In Pursuit of Happiness, Starting from Sakurasou

Chapter 225: Go die, pervert!!

Eriri glanced at Nozomi, then at his... clearly standing problem, and the rest of her sentence choked in her throat.

"T-That’s why I told you to behave yourself!" She instinctively took two steps back, arms crossing over her chest as her voice turned stern and accusatory. "If you don’t behave, I-I’ll pull it out myself!"

Nozomi shivered, not from fear—but from something far worse.

"Yikes, Sawamura-san... are you really that cruel?" he whined, exaggerating a wounded expression.

Then, with a teasing lilt, he added, "But I mean... it’s kind of your fault, y’know? You have any idea how cute you are? It’s a crime against humanity."

"I-I don’t care if you say that! I won’t feel happy, you pervert!" she shouted, cheeks burning. "Now get off my bed!"

Nozomi let out a dramatic sigh, as if the weight of all teenage suffering rested on his shoulders. He hunched over and began a sluggish retreat toward the door, muttering like a man unjustly exiled.

He stepped out into the hallway.

Headed for the bathroom.

Eriri blinked, then called after him with a scowl, "W-Where do you think you’re going?!"

"To the bathroom. Obviously. Gotta solve the problem somehow."

Her face exploded into a shade of red even strawberry mochi couldn’t compete with.

"DON’T USE ME AS FANTASY FUEL, YOU DEGENERATE!!"

Nozomi rolled his eyes with the serenity of a monk walking through a battlefield.

"Geez, how is it my fault? Who was the one parading around in just a towel like a temptress from a dating sim?"

Eriri flinched.

Guilt snuck in. She opened her mouth to argue—then clamped it shut.

Nozomi vanished into the bathroom.

Her eyes lingered on the hallway where he disappeared, that awkward gesture of his earlier replaying in her mind like a cursed scene from a forbidden doujin.

She shook her head violently, trying to expel the invading thoughts.

But her brain had already gone rogue.

A while later, there was a knock on her door.

Eriri opened it just a crack, peeking through with one eye filled with suspicion and exasperation.

"What now?"

Nozomi stood there with the posture of a wronged saint.

"I’m coming back in. Your mom was the one who invited me, remember? If I suddenly vanish, won’t she assume we had a lover’s quarrel or something?"

Eriri hesitated. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. Her mom would jump to the most dramatic conclusion possible.

"Fine," she muttered. "But if you so much as twitch weirdly, I’m kicking you in the shin. And I won’t miss."

"Relax. I won’t. After all, I’ve got a girlfriend, remember?"

The words slipped out casually, but the effect was instantaneous.

Eriri froze.

Girlfriend?

...He had a girlfriend?

She let him back in, forcing her expression into something resembling calm as she tried to shove away the sinking weight in her stomach.

Nozomi walked straight to her bookshelf.

"These yours? Light novels and doujin collections?"

"Y-Yeah," she replied, suddenly shy. "They’re rare first prints. Took me years to collect them. Some are from overseas conventions too."

He started flipping through a few titles, his eyes genuinely scanning the covers and spines with interest.

Eriri watched him.

Nozomi, standing casually in her room, surrounded by her sacred nerd stash.

It was surreal. Embarrassing. And weirdly... intimate.

Her mind, as always, betrayed her.

The memory of that moment from earlier returned. The awkward fall. The warmth. The... presence.

She swallowed hard.

This guy... he’s dangerous.

Not in the bad-boy way. No, worse.

He was like those lewd manga protagonists with sheepish smiles and natural charm, the kind who accidentally build harems without realizing.

Her thoughts spiraled. What kind of girl was his girlfriend? Was she sweet? Bold? Did they already—

"Stop!" she whispered to herself.

But the steam building in her head said otherwise.

Her cheeks were blazing. Her thoughts a mess.

Eriri clenched her fists.

Why was it suddenly so hot in here?!