After returning to the classroom,
Tanaka Masao looked at Kawasaki Saki's back and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
[Kawasaki really is a good person. She looks cold on the outside, but she's actually very generous and gentle.
I'm starting to feel a little guilty—she's this kind, so I…
Maybe next time I can push things a bit further?]
Alright—having escaped punishment entirely, Tanaka Masao was clearly planning to escalate.
...
The days that followed went pretty much the same as before.
After school, he went to the Service Club for training—just without Hiratsuka Shizuka today.
Dragging his exhausted body, he walked home together with Yukinoshita Yukino, then turned in early.
The next morning came the run, followed by a dazed, half-conscious morning of classes.
Then, during the last period before lunch, it was time for P.E.
Today's P.E. class, Tanaka Masao noticed, was once again shared with Class 1-J—Yukinoshita Yukino's class.
And today's free activity was, once again, tennis.
Apparently, for the entire month, free activities in P.E. would be tennis.
Next month—June—would finally bring the swimming unit everyone was looking forward to.
Holding a tennis racket, Tanaka Masao once again set his sights on Kawasaki Saki and Yukinoshita Yukino.
[Last time, it must've been because I invited Kawasaki Saki first that Yukinoshita turned me down.
Now that my relationship with Yukinoshita has improved quite a bit, she should say yes this time.]
With that thought in mind, Tanaka Masao prepared to invite Yukinoshita Yukino to play.
But before he could act, Yukinoshita Yukino exchanged a glance with Kawasaki Saki.
Then, in perfect, wordless coordination, the two of them walked toward an empty tennis court.
Seeing this, Tanaka Masao blinked and muttered uncertainly to himself,
"They teamed up? Then… what am I supposed to do?"
As expected—three people was a bit too crowded.
He just hadn't expected that he would be the one cut out.
He glanced at the empty wall nearby, hesitated—
Then shamelessly walked over to where Yukinoshita Yukino and Kawasaki Saki were playing, volunteering himself as referee and ball boy.
In his mind, being their errand boy was still better than hitting balls against a wall by himself.
Whether it was because Tanaka Masao was there to fetch balls and reduce their movement—
—or because Yukinoshita Yukino's stamina had genuinely improved—
She performed noticeably better today than last time.
As for Kawasaki Saki, maybe thanks to their previous match, her tennis skills had improved as well.
In short, today's match once again ended in a draw.
...
After training, Tanaka Masao returned home.
After dinner and a shower, he lay on his bed scrolling through his phone when a call suddenly came in.
Caller ID:
[Sawamura Sayuri]
"Moshi moshi~ Is this Tanaka-kun?"
"Sayuri-onee-san, it's me. Did something happen?"
"What, I can't call Tanaka-kun unless something's wrong?"
Hearing the playful, teasing tone on the other end, Tanaka Masao swallowed and thought to himself,
[She's way too good at this…]
"O–Of course you can. Anytime, Sayuri-onee-san. Whenever you call, I'll be there—on demand."
"Ahaha~"
Sayuri's laughter came through the phone, followed by a teasing remark.
"Tanaka-kun, you really know how to talk. Big sis likes that. Alright, let's get down to business. The doujin you brought last time has already been printed. It's scheduled to go on sale this Saturday."
Tanaka Masao was surprised.
"Oh? That fast? It's already printed and ready for sale? It's only been four days, hasn't it?"
"That's right. I contacted someone I've worked with before. She was very impressed with the work and thinks it'll sell well. So we rushed the print—an initial run of ten thousand copies. If they sell out, Tanaka-kun should make around two million yen."
"Of course, if sales are good, we'll do reprints. Eriri and I will also promote it using our own online accounts. You should create a social media account too. That way, when you release new works, fans will know."
"Then thank you so much, Sayuri-onee-san—and Eriri too. Leaving this to you really was a stroke of luck."
Tanaka Masao thanked her from the bottom of his heart. Without her, he would've had to go through a lot of trouble on his own.
"If you really want to thank me, just draw more doujins. By the way, are you coming to Tokyo this weekend to check the sales?"
"Oh—and Eriri's been talking about you a lot these past few days."
Her tone at the end was openly suggestive, clearly hinting at something.
Hearing that, Tanaka Masao thought of something.
For the past few mornings, his system's Corruption Value had been increasing little by little.
Late at night, he really couldn't figure out who was responsible.
Care to guess—Eriri-san? Sayuri-san?
After thinking for a moment, Tanaka Masao replied,
"Then I'll head to Tokyo this Saturday, Sayuri-onee-san."
"Then it's settled. Just come straight to my place. If you want to stay overnight, that's fine too—we've got plenty of guest rooms."
After chatting a bit more, Tanaka Masao hung up.
He opened a social media site on his computer and registered an account under the name:
[Takeda]
This was also the pen name he used when publishing doujins.
After setting up the account, he uploaded a few images from the book and made a post:
[Please support me.]
He also shared the account with Sawamura Sayuri and Sawamura Eriri.
With everything done, Tanaka Masao went to bed early.
...
Since Tanaka Masao's account was brand new, naturally, it didn't get much attention.
But Sawamura Eriri's account—[Kashiwagi Eri]—had a sizable following.
She deliberately posted a tweet recommending Tanaka Masao's doujin, added a few images, and tagged his newly created account.
Very quickly, Eriri's followers noticed the post and flooded the comments.
[Is Kashiwagi Eri releasing a new work?!]
[Look closely—Kashiwagi Eri-sensei is recommending another author's work.]
[This is the first time I've seen Kashiwagi Eri-sensei recommend someone else. Just from the images alone, this looks god-tier.]
[Yeah, seriously. The art style, the details—and the heroine's design—it's exactly my taste. I'm already getting impatient.]
[This "Takeda" person—I've never heard of them. A newcomer?]
[Same here. But can a newcomer really have this level of drawing skill?]
[Who cares if they're new or not? As long as the doujin's good, that's all that matters. Honestly, I'd prefer them to be new—means we'll get more good stuff in the future. Hehehe~]
[Good point. It releases this Saturday—I'm definitely grabbing the first copy.]
[Bastard, the first one's mine!]
...
Eriri's post quickly filled with comments—and along with it, Tanaka Masao's account gained a handful of new followers.