Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

The royalties from the reprint of the first volume have arrived, and the fixed monthly royalties remain stable at six figures.

Of course, supporting my sister to go to university is no problem; Waseda University's tuition is no longer an astronomical figure for her.

On this day, Eri Aragaki dressed a little more formally in the afternoon, changing into a fitted women's suit, trousers, and leather shoes.

She looked in the mirror, made sure she looked like a reliable parent, and then... grabbed her car keys and went out.

She arrived at the apartment's underground parking lot.

The parking lot is small, with only a dozen or so spaces. She rented her parking space along with the apartment.

She walked up to a brand-new silver Audi A4, then took out her car key, pressed the unlock button, opened the door, and got in.

Yes, Eri Aragaki bought a car. She bought it in full as soon as the royalties from the first edition of the manga arrived.

The original owner had a driver's license. After all, before her parents' accident, she was a wealthy and beautiful woman with some family fortune. Her parents taught her how to drive when she was in her senior year of high school, and she successfully obtained her driver's license during the summer vacation.

Eri Aragaki herself could drive in her previous life, although she drove a left-hand drive car in her home country while right-hand drive cars are used in Japan.

However, after buying the car, she tried it out and found that there were no problems; she just needed to pay a little attention to her driving habits.

For example, the turn signals and windshield wipers were reversed; at first, she always turned on the windshield wipers when turning.

Everything else was fine; I got used to it after a few drives.

In Japan, license plates are issued very quickly. After buying a car and completing the license plate procedures, the license plate arrives in about a week, which is quite fast.

The day she drove the car back from the dealership, Erina even took a photo of herself and the new car in the parking lot with her phone.

After Eri Aragaki got into the driver's seat, fastened her seatbelt, and placed her hands on the steering wheel, she silently pondered the precautions for a while.

She went over the key points of right-hand drive in her mind, then started the car, and the engine emitted a deep roar.

"Alas!"

Eri Aragaki felt a long-lost joy; the feeling of gripping the steering wheel and pressing the accelerator lifted her spirits.

She turned on the car stereo, randomly selected a radio station, then shifted gears and drove out of the underground parking lot, heading towards her destination.

Chapter Ninety-Eight: A Familiar Feeling (Daily Life)

Soon after, in Meguro Ward.

Tokyo Metropolitan Koyamadai High School.

This is the high school Erina currently attends, which is considered one of the better public high schools.

The campus is of average size. The teaching buildings are light gray. A row of cherry blossom trees is planted along the playground. At the end of November, the cherry blossom trees are bare, with a few withered leaves hanging on the branches swaying in the wind.

It was already past high school dismissal time, but students could still be seen participating in clubs and freely enjoying their youth.

The baseball team was practicing on the field, and the sounds of hitting the ball and shouting as they ran the bases could be heard from a great distance.

The sound of wind instruments practicing came from the violin section of the gymnasium; you could vaguely make out that they were rehearsing some kind of march.

Eri Aragaki parked her car in a temporary parking space at the school gate, got out of the car, and waited by the gate.

She looked up at the high school, the gray teaching buildings, the familiar school gate, and the bronze plaque with the school's name on the gatepost.

She suddenly felt a little dazed because... the original owner of this body also studied here.

Because of the original owner's circumstances, Erina was able to attend this high school as well.

Memories of the school began to surface in her mind: the colors of the corridors, the location of the shoe lockers, and the graduation photos she had taken with her classmates under the ginkgo tree in the courtyard.

And just then...

"elder sister!"

Erina's voice came from the school gate, and Eri Aragaki snapped out of her daze and looked over.

Sure enough, she saw Erina waving at her.

Standing next to her was a man who looked like a teacher, appearing to be only around thirty years old, making him a relatively young teacher.

Eri Aragaki smiled, waved, and walked over.

"Hello, I am Eri Aragaki, Erina's older sister."

Eri Aragaki greeted the man who resembled Erina-sensei with a slight bow.

"Hello, I'm your mentor, Makoto Kobayashi. Just call me Mr. Kobayashi."

Makoto Kobayashi immediately responded, bowing slightly, "Let's go inside and talk about the rest."

……

Afterwards, Eri Aragaki was brought into the school for a meeting.

The meeting room was a small conference room on the second floor of the teaching building. There were three cups of tea on the table, and the school motto and the list of qualified candidates recommended for admission over the years were posted on the wall.

There's not much to say about what happened during that time; Eri Aragaki fully affirmed her support for Erina's admission to Waseda University.

Whether it's spiritual affirmation or financial affirmation, she has demonstrated her determination to send Erina to university.

When Kobayashi Makoto asked her what she thought about the financial burden of her younger sister attending Waseda University, Aragaki Eri directly summarized her current income situation.

Being a long-running manga artist for Weekly Shonen Jump is a job that you can be quite proud of.

