Chapter 333: Promised to Keep It Secret!
After dinner, Sawamura Sayuri and Asakura Reiko, as usual, said goodbye and left early, citing the reason that they didn't want to disturb the two children's private time.
After seeing the two elders off, Kaede and Eriri returned to the apartment and leaned lazily on the sofa, completely motionless.
Rubbing Eriri's long hair, Kaede asked, "Eriri, are you really not going to reveal the genre of Senpai's new book?"
"No, I can't~~~"
Eriri narrowed her eyes and shook her head: "Utaha and I agreed that I can't tell anyone. Even for Kaede-kun, I have to keep it a secret! But I can tell you, Kaede-kun, that Utaha's new book this time is even better than love metronome! Although I only read a portion of the manuscript for the first volume, I can clearly feel that her writing has evolved again!"
"Hmm~~~ I'm really looking forward to it, but you really can't tell me?"
"I cannot!"
Eriri made an "X" sign with her hands and said righteously, "If I said no, then it's no. I am very good at keeping secrets!"
"Sigh~~ You're so stingy, Eriri."
Reaching out and poking Eriri's cheek, Kaede got up from the sofa, picked up Golza by his feet, and walked toward the studio, still muttering under his breath as he went.
Eriri saw this and was displeased, immediately standing up after him: "Kaede-kun! I told you I promised to keep it a secret!"
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening~~~"
"Argh! You are absolutely doing this on purpose!!!"
Casually picking up Melba, who had jumped onto the sofa, Eriri angrily followed him, leaving only Camearra, who was nestled on the cat tree. She opened her eyes for a glance and then went back to resting.
Being a mother cat, she really wasn't interested in joining in the fun.
Arriving in the studio, she let the two kittens play freely. Eriri walked directly behind Kaede's chair, wrapped her arms around his arm from behind, and said seriously, "Kaede-kun! I'm not stingy!"
Firmly held by Eriri, Kaede remained completely unfazed and said calmly, "Then why don't you just tell me? You won't tell, I won't tell, and Senpai naturally won't know that you told me."
"Ugh..."
Being told this by Kaede, Eriri was somewhat tempted, but her eyes quickly became firm: "No. Promises are very important. I promised her I'd keep it secret. Kaede-kun, you don't want me to be someone who breaks her word, do you?"
Not bad, she even learned how to counter-question?
"Hmm... In that case, how about we make a bet?" Saying this, Kaede reached out and opened Steam on his computer, pointing at the pile of games in his library. "Pick a game, and we'll go 1v1. If you lose, you tell me. How about that?"
"Hmph, I won't fall for that!"
Eriri understood: Kaede was deliberately trying to find an opportunity to make her reveal the secret, and she absolutely could not fall for it.
Even if she got to choose the game, Eriri knew that Kaede played every game with competitive elements in the library better than she did.
Seeing that Eriri wasn't speaking, Kaede said with a smile, "If you don't like these games, Eriri, you can pick a game I haven't played before. Any genre is fine."
"No way!"
Eriri had made up her mind. She would not be tempted by Kaede under any circumstances. She sat down firmly in her own chair, steadily turned on her computer, clicked on Steam, and started playing by herself.
Seeing this, Kaede shook his head helplessly.
It seemed that this kind of trick wouldn't work on Eriri anymore.
If that was the case... Seeing that Eriri's game had started and her attention was focused on the screen, Kaede quietly leaned closer and whispered, "Eriri, pause for a moment. I have something to tell you."
"Hmph, I'm not listening!"
Eriri completely ignored him, keeping her attention fixed on the game.
Kaede knew exactly what Eriri was thinking and immediately said, "Relax, it's not about Senpai's novel. Since you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask. It's about something else. Just pause the game for a second."
Hearing Kaede say this, Eriri finally relaxed a little. She paused the game and turned her head: "Hmm... fine, but you promised not to... Mmh..."
The moment she turned her head, Eriri saw Kaede leaning in and kissing her unexpectedly.
Even Eriri, who was used to it, couldn't help but blush after being ambushed by Kaede like this.
After Kaede finished kissing her, Eriri looked at his smiling face, puffed out her cheeks, bumped his shoulder with her small head, and whispered, "Kaede-kun always uses tricks like this. You knew I would react this way, didn't you?"
"Because I know Eriri very well."
Gently pinching Eriri's cheek, Kaede chuckled, "Alright, want to play a game together for a while? Let's not work today. We've been quite busy over the past few days and the weekend."
"Hehe, you said it! Then hurry up and carry me to a higher rank!"
Saying this, Eriri closed the indie game she had just bought and prepared to open Apex.
"Meow~~~"
"Meow~~~~"
Just as she was about to put on her headphones, the soft, milky cries of Golza and Melba came from her feet.
Eriri looked down and saw the two little ones were already trying to pull at her pants.
"Ugh... don't scratch my pants."
Eriri had no choice but to pick up the two kittens, grab the nutritional paste from the desk, and give a little bit to each of them, finally getting them to settle down.
And now, game time!
Parachute - Die - Parachute - Die - Parachute - Die - Parachute - Die... The cycle continued.
Even though Kaede was quite skilled, trying to climb the ranks while carrying the mediocre Eriri and a random teammate was too difficult. Not dropping rank was already a good outcome.
What about Ishigami Yuu?
Oh, him. They could have called him, but apparently, because Shirogane Miyuki and Shinomiya Kaguya's relationship was exposed a few days ago, the guy had fallen into deep self-doubt.
Kaede still remembered the guy's mumbling when he called him.
[How is that possible? The President is dating Shinomiya Senpai? What was the President thinking? It can't be. But if I think about it that way, doesn't that make me the most pitiful person? Ah, I guess I already was...]
In short, various mentally confused statements kept popping up while Kaede was on the phone with him, to the point that Kaede wasn't sure if his psychological counseling had been effective.
He hoped Ishigami wouldn't say anything inappropriate while at school.
Although it is said that a woman's intelligence drops when she's in love, in Shinomiya Kaguya's case... she wouldn't be fooled by an Ishigami.