Why wasn't I the one who got the male lead's script?

A life-saving straw for those with social anxiety: someone you are familiar with suddenly appears among a group of strangers.

"Ah, um... Ishigami-san. Good morning."

However, compared to Ishigami's joy, Hoshimi's response seemed less enthusiastic - or rather, it was a little awkward?

"Um, why is Hoshimi-senpai here...ah."

Ishigami looked cautiously at Sayuri Sawamura, but for some reason the latter was rubbing the little blonde girl's face, looking so immersed in it that she didn't notice his question.

“Ah, speaking of which…”

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Ishigami's mind.

The last time I went shopping with Shirogane Miyuki and Hoshimi, Hoshimi disappeared inexplicably, and Ishigami and Shirogane searched for her in the mall for a long time.

At that time, Ishigami asked Shirogane about Hoshimi. Shirogane said with a worried look on his face, "That guy's family situation is not very optimistic. It seems that his parents divorced when he was very young and both of them married people from big families. He is the only one who is stubborn and refuses to change his surname."

"Wait, remarrying, a big family, but not changing your last name..."

Ishigami looked at Hoshimi, who looked a little uneasy, as if she was hiding something but was caught, and then looked at Sayuri, who had a face full of maternal love and a bright smile. A guess emerged in his mind that even he himself found a little unbelievable.

Finally, Ishigami tried not to sound too offensive by choosing his words carefully, and looked at Sayuri cautiously as she asked a tactful question.

"Um, Aunt Sayuri, could it be that..."

He looked at Sayuri with a slightly tentative mood, and the latter blinked her purple eyes in confusion, then smiled and nodded vigorously as if she understood what he meant.

"Yeah! It's my child!!"

"Varied--"

Thinking he had dug up some incredible hidden information on the stone, he staggered back a step or two in fear.

Of course, he ignored the fact that Sayuri had her hand on Eriri's head the entire time.

"Is this... is this why Hoshimi-senpai usually seems so approachable but feels so distant? Is it because of the trauma caused by his family? Did he go home today specifically to see his mother?"

After a rapid brainstorming session, Ishigami, feeling somewhat exhausted, sighed. With a slightly complicated look in his eyes, he patted Hoshimi's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Today, you must enjoy yourself."

"Huh? Oh, thank you...?"

Although the boy Hoshimi looked confused, he still politely said thank you - after all, Ishigami's eyes looked sad for some reason.

But one thing is certain, he has not yet questioned whether Eriri is the child of this family.

"So, who is this child?"

——The last second, Hoshimi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the next second, Ishigami turned his gaze to Eriri, who was being touched on the head by Sayuri.

"Well!"

Eriri made a very unnatural sound, and then she tried to give Sayuri an eye hint - the latter still smiled brightly.

It seems that Eriri still feels that revealing her identity would be dangerous.

"Okay, okay, I won't expose you. Seriously."

Ishigami, who was standing by, looked at Eriri and Sayuri who were whispering with confusion, and finally stopped tilting his head when Sayuri cleared her throat.

"Could it be... this child is——"

"Wait, Ishigami-kun. Why are you suddenly looking at Hoshimi-san in surprise? Do Eriri and I have that much of a father-daughter connection?"

"Haha, no no, of course not."

Xiao Baihe came out to the rescue at the right time. She looked at the portrait of Eriri's father hanging on the wall and joked with a half-smile.

"Whose child could this bright blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes be~"

"—"

Ishigami looked at Eriri's face carefully, and Eriri seemed to be unhappy about being looked at in such a scrutinizing manner, and her eyes were a little unfriendly.

"That blond hair, those malicious blue eyes...ah."

Ishigami Yu's expression was a little complicated because he thought of something.

"Excuse me, do I know this person?"

"Oh, of course. It's like being far away and yet close at hand."

On the wall at the end of Sayuri's sight, the smile of a blond-haired, blue-eyed British gentleman looked bright and handsome.

"……………ah."

After a brainstorming session, Ishigami-kun's expression wavered for some reason and he froze as he thought of something.

“It’s so close, could it be…!”

"Xing, Xingjian, Senior, then you and this child..."

For some reason, his voice sounded a little trembling.

"It's definitely not a father-daughter relationship."

"I know. I mean... this kid, um... why is he with you, Hoshimi-senpai?"

Just when Hoshimi was about to use the phrase "distant cousin" that he had always used to deal with Ishigami, Eriri gave him a vicious look that said, "If you dare to say I'm your distant cousin again, we'll be in trouble." This made him swallow back the words that had just slipped out of his mouth.

"Ah, well... I was just asked to take care of this child."

“——I see…”

For some reason, Ishigami's voice seemed even weaker, like a boss who had received the final blow and instantly became weak.

"I was asked to do that... so I was actually helping a friend keep it a secret..."

"Well... Aunt Sayuri, let's stop here for today. I'm so sorry... Our final exams are coming up soon at Shuchi Academy, and I want to go back and review first..."

"Oh, oh, okay. Take care on your way home, Xiaoyou~ Have a good trip!"

After saying that, Ishigami walked away dejectedly with his head hung low, looking as if he had suffered a great blow from something.

"...That's not a good reaction. Ishigami probably didn't notice it."

Xingjian stared blankly at Ishigami's dejected back as he walked away from the corridor, with a rare hint of worry in his eyes.

Of course, he probably had no idea what was going on in Ishigami's brain, which was overflowing with information.

