"It's kind of hot, you know."
Lowering her head, Elf secretly watched Rin Ito while pulling open her collar to fan herself. Elf, wearing the catgirl outfit, had only removed the gloves; the rest remained the same as before. The petite catgirl wearing an apron and cooking, her delicate profile, the vaguely glimpsed fair skin, and the private parts occasionally flashed from the neckline—it was a little embarrassing to admit, but Rin Ito was getting slightly excited... At Sagiri's house earlier, Rin Ito could focus on drawing, but now Elf was right next to him, and she was pulling open her collar to fan herself... She's definitely doing it on purpose.
They're alone; isn't she afraid I might actually make a move on her? Or is she trying to make a move on me? Although he didn't remember the plot very well, she shouldn't be the pervert type, right? Could it be the influence of that dream? Rin Ito recalled that fucked-up dream. The dream, constructed based on Elf's knowledge, showed things she hadn't seen as pixelated. Could the excessive pixelation have aroused her curiosity to explore?
Rin Ito pondered this while slicing meat. Elf, with her head bowed, was also subtly observing Rin Ito... Wait!! Why did his tent suddenly collapse!? Elf was a little confused. He was slightly aroused when she hadn't realized it, but now that she started teasing him, his erection suddenly disappeared!? Was she too flat and uninteresting to him? It wasn't that Rin Ito was uninterested. For Rin Ito, body size didn't really matter; as long as the girl was cute, even a flat chest was acceptable.
Elf fanned herself again, seemingly inadvertently, but Rin Ito didn't react at all. Damn it, how dare he ignore the world's number one genius beautiful girl light novel author! It wasn't that Elf wanted to seduce Rin Ito. Elf wrote harem-ecchi novels, some of which were slightly erotic. Her novels had many scenes where the heroine fanned herself with her collar to tempt the hero. Elf thought that since she had already been seen naked and was wearing such an embarrassing catgirl outfit, and he had gotten aroused because of it, she might as well tease him a little, and also test if this method could really tempt a man. But now... Why does he calm down when I try to tempt him?!
"Don't you feel hot?" Elf fanned her collar again.
"Yeah, it is quite hot in front of the stove," Rin Ito said casually. He had certainly been aroused initially by the catgirl apron, but as he thought about it, Rin Ito had calmed down. "Do you have any baking soda? The rice needs a while to cook; I'll marinate the beef slightly."
"Ah, oh... here." Elf handed the container of baking soda to Rin Ito. Seeing how skilled Rin Ito was, Elf pouted. Hmph... no, I can't just let this go! She was a beautiful girl doing all this, yet he wasn't tempted. Is he gay? No, judging from the ecchi illustrations and doujinshi he drew, he wasn't gay. Could it really be that I'm just not attractive?
Thinking of this, Elf fanned her collar again, deliberately holding the fan longer this time. Luckily, the catgirl outfit's vest was quite tight and only the neckline was loose; otherwise, Rin Ito thought he would see not just her white bunnies but her stomach, too.
"You seem very experienced. Do you cook at home?"
Pull... pull...
"Yeah, most of the time I cook. But you, Elf, I thought you always ordered takeout. It looks like you cook for yourself often?"
Pull... pull...
"Of course." Elf proudly puffed out her slightly raised, flat chest.
Pull... pull...
"No..." Rin Ito glanced at Elf's flat chest. "Do you have an Exhibitionist fetish?"
"Wha-wha-wha-wha-what!?" Elf turned completely red.
"You played the piano without clothes at home before, and now you keep pulling open your collar..." Rin Ito looked at Elf with a teasing, knowing smile. "And you say you don't have an Exhibitionist fetish."
"I don't have an Exhibitionist fetish! It's you, though! I'm so cute, and you're not even excited! Are you impotent!?" Elf glared at Rin Ito, showing her teeth fiercely. "I... I just wanted to test if the method in my novel would work!"
"Is that so..." Rin Ito pursed his lips, trying to suppress his laughter. Seeing Rin Ito's mocking expression, Elf continued to maintain her bravado.
"You can use me as a model for your reference, so why can't I use you for mine? Humph, humph, humph..." Saying this, Elf curled the corner of her mouth and looked at Rin Ito. "You wear a catboy outfit for my reference~ A plug-in version, of course~"
"Sure." Rin Ito's smile grew wider. "If you add a catboy to your novel, I'll wear one for you."
"Ugh..." Elf choked on her words. "Forget the catboy." If that kind of character wasn't handled well, the entire book would be ruined. And if the book was ruined, her reputation would be ruined along with it.
"Then tell me, you were clearly a little excited just now," Elf blinked, looking at Rin Ito curiously. "Why did you suddenly calm down?"
"Because I was wondering why you were pulling open your collar and fanning yourself like a pervert."
"I'm not a pervert! I told you I was just doing research!" Elf retorted, blushing. "You have to cooperate with me for my research in the future!"
"Alright, alright, research, research." Rin Ito didn't say anything more, just smiled. "Time's almost up. The rice should be done once the dishes are finished."
Hearing Rin Ito say this, Elf didn't argue further. The two quickly finished a simple lunch together. After packing the food into containers, they returned to the house next door. This time, they didn't ring the doorbell. Since Sagiri didn't want to leave her room, she had temporarily given the key to the two of them. They passed through the entrance hall, went up the stairs, and Rin Ito, without thinking too much, opened Sagiri's room door.
"Lunch is ready..." Rin Ito stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Sagiri in the room doing something inappropriate. Sagiri, her face flushed, was sitting in front of Rin Ito's computer, one hand on the mouse and the other buried under the desk. Separated by the desk's surface, Rin Ito couldn't see exactly what Sagiri was doing, but from her expression, Rin Ito could tell she was clearly self-pleasuring while looking at something on his computer. They hadn't made any effort to quiet their footsteps, and they had been talking the whole way. Sagiri must have been too engrossed to hear them.
"Elf, I think we should go outside first... Sagiri, just don't get my computer dirty."
"Mmm... let's eat first. I'll warm up Sagiri's lunch for her when she gets hungry later."
Rin Ito and Elf exchanged a look, then turned and walked out of the room. Sagiri, who had frozen in place when she saw them, finally reacted.
"It-it's not like that, okay!!!!!!!!"