I, Aki Tomoya, will not be a simp.

The beginning of May was calm, probably because of the upcoming Golden Week holiday, and everyone's attention was focused on how to spend it.

After April ends, there will be another five-day holiday, and those who plan ahead have already decided on their schedules beforehand.

On the first day of the long weekend, Aki Tomoya was all alone at home.

My parents are going back to their hometown in Nagano during Golden Week. I've mentioned it to Aki Tomoya a few times, asking him to come along so he can relax during this Golden Week.

However, Aki Tomoya told them to go back to Nagano and relax, and not to worry about him.

His parents didn't insist any further, but repeatedly reminded Aki Tomoya to take care of himself. After leaving him his living expenses for Golden Week, they took the Shinkansen back to their hometown in Nagano, leaving Aki Tomoya alone at home.

Aki Tomoya wasn't worried about being alone at home, even though his family members had been away on business trips quite often throughout the year.

After packing his reference books into his schoolbag, Aki Tomoya, dressed in casual clothes, left home on his bicycle at nine o'clock in the morning and arrived at the school at ten o'clock.

For others, the Golden Week is a day of rest, but for those preparing for exams, there's really no difference.

Especially in larger private schools, during holidays, students would often participate in intensive training camps or group stays.

However, judging from the situation at Aomine Academy, Aki Tomoya is unlikely to consider a training camp. After all, Aomine Academy isn't as wealthy as other academies, and there are still differences between academies.

Fortunately, Aki Tomoya's tutor was quite excellent.

The students who were preparing for the exams at the academy arrived at the academy around ten o'clock.

"A diagnostic test is the first thing we need to do this month. This is An Yi's test."

Once everyone had arrived, Mr. Tsubota, who had been preparing since mid-April, had printed out different exam questions for different students in the academy.

Even during Golden Week, Mr. Tsubota still looked full of energy, and his reassuring aura inspired the students at the school.

"Thank you!"

After receiving the diagnostic test paper, Aki Tomoya paid a little attention to the other people.

What he admired most about Mr. Tsubota was this: he was the only tutor at the entire Aomine Academy, yet he was able to provide one-on-one tutoring for each student and create different learning plans for each individual.

Aki Tomo didn't know exactly how much time and effort Mr. Tsubota had spent preparing for this diagnostic test for everyone in early May, but one thing he was very clear about was that Mr. Tsubota had spent.

On the road to exam preparation, it's not just the students who are constantly striving, but also the teachers who dedicate their efforts to getting their students into their desired universities.

"It's 10:20 now. Please finish the first test paper by 12:00. We will continue this afternoon, so please hurry!"

Mr. Tsubota raised his right hand, looked at the watch on his wrist, and said solemnly.

In early May, the preliminary exam for Qingfeng Academy began.

……

Around 1 p.m., a furtive figure appeared on the street outside the Aki residence.

Wearing a beret that concealed her beautiful golden hair, dressed in overalls and a dark brown short-sleeved shirt, with black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, Eriri looked left and right before sneaking to the door.

"Cough cough... Tomoya, um, um... um!"

Before ringing the doorbell, Eriri rehearsed what she would say upon meeting, and then bit her tongue in a moment of awkwardness.

Covering her mouth, Eriri squatted at the entrance of the comfortable house, her face flushed, still a little worried that the noise she had just made might have disturbed others.

After a month of consideration, Eriri felt that restoring their normal childhood friendship was now urgent.

Even though Aki Tomoya is no longer an otaku, we can still be friends, right?

Looking back on the past, Eriri doesn't know who she'll be trying to prove to if she tries again.

Revenge against those prejudiced people?

Or has he truly reached a point where he has to fight alone?

With Aki Tomoya completely abandoning his otaku lifestyle, Eriri discovers that among the people in the vicinity, it seems that only Kasumigaoka Utaha is still an otaku.

But can they be considered comrades-in-arms?

Although Kasumigaoka Utaha had approached her a while ago and expressed her desire to collaborate, Eriri, out of caution, did not agree.

Eriri, who has now come to Aki's house, has no intention of bringing Aki Tomoya back into the otaku circle.

As a childhood friend, Eriri felt that if they wanted to repair their relationship and at least remain normal friends, she should at least offer her condolences like a normal friend.

