"He was drawing manga all night, so I guess he's still asleep. Let's go straight to his room."
Kaede pursed her lips, but the corner of her mouth curved up, an irrepressible smile.
I'll make Mashiro stand by his bed without saying anything, and then Suzu and I will hide and wake him up... What kind of expression will he make when he sees Mashiro? I'm kind of looking forward to it!
Kaede and Suzu led Mashiro to Rin's room door on the second floor. Kaede placed her hand on the doorknob, gently pressed down, and pushed the door open.
"..."
"..."
Kaede only saw a delicate beauty lying prone on the bed. Her skirt was hiked up to her waist, and her butt, encased in black pantyhose, was raised high, faintly revealing the purple lace panties trimmed with lace underneath the sheer fabric.
Kaede's mouth twitched. I know Rin knows I have a cuckold kink, but is he moving this fast!? He started looking for other women on the second day!?
Kaede only knew that Rin Ito was aware of her "cuckold kink," but she didn't know Rin already knew about her letting Suzu take her place last night. In Kaede's mind, Rin only knew that she had a fetish for getting off to Reverse-NTR manga in her daily life... Hmph, Men! He talks about being devoted, but the moment Suzu mentioned it, he cracked and agreed to a throuple.
And knowing I have a cuckold kink, he immediately found another woman on the second day!?
A surge of bitterness welled up in Kaede's heart.
Don't be angry, don't be angry, don't be angry...
Kaede hypnotized herself. Her current 'persona' was someone with a cuckold kink, so she should be excited and happy to see Rin with another woman.
And... she really should be happy.
[DING! Achievement Unlocked: Bad Timing.]
[Reward: 100 Nurturing Points.]
"N-N-N-No, it's not like that!!!!!!!!"
Seeing the displeased expression on Kaede's face, Orihime panicked. She immediately explained while scrambling up from the bed and fixing her skirt, which had been hiked up to her waist.
"Please let me explain!!!! My name is Orihime Tsukimoto, and I'm Ito-sensei's editor! I was only modeling for him!!!!!"
Orihime had a pleasant time talking to Rin Ito about manga that afternoon. When the conversation turned to certain poses, Rin Ito suggested Orihime model for him to demonstrate. It was an editor's job to help their assigned manga artist draw better, so modeling... other editors probably did it too, right?
As a new editor, she was easily fooled—no, convinced—by Rin Ito. After all, Rin Ito was drawing explicit doujinshi. The poses required were vulgar positions a normal model would never strike.
Now... Oh no, oh no, oh no!!!!
She must be very close to Ito-sensei. Seeing her in such a vulgar pose would definitely make her angry, and Orihime was just a new editor. While Ito-sensei wasn't the absolute top artist at the editorial department, he was the most reliably selling one. If she ruined Ito-sensei's relationship with this girl... if Ito-sensei complained to the editorial office, she might even lose her job.
To save my job, I have to beg Ito-sensei. Then Ito-sensei will use my job to threaten me into becoming his exclusive model, making me pose for him in vulgar ways every single day, turning me into his hot weapon, and eventually, I'll get pregnant with his child...
In an instant, Orihime had mentally plotted a 200-page tankōbon (collected volume).
Just as Orihime braced herself for the girl's fury, something unexpected happened.
The girl didn't get angry. Instead, she smiled and enthusiastically rushed toward Orihime.
"Oh, you're the editor! He mentioned the editorial department assigned him a new editor recently. Is that you?"
"Y-Y-Yes!!!"
Though relieved, Orihime was still nervous.
While Kaede and Orihime were focused on each other, the doll-like, beautiful girl had already rushed over to Rin Ito's computer. If Rin Ito hadn't stopped her, Mashiro would have opened his drafts for everyone to see.
Rin Ito felt the girl looked oddly familiar but couldn't place her. Staring at the girl's amber eyes, Rin felt her body language screaming, "I want to see it."
"Uh... who is this?"
Rin Ito interrupted the two.
