"I'm very sorry, I'll be more careful next time!" Izumi Yu said with a serious expression.
"Forget it. Since you're so sincere, Izumi-sensei, I'll forgive you." Eriri sniffed softly, then quickly shifted the topic. She pointed toward the stack of art books piled neatly on the table and declared proudly, "These are all my works. I'll give you and Eromanga-sensei the two latest doujinshi later."
"Thank you very much, Ms. Kashiwagi," Izumi Yu nodded, his tone polite as he expressed gratitude.
"These are my masterpieces," Eriri continued, puffing up with pride. "I'm sure you've seen some of them. After all, my doujinshi always sell well. As a fellow creator, Mr. Izumi, you must have at least flipped through them before, right?"
"Yeah… okay, okay…" Izumi Yu muttered, nodding halfheartedly. His attention was already drifting elsewhere.
His eyes landed on a drawing board at the side of the room. On it was a provocative scene: a handsome boy tying up a twin-tailed girl, her wrists bound behind her neck. Tears welled in her eyes, yet her expression betrayed no resistance—only voluntary submission. Beside it were several unfinished sketches with similar themes, daring and explicit.
Outside the imagined door, in Izumi Yu's mind's narration, a poor otaku wept while listening to his childhood sweetheart being toyed with by a stronger boy. He and his brother cried bitter tears of despair.
Izumi Yu touched his chin, staring thoughtfully at the piece.
"Is this… Ms. Kashiwagi's new work?" His voice carried both surprise and disbelief.
Why did it feel so familiar? The scene wasn't something he had seen in real life, yet the characters on the page were uncomfortably close to reality. Too close.
"Huh?! Wha—?!" Eriri froze on the spot, struck as if by lightning. Her face went pale, her entire body stiffening as the smile on her lips collapsed into panic.
It was over. Completely over.
She had forgotten to hide it.
Her latest draft—the one directly inspired by real life—was right there in the open. And now Izumi Yu had seen it.
A heat worse than death flooded her chest. Shame tore through her, clawing her lungs, making her scalp tingle. Her whole body screamed to disappear.
No! This is the one thing I can't let him see!
The humiliation made her want to curl up, dig a hole, and vanish inside forever.
"Stop looking!" she blurted out, rushing forward, desperate to cover the board.
"Huh? I think it looks pretty good," Izumi Yu said honestly, blinking in confusion. "Ms. Kashiwagi's technique has improved a lot. The figures are vivid, the emotions are so lifelike—"
"Stop talking!!" Eriri snapped, her face scarlet. Praise only made the shame worse.
She lunged at him, yanking the drawing board against her chest, shielding it with her whole body. Her golden twin tails swayed wildly with the motion, her flushed face trembling between anger and desperation.
She was a mess—her heart pounding violently, her mind short-circuiting, her whole body trembling as though it might collapse.
[Looking at the humiliated girl trembling in front of you, a wicked idea blooms in your head. You could declare your dominance right now: "Hey, Eriri-chan, I know your secret. From today, you're mine. Become my loyal dog and dedicate both your body and soul to me!" Surely, once you say this, she'll submit to you completely, becoming your toy forever.]
Huh?! Wait. That doesn't sound like sovereignty—that sounds like a birth certificate declaration!
Izumi Yu's mouth twitched as he ignored the narrator's ridiculous suggestion.
The room fell into silence. Izumi Yu and Eriri stared at one another. She clutched the drawing board tight, trembling like a rabbit cornered by a wolf. Sweat dripped down her fair face, her body tense with mortification.
This piece had been born out of sudden inspiration last night. At the time, she hadn't thought much about it. She just drew with the feverish intensity of creation.
But now, with Izumi Yu's eyes on it, she realized the terrible truth. The characters—weren't they practically lifted straight from reality?
"Hey… Izumi," Eriri finally spoke, her voice quivering, guilt written across her delicate face. "You… you saw everything, didn't you?"
Her slender frame trembled, her breathing uneven. The girl looked ready to collapse at any second.
Covering one's ears while stealing a bell—she remembered the old idiom vividly. And now she was living it. She wanted to pretend he hadn't seen anything, but reality was merciless.
