How to raise a random guy's wife

"It's not so much hard work, but mentally exhausting," Kobayashi Sora smiled. "Even a small change requires a lot of people to approve, sign, and stamp it. The lengthy process is excessively tedious."

"So, things will be much easier for the club now." Kato Megumi suddenly remembered, "Oh right, they found out about the magazine interview."

"It's not a big problem," Kobayashi Sora said, not taking it to heart. "Senpai has almost gotten used to it, and Eriri will get used to it soon too."

"They'll be angry."

“It won’t make a difference if we do it once more.” Kobayashi Sora thought of Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha and could roughly guess the friction between them. “Thank you for your hard work these past few days.”

"Huh?" Kato Megumi tilted her head, looking somewhat puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

"There must be some friction between the senior and Sawamura, right?"

Kato Megumi recalled the scene of Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha's noses touching, "Hmm... there really was."

"Thank goodness you're here."

"Hmm... I didn't really do anything."

"Without you, it would definitely have been much more intense."

Kato Megumi thought back to the atmosphere at the time; if it weren't for her...

Kato Megumi blushed.

"Mostly...maybe."

If it gets even more intense...

Not only should she not watch the rice cakes, but she shouldn't watch them either.

Like the kind that often appears in games... and also the kind that occasionally appears in Eriri's works...

"Your new book is doing very well," Kato Megumi said, rationally changing the subject.

"After all, the quality speaks for itself; gold always shines," Kobayashi Sora guessed. "You saw the first edition?"

“Yes, it was a gift from my senior.” Kato Megumi nodded. “I had a rough look at the first draft before. Although the changes in the final version are not significant, the overall feel of it is quite different.”

"After all, it's Kasumi Shiko who excels at depicting details." Kobayashi Sora felt the same way. "Guidance in details can lead to different developments in the story, especially for the female characters, each one of them is adorable."

“The male lead is one too,” Kato Megumi whispered. “I really like him.”

Chapter 146 Changing Hairstyles

"Objection!" In July, on a sweltering summer day, in a season when even cicadas were howling, a girl's impassioned voice rang out in the audiovisual classroom bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

Golden twin tails, cute little tiger teeth, and a fair arm pointing at another girl at a specific angle.

Eriri's azure eyes burned with the flames of war. "Kasumigaoka Utaha... no, what the defense attorney said is nothing but wishful thinking!"

“Is that so?” In contrast, the girl being pointed at spoke calmly, and even her figure was the opposite of Eriri's, with a curvaceous figure. The defense attorney, Kasumigaoka Utaha, raised an eyebrow. “In my opinion, the prosecutor’s statement is the fallacy.”

With her arms crossed over her chest, Kasumigaoka Utaha slowly walked to the center of the classroom. "The defendant's role was already weak. Since this is a common understanding among everyone in the courtroom, what's wrong with taking remedial action?"

"A role is not something to be taken lightly!" Prosecutor Eriri walked to the center of the classroom without backing down, tilting her head back to confront Kasumigaoka Utaha head-on.

"Isn't that precisely why we need to try different approaches?" Kasumigaoka Utaha glared back from above. "It's the trial-and-error method."

"There's no need for that! No matter what, your previous short hair was definitely not bad!" Eriri snapped. "So that's why I decided to design the character in that direction... Why are you suddenly changing your hairstyle now, Megumi?" Eriri turned her head sharply to look at Kato Megumi, who was sitting in the first row with a blank expression.

"Huh?" Kato Megumi blinked. "What should I say... I don't know anything. I was just suddenly called to stand in front of a table labeled 'Public Speaking Platform' after school, and then this courtroom drama started playing out on its own. So I have a voice after all... Sora Ao, this is..."

"Well, just think of it as playing house." Kobayashi Sora stood in front of the lectern, where she could see up close Kato Megumi's ponytail swaying gently in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Kato Megumi changed her hairstyle to a single ponytail!

There's no need to be so formal.

Actually, it's just that Kato Megumi's hair has grown long, so she tied it into a ponytail.

but......

Eriri asked righteously, "I'll ask the defendant again... why did you suddenly change your hairstyle?"

“Defendant? Me?” Kato Megumi scratched her face. “Uh… I didn’t think too much about it before I changed it.”

"Didn't think too much about it?" Eriri, who was in charge of drawing the character design based on Kato Megumi, had the expression of a programmer facing a client saying, "I suddenly want to add a small requirement." "Are you just going to casually double my workload on a whim?"

"Ah, this..." Kato Megumi realized, "Isn't that...?"

Before she could finish her apology, Kasumigaoka Utaha spoke up first, "You changed your hairstyle out of goodwill, didn't you?"

"Huh?" Kato Megumi blinked blankly. "Um..."

Is that right?

Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled calmly, “Character design needs to have distinctive features to be easy to write... In other words, changing your hairstyle can help Sawamura. You changed your hairstyle to a ponytail to emphasize your features with that in mind, right?”

"Hmm..." Kato Megumi hesitated for a moment, but still answered truthfully, "I didn't think that much about it."

“But…” Kasumigaoka Utaha added, “I wasn’t wrong, was I?”

"Uh...that's true."

"Protest!" Eriri shouted, "This is leading questioning!"

"Huh?" Kato Megumi looked at Sora Aoi. "Was I misled?"

“They’re all like this…” Kobayashi Sora sighed. “It’s like having a ton of things to do but feeling like you can’t finish them all, and feeling guilty if you don’t do them, so you just start cleaning the room.”