"Oh right, I haven't introduced her." Kaede walked over to Rin Ito and Mashiro with a sly look. "This is Mashiro Shiina, Chihiro-sensei's distant cousin. Chihiro-sensei asked us to look after her for a while."
Hearing the name, Rin Ito froze.
Like Sagiri, Rin Ito remembered the name Mashiro Shiina... a genius painter with no common sense. Rin Ito had watched many anime in his past life, but after so many years, he only remembered some of the more memorable protagonists. Many anime he watched he had almost forgotten, and he didn't even remember minor characters like Chihiro Sengoku from his past life.
It was only after seeing Mashiro that Rin Ito recalled that Mashiro did indeed have a cousin who was an art teacher at her school in the anime.
Since Mashiro had appeared...
"Do you also have a classmate named Nanami Aoyama?"
"Eh?" Kaede was surprised. "You know her?"
"No, I don't. Just a guess."
Although Kaede didn't believe him, now wasn't the time to press the issue.
"Mashiro wants to draw manga, and you draw manga, and Miss Tsukimoto is a manga editor... It's getting late, Miss Tsukimoto, please stay for dinner. You three can chat, and Suzu and I will go cook."
"O-Okay!"
The slightly nervous Orihime quickly agreed. After Kaede and Suzu left, Orihime sighed in relief and quickly shifted into her editor role.
"Miss Shiina, I am Orihime Tsukimoto, an editor at Crab Publishing." Orihime handed Mashiro a business card. "Did you bring any of your artwork with you?"
"Don't bother, Miss Tsukimoto." Rin Ito chuckled, handing his phone to Orihime.
"Ito-sensei, this is..." Orihime looked at the phone screen in confusion. It displayed Mashiro's profile... and just as Rin Ito suspected, in this world, Mashiro was also a world-class painter.
"E-E-E-E-E-EH!???"
Orihime, stunned, compared the profile on the phone to the girl in front of her multiple times before confirming that the girl was indeed the world-class painter, Mashiro Shiina.
Mashiro was a world-class painter, but Rin Ito and Orihime were focused only on manga, and Mashiro specialized in oil painting, so neither of them had heard her name before. If Rin Ito had paid a little attention to oil painting, he would have realized long ago that he had been reborn into an anime world.
"Miss Shiina, a genius painter... wants to draw manga?"
"Mhm." Mashiro nodded, then looked at Rin Ito. "Show me your manga."
"Um... the kind of manga I draw isn't the same as the kind you read."
Mashiro tilted her head. "They're both manga. What's the difference?"
"Well..." Rin Ito pondered briefly. "I draw manga that is... more stimulating."
Telling her directly that he drew explicit doujinshi wouldn't make sense to her, and besides... Rin Ito felt a faint guilt about corrupting Mashiro, who was like a "blank slate."
"It's fine." Mashiro paused. Her gaze drifted past Rin Ito's arm to the egoistic-lily doujinshi Orihime had brought for reference, which were placed on the desk.
Before Rin Ito could react, Mashiro picked up one of the books and opened it.
Rin Ito and Orihime both held their breath. The only sound in the room was Mashiro flipping the pages.
One book after another.
Miss Mashiro Shiina just won the expressionless H-Manga reading contest!
"Miss Shiina...?" Orihime carefully ventured. "What do you think? Would you like to look at the doujinshi Ito-sensei drew?"
"Ito-sensei! Please!!!!! I'll do anything!!!!!"
Orihime looked at Rin Ito with a pleading gaze. Mashiro was a world-class painter, and Orihime was just a new editor. If she could get Mashiro to draw a doujinshi... even just one! She could definitely shed her newbie status and become a full-fledged editor!
"O-kay..."
Rin Ito nodded and opened his own doujinshi on the computer.
Sitting in front of the screen, Mashiro flipped through the pages one by one. The vulgar drawings reflected in her amber eyes, staining the blank slate of the girl.
After finishing, Mashiro gave her evaluation.
"It's short, but interesting." Mashiro paused, then fixed her clear gaze on Rin Ito. "The manga is interesting. Teach me!"