Comprehensive Anime: Making Money Starting from Saki

Sora Kageyama and Hisa Takei, who could intuitively see Saki Miyanaga's hand, noticed this, and so did her current opponents at the mahjong table.

The next second, with a crisp "clack," a riichi stick was slammed heavily onto the table. Nodoka Haramura had chosen to declare Riichi without hesitation to change the flow of the game.

Nodoka Haramura's move shocked everyone in the room.

"Nodoka Haramura... declared Riichi?" Mako Someya pushed up her glasses. "Nodoka's move is really 'naughty'..."

Yuki Kataoka even wore a mischievous expression, as if she were watching a good show.

The situation, which had been proceeding according to plan and calculation, was shattered. A fire that was almost provocative appeared on Nodoka Haramura's usually gentle face; she was eager to see how Saki Miyanaga would handle such a situation.

And as for the person being targeted...

Saki Miyanaga, who had always been in complete control, showed a look of astonishment on her face. Because Saki Miyanaga, who previously had many options, now only had one way to win the hand.

It could be said that... the difficulty had been greatly increased.

Saki Miyanaga lowered her eyes to stare at her tiles, the tile held between her index and middle fingers spinning in the gap before returning to its original position.

Sora Kageyama gazed at Nodoka Haramura's seemingly calm yet stubborn face, feeling an increasing appreciation for this girl with whom he had shared intimacy.

She is a girl who looks gentle, but is exceptionally stubborn in certain aspects.

What he was even more curious about was how far Saki Miyanaga would go when faced with Nodoka Haramura's blatant "provocation."

The next second, Saki Miyanaga chose to dismantle her hand.

And on this day, for the first time, an expression of shock appeared on the face of Sora Kageyama, who had always been a bystander judging the game.

This was because for Saki Miyanaga to achieve Plus-Minus Zero by dismantling her hand, she not only needed to win, but also... had to pull off an extremely difficult Flower on the Tile.

In an instant, Sora Kageyama felt the same intense sensation he had experienced when playing against Koromo Amae.

An absolute, overwhelming feeling of board control.

A breeze blew through the paper door, gently lifting the bangs on Saki Miyanaga's forehead.

The next second, Saki Miyanaga called a Pon, executed a Flower on the Tile, and perfectly achieved Plus-Minus Zero.

The entire room was stunned.

Yuki Kataoka suddenly whistled, her knees knocking hard against the edge of the table under her pleated skirt: "This is basically cheat-level calculation power!"

But, was it really just as simple as calculation power?

Nodoka Haramura's expression showed genuine shock for the first time, and everyone around felt a sense of awe that gave them goosebumps.

Sora Kageyama walked behind Nodoka Haramura, placed his hands on her shoulders, and said in a low voice: "Excited?"

Nodoka Haramura nodded, then leaned into Sora Kageyama's embrace. Her cheeks were flushed, and a strange light flashed in her eyes: "Extremely excited..."

It wasn't jealousy born from seeing a powerhouse control the board, but a sense of overwhelming excitement born from encountering a strong opponent.

The match paused; this was the intermission after the East Round.

Hisa Takei looked at Saki Miyanaga and said with a smile: "Miyanaga-san, the goal of mahjong is to win."

Saki Miyanaga was stunned, seemingly not knowing what to say.

Sora Kageyama let go of Nodoka Haramura's shoulders and looked at Saki Miyanaga: "The people sitting at the mahjong table with you now aren't the type to get angry or throw a tantrum because of your victory. Why not try to win for real? You might see a different kind of scenery."

Saki Miyanaga didn't answer immediately, choosing a subtle silence instead.

Sora Kageyama walked to Saki Miyanaga's side and placed his warm palm on her shoulder: "If you never win, Nodoka won't be happy."

"Eh!?" Saki Miyanaga suddenly met Nodoka Haramura's eyes, as if confirming the truth of Sora Kageyama's words.

At this moment, Nodoka Haramura, whose cheeks were flushed with excitement, summoned the same courage she had used to chase after someone the night before, and said with utmost sincerity: "Please, fair and square, don't hold back—win for me to see."

Hisa Takei lifted her chin slightly and added with a hint of excitement: "Next, try playing mahjong while fighting for victory."

Hearing Hisa Takei's words, Saki Miyanaga lowered her head. Her bangs covered her eyes, and her emotions were unreadable.

Her flushed cheeks betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

Her fingertips gripped her skirt tightly, as if she were contemplating something.

In her mind, the expressions of everyone cheering because she had pulled off the Flower on the Tile surfaced, and she realized... it seemed everyone really wanted her to win.

It was... a different feeling.

After a long while, she spoke softly: "I, I understand."

Chapter 20: The Flush After Victory

The air in the mahjong room seemed to freeze. Everyone held their breath, thinking Saki Miyanaga had finally figured it out and intended to throw herself wholeheartedly into this intense mahjong duel.

However, just as the atmosphere began to ease, Saki Miyanaga suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with deep doubt, and asked softly: "But... if I aim for Plus-Minus Zero, I won't be able to get first place, right?"

