"Sakurajima-senpai..."
"No need to call me senpai. We don't go to the same school, do we?"
"Then, Sakurajima-san?"
"Isn't my last name a bit long?"
"Wouldn't calling you by your first name be too intimate?" Shinra said, suddenly acting polite. Her sudden gentleness made him too embarrassed to even sneak a peek at her collarbone.
"Can't you just add '-san' to it?"
Mai didn't think it was a big deal. Perhaps because she'd had such a unlucky day, she really needed someone to lean on right now. Even just a closer form of address could bring her a little comfort.
Of course, she couldn't let it get too close all at once.
"I see. I thought Mai-san was giving me a hint. I was even considering whether to accept," Shinra said with regret.
"A hint?"
"A man and a woman, alone. The woman is currently in a state of vacuum, and she suddenly asks the man to call her by her first name... Don't you think that's very... erotic, Mai-san?"
Hearing this, Sakurajima Mai's body stiffened. She then quickly wrapped her arms around herself. This action, far from protecting her, actually caused the fabric to be squeezed, opening small windows between the buttons of her pajamas, revealing the faint hint of fair skin beneath.
It became even more erotic, so to speak.
"Well, I don't mind being the object of a younger boy's fantasies. But! It can only be limited to fantasies," she said, warily watching the boy across the table.
"I know. So can you put your hands down now? If you keep this up, I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself," Shinra said, tapping his own chest.
Seeing his gesture, Mai was initially confused, but she quickly looked down at her own chest.
"Eek!"
Watching her frantically grab the gaps between her pajama buttons with her hands, Shinra stuffed the last bite of his bun into his mouth and got up to go to the living room sofa.
"Want to watch TV?"
"Please."
There were still about two hours until her clothes were completely dry. They couldn't just sit here doing nothing for two hours, could they?
In her current state, being alone with a guy and doing nothing was far more dangerous than watching TV.
As the sound of the TV filled the living room, she felt the atmosphere in the room gradually return from sultry to normal, which slightly relaxed her tense nerves.
She cleaned up the meal boxes, putting them along with the leftover bun wrapper into the trash can at the side. Then, she tied up the trash bag and placed it by the door, planning to take it out when she left after her clothes were dry.
After doing all this, she went to the kitchen to wash her hands, then hesitantly came to the living room and chose a seat relatively far from him.
She sat down very carefully, as if afraid one wrong move would lead to an accidental exposure.
It had to be said, being in a state of vacuum with only pajamas on, it was no wonder she was acting so insecure.
In fact, before today, she couldn't believe she would be alone in a room with a guy wearing only his pajamas, and even the pajamas belonged to him.
While feeling shy, she also felt a strange sense of excitement.
It was even more exciting than the first time she had walked through the library in a bunny girl outfit!
"Um... thank you for today."
After watching TV for a while, she stole a glance at Shinra, who was playing on his phone, and took the initiative to thank him.
"You're welcome. Didn't you repay me a lot too, Mai-senpai? I feel like I got the better end of the deal," he said nonchalantly.
Sakurajima Mai: ...
Fortunately, she had gotten used to his verbal flirting and knew his gentlemanly nature—all talk, no action.
High EQ: Possesses the air of a gentleman.
Low EQ: All bark, no bite.
"Yesterday..." she started, wanting to apologize.
He spoke first. "Yesterday, it was indeed my fault. I gave some self-righteous advice without understanding the full picture. For that, I'm truly sorry."
His apology was so formal that it caught her completely off guard.
Actually, she had been prepared to be teased by him a bit. After all, her words from yesterday, "let's just pretend we've never met," were still fresh in her mind, yet today she had come to him for help in such a sorry state...
The slap in the face came so quickly that it was difficult for her to accept his help so brazenly.
"No, it was my fault. I couldn't control my emotions yesterday and said some very impulsive things. I'm sorry."
As she said this, she also sat up straight and gave him a half-bow.
"It's alright. I can understand why you were angry. Giving advice without knowing anything is indeed infuriating. Now, I have a rough idea of why you stopped your activities."
"Playing the detective game again?"
Mai smiled, looking somewhat dismissive.
Well, it was to be expected. After all, his previous two attempts at being a detective had both ended in failure.
But as the saying goes, failure is the mother of success. This time, he had gathered sufficient intelligence.
"It was because of the photobook from your third year of middle school, wasn't it?"
Sakurajima Mai: !
When he said this, the smile on her face froze slightly, and her expression was no longer as composed as before.
"The condition was 'absolutely no swimsuit photos,' but because a swimsuit would definitely sell well, your manager-mother signed the contract on her own."
When he had investigated this matter, he could completely understand her feelings at the time.
After all, before this, she had never taken a swimsuit photo for a magazine and had been sincerely proud of being able to meet market demands without doing so.
"You also had a big fight with your mother over this and decided to retaliate in the way that would hit her the hardest—by 'stopping your acting activities'."
"..."
Shinra could already 'see' her turbulent emotions. Because of his words, the frequency of the color change of the abnormal Wish Request on her head had also significantly increased.
So, he made a despicable decision. He was going to add more fuel to the fire.
"But I think your actions were quite immature."
"Shut up..."
"This kind of self-destructive method is too childish and completely meaningless."
"Shut up!"
"Your volume is a bit loud now, Mai-san. You'll disturb the neighbors. Please keep..."
Before he could finish, he saw her raise her hand. He didn't choose to dodge, and even closed his eyes in advance, intending to take the coming slap head-on.
