Eriri smiled, not minding at all, since every time she patted Ruri's head she received the same reaction.
Unlike the Saekano world, the Oreimo world was currently at the end of December, with the New Year just a few days away. Eriri thought she might even get the chance to spend New Year's together with Ruri this time.
Ruri had officially entered her winter break a couple of days ago.
For someone who had already reached Level 7, mere changes in temperature posed no threat to Ruri's physical condition.
However, in order not to appear different from others, Ruri still wore normal winter clothing.
That said, her "winter outfit" merely consisted of an extra thin sweater over her clothes—her legs were still bare.
When Eriri and Ruri walked out of the room and into the living room, they immediately caught the attention of Hinata and Tamaki Gokou, who were snuggled under the kotatsu watching TV.
The moment they saw Eriri, both girls' faces lit up with joy.
"Eriri-nee!"
The two sisters scrambled out from the kotatsu and ran over excitedly, calling out Eriri's name.
When they reached her, the younger Tamaki unhesitatingly hugged Eriri's thigh.
Hinata, being a bit older, stood in front of her with a bright and excited expression but refrained from acting overly spoiled.
"Hinata-chan, Tamaki-chan, it's been a while. Did you miss me?" Eriri asked with a gentle laugh, reaching out to pat both girls on their heads.
Unlike Ruri, Hinata and Tamaki showed no resistance to being patted—on the contrary, they wore blissful smiles.
Ruri's reluctance was never genuine anyway. She just found it a bit embarrassing to be patted by someone her age.
"We missed you!" both girls said in unison.
They had already heard from their sister that Eriri had returned recently and had been eagerly anticipating her visit. But they didn't expect her to arrive so soon.
Moreover, when Ruri received Eriri's message earlier, she hadn't informed the younger two, so her arrival came as a pleasant surprise.
The current Gokou residence was completely different from what Eriri remembered.
The spacious living room, luxurious-looking sofas, and elegant interior decor all pointed to a newly renovated home.
Eriri wasn't surprised, though. Ruri had mentioned in the chat group a few months ago that her family had bought a new house.
There were plenty of wealthy individuals in the group. Ruri only needed to get some valuable items from them and sell them in this world to earn large sums of money.
With her strength to cover things up, no one would ever notice anything unusual.
So, the Gokou family had effectively risen out of poverty.
Still, Ruri hadn't gone overboard with her spending. She simply bought a standard detached home.
Everyone in the family—including Hinata, Tamaki, and their parents—knew about the chat group and accepted the changes in their household.
Even now, though the family was no longer struggling financially, the parents hadn't given up their jobs.
Just like today, with the New Year fast approaching, they had already gone out to work early in the morning.
Compared to the hectic jobs they used to have, life was much easier now.
Before coming to this world, Eriri had her suspicions about Sagiri Izumi and Elf Yamada from another series. But after scanning their information, she discovered a few discrepancies compared to what she knew.
First, there was the issue of age. Sagiri and Elf weren't six and eight years old like Eriri had assumed, but ten and twelve.
They were born four years earlier than in the original timeline.
Strangely enough, even though the original Eromanga-sensei hadn't yet married the male protagonist's father in this world, both Sagiri and Elf still bore the surname Izumi.
So, Sagiri was still called Sagiri Izumi, with no other family name.
Over the next few days, Eriri didn't go out sightseeing or try to meet Sagiri. Instead, she stayed cozy under the kotatsu, playing a game of Old Maid with Ruri and Hinata.
Ruri and Hinata sat on either side of Eriri, while the youngest, Tamaki, curled up in Eriri's lap as a spectator.
Old Maid was a well-known card game in everyday worlds, particularly popular among girls.
The rules were simple.
Each player received a hand of cards and took turns drawing one card from the person beside them, either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
Pairs were discarded. The first to discard all cards won the game.
Among all the cards was a single Joker—the Old Maid. Whoever ended up with it at the end lost the game.
While it seemed like a game of pure luck, it also tested one's ability to read opponents' expressions.
Players with poor poker faces tended to reveal delight when someone neared the Joker or show disappointment when the Joker was about to be drawn.
Classic examples of this were Umi Sonoda and Akari Akaza.
If you still lost against such players, it was likely on purpose.
However, Eriri, Ruri, and Hinata were all seasoned veterans in expression control—no such flaws would show.
Still, even if no expression slipped out, inner emotional fluctuations were inevitable during the game. If one could sense those emotions, they could determine whether they were about to draw the Joker.
But for fairness, they had all agreed not to use powers beyond that of ordinary humans. Otherwise, the game wouldn't be fun.
Thus, the trio's Old Maid match continued smoothly. By the time it was past eleven in the morning, they had completed six rounds.
All three had their wins and losses, but overall, Eriri had the best record.
"I'm done. Not playing anymore."
