had a clear image of both characters in mind, it would become obvious that although they shared many similarities on paper, the differences between them were actually even greater. These were completely unrelated people!
Sato carefully explained the differences between the two.
"Look, aside from the things Eriri mentioned, Kasugano Sora has plenty of other traits too. Like twin tails, ahoge, twin sibling, brother complex, frail, tsundere, weak-type girl, and so on."
Hearing this, Eriri muttered from the side:
"She could have twin tails too! You could just add the other traits whenever you want!"
Sato: "..."
He gave Eriri a deep look.
Are you sabotaging me?
Eriri timidly looked away for a moment, but suddenly realized that what she said actually made perfect sense. So she turned back around and fearlessly stared at Sato again.
I'm not wrong!
She looked at Sato firmly, as though saying: You definitely thought that too!
This Eriri is hopeless!
Sato suddenly thought after staring at her for a long while.
If Eriri had not said all this, then anyone seeing the character settings would naturally focus on things like twin tails, brother complex, weak-type girl, yandere tendencies, and the rest of the traits would merely seem secondary.
But after Eriri pointed it out, it created a preconceived impression that unconsciously drew attention toward those otherwise overlooked traits, making the other attributes seem secondary instead.
Truly harmful!
Eriri!
Sato never would have imagined that one day he would actually get sabotaged by Eriri, when she was just an Eriri!
"In that case..."
He looked at Eriri with a deep and meaningful gaze, suddenly revealing a faint smile.
"Then let's make her blonde instead!"
"Blonde! Twin tails! Shut-in! Otaku girl! Tsundere! Flat chest! Frail!"
Izumi Sagiri opened her mouth in shock, all the redness instantly disappearing from her face. Her gaze unconsciously drifted toward the stunned Eriri beside her.
Why did changing the hair color suddenly make her feel like Kashiwagi Eri-senpai? It actually felt like there were even more matching traits now!
Could it be... the real inspiration was actually Kashiwagi Eri-senpai?
"T-This..."
Eriri never expected the fire to suddenly spread to herself. Just like Izumi Sagiri, a thought involuntarily emerged in her mind.
The inspiration is me?!
Eriri and Izumi Sagiri reacted almost identically. First, their fair and lovely faces turned completely red, then their sapphire-blue eyes filled with mist, and finally...
Their eyes turned into spirals!
Eriri was even more embarrassed than Izumi Sagiri!
Smack!
Sato slapped a hand onto Eriri's shoulder, snapping her back to reality. Looking at her, he revealed a half-smiling expression.
"So, do you still think they look alike now?"
Eriri's face was bright red. In the end, she embarrassedly slapped his hand away and complained:
"Y-You're so annoying!"
Sato sat back down, happily admiring Eriri's embarrassed reaction.
Eriri was angry but did not dare say much. In the end, she cautiously glanced at the small girl beside her before stammering:
"After thinking about it... silver hair is still better! Silver hair is better!"
"Eh?!"
Izumi Sagiri let out a startled cry. Wouldn't that make it like her again?!
Sato lightly laughed while sitting there. In truth, none of them really resembled each other. Every one of them had completely different core traits.
Eriri was more of a textbook tsundere, Kasugano Sora's image centered around being frail and having a brother complex, while Izumi Sagiri was probably more of a... stalker-type?
They were completely different people!
"Well then, next I'll properly explain the character images to you all. In a few days I'll be returning to the countryside, so if you have questions afterward, you'll only be able to contact me through LINE."
"First, the Kasugano siblings..."