The Strongest Eriri in History

"Sigh, just a few more months and it'll be ten years. I wonder when we'll see Eriri-nee again."

Hearing Kotegawa Yui's words, Sairenji Haruna paused slightly.

"Yeah... It's already been 3,567 days since Eriri and the others left. We knew it would take this long, but still, it feels endless," Haruna said gloomily, her voice brimming with longing for Eriri.

Seeing Haruna seemingly lost in memory, Yui couldn't help but tease her.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to remember the exact number of days so clearly. If Eriri heard that, she'd be so touched."

At that, Haruna rolled her eyes at Yui.

"Says the one who's exactly the same!"

"Hehe, true enough."

Yui flashed a playful smile, then propped her elbows on her now-cleared desk and rested her chin in her palms, drifting into her thoughts.

As the image of that unforgettable beautiful face surfaced in her mind, a look of gratitude appeared on Yui's face.

"Good thing Eriri implanted those energy seeds in us back then. Not only did we gain powers, but our memory also improved a lot. Otherwise, we might not even remember her face clearly anymore."

Haruna, who had also finished tidying her books, didn't say anything, but her expression clearly reflected the same feelings.

Just then, two female classmates walked over, carrying their school bags.

Leading the way was a mature-looking girl with wavy hair, who cheerfully called out to them.

"Haruna, Yui, what were you two talking about?"

The other girl, petite with twin ponytails and glasses, also chimed in with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah! You two looked like you were deep in memory mode. We got curious~"

"Nothing really, we were just talking about an older sister we know," Haruna replied casually, quickly changing the subject. "By the way, Risa, Mio—did you come over to talk to us about something?"

Yui also looked curiously at the two in front of them.

Though the two girls were clearly curious about the "big sister" they mentioned, they wisely didn't press the issue.

After all, it wasn't the first time they'd heard Haruna and Yui bring her up, but previous attempts at prying had gone nowhere. Eventually, they stopped asking.

Now, upon hearing Haruna's question, the two quickly stated their purpose.

"Haruna, Yui—tomorrow's the weekend. Want to go shopping together?"

The mature-looking girl, Risa Momioka, asked the question brightly and without hesitation.

"Uh..."

Haruna and Yui exchanged glances, both wearing hesitant expressions.

As the day of Eriri's return drew nearer, they had become increasingly reluctant to leave the villa for even a moment outside of school hours.

Even Haruna had cut her tennis club visits down from daily to just once or twice a week.

But seeing the expectant looks on their close friends' faces, they found it hard to say no.

Noticing their hesitation, the twin-tailed girl, Mio Sawada, quickly added her own persuasion.

"Come on, let's go! I saw on TV there's a new dessert shop in the shopping district. We can go check it out together tomorrow!"

Seeing Mio Sawada's eager expression, Haruna and Yui exchanged another glance.

"Oh well, it's just half a day. We can treat it like an extra school day."

Haruna turned to Risa Momioka and Mio Sawada. "Alright, let's go shopping together tomorrow."

Yui nodded in agreement. "I'm fine with it too."

"Great!"

Risa clenched her fists in a victory pose, her face beaming with happiness.

"Then let's meet at the entrance of the shopping district at 10 a.m. tomorrow. We can talk about the details in the LINE group chat later tonight."

"Got it," Haruna and Yui responded with light smiles.

"Mhm! It's a plan then," Risa said cheerfully. "We won't interrupt your chat anymore. See you tomorrow!"

Mio waved at them. "See you tomorrow, Haruna, Yui~"

Haruna and Yui both raised their right hands and waved back.

"See you tomorrow~"

After exchanging goodbyes, Risa and Mio turned and left the classroom with their schoolbags.

...

At Sainan High's tennis court, Haruna was sparring with a senior from the tennis club, surrounded by fellow club members watching the match.

The two traded shots back and forth, making it hard to determine a winner.

Just as she had told Yui earlier, Haruna didn't use her full power while playing. She kept her physical abilities and skills at a level slightly above an average person.

Even so, she was still considered one of the top players in the club.

Combined with her gentle personality and an even more adorable appearance than in the original story, she had become the most popular member of the tennis club.

It had been nearly thirty minutes since school ended. Yui had already gone home alone, while Haruna planned to stay until 4:30 before heading back herself. There was still about half an hour to go.

