A newbie's anime life diary

With a sigh, Shiyu said, "I can't really explain it either. In short, you should go and take a look first. Not only me, but Yukino isn't suitable either, as she doesn't have the skills in this area."

Emmm~ You used to tease me about having designs on that couple, but now you're so trusting of me? Women, they're so fickle.

Despite a slight internal grumbling, Yukiteru still went out as instructed to search for Eriri's whereabouts.

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Finished at four o'clock. One word: exhausted.

P.S.: Three updates tomorrow.

Update a little later

I went out for a bit this morning and just got back. I'll start writing after I finish lunch. Sorry.

Then one hundred words ...

Chapter 206 Are you a child?

After class in the afternoon, Shiyu sent a message to Yukiteru, saying that she and Eriri were going to Aki Tomoya's place to discuss doujinshi games.

As for why Shinobu was chosen, it seems that Aki Tomoya wanted to add some plot content and therefore wanted to consult Shinobu's opinion. Yukiteru didn't think much of Aki Tomoya's decision not to arbitrarily change the plot and simply let Shinobu go.

"So how did things get to this point? I guess they saw that there were people from the club there, so they didn't want to say too much."

Walking down the corridor, Xuehui also felt a bit of a headache.

Although I only vaguely saw it before, Eriri's emotions seem to be very unstable.

"Fortunately, they didn't run outside the school, and they didn't go very far."

As he walked, he sensed the surroundings and asked a few students he encountered along the way before arriving at the teaching building across the street.

Following the stairs, Xuehui slowly descended to the first floor and arrived at a dead end at the bottom of the stairs.

"I said, are you a child? Why are you hiding here crying all by yourself?"

Eriri, who was hugging her knees and sobbing at the bottom of the dark staircase, froze for a moment. She slowly raised her head and saw Yukiteru squatting beside her, watching her. She sniffled and said with red eyes, "Yukiteru-kun, how...how did you get here?"

"Shiyu said she's not good at comforting people and was worried about your situation, so she asked me to come and check on you." As she spoke, Yuki also got up and squeezed in, sitting opposite Eriri. Fortunately, the school building was very clean, and even a corner where no one came was dust-free, otherwise Yuki would have definitely pulled Eriri out immediately.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"Ugh...sniff!!!" She sniffed hard, wiped the tears welling up in her eyes with her sleeve, and said haltingly, "It's nothing, don't worry. And that woman Kasumigaoka Utaha, when did she start caring about people?"

"By now, you should have figured it out. Shiyu is only occasionally a little sharp-tongued; she just hides it because she's not good with words. Did you really think she asked me to come here so I could laugh at you?"

"Hmph, that's quite possible." After denying it to the death, Eriri's emotions calmed down a bit. She rested her chin on her knees and said softly, "Um, sorry to have troubled you to come out and find me. We were talking about something earlier, weren't we?"

Shaking his head, Xuehui said in as calm a tone as possible, "It's nothing. It was already over when you arrived. I was just startled by your sudden reaction and didn't have time to call you back."

However, judging from Eriri's appearance, she probably wouldn't stop even if others were present.

For a moment, Yukiteru was at a loss for words. Since Eriri didn't want to say anything more, he didn't press her further and could only sit quietly opposite her. Eriri, however, seemed to gradually forget about Yukiteru and once again became lost in her own world.

'Huh... what on earth is going on...?'

Nearly 20 minutes passed like this. Yukiteru sighed silently, picked up his phone, and sent a message to Yukino.

It might take a little longer here, you guys go back first.

Half a minute later, Yukino replied.

Okay, I'll save you dinner.

The sound of a text message on her phone brought Eriri back to her senses. She looked up and stared at Yukiteru in shock.

"You... what are you doing here?"

"How long does your memory last? Are you a fish? I was talking to you just now!"

"Um...I'm...I'm sorry..." Eriri covered her head with her hands, looking at Yukiteru with some fear, and whispered, "Then...um, you're not going to ask?"

