"A date? It's not a date. We just came out to walk around together."
After firing off that reply, Eriri suddenly realized that if someone had said this to her in the past, her first reaction would definitely have been nervousness and embarrassment. Why was she now so desperate to clear things up?
Was she worried that Shirai Mio would misunderstand?
H-How could that be? She was only contradicting her out of habit.
"I'm just joking. The atmosphere between you two doesn't look much like a date anyway."
After seeing that message, Eriri instinctively glanced at Aki Tomoya. He was no longer looking at his phone, but he was now earnestly reading the description on the game case.
Even Eriri, who had long since grown used to this, could only sigh helplessly at the sight.
She herself had noticed it too. She and Aki Tomoya did not look like they were on a date at all.
Perhaps sensing Eriri's gaze, Aki Tomoya put the game back into its bag and asked in confusion, "Eriri, why are you looking at me with such a helpless expression? Did I do something strange?"
"No. Everything you're doing fits your character perfectly."
"That was a compliment, right?"
"If you think it was, then sure."
There was a gorgeous girl sitting right beside him, yet he was still practically lusting after a game. Was Aki Tomoya truly uninterested in 3D?
"By the way, who were you messaging just now? You looked so happy," Aki Tomoya asked curiously.
"I looked… happy?" Eriri sounded utterly incredulous.
She had only exchanged a few messages with a certain white-haired little bitch. How could that possibly make her happy? It was already impressive that she had not gotten angry.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"N-No, nothing."
Eriri gently shook her head. Much as she did not want to admit it, she did seem to have felt the tiniest bit happy while chatting with Shirai Mio just now.
Only the tiniest bit.
While Eriri was making excuses to herself, another message from Shirai Mio arrived. "Can I ask where you two are going this afternoon?"
"Why do you care where we're going? Don't tell me you're planning to follow us."
She had come out today specifically to rid herself of Shirai Mio's influence. If Shirai Mio tagged along, her entire plan would be ruined.
Though at this point, the plan was already more or less ruined anyway.
"Of course not. Do I look like that kind of person?"
Across the restaurant, Shirai Mio typed with a helpless expression.
She had actually planned to go home and sleep after lunch, but she genuinely had not expected the System to cause trouble now and assign her a System Quest.
The quest was simple: she had to keep Eriri in sight until six that evening. If Eriri remained out of sight for more than half an hour in total, the quest would fail.
It was not particularly difficult, but it was by no means easy either.
The appearance of this quest meant that her plan to sleep all afternoon had been ruined on the spot.
"You don't look like one. You are one."
"Since you've already put it that way, I've decided to follow you all afternoon."
"If you dare follow us, I'll…" Eriri stopped typing there. She suddenly realized she had no way to threaten Shirai Mio at all.
She had wanted to say that she would expose Shirai Mio's identity if she followed them, but Shirai Mio also knew about her identity as Kashiwagi Eri. That threat would accomplish nothing.
After agonizing for a long while, Eriri finally replied, "Do what you want."
She figured Shirai Mio had only said it casually to tease her. She refused to believe Shirai Mio would actually follow them.
Before long, the server brought Eriri's order to the table.
While eating lunch, she asked Aki Tomoya, "Is there anywhere you want to go this afternoon?"
"This afternoon? How about browsing a bookstore?"
"Fine."
Aki Tomoya's answer was entirely within Eriri's expectations. It would have been stranger if he had suggested a movie or any other normal date activity.
After finishing lunch, Eriri and Aki Tomoya rested briefly in the restaurant before setting off for their next destination.
They had not gone far before Eriri noticed Shirai Mio leisurely following a short distance behind them.
That white-haired little bitch had actually followed them.
And she was being so obvious about it. Was she not afraid Aki Tomoya would notice?
No, wait. Even if he noticed, it would not matter, would it? Nothing strange had happened between her and Shirai Mio.
What left Eriri speechless was that even with Shirai Mio behaving so brazenly, Aki Tomoya had not noticed her at all. Or rather, he was so fixated on reaching the bookstore that he paid no attention to what was happening behind them.
While they waited for the light to change, Eriri took out her phone and sent Shirai Mio a message. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Stop following me!"
Shirai Mio wished she could, but with the quest hanging over her head, she had to follow even if she did not want to.
After walking for a little over ten minutes, the two of them arrived at the bookstore.
With only a casual glance, Eriri spotted a poster for Koisuru Metronome, the novel Aki Tomoya had often recommended to her.
Yet she still had not finished reading it.
It was not that the novel was bad. She simply did not want to read it.
After all, the author of this book was the reason Aki Tomoya had been so busy before. Eriri had been unable to get his help when she needed it.
Fortunately, Shirai Mio had solved the problem for her at the time and helped her with quite a few things besides.
In the past, seeing this book might have put her in a bad mood. Now, however, she felt strangely calm. She even picked up the first volume and casually flipped through it.
After reading only a few pages, Eriri discovered that Aki Tomoya had vanished.
Just as she was wondering where he had gone, Shirai Mio's familiar voice suddenly came from beside her. "If you're looking for Aki-kun, he went over there."
Following where Shirai Mio was pointing, Eriri did indeed spot Aki Tomoya.
At the moment, however, Shirai Mio's behavior was more important than Aki Tomoya.
Eriri turned to face Shirai Mio. "What exactly are you thinking?"
"Don't get so worked up. I'm only passing by. Besides, you can just pretend I'm not here. That way, I can do whatever I want to you. Whatever I want!"
"Don't make invisible-person jokes in here!"
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