Chapter 41: Ken Likes Me

Natsume Mio kept watching. Sakamoto Ken was very fast, and soon there was only one magazine left to be tied.

She had talked so much with the manager in the afternoon, and the manager had even specifically gone out to create an opportunity for the two of them to be alone.

But until now, she hadn’t taken the initiative. The whole time, she felt like she was being led by Ken on a leash…

Natsume Mio quickly said, “Wait! Ken, let me do this one!”

As she spoke, she reached out to grab the last magazine.

Taking advantage of the fact that Sakamoto Ken’s hand hadn’t moved from the magazine, she pressed down on it.

Her palm pressed against the back of Sakamoto Ken’s hand, and a warm sensation was transmitted.

In just that one second, Natsume Mio’s palm became wet with the slight sweat born from nervousness.

A dream was a dream, after all. No matter how real it seemed, it was still fake.

And now, in reality, the real Ken’s hand wasn’t rough, but it was completely different from a girl’s skin. It had a more resilient feel.

Sakamoto Ken didn’t move.

He just kept his hand on the cover of the magazine and silently watched the girl in front of him.

Actually, Mio is more like Power, with that slightly clumsy look.

Or rather, you can see a little bit of a shadow of her.

Sakamoto Ken found that he was also thinking in this direction. He was clearly copying Fujimoto-sensei’s future work, so how could it be based on them as a template?

Perhaps, this is what makes a successful character design. There are always similarities.

Natsume Mio paid attention to Sakamoto Ken’s expression. This time, she was the one who took the initiative and should have had the upper hand, but Sakamoto Ken was completely calm, as if nothing had happened.

Is… he annoyed with me?

Or does he just not care at all?

Natsume Mio’s hand paused on the back of Sakamoto Ken’s hand. Just then, the hand she was pressing down on suddenly flipped over.

Sakamoto Ken flipped his hand and pressed Natsume Mio’s hand onto the table. The two were sitting face to face, so Sakamoto Ken moved his wrist back slightly and used the base of his palm to press down on her four fingers, excluding the thumb, keeping her palm open and facing up, unable to move.

This feeling… it was like being pressed down by him, with her limbs held down…

“Eh?!” Natsume Mio was slightly startled, and her whole body froze.

At this moment, their palms were facing each other. She felt as if an electric current was constantly drilling into her from her palm, sweeping through her entire body.

Especially when Sakamoto Ken’s hand moved even a little, her palm felt tingly and itchy.

She was most afraid of being tickled. Not to mention places like her armpits and the soles of her feet, even her arms were incredibly sensitive.

As a result, her palm sweated even more, becoming damp.

Sakamoto Ken stared into the girl’s eyes. Although there was no obvious expression on his face, to be honest, his heart was more or less stirred.

He didn’t deny that in his previous life, because it was his first time being reborn in Tokyo, he had let himself go a bit too much, treating reality like a dating game, which made him seem a bit of a scumbag.

But at most, he was just a scumbag, not a bad person.

He definitely genuinely liked every girl he had spent so much time with.

Otherwise, in this life, he would have just moved away, hidden himself to draw manga, and not even left the house. That would definitely be 100% safe.

But in that case, he had already conquered them in the previous life. It was just that the final operation was slightly flawed, leading to the yandere knife ending.

With the experience of the previous life, could he still be stabbed by a yandere knife this time?

Absolutely impossible.

Sakamoto Ken squeezed Mio’s hand. It was still that familiar feeling. Her skin was particularly delicate, and the bones under the tender skin were also very fine, soft and supple.

He recalled when the two of them were walking and shopping, holding hands. In the cold winter wind, he would grab her hand and stuff it into his pocket, or when they were intimate, he would hold her hands from behind…

Sakamoto Ken maintained a calm, three-tenths smile and said in a particularly calm tone, “Mio, I know what you’re thinking.”

Hearing Sakamoto Ken say this, Natsume Mio’s eyes widened, and she stared at him intently.

The next words made her feel as if the air in her chest had been let out.

“But I don’t have the energy to think about love right now.” Sakamoto Ken released her hand and pushed the untied magazine in front of Natsume Mio.

Natsume Mio subconsciously took the gentlemen’s magazine with the white, flowery cover and asked, “Is it still because of the manga?”

