"Sorry, Senior Shiyu, I have never used that thing."
After hearing Kato Yusuke's answer, Shiyu didn't ask any more questions, and just replied in an understatement, making it impossible to tell her inner thoughts.
Snort, snore, snore.
The black cat gradually became relaxed, lying lazily on Kato Yusuke's shoulder, enjoying his massage with a contented expression, and licking his fingers with its barbed pink tongue.
After some comfort, the black cat no longer cared about someone tricking the cat into entering the bathroom to "kill" it.
Kato Yusuke found some dried fish and fed it to the cat. At the same time, he asked the girl, "What do you want to do here today? Senior sister."
Shiyu nodded in affirmation, thought for a while and said: "If I want to say it, I basically just come here to see you and ask about your future plans."
"I'll go back to school on Monday."
"Well, I heard about this from another Kato-san, but I want to ask about something else. The previous studio... what are you going to do?"
"Let's put it aside for now."
"for the time being?"
"Um."
"Why?"
"Something happened, and the current funds are not enough."
Shiyu raised his eyebrows slightly, but immediately returned to his original state.
"In other words, you haven't given up playing games yet, right?"
Kato Yusuke nodded in response, and then said: "No, but it will not be restarted in the short term."
"Because you have to pay back the Sawamura family's money first?"
A brief silence.
"yes."
"How much do you owe her family?"
"...?"
"Although I have heard her mention this matter, the specific number is not clear. If you don't want to talk about it, forget it."
Kato Yusuke shook his head at this, "It's nothing, it's just that I asked her family to borrow 20 million."
"In this way..." Shiyu blinked her eyelashes slightly, with an inexplicable look in her eyes, and then asked: "You said that the budget of "Clannad" is 12 million, right?"
"Um."
"The Sawamura family's money plus game production money totals 32 million, right?"
"?"
"Hey, Kato-san."
Shiyu lifted her hair in front of her face and asked him, "Are you interested in changing your creditor?"
"..."
Kato Yusuke frowned and looked at her, remaining silent.
"Perhaps you don't know that "Metronome of Love" has now sold 600,000 copies."
The girl coughed lightly and whispered nonchalantly: "...otherwise, I can lend it to you? You can wait until the game is released before returning it to me."
"..."
"You're welcome. It's not like I can't afford it."
There was another moment of silence.
"Senior Shiyu."
"What's the matter~Kato-san?" Shiyu asked with a smile, but she didn't mention her specific savings at all.
In fact, although the current cumulative sales volume of "Metronome of Love" is indeed 600,000, Fusigawa Bunko has actually paid the royalties to her.
However, after deducting taxes and other expenses, Shang still only has about 30 million left in her hands, and this is her entire net worth now.
Kato Yusuke looked at her with a deep look in his eyes, "What if the games I make can't be sold?"
"That's okay." Shiyu smiled softly, "I didn't ask you to pay back with money. After all, there are many ways to repay your kindness."
She stopped here, with a strange light emitting from her eyes. She didn't know what she was thinking, and then she continued.
"Anyway, I won't make any big demands. I will simply charge some 'interest'. You should be relieved after hearing this."
Kato Yusuke didn't answer, waiting for her to give the answer on her own.
Rustling.
Shiyu moved her body, slowly came over, and sat next to him.
A pleasant fragrance of cosmos floated faintly.
"All you have to do is..."
The girl put one hand on the carpet, put her face towards his ear, and blew her warm breath and words into his ear.
"Be my...slave..."
The words haven’t been finished yet…
"——Meow meow!!"
The little black cat suddenly let out a sharp cry, stood up suddenly from Yusuke's shoulders, arched his body, and bared his sharp teeth fiercely at her who approached without permission.
"ah!"
Shiyu was startled, and her body instinctively moved back, just leaning on the bed.
"Feel sorry."
Kato Yusuke apologized and took the cat to a seat a little further away to prevent an accident.
The black cat then calmed down, but there was still a low growl waiting for an opportunity in his throat, and a pair of green eyes stared straight at Shi Yu.
Shiyu also looked at the cat with lingering fear, and watched the black cat become honest again under the comfort of Kato Yusuke, and once again ate the dried fish leisurely.
