Metropolitan Institute of Technology.
"Finally... the weekend is here!"
Emi sighed in massive relief as she flopped unceremoniously into the ergonomic chair in front of her laptop.
"It's the weekend... By the way, Akane, what are your plans?"
Another roommate, Hana, turned her gaze toward Tachibana Akane.
"Don't tell me you're heading back over to Hayashi Aoyama's place just to see Pochita again?"
Their third roommate, Aki, added with a distinctly suspicious glint in her eyes.
Akane's fair face immediately flushed a faint shade of pink, but she still managed a firm nod. "Yes. I'm planning to go check on Pochita tomorrow. You all know that even though Hayashi takes decent care of him, he's still..."
"He's dirt-poor," Emi stated bluntly, a trace of unconcealed disdain flickering in the depths of her eyes.
"That's only temporary..."
Having spent a significant amount of time getting to know Hayashi over the past few weeks, Akane couldn't help but speak up in his defense.
And it wasn't just mindless loyalty on her part; after all, Hayashi was a genuine manga artist. Moreover, Akane had already seen with her own two eyes that 'Edgerunners' had officially begun its serialization run in 'Manga World GoGo.'
She was certain that Hayashi would be coming into a substantial amount of money very soon.
But in truth, she didn't particularly care whether he was wealthy or not.
"I honestly have no idea what kind of spell he's cast on you... It's one thing to help him buy dog food, deworming medicine, and pay for the vaccinations, but you even treat him to meals! What kind of man shamelessly accepts all of that?!" Emi remarked, clearly disgruntled.
"If the guys in our department found out that the legendary beauty, Tachibana Akane, was treating some random guy to lunch, they'd probably die of sheer jealousy."
Akane didn't seem bothered by the comment at all. She merely smiled and replied, "What does it matter? There isn't any rule saying a girl can't treat a guy to a meal, right?"
Besides, it was infinitely better than the alternative--Hayashi eating Pochita's dog food.
She still vividly remembered her first visit to Hayashi's apartment. She had been absolutely horrified to find him casually munching on a handful of Pochita's kibble.
The sight had practically sent her into a state of shock.
While a human could technically survive a mouthful of dog food once or twice without any major issues, eating it frequently was a recipe for disaster.
After all, dog food isn't held to the same rigorous sanitary standards as human food, and Hayashi would likely end up with severe digestive issues. Furthermore, the nutritional profile of dog food was specifically tailored for canines and couldn't possibly meet the complex dietary needs of a human being.
Once she realized that Hayashi literally had zero money to even buy basic groceries, Akane had begun frequently supporting him with food.
She often bought him large supplies of bread and instant ramen to keep him fed.
Every time she brought him food, Hayashi would express his profound gratitude, solemnly promising to repay her a hundred-fold in the future.
At the same time, Akane couldn't shake a bizarrely nagging feeling... why did his behavior make her feel like...
Like she was raising two dogs instead of one?
But she truly didn't care about spending such a small amount of money.
Hana quickly chimed in, "Well, it's true. And besides, he did technically save Akane's life that one time, didn't he?"
"Please! If Akane hadn't been trying to save him in the first place, she never would have fallen in and needed him to jump back in!" Emi countered, her voice still laced with irritation.
She thought for a moment, then turned a worried gaze toward Akane. "By the way, Akane... you aren't actually... starting to fall for a guy like that, are you?"
Akane's face instantly heated up. A flash of memory crossed her mind: the sharp, handsome contours of Hayashi's jawline as he pulled her from the water, and the intense, focused expression on his face as he meticulously worked on his manga drafts.
But she quickly shook her head and stammered, "Of course not! Why would you even bring that up so suddenly?!"
"Good. It's for the best..."
For some reason, Emi seemed to breathe a private sigh of relief.
"While we're on the subject, didn't I see that captain of the university's basketball team from the Management Department, the really handsome one, pursuing you recently?" Emi asked suddenly.
"How about him? Akane, what do you think of him?"
Akane thought for a moment before the name surfaced in her mind. "Are you talking about Yuto Hayashi? He's... okay, I guess. He seems like a decent enough guy, but..."
"He's more than 'okay'! I think he's incredibly handsome, and rumor has it his family is extremely wealthy. He's practically the perfect match for you, Akane!" Emi teased with a playful grin.
"Wealthy, huh? Well... he is from the Management Department. Usually, six out of every ten students over there come from rich families," Aki added in agreement.
