They all have hidden attributes!

Amidst the electronic hum of the printer, Maya Uesugi's calm voice broke the silence:

"I can accept them, but you can only love me."

"Aya, have you ever used a fax machine before? I heard that some restaurants still require fax machine reservations," Takahashi Makoto said to himself.

His attitude was the answer: it's impossible.

Uesugi Maya looked at her calmly, a shadow gradually falling over her face: "Then can you be my brother, parent, classmate, neighbor, best friend, accomplice, lover, toy, and possession all at the same time?"

"It may sound a bit exaggerated, but it should be fine."

Takahashi Makoto turned around and met her gaze. His tone was extremely gentle, so gentle that it made Uesugi Maya's teeth ache: "You are my shrine maiden and cat. As long as you don't make things difficult for me, I can agree to any condition you set."

Uesugi Maya took a deep breath to calm herself, let out a mocking laugh, and continued to photocopy the manuscript: "Heh."

Makoto Takahashi realized that his words were too vague because he was in a hurry, and he was about to correct and supplement them when she changed the subject.

"Hitomi Ikeda is going to the coffee shop today."

"Who?"

"Shogi player, Oni no Ryou, three-time women's champion."

After a moment's thought, Takahashi Makoto frowned and asked, "You seem to dislike her. Have you changed your mind?"

“No, but I can’t just cut off her only hope based on my own opinion.” Uesugi Maya breathed a sigh of relief.

What are her demands?

"It was probably to treat a rare heart condition, because it can be passed on to children. Of all the patients that year, she was the only one who survived. It was a miracle that she recovered naturally, but it could be hereditary. This is just my speculation, there is no concrete evidence."

Takahashi Makoto nodded thoughtfully and asked Uesugi Maya, "You want to give her a chance?"

“I don’t know. You said it was a shrine about [love]. In my opinion, she used to value winning and losing more than love.”

"Let's talk to her for a bit."

Makoto Takahashi shrugged indifferently, his gaze remaining fixed on Maya Uesugi: "Maya, what I mean is, between us, it's possible—"

"I know." She deftly tossed her long black hair that was draped over her shoulders.

After Uesugi Maya finished photocopying the manuscript, the two of them bought materials for making handmade chocolates together in the shopping street, and then got into a white car and headed to a coffee shop in Meguro River.

The tires rolled through the puddles and silently arrived at the coffee shop.

Makoto Takahashi got out of the car first, opened his black umbrella, walked around to the other side of the vehicle from the back, and opened the car door.

"I'll think about it and give you an answer in two months," Uesugi Maya said abruptly as she stepped out of the car.

Makoto Takahashi paused for a moment, then pursed his lips speechlessly: "Two months? It used to be only two days."

"I want to wait until the new book is released."

Uesugi Maya slapped him with her thick manuscript and said irritably, "This is already because you baked me cream puffs last night, don't be ungrateful."

"Can we bake it a few more times to speed up the process?" Takahashi asked.

"Oh, no, but you can come into my room."

"Spare me, thankfully I've been keeping a close watch on you lately."

"Tch, what a useless man."

While he was holding the glass door of the coffee shop, Uesugi Maya kicked it lightly to vent her dissatisfaction before stepping into the shop.

Makoto Takahashi folded his umbrella and handed it to the shop assistant who came forward, then followed behind her: "Aren't you still supposed to call me 'older sister' obediently?"

"Who do you think it's because of?" Uesugi Maya turned around and glared at him fiercely.

"Okay, it's my fault."

Makoto Takahashi raised his hands in surrender, and Maya Uesugi then headed for the stairs.

Upon arriving at the second floor of the coffee shop, I found the editor I had arranged to meet sitting by the window, drinking coffee and working on his laptop.

"Ms. Sakai, it's been a long time."

Maya Uesugi led Makoto Takahashi over and exchanged pleasantries with the woman with short black hair.

Ms. Sakai closed her laptop, her attitude warm, even softening the narrow corners of her eyes outlined by red eye makeup.

After all, he is a newly awarded author, and he also has another highly prestigious award in April. By leveraging the buzz surrounding his new book release, sales are bound to be strong.

After exchanging a few words, the two finally got to the point.

Please take good care of this manuscript.

Maya Uesugi handed over the photocopied manuscript, and Ms. Sakai nodded, saying, "That's quite a lot. Is this the complete manuscript?"

"Yes, romance novels."

Hearing Uesugi Maya say this, Ms. Sakai turned to the first page and saw the dedication at the beginning, "[This novel is dedicated to my beloved M]", and looked up with an unnatural smile:

"I never expected that Ms. Maya would write a romance novel. I will definitely read it carefully as soon as possible."

"Hard."

Maya Uesugi's indifferent attitude even made Makoto Takahashi feel a little nostalgic.