She couldn't help but laugh angrily, "...This cat is too fierce, almost like a vicious dog. Compared to Xiao Hei, I think the name Boqi suits him better."
(In Japanese, "ポチ" is a name commonly used for puppies, similar to the English habit of "The name of a parrot is Polly.")
Kato Yusuke stopped moving his hands. He frowned and meditated for a while, and then slowly raised his head.
"Senior Shiyu."
"Um?"
"Do you know anything about comic submissions?"
"...Hey, why do you ask so suddenly?"
"I want to contribute a work."
Shiyu couldn't help but frown slightly, feeling a little confused about this sudden turn of events, but still thought about it and responded:
"Sorry, I don't know much about this matter, but there is a comic branch in the Immortal River. Do you want me to ask you about it?"
Kato Yusuke nodded and said, "If it's convenient."
"It's not an inconvenience." Shiyu stood up from the ground and said in an indifferent but meaningful tone: "Seeing that you are willing to cheer up is better than anything else for me... then
I'll go to the balcony and make a phone call."
After finishing speaking, she walked out of the balcony, leaving him with a beautiful back view.
Kato Yusuke was speechless.
The black cat had had enough time with him, and jumped off his shoulder, and ran to drink water.
About fifteen minutes later.
——Crack, click, click.
After making the phone call, Shiyu returned from the balcony and sat down on the bed.
"I asked, and the original manuscript fee for serialized comics is 9,000 to 15,000 yen per page, and color pages are 1.5 times that."
"If you want to submit a manuscript, you only need to send the manuscript to various comic publishing houses, and the relevant personnel will then notify the author whether it has passed the review."
"According to the different focuses and readers of each publishing house, the collection requirements for comics are also different, so it is best to choose a publishing house that matches the style of your own work to submit."
"As for more specific matters, I will go see Miss Machida after school on Monday. Is there anything else you want to know?"
"No, not anymore."
Kato Yusuke shook his head in denial, and Shiyu asked again.
"So why do you suddenly want to draw comics?"
"In order to make money."
"Making money...you obviously don't have to do that kind of thing? As I said just now, Kato-san just needs to concentrate on being my...well, a consultant and a helper. I can lend you money~"
As she said this, Shiyu crossed her legs together, held one cheek with one hand, and placed the weight of her upper body on her thighs, showing off the graceful curves of a girl.
Kato Yusuke glanced at her and faintly saw the shadow of Akane Kurisaka in the girl, but he didn't say anything. He simply rejected the proposal and said nothing.
Compared with owing money to Yingli's family, borrowing money from Shiyu was a more complicated matter, and he had no intention of doing it without knowing certain things.
Money is valuable but favor is priceless.
There are some things he feels he cannot give, so he does not want to consume others.
The girl in front of her is neither Akane Akane, who has a fixed outlook on life, nor Akane Shinjo, who has a romantic relationship due to profit.
He's not someone he can play with his feelings for.
Shiyu stared at him for a while, trying to find changes in that handsome and calm face, but found nothing.
Then he lowered his eyes and asked: "...but why comics? If you want to make money, wouldn't it be faster to continue selling doujinshi?"
Kato Yusuke frowned slightly, "Because someone will cause trouble."
"Someone is... causing trouble...?"
"Ms. Kosaka came here once two days ago."
"Miss Kousaka?"
"It's Akane Kurisaka."
"--Eh?"
Shiyu was stunned at first, and then his expression immediately turned serious, "Wait a minute, what does this mean? Why did that person come?"
Kato Yusuke thought for a while and briefly told her what happened. He didn't mention what happened between the two of them, but only explained why he couldn't draw a book.
Shiyu listened quietly to what he said, his expression changed, and he fell into deep thought.
After a while, he nodded slightly and exhaled.
"Why don't you listen to me? Kato-san."
She said: "I told you to stay away from that person a long time ago, but you still want to cooperate with her. Now aren't you completely trapped in it?"
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
The girl shook her legs from time to time, as if feeling extremely irritable.
"The other party is Akane Benisaka. What are you thinking about?"
"And there seems to be a lot of unclear parts in your words. What does this mean? To you, am I someone more worthy of guarding against than her?"
