The next day.
Early in the morning, Rin Ito arrived at Sagiri's house just after her brother had left for school. Using his key to open the door, the house was silent. The excellent lighting in the living room, with the curtains undrawn, proved that Sagiri was still asleep. If Sagiri had come out to shower or look for food, the first thing she would do would be to draw all the curtains... Sagiri's psychological shadow was quite vast.
The detached house had a fence around the yard, so no one could see her even without the curtains drawn, but the first thing she did when she left her room was to draw all the curtains.
Arriving at Sagiri's bedroom door, Rin Ito first knocked. Seeing no response, Rin Ito cautiously opened the door. The cold air from the air conditioner immediately brought a chill. In the dimly lit room, with the curtains drawn, the petite Sagiri was curled up in a blanket. She's still sleeping in despite the approaching deadline!
This wasn't the first time Rin Ito had entered her room while Sagiri was asleep. The first time, Sagiri was very resistant, but now... she was used to it. The computer screen on the desk was black, with only the hard drive indicator light still blinking.
Rin Ito didn't turn on the light to wake Sagiri but sat on the carpet and moved the mouse to wake the screen. In the dimly lit room, the screen light was a bit harsh, but Rin Ito didn't adjust the monitor brightness. A digital artist's screen settings should never be tampered with. It would be fine if she were only publishing online, but Sagiri's art was going to be printed in a light novel. Every screen is slightly different. To maintain consistency between the on-screen display and the printed result, an artist's monitor must be adjusted with a professional colorimeter. Wealthy artists would even spend hundreds of thousands of Yen on specialized monitors and calibration equipment and software, where the screen costs more than the computer. Sagiri's laptop screen was very ordinary, but it must have been calibrated, or the printed novel would be unreadable. Rin Ito didn't dare touch the brightness, even though it was easily restored.
After a quick glance, Rin Ito confirmed Sagiri's progress. The content at the beginning of the doujinshi was complete and even meticulously refined. Only the final ending remained to be drawn. In terms of actual drawing time, it would take about one day to complete, but... why is there no storyboard for the ending?
Rin Ito flipped back to the first page and seriously reviewed the doujinshi again. Sagiri's doujinshi plot was simple... a short, twenty-something page doujinshi couldn't have a complex plot, and it was even a bit cliché. The heroine was a slave, a loli cat-girl, who had been locked in a cage since she could remember. Every time she tried to escape, she would be caught and beaten severely. Gradually losing heart, the heroine stopped trying to escape, but due to her flat chest, no one would buy her... The world is so hostile to flat chests!
Sagiri only used one page to convey this part of the plot. Combined with Sagiri's delicate and sensual art style, the heroine appeared pitiful and made one want to bully her severely. One day, the heroine was bought by a passing protagonist and taken home. Arriving at the protagonist's house only meant moving from a small cage to a large one for the heroine. The protagonist wanted the heroine to go outside, but the heroine, who had a psychological trauma about leaving the cage, would instantly collapse and wet herself on the ground as soon as she took one step out the door. The protagonist continuously conditioned the heroine, doing erotic things, buying a plug-in cat tail for the heroine to wear and cosplay as a Nekomata with two cat tails, and so on. Once the heroine became addicted to sex, the protagonist told her that if she didn't try to leave the house, he wouldn't give her sex, not even masturbation. Using sex as a lure, the protagonist gradually got the heroine to try leaving the house. This part of the plot was the longest in the doujinshi. After a series of edging play, the heroine finally took the first step outside the door to achieve climax. The last panel of the last page Sagiri had drawn showed the heroine stepping out the door, then it abruptly stopped.
Humans cannot imagine things they have never seen; even imaginary aliens are cobbled together from known fragments. Although the heroine's appearance in the doujinshi was completely different from Sagiri's, she was definitely projecting herself into the character. What will happen after stepping out the door? Sagiri didn't know. For her, this was the territory of the unknown. The last two pages were drawn by Sagiri yesterday, and Rin Ito only saw them now.
Sagiri had previously considered procrastinating to avoid the deadline, but under Rin Ito's threat of cutting off her internet access, she had no choice but to compromise. However, she hadn't drawn the aftermath of stepping out the door. Sagiri was likely still struggling and hadn't truly made up her mind yet.
