Kapitel 20: FFD 19
"Why do you keep insisting on me drawing when I've already told you I can't do it? Why don't you try asking those artists on Niconico instead? I have no way of finishing a poster within three days!"
"Come on, Eriri, this poster can only be done by you. No, it has to be completed by you!"
"You're really exaggerating... When did you become such a smooth talker?" she blushed, nervously playing with the ends of her ponytail.
"Because it's a lifelong request from all the members of the soccer club!"
"You jerk, give back my touched heart!"
...
At the train station, Hayama and Eriri stood together, side by side.
"Hey, Eriri, do you happen to have Sainae's contact info?" He asked out of the blue, his gaze fixed on the cars passing by.
"Sanae?" Her expression shifted abruptly, her face turning gloomy. "You're calling her so intimately."
"But we've always called her that, haven't we?"
"Heh, of course I have her contact info! But why do you suddenly want to get in touch with her? Are you some kind of lolicon?" She took a step back, her gaze fixed on him as if he were a walking trash heap, every movement dripping with disdain.
"Lolicon?" He cast a quick glance at Eriri's modest chest. "Well, I don't think she'd appreciate that comment coming from you."
"Pervert!" Her exclamation caught the attention of several passersby. He swiftly extended his right hand and pulled her closer to his side. "Don't shout like that. I don't want those guys from the newspaper club secretly snapping pictures of us."
"Damn it, let go of me."
Although she protested, her body seemed to give up its resistance. Her petite frame emanated a scorching heat that made the early summer evening quite uncomfortable.
As the curious gazes of the onlookers dispersed, he released his grip on her. "You seem really warm. Are you running a fever or something?"
"None of your business!" she shot a glare at him, quickly lowering her head to adjust her collar, hoping he wouldn't notice the blush creeping up her neck.
As she pondered, Eriri thought, 'If he's asking for Sainae's contact information, it means he hasn't been in touch with her since then.'
So she replied, "I do have Sainae's contact info, but that girl has been acting stranger lately. She used to have fantasies about being a magical girl, but now it's gotten even more extreme. Whenever I talk to her, she goes off on all sorts of nonsensical ramblings. So if you're counting on her help for something, you might want to reconsider."
In the distance, a pair of eyes were locked onto Hayama and Eriri.
'Is Hayama actually interested in Eriri?' Tomoya rubbed his glasses, double-checking what he was seeing. It was indeed Hayama and Eriri standing by the train station.
'Hayama, you've betrayed the 2D world! You're supposed to be an otaku, but now you're showing interest in real-life beauties. This is a violation of the purity and holiness of the 2D world!'
...
Eriri suffered from a chronic case of procrastination, to the point where one could easily label her as a terminal procrastinator. Hayama had witnessed this firsthand when he was tutoring her in English.
However, as they say, one problem can sometimes be solved by another. Although he couldn't cure her procrastination, he knew someone who could—Dekomori Sanae.
Sanae was a complete idiot, plagued by a severe case of chuunibyou, or the "eighth-grade syndrome."
In her youth, Sanae struggled academically. She was the type of fool who would scribble magical spells on her exam papers, and as a result, her test scores never came close to meeting the passing criteria.
What does one do when a child struggles with studying? Send them away for an additional education, of course! So, upon learning that Hayama and Eriri were studying English together, someone nudged Sanae forward.
Initially, he believed that he had acquired yet another troublesome person and grew somewhat apprehensive.
However, to his surprise, after a few days of interacting with Sanae, he unexpectedly realized that her brain was actually quite functional.
Sanae had a deep passion for immersing herself in various roles, often leading her thoughts to wander. However, this dedication to role-playing left little room for her academic pursuits.
To help Sanae overcome this problem, Hayama took on a rather embarrassing endeavor—the kind that he would cringe at for the rest of his life. He decided to pretend he had chuunibyou.
He crafted an elaborate persona as a Demon Lord hailing from another world and declared Sanae to be his strategist, the reincarnation of the Death Bringer.
Once they crossed the crystal boundary, the rules of the two worlds caused their powers to dissipate. To regain their powers, they had to become familiar with the knowledge and comprehend the rules of this new world. In other words, she had to study!
Sanae, being someone who had chuunibyou, had never encountered such a detailed and dramatic backstory before. It was a completely new experience for her.
Before long, she completely immersed herself in her role as the Death Bringer. She wholeheartedly devoted herself to learning, and even in her speech, she embraced a catchphrase—"Death."
When a chuunibyou becomes serious, they become a formidable being. His plan caused Sanae to possess an insatiable curiosity and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In a way, she could even be more troublesome to handle than a human infant.
To channel her boundless energy and keep her from incessantly bothering him, even to the point of nighttime attacks, Hayama had no other option but to assign her the responsibility of overseeing Eriri's English studies. Surprisingly, it had a positive impact, and Eriri's English skills began to improve.
By the way, Eriri's character background was that of the Vanguard Officer of the Demon Lord. However, due to soul trauma during their passage through the crystal boundary, she required special guidance to awaken her memories. Naturally, the task of guiding Eriri fell into Sanae's hands.
...
Back at home, following his usual routine, Hayama sent a message to Kato, saying, "Kato, I'm home."
After waiting for about half a minute, she still hadn't responded. She hadn't even read the message, which slightly surprised him.
However, he didn't dwell on it for long. He simply scrolled through his screen and dialed Dekomori Sanae's number.
...
It was the third year, during summer vacation.
Eriri approached Sanae with a hint of secrecy, clutching a game disc in her hand. "Hey, Sanae, let's play this game called 'Magical Girl and the Unspoken Story of the Princess' together."
Sanae, engrossed in her sketchbook, replied dismissively, "Foolish Eriri, I don't waste my time playing games with such a name, death." Her pencil danced across the pages, filled with formulas that were beyond Eriri's comprehension. Some of them were taught by Hayama, while others were Sanae's own imaginative creations.
"Why have you suddenly become so diligent, Sanae? There's no one left to play with me," Eriri complained, pouting as she sat on the bed.
"Because I have discovered my true self—I am the Death Bringer, Hayama Sanae, death!" she proclaimed, standing on a chair with one foot and placing the other foot on the table. She held her pencil high, as if wielding a magical wand!
She added, "Poor Eriri, your foolishness really messed you up when you crossed that crystal boundary. You've been lost ever since, unable to find your true self. It's just so pathetic, death!"
"Y-You... How can you call yourself Hayama Sanae!" Eriri's face flushed, whether out of anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell.
"Because I've made it my life's mission to serve Hayama-dono, so I have to change my name, death!"
"Then, then... I'll call myself Hayama Eriri too!"
"You're just a Vanguard Officer, so you don't get to have the fancy Hayama surname privilege, death!"
"I don't care about that. I want to be called Hayama Eriri!"
"Indeed, it seems like the soul trauma from crossing that crystal boundary has messed with your head, Vanguard Officer, death!"
...
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Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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