…
Room of Love Hotel Thirty-Four
Hanabi had to work hard to pull Nayuta off Kamishiro and get her dressed.
One fanservice moment was enough. Even that one made her feel… kind of weird inside.
"So what's the real reason for all this? Don't tell me it's actually a threesome. Honestly, I'm not ready for that…"
(?°?д°?)
Smack!
Seeing Kamishiro still dreaming about a threesome, Hanabi walked up and smacked him on the head.
Before she could say anything, Nayuta interjected indignantly.
"No way! Senpai is mine! I won't share him, not even with you, Hanabi-chan!"
Smack!
Like a heartless executioner, Hanabi smacked again!
"Ouch! Ouch! Why are you hitting me for what she said?!"
Kamishiro clutched his forehead in grievance. There was already a bump from before—now it had grown even bigger.
But Hanabi's explanation left him speechless.
"You're the root of the problem."
"..."
Fair.
Can't argue with that.
Seeing Kamishiro get hit twice, Nayuta felt sorry for him. She gently rubbed the bump on his forehead with her little hands.
"That must've hurt, senpai. It's okay, I'll lick it better."
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
Seeing her stick out her tongue, Kamishiro jumped in shock and quickly grabbed her face to stop her.
"Where did you learn such weird stuff?"
"Uuu… Kitties always lick their wounds to feel better."
"Cats lick wounds to help them heal. But this is just a bump, not an open wound. If you lick it, all you'll do is smear your saliva on my face."
"Waaah! Senpai, you're so mean!"
Hearing Kamishiro reject her, Nayuta puffed up her cheeks like a pouting kitten, clearly upset he disdained her saliva.
Looking at this girl who resembled a kitten in every way, a trace of nostalgia flashed in Kamishiro's eyes.
The silver-haired girl, nicknamed Nayuta.
Pen name: Kanou Nayuta. Like Kamishiro, one of Hanabi's authors.
She started writing novels because Kamishiro's books had once given her strength.
Later, with her bold and delicate writing style, she became a bestselling novelist!
And Kanou Nayuta's actions were just as daring as her writing.
While Kamishiro was still in Tokyo, she'd constantly tried to seduce her senpai.
Everyone knew Kamishiro had zero resistance to that kind of thing~
One dark night, in Nayuta's home, something... enjoyable and expected happened.
That day—
Kamishiro walked out holding the wall~
"Hanabi-chan, you're the best! You really brought senpai here~"
Despite being rejected, Nayuta didn't stay down for long. She immediately clung to Hanabi again, wanting more hugs.
She hadn't expected Hanabi-chan would actually drag Kamishiro all the way from Izu for her.
From now on—
Hanabi-chan was the best editor ever in her heart!
She'd be Hanabi-chan's loyal dog!
Ahem… Only mentally, of course. Physically… that's still senpai's job!
Kamishiro's mouth twitched. He knew he'd been set up. Damn it, and they even lied to him about it being some slow-burn romance!
But seriously, was this all just to satisfy Nayuta's desires?
Kamishiro was still confused. If that was it, they could've just told him directly. At worst, he'd play a little hard to get. He wouldn't have refused.
Just as he was wondering, Hanabi finally spoke.
She pushed away the clinging Nayuta and said, "Cut it out. Finish your task first. Once that's done, he's all yours. Otherwise, you're staying right here."
(′｀;)?
Task?
What task? Were they secret agents now?
"Ehhh~ don't be like that, Hanabi-chan! Can't I just try it out first? I promise I'll go after a little taste~"
Faced with Nayuta's best puppy-dog eyes, Hanabi didn't hesitate for a second.
She yanked her by the collar toward a mirror.
"Waaah! I hate you, Hanabi-chan! Senpai, save me! Let's go do something fun together!"
(°A°`)
Watching the silver-haired beauty being dragged away, Kamishiro remained thoroughly confused.
He could save her, but…
Just what the hell were they talking about?
Some kind of task?
Faced with Kamashiro Shiro's confused expression, Nayuta tilted her head. "Of course there's a task. Senpai, weren't you dragged here to write too?"
"WRITE?!!"
Kamashiro Shiro's voice shot up several pitches upon hearing that word, staring incredulously at his beautiful editor.
In response, Hanabi-chan gave him a mocking look.
Something dawned on Kamashiro Shiro. He rushed to the door and tried opening it—only to find it locked tight!
"This... This is a black room?!"
Realizing the situation, Kamashiro Shiro slumped against the door in despair. It wasn't like he'd never been locked in a black room before—but back then, it was at their company HQ.
Why the heck would a love hotel have a black room?
Is this really just a love hotel?!
He strongly suspected that Hijikata Toshirou was using the place to run some shady operation.
Who locks love hotel rooms from the outside?! Once he got out, he swore he'd expose them!
Still fuming, Kamashiro Shiro kept trying to pick the lock with his fingers.
Hanabi-chan glanced over and said sarcastically, "Don't bother. This room's custom-built for pigeons like you. No key, no exit."
!!!
"This is outrageous! Isn't this just a love hotel? Doesn't the company already have black rooms?!"
Kamashiro Shiro was at his wits' end. What kind of love hotel needs a black room for authors? Aren't they worried the authors will trash the place's reputation?
...What? The owner's a cop?
Oh. Never mind then...
"The one at the company got torn down."
???
"What, the pigeons suddenly got obedient?"
"No. They just get super wary the moment we ask them to come into the office. Can't trap a single one."
"..."
Kamashiro Shiro fell silent. True—no self-respecting pigeon would walk into a trap.
