Eriri eventually agreed to Shin's request. Every ti she finished drawing her doujinshi, she would invite Shin to review it as soon as possible.
Although handing over her explicit illustrations to a guy for critique didn't seem like the best idea, Eriri had no choice—Shin had leverage over her.
After all, Eriri didn't even want it known that she was an otaku, let alone that she was a doujinshi artist—a secret that could lead to "social death" if exposed.
However, the sketches in her backpack this ti weren't shown to Shin imdiately.
Her excuse? "This set isn't finished yet; there's still one page to complete. I'll let you see it once it's done, so don't rush ."
After that, Eriri fled the rooftop, her face burning with embarrassnt. Of course, before she left, she obediently handed over her contact information.
She had no other choice—she couldn't risk coming to school the next morning and hearing her classmates gossip about "the legend of Kashiwagi Eri-sensei."
Compared to her worst-case scenario, Shin's demand was relatively reasonable. She could just think of it as early fan feedback.
After school, Eriri returned ho, visibly annoyed, and began working on her sketches.
Since she hadn't completed the final page at noon, she now had to spend extra ti finishing the outlines.
In hindsight, not only did she fail to make progress at noon, but she also ended up exposing her secret to Shin. A total loss!
"Eriri, why are you so upset today?"
As Eriri worked on her drafts, her mother, Sayuri Sawamura, walked into the room with a curious smile.
The fact that Eriri was a doujinshi artist was a tightly guarded secret from outsiders, but within her family, it wasn't an issue.
In fact, Eriri's otaku tendencies were inherited from her parents. Her mother, Sayuri, was also an otaku—and even a fujoshi.
Despite her youthful appearance and graceful deanor, which made her look more like Eriri's sister, her true nature was far from what her image suggested.
Of course, as a mother, Sayuri cared deeply about Eriri. Seeing her daughter storm into her room after school, visibly upset, piqued her curiosity.
It had been a long ti since Sayuri had seen Eriri this angry. She rembered Eriri being well-liked at school, so it was unlikely anyone would intentionally upset her.
"It's nothing—just in a bad mood, that's all," Eriri replied stiffly, forcing an awkward smile.
Naturally, she couldn't tell her mother about Shin.
Imagine explaining that a male high schooler had discovered her doujinshi hobby and demanded to preview her work first...
Eriri couldn't predict her mother's reaction, but she knew it wouldn't be good.
Still, Eriri wasn't great at hiding her emotions, so even though Sayuri didn't press further, she could tell sothing was up.
"Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry. But rember, if you ever face sothing you can't handle, don't hesitate to ask your parents for help."
Sayuri smiled warmly. After all, with the family's resources, most problems were manageable.
However, neither Sayuri nor Eriri could have guessed the extent of Shin's background.
That evening, Shin returned ho and learned about Irisviel's day from Sayu Ogiwara over dinner.
Since Irisviel was still physically weak and unable to walk far without support, Sayu had spent the day at ho with her.
Given that the events of Fate/Zero occurred in the 1990s, the technological gap between then and Shin's current world was significant.
Furthermore, Irisviel had spent most of her life in the traditional magus family of Einzbern, with little exposure to modern technology.
So, Sayu had spent the day teaching her how to use things like televisions and smartphones, as well as basic knowledge about modern life.
Because Shin had previously ntioned that Irisviel was from a prestigious family, Sayu found her lack of common knowledge unsurprising.
A sheltered noblewoman unfamiliar with modern gadgets—it fit the trope seen in many manga.
anwhile, Irisviel wore an apologetic smile, seemingly aware of how much trouble she had caused Sayu.
"Don't worry about it. Sayu doesn't have much to do at ho anyway," Shin remarked, noticing Irisviel's expression while casually biting into his hamburger steak. "Think of it as teaching a child."
Indeed, given Irisviel's limited understanding of the world, Sayu was essentially teaching a clueless child—albeit one with an older appearance.
However, Sayu blushed deeply at Shin's words, her mind wandering to certain past events.
"I'll treat Irisviel tonight. Tomorrow, you should see her moving around normally," Shin said, glancing at Irisviel.
Although she had learned to use a smartphone that day, her innocent deanor suggested she hadn't yet grasped the implications of Shin's "treatnt."
"Once she's fully recovered, you can take her around to familiarize her with the surroundings. She probably has no real concept of modern urban life," Shin added.
"Got it, leave it to !" Sayu replied confidently. If it was a task from Shin, she would follow through perfectly.
Though curious about Shin's treatnt thods, Sayu didn't ask further. She figured she could just ask Irisviel tomorrow.
As Shin finished his dinner and waited for Irisviel to do the sa, his phone suddenly rang.
Seeing the caller ID, Shin's expression turned odd—it was Eriri, the contact he had added just that afternoon.
To be continued...
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