Chapter 41: A Jian Likes Me
Natsume Mio kept watching. Sakamoto Ken was very fast, and soon only one magazine remained unbound in front of him.
In the afternoon, after chatting so much with the Store Manager, the Store Manager had specially gone out to create an opportunity for the two of them to be alone.
But even now, she still hadn’t taken the initiative. Throughout, she felt like she was being led around by A Jian’s collar…
Natsume Mio hurriedly said, “Wait! A Jian, let me do this last one!”
With that, she reached out to take the last magazine.
While Sakamoto Ken’s hand hadn’t yet moved away from the magazine, she pressed down on it.
Her palm pressed against the back of Sakamoto Ken’s hand, and the warm sensation was transmitted over.
In just one second, Natsume Mio’s palm was wet, with slight sweat from nervousness.
A dream was still just a dream, no matter how real it seemed—it was fake.
But now, in reality, the real A Jian’s hand wasn’t rough, but it was completely different from a girl’s skin; it had a more resilient sensation.
Sakamoto Ken didn’t move.
He just kept his hand on the cover of the magazine, silently gazing at the girl in front of him.
Actually, Mio was more like Power, with that somewhat reckless and hasty manner.
Or rather, you could see a bit of a shadow in both.
Sakamoto Ken realized he was actually thinking in that direction. It was clearly copying Sensei Fujimoto’s future work—how could it be modeled after them?
Probably, that’s what makes for successful character settings; there are always similarities.
Natsume Mio watched Sakamoto Ken’s expression. This time, she had clearly taken the offensive and should have had the initiative, but Sakamoto Ken looked completely calm, as if nothing had happened.
Does he… dislike me?
Or maybe, he doesn’t care at all.
Natsume Mio’s hand stopped on the back of Sakamoto Ken’s hand. At that moment, the hand beneath hers suddenly flipped over.
Sakamoto Ken turned his hand and pressed Natsume Mio’s hand onto the table. They were sitting face-to-face, so Sakamoto Ken slightly shifted his wrist back, using the base of his palm to pin down her four fingers except the thumb, keeping her palm facing up and spread open, unable to move.
This sensation… was just like being pinned under him, with her limbs held down…
“Eh?!” Natsume Mio was slightly startled, her whole body stiffening.
At this moment, with their palms facing each other, she felt as if a current kept drilling from her palm into her body, surging through her entire body.
Especially when Sakamoto Ken’s hand moved even a little, her palm felt tingly and itchy.
She was most ticklish; places like her armpits and soles weren’t even worth mentioning— even her arms were extremely sensitive.
So, her palm sweated even more, becoming slick and wet.
Sakamoto Ken stared into the eyes of the girl before him. Though his face showed no obvious expression, truthfully, there were some ripples in his heart.
He didn’t deny that in the previous life, because it was his first rebirth in Tokyo, he had let himself go a bit too much, treating reality like a romance game, which made him seem slightly like a scumbag.
But he was at most a scumbag, not bad.
He definitely truly liked every girl he had spent so much time with.
Otherwise, in this life, he could just move away, hole up drawing manga without even going out, and it would be 100% safe.
But in that case, he had already strategized them in the previous life; it was just the final operation that was slightly mishandled, leading to a yandere trope ending.
With the experience from the previous life, could he really get the yandere trope ending again this time?
No way, impossible.
Sakamoto Ken squeezed Mio’s hand; it was still that familiar sensation—skin especially delicate, with slender bones wrapped beneath the tender skin, soft and glutinous.
Recalling times when they strolled and shopped hand in hand, in the winter cold wind, stuffing her hand into his pocket, or during intimate moments, pulling her hands from behind…
Sakamoto Ken maintained a calm three-tenths smile and said in a particularly calm tone, “Mio, I know what you’re thinking.”
Hearing Sakamoto Ken say that, Natsume Mio’s eyes widened instantly, staring at him intently.
The next words made her feel like the breath caught in her chest deflated.
“But I don’t have the energy to consider romance right now.” Sakamoto Ken released her hand and pushed the unbound magazine toward Natsume Mio.
Natsume Mio subconsciously took the adult magazine with its plain white cover and asked, “Is it still because of the manga?”
