"Eriri, don't you think an invisible person would make an excellent subject?" Shirai Mio leaned close to Eriri's ear and spoke in a whisper.
The strange sensation of Shirai Mio's breath against her ear made Eriri instinctively tilt her head aside. "Don't talk about that kind of thing in a place like this! I'll die of embarrassment if someone hears us, okay?"
"It's fine. There's no one nearby anyway. Besides, don't you think the risk of dying of embarrassment if someone overhears us makes it exciting?"
"Are you a pervert?"
"Ehehe~"
"What is that 'ehehe' supposed to mean?"
Eriri stared helplessly at Shirai Mio. It was bad enough that she did not deny being a pervert, but she had even tried to act cute. Though admittedly, she really was a little cute.
Wait, whether she was cute was not the issue. The issue was how to deal with Shirai Mio.
With her here, Eriri could not continue her plan to rediscover her original feelings at all.
Moreover, as long as Shirai Mio remained here, Aki Tomoya might notice her at any moment.
Thinking of Aki Tomoya, Eriri instinctively glanced in his direction. She found him completely absorbed in his novel and oblivious to everything happening on her side.
With Shirai Mio's white hair and top-tier looks, she would be the center of attention anywhere. Aki Tomoya was probably the only person capable of reacting like this.
Even though Aki Tomoya was focused on his book, Eriri still dragged Shirai Mio into a corner to avoid being discovered. "What exactly are you trying to pull?"
"I already told you. I came here to see what novels they have."
"Oh, right. Hasn't your novel gone on sale yet?"
"Soon, soon. It should be officially released next week. I'll bring you a copy then, so you won't need to buy one."
Looking at Shirai Mio's excited expression, Eriri could not shake the feeling that the white-haired little bitch was plotting something.
"You really came here to look at novels?"
"Mm-hm."
"Then take your time. I'm leaving."
Eriri turned to go, but Shirai Mio grabbed her hand the moment she did.
"What?"
"Eriri, um… could I follow you from a distance?" Shirai Mio asked somewhat sheepishly.
At the sight of Shirai Mio's awkward expression, Eriri knew the white-haired little bitch had not come to look at books. She had come to look at her.
Eriri simply could not understand why Shirai Mio wanted to follow her.
Wait. Could Shirai Mio be worried that something might happen between her and Aki Tomoya?
That seemed like the only possible explanation.
Which raised another question: why would Shirai Mio worry about that?
As the famous Kashiwagi Eri, who had read countless romance novels and played countless games, Eriri formed a theory. Could Shirai Mio harbor special feelings for her?
Was that why seeing Eriri together with Aki Tomoya made her want to follow them?
And now that she thought carefully about it, whenever Shirai Mio encountered Aki Tomoya, she would always move closer to Eriri, as though afraid someone might snatch her away.
At those thoughts, Eriri suddenly felt her heart speed up, and her pleasant expression gave way to nervousness.
N-No, that would not do. She and Shirai Mio were both girls.
No, wait. Maybe there was nothing wrong with two girls being together.
Eriri felt her mind descend into chaos.
Shirai Mio, who had been waiting for Eriri's answer, noticed that Eriri's expression had somehow grown tense. She could even detect a faint trace of shyness in Eriri's eyes.
Eriri's reaction left Shirai Mio completely baffled.
At that moment, Aki Tomoya's voice reached them. "Eriri, where are you?"
Hearing his voice finally brought Eriri back to her senses. She looked at Shirai Mio, hesitated, then said, "Y-Your legs are your own. Do whatever you want."
With that, she hurriedly turned and left the deserted corner.
Even if Aki Tomoya saw them, it would not matter. Yet Eriri now felt inexplicably guilty.
"I'm here."
Hearing Eriri's voice, Aki Tomoya turned toward her. Seeing that the blush on her face had not yet faded, he asked in confusion, "Eriri, where did you go just now? You disappeared in the blink of an eye."
"I went over there to see if there were any books I liked. And you call that a blink? You were completely lost in your book."
Aki Tomoya scratched his head. He had no way to refute her. If a passerby had not accidentally bumped into him, he might have kept reading indefinitely.
"Um, the novel I was reading just now was pretty good. Do you want to take a look?"
"No. If you still want to read it, keep going. I'll browse around and see if anything interests me. I'll tell you when I'm ready to leave."
"Oh."
Aki Tomoya answered, then genuinely turned around and went back to reading.
At the sight, Eriri was momentarily rendered speechless. He had come out with his beautiful childhood friend, yet at the bookstore he had run off to read alone.
As expected of Aki Tomoya.
"It's okay. You still have me~" Shirai Mio poked her head out from behind a bookshelf and smiled at Eriri.
The moment she saw Shirai Mio, Eriri, who had only just calmed herself, became nervous again. Even so, she forced herself to sound composed. "Could you stop appearing out of nowhere?"
"I just saw you looking a little lonely~"
"Can't you see the person over there? How does that make me alone?"
Despite saying that, Eriri still walked over to Shirai Mio of her own accord. "Do you have any recommendations?"
"Can I recommend my book?"
"Ask me again after it actually goes on sale." Eriri rolled her eyes at Shirai Mio.
"Then I don't know what to recommend. I rarely read novels. If it were doujinshi, though, I could talk your ear off."
Eriri genuinely felt tempted to discuss doujinshi with Shirai Mio. Shirai Mio truly knew an incredible amount about the subject and could casually come up with excellent ideas.
Eriri was deeply curious about just how many doujinshi Shirai Mio had read.
But after some thought, she decided against it. They were outside, after all. She could discuss it with Shirai Mio tomorrow when they went out to gather references together.
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