This was a nice little story. Admittedly, I don't have quite the same nostalgia for this aesthetic so it didn't hit me in the same way, but the vibes are nice and I liked the relationships and it made me think of my first attempts at creating fiction. It also made me think of the first freeware VNs that I downloaded, first the ones that I thought had pretty art (of course) and then the more random stuff. The unfinished demos that were never completed, the devs who'd make one game before seemingly vanishing forever, the authors who'd release multiple and improve over time. That sort of thing.
It was cozy, thank you for making. Also I find it funny how in a story like this with a younger protagonist, the 22-year old Saori is seen as a cool (if irresponsible) adult authority figure, while in a lot of your other stories with older protagonists she'd be viewed as barely starting her life and having little life experience. I especially thought of this since I read SMR previously which has a much older protagonist. Just goes to show how much a viewpoint character can change how the world is viewed, I suppose, like how you mention in the author's notes.