“Me too.” Kato Megumi nodded. “Even though we have more important things to do.”

"This is what is called human nature."

"Kasumigaoka Utaha," the conflict in the center of the classroom was far more intense than the peaceful scene around the teacher's desk, "Can you please shut up!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha clarified her identity, saying, "Even if you say that, as her defender, it's part of my duty."

"You're just making a fuss because you think it's funny."

“No, you’re wrong. I want to save Kato no matter what.” Kasumigaoka Utaha’s voice rose and fell. “Yes, even if it means using any means necessary… I will not hesitate!”

So isn't this something you're completely enjoying?

They've already started acting.

Kato Megumi exclaimed, "She seems really professional."

“She wrote scripts for the drama club and participated in rehearsals,” Kobayashi Sora explained. “Because of her high standards, three members eventually withdrew on the spot.”

"Wow, that's amazing!"

“Prosecutor,” Kasumigaoka Utaha offered a new perspective, “simply changing the heroine’s hairstyle along the way could expand the plot significantly. I could easily write at least two thousand words of filler content—I think that would enhance the character’s personality.”

Eriri flatly rejected the idea, saying, "That's the path that Akira Kamikishi walked more than a decade ago! You can't fool people these days by using the same old tricks!"

Kato Megumi tilted her head. "Kamigishi Akira?"

"The female protagonist of the bishoujo game 'ToHeart,' released in the last century, is the childhood friend of the male protagonist, Hiroyuki Fujita—one of the representatives of 'moe' (cuteness). There's even a scene in the game where she changes her hairstyle." Kobayashi Sora recited with great familiarity, "'ToHeart' can be considered a pioneer of school romance bishoujo games. By using character design, it made players resonate with the ordinary life depicted in the story, making school romance games mainstream and starting a new trend where many players valued character design more than the overall story."

Kobayashi Sora's eyes flickered slightly. This was indeed a promising direction for development, though not necessarily a good one.

As long as the characters are likable enough, problems with the story structure are not a big issue.

Write it down. Write it down.

Kasumigaoka Utaha launched the first personal attack, "Even so, if the heroine is just an ordinary girl with a big head, there is no other way to make the character stand out except to repeat the old tricks - the prosecutor who already has enough advantages with his blonde twin tails probably wouldn't understand."

Eriri retorted skillfully, "Otherwise, do you understand? You dare say that long black hair doesn't have an advantage?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked down and said, "Flat-chested women are a rare resource too."

"..." Eriri grinded her little white teeth and changed the subject, "The heroine's look should be planned in the long term. If she changes her hairstyle along the way, or gets older in the work, or has plastic surgery, it will be very complicated and affected when launching character merchandise!"

Chapter 147 Study Hard

“I don’t quite agree with that,” Kobayashi Sora said. “If the character is popular enough, different versions can be released based on the differences in the characters, which can make a lot of money. Even if it’s the same mold, you can sell another copy just by changing the color scheme. There are also small details such as movements and makeup. You can make a lot of money by arranging and combining them.”

"Shut up, you greedy, corrupt judge!" Eriri accused. "You definitely took bribes from the defense attorney!"

Kobayashi Sora tapped the blackboard eraser. "Watch your words, prosecutor! Or I'll sue you for defamation! You're defaming me!"

“That’s great,” Kato Megumi said, looking at them. “I guess hardcore otaku can communicate better after all? I don’t understand at all.”

"Huh?" Eriri inexplicably felt like she had been hit by an arrow.

"Isn't that right?" Kato Megumi thought she had guessed wrong. "You guys are probably imitating that game that reversed something, right?"

"Friendly reminder," Kobayashi Sora sighed, "it's best to avoid using the 'XX something' format."

"Protest!" Eriri corrected, "That's Ace Attorney! It has unforgettable characters and a bizarre and addictive courtroom adventure game mode, ranked 178th among the 200 greatest video games of all time!"

Kobayashi Sora spread her hands, "Otherwise it would have turned out like this."

Before Kato Megumi could speak, the defense attorney who was originally on her side also spoke up.

“I protest,” Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at Eriri, “I’ve been a fan of courtroom dramas ever since I watched ‘Ellie’s Wonderland’ before I started elementary school, and I don’t want to be compared to this half-baked person.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha initiated a righteous severance, distancing herself from otaku.

Kato Megumi looked at Kobayashi Sora.

Kobayashi Sora explained, "The legal drama series, also known as 'Sweetheart Girl,' is basically about male-female relationships disguised as law."

"Male-female relationship?"

"There are also occasional lesbian and male-male relationships."

"what?"

"In short," Kobayashi Sora patted the blackboard eraser, "do you guys really have time to talk about this?"

He looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha, "The first volume was a success and sold well. Next, you'll need to write some short stories for the magazine. You probably haven't started writing yet, have you?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her head to look to the side, "Just write whatever comes to mind."

Kobayashi Sora looked at Eriri, "With Megumi's help, the first volume is finished, but we still need to continue serializing it. Of course, the more drafts we have, the better. There are also illustrations for the new week, the doujinshi for this month, and the summer comic convention is coming soon."

Eriri turned her head to look to the side, "Just draw whatever you want."

“These are all fine,” Kobayashi Sora emphasized, “Summer vacation is approaching, and before that, there are final exams. If you fail three subjects, you’ll have to take make-up classes. How’s your revision going?”

Kato Megumi turned her head to look to the side, "Just take a look."