Multi-Anime, Kira Yoshikage Yearns for a Peaceful Life

"No problem!"

Kitagawa Marin nodded without the slightest hesitation. Asking someone for help naturally meant paying them—she'd never once considered freeloading.

"Next."

Kira Yoshikage glanced down at the girl's hands:

"Before you cosplay, you'll need to take off those nail tips first."

"Huh?"

Kitagawa Marin hesitated, turning her palms over and instinctively looking at the nail tips stuck to her fingernails.

She'd been wondering why Kira-kun, who clearly loved hands so much, never stared at them for long, and even occasionally wore a somewhat regretful expression.

So, was it because Kira-kun didn't like nail art?

Kitagawa Marin bit her lip:

"No problem! I can take them off right now!"

Seeing her agree, Kira Yoshikage paused for two seconds before speaking:

"There's one more thing, a personal request of mine."

"What?" Kitagawa Marin blinked.

"During the cosplay, could I borrow your hands?"

Kitagawa Marin immediately connected this to Kira Yoshikage's fetish, her small face flushing bright red as she murmured softly:

"Mmm~, if, if it's Kira-kun... then, then it's not impossible..."

"Mmm~"

Seeming to realize her words carried a huge implication, Kitagawa Marin's face burned even redder as she explained:

"Kira-kun, no H-stuff is allowed, okay~!"

Kira Yoshikage's expression remained unchanged—he hadn't expected to do anything lewd in the first place.

Chapter 35: That Said, Though...

"Ano~"

Kitagawa Marin poked her head out from the bathroom, clutching her finger, and asked in a small voice:

"Kira-kun, do you have any band-aids at home?"

"I do."

Kira Yoshikage nodded lightly, taking out a cotton swab, iodine, and a box of band-aids from a storage container in the cabinet.

"Give me your hand."

Kira Yoshikage dipped the cotton swab in iodine and reached out toward the girl.

Kitagawa Marin obediently extended her left hand, her ring finger still wrapped in toilet paper soaked through with blood, stained with red patches.

Layer by layer, he peeled off the toilet paper. On the nail of her ring finger, black base glue remained—the adhesive used to bond the nail tip to the natural nail. A whole ring of skin around the nail had been torn off, and blood was seeping out steadily.

Kira Yoshikage's expression was quite displeased—the kind of anger one feels upon seeing a perfect work of art stained with a blemish, never to be restored.

"Hiss~"

When the iodine-soaked cotton swab touched the wound where the skin had been torn, the sharp, stinging pain made the girl tremble slightly, forcing her to clench her teeth to keep from crying out.

At that moment, Kira Yoshikage had already wiped away some of the blood with a tissue and pressed a freshly torn band-aid tightly over the wound.

Kira Yoshikage tossed the cotton swab into the trash:

"Does it hurt?"

"It hurts." Kitagawa Marin looked at him pitifully.

Kira Yoshikage said flatly:

"Then don't do nail art anymore from now on. Otherwise, it'll only hurt more."

"Mmm~, I understand."

Kitagawa Marin wore a pained expression.

Nail art is heaven when you put it on, hell when you take it off.

Now she truly understood the meaning of that saying firsthand!

The nail tips were indeed beautiful, their quality even sturdier than her own natural nails.

Though they looked a bit dangerous because of their length, they weren't actually that easy to break.

But the joy of putting them on was matched only by the suffering of taking them off.

The leftover base glue after removal left the nail surface rough and peeling, so ugly even she couldn't stand to look at it.

Especially if she accidentally used too much force, it would tear off a chunk of skin along with it—just like what had happened to her...

Kira Yoshikage's gaze turned somewhat dangerous, like an artist watching a beautiful piece of art being ruined before his eyes. But he didn't lose his temper; instead, he asked patiently:

"Why did you choose to wear press-on nails instead of just painting them directly?"

Kitagawa Marin hesitated for a moment:

"Because the people at the nail salon told me that removing nail polish requires filing, which really damages the nails. Press-ons are convenient, not too expensive, and they look pretty too..."

The girl's voice grew quieter, clearly realizing she'd been taken advantage of...