It's probably because there's not much to say between the writer and the editor, or more likely it's due to Uesugi Maya's personality.

After Ms. Sakai congratulated her on winning the award, Maya Uesugi exchanged a few polite words, then took her leave and went to the third floor with Makoto Takahashi.

"Is that all? Around what time will it be published?"

"It's not clear yet, it will take at least a month."

As if she had made a life-altering decision, Uesugi Maya's steps were unusually heavy, and her already cold voice became even more tense: "Let's not talk about this, Ikeda Hitomi, what do you think?"

"If she's willing to give up shogi in exchange for a child, I wouldn't mind fulfilling her wish," Makoto Takahashi said in a lighthearted tone, trying to cheer her up.

Among his miscellaneous skills, there is no shortage of healing skills, which is equivalent to gaining a [Shogi] skill for free. It would be worthwhile to exchange it for skill points.

Sure enough, she was attracted to him; that was the most important reason, Uesugi Maya thought to herself.

"You also dislike her, ignoring your lover's feelings, don't you?"

“Yes.” Makoto Takahashi nodded.

Chapter 217 The First Chocolate

In the private rooms on the fourth floor of the coffee shop, the warm yellow light diffused the bitter aroma of coffee in the air.

"Speaking of which, Aya."

Makoto Takahashi sat on the rouge-colored sofa, sipping iced coffee from a stainless steel mug to moisten his throat. His gaze drifted through the window to the rain-soaked figure of a short-haired girl with black hair on the terrace.

What are you planning to do today?

For the past few months, Maya Uesugi has been busy writing her new book, and after submitting the manuscript today, she finally has some free time.

"chocolate."

Sitting across from her, Maya Uesugi held a cup of coffee, the rim of which was pressed to her lips. She also turned her head to look at the girl who was praying devoutly: "There are also band activities. Even if you don't go on tour, you should still hold a few live performances."

"With their current popularity, shouldn't they start the lottery for a live performance?"

A digitized panel of Hitomi Ikeda popped up in front of Takahashi Makoto's eyes. After taking away the [Lv.4 Shogi] skill, he cured her heart disease in exchange.

Convert the [Lv.4] level skill into 4 skill points, and use half of them to help Uesugi Maya upgrade [Writing] to [Lv.Max].

"Yes."

Maya Uesugi took a sip of her coffee and agreed with him: "If there were no lottery, the tickets would be snapped up by scalpers in an instant."

On the terrace not far away, the girl, realizing she could no longer learn shogi, expressed her gratitude and headed for the stairs.

Uesugi Maya looked away and stared straight at her: "Speaking of bands, you wrote a song for her?"

The glare I received seemed a bit cold, and a sense of tension crept up my spine.

"Didn't I write you a whole notebook?" Makoto Takahashi asked anxiously.

"They're different, aren't they?"

"Aren't they the same?"

"Tsk, anyway, for a shallow man like you, bigger is definitely a different story, right?"

Uesugi Maya suddenly started acting strangely, her expression stiffened by her long eyelashes and black hair, as if she were frozen.

She put down her coffee, crossed her arms, and her beautiful caramel-colored eyes, like a sky shrouded in heavy rain clouds, were dark and melancholy.

"To you, I'm nothing more than this, even though you said it yourself—"

"Aya, Aya, wait."

Looking at her expressionless face, Makoto Takahashi quickly stopped her: "When I wrote that song, I was thinking about repairing your relationship. You agreed to release the song together, right?"

"So what? It's still a love song written for my girlfriend," Uesugi Maya retorted coldly.

Makoto Takahashi thought to himself, "I should let Hitomi Ikeda get soaked in the rain a little longer."

Perhaps because he was submitting his new book and didn't have anything else to do, Hakiye was in the mood to deliberately act sullen.

The same goes for Tachibana Yuki; because she suddenly had free time, she started to take every opportunity to cling to him and act cute.

Hakiya's way of acting cute is probably throwing a tantrum. Considering that she has been unilaterally suppressed by Tachimi Yuki recently, it won't be easy to coax her.

"First of all, I don't have any particular opinion on breasts."

Makoto Takahashi cleared his throat and said in a serious tone, "Secondly, I appreciate beauty."

Uesugi Maya stared intently at Takahashi Makoto as if to confirm whether he was lying, even though it was a rainy day with low temperatures, she was sweating profusely.

"Finally, I prefer legs."

Makoto Takahashi swallowed a mouthful of iced coffee, and with a deep gaze honed from his Latin dance training, looked at Maya Uesugi's long skirt: "I've always loved how you look in your school uniform."

"…pest."

Maya Uesugi's expression softened. She picked up her coffee and leaned back on the sofa in a relaxed manner: "So, you're more excited about me than about Ritsumi."

“I never said that.”

"More desires."