Tokyo Soft Rice King.

After being yelled at, Aiyuan Moe shrank back and picked up her schoolbag.

She knew that even if she stayed, it would only make Shirai Shiori feel more embarrassed.

What saddened Aizono Moe the most wasn't being yelled at, but that as Shirai Shiori's best friend, she couldn't do anything for her and could only watch her be humiliated... no, she didn't even have the right to watch, since Shiori certainly wouldn't want her to see her at her most vulnerable...

So when she brushed past Kuroba Akira, Aizono Moe glanced at him with teary eyes, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she bit her lower lip and couldn't say anything, so she quickened her pace and ran out of the activity room.

Kuroba Akira sighed. Now, in Aizono Moe's eyes, he had completely become the big bad guy who bullied her best friend... How could they still cooperate well in the future?

After Aizono Moe left, only Kuroba Akira and Shirai Shiori remained in the activity room, silently facing each other.

At this moment, Kuroba Akira was frantically racking his brains, trying to figure out how to end things smoothly.

Perhaps we could try starting with her submissions.

For example, if the publisher is wrong, you can tell her, "Oh dear, Shirai-san, you submitted to the wrong publisher. This publisher doesn't publish light novels at all!"

Try to find other reasons so that she feels that the failure to submit her work is not due to her lack of ability, but rather due to luck or other factors.

That's right, think about it carefully, there must still be a breakthrough!

Kuroba Akira wanted to salvage the situation and end things peacefully, so he went to check the letter, trying to find some reason for her.

As luck would have it, the publisher she submitted to was also Hurricane Bunko, and the person who replied was also Mori Keima, so it seems that he was the one in charge of reviewing new submissions.

I glanced at the contents of the letter, and it seemed that Mori Keima was saying that it wasn't that Shirai Shiori's writing was bad, but rather that the subject matter was somewhat out of touch with the current market. Although publication was possible, he didn't expect sales to be very high.

Then Mori Keima also said that he had heard of Shirai Shiori's reputation and admired her talent. Therefore, publishing this light novel for her would damage her reputation, so he could only regretfully refuse.

The following were some words of encouragement, and he expressed his great honor that Shiori Shirai chose Hurricane Bunko, hoping to have the opportunity to talk to her in person, and looking forward to her writing even better works.

Having read this far, Akira Kuroba completely understood Keima Mori's thoughts.

He wanted to protect the reputation of young authors, not wanting their genius to shatter prematurely, and wanted to maximize the use of that genius aura.

Just as Akira Kuroba wanted Murasaki to debut at her peak, Keima Mori also hoped to debut Shiori Shirai with a more significant work, rather than having her debut with a mediocre work, which would be tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

If it were any other editor, they would definitely have published it, but Mori Keima considered things more than the average editor.

Shiori Shirai's reputation backfired, raising Keima Mori's expectations and ultimately leading to this failure.

"Look, Shirai-kun, the editor said you've already reached publication level, so this time it was just bad luck..."

Shiori Shirai interrupted him expressionlessly, speaking coldly.

“I also spoke with editor Sen on the phone. He mentioned that an author around my age has submitted a very impressive work, which will be published in November. He also suggested that I take a look at it…”

Shiori Shirai stared intently at Akira Kuroba.

"That person must be you."

"..."

Keima Mori! You've been too talkative!

However, this is something that can't be helped; this situation will most likely occur when Shiori Shirai chooses Hurricane Bunko.

After all, from Mori Keima's perspective, having two young, talented authors actively offering themselves up, he would definitely compare them.

Kuroba Akira looked away, trying to deceive them.

"Uh, it might not necessarily be me, right? Actually, there are quite a few students submitting light novels..."

“I specifically asked him if the author requested to designate an illustrator... His reply was, ‘How did you know? Do you know Kuroba-kun? You two wouldn’t happen to be classmates, would you?’ Then I realized that the person he was talking about was you.”

Damn, this girl is pretty clever; she actually came up with this kind of fishing-style confirmation method!

“We both submitted our work to the same publisher, but your submission was highly praised, while mine was only considered average… Is there any room for argument?”

"..."

Kuroba Akira was truly at a loss for words.

Is it really the only option to make her take her clothes off?

How about we compromise and just do a full dogeza (prostration)?

At that moment, Akira Kuroba saw Shiori Shirai walk up to him, and looked up with a complicated expression.

"...Come home with me."

"Oh... huh?"

Chapter 119 I'll Keep a Close Eye on You

"Our bet doesn't specify where it should be carried out, right? Stripping naked at school would be disruptive... so let's go to my house instead."

No, is it a question of where to take it off?

So, you're really going to take your clothes off?!

What about the young girl's modesty?! Quickly, stop her!

Kuroba Akira was worried for her and tried to defend her.

