"I think if they saw Nagasaki Sose standing in the plaintiff's seat, their first reaction wouldn't be to play Ace Attorney. They'd just laugh themselves silly," Riki said, trying to comfort her.
If you could watch long-time vegetarians have a public meltdown, I think every fanfic writer would be as happy to face the firing squad as Kennedy.
"There are people that twisted?" Nagasaki Sose couldn't believe it.
You're the one insulting me now?
Riki was furious. He got so angry that... he was angry for a moment.
"I'm blocking them!" Nagasaki Sose refused to give up. She huffed.
"Hold on, hold on. That's my account!" Riki wasn't about to let the same trick work on him twice. He took out his phone and said, "My godson sent me two tickets to the amusement park. It's the biggest one in Haicheng. It's the weekend, but since it's a makeup workday, it won't be as crowded. Want to go together?"
Nagasaki Sose glanced at the amusement park pictures on Riki's phone, tempted. She turned her head away and said, "Why do I have to go with you? If people get the wrong idea, won't I be the one losing out?"
She clutched Sakiko's cushion, her voice muffled, knees drawn up and face buried against them.
Watching her reaction, Riki thought for a moment, then chuckled. "Didn't you agree? Today, we're good friends for one day. If good friends go to an amusement park together, it's fine if people mistake them for a couple, right?"
Nagasaki Sose's eyes shifted. That was exactly what she'd said earlier.
I grant you the status of good friend for today.
Nagasaki Sose puffed out her cheeks.
This guy was awful, using my own words against me.
I'll just pretend I didn't hear him. I'll act like I'm already asleep. No matter how perverted he is, he won't touch me... Nagasaki Sose thought angrily, hugging the cushion.
Seeing her stay perfectly still, Riki thought for a moment and said, "You wouldn't turn down an invitation from a good friend, would you? Or do you always reject Akari and the others when they ask you to go out?"
"Of course not!"
Nagasaki Sose blurted it out. Then, seeing the triumphant smile on Riki's face, she got even angrier.
"Come on, homebody." Riki shrugged.
Nagasaki Sose went out with Riki, cheeks puffed. Then she looked at his handsome, sunlit profile and asked quietly, "Hey, are you taking me out because you're worried I'm upset about Sakiko saying those things? Your friends didn't break up, either. You played music just to distract me, right?"
"Y-yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking." Riki looked drenched in cold sweat.
You're faking it, aren't you?
You can't fool me.
Nagasaki Sose had spent enough time with Riki to spot the tell. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Then let me see your phone."
"Wait, you're my girlfriend. You're checking my phone?!" Riki was startled.
What if she finds the teacher who's been teaching me Japanese?
"I just thought it'd be cool to go out with a pretty Japanese girl!"
Seeing him act like that, Nagasaki Sose relaxed. She patted her ample chest and sighed in relief. "In that case, I don't have to apologize for blocking several people."
"...You were joking?" Riki was stunned.
"Take a guess."
Nagasaki Sose gave Riki a playful wink and laughed brightly.
"I can't wait to go to the amusement park!" Nagasaki Sose stretched and smiled.
Weren't you just acting like you didn't care whether we went or not? Riki fumed.
Nagasaki Sose's lips curled into a faint smile. She sneakily glanced at the sulking Riki.
...Thank you, Riki.
"Riki," Nagasaki Sose suddenly asked, "am I the first girl you've gone to an amusement park with?"
"Other than school trips, you're the only one I've gone with one-on-one," Riki said after thinking it over.
"Really... I thought so!"
Nagasaki Sose suddenly smiled beautifully. The spring breeze lifted her brown hair, and she turned to look at Riki.
"Someone like you could only get me to go with him."
Just for today, under the pretense of being good friends... Nagasaki Sose sneaked a look at Riki, smiling brightly.
Please support the book with a first subscription when it goes premium! It really means a lot to the author!
The initial inspiration for writing this book came from Sakiko Distance. I finished reading it and wrote the first two chapters that very night, posting them with almost no revisions. A life like Sakiko's, suddenly turned upside down, really does make people sympathize with her. In the morning she was drinking soy milk in a Maybach; by evening, she was drinking soy milk on its own. Anyone would be confused.
When I started writing this book, I had two keywords in mind: "romance" and "redemption." A male-lead story in a slice-of-life setting has to have romance, doesn't it? Otherwise, how is everyone supposed to live vicariously through the protagonist? As for redemption, I thought everyone in the MyGO cast suffered too much. They were all like Pain brought back with Edo Tensei, so I wanted to spare them that misery here and let them fall head over heels instead.
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Inferior to Sakiko (Please support the first subscription!)
At the bus stop, Riki and Nagasaki Sose waited.
"So taxis here are cheap? If I'd known, I would've asked you to call one. Then my feet wouldn't be aching from standing around," Nagasaki Sose said.
Riki could feel the gulf between Celestial Dragon Sose and camel-riding Little Sakiko. When Sakiko went out with him, she scrimped and saved on his behalf, even haggling prices down by half with hand gestures at the supermarket. Sakiko was beautiful, and she succeeded nine times out of ten. Her success rate was amazing.
Nagasaki Sose may once have been an ordinary resident of the old-world Sabaody Archipelago, but after rising to become a Celestial Dragon, she'd embraced a life of luxury and excess. She was content with her new life and no longer thought of Sabaody Archipelago.
Nagasaki Sose, trying to bleed me dry again, are you?
"I brought quite a bit of money with me this time. I've kept it in my pocket because I didn't know when I'd be coming over. It'll come in handy for a taxi. Why are you making that face?" Nagasaki Sose asked, looking puzzled.
