A newbie's anime life diary

It's a pity. It seems some things can't be forced. There were many problems along the way, and now this has happened.

'Seriously, even though my daughter is a bit of a tsundere, she's good in every way. Do hardcore otaku really have no interest in real-life girls? Anime characters are nice, but they have no future. This country is really doomed...'

After launching into a tirade against all the otaku in the country, Sayuri looked at the sullen Eriri and asked, "So, you mean you don't want to draw game illustrations for Tomoya-kun anymore?"

"Hmph, why should I help? Didn't he say I should focus on drawing manga? Fine, I'll just go draw manga then, so Yukiteru-kun won't accuse me of slacking off. Besides, didn't that guy say he found a girl who's just as good as him to help? Then there's no need for me. I'd rather use that time to read the novel and urge Yukiteru-kun to update the manga's plot. I'm currently stuck on the part before the boss fight, and it's really frustrating."

Seeing Eriri crumpling her own body pillow while talking to herself, Sayuri's eyes showed a hint of worry.

'Oh my god, is it really true? And Eriri herself hasn't even realized it. Is it really just a childhood friend illusion after all? Should I stop him? Although, in my opinion, putting aside his womanizing ways, that boy is actually quite nice, and seems very caring. Oh well, I'll find a chance to talk to him.'

Thinking about this, Sayuri made a decision, then took Eriri's hand and said, "Alright, since Tomoya-kun doesn't need your help, then forget it. But we've been friends since we were little, so we shouldn't ruin our relationship, you know? If you're not going to draw manga, then play games with Mom. We haven't played together much since you started drawing manga."

"That's because you've been playing otome games all the time." Eriri retorted instinctively before getting out of bed with Sayuri. The two of them went to the TV, turned on the game console, and picked up the controllers.

The perspective shifts back to Xuehui's home.

The atmosphere at home was unusually serious tonight. At the dining table in the living room, Yukihira and Shiho were each typing on their laptops, Shizuka was preparing lessons after grading papers, and Yukino was studying third-year material with a stack of past university entrance exam papers next to her.

Although she was preparing to take the entrance exam for Chiba University, a local university, Yukino still wanted to do her best. Moreover, Yukiteru had somehow managed to finish all the high school courses, leaving Yukino behind, so she started catching up these past few days. Previously, Yukino had a very leisurely life at school, but now her classmates were seeing her studying diligently, which was quite a sight.

Across the table, Shiyu stretched her arms after finishing typing a section of text. Love Metronome was now finished, and she planned to save drafts and make revisions for her new novel before publishing it after finishing her university entrance exams. This information was also announced through the official Twitter account of the paperback.

Although it's not planned for immediate publication, at least some content from the novel has been revealed. It's still a slice-of-life romance, but the official announcement specifically highlighted in bold red text, "This time it's not a tragic ending!" It's safe to say the official team is now treating this as a meme.

After the news was announced, the book fans who were heartbroken by Shi Yu's ending did not believe it until the official account issued three statements in a row before they finally put their guard down.

However, they are not particularly curious about this right now, since they still have to wait another six months. They are now having a different kind of complaint about Shiyu's Twitter.

Xuehui's previous "poisoning" series, posted twice a day, morning and evening, was incredibly soothing, but also attracted a lot of hatred. In the morning, Shiyu would post, Xuehui would repost, and in the evening, Xuehui would post again, Shiyu would repost, making everyone hungry before unleashing another wave of PDA – it was perfect.

[That old scoundrel is utterly depraved; he not only torments us physically, but also mentally!]

Burn them!!!

[Talented, famous, and supposedly good-looking—please, leave us single people who've been single for over 20 years alone!]

Holding her phone and looking at the messages on it, Shiyu smiled with pleasure.

Looking at Xuehui sitting in the main seat beside her, Shiyu asked in a low voice, "I haven't asked you before, how's the matter with that blond guy going?"

"I thought you'd forgotten. And, you clearly care about her, so why do you have to use such an offensive term of endearment?" Xuehui stopped what she was doing, looked up at Shiyu, and wondered if this was what they meant by "the deeper the love, the darker it becomes."

No, it's probably just a weird sense of humor. After all, it's quite funny to see Eriri get all worked up.

Xuehui felt a slight pang of guilt, but he ignored it the next second.

Seeing that Shiyu didn't answer but just smiled at him, Xuehui could only reply, "Don't worry, she just had a bit of an emotional outburst and recovered quite well after a while. However, it seems that she doesn't plan to continue participating in that fan game."

"Hmm...Is that so? Well, it's better to focus on the important manga rather than doujin games." After glancing at Yukiteru, Utaha nodded and turned her attention back to the computer. Yukiteru did the same and focused on his work again.

