Chapter 64: Slipped Away
After countless warnings and instructions, she finally convinced Utaha not to talk nonsense, but after leaving the teaching building, Eriri herself started to panic.
The reason was simple: if she went to find her own mother now, she would definitely run into Kaede and Kaede's mother. Just thinking about that scene made Eriri feel unable to remain calm.
Noticing Eriri's footsteps slow down, Utaha looked at her and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Eriri pursed her lips and directly uttered words that astonished Utaha: "I suddenly realized I have something to do, so I won't go over there. You know where the location is, so go by yourself. We agreed, don't talk nonsense, okay?"
Then, she really turned around and slipped away.
"..."
Utaha stared blankly at Eriri's retreating figure, and only after she disappeared from view did she burst out laughing: "No way, is she really that shy?"
Although she hadn't been in a relationship, Utaha had come to understand Eriri's personality these days, and she could understand why Eriri would make such a move.
After all, she had just heard a boy express his affection for her, and she also had feelings for him.
Given Eriri's personality in this situation, it would be strange if she dared to meet him face-to-face.
Driven by curiosity about the subsequent developments, Utaha arrived at the place where Kaede and the others were.
Asakura Reiko, who was chatting, was curious when she saw a beautiful girl walking straight toward them.
Kaede also happened to see her, but didn't see Eriri with her, so he asked, "Senpai, where is Eriri? Wasn't she with you?"
"As for Eriri, she had something urgent come up."
After arriving in front of everyone, Utaha also introduced herself to the ladies: "Hello everyone, I'm Utaha from the second year, and I am a friend of Asakura-kun and Eriri."
Usami and Takasu Ryuji both looked at Kaede in surprise. They had originally thought that this senpai only knew Eriri, but they didn't expect her to know Kaede as well.
Asakura Reiko looked at Utaha with a hint of amazement, then looked at her son, the meaning in her eyes clear: *Boy, you're not being honest. You secretly know other girls? Being a playboy is unacceptable!*
In response, Kaede calmly shrugged and said, "Colleague."
"Oh~~",
Asakura Reiko understood, looking at Utaha, who was also smiling and nodding. She finally got it.
So they were colleagues. They were both light novel authors, so it wasn't hard to understand why they knew each other.
Takasu Ryuji, who knew Kaede was a light novel author, also looked at Utaha in surprise, not expecting this excessively beautiful senpai to also be a light novel author.
Could it be that being a light novel author requires good looks these days?
Sawamura Sayuri naturally knew Utaha's identity, but right now she was more curious about why her daughter hadn't come over.
Just as she took out her phone to call, Eriri sent a message.
[I'm going back first. Please help me come up with an excuse to explain.]
"..."
Sawamura Sayuri couldn't figure out what her daughter was doing at all; there was too much missing information.
But since it was her own daughter, she could only go along with her wishes at a time like this.
Putting down her phone, Sawamura Sayuri looked at everyone and said, "Something urgent came up, so I have to leave first. Reiko, let's have dinner together again when we have the chance."
First, Eriri didn't show up, and then Sawamura Sayuri also left early. This made Kaede a bit curious, but he didn't look into it further.
After all, the Sawamura Family wasn't an ordinary family; it was common for urgent matters to disrupt their plans.
The sports festival was almost over. In the final scores, the Red Team won with a five-point lead. In the time that followed, the parents who had come to the school were touring the school or visiting the clubs their children belonged to, guided by their children.
After Kaede took his mother on a tour of the Art Club, he went straight home.
After arriving home, since it was still early, Asakura Reiko didn't go straight to cooking. Instead, she pulled Kaede down onto the living room sofa, took out her phone, and said, "Kaede, I took a lot of pictures today!"
"Uh... no way?"
Since entering middle school, Kaede rarely took selfies or let family members take his picture. Except for New Year's and travel, he generally didn't take photos on weekdays. Hearing his mother say she took many photos now made him quite uncomfortable.
But the next second, Asakura Reiko gave him a look and said, "Who said I took pictures of you?"
"..."
Sure enough, when his mother opened her phone album, it was full of pictures of Eriri.
There were pictures of her with a ponytail, with twin tails, talking, smiling—practically no two were the same.
*Cute, I want to...* Noticing her son's attention was focused entirely on the photos, Asakura Reiko immediately turned off the phone screen, looked at her son, and said, "I can send you the pictures."
"...Conditions?"
"Hmph hmph~~",
Asakura Reiko smiled and said, "Hurry up and win that girl over. I already thought she was cute just from the pictures, but meeting her closely today, I found her even cuter. It's just a shame I didn't see her again this afternoon, otherwise I would have liked to get to know her better."
"...I knew it would be like this."
Scratching his head, Kaede said, "Fine, I get it. I'll try to get it done before summer vacation, alright?"
"Summer vacation? That's acceptable."
Asakura Reiko nodded with satisfaction, then immediately sent all the pictures of Eriri on her phone to Kaede.
After finishing this, Asakura Reiko went to prepare dinner, and Kaede also went upstairs to his room.
After scrolling through the pictures, Kaede sent a message to Eriri, asking if something had happened in the afternoon since she hadn't come to meet up.
After waiting a while, Eriri didn't reply. Kaede figured Eriri might really be busy, so he decided to call Utaha first.
Soon, the call connected, and Utaha's voice came through: "Asakura-kun, calling me at this hour, are you missing your senpai?"
"...Senpai, I called you to talk about serious business."
Utaha, who was already home and about to start writing, smiled and said, "My apologies, please go ahead."
"The day after tomorrow, which is Sunday, is the release date for your novel. Are you planning to go to a nearby store to check on sales?"
"Go in person?"
Utaha hadn't thought of it originally, but hearing Kaede mention it, she was somewhat tempted.