This sentence was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly shattering the silence in the room.

The entire room fell into an awkward, quiet atmosphere. Everyone looked at each other; no one expected that this girl, who had just said she understood, would still insist on her bottom line, stubbornly wanting to achieve a Plus-Minus Zero score.

As the Mahjong Club president, Hisa Takei keenly sensed that the atmosphere was wrong and quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "...Um... then let's assume you have 1000 points and everyone else has 33000 points. Play with that mindset."

Hisa Takei's suggestion seemed to bring a new turning point to the deadlocked game.

In this way, the others had 8000 more base points than Saki Miyanaga. This didn't lower the difficulty of the game; instead, it added a separate challenge for Saki Miyanaga, allowing her to pursue victory while still aiming for Plus-Minus Zero.

Saki Miyanaga stood there quietly, her bangs obscuring her eyes, her hands unconsciously pinching the hem of her skirt, inadvertently causing it to lift slightly.

She said softly, "If I can hit Plus-Minus Zero this way, then I suppose I've won... that's quite amazing."

She's quite confident—Kageyama Sora thought to himself, feeling increasingly curious about this girl who gave him the same impression as Koromo Amae.

With a crisp sound of shuffling tiles, the match began once more.

Due to the disadvantage in base points, Saki Miyanaga displayed a completely different style right from the start.

Her gaze was sharp, her discards decisive, and she won a high-value hand without the slightest hesitation.

That aggressive playing style was a far cry from the restrained approach she had used in every previous round, leaving everyone present in utter shock.

From this single hand, it was easy to see that as long as Saki Miyanaga wanted to win and wanted to play big, she had the absolute ability to do so; her absolute control over the table was something one couldn't help but admire.

Kageyama Sora subconsciously looked toward Nodoka Haramura, wondering to himself if this fellow genius of the calculation school could withstand the power of a player driven by luck.

However, judging by Nodoka Haramura's expression, she didn't seem intimidated by Saki Miyanaga's dominance at all; on the contrary, she remained as she always was, seemingly completely unaffected... no, her fighting spirit was only growing stronger.

Just as Saki Miyanaga was full of confidence, thinking she could continue to control the entire table, an accident occurred.

Nodoka Haramura had won a hand that was completely outside of Saki Miyanaga's calculations!

Saki Miyanaga widened her eyes in disbelief, staring straight at Nodoka Haramura, a complex feeling rising within her that she had never experienced before—a feeling so strange and intense that she couldn't even begin to describe it.

She looked at the firm, unwavering expression on Nodoka Haramura's face as she won, then looked at the expectant eyes of everyone around her, all hoping she could achieve Plus-Minus Zero and win; Saki Miyanaga felt as if her heart were being filled with something, swelling to the brim.

She couldn't help but turn back to look at Kageyama Sora, who was standing to the side, and asked softly, "Is this what you meant by..."

Kageyama Sora didn't speak, only offering her a gentle smile.

Yet, this simple smile seemed to inject a powerful strength into Saki Miyanaga, granting her a sense of validation and encouragement in an instant.

"If that's the case, then here, I can win with a hand like this..." Saki Miyanaga's eyes were resolute, and as soon as she finished speaking, she reached out to draw a tile.

She performed a Concealed Kong with clean, swift movements, followed immediately by a Flower on the Tile, successfully winning the hand!

The moment the tiles fell, the entire mahjong room seemed to go quiet. The stunned expressions of the crowd varied—there was admiration, there was shock, but there was no jealousy or resentment.

Saki Miyanaga felt as if her heart had sprouted wings and taken flight; the joy and excitement were so intense that she felt as if wings were truly unfurling behind her back.

A flush rose to her face, her knees pressed together, and unknown moisture appeared between her legs.

She was so excited she became incoherent: "It's... this... feeling... I, this is the first time I've won with a hand like this... I've made hands like this before, but I always dismantled them..."

"End of game."

Mako flipped the tiles over and, at that moment, announced the final conclusion.

Nodoka Haramura stood up and walked toward the window, seemingly wanting to open it for some fresh air.

Kageyama Sora followed his instincts and walked over to Nodoka Haramura, whispering, "I kept the promise I made to you last night, are you happy?"

Before Nodoka Haramura could answer, and while everyone was still immersed in the brilliance of the match that had just concluded, Saki Miyanaga said softly, "I made it to Plus-Minus Zero again."

"Eh? What are you saying! Saki-chan?" Yuki Kataoka made a cat-like face, looking completely stunned.

Saki Miyanaga explained with ease, "The one who won in the end was Nodoka Haramura. I started with 1000 points, so I'm in second place, right?"

Nodoka Haramura, who had been preparing to open the window for air, turned around abruptly and instinctively grabbed Kageyama Sora's sleeve; clearly, she hadn't expected Saki Miyanaga to be so indifferent to winning or losing.

Nodoka Haramura didn't want a victory like this, nor did she want to lose; she probably just wanted a straightforward, fair, and just duel.