"If you're asking whether I saw it… then yes, I saw it all," Izumi Yu replied honestly.
Lying would've been pointless. He had already described the content aloud. Pretending ignorance now would only insult them both.
"H-ha…ha…"
The sound escaped Eriri's lips like air leaking from a balloon. Her body crumpled, her legs giving out beneath her. She collapsed to the floor, her slender legs clad in white silk folding beneath her in an awkward Z-shape. Her thighs, long and pale, only deepened the awkward beauty of the scene.
Her fair cheeks burned crimson, steam seeming to rise from her head.
It was over. Completely over.
Her work—her secret—exposed.
Izumi Yu would think she was a pervert. A degenerate. A hopeless nympho.
Her heart clenched with humiliation.
"Ms. Kashiwagi's art is excellent," Izumi Yu said gently, watching her curled up in despair. "The composition is solid, and the emotional intensity is… impressive."
Yet as he spoke, his eyes betrayed him, drawn helplessly to her.
Eriri's combination of white silk, pleated skirt, and delicate, slender figure was dangerously captivating. Even if he tried not to notice, it was impossible to ignore.
Her face, too—flushed and exquisite—radiated a fragile allure that was nearly irresistible.
"Don't… don't say any more!" Eriri wailed, twisting on the ground, her shame mounting higher with each word of praise. Her whole body writhed as though trying to escape her own skin.
"Since Ms. Kashiwagi doesn't wish to discuss it further, I'll drop the subject," Izumi Yu finally relented. He tore his gaze away from her, his lips curling into a faint smile.
I have to say, Eriri's legs are really something else.
Seeing them in person had an impact that no picture on the internet could ever hope to match. Smooth, pale, and wrapped in that thin layer of white silk, they were like an artist's dream made flesh.
So much so, in fact, that Izumi Yu found himself momentarily tempted by that ridiculous suggestion the narrator had thrown out earlier.
Eriri, however, seemed determined to recover at least a shred of dignity. She forced herself to rise from the ground, still flushed scarlet, and straightened her clothes with trembling hands. She took a deep breath, raised her chin, and stared directly at Izumi Yu with eyes that burned with desperation.
"Tell me," she demanded, her voice tight, "what do you want me to do with this secret?!"
"Huh?!" Izumi Yu blinked in confusion, taken aback by the girl's sudden declaration. She looked like she had given up everything, as if ready to sign away her soul at any moment.
Hold on. Why was she acting like this? He hadn't said anything weird, had he? Did she seriously think he was some kind of scumbag who thrived on blackmail?
Had he crossed into some strange other world where logic worked differently?
Eriri's expression was both ashamed and defiant as she pressed on, "Anyway… you're planning to use what just happened to blackmail me, right? You're going to spread the word—that I'm a frivolous girl, using the man I just met and myself as material for my creations…" Her voice cracked slightly. "You'll use it as leverage to make me obey you… or even put a collar on me, just like the plots in my doujinshi…"
Her words trailed off, but her face only grew redder. Her breathing grew heavy, chest rising and falling rapidly, as if some dangerous combination of humiliation and excitement was coursing through her veins.
It was as though she had unintentionally wandered into her own fantasy, the very kind she wrote about.
Her delicate fingers twisted nervously at the hem of her skirt, a restless habit that betrayed her inner turmoil.
Watching her like this, Izumi Yu felt himself wavering. Her hidden side had come alive, trembling between shame and exhilaration, and the energy was almost contagious. Against his will, he felt a stir of excitement.
He could ask for something unreasonable now, and she probably wouldn't refuse. She might even pretend to resist, only to reluctantly accept.
But then the narrator had to step in again.
[However, her parents will be home in three minutes. You need to resolve this exhilarating battle within those three minutes, otherwise the entire encounter will be broadcast live to her family. You can invite her parents to join the battle, or you can choose to silence them. Before that, you'll need to fetch the appropriate props from the upstairs locker…]
[Current progress: The girl has activated 3/5 hidden attributes!]
[Friendly reminder: When all attributes are fully unlocked, unexpected benefits will be revealed!]
Izumi Yu nearly spat blood.
What the hell was this voice in his head even talking about?!
