Chapter 102: Their Common Point Is Foot Fetish?
“Ha… stalking?” Mikazuki Haruna’s corner of the mouth muscle twitched slightly, and she said very reluctantly, “No way, how could that be, I, I was just passing by here… what a coincidence, Sakamoto Ken Sensei…”
Sakamoto Ken directly took the cola from her hand, twisted it open a little to release the gas, and then fully twisted it open.
He took a big gulp directly. The ice-cold cola entered his mouth, and Sakamoto Ken smacked his lips very satisfiedly.
Then he shoved the bottle back into her hand: “Thanks, I was just thirsty.”
Mikazuki Haruna looked down at the cola in her hand, then at Sakamoto Ken, feeling like her brain couldn’t keep up with Sakamoto Ken’s actions at all.
“But I still prefer the blue bottle a bit more.” Sakamoto Ken commented again.
“What… the blue bottle is toilet cleaner…” Mikazuki Haruna muttered softly.
“Looks like we have a difference of opinion.” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Ah, that’s not what I meant…” Mikazuki Haruna said.
“Then is the blue bottle okay?”
“It is okay…”
Sakamoto Ken smiled slightly, and the atmosphere between the two wasn’t so tense anymore.
He didn’t continue with the serious expression of catching her doing something bad, but said in a relaxed tone: “By the way, what are you doing around here today?”
Mikazuki Haruna immediately made an excuse: “I was just wandering around bookstores in Akihabara, and stopped by here on the way… it’s not far anyway…”
“No need to be nervous. Although Miyuki Haru Sensei is my rival from the same period, we still have to get along peacefully outside of our works.” Sakamoto Ken said.
“I’m not nervous…” Mikazuki Haruna pouted her small mouth and said, “You just startled me!”
Sakamoto Ken shrugged and said: “I just saw a familiar face and came up to say hi.”
“Who says hi like that…” Mikazuki Haruna muttered.
Sakamoto Ken directly turned and walked forward, but his steps were very slow.
Mikazuki Haruna hurriedly caught up, and only then did Sakamoto Ken turn back and say: “You haven’t taken the vending machine change yet.”
“Oh…” Mikazuki Haruna had completely forgotten about it, though it was only a few hundred yen.
But since Sakamoto Ken mentioned it, she still went back to the vending machine and took out a few coins, stuffing them into her pocket.
Mikazuki Haruna moved very quickly, afraid that Sakamoto Ken would run off again.
Seeing that he had already walked several meters ahead, she hurriedly trotted to catch up.
The two walked one behind the other like this, on the quiet residential area path.
Mikazuki Haruna originally wanted to get a bit closer, but in the end just kept a distance of one meter from Sakamoto Ken.
In this residential area, there were occasionally some small apartment buildings around, but most were two- or three-story detached houses.
Sakamoto Ken walked forward silently for a good while, Mikazuki Haruna kept following without speaking up, and as they walked, she subconsciously twisted open the cola bottle cap in her hand and took a small sip.
After the cola entered her mouth, she suddenly remembered that this bottle of cola had been taken by him earlier, twisted open, and he had taken a sip from it.
And he had drunk it right from the mouth of the bottle!
Wait, you drank from it already, so why did you shove it back into my hand!
You guy, was that on purpose! Deliberately trying to indirect kiss me!
Mikazuki Haruna smacked her lips, feeling it was sweet, of course, cola is sweet to begin with.
She decided to pretend she hadn’t drunk from it; anyway, it was just a tiny sip earlier, impossible to tell.
Mikazuki Haruna looked at Sakamoto Ken’s back, quickened her steps to get a bit closer, and asked: “Um… Sakamoto Sensei, what exactly are you doing around here?”
“Hm?” Sakamoto Ken didn’t turn back, just slowed his steps and said, “Looking to rent a new house, came to check it out.”
“Rent a house?!”
Mikazuki Haruna was immediately startled inside, followed by relief.
Great! She hadn’t even planned to go out originally, since she already knew where his house was, lucky she followed him today!
Otherwise, if he moved, next time she wanted to find him, wouldn’t it take a lot of effort again?
Plus, he came out to rent a house, probably didn’t tell Mio, right?
So that means I’m the first to know?
Hehe, that also shows there’s nothing much between you two, otherwise you’d definitely look at houses together.
Mikazuki Haruna chimed in: “Yeah, the place you’re living in now is indeed a bit too rundown.”
After saying it, she realized she might have been too direct, sounding like she was calling him poor.
Sakamoto Ken stopped his steps and turned around.
“I don’t think that house is rundown.” He looked at Mikazuki Haruna and said very seriously, “After all, that’s my home.”
“…”
Mikazuki Haruna was slightly stunned.
She saw the look in Sakamoto Ken’s eyes; there wasn’t a trace of reproach, yet it made her feel like something lightly pricked her heart, making her a bit panicked.
She hurriedly waved her hands and explained: “That’s not what I meant! I just… just…”
She “just”ed several times but couldn’t figure out how to continue.
That apartment building, in her view, was indeed rundown.
The room was small, that was one thing, but it didn’t even have a private bathroom; living there must be really inconvenient.
But how could she express that tactfully?
Seeing the girl’s expression, the arc at the corner of Sakamoto Ken’s mouth curved up slightly.
Good, the rhythm of the conversation was completely in his hands now.
He didn’t continue to press her on this topic, but changed direction: “Your family must be very rich; drawing manga is just for fun.”
This was a declarative sentence, but the meaning was a question.
Mikazuki Haruna was silent for a moment.
She lowered her head, looked at her toes, and said softly: “I don’t draw manga just for fun… um, I really like it…”
“Do you like《 Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose》 this manga, or do you like drawing manga itself?” Sakamoto Ken followed up.
Mikazuki Haruna pondered with her head down for two seconds, but found Sakamoto Ken had already turned and continued walking forward, with obviously faster steps than before.
“Hey? Wait!”
She was quite a bit shorter than Sakamoto Ken; to keep up with his pace, she had to quicken her step frequency, her short legs scurrying to catch up.
Mikazuki Haruna followed him briskly while her mind raced thinking about that earlier question.
Is it liking《 Young Lady》 this manga, or liking drawing manga itself?
Without that memory, she probably would have been like in the previous life, treating drawing manga as just a casual hobby, drawing occasionally without seriously considering serialization.
This time, the reason she started drawing seriously and submitted for serialization was completely because of《 Young Lady》 this work.
But more importantly, the memories swirling around this manga, the snippets of being with him.
Mikazuki Haruna answered honestly: “It’s because I like this manga.”
Sakamoto Ken nodded; he wasn’t surprised by this answer.
“I like this setting too.” he said, “I showed it to you before; my setting draft is the same as the manga under your pen.”
“Y-yeah…” Mikazuki Haruna said a bit awkwardly, “It’s interesting, right…”
“Mm.” Sakamoto Ken’s tone suddenly became a bit playful, “I didn’t expect you to like pantyhose too; I thought only guys were into feet.”
“Ah?”
Sakamoto Ken continued: “Doesn’t that mean this is something we have in common?”
“Wh-what thing?!”
Mikazuki Haruna’s small mouth hung open, feeling like in this short while today, she’d been stumped by Sakamoto Ken several times.
Wait, you’re way too straightforward with your words!
Who casually admits to being a foot fetishist like that!
