A newbie's anime life diary

After Sayuri Sawamura returned to the villa, Yukiteru said to Eriri, who was standing next to him, "Alright, it's almost time, let's get in the car."

"..." Eriri glanced into the car, but didn't move, just quietly watching Yukiteru.

"...Okay, I'll sit in the middle."

It seems this child still doesn't want to sit with Shiyu.

While thinking, Yukiteru got into the car first and sat in the middle of the back row, while Eriri sat to his left.

"Oh dear, I was hoping to deepen my relationship with Sawamura-kun. It's rare to see someone so beautifully made up. Looks like I'm not getting the chance." Passing over Yukiteru, Utaha looked at the somewhat nervous Eriri and gave her a sly smile.

"Huh? Who wants to deepen our relationship? I think you're up to no good. If you, Kasumigaoka Utaha, want to simply deepen our relationship, then I, Sawamura Spencer Eriri, should read my name backwards!"

"Ah, there's nothing I can do about it." Shiyu spread her hands and looked at Yukiteru beside her. "I'm sorry, Yukiteru-kun. You went to a lot of trouble to ask me to agree to get along well with Sawamura-kun, but he doesn't seem to appreciate it."

Eriri's mouth dropped open as she looked at Yukiteru.

Upon receiving Yukiteru's affirmative nod, Eriri's expression froze instantly, accompanied by her cheeks growing increasingly red.

"Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? That... isn't... that... I..."

Seeing Eriri's flustered and tearful state, Yukiteru gave Shiho a disgruntled look.

"See? I told you she wouldn't appreciate it."

"It's all because of the profound influence you had on her in the past."

"That's because this child is just too fun to resist."

Too lazy to pay attention to Shiyu, Yukiteru simply reached out and grabbed Eriri's hands, which were twitching around. After Eriri's pigtails swung around a couple of times, he said, "Alright, shouldn't you stop for a bit?"

"Ugh...I'm...I'm sorry, Yukiteru-kun, I didn't know this was your idea." Originally, the girl thought that Utaha was trying to mess with her, but she didn't expect that it was really Yukiteru's idea to help the two of them get along. This really made Eriri a little flustered.

Although Yukino and Yui had said before that Utaha wasn't always against her because she disliked her, Eriri always thought they were just trying to protect Utaha's image, so she didn't really believe it.

With her hands held by Yukiteru and her cheeks close together, Eriri should have been very nervous, but her attention was now focused on Utaha by the other car door.

Seemingly sensing Eriri's doubt, Utaha crossed her arms and said calmly, "I never had any prejudice against you. I've always admired talented people. Besides, Yukiteru-kun has always told me not to tease you all the time, so I can't ignore him."

"Is...is that really true?" Eriri was still clearly somewhat skeptical.

Believe it or not, it's up to you, but I've put my words here.

That's what she said, but Shiyu was still a little disappointed. She could tell that although Xuehui's actions were not obvious, he definitely had some feelings for this girl.

There was nothing she could do; she had to listen to her master, so Shiyu had no choice but to give up this fun little toy.

But a little playful banter is fine, right? Just keep it within limits.

After carefully observing Shiyu, Eriri thought to herself that since the other party had said so, it would be inappropriate for her not to say something.

"Well, since you've put it that way, I'll be merciful and let bygones be bygones for what you did in the past, hmph~"

Eriri couldn't help but laugh, feeling a sense of joy. The mountain that had weighed heavily on her heart, Kasumigaoka Utaha, was finally gone.

'That smug look on his face is really annoying.'

Shi Yu pursed her lips, looked down, and then laughed again.

She moved over and hugged Yukiteru. Then, to Eriri's surprise, she looked at Eriri's hands, which were being held by Yukiteru, and said, "Sawamura-kun, although there are reasons for this, I do get jealous that you've been keeping such a close distance with Yukiteru-kun for so long."

"Huh?" Looking down, Eriri also noticed her and Yukiteru's current situation. Not only were their hands close, but the other person's body was also very close. When she looked up, she could only see the other person's face, which was very close to hers.

"Waaaaah!!! That...that has nothing to do with me!"

"But you can also say nothing. Doesn't that feel good?" A wicked smile appeared again. He had just said he wouldn't tease her anymore, but now he was launching a verbal attack again. The only difference was that his words were less aggressive and more playful.

"No...no way!!! Yukiteru-kun, let...let go..." Eriri said somewhat reluctantly, looking at Yukiteru, wanting him to let go of her hand, but her voice kept getting softer and softer.