----

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The imaginations of the students in the student union are beyond the imagination of ordinary people (funny)

Sawamura Eriri's Body Can't Shrink: Chapter 5: How the Misunderstanding Came About (Part 4)

"Okay—the little guest has left. Can you relax now, cute little Eriri-chan?"

Sayuri, who seemed completely unaware of Ishigami's emotional fluctuations, squatted down and scratched her daughter's nose with a smile - the latter pouted with an unhappy look on her face, apparently hating being treated like a child.

"Humph, I didn't take it seriously in the first place. I've never seen that guy before...but Qing seems to be quite familiar with him?"

When Eriri cast a suspicious look at Hoshimi, Sayuri, who heard Eriri calling the boy's name so intimately, raised her eyebrows with interest and focused her attention on Hoshimi.

"Ah, well...that's a friend of mine from Shuchiin."

Hoshimi briefly introduced his relationship with Ishigami. Although Eriri's suspicious eyes revealed a strange expression of "Why do you, Haru, an ordinary student from Toyonosaki, know the son of the president of the toy manufacturer in Shuchiin", she still did not continue to ask questions.

"By the way, Qing... Jun, is it okay for me to call you that?"

Sayuri smiled and picked up Eriri and placed her on the sofa beside her. Then she turned around and asked Hoshimi to sit in the reception room, giving him a gentle smile without any elder's authority.

"Ah, yes. Sayuri... Onee-chan? You can call me whatever you want."

After keenly noticing the slight displeasure on Sayuri's face when Ishigami called her "Auntie", Hoshimi tactfully changed her address to "Sister" when greeting her.

As expected, Sayuri's originally dangerous look turned into a smile that was about to melt after he said the word "sister".

"Ahhhhhh~ What a cute and sensible child! I wish my Eriri could be as sensible as you~"

Sayuri reached out her hand and rubbed the confused boy's head with a smile - Eriri, who witnessed the whole thing, instantly got furious.

"Hello, hey!! Mom, you——"

"What's wrong, Eriri? Are you jealous?"

Having said that, Sayuri gently covered her mouth with her other hand. Although she was already a wife, she still gave her daughter a sly smile that was unique to young girls.

"Whose jealousy are you eating?"

"Woo——"

Xingjian, who was caught in the middle the whole time, wanted to say something, but after observing the interaction between the mother and daughter, he felt that if he acted rashly, he might just add fuel to the fire - so he just let Sayuri rub his head in frustration.

Come to think of it, it's been a long time since someone touched my head so gently.

Xingjian lowered his head, silently feeling this somewhat strange feeling gradually spreading from the bottom of his heart - until Sayuri took her hand away and lowered her body slightly to meet his gaze.

"So, it's been Haru-kun who's been taking care of our Eriri these past few days?"

"Ah, ah... Yeah. Yes."

Xingjian, who was a little distracted, immediately calmed himself down. He also realized that he had lost his composure just now.

"Did you, Qingjun, help buy this cute outfit for the child?"

"Oh, that's not the case. My sister helped me. I had no hand in it at all."

Xingjian waved his hands quickly as if he was afraid that Sayuri would misunderstand that he had bad intentions towards her daughter, but it seemed that he had accidentally provoked a backlash.

"Woo--what a sweet and humble kid!"

Maybe it was because the boy's words were simple and without any arrogance, or maybe it was because the boy's face was more childish and pure compared to his peers, but Sayuri, overflowing with maternal love, showed an envious and jealous expression of "Why isn't such a good child ours?" and hugged Xingjian's head in her arms.

"It's been almost a week now. It must be hard to live with Eriri all the time and have to endure her temper. She's such a simple and kind child—"

"Mom, you—"

"????!"

Even the usually calm and composed Xingjian boy couldn't help but feel his brain freeze and body stiffen for a moment after the sudden use of facial cleanser, and then he felt the temperature of his face rise sharply.

"The blissful touch on my left cheek..."

It's a bit embarrassing to say that he has never experienced the treatment of facial cleanser since he was a child, so it is difficult to describe in words how soft this facial cleanser is.

He is an experienced driver who can't even step on the accelerator when he really gets the hang of it - I'm talking about him.

"Really? Mom, stay away from this guy!"

Eriri, who couldn't bear to watch any longer, quickly crawled over to separate the two. When she saw Sayuri's subtle smile of success and Hoshimi, who had turned into a steam engine for some reason and looked confused, her face turned green with anger.

"And Qing, you bastard! Stay away from my mother too!!"

"Oh my, Eriri is jealous~"

"no!"

"It's okay, it's okay. Mom treats you and Qingjun the same."

"I said no!!"

.........

.........

In short, after Mr. Hoshimi calmed down, Sayuri smiled and said, "I'll leave first. Eriri, if you want to go back to your room, take Haru-kun with you," and then skipped away.

With an unhappy look on her face, Eriri took Hoshimi to her bedroom on the second floor - it seemed that she wanted to get something when she returned home today.

"You actually blushed in front of someone else's mother, Qing, you are really lame!"

"Sorry, sorry...it's really my fault this time."

"But I don't think anyone could handle that situation."

"So, what are you going to do now Eriri?"

Hoshimi tried hard to get rid of the image of the innocent boy he had just turned into in front of Sayuri. He shook his head slightly and looked at the small figure of Eriri who was walking in front of him and leading the way.

"Now that you're home, your mother seems to be completely accepting of it."

The implication is whether it is still necessary to live in Xingjian's house.

"........."