What's Wrong With Interfering With My Childhood Friend's Love? - Chapter 31 : Riku’s True Identity And Connection

Chapter 31 : Riku’s True Identity And Connection

“Yes, I understand.”

“Oh, sorry. I might have spoken too harshly.”

“No, it’s fine. Here you go.”

Miumi returned it to me without looking inside, just as I asked. I raised my voice in a panic, so I worried that I might have startled her.

After taking the album from her, I slid it into a nearby bookshelf and sat down in my desk chair. I gestured for Miumi to sit on the sofa and handed her a drink.

Miumi must have been tired as well. She needs some time to relax.

“Um… since the cleaning is done… may I ask you a few questions?”

“Of course. Ask anything you want, as long as I can answer.”

“I’m curious about your job, Riku-kun.”

I figured she’d want to know. I was actually a little surprised she hadn’t asked before we started cleaning, but I’m glad she brought it up now. Of course, I appreciate that she prioritized tidying up first.

“Well, since I own something this big, I won’t hide it—I work as an illustrator.”

“An illustrator…?”

“I work as a freelance illustrator under the name ‘Charo.’ Have you heard of it?”

“Sorry. It sounds familiar, but…”

“It’s fine if you don’t know.”

“Maybe I’m just experiencing déjà vu because of Charo-chan. Is that where the name comes from?”

“Yeah. It’s pronounced the same, and when I was deciding on a name, Charo kept punching me over and over. That’s the only reason—it’s pretty dumb.”

It was a silly reason to choose a pen name, but I ended up liking it quite a bit.

“I see. Now I understand your job. Actually, there’s something else I’ve been curious about.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“…This is a hair tie, right? Do you use it, Riku-kun?”

Miumi pointed at my hair tie.

Her expression looked somewhat complicated. Maybe she found it odd for a guy to use one.

“Well, yeah. My hair gets in the way sometimes, so I always put it on when I’m drawing. It’s just a habit.”

“I see.”

“To be precise, it’s kind of like a switch that turns me into ‘Charo’ the illustrator.”

“You mentioned before that you have childhood friends who know you live alone, so I thought it might belong to Suisei-san or Chiya-san.”

She sighed in relief.

Was she worried about the possibility of Suisei or Chiyo coming over? But they wouldn’t come unless I invited them. I already had everything under control.

She had figured out that they were my childhood friends from our previous interactions, but I was surprised she remembered so well.

“That wouldn’t happen. At our age, it’s risky to let someone of the opposite sex into your home.”

“…I’m also of the opposite sex, you know?”

“You’re my cousin, Miumi. Given the situation, this is different.”

“Fufu… Of course, I was just joking.”

“I can’t tell that!!”

“You made a joke earlier about going through my room, so this is payback. But the hair tie had such a cute design that I misunderstood.”

Hearing that, I had no choice but to shut my mouth.

To me, as long as it worked, that was all that mattered—but maybe it was too cute.

“What’s the big deal? Wait… do you want it?”

“No. I already have a hair tie… though I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to use it.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The only hair tie I own is very important to me. If I used it carelessly and lost it, that would be terrible.”

“Well… as long as you don’t wear it outside, you should be fine.”

“It’s a precious keepsake.”

“Wait, I’m not saying you should use it just because I do.”

I was trying so hard to steer the conversation away from my hair tie that it almost sounded like I was pressuring Miumi to change her hairstyle.

When I corrected myself to avoid any misunderstanding, she briefly made a sulky expression.

“Mmm… I can’t afford to damage it. It has a gemstone embedded in it.”

“A gemstone…? Wait, is it lapis lazuli?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“The Kouda family—your mother’s side—has a tradition of giving lapis lazuli to the eldest daughter, right?”

I had heard about it from my mom. It was an unusual tradition, but I had seen the real thing before.

Well… I had also been tricked with a fake before I got to see the real one.

“I never received one, but my mom has a hair ornament with lapis lazuli in it.”

“I see… I actually didn’t know anything about that tradition. This is my first time learning its meaning.”

“Oh? Really? Ah, right… your parents are always busy overseas.”

Since my dad is always busy too, I kind of understood how she felt. Because of that, I never even learned what he does for work.

I didn’t even know I had a cousin until I met Miumi.

“…Yes. In any case, it’s very important to me. Right now, I’m keeping it safely stored in a white box.”

So the white box in her room held the Koda family’s lapis lazuli.

I’d like to see her wear it someday—it would probably go well with her forget-me-not colored hair.

“I see. Don’t worry, I won’t take it without permission. I’ll make sure to tell Charo too.”

“I don’t doubt you, but it might be good to let Charo-chan know.”

Charo is usually well-behaved, but you never know what could happen.

“And… if it’s not too much to ask, I’d like to see some of your illustrations. Would that be okay?”

“Oh, yeah. You can just search online, so it’s not a problem. I can’t show you the unpublished ones, though…”

Most of my illustrations were available on ‘Charo’s’ website, but I had a private page where I kept nearly all of them except for a few reserved for my personal collection.

Miumi carefully looked through each one.

It’s been five years since I started drawing illustrations.

If it were just the shock of getting my heart broken by Suisei over and over, I wouldn’t have fallen into an unhealthy lifestyle.

But at some point, I couldn’t eat properly, I wasn’t getting enough sleep, and I became completely absorbed in drawing.

To distract myself from the pain, I kept drawing and let it take over my daily life.

At first, I mainly drew ponytailed girls because they reminded me of Suisei. But Chiya, who looked a lot like Suisei, mistakenly thought I had drawn her. That embarrassed me so much that I started drawing other things as well.

Before I knew it, I had gained a huge following, and requests started pouring in.

In today’s world, for a freelance illustrator to survive, technical skill alone isn’t enough—you need influence.

Illustrators’ posts are easily restricted. Things like high skin exposure and excessive hashtag use are often flagged by AI.

You have to be careful to avoid restrictions, and to attract attention, quality alone isn’t enough—you need something extra.

For example, adding a caption to an illustration or creating a story around it.

Original characters can also help gain traction.

In the online world, creators don’t just wait for demand—they create it themselves.

In my case, I didn’t set out to analyze market trends or anything.

I was just desperate to cling to something, so I kept drawing.

By chance, my work got noticed, and before I knew it, I had become a well-known illustrator.

“Oh, I’ve seen this character before…! Ah, this is the one Niko-chan uses as her SNS icon! That’s why ‘Charo’ sounded familiar!”

Hearing Kozuka-san’s name, I nearly choked.

“Cough…! Oh, really? That’s Rinrin, a virtual streamer. Maybe Kozuka-san is just one of her fans.”

Miumi was reacting to an illustration I drew for Rinrin’s first anniversary.

Kozuka-san wasn’t just a fan—she was Rinrin herself. But her lack of caution worried me.

She’s the type to accidentally log into the wrong account and start a scandal…

“Are you a fan of hers too? Is this fan art?”

“Ah, no, not exactly. I mean, I am a fan, but—”

“Hmm?”

“Well… It’s my job, so this might sound a bit arrogant, but… I created that character. I designed her.”

“…Oh, I see. So that’s what you meant. That’s… really amazing.”

“…Y-yeah.”

Yes—Rinrin means a lot to me because I was the one who designed her.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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TL : zenon_xt