Rin Ito turned around and looked at Sagiri...
"What the—!" The silver-haired girl lying on the bed was looking at him with a faint gaze. Rin Ito was startled. "You woke up and didn't say anything? Were you trying to scare me?"
Hearing Rin Ito's words, Sagiri instantly sat up and glared at Rin Ito, hugging the blanket in front of her as if Rin Ito's gaze could penetrate her pajamas and see her body.
"I told you not to come into my room while I'm sleeping!!!" Sagiri, with slightly messy hair, glared at Rin Ito. "H! Pervert! Peeping Tom! Doujinshi Protagonist!"
"I knocked properly, you know." Rin Ito winked and pointedly asked, "Have you figured out the ending?"
Intruding into someone's room without permission is indeed impolite, and Rin Ito wouldn't normally do it. But Sagiri was different; she needed someone to forcefully push her. If everything was left up to her, she would never leave her room in her life.
"Ugh..." A short whimper escaped Sagiri's mouth. Her eyes, which had been glaring at Rin Ito, now looked away due to guilt, and her ten tiny toes curled up together.
"N-Not yet. The ending... I haven't figured it out." Sagiri bit her lower lip. She hadn't figured out the ending of either the manga or her own life.
"Haven't figured out the manga's ending or your own ending?" Rin Ito looked at Sagiri with a half-smile. "So... do you want to try edging just like in your doujinshi?"
Rin Ito wasn't making a casual suggestion. Kaede had already added Sagiri to the Blonde NTR list, and after joining the list, Kaede could view some basic attributes. Although she couldn't see how much milk she had, unlike Kaho with the collar, the basic physical data was visible... such as how many times she had masturbated. Rin Ito didn't know the data before Kaede added her, but based on the system data synced to the phone APP after their frank discussion, Rin Ito could see that Sagiri's masturbation frequency and number of times had increased since that day. She masturbated at least once a day, sometimes two or three times when she was feeling particularly stimulated.
"I... I don't want to! H! Sexual harassment pervert!"
"The things we talk about are usually much more explicit than this, aren't they?" Rin Ito tried to hold back a laugh. Even when Rin Ito thought Sagiri was an old man, they often discussed ero art. Now, their conversations revolved around doujinshi. They'd discussed all kinds of positions and plays, and Rin Ito knew all of Sagiri's fetishes inside and out. Sometimes, to give him reference material, she would strike poses for Eliza to photograph.
However, Sagiri was only an illustrator, not a professional doujinshi artist. Her taste in plays was relatively light, falling within the realm of normal fetishes with nothing particularly unique. Or perhaps, they just hadn't been developed yet, as Sagiri hadn't read many adult manga. The edging plot in her doujinshi was an idea Rin Ito suggested. Although Sagiri's art style was very sensual and refined, it would be a bit monotonous if it were purely a vanilla love story. Adding some vanilla play to enhance the viewing experience was a good idea. Also, the heroine in Sagiri's doujinshi was a cat-girl, and edging a cat-girl in heat was a common trope. What a shame. If only Kaho's collar were on Sagiri, I could perform climax control and prevent her from practicing judo when she wanted to.
"T-Talking is one thing, actually doing it is another!"
"Otherwise, you can do it yourself. I'll just watch and tell you to stop at the critical moment. Don't you masturbate often?"
Hearing Rin Ito say this, Sagiri's face flushed crimson. "Peeping Tom! Did you install a camera in my room!? Pervert!"
"I'm not that desperate. Your face looks exactly like someone who masturbated twice last night."
"Huh?" Sagiri subconsciously rushed to the dressing mirror and scrutinized her face, but after looking carefully for a while, Sagiri didn't feel anything abnormal about her complexion. "How did you know that... You tricked me!"
"Hahahahahaha." Sagiri's widened eyes watched Rin Ito clutch his stomach and laugh. Although he knew through the system, seeing Sagiri so angry after admitting it herself was quite entertaining. Sagiri had no idea Rin Ito was using the answer to find the question and felt utterly tricked.