However, without Yukiteru noticing, Utaha picked up her phone and opened the chat group with Yukino and Shizuka.

I'm still a little worried, what should I do? —by Shiyu

[Didn't you send Yukiteru over yourself? Now you're worried?] by Yukino

[If you're worried, just ask. Xuehui won't really do anything to you.] by Xiaojing

Looking at the message above, Shiyu pouted and glanced at Shizuka and Yukino across the table, then started tapping on her phone again.

【Aren't you worried at all? That golden retriever definitely did something with Xuehui without our knowledge!】by Shiyu

【What could possibly happen? We've been keeping an eye on her all along. The most we could have done was rescue her during the school trip. Do you really think anything else could have happened in that short time besides rescuing her? Besides, doesn't Sawamura have a crush on a boy? Apparently, he's her childhood friend.】by Xiaojing

[An average-looking, bespectacled hardcore otaku—the epitome of a light novel male protagonist in every sense of the word.] by Yukino

Emmm~ That's a good critique, very accurate and sharp. However, Shiyu disagreed and continued:

[Childhood friends are the least reliable, especially since there's no harm without comparison. Besides, Sawamura's recent attitude is very confusing, making me increasingly worried. After what happened today, her instinct should have been to find a safe place to vent her emotions, so where did she go? Did she come to the Service Club to find you, Yukino?] by Shiyu

Upon hearing this, Yukino and Shizuka were both stunned. Although they were all fairly familiar with Eriri, none of them truly understood her as well as Yukiteru. When Eriri first joined the Service Club, besides drawing manga and bickering with Utaha, she spent most of her time chatting with Yukiteru.

Thinking about it this way, it really is something to be concerned about. Was it because I was too carefree that I didn't notice something so obvious?

The three of them looked up and exchanged glances.

Just then, Xuehui, who had been typing on the keyboard, suddenly said, "If you have something to talk about, you can go to the room. You don't need to use your phone here. It's been vibrating so much that I've noticed."

"..."

blushing x3

----------

--------

------

I can't finish it now, I'll pay it back in the next couple of days.

Chapter 208 Be careful, or you might end up with a pill!

Yukino and her two friends would often engage in such little acts, secretly chatting on their phones while ignoring you. If you asked them what they were talking about, they would just shake their heads and say nothing.

Come to think of it, if you don't mind knowing, why would you use a mobile phone?

But couldn't you guys just go inside the room? If I see it and you don't tell me, people will be really curious!

Well, out of sight, out of mind.

With a sigh, Xuehui quickly checked the text he had written, then clicked save, closed the notebook, and went to pet the cat.

"You guys are so nice, all you do is eat, play, and sleep all day, and you never hide anything from me..."

Playing with this one and touching that one, Xuehui felt instantly healed.

Seeing Yukiteru's state not far away, Yukino and Shizuka felt a little soft-hearted. Only Utaha saw this scene and immediately sent a message in the chat group.

Don't be fooled, this guy is definitely faking it! Try ignoring him for a few minutes and you'll see.

Yukino and Shizuka thought to themselves, "It'll only take a few minutes, let's give it a try."

Sure enough, after a few minutes, Xuehui stopped muttering to himself.

I almost believed it!

As time went by, the pace of life at Xuehui's house remained the same as before: those who needed to be busy were busy, and those who needed to slack off were slacking off.

At Eriri's house, after playing games for two hours, Eriri felt a bit bored and thought she should go draw manga instead, so she kicked Sawamura Sayuri out.

After watching her daughter take out her tools at the drawing table and start working seriously, Xiaobaihe closed the bedroom door.

After entering the study and thinking for a moment, Xiaobaihe took out her phone and dialed a number.

The call connected, and after a few seconds it was answered: "Moshi moshi? Little Lily..."

"Hmm? Tomoya-kun?"

"Sister Sayuri..." Aki Tomoya shivered on the other end of the phone, then immediately changed his words, which also attracted the attention of the other two people in the room.

Nodding in satisfaction, Sayuri continued, "Tomoya-kun, how's your game going?"

"Oh, a game? It's in production right now. To be honest, I'm learning everything on the spot, and it feels so complicated!" With the phone between his shoulder and head, Aki Tomoya continued typing on the keyboard. "Don't worry, I'll definitely give Eriri a copy when the game is finished, and Sayuri... of course, my sister will too."

"Then thank you in advance, Tomoya-kun. By the way, do you really not need Eriri's help with the illustrator's work?"

