Late winter, early spring.
As the cold wave gradually retreated, the temperature slowly began to rise, and the Private Mixed High School welcomed its final exams.
Sato naturally got through the exams with ease, but according to Eriri, they had given her a massive headache.
Hanamachi, maid café.
Clang!
Eriri heavily slammed the glass in her hand onto the table. Even though she was drinking juice, she somehow gave off the impression of a completely drunk alcoholic. Her originally energetic golden twin tails were drooping lifelessly as well.
She muttered unhappily:
"I'm clearly an art student, so why do I still have to study Japanese, math, and English?!"
"Especially English. I'm obviously Japanese, so why do I have to learn that?!"
Hearing this, Sato looked up at her, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Hurry up and apologize to all mixed-race people already!"
Most mixed-race (hāfu) people were fluent in two languages.
Even if not completely fluent, at the very least doing exam questions should not be a problem at all!
But as far as he knew, English was Eriri's weakest subject. Every single test score had been utterly disastrous, and she seemed to have never once passed.
More importantly, her father was a diplomat from the UK stationed in Japan.
This was basically slapping her dad in the face.
Yet her father never seemed to care about those things. According to Eriri, both Mr. Spencer and Sayuri-san were veteran otaku, and they probably would not leave Japan for the rest of their lives. Maybe that was the reason.
"And... if I remember correctly, your nationality is British. You're not even Japanese."
"Huh? Really?"
Eriri blinked her beautiful sapphire-like eyes, looking rather silly and airheaded.
In the end, she herself had barely ever been to the UK. Although all her grandparents and relatives were British, she could not even properly communicate with them because she simply was not good at English.
Eriri truly was a remarkable girl!
Sato sighed and shook his head before turning to Kanna beside him.
"Kanna, do you want anything else to eat?"
At the moment, there were only the three of them at the table. While he and Eriri were talking, Kanna had been diligently dealing with the cake in front of her.
Not long after the exams ended, Fujimiya Konomi had returned to Asahigaoka. There were still things like receiving graduation notices and handling club activities and graduation matters. After she left, Kanna naturally came back to stay with him.
"I still want cake. Is that okay?"
When an adorable little girl looked at you with sparkling puppy-like eyes and said something like that, what reason could you possibly have to refuse?
Naturally, Sato agreed immediately.
"Minami-san!"
He waved toward Minami Kotori not far away.
Looking soft and adorable, Minami Kotori walked over, slightly tilting her head as she revealed a bright smile.
"How may I help you, Master?"
"One more serving of cake, and some cookies too."
She glanced at the table before the three of them. The cakes in front of Sato and Eriri were both unfinished, while only Kanna's plate was completely empty.
"For this child?"
Minami Kotori looked at Kanna worriedly as she asked.
"Mm."
"But... isn't she eating a bit too much?"
After hesitating for a moment, she still pressed her lips together and looked at Sato seriously as she asked. Although meddling in other people's affairs so suddenly felt somewhat abrupt, she simply could not help worrying when it came to such a young child.
More importantly, Kanna had already eaten three servings before this!
"It's fine. She's amazing."
Sato replied indifferently. This was not some ordinary little girl, this was a young dragon!
"Then... alright."
Although still worried, Minami Kotori ultimately agreed.
For one thing, Kanna still did not seem full. For another, she felt that Sato was not the sort of person who lacked common sense, so he should know what he was doing.
"She's a very pretty maid, huh?"
Suddenly, a voice came from the side.
Sato looked toward Eriri, whose expression did not look very pleasant and carried a trace of jealousy. He blinked at her and said:
"She really is very pretty."
"Hmph!"
Eriri glared at him fiercely, then snorted while gritting her teeth and turned her head away. Her golden twin tails swayed through the air.
Sato could not help laughing at the sight.
Eriri really was the type of girl who could not hide what she was thinking, while also possessing a tsundere personality. Almost every emotion she felt was written plainly on her face.
"Are you jealous?"
"W-Who would be jealous over you?!"
Eriri immediately panicked. She turned back around, waving her hands around frantically while her face turned bright red as she hurriedly tried to explain herself.
Sato put on an innocent expression as he looked at her.
"Then why were you angry just now?"
"I wasn't angry!"
"Alright, if you say you weren't angry, then you weren't angry. In that case, how was the proposal I gave you?"
"I don't want to talk right now!"
"Then you really are angry."
"I told you already, I! AM! NOT!"
Eriri crossed her arms over her chest and stared heavily at Sato, emphasizing every word one by one.
She really was hugging them flat against herself, forming a sharp contrast with the way Kasumigaoka Utaha would prop hers up.
Feels like you lost there, Eriri!
Blonde hair, twin tails, tsundere, flat chest.
If all those traits were combined together in a galgame, you would definitely become synonymous with a losing heroine.
Just then, Sato noticed a cautious figure peeking in from the entrance, carrying a somewhat fearful expression.
He told Eriri to wait a moment before getting up and walking toward the entrance.
"Sagiri!"
Sato pushed open the café door and greeted the small, adorable figure outside.
Hearing his voice while hesitating outside the café, Izumi Sagiri's eyes immediately lit up. She quickly walked over to Sato, lowering her head slightly as she spoke weakly:
"Onii-chan."
Looking at the figure before him, Sato felt somewhat curious. He did not know whether Sagiri herself had overcome the barrier in her heart, or what method Izumi Chiyo had used, but she had finally managed to come outside.
"Let's go in first."
"Okay."
Inside the café, the group sat gathered around the table.
"Kashiwagi Eri-senpai..."
Facing Eriri's gaze, Izumi Sagiri looked extremely uncomfortable and greeted her in a tiny voice.
Eriri also did not react to the title the way she usually would.
Instead, she merely stared at Izumi Sagiri and muttered:
"So this is Eromanga-sensei? She's way too tiny, isn't she?"
Sitting across from her, Sato rolled his eyes.
"Do you think you were that much older than her when you debuted?"
Have some self-awareness, will you?