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Over at Utaha Kasumigaok's side—
With a skeptical look and a critical mindset, Utaha opened the light novel Sonoko Machida had lent her as "reference material."
The very first scene made her eyes go wide.
"Pale skin, gorgeous looks, long straight black hair… likes wearing black stockings, white headband, and—oh look—she's also a genius, beautiful light novel author? Why don't you just put my real name in there while you're at it!"
Grumbling as she flipped the pages, Utaha kept reading about the heroine, Tsukimiya Miyabi.
Wake up.
The more she read, the redder her face got.
"What the hell is this?! Who even writes like this? Was this written by some kouhai with a crush on me? This Tsukimi Miyabi is literally me! And her personality is just like Sayuka's too!"
"And this tsundere, blonde twin-tail, illustrator, rich-girl Nagi Yoshino… don't tell me that's supposed to be that person…"
The image of a certain blonde twin-tail she had worked with before—the illustrator for her own books, who also happened to have a crush on her—flashed through her mind.
No need to think too hard. That had to be Eri.
Utaha was getting restless, so she immediately called Sonoko Machida.
Sonoko answered with a cheerful tone.
"Hey, Uta-chan, what's up? Calling me at this hour—something happen?"
Utaha bit her lip, irritated.
"Sonoko, you totally did this on purpose!"
"Oh? How exactly did I do something on purpose? Uta-chan, don't make things up."
"Hmph, the Miyabi in this novel is clearly modeled after me! That's copyright infringement! And the personality overlaps with Sayuka too!"
Sonoko stifled her laughter and replied in mock seriousness.
"But Sayuka isn't a light novel author, right? And besides, Twilight Sky-sensei's heroine is Tsukimiya Miyabi—how is that infringement?"
Utaha puffed up her cheeks, pouting.
"Who does that guy think he is?! Putting me in his book as the heroine… it's so awkward to read!"
It almost felt like she was dating the male lead. Utterly embarrassing.Well, maybe that's what happens when you can really picture yourself in the role.
Some people in online games even confuse their in-game wife with their real life…
Sonoko finally let out a chuckle.
"So you do find it familiar. How about I introduce you two? You could even date, maybe?"
Utaha rolled her eyes.
"No thanks on the dating, but I wouldn't mind meeting him."
Right now, she was genuinely curious about this "Twilight Sky."
After all, to write a heroine whose personality, identity, and appearance were exactly like hers… the author had to know her really well.
Could it be that he'd been watching her all this time? Maybe even secretly in love with her?
Sonoko smiled at her reaction and said slowly:
"Utaha, now you see how important real-life inspiration is, huh?"
"Twilight Sky-sensei just took your image and put it into his story, and it turned out perfectly—readers love it."
"I mean, you are a total beauty. What guy wouldn't want to date you?"
"Oh, by the way, Twilight Sky-sensei goes to your school. And he's a first-year—so, your kouhai."
Sonoko's teasing made Utaha's heart skip a beat.
"Seriously? What are the odds?"
"Wait… don't tell me he just dumped all his romantic fantasies into this novel?!"
Wanting to date her? Yeah, as if she'd be that easy.
"Novels are all about fantasy, Uta-chan. I'm not saying you should stop imagining stuff, but your first volume is confirmed to be a realistic school romance, remember?"
"If the second volume suddenly throws in some magical powers out of nowhere, it'll feel totally disconnected—especially since the first volume didn't foreshadow anything. Like, having the heroine jump off a building and survive just to give a long confession to the male lead? Only you could come up with something like that!"
Utaha's face flushed at Sonoko's jab.
"Sonoko, you don't have to rub salt in my wounds like that."
"Hmph, if you know what's wrong, then get back to writing already. I'm still looking forward to your second volume being amazing. As for Twilight Sky-sensei's contact info—ask him yourself on Twitter."
And with that, Sonoko hung up.
Utaha pouted, then picked the book back up.
Her expression soured again.
In the novel, Tsukimi Miyabi was being a total sharp-tongued queen to the male lead.
Not only that, she liked to stomp on his foot with her black stockings.
"As if I'd ever do something like that! What is this guy, some kind of pervy foot fetishist?"
Even as she grumbled in her head, Utaha's curiosity toward Twilight Sky only grew stronger.
Who exactly was he?
Was he secretly watching her all this time?
Otherwise, how could he make Miyabi exactly like her?
