Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

Chapter 99 A Familiar Feeling (Daily Life)

Soon after, in Meguro Ward.

Tokyo Metropolitan Koyamadai High School.

This is the high school Erina currently attends, which is considered one of the better public high schools.

The campus is of average size. The teaching buildings are light gray. A row of cherry blossom trees is planted along the playground. At the end of November, the cherry blossom trees are bare, with a few withered leaves hanging on the branches swaying in the wind.

It was already past high school dismissal time, but students could still be seen participating in clubs and freely enjoying their youth.

The baseball team was practicing on the field, and the sounds of hitting the ball and shouting as they ran the bases could be heard from a great distance.

The sound of wind instruments practicing could be heard coming from the gymnasium; it was vaguely discernible that they were rehearsing some kind of march.

Eri Aragaki parked her car in a temporary parking space at the school gate, got out of the car, and waited by the gate.

She looked up at the high school, the gray teaching buildings, the familiar school gate, and the bronze plaque with the school's name on the gatepost.

She suddenly felt a little dazed because—in fact, the original owner of this body also studied here.

Because of the original owner's circumstances, Erina was able to attend this high school as well.

Memories of the school began to surface in her mind: the colors of the corridors, the location of the shoe lockers, and the graduation photos she had taken with her classmates under the ginkgo tree in the courtyard.

And at that very moment—

"elder sister!"

Erina's voice came from the school gate, and Eri Aragaki snapped out of her daze and looked over.

Sure enough, she saw Erina waving at her.

Standing next to her was a man who looked like a teacher, appearing to be only around thirty years old, making him a relatively young teacher.

Eri Aragaki smiled, waved, and walked over.

"Hello, I am Eri Aragaki, Erina's older sister."

Eri Aragaki greeted the man who resembled Erina-sensei with a slight bow.

"Hello, I'm your mentor, Makoto Kobayashi. Just call me Mr. Kobayashi."

Makoto Kobayashi immediately responded, bowing slightly, "Let's go inside and talk about the rest."

Afterwards, Eri Aragaki was brought into the school for a meeting.

The meeting room was a small conference room on the second floor of the teaching building. There were three cups of tea on the table, and the school motto and the list of qualified candidates recommended for admission over the years were posted on the wall.

There's not much to say about the process during this time; Eri Aragaki fully affirmed her support for Erina's admission to Waseda University.

Whether it's spiritual affirmation or financial affirmation, she has demonstrated her determination to send Erina to university.

When Kobayashi asked her what she thought about the financial burden of her younger sister attending Waseda University, Aragaki Eri directly summarized her current income situation.

Being a long-running manga artist for Weekly Shonen Jump is a job that you can be quite proud of.

Not only is it stable, but it also has the potential to become a huge hit with the comic book.

The school had actually had some concerns before this.

Because of what happened to Erina's family a year ago—her parents died in a car accident, her company went bankrupt, and her house was auctioned off—they had heard about these things at school and were somewhat aware of them.

Therefore, there is a concern that if Erina is recommended to take the school's written exam, but she doesn't attend, or if she attends but drops out midway because she can't afford the tuition, then the recommendation spot will be wasted.

However, seeing that Eri Aragaki was supportive and had the financial means to do so, Makoto Kobayashi's expression visibly relaxed after reviewing the income verification documents brought by Eri Aragaki.

They were relieved and confirmed that they would arrange for Erina to take the written exam at Waseda University.

But then there was something else—

"After the spot is officially confirmed, you must choose the faculty and major you wish to attend before then."

Makoto Kobayashi looked at Erina and Eri Aragaki, opened the folder to the page on choosing majors, which listed the names of various faculties and majors at Waseda University, several pages long.

He asked again, "So, do the two of you have the same idea?"

Eri Aragaki's response to this was, of course, —

"Erina, it's your decision."

Eri Aragaki turned to look at Erina, her tone relaxed, "Just choose the major you like, don't worry about anything else, I'll support you whatever you choose."

Erina sat next to Eri Aragaki, her hands on her knees. After hearing her sister's words, she was silent for a moment before looking up at Makoto Kobayashi and saying without hesitation, "I want to study media at the Faculty of Cultural Studies."

"Media?"

Eri Aragaki found it a bit strange, as Erina hadn't usually shown much interest in media, and she thought Erina would choose something like business or literature.

Moreover, Waseda University is most famous for its business studies.

But she quickly stopped thinking about it. This was Erina's favorite major, and as long as Erina liked it, that was all that mattered.

Besides, no matter what, she's still here. Anyway, she'll definitely have no shortage of money in the future, so Erina will always have a bottom line.

