"Here, sign this too."
"Okay."
In the office, Takashi and Sagiri sat on the couch, signing the contract.
Once everything was signed, Takashi double-checked it carefully. Confirming all was in order, he handed it to Ogitsu Yoshiko.
Looking at the contract's terms—"90-10 revenue split", "five-year term", "breach requires surrendering the Eromanga account", "priority renewal rights"—her eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
If anyone's a shark, it's Takashi.
This wasn't just bloodsucking.
This was marrow extraction.
All that can be said is—he dared to propose it, and she dared to sign.
"Then we'll be heading out." Takashi stood up.
"Alright."
After leaving Ogitsu Yoshiko's office, Takashi led Sagiri to the common lounge.
There, on one of the lounge chairs, Shirogane Kei was fiddling with her phone.
At her feet was a large bag—no, multiple large bags—filled with snacks.
"Are you treating our company like a department store and restocking here?"
Takashi chuckled as he plopped down beside her and casually grabbed a box of chips from the bag, tearing it open and munching away.
"Senpai, I didn't want to… but the older brothers and sisters in the company insisted on giving them to me," Shirogane Kei explained with a troubled expression.
She, like her brother, wasn't good at refusing people.
Especially when others were offering kindness.
"If they gave it to you, just take it."
Takashi tossed a chip into his mouth and even offered one to Shirogane Kei.
"If I take them, will it cause trouble for you, senpai?" Shirogane Kei was worried that if she accepted the snacks, those people might use her connection with Takashi to ask him for favors.
Just like in the dramas.
Her tone was filled with concern, but as Takashi held the chip by her lips, she still opened her mouth and ate it.
"You're just too cute."
Takashi couldn't help but pinch her soft, delicate cheeks.
"Isn't it possible they're just giving you stuff because you're cute?"
He knew very well that these shrewd people in the company were trying to use Shirogane Kei to build a relationship with him.
After all, he was currently at the top of Japan's entertainment industry.
Who wouldn't want to cozy up to the top star to get more attention?
As for other motives? Probably none—at least, not for now.
'Cute. Senpai said I'm cute. Hehehehe…'
Shirogane Kei was doing somersaults in her heart, but she kept her cool.
Instead of blushing like a tsundere, she merely tilted her head and feigned displeasure: "Senpai, can you not be so shallow? Don't call every girl you see cute."
"I don't say it to every girl. I've only said it to you, Kei." As he spoke, Takashi continued feeding chips to Sagiri.
Sagiri didn't really want to eat. She lightly poked the chip with her finger, trying to push it away.
Takashi shot her a glare, and she immediately caved, opening her mouth.
"I don't believe you, senpai," Shirogane Kei turned her upper body away from him, giving him a perfectly shaped back of her head.
"I bet you say that to all the girls on your phone."
Though she was complaining, inside her head she was screaming: 'Ahhh, he said he only says that to me!'
'Really? He wouldn't lie to me, right?'
'No way… right?'
'I can't turn around. If he sees my face, I'll be exposed!'
'Wait, why did senpai say I'm cute?'
'Is… is he about to confess?!'
'In manga, they always call the girl cute before confessing!'
'If senpai really confesses later… should I accept right away, or play hard to get?'
Takashi noticed her ears had turned completely red.
Clearly, she was embarrassed.
Just like her brother.
Clearly head over heels, but refusing to say it—wanting the other person to notice and confess first.
To people like that, Takashi could only say: Don't learn from them!
This isn't an anime, and you're not the protagonist.
How do you know no one else will fall for the same person during your long silent pining?
Confessions in anime might take years, but in real life—especially among adults—time is precious. Who has one or two years to chase someone they might never win over?
What is this, a tragic drama?
Takashi liked to act cool, but he hated when others pretended in front of him.
Besides, he really wanted to see the cold and composed Shirogane Kei blush and fluster in front of him.
He leaned in close to her ear, almost like whispering a secret: "I've sweet-talked many girls before, and I've called a lot of them cute."
Shirogane Kei had seen his whole harem lineup.
He couldn't just deny it.
Too fake.
"But this time, I mean it."
"Kei, you're really cute."
"Super, super cute."
Because girls like Shirogane Kei, who pretend they don't care, actually love hearing praise—especially from someone they like.
Just like how she reacts to compliments about her brother.
She'll list out his flaws, yet secretly feel proud.
If you take her outward complaints at face value and stop complimenting, you're just dumb.
If you can't tell when a girl is being tsundere, you deserve to be single.
Takashi could tell.
Kei wanted him to keep complimenting her. So he did.
Over and over again.
He knew countless sweet lines, but he stuck to this simple, clumsy praise because it felt more sincere.
And he delivered the final blow.
"You're so cute it makes me want to marry you."
Shirogane Kei shot up from her seat.
"I'm going to the bathroom!"
With stiff limbs like a malfunctioning robot, she hurried away.
Click!
As the door to the bathroom closed, she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Her face turned red at visible speed, and steam seemed to rise from her head.
She crouched, covering her burning cheeks.
"I can't."
"My brain's overheating."
"I can't think straight. I'm turning into an idiot."
"Senpai… daisuki?~"
…
'So cute.'
After teasing Shirogane Kei, Takashi turned to Sagiri.
She had been sneaking glances at him, but the moment she realized he was looking back, she shrank away like a cat caught by a giant rat, trembling with fear.
"Don't be scared. I'm not going to eat you," Takashi said with a smile.
But Sagiri still didn't dare speak.
"Sagiri, can I call you that?" Takashi put a hand on her shoulder.
