A Saiyan's Journey

"Eriri, are you going out today?"

At Eriri's home, Sayuri Sawamura noticed that Eriri seemed to be in a good mood, holding a bag and ready to head out.

As a true otaku, Eriri's usual weekend activities would involve staying at home reading manga and playing games.

Although Sayuri Sawamura is Eriri's parent, she herself is also an otaku, so she has no intention of correcting Eriri's hobbies.

However, today Eriri surprisingly wasn't staying in her room and was instead going out, which surprised Sayuri Sawamura.

There wasn't any big comic convention today, nor any new releases of bishoujo games, so what was Eriri going out for?

Moreover, with online shopping services being so advanced these days, many things can be bought digitally or delivered to your doorstep, making it even less necessary to go out.

"Yes... I made plans with a friend to go out and hang out."

Eriri, probably not expecting to be suddenly called out by her mom, stiffened her smiling expression and awkwardly laughed as she responded to Sayuri Sawamura.

But this statement sounded even more suspicious to Sayuri Sawamura—since when did Eriri start going out shopping with friends?

Although Eriri presents herself as a rich, sociable girl at school, Sayuri Sawamura, as her mother, knows Eriri's true nature.

Eriri usually rejects many invitations on weekends just to stay home and watch anime, firmly in the camp of those who avoid going out if possible.

But today, Eriri was different from usual, not only seeming to go out willingly but also in a good mood.

Moreover, Sayuri Sawamura noticed that Eriri had dressed up carefully today, choosing a particularly beautiful outfit that Sayuri Sawamura had once helped her put together.

"Who are you going out with? Someone who shares your hobbies?"

Sayuri Sawamura's expression remained smiling, but she was a bit worried inside—she knew how naive Eriri could be and was naturally afraid that she might be deceived by someone with ulterior motives.

Especially since she found that draft in Eriri's sketches yesterday... Sayuri Sawamura suspected that Eriri was going out with the boy depicted in that draft.

"Ah... it's Ogiwara-san, who brought me back the other day. You've met him before."

Eriri paused for a moment, quickly found an excuse, and used Ogiwara Sayu as a shield—after all, Ogihara Sayu lives with Shin, so it should be okay to use her as an excuse.

But this statement only made Sayuri Sawamura more suspicious.

Because she saw that draft yesterday, Sayuri Sawamura had thought a lot, including the incident where Ogiwara Sayu brought Eriri home, which now seemed less innocent in her mind.

Of course, while she thought a lot, Sayuri Sawamura couldn't stop Eriri from going out, so she just nodded and told Eriri to "be careful on the way."

Seeing that Sayuri Sawamura didn't press further, Eriri breathed a sigh of relief, quickly changed her shoes, and went out.

However, after Eriri left, Sayuri Sawamura immediately put on a mask and hat and followed her.

Although she didn't want to interfere with Eriri's friendships, some level of investigation was necessary, especially since Eriri might be going out alone with a boy!

If it were just an ordinary friend, Sayuri Sawamura wouldn't be so nervous—but the problem was, the draft she saw in Eriri's room was anything but ordinary. Eriri had even dared to sketch herself doing such things with that person, so Sayuri Sawamura had to worry if her daughter was being deceived.

So she decided to follow and see; if she confirmed that the other person wasn't a bad guy, then Sayuri Sawamura wouldn't interfere further.

...

At the station in front of the shopping street, Eriri stood at the platform entrance, playing with her phone while waiting for Shin to arrive.

Of course, although it looked like she was playing with her phone, her frequent glances around showed that she was quite nervous.

At exactly ten o'clock, Shin appeared in front of Eriri—his attire was quite ordinary, not as meticulously dressed as Eriri.

But Shin's striking looks made even his casual outfit seem handsome enough, matching well with Eriri.

Eriri had been standing at the platform entrance for a while with no one approaching, and a few people around were considering whether to strike up a conversation, but upon seeing Shin, they gave up.

On one hand, Shin's looks were enough to overshadow most people, and on the other hand, the inexplicable aura he exuded made others hesitant to approach.

Although Shin didn't deliberately show off his aura, the confidence from his immense strength made many feel they couldn't compete with him in any aspect just by looking at him.

"You're too slow."

Eriri couldn't help but complain as she watched Shin stroll over—she had been waiting alone at the platform entrance for over ten minutes.

"Wasn't it agreed at ten? I'm right on time."

Shin checked his phone, which showed exactly ten o'clock; he wasn't early or late.

"...Forget it, it's not important."

Since Shin wasn't wrong, Eriri could only nod helplessly—Shin wasn't late, just perfectly on time.

She glanced around; although she didn't see any acquaintances, she couldn't help but ask Shin:

"You didn't tell anyone else, right? Like those you had lunch with..."

Although Eriri and Shin were dressed like typical socialites going shopping, the place Eriri was taking Shin to wasn't something she could casually tell others about.

Although Eriri thought Shin wasn't the type to blab about everything, out of unease, she still couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone, not even Sayu or Irisviel know what I'm doing out this time."

Shin nodded, seeing Eriri's nervousness, he also used his "ki" to scan the surrounding crowd.

But this scan made Shin notice a particularly special person.

It was a woman hiding in the crowd, wearing a hat and mask—though at first glance she seemed like just another passerby, Shin's keen eyes noticed her facial features were very similar to Eriri's.

Plus, with her long black hair, Shin quickly guessed her identity.

To be continued…

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