When you like someone, the deeper your love, the greater the pain when you lose it.
Eriri liked Tomoya, not just because he was her childhood friend, but because he grew up with her and spent the most time with her among all her friends.
He was also the only (friend) who knew she drew erotic manga.
Sometimes when she was too busy, she would even call Tomoya over to help.
Under normal circumstances, if two people drew erotic manga together like this, their relationship would surely lead to marriage, right?
But the ending is that childhood friends can't beat the sudden arrival!
And Tomoya had his own pursuits and goals, so when he met Kato Megumi, he began to pursue her.
Although initially, the pretense was to make her the heroine of his game, who knows what his true intentions were?
When Kaito first watched the anime, he also didn't understand why Tomoya liked Megumi.
Was it because of that sunny smile at the beginning?
Oh, although it was just a very ordinary scene, it was indeed blocked by holy light at the start.
Anyway, compared to Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha, Megumi was really unremarkable and not favored.
However,
As the plot unfolded, it had to be said that Megumi had her own shining points. Otherwise, this poem wouldn't have spread across various online circles.
[First there was the saint, then the heavens; my Megumi is like a goddess in a painting.]
[Others vie for beauty while I am idle; the passerby lingers between the world.]
[With virtuous heart and mind gathered in my Megumi; my heart is gentle thinking of Kato.]
[What harm is there in being infatuated with the saint, just because Kato's single character is Megumi.]
[Sakura slope, white hat, moving heartstrings; for Megumi, a lifelong captivating love.]
Too strong. As expected, silly netizens are both handsome and full of literary talent.
Next time a silly netizen wants to retire from the literary world, he will definitely break their head to stop them!
"H-how could that be! My ending with Tomoya is absolutely not what you said!"
Even now, Eriri being Tsundere was useless. Her mother had performed a divination on her!
No need to ask why. She must have obtained something that could divine from the chat group!
"Actually, if it were possible, I would also hope that you two could end up together. If your mother hadn't asked me to help you, I wouldn't want to interfere in this matter either."
"It's just... your ending touched your mother, but she didn't know how to handle it, so she came to me, asking for my help."
Kaito sighed and explained the reason for the matter.
Unfortunately, besides being Tsundere, Eriri was also a bit stubborn. If she weren't stubborn, she wouldn't have fought to the end with Megumi, only to lose completely and be left bruised and battered.
Of course, Kaito had to admit, Tomoya was indeed a man. In the end, he was decisive for once and didn't keep pretending to be stupid like other 'healthy' male leads.
It's possible that some male leads are genuinely stupid, though.
But in the follow-up plot, perhaps to continue the story, it returned to the previous semi-ambiguous state.
"I, I, I..."
For her, it was a bit hard to accept the fact.
Eriri's body began to tremble, and she slowly stepped back a few paces, her steps somewhat unsteady.
Sayuri's heart ached for her daughter, but she still didn't go to help.
Since she had entrusted it to Kaito, let him handle it entirely.
To be honest, she herself felt a bit complicated. Originally, she had planned for Kaito to become Eriri's boyfriend.
But now...
Sigh!
It's hard to explain!
'Who made me a woman too!'
'If I were a man, maybe there wouldn't be this... no, wouldn't that be even better?'
'No, no, no, not good, not good. My old habit of being a Fujoshi had flared up again. I didn't like those things anymore!'
'Yeah, that's right!'
"Brother Kaito, is it all true... In the end, I really can't be with Tomoya?"
"Hmm, it's true. Not only that, in the end you lose miserably, and you also cry miserably."
"Y-yeah..."
If this were true, maybe she really would be like that.
Eriri replied with a trembling voice, and tears couldn't help but flow.
At that moment, she was heartbroken.
Very painful, very uncomfortable.
Memories of playing together as children began to emerge in her mind.
At the same time, those images were like knives stabbing into her heart, causing immense pain.
"Go ahead and have a good cry. After crying, you'll feel much better."
Seeing Sayuri want to go but hesitate, Kaito had no choice. He proactively stood up, reached out, and held Eriri, who was petite compared to him.
Letting her bury her face and cry against his upper stomach, he believed she would gradually come to terms with it.
This was ultimately a hurdle she had to cross.
Just like him with the disappearing senior Xiao Yunyun, and their last meeting when he saw the diamond ring on her finger and learned she already had a daughter.
The last shred of hope hidden in his heart was completely shattered.
"Feeling better?"
After a while, Eriri finally stopped crying.
When Eriri nodded, Kaito slowly released her.
"Mom, don't worry. I won't let you be sad with me anymore."
Eriri looked at her mother and expressed her thoughts, also completely cutting ties with the past.
Since it was impossible to be together, and she would lose so badly, what was the point of continuing to pursue?
A forced melon isn't sweet. She had drawn many similar scenes in her manga!
"Eriri, I'm sorry. If I could, I would also hope you succeed. But the image I saw cut my heart like a knife, so I had to do this."
It's better to suffer the pain early than late. The longer you delay, the more painful it becomes.
Sayuri walked over and hugged her daughter, then turned to thank Kaito.
In her heart, Kaito was more and more conform to her wishes, including having Kaito become Eriri's father!
"Alright, Mom, I'm feeling much better now. I'll forget about Tomoya-kun, or just treat him as an ordinary friend."
"I won't think about him anymore from now on."
From calling him Tomoya to Aki-kun, this was even more distant than using his full name.
After leaving Sayuri's warm embrace, Eriri wiped away all the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and revealed a smile facing a brand new future.
"Oh right, Brother Kaito, if you want to be with Mom, I agree~"
"Mom didn't tell me, but actually, that day at noon, I secretly came to the living room, so..."
Eriri looked up at Sayuri and suddenly revealed a slightly cunning yet bitter smile.
Thinking about it, they both seemed like losers. How embarrassing.
"Mom, I support you! Brother Kaito is very handsome and a very good person. If he becomes my dad, I won't have any objections!"