Yoshikage Kira

"C-can I open my eyes now?"

She received no response. All she could hear was the sound of footsteps gradually fading away.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly. The girl nervously opened her eyes, only to see the boy's departing back.

Both the Evil Spirit and the middle-aged robber had vanished without a trace.

She subconsciously glanced toward the gloomy alley by the roadside. The middle-aged man had just sprung out from there to rob her. Perhaps he had already fled back into the alley.

But if Kira Yoshikage left...

Whoosh!

A gust of chilly wind howled past, making the branches shudder wildly.

"Wait for me!"

A chill ran down Kasumigaoka Utaha's back. Driven by fear, she hurried after Kira Yoshikage. Only when she reached his side did she feel an inexplicable sense of security.

"K-Kira-kun..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha was so nervous that she nearly bit her tongue. In a trembling voice, she said:

"That Evil Spirit just now, you..."

Kira Yoshikage looked puzzled.

"What Evil Spirit? What are you talking about?"

"I... I..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha froze, not knowing what to say. She stammered, "Then what you did just now..."

"I didn't do anything."

"That homeless man was simply too timid. The moment I approached him, he got scared and ran away."

Although Kira Yoshikage's answer was perfectly reasonable, Kasumigaoka Utaha still couldn't help asking:

"Then why did you tell me to close my eyes?"

Kira Yoshikage pondered for two seconds before answering seriously:

"I thought you were done for. I wanted you to close your eyes before you died. At least you wouldn't look so unpleasant in death."

"You..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha covered her chest, feeling a tightness there. She was furious.

After taking a deep breath, Kasumigaoka Utaha said firmly:

"Regardless, I still have to thank you!"

She definitely hadn't seen it wrong!

She hadn't even had any alcohol, so it couldn't possibly have been a hallucination!

Although she didn't know whether Kira Yoshikage truly couldn't see the Evil Spirit or simply refused to admit it for some reason, the fact that he had saved her was undeniable.

"Oh." Kira Yoshikage's response remained indifferent.

Kasumigaoka Utaha pressed her lips tightly together and silently followed behind Kira Yoshikage. After hesitating for a while, she asked:

"That man seemed to be a member of the Anti-Intellectual Cult. Should we call the police?"

Kira Yoshikage stopped and stared fixedly at Kasumigaoka Utaha's hand.

Should he keep her? A pair of hands this beautiful should be able to last half a month in the refrigerator, right?

Before Kira Yoshikage could respond, Kasumigaoka Utaha shook her head again and muttered softly:

"Actually, forget it. Reporting something like this wouldn't help anyway. Those wage thieves wouldn't take it seriously. They might even make things more troublesome."

The girl raised her head and asked softly:

"Kira-kun doesn't want to be bothered by the police either, right?"

Kira Yoshikage was slightly surprised. She's quite sensible.

As long as they didn't call the police, no one would know that a robbery had taken place here.

This was Japan.

Chapter 34 Yoshikage Kira

Ding-dong~!

Hearing the doorbell, Kira Yoshikage, who had been sitting in front of the computer, removed his headphones and got up to go to the entrance.

Click~!

The door opened, revealing a girl wearing a yellow button-up shirt with light-blue stripes, dark-blue ripped denim shorts, and a black baseball cap.

Kitagawa Marin tilted her head and waved at Kira Yoshikage with a brilliant smile.

"Good morning, Kira-kun~!"

"Good morning, Kitagawa-san."

Kitagawa Marin looked around the room and muttered softly:

"It's just as clean as before. There aren't even any takeout boxes. Kira-kun, do you normally never order takeout?"

Kira Yoshikage stepped aside to let her in and replied:

"It's too expensive. I can't afford it."

Takeout in Japan was expensive. Extremely expensive!

For example, a regular bowl of udon only cost 800 yen when eaten at the restaurant, but as takeout, the price was at least twice as high!

For other students with pocket money, that amount might not mean much. But to Kira Yoshikage, spending an extra 800 yen on every meal was an unbearable burden!

"So realistic~"

Kitagawa Marin stuck out her tongue and bent down to take off her sneakers.

"I'm coming in~"

The girl called out softly as her fair feet, covered in black ankle socks, lightly touched the floor.

Kira Yoshikage closed the door and asked:

"So, what does Kitagawa-san want my help with?"

"Mm~"

Kitagawa Marin's pretty face flushed slightly. She rubbed her legs together bashfully and asked in a small voice:

"Kira-kun, do you know Kuroe Shizuku?"

