Chapter 07

Umetaro Nozaki is a shojo manga artist who serializes his romance manga in a monthly magazine. He has just finished his last manga and is currently preparing for the next one.

Saki looked at the two large, chibi-style characters on the book. "So these are the male and female protagonists of your next manga? Suzuki and Mamiko?"

Nozaki nodded. He didn't mind talking about the content of his comics with others. On the contrary, he was very excited to talk about it with others.

"Well, Oda, can such a character impress you? Would you like to see them fall in love? Does the bathroom plot make you feel like dokidoki?"

Saki: ...

She was completely annoyed. "What kind of a question is that? No, thank you, absolutely not! Why does the bathroom plot have to be dokidoki? Is there no other plot for me to choose from? Please, something normal!"

Nozaki thought seriously, "Of course there is still time, but not now. So you really don't like bathroom plots?"

Saki: "This question strikes me as odd."

Then she looked down and said, "Speaking of which, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now. I feel like there's a subtle familiarity between these two characters of yours..."

Combined with the plot of going to the toilet.

Then an idea struck Saki.

Wait, just now when I felt that someone was peeping at me, I found Nozaki around the corner, which means!

Saki: "You're the one who followed Mikoshiba!"

Nozaki:……

He tried to remain calm, "What do you mean by stalking? I don't know."

Saki narrowed her eyes. "Hmph, you're still lying even at this point? Too bad you can't fool me!"

After staring at Saki for a few seconds, Nozaki finally admitted it, but he had one thing to explain: "I'm not a pervert, I'm just collecting material for the manga."

As a dedicated cartoonist, since he cannot experience all kinds of life himself, he has to make use of everything he can observe around him.

Therefore, Nozaki has long been accustomed to recording some of the things that happened in life and drawing them into comics.

So the same applies to the material of Mikoshiba.

Saki didn't know what to complain about for a moment.

At this time, Mikoshiba came out of the toilet. He walked over while wiping the water droplets on his hands with a handkerchief.

"Oda, someone you know?"

This sentence touched a nerve in Nozaki. He immediately snatched his notebook and pen, lowered his head and started writing something.

Saki pointed and said, "Here, I caught it."

Mikoshiba:?

Saki: "The pervert who stalked you."

Mikoshiba: "What?! Eh?!"

He was a little angry and stared at Nozaki with a wary look.

Nozaki paused for a moment, then explained seriously, "It's not stalking, nor is it perversion. It's just material collection."

Then he looked over and found that Mikoshiba had hidden behind Saki at some point. He paused slightly and continued writing.

Saki: ...

She looked back at Mikoshiba with some helplessness, "What are you doing?"

Mikoshiba looked aggrieved: "Because, isn't he that pervert?"

Saki: "He said he wasn't...never mind, it's not important, so?"

Mikoshiba grunted and uttered, "I, I'm scared."

Saki looked shocked.

"No, why would you be afraid if you've already caught me?"

Mikoshiba: "Anyway, anyway, I'm just scared!"

After Saki's explanation, Mikoshiba finally understood the whole story.

"I see."

He looked at Nozaki and returned to his usual self.

Mikoshiba walked out from behind Saki, lowered his eyes and smiled softly, then reached out to brush his hair. "Well, no wonder. After all, as a prince on campus, I'm bound to attract some attention. This is the heavy fate I have to bear."

Saki: ...stare.

"Okay, Your Highness, are you able to return to normal?"

Mikoshiba: "Okay, okay."

By this time, Nozaki had already finished writing and put away his little notebook, and introduced himself to Mikoshiba: "Hello, my name is Nozaki Umetaro."

Mikoshiba: "My name is Mikoshiba Mikoto."

Saki: "Um...should I introduce myself too? My name is Oda Saki."

The three of them looked at each other, and Saki clapped his hands. "Okay, meeting adjourned!"

Nozaki: "Wait!"

Saki turned around, "What's wrong?"

Nozaki: "Since you already know that I draw comics, after I finish the first chapter, can you please help read it?"

Saki: "Oh, you want to ask about your review?"

Nozaki nodded.

Saki: "I have no problem. How about you?" she asked Mikoshiba.

Miko Chai immediately became proud, "Humph, then you've asked the right person. Ahem..."

But he quickly stopped talking and answered Nozaki's question: "Of course."

Nozaki's small eyes (?) shone brightly, "Great, then I'll see you at my house this weekend."

After saying that, he left.

The remaining two stood there and looked at it.

Saki: "Okay, now that we've confirmed that the person following you is Nozaki, you won't be worried anymore, right?"

Mikoshiba reluctantly nodded, "Okay then."

Saki tilted her head, "Okay then?"

Mikoshiba: "For now...don't worry about it."

On the way back, Saki remembered something.

