Multi-Anime, Kira Yoshikage Desires a Peaceful Life

Even setting aside the expensive tuition, just the monthly living expenses alone were a considerable expenditure.

Hiratsuka Shizuka looked back at Kira Yoshikage: "So? Want to think it over?"

Kira Yoshikage spoke slowly: "The conditions are tempting..."

"So you're agreeing?" Hiratsuka Shizuka's brow relaxed, only to hear Kira Yoshikage's next line: "But I refuse!"

Slap!

Hiratsuka Shizuka nearly popped a vein in her forehead. She slammed the table and stood up, raising her voice in irritation: "Don't be so stubborn, you brat!"

Facing the furious female teacher, Kira Yoshikage's tone remained calm: "If you're planning to use your own money to subsidize my part-time work, DUCK don't bother. I'll find a job myself."

Tokyo's minimum hourly wage was 907 yen; double that was 1,814 yen. Based on eight hours a day and 21.75 working days per month, that came to 315,636 yen a month. What did that salary mean? In Japan, a fresh university graduate's monthly salary was only 200,000 yen. And veteran employees with nearly a decade of experience averaged only about 380,000 yen a month, with an hourly wage of 2,261 yen. That was the average—some didn't even reach that level! For an ordinary student to find a job paying double the minimum wage? That could only be described in two words—you're dreaming of your mother's dream.

Take Tokyo for example. The highest-paying part-time job was cram school instructor, but even that was only 1,361 yen an hour. Compared to double the minimum wage, there was still a considerable gap.

Hiratsuka Shizuka sat back down, propping her forehead with one hand, her tone somewhat helpless: "You little brat, don't you know what it means to play dumb?"

Helpless as she was, Hiratsuka Shizuka still pulled a sheet of paper from the documents on the desk and handed it to Kira Yoshikage—it was the consent form she'd already written out. She let out a silent sigh. What else could she do if he didn't agree? Was she really supposed to watch Kira Yoshikage starve to death?

Kira Yoshikage took the 'consent form' with some surprise, his gaze utterly sincere: "Thank you." Though the only thing about this teacher that attracted him was her hands, her personality was genuinely suited to being a wife.

Chapter 11: Small Ones Are Also Cute

"Don't thank me so fast!" Hiratsuka Shizuka didn't let go of the hand holding the 'consent form' just yet. "No matter how short on money you are, you can't exceed forty hours a week! In exchange, I'll help you apply for subsidies." She paused, then warned sternly, "If you don't agree, don't even think about taking this consent form from me!"

"Fine." Kira Yoshikage weighed it for two seconds, then nodded silently. "I think Teacher Hiratsuka will definitely become an excellent wife someday."

Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had been all serious a moment ago, flushed bright red at this 'almost' confession. She feigned anger: "What nonsense are you spouting? I'm your teacher!"

"I'm serious." Kira Yoshikage's face was earnest, his expression not feigned.

Kira Yoshikage's gaze flicked to the female teacher's clenched fist, a trace of obsession flashing in his eyes. Just like Shimazaki Yuna, Teacher Hiratsuka had a pair of jade-like hands that were works of art. What was even rarer was that these hands carried a hint of mature charm that a young girl would never possess. Though he didn't smoke, smelling the faint scent of tobacco smoke mixed with the fragrance from her fingertips was still a kind of enjoyment.

Hiratsuka Shizuka caught the obsession in Kira Yoshikage's eyes, her face flushing even redder. She took it as a student's teasing, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists: "Kira Yoshikage, get out of here!"

"Fine." Kira Yoshikage nodded calmly, turned, and left the office, as if the situation wasn't of his making at all. He left behind the blushing female teacher, who alternated between shyness, anger, and worry, lost in who knows what fantasies.

"Kira-kun!"

At the school gate, Kira Yoshikage heard a girl's delighted voice calling from afar.

At the sound, he looked over—a girl in a white dress with glasses stood not far away, waving at him.

Kira Yoshikage asked, puzzled:

"Have you been waiting here for me all this time?"

"It wasn't that long."

Shimazaki Yuna replied, but seeing Kira Yoshikage's expression, she still asked cautiously:

"Kira-kun, are you heading to a club activity?"

Kira Yoshikage looked at the girl's tiptoeing demeanor, then at her carefully tended hands, and softened his tone slightly:

"I'm not in any club. I was just called in by a teacher for a talk."

"A talk?" Shimazaki Yuna grew a little tense, thinking last night's incident had been discovered.

"It was about my part-time job." To keep Shimazaki Yuna from getting too nervous, Kira Yoshikage explained briefly.

Shimazaki Yuna let out a sigh of relief and took small steps to keep up with Kira Yoshikage:

"Ah, about that—I've already read all of Kira-kun's novels. I've got some ideas for the character designs for IS and the main heroines..."

