Chapter 43: Harem Shonen Manga
Absolute sincerity, this is the greatest trick mom taught Mio.
Even if he didn’t agree, she still treated herself as his girlfriend in fact.
Sakamoto Ken sized up Natsume Mio kneeling in seiza before the low table.
The girl was wearing a beige thin cardigan today, with a simple white T-shirt inside, and under the navy blue pleated skirt were legs in flesh-colored tights.
He hadn’t looked closely earlier and thought she was bare-legged, but now with the sunlight streaming into the room from the window, he could see the subtle fabric wrinkles on her legs.
Although even in winter some girls go bare-legged, it’s actually still cold.
Moreover, these flesh-colored tights called “bare-leg artifacts” can outline the leg curves even more perfectly.
In early spring, the weather still had a bit of chill, and Mio’s tights were also a lightweight style.
Although her leg curves were absolutely considered shapely, girls always feel like their figures are getting fat, their skin isn’t good, their breasts are too small.
Not sure if tights count as socks, but Mio was also wearing a pair of pure white cotton socks over her tights today.
In the previous life, Sakamoto Ken had been educated by her about it, saying this prevents slipping and makes shoes more stable, otherwise if the tights material is especially silky, the feet can easily slip out of the shoes, and it can also prevent the heels from being rubbed raw.
She was kneeling very properly, feet together behind her, soles facing up, slightly tilted inward at the ankles, insteps against the tatami.
Natsume Mio lightly pursed her rosy lips, with a faint smile in her eyebrows and eyes.
Finally, with a “ding,” the microwave oven stopped running.
Natsume Mio quickly stood up, opened the microwave, and took out the steaming bento.
After taking out the fried pork cutlet bento, she went to the table with thumping steps on the soft tatami, opened the bento box, took out the chopsticks for Sakamoto Ken from the plastic packaging, and placed them neatly on top.
“A Jian, you eat first, I’ll heat my portion.” After Natsume Mio said that, she didn’t linger and immediately went back to the microwave.
Sakamoto Ken didn’t touch his chopsticks first; he silently watched the girl standing at the kitchen counter waiting for the microwave numbers to reach zero.
Two minutes later, she took out her portion of roasted meat bento and naturally sat back down across from the low table.
That scene just now gave Sakamoto Ken an illusion, as if he was still in the first round, before falling into that abyss, living in this room with Natsume Mio…
“Eat it quick, it’s getting cold.” Natsume Mio picked up a piece of roasted meat and put it in her mouth, chewing away.
Sakamoto Ken kept smiling and picked up a piece of fried pork cutlet.
This convenience store fried pork cutlet definitely wasn’t as crispy as one freshly fried at a restaurant, but the taste was still pretty good.
“How is it?” Natsume Mio asked full of expectation.
“…Not bad.” Sakamoto Ken gave a vague response and buried his head in eating.
He had thought Natsume Mio would use the chance of having lunch together to confess or something, he had even prepared his rejection lines, but she didn’t mention “dating” or “like” at all.
“A Jian, I read the latest chapter of 《Chainsaw Man》, Denji is really so cool!” Natsume Mio chatted about his manga in the tone of a pure fan.
“Is that so.”
“And Miss Makima is really charming too.” Natsume Mio said, tilting her head and brushing her braid at the back of her head.
Sakamoto Ken’s chewing paused for a moment.
Here it comes, catering to preferences, that’s your trick, huh.
Sakamoto Ken nodded lightly and said, “I like Makima a lot too.”
“Hey…” Natsume Mio pressed her hands on the table, leaning her body forward a bit, but since she was wearing a crewneck T-shirt inside, nothing white and fluffy appeared.
She continued, “A Jian, the heroine of 《Chainsaw Man》 is Makima, right?”
“If this heroine refers to the main female character, then yes.” Sakamoto Ken’s answer was very precise.
Natsume Mio pondered Sakamoto Ken’s words and said, “Meaning, there are other ‘main female characters’?”
“Of course.” Sakamoto Ken shrugged and said, “This is shonen manga, it’s normal to have lots of heroines.”
“Oh…” Mio didn’t seem disappointed or anything, instead she smiled and said, “Then A Jian has to draw all the heroines interestingly.”
“Of course.” Sakamoto Ken patted his chest in guarantee, “Absolutely interesting.”
“But, it just feels like Denji is a bit of a playboy.” Natsume Mio said.
“It’s harem shonen manga, and even in reality, there are cases where lots of girls like the same guy.” Sakamoto Ken said, “Actually, it’s quite reasonable.”
“You’re not talking about yourself, are you.” Natsume Mio gave Sakamoto Ken a look.
“Hm?” Sakamoto Ken was slightly taken aback, but Natsume Mio’s next words dispelled his doubts.
“You got lots of love letters from girls in high school, right.” Natsume Mio said.
Oh, it’s about that, no problem then, he thought she was going to say he got yandere tropes from lots of girls…
Sakamoto Ken kept smiling and said, “Anyway, I didn’t agree to any of them.”
“Mm mm…” Natsume Mio nodded lightly, not continuing the topic.
She knew very well how many girls had chased Sakamoto Ken back then; those plastic sisters, she remembered them all.
Good thing A Jian wasn’t snatched away…
Natsume Mio chewed the roasted meat, and with a gulp in her throat, swallowed it down.
“A Jian, speaking of which… I recently had a dream about a scumbag.”
Natsume Mio had a very thoughtful expression and said: “In that dream, the scumbag was also a manga artist, also named Sakamoto Ken, and also my boyfriend…”
Sakamoto Ken’s eyes narrowed slightly, catching one key point, that last “also,” probably deliberately said “by accident.”
“And then?”
Sakamoto Ken followed up, then buried his head in eating.
“And then…” Natsume Mio said in a seemingly lighthearted joking tone, “Then we just butchered him, duh.”
Sakamoto Ken’s chopsticks paused slightly, and in a steady tone, he asked: “Who?”
“Us, the three of us who were secretly dating the dead scumbag.”
“Heh…” Sakamoto Ken barely squeezed out half a smile and said, “Is that so, what are their names?”
“I don’t know…” Natsume Mio pursed her lips and said, “In that dream, I could only see myself and A Jian clearly… Haha, not you, the scumbag A Jian in the dream, everyone else’s faces were blurry.”
“Oh, then don’t overthink it.” Sakamoto Ken breathed a slight sigh of relief and said evenly: “You’re thinking too much, I’m a manga artist, but I can’t be a scumbag, and even less likely to date before becoming a bestselling writer.”
Natsume Mio just said “oh,” seeming a bit disappointed.
“What, I’m not a scumbag and you’re disappointed?” Sakamoto Ken said.
