My dear wife, I still love you more.

On TV, the brave Ai-chan is still chasing after Mr. Uemura. Hasegawa and Mrs. Yuihama, sitting in front of the TV, seem to be watching TV, but their attention is not really on the TV.

Hasegawa sat on the sofa, watching Mrs. Yui's eyes fixed on the television. He subtly shifted his body, moving slightly closer to her. However, this slight movement immediately caught Mrs. Yui's attention. She turned sharply, glaring at Hasegawa with hatred.

Hasegawa smiled and moved back to his original position, which allowed Mrs. Yuihama to refocus her attention on the television.

A moment later, Hasegawa moved again, and Mrs. Yuihama immediately became alert and stared at Hasegawa. Hasegawa then returned to his original position.

Time and time again, it seemed very childish, but both Hasegawa and Mrs. Yui-hama found it quite amusing, and they repeated this action back and forth until the brave Ai-chan ended. Neither Hasegawa nor Mrs. Yui-hama remembered much of the plot from the drama.

Poor Ai-chan, she worked so hard and put in so much effort, yet Hasegawa and Mrs. Yuihama in front of the TV didn't even pay attention to her.

After the brave Ai-chan finished speaking, Hasegawa moved slightly, but Mrs. Yuihama, like a frightened little rabbit, jumped up from the sofa and ran upstairs, saying, "I'm going to rest."

Hasegawa smiled as he watched Mrs. Yuihama's somewhat disheveled figure.

Although Mrs. Yuihama hasn't accepted his confession yet, their relationship has improved considerably compared to before, which is quite a significant step forward. As for the scenario of confessing today and winning him over tomorrow, that's clearly impossible for Mrs. Yuihama. After all, she's not a naive young girl, nor is she the kind of open-minded woman who doesn't care about such things.

However, Mrs. Yuihama's reaction gave Hasegawa the feeling that he was pursuing a girl.

Feeling relaxed, Hasegawa washed up and went to sleep. Mrs. Yui, however, tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. She felt especially embarrassed thinking about her reaction in front of Hasegawa; her heart pounded like a deer's.

"How could I react like that? Hasegawa-kun is pursuing me, I should have clearly rejected him, but how could I react like that? It's so wrong of me. Yui, Yui, what should Mom do? Hasegawa-kun, he's really amazing."

"Yui, I'm so sorry, Mom. I don't know why things have turned out this way."

"Yui, you, you shouldn't, you shouldn't blame your mother, right?"

Muttering to herself, Mrs. Yui looked at the Ai-chan figure in her hand, a smile unconsciously appearing on her face, without her even realizing it.

"Ai-chan, you are brave Ai-chan, so tell me, if you were in this situation, what would you do, Ai-chan?" Mrs. Yuihama murmured, seeking help as she looked at Ai-chan's face, which was filled with unwavering determination.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Chapter Twenty-Two: Mrs. Sawamura's Recommendation of This Book

The next day, she got up early, washed up, and went straight to the kitchen to make breakfast. As for Mrs. Yuihama, just like the previous morning, she didn't come out to meet Hasegawa at all.

Hasegawa didn't seem to care too much about the situation. He simply told Mrs. Yuihama through the door and then left the house.

After Hasegawa came out, Mrs. Yuihama cautiously opened the door. Seeing that there was no movement outside and confirming that Hasegawa had left, she breathed a sigh of relief. Going downstairs, she saw breakfast laid out on the dining table, all her favorite foods. Sitting down, a happy smile couldn't help but appear on her face. However, upon realizing her smile, Mrs. Yuihama's expression changed, and she became melancholy again.

……

Arriving at the agreed-upon location early, well, the first one to arrive was Aki Tomoya again. Hasegawa thought that if it weren't for the agreed-upon time with Aki Tomoya, he might have arrived at two or three in the morning to queue up. Aki Tomoya is truly obsessed with anime.

However, Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha, who were next, did not arrive as quickly as yesterday. In fact, almost half an hour had passed without seeing them.

Hasegawa couldn't help but frown, and Aki Tomoya looked particularly angry.

"What is Eriri doing? It's already this late and she still hasn't come. That's too much!" Aki Tomoya complained loudly as he took out his phone and dialed Eriri's number.