"Um, sorry for holding you for so long." After giving Shiho, who was snickering to the side, Yukiteru apologized to Eriri and then let go of her hand.

"N-nothing...it's okay..." Eriri replied softly after sitting down again.

At this moment, Shiyu began her earnest admonition as a senior: "Sawamura-kun, this won't do. We're going to a banquet later, and Yukiteru-kun is our date. If you're so shy, won't you cry when you hold his hand?"

Holding hands...?

Eriri's face immediately turned red with anger upon hearing this.

I really don't know how she started drawing notebooks in the first place...

Chapter 256 Be a nobody

After that, Eriri's face was flushed the whole way, and she would glance at Yukiteru from time to time before looking away.

Utaha, who started this whole thing, found Eriri's reaction quite amusing, but now that she'd gone this far, it was best not to say anything more.

After all, we can't let Yukiteru succeed so easily.

After driving for nearly half an hour, we finally arrived at a hotel in Tokyo at 5:30.

Because they had been in contact before, as soon as the car arrived, Yukiteru saw Machida Sonoko, wearing a coat and holding an umbrella, waiting by the roadside through the car window.

Machida Sonoko also saw the car parked in front of her. When the car door opened and Eriri got out first, she knew that the main character had finally arrived.

However, after seeing Eriri and Yukiteru get off the train, and then seeing Utaha, who was the last to get off, Machida Sonoko's expression changed.

'This kid really is as good as he said, capable of carrying two people at once.'

Leading the two girls forward, Xuehui looked at Machida Sonoko, who was clearly dressed up carefully, with a black evening gown still visible under her coat, and said with a smile, "Sonoko-nee, why did you come out to wait even though it's snowing today?"

"Of course I've been the top-selling author in the light novel section for the past six months. How could I not come to pick you up? Besides, Utaha and Eriri are both very close to you. I had to come. Otherwise, if the other editors found out, they'd say I don't value my own authors." Machida Sonoko rolled her eyes and immediately turned to walk into the hotel. "Alright, let's go in quickly, don't get your hair wet."

The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and the three of them didn't linger, quickly following the others inside.

"More than half of the people in the banquet hall have already arrived, but judging from the appearance of the three of you, why don't you put your coats down first? We've prepared a rest room for you."

After glancing at Eriri and Utaha's coats, Machida Sonoko offered a suggestion.

"Alright, after we put our things away, we can touch up our makeup. Even though it's just a formality, we still want to do our best." Shiyu took Xuehui's arm. Although she found it a bit of a hassle, she figured since she was there, she wanted to make a good impression.

After thinking for a moment, she didn't wait to go to the rest room. She took off her warm coat, revealing a black halter-neck evening dress underneath. Her fair and beautiful collarbone, as well as her bust size which was beyond the range of what a high school student should have, made Eriri, who was standing next to her, look on with envy and jealousy!

But not wanting to lose face, she took off her coat, revealing a beige dress underneath. Unlike Shiyu's sexy outfit that perfectly showcased her figure, Eriri clearly didn't have that advantage, so she went for a cute style. When she stood next to Shiyu, they were completely different styles, but it didn't make people feel that there was any difference.

Upon seeing this, Shiyu raised an eyebrow, but there was something she didn't say: she was certain that this outfit wasn't her own choice. Although Eriri was indeed a young lady from a wealthy family, and her looks were definitely not bad, she was the type to dress very casually, as evidenced by the fact that she always wore a dowdy tracksuit at home.

Eriri didn't fully understand Shiwa's gaze, but that didn't stop her from provocatively recalling a single glance.

Xuehui wasn't interested in the two people's nonsensical eye contact. He just felt a little tired. The two of them took off their clothes and threw them into his hands before walking away on their own.

"This is the consequence of bringing two female companions," Machida Sonoko muttered to herself as she approached, before immediately catching up with the two ahead to lead the way.

"...You should be glad I only brought two. This banquet allows guests to bring family members. Apparently, many of the male authors and editors in the library are single. If I had brought them all, the banquet probably wouldn't have been able to continue."

After shrugging and grumbling to himself, Xuehui chased after them.

The library had prepared a room for each of the three of them, but since they were only there to play for a little while and would be returning to their villa soon, they didn't bother with anything elaborate and simply went to one room together. After hanging up their coats, Eriri and Utaha went to the bathroom to touch up their makeup, while Yukiteru waited outside the room with Machida Sonoko.

Looking at Machida Sonoko beside him in her strapless dress, a stark contrast to her usual style, he couldn't help but ask, "Sonoko-nee, you're clearly pretty and have a great figure, so why are you still like this...?"

