398. Face-to-Face

"If I remember correctly, it was Mai who flirted with me first."

"Everyone says it's a limited-time offer for that day, and if you miss it, it'll be gone."

Mai retorted confidently.

Shuya stared at her face up close; her beauty was indeed flawless from every angle.

I don't care about any restrictions or limitations.

Taking advantage of Mai's weakness, Shuya did whatever he wanted.

His right hand caressed her slender waist, while his left hand released her thigh and pinched her rosy cheek.

"Let go! Let go! I'm going to shout!"

"Go ahead and scream, no one will save you even if you scream your lungs out."

Shuya uttered a classic line, thankfully Mai didn't scream her lungs out, otherwise it would have been too cold.

Mai glared angrily at Shuya.

"Hey, Shuya Shuya."

"What's wrong, Mai? Mai?"

A classic opening line between the two of them, from childhood to adulthood.

"I don't remember raising you into such a despicable child."

"I'm truly sorry, but this isn't despicable; it's merely a tactic."

Shuya started playing with his long, smooth hair, twirling it between his fingers.

"What, I'm sorry my hair can't compare to yours back then."

Mai's attitude was truly awful.

My hair back then... oh, you mean back then?

It refers to when I had long hair while filming Morning Drama.

His physique was extraordinary, so his hair and skin were better than Mai's.

Actually, it's the same now. Shuya dressed as a woman, she would probably be no worse than Mai.

But cross-dressing is impossible; it's absolutely impossible in this lifetime.

However, the situation regarding hair quality may reverse in the future.

Shuya casually said, "You should be happy. The significant increase in your Power of Will indicates that your physique is about to change."

"As a female superhuman, your skin and such will definitely be better than mine in the future."

"... So, there's this benefit too?"

Mai was indeed very happy.

"Mmm."

Shuya answered and kissed her on the cheek.

"It smells so good."

"Hmph, despicable, despicable, despicable..."

Mai poked him with her finger and muttered something under her breath.

Shuya: "Why don't you look at the problem from a different perspective?"

"..."

"It might not be that I'm despicable."

Shuya chuckled, "It's because you're too stupid to fall for the trap."

Mai: "..."

She stiffened.

You're so stupid, so stupid, so stupidly stupid...

She began to tremble.

No one has ever said that to her before, never!

Mai always thought she was very smart.

The evidence is that she barely attended school in her first year of high school and had extremely poor grades. After leaving the entertainment industry and returning to school, she quickly caught up with her studies and is now one of the top students in her grade.

Moreover, from childhood to adulthood, adults have always praised her for being smart.

Now Shuya is actually mocking her for being stupid.

Mai was furious and glared at Shuya without saying a word.

She was slowly grinding her silver teeth, probably wanting to bite him.

Shuya let go of her.

"Mmm, teasing should be done in moderation."

He muttered to himself in a voice that Mai could hear.

"You better remember this!"

She was consumed by impotent rage.

"If you're this angry, do you still want me to help you cultivate?"

"Get out! I'm looking for Yukino!"

"That works too."

Shuya finished speaking, he suddenly became serious:

"Oh, right, something just occurred to me."

"..."

Mai squinted at him.

"We need to make it symmetrical."

Before she could react, Shuya quickly kissed her on the other cheek.

"Inoue Shuya!"

Mai was filled with shame and anger.

"Hahaha!"

Shuya laughed heartlessly, slipped out of Mai's house, and flew away.

Teasing a beautiful girl like Mai gives him physical and mental pleasure.

His attitude shows that he has come to a realization.

The only question is when to confess.

He wasn't in a hurry. Confessing his feelings wasn't difficult at all. Mai- chan's chances of rejecting him were zero. The only question was how long she planned to play hard to get.

On the contrary, the time before this confession is very precious.

This bittersweet relationship—more than friends but less than lovers—is something that ends once it's over.

Shuya understands that it must feel great to be in a relationship with Mai, but the current ambiguous and innocent feeling has its own unique charm.

Even if you don't say it, I know, but as long as you don't say it for a day, I feel restless and anxious.

Shuya didn't dislike this feeling.

It has a unique charm.

So he wasn't in a hurry to do anything with Mai, but wanted to enjoy this interesting relationship a little longer.

He flew home slowly, but received a phone call along the way.

"Hello, is this Kyousuke?"

"Um, Shuya, I've finally found you... Are you free now?"

"I'm free."

"Could you come with me to... the maid café?"

"Yo?"

Shuya tilted his head slightly.

Maid...

"Ojbk."

He agreed.

Section 429, Chapter 398: Menhime

Kyousuke invited Shuya to the maid cafe not because he wanted to go himself.

However, there are legitimate reasons for it.

While Shuya was dealing with Mai's matter, Kyousuke and Kirino's relationship underwent some changes.

Kyousuke was forced to play many games featuring younger sisters, and sometimes he would even sneak into their rooms at night to do some naughty things (referring to playing games together).

He was exhausted by his sister's antics and even suffered from sleep deprivation.

He had originally planned to take a longer break during the holiday, but his plans were ruined not by work, but by his sister.

... Speaking of holidays, Shuya realized that it was already Itsuki 1st, the start of the May Day Golden Week.

This year's Golden Week holiday runs from Itsuki 1st to Itsuki 9th, a full nine days off.

No wonder Inoue Hikoo said before that he had work waiting for him.

Public holidays, apart from annual leave, have little to do with the industry.

Thankfully, Shuya hasn't taken on any outside work lately, otherwise he would definitely be swamped during the Golden Week holiday.

Let's get back to the main topic.

To stop Kirino from bothering him, Kyousuke made a suggestion to her.

He suggested she make some friends who prefer staying at home, so he wouldn't have to play those games all day.

Through his efforts, he successfully got Kirino to join an online chat room called "Otaku Girls' Gathering!!" using social media, and she enjoyed chatting with them.

But Kirino didn't have a few days of peace before she approached Kyousuke again, because the chat room had decided to hold a face-up event.

The location was set at a maid café in Akihabara. This kind of place was too stimulating for Kyousuke, so he sought help from Shuya.

Kyousuke called in the morning, but Shuya sleeping with Haruno and didn't pay attention. He was also playing with Mai at noon, so no one bothered him.

He finally managed to contact Shuya.

That concludes the timeline of events up to this point.

In Akihabara, at a maid café called Pretty Garden, Shuya recounts the backstory to Uesugi Futaro, while Kyousuke nods with deep emotion.

Shuya didn't reveal Kirino's specific hobbies, only saying that she was uneasy about participating in the Menhime event, so she dragged Kyousuke along. Kyousuke, who accompanied Kirino to the Menhime event, also felt uneasy, so he dragged Shuya.

Shuya felt it was a bit boring to come to the maid cafe alone with Kyousuke, so he dragged Uesugi Futaro along.

"I understand what happened."

Uesugi said with dissatisfaction, "But I need to study during the holidays! I don't have time to go out and play with you guys."

"Speaking of studies, how are your voice acting classes going lately?"

Maeda Saori has already arranged courses for him.

"It's alright... No, wait, I won't let you change the subject."

Uesugi was wary of the tunnel.