The boy and girl, who were childhood sweethearts, were preparing for university entrance exams. After the stressful month of April following the start of the semester, the upcoming Golden Week holiday seemed like a good opportunity.

Eriri thought that Aki Tomoya would probably take a break during Golden Week.

However, what she didn't know was that there was actually no one in the Aki residence in front of her.

Aki Tomoya's parents have returned to their hometown in Nagano, and Aki Tomoya himself is currently at the academy.

rest?

This is certainly necessary for students preparing for exams, but how to arrange rest time is also an important consideration.

Eriri, who is prone to procrastination, may not be able to appreciate the strong self-discipline of test takers.

For students preparing for exams, the word "rest" is almost a luxury.

"Hi, long time no see, how have you been!"

Despite her enthusiastic greeting, Eriri's smile didn't last long before it faded.

She sighed, a hint of bitterness in her emerald eyes.

Ding-dong-

The doorbell suddenly rang. Eriri looked up and stared at the door in disbelief. She hadn't touched it, so why was the doorbell ringing?

"Eri, you've already come all this way, and you don't even have the courage to ring the doorbell. You've disappointed me so much!"

A beautiful woman in a gorgeous kimono pointed her folding fan at Eriri, her eyes revealing a look of disappointment and frustration.

She hesitated in front of the boy's house, having already mustered the courage to come all the way here, so why didn't she have the courage to ring the doorbell?!

Since she's so hesitant, let her, as her mother, give her a push.

"What have you done?!"

Eriri cried out, her expression somewhat flustered. She hadn't actually figured out what to say to Aki Tomoya. There was already a rift between them, and their fragile friendship was not only not going to be repaired, but was now on the verge of collapse.

Seeing Eriri's timid appearance, Sayuri Sawamura shook her head at her daughter with her folding fan and sighed, "Silly child, Aki isn't home right now. Calm down!"

The first problem is indecisiveness, the second is information gathering, and in short, Eriri is still too inexperienced!

I still have to step in and help resolve my daughter's friendship crisis!

Chapter 30 Warning: Drowning in the River!

Aki Tomoya and Eriri are childhood friends.

Eriri and Sayuri Sawamura are mother and daughter.

When a rift develops between Aki Tomoya and Eriri, it's usually Sawamura Sayuri who first notices it.

From Eriri's daily actions, her absent-mindedness when drawing, and her casualness when outlining, many details made Sayuri Sawamura understand what Eriri had gone through.

love?

Let those little brats, who haven't even grown all their hair yet, wait two more years before saying those two words.

In Sawamura Sayuri's view, this is at most a matter of friendship, and it doesn't even reach the level of love.

At least from her adult perspective, the friendship between her daughter and Aki Tomoya was special and much more fragile than that of other childhood friends.

If you ask why, it's because when friendships become like working behind enemy lines, Sayuri Sawamura is worried about the way the two of them communicated in previous years.

Now, it seems that the conflict between them has finally erupted.

Before May, in late April, all of Eriri's unusual behavior was noticed by Sayuri Sawamura.

She has learned what happened through her own means.

Simply put, her friend is busy preparing for exams and doesn't have time to play with Eriri. Especially since their way of making friends is so complicated, there's no need to create a rift between them if things were more normal.

"Why are you here, Mom?!"

Eriri clutched her head and cried out, wondering how long her mother had been following her without her noticing.

"That's not the point!"

Sawamura Sayuri walked over and grabbed Eriri's hand, staring intently into her eyes as if she were interrogating Eriri's soul.

"The key point is that hesitation at crucial moments is unacceptable, Eriri!!"

It's admirable that she mustered up the courage to stand up for her friend, but the way she hesitated at the door just now made Sayuri Sawamura, as her mother, a little anxious.

You're already here, what's the meaning of not daring to ring the doorbell?

Since she already knew that Aki Tomoya wasn't home but had gone to the academy, Sawamura Sayuri didn't hesitate to help her daughter.

"Wait, wait a minute! How do you know Lun isn't here?"

Eriri asked anxiously, her eyes filled with doubt.

Why was the mother here, and why did she know about Aki Tomoya?