Comprehensive Anime: Making Money Starting from Saki

The torrential rain poured down, with bean-sized droplets slamming against the ground and kicking up mists of water.

Thunder rumbled, as if it were about to tear the sky apart.

Haramura Nodoka and Kageyama Sora were soaked to the bone in this downpour, rainwater dripping incessantly from the tips of their hair.

Kageyama Sora was fine; at least he had come wearing long sleeves and trousers, and in dark colors at that.

However, Haramura Nodoka was a different story.

Her thin school uniform clung tightly to her body, the white fabric turning translucent under the saturation of the rain, revealing glimpses of what lay beneath.

The sight left Kageyama Sora feeling inexplicably dazed; usually calm, he found himself at a loss for what to do.

He looked at the equally bedraggled Haramura Nodoka beside him, his throat feeling as if it were blocked by something, unable to find the words to speak.

Rapid breathing, accompanied by the chill of the rain, wove a subtle atmosphere into the air.

Haramura Nodoka, still held in Kageyama Sora's arms, stood up straight after a moment of stunned silence.

Her pink hair was plastered messily against her cheeks, and her eyes flickered with complex emotions.

She looked up, past Kageyama Sora's shoulder, toward Saki Miyanaga not far away. Her gaze carried an indescribable emotion, as if hiding a thousand words yet not knowing where to begin: "Three consecutive times at plus-minus zero—was that intentional?"

Saki Miyanaga was taken aback, her clear eyes filled with surprise, as if she had never expected Haramura Nodoka to suddenly throw out such a question.

She opened her mouth slightly, finding herself unable to answer for a moment.

Kind by nature, she was never good at lying, and after a brief hesitation, she said with near-total frankness: "Whenever I play, it's always been like that."

This simple sentence was like a heavy bomb, exploding in the air.

In an instant, let alone Haramura Nodoka, even Kageyama Sora couldn't help but be shocked for a moment.

For Haramura Nodoka, the shock came from the fact that Saki Miyanaga had actually admitted it so readily.

As for Kageyama Sora, although he had sensed something off about Saki Miyanaga's play just moments ago, now that it was confirmed, he was still stunned by her powerful, almost terrifying ability to control the game.

He couldn't help but marvel inwardly at what kind of supreme mahjong skill it must take to precisely maintain a plus-minus zero score every single time.

Haramura Nodoka's body trembled slightly, rainwater dripping down her chin, her voice filled with utter disbelief: "Why? Why would you play mahjong like that?"

Her tone carried a hint of accusation, but even more so, an unconcealable confusion and bewilderment.

In her understanding, mahjong was a competition for victory, and Saki Miyanaga's approach completely subverted her perception of the game.

"Why play like that..." After a short silence, Saki Miyanaga bent down to pick up her uniform bag and red umbrella, which had been knocked away by Haramura Nodoka.

Her movements were sluggish, as if every action spoke of her inner conflict. "I've always played mahjong at home. If I lose, I don't get snacks, but if I win too much, it makes others angry. By the time I noticed, it had become like this."

Her voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself or explaining it to Haramura Nodoka.

"Just like that?" Haramura Nodoka's voice suddenly turned sharp. She took a sudden step forward, splashing water at her feet.

She couldn't understand how someone could so easily give up on victory for such an apparently absurd reason. In her eyes, winning was such a joyful thing, a goal worth striving for with all one's might.

Saki Miyanaga offered no further explanation; she turned around and walked down the steps, one step at a time.

The red umbrella opened in the rain like a lonely flower. Her back looked somewhat desolate, as if she were unwilling to continue the topic and wanted to escape this oppressive atmosphere.

But Haramura Nodoka clearly could not accept Saki Miyanaga's attitude.

She bit her lip, her skirt fluttering.

Haramura Nodoka, as if she couldn't feel the cold, chased after her without hesitation, shouting at the top of her lungs as if summoning all her courage: "Miyanaga-san! Once more! Can you play one more game of mahjong with me!?"