"Ah, yes, the later parts aren't too complicated, but they will take a lot of time. But Eriri still has her manga to work on, so I asked my junior artist, who is also an artist. Her skills are pretty good, so she should be able to replace Eriri. That way, Eriri can focus on drawing her manga, right?"

"Sigh~ Does Tomoya-kun still know any juniors like that?"

Aki Tomoya picked up a book from the side, looked at it, and then started typing on the keyboard again, saying, "Ah, it's a third-year junior high school student named Hashima Izumi. He also released a doujinshi at the summer convention before, and the quality was great."

"Hōjima... sailing out to sea?" Sayuri repeated the name softly, instantly remembering what people in her circle had told her about the event. This Hōjima sailing out to sea must be related to that doujin circle "rouge en rouge," right?

Of course, Lily wouldn't ask these questions. She already knew most of what she wanted to know, so she said, "It would be best if the progress wouldn't be delayed. Alright, Tomoya-kun, do your best. I look forward to your game's completion."

After hanging up the phone, Sayuri Sawamura pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply.

"Never mind, I'll go take a bath."

Meanwhile, after Aki Tomoya hung up the phone, Hyodo Michiru, who was sitting on his bed, strummed her guitar and asked, "Hey, Tomoya, who was that on the phone? Do you know any older sisters?"

“Yes, senior, I didn’t know you knew someone like that!” On the other desk, Izumi Hashima, who was seriously drawing a background picture, chimed in.

"Ah, it's not 'older sister,' it's Eriri's mother. You've probably already figured it out." Aki Tomoya continued working diligently, explaining directly and without hesitation, "Aunt Sayuri always likes to act young. She doesn't like being called old when she meets younger people, so she's forced to call her 'older sister.'"

As he spoke, he immediately turned around and said, "Michiru, didn't I tell you not to come into my room to play guitar? Don't you even know what time it is?"

"Huh? But isn't Izumi-chan here too?"

"...Oh right, I almost forgot the time. Going out to sea, isn't your brother coming to pick you up yet?" Aki Tomoya looked at the time on his computer and realized it was already past 9 o'clock. This junior had been helping him at his house since evening, and it had been quite a while.

"It's okay, it's okay. My brother already messaged me. He'll be here in about ten minutes, just in time to finish this painting!" The little girl on the boat trip to Hashima wasn't worried at all and continued painting with great enthusiasm. Although she was taking over someone else's job, she still happily accepted when Aki Tomoya approached her.

Aki Tomoya nodded after hearing this: "Is that so? That's good."

It seems that the enthusiasm for work here is also very high, and the person who started all of this is currently in his room, leisurely doing his homework while reflecting on the events of the day.

"I should find some time to apologize to Eriri. I only wanted to boost Aki-kun's enthusiasm for work and prevent him from procrastinating, but this is what happened. And since Kasumigaoka-senpai knows about this, does that mean the other members of the Service Club know too? Hmm... I guess I should go and apologize. If I say it publicly, everyone will believe me."

The girl played with her long, flowing hair for a moment, then stopped thinking about it.

The next day, Eriri, seemingly recovered, returned to the Service Club and continued working on her manga.

"Hey, Yukiteru-kun, how about this combat move? I came up with it based on a game I found last night, but something feels off."

As always, Eriri discussed the content of the manga with Yukiteru while holding the line art. Although Yukiteru didn't know much about manga, he was quite familiar with the battle moves and other elements, and he offered his suggestions without reservation.

Although the two were just having normal work-related conversations, Shiyu noticed something different and took out her phone, this time turning off the vibration.

[I finally understand. Perhaps even Sawamura himself didn't realize that he had a smile on his face the whole time he was talking to Yukiteru. Tsk, he was the same yesterday, and I saw him this morning looking listless. But now he's completely different.] —by Shiyu

[Is that so? I think it's quite normal. We're all people here who know her hidden hobbies and work, so it's normal to feel relaxed around her, right? I still think you're overthinking it. Didn't you see that Yukiteru acted very normally the whole time?] by Yukino

[That's because he assumes that situation won't happen, which is why he's acting so calm. Hmph, let's see what he does when things develop.] by Shi Yu

[Since there are risks, why not stop them in advance?] by Yukino

[Of course I'll stop it, but I can't make it too obvious.] by Shiyu

Putting down their phones, the two ended their brief two-minute conversation and went back to their own business. However, the dangerous aura that had emanated from them in that short time caused Hachiman, who was standing not far away, to break out in a cold sweat after just a fleeting glance.

'What could these two be discussing so seriously...' Thinking this, Hikigaya, who had already seen through everything, glanced at Yukiteru, who was discussing the manga with Eriri, and silently prayed, 'Friend, I hope you won't lose any limbs in the future.'

And so, Friday arrived.