Chapter 25: Let Me Add a Stroke for You.
.....
"Kihara! You actually dared to..."
Before she could even finish her sentence, Anna Yanami saw the three of them sitting comfortably in the living room. Two of them were looking back at her with knowing, half-smiling expressions, making her instantly realize that her grand plan of having Lala spy on them had completely backfired.
Her right foot had barely touched the living room floor before she desperately wished she could execute a 180-degree pivot and flee the premises at maximum velocity.
"Sorry to bother you!!"
But no matter how fast her reflexes were, she was no match for Kihara. The moment she turned around, he caught her by the collar of her shirt—the definitive grip of fate.
He had intended to simply haul her back into the living room, but the moment he exerted any force, a crisp tearing sound echoed through the air. Looking down, Kihara discovered he had ripped a massive gash right along the back collar of her blouse.
"Ah..."
Through the accidental opening, a flawless view of her fair, slender back and the rear clasp of her sea-blue bra was laid bare.
Completely oblivious to the exposure, Anna merely flailed her arms in a fit of rage, bellowing at the top of her lungs, "That was my second favorite shirt! You actually ruined it! You absolutely have to accompany me to the clothing store this weekend to buy a new one as an apology!"
"I have to be on the studio lot this weekend."
"Then next weekend! Either way, you have to take me shopping. Otherwise... otherwise, I won't speak to you for a whole meal!"
"What kind of bizarre unit of time is 'a whole meal'?" Kihara couldn't help but laugh. Releasing his grip, he spun her around to face him. "I'll buy you three shirts if you want. But more importantly, I want to know why on earth you asked Lala to secretly swipe my underwear for you?"
"Huh?"
"Anna, I know you're a girl in the peak of her adolescence, but you can't go exploiting Lala's innocence to make her commit what basically amounts to a criminal offense!"
"Wait, wait, wait..." A dazed Anna pointed a finger at herself, asking in utter disbelief, "Are you claiming that I begged Lala to steal your underwear?"
Kihara was laughing hysterically on the inside, but he maintained a deadpan, dead-serious expression, nodding solemnly.
"Yeah."
"No, no, no, no, no!!" She waved her hands furiously, shaking her head side to side. "I never asked her to do anything of the sort! This is pure, unadulterated slander!"
"Oh? Then what did you ask her to do?"
"I just asked her to pay a little more attention to you and Sanae, because lately it feels like the relationship between you two has become way more intimate than—"
Desperate to clear her name, Anna only caught herself when she noticed the uncontainable smirk playing at the corners of Kihara's lips. It finally clicked that she had been completely played.
No matter how eccentric Lala could be, given her inherently pure personality, there was no way she would ever execute a stunt like that, let alone turn around and frame Anna for it.
"Sanae, the culprit has formally confessed to her crimes. What kind of punishment do you think is appropriate?"
"Let's just sentence her to having her dinner portion cut in half tonight."
"Deal!"
Reaching out, Kihara playfully pinched Old Eight's cheeks, which had puffed up like a pair of balloons. He grinned like a fox that had successfully raided a chicken coop.
"You heard what Sanae said. Your dinner is officially cut in half today."
"Unfair! I protest!"
Kihara crossed his arms in front of his chest, forming a giant 'X'. "Protest denied. Don't go asking Lala to do things like that anymore. If you want to know something, you can just come ask Sanae or me directly."
"If I asked you directly, wouldn't that completely expose what I'm thinking... you massive blockhead," Anna mumbled under her breath.
"What was that?"
She rolled her eyes at him with exquisite sass. "Nothing! Lend me a jacket. I need to go home, change out of this ripped shirt, and come right back to leech more food!"
"Tsk, tsk. You're still determined to come back and scavenge for food even when your portion is cut in half?"
"Hmph! Free food is free food! Now hurry up and get me a jacket!" Anna urged, giving him a light, playful punch. Kihara quickly headed up to his bedroom and fetched one of his thin jackets for her. As it turned out, she never ended up returning it, smoothly deflecting the topic with vague excuses whenever he brought it up down the line.
...
After devouring the delicious dinner, Anna looked as though the apocalypse had arrived, slumping completely lifelessly onto the couch. A faint, ghostly soul seemed to drift out from her slightly parted lips, continuously chanting the words: "I'm so hungry..."
Seeing her in such an agonizing state, Sanae felt a pang of sympathy. She walked over to Kihara's side and whispered softly, "Maybe I should whip up a little something extra for Anna? She looks so pitiful."
"Leave her be. Letting her eat her fill now will only make her feel more despair when she steps on the scale tomorrow morning."
"True. In that case, I'll go wash the dishes."
"Mmhmm."
Meanwhile, seeing Anna in such deep misery, Lala's inventive spark was instantly ignited. She immediately thought of developing a gadget that could rapidly cause a person to shed weight. Without a second word, she dashed upstairs to begin her research.
Her half-filled stomach was currently unleashing a dragon's roar of protest straight to her brain. Suddenly, Kihara's handsome face, complete with his signature mischievous smirk, hovered into Anna's field of vision. Driven by the sheer agony of hunger, she let out a tragic sigh. "If only you were edible too."
"You're acting like this over a single downsized meal. Are you sure you can actually see this weight-loss plan through to the end?"
"Kihara, use your powers to magically transfer all the fat on my body onto someone who actually needs it! I don't want to try anymore!"
"Anna, the books say that in Chinese characters, the word 'Give Up' (放弃) takes 15 strokes to write, while 'Persist' (坚持) takes 16 strokes."
She drooped her eyelids listlessly. "And? Are you telling me to give up?"
"To make sure you persist and don't give up, I'm here to add that extra stroke for you."
"What does that mean?"
Anna's deep, ocean-blue eyes were instantly filled with absolute bewilderment. The confusion in her gaze quickly caused the smirk on Kihara's face to morph into pure awkwardness. He cleared his throat, swiftly shifting the topic. "Ahem, just talking nonsense. On a serious note, do you want me to supervise your weight loss? You know, just like old times."
"Old times..." As the memories flooded back, her eyes lit up like a lightbulb gradually turning on. She sprang upright into a sitting position, her face flushed with excitement. "Are you serious?!"
"Is there any reason for me to joke about something like this?"
"Then let's pinky swear! Whoever lies has to swallow a thousand wasabi rice balls!" Declaring a penalty uniquely tailored to her own personality, Anna extended her left pinky finger and locked it securely with Kihara's.
To be fair, back when Kihara used to help her lose weight, he had employed plenty of methods that seemed incredibly bold in hindsight. But since they were both young children back then, there hadn't been anything inappropriate about it.
'If that blockhead actually uses the exact same methods as back then because he's too dense to know better... should I properly drop a few hints to remind him?'
'Wait, wait, wait, no way! Isn't this a massive, golden opportunity for me?! Why on earth would I remind him!'
The expressions on Anna's face cycled rapidly between profound anxiety and absolute ecstasy, leaving it entirely a mystery as to what chaotic thoughts were currently racing through her brain. Amused, Kihara simply pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of her ridiculous expressions.
The crisp click of the shutter accompanied by a sudden flash of light jolted her back to reality. Realizing she had just had another embarrassing photo taken, a violent blush instantly surged from her neck up to her entire face.
"KIHARA!! I am absolutely going to beat you to death today, you shutter-happy bastard!!!"
....
Thank you for reading.