"Eri, where are you right now? We've been waiting for you for ages. When are you guys coming over?" Aki Tomoya said very rudely on the phone.

"What's the rush? There's still plenty of time. Don't worry, Shiyu and I will definitely not be late."

"Huh? Eriri, what are you saying? Don't you know there are already so many people queuing up? If you don't come over now, when are we going to get into the convention? Eriri, you're really going too far! Today is the last day of the convention!" Aki Tomoya roared angrily.

Eriri, on the other end of the phone, was also angered by Aki Tomoya's tone: "If you want to queue, then queue up. What's it to us? Did we stop you?"

"You, Eriri, you bastard—"

"Aki Tomoya, you bastard, stop talking about this guy and that guy all the time. I can't be bothered with you!" Eriri said, and hung up the phone.

Seeing the phone call get hung up, Aki Tomoya was almost furious.

"Hasegawa, do you think Eriri is a jerk? We've all been waiting for her, and she's acting like this."

Hasegawa frowned slightly as he listened to Aki Tomoya's complaints, but just then, his phone rang. He glanced at it; it was Kasumigaoka Utaha calling.

Without hesitation, Hasegawa answered the phone.

"Hasegawa-senpai, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. Eriri originally wanted to joke with you guys, but it seems like the joke went a bit too far." Kasumigaoka Utaha apologized very sincerely.

"So, can you tell me what happened? I don't think you two are the kind of people who make trouble unnecessarily, right?" Hasegawa was a little anxious, but he wasn't angry and asked rationally. After all, time is never punctual when dating a girl or anything like that, and being only half an hour late was already considered very timely.

"Actually, it's because Eriri's works will be sold at the anime convention today, so we can go with Eriri as staff members to get into the convention earlier and organize the books she's going to sell. Eriri originally wanted to give you a surprise, but it seems like Aki Tomoya is already very angry. I'm really sorry, Hasegawa-senpai."

"Oh, I see." Hasegawa suddenly realized that he was able to get into the anime convention earlier because of Eriri, so waiting here for half an hour didn't seem like a big deal.

"Eri and I are on our way to the anime convention, so Hasegawa-kun will have to wait a little while. We need to go to the printing factory to pick up some goods, and it will take at least half an hour before we arrive. We were originally planning to contact you after we got there. But for now, you and Aki Tomoya can wait for us at the work area."

"Okay, Tomoya and I will wait for you over there." Hasegawa nodded, a smile appearing on his face.

After hanging up the phone, Aki Tomoya looked at Hasegawa in confusion, not understanding why Hasegawa, who had just been a little angry, seemed to have suddenly stopped being angry and even seemed a little happy.

After Hasegawa explained the situation to Aki Tomoya, Aki Tomoya showed a look of surprise.

"Oh, I see. It seems I misunderstood Eriri. But why didn't she explain it to me clearly? That way I wouldn't be angry," Aki Tomoya couldn't help but say.

"I probably wanted to surprise you, but who knew you'd be so irritable," Hasegawa said with a smile.

"A surprise? Yes, it really is a surprise! I forgot that Eriri is a regular at comic conventions, she brings her own comics every day. I never even thought of going into the convention with Eriri, it's such a pity. Kenichi, let's go, let's go. Let's go wait for Eriri and the others over there." Aki Tomoya pulled Hasegawa along to wait for them.

About half an hour later, a small truck stopped, and Hasegawa saw Eriri, Kasumigaoka Utaha, and Sawamura Sayuri get out of the truck.

Eriri looked annoyed, Kasumigaoka Utaha was all smiles, and Sawamura Sayuri looked even happier.

"Kenichi, it's been a long time! I've invited you to my house so many times and you still haven't come. Are you starting to hate me?" Sawamura Sayuri said to Hasegawa with a grin.

"Um, Mrs. Sawamura, I've just been busy lately and haven't had time," Hasegawa quickly explained.

"Is that so? I thought you thought I was old and faded, so you started to dislike me."

"How could that be?" Hasegawa quickly shook his head. However, he felt that Sawamura Sayuri's words were a bit strange, or rather, they sounded ambiguous.

"I knew it! Even though I'm old and faded, Eriri is still very young." Sayuri Sawamura said with a grin.

"Mom, what are you saying?" Eriri blushed slightly and grabbed Sayuri Sawamura.

