Friday afternoon, after school.
With the weekend coming up, the classroom felt unusually lively.
Some students were making plans to go out together, while others were organizing club activities for the weekend.
Tanaka Masao headed to the Service Club room and began his usual training.
"Yukinoshita-san, tomorrow is Saturday."
Hearing that, Yukinoshita Yukino, who was sitting in her chair, looked at him and asked calmly:
"What about it? Tanaka-kin, are you thinking of extra training? I was actually planning to give you the weekend off to rest. That said, if you really insist on additional training, I suppose it's not impossible."
"Ah—no, that's not what I meant. Actually, I've got something to do this weekend. I'm going to Tokyo, so I won't have time to train."
If Tanaka Masao had known Yukinoshita Yukino was planning to let him rest over the weekend, he definitely wouldn't have brought it up.
"Tokyo?"
Yukinoshita Yukino looked slightly puzzled, but she wasn't the type to pry.
"You don't need to train for these two days, but be careful with your diet. That said, I'll allow you one cheat meal. You can eat whatever you want—but remember, only one."
"Oh? I even get a cheat meal? I didn't expect Yukinoshita Yukino to be this humane."
At the mention of a cheat meal, Tanaka Masao's eyes lit up.
He hadn't touched sweets or snacks lately. After holding back for so long, his cravings were getting pretty bad.
Since he was going to Tokyo this time, it was the perfect chance to eat something good.
Eriri's family desserts were amazing. And now that he had some money, maybe he could even drop by a maid café…
The more he thought about it, the more drool started leaking from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing Tanaka Masao wearing the expression of a complete creep, Yukinoshita Yukino spoke with obvious disgust.
"Tanaka-kin, please wipe the drool off your mouth. And put that perverted look away. Being alone with you like this makes me seriously concerned for my personal safety."
As she spoke, Yukinoshita Yukino crossed her arms over her chest and even took a small step back, looking genuinely wary.
Hearing that, Tanaka Masao snapped out of his food fantasy and, without thinking, blurted out:
"Yukinoshita-san, do you want to go with me this weekend—"
Halfway through the sentence, he finally realized it.
This trip to Tokyo was for doujinshi.
Inviting Yukinoshita Yukino along was obviously inappropriate.
"This weekend… what?"
Seeing Tanaka Masao suddenly stop mid-sentence, Yukinoshita Yukino could more or less guess what he had been about to say.
It was probably an invitation to go to Tokyo together.
Not that she would have agreed anyway.
Still, the fact that he cut himself off so abruptly made her curious.
[Is he embarrassed? Too shy to invite me? …That doesn't really seem like him.]
Tanaka Masao averted his gaze, unable to look at her properly, and stammered:
"N-no, it's nothing. I just have something important to take care of this weekend."
Yukinoshita Yukino was still a little curious, but she didn't press the issue. She wasn't someone who liked digging into other people's secrets.
Before long, the day's training came to an end.
The two of them walked together until they reached the intersection where their paths split.
Tanaka Masao waved. "See you next week, Yukinoshita-san."
"…Mm. See you next week."
The next day, Tanaka Masao took an early train and headed to Tokyo.
After some twists and turns, he finally arrived at the Sawamura family's villa at nine in the morning.
He rang the doorbell, and not long after, Sawamura Sayuri opened the door to greet him.
"Tanaka-kun, you're here early. Come on in."
"Good morning, Sayuri-san. This is just a small gift—please accept it."
Tanaka Masao handed over the bag he was carrying. Inside were some local specialty sweets he'd bought in Chiba—not particularly expensive, but thoughtfully chosen.
"Oh my, you even brought me a gift. How considerate. Well then, I won't hold back."
Sawamura Sayuri accepted it without hesitation.
...
After sitting down in the living room, Tanaka Masao glanced around and asked:
"Sayuri-san, is Eriri not here?"
"Eriri? She's a textbook night owl. She stayed up late again last night working on a manuscript, so she hasn't gotten up yet."
As she spoke, Sawamura Sayuri's eyes shifted, and she added teasingly:
"Tanaka-kun, you could go wake her up in her room. You might even get some fanservice out of it."
Before Tanaka Masao could respond, an exasperated voice echoed down from upstairs.
"Mom! What are you saying?!"
Looking over, it was Sawamura Eriri. Her face was bright red, her little fang visible, and she looked ready to explode.
She had indeed stayed up late last night, but when she heard her mom say that Tanaka Masao would be coming over today, she'd set an alarm so she wouldn't sleep until noon.
She had just come downstairs when she heard Sayuri telling Tanaka Masao to go to her room—and even mentioning "fanservice."
What kind of mother says that?!
Eriri shot Tanaka Masao a vicious glare, clearly warning him not to even think about it.
Tanaka Masao could only feel helpless.
[I did briefly think about going to your room and triggering some lucky event…
But that was obviously a joke from your mom.
She can say it, but if I actually agreed, I'd be dead.]
Facing her angry daughter, Sawamura Sayuri didn't seem bothered at all. Smiling, she said:
"Since you're already up, Eriri, why don't you entertain Tanaka-kun for a bit? I'll go prepare some tea and snacks."
With that, Sawamura Sayuri headed into the kitchen.
Eriri didn't object. She walked downstairs and sat on the sofa.
Staring at Tanaka Masao across from her, Eriri puffed up her cheeks, clearly annoyed.
"So. You finally showed up, huh."
Seeing how irritated she was, Tanaka Masao asked in confusion:
"Eriri, what's wrong? Did I do something to make you mad?"
"You've got some nerve asking that."
Eriri glared at him fiercely, her face flushing.
"Don't you know yourself? You really like rice bowls with toppings, huh? You ultimate disgusting fat-otaku pervert with a brain full of yellow trash."
Sure, they were both doujin artists, so she probably shouldn't have said that.
But after reading the entire book—and then realizing she'd looked at that kind of content together with her mom—Eriri was so mortified she wanted to vanish on the spot.
Every night, alone in her bedroom, whenever she recalled those scenes, her anger flared up like a raging inferno.
And all of it was Tanaka Masao's fault.
Naturally, she had a lot of resentment toward him.
Hearing this, Tanaka Masao's gaze drifted away.
If it was about that, then he really had nothing to say.
Even he himself thought it was pretty embarrassing.
"Th-this… a doujin is just a doujin. Everything in it is fictional."
Seeing him avoid her eyes like that, Eriri snorted coldly and decided not to dwell on it any further.