Chapter 43: Harem Shonen Manga

Absolute sincerity—this was the ultimate move her mother had taught Mio.

Even if he didn’t agree, she should act as if she were, in fact, his girlfriend.

Sakamoto Ken sized up Natsume Mio, who was kneeling before the low table.

Today, the girl wore a beige thin cardigan over a simple white T-shirt. Below her navy-blue pleated skirt were her legs, clad in flesh-colored pantyhose.

He hadn’t looked closely just now and had thought her legs were bare. Now, with the sunlight streaming into the room, he could see the subtle fabric wrinkles on her legs.

Although some girls would go bare-legged even in winter, it would still be cold.

Moreover, this type of flesh-colored pantyhose, known as a “bare-leg artifact,” could also outline the curves of the legs more perfectly.

In the early spring season, the weather still had a hint of coolness, and Mio’s pantyhose were also of a thin style.

Although her leg curves were definitely considered beautiful, girls always felt that they were getting fat, their skin was not good, or their chests were too small.

He didn’t know if pantyhose counted as socks, but Mio was also wearing a pair of pure white cotton socks over her pantyhose today.

In the previous playthrough, she had educated Sakamoto Ken about this, saying that it could prevent slipping and make wearing shoes more stable. Otherwise, if the material of the pantyhose was particularly silky, the foot could easily slip out of the shoe. It could also prevent the heel from being chafed.

She knelt in a very standard posture, her feet together behind her, soles facing up, tilted slightly inward, with the insteps of her feet flat against the tatami.

Natsume Mio lightly pursed her rosy lips, a faint smile held in her eyes.

Finally, with a “ding,” the microwave stopped running.

Natsume Mio quickly got up, opened the microwave, and took out the steaming hot bento.

After taking out the pork cutlet bento, she pattered across the soft tatami mat to the table, opened the bento box, and took the chopsticks out of the plastic wrapper for Sakamoto Ken, placing them neatly on top.

“Ken, you eat first. I’ll heat up my portion,” Natsume Mio said, and without pausing, immediately walked back to the microwave.

Sakamoto Ken didn’t pick up his chopsticks first. He silently watched the girl standing in front of the kitchen counter, waiting for the microwave’s timer to count down to zero.

Two minutes later, she took out her own grilled meat bento and naturally sat back down across the low table.

This scene gave Sakamoto Ken an illusion, as if he were still in the first playthrough, before he had fallen into that abyss, living in this room with Natsume Mio…

“Hurry up and eat, it’s getting cold,” Natsume Mio said, picking up a piece of grilled meat and putting it in her mouth, chewing away.

Sakamoto Ken maintained his smile and picked up a piece of pork cutlet.

This kind of convenience store pork cutlet was definitely not as crispy as one freshly fried in a restaurant, but the taste was still pretty good.

“How is it?” Natsume Mio asked, full of expectation.

“…Not bad,” Sakamoto Ken answered vaguely and buried his head in his food.

He had thought Natsume Mio would use the opportunity of having lunch together to confess to him or something. He had even prepared his refusal speech, but she never mentioned things like “dating” or “like.”

“Ken, I read the latest chapter of Chainsaw Man! Denji-kun is so cool!” Natsume Mio said, talking about his manga in the tone of a pure fan.

“Is that so.”

“And Makima-san is also very charming,” Natsume Mio said, tilting her head and flicking the braid behind her head.

Sakamoto Ken’s chewing paused for a moment.

Here it comes. Catering to my preferences, this is your move, isn’t it?

Sakamoto Ken nodded lightly and said, “I also like Makima very much.”

“Hey…” Natsume Mio placed her hands on the table and leaned forward slightly, but she was wearing a round-necked T-shirt inside, so nothing white and flowery would appear.

She continued, “Ken, the female lead of Chainsaw Man is Makima, right?”

“If by ‘female lead’ you mean the main female character, then yes,” Sakamoto Ken’s answer was very precise.

Natsume Mio pondered Sakamoto Ken’s words and said, “So you’re saying there are other ‘main female characters’?”

“Of course,” Sakamoto Ken shrugged. “This is a shonen manga. It’s normal to have many female leads.”

“Oh…” Mio didn’t seem disappointed or anything. Instead, she smiled and said, “Then Ken has to draw all the female leads to be interesting.”

“Of course,” Sakamoto Ken patted his chest in assurance. “Absolutely interesting.”

“But, I just feel that Denji-kun is a bit of a player,” Natsume Mio said.

“It’s a harem shonen manga. And even in reality, there are many girls who like the same boy,” Sakamoto Ken said. “It’s actually very reasonable.”

“You’re not talking about yourself, are you,” Natsume Mio rolled her eyes at Sakamoto Ken.

“Hmm?” Sakamoto Ken was slightly taken aback, but Natsume Mio’s next words dispelled his doubts.

“You received a lot of confession letters from girls in high school, right?” Natsume Mio said.

Oh, so it’s about that. Then it’s fine. I thought you were going to say I received a lot of yandere knives from girls…

Sakamoto Ken maintained his smile and said, “Anyway, I didn’t agree to any of them.”

“Mhm…” Natsume Mio nodded lightly and didn’t continue the topic.

She knew very well how many girls had pursued Sakamoto Ken back then. She remembered all those fake friends.

Good thing Ken wasn’t snatched away…

Natsume Mio chewed on the grilled meat, swallowed with a gulp.

“Ken, speaking of which… I recently had a dream about a scumbag.”

Natsume Mio put on a very emotional expression and said, “In that dream, the scumbag was also a manga artist, also named Sakamoto Ken, and was also my boyfriend…”

Sakamoto Ken’s eyes narrowed slightly, catching a key point. That last “also” was probably said “accidentally” on purpose.

“And then?”

Sakamoto Ken replied, then buried his head in his food.

“And then…” Natsume Mio said in a seemingly lighthearted and joking tone, “And then we killed him, of course.”

Sakamoto Ken’s chopsticks paused slightly. In a heavy tone, he asked, “Who?”

“Us. The three of us who were being cheated on by that damn scumbag.”

“Heh…” Sakamoto Ken forced a half-smile and said, “Is that so? What were their names?”

“I don’t know…” Natsume Mio pouted and said, “In that dream, I could only see myself and Ken clearly… haha, not you, I mean the scumbag Ken in the dream. The other people’s faces were all blurry.”

“Oh, then don’t let your imagination run wild.” Sakamoto Ken breathed a slight sigh of relief and said in a calm tone, “You’re overthinking it. I’m a manga artist, but I can’t possibly be a scumbag, and it’s even more impossible for me to date before becoming a bestselling author.”

Natsume Mio just said “Oh,” seeming a little disappointed.

“What, you’re disappointed that I’m not a scumbag?” Sakamoto Ken said.

(End of Chapter)