Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was late May.
Toyosaki Academy's midterm exams were over, and the results were posted in the second week, along with the rankings for each grade.
"Eririi Spencer Sawamura's English score is as consistent as ever, maintaining stable performance!"
Eriri walked down the corridor, pretending not to care as she passed by the results board, but then she heard a few girls talking about her English score there.
Hearing this, Eriri's eye twitched wildly. She's sorry that her English score is bad!
However, as a mixed-race girl and the daughter of a diplomat, Eriri, who usually maintains a young lady's demeanor at school, her academic performance is not as outstanding compared to her artistic skills.
Especially her English score, on paper, it doesn't quite fit the impression her blonde mixed-race appearance gives.
The midterm exams were over. Before the exams, Eriri hadn't thought about cramming or anything. Her mind had been on something else lately.
"But that Aki-kun from Class B is amazing! His grades were so unremarkable last year, but this time he's suddenly at the forefront, and it only took him a little over a month!"
Compared to Eriri's grades, Aki Tomoya, another well-known person at school, also had his midterm exam results garnering attention.
Eriri's strong point is her artistic skill. Her grades are just occasionally a topic of ridicule.
But Aki Tomoya, that boy who was formerly known as an otaku with unremarkable grades, after the start of the school year, his midterm exam results this time forced those who knew his past to change their impression of him.
"What, are you interested in that otaku?"
The girl's friend teased.
"You're so annoying! I heard that guy is preparing for the Tokyo University entrance exam, right? Just thinking about that kind of person is so boring, not as interesting as before!"
For some teenage girls, people who are full of nothing but studying are actually quite boring.
Especially boys from prestigious schools like that, they are easily left with a very stereotypical impression.
While they were talking, Eriri had already quickly left the area.
During lunch break, due to someone's request, she had to rush to the art room.
"Troubling others even during break time, that woman is really troublesome. She's already rejected my initial drafts several times!"
Eriri complained as she pushed open the door to her exclusive art room.
"I'm sorry for rejecting your initial drafts, Kashiwagi Eri-sensei. Are you really taking this seriously?"
The moment she pushed open the door, a familiar voice echoed in the room.
"Kas-Kas-Kasumigaoka, how did you get in?!"
Because of the person in the art room, Eriri stammered out the question.
This was supposed to be her exclusive art room, but now someone else had intruded.
"By pushing the door open, of course. What do you think, Eririi Spencer Sawamura?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha narrowed her eyes, a hint of helplessness in them.
After getting a positive response from Eriri last week, Kasumigaoka Utaha was quite satisfied and fully focused on planning her new work.
However, after experiencing Eriri's several "perfunctory" attempts, she calmed down a bit and had to start wondering if this blonde twin-tailed girl was playing a trick on her.
Could the esteemed Kashiwagi Eri produce such works? Isn't she afraid of tarnishing her reputation?
"Eririi Spencer Sawamura, if you haven't thought it through, please don't give me that kind of answer. It's really troublesome!"
Kasumigaoka Utaha continued in a helpless tone.
In her hand, she held an outline, her fingers gripping it slightly.
She had poured her heart into writing the initial outline and character designs, but the perfunctory attitude of her collaborator made her feel it wasn't worth it.
If the person she had secured was Kashiwagi Eri, who was only trying to be perfunctory to distract herself, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt it necessary to find someone else.
Although promising that the artist Kashiwagi Eri would be her illustrator was one of the bargaining chips used to persuade Undead River, the current Eriri's mind wasn't on their work.
This situation made Kasumigaoka Utaha somewhat disappointed.
"Eririi Spencer Sawamura, let's stop for a moment. I don't think you've thought it through yet."
Kasumigaoka Utaha left with these words in a serious tone, then grabbed the outline and character designs in her hand and walked out of Eriri's art room.
"By the way, the Summer CM Doujin Exhibition is also approaching. If Eririi Spencer Sawamura is troubled by that matter, then you don't need to worry about my affairs. Please be sure to consider carefully whether you really want to collaborate with me. I am also under pressure from Undead River."
As she walked out the door, Kasumigaoka Utaha added another sentence. It was as if she was trying to remind Eriri that she was undertaking this project under pressure, and if Eriri didn't have her heart in it, she should not make things difficult for her.
Eriri lowered her head slightly, feeling particularly curious at this moment about how Kasumigaoka Utaha managed to be so carefree.
Using the remaining half of the day to think about this, she still couldn't figure out what the problem was. The matter that she had always been concerned about had clearly been explained unilaterally, so why was she still entangled in this kind of thing.
The motivation to do such a thing now, after once wanting to use it to get revenge on those who only looked at others with prejudiced eyes, seemed to have disappeared.
"Like-minded people, Kasumi Shiko counts, but isn't another like-minded person I've known for over ten years also changing direction now?"
When school ended, Eriri could only think of that one sentence.
Her mind was still replaying what Aki Tomoya had said to her on LINE, wondering what it meant to cherish the present, and the future, she really hadn't thought about it properly.
The peers she occasionally encountered at home gatherings were also the kind of people who looked like they would run away at any moment.
Eriri seemed to understand why she disliked those peers who approached her during gatherings, and those who clustered around her Mother and Father.
Even though their smiles were so elegant, they were disgusting.
It turned out they were all fake smiles that could pass for real.
"If a friendship of over ten years can be diluted by time, is it really reliable to think about establishing a new front with Kasumigaoka?"
Eriri thought in confusion.
For some reason, some things were becoming increasingly complicated in her eyes.
"I really hate you, Aki Tomoya, for making me see these annoying things. Wouldn't it be better to always be as carefree as when we first met?"
Eriri sat in the art room with her head buried in her knees.
"Eririi Spencer Sawamura, it's closing time!"
"Thank you, I know…"
After that, Eriri returned home and couldn't help but ask her Mother, Sawamura Sayuri, "Can I always do what I want to do?"
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