“Can we not talk about this? My heart is aching…” After glaring at Yukiteru, Machida Sonoko sighed. “There’s nothing I can do. There are a lot of chauvinistic men these days. How can they tolerate a partner who is even more of a workaholic than themselves? Besides, I really love editing. Giving it up is impossible for me. Although my family keeps urging me, I’ll just put it off for now.”

Hmm~~ It seems to be similar to Sister Jing's previous reasons.

Yukiteru didn't say much about it, after all, everyone has their own ambitions, and he guessed that Machida Sonoko's time hadn't come yet.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Shiyu and Eriri finally finished their makeup and left the room.

Although Yukiteru couldn't see any difference either.

In short, the four of them finally arrived at the entrance of the banquet hall.

Eriri looked at Shiho, who had already linked arms with Yukiteru. Although she was a little shy, she finally made up her mind and reached out to link arms with her.

'As expected, the gap between these two is quite large...'

Feeling the different sensations on his arms, Xuehui sighed inwardly and then smiled, "I always feel like I'll be ostracized if I go in like this, it's too much of a waste of resources."

"There's nothing we can do about it, Yuki-kun. I think you'll have to go through many more trials like this in the future." Shiyu smoothed her hair behind her ear and looked at Yuki with a smile.

"I...I only know you, just this once!" Eriri's hands trembled slightly, and her face was filled with undisguised shyness, but she still uttered the lines that are usually reserved for tsundere characters, which was incredibly cute.

"Yes, yes, I'm just a conscript." Xuehui could only nod in agreement, while leading the two towards the open banquet hall doors. "Anyway, we'll just eat and drink a little something, then quietly hide to the side and be invisible. After the book club president finishes speaking, we'll run away, understand?"

Utaha and Eriri both nodded in unison. Although the place looked luxurious, they didn't really have any interest in having fun because everyone there was a stranger.

Machida Sonoko was helpless against the attitude of these three people, and since it wasn't appropriate for her to stay at the banquet for too long, she communicated with the editor-in-chief and obtained his consent, so she naturally let them just go through the motions.

'What a pity, I also wanted to go there, but I can't, the editor can't leave.' Machida Sonoko's heart was definitely filled with resentment at this moment.

As for Xuehui and the other two, they ignored the amazed or envious glances after entering. They each took a drink and then went to a corner to whisper to each other.

Their destination tonight isn't here.

Chapter 257 What Eriri Doesn't Understand

Just as Xuehui and the others had expected, there were hardly any people they knew in the banquet hall. There were only a few editors and the chief editor of the paperback. Even the president of the company was someone Xuehui had only met once and was not very familiar with.

While eating her little cake, Eriri looked around nervously, feeling a bit nervous about this completely unfamiliar environment. Even at the banquets her family had hosted before, she had met almost everyone there, and since Eriri only made a brief appearance and didn't have to stay at the event the whole time, it was no problem at all.

Seeing Eriri unconsciously move a few steps closer to him, Yukiteru asked, sensing something, "What's wrong? Are you not used to it?"

"Um...yes, they're all strangers, I'm not used to it..." Eriri nodded a little shyly.

"Well, in that case, let's go back later. Anyway, we don't know many people here. Hmm? Ah, there really is one." As she was speaking, Xuehui saw a man and a woman picking out food at the buffet table on the other side.

"What's wrong? Did you see someone you know?" Shiyu followed Xuehui's gaze and saw the two people as well. "Ah, it's this person. I heard that the sales of his novel have been rising recently."

Nodding, Xuehui said to Shiyu and Eriri, "I'll go say hello. You two find a place to sit down."

He knew that Shiyu wasn't very interested in interacting with people, so he didn't take her along. As for Eriri, of course, he couldn't leave either of them alone.

As for what consequences it might cause... it's probably impossible, he's only been gone for a few minutes.

The two had no objections and watched as Xuehui walked away alone.

Eriri looked at the man and woman over there and asked Shiho beside her, "Who are those two?"

"Oh? It's already being serialized in a manga magazine under the Bunko, yet you don't even recognize some of the new authors in the Bunko?" Shiha widened her eyes slightly, looking at Eriri with an exaggerated expression.

"I...I...Then tell me, did you recognize them all?" Eriri immediately objected, pointing to a slightly overweight man in a suit at the two o'clock position. "This one, I guess? Do you know who he is?"

"...They're probably just here to join in the fun, anyway, they're definitely not from the library." Shiwa never expected Eriri to react so quickly this time, so she could only make up an excuse to cover it up.