The girl's cheeks flushed slightly, and her voice grew excited as she told Kira Yoshikage about her design concepts. It had been a long time since she'd talked so freely with anyone about drawing.

Kira Yoshikage cut her off:

"About that, I think there's a problem."

"Huh?"

Shimazaki Yuna suddenly flustered, her small hands fidgeting nervously in front of her chest as she hurriedly explained:

"Is there something wrong with my approach? I—I can change it..."

Kira Yoshikage shook his head:

"It's not your problem. It's about the awards."

"The awards?"

Shimazaki Yuna looked confused.

Kira Yoshikage's tone grew heavy:

"Even though IS's quality is mediocre, I can't rule out some editor being blind enough to give IS the Gold Prize or even the Grand Prize!"

"Mediocre..."

Shimazaki Yuna hesitated, unsure whether to share her own opinion with Kira Yoshikage. Because she honestly thought his work was outstanding—worthy of even a major award. But hearing that word 'blind' made her swallow what she wanted to say.

Shimazaki Yuna kept her thoughts to herself and asked quietly:

"What does Kira-kun think?"

"We have to make sure the Grand Prize and Gold Prize slots are taken by other works."

"But that's not something Kira-kun can decide, is it? Even though there are a lot of light novel submissions, the quality is mixed. For example, three years ago at the Dengeki Novel Award, the Grand Prize slot was even left vacant..."

Three years ago at the Dengeki Novel Award, because the judges felt no work was worthy of the Grand Prize, the result was two works tying for Gold Prize and two for Silver Prize, while the Grand Prize remained empty.

Kira Yoshikage thought for two seconds, then asked:

"So that means we need to ensure at least three works solidly take the Grand Prize and Gold Prize, right?"

"That's right."

Shimazaki Yuna nodded slightly, her voice gentle as she explained:

"But that's only in theory. I'm not a professional editor, but Kira-kun's work is quite excellent. It's unlikely to win the Grand Prize at Dengeki Bunko, but that's due to Dengeki Bunko's environment, not the work itself. So I think IS still has a good chance at the Gold Prize."

"It doesn't matter."

"Huh?"

Shimazaki Yuna hesitated, then asked uncertainly: "Has Kira-kun thought of a way?"

"It's simple. As long as we ensure three works surpass IS in quality, IS can at most get the Silver Prize."

"But how can we do that?"

Shimazaki Yuna's eyes were full of confusion. She still didn't understand why Kira Yoshikage was so confident—though his confidence was directed in a strange place. Not confident that his own work would win the Grand Prize, but confident that other works could be better than his.

Hmm, was that kind of confidence also a form of insecurity?

No, that wasn't right either.

Stubbornly believing he couldn't win was, at its core, a kind of insecurity, wasn't it?

So was that insecurity a form of confidence?

"Shimazaki."

"Ah, yes!"

Without realizing it, Shimazaki Yuna had followed Kira Yoshikage into the subway station and boarded the train home. In a daze, she heard Kira Yoshikage call her name and immediately stiffened in tension.

Kira Yoshikage looked at the girl's somewhat distracted expression and said calmly:

"You should go home now, or your family will start worrying."

Though Kira Yoshikage himself didn't mind Shimazaki Yuna continuing to stay at his place, and he quite enjoyed the service those small hands provided to the House of Commons.

But Shimazaki Yuna's family might not see it that way—she was just on bad terms with her mother, not actually motherless.

If she didn't go back, her mother would definitely call the police.

By then, the cops would likely follow the trail to his home, and soon after, all kinds of unscrupulous media would plaster the front pages with headlines:

'Shock: Delinquent Imprisons Underage Girl!'

'Underage Girl Imprisoned and Assaulted for Months, Suspect Arrested by Police.'

That wasn't what Kira Yoshikage wanted to see.

Kira Yoshikage pulled his gaze away from Shimazaki Setsuna's small hands resting on her skirt hem—a man had to learn restraint.

Shimazaki Yuna's eyes dimmed as she lowered her head, her tone tinged with disappointment:

"I... I understand."

Kira Yoshikage glanced at the upcoming stop indicator and said without turning back:

"Contact me on LINE if anything comes up."

Even if he couldn't let Shimazaki Yuna live at his place, he could still have those hands serve him occasionally—that was what you called mutual benefit.

"Mm-hmm!"

Light returned to Shimazaki Yuna's eyes in an instant. She jerked her head up and nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Chapter 12: The Joestar Family: Listen to Me, Thank You

Ding-dong~!

The train doors slid open slowly, and Shimazaki Yuna stepped off as well.

Partly because she wanted to spend a little more time with Kira Yoshikage, and partly because her 'home' was actually nearby.