"But putting the black room in a love hotel is just wrong! Who wouldn't question why they were brought to a love hotel?!"
"Well, you didn't. And over here's Nayuta. I think if I try hard enough, I can trick that otaku too. Once he's here, Madam Kei will show up. You authors really are just a bunch of lust-crazed fiends."
"..."
Kamashiro quietly reflected. Maybe—just maybe—it was Hanabi-chan and her crew that were the real perverts.
Terrifying. Truly terrifying. When you thought about it, he might be the most normal one out of everyone in her hands.
"What about the others? Surely someone must have caught on?"
"Oh, the company has black rooms in other places too. So don't worry—you might get to try them next time."
(-ω-;)
Kamashiro was sweating. Editors were this aggressive with their pigeons now? How much did all these black rooms cost? Clearly, the company had declared war on the pigeon culture.
Wait!
He wasn't even a pigeon!
"I just handed you my new manuscript! Why am I being locked up?!"
There had to be a mistake. As a diligent author who had just submitted his work, he didn't belong here. He wanted to go back to the Anteiku café.
He might've been fine until he said that. But at the mention, Hanabi flared up and gave him another forehead flick.
"You ever seen a light novel volume with only 40,000 words?! That's way too short! And the cliffhanger you left it on was all wrong—no sense of anticipation at all!"
Ow!
"What's wrong with 40k words? It's cost-effective. And that wasn't a cliffhanger—it was a cheap ploy!"
Rubbing his sore forehead, Kamashiro muttered. He'd lost count of how many forehead flicks he'd received. Damn Hanabi-chan. He'd pay her back double next time!
"Alright, enough talking. The company isn't hurting for budget. Get to writing. You owe us at least 30,000 more words. You're not leaving until it's done."
Ignoring his protests, Hanabi-chan made it final. If he couldn't finish in time, the publication would be delayed until next round.
"30k?! There's no way I can finish that! That'd take me a whole month! You're not seriously keeping me here that long, right?! I'll die!"
In every possible way.
"30k is a lot? The repeater under the editor next door knocked that out in one day."
Clearly, Hanabi-chan had no plans of letting the pigeon go. She finally caught him—no way was she letting this chance slip!
(???)
"Guess why we call him 'repeater'? He writes everything through voice dictation. Total cultist!"
"You can use voice input too. If you're embarrassed, I can get you a private room."
"...Thanks, but no thanks."
Seeing the unwavering glint in Hanabi-chan's eyes, Kamashiro gave up.
Voice dictation?
That wasn't for humans. Just speaking aloud was already too embarrassing—and his brain couldn't keep up!
"Ehehe~ Senpai, let's write together~"
With Kamashiro reluctantly settled, Nayuta, who had spent the whole time fondling his abs, clung to him. She even looked ready to take off his shirt.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"Wait?! We're both writing in the same room? You're staying here too?!"
Kamashiro quickly stopped her. If they were stuck in the same room, they'd never finish even in a month...
Though—maybe if she was really motivated?
"Nice try. Of course you're separated."
Hanabi-chan yanked Nayuta by the scruff and headed toward the mirror.
Then, to Kamashiro Shiro's astonishment, she opened the "mirror" and shoved Nayuta through it!
It wasn't a mirror—it was glass, revealing a copy of their room behind it!
Not only could they see each other clearly—they could hear each other too.
At that moment, Kamashiro heard:
"Finish your draft and I'll let you out. Beat that pigeon over there, and he's yours."
"Roger! Mission accepted!"
Fueled by Hanabi-chan's promise, Nayuta's eyes sparkled green.
Clearly, she was preparing to challenge the repeater's so-called "god tongue" technique.
Kamashiro Shiro stared silently at the scene. Why did he suddenly become the prize?!
Also… Why does this room even exist?! This is messed up!
After motivating Nayuta and stepping out, Hanabi-chan was asked the burning question.
She looked at him, surprised. "You didn't know? Well, some people just have certain tastes, you know? This room caters to that."
"..."
Why would you assume I know about such messed-up tastes?! Even I—a deviant—think this is deviant!
"Then why use this room as a black room?"
"Oh, BOSS thinks putting two pigeons face-to-face will increase productivity. It's called comparative pressure."
(???)
No. Real pigeons don't care. They'd just give up and lie flat.
Hanabi-chan checked the time and seemed impatient. "Any more questions? I have work. Lunch will be delivered later."
She gestured to the door—each had a small food slot.
Yes, just like in prison.
Kamashiro Shiro held his face in despair. "Can I call this unlawful imprisonment?"
"Nope. But you can order pork cutlet rice for lunch—it's pretty good here."
This is literally a prison!
"Last question!" Kamashiro Shiro suddenly turned serious—this concerned his motivation to write.
Seeing him so grave, Hanabi-chan's demeanor shifted. She geared up for full editor mode.
After a few seconds' silence, Kamashiro Shiro asked—
"If I finish first… do I get a reward?!"
"..."
For a moment, Hanabi-chan felt like an idiot.
Without a word, she turned and walked to the door.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"Wait! This is really important! You promised Nayuta something, don't play favorites!"
A tick mark appeared on Hanabi-chan's forehead. Was she an editor or a kindergarten teacher?
Fine! A reward!
Just as she was closing the door, she tossed it out:
"If you finish first—that pervert over there is yours!"
Then she slammed the door shut and left without hesitation.
Bang!
Kamashiro Shiro was left standing there, dumbfounded.
He looked at the glass wall— Nayuta was still smiling creepily at him.
…Is there even a difference between this and the other option?!
Is this a reward for me—or for HER?!
X﹏X