“Of course.” Sakamoto Ken said matter-of-factly, “Nothing should get in the way of me drawing manga and making money. My contract with the Store Manager is only until the end of this month; next month, it’s full-time creation.”
“A Jian won’t come to the store for part-time jobs anymore?!”
Sakamoto Ken pretended to sigh wistfully and said, “Part-time jobs distract the focus. Next month, I’ll have even more manuscript to draw, and the royalty fees are a bit more than store part-time work.”
“Today is February 28th, so that means…”
“Right, tomorrow is my last day working part-time at the store.” Sakamoto Ken nodded and said.
“But I…” Natsume Mio lightly bit her lip, slightly lowering her head, feeling a bit aggrieved.
She had come all this way for one reason: A Jian was here.
Because she had confirmed that the things seen in the dream were real, she decisively decided to work part-time at the store, waiting for A Jian to come.
In her impression, they had worked part-time together for a long time; she had even specially moved here to live together with A Jian…
The reason she told Store Manager Grandma to schedule her shifts on weekends was for after school started—after all, once school began, only weekends would be available for part-time work.
Why was it different from the dream!
She had originally thought up a whole bunch of possible plots for what came next; she even had little raincoats prepared in her backpack. No matter what he wanted, she wouldn’t refuse…
But Sakamoto Ken’s response made it impossible for her to go further.
Thinking of his family’s financial situation, perhaps she really was being too willful.
Her own family wasn’t super rich, but there were no worries in daily life, and then imposing her own ideas on A Jian…
Natsume Mio was silent for a while before saying, “A Jian, um, for drawing manga, I could actually help, right?”
“Creation can only be done by oneself.” Sakamoto Ken replied.
“But don’t you need references?” Natsume Mio said. “Like manga inspiration, character inspiration, and such—they can’t just appear out of thin air, right?”
If it were the previous life, he would indeed need references.
But now… he just needed to draw according to the contents in his memory.
Things like references had already been done in the previous life.
Sakamoto Ken shook his head and said, “Not all authors need references to draw manga. When you pick up the pen, the illustrations should automatically appear before your eyes.”
Sakamoto Ken turned his head to glance at the clock in the store and said to Natsume Mio, “It’s 8 o’clock; you should get off work. No overtime pay.”
“It’s fine…” Natsume Mio pouted, struggling with the plastic rope and the adult magazine in her hands, carefully tying the four corners of the magazine.
She placed the magazine on the pile next to Sakamoto Ken and continued, “Now that I’m off work, I’m just an ordinary customer in the store. A Jian can’t chase me away.”
“It takes a long time to get home from here. By the time you reach your place, it’ll be completely dark, and if you delay any longer, walking the night road alone isn’t safe.” Sakamoto Ken picked up the magazine and put it on the shelf.
At that moment, a customer entered the store, and Sakamoto Ken smoothly went behind the cash register.
Natsume Mio stood in place, silently watching him for a long while, then bit her lip tightly, lowered her head, and quietly went into the changing room in the back.
The girl frowned deeply, her mind quickly replaying the exchange between the two just now.
Although A Jian spoke lightly about it, he clearly looked troubled.
But his trouble definitely wasn’t because of her, but because of the manga, manuscripts, making money, and such.
She had heard before that he and his family had debt, and in that dream, she remembered the number was over twenty million.
Later, she heard him say that the manga suddenly earned a nice sum of copyright fees, which paid off all that money.
So now, he must be suffocating under that debt of over twenty million.
Actually, A Jian likes me; he just thinks he has no conditions to date.
With A Jian’s personality, he would probably like girls who can help him in his career even more, right?
What can I help him with in terms of manga?
Drawing is definitely out; references… A Jian just said he doesn’t need to guess…
I only know vocal music and voice acting.
Eh? Right, voice acting.
Natsume Mio remembered overhearing at noon today, at A Jian’s doorway, A Jian and his editor discussing manga matters.
A Jian’s manga seemed to be launching some kind of animated manga, and the production company needed a voice actor.
If she got selected, then when A Jian’s manga gets adapted into animation later, could she continue to voice act for A Jian’s work?
