Seeing Nemesis greet them so cheerfully, Sairenji Akiho and the others instinctively let go of the golden strands in their hands. After exchanging glances, they stood up and responded a bit awkwardly.
None of them noticed that Nemesis, who was lying on Eriri's back, was actually floating slightly above the ground. It seemed she was deliberately avoiding stepping on Eriri's hair that was spread on the floor. Even though she was barefoot, her delicate little feet were spotless and immaculate.
After the three girls finished introducing themselves, Eriri also stood up. As she rose, the golden strands of hair naturally gathered behind her, draping over her back, though about twenty centimeters still trailed on the floor.
For someone like Eriri now, controlling the length of her hair was a trivial matter.
However, as a dedicated lover of long hair, she had never even considered shortening it—not even temporarily.
To her, the long hair posed no inconvenience at all.
And not just her hair—she could change her figure at will. If she so desired, she could instantly transform into a mature, curvaceous beauty.
After a bit of conversation, Nemesis quickly became close with Akiho, Haruna, and Yui. Their impressions of her completely changed, and they were genuinely happy to have made a new friend their age, completely forgetting the pressure they'd felt earlier.
Before long, Tearju and Eve, who had noticed what was going on, finished wandering and returned to Eriri's side.
By now, even Mrs. Sairenji and Mrs. Kotegawa had gotten to know Eriri on a basic level.
With their arrival, introductions were inevitable, and Eve soon joined the playful group along with Nemesis and the three girls.
The Sairenji and Kotegawa families hadn't arrived at the aquarium much earlier than Eriri's group, and they had already visited about half the exhibits.
Coincidentally, their touring route matched Eriri's, so when Eriri suggested continuing the tour together, they agreed.
By the time they finished exploring the aquarium and exited the building, it was already a little past noon.
It was also time to part ways.
"Ah, what a fun day. We're so lucky to have met you, Eriri-chan. Coming to the aquarium with Haruna and Akiho today was definitely the right choice," Mrs. Sairenji said, stretching her arms and smiling brightly as they stood at the aquarium's entrance.
As expected, like mother, like daughter. Once she got familiar with Eriri and the others, Mrs. Sairenji's true personality began to show.
Her lively and cheerful nature was strikingly similar to Akiho's, unlike Haruna who hadn't inherited it at all.
"But now it's time to say goodbye. It's kind of sad when you think about it."
Hearing her mother's words, the smiles on Akiho and Haruna's faces faltered, their cheerful expressions gradually fading.
Yui Kotegawa, who was standing beside her own mother, mirrored the same expression.
After spending over an hour together, Eriri had already become an important person to them. Nemesis and Eve had also built a strong friendship with them.
Knowing they had to part ways made the three girls feel very reluctant.
Just then, the usually shy Haruna suddenly stepped past Akiho and walked up to Eriri.
"Um... Eriri-nee, will we be able to see you again?"
Haruna's question made Akiho and Yui's eyes light up as they turned expectantly toward Eriri.
"Of course we'll see each other again. You three are so adorable—how could I ever let you slip away from me?~" Eriri said in a teasing tone, gently patting Haruna's head with her right hand.
Even though her words might have sounded like something a kidnapper would say, neither Mrs. Sairenji nor Mrs. Kotegawa took it badly.
Of course, if it had been anyone else saying that, they might have already considered calling the police.
Eriri then shared her home address and invited the girls to come visit her.
The happiest one of all was Yui, who realized that Eriri's home was less than a hundred meters away from her own.
While the Sairenji residence wasn't quite that close, it was still only a few kilometers away.
Thanks to Eriri's involvement, Haruna and Yui's acquaintance had occurred ten years earlier than in the original timeline. That alone was bound to drastically alter their future development.
And this was far from the last of Eriri's influence.
...
Another two months passed quickly. During this time, Eriri didn't take Tearju and the others on frequent time jumps like before—instead, she spent the entire two months in this timeline.
Including the previous two months, Eriri had now spent nearly half a year in the past.
As the saying goes, plans never keep up with changes. Originally, Eriri had intended to enjoy Earth for a few days before returning to the future with her companions.
But after meeting Akiho and the others, she decided to delay that plan and stay longer to spend more time with them.
Due to the close proximity, Yui came over to Eriri's house to play almost every day during this period.
However, after the new school term started over half a month ago, she could only visit after finishing elementary school for the day.
Yui also had an older brother, Yuu Kotegawa , who was three years older than her.
At first, because Yui kept going to Eriri's place, Yuu wanted to tag along.
He wasn't unfamiliar with Eriri—living so close meant they had encountered each other a few times, and Yui and Mrs. Kotegawa often talked about Eriri at home.