Just as the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence again, Kageyama Sora spoke up first: "Although we did say it was 1000 points, in reality, we started from the normal scores, so you actually won in the end."

Hisa Takei also nodded in agreement, "That's right, you won."

"Won, me?" Saki Miyanaga looked blankly at the final results Yuki Kataoka had compiled based on everyone's equal starting scores, her expression dazed, as if she still couldn't believe the fact.

Mako, standing to the side, pushed up her glasses and chuckled, "You won and achieved Plus-Minus Zero."

Yuki Kataoka wore a bright, encouraging smile on her face: "Well done!"

"Won..." Saki Miyanaga pinched her skirt, repeating it blankly, "I won..."

As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks.

At this moment, she finally understood that the feeling of winning was truly wonderful.

It was a feeling completely different from playing mahjong in the past.

However, just then, Nodoka Haramura, who had just been longing for a fair duel, suddenly ran out, regardless of the reason or her mood.

The moment she sprinted out, Kageyama Sora saw the tears shimmering in her eyes.

Kageyama Sora didn't even think about it and immediately chased after her. From what he knew, Nodoka Haramura was definitely not the type of girl who couldn't handle losing, so her abnormal emotional state was all the more concerning; there had to be an untold story behind it.

Chapter 21: Soothing Nodoka Haramura

The twilight gilded the corridor in a hazy golden veil. The last glimpse of Nodoka Haramura's ridiculously short uniform skirt flashed at the corner, and when Kageyama Sora chased after her, he only saw her huddled on the steps of the fire escape.

The girl buried her face in her knees, her long pink hair hanging down like a waterfall, her thin shoulders trembling slightly—she was a completely different person from the calm and decisive girl at the mahjong table.

"Nodoka?" Kageyama Sora softened his footsteps as he approached, his feet making faint sounds on the metal stairs.

Nodoka Haramura looked up abruptly, the corners of her eyes red, tears still hanging on her eyelashes. She stubbornly turned her face away: "Don't come over."

"I brought a handkerchief." Kageyama Sora sat down on the step below her and pulled a neatly folded square cloth from his pocket, handing it to her.

The evening breeze passed through the iron mesh of the emergency exit, ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead. The air carried a faint, lingering scent unique to Kageyama Sora, which inexplicably made Haramura Nodoka feel... a bit more at ease.

That sense of anxiety also seemed to soften significantly in this moment.

The silence lasted for half a minute before Haramura Nodoka suddenly whispered, "I know I'm being ridiculous."

She grabbed a handkerchief and wiped her face haphazardly, her knuckles turning white from the force: "It was clearly me who said I wanted a match where Saki Miyanaga wouldn't hide her strength, and that I wanted to see her truly bring out all her power. But when it finally happened, I couldn't accept the result... Perhaps the reason I was so stubborn about wanting to play against her at the start was because I wanted to win, but instead... I was defeated completely."

Saki Miyanaga, who had won with Plus-Minus Zero, had displayed absolute control over the board and even secured the win with an almost incomprehensible Flower on the Tile, yet she didn't seem to care about the victory at all.

Kageyama Sora turned to the side, his voice gentle, his knees nearly touching her calves: "It's not because you lost."

He gazed at the girl's reddened earlobes: "From the strength of your grip on my sleeve, I knew that back then, your heart didn't want Saki Miyanaga to lose because of some temporary rule. You just wanted Saki Miyanaga to win fair and square."

Before he could finish, Haramura Nodoka suddenly threw herself into his arms.

Kageyama Sora stiffened for a moment, then reached out to wrap his arms around her trembling back—in truth, he had wanted to comfort her like this for a long time, but since this was school, he had been restraining himself out of concern for the negative impact it might have on Haramura Nodoka.

Her faint scent, mixed with the damp moisture of the air, felt like a bamboo forest before a heavy rain.

"Maybe you're right. It's not that I can't lose; there are plenty of people in this world stronger than me, and I'm not arrogant enough to think I'll always win... It's just that I can't lose to someone who has no reverence for mahjong." Haramura Nodoka said, muffled against Kageyama Sora's chest, her voice vibrating against his collarbone: "She said it herself yesterday, that she doesn't like mahjong..."

Kageyama Sora gently stroked her long pink hair, the ends winding into soft knots in his palm: "Actually, she might not dislike it. Perhaps it's because everyone has their own story... She might not necessarily want to lose either, but whether she wins or loses, she encounters things that frustrate her, which is why she doesn't like playing mahjong."

He felt the body in his arms tremble slightly and continued: "Sometimes, you have to look past the surface to see the essence, don't you?"

Haramura Nodoka looked up, her eyelashes brushing against his wrist: "Are you taking her side?"

Inexplicably, Kageyama Sora's intuition told him that this question from Haramura Nodoka was... a bit dangerous.

It was subtly like one of those 'if your mother and I both fell into the water, who would you save first' types of questions, making Kageyama Sora feel a chill down his spine and a sense of unease.

But who was Kageyama Sora?

He was a man who had started a company and built his own business empire at a young age; how could he be easily defeated by the questioning of a young girl?