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Mahiru Shiina had no idea—just one glance in a certain direction almost made her bestie in class explode on the spot.
Back in the classroom, she once again became the picture-perfect honor student.
Even just her proper sitting posture made the guys in class sneak glances at her from behind, admiring her goddess-like profile.
Yep, and some of those sneak peeks were from the girls too!
Andrew noticed this and felt secretly proud.
Good thing his little angel Mahiru always wore those full-coverage black stockings. Her long, slender, gorgeous white legs? Only he'd seen and touched them.
With that outfit, even if the wind blew up her skirt, there'd be no wardrobe malfunctions—she was wearing safety shorts underneath too.
Meanwhile, Miura Yumiko was also checking out Mahiru Shiina .
Sure, Miura was a beauty too, but personality-wise, she was more on the spoiled side.
She would often act all sweet around Hayama Hayato, inviting him to hang out on weekends, play some tennis or whatever.
Though, to be fair, Hayama always dragged along Hoshitani and those two other guys with zero presence.
Still, Yumiko figured that unless Mahiru was completely clueless, she'd know Yumiko was into Hayama.
She probably wouldn't try to compete with her… right?
Well, guess I'll test the waters later.
At the same time...
Inside the office of the Fushikawa Publishing Company.
Editor Machida Sonoko had just arrived and was starting her usual day—reviewing submissions and chasing down writers for updates.
Reading drafts wasn't the hard part. Bugging authors for new chapters? That was the real headache.
Especially when it came to Kasumi Shiko—a best-selling author who sold 500,000 copies of her debut novel right after signing.
But lately, she'd hit a massive wall. Volume 2? Totally fell off a cliff compared to Volume 1.
Reading it gave Machida such a migraine.
"Ugh, can't we get some new talented writers? Someone with a good book to support me, please!"
She grumbled while scrolling through her inbox full of manuscripts.
Then a title caught her eye: "The Battle Chronicles of General Yoshiteru."
Wait a sec—Yoshiteru? As in Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the 13th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate?
Was this supposed to be an isekai about a famous historical figure reincarnated in modern times?
Machida tried to hold her curiosity in check and kept reading.
A minute later, she slammed the mouse down on her desk, fuming.
"What the hell is this crap?! Not only is it full of cringe-worthy chuuni lines that make no sense, but there are like hundreds of typos on a single page! Did this guy even pass elementary school Japanese?!"
She felt like her brain had just been polluted. The male lead acted like a total lunatic, and the dialogue was just... a mess.
And the pen name? "White General Zaimokuza"?
Yeah, no thanks. Hard pass!
She sipped her tea, calming her deeply offended soul, and moved on to the next submission.
Then she saw a title that instantly piqued her interest:
"There's Definitely Something Wrong With This Tsundere Twin-Tail and the Black-Stockinged Senpai!"
Now this was more like it.
First off, the title was long—perfect attention grabber.
Second, "tsundere twin-tail" and "black-stockinged senpai"? Four tropes in one title. She was intrigued.
The more she read, the more hooked she got.
The author, going by the pen name Twilight Skydome, wrote the story from a male protagonist's POV. It focused on a classic teenage love triangle: the tsundere blonde twin-tail childhood friend, Hoshino Nagi, versus the teasing black-stockinged upperclassman, Tsukimi Miyabi.
Both heroines were super charming, each with their own standout traits.
But when it came to the senior—black stockings, white hairband, a sharp tongue—Machida couldn't shake a feeling of familiarity."
After thinking about it a bit, her expression suddenly turned weird.
Wait a sec… isn't this "Tsukimi Miyabi" basically a carbon copy of Kasumigaoka Utaha?
Aside from the name, everything—her personality, her vibe, even her way of speaking—was exactly the same!
"I wonder what little Shiko would think if she saw this book… That reaction would be hilarious."
At this point, Machida had no idea that in Andrew's final volume, the two female leads ended up in a yuri relationship while the male lead got paired off with some background girl.
If she found out, she'd probably roast him on the spot.
She reread the first volume and immediately emailed Twilight Skydome, asking for a face-to-face meeting to discuss signing a contract.
Back in school, Andrew saw Machida's message while booting up his laptop during second period to sneak in some gaming.
Since editors only reached out proactively if a manuscript passed review, he knew the deal was as good as done. He scheduled to meet her Saturday morning.
Knowing his novel had caught an editor's eye, Andrew was in a pretty good mood.
He glanced over at Megumi Katou, who was quietly reading in front of him, and handed her his phone.
Katou looked at the phone being shoved in her face and tilted her head, confused.
"Andrew, what's this supposed to be?"
Andrew raised his brows and replied without skipping a beat, "I want your phone number. Be a good girl and hand it over."
Katou's mouth twitched.
Was she... being threatened into exchanging numbers?
This was a first.
Still, she sighed internally and obediently took his phone, entering her number.
Andrew called it on the spot. When her phone rang, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Smart choice. I might start randomly bothering you from now on—be prepared, Katou-san!"
Katou gave him a calm glance and waved her hand.
"Well, I guess I should be flattered you remembered me… But please don't harass me."
"Nope, not happening," Andrew said seriously. "To make sure I never forget you, I've decided to annoy you at least once a day—really make an impression."
"Uhh... I don't think that's necessary?" Katou muttered weakly. "Harassing classmates is kinda illegal, you know?"
Andrew replied with a dead-serious face, "No worries. As long as I don't get caught, it's not a crime. So be good and zip it—don't go tattling, alright?"
Katou: "..."
She felt like she was being messed with—but Lin's serious tone made her heart skip a beat.
…He wouldn't really call her every day just to annoy her, right?
"..."
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