"No, that would be way too boring."
"Using someone else's name as a topic to kill boredom—your personality is certainly quite interesting, Sakurakoji. How did I not notice that last time? I think someone needs to take the place of your teachers at school and come educate you." Hiratsuka Shizuka smiled as she clenched her fists, her knuckles cracking.
"And there just happens to be an active educator right here. Don't you agree? Hmm?"
"Oh? Teacher Shizuka-cute wants to have a fair samurai duel with me? It's been a long time since I practiced, but I probably won't lose. After all, I've learned all sorts of self-defense techniques from different schools since I was little." Sakurakoji Talent looked intrigued. He did a round of Goku Jump on the spot and eagerly met her gaze.
"..." Hiratsuka Shizuka glared at him with murderous intent. It was as though lightning and sparks kept erupting between them, making Yamada Ryo and Ichiji Nijika, who stood to the side, cling to each other and tremble.
After a long while, she turned her head with a click of her tongue and sat down.
"You really aren't cute at all!"
"Maybe I'm not very cute, but I think Teacher Shizuka-cute's personality and appearance are both very cute." Sakurakoji Talent narrowed his flame-like eyes and replied with a snicker.
"What?!" Hiratsuka Shizuka's expression changed. She spread her hands in a startled gesture and leaned back, looking at him with a hint of fear in her eyes.
"You brat! Don't you know what you can and can't say?! Don't flirt with adults!"
"I'm just speaking my honest thoughts. What's wrong with saying them? Besides, you're only a few years older. That's nothing. I'm not a student, so that won't work on me." He turned around and began making preparations for work, answering casually.
"You..." Hiratsuka Shizuka had no way to deal with how impervious he was. Biting her lip, she choked for words, and her elegant profile gradually took on a peachy blush, whether from embarrassment or agitation, she didn't even know.
In the end, she could only puff out her cheeks and complain to Ichiji Hoshika beside her. "Hey, your sister is one thing, but why is the employee here so cocky too? I want to file a complaint!"
"Give up. I have even less of a way to deal with this guy. In fact, I'm partly relying on him to support me now." Ichiji Hoshika rested her chin on her hand. She wasn't surprised by Hiratsuka Shizuka's defeat in the slightest. Taking a sip of Good Kid Brand Juice, she spoke blandly.
"You really are a useless manager..."
"Shut up!"
Image: "Trash Manager", location: "Images/1756472119-100446961-113785843.jpg"
Noticing that the situation had quickly settled down, Sakurakoji Talent wasn't surprised at all. Their personalities were all rather easygoing. Although Hiratsuka Shizuka could sometimes hold grudges, she was easy to placate most of the time. Otherwise, he wouldn't joke with her like this.
From that perspective, perhaps this was the composure of adulthood.
"By the way, Sakurakoji." After chatting with Ichiji Hoshika for a while, Hiratsuka Shizuka looked curiously at Sakurakoji Talent's busy back. "How old are you, exactly? Are you really not attending school?"
Although she had asked Ichiji Hoshika before, Hoshika didn't seem to know much either. She only knew that he was a child returning from overseas and apparently hadn't enrolled in school yet, though he was outstanding in every skill. His family circumstances and exact address were unknown. All she knew was that his parents were overseas, he had a younger sister whose age was also unknown, and that he had come to Starry to work due to some coincidental opportunity. He had now become the pillar of the place. In short, he was shrouded in mystery.
Hearing Sakurakoji Talent say again that he wasn't a student rekindled her curiosity.
This guy was different from every teenager she had ever met—mysteriously difficult to handle and unusual. His looks and presence surpassed everyone she had seen. Forget the popular sunshine boys at her school; she had never seen someone like him even among high society.
What sort of environment and experiences had produced a person like him? Judging by his appearance, he should be around the same age as her students. Did his parents simply leave him alone like this?
"I really am currently not attending school. As for my age... now that you mention it, that is a problem." Sakurakoji Talent rested his chin on his hand and thought about it briefly. It had been so long since he had considered the question that he had nearly forgotten.
Only when his family celebrated his birthday every year would he realize, Ah, so today is my birthday.
At other times, he simply drifted through life. Before returning to Tokyo, he rarely even looked at a clock. Every day, fighting wits with his own body was exhausting enough. He spent the rest of his time distracting himself, numbing his senses by learning all sorts of things.
"Well, that's a secret." Sakurakoji Talent raised an index finger before his lips, his long eyelashes fluttering as he answered with a faint smile. "In any case, I'm definitely not at the age where I'd just be entering high school."