Naturally, he had become very curious about the beautiful older girl named Eriri.
However, his request was swiftly denied by Yui.
Not because they had a bad sibling relationship, but because she clearly remembered one of Eriri's rules: no males allowed when visiting her home—not even family.
So Yuu could only quietly give up on his plan to follow his sister.
As for sneaking over on his own, he didn't have the courage for that and couldn't bring himself to try.
Besides, even if he did try, an invisible barrier around Eriri's villa would simply keep him out.
Meanwhile, the Sairenji sisters didn't visit as frequently as Yui, but every weekend, their mother would bring them over to play for an entire day—sometimes even for both days of the weekend.
During their visits, Eriri would also take them out for fun. As a result, their affection for Eriri had reached its peak.
They even naively declared things like wanting to marry Eriri when they grow up and be with her forever.
While out on one of their excursions, Eriri happened to come across the original male protagonist, Yuki Rito, who was also only six years old.
At the moment, Yuki Rito was just an ordinary little boy. He had yet to awaken the absurd power known as "Divine Suplex," a so-called universe-level ability.
The Divine Suplex was an unreasonable ability—whenever a girl was near him, he could randomly trip or fall for some reason, and the outcome was always that he ended up in a compromising position with the girl.
No matter how strong the girl was, if she was female, the ability would trigger—utterly unavoidable.
Although this power hadn't awakened yet, Eriri could sense a faint thread linking Yuki Rito to the origin will of the universe.
It was likely that this weak connection was what would allow him to awaken his ability ten years later.
Even though that power had no effect on Eriri, it could greatly affect people like Yui Kotegawa and others.
So without hesitation, Eriri severed the weak link between Yuki Rito and the universe's will, completely cutting off the root of his Divine Suplex.
These past two months had been the happiest times in the lives of Akiho, Haruna, and Yui since they could remember.
But that life would come to a temporary end today.
...
"Mom, I'm going to Eriri-nee's house to play."
"Mm-hmm, go ahead. Just remember to come back early—don't stay out too late."
"Got it!"
Around 3 PM, freshly picked up from school by her mother, Yui Kotegawa greeted her as usual and then ran toward the luxurious villa not far away.
Upon reaching the villa's gate, Yui pulled out the key hanging from a string around her neck and skillfully unlocked the iron gate leading to the courtyard.
After passing through about ten meters of the courtyard path, she arrived at the front door of the villa and walked inside, calling out cheerfully:
"Eriri-nee, Tearju-nee, Neme-chan, Eve-chan! I'm here to play again~"
Upon entering the living room, she saw Nemesis and Eve watching TV on the sofa. There was no sign of Eriri or Tearju.
"Yui-chan, school's out already, huh."
"Yui-chan, did anything fun happen at school today?"
Yui had come over so frequently that Nemesis and Eve were completely used to her presence and already considered her part of the household.
So they didn't bother to get up, just turned around on the sofa and chatted with her happily.
"Mmm, school's no fun at all. Playing with you guys is way better."
Yui also acted completely at ease, climbing onto the sofa beside them after removing her shoes.
Once seated, she looked to both of them and asked, "By the way, Neme-chan, Eve-chan, where are Eriri-nee and Tearju-nee? I haven't seen them."
"Eriri-nee is working on a manga in her room, and Tearju-nee is helping her out," Eve replied with a smile.
Eve used to call Tearju by name directly, but after learning more social customs, she had naturally started adding "-nee" to names.
Hearing that, Yui's face lit up with excitement.
"Eriri-nee is drawing a new manga? I can't wait!"
Yui knew full well that Eriri was a manga artist—after all, the yuri manga she had been reading lately was drawn by Eriri.
Even though Eriri didn't publish her works through publishers in this world, all of her manga were kept inside the villa.
Of course, those works didn't include any doujinshi—only officially published material.
Not only Yui, but Akiho and Haruna also read Eriri's yuri manga.
Thanks to that influence, they had come to see yuri relationships as entirely normal.
Just as Yui finished speaking, a clear voice sounded behind her.
"Is that so? But you'll have to wait quite a long time to read this one."
"Eriri-nee!"
Hearing that familiar voice, Yui turned around excitedly and saw Eriri standing behind the sofa.
She quickly remembered what Eriri had just said and tilted her head curiously.
"Right, Eriri-nee, how long is 'a long time'?"
"Hmm, at least ten years."
"Eh? That long..."
Yui's cute little face twisted into a conflicted expression.
Seeing that, Eriri chuckled softly and reached out to pat her head.
"Alright, Yui-chan, don't worry. You'll understand why I said that in just a little while."
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