Even though it's hard to find a job after graduating with a media studies degree, she always supports her younger sister when she wants to switch careers.

Makoto Kobayashi made a note on the form, and seeing that Eri Aragaki had no objections.

He had no problem with it, and so it was settled.

"Congratulations. Next, according to Waseda University's arrangements, Erina will soon begin the on-campus written test and interview process. If all goes well, she will be able to enroll at Waseda University next year."

He closed the folder, stood up, and shook hands with each of them, saying, "The school will notify you of the specific date for the written test separately. Please prepare in advance."

Then Eri Aragaki and Erina walked out of the meeting room together. It was already dark, and a row of streetlights on campus were lit.

Erina went to the classroom to get her schoolbag, and then followed Eri Aragaki to the parking area at the school gate.

Eri Aragaki then prepared to drive Erina home. She pressed the unlock button on her car key, and the headlights flashed twice.

The two got into the car, and Erina was still quite excited, constantly trying to chat with Eri Aragaki in the car.

The scenery flashed by, and Eri Aragaki gradually became familiar with driving a right-hand drive car. She was no longer as cautious as before, but instead returned to the relaxed feeling of driving that she had in her previous life.

However, right there on the way—

"what?"

A familiar junior high school campus appeared before my eyes.

This is the junior high school that the original owner attended.

It was an old, three-story teaching building. There was a large cherry blossom tree by the playground, and the school name plaque hanging at the school gate was the same one she had used when she was a student.

She slowed down, and suddenly memories flooded her mind again, though they were all vague.

The corridors between classes, the rooftop railings, the scenes of her studying hard in the classroom in the afternoons—

Even for the original owner, the memories were somewhat vague. Eri Aragaki only vaguely remembered some trivial scenes from her junior high school days from her fragmented memories.

I can't quite remember my classmates' faces anymore, and I don't really remember my teachers' names either.

She then suppressed the sudden surge of fragmented memories, took a deep breath, focused on driving, and made it back to Bunkyo Ward safely.

But halfway there ————

Eri Aragaki and Erina saw a familiar figure again.

Akane Natsume walked alone along the shopping street, carrying a white plastic bag from a convenience store. The collar of her coat was turned up to block the wind, and her scarf covered half of her face.

Eri Aragaki recognized her immediately from her walking posture. She turned the steering wheel and slowly drove the car to Natsume Akane's side, rolled down the window, leaned over, and called out with a smile, "Akane, hi."

Natsume Akane was walking down the street when she saw a silver sedan parked next to her, which she found quite strange. She paused for a moment, even becoming a little wary.

He subconsciously pulled his right hand a little closer to his body, and his center of gravity shifted slightly.

But when she saw Eri Aragaki's face peering out of the car window, she immediately smiled, her expression relaxing. She walked to the window and bent down, "Eri, Erina, where have you been—"

Eri Aragaki was somewhat dazed when she saw Akane Natsume, especially when Akane's scarf was blown up by the wind, revealing her smiling face underneath.

She felt a sense of déjà vu.

No! What is she thinking?!

She and Natsume Akane know each other, so why would she seem to have met her before?

She quickly suppressed that strange feeling.

"Yes, we just came back from Erina's school to take care of the college entrance exams."

Then she patted the steering wheel and said with a smile, "Axi, are you going home? Do you want to get in the car and I'll give you a ride?"

Natsume Akane glanced at the car; there were still seats in the back. She nodded, "Great, it's tiring to carry all that stuff I bought."

She put the convenience store bag in the back seat, opened the car door, and got into the passenger seat.

Erina leaned over from the back row to greet her, and the two chatted for a bit about their day at school.

In the days that followed, life returned to normal.

However, it is somewhat special.

-

After all, Erina had to prepare for Waseda University's entrance exams and interviews, so she spent most of her time studying. Her desk was piled high with reference books and past exam questions, and she studied late into the night every day.

Eri Aragaki was much quieter. When Erina was studying, she would turn off the TV and try to keep the studio door closed to avoid making any noise.

He also took on more housework, such as laundry, cooking, and cleaning, so that Erina could concentrate on preparing for her exams.

Erina's help with the manga manuscripts was no longer needed; Eri Aragaki took over the part of coloring and adding screen tones that Erina had previously been in charge of.

Fortunately, Ayane Takeda and Akane Natsume came to help.

In short, everyone shared Erina's work, with the three of them each taking charge of their own tasks around the worktable, which didn't delay the weekly serialization progress.

Sometimes when we paint until late at night, everyone helps with the cooking, and it's not a problem if someone stays overnight; we've gotten used to it.