"Um, Shirai-kun, how about I go home first today, and you can calm down by yourself..."

Shiori Shirai stepped forward and grabbed Akira Kuroba's tie, shouting angrily with a flushed face.

"Don't run away! Follow me!"

No, who's going to take their clothes off...?

Kuroba Akira was grabbed by the collar and had no choice but to raise his hands in surrender.

"I'm not going to run away... I mean, why do you seem more anxious than I am..."

"I wasn't in a hurry to take my clothes off! I was too...! Ugh...! Go to hell!"

Shiori Shirai was almost furious. She had already managed to suppress her embarrassment, but Akira Kuroba's attitude of "I don't really want to see it either" only made her angrier.

You have to watch it today, whether you want to or not!

Before Kuroba Akira could even put his book away, she grabbed his tie and dragged him out of the activity room, out of the school, and only let go at the subway entrance.

Passersby might have thought it was a young couple playing a dog-walking game.

At this time of day, the subway was packed to the brim, so Kuroba Akira had no choice but to act as a protector, pinning Shirai Shiori against the subway door to shield her.

"……Thanks."

Shiori Shirai, nestled in his arms, thanked him in a barely audible voice, but Akira Kuroba still heard it.

"You're welcome, but Shirai-kun, do you usually have to squeeze onto such a terrifying subway to get home?"

"No, I usually buy half-price bento boxes at the convenience store next to the school and take the subway home after avoiding the evening rush hour."

"Oh? Aren't you going home for dinner? Where are your family?"

“My parents are both university professors and are usually busy with research. They don’t get home until after nine o’clock at the earliest, so they give me money to eat dinner outside. However, I save most of the money to buy books.”

"I see……"

Wait, does that mean that if we go to Shirai Shiori's house, it will be a situation where the two of us are alone?

Kuroba Akira also wanted to suggest that if her parents were there, they should sit in the living room instead of going to her room, so as to prevent her from getting stuck on her thoughts.

But now it seems she had already thought of this, which is why she squeezed into a packed subway to take her home before her parents returned.

This person is determined to fulfill the bet.

However, a teenage girl undressing in front of boys her own age at home... it's hard not to think that something might happen!

Kuroba Akira asked with a strange expression.

Aren't you afraid I might do something to you?

"I'm not worried about that at all. If you were really that kind of person, Hitomi wouldn't have brought you to the Literature and Art Club."

Shiori Shirai crossed her arms and pouted as she spoke.

"Although I hate your casual attitude, I believe you're not the kind of scumbag who would take advantage of me."

"Does the squad leader's reputation guarantee my character...?"

At this point, Kuroba Akira sighed, deciding it was better to just lay things out plainly and not worry about saving face for her at this point.

"Hey Shirai-kun, since you're also a good friend of the class president, I'll be frank. Actually, we can change the bet. I don't want to embarrass you, and Ai-en-kun is probably worried about you too."

"no!"

But Shiori Shirai stubbornly refused.

"It has nothing to do with whether you want to see it or not now. If I don't keep my bet... I won't be able to forgive myself."

"..."

Shiori Shirai has an excessively strong sense of pride.

She was so strong that even her pride was backfiring on her.

Akira Kuroba finally realized that once words are spoken, they cannot be taken back.

Although he was the winner, in the settlement of the bet, he was the one subject to the execution.

Today he must face the sight of Shiori Shirai completely naked.

More than excitement, I felt helpless.

Kuroba Akira truly didn't intend to push her to this point; he had been giving her chances all along, but she simply didn't appreciate it.

Since things had come to this point, Akira Kuroba had no choice but to follow Shiori Shirai to her house, a medium-sized two-story villa with a good location and good lighting.

After all, both of Shirai Shiori's parents are professors, so her family must be quite well-off.

As he entered, he said "Excuse me" and changed into the slippers that Shirai Shiori had prepared for him. Kuroba Akira then followed her to Shirai Shiori's room on the second floor.

Shiori Shirai's room was exceptionally tidy, with almost no unnecessary decorations. It didn't resemble the room of an active high school girl at all; rather, it was similar to Akira Kuroba's room.

The only difference was that her room had two huge bookshelves that filled an entire wall, crammed with books.

Compared to her bookshelves, her wardrobe was pitifully small; you might not even notice it if you weren't looking closely.

Because she had so many books that they couldn't fit on the bookshelf, many of them were simply stacked on the floor, blocking the clothes rack.

Kuroba Akira also noticed that there was a half-meter-high stack of draft paper on her desk, three empty ink bottles, and the trash can was full of crumpled paper.

The wall in front of the desk was covered with sticky notes, each containing key points to help him remember, such as points to note regarding word choice and phrasing, the main plot lines in the outline, foreshadowing, subplots, character settings, and so on...