Since Nozaki said that he followed Mikoshiba to collect materials, what kind of materials were they collecting?

…

During the break after class, Goujuanji took out his mobile phone, looked at the social accounts on it, and lowered his eyes slightly.

The other party did not update any status, so Inumaki Ji could not use this to judge Saki's recent situation, nor could he find a topic to chat with the other party.

And since the last time they drank milk tea and had dessert together, they seemed to have no new communication.

Do you want to find a topic?

But what to look for?

Just as Gojuan Ji was thinking, Panda came over and patted his belly, "Looks like someone needs some off-field guidance."

Goujuanji raised his eyes and looked over.

The panda also looked over expectantly.

After a moment, Gou Juanji pulled his scarf and said in a tangled voice, "Salmon..."

The panda understood his attitude from these two words and came over with a grin, "So you really need my opinion, right?"

Gou Juanji paused, his ears slightly red, and nodded silently.

Panda: "So, how did you get along with each other before?"

Goujuanji typed and told Panda.

Panda: "I see, I didn't expect you to do so well, Ji!"

Goujuan Ji opened his eyes when he heard this, probably because he didn't expect that he could get a passing score.

Panda rubbed his chin. "This way, having dinner together back and forth not only increases the frequency of our meetings and helps us get to know each other better, but it also creates a default appointment, meaning we can continue to have dinner together next time. It's a pretty good idea!"

Dog Curl: "Salmon?"

So what he should do now is to continue making dinner appointments?

Panda: "Of course! You could search for any internet-famous restaurants and invite her over, or pretend a friend gave you two amusement park tickets and can't use them, and invite her along. Or maybe a family member gave you two movie tickets and you can't find anyone to go see them with, etc. You could use any of these tactics!"

As Goujuanji listened, his eyes became brighter and brighter.

The panda was also very proud: "How is it, isn't it good?"

Inujuan Ji immediately nodded, "Salmon, salmon!"

Panda: "I've already told you I'm very experienced. Don't look down on me."

This time, Goujuan Ji was really impressed.

"Pickled fish roe, pickled fish roe, high dish!"

The panda chuckled and said, "Come on, Ji."

Saki received a message.

She looked at it for two seconds before she remembered that the nickname seemed to be Inumaki.

Oh oh oh, it was the bad boy A who was so kind as to give her rice balls and treat her to dessert.

They hadn't been in touch recently and she almost forgot about him.

Saki clicked in.

[Tuna Rice Balls Are the Best]: There's a popular online restaurant that looks delicious. Want to go? [Puppy holding a flower.jpg]

Saki stared at the emoticon puppy and pondered for two seconds. She felt that if she rejected him, it would be equivalent to rejecting the cute Xiu dog. What should she do? She seemed to feel guilty.

But the internet-famous restaurant… damn, just hearing the name tells you I can’t afford it!

Just when Saki was hesitating, the other party sent another message.

[Tuna rice balls are the best]: Can I treat you?

He was clearly the one paying for the meal, but his tone was so polite that he sounded like a freeloader.

This made Saki even more embarrassed.

However, she was not overwhelmed by this surprise, because Saki still remembered that they had made an appointment for milk tea before, and the other party treated her to dessert.

And she just treated him to the cheapest milk tea.

Damn it, why do I feel a little guilty?

After thinking about it, Saki refused.

[Long Live the Striped Puppy]: Sorry, I won’t go.

After receiving the news, Goujuanji froze for a moment, drooped his eyelids in disappointment, and became listless.

Failed.

He couldn't help but wonder why, but he couldn't think of one.

Although he felt very disappointed, Goujuan Ji still maintained a normal tone and quickly replied to the other party.

[Tuna rice balls are the best]: Yeah~ It's okay~ I'll treat you next time if I have time. [Cat hooking paws.gif]

Damn it! Repairing both dogs and cats!

Saki felt like she was going to feel guilty!

The most important thing is that she will most likely refuse this "next time"...

Saki pondered deeply.

Then, she actually thought of a solution.

Saki counted her pocket money, and after figuring out the amount, she sent a message to Inumaki.

[Long Live the Striped Puppy]: Let's go! I'll treat you to milk tea!

Although she couldn't treat the other party to expensive food or drinks all at once, small gestures of kindness would add up to a lot. If she treated Gou Juanji to milk tea three times, she should be able to get him to treat her to a meal once, right?

Saki thinks this method is very feasible!

It will not cause any loss to the other party and will also be beneficial to the development of the relationship between the two parties.

She is so smart.

There are twists and turns.

I thought there was no hope, but unexpectedly there was a turn for the better.

Goujuanji's eyes lit up and he responded immediately.

[Tuna rice balls are the best]: pickled fish roe!

[Long Live the Striped Puppy]: Pickled caviar! Pickled caviar!