"The manga is interesting! Teach me!"
Mashiro's clear, pure eyes stared directly into Rin Ito's, her amber gaze containing no impurities, just pure focus.
"What exactly do you want me to teach you? I draw explicit doujinshi, you know."
"I want my manga to be more interesting. Ayano suggested I should add some stimulating scenes to it." Mashiro paused, her eyes shifting to the computer screen. "This is very stimulating."
Stimulating it certainly was, but Rin Ito suspected that the "stimulating" Ayano mentioned and the "stimulating" Rin drew were not the same thing. It was the difference between suggestive fan service and outright explicit manga.
"Can you?"
"Of course, no problem."
Rin Ito readily agreed. Setting aside the fact that Chihiro-sensei asked Kaede and Suzu to look after Mashiro, Mashiro was a world-class painter. Her drawing skills were undoubtedly superb. Her only weakness was her lack of plot due to her reclusive life in the studio, which meant her manga wasn't appreciated as much as her oil paintings. By teaching Mashiro plotting and paneling, he could also learn painting techniques from her. Rin Ito would not refuse such a win-win situation, especially since Mashiro was an exquisite, doll-like beauty. He had no reason to refuse.
"Miss Shiina, do you feel your manga isn't interesting enough?" Orihime, beside him, mustered her courage; she hadn't given up on getting Mashiro to draw a doujinshi. "If you don't mind, you could practice with a doujinshi first. They're short and have very little plot, which makes them perfect for practice! Let me know if you need anything at all."
Mashiro looked at the manga on the screen, then at Orihime, nodded thoughtfully, and parted her lips.
"Strip!"
"…?" Orihime froze, tilting her head in confusion, wondering if she had misheard.
"Strip?"
"Yes. You said I could ask anything of you, so, strip." Mashiro pointed to the female protagonist on the screen who was spread-eagled. "Then pose like this."
The bewildered Orihime looked to Rin Ito for help.
"Helping a manga artist is an editor's duty, you know." Rin Ito teased, trying to suppress a laugh. "I also want to see if the pose looks any different in person compared to the drawing."
Even in this Underground world, and even with Orihime being an editor for explicit doujinshi, asking her to do something so shameful should be impossible...
Before Rin Ito could react, Orihime had placed her hands on her collar and slipped off her dress, revealing her three-quarter-sleeve undershirt and the black pantyhose that perfectly outlined her voluptuous "child-bearing" hips, faintly showing the color of her panties beneath.
Rin Ito had only meant to tease her, especially since her "new editor and manga artist" plot idea contained a similar scene.
And yet... She actually stripped?
Orihime hung her head, afraid to meet the eyes of Rin Ito or Mashiro. If it were just Mashiro, Orihime might still feel shy, but Rin Ito was there too. Since she was still wearing a top and black pantyhose under the dress, Orihime wasn't completely exposed, but stripping entirely...
"Are you shy being alone?" Mashiro asked flatly.
"Eh... yes." Orihime secretly glanced at Rin Ito and nodded.
Rin Ito pretended not to notice. This is the Underground world! Mashiro is a blank slate; if Orihime instills any bad ideas and Mashiro 'transforms,' that would be trouble. So, I must supervise her. This is definitely not because I'm lusting after Orihime!
"You strip too." Mashiro said to Rin Ito, deadpan.
Mashiro was curious about Rin Ito as well. Having lived in a studio since childhood, Mashiro had little contact with men and was clueless about the male body. She hadn't needed to know or draw it before, but now that she was drawing explicit doujinshi, she did.
"…?"
"It's for manga research. I haven't seen a man's body." Mashiro paused. "Are you shy too? Then I'll strip too."
Mashiro was fast. In a flash, her skirt slipped to her waist, revealing pure white, full panties, and her hand was already on her collar, threatening to continue undressing. Mashiro's reasoning was simple: if Orihime was shy modeling alone without clothes, then no one would be shy if everyone was naked.
"Dinner's almost ready." Just then, Suzu's voice drifted in from outside the door. It had taken Mashiro considerable time to read both Rin Ito's pure romance manga and the humiliation manga Orihime had brought. Mashiro wasn't speed-reading; she was meticulously examining every panel and every character.
Suzu's voice was a relief for Rin Ito.
"It's almost dinner time. Next time, let's do it next time when we have a chance. Besides... it wouldn't be good if Kaede and Suzu misunderstood what kind of strange things we're doing."
Although he had promised Suzu he would flirt with a few girls if the opportunity arose, and Mashiro certainly met Rin Ito's criteria, Kaede was still cooking outside. If they continued and she found him naked with two other women... Rin Ito figured even her cuckold fetish would hit its breaking point.
Under any other circumstances, Rin Ito wouldn't have refused. Since this was the Underground world, rather than letting the blank slate Mashiro be corrupted by others, he should do it himself. That way, Mashiro wouldn't risk transforming.
"Mhm." Mashiro nodded. "It's a promise."
"Mhm, it's a promise."
Orihime looked at Rin Ito strangely... Does Ito-sensei think I'm in the way and wants to get rid of me so he can prey on the innocent Miss Shiina when they are alone?
"Stop staring and hurry up and put your clothes on so we can go downstairs to eat."
"!!!!" Prompted by Rin Ito, Orihime quickly put her dress back on. Mashiro also bent down to pull up the skirt that had fallen to her ankles, then awkwardly put the skirt on... though only on, not on properly.
"..."
Rin Ito knew Mashiro's self-care skills were terrible, but she couldn't even put on a skirt properly? Although Rin Ito wanted to complain, he quickly helped Mashiro fix her skirt.
"Ito-sensei seems very practiced..." Orihime looked at Rin Ito meaningfully. "Do you cross-dress in your spare time, Ito-sensei?"
"Get out of here... what 'cross-dressing fetish'? I'm just used to taking care of people." When Kaede and Suzu were young, their parents were often away on business, and given Rin's maturity since his rebirth, he often looked after them. When they were little, he even helped them bathe after they got dirty playing outside. Rin Ito knew the structure and donning methods of all kinds of girls' clothing perfectly.
"Come on, let's go down and eat. We'll talk about the manga after dinner."
After confirming Mashiro's clothes were tidy, Rin Ito opened the door and led the two girls to the dining room. Kaede, emerging from the kitchen, looked at Orihime with confusion... Why is her face so red?