Chapter 30: Inviting Eriri
"Haaah~"
The girl beside him yawned, then her bright, sky-blue eyes fell upon him.
"Why do you seem so gloomy lately?"
The girl asked, feigning indifference.
"I have a bit of a headache. It seems I've hit a bottleneck. Lately, I haven't had the same passion for writing as before."
Izumi Chihiro knew what she was thinking, so he stated his predicament to keep the conversation going.
"Hmph, so it's because of something like that. The once high-spirited guy has indeed reached a slump. Looking at you, it seems you won't be able to overcome this for a while."
Eriri said with a flippant tone.
At this moment, he should really seek advice from a senior!
Izumi Chihiro turned his head, glanced at her self-satisfied expression, then chuckled and said, "Then may I ask Kashiwagi Eri-sensei, how do you handle such situations when you encounter them?"
"That's simple, just draw! Keep drawing, continue drawing, and don't you eventually get a feel for it?"
Hearing his agreement, Eriri immediately shared her creative experience.
In terms of drawing, Eriri was also a genius. The bottlenecks she encountered weren't really bottlenecks for her at all.
Currently, she hasn't encountered a stage where she's truly stuck.
"It seems your experience isn't suitable for me."
He shook his head.
His previous creative process was to just keep writing and writing, but the results weren't that good, because that's exactly how he ran into a bottleneck.
So, trying to break through the bottleneck using the same method was simply impossible.
"Hmph, suit yourself then."
Eriri snorted.
She was clearly not pleased with his attitude.
"By the way, Eriri, why don't you come over to my place tomorrow to play FC? We haven't played games together in a long time."
Izumi Chihiro suddenly changed the subject.
"Eh, why so sudden?"
Eriri didn't react for a moment, simply freezing in place.
"What's wrong? Why are you just standing there, Eriri?"
Izumi Chihiro stopped walking and turned his head, looking puzzled.
"No, it's nothing."
Eriri pursed her cherry lips and continued walking beside him.
She lowered her head slightly, contemplating the ground.
It had probably been over half a year since she last received such an invitation.
Since Sagiri arrived, this was the first time she had received such a game invitation.
The two were childhood friends and fellow otaku. Over a year ago, they often played various types of games together on weekends and holidays, mainly focusing on the Famicom series.
At that time, they had carefree, purely joyful daily lives.
However, ever since she started turning her drawing hobby into a profession, the frequency of their gaming sessions significantly decreased.
This might also be due to the factor of her 'growing up,' though this was mainly on a psychological level.
Gradually realizing the difference between boys and girls is an inevitable process for a teenage girl.
After that, her childhood friend also found his own path, and their interactions became even rarer.
They only occasionally met when going to school, or sometimes chatted about trivial topics during school.
"Eriri, you still haven't answered me."
After walking a bit further, Izumi Chihiro urged her.
"Uh, well, if I have time tomorrow, I'll go."
Eriri came back to her senses and replied after a moment of hesitation.
"Then do you have time tomorrow?"
He pressed again.
"Alright, alright, I have time! I'll be there on time tomorrow at 2 PM."
Eriri waved her hand impatiently, her face slightly red as she turned her head away.
"Heh."
Izumi Chihiro chuckled to himself.
The girl's expression looked quite amusing.
As expected of a tsundere paragon, the peak of a failed work.
At 2 PM, Izumi Chihiro was already waiting in the living room, having taken out the Famicom from the cabinet.
"Is this a game console, Ni-san?"
Sagiri walked over, her expression curious.
She had never played this kind of game before; her impression of it came from seeing such things appear in some of the works she usually read, which is how she knew about it.
"That's right."
He fiddled with the Famicom, preparing to test it beforehand.
After all, it had been a while since he played, and if it was broken, it would be too much trouble to replace it then.
"Ni-san, why are you thinking of playing games today? Aren't you writing your novel anymore?"
Sagiri asked.
"Not writing."
"Eh?!"
"Why are you so surprised? It's just that I've hit a bottleneck in my writing recently, so I plan to relax a bit."
"Oh, I thought Ni-san was going to give up. You scared me."
"Ni-san, I haven't planned on giving up halfway yet."
...
"Looks like it's still good."
After adjusting it for a while, he finally confirmed it.
He turned his head and saw that Sagiri hadn't left; instead, her eyes were sparkling as she looked at him.
Her hopeful gaze was undisguised, making it hard to refuse.
"Sagiri wants to play too?"
"Mm."
Sagiri nodded heavily, "I want to play with Ni-san."
"You can, but you'll have to wait a bit, because I've already made plans with Eriri."
He replied.
"Mm."
Sagiri's expression changed slightly.
After all, Eriri is Ni-san's childhood friend, so isn't it normal for them to have a good relationship?
But why did she feel a little uncomfortable?
This was certainly not the jealousy born from romantic affection, but rather a feeling similar to a child's candy being taken to be shared.
...
About ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.
"Chihiro, open the door for me quickly, it's freezing out here."
Eriri's urging voice came at the same time.
----------
"If you're enjoying this book, please consider supporting it by voting with your Power Stones!"