On Hojou Kyousuke's phone screen—
Against the plain white background of a notes app, a few crooked squares lined the left side.
These were supposed to be buildings. Some smaller squares on them represented windows.
On the right side, there was…
'A bald egg with two antennae?'
'No, wait—a meteor with two twigs stuck in it?'
'Or maybe an egg, full of dents and craters, with two feelers growing out of it?'
'Oh, got it—it was an egg, its surface nibbled by ants, with two chopsticks stuck in it, perched atop a stick-figure body.'
Phew.
Eriri finally figured out how to describe it and let out a sigh of relief.
She barely managed to suppress another round of laughter, though it wasn't easy.
Her fingers swiped down to the next page.
A bald egg-headed man with eyes.
A slightly modified Ultraman, now with a cape. At his feet stood a tiny chick.
Eriri could tell Kyousuke had put in a serious effort.
At least, this time, his character actually resembled a human.
Oh, and there was even a speech bubble.
The monster asked, "Who are you?"
The egg-headed hero replied, "Just a hero for fun."
'A hero for fun?'
'Shouldn't heroes have some kind of noble conviction? Something like "I fight for the happiness of others"?'
As she pondered this, Eriri thought about Kyousuke himself.
As much as she hated to admit it, she'd caused him a lot of trouble today.
He originally came out just to gather inspiration for his work.
Hah… inspiration… The thought nearly sent her into another laughing fit.
But still, it was true. He was on his way home after shopping, but then she ran into him—literally.
Even though he didn't get hurt, he ended up spending so much time helping a total stranger.
Since he was a good-looking, Eriri never even considered the idea that he might be doing it just to impress a blonde beauty like herself.
She simply assumed he was just… a genuinely nice guy.
And now, reading this line—"Just a hero for fun"—she felt like she understood.
It wasn't some cliché "kindhearted fool" trope.
Kyousuke wasn't the type to go out of his way to look for people in need. But if he happened to stumble upon someone who needed help, he just couldn't ignore them.
Just like he said—for fun.
Maybe, if she had met someone like him back in elementary school, she and Tomoya wouldn't have fallen out.
A pang of regret hit her, but it quickly faded into a wry smile. She swiped to the next page.
"HAHAHAHA! What even is this? A pair of eggs, one big, one small… and then an exploding egg?!"
Her clear, ringing laughter mixed with her blunt critique.
"Hey, hey, I said I didn't mind, but at least have some mercy," Kyousuke protested.
He reached out to grab his phone back, but Eriri swiftly clutched it with both hands.
"What are you doing?! Don't you want my advice? I'm practically a professional artist about to debut! If you let me guide you, maybe—just maybe—you'll learn how to draw something that doesn't look like a toddler's doodle."
Eriri had carefully thought this through before speaking.
She wanted to repay this "hero for fun" in some way.
But in order to give guidance, she had to prove she was actually qualified to teach.
And so, after some internal debate, she decided to reveal her secret identity.
No one knew this about her.
Even though she was an artist in the humiliation genre, deep down, she'd always fantasized about a knight in shining armor—her own hero.
Or rather, because she couldn't have one, she'd thrown herself into the opposing side.
Yeah… considering my love for otome games, how did I even end up as a humiliation artist?
But he… he probably wouldn't turn into that kind of person, would he?
The memories of her elementary school days resurfaced.
"A doujinshi artist?"
Kyousuke looked at her in surprise. He thought she was just an ordinary otaku, but it turned out she was a creator too?
"That's right! My work is going to be exhibited at the upcoming doujinshi fair at the end of April!"
Seeing his genuine curiosity, Eriri puffed up with pride.
"That's amazing! Can I see some of your work? I'd love to see what a real artist's drawings look like."
Kyousuke's praise was sincere. While he was still stuck in the realm of "soulful but awful" drawings, this seemingly childish girl was already making a name for herself.
"Heh, since you're begging so earnestly, I suppose I could give you a sneak peek."
She unlocked her phone, opened a document, and handed it over.
Kyousuke took it and—
…
'Crap. I got carried away!'
Just moments ago, Eriri had been waiting eagerly for Kyousuke to praise her work.
Then, all at once, she remembered.
Her genre was humiliation art.
It wasn't full R-18, but still… this was not something someone unfamiliar with otaku culture could easily stomach.
"This is incredible…"
Kyousuke's reaction was calm and straightforward.
His admiration was clear.
'Huh? '
Most non-otaku guys would've been at least a little thrown off by the content. But he just… accepted it?
"Don't you think the subject matter is a little…?" Eriri asked, her face turning red.
"Oh, that? I don't judge other people's interests. Besides, with skills like this, the content barely even matters—your technique is that impressive."
"Hmph! Don't think you can sweet-talk me! I won't go easy on you when I start teaching!"
Her voice was suddenly filled with confidence, her smile beaming.
"But seriously," Kyousuke said, raising an eyebrow, "for someone your age, are you sure this is okay?"
Although the art she showed him wasn't explicit, it was still very suggestive.
Even with his limited knowledge of otaku culture, Kyousuke was pretty sure this wasn't something a young girl should be selling so openly.
"Well, technically, there aren't rules against drawing it. Just against selling it. The sales part is… handled by someone else."
After some hesitation, Eriri decided not to mention that her parents were the ones managing her sales.
The fact that her entire diplomat family was deep in otaku culture was way too much to reveal right now.
"I see."
In the end, no matter how bizarre something was, Kyousuke could always justify it with a simple phrase:
This is Japan.
The real shocker wasn't what she was drawing.
It was how good she was at it.
"She's supposed to be a background character? You sure about that?"
Kyousuke thought to himself as he continued flipping through her work.
Still, there was no denying it.
This girl's interests were something else.
And judging by the way her face was turning an even deeper shade of red…
She knew it too.