Chapter 159: Whose Feet Are The Most Dexterous?
In the car, Sakamoto Ken placed the backpack at his feet and turned his head to look at Hoshihara Ai.
Hoshihara Ai crossed her arms, her eyes slightly narrowed, looking at Sakamoto Ken.
Come to think of it, every time he went to her home, she was always wearing nothing.
Seeing her now dressed in a shirt paired with ladies’ trousers was really a bit unaccustomed.
It could be said that Sakamoto Ken was very familiar with every curve and fold of her body, even the small mole at the root of her left leg, but seeing her in clothes was truly a bit unaccustomed.
Sakamoto Ken kept a smile on his face and said, “Ai, why are you here?”
“There was no one in your studio, so I waited here for you for a long time,” Hoshihara Ai said. “Tell me, where did you go at noon?”
“《Chainsaw Man》 is getting an animation adaptation,” Sakamoto Ken said.
Hoshihara Ai raised an eyebrow and said, “Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not changing the subject.” Sakamoto Ken shook his head and said, “At noon, I went to the investment company for the animation project, met the president, and talked about matters related to the work.”
“You talked about the work with the president, and still took a nap at noon?” Hoshihara Ai asked.
“I wasn’t going to sleep, but after all, I had an appointment with you,” Sakamoto Ken said. “So, after talking with the president, I took a short nap on the sofa at their company, thinking at least to quickly meet you and explain the situation, but after entering the dream, I didn’t see you.”
“Just tell me directly, who did you meet, and what did you do?” Hoshihara Ai asked directly.
Sakamoto Ken replied, “I did go to another girl’s home, but nothing happened, you know, the entire dream at noon today was probably only about ten minutes.”
At that time, Sakamoto Ken checked the time; from falling asleep to waking up, it was only about twenty minutes total, and including the time to fall asleep, the actual time spent meeting Mikazuki Haruna in the dream was just ten minutes.
It was supposed to last longer, at least to properly enjoy her prank.
Unfortunately, because the chair tipped over with him on it, his head got bumped, and he woke up early.
Hoshihara Ai nodded lightly; the time Sakamoto Ken mentioned matched her sensation roughly.
However, she still said, “Ten minutes is enough to do a lot of things.”
“You know, for me, it’s not quite enough,” Sakamoto Ken denied.
Hoshihara Ai leaned closer to Sakamoto Ken and said, “Even without mentioning the dream, I see you’ve done bad things in reality too.”
“I haven’t,” Sakamoto Ken denied outright.
“I’ll know once I check.”
With that, Hoshihara Ai pressed one hand on Sakamoto Ken’s shoulder while her other hand pressed down.
“Wait, how are you even checking like this?”
Sakamoto Ken quickly leaned back, trying to dodge her right hand.
However, the space on the seat was limited after all, and he couldn’t dodge it.
Sakamoto Ken felt the hem of his clothes being lifted, Hoshihara Ai’s hand was cold, making his stomach feel cool.
Then, with a jolt, Sakamoto Ken immediately behaved himself, not daring to move a muscle.
The muscles at the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and the expression on his face stiffened: “Ahem… so, what did you find?”
Hoshihara Ai withdrew her hand, clapped her hands lightly, and subtly passed them in front of her nose.
“Hmm… looks like you really didn’t do anything bad.”
“How did you judge that?” Sakamoto Ken asked.
Hoshihara Ai let out a light “hmph” and said, “Don’t worry about how I judged it. After doing bad things, the state is different; can’t you feel it on yourself?”
“I feel like after resting a bit, it’s like nothing happened…”
“Resting just makes it still usable; the actual experience is different.”
“No way around it; I’m not you, I haven’t experienced it deeply.”
At that moment, Sakamoto Ken heard a “click” from the car door; Hoshihara Ai had locked it.
“You don’t mean to do it with me in the car…” Sakamoto Ken looked around and said, “There aren’t many people here, but occasionally passersby come by, and the front glass is visible from outside… at least to the back seat, where it’s not easy to see from outside.”
“Who wants to do it with you in the car?” Hoshihara Ai rolled her eyes at Sakamoto Ken and directly started the car.
“Oh, not that…”
“Disappointed?”
“Not really… just reminded me of some past events.”
“Have we ever done it in a car?” Hoshihara Ai thought for a moment; she had no such impression.
Sakamoto Ken said, “Not with you.”