Not only is it stable, but it also has the potential to become a huge hit with the comic book.

The school had actually had some concerns before this.

Because of what happened to Erina's family a year ago—her parents died in a car accident, her company went bankrupt, and her house was auctioned off—they had heard about these things at school and were somewhat aware of them.

Therefore, there is a concern that if Erina is recommended to take the school's written exam, but she doesn't attend, or if she attends but drops out midway because she can't afford the tuition, then the recommendation spot will be wasted.

However, seeing that Eri Aragaki was supportive and had the financial means to do so, Makoto Kobayashi's expression visibly relaxed after reviewing the income verification documents she had brought.

They were relieved and confirmed that they would arrange for Erina to take the written exam at Waseda University.

But then something else happened...

"After the spot is officially confirmed, you must choose the faculty and major you want to study before then."

Makoto Kobayashi looked at Erina and Eri Aragaki, opened the folder to the page on choosing majors, which listed the names of various faculties and majors at Waseda University, several pages long.

He asked again, "So, do the two of you have the same idea?"

Eri Aragaki's response to this was, of course,...

"Erina, it's your decision."

Eri Aragaki turned to look at Erina, her tone relaxed, "Just choose the major you like, don't worry about anything else, I'll support you no matter what you choose."

Erina sat next to Eri Aragaki, her hands on her knees, and remained silent for a moment after hearing her sister's words.

Then she looked up at Makoto Kobayashi and said without hesitation, "I want to... study media studies in the Faculty of Cultural Design."

"Media?"

Eri Aragaki found it a bit strange. Erina hadn't usually shown much interest in media, so she thought Erina would choose something like business or literature.

Moreover, Waseda University is most famous for its business studies.

But she quickly stopped thinking about it. This was Erina's favorite major, and as long as Erina liked it, that was all that mattered.

Besides, no matter what, she's still here. Anyway, she'll definitely have no shortage of money in the future, so Erina will always have a bottom line.

Even though it's hard to find a job after graduating with a media degree, she always supports her younger sister when she wants to switch careers.

Makoto Kobayashi made a note on the form, and seeing that Eri Aragaki had no objections.

He had no problem with it, and so it was settled.

"Congratulations. Soon, according to Waseda University's arrangements, Erina will begin the on-campus written test and interview process. If all goes well, she will be able to enroll at Waseda University next year."

He closed the folder, stood up, and shook hands with each of them, saying, "The school will notify you of the specific date for the written test separately. Please prepare in advance."

Then Eri Aragaki and Erina walked out of the meeting room together. It was already dark, and a row of streetlights on campus were lit.

Erina went to the classroom to get her schoolbag, and then followed Eri Aragaki to the parking area at the school gate.

Eri Aragaki then prepared to drive Erina home. She pressed the unlock button on her car key, and the headlights flashed twice.

The two got into the car, and Erina was still quite excited, constantly trying to chat with Eri Aragaki in the car.

The scenery flashed by, and Eri Aragaki gradually became familiar with driving a right-hand drive car. She was no longer as cautious as before, but instead returned to the relaxed feeling of driving in her previous life.

However, right there on the way...

"what?"

A familiar junior high school campus appeared before my eyes.

This is the junior high school that the original owner attended.

It was an old, three-story teaching building. There was a large cherry blossom tree by the playground, and the school name plaque hanging at the school gate was the same one she had used when she was a student.

She slowed down, and suddenly memories flooded her mind again, though they were all vague.

The corridors between classes, the railings on the rooftop, the scenes of her studying hard in the classroom in the afternoon...

Even for the original owner, the memories were somewhat vague. Eri Aragaki only vaguely remembered some trivial scenes from her junior high school days from her fragmented memories.

I can't quite remember my classmates' faces anymore, and I don't really remember my teachers' names either.

She then suppressed the sudden surge of fragmented memories, took a deep breath, focused on driving, and made it back to Bunkyo Ward safely.

But halfway there...

Eri Aragaki and Erina saw a familiar figure again.

Akane Natsume walked alone along the shopping street, carrying a white plastic bag from a convenience store. The collar of her coat was turned up to block the wind, and her scarf covered half of her face.

Eri Aragaki recognized her immediately from her walking posture. She turned the steering wheel and slowly drove the car to Natsume Akane's side, rolled down the window, leaned over, and called out with a smile, "Akane, hi."

Natsume Akane was walking down the street when she saw a silver sedan parked next to her, which she found quite strange. She paused for a moment, even becoming a little wary.

He subconsciously pulled his right hand a little closer to his body, and his center of gravity shifted slightly.

But when she saw Eri Aragaki's face peering out of the car window, she immediately smiled, her expression relaxing. She walked to the window and bent down, "Eri, Erina, where have you been..."