"Thanks to everyone's cooperation, this offline tea party has been a complete success!"
Saori Bajeena said in a rather formal, social tone: "The time and location for the next event will be announced separately in the community group. In addition to the gift exchange, there will also be new activities. Now, everyone is free to form groups for after-parties or even third-parties~ That's all, dismissed!"
So, the community members who had just been hitting it off left in twos and threes, leaving only a few people at the originally lively table.
Gokou Ruri looked at the game packaging in her hand, her expression displeased.
The girl didn't hate playing games; in fact, she liked them quite a bit. However, there are differences between games—at least regarding the "Saint ♡ Slippery's Academy for Girls" that ended up in her hands during the gift exchange, she couldn't bring herself to like it at all.
Rather, in this kind of gathering between strangers, who would actually give this thing away as a gift?
"Don't look down on it just because the plot branches aren't many; every route is very touching, and the character development is among the top three in the series! Plus, this is the Collector's Edition. Although it's not as rare as the First Press Limited Edition, it includes new character story DLC and easter eggs from the previous work. It's really interesting!" Kitagawa Marin explained excitedly.
Great, the case is solved.
"Returning this to you."
Gokou Ruri expressionlessly stuffed the game box—the cover of which was already quite unsightly—back into Kitagawa Marin's arms.
"Eh? Kuroneko-chan, you don't want it?"
The blonde gyaru was devastated, her entire being turning a defeated shade of greyish-white.
"This won't do, Kuroneko-shi. The rule of the gift exchange is that you cannot give the gift to someone else; you must accept it whether it suits your taste or not. Otherwise, wouldn't the game lose its meaning?"
Saori hurriedly intervened to stop them.
"Then I'll trade with you." Gokou Ruri handed the box to Saori: "There's no way I can carry something like this outside, right?"
Asakura originally thought Saori would also be resistant, but the girl accepted it very happily.
"Oh my, I wanted to exchange gifts with Kuroneko-shi earlier, but I just couldn't seem to draw her. Now I'm satisfied." Dressed in her otaku attire, Saori happily accepted that "hero among eroge" and gave Gokou Ruri the Pokémon collaboration fountain pen she had drawn instead: "With this, we are friends! Please look after me, Kuroneko-shi."
"My friendship isn't that cheap..." Gokou Ruri said, holding the fountain pen and locking eyes with the Slowpoke on the pen cap. Likely having rarely received such a direct declaration of friendship, her fair little face flushed a faint peach-red from shyness, making the beauty mark under her eye look even more charming. She snapped back to her senses, tucked the pen into her pocket, and said haughtily: "Besides, didn't you say that UMR fellow wasn't coming at all...?"
"Speaking of which, UMR-shi just sent a message... Um, let me see..."
Saori pulled out her phone and checked the info: "'Air conditioner, seal, fighting hard, failed, now.' Occasionally, UMR-shi sends some rather nonsensical things."
"No, no matter how you look at it, that's just a declaration of surrender from that UMR guy because it's too hot and he doesn't want to leave his air-conditioned room, right?" Asakura scoffed.
"I see! As expected of Kuroneko-shi's follower, Takuma-shi was able to decipher 'UMR-speak' so easily!" Saori realized.
"It's butler..." Asakura corrected.
"Just how dedicated are you to that setting...?" Kirino-chan complained from the side.
"By the way, Kirino-chan is also very pretty. Do you want to come play cosplay with me?" Kitagawa Marin was revived.
"No, that's stupid." Kirino-chan refused without hesitation, and as she said it, she specifically shot a glance at Gokou Ruri.
Even without looking at Gokou Ruri's expression, Asakura could feel the blood pressure of the girl standing beside him rising instantly.
Before Asakura could remind her again that the other party was just a normal person and there was no need to get angry with her—of course, if it was just a 'coincidence' like the other party tripping over a stray cat on their way back, he could pretend not to know—Gokou Ruri suddenly revealed a strange smile.
"You and I said earlier that Meruru is a wonderful work describing friendship and bonds, right?"
"So what? If you dare to keep badmouthing Meruru, I can argue with you here all day!" Kirino-chan pointed the long-handled plastic clip (colored like Unit-01) in her hand at Gokou Ruri, making it clatter.
That was the gift she had drawn in the exchange, and she had been mocked by Gokou Ruri for it for a while. Of course, after Gokou Ruri drew the gift Kitagawa Marin had prepared, she was the one being mocked.
"As punishment for your great disrespect toward me, I shall reveal the truth that will make you feel despair..." Gokou Ruri said loudly.
"What?" Kirino-chan's brows furrowed, seemingly sensing that something was wrong.
"Meruru... it's said that in the planning stages, the original title was Stardust Witch Meruru... but when it was officially launched later, it became Heavenly Punishment Girl Meruru. Do you not feel that something is off?"
"No..." Kirino-chan replied instantly. "I don't follow anime information like an otaku."
"Gu..."
Gokou Ruri's eyes twitched after being "stabbed" again for no reason, but she still tried her best to maintain an elegant smile: "That's because during the planning stage, the director and the person in charge of the script were changed. It's said that almost the entire script was overturned and rewritten, which directly led to the anime's original prefix being modified."
"So what?" Kirino-chan completely failed to understand what she was trying to express.
"In short, putting aside the original director and script, the two who were brought in were Jun Maeda and Gen Urobuchi."
Gokou Ruri said succinctly.
"Are they some very famous people?" Kirino-chan was full of question marks. On the side, Saori let out a small gasp of "Ah?", so Kirino-chan looked toward Saori again. Obviously, compared to Gokou Ruri, she trusted the information from this administrator lady more: "Big one, do you know them?"
"Those two are both quite famous figures in the anime industry..." Saori thought for a moment and explained in a more understandable way: "The former is a baseball enthusiast, and the latter is known as a Warrior of Love."
"What, doesn't that just mean the production of Meruru is all big shots!" So Kirino-chan felt relieved.
"I'll make sure to remember your current composure..." Gokou Ruri said meaningfully.
"Acting all weird..." Kirino-chan was bewildered, looking at her with dissatisfaction.
"More importantly..." Saori quickly changed the subject, "although UMR-shi can't come, we can still have an after-party. Since Kuroneko-shi is interested in urban legends, let's just do this..."
She took out her phone and opened a map app: "Coincidentally, that 'Non-existent Shrine' from the urban legend can be navigated to. Why don't we all go take a look? With so many people, and it being daytime, even if something happens, it shouldn't be too scary~"