"Eriri-nee, let's go upstairs."
Izumi Sagiri locked the door and finally looked more at ease.
Normally, she absolutely refused to go outside.
The farthest she ever ventured was to the front gate of the yard to secretly retrieve deliveries when no one was around.
Now that the internet was so advanced, Sagiri relied on it to order all her necessities and groceries.
And when that didn't work, Eriri helped her out.
"Okay."
Eriri freed one hand and gently stroked Sagiri's soft, silvery-white hair with a pampering smile.
Sagiri accepted it without resistance and followed Eriri back to her room.
"What've you been up to lately, Sagiri?" Eriri casually dropped her groceries on the floor.
"I don't want to draw erotic manga anymore. I'm thinking of illustrating light novels instead." Sagiri sat back down on her girlishly-decorated, pink-fluffy bed.
"Hehe, why'd you stop drawing?"
Now alone with her close confidante, Eriri let herself relax for a moment, tossing aside her recent troubles as she suddenly pounced on Sagiri.
Caught off guard, Sagiri didn't struggle immediately, her cute expression showing a trace of discomfort.
"Sagiri, you're so soft and smell so good~"
Eriri, familiar with these antics, hugged the cute, plush little loli tightly and pressed herself against her, gently rubbing her cheek against Sagiri's.
A tall and a short girl, both adorable, with one in black over-knee socks and the other in thin white tights, playfully tangled together on a bed filled with sweet girl-scented softness.
It was a scene to get anyone's blood boiling.
Who would've guessed that the usually elegant, high-class, fair-skinned mixed-blood lady was like this in private?
"E-Eriri-nee…"
Sagiri began to protest, using her little hands to push Eriri away.
"Fufufu."
Eriri chuckled, her mood lifting quite a bit.
She decided not to dwell on any of her annoying thoughts tonight.
Afterward, she let go of Sagiri, and they enjoyed some luxurious takeout together, took a bath, then lay on the bed chatting and reading manga…
They played around until late into the night before finally falling asleep.
…
The next morning, Yoru got up as usual.
Since school started, he'd developed strict self-discipline.
The moment the alarm rang, he got up without hesitation—no more sleeping in like before.
"Early to bed, early to rise… gotta keep training…"
Yoru slipped on his slippers and made his bed.
He wasn't just fat. His weight had already brought on some early health issues, lowered immunity, and so on.
After tidying up, he brushed his teeth, drank some water, then began warm-ups and workout routines.
Half an hour later, it was just past seven.
He stepped into the bathroom, still shirtless, and showered under warm water.
Then he noticed something.
It felt like his body had changed.
Looking closely, it seemed he had slimmed down just a little.
And another part had… grown more muscular.
Yoru had heard that overweight guys usually weren't very "gifted," but he'd never cared.
Turns out, he was already above average… by quite a bit.
"If I keep slimming down…"
He stood in front of the mirror, muttering while making vague gestures.
After washing up, he prepared his breakfast and lunch, left out food and water for San-san the cat, and turned on the TV while he ate.
Then Gabriel knocked on the door.
"Morning, Gabriel," Yoru greeted her.
"Here, I finished that game cartridge. Returning it."
Gabriel handed it over.
"Didn't sleep well?" Yoru noticed she looked a bit tired and took the cartridge.
"Yeah, but I'm fine."
She yawned and added, "It was fun, but these kinds of games don't have much replay value."
"Online games tend to last longer," Yoru replied.
"Hmm… online games, huh?" Gabriel mumbled as she waved goodbye and left.
…
"Whew~ I made it!"
Eriri rushed out of the station at the end of the shopping street, glancing at her phone.
She'd gotten up early to make it to school, but Sagiri's place was just too far. The commute was long, and she'd been worried she'd be late the entire ride.
"Still got about 20 minutes."
She let out a sigh of relief and started walking toward school, keeping an eye out for any breakfast spots or convenience stores along the way.
Just then, her eyes caught a familiar figure ahead.
"Huh…?"
Eriri stopped in her tracks, stunned.
It was that fat otaku walking with a petite blonde girl.
Both wore the Shuchiin school uniform.
"No way… and they're laughing together?"
Eriri's expression turned strange.
Those frustrating thoughts she'd been pushing aside started flooding back into her mind again.
When Yoru arrived in class, morning reading was about to begin.
He set down his bag and pulled out his phone.
He felt someone staring at him.
Turning his head, he met the emerald green eyes of his pretty blonde deskmate, Yumiko.
"Wh-What is it?"
Yoru blinked, seeing Yumiko scanning him up and down like she was inspecting some exotic animal in a zoo.
"…Nothing," Yumiko muttered, shifting her gaze to Yuigahama.
"So weird…"
Yoru sighed and murmured.
After morning reading, during the break between classes, Yoru pulled out his phone and sent a short message to Megumi, anxiously awaiting her reply.
In the classroom…
Megumi sat quietly at her desk. While most people used the short break to stretch and chat, she had no clue what to do.
Resting her chin on one hand, she blankly watched the classroom scene.
Ding—dong~
Her phone buzzed inside her bag.
Since she almost never got messages from anyone, she figured it was an ad or app notification.
Bored, she pulled it out—and to her surprise, it was a message from Yoru-kun.
"Yoru-kun… he actually remembered me…"
She smiled faintly, recalling their outing last weekend, then typed a short reply.
Hugging her phone to her chest, Megumi felt a calm warmth.
Everything was nice… except for the noise.
She glanced toward the classroom entrance.
Tomoya was at it again, preaching anime to random classmates.
Normally Megumi didn't mind, but today she was starting to understand why some girls didn't like Tomoya.
She remembered his rude behavior the other day and now the obnoxious scene in class.
"So noisy," Megumi murmured.