"You ran away from home, shouldn’t I come looking for you?"
"I told you it wasn’t running away! Also, I’ve already asked Shirakawa not to come looking for me..."
"Do you think I wanted to? Miss Morihara came to the house and to school too, yet you still dared to skip..."
"Miss Morihara actually found her way to you! Damn, I totally forgot about that... I should have planned ahead!"
As expected... when ordinary people get caught doing something wrong, they think they won’t dare to do it next time... only this lazy girl thinks she didn’t do well this time and plans to try again.
Shirakawa Sawahei said speechlessly, "I heard you’ve been skipping even the Light Music Club activities lately, what’s going on?"
"Well... it’s just that thing... the thing is..." The lazy girl mumbled a few words softly, and even though Shirakawa Sawahei leaned in closer, he couldn’t quite make out what she was saying, causing him to frown.
"It’s about my manga career..." The lazy girl shrank her head, reluctantly saying, "It’s embarrassing to talk about, so I wanted to solve it myself... but unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten to reply to the editor Miss Morihara’s messages..."
"Actually! Actually, I can solve it soon, it’s just some minor reader complaints, I have no problem at all!" Ise Yu Yuzhijin’s tone gradually became more excited, nonchalantly saying, "It’s just such a small thing, and if they think they can knock down Lord Ise Yu with it, it’s totally impossible! Shirakawa, I will return soon, once I revise the draft, I can quickly get back on track..."
"It’s alright... just... just a little problem..."
Shirakawa Sawahei said nothing, only quietly gazing into the girl’s eyes, where a hidden anxiety seemed ready to surface, as if intending to tear through her fragile facade.
"Don’t look at me like that..." Ise Yu Yuzhijin’s tone gradually softened, and a hint of grievance crept into her words.
"I told you... don’t do that... you..."
"You, in this way, will make me want to cry..."
The girl’s eyes started turning red, seeing that Shirakawa Sawahei showed no sign of withdrawing his gaze, she finally couldn’t suppress her inner grievance, and tears rushed out...
"Why... why is it ... I don’t understand... really don’t understand... what should I do... obviously it’s a dream I want to accomplish, why is it so hard... Shirakawa..."
Shirakawa Sawahei let out a barely audible sigh, patted the girl’s shoulder, and consoled, "It’s okay."
"No, it’s not! It’s a big deal!" The lazy girl lifted her tearful face, stubbornly saying, "Shirakawa, you don’t understand..."
He gently reached out, helping Ise Yu Yuzhijin who was crying on his shoulder, and sighed, "Miss Morihara already told me the situation."
"Then... Shirakawa, will you laugh at me..." The lazy girl sobbed and asked, "Will you laugh at me like those others..."
"I rarely ridicule others, especially those who work hard."
"Shirakawa, you really aren’t good at saying sweet things..." The lazy girl continued, "If it were the male protagonist in a shoujo manga, he would definitely say something like ’I will never laugh at you’..."
"Doing pointless things is of no use," Shirakawa Sawahei took a tissue and wiped away the tears at the corners of the girl’s eyes, calmly saying, "Actually, your situation isn’t that bad."
"There’s a risk of cancellation, isn’t that bad?"
"But it’s not canceled yet, is it?"
"That’s only because Miss Morihara helped me fight for it... A manga that’s only been serialized for a dozen Chapters is facing completion... am I useless, Shirakawa?"
"Sometimes you are quite useless." Shirakawa Sawahei nodded.
"But... whether it’s the useful or the useless you, both parts are important to make up who you are, and as a friend, I don’t dislike any part of you."
Ise Yu’s cute little face was already puffed up, ready to scold the thick-skinned Shirakawa Sawahei, but after listening to his explanation, she finally let out a sigh, muttering gloomily.
"Shirakawa... your way of comforting people is really unique..."
"Your way of praising people is also quite unique." Shirakawa Sawahei said, pulling another tissue to wipe the tear tracks on the left side of the girl’s face...
Ise Yu Yuzhijin: "..."
"Shirakawa, when comforting a girl, don’t play OCD symmetry games..."
"Considering your rare gentleness towards me, I’ll forgive you this time..." The lazy girl pouted, "But other girls might not be as easygoing as I am."
He responded, thinking about it, and indeed among the girls he knew, apart from this lazy girl, no one else would let him wipe their tears—Hayakawa Kashi would never be weak enough to cry, Little Transparent would be embarrassed to have him wipe her tears, and QQ Crybaby, although she occasionally pretends to cry, like Hayakawa Kashi, it’s unlikely she’d shed real tears.
Hmm, and Black Hearted Lolita, if he wiped her tears, she would surely enjoy it while pouting, which is commonly known as saying no with her mouth but her body being honest.
"So, the situation now is that your manga, due to the reviews, is at risk of cancellation, which is why you wanted to take a break and come out, right..."
"Not just hiding for a few days! I came out to seek inspiration!"
"Alright, after hiding for a few days, you also plan to finish the draft for the next issue and see if the reviews can improve... is that it?"
"Shirakawa..." The lazy girl muttered faintly, "Did you secretly read my diary..."
"I wouldn’t do something so boring," Shirakawa Sawahei said calmly, "What’s going on in the comments section?"
"It’s... it’s just some comments on the plot..." Ise Yu Yuzhijin thought of those words, feeling her mood sink again.
"Saying my plot lacks novelty... that it only attracts with art style... that the theme is cliché... that it doesn’t feel romantic, not like a shoujo manga..."
"But... but how do I know what kind of romance readers want... I haven’t experienced love myself..."
"Shirakawa... do you think my work will really be canceled?"
Seemingly affected by the girl’s anxious tone, Shirakawa Sawahei remained silent for a while, seemingly making some resolution, then stood up and extended his hand to Ise Yu Yuzhijin.
Ise Yu’s cute little face was perplexed as she reached out her hand to place it in Shirakawa Sawahei’s palm, only to see him gently apply force, bringing the girl who was originally seated to her feet.
"Let’s go have a look at your manga."