Ruri grumbled and tossed her last card onto the table. It was the Joker—the final round's loser was obvious.
Adding her previous three losses, Ruri had now placed third in four rounds. It was a disastrous streak.
"Ruri-nee is so bad at this," Hinata teased with a grin, further annoying Ruri.
"Hmph, who says I'm bad? I'm great at games, okay? Just bad luck today."
Ruri shot a glare at Hinata.
Not wanting to linger on her loss, she quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, it's getting late. Eriri, you can keep playing with Hinata—I'll go prepare lunch."
Hearing that, Eriri perked up with interest.
Originally, Eriri had planned to pull out some dishes made by Aoi Kujo from her storage space for lunch like she often did in other worlds.
But since Ruri wanted to cook, Eriri readily abandoned her initial plan.
With an eager expression, she looked at Ruri, who had just gotten up from the kotatsu.
"Oh? Now that I think about it, I've never had Ruri-chan's cooking before. I'll definitely savor it today."
Ruri couldn't help but smile at her words.
"Then just wait."
Half an hour passed quickly, and by a little past noon, lunch was ready and served on the dining table.
Ruri's cooking wasn't extravagant—just a few ordinary home-style dishes. But the delicious aroma alone was enough to promise a satisfying taste.
"Eriri, try it," Ruri said casually as she sat across the table, though her eyes were filled with anticipation.
Before Eriri could respond, Tamaki, who had already taken a bite, exclaimed, "Onee-sama's cooking is delicious!"
Her praise made Ruri even more pleased, though she didn't say much—her eyes remained expectantly fixed on Eriri.
Eriri didn't hesitate. She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the fish.
"Mmm... Tamaki-chan was right. This tastes great," Eriri said sincerely after chewing.
This wasn't just flattery. While Ruri's cooking wasn't quite on Aoi Kujo's level, it still far exceeded that of most chefs.
Ruri had always been in charge of cooking at the Gokou household. Over the years, her skills had naturally grown with practice.
And with her supernatural powers, even without pouring herself into culinary research like Aoi Kujo, her cooking had reached an extraordinary level.
Hearing Eriri's praise, Ruri visibly relaxed. The tension in her body melted away, replaced by a bright, joyful smile.
"I'm glad you like it."
...
By the time everyone finished lunch, it was already one in the afternoon.
After cleaning up, Ruri asked Eriri, "Do you have any plans for this afternoon? Or should we just stay in and play more games?"
Having already made up her mind, Eriri answered decisively, "Let's go out for a bit."
"Alright!" Ruri nodded, happily going along with the plan.
Eriri then turned to Hinata and Tamaki.
"Hinata-chan, Tamaki-chan, do you two want to come with us?"
Before Eriri finished speaking, Tamaki had already raised her tiny hand and was about to shout her agreement.
But before she could finish, Hinata quickly covered her mouth, interrupting her mid-sentence.
"We'll pass this time, Eriri-nee, Ruri-nee. Have fun out there," Hinata said with a cheerful smile.
Tamaki began to struggle in protest, but Hinata held firm. Then she leaned in and whispered something in Tamaki's ear.
The effect was immediate—Tamaki stopped struggling at once.
Hinata's bright eyes darted around, clearly observing Eriri and Ruri.
After spending time with Eriri and the others, Hinata's understanding of relationships had gradually evolved.
Initially, she had only recognized romantic feelings between boys and girls. But after witnessing the affection between Eriri and characters like Aletheia, she had come to accept same-gender relationships as well.
Over time, as she saw more examples of such love, her internal balance began to tip. Now, Hinata could confidently be called a firm supporter of yuri.
Though Ruri had never explicitly admitted her feelings for Eriri, Hinata had noticed them long ago.
As someone who lived with her, Hinata had caught Ruri murmuring Eriri's name in her sleep more than once—often accompanied by creepy giggles.
So it was obvious to Hinata that her sister harbored some very unpure feelings toward the noble and beautiful Eriri.
She just hadn't confessed yet, perhaps out of hesitation. After all, Eriri already had many close and affectionate relationships with other beautiful girls. One more wouldn't be strange.
And Hinata believed her sister was just as cute as the rest of them.
So, to help move things along, Hinata decided she would try to give them more chances to be alone together over the next few days.
That's why she had interrupted Tamaki earlier—she wasn't about to let her little sister interrupt her big sister's potential date.
...
Ten or so minutes later, Eriri and Ruri left the Gokou household and headed toward the shopping district.
Despite being in a different world, Ruri's home was in the same location as Yukinoshita's—in Chiba City.
Even more coincidentally, both worlds were synced to the same timeline. It was the end of 2011, just days before the New Year.
A few days ago, Akino and Yukino had returned to the Oregairu world to spend the holidays with their families.
They had invited Eriri to join them, but she had politely declined.
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