Chapter 59: Haruna’s Winning Costume Set
At the other end of Tokyo.
Shibuya Ward, Shoto, the Mikazuki family’s villa.
The corner of the first floor lobby has now been transformed into a manga studio.
The sky had already darkened, but the specially installed high-color-rendering lights illuminated the entire area brightly.
In the air, the scent of paper, the aroma of ink, and the enticing aroma drifting from the kitchen direction permeated.
Shijiyuan handed a page of the just-completed inked refined draft to Mikazuki Haruna.
She gently moved her somewhat sore wrist while sighing, “To be honest, Haruna Sensei, your storyboards are drawn way too fast. How did you come up with so much plot? Every time I try to draw manga myself, my mind goes blank, and I can’t think of any good story at all.”
“It’s alright~ Plots and such come naturally when I start drawing.”
Haruna took the manuscript and carefully looked at the lines on it, thinking to herself: But this plot wasn’t something I came up with~
Oh, no, that’s not right. I dreamed it up with my own ability, so that counts as me coming up with it.
Haruna looked at Shijiyuan and said seriously, “I’ve seen your art book, Shijiyuan-san. Even if it’s just publishing an art book, there will absolutely be people who love it.”
Hearing this, Shijiyuan scratched her head a bit embarrassedly. “Really? I don’t actually have much confidence… I plan to try selling doujinshi at this year’s C88.”
“I’ll definitely go support you then!” Haruna said.
“Then thank you, Miyuki Haru Sensei~”
“We will definitely buy one too, Shijiyuan-san!” The assistants chimed in.
“I really want someone to look at my underwear with a disgusted expression. Just thinking about it is interesting.”
Laughter immediately erupted in the studio, and the atmosphere was very relaxed.
Shijiyuan returned to her seat. When Haruna had some free time, she habitually opened the JUMP+ webpage on the computer to check her manga’s data and comment section.
The number of comments has increased quite a bit again.
She excitedly scrolled through the comments on the screen, the corners of her mouth turning up.
Ever since the remake went online, the positive comments in the comment section had visibly increased.
Many readers were exclaiming over the exquisite quality of the illustrations, especially the depiction of the heroine’s legs and pantyhose, which was absolutely top-tier.
After admiring the comment section contentedly for a while, she clicked into the 《Chainsaw Man》 homepage.
When she saw that comment count still higher than hers by double digits, the smile on the girl’s face instantly froze, and her little mouth pouted.
“Hmph, although the popularity is still higher than mine, the gap is shrinking.”
Haruna said to the assistants, “Everyone, our popularity is rising fast. We must completely defeat that 《Chainsaw Man》!”
She paused, then added, “When our monthly ticket votes exceed 《Chainsaw Man》, I’ll give everyone an extra month’s bonus!”
“Yes!” The four assistants responded in unison, their morale high.
“With Shijiyuan Sensei here, our illustrations are absolutely the best!”
Shijiyuan followed up, “Don’t worry, Miyuki Haru Sensei. Even if we work overtime, we’ll definitely deliver the most perfect illustrations.”
Mikazuki Haruna nodded in satisfaction and said, “Good! Also, the chief editor is already arranging the weekly magazine scheduling. Although we gave up the most recent serialization slot to that Chainsaw Man guy because of the remade illustrations, the next one will definitely be ours.”
Everyone was full of energy until half an hour later, when Kazuko Aunt came over from the restaurant and called everyone to eat.
Kazuko Aunt had professionally studied culinary skills, and the four assistants now waited until after dinner every day before leaving, essentially freeloading a star chef’s skills daily.
And all the best ingredients too. They wouldn’t dare order like this at a store.
After dinner, the four assistants left together, fully satisfied.
Mikazuki Haruna tidied up the manuscripts on the workbench alone, humming a tuneless little tune as she returned to her room on the third floor.
The courtyard was especially quiet at night. She sat at the desk in her room, but her heart was not calm.
Tomorrow was Friday.
In the evening, she would be able to see that Sakamoto Ken.
She had specially asked the chief editor to arrange a surprise, just to see what kind of reaction he would have upon seeing her.
Because she had a bold idea.
If she kept seeing him repeatedly in her dreams, then… what about him?
Was it possible that he actually knew her too?
That side profile glimpsed in the Shueisha corridor, though only for an instant, matched the outline in her memory.
But she couldn’t completely rule out that she had seen wrong, so she had to confirm it face-to-face carefully.
She took out the sketchbook from the drawer and flipped it open. Several consecutive pages were sketches of the same person.
“Pat.”
She closed the sketchbook, got up, and went to the walk-in closet, pulling open the cabinet door.
What to wear tomorrow?
The girl’s slender fingers glided over the rows of neatly hung skirts.
Finally, she took out a black dress.
The neckline and cuffs of the dress had delicate lace trim, the cinched waist design perfectly outlining the curve of her waist, and the skirt hem had just the right amount of fullness.
Just the dress wasn’t enough.
She pulled open the drawer below specially for socks, all of which were black.
Pantyhose, thigh-high socks, knee-high socks… various styles and thicknesses, all available.
She picked up a few to look at, finally selecting a pair of thin pantyhose with delicate subtle patterns.
It was clearly just attending a work-related live broadcast event, but her mood right now felt like going on a long-awaited date.
That person from her dreams could be considered… a dream lover, right?
She placed the dress and selected pantyhose on the low cabinet beside her, then picked a black lace set from the underwear drawer.
Although others couldn’t see what underwear she wore inside—after all, her breasts weren’t large enough to show cleavage, and the underwear would be completely covered by the dress.
Still, it had to match the dress well, even if it was just for herself to see.
She quickly took off her loungewear and changed into the full outfit.
Standing in front of the full-length mirror, she turned around in satisfaction, the skirt hem tracing a flowing arc.
Next, she sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the pantyhose.
She rolled up the pantyhose into a bunch, her warm palm feeling the delicate soft texture of the fabric.
She slightly lifted one foot, her pearly petite toes curling up slightly, flexibly slipping into the bundle of deep black silk fabric like a little fish.
The pair she was wearing had reinforced toes, since she planned to wear small leather shoes tomorrow, not open-toed sandals.
If wearing sandals, she would choose the transparent toe style to make the toes look more beautiful.
The fabric smoothly wrapped her toes. As she pulled upward, the slightly sheer black layer extended inch by inch, passing her rounded ankle, wrapping her shapely calf, covering her knee, and continuing upward until her waist.
She tightened the crotch, smoothed the legs over her hips, and finally pulled the waistband to her lower abdomen, the highly elastic fabric enveloping her entire lower abdomen.
Facing the mirror, she struck the pose of the heroine in her manga, lightly pointing her toe and stepping on the low stool.
The black delicate fabric reflected a soft sheen under the walk-in closet lights.
She looked at herself in the mirror, very satisfied.
This was the set.
She took off all the clothes again and neatly folded them on top of the low cabinet.
This was tomorrow’s winning costume set!