Kira Yoshikage pondered for two seconds.

"If you mean Kuroe Shizuku from a galgame, then I think I know her."

Most girls would probably have run out the door upon hearing the words "eroge," but Kitagawa Marin's eyes lit up instead. Even her breathing became a little faster.

"Kira-kun plays <The Shameless Miracle Life of the Saint Wet-Wet Girls' Academy Young Lady in the Shame Club 2> too?"

Kira Yoshikage turned his face slightly away, expressionless.

"You don't have to say the whole title."

The game was commonly abbreviated as Wet Girl 2. It was an original galgame that had sold extremely well the previous year and had become immensely popular.

The general plot was that the protagonist, the grandson of the academy's principal, enrolled alone in an all-girls' high school for some reason. Kuroe Shizuku was the heroine of Wet Girl 2, and judging from the name alone, she was clearly the highly improper president of the Shame Club.

Because of the player's choices, the game's protagonist could even become Kuroe Shizuku's plush ball—

Yes, the male protagonist could become the heroine's plush ball.

Of course, it could also be the other way around.

In short, this was an unconventional galgame filled with 18+ content and based around love between plush balls.

Even among the Japanese, it was considered a somewhat perverse work.

"Hey, hey!"

Kitagawa Marin leaned forward excitedly and asked with great interest:

"What trait of Little Shizuku do you like best, Kira-kun?"

"Her plush-ball form? Or her appearance?"

Kira Yoshikage answered seriously:

"If I had to say, her hands are truly wonderful!"

Kitagawa Marin blinked.

"Her hands?"

A hint of obsession appeared in Kira Yoshikage's eyes, and his voice softened.

"Little Shizuku's hands are like perfect works of art. They're as breathtaking as the first time I saw Mona Lisa's hands. Even a photograph is enough to fascinate me. They're so beautiful that they make you want to lick them until they break..."

"Huh?"

Kitagawa Marin blinked even more rapidly. She also liked Little Shizuku very much, but the things they liked about her were somewhat different.

Although she knew that boys and girls could have different preferences, she had originally thought Kira Yoshikage's answer would be something like, "Her face is really cute," "Her slime is huge," or "Her figure is great."

An answer like "her hands are like works of art" was completely beyond her expectations.

"So your XP is hands, Kira-kun?"

Kitagawa Marin suddenly understood. No wonder she had always felt that Kira Yoshikage's gaze lingered on different places whenever they met, making him impossible to figure out. But now that she thought about it carefully, Kira-kun's gaze had clearly been following her hands!

No wonder Kira Yoshikage's gaze was usually directed somewhat downward, but not that far down. She had thought he was looking at her legs, but was he actually looking at her hands?

Although his XP was rather niche, Kitagawa Marin unexpectedly didn't find it unpleasant. Instead, she felt delighted to have found someone who shared her interests and eagerly joined the discussion.

"As for me, what I like most is watching Little Shizuku, who always has such a cold expression, reveal all kinds of embarrassed expressions. Combined with her plush-ball trait, it's really exciting! Hey, hey, Kira-kun, don't you think so? Little Shizuku is super cute! Just thinking about it gets me so excited..."

Kitagawa Marin chattered on as she introduced her interests to Kira Yoshikage. Her pretty face was tinged with a faint pink blush, whether from excitement or embarrassment.

Kira Yoshikage waved a hand in front of her face.

"You're getting off topic."

"Ah, sorry."

Kitagawa Marin calmed down, though her cheeks were still faintly flushed. She said excitedly:

"Anyway, I want to cosplay as Little Shizuku!"

"So I'd like to ask Kira-kun to help me make a Little Shizuku outfit. Is that okay?"

Kitagawa Marin clasped her hands together and gazed at the boy before her with hope.

"Little Shizuku..."

Kira Yoshikage felt a strange stirring in his heart and lowered his head to look at the girl before him.

Since she came from a galgame, and her traits were somewhat... questionable, it was actually very difficult to find similar cosplays on the market.

And if Little Shizuku's hands from the game could appear in reality...

Honestly, Kitagawa Marin had an excellent figure, so cosplaying as Kuroe Shizuku wouldn't be difficult.

The only problem was those hands.

Meeting the girl's expectant gaze, Kira Yoshikage thought for a moment before lightly nodding.

"Sure, but I have two conditions."

"Even a hundred would be fine!" Kitagawa Marin nodded excitedly.

Kira Yoshikage raised one finger.

"First, you have to pay for the materials yourself. I'll also need to charge a 30,000-yen labor fee."