When she tried to pull away, he squeezed her shoulder hard enough to make her freeze.
It hurt too much to move.
"I hope you won't tell your family—your dad, mom, or brother—about our talk today or the contract we signed, okay?" Takashi gently toyed with a strand of her silver hair.
"If you tell them, your dear 'onii-chan' will be very upset."
"And if I'm upset, maybe I'll accidentally leak your personal info online. Then your family might get doxxed by my fans."
"My fans… are quite extreme. You've experienced that, right?"
Just thinking about what Takashi's fans could do made Sagiri's eyes fill with fear.
"Your mom's divorced, and she only recently remarried. If something like this happened… do you really think your new family would still be happy?"
"Sagiri, think about your previous family. You're a smart girl."
"You don't want your mom's hard-won happiness to be ruined because of you, right?"
As Takashi's threats sank in, Sagiri trembled even more. Tears welled up in her eyes again.
She realized she had cried more today than all other days combined.
Gripping his shirt, she nearly sobbed: "I won't say anything."
"I won't tell anyone."
"Please, don't hurt my family."
Takashi smiled with satisfaction, but he still put on a show of sympathy—like an older brother comforting his little sister.
He took out a handkerchief and gently wiped her tears.
"Why are you crying?"
"Onii-chan isn't unreasonable. As long as you listen to me, I won't hurt your family. If you want, I'll even stay out of your life."
"As long as you behave."
Sagiri let him wipe her tears, still clinging to his shirt as she softly promised: "Sagiri will listen to onii-chan."
"Good girl."
Takashi patted her head just as his phone rang.
"Onii-chan has to take a call."
He handed the handkerchief to Sagiri and stepped aside to answer.
"Hey, Workaholic Queen. What's up?" he said playfully, thinking it was Aoyama Nanami.
"Hello, is this Manager Kitahara?"
But the voice on the other end wasn't Nanami—it was a man's voice.
"Yes, this is. Who's speaking?"
"Miss Aoyama collapsed. You're listed as her emergency contact. Could you come over right away?"
Takashi's expression changed slightly. Without saying a word to Sagiri, he strode quickly out of the company.
"Address."
…
"Where's senpai?"
When Shirogane Kei came out of the restroom, she found Takashi gone. Only Sagiri was still sitting there.
"Onii-chan got an urgent call and left," Sagiri said. She wasn't crying anymore.
Because the person who made her cry was no longer there.
"I see."
Kei nodded, but then frowned slightly. "Onii-chan?"
"He told me to call him that."
Seeing Kei's cold expression, Sagiri shrank back and mumbled her explanation.
Shirogane Kei opened her mouth slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but seeing Sagiri's pitiful "please don't bully me" look, she ultimately said nothing.
…
Tokyo, Private Hospital.
"Doctor, how is she?"
The attending physician was a bespectacled woman in her forties.
"And you are?"
"I'm her older brother."
She glanced at Takashi, thinking he looked somewhat familiar.
But at her age, she was long past her idol-chasing years.
Though he seemed to be someone who had appeared on TV, she didn't dwell on it. "This illness is mainly due to fatigue and a bit of malnutrition."
"According to the police who brought her in, she was working at least seven part-time jobs."
Takashi's expression darkened.
He knew Aoyama Nanami worked hard, but he hadn't expected her to be working seven jobs.
"And, does someone in your family have a tendency toward domestic violence?"
Takashi: "?"
"She looks like she's been hit."
Takashi fell silent, though a storm brewed in his eyes.
…
"Ugh…"
When Aoyama Nanami woke up in the hospital bed, everything around her was dark.
If not for the moonlight streaming in through the window, she might have thought she'd gone blind.
With its help, she fumbled for the light switch. When the room lit up, she instinctively closed her eyes.
Only after adjusting to the brightness did she slowly open them.
"You're awake?"
The sudden voice startled her.
She turned her head sharply and saw Takashi sitting in a chair, staring at her with a cold expression.
"M-Manager…"
Nanami scratched her head awkwardly.
"Tell me—how many people have you called 'manager' with that mouth of yours?"
The question sounded strange to Nanami, but she nervously raised four fingers.
Takashi smirked coldly.
Nanami bit her lip and sheepishly added two more fingers.
"The police already invited me for tea. How long are you going to keep pretending?" Takashi said with a chilling smile.
"I'm sorry, manager…"
The pressure from him immediately made Nanami bow her head.
"Let's change the topic. Who hit you in the face?"
Nanami quickly replied, "I tripped and fell."
"Aoyama Nanami."
Takashi didn't shout or get angry. He just calmly said her full name.
"I bumped into a popular voice actress while heading to an audition today, and some water splashed on her clothes.
Her manager hit me. But the voice actress herself was really kind—she scolded the manager and comforted me."
Takashi scoffed coldly.
Kind?
Would that manager have dared to hit anyone without the tacit approval of the actress?
"Name."
He didn't waste words.
"I'm not telling you."
Aoyama Nanami wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what Takashi wanted that name for.
Takashi stood up from the chair and pinched her cheeks from below, forcing her lips to pout like a Psyduck.
"You think I can't find out if you don't tell me?"
"I waited for you to wake up to give you a chance to say it yourself. It's not that I can't find out—get it?"
Nanami nodded blankly.
Takashi's expression suddenly softened. He gently patted her head.
"You're not alone."
"I'm here for you."
"I know—you didn't want to trouble me. But I don't mind trouble."
"If anyone bullies you in the future, tell me. I've got your back from now on."
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