"Take... take off what?" Mochizuki was startled and asked in surprise.
"Clothes, of course!" Shiina Mahiru looked at Mochizuki's reaction and replied irritably.
"Why?" Mochizuki breathed a sigh of relief; what Shiina had just said was too shocking.
"It's torn, I'll help you sew it."
"Oh, I see, um... no need.
Besides, I haven't washed it yet."
"It's fine, hurry up!" Shiina Mahiru said without question.
"Alright..."
So, Mochizuki started to take off his shirt.
"Huh, go back to your room to change."
Shiina Mahiru didn't expect Mochizuki to just undress in front of her, so she quickly covered her eyes with her hands, but looking through the gaps in her fingers, it was clear her eyes were open.
Not sure what she saw, Shiina Mahiru then quickly turned her body away.
"Uh... I'm already undressed..."
"Oh right, after school today, a girl who looks exactly like May was looking for you, by the classroom door."
Shiina Mahiru remembered the girl with headphones she saw in the afternoon; she had come several times already, so she reminded Mochizuki.
Oh right, thinking about it, this guy also has five cute and beautiful cousins.
"Okay, I understand."
Mochizuki thought for a moment, it must be one of those sisters, but who could it be, and what did she want to see him for?
Afterward, Mochizuki left the torn shirt behind and went back to his room to change into a clean one.
Meanwhile, Shiina Mahiru went to continue preparing dinner...
After dinner, Mochizuki's clothes were taken away by Shiina Mahiru.
As for Mochizuki, he received a message from Machida Sonoko after a long time.
Machida Sonoko: Moonlit Night Teacher, when will you be free?
volume 2 of re:zero - starting life in another world is being heavily printed and will be released simultaneously with volume 2 of another work.
We plan to include 200 copies with the author's autograph, so we need you to come to the publishing house.
Mochizuki didn't expect the release this time to be so fast; Sagiri just finished the illustrations two days ago, and it's being printed today.
It seems that good results indeed significantly increased the publishing house's work enthusiasm.
However, 200 signed copies, does that mean he has to write his pen name 200 times? It feels a bit daunting.
Fortunately, his pen name only has two characters, so 200 multiplied by 2 is only 400 characters.
If you add the two characters for sensei, they might have to write 800 characters.
Doesn't sound like too many.
Light Novelist Wang Yue: Okay, I understand, can I come tomorrow?
Machida Sonoko: Yes, of course, the sooner the better.
You can come anytime, I'll be at the publishing house all day.
All day...
As expected, she's a workaholic!
Is this the adult world?
Mochizuki felt sorry for Machida Sonoko for a moment.
...
Naturally, Mochizuki Yo chose the time after school to go to the publishing house.
So he stood Yukinoshita up again, well, not really; he had already greeted Yukinoshita in advance when he helped Totsuka Saika train for Tennis at noon.
To avoid the rush hour on the train, Mochizuki quickly left after school.
Soon, he arrived at the station, and the train doors were just about to close with a constant ding-dong sound.
Mochizuki quickly rushed in.
Seeing Mochizuki running so fast, a figure behind him gnashed her teeth in anger and then quickly followed.
Just as Mochizuki entered the train, a graceful figure followed closely behind, and then the train doors closed.
Seeing that he had successfully entered the empty train, a smile appeared on Mochizuki's face.
Mochizuki easily found an empty seat and sat down, and then a figure sat down next to him.
Mochizuki was a bit surprised, there were so many empty seats on the train, how did she happen to sit next to him?
It's more comfortable to sit alone.
But there was nothing he could do, where someone sits is their freedom.
Mochizuki turned his head to look and saw Kasumigaoka Utaha with a slightly flushed face, and said in surprise.
"Huh! Kasumigaoka... senpai."
So it was Kasumigaoka Utaha, no wonder she sat next to him.
As for Kasumigaoka Utaha, the reason for her slightly flushed face was naturally because she had been quickly chasing Mochizuki all the way.
"Junior-kun... Haa..."
"Why... why are you running so fast!
Were you being chased by a ghost!"
"Haa haa haa..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha covered her chest with her fair fingers, constantly panting, then slowly adjusted her breathing to make it steady.