"Nothing. I was being mean, assuming the worst of a beautiful girl."
So you were trying to bleed me dry after all.
You should've said so sooner. I would've called a Rolls-Royce.
The bus arrived. Riki and Nagasaki Sose climbed aboard. Riki wanted to sit by the window, but Nagasaki Sose got there first.
Fine, I'll sit in the back.
"Sit next to me." Nagasaki Sose grabbed Riki's hand. "What if some man sits next to me later? But if it's you, I don't have to worry."
Aren't I a man?
"How do you know I'm a helicopter?"
Damn, did you sneak a look at my character profile?
Nagasaki Sose, watch out for your page on Moegirl tonight!
I'm changing it to the world's second-prettiest girl.
The first is Sakiko.
Only after Riki sat beside her did Nagasaki Sose relax. There were lots of people on the bus, and she didn't know how to talk to strangers. She couldn't stand the thought of someone else sitting beside her, but if it was Riki... she'd accept it, more or less.
At least he wasn't annoying.
"Why are there so many people on this bus?" Nagasaki Sose quietly asked Riki. Quite a few passengers were looking at her, but with Riki beside her, they didn't dare stare for long and only sneaked a few glances.
"Oh, this bus goes to the university district, so there are lots of college students," Riki explained.
Nagasaki Sose had delicate features, fair skin, and a gentle expression. She looked like a dreamy high school girl, cute as an idol on TV. It was no wonder people kept sneaking looks at her.
"I see. Then let's get off early," Nagasaki Sose said.
Huh?
Was she about to say, "I don't really care whether we go to the amusement park or not"?
"I want to buy a few new outfits," Nagasaki Sose whispered. She'd wanted to wear Sakiko's clothes, but they were so tight across the chest that it was hard to breathe. She hadn't brought many clothes with her, so she needed to buy some underwear at the very least... Otherwise, she'd have nothing to change into after a shower.
If she lived alone, it wouldn't matter. But Riki was there, too, and if he accidentally saw her, she'd be mortified.
If that really happened, Nagasaki Sose would want to secretly kill Riki that night.
I can sense bloodlust!
Riki said, "Do you know where to shop? I recommend—"
"There's a shopping street near Forest Plaza, and there are plenty of clothing stores in the mall, too..."
Do all women have some kind of special ability that lets them locate every shop within a one-kilometer radius?
Good thing handsome guys like us aren't bad, either. We can automatically locate every pretty girl nearby. There's one right in front of me.
Nagasaki Sose looked puzzled. "I saw it on your phone. Didn't you search for it?"
"I didn't..."
Riki suddenly realized that if he hadn't been the one to do it, the only other person who'd touched his phone was Sakiko. Did Sakiko want to buy new clothes, too? But she'd never brought it up, determined not to cause him trouble and to keep saving money, always facing him with a smile.
Sakiko was amazing. Nothing more needs to be said!
Next time, I'll buy Sakiko some clothes.
But what kind of clothes... I like lace. No, it's not about what I like; it should be what Sakiko likes.
Riki wasn't quite sure where he stood with Sakiko.
The two of them were already very close, and they even lived under the same roof (the apartment really did have the same roof; there was just a wall between them). But they still hadn't made their relationship official. So far, they'd only promised to be family forever. They hadn't explicitly become boyfriend and girlfriend, and they hadn't even kissed.
I want to kiss Sakiko-bao.
She'd definitely be soft and sweet.
Riki thought to himself.
"What are you thinking about?" Nagasaki Sose narrowed her eyes at Riki suspiciously.
What are you suspicious of? I wasn't fantasizing about you.
Down bad, Sose.
"I was thinking about kissing..." Riki blurted out.
Nagasaki Sose's fair cheeks instantly flushed red. She glared at Riki. "You pervert!"
I'm a pervert again?!
"I wasn't thinking of kissing you," Riki shot back.
But after he said it, Nagasaki Sose's expression turned even colder. She gave a huff.
Wait, you're upset when I'm not being a pervert toward you?
What are you even thinking?
Nagasaki Sose was soon distracted by the river scenery outside. You couldn't see rivers this long in Japan. Curious, she asked, "What's that floating on the water?"
"What thing? Lemme see, lemme see. It's a turtle, I think..." Riki leaned forward. Nagasaki Sose felt a little awkward with his face so close to hers.
"How could a turtle be that big? It's a wooden boat."
"You're underestimating how vast and abundant Haicheng is... Wait, damn, it really is a wooden boat."
"Hahaha..."
The other passengers on the bus watched Riki and Nagasaki Sose. They weren't talking loudly, but Riki was handsome, and Nagasaki Sose was a beauty who could strike straight at the heart. Every smile and gesture made the boys on the bus' hearts race.
They stared daggers at Riki.
That guy deserves to die!
And he's got a Japanese girl, too. Bringing glory to the country, is he?
Riki suddenly heard a jealous mutter from a guy in the seat behind him. "What's there to be jealous of? The guy's a simp, and the girl's so pretty she's probably had over a dozen boyfriends already."
The bus reached the stop.
Nagasaki Sose was about to get off when she saw Riki stand up and head toward the back seats instead of the door. He looked at the guy and said, "You seem to have a problem with my friend. Give me your name and school. Let's meet up sometime. I'm Riki, a freshman at Haicheng University. My student ID is 2340XXXXXX..."
The guy had a face full of pimples. Riki's expressionless stare made him flush red, and he couldn't get a word out.
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