“Mrs. Sawamura looks very young, just like Eriri’s older sister. How can you say she’s old and faded? Um, are these the pieces we’re selling this time in the car? Let me help unload them.” Hasegawa said, going to help.

"No need, we've hired workers, so you don't need to do anything," Eriri shook her head, stopping Hasegawa.

Hasegawa glanced over and, sure enough, several workers had already started unloading the goods. Boxes were being placed on trolleys and then pushed around the convention center. And it seemed that Eriri and her group had prepared quite a lot of things.

"Hasegawa-kun." Kasumigaoka Utaha greeted Hasegawa with a smile.

"Kasumigaoka-senpai".

"I'm sorry, Aki Tomoya-kun, I didn't inform you sooner." Kasumigaoka Utaha apologized to Aki Tomoya very politely.

"Ah, no need, no need. It's nothing. In fact, I'm very grateful to be able to get into the anime convention now." For Aki Tomoya, being angry was not important; getting in as soon as possible was the most important thing.

Eriri snorted at this, showing no intention of paying any attention to Aki Tomoya. Of course, Aki Tomoya didn't care about Eriri's attitude and cheerfully followed her inside.

"Here, put it here." Sayuri Sawamura skillfully directed the workers, instructing them to arrange the boxes one by one, even setting up the stalls, placing each book in its proper place, and arranging everything in an orderly manner.

Hasegawa was slightly surprised by Sayuri Sawamura's actions.

"Does Kenichi find it strange? Actually, it's because I come to the comic convention twice a day, so I'm quite familiar with this kind of arrangement. Kenichi, look, what do you think? Which of these works do you like? Eriri probably hasn't given you any before, right? If you like any, I'll give them to you for free." Sawamura Sayuri said to Hasegawa with a grin, pointing at the books.

"Uh, no, thank you." Hasegawa quickly shook his head. Being given a notebook by Mrs. Sawamura felt very strange, and Hasegawa couldn't accept it.

"Hey, Kenichi, are you shy?" Sawamura Sayuri tilted her head and looked at Hasegawa with a teasing smile, even bumping Hasegawa's arm with her shoulder. "Kenichi, don't worry. I totally understand boys your age. Doujinshi are a necessity for you guys. Don't be shy. Or let me recommend some to you."

"No, really, no need." Hasegawa quickly shook his head.

"Hehe, Kenichi, what do you think of this one? Let me tell you, Eriri stayed up all night to finish this one for the comic convention. And it's a Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi." Sawamura Sayuri grabbed a book and handed it to Hasegawa, winking as she spoke.

Seeing yet another Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi, Hasegawa's eyes twitched twice. Eriri, that girl, is already an artist for Tokyo Ghoul, and she's still drawing doujinshi.

"Are you worried the work might be a bit rough? Kenichi, don't worry about that. Although it was rushed out, it's not rough at all. And because you explained the plot of Tokyo Ghoul to her, the story of this doujinshi will be quite rich. You could say it's definitely a masterpiece in the doujinshi world. Especially since Eriri actually drew the protagonist Kaneki Ken and Fueguchi and her mother in this doujinshi—" Sawamura Sayuri winked at Hasegawa ambiguously.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Mrs. Yuihama's Photo (Bonus Chapter for Recommended Votes)

"Mom, what are you doing? Come and help me tidy up!" Eriri noticed something was wrong and quickly pulled Sayuri away. At the same time, Eriri felt quite embarrassed; her mother was not only recommending doujinshi to a boy, but even discussing the plot with him.

However, Eriri's tsundere nature meant that after pulling Sayuri Sawamura away, she couldn't help but glare fiercely at Hasegawa.

Hasegawa was somewhat helpless about this; it wasn't his fault, so he couldn't be blamed. However, Eriri had actually drawn another Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi. Even though Eriri was busy drawing Tokyo Ghoul manga every day, she still managed to find time to draw doujinshi; Hasegawa really didn't know what to say.

However, when Hasegawa looked at the doujinshi recommended by Sawamura Sayuri in his hand, his eyes lit up a little. After all, the quality of Eriri's doujinshi was really quite good. Putting aside the content, the art style alone was quite exquisite. Just looking at the picture of Fueguchi and her daughter superimposed on the cover, Hasegawa felt his heart race.