Her voice sounded somewhat thin amidst the sound of the rain, yet it was filled with determination.

Saki Miyanaga paused in her tracks. She turned her head while holding the umbrella, and what appeared on her cute face was an incomprehensible calmness.

She looked at Haramura Nodoka quietly, her eyes devoid of a single ripple: "I'm sorry, I don't like playing mahjong."

Having said that, she stopped lingering, turned, and continued walking forward, her red umbrella gradually disappearing into the curtain of rain.

Haramura Nodoka stood where she was, watching Saki Miyanaga's retreating figure, but this time she did not give chase.

Her fists were tightly clenched, her nails nearly digging into her palms.

Rainwater flowed down her skirt onto her thighs, the translucent uniform clinging to her body and outlining her graceful curves.

Kageyama Sora had been standing silently to the side, taking it all in.

He saw Haramura Nodoka's clenched fists and the look of loss on her face, and a feeling of pity welled up in his heart for no reason.

He sighed and stepped forward.

Haramura Nodoka's delicate face was hidden beneath her bangs, and rainwater slid continuously down her hair. Although she said nothing, Kageyama Sora could tell she was in a bad state from her trembling body and silent posture.

Kageyama Sora felt, for some reason, that he couldn't just leave her behind.

He reached out, his warm palm gripping Haramura Nodoka's wrist, and said softly: "You'll catch a cold, and your family will worry."

The handsome boy's voice was very gentle, carrying a hint of undisguised concern, as if they were long-time friends rather than strangers meeting for the first time.

"My family... isn't here." Haramura Nodoka's voice was very soft, tinged with loneliness.

She thought of her father, who had been transferred to Tokyo for work, and how she had been left here alone to attend school ever since.

Kageyama Sora felt a moment of awkwardness; he hadn't expected such a situation.

He reached out and gently touched the top of Haramura Nodoka's head, his movements soft and natural: "Then you have to take better care of yourself. Otherwise, if you get sick and are home alone, you won't even have a way to get to the hospital."

His fingers lingered in Haramura Nodoka's hair for a moment, feeling the dampness of the strands.

Haramura Nodoka froze for an instant; such an overly intimate gesture made her feel a bit unnatural.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and her heartbeat quickened of its own accord.

However, thinking back to the fact that they had just hugged, acting coy over something like this didn't feel like her personality, so she lowered her head slightly and said nothing.

Kageyama Sora noticed Haramura Nodoka's discomfort, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up inside him.

His gaze fell inadvertently upon Haramura Nodoka, and seeing her sailor uniform completely soaked and clinging to her body, the subtle, looming curves made his own heart skip a beat.

He paused—not to be dramatic, but because he felt a bit flustered inside.

"What?" Haramura Nodoka looked up, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

The next second, a faint smile appeared on Kageyama Sora's face, his eyes filled with a touch of tenderness and resolve: "I came here for you, Xiao Hehe."

Not Haramura Nodoka, but Xiao Hehe—the name she used in the mahjong software where she was invincible.

His voice was very soft, yet it stirred a ripple in Haramura Nodoka's heart.

Chapter 14: With Haramura Nodoka at the Hotel

Half an hour later, in the nearest hot spring hotel to Kiyosumi High School—warm yellow wall lamps dyed the space in a hazy and lingering glow. The sound of splashing water in the bathroom was constant, and the frosted glass door seemed to cast a mysterious veil over the scene inside. Though one couldn't see the specifics, the looming, graceful silhouette was like an abstract painting that stirred the imagination, plucking at Kageyama Sora's heartstrings.

Kageyama Sora stood outside the bathroom, his long fingers clutching a soft towel, wiping his neck and arms casually, yet his gaze drifted toward the bathroom involuntarily.

At first, he had intended to wait for Haramura Nodoka to finish so they could swap, but the shadow behind the door kept teasing his heart, and he even started to wonder if he was being a bit lecherous.