Leaning against the wall behind him, looking at Eriri who had lost her perfect young lady facade, he shook his head: "Say what you want to say, or it's okay if you don't want to say it. But I need to find a way to help you recover, otherwise the quality of the manga will be affected."

"Is this all you wanted? You capitalist who exploits labor! I'm already like this, I've even cried! A girl is crying in front of you and you don't even comfort her, but instead you're concerned about the manga?" Eriri slapped the ground and protested loudly, looking at Yukiteru with an angry expression.

Yukiteru looked at Eriri as if she were an idiot and said, "Come on, it's not my fault you're crying. And I don't think it's because you got dumped or anything like that... uh... could it really be?"

"I wasn't dumped! I'm not dating anyone!" Eriri protested loudly, her tone immediately softening. "But in a way, it's pretty much the same. Aki Tomoya said before that he didn't want to add to my workload, and that he'd found someone to replace me for the key animation work, so I can just focus on drawing manga."

"Just for this?"

Eriri immediately became displeased upon hearing this, glaring at Yukiteru before saying, "What do you mean, 'just for this'?! Who was it that begged me to do the key animation? And I already said that drawing manga isn't that stressful, but he wouldn't listen and even said I was showing off. Besides, let me tell you, that guy brought in a replacement without my permission! He even brought the person who did the background music and produced samples, and I didn't know anything about it!"

"The replacement? You mean that guy from Hashima Island? That junior of Aki-kun?" Hearing this, Yuki felt a little strange. Why did Aki Tomoya suddenly become so enthusiastic about the game's production? He had looked into it before, and judging from the other party's progress, as long as he didn't delay, he could definitely finish and press the disc before the winter CM.

Why did I suddenly pick up speed?

Thinking of this, Xuehui asked, "Didn't you ever think about persevering?"

"Of course! Although he said my name would still be on the credits for the game, but not Hoshima's, I'm still really upset. I designed the character and background art from scratch, how can I let someone else do it? But... but that guy said, 'Eri, you have more important things to do. Consider this a vacation from me as the producer. She can draw Hoshima according to your previous designs, there won't be any differences.' Doesn't that mean my skill level is about the same as that big-breasted middle school girl's?!"

"Hmm~ I understand now. It's probably because the later painting work wasn't too difficult, just a bit troublesome, so Aki-kun asked Hashima Izumi, who had always wanted to help him, to take over your work, right? It's just that there was something wrong with the way he spoke, which made you feel uncomfortable?" Based on Aki Tomoya's personality, Yukiteru filled in the gaps in Eriri's previous explanation. Seeing Eriri's reaction after listening, Yukiteru knew that it was probably correct.

"But it's no big deal, is it? If you don't want to draw it, you don't have to. I saw the last part of the work here. It really doesn't require much technical skill. Just let it go."

"No way!" Eriri crossed her arms and declared righteously, "If that's the case, I'd rather quit this production team. Didn't that guy find another junior illustrator who seems really talented? Let that guy do it!"

At this point, Yukiteru realized that Eriri had completely unleashed all the resentment she had harbored towards Aki Tomoya. At the beginning of the project, Eriri seemed to be constantly urging him on, and she worked very hard when drawing, showing that she was wholeheartedly trying to help him make the game.

I just don't know why it turned out like this later on.

'Um...it seems to have something to do with me? I'm the one who made Eriri a manga artist, completely shifting her focus.'

Thinking of this, Xuehui could only sigh and say, "It seems I also bear some responsibility. If I hadn't entrusted the manga to you, these things might not have happened."

"Huh? No, no!" Eriri said, her face slightly flushed. "I'm really grateful to you for this. I've already said I don't have any work pressure anymore. It's all because of Aki Tomoya's stubbornness. Hmm... although my reaction was a bit over the top this time, it's really decided that I won't help you anymore, even if you beg me! Humph!"

"Um...is this really a good idea? Your original purpose wasn't to help him make games or anything, was it?"

