I Thought This Was a Slice of Life

To destroy the evidence and keep Rena from deducting his points, Shuya brought the Quintuplets back to their home and shooed them off to take a bath.

He went in with them.

It wasn't because he had any bold ideas, but because he had no choice; the Quintuplets were too rowdy, and letting them bathe on their own was equivalent to letting them tear the bathroom apart.

In Shuya's mind, the Quintuplets were no different from a pack of Siberian Huskies.

Shuya helped out helplessly; he first rinsed the Quintuplets off, then applied body wash, rinsed them again, and finally washed their hair.

After one round of work, Shuya's hands were limp.

Seeing this, Ichika cheered, "I'll help wash Shu-chan!"

"I want to too, I want to too!"

"I'll help too!"

The other four little girls clamored as well.

"Ahhh—calm down, you guys! Yotsuba, stop that, you can't touch there—ah!"

Five pairs of small hands pinned Shuya to the floor and ravaged him; the scene was, for a moment, too tragic to behold.

Shu-chan was finally finished being tossed around, and after soaking in the hot water with the Quintuplets, he finally felt at ease.

"Oh~"

Shuya let out a sigh.

"""""Oh~"""""

The Quintuplets mimicked his sound.

After soaking for a while, they couldn't sit still and started moving around restlessly.

Until Ichika took the lead in splashing water, leaving Shuya overwhelmed and at a loss.

Good heavens, these brats...

Shuya lamented in his heart.

Being a father to you lot is not easy!

Shuya hurriedly took the Quintuplets out, managed to dry them off, and changed them into fresh clothes.

The Quintuplets were already fast asleep, exhausted from playing all afternoon.

"Sigh, taking care of children is truly not easy."

Shuya wiped the sweat from his forehead; he was tired too.

Even though his body had been strengthened, he was still just a five-year-old child.

"No, I need to find a way to train my body."

Shuya pondered when to find an old master to learn some martial arts. For some unknown reason, there were many martial arts gyms in the Japan Administrative District; he heard it was influenced by the Great Hua Administrative District?

He didn't really understand it either.

But the most urgent task right now was to resolve the bankruptcy crisis.

Seeing that the Quintuplets were all asleep, Shuya headed back; he didn't mooch a meal at Rena's house today.

Things weren't easy at her house either, so Shuya didn't eat there often.

There wasn't much to say about the time after returning home, other than enduring the public displays of affection from Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura; he went to bed early because he didn't want to be kept awake by strange noises.

After the recording began, Shuya's days were very fulfilling. He arrived at his company on time the next day and officially started recording at ten in the morning.

For the third episode of Alien Baby Hikari-chan, the plot officially got on track, with Uesugi Yuichi raising a baby while engaging in a hilarious romantic comedy with Yuzuki Sasaki.

Shuya had considerable talent and experience, so he completed the voice acting with ease.

Inoue Hikoo was a bit lacking, but with Hanazawa Sakura's help, he improved quickly.

Overall, the recording went very smoothly; the husband-and-wife duo of Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura were a great fit for their characters.

The current plot was also leaning toward something refreshing and romantic, with the sweetness of their affection being just right—not too cloying—and Shuya, a bachelor for two lifetimes, enjoyed it immensely.

After the episode's recording was finished, Shuya was taken by Hanazawa Sakura to have his photos taken.

Sitting in Saori's car, Shuya was quite expectant.

It was rare to be able to see another two-dimensional girl... Looking at the photos of Sakurajima Mai, Shuya felt that such a cute girl must be a female lead, right?

Speaking of which, what kind of story was it for the Quintuplets?

Could it be Rena's daily life of raising kids?

Shuya shook his head; it shouldn't be. With the Quintuplets' setting being so unique, he guessed Rena wasn't the female lead.

Shuya believed the Quintuplets were the protagonists, so it must be a harem manga, or perhaps even an eroge.

In that case, was Rena just a background character? Someone who gets "Ma'am, I love you" spammed at her and then gets forgotten?

As he thought about it.

"Boss, Shu-chan, we're here."

Maeda Saori slowly parked the car and spoke to Hanazawa Sakura and Shuya.

"Mm."

Shuya stopped thinking and walked into the shooting location.

13. The Future Great Actress Sakurajima Mai

Hanazawa Sakura, Shuya, and Maeda Saori walked into the studio.

"Huh? Isn't this Uncle Hirai?"

"Shu-chan, I'm only twenty-eight... Alright. I suppose at your age, that does make me an uncle."

Shuya realized that the photographer and Staff Members today were all people he knew.

Hirai Ryuji, a man with medium-length hair and a light beard, looked rather mature; Shuya had always called him Uncle Hirai.