Not long ago, Haramura Nodoka had been soaked to the bone chasing after things regarding Saki Miyanaga in the rain.

The stubborn Haramura Nodoka hadn't intended to listen to anyone, but Kageyama Sora had managed to bring her to the hotel to shower with just that one line: "I came here for you."

Of course, Kageyama Sora had no ill intentions; he was simply worried that Haramura Nodoka would catch a cold.

He truly had no ill intentions, only a heart full of worry that she might get sick, yet the ambiguous atmosphere at this moment made his heartbeat accelerate uncontrollably.

Finally, the sound of water gradually ceased.

When the bathroom door pushed open, the mist carried the scent of cedar shower gel. Haramura Nodoka stepped barefoot onto the wool carpet, water droplets winding down her calves and blooming into dark marks on the beige velvet.

The white bath towel was wrapped loosely around her, the edge barely reaching mid-thigh. As she walked, it swayed slightly, and the skin revealed beneath the warm yellow light glowed like a pearl.

She raised a hand to tuck away a stray lock of hair, and the towel at her shoulder and neck shifted, leaving a bead of water resting in the hollow of her collarbone.

Kageyama Sora's fingers tightened around his towel, and he heard the sound of his own swallowing, which was exceptionally clear in the silence.

Haramura Nodoka's damp eyelashes drooped, and a droplet from her hair fell right onto the edge of the towel, instantly creating a dark water stain that slid along the folds toward her inner thigh.

She stumbled half a step and steadied herself against the vanity. The hem of the towel lifted an inch with the movement, and light and shadow danced over her undulating curves. The ambiguous atmosphere was like stirred honey, thick and inseparable in the cramped space.

She lowered her head slightly, a blush staining her cheeks, and said with a hint of shyness: "My clothes were wet... I had no choice..."

Kageyama Sora's gaze paused involuntarily the moment it touched her, then he shifted his eyes away. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was a bit hoarse: "It's fine, I'm in a worse state than you. But, there seems to be a yukata in the closet you can wear."

His words seemed casual, yet they couldn't hide his concern.

Most importantly, if he kept looking at Haramura Nodoka like this, he felt he was going to turn into a beast.

"Thank you..." Haramura Nodoka responded softly, her voice like a breeze in spring, gentle and pleasant.

"You go change, I'll go take a shower," Kageyama Sora said, turning toward the bathroom. As he brushed past Haramura Nodoka, the air seemed to be filled with a faint, ambiguous scent.

He could feel the subtle warmth between them. In this small space, their heartbeats seemed audible; a silent ambiguity was quietly spreading throughout the presidential suite.

Kageyama Sora stepped into the steaming bathroom. The lingering scent of cedar shower gel mixed with the humid mist hit him. Water droplets scattered on the vanity reflected tiny spots of light, like breaths left behind by Haramura Nodoka.

Amidst the sound of the shower, he dazedly saw a hazy figure floating in the mist. His fingertips brushed the lingering warmth on the wall, and a bitter itch rose in his throat.

Cold water washed over his burning skin. He tilted his head back, burying his face in the stream, his eyelashes trembling as they shook off droplets, repeating "just worried she'll catch a cold" in his heart until his boiling blood gradually cooled.

When he pushed open the bathroom door wrapped in a matching white towel, the steaming mist instantly merged with the warm yellow light of the room.

Haramura Nodoka was curled up in the corner of the sofa, her pink hair half-dry on her shoulders, her blue eyes shimmering with moisture, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of the yukata.

Kageyama Sora intentionally slowed his movements. Water droplets slid down the grooves of his abs into the edge of his towel, and un-dried water marks still clung to his collarbone.

He caught a glimpse of their overlapping reflections in the vanity mirror—one wrapped in a loose towel, the other clutching the collar of her yukata, their very breaths tangling into knots in the air.

"There, there is another yukata." Haramura Nodoka's voice was like crushed flower petals, the tail end dissipating in a tremor.