Upon hearing Yukiteru's words, Eriri's expression instantly froze, and then her eyes filled with a variety of unreadable emotions.

After a few seconds of pause, Eriri slowly said, "Um, thank you for today. I have something to do, so I'll head back now."

After saying that, he crawled out from under the stairs and ran upstairs, leaving Xuehui standing on the first floor staring blankly.

"What's wrong with this guy?"

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Yukino and Utaha had taken Yukiteru's schoolbag with them when they left, so Yukiteru went straight home.

"I am back!"

After changing into slippers and entering the living room, I saw that my older sister, Shizuka, was grading test papers while eating snacks. In the kitchen, Utaha and Yukino were busy at work.

"I'll go help them both."

"Mmm!" With a snack in her mouth, Sister Xiaojing responded without even looking up.

"Ha... You always slack off at school, but you insist on bringing it home to cook." Shaking his head, Xuehui went into the kitchen.

"Oh! All the preparations are done. Thank you for your hard work. I'll take over now." Xuehui said to the two girls who were busy at work, looking at all the ingredients that had been chopped.

"Let's go together, it'll be faster that way." Yukino glanced at Yukiteru but did not agree.

"Hmph, Yukino, if you want to learn, just say so. Why make excuses?" Utaha, standing beside her, nudged Yukino with her shoulder, causing Yukino to blush. Well, after yesterday's hotpot meal, Yukino knew she still had a lot to learn, and she couldn't afford to slack off.

Finally, Xuehui took charge of cooking dinner and also gave a live demonstration.

Meanwhile, back home, Eriri, after having dinner, quietly returned to her bedroom amidst Sayuri Sawamura's puzzled gaze.

Eriri suddenly pounced on the bed, her eyes filled with confusion.

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I shouldn't have watched Minami-ke while I was writing; slice-of-life anime is making my time slip away by one second at a time.

Chapter 207 Various Discussions

Originally, Eriri's idea was to use her job as the game's original author to spend more time with Aki Tomoya, thereby achieving her long-held goal.

However, at some point, this goal seemed to become less firm, and even Eriri herself was only awakened by Yukiteru's casual remark.

"What was I holding onto when I did all that? Was it because of our childhood friendship? Or because of a promise we made when we were kids?" Eriri rolled around a couple of times, clutching a pillow, before finally stopping in the middle of her big bed.

"Ugh!!! This is so troublesome!!!"

Just when Eriri was completely clueless, there was a knock on the door.

"Eri, I'm coming in~"

Then, the door opened, and Sawamura Sayuri, dressed in a kimono, came in carrying tea and sweets. "Oh dear, haven't you started drawing yet?"

"I'm not in the mood right now, and it wouldn't be very good even if I drew it." Eriri looked up at her mother, then lay back down.

After putting the things down, Sayuri looked at Eriri on the bed and asked with concern, "Did something happen?"

Eriri pursed her lips, glanced at her mother, then sat up and asked, "Mom, do you think that fortune-telling we did before was completely inaccurate?"

'I think it's quite accurate, it's just that everyone might be mistaken, but I don't want to see that happen.'

The thought flashed through her mind, and Xiaobaihe sat down by the bed, looking at her daughter and saying, "Let's talk about it."

After hesitating for a moment, Eriri nodded and recounted what had happened that day, including how Yukiteru found her and stayed with her.

After hearing this, Sayuri really didn't know what to say.

She had known Aki Tomoya since they were children. She felt that he got along well with Eriri, that he was cheerful, liked staying at home, and that he could talk to her, an elder, without feeling any distance between them.

Sayuri had always hoped that her daughter would eventually get together with Aki Tomoya, but unexpectedly, the two had a conflict when they were in elementary school, and this conflict lasted for several years until they entered high school, when it eased up a little.

When they reached their second year of high school, Sayuri learned from Eriri that Aki Tomoya had the idea of ​​creating a doujin game and had even brought Eriri into the group. Sayuri thought that things would finally develop in a positive direction between the two of them.