Even he, usually calm and detached, was thrown for a loop. Eriri had hidden attributes? She would "reluctantly" accept? What kind of absurd RPG stat screen was this supposed to be?
And three minutes? What kind of insult was that? He'd said it before and he'd say it again—it had to be thirty minutes, minimum!
This was outright slander.
And that locker upstairs… the way the narrator described it made it sound like some cursed treasure chest hiding horrors that should remain untouched.
Besides, Mrs. Sayuri and Mr. Sawamura returning home in three minutes was a terrifyingly real possibility. At his current speed, he'd be caught red-handed for sure. Doing anything reckless in someone else's home was just asking for trouble.
Even if Eriri wanted to tempt him later, he'd have to refuse—reluctantly, of course.
Still, he couldn't help but piece together the narrator's rambling hints. The so-called "hidden attributes" seemed tied to what he'd already noticed about Eriri: her taste for humiliation-themed art, her obsession with twintails, and her tendency to get carried away by her own creations.
But what were those "unexpected benefits"?
Izumi Yu couldn't deny that he was curious. Very curious.
But this was hardly the time to dwell on such things. The girl in front of him was flushed crimson, teetering between shame and excitement, her mind clearly overheating. If he didn't say something soon, her CPU would fry on the spot.
"Eh? What strange things are you talking about, Kashiwagi-sensei?" Izumi Yu finally spoke, raising an eyebrow as if genuinely puzzled. "Isn't it perfectly normal for art to draw inspiration from life? Art comes from life. In fact, I consider it a great honor to be used as your material. Even better, to be used alongside you."
The words slipped out smoothly, but even as he said them, Izumi Yu knew how dangerous they sounded.
Still, he couldn't help it. Apart from the character settings, the figures in her sketches hardly resembled them—different hair colors, different features. It wasn't like he felt insulted.
If anything, he was… intrigued.
And more than that, the fact that Eriri had produced such a work hinted at something deeper. Perhaps her heart had already shifted in a subtle way.
The corner of his lips tugged upward in amusement.
Everything was going smoother than expected.
Sorry, Aki Tomoya, Izumi Yu thought wickedly. Your childhood sweetheart? She's mine now.
"H-huh?!" Eriri blinked at him in disbelief, her lips parting slightly. She hadn't expected such an answer at all. Her eyes widened as she stammered, "It's… it's an honor? To be with me?!"
Her shame-flushed face bloomed into a softer shade of pink, caught between embarrassment and something warmer.
She had been bracing herself for Izumi Yu to turn into a scumbag, ready to resign herself to being blackmailed. Instead, he had blindsided her with something even more lethal than a confession.
Her heart thudded so loudly she thought he might hear it. Her vision blurred slightly, dizziness overtaking her as if she were floating.
There were confessions, and then there were words like this—words with far sharper impact.
More terrifying than a love confession itself… is someone saying they want to be your R18 material.
"Isn't what I said clear enough?" Izumi Yu leaned closer, his smile gentle but undeniably teasing. "Or is it that Kashiwagi-sensei didn't quite understand?"
"No… no…" Eriri shook her head frantically, her twin tails bouncing as she tried to hide her expression. Her hands squeezed tightly at her skirt as she muttered shyly, "Don't say such embarrassing things so bluntly!"
Her awkwardness was palpable. This girl, who always acted prideful, had no idea what to do when faced with such straightforward words.
Seeing her like this, Izumi Yu couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Then… Kashiwagi-sensei shouldn't have to worry anymore, right?"
"Even if you say that…" Eriri's voice trailed off as her eyes darted away. She peeked back at him with a troubled, conflicted look. "It's still… hard to feel at ease."
"Oh?" Izumi Yu raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. "Then what should I do?" He tilted his head thoughtfully, then offered, "How about this—Kashiwagi-sensei could give me a small benefit to bribe me. That way you can feel reassured."
"Huh?! W-wait, that might actually work…" Eriri froze for a moment, then nodded slowly as if considering it seriously. But almost instantly, her brow furrowed. "But… what could I possibly offer?"
She bit her lip, glancing at him uneasily. "Izumi-sensei isn't short on money. Apart from that… I don't think I have anything else I could use to bribe you."
Her voice was small, hesitant, but filled with genuine worry.