"I see…"
Kirino Kousaka glanced enviously at Saori, the greeting lines she had practiced in her head completely thrown into chaos.
But giving up on introducing herself to Eriri was out of the question—she truly wanted to meet her.
So, after a brief pause, she decided to properly introduce herself.
"Hello, my name is Kirino Kousaka. I'm Saori and Kuroneko's friend from the inner circle. May I get to know you?"
Looking at Eriri's flawless beauty—so perfectly aligned with her own aesthetic preferences—Kirino suddenly found herself feeling uncharacteristically nervous.
"What if I say no?"
Eriri gave her a teasing smile, still holding Saori close with her right arm.
Kirino froze. A wave of awkwardness welled up inside her, and she suddenly had the urge to run away.
"Ahaha…"
She laughed weakly and instinctively took a small step back.
Seeing Eriri's expression, Kuroneko—who knew her well—immediately understood what Eriri was doing and simply decided to watch how things played out.
Elf Yamada, however, didn't look pleased. She eyed Kirino and Saori with faint irritation, even regretting a little that she had brought Eriri to the gaming event.
If not for that, she would probably be happily walking hand in hand with Eriri right now—instead of watching her interact with other people.
Still, there was nothing she could do at this point. She couldn't exactly drag Eriri away.
All she could hope for was that this little encounter would end quickly so she could continue their outing elsewhere.
As for Saori, she was still dazed from Eriri's earlier embrace and hadn't yet fully processed the situation.
Just as Kirino started stepping back, preparing to retreat from the awkward moment, Eriri suddenly spoke again.
"Relax, I'm just teasing. Since you're friends with Ruri and Saori, that makes you my friend too."
Eriri smiled warmly and extended her left hand toward Kirino.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Eriri Spencer Sawamura—but you can just call me Eriri."
Kirino blinked for a moment before her brain caught up to what was happening.
Then she quickly reached out with both hands to grasp Eriri's, her face lighting up with joy.
"Nice to meet you, Eriri! You're so beautiful!"
It was as if Kirino's reserved self had vanished completely—her tension dissolved, replaced by bright enthusiasm. She was now a stark contrast to the flustered Saori.
Even after shaking hands, she didn't let go. In fact, her right hand began to lightly stroke the back of Eriri's hand while she let out an odd giggle.
"Guhihi~ Eriri, your skin's so soft and smooth!"
Eriri blinked in surprise at the sudden transformation of Kirino into what could only be described as a fangirl in overdrive.
If she hadn't confirmed that this was indeed the original Kirino Kousaka, she might have suspected some transmigrator had taken over her body.
But after checking Kirino's information, Eriri discovered something rather interesting.
Just like how the lives of Izumi Chihiro and Izumi Sagiri had diverged from the original story, so too had those of Kousaka Kyousuke and Kirino Kousaka.
The most notable difference was that the siblings now shared nothing but genuine familial affection—and their relationship wasn't nearly as strained as it had been in the source material.
In fact, Kyousuke already had a girlfriend by his first year of high school.
That girlfriend was his childhood friend, Manami Tamura.
If no external interference occurred, their life paths would eventually lead to marriage two years after graduating from university—and they would later have two daughters.
Kirino, meanwhile, didn't dislike Manami like in the original story. On the contrary, the two got along extremely well—just like real sisters.
The reason Kousaka Kyousuke had attended the "Otaku Girls Unite!" offline gathering with his sister in the first place was simply because she asked him to—and because he was worried she might run into trouble.
Once he realized that Ruri Gokou and Saori Makishima, who had become Kirino's friends, were good people, he stopped showing up around them.
After all, he had a girlfriend to spend time with.
Watching the love-struck Kirino, Eriri hadn't said a word yet, but Elf Yamada couldn't stand it any longer.
"Hey, that's enough. Are you some kind of pervert?"
Elf Yamada strode over to Eriri's side, grabbed her left arm, and forcefully pulled it free from Kirino's grasp.
Then, like a protective lioness, she glared daggers at Kirino.
Fortunately, she kept her power under control—otherwise, Kirino probably wouldn't have been able to handle the sheer pressure radiating from her.
Realizing how inappropriate her behavior had been, Kirino wanted to argue back but ultimately stayed quiet.
Elf Yamada, however, didn't care what she thought. She hugged Eriri's arm tightly and began to whine playfully.
"Eriri-nee, this place is boring. Let's go somewhere else to play."
Since Eriri had already decided to leave today's schedule in Elf Yamada's hands, she didn't object.
"Mm, sure."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Kirino—who had only just gone quiet—spoke up again eagerly.
"If you're going somewhere else, why don't we come along too?"
"No way!"
Elf Yamada shot her a fierce glare.
"Today's a one-on-one date between me and Eriri-nee! No one else is allowed to intrude!"
"Geez, fine, you don't have to shout," Kirino muttered, pouting slightly but wisely choosing not to argue further.
It was clear that her personality had mellowed compared to her original self. The old Kirino would've definitely snapped back and started a fight, but now she seemed capable of backing down—a change Eriri actually appreciated.
At least this Kirino was far easier to get along with.
