Chapter 101: Like Mashiro and Takagi
Five minutes later, looking at the never-opened doujinshi taken from the drawer, Kaede and Eriri looked at each other in silence, and it was a good while before they both started laughing.
"Ahaha, so that person that day was you! Wearing that scarf and hat, coming and going in a hurry, I didn't recognize you at all. I only remembered hearing a girl's voice."
"Ugh... What could I do?" Eriri said, blushing, "There aren't many girls who go to Comiket, let alone those who go to 18+ booths to buy books. I didn't want to be stared at, so I could only dress like that!"
"I know, I understand, I understand."
Patting her head, Kaede said with a smile, "Then these doujinshi are going back to their rightful owner today."
Looking at the doujinshi of various genres in front of her, Eriri was a bit conflicted, but in the end, she put them all back into her bag.
"First, let me say, I don't like all these genres. I just wanted to understand the strengths of each artist!"
"Mhm, I get it."
"I can tell you don't believe me at all!"
Eriri sat back down discontentedly, picked up a potato chip, and put it into her mouth.
"Why wouldn't I believe you? Relax, of course I believe Eriri."
Kaede said with a smile, pulling Eriri back into his arms.
"Really?"
Seeing Kaede nod again, Eriri finally breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want Kaede to think she had any peculiar bad habits.
Holding Eriri in his arms, Kaede was also in a very happy mood at this moment.
At the same time, he also remembered a document on his computer that he had been continuously updating.
Maybe, he should tell Eriri about it today?
He looked down at the girl in his arms, just as Eriri turned her head to look at him.
"What's wrong, Kaede-kun?"
Shaking his head, Kaede said with a smile, "Just wanted to tell you to eat a little less. Mom prepared a big meal for lunch, so don't be unable to eat it then."
"Oh, okay."
Compared to snacks, the big lunch meal was what Eriri looked forward to more, so she unhesitatingly put down the snacks in her hand.
Since there was still some time until lunch, and the two had nothing else to do, they simply turned on the PS4 in the room and played for a while.
They played until 11:30, when lunch was finally served.
And just as Kaede told Eriri, there was indeed a table full of delicious food for lunch today. For the first time, Eriri truly understood how amazing her boyfriend's mother's cooking skills were.
Not only Japanese cuisine, but also Chinese cuisine, and even Thai cuisine.
Sitting in her chair, Asakura Reiko said to Eriri across from her, "Eriri, don't be shy, just eat as if you're at home."
Eriri blushed and nodded, "I'm going to eat."
Lunch lasted for over an hour. While eating, everyone chatted, though mostly Asakura Reiko asked questions and Eriri answered. However, she didn't ask anything that would make Eriri uncomfortable; it was mostly about school matters.
After eating, they sat in the living room for a while, and after resting, Eriri returned to Kaede's bedroom.
"Want to lie on the bed for a bit? You look pretty full."
Rubbing her stomach under her clothes, Eriri said with a smile, "Auntie's food was too delicious, I accidentally ate a little too much. But no need to lie down, I'm afraid I'll just fall asleep and waste all this afternoon time."
She had sat on Kaede's bed earlier in the morning, but lying down was still a no-go; Eriri wasn't quite ready to be that direct yet.
"Then shall we continue playing the game we didn't finish this morning?"
"Hmm~~~" Eriri thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Let's wait a bit. I just finished eating, and my whole body's reactions are slower, so it's not really suitable for gaming. How about we watch some anime?"
"Sure."
Kaede got up, brought his laptop over, placed it on the small table, and turned it on.
"What do you want to watch?"
"Haven't decided yet, let's browse, old anime is fine too."
Comfortably leaning in Kaede's arms, Eriri moved the mouse and opened the browser.
"You don't have any inappropriate browsing history on your computer, do you?"
"Don't worry, I don't. I usually only use this computer for writing here, drawing, or watching anime."
"So, you mean there's something in the desktop computer?"
Kaede pinched Eriri's cheek directly and said playfully, "Can't you think of something good?"
"Hehe, don't all boys in puberty think about these things?"
"Then, according to what you're saying, isn't Eriri in danger right now?"
"Ugh..."
Upon hearing that, Eriri immediately cowered, shrugging her shoulders and remaining silent.
Holding Eriri a little tighter, Kaede smiled as he watched Eriri look for anime. He happened to see the mouse pass over an anime, so he asked, "Eriri, do you still remember Mashiro Moritaka and Takagi Akito?"
"Hmm?"
After responding, Eriri nodded, "Of course I remember them! They're the two main characters from Bakuman, the manga artist duo. One is responsible for drawing, and the other for the script. I watched every single episode back then!"
"It's good that you know them, then."
Smiling, Kaede took the mouse from Eriri's hand, closed the browser, and opened an unnamed document on the desktop.
Watching Kaede's actions, and connecting them to the questions Kaede had just asked, Eriri's heart inexplicably tightened, and she just watched Kaede's operation.
After clicking on the file, Kaede opened one of the documents, and then a large amount of text appeared before them.
Looking at the title on the document, Eriri softly read, "Nurarihyon no Mago...? nurarihyon?"
"Ah, a type of yokai from Japanese folklore. He looks very dignified but loves to swagger into other people's homes to eat and drink. And because of his nature, people mistakenly think he's part of their family and treat him well with food and drink. It's a very interesting legendary yokai. This script I haven't finished yet is the story of a young man with a quarter nurarihyon yokai bloodline."
Then, he opened several other files, and upon seeing them, Eriri immediately exclaimed, "Character designs? Storyboards? Kaede-kun, what is this?"
Kaede stroked Eriri's long hair and slowly said, "You went to submit your work before, didn't you think the chances of success were slim? I thought you definitely wouldn't give up after one or two tries. So, I took advantage of having some time and wrote this script. Of course, I'm just a beginner in storyboarding, and I haven't fully grasped many things yet. There are only storyboards for the first three chapters here; it's really difficult. Mashiro Moritaka and Takagi Akito worked together to become manga artists, so I was thinking, if Eriri is willing, we could also collaborate like that. Wouldn't it be great if we could learn and improve together?"
After listening to Kaede's explanation, Eriri took the mouse and went back and forth between the script, character designs, and storyboards several times.
Just as Kaede couldn't guess Eriri's thoughts, the girl in his arms suddenly turned around, her eyes red, and looked at him, saying, "What's this, coming out of nowhere like this..."
Then she actively hugged Kaede and kissed him hard.