"Let's just drop it. I really don't want to think about that kind of stuff right now," Akane replied with a faint, neutral smile.
She didn't have any specific reasons to dislike Yuto; he was likely a very capable and impressive person, but she simply felt absolutely zero romantic attraction toward him.
"Alright, I'm going to head over to Hayashi's place to check on Pochita now. I'll be back tonight."
She grabbed her shoulder bag, tucked a fresh copy of the latest manga magazine inside, and headed straight out of the dormitory.
"Wait, what?!"
Emi and the other two watched in bewilderment as Akane hurriedly dashed out the door.
"She could have easily waited until tomorrow to go, right? Is she really in that much of a hurry?"
...
"Moshi moshi..."
Ayumi Ito delicately knocked on the door of the cramped rental apartment, her voice soft as she called out.
This was her very first time visiting the address Hayashi had provided on his formal documents. She was absolutely floored to discover that he lived in a tiny, single room that couldn't have been more than twenty square meters in size.
While the surrounding neighborhood didn't look particularly dilapidated, the incredibly narrow, suffocating space still made Ayumi feel a pang of genuine pity for Hayashi's living conditions.
Inside, Hayashi heard the knocking and was immediately jolted out of his deep, focused state of drawing.
"Pochita~ go open the door!"
He called out loudly.
Pochita barked twice in response before leaping from the desk in a single, fluid motion. He clamped his jaws around the custom-rigged rope attached to the door handle and jumped down, successfully unlatching the lock.
With a firm tug on the rope, the dog skillfully pulled the door wide open.
Ayumi Ito stepped into the room, coming face-to-face with Hayashi. When she saw that he appeared to be in the middle of working on his latest manuscript, she was immediately taken aback.
"I am so incredibly sorry! Aoyama-sensei, I've interrupted your work! Please accept my deepest apologies!"
As she spoke, she instinctively dropped into a deep, formal bow.
Hayashi waved a dismissive hand. "Ah, it's really not that big of a deal..."
He scanned the small room before adding, "Please, come on in."
...
As she stepped deeper into Hayashi's rental space, Ayumi couldn't help but feel a wave of awkwardness.
The apartment was truly microscopic. The bed and the drawing desk occupied practically every square inch of available floor space. Even the one corner that used to be empty was now entirely taken over by Pochita's dog bed and food bowls.
Ultimately, Hayashi had to sit on the edge of his bed, offering Ayumi the only actual chair in the room, the one tucked under his drawing desk.
"I'm sorry, I don't actually have any tea or water to offer you," Hayashi said, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed grin.
"It's perfectly fine... I'm the one who interrupted your work, Sensei," Ayumi replied, her voice tinged with a hint of bashfulness.
"Cough... Anyway, Ito-san, was there something specific you needed from me today?" Hayashi asked, attempting to clear the awkward air with a feigned cough.
"Oh! Right! I nearly forgot my primary objective!"
Ayumi quickly reached into her professional briefcase and pulled out a thick, heavy envelope.
It wasn't a standard flat envelope; it felt remarkably substantial and held a significant amount of weight.
She presented it to Hayashi using both hands in a formal gesture.
"This is the manuscript compensation for your official debut chapter. Your first chapter consisted of exactly eighteen pages. According to our initial contract, the payment rate was set at 10,000 Yen per page. After factoring in the necessary tax deductions, the final total inside this envelope comes to exactly 160,000 Yen!"
Hearing those words, Hayashi's eyes instantly ignited with excitement. He snatched the envelope from her hands and pulled out the thick, satisfying wad of cash from within.
In this current era, electronic bank transfers hadn't yet become the universal standard, so receiving one's salary in physical cash was still a very common and accepted practice.
"Sensei, please take a moment to count it and ensure the amount is correct," Ayumi suggested.
Hayashi immediately began flipping through the notes, counting every single bill with meticulous care. Once he finished, a massive, genuinely happy smile broke across his face. "It's all here. Every single Yen!"
"Then I can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
Ayumi let out a long, quiet breath, her posture finally relaxing.
(End of Chapter)
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
T/N: Moshi Moshi (摩西摩西) - A standard Japanese greeting used over the phone or, as in this case, a polite way to get someone's attention when knocking.
T/N: Character Names - Senri's roommates localized to Emi, Hana, and Aki. Yuto Lin localized to Yuto Hayashi.