Utaha had never been interested in stuff like this before, but thanks to this novel, for the first time… she was really, really interested in someone.
..
He still had no idea that Sonoko Machida had secretly helped him out, which ended up making the beautiful black-stocking senpai curious about him.
After finishing his writing quota for the day, he hopped onto an online game.
The moment he logged in, his in-game "wife," Ako, spammed him with a flood of heart emojis.
"Darling Tenjin-kun! You're finally here! Waaah, Ako's been waiting for you forever!"
"Uh… Ako, don't tell me you've been online this whole time?"
Andrew was speechless. Yep, no doubt about it—she was a hardcore gamer girl.
Tamaki Ako: "Yup! I've been here waiting for hubby to log in! And it was worth it—hubby finally came!"
Andrew sighed and cut straight to the point. "Alright then, let's team up and run a dungeon. But seriously—no healing the boss again, got it?"
Tamaki Ako: "Mhm mhm! Don't worry, darling! I practiced while you were gone!"
Fast-forward to the end of the run—his character's corpse was now lying there on the screen, silently telling the tale of the brutal beatdown they just suffered.
Ako was so bad at this.Her so-called "effort" was basically charging ahead like a tank… as a healer.
Andrew just stared at the screen, completely helpless.What do you even do when your online wife sucks this much at gaming?He really wanted to give her some real-life coaching.
Still, even though she'd dragged him down, he kept playing with Ako for a while before logging off.He wasn't totally sure if she was really that hardcore gamer girl he suspected… but if she was, then he'd hit the jackpot.
After logging out, Andrew stretched, got up, and left his room.It was time to go pick up his little angel, Mahiru!
Once his manuscript payment came in, there was no way he was letting her keep working at Ayako's shop.
Sure, Ayako was beautiful, kind, and had a perfect figure, but Andrew still wanted Mahiru to spend her time hanging out with him at the club room.No way was he letting her stay stuck in that part-time job.
At the convenience store, Andrew smiled and greeted Mahiru and Asada Shino."Yo, afternoon, Mahiru. You too, Asada."
"Mm, afternoon. Did you come to buy something, Mu-kun?"
Shina Mahiru's cheeks turned pink when she saw him, probably remembering their more… intimate moments together.
Asada Shino nodded back in greeting, looking more relaxed now that her shift was nearly over.
After saying hi, Andrew went over to the snack aisle and grabbed some treats.
Once they got off work, he naturally walked the two girls home.
When Asada Shino got home, Andrew boldly took Mahiru's soft, delicate hand in his and started strolling slowly, feeling happy.
Mahiru glanced down at their hands—his warm palm holding her pale, dainty fingers—her cheeks turning even redder, but she didn't pull away.There was no one else around, so if he wanted to hold her hand… she'd let him.
Being led along like this gave her a strange sense of comfort.
Back home, Mahiru of course cooked dinner.
After they ate, she quickly went to wash the dishes.Once she was done, she took off her apron, hung it on the kitchen wall, and was about to leave—
—when suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind.
Andrew's voice was low and warm, his lips close to her delicate ear, his breath hot against her skin.
"My angel… where do you think you're going?"
Mahiru's face heated up instantly. She instinctively squirmed in his arms, then looked up at him shyly for a second before lowering her head again."Back to sleep… where else?" she mumbled.
Andrew turned her around so she faced him, pulling her into his arms again."Sleep here, with me. I'll teach you something new tonight."
The girl rolled her eyes at him."What could a bad guy like you possibly teach me? Just admit you wanna mess with me."
Andrew grinned, scooped her up in his arms, and started carrying her toward the bedroom."Looks like my Mahiru knows me too well. Let's go do something fun."
What could Mahiru do? Her body had already gone soft in his arms.
He laid her gently on the bed, her face burning as she curled up slightly.
Andrew didn't hesitate—he leaned down and covered her soft lips with his.
He wasn't the type to get bored and move on.Every one of his companions deserved his care and affection.
Besides, he was still planning to help Mahiru keep boosting his super-recovery ability.And once she awakened her own powers as his companion, she'd be safer too.
So of course he had to "recharge" his little angel whenever there was time—help her awaken her ability as soon as possible.
Night had fallen deep.With hearts pounding and breaths quickening, the two of them grew even closer, that sweet feeling between them sparking once more.
"..."
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