As she hurriedly turned her face away, the collar of her yukata slipped an inch, revealing a delicate shoulder line. Kageyama Sora's Adam's apple bobbed. He reached out to grab the yukata from the closet, and as he intentionally turned his back, he heard the rustle of fabric behind him.

The air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Kageyama Sora tightened the sash of his yukata, and as he turned around, he bumped right into Haramura Nodoka's panicked, evasive gaze.

Her earlobes were red as blood. She lowered her eyes to stare at the patterns on the carpet, but as he approached, she looked up abruptly. Her blue eyes reflected his slightly open collar, where a faint, unhealed red mark was visible beneath his collarbone.

"You..." Before she could finish, a sudden crack of spring thunder outside the window made her flinch, and she instinctively grabbed Kageyama Sora's wrist, her warm breath brushing against the back of his hand...

The girl's blue eyes were moist; Kageyama Sora didn't need to analyze it to know that Haramura Nodoka was afraid of thunder.

Kageyama Sora looked down at their overlapping wrists; Haramura Nodoka's fingertips were slightly cool, leaving shallow indentations on his skin.

Haramura Nodoka was afraid of thunder.

The two were so close they could hear each other's heartbeats. He could clearly see the tiny water droplets on her eyelashes and the corners of her lips trembling from tension. The sound of rain outside the window grew denser, pushing the room's ambiguous atmosphere to its peak, as if the very air were urging for an unspoken answer.

Just then, another bolt of lightning tore through the night sky, causing the floor-to-ceiling windows to hum with vibration and the lights, which had been on, to plunge into darkness in an instant.

Haramura Nodoka practically fell into Kageyama Sora's arms, the collar of her bathrobe—scented with cedar—loosening, and the damp droplets from her hair sliding down his collarbone and into his shirt.

Her trembling fingertips clutched tightly at the fabric around his waist, her warm, soft breath hitting the side of his neck, "I... I'm so afraid of thunder..." The tail end of her voice was like a honey-soaked vine, entangling Kageyama Sora's taut nerves.

He instinctively wrapped his arms around her soft body, his palms meeting the delicate skin of her back.

Outside the window, the rain poured down like a deluge, the sound of raindrops battering the glass weaving together with their overlapping heartbeats, the ambiguous tension floating in the air almost solidifying.

"Don't..." be afraid...

Kageyama Sora's throat bobbed, but the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.

It was only because Haramura Nodoka's upturned face was inches away, her blue eyes veiled in mist, the droplets on her lashes ready to fall at any moment.

She unconsciously shrank further into his embrace, the slipping strap of her bathrobe brushing against his reddened fingertips, the warm sensation surging through his entire body like an electric current.

Chapter 15: Kissing Haramura Nodoka

Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminated the entire room, reflecting the shattered, watery light in Haramura Nodoka's eyes.

She gazed at Kageyama Sora's tightly pressed thin lips, and as if possessed, reached out to touch the red mark on his collarbone: "How... did you get this?"

The young girl's murmur was bewitching, and the moment her fingertips grazed him, Kageyama Sora gripped her wrist tightly, pulling her even closer to himself.

Their noses brushed, their breaths tangling against each other's lips.

Kageyama Sora could feel Haramura Nodoka's violent heartbeat thumping against his chest through the thin fabric, the loose tie of her bathrobe teetering on the edge of coming undone amidst their tangled movements.

The sound of rain, thunder, and heartbeats exploded in his ears, a long-suppressed desire on the verge of breaking through the defenses of his reason.

"Nodoka..." Kageyama Sora's voice was so low it sounded as if it were squeezed from the depths of his chest, his thumb stroking the pulse at her wrist.

Haramura Nodoka's damp lashes fluttered, her blue eyes surging with emotions she hadn't even realized herself, and when another crack of thunder rang out, she buried her face into the crook of his neck, her warm breath spraying against his sensitive skin, completely disrupting the stagnant air of the room.