However, after waiting for a while, the slap never came. He opened his eyes and saw tears streaming down her cheeks like broken pearls. The hand she had raised high was now lowered, clenched into a fist.
"..."
He was silent for a moment. He took her clenched fist and hit himself in the chest with it.
This action seemed to give her an outlet for her frustration. She hit him in the chest again.
This time, it was without his guidance, and the punch had some force. Even with his current Constitution of 8, it was a bit hard to take.
"Ahem..."
Seeing that she seemed to want to try another punch, he quickly gestured for her to stop hitting his chest. She could hit other places, his arm, his thigh, even his butt if she had to.
Fortunately, she didn't hit him again in the end. After calming down a bit, she explained, "I struggled with that decision for a long time!"
He very wisely remained silent, assuming the posture of a listener.
"I was just a middle school student back then. The moment I entered the photo studio, they suddenly gave me a swimsuit, and everyone around was an adult... They said the contract was already signed. I really didn't want to, but they said it was a job, so I could only accept my fate... and force a smile!"
If she were just an ordinary girl, she could have been willful and said 'no,' or she could have just thrown a tantrum and refused, at worst breaking the contract. But unfortunately, she was Sakurajima Mai, a professional artist who had been working in a world of adults since she was six.
Her long career had taught her that causing trouble on set was a major taboo. She had to read the room and make appropriate judgments.
She was clearly a child, but she had to act like an adult.
"In the end, that person just wanted to use me to make money..."
As she said this, the color of the emotions around her became very turbid. Mixed feelings would be an understatement.
It was precisely because of this genuine outpouring of emotion that he was able to perceive the point she cared about the most—her mother saw her as a commodity, and she couldn't accept it, so she rebelled.
After confirming this point, he finally spoke. "If that's the case, shouldn't you be even more determined to return to the entertainment industry?"
He couldn't empathize with her feelings. Both before and after transmigrating, he had always done what he wanted, and he didn't have parents forcing him to do things he didn't want to.
But there was one thing he was sure of.
"Even though you've been through so many unpleasant things, you still gritted your teeth and persevered."
"..."
"If you want to do something, just do it. Life is only about thirty thousand days. All you really have to do is find a place where you won't lose heat, and then get two thousand calories a day. Other than that, you can freely explore this world and live the way you want to live."
Although it sounded a bit like chicken soup for the soul, this was his long-held philosophy.
If the system didn't exist, he might have chosen to enter the family business, and after earning enough money, he would have freely enjoyed the rest of his life.
And now, it was pretty much the same. He wanted to earn enough Wish Points, turn himself into the ultimate life form, and try to reach the limits of humanity.
System, do you hear me? Give me points, let me see your limits!
Sakurajima Mai didn't know his inner thoughts. After being fed a bowl of chicken soup, she was silent for a full ten seconds before slowly speaking. "Sorry for hitting you."
"I asked for it."
"True. Why did you deliberately provoke me with those words?"
"If I didn't, how would the actress Mai-san ever speak her true feelings?"
"You admit it so readily!"
She reached her hand towards his chest. He thought she was going to touch the place he had been hit as a form of comfort, but he didn't expect her to suddenly change direction and instead pinch the soft flesh at his waist.
"Ouch, that really hurts!"
Facts proved that even a Constitution of 8 could not withstand the twist that girls seem to know instinctively.
Now fully recovered, Sakurajima Mai asked coolly, "So how did you know the inside story of why I stopped my activities?"
Shinra's gaze shifted to the left. "I guessed it from some information online."
"Your acting is a bit too lame."
"Well, it's not like I make a living from it."
"Are you going to tell me or not?" Her fingers squeezed harder.
"Ow, ow, ow, I'll talk, I'll talk."
Seeing her like this, he knew he couldn't bluff his way out. Beating around the bush probably wouldn't work either.
Clearly, she knew this was information that an ordinary person wouldn't know. Even insiders who knew were very few. After all, it had never been exposed until now.
"It was a netizen. A netizen gave me the information."
He sold out his source without hesitation.
"A netizen?"
Seeing the 'are you kidding me' expression on her face, he held her hand at his waist with one hand and skillfully operated his phone with the other, opening their chat history and showing it to her.
She pulled back her hand with a slight blush, then took his phone and unceremoniously began to read their chat history from the beginning.
It was clear that at first, this netizen named 'Sis Will Return Someday' didn't know him and was even a bit dismissive. Basically, he would say two or three things, and she would reply with one word, usually 'mhm' or 'oh,' clearly very perfunctory.
However, as their communication increased, she seemed to let down her guard and no longer replied in a perfunctory tone, and even occasionally initiated conversations with him.
Scrolling to the most recent chat records, she had completely let down her guard. Not only would she discuss entertainment gossip with him, but she would also take the initiative to share her feelings, clearly already treating him as a close online confidant.
Finally, regarding the information about her, he had merely started the topic and offered a few related guesses, and she had immediately helped him fill in the rest of the information. Although in the end she said it was just her guess, it was a bit of a poorly concealed attempt to cover up.
"Who is this?" From the conversation alone, she could be sure that the other party was definitely an insider, and might even be someone she knew.
"I don't know, but she's the administrator of your fan group," he confessed honestly.
"I see..." Sakurajima Mai returned the phone to him.
Then, she took out her own phone and fiddled with it a few times.
At the same time, his phone vibrated.
[You have been removed from the 'Mai Support Group' group chat]
Meanwhile, in the backstage of some unknown studio, a beautiful blonde girl who was about to go on stage for a talk show also received the same message.
"EH!!!"