Seeing Kasumigaoka Utaha's chest constantly rising and falling due to her panting made Mochizuki stare blankly, and combined with her slightly flushed face, it had a unique charm.
"Could it be that you've been panting because you were chasing me the whole time?" Mochizuki asked.
"I just happened to see you!"
"If I didn't run fast, how could I get on such an empty train!"
Mochizuki gestured for Kasumigaoka Utaha to look at the surrounding train.
So that's it, but Kasumigaoka Utaha gave him a glare.
"You really don't know how to be considerate of girls."
"I didn't know you were following me!
You didn't even call out to me."
"You..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha was speechless; was she supposed to shout loudly at the station as a girl?
"Let's not talk about this, senpai, why are you on this train too, could it be that you also..."
Mochizuki already had some guesses in his mind.
Could the person Machida Sonoko mentioned releasing volume 2 together with be Kasumigaoka Utaha?
That would be quite a coincidence.
But it makes sense, currently, only he and Kasumigaoka have completed the next volume so quickly without any backlog.
"Yes, I'm going to the publishing house to sign."
Kasumigaoka Utaha had calmed down, her flushed face had returned to pale, and she spoke calmly to Mochizuki beside her.
Kasumigaoka had also guessed Mochizuki's purpose for this trip.
"Oh, it seems we have the same destination."
...
Next, the two arrived at the Undead River Publishing publishing house together.
Since Machida Sonoko had already made arrangements, the two entered the building smoothly.
Machida Sonoko was a bit surprised to see Mochizuki Yo and Kasumigaoka Utaha arriving together.
Then she noticed that they were wearing the same style of Soubu High School uniforms.
As a famous school in Chiba, Machida Sonoko naturally recognized the Soubu High School uniform, knowing that she herself had graduated from there.
"Could it be that you two know each other?" Machida Sonoko guessed.
"Yes, but not the same grade, I'm in first year, and senpai is in second year."
Mochizuki replied.
"That's unexpected, I didn't think the two budding high school light novel authors under me would be from the same school and even know each other."
"As expected of Soubu High School!" Machida Sonoko laughed happily.
Being praised by Machida Sonoko, both of them felt a little embarrassed, but soon, Machida Sonoko entered work mode.
"Follow me."
Machida Sonoko led the two to an office.
The layout of the office was very simple, with only tables and chairs, and the two people's books prepared in advance, piled up in several stacks.
"Look... it looks like quite a lot!"
"Yes."
Kasumigaoka Utaha agreed wholeheartedly.
"Keep up the good work, you two!" Machida Sonoko encouraged them with ill intentions.
"Signing for new authors is a very interesting thing, you can practice now, and maybe later you'll have a chance to sign in front of fans!"
"Try to keep the signatures consistent, otherwise some difficult fans might misunderstand and think it's a fake."
"Okay."
"Okay."
Mochizuki and Kasumigaoka Utaha replied in unison.
"Then I won't disturb you, keep up the good work."
"If you need drinks, there are some in the refrigerator."
Then, Machida Sonoko closed the door and left.
Mochizuki and Kasumigaoka Utaha exchanged glances, then sat down and started signing the books.
When they first started signing a few books, both of them found it quite interesting, after all, they were signing for their beloved readers, which gave them a great sense of accomplishment.
But soon both of them felt a bit bored and started chatting, because it was a constant mechanical repetition.
And signing wasn't as simple as they imagined, it wasn't just about writing their pen name.
You also needed to constantly pick up the book, open the cover, sign, close it again, and put it back to the side...
And both of them tried to be as careful as possible, otherwise, it would be easy to wrinkle the brand new books.
Soon, after signing dozens of books.
Kasumigaoka Utaha stopped, besides rubbing her wrist, she couldn't help but complain: "I... I can barely recognize the three characters 'Kasumi Shiko' anymore!"
Mochizuki smiled wryly, also stopping his hand movements.
Before coming, he thought the task was quite simple and interesting, after all, this was signing for fans, authors without a certain level of popularity wouldn't even have fans who liked them.
"Me too, I also feel like the two characters 'Tsukiyo' are looking weirder the more I write them!"
