Ch 142 – 11 June, Hyoudou Michiru 01

Edited by The Darkest Knight#4796

Third Person's Point of view.

Hyoudou Michiru was standing in front of the gates of Toyogasaki High School. The school where her cousin studied and possibly the place where she would find out why her cousin had become a hikikomori. Even though her cousin, Tomoya Aki, never said anything. Michiru could still conclude that something big happened to make her cousin like this. She might be able to find out the reason from someone who was an old acquaintance of her cousin, the girl named Sawamura Spencer Eriri.

Well, it seemed that the girl named Eriri and her cousin had known each other from elementary school to high school. In other words, Michiru came to this school to meet her and confirm what happened to her cousin. Aki would never tell her how she could meet Eriri. The only way Michiru could think of was to come to the school in person like this.

Then Michiru didn't know whether she was lucky or not. It seemed that the girl named Eriri was quite famous. It was easy for Michiru to find out about Eriri just by asking a few people who came out of the school gate.

Michiru learned that Eriri was a half-Japanese, half-British girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who was so famous that the various people she asked knew quite a bit about Eriri. Then, from talking to the multiple students she met, Michiru realized that she could meet Eriri in the art room.

Upon learning this, Michiru immediately tried to get to the art room. Although it took a while for Michiru to find a way to meet Eriri finally, Michiro had a straightforward personality. Therefore, she got permission to enter the school and meet with Eriri.

Although Michiru did not like using Aki's absence as an excuse to meet Eriri, she did not have much choice. While wearing the sign that she was a visitor, Michiru made her way to the art room where Eriri was.

Upon arrival, she could feel the puzzled state of the members who saw another school student entering the art room. Michiru ignored them and did not find the girl with the characteristics described by the students she asked.

Michiru couldn't help but ask the student nearby. "Excuse me, where would be the student named Sawamura Spencer Eriri?"

"Eh, Sawamura-san? Well… she is in her own room."

"Her own room?"

"Yeah, she had joined the tournament and won the award. So she has her own room. She may be the art club’s pride." The student replied to Michiru's question with such high regard toward Eriri. "That's why she needs that room to concentrate on drawing."

"Well, if that's the case… Could you call her for me."

"Ah, okay. Wait for a moment."

The student left her seat and walked toward the other room on the other side. Michiru could see the student conversing with someone inside the other room. Since Eriri didn't know who she was, Michiru told the student that Aki’s cousin was searching for her.

It wasn't long before Eriri came out from the other room and walked toward her. She didn't look pleased about what happened. Just like another student said to her, the girl was a beautiful one with natural blonde hair and clear blue eyes with such a foreign look on her.

Honestly, Michiru was surprised that her cousin had a beauty like Eriri as his acquaintance. Yeah, she couldn’t believe her cousin knew this beauty at all.

"Well, how about we talk about that stuff in another place?" Eriri told Michiru, who replied with a nod of her head as a sign that she agreed with her. So she followed Eriri, who brought her to a quiet place, and it seemed that when she got to Michiru, Eriri was very busy with her smartphone. She appeared to be messaging someone.

Michiru was very surprised when Eriri brought her to the audiovisual room with several students already in it. Two girls and one boy seemed to be busy doing something. One of the girls seemed to be practicing acting and the boy who trained her.

"I thought you would take me to a quiet place. But apparently not?"

"Of course not. I may know Aki-kun, and you may be talking about Aki but I don't remember him ever mentioning that he had a cousin, and I don't know you. There's no way I'm talking with you alone." Eriri explained to Michiru.

"That's… fair."

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you about Aki. Do you know what happened that made him hide in his room and become a hikikomori?"

(E/D: Should I tell her about it or should I demonstrate it to her about it.)

Without further ado, Michiru immediately asked Eriri about the matter she wanted to know. Eriri herself did not look surprised by Michiru's questions. She immediately understood what Michiru would ask when her friend told her that Aki's cousin wanted to meet her.

Well, when walking out of the art room, Eriri had already communicated with Kouta and asked what to do with the person who introduced himself as Aki's cousin. The surprising thing for Eriri was that Kouta told her to bring Michiru to the audiovisual room.

Kouta told Eriri to prolong their conversation and act like she knew little about what happened to Aki and remain ambiguous about it.

"Hm, what happened to Aki-kun… Huh… Honestly, the two of us were close because we share the same interests," Eriri answered Michiru.

"Same interest? Are you talking, those otaku stuff!"

"... Yeah"

Eriri was taken aback for a bit seeing Michiru's extreme reaction.

"I never expected someone like you to like that stuff. But no wonder you two know each other. You like weird things like anime and manga."

"Ha?"

"I knew that those things may be part of why he became hikikomori. However, there could be something else going on. So, do you know what happened to Aki-kun? Like bullying and the like?"

Honestly, if it weren't for the order from Kouta, Eriri would have left Michiru with the words that came out of her mouth demonizing otaku stuff, bringing back bad memories of her time with Tomoya. Well, it was people who were skeptical of anime and manga like Michiru that made Eriri always try to keep it a secret that she liked otaku stuff.

Eriri didn't like a person like Michiru but because Kouta told her to bring her meant that Kouta was interested or had plans for her. Eriri didn't know why Kouta was interested in someone like her, but since he already had… Eriri couldn't wait to see this bitch with those debaucherous faces. Oops, she needed to calm down, or she may let her emotions out.

"Hm, I'm not really that close with him, except we talked about anime and other stuff. I wonder if he had any friends. Well, I saw him talk with one or two boys in his class, and I never heard or saw people bully him or something. In the end, he was a pretty direct kid who didn't really care about the people around him regarding his love for anime and manga. I can even remember how he fought with the teacher so that a light novel could be in the library. That's why I asked him not to talk to me at school. I have an image to maintain, after all. I don't think someone will bully a person like him."

"Is that so? That's true."

"Which means something else happened, and from the nature of it, what happened must be very much related to anime and manga."

"Ah, that makes sense. But I don't know anything about anime and manga stuff… I can't think of something that would make him like-"

While Michiru seemed to be busy thinking, Eriri felt the vibration of her smartphone. She took advantage of Michiru being distracted and found a message from Kouta towards her and told her what to do.

"To be honest, how about learning about manga and anime?"

"Eh, why do I need to do that?"

"Well, you might be able to understand Tomoya's feelings and know why he became a hikikomori?"

"Hm, I don't think so."

"Okay, but it can't hurt to try. I don't know why Tomoya became a hikikomori. However, there is one thing that I remember Tomoya asking me last time. It was that he wanted to make a game."

"Games!?"

"Yeah, so how about you try with us? We're also making a game like the ones Tomoya likes."

Then, as instructed by Kouta, Eriri suggested Michiru join them. Eriri didn't know what Michiru could do in the games they made. However, in the end, she complied with Kouta's request. Basically, Eriri was not sure if Michiru would be interested in this. What was certain for Eriri was that she had followed Kouta's recommendation. Then, it was Kouta's turn to convince Michiru.