No sooner had he said it than the car jerked to a stop; Hoshihara Ai slammed on the brakes.
Sakamoto Ken quickly grabbed the armrest and said, “I’m telling the truth… you know, in the previous life, I might count as a scumbag.”
“You want to try it again this time?” Hoshihara Ai asked.
“I didn’t originally plan to, but you all have memories from the previous life, which makes it hard for me…”
Sakamoto Ken propped his elbow on the center console, turned sideways looking at the driving Hoshihara Ai, and said, “Knowing that you remember me and still have feelings for me, if I choose not to meet you or contact you this time, that would truly make me a scumbag, right?”
“Is that what you say to all of them?” Hoshihara Ai said.
“I haven’t said it so bluntly yet; after all, only you have figured out the essence of rebirth, dreams, and such,” Sakamoto Ken said. “But sooner or later, I’ll tell them too.”
“In short, last time you wanted a harem, failed, and this time you want to try again?” Hoshihara Ai said.
“No,” Sakamoto Ken denied. “In the previous life, I actually wasn’t thinking of a harem; the failure was mainly because I accidentally exposed that I was dating all of you at the same time.”
“Then why tell me directly?”
“I think I should be honest.” Sakamoto Ken spread his hands and said, “Ai, you’re the big sister, and the smartest among you, the one who understands me best, so… I told you everything.”
“You think I’ll agree?” Hoshihara Ai said.
“It’s not about agreeing or not.” Sakamoto Ken said very seriously, “You have to help me.”
“Help you?”
“Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll get two knives four holes this time.”
“How is it one less knife two holes?”
“Because you won’t use a knife on me.” Sakamoto Ken switched to a gentle tone, “You know, people die when stabbed with a knife.”
Hoshihara Ai let out a light hmph and said, “If the one who dies is a scumbag, it’s fine.”
“I’m really not a scumbag,” Sakamoto Ken said seriously. “If the me from the previous life could barely be called a scumbag, then now I’m completely saving everyone.”
“You talk pretty.”
“Not as pretty as you.” As Sakamoto Ken spoke, he reached out toward Hoshihara Ai, gently placing his hand on her leg.
“I’m driving.”
“I know, I’ll just touch, not go in…”
Hoshihara Ai turned her head and glared at Sakamoto Ken: “Talk about it at my place.”
“Okay.” Sakamoto Ken smiled back.
Although that earlier guidance didn’t get a positive answer from Hoshihara Ai, her current attitude said it all.
According to Sakamoto Ken’s idea, the best would be to train Hoshihara Ai into a teammate.
As for the cost…
Sakamoto Ken counted; the entire afternoon used seven.
One more than last time.
Leaving Hoshihara Ai’s home and returning to the studio, it was already evening.
He sat in his chair and watched the first episode of the newly aired 《Spring Object》 season two.
Not surprisingly, Natsume Mio sent him a LINE message.
Natsume Mio: 「『Image』」
Natsume Mio: 「A Jian, does it look good~」
Natsume Mio: 「I just took the ID photo for my resume!」
Sakamoto Ken zoomed in on the image and looked closely.
She had makeup on and had beautified it with software; the corner of her mouth held a slight smile—it was a very standard ID photo.
Sakamoto Ken: 「For the voice actor interview?」
Natsume Mio sent a voice message: “Yeah, the vocal music class sensei helped me find Bones’ voice actor audition email. I’ll definitely land a role in A Jian’s work!”
Sakamoto Ken: 「I got some intel from the investment company; the official voice actor selection is probably in three months. You need to prepare well during this time.」
Natsume Mio: “Did A Jian ask specifically for me! How is it? What preparations do I need?”
Sakamoto Ken: 「On professional skills, I think you’re definitely fine, but they’ll consider other aspects too, like singing.」
Natsume Mio: “Eh? Singing too? Um… but I have learned it. Has A Jian heard me sing? Oh right, I sang the school song at the high school summer festival, but nothing else… usually I go to karaoke with a few best friends…”
Natsume Mio rattled on a lot; compared to typing, she preferred voice messages, and actually Sakamoto Ken liked it too—her voice was quite pleasant, even worth listening to twice.
Sakamoto Ken thought typing was troublesome and simply called her directly.
“A Jian!” Natsume Mio was especially excited when she picked up Sakamoto Ken’s call. “Like you said, for singing, how will they test it?”