At that moment, Ruri Gokou approached the group.
"Not staying to watch the rest of the tournament? You could finish watching before heading off somewhere else."
Ruri remembered that Eriri had promised in the Multiverse Chat & Friendship Group to go on a private outing with Elf Yamada today. She knew this was the day Eriri planned to keep that promise, so she hadn't intended to tag along.
Hearing Ruri's words, Eriri didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked to Elf Yamada, giving her the choice.
Elf Yamada fell into thought.
Ruri's position in her heart was obviously different from Kirino's. Just as she could calmly watch Ruri and Eriri hug—or even act more affectionately—in front of her, she couldn't tolerate seeing Kirino take advantage of Eriri.
Of course, she didn't really have the right to object. Though she liked Eriri, they hadn't formally established a relationship.
If Eriri took the initiative, Elf Yamada certainly wouldn't refuse—just like how she hadn't objected when Eriri had hugged Saori earlier.
But since Ruri and Eriri had already confirmed their relationship, Elf Yamada had to take her opinion into account.
After a few moments of consideration, Elf Yamada finally decided against dragging Eriri away immediately.
Besides, she genuinely was interested in the competition. Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen this as their first stop.
...
The tournament lasted for over two hours, and by the time the final battle concluded, it was already past noon.
Naturally, the champion was Ruri Gokou—her god-tier gaming skills easily crushed all opposition in Akihabara.
Once Ruri collected her prizes, the group left the venue together.
Before Elf Yamada could lead Eriri away, Kirino spoke up first.
"Eriri-nee, it's already past twelve. How about we grab lunch together?"
Kirino Kousaka was only fifteen years old—two years younger than Eriri—so she naturally added the "-nee" suffix when addressing her as "Eriri-nee."
It almost felt intentional, as if she were trying to provoke Elf Yamada; after all, Kirino never used honorifics like "big brother" or "big sister" with anyone else her age or older.
Saori, now fully recovered from her earlier daze, looked at Eriri with anticipation. She had developed a bit of resistance—if Eriri hugged her again, her heart would still race, but at least she wouldn't completely freeze up like before.
Unless, of course, the level of intimacy increased even further.
"Today, I'll leave everything to Emily-chan. If you can convince her, I don't mind at all."
Eriri smiled sweetly, looking as carefree as ever.
"Elf, since we already know each other, how about joining us for lunch?" Kirino said confidently, patting her chest. "Don't worry, it's on me!"
As a part-time model for a popular fashion magazine, Kirino had her own income and could afford to treat her friends to a meal.
However, among the five girls present, she was actually the poorest one there.
Elf Yamada was a famous light novel author—her royalties from anime adaptations were enough for her to buy a two-story villa in Tokyo outright. Not to mention, she was a true young lady from a wealthy family, complete with a private island.
Saori Makishima was also a genuine heiress, with a fortune of her own.
As for Ruri Gokou—though she used to be poor—her current capabilities made acquiring funds laughably easy.
And Eriri… well, her status hardly needed explanation.
Kirino, of course, was aware of this reality.
Over the past two hours, Elf Yamada had already gotten to know Kirino and Saori a bit.
During her self-introduction, Elf didn't use her real name but rather her pen name. Of course, Eriri's casual use of her true name had made it clear she was "Elf," even if her full surname remained unknown.
Being avid otaku, both Kirino and Saori recognized the name Elf Yamada. Though her works weren't exactly their preferred genre, they were familiar with the novel that had topped the ORICON charts and even received an anime adaptation.
In fact, Kirino had once bought the entire series, simply because of its beautifully illustrated covers—she was the type to buy novels purely for their artwork.
When they realized that the author behind such a fanservice-heavy harem novel was actually this adorable, petite girl standing before them, their expressions had been nothing short of priceless.
After all, most readers probably imagined Elf Yamada as some greasy middle-aged otaku.
The contrast was enough to shake their understanding of reality.
But when Elf opened her Twitter account and showed them her verified handle, they finally accepted it.
With her identity as a successful, anime-adapted author confirmed, Kirino's attitude toward her had softened considerably.
After all, Kirino herself was also a light novel author, and her series had gained decent popularity.
Thanks to Ruri's guidance, her work hadn't suffered from manuscript theft like in the original story, sparing her quite a few headaches.
Although Eriri and Saori had been LINE friends for over six months, Eriri had never revealed her identity as "Kashiwagi Eri."
Naturally, Ruri hadn't told either Saori or Kirino about it, so the two had no idea they were standing beside a legendary figure in the manga world.
If they had known, they would've been far more excited—since both of them were die-hard fans of Kashiwagi Eri's works.
As for Kirino's lunch invitation, Elf Yamada rejected it without hesitation.
Given the choice between eating with five people or having lunch alone with Eriri, she preferred the latter without question.
"Well then, Eriri-nee, let's stay in touch, okay~?"
Kirino didn't push the issue any further. Before they parted, she lifted her phone and waved it with a grin.
Unlike Saori, she hadn't made the mistake of forgetting to ask for contact info—she had already added Eriri on LINE over an hour ago.
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