"I brought you some— I'll just leave it by the door. You two carry on."
After taking in the scene before her, Sawamura Sayuri silently set the things down on the floor and, for good measure, pulled the door shut.
Faintly, her voice could still be heard: "So, um, I'm heading out for a bit. I'll be back in about two hours—it'll only ever be later, never earlier, so you two can relax."
"W-wait, wait, it's not what you think!"
Eriri shouted in despair, but by then Sawamura Sayuri had already gone downstairs, a look of surprise still on her face.
Up until now, she had always assumed her daughter liked Aki Tomoya.
In fact, from the way her daughter usually acted around Aki Tomoya, anyone could tell she really did have some feelings for him.
But now she had somehow ended up tangled together with Shirai Mio. Just what had happened in the meantime?
Sawamura Sayuri was a little curious.
Still, if she went and asked her daughter directly, her daughter would probably fly off the handle.
Better to wait for the right moment and feel things out indirectly.
Meanwhile, after Sawamura Sayuri shut the door, Eriri had already rolled over to one side. She let out a faint sigh, then muttered under her breath, "Why does it feel like something like this always happens whenever I'm with you?"
It had been the same at school. While she was helping Shirai Mio gather reference material, the club president had caught them.
Now she had been walked in on by her own mother. Even Eriri had no idea what she was supposed to say.
Hearing Eriri, Shirai Mio blinked and said, "Um, this time I really didn't do anything, so you can't pin the blame on me."
"I know, I know. This time it's my fault."
Her emotions had gotten a little worked up just now, and she had shoved Shirai Mio a bit too hard by accident.
As for why she had gotten so worked up, Eriri figured it was probably because she was seeing Shirai Mio again after a while.
Though she was reluctant to admit it, after seeing Shirai Mio her mood really did lift far more than usual.
It was only for the sake of her image that she kept working so hard not to show it.
Her mom had seen them anyway, so she would just find a time later to explain it properly.
More important than that right now was getting Shirai Mio to look over whether there was anything wrong with her new work.
Eriri walked to her worktable, took out the draft she had prepared in advance from the drawer, then went over to Shirai Mio and handed it to her.
"Weren't you going to check it over?"
"Never mind. I can't be bothered."
"Then I won't hold back."
As she spoke, Shirai Mio opened up the draft of Eriri's new work.
Shirai Mio read it very carefully. You could tell from her serious expression—sometimes she went back over a single page several times.
Watching the earnest Shirai Mio, Eriri suddenly thought that a serious white-haired little bitch was actually rather appealing.
She carefully took out her phone and snapped a photo of Shirai Mio.
Hearing the shutter, Shirai Mio said without looking up, "Since when did you learn to sneak photos?"
"This isn't sneaking. I'm taking it out in the open."
"And do you have my permission?"
"Would you really not let me take it?"
"No."
"Then it's fine." Even as she said it, Eriri looked down at the photo she had just taken.
Anyone who didn't know better would probably mistake it for Shirai Mio seriously reading a book—when in truth she was seriously reading a doujinshi.
Perhaps thinking of something, the corners of Eriri's mouth curved into a faint smile.
Time ticked by. Eriri's new work wasn't very long, but Shirai Mio read it a little too carefully, so naturally it took a while.
After turning the last page, Shirai Mio silently closed the draft. She mulled it over before finally speaking. "I didn't expect you'd go and draw another yuri work. Don't tell me you've gotten hooked on drawing them?"
"As if. I just have a little interest in the genre, and inspiration happened to strike, so this work came out of it."
"I can tell your new work has shades of that earlier piece of yours in it."
The earlier piece Shirai Mio was referring to was the very first yuri doujinshi Eriri had ever drawn.
"That said, compared to that one it's changed quite a lot. At the very least, I think it's pretty good."
The work Eriri had drawn before, in her own view, had been more like her imagining herself in a relationship with Shirai Mio; the things that happened in it were basically all things she and Shirai Mio had actually done in real life.
Because nothing strange happened in it, it barely qualified as all-ages.
But her new work was different. Aside from its still-delicate storytelling, it had plenty of the kind of scenes people loved to see.
"Don't just keep praising me. Tell me if there's anywhere that needs fixing."
"For now I don't feel there's anything that needs fixing."
For someone as well-read as Shirai Mio to give an answer like that was proof enough of Eriri's talent for drawing.
"Even you can't find any problems with it?"
"Not for now. Once you've finished it, I'll take another look."
"Fine."
Eriri gave a light nod, then put the draft away.
After that she returned to Shirai Mio's side and asked curiously, "I remember you invited me out to gather reference material a while back. How's your new work coming along?"
"All I can say is, soon, soon."
"If you ask me, you're just flaking and flaking." As if Eriri didn't know Shirai Mio—when she said things like that, she had definitely only just created the folder for it.
"Don't put it like that. I've just been a bit busy lately, so I haven't had time to work on it."
Hearing Shirai Mio say she was busy, Eriri suddenly remembered something important. She walked over to the bookshelf and took down the copy of Honkai that Shirai Mio had sold her.
"This novel of yours—Volume 1 laid down so much groundwork. Don't tell me you're going to suddenly cut down an important character in Volume 2?"
"How could I? I'm a thoroughly law-abiding citizen, I'll have you know."
"Can't you talk like a normal person for once?"
Shirai Mio gave a soft laugh. As a transmigrator—and one in a parallel world at that—the references she tossed out were ones no one could ever catch, which left her looking like a bit of a dummy.
"By the way, Eriri, aren't you hungry?"
"I finished breakfast not that long ago, and you're asking me if I'm hungry?"
"Haven't you noticed? It's already past one in the afternoon."
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