Sawamura Spencer Eriri felt that her high school life had gotten off to a rather rocky start.
A while ago, just a few days after school started, she had been kabe-don'd by that woman, Kasumigaoka Utaha, which had led to her classmates now always looking at her with a somewhat strange meaning, as if they saw the two of them as a yuri couple.
But only she knew the real truth.
A malicious person had, from somewhere, found out about the misunderstanding between her and Aki Tomoya back in the day, and then had also found out that Aki Tomoya was now that Kasumigaoka's number one fan, so he had deliberately cooked up a manga that would disgust both of them.
She had already read that manga called Koisuru Metronome under the full escort of Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Watching the intimate interactions between Aki Tomoya and that woman in the manga, she had almost failed to resist the urge to dismember the manga on the spot.
It had gotten to the point where now, when she saw the novel also named Koisuru Metronome that Kasumigaoka Utaha had written herself, she would occasionally have a bit of a stress reaction.
Especially when that guy, Aki Tomoya, was boasting in her ear all day about how good Koisuru Metronome was and strongly recommending that she must go and read it, that stress reaction became even more intense.
Fortunately, all of this was fictional stuff from the manga. Kasumigaoka Utaha's side clearly had no intention of further contacting Aki Tomoya.
More importantly, probably not many more people knew about these things, otherwise, she would really go mad.
Another piece of relatively good news was that Kasumigaoka Utaha had contacted her yesterday, saying that she had recently met a world-class genius painter who was planning to return to Japan to draw manga and wanted to introduce her. Maybe the three of them could even collaborate on a project together.
For this, Sawamura Spencer Eriri had actually gone online to search for the name of that girl who was her own age, and was then stunned for several minutes by the news of her holding a solo art exhibition.
It was precisely because she was also a genius that she could see more clearly just how outstanding the other's works were.
One could say that after just a simple look at a few of the other's works, Eriri had already become her fan and was beginning to look forward to collaborating with her.
And then she saw this new idol of hers, this morning, bringing another girl with her, coming to find her with the wallet she had accidentally lost to a stray dog this morning.
After confirming that the other person was indeed the Shiina Mashiro she had just looked up online yesterday, Eriri couldn't help but rub her eyes to confirm that she was not having a hallucination.
"Sawamura-san, this should be your wallet, right? I picked it up on the roadside on my way to school this morning. Can you confirm that nothing is missing?" Miyauchi Hikari returned the wallet to Sawamura Spencer Eriri, without mentioning her little brother's name.
She was still hesitating here about how to speak up for Shiina Mashiro, and then she heard Sawamura Spencer Eriri ask Shiina Mashiro with some surprise, "Why are you here?"
"Huh? You know each other?" Miyauchi Hikari was stunned for a moment, as if she had only just belatedly realized that Shiina Mashiro also seemed to know Sawamura Spencer Eriri.
And then she became Shiina Mashiro's mouth substitute, telling Eriri that Shiina Mashiro's uncle was currently in the principal's office handling the transfer procedures, and that she was now considered a student of Toyogasaki High School.
That woman, Kasumigaoka Utaha, really didn't lie to me. She really was planning to introduce Shiina Mashiro to me.
After silently praising Kasumigaoka Utaha a little in her heart, the way Sawamura Spencer Eriri looked at Shiina Mashiro also became much more enthusiastic. She hurriedly made a self-introduction.
"I am Sawamura Spencer Eriri. I don't know if you've heard my name from Kasumigaoka's side, Sensei Shiina, but I really like your oil paintings. If you really want to draw manga, I will definitely help!"
After saying this, Sawamura Spencer Eriri then realized that she had not made the matter of her drawing manga public at school. She hurriedly coughed lightly, wanting to pull the two girls to another place to chat slowly.
But what she found a little strange was that after hearing her words, a strange light seemed to flash in that Shiina Mashiro's eyes.
In Shiina Mashiro's little head, she understood Eriri's words like this:
Kasumigaoka Utaha has already told Eriri about me, and Eriri knows that I want to draw a manga.
So Eriri must also already know that I want to draw her and Kasumigaoka Utaha into the manga together.
Now, her saying "I will help" seems to mean that she agrees to let me draw her into the manga.
However, just to be safe, the cautious Shiina Mashiro still asked for confirmation again.
"Do you consent?"
Consent?
What did I just consent to?
To help Shiina Mashiro draw a manga?
Sawamura Spencer Eriri felt her heart beat a little faster.
She did indeed have the idea of officially debuting as a mangaka, but because she felt that her skills were not yet enough, she had only been able to draw some doujinshi to train her abilities.
If she could really create a manga with Shiina Mashiro, she felt that she could still give it a try.
And so, Sawamura Spencer Eriri nodded again, indicating that she would definitely not let Shiina Mashiro down.
Hearing this sentence, an expectant expression appeared on Shiina Mashiro's face.
The permission of Katō Megumi, Kasumigaoka Utaha, and Sawamura Spencer Eriri had all been obtained.
Then the only one left was Aki Tomoya.
However, Miyauchi Hikage had told her yesterday that to get Aki Tomoya's approval, as long as she directly left a message on his blog, the problem would most likely be solved.
She had already taken care of this matter yesterday with Miyauchi Hikage's help. Next, she just had to wait for his reply.
Actually, a simpler way was to have Miyauchi Hikari go and recommend her favorite manga to him, and then casually mention it. She would probably be able to get his consent.
But he was a 2D male protagonist. Miyauchi Hikage was really a little worried that if he suddenly became his second brother-in-law in a few years, that would be truly cringey.
So, Miyauchi Hikage had chosen a method that did not require asking him in reality.
But Shiina Mashiro didn't care about these things.
She only knew that she would soon be able to get everyone's approval.
After that, she could start drawing manga in peace.
Watching Shiina Mashiro leave with that girl, seemingly in a good mood, Sawamura Spencer Eriri also couldn't help but take out her phone and send a word of thanks to Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Although this woman had made her see that kind of manga, since she had really introduced Sensei Shiina Mashiro to her, she was not a woman who held a grudge. When it was time to say thank you, she had to say thank you.
And then, not two minutes later, Kasumigaoka Utaha sent back a question mark, as if she was completely unaware of the situation here.