“Of course,” Sakamoto Ken said as if it were a matter of course. “Don’t let anything stop me from drawing manga to make money. My contract with Manager-san only lasts until the end of this month. Starting next month, I’ll be focusing entirely on creation.”

“Ken, you’re not coming to work at the store anymore?!”

Sakamoto Ken sighed with feigned emotion and said, “Part-time work is distracting. Next month, I’ll have even more manuscripts to draw, and the manuscript fees are a bit more than what I earn from the part-time job at the store.”

“Today is February 28th, so that means…”

“That’s right, tomorrow is my last day working at the store,” Sakamoto Ken nodded and said.

“But I…” Natsume Mio bit her lip, lowered her head slightly, and felt a little wronged.

The only reason she had come all this way was because Ken was here.

Because she had confirmed that what she saw in the dream was real, she decisively decided to work at the store and wait for Ken to come.

In her memory, they had worked together for a long time. She had even specifically moved here and lived with Ken…

The reason she told the old manager to schedule her shifts on weekends was to consider her school schedule later on. After all, after school started, she could only work part-time on weekends.

Why is it different from the dream!

Originally, she had a lot of possible plots in her mind. She even had a small umbrella in her backpack. No matter what he wanted, she wouldn’t refuse…

But Sakamoto Ken’s answer made it impossible for her to go any further.

Thinking about his family’s financial situation, perhaps she was indeed being too willful.

Although her family wasn’t particularly rich, she had absolutely no worries in life. And then she imposed her own ideas on Ken…

Natsume Mio was silent for a while before saying, “Ken, um, if it’s about drawing manga, I can actually help, right?”

“Creation can only be done by oneself,” Sakamoto Ken replied.

“But don’t you need to gather materials?” Natsume Mio said, “Like manga inspiration, character inspiration, and so on. It can’t just appear out of thin air, right?”

If it were the previous life, he would indeed need to gather materials.

But now… he just needed to draw based on the content in his memory.

He had already done the material gathering in his previous life.

Sakamoto Ken shook his head and said, “Not all authors need to gather materials to draw manga. When you pick up a pen, the picture should automatically appear before your eyes.”

Sakamoto Ken turned his head to look at the clock in the store and said to Natsume Mio, “It’s 8 o’clock. You should get off work. There’s no overtime pay.”

“It’s okay…” Natsume Mio pouted, struggling with the plastic string and the gentlemen’s magazine in her hand, carefully tying the four corners of the magazine.

Placing the magazine on the pile next to Sakamoto Ken, she continued, “I’m off work now. I’m just an ordinary customer in the store. Ken can’t kick me out.”

“It takes a long time for you to get home from here. By the time you get to your place, it will be completely dark. If you delay any longer, it’s not safe to walk alone at night.” Sakamoto Ken picked up the magazines and put them on the shelf.

At this time, a customer entered the store, and Sakamoto Ken walked behind the cash register.

Natsume Mio stood there silently watching him. After a while, she bit her lip, lowered her head, and silently entered the changing room in the back.

The girl frowned, her mind quickly replaying the conversation between the two of them.

Although Ken spoke casually, he clearly looked troubled.

But he’s definitely not troubled because of me, but because of the manga, the manuscripts, making money, and so on.

I heard before that he also had family debts. In that dream, I remember the number was over twenty million.

Later, I heard him say that the manga suddenly earned a good copyright fee, and he paid off all the money.

So now, he must be overwhelmed by the debt of over twenty million.

Actually, Ken likes me. It’s just that he feels he’s not in a position to be in a relationship.

With Ken’s personality, he should prefer a girl who can help him in his career, right?

What can I do to help him with his manga?

Drawing is definitely not an option. Gathering materials… Ken just said he doesn’t need to guess…

I only know vocal music and voice acting.

Eh? That’s right, voice acting.

Natsume Mio remembered what she had secretly heard at Ken’s door this afternoon. Ken and his editor were talking about the manga.

It seemed that Ken’s manga was going to release some kind of motion comic, and the production company needed voice actors.

If I get selected, and Ken’s manga gets an anime adaptation in the future, can I continue to be the voice actress for Ken’s work?

(End of Chapter)