On the way back, Tanaka Masao could clearly feel Eriri's low spirits.
He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know what to say. Should he say,
"Eriri, stop thinking about Aki Tomoya and come into my arms?"
If he dared to say that, Eriri would definitely block him on the spot.
Tanaka Masao followed behind the silent Eriri, pondering how to comfort her.
But as he pondered, Tanaka Masao's gaze was drawn to other things.
"Eriri is usually a bit flat, but her hip curve is quite nice, it could be..."
At this thought, Tanaka Masao shook his head sharply.
"No, no, why am I thinking such perverted things? I should be thinking about how to comfort Eriri right now."
"Comfort… Childbearing hips…"
All the way, Tanaka Masao was unable to control his gaze very well, so naturally he didn't come up with a good way to comfort her.
And Eriri, preoccupied with her own thoughts, didn't notice what Tanaka Masao, who was following behind her, was looking at.
...
The two returned to Eriri's house without a word.
"I'm home."
Eriri called out weakly, then went back to her room.
Sawamura Sayuri, who had just come out, couldn't help but frown at this sight.
She pulled Tanaka Masao over and asked,
"Tanaka-kun, what's wrong? Did you two have a fight with Eriri?"
"No, we had a lot of fun today."
Tanaka Masao told Sawamura Sayuri about what happened on the way back.
"After that, Eriri suddenly stopped talking and became very dejected."
Upon hearing this, Sawamura Sayuri sighed helplessly.
"Alas, that person must be Lun Ye."
Sawamura Sayuri was also very helpless about this.
If things continued like this, let alone getting the two of them together, even communicating again would be a problem.
She looked at Tanaka Masao and said apologetically,
"I'm sorry, Tanaka-kun, for letting you see this. That boy is Aki Tomoya, Eriri's childhood friend.
The two of them had a falling out over some things before and haven't made up yet."
Seeing Sawamura Sayuri's somewhat downcast look, Tanaka Masao comforted her.
"Xiao Baihe, it's normal for friends to have conflicts, they can always be resolved."
Upon hearing this, Sawamura Sayuri seemed to have found someone to confide in. She pulled Tanaka Masao to sit down and began to talk.
Over the years, it wasn't just Eriri who was bothered by this matter.
She was also very worried about this matter.
Her only daughter and her daughter's only close friend, it was difficult for her to handle.
Now she finally had someone to confide in.
Although Tanaka Masao had some understanding of this matter through anime in his previous life, he didn't know the specific details.
Now he was listening attentively.
As she spoke, Sawamura Sayuri couldn't help but ask,
"Tanaka-kun, when you have conflicts with friends, how do you usually resolve them?"
"Hmm…"
After a moment of hesitation, Tanaka Masao said,
"I don't have any friends."
Sawamura Sayuri, who was originally immersed in her own world, recounting her troubles, paused upon hearing this.
It took her two and a half seconds to react and ask uncertainly,
"Tanaka-kun, what did you just say? You don't have any friends?"
Tanaka Masao nodded.
"That's right, I don't have any friends, so I don't know how to resolve such conflicts."
He wasn't lying. His former self really didn't have any friends, so there was no question of conflicts arising.
As for his previous life, he did have friends, but that was already a matter of his past life.
Moreover, in his previous life, when he had conflicts with friends, they would forget about it naturally within a day, and the conflict would be resolved.
Sawamura Sayuri, having received an affirmative answer, fell into an awkward silence.
She had originally thought that Eriri having a conflict with her only good friend and being unable to make up was already a tragedy.
But she didn't expect Tanaka Masao to be even more tragic, not even having a single friend.
Thinking about how she had just complained to him, she felt a little ashamed.
What was the difference between this and someone who had only scraped their skin complaining about their pain to someone who had lost a limb?
Sawamura Sayuri suddenly felt guilty and cursed herself under her breath.
"Oh, I deserve to die."
"I'm sorry, Tanaka-kun, I didn't know you…"
Seeing the somewhat awkward and ashamed Sawamura Sayuri, Tanaka Masao waved his hand.
"Xiao Baihe, you don't need to worry about such things, and it's not some rare occurrence."
Now it was Sawamura Sayuri's turn to be surprised.
"No, no, not having friends, how can that not be an unusual thing?"
"Is that so?"
Tanaka Masao thought for a moment. The people he knew now were Yukinoshita Yukino, Kawasaki Saki, and the Sawamura mother and daughter.
Two out of the four didn't have friends.
That's half the proportion, so it's indeed not a rare occurrence.
"However, I've made friends at school now, and there's also Eriri and Xiao Baihe."
Upon hearing this, Sawamura Sayuri showed a faint smile.
"That's right, I'm Tanaka-kun's good friend now, and Eriri is too."
Suddenly, Sawamura Sayuri's eyes darted, as if she had thought of something.
"Tanaka-kun, you live in Chiba, right? Since you've come all the way to Tokyo, how about staying overnight here tonight?"
"Stay overnight?" Tanaka Masao hesitated a little.
"Wouldn't that be too much of a bother?"
Actually, Tanaka Masao quite hoped to stay.
It wasn't because of any strange thoughts.
It was entirely because he was a bit tired today.
He came from Chiba early in the morning, and then played outside with Eriri for most of the day, exhausting his physical strength.
It was already afternoon, and if he went back to Chiba now, it would be dark by the time he arrived.
He really didn't want to bother with the back and forth anymore.
Seeing Tanaka Masao's hesitation, Sawamura Sayuri pressed on.
"Not at all. You and Eriri were out all day today, you must be tired. Just rest here tonight.
It's settled then, I'll go prepare a room for you."
With that, Sawamura Sayuri didn't give Tanaka Masao a chance to reply and directly left to prepare the guest room.
Looking at Sawamura Sayuri's departing back, Tanaka Masao, sitting on the sofa, felt a little nervous.
This was his first time staying overnight at a house of the opposite sex.
"I'll be staying here for dinner tonight, I wonder how dinner will be."
"Will Eriri's father come back tonight? If he does, how should I face him?"
"I'll have to shower here tonight, but I didn't bring a change of clothes. What's Eriri's bathroom like?"
"Will any unexpected events happen?"
While nervous, Tanaka Masao also felt a little excited and expectant.