"Spring break is almost over."
Eriri glanced at the date in the bottom-right corner of her computer screen. In two more days, spring break would be over.
Normally, she would have been dreading the start of the new term. After all, who didn't like being on break?
But this time, for some reason, she was actually looking forward to the first day back.
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Shirai Mio in more than ten days. They chatted in the artists' group chat every day, sure, but text was still just text. It wasn't the same as talking face to face.
In fact, there had been several times when she'd wanted to contact Shirai Mio and ask her to meet up.
But every time, she had given up at the last moment.
She had already noticed it, really—the special feelings she held for Shirai Mio. And that was exactly why she had chosen to give up.
She had thought that as long as she stayed away from Shirai Mio, she would gradually go back to being her old self.
But as the days went by, she found that not only had she failed to go back to her old self, she missed Shirai Mio even more.
Who knew what was going through her head, but Eriri let out a heavy sigh, then carried her phone over to the bed and flopped face-first onto it with no regard for appearances whatsoever.
Her phone screen showed a chat app, and the person on the other end of the conversation was Shirai Mio.
She had even typed out a message already. She was just hesitating over whether to send it.
Right as Eriri was agonizing over it, her phone suddenly buzzed. Shirai Mio had sent her a message.
"What are you up to?"
Looking at Shirai Mio's message, Eriri nervously went to reply, but her fingertip accidentally tapped the send button.
"Are you free tomorrow?"
She could have unsent it, but the moment the message went out, it was already marked "Read," so Eriri gave up on the idea.
Covering her burning cheeks, she rolled over once on the bed before finally turning her attention back to her phone screen.
"Tomorrow? I'm free tomorrow. Why? Don't tell me Eriri wants to ask me out on a date?"
"What are you thinking? I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come over to my place, that's all."
"Sure~ Then is it okay if I come to your house at ten tomorrow morning?"
"Fine."
Only after giving Shirai Mio a yes did Eriri quietly let out a breath of relief.
This was just an accident, that was all.
After silently coming up with that excuse for herself, Eriri quickly climbed off the bed.
Unlike how listless she had been a moment ago, Eriri was now in noticeably better spirits. She was even humming some nameless tune in a cheerful mood.
"You seem to be in a pretty good mood today."
Hearing her mom's voice, Eriri froze for a moment, only then realizing that her mom had come into her room at some point.
She puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "How many times have I told you? Knock before you come in!"
"I did knock. You just didn't hear me." Sawamura Sayuri spread her hands.
Thinking back on the state she had just been in, Eriri's eyes slid off to the side, and she said with forced composure, "So, what is it?"
"I just came to remind you that the new term starts in a few days. Fix your sleep schedule so you're not late on the very first day."
"I know, I know."
After her mom left, Eriri got back up and started tidying her room.
With the kind of relationship she and Shirai Mio had, it would have been fine even if she didn't clean up. Still, she was a little embarrassed at the thought of Shirai Mio seeing her messy room.
Once she was sure the room looked fine, she went back to her desk and continued working on her unfinished drawing.
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The next day, ten in the morning.
Deep in sleep, Eriri suddenly felt someone poking her cheek. She impatiently swatted the hand away, trying to slip back into sleep.
But at that very moment, it suddenly hit her: if it were her mom waking her up, she would never do it like this.
Realizing that, she snapped her eyes open—and saw Shirai Mio's familiar, pretty face.
"You're finally awake. It's already past ten."
"Huh!? Where's my alarm?"
Eriri reflexively grabbed her phone and looked at it, only to discover that at some point it had run out of battery and shut off.
Seeing that, Eriri blinked, then immediately rolled out of bed. "Wait here for me. I'll be right back."
With that, Eriri hurried into the bathroom.
After brushing her teeth, washing her face, and combing out her messy hair while she was at it, Eriri finally returned to her room.
And there was Shirai Mio, lying on her bed.
She said irritably, "Why are you lying down?"
"It's so rare for Eriri to invite me over herself. I was so excited last night that I couldn't sleep a wink. I just wanted to rest a little while you were gone," Shirai Mio said, putting on a pitiful expression.
"Like I'd believe that."
Did she really not know Shirai Mio? There was no way she'd stay up all night over something like this.
Even if she really hadn't been able to sleep, it was probably for some other reason.
Like getting carried away while gathering reference material, or letting her imagination run wild while drawing doujinshi.
As it turned out, Eriri was pretty much right. Last night, on a whim, Shirai Mio had looked through a lot of Eriri's works, and in her excited state she hadn't managed to fall asleep until the early hours of the morning.
Of course, Shirai Mio was never going to tell Eriri something like that.
Hugging Eriri's blanket, Shirai Mio asked curiously, "So, why did Eriri ask me over today? Don't tell me you have another new work?"
"S-something like that."
Since spring break started, she really had drawn another new work.
At first, she had meant to stick to her usual habits and draw a pure-love childhood-friend doujinshi, but the more she drew, the more she felt something was missing.
No matter how she drew it, it just didn't feel right.
Until she switched to a different genre: pure-love yuri.
For whatever reason, when she drew in that genre, the inspiration came gushing out like a spring.
Actually, Eriri knew exactly why. She just didn't want to admit it yet.
The moment she heard Eriri had a new work, Shirai Mio sat right up, her face full of excitement. "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and let me take a look-see."
"Don't rush me. Let me check it over first."
"What is there to check?"
"Just stay lying here for now."
Eriri meant to push Shirai Mio back down onto the bed, but she used too much force and ended up toppling right on top of Shirai Mio along with her.
And of all the worst possible moments, the sound of the bedroom door opening came from the doorway.
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