"Oh well, I'll just consider it supporting Eriri's business. After all, she's my friend." Hasegawa thought to himself as he put the notebook into his shopping bag.

They wanted to help Eriri and the others set up their booth, but Hasegawa and Aki Tomoya had never done this before, and Sawamura Sayuri's direction was quite good, so they didn't need Hasegawa and the others' help at all. So in the end, Aki Tomoya excitedly dragged Hasegawa along and started strolling around the anime convention.

Since the anime convention doesn't officially start until around 10 o'clock, there are only people packing up their booths right now. However, this situation is actually quite good for Hasegawa and Aki Tomoya. At least they don't have to queue or feel crowded. In the empty venue, they can walk around as they please and go wherever they want.

Browsing through the stalls, since it was the third day, there were quite a few selling doujinshi. Hasegawa noticed that, probably because Tokyo Ghoul is currently very popular, there were quite a few Tokyo Ghoul doujinshi. However, putting aside the content, in terms of art style, Eriri's is still the best.

They strolled around for a while, and by 10 o'clock, when the anime convention started, Hasegawa and Aki Tomoya had already walked around for a long time and picked up a lot of spoils.

When Hasegawa returned to Eriri's stall, Kasumigaoka Utaha was smiling at him. Utaha was a little curious about Hasegawa's purchases, but this time she was more tactful, knowing that most of what Hasegawa bought were doujinshi-related items. If she insisted on looking at them, it would only make Hasegawa feel awkward.

At 10 o'clock, the comic convention finally started. Hasegawa saw the entrance to the comic convention and it was really terrifying. A huge crowd of people crowded in, which looked just like the countless densely packed zombies in a zombie movie, which made people feel scared.

For the previous two days, Hasegawa had squeezed into the anime convention by following the crowd. Today, thanks to Eriri, he was able to arrive at the convention early and even buy almost everything he wanted.

After leaving their spoils with Sawamura Sayuri, Kasumigaoka Utaha, Eriri, Hasegawa, and Aki Tomoya began wandering around the convention again. This time, however, their purpose was no longer to buy doujinshi or other souvenirs. Instead, they would occasionally buy some small accessories and figurines, and spend most of their time browsing the cosplay area, taking photos with anything they liked.

Although there were still many people, today was much easier for Hasegawa and his group compared to the previous two days.

The day passed relatively easily, and that marked the end of this comic convention.

"Hasegawa-kun." Kasumigaoka Utaha called out to Hasegawa as she left.

"Is there something you need, Kasumigaoka-senpai?" Hasegawa turned to look at Kasumigaoka Utaha.

"Well, actually it's Eriri. She's drawing a Tokyo Ghoul manga, right? So she wanted Hasegawa-kun to come to her house sometime to discuss some plot-related issues. But she's a bit of a tsundere and too shy to ask you directly, so I'm speaking on her behalf," Kasumigaoka Utaha said with a smile.

"Uh, I see. I understand. Don't worry, I'll bring Tomoya along to Eriri's house after a while." Hasegawa smiled, thinking that Eriri wanted to invite Aki Tomoya but was too shy to ask. He didn't notice that Eriri, who was eavesdropping on the conversation nearby, had a strange expression when she heard Hasegawa say he wanted to bring Aki Tomoya along, and even seemed a little angry.

Eriri was also a little confused about why she was suddenly angry, but since she couldn't figure it out, she blamed it on Aki Tomoya. That guy was just so annoying! He wouldn't even come to her house unless she called him. They were childhood friends, but now things had turned out like this. Although Eriri had distanced herself from Aki Tomoya because of certain things, he was like a blockhead, completely oblivious to the need for reciprocation. Seriously, that guy Aki Tomoya was so annoying.

Achoo!!!

Aki Tomoya suddenly couldn't help but sneeze loudly, rubbing his nose vigorously twice. A happy, silly grin returned to his face. Although he had completely spent all the money he had earned from his part-time job, and there wasn't a single coin left in his wallet, Aki Tomoya felt that the money was well spent. Looking at his spoils and the pile of things he had bought over the past two days, Aki Tomoya couldn't help but feel happy.

After hearing Hasegawa's words, Kasumigaoka Utaha subconsciously glanced at Aki Tomoya, then gave Eriri a meaningful look, a thoughtful smile on her face.

……

"I am back."