Obviously, his younger sister was entering her first year of high school this year. How could he possibly be the same age as her?
"A secret...? What are you, some shy maiden?" Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at him speechlessly.
But honestly, when this guy made that gesture, he really did have a bit of that feeling. He was even more... No, no, what am I thinking? This guy has led me astray!
She couldn't help staring at him in alarm, feeling that this little boy was damn sweet.
"If you're not just entering high school, then you must at least be about to enter your second year, right?" Hiratsuka Shizuka guessed.
"Who knows? Maybe I'm old enough to be in college. Maybe I'm even old enough to have graduated and started working." Sakurakoji Talent chuckled without giving a direct answer.
"Who are you trying to fool?! How could you possibly be that old?!" Hiratsuka Shizuka was dissatisfied with his evasiveness.
"Do I not look it?" Sakurakoji Talent froze for a moment, then suddenly furrowed his brow. He added a harder edge to the previously gentle lines of his eyes, making his gaze deeper and sharper. He also added the resentment of an office worker hoping the world would end, and his entire aura turned cold and aloof as he looked icily at Hiratsuka Shizuka. "How about now?"
"..."
Watching him seemingly age ten years in an instant, Hiratsuka Shizuka twitched her lips and found herself speechless. In the end, she still—couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"Hahaha! What even is that?! Do you think you're performing Rakugo?" She wiped away the tears of laughter at the corners of her eyes, mercilessly mocking his terrible acting.
"Strange, doesn't it work? I was pretty confident." Seeing her reaction, Sakurakoji Talent fell into doubt.
"If you want to act mature, you're still a hundred years too early!"
Though she said that, when Sakurakoji Talent turned away to doubt himself, Hiratsuka Shizuka secretly patted her chest and thought, That was close. In that instant just now, her heartbeat seemed to have sped up. Honestly, his performance had indeed felt somewhat mature. No matter how she looked at him, he didn't seem like a high school student—could this boy really be about the same age as her?
Then when he called her Shizuka-cute, could he have meant it that way?
!!!
Hiratsuka Shizuka covered her face with both hands. She couldn't think about it anymore, or she might not be able to sleep tonight!
Over an hour later, as Starry's opening time approached, Sakurakoji Talent brought over a dessert he had just made and placed it before Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"Teacher Shizuka-cute, here. Have some dessert. Consider it my apology for what I did earlier."
"So you know you're guilty?" Having finally calmed down, Hiratsuka Shizuka glared at him irritably and snatched the disposable utensil from his hand.
"It's good that you know your mistake. Don't call me Teacher Shizuka-cute again from now on, understand?"
She brought a spoonful of warm dessert to her mouth, instantly revealing a blissful expression. This guy might be irritating, but his cooking was truly beyond criticism. It would be great if he could cook for her every day—though that was impossible.
"I understand."
"?" Hiratsuka Shizuka held the spoon in her mouth, blinking her innocent eyes in surprise. She hadn't expected him to be so obedient this time.
"From now on, I won't call you Teacher Shizuka-cute in front of everyone. I'll just call you Teacher Shizuka." Sakurakoji Talent leaned his beautifully shaped head close to her ear and spoke softly.
"Oh, good that you understand." Hiratsuka Shizuka shifted slightly, feeling a tickle by her ear. At the same time, she felt inexplicably disappointed.
That nickname, Shizuka-cute... she didn't actually dislike it that much, as long as he didn't call her that in front of other people. That was simply too embarrassing.
"When we're alone in private, I'll call you Shizuka-cute." Without waiting for her reaction, Sakurakoji Talent walked straight back to the rear without looking back.
"..."
After her brain had crashed for a while, Hiratsuka Shizuka finally understood what he had said. The fair, delicate skin of her face turned uncontrollably scarlet, almost covering every trace of its original color.
"!!!"
What exactly did this guy mean?!
She continued mechanically putting food into her mouth, but it now tasted utterly bland. That damn guy!
Tonight, she really might not be able to sleep.
Volume 1: The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies — Chapter 76: Using Galgame to Start Fishing
"Thanks for the effort." X N
Walking out of Starry, Sakurakoji Talent took out his phone, preparing to ask a certain girl to meet him tomorrow.
Just now, a plan so cruel and evil that even he found it somewhat horrifying had popped into his mind. He needed to contact her and obtain the key to putting it into motion.
That evening, after being teased by him, Hiratsuka Shizuka's face had alternated between red and green. She sat there blankly for a long time without saying anything, making Ichiji Hoshika mistakenly think she might be sick and urge her to go back and rest.