Sakamoto Ken thought for a moment and said, “Actually, landing a main role is pretty tough because they’ll cooperate with big voice actor agencies, and there might be famous voice actors involved…”
“I know, after all, it’s such a big investment animation…” Natsume Mio said. “But I definitely have to try! Even if I can’t voice Miss Makima, I can at least get a supporting role, right?”
Sakamoto Ken said, “It’s not completely impossible; you’re just lacking two things.”
“What?!”
“Personal works, and fan count,” Sakamoto Ken said. “If you have a personal original music work, or a good number of fans, plus voice acting skills, landing a role would be a sure thing.”
“Does it have to be original… and fans too? That’s too hard. A Jian, if the company considers these, will they not consider newcomers at all?” Natsume Mio said.
“It’s just a rough standard. For example, if the work is exceptionally good, the fan count requirement is lower; if it’s only covers, then you need a high fan count,” Sakamoto Ken said. “I confirmed with the investment company—even for newcomers, as long as they meet the requirements, it’s all treated equally.”
“That’s good!” Natsume Mio said. “For music works, I have written songs, but they all feel not that great…”
Sakamoto Ken said, “During this time, I’ll give you special training, aiming to successfully get the main role voice actor. How about it?”
“Sure!” Natsume Mio agreed outright without asking what the special training entailed.
“Not asking about the training content first?” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Since it’s A Jian’s special training, no matter what it is, I can do it!” Natsume Mio said firmly.
“Having that belief is good, then come to the studio tomorrow,” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Yay!”
Mio was very excited about this; it was a path not tried in the previous life. Back then, when they went to karaoke together, they recorded her singing and uploaded it to YouTube, even tried making a virtual songstress image paired with her covers.
After all, they were short on money and wanted to try being YouTubers to earn some.
The result was that the uploaded videos got no response; covers of other songs are hard to go viral anyway—listeners already have the original singer in mind, so it’s always just following behind others no matter what.
From this point in time until the end of the previous life, there were quite a few hit songs in those ten years for Sakamoto Ken to choose from.
Like this one he was typing lyrics for on the computer now: 《Lemon》.
The reason his first thought was this song was completely because of the lyrics.
「If only all this were a dream, even now I could still meet you in dreams…」
「…」
「That day’s sorrow, that day’s pain, along with you who deeply loved all of it, turned into the bitter lemon aroma deeply etched in my heart.」
「Unable to return until after the rain clears, like a halved lemon that’s been cut open.」
「Even now, you are my light…」
Originally, this song was the theme song for the TV drama 《Unnatural Death》, a song dedicated to those who died unnaturally; because of the real emotional investment, it moved hundreds of millions of listeners.
Later, it completely transcended the drama, and the song itself became a phenomenal masterpiece.
On YouTube, the 《Lemon》 MV was Japan’s first music work to exceed 500 million views, always far ahead, still rising rapidly after breaking 900 million.
The single’s download count, CD sales volume, and karaoke song requests all held an absolute dominant position.
In the current 2015, releasing 《Lemon》 a few years early might not reach the same later heights, but the results would absolutely not be bad.
Sakamoto Ken hadn’t carefully savored these lyrics before; now thinking about it…
Well, dreams and unnatural death were both there.
Isn’t this a song dedicated to me?
And then have one of the killers who knifed him to death in the previous life sing it…
It felt like a special kind of hell.
Sakamoto Ken quickly wrote down the full lyrics of the song, then recalled its melody.
After all, it was a song with extremely high popularity; he’d heard it countless times and sung it at karaoke.
Though his singing was just barely on pitch, that was enough.
Sakamoto Ken used his mobile phone to record, tried several times, and finally recorded the whole song completely.
He listened back repeatedly; the rhythm matched the original in his memory.
Besides this song, Sakamoto Ken created a new document: 《Love》.docx.
Mio really liked singing this one back then and even dragged him to sing it together.
He typed the lyrics quickly, reviewed them a few times, but decided to shelve this song for now… the emotions were too intense.
Was there a song about love triangles…
Right.
Sakamoto Ken picked up the drawings nearby and looked; it was the character design for 《The Quintessential Quintuplets》.
He created a new document in the computer folder: The Quintessential Quintuplets’ Feelings.docx.
Though the manga hadn’t been published yet, the theme song was prepared in advance.
But this song’s theme was too strong; it was hard to exist as a standalone single.
