Chapter 32: Taiga
Friday, the last day of school this week.
When Eriri arrived in class sporting dark circles under her eyes, Usami Mizuki walked over and asked worriedly, "Eriri, why are your dark circles so prominent? Are you okay?"
Shaking her head, Eriri said, "I'm fine, really. I just had poor sleep quality. I'll just go rest in the Art Club room at noon."
Last night, after her mother's teasing, Eriri inevitably started overthinking things.
Saturday was coming soon. She definitely had to go to Akihabara as promised, but did the activity on Saturday count as a date?
Eriri's mind was completely occupied by these thoughts. Although she was a doujin artist, she had consumed many romance manga and anime, and various classic scenes kept replaying in her mind.
This resulted in her having heavy dark circles when she woke up this morning. Even with light makeup, they were still quite noticeable.
Just as she finished speaking, Eriri remembered how she had previously dragged Kaede to accompany her in the Art Club room during lunch.
She quickly grabbed Usami, who was about to return to her seat, and said, "Mizuki, come with me to the Art Club room at noon."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Usami simply thought Eriri was afraid to be alone and agreed without overthinking it.
After thanking her, Eriri watched Usami sit back down, then she slumped onto her desk, covering her now-flushing face with her hands.
Ah, ah, ah, this is so annoying... It's all Asakura's fault!
"Achoo!"
In Class C on the other side, Kaede inexplicably sneezed, startling Kitamura Yusaku and Takasu Ryuji, who were chatting with him.
"Asakura, do you have a cold?" Kitamura Yusaku pushed up his glasses and asked worriedly. "If you have a cold, go to the infirmary later to get some medicine. It's troublesome if you let it drag on."
"You're overthinking it."
Rubbing his nose, Kaede said, "I'm perfectly healthy, definitely not a cold. Someone must be talking about me behind my back."
"Huh~~ You get that too? You haven't done anything bad, have you?"
Kitamura Yusaku patted Kaede's shoulder, speaking with a mischievous grin.
"Overthinking it. I've been a model student since childhood."
Hearing this, Kitamura Yusaku immediately looked at Takasu Ryuji beside him: "Takasu, do you believe that?"
"Hmm... it's suspicious."
"..."
Kaede couldn't be bothered with these two guys.
Since it was Friday, there was only one class in the afternoon, and after that, all the time was dedicated to club activities.
After packing up, Kaede prepared to head to his club. He had skipped it yesterday, so he had to make a proper appearance today. Furthermore, he hadn't drawn much lately, so he definitely needed to practice today.
On the way to the Art Club room, Kaede was walking down the hallway when he faintly heard two people talking below through the nearby window.
"Minori! After your training today, how about we go eat something? I found a new dessert shop!"
"But my training will take a long time today. Are you sure you don't mind, Taiga?"
"It's fine, it's fine! I'll just sit nearby!"
Hearing this conversation, Kaede stopped and looked out the window. He saw two girls below walking together toward the sports field.
One had short red hair, the other long brown hair; one tall, one short, they were chatting happily.
"Emmm~~~ Isn't that the Taiga? And Kushieda Minori." Kaede rubbed his chin and muttered, "Speaking of which, Takasu said he was going to take advantage of Friday to do a deep clean at home. What a shame, what a shame."
"A shame about what?"
Eriri's voice suddenly came from behind him, startling Kaede.
"It's Eriri. Why are you walking so quietly?"
"Who says?" Eriri retorted unhappily. "I make noise when I walk! You just didn't notice!"
As she spoke, she walked up beside Kaede and looked down.
"Hm? Isn't that Oosaka Taiga and Kushieda Minori from Class E?"
"You know them?"
Eriri nodded and said, "I met them once during a joint P.E. class, so I know them. Kushieda is a very cheerful and easy-going person, but Oosaka Taiga seems to have a slightly difficult personality and only likes to stick close to Kushieda. I haven't talked much with her. Do you know them?"
"I don't know them personally, I just know of them," Kaede said, shrugging. "You know Kitamura Yusaku from my class, right? He and Kushieda Minori are both in the Softball Club, so I know a bit."
Pulling his gaze back from the two girls walking away, Kaede looked at Eriri beside him and asked, "Why are you alone? Where is Usami?"
"Mizuki is on duty today, so I came ahead."
"Alright, let's go to the Art Club room together then."
As they walked together, Kaede looked at the slightly reserved Eriri, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
"So, for tomorrow, what time and where should we meet?"
"Huh? What time?"
"To Akihabara, of course. Don't you want to go anymore?"
"Ah!" Eriri realized and immediately said, "I'm going, I'm going! What time do you think is best?"
"Hmm... Although it's Saturday and we have the whole day to enjoy, let's not start too late. How about we meet at the station at 9:30 AM and take the train over together?"
Seeing that Eriri clearly hadn't thought about the logistics, Kaede simply set the time and location himself.
Eriri had no objections and agreed: "Okay, 9:30 AM it is."
"Then let's agree now: to prevent you from being late tomorrow, Eriri, let's not play games tonight."
"Huh? Why would you say I'll be late?"
"When you drag me along to play games on the weekend, don't we always play until the middle of the night? I'm fine, but you, Eriri, surely sleep until noon the next day, right?" Kaede looked at Eriri and said with a smile, "Besides, if you go out feeling tired, you won't fully enjoy yourself, will you?"
"Well... fine then."
Although she agreed, Kaede figured that given Eriri's personality, she would definitely still play games or watch anime by herself tonight.
"Oh, right, Eriri, have you decided on the theme for your doujinshi for the Summer Comiket? How about drawing something pure romance this time? I'm not likely to buy the ones about bondage and humiliation, and things like that."
"Don't talk about that kind of thing at school!"
Eriri hadn't expected Kaede to bring up that topic so directly. Her face immediately flushed red, and she raised her hand to cover Kaede's mouth. The two of them stood frozen in the school hallway.
Feeling the warmth of Eriri's palm against his lips, Kaede didn't pull away. He simply looked into Eriri's eyes, watching the temperature on her face rapidly rise.