Chapter 57: How Do You Want to Die?
Photo studio.
Sakurai Saki and Nakano Ichika were sitting facing each other.
"Alright, move a little closer, this time it's a couple style, you two are sitting so far apart, the audience will think you're enemies or something! Quickly! Get really close together for me!" Ueno Youko was directing their poses.
Sakurai Saki leaned his face close in front of Ichika.
Nakano Ichika, looking at his handsome face, showed a shy expression.
(,,>﹏<,,)
Ueno Youko seized the moment to snap a shot.
"That posture just now was great, hold it there!"
Sakurai Saki didn't really understand why Ichika was embarrassed; logically, a "onee-san" type like her shouldn't have such low defenses.
"Alright, Sakurai-kun, you don't need to hold her waist anymore!"
Sakurai Saki obediently withdrew his hand from the girl's slender waist.
Seeing his nonchalant face, Nakano Ichika suddenly felt a bit mischievous inside.
It's not fair if only she's blushing!
She wanted to make Sakurai Saki embarrassed!
(｡>\\<)
"Okay, go change outfits, the next set should be the final round. Hopefully, you two can keep up that energy. Touch up the makeup… hmm, it hasn't worn off much, so no need." Ueno Youko clapped her hands, temporarily wrapping up the shoot.
After she spoke, Sakurai and Ichika stood up simultaneously.
It seemed the two bumped into each other.
"Kyaa!!" Ichika slipped, letting out a startled cry.
Although Nakano Ichika had intended to tease Sakurai just now, she didn't expect herself to slip up first.
As the floor rushed up to meet her face, Ichika reflexively shut her eyes tight.
A few seconds passed, but she didn't feel any pain.
Opening her eyes again, she found herself being held by Sakurai Saki's hands.
Right now, the two were pressed close together.
Ichika's back rested against his chest; she could even hear his strong, pounding heartbeat.
Her own heart also started racing at that exact moment.
(„• ֊ •(⋆❛ ہ ❛⋆)!♡
They stayed in that position for a few seconds until someone spoke up——
"If you're done, hurry up and let go! We're on a tight schedule here, no time for you two to keep hugging." Ueno Youko was the type who, once she entered work mode, didn't care about personal relationships at all.
Hearing that, Sakurai Saki nodded and released Ichika.
Ichika felt a slight pang of regret leaving those warm arms.
The next part of the work went very smoothly; Sakurai Saki's acting was solid, thanks to his daily experience at school playing the bright male student and also his side job as a rental boyfriend in private life.
Ichika's acting was also excellent; she truly had talent. The more Ueno Yoko watched, the more she liked her — a marvelous rough gem, just needing a bit of polishing to shine brilliantly.
...
Back in the dressing room.
Sakurai Saki and Ichika began removing their makeup.
Halfway through, the dressing room quieted down again like before.
Footsteps sounded by his ear.
Behind him, Minamoto Mashiro carried a bag and asked: "Saki-kun~ do you want me to take you out for a bite later?"
(..◜ᴗ◝..)
It was already past ten o'clock now.
"Mashiro-san, I'm a bit sleepy." Sakurai Saki answered honestly.
(っ˕ -｡)ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
Today he couldn't tell a lie, so Sakurai Saki really was very sleepy right now, the kind of sleepy where if he had a bed, he could fall asleep instantly.
Especially since today his supernatural ability still hadn't turned off — though its function wasn't very strong, just recognizing truth and lies, even weaker than mind-reading — but it was enough to make Sakurai Saki's desire gauge gradually rise.
That said, the lack of sleep wasn't just a one-day thing, so he could still endure it.
"Then let me take you home later~" Minamoto Mashiro looked at her little brother's tired face, feeling a bit sorry for him.
This kid probably stays up late studying every night; otherwise, how would he end up like this?
'Still have to do homework after getting home…' Sakurai Saki thought about what he needed to do afterward, even forgetting that today was Friday and tomorrow was the weekend, no school.
Every day, Sakurai Saki spent about half an hour doing homework.
For Sakurai Saki — who could study at home for at most two hours each day — the shorter the time spent on homework, the better, so he would have more time to learn new knowledge.
Ranked third in the entire grade during the exams. Sakurai Saki's academic achievements weren't thanks to supernatural powers; he had reached that level step by step through self-study. To him, using supernatural abilities to obtain something like that felt a bit humiliating. The strength of a person with supernatural powers didn't need to be proven by those powers. Even without them, Sakurai Saki was confident he wouldn't lose to anyone.
But without using supernatural powers, defeating Shinomiya Kaguya and Shirogane Miyuki was no simple task.
If he wanted to claim the number one spot, Sakurai Saki would need to increase his daily study time to at least three hours.
For Sakurai Saki — who was already squeezing time like wringing water from a sponge — that was impossible!
"Sorry to trouble you, Mashiro-san." Sakurai Saki didn't want to refuse her kindness.
The relationship between the two didn't require formalities; it was already late at night, and soon the trains would stop running.
"It's no trouble at all." The beautiful woman softly said, "This is something I should do~."
( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°⑅
While the two were quietly chatting, the surrounding atmosphere remained silent.
It felt a bit strange.
Sakurai Saki turned his head and saw the slicked-back man in the suit from earlier.
He was now pestering Nakano Ichika.
This was seriously so cliché.
Why did he keep running into these kinds of plotlines?
His supernatural ability today wasn't some protagonist's halo, was it? Where the hell did all these brain-dead villains come from? Forcing people to buy, forcing people to sell, now forcing girls too? Sakurai Saki squinted and let out a yawn.
So sleepy he could die.
Would he be able to sleep before midnight today?
His destructive urges were spiking, and his emotions were hard to control.
If something ignorant came over to provoke him, Sakurai Saki absolutely wouldn't hold back.
As for the matter with Ichika, Sakurai Saki honestly didn't care.
The two of them weren't close; he himself wasn't some saint who had to act righteously every time he saw injustice.
Before this, they had only met once.
...
"Miss, I wonder if you've heard my name before..." The man offered a business card, introducing himself.
Though his words weren't too direct, still somewhat polite, everyone present clearly understood his intentions.
Even if they all felt disgusted, no one dared stand up as a hero.
It wasn't worth losing your job just because of a moment of anger!
"Um..."
Nakano Ichika forced a strained smile.
This was the first time she had encountered someone so shameless, and she found it a bit difficult to handle.
Especially since this guy seemed to have some influence.
Ichika reflexively looked toward Sakurai Saki, only to see him paying absolutely no attention to her, making her feel slightly disappointed. But she also understood, their relationship wasn't good; the last time they met, he even had a conflict with her sisters.
Asking him to help her out was practically impossible.
"There's a pretty nice nightclub nearby, would you perhaps..."
"Sorry, I'm not interested." Ichika straightforwardly refused.
The man began showing signs of impatience. Did this woman truly not understand, or was she pretending not to? This was the first time he'd been rejected so bluntly, and on top of that, quite a few people nearby were watching the show, waiting for him to lose face.
In this situation, he had no way to back down!
He spoke bluntly: "Spend one night with me, and I'll arrange all your future castings and resources. This deal's totally worth it, don't you think?"
"Sorry…" Ichika once again refused.
The man frowned.
Trying to raise the price, huh?
"What are you pretending to be all pure for? Haven't you done this kind of thing plenty of times already? What, it's just me you won't do it with? Trying to play hard to get?!"
He didn't know the girl's background, but a girl coming to this kind of place to model, without even a manager with her — he didn't see any reason why he should be afraid!
Hearing that, Ichika's voice turned cold: "I've never done that kind of thing!"
"Still pretending, huh?"
The man sneered and reached out his hand. Anyway, this wasn't his first time doing something like this; these small-time actors and entertainers had no right to refuse! As long as the compensation afterward was good enough, they'd all come crawling back, licking his boots!
Minamoto Mashiro was also drawn over by the conversation.
This girl named Nakano — her family background didn't seem simple, or rather, anyone who could study at Shuchiin wasn't simple.
Why was she being harassed like this?
Though curious, she still spoke up.
"She already said no, Director Kobayashi. Are you planning to use force?" The beautiful woman couldn't hide the contempt in her voice.
The man called Kobayashi paused and turned to look at her.
He recognized this woman — she had very close ties to Ueno Yoko.
What's more, she was a "disaster-bringer." There were even rumors that she was the one who'd caused the deaths of her own husband and son! Even just getting close to her was said to bring bad luck!
Normally, Kobayashi wouldn't want to have anything to do with this woman; he was afraid her misfortune would rub off on him. But now that she dared to come and ruin his business, he wasn't about to show any mercy!
'I'm just picking on a model with no background, and even that's getting interrupted?'
"So what? She doesn't want to? Then you come instead!" Kobayashi Shou let out an angry laugh.
"And that little brat sitting up front — probably some high school boy you're keeping, huh? Looks decent on the outside, but you've done plenty of filthy things yourself. You've got the nerve to meddle in my business?"
"Careful, or one day I'll have someone tie you up and toss you into an alley…"
What followed was a string of vulgar insults, and even Sakurai Saki got dragged into the filth. At first, he hadn't planned to care — if it was just verbal abuse, he didn't intend to hit anyone too hard.
Until… he caught sight of the top of the man's head!
[True]
Hmph.
So, you really want to pick a fight, huh?
"That pale-faced little shit over there — don't think you're getting away either! Get ready to lose your job!" Kobayashi Shou finished his rant, glancing around smugly.
Seeing everyone's frightened faces, his mood immediately lifted.
Hearing that, Sakurai Saki turned to the trembling makeup artist behind him and asked:
"Done taking off the makeup?"
The makeup artist nodded fearfully.
Sakurai Saki sighed softly and slowly stood up.
Can't humans just communicate with a little less aggression?
In the end, it still has to be me to come explain things properly.
A playful, intriguing smile appeared at the corner of Sakurai's mouth as he looked toward Kobayashi Shou.
"So… how do you want to die?"