A minute or so later, amid cheers from the surrounding club members, Haruna narrowly won the match against her senior.

After yielding the court to other members, the senior walked over to Haruna with two bottles of water.

Seeing that Haruna didn't even look slightly out of breath after their match, the upperclassman wore an impressed expression.

"Haruna, your tennis skills just keep getting better."

As she spoke, she handed Haruna one of the water bottles.

"Thank you."

Haruna accepted it without hesitation. After all, the water was provided by the club, not purchased personally.

"Your skills are impressive too, senpai. I just got lucky."

"You're too modest. Apart from the club president and a few third-years, you're definitely one of the best."

The upperclassman laughed casually, clearly not buying Haruna's humble words.

After all, she had given it her all during the match, while Haruna clearly still had energy to spare.

Still, she didn't dwell on it and, after chatting with Haruna a bit more, went off to find other club members.

A few first-year members soon approached Haruna, hoping to chat, but before they could speak, a phone rang.

Haruna bent down to retrieve her phone from her bag. Upon seeing the caller ID, she gave the girls in front of her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I need to take this call."

"No worries, go ahead."

The girls quickly waved their hands and tactfully left Haruna's side.

The moment they turned away, Haruna answered the call.

As soon as the line connected, an urgent voice came through the receiver.

"Haruna! Get home quick—Eriri-nee and Neme-chan are back!!!"

Haruna froze. A wave of uncontrollable excitement surged through her.

"Yui, are you serious? Eriri-nee's really back?"

"Of course! I gotta go tell Akiho next!"

With the sound of the call ending, Haruna could feel her heart pounding faster than ever.

Without hesitation, she grabbed her bag, skipped informing the tennis club president, and rushed off to a secluded place—then flew home as fast as she could.

...

At a publishing company in Sainan Town, Sairenji Akiho, now twenty-two years old and recently graduated from college, was working diligently as an editor for a fashion magazine.

She had grown into a stunning woman, with an elegant figure and a face bearing 80% resemblance to Haruna—like a mature version of her sister.

Over the past decade, from junior high to university, countless boys had confessed their feelings to her, only to be decisively rejected every time. She always claimed she already had someone she liked.

No one had ever seen her get close to any guy, so most assumed that was just an excuse.

A few speculated she liked girls instead, but that idea was widely dismissed. After all, they'd never seen her act intimately with any girl either.

But in reality, she did have someone she liked—and that person was, in fact, a girl.

The one she had been waiting for nearly ten years: Eriri.

Unlike Haruna and Yui, who were still too young to understand love back then, Akiho had already been twelve and aware of her own feelings.

The time they spent together had left her with a deep affection for Eriri, though she hadn't expressed it at the time.

After nearly a decade, that feeling had only grown stronger.

She had made up her mind: the next time she saw Eriri, she would confess all the emotions she had preserved for ten years.

"Whew, the next issue's content is finally done," Akiho said as she looked over the completed draft on her screen, nodding in satisfaction.

Originally just a rookie editor assigned minor tasks, Akiho's exceptional planning and execution had swiftly earned her a full-time position.

"Still two hours until I get off... Guess I'll slack off a bit."

She was just about to scroll through Twitter when her phone buzzed on her desk.

"Huh? Yui's calling me at this hour?"

Her expression turned puzzled as she glanced at the caller ID.

But the moment she picked up, she shot up from her seat.

Her sudden movement and the sound it caused immediately drew attention from the other editors, who all looked her way curiously.

"Sairenji, what's with the excitement? Did you win the lottery or something?"

The editor at the next desk, an experienced employee who had mentored Akiho when she first joined, teased her playfully.

She had never seen Akiho look so thrilled before, which made her extremely curious.

"Hehe, winning the lottery would be great, but this makes me a thousand times happier than that!"

"Oh? Now I've got to hear what it is."

Akiho's words immediately piqued the interest of everyone in the room.

To them, even a single lottery win would be a life-high. What could possibly top that?

"I'll tell you—the person I love most in this world has finally come back!" Akiho announced with a bright grin. "Anyway, no time to explain—I've gotta hurry home to see her. I'm leaving early today, so someone please tell the chief editor for me!"

With that, she grabbed her bag and rushed out of the office, leaving the rest of the staff staring after her in stunned silence.

...

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