Chapter 199: Shirogane Miyuki's Birthday
In the end, the things Kaede bought before dinner weren't needed. The two stayed up late, skipping through several anime, specifically watching for spectacular fight scenes. They also thoroughly reviewed the battles in rurouni kenshin, studying them together for a long time.
If it weren't for school the next day, Kaede would have had to drag Eriri to bed; the girl probably would have kept pulling all-nighters.
Fortunately, regarding fighting styles, Eriri already had some plans. She started drawing seriously the next day, occasionally reviewing her notes and making adjustments.
"Hmm... adjust this part a bit more. That should work."
Inside the Art Club activity room, seeing Eriri drawing and muttering to herself, Usami quietly came over to Kaede and whispered, "Asakura-kun, is Eriri okay like this?"
Waving his hand, Kaede smiled and said, "Don't worry. She stayed up late last night researching and has found inspiration. Normally, she'll return to normal once she's fully refined it. At most, I'll give her some advice on the details, but she mostly needs to rely on herself to break through this. Battle manga is something she's never touched before, so hitting a wall is normal."
Usami nodded, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Although she had known for a long time that Eriri used to be a doujin artist, she didn't know the specific content of her work. Only after going home last night did Usami search online.
(t/n: But doujin is also a type of fighting)
Although she didn't find much of the doujinshi content, she managed to find most of the fan art Eriri had drawn. For the pure-hearted Usami, the shock was quite significant.
Usami, who wasn't very familiar with otaku culture, only now truly understood how popular Kashiwagi Eri was in the doujin world.
Sitting back down in her chair, Usami looked at the drawing board in front of her. The line art for her practice drawing of a sculpture was only half finished. She then glanced over at Eriri, who was using a drawing tablet, and whose speed was truly astonishing.
"When will I be able to draw both fast and well..."
Just then, Uchimaki Subaru, who was sitting on the other side, finished his line art. He glanced at Usami and said softly, "There's no need to compare yourself to others. Sawamura-san has been studying for years. Usami, you are a beginner, and the progress you've made is already impressive."
"Huh?" Usami looked at Uchimaki Subaru in surprise and asked, "How did you know?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Uchimaki Subaru said calmly. "You looked at your drawing, and then you looked over at Sawamura-san. Weren't you making a comparison?"
Having her thoughts seen through, especially by Uchimaki Subaru, whom she had feelings for, Usami immediately blushed, lowering her head shyly without speaking.
Uchimaki Subaru couldn't understand why Usami suddenly blushed; he had only stated something simple.
Shaking his head, he got up to fetch his paints.
On the sofa, the President, who had just woken up from a nap, squinted at his juniors, smiled knowingly, and closed his eyes again.
That evening, at home.
After Eriri sent the finished manuscript to the editor for checking and confirmed that no adjustments were needed, she finally breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Ah! It's finally done!"
Kaede, standing nearby, checked the time. It was already 10:30 PM. Eriri had been busy since dinner, showing extreme effort.
Patting her head, Kaede said with a smile, "You can relax a bit now, right?"
"Hehe, just temporarily," Eriri said, smiling without getting too complacent. "Later on, when the battles start getting more complicated, I'll still have to study hard!"
Kaede was very satisfied with Eriri's current attitude. She wasn't getting arrogant just because she achieved a little success; steady progress was the best approach.
Turning off the computer, Eriri looked over at Kaede: "Kaede-kun, how is the new volume of the novel coming along?"
"I've written sixty thousand characters already. At this rate, I should be finished in about ten more days."
While speaking, Kaede saved the document, shut down the computer, and looked at Eriri. "Alright, I know you're excited right now, but it's late. You can only play for one hour, okay?"
"No problem!!!"
Monster Hunter, launch!
Eriri, holding the controller, was ecstatic: "Hehe, if I hadn't hit a bottleneck with the manga, I probably would have unlocked the endgame already! I definitely need to play more today."
"Do you want me to help?"
"No need, I want to hunt by myself this time!" Eriri said stubbornly. She had always played co-op with Kaede before, but she seemed to have realized that her skills wouldn't improve if she continued that way, only allowing her to cheer him on. So, she decided to hone her own abilities.
Hearing Eriri say that, Kaede didn't insist and turned on his own console.
However, less than half an hour later... "Ugh... Kaede-kun, carry me. It's impossible to hunt alone. Why is the difficulty in Iceborne so much higher?"
"Is it difficult?"
Kaede watched Eriri suffer the three-faint cart and couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, I'll carry you once I finish this hunt."
Although having Eriri join would slow things down, Kaede wasn't rushing progress or comparing himself to others. Speed and efficiency didn't matter.
With Kaede joining, Eriri finally didn't have to suffer anymore. She now understood one truth: practicing skills was pointless; having someone carry you was the most enjoyable experience.
"Anyway, what belongs to Kaede-kun belongs to me. Whether he hunts well or I hunt well, there's no difference. Yep, that's the logic!"
Eriri thought this shamelessly to herself... As mentioned before, Shirogane Miyuki's birthday was approaching, and Kaede and Eriri had prepared a birthday gift for the Senior.
Because Shirogane Miyuki wasn't like the two of them, having so many recreational activities. He was someone focused on studying and also spent a lot of time working part-time.
After selecting for a while, the two chose the latest Kindle model. They also pre-purchased and downloaded a bunch of e-books that Shirogane Miyuki could use, then arranged for someone to deliver it to the Shirogane house on the night of his birthday.
After taking care of everything, Kaede said on the way back, "If he liked games, like Ishigami, choosing a birthday gift would be much easier. But for Senior Shirogane, we have to consider his actual needs. I heard Takasu mention that Shirogane spends all his spare time between jobs reading, so something portable that can also help his studies is the most suitable."
"Mhm, I think so too."
Eriri nodded in agreement. They wouldn't buy an e-reader like a Kindle for themselves, but it was very suitable as a gift for Shirogane Miyuki.
"Kaede-kun, what do you think the situation is like at Shuchiin right now?"
According to what Shinomiya Kaguya had told Eriri previously, this moment should be the time Shinomiya Kaguya planned to celebrate Shirogane Miyuki's birthday.
"Ah, for that, we just have to wait patiently for news."
Kaede said with a smile, "Given Shinomiya-senpai's execution ability, if she's set her mind to it, we'll probably have a result today."