089. This club has serious problems!

Kang Yu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. After a good deal of effort, he had at last managed to pry apart the two brawling troublemakers, Toma Aki and Eriri. Looking at Eriri, who still glared at Toma Aki with the sullen fury of a defeated little lioness, and at Toma Aki, who glared back with equal indignation, Kang Yu let out a helpless sigh. At the same time, he cast a reproachful look toward Kasumi Shishigaya, who had been standing by and watching the spectacle ever since the beginning.

Sensing clearly the meaning in Kang Yu's gaze - Why are you not helping, senpai? - Kasumigaoka Utaha merely smiled in amusement. Her lips moved, yet no sound came out; she had only mouthed the words.

Understanding the teasing question she had formed - Isn't this rather entertaining? - Kang Yu could only press a hand to his forehead and remain speechless.

"Ahhhhhhh?"

Just as Kang Yu was about to smooth things over and say something, a sudden scream from a girl who had been utterly unnoticed until then rang out behind them, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"Hm?" x2.

Toma Aki and Eriri, who had been locked in mutual outrage, temporarily set aside their petty quarrel and turned curious eyes toward the source of the scream.

If this were a horror-mystery novel, then perhaps the heroine would have met some inexplicable and grisly fate, the hero would have steeled himself, endured countless dangers to uncover the culprit, and along the way perhaps even stumbled into a new romance...

But unfortunately, this was just an ordinary otaku slice-of-life story.

Utaha, who had also seemed entirely unconcerned until then, frowned. She was just about to ask what was wrong when, because of the direction she was facing, the moment she looked up, the confusion on her face shifted into a strange and subtle expression.

"Kato?! What happened?!"

Hearing Kato Megumi, who usually spoke in her flat, unchanging tone, suddenly let out a scream like a bystander discovering a crime scene in a film, Kang Yu hurried over to her side and asked anxiously.

Kato covered her mouth, her face full of disbelief, and even her voice had lost its usual calmness as she said, "Y-you... look, Kang Yu-kun! This girl, it feels like parts of her body have been erased?!"

"Uh... whoa! Th-this..." Kang Yu turned to the big screen, where there was a scene that absolutely could not be described in this book.

"Huh? Ahem... Kato-san, you clicked the button that said, 'Are you over eighteen?' right?"

"Oh dear... how did you end up on that page?"

Toma Aki and Eriri, who had also looked toward the big screen at the sound of this, both showed odd expressions and spoke in turn.

Still pale with fear, Kato Megumi looked toward Eriri and asked hesitantly, "Ah... um, that... Sawamura-san, is this...?"

A clear look of embarrassment appeared on Eriri's face, but she still forced herself to remain composed as she replied, "Wouldn't it be more polite not to go digging into things habitually like that, Kato-san?"

While the two were speaking, Kang Yu had already taken the mouse and, in a flustered scramble, closed the webpage. He then let out a long breath, looking as though he had destroyed the evil of the world.

At the sight of Eriri's sophistry, Kang Yu could not bear to look. Instead, he came to Kato Megumi's defense, saying, "The person who drew it is the one being rude, isn't it?"

Eriri blinked and turned her gaze to Kang Yu. With a tone so practiced it seemed only natural, she said, "What are you talking about? Minors are indeed forbidden from viewing erotic images, but minors are not forbidden from drawing them."

Why are you so familiar with this? Kang Yu swallowed the words in his heart - words that, in a former life, would have unleashed a storm of comments demanding he be beaten to death.

Toma Aki, the absolute ethical purist, also spoke up. "So that means the only person breaking the rules right now is Kato-san? Honestly, you're still a minor, so why did you click the 'yes' button..."

"...Even Aki-kun is blaming me?" Kato Megumi said, her eyes turning dull and pale, clearly unable to understand the two of them.

Watching the pair of sophists, Kang Yu shook his head, not knowing what to say. However, his image of Sawamura Spencer Eriri had become even clearer in his mind.

Hmm... how should he put it? Tsundere? Childhood friend? A versatile doujin artist? A defeated heroine? No, no, how on earth did I come up with that last label?!

Then Toma Aki stepped in to smooth things over. "Well... maybe it was a bit intense for Kato-san. But this is the true face of Kasumigaoka Utaha, also known as Eriri, the doujin opportunist Kashiwagi Eri. Her creative field is animation and games. She never digs deeply into any one genre; instead, whenever a popular work appears, she swiftly switches topics so she can exploit the profit potential to the fullest..."

"Don't talk as if you know me so well!" Eriri cut him off without the slightest courtesy.

Seeing the two of them about to start arguing again, Kang Yu rubbed his temples and said, a little exasperated, "I already had a feeling, but I'll ask just in case: Sawamura-san's circle is the kind that can be classified as a top-tier circle at Comic Market, right?"

Toma Aki nodded, and Eriri also wore an expression that said, You have pretty good eyes.

For this sort of childish expression, one that clearly carried the hidden subtext of I'm amazing, aren't I? Praise me quickly! Kang Yu chose to pretend he had seen nothing and ignored it.

Meanwhile, Kato Megumi asked curiously, "Um, what does 'top-tier circle' mean?"

Kang Yu slapped his forehead and explained, "It means that at doujin events, the organizers give priority placement near the walls to circles whose booths are likely to attract long queues. That way, the hall doesn't become too chaotic because of all the lineups."

Kato Megumi nodded in understanding, then steered the conversation back from the digression, asking hesitantly, "B-but... running an erotic website wouldn't that still be against the rules?"

"Ah, don't worry about that. Because the person running the site is my dad," Eriri said with complete indifference.

"Huh...?"

"And the person in charge of selling the books at events is her dad too," Toma Aki added.

"Huh... huh...?"

"So this is what you call diplomacy?" Kang Yu deadpanned.

"Huh... huh huh...?"

Listening to their one line after another, Kato Megumi wore an expression of overwhelming astonishment, as if her worldview itself were trembling. The perfect rich girl Sawamura Spencer Eriri and an English diplomat - the impressions those two concepts gave her were utterly contrary to reality, and the shock had shaken the very foundation of her understanding.

Suddenly, Kang Yu saw something familiar on the big screen again and could no longer keep his composure. He cried out in alarm.

"Kasumigaoka-senpai! What are you doing?!"