However, the problem was, this manga had five female leads, two more than in reality—would that cause unnecessary associations?
Like wanting to figure out who the other two were…
Go ahead and look; when you team up to target two nonexistent girls, you won’t target me.
In the end, Sakamoto Ken only printed the 《Lemon》 lyrics; the other songs he saved for now, to bring out one by one later.
Staying up late drawing yesterday, getting up early to draw today, meeting Haruna at noon, tossed around by Hoshihara Ai the entire afternoon…
After nightfall, Sakamoto Ken exercised for half an hour on the new treadmill in the studio, then washed up and went to bed early.
Sakamoto Ken felt he needed to properly consider time management.
…
At this time, elsewhere, in Mikazuki Haruna’s home.
Only she and Kazuko Aunt were home, and Kazuko Aunt stayed on the first floor at night, not coming up to disturb her.
So the whole home was no different from her being alone.
The girl stretched out her legs, comfortably lying in the bathtub, looking up at the ceiling, recalling what happened after meeting Sakamoto Ken at the company today…
Especially that strange dream.
It was the second time dreaming of him in that lucid dream state, and unlike the first time, the first time she didn’t tie him up, so he pinned her down.
This time, it was completely under her control; that guy’s feet were cuffed, so she could do whatever she wanted.
Then, she sat on the table, planning to punish him harshly.
Though that memory had such scenes, those were just memories; this time, she could do it however she wanted.
And afterward, he even gave an evaluation, saying her feet were small but very flexible.
Very small?
Mikazuki Haruna lifted her foot; the water, tinged slightly pink from the rose-scented bath salts, slid from her toes along the side of her foot to the surface.
The bathroom lights were bright; the light made her wet feet gleam transparently, the fair base with a faint pink glow.
She usually bought 22.5cm or 23cm shoes; compared to her friends, they were indeed quite small, even feeling just a bit longer than that guy A Jian’s…
As for flexibility, Mikazuki Haruna had never actually felt it; who thinks about that normally?
Thinking of this, she shifted her legs, clamped the bottle of skincare oil next to the bathtub with her feet and brought it over; her left foot’s instep against the pump nozzle, right foot sole pressing it down, and a stream of transparent pale golden liquid surged out.
She rubbed her feet together, patted them lightly, making squishing sounds, spreading the oil evenly; her five toes spread like petals, then curled, twisted her ankles, posing in various shapes.
Is this what they call very flexible?
The girl rested both feet on the edge of the bathtub, clamping the skincare oil bottle between them; the bottle’s size felt a bit familiar…
Her legs were up out of the water too long, starting to feel slightly sore and cool.
So Mikazuki Haruna used her feet to bring the oil bottle over, took it with her hand, and put her legs back into the warm bathwater.
She had only tried that because she suddenly recalled the dream scene; normally when bathing, what she did most was massage herself.
Mainly after seeing that guy Natsume Mio, she always used her most obvious advantage to suppress her, with a smug look.
So Haruna thought of many ways to see if she could gain more combat power, at least not lose too much to her.
Since she heard massages were effective, she would apply some oil and follow online techniques to massage herself.
Though up to now, she hadn’t even gained half a size…
Ten minutes later, she finished today’s massage task; she took a deep breath and held it, hands on hips, chest out, but only lasted half a minute before deflating.
As expected, post-natal efforts are hard to match natural talents.
But come to think of it, A Jian actually didn’t like breasts; he was clearly more into feet.
That noon dream ended after A Jian fell to the ground, but before that, she remembered clearly—that guy absolutely had an enjoying expression.
Though called punishment, he definitely saw it as a reward.
Speaking of rewards.
A certain someone’s words still echoed: “You’re alone in your room, lying on the bed thinking of me, then secretly rewarding yourself.”
At the time, she hadn’t realized what “reward” meant.
Later, seeing his meaningful expression, she got it…
The girl shrank down, submerging her neck to chin in the water; she felt her whole body hot, of course, since it was a hot bath, that was normal.
Inside her body was hot too…
Mikazuki Haruna rubbed her face, trying to shake off some weird thoughts in her head.
In the end, she decided to go with her heart.
Until a few minutes later, dizziness from too long in the bath and electric tingles from every cell hit at once, making her head fuzzy; she nearly fell when standing up.
But…
Haruna muttered to herself inwardly.
No matter what, today she absolutely did not lie on the bed thinking of him and secretly reward herself.