"Can you please explain it to me carefully and carefully?"
Her voice was so soft and fast that it was hard to tell whether she was talking to someone else or simply talking to herself.
The words contained both concern and blame for him, and there was also a hint of taste in them.
A dark aura rose from the girl's body and gradually filled the room.
Kato Yusuke watched her cross her arms and shake her legs, then stood up and walked to the kitchen.
Shiyu was unaware of this and was still complaining to himself.
"...and the same thing happened in Hokkaido before. Do you know how much preparation I made to be the first to see you?"
"Not only did I buy a ticket for that night to find you, but I stayed alone in the terminal all night. I also bought tickets for all the return flights the next day. In the end, you didn't even let me in."
"Why do you treat me so harshly? Am I so annoying to you?"
"It really pissed me off."
——咻咻.
The sound of the kettle being boiled was heard in the room, and then it died down immediately.
"Let's have something to drink, Senior Shiyu."
"……Eh?"
Shiyu raised his head in confusion, and what came into his eyes was a steaming soup bowl.
"This, this is...!"
"It's almost lunch time. I only have these here. If you don't mind, just have some." Kato Yusuke said while holding the bowl.
"..."
Shiyu blinked twice, hesitantly stretched out his hand, and silently took the soup bowl.
"……Thanks."
"No, I'm going to prepare instant noodles. Seafood pork bones, black garlic pork bones, spicy pork bones, what do you want to eat?"
"Then, just seafood and pork bones..." she responded in a low voice.
"Okay." Kato Yusuke returned to the kitchen again and started making noodles.
Shiyu held the bowl and looked at his back, her heart was full of emotions, and she suddenly felt less angry.
Then he picked up the soup bowl and took a sip.
"Ah, it's so hot...Kato-san's."
She muttered, deliberately hiding the words miso soup.
"Phew, it tastes good... I didn't expect Kato-kun to be such a good cook. You can be a pretty boy anytime you want."
"It's quick-flush, you just need to heat the water."
"Oh, I would be so happy if I could drink such delicious miso soup every day..."
Kato Yusuke looked up at her.
I saw the girl who was complaining just now, sipping soup with a quiet and well-behaved look on her face.
This guy is so easy to tease.
He thought silently and then said: "I still have a lot of unopened ones here. If you like to drink them, you can take them away later, Senior Sister Shiyu."
…
Carrying two Nissin Cup Noodles, I returned to the low table.
Shiyu had finished drinking the instant miso soup in the bowl and focused her eyes on the cup in front of her.
The two sat on the carpet and chatted while eating.
"In short, I understand the reason why you can't draw a book. So have you thought about the content of the comic you want to draw?"
"Um."
"What is your name?"
"Chainsaw Man."
"What type?"
"Young blood."
"The kind that's forbidden by the Eighteenth Ban?"
"Class B."
"Really? Which publishing house are you going to submit your manuscript to?"
Kato Yusuke thought for a while and replied: "If there are no surprises, it should be Shueisha's "Jump"."
"Is this so..."
Shiyu rolled a handful of instant noodles with a plastic fork and put it into his mouth, chewing while thinking.
"But didn't that woman ask you to make a game? If you were to draw comics, wouldn't she get in the way?"
"I don't know, but the cost of comics is not high, so it's worth trying."
Shiyu nodded slowly and thoughtfully, his brain spinning rapidly, and then he shouted: "I said, Kato-san."
"?"
"As for Shueisha, please don't rush to submit the article yet. We can discuss it after I learn more about it from Ms. Machida, okay?"
"Okay." Kato Yusuke had no objection to this and agreed.
After eating instant noodles.
Shiyu, who was in a better mood, stretched out comfortably and let out a gentle breath.
"Well, after you fed me such delicious food, even if you show your bestiality and push me down right now, I'm ready to be ravaged by you."
"..."
Seeing Kato Yusuke pretending to ignore it.
She stretched out a finger teasingly, wanting to poke him in the face, but he dodged it without leaving a trace.
"I'll clean it up." Yusuke said, picking up the garbage and bowls left by the two of them, and walked to the kitchen...