He was quite famous in the industry, especially skilled at portrait photography, and many celebrities sought him out for photoshoots.

Being so famous, his rates were naturally high, and he was very busy; he hadn't expected him to have time to come over to shoot children's clothing.

Shuya asked very directly, "Uncle Hirai, have you gone out of style lately? You have so much free time to come shoot kids."

"Hahaha."

"Out of style... haha."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room burst into laughter.

If an adult had said this, Hirai Ryuji would certainly have been angry, but Shuya was only five years old. He wouldn't take a child's words seriously; instead, he was amused by him.

"You brat, you really don't know how to appreciate a good person! I only took this commission because I heard you were going to be here."

"Is that so? I thought you came for Mai-chan. I saw the photos; that girl is very cute."

"She is indeed very cute. Kids these days are truly something else!"

Hirai Ryuji replied casually.

"A lolicon? I'm calling the police."

Shuya raised an eyebrow and took a step back.

"Hey, are you serious about that backing away motion? And didn't you just say it yourself? Why can you say it but I can't?"

"That's right." Shuya nodded solemnly. "I'm only five; it's the perfect legal age for me to be a lolicon. You can't; you're too old!"

"You, I... Ms. Hanazawa!" Hirai Ryuji made a miserable face and pleaded for help from Hanazawa Sakura, who was stifling her laughter. "I'm begging you, please control this kid and save an adult!"

"Sorry... Pfft! Cough, cough, cough. Shu-chan, you're being too rude... Hahaha, I can't help it!"

Hanazawa Sakura stroked Shuya's hair, but in the end, she couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This drew laughter from the entire room, and even Hirai Ryuji finally laughed out loud.

While laughing, he pointed at Shuya and said to everyone, "I just love Shu-chan's personality. Working with him is never boring! It suits my temperament!"

The other Staff Members nodded involuntarily. Children were always prone to causing trouble, but Shuya perfectly matched the world's longing for a cute child.

Shuya smiled sheepishly. "You flatter me. Uncle Hirai is also very interesting; your reactions when being teased are so satisfying."

Hirai Ryuji shook his head with a bitter smile. "Your tongue is truly unforgiving... You're already like this now; what will you be like when you grow up?"

"No, no, I'm a good judge of character. I only say these things to good people like Uncle Hirai."

Shuya flattered him.

Hirai Ryuji smiled. "Such a sweet talker. I'm afraid you'll be driving girls crazy in the future."

"I think Shu-chan is already driving many women crazy now."

"Hahaha!"

A photography assistant chimed in, and the studio was suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

In this relaxed environment, the Staff Members all felt that working was much more invigorating.

Inoue Shuya was undoubtedly doing this on purpose; it was part of his professional conduct.

But it wasn't entirely intentional; he genuinely hoped for a relaxed working environment.

This was also why people liked him; his presence always boosted the mood and increased work efficiency.

Many people were willing to work with him again, and Hirai Ryuji was a good example.

He originally had other work he could have chosen today, which would have even paid a little more, but Hirai Ryuji still chose to work with Inoue Shuya.

Over the past few years, Shuya had used his age advantage to gradually build his network.

Shuya was familiar with all the Staff Members, and his memory was good enough that he remembered even what they had said to him last time. Once they started chatting, everyone's favorability toward him increased again.

Shuya knew that these small details could not be ignored; only by accumulating them bit by bit would he succeed in the future, so he never hesitated to say kind words.

Shuya chatted briefly with everyone, and then more people entered.

Two beauties, one big and one small.

Naturally, it was Sakurajima Mai, whom Shuya had just mentioned, along with her mother and manager.

"Good afternoon. Please take care of Mai-chan today."

Mai's mother bowed, and then little Sakurajima Mai also bowed gracefully, saying in a crisp voice, "Please take care of me."

"Hahaha."

"She really is such a cute little girl."

The Staff Members recalled what had just happened and broke into good-natured smiles.

"Eh... um...?"

This actually made Sakurajima Mai feel uneasy, as she had no experience dealing with this kind of situation.

"Sorry, sorry, it's all my fault."

Inoue Shuya couldn't just leave it alone; after all, it was his mess.

He stepped forward and bowed his head to her: "Um... I'll just call you Mai-chan, okay? Please don't mind the laughter from just now; it was just a joke I made with Uncle Hirai."

He explained the situation simply.

He looked at this adorable, long-haired little girl with a guilty conscience.

No matter how cute she was, she was still a child, and who knew how she might throw a tantrum? Taking care of the Quintuplets had already given him a full experience of the destructive power of a Siberian Husky.

"Ah, so that means..."

Mai-chan said thoughtfully: "Shu-chan senpai... has feelings for me?"

"Huh?"