"That's enough."
Fumiya Jin retracted his hand, then, under the girl's disgusted gaze, deliberately wiped his wet thumb on the hem of her school uniform skirt.
[+1] [+1]
"I accept the deal you've proposed," Fumiya Jin began. "As long as you can guarantee you'll come 'play' with me for a while every day, I'll promise not to proactively make a move on Yuki Suou. Of course, if Miss Suou decides to tease me on her own, that certainly wouldn't count as me breaking the rules, right?"
Upon hearing this, Ayano Kimishima felt a surge of joy—this was already the best outcome she could have hoped for. As for Lady Yuki proactively seeking out Fumiya Jin... there was no need to worry about that at all.
Ayano Kimishima had considerable faith in her mistress. She believed that an outstanding elite like Lady Yuki could never be a Stockholm Syndrome patient who would proactively fall in love with her abuser, let alone throw herself at him, after being tormented a few times. As long as Fumiya Jin didn't harass her, Lady Yuki would surely return to her normal self.
"Most of the time, I need to be by Lady Yuki's side, but from Monday to Friday, I have about two hours of free time during club activities," Ayano Kimishima said, pursing her lips. "I can come find you then."
"Deal," Fumiya Jin nodded. He had her take out her phone to exchange numbers, then had her note down an address in her memo app. "Starting tomorrow, come directly to this address. It's my home. If no one answers the door, just wait for me outside."
Ayano Kimishima's heart sank. He wasn't even choosing some other place to bully her, but telling her to go straight to his home... Did that mean he was going to... right away...
Even the usually expressionless Ayano Kimishima bit her lip now, her pearly white teeth trembling slightly.
"Don't want to?"
"No," Ayano Kimishima shook her head. "I will go."
...
"This set is nice. Let's go with this one."
Fumiya Jin looked at a white-stockinged catgirl cosplay set on his phone and silently added it to his shopping cart. After a moment's thought, he also added a black-stockinged version. Along with a set of little bunny pajamas and a little devil costume.
The reason he thought to buy these was, of course, Ayano Kimishima. Ayano Kimishima would be coming over tomorrow, and he decided to start farming from the basics.
After all, if he did whatever he wanted to Ayano Kimishima right from the start, he would certainly get a huge wave of low-life points. But that would be too wasteful, tantamount to draining the pond to catch the fish.
A person's threshold for things rises. If he did something too extreme at the beginning, she would quickly become desensitized to small things like lifting her skirt or patting her butt. Wouldn't those points just evaporate?
So, to make the most of her, he had to proceed step-by-step. He needed to fleece every last Sharpness point he could get from her. As for how to begin... he'd start by having her clean in front of him while wearing a suggestive uniform. Then he'd deliberately leer at her, maybe even make her lift her skirt for him with a look of disgust on her face.
This level of non-physical contact was clearly the lowest tier and the least likely to raise her threshold, yet it was sufficiently low-life. And once she got used to being looked at, when the mere act of "looking" no longer made her feel disgusted, then it would be time for the next step: actual physical contact.
"Ding-dong—" The sound of the train arriving at the station rang out.
Fumiya Jin quickly placed the order and paid, then got off the train. Leaving the station, he searched along the shopping street and soon found the agreed-upon cafe.
Walking into the cafe, he scanned the room and quickly spotted Ms. Ando, who was looking down at her phone. "Sorry to keep you waiting," Fumiya Jin said as he walked over and sat down opposite Ms. Ando.
"Ah, Fumiya-san, you're here... I actually just arrived myself," Ms. Ando said, looking up at him with a gentle, motherly smile. "Eh, how have you gotten even more handsome? You're already such an excellent writer, and to be so good-looking too... It's a shame I have two sons, otherwise I'd want to snatch you up as a son-in-law."
You have to understand, this was Kadokawa Shoten, one of the most famous publishing houses in Japan. To be able to influence their decisions with a single request and be taken so seriously by them... that wasn't something an ordinary illustrator could achieve.
"You're exaggerating," Fumiya Jin smiled and got straight to the point. "What's so urgent that you needed to see me today?"
"It is indeed a very important matter," Ms. Ando's smile faded, her expression turning serious. "It's about the illustrations for your book."
Hearing this, Fumiya Jin's expression became a little more serious as well. Although this was his first time publishing a novel in Japan, he had long heard about the importance of illustrations for Japanese novels.
There's a famous saying: "Buy the illustrations, get the toilet paper for free." This was, of course, a joke, but it wasn't entirely baseless.
Compared to a large volume of text, illustrations could significantly determine a reader's first impression and have a huge impact on a book's sales. It wasn't even uncommon for some works of average quality to skyrocket in popularity thanks to outstanding illustrations.
"Has an illustrator been chosen?" Fumiya Jin asked.
"Actually, one had been decided on for a while now, a well-known master in the industry. After all, our publishing house places great importance on your work," Ms. Ando said. "But recently, a very special artist approached the publisher. She said she saw your book online, was deeply captivated by it, and upon learning it was being published, she wanted to draw the illustrations for it. Given how special this person is, the publisher considered it and thought this might be a very precious opportunity for a cross-disciplinary collaboration. If successful, it could generate explosive hype for your book, so... they asked me to inquire about your opinion."
Fumiya Jin was confused. "What kind of special artist could be that amazing?"
"Oh, she's more than just a little amazing," Ms. Ando chuckled. Just as she was about to elaborate, her phone suddenly vibrated with a new message. She glanced down and smiled, "Perfect timing, she's here."
Ms. Ando stood up, walked to the aisle, and looked towards the cafe entrance. She soon spotted a figure and began to wave.
Soon, accompanied by the sound of light footsteps, a slender and graceful figure walked over.
Fumiya Jin saw her. And she saw Fumiya Jin.
Both of them froze for a moment, somewhat stunned. Because this girl was the very same one Fumiya Jin had met in the previous instance—The expressionless girl.
"Fumiya-san, let me introduce you. This is the new-generation genius painter who has made a huge name for herself in the European art world in recent years, amazing countless world-class artists—Shiina Mashiro," Ms. Ando said with a smile. "She is the one who took the initiative to offer to create the illustrations for your book."
______
✅ Until 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 55 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
Claim your 40% OFF spot and unlock everything now:
👻 P - Walnutchan