Sagiri rushed over to Rin Ito and hit him with her tiny fists. But Sagiri, who stayed indoors and rarely exercised, had no strength whatsoever. Before she could land a few blows, she was already panting and flushed. The air she exhaled while panting tickled Rin Ito's face.
"Seriously, do you want to try it... The feeling of extreme suppression followed by release must be similar to how you'll feel when you finally leave the house after staying inside for so long. Maybe it will give you some inspiration?" Rin Ito tempted her.
Honestly, Rin Ito's words made Sagiri's heart flutter a bit.
"You... you get out. I... I'll do it by myself." Although she had a frank discussion with Rin Ito, and even accidentally ingested his fluids and got some on her from Megumi Jinno, masturbating in front of Rin Ito... was too shameful!
"That won't do. When you get too into it, it's hard to control yourself alone, so I need to be here to assist." Rin Ito winked at Sagiri. "Want to try? It'll definitely feel better than doing it yourself."
"You just want my body!" Sagiri glared at Rin Ito angrily. "I used to treat you like a brother, and now you want to have sex with me!"
"Brother, you smell good." Rin Ito held back a laugh, speaking as he would over the internet before meeting her in person.
"Is it really... that comfortable?" Ever since she met Rin Ito and entered the world of R-rated content, Sagiri had started to explore her own body. Although it was comfortable, it was far from what she read in doujinshi. If it's really that comfortable... No, no, no, no!!!!
"No, no, no, no!!! You already have a girlfriend!" If Rin Ito didn't have a girlfriend, Sagiri would genuinely agree. First, Rin Ito was quite good-looking. Then, both of them had the freedom of working from home, and they shared a common language, being able to talk about fetishes and try various plays. Finally... Sagiri didn't know anyone else. Rin Ito had been spending time with Sagiri almost every day recently. Although she was used to being alone, having someone to chat with and look at ero art with seemed quite nice. Sagiri had secretly observed Rin Ito these past few days. When he was looking at ero art or drawing, he sometimes got an erection. In Rin Ito's words, If your own 'dick' isn't satisfied, how can you expect others to be satisfied?
And... she had seen everything Rin Ito had done for her these past few days. If only he didn't have a girlfriend!
"What does having a girlfriend have to do with it?" Rin Ito winked temptingly. "This is for your manga research. It's fine if it's for research. Plus, Kaede even participated in our research session last time. If you don't believe me, ask Mashiro." Of course, Rin Ito couldn't tell Sagiri that Kaede had an NTR fetish. Setting aside whether she had genuinely developed it now or if it was just due to the System Daughter's mission, even if she did, Rin Ito would never tell anyone. After all, Kaede has a reputation to uphold.
"Huh?" Sagiri was stunned. "Really?" Sagiri wasn't stupid. How could a normal girl participate in that kind of research session!? Sagiri picked up her phone and called Mashiro. Mashiro, who was attending class at school, stood up and left the classroom after answering the phone under the gaze of her classmates... It was probably only Mashiro and Kaho who dared to be so blatant.
"Hello."
"Mashiro, you... wait a second." Mashiro's cold voice came through the phone. Sagiri quickly covered the microphone and looked at Rin Ito. "You stay here!"
Going outside her room and closing the door, Sagiri glanced at the bedroom door, still feeling uneasy, and walked over to the front entrance.
"Mashiro, did Kaede participate in your research party last time?"
"Yes, she did."
"Ehh!?? Ugh..." Sagiri instinctively covered her mouth to calm her surprise before continuing. "Did you... did you actually have sex? And Kaede... wasn't she angry?"
"He had sex with me, Hinata, and Suzu, and Kaede wasn't angry."
Sagiri's azure eyes widened. She had sex and wasn't angry!? Although she didn't know who Hinata was, Suzu... Suzu is her sister, right?
"She... she really wasn't angry?"
"Angry? Why would she be angry?" Mashiro tilted her head. "Kaede is his girlfriend. Kaede likes him, and I like him. Shouldn't we be comrades?"
"...?" Mashiro's logic was so sound that Sagiri couldn't refute it!
Next step: Sagiri seems to be on the verge of accepting, especially now that Mashiro has convinced her that Kaede is fine with it. Rin Ito will likely take advantage of this moment to gently push her further into the research.