"At least you only have two characters!" Kasumigaoka Utaha already regretted choosing a three-character pen name.
"This is a blessing in disguise."
"How about we swap and sign for each other?"
"Huh, that's impossible, the handwriting is different."
Mochizuki replied to Kasumigaoka Utaha while getting up and going to the refrigerator.
Opening the refrigerator, Mochizuki was stunned, because inside were all Max Coffee.
It seemed that because they were working at the company, everyone drank coffee to stay awake.
"That's true! Damn it!"
Mochizuki took two cans of coffee and handed one to Kasumigaoka Utaha.
"Thank you."
The two opened their coffee cans and started to drink.
"Gulp gulp..."
"It's a bit bitter."
Mochizuki said.
"It's alright."
Kasumigaoka Utaha said after taking an elegant sip; she didn't feel much, Kasumigaoka often stayed up late writing novels and then relied on coffee to stay awake at school.
"Ah, let's keep signing, if we can't finish today, we'll probably have to come again."
After resting for a while, the two helpless individuals picked up their pens again and continued to work hard on signing.
...
"How many more do you have left?"
"There's still one stack, about forty or fifty books."
"I'm about the same."
...
Finally, after more than an hour, both of them finished signing.
Mochizuki and Kasumigaoka both leaned back in their chairs to rest.
Even the Max Coffee that felt a bit bitter, Mochizuki had already finished.
And Kasumigaoka Utaha even took out a new can and started drinking.
"Aren't you afraid you won't be able to sleep tonight?"
"I'm used to it."
Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at the coffee in her hand with disdain.
At this moment, Machida Sonoko also knocked on the door and came in.
"Have you finished?" Machida Sonoko asked in surprise.
"Yes, just finished signing."
Mochizuki and Kasumigaoka couldn't help but rub their fingers.
"Haha, you worked hard!
You two were faster than I expected."
Machida Sonoko laughed happily, it seemed they could release it soon.
"Machida Editor, next time, please don't make us sign so many."
Mochizuki said with a wry smile, and Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"Haha, who told you two not to bargain, it was quite unexpected for me, but, the more you sign, maybe the more people will buy!"
"Especially Shiha, this is a beautiful girl's autograph."
"Spare me!" Kasumigaoka Utaha also couldn't help but say.
Mochizuki thought, so you don't want a handsome boy's autograph?
That's right, who would want a grown man's autograph.
After completing the signing task, the two also said goodbye and left.
On the way to the station together, it was already after work hours, and the number of pedestrians on the road gradually increased.
Being in the city center, Mochizuki walking with Kasumigaoka Utaha felt that they were very conspicuous.
"Senpai, you are truly charming."
"Hmph, you just realized that?" Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded proudly; no girl dislikes being praised for being charming.
"However, too many gazes are too annoying."
Indeed, Kasumigaoka Utaha had a very high Return Rate , even wearing a plain school uniform, it was difficult to hide her charm.
Not far behind the two, Aki Tomoya was coming out of a store carrying a bag.
Looking ahead, Aki Tomoya noticed two somewhat familiar figures in front, both wearing school uniforms.
Then, Aki Tomoya showed a very surprised expression, he knew both of the people in front.
The guy was none other than Mochizuki Yo, who had disrupted his search for Kato Megumi.
The girl was Kasumigaoka Utaha senpai from the upper grade, after all, she was the student representative who gave the welcome speech at the freshman entrance ceremony.
Seeing how close they were walking, their relationship should be quite good.
Could it be... could this guy be two-timing?
Aki Tomoya thought to himself.
Suddenly, Aki Tomoya realized something, and then a happy smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, heaven is helping him.
This was a good opportunity for him!
As long as... as long as he takes a picture of them together and shows it to Kato Megumi.
Then Kato Megumi would know that guy wasn't a good person, Kato Megumi would stay away from that guy, and he, Aki Tomoya, could then continue to ask Kato Megumi to be his heroine!
He decided to act immediately, Aki Tomoya took out his phone and quickly weaved through the crowd, preparing to take a candid photo.
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Greyhounds
If you want to see it, then why not?