She was surprisingly willing to listen. Without saying goodbye to Sakurakoji Talent, she bent over and dragged her exhausted body back to Chiba.
He wondered whether, the next time they met, she would punish him with iron fists once she had recovered her energy.
He searched through the many accounts he had recently added for the name he had in mind. Even he had to sigh at how busy he was.
How could there be a protagonist as busy as him? Couldn't he get a day off?
Every day, he raced nonstop between different women, yet not to seek pleasure from one-month flings. He also had to constantly take care of their emotions and raise their affection for him. Was there anyone more miserable than him?
But he didn't dare stop. All he could say was that before this extreme pain, never mind happiness—so long as something could speed up the alleviation of this long-standing agony, he would even be willing to jump off a three-story building.
His eyes found that name on the screen. Sakurakoji Talent opened the chat window and sent a greeting.
An ordinary person might already be preparing to sleep at this hour, but he knew that a night owl like her might only be starting her nightlife now.
"Senpai Utaha, are you there?"
He didn't put away his phone. Instead, he stood by the roadside and waited for a while. Just as expected, his phone vibrated a little over ten seconds later.
"Is that Talent-kun? I'm here. What is it?"
"Come to think of it, this is the first time you've ever messaged me."
"Happy.jpg"
His phone vibrated three times in a row, bringing three messages.
Seeing her messages, Sakurakoji Talent briefly thought he hadn't contacted her in a long time. But after thinking carefully, their first meeting had only been a week ago. Still, quite a lot had happened in between, and he had even made a trip to Kawasaki.
"Mm, there's something I want to discuss, but it isn't easy to explain over the phone."
"Are you free tomorrow? I'd like to discuss it face-to-face."
He typed out his thoughts and sent them over.
Kasumi: "Eh~ Are you asking me out on a date? Not bad, Talent-kun. Your speed and courage in making a move are both worthy of praise."
Sakura: "You could say that. So, does Senpai Utaha have time?"
Kasumi: "All right. Tomorrow happens to be Sunday, and spring break has started too. What time did you have in mind?"
Sakura: "How about noon tomorrow? We can talk over lunch."
Kasumi: "Looks like it's something serious. Understood. I'll be there on time."
Sakura: "...You won't stay up all night tonight, will you?"
Kasumi: "Of course not!"
Kasumi: "Probably."
Probably...
Sakurakoji Talent twitched his lips, not quite believing in her willpower. After praying that she wouldn't be late, he put away his phone and headed home.
On the other end of the phone, Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at the screen, where no new messages appeared, then tossed her phone aside.
She lay flat on her soft bed, her black long straight hair spread beneath her. The sensual curves of her undulating body were somewhat diminished by gravity. One fair, tender arm rested over her smooth forehead, and thoughtfulness was impossible to hide in her flame-colored eyes.
Although she had let him call her by her given name while carried along by the moment last time, after thinking about it carefully afterward, they had only met once. Wasn't that a bit too hasty?
It wasn't easy to take back her words now. After all, they belonged to the same industry and would inevitably have dealings in the future.
When she hadn't received any messages from him for a week, she had thought he was merely being polite and had already forgotten about her. After all, he was a rising young star with immense popularity... She hadn't expected him to contact her again.
When he suddenly messaged her just now, he had truly startled her.
But what exactly was he planning? It didn't look like he simply wanted to ask her out on a date.
Whenever she thought of his appearance, like an Elf from a manga, her emotions became complicated. Putting the two of them together, rather than him having improper thoughts about her, most people would probably think the opposite was true.
"Uuuugh~"
She picked up the white sleeping pillow beside her and buried her face tightly into it.
"Damn it! Why does a boy like you have to be so pretty?! Damn it, damn it!"
"You're a popular high school author just like me too. You're stealing my character setting, don't you get it?!"
"Not only are you younger, stronger, and better-looking than me, you even have the special skill of drawing. Were you specifically sent here to target me?!"
As she raged, she used her soft, pink fists to vent her emotions fiercely on the pillow.
After venting for a while, she began worrying about something else.
"What should I wear tomorrow?"
"But he said he's my fan, right? And a loyal fan who has followed me since the first volume. Does this count as a fan meeting? Then I don't need to dress too formally, do I?"
"But this is our first private meeting. If I dress too casually, that doesn't seem very good either. He might think this author senpai is difficult to get along with."
"Aaaah~ Geez! So troublesome!"
"..."
The next day,
Before you continue