After all, how could a nail salon tell her everything?

And even if she later realized she'd been scammed, getting a refund was impossible.

Kira Yoshikage asked:

"How much did it cost?"

Kitagawa Marin tapped her lips with her index finger, recalling:

"It wasn't that expensive, only 20,000 yen."

What did she mean by "only" 20,000?

If the nails cost 20,000, then the earrings, ear studs, hairstyling, bracelet, necklace, choker, and all that added up—probably over 100,000 yen! Just by doing a quick calculation, Kira Yoshikage's gaze toward Kitagawa Marin shifted slightly—

Who knew you were also a hidden little rich girl!

"Well, well, it's all trivial stuff. Anyway, let's get started first!"

Kitagawa Marin stuck out her tongue, reached up to unbutton her shirt, and in one motion pulled it completely open, revealing her fair skin tinged with a faint pink, along with the slime wrapped in a yellow bra matching her shirt's color.

Then, the girl unbuckled her blue jeans belt, standing before Kira Yoshikage in only her underwear.

Kitagawa Marin's pretty face flushed slightly:

"L-let's begin..."

This was her first time being in just her underwear in front of a boy...

Faced with such temptation, Kira Yoshikage remained expressionless.

With his Precision A+, he could determine the girl's detailed measurements at a glance, but he still cooperatively picked up the measuring tape. After all, this was Kitagawa Marin's own request; he could only passively accept it.

[Head circumference: 53.8 CM, 57.7 CM

Neck circumference: 27.3 CM

Shoulder width: 35 CM

Sleeve length: 52.1 CM

Wrist circumference: 22.9 CM

Bust/Waist/Hip: 86.8/58.7/84.8

...]

"C-can we stop now?"

Kitagawa Marin's voice trembled slightly; her whole body was now as red as if she'd just come out of a sauna.

"Good work."

Kira Yoshikage wrote down the last set of numbers in his notebook.

Kitagawa Marin patted her flushed cheeks and dressed as quickly as she could. But when she inadvertently glanced down at Kira Yoshikage's lower half, she felt a strange sense of defeat.

Kitagawa Marin muttered under her breath:

"What's this, no reaction down there?"

Kitagawa Marin weighed her own heavy assets, walked barefoot over to Kira Yoshikage, and asked curiously:

"Kira-kun, are you drawing Shizuku's clothes?"

Kira Yoshikage explained as he sketched:

"Three-view drawings. If there's a blueprint, it'll be simpler when making it."

Though Kira Yoshikage didn't need them himself, since he'd been paid, he at least had to make the client think he looked professional.

"Ehh~ pretty professional."

Kitagawa Marin praised, growing more eager for Kira Yoshikage's craftsmanship.

Kitagawa Marin asked impatiently:

"Hey hey, Kira-kun, can we go buy the fabric today?"

Kira Yoshikage nodded:

"We can, but there's still one problem."

"Huh?" Kitagawa Marin tilted her head in confusion.

Kira Yoshikage said frankly:

"I don't have a sewing machine."

"No problem!"

Kitagawa Marin looked as if she had expected this, smiling as she said:

"The school has a handicraft club, and there are several sewing machines too! I've visited a few times under the guise of a tour, so I'll try talking to them—maybe we can use them for free."

Kira Yoshikage looked at her with slight surprise. It was clear that Kitagawa Marin had put a lot of effort into making cosplay costumes, even considering where to find free sewing machines. So—

"Then why don't you make it yourself?" Kira Yoshikage asked a fatal question.

Kitagawa Marin's smile froze, and she hesitated:

"Actually, I did try to do it myself, but..."

"But?"

"Nothing!"

Kitagawa Marin blushed and turned her head away, changing the subject:

"Forget that, let's just go buy the fabric!"

She had indeed tried, but the result was... to put it in high-EQ terms, barely passable; in low-EQ terms, not even a dog would wear it.

"No problem, I'll finish drawing first."

Kira Yoshikage withdrew his gaze. He was fine with it.

After all, once the costume was made, he could borrow these hands for a bit.

Not that he was going to do anything strange.

It was perfectly reasonable.