I, who tortured the readers, was knocked to the ground by them!

Chapter 200 Let's draw comics together for a lifetime!

Hasegawa Shion pushed open the apartment door, sobbing, and a woody fragrance wafted into the room.

Sakurai Itsuki was quite familiar with this apartment, because when the young lady first started living alone, he frequented this place.

However, since Hase Shion has been living alone recently and things are going well, Sakurai Itsuki hasn't visited here for quite some time.

Despite tears welling up in her eyes, Hasegawa Shion sniffled and stammered as she turned to Sakurai Itsuki, "Please, please come in."

Then, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, she opened the shoe cabinet in the entryway and took out the pair of oversized slippers that she had specially prepared for Sakurai Itsuki, gently squatting down and placing them in front of her.

Judging from this, she doesn't seem to have lost her senses like she did last time when she was so drunk.

"Excuse me." Sakurai Itsuki replied politely, then teased, "Even in this situation, you still remember your manners. You're still a young lady after all."

Upon hearing this, Hasegawa Shion did not refute as she usually would; instead, she raised her chin, looked up, and glared at him fiercely.

He then turned around and went straight to the living room to sit down.

Even though she didn't say anything, Sakurai Itsuki could still understand what she meant, which was roughly, "Hmph, I can't be bothered with you, do whatever you want."

Sakurai Itsuki looked at Hase Shion, who was sitting on the sofa with her head turned to one side, shook his head, put on his slippers, and went into the house.

Logically speaking, Sakurai Itsuki's task of taking her home should have been completed.

Judging from the current situation, Hase Shion doesn't seem like the type to suddenly go on a drunken rampage and do anything dangerous.

In theory, he could turn back to say goodbye and then walk home to eat the meal that Sato Wakaba had prepared for him.

However, Sakurai Itsuki knew very well that if he actually did that, things might really go wrong.

However, Sakurai Itsuki is currently unsure what is troubling Hase Shion.

He didn't believe that she was really still so upset about the ending of "Your Lie in April" all afternoon.

Sakurai Itsuki didn't ask directly, but simply strolled around her house.

The room wasn't spacious; it was a standard one-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, one-bathroom room plus a balcony.

Compared to the grand mansion of the Hase family, it was much more modest, so the items in the room appeared much more densely packed.

However, despite the large number of items, they were arranged quite neatly and orderly.

She lacks some life skills, but she's not like some girls in online videos who look glamorous on the outside but whose rooms are actually dirty and messy and who can only rely on perfume to suppress the odor.

Compared to Sato Wakaba's bedroom, which is decorated in pink and tender colors and clearly looks like a young girl's boudoir, Hase Shion's room is a bit too restrained.

The interior decoration and furnishings were still the same as her previous room, with a rustic feel.

If it weren't for the women's clothing hanging on the balcony and the women's shoes by the door, you would never know whether the person living in this room is a lady or a gentleman who loves cleanliness.

Sakurai Itsuki originally thought that once she was independent, she would definitely release her pent-up emotions and retaliate by filling her room with figurines, comics, and other two-dimensional decorations.

In reality, apart from comics on the bookshelf in the bedroom and a poster of "Your Lie in April" hanging on the wall, there was hardly any trace of it.

Sure enough, some aesthetic sense and habits formed from childhood are not easily changed.

After taking a quick look around the house, Sakurai Itsuki opened the refrigerator door and said, "Oh, there are even discounted eggs. How thrifty!"

Hearing this, Hasegawa Shion stared at his back, pouting and asking indignantly, "What's wrong? Is it not allowed?"

Sakurai Itsuki said, "It's nothing, I was just looking at your refrigerator and thinking about it. You're actually cooking for yourself now. I was really worried that you were living off the bento boxes and convenience foods from the supermarket every day."

"Ha, I don't have a pretty female assistant at home cooking my favorite dishes every day."

As she spoke, Shion Hatsune looked away again, rubbing her fingers.

Like Yuki Mizuno, she has also been studying cooking skills for the past six months.

However, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Despite practicing many times at home, Hase Shion was still far inferior to Sato Wakaba.

With a strong sense of self-respect, she was unwilling to mention in front of others that she had been deliberately practicing her culinary skills.

But sometimes I still want him to see that I'm making progress.

I'm no longer the fool who would burn a pot dry or accidentally get food poisoning.

However, he never noticed.

Because he hasn't been here much in the past six months, even though we live so close and often draw comics together.

He's completely different from when I first moved here. Back then, he would come over almost every day to check on me.

Thinking about this made Hase Shion feel even more distressed.

Will he become more and more distant from me in the future?

After all, if we don't draw comics together, we can't even be considered classmates.

Sakurai Itsuki replied, "Actually, lately, compared to what I like to eat, she's been increasingly catering to her own and your tastes."

Hasegawa Shion responded with an extremely indifferent "Oh".

Sakurai Itsuki suddenly took out an egg and said, "Then let Miss enjoy the treatment of having an assistant."

"Hmm?" Hasegawa Shion tilted her head in confusion.

"My cooking skills aren't that great, but I'm pretty confident in my fried rice. Don't worry, I won't burn the pot for you."

Seeing Hase Shion's state, Sakurai Itsuki felt that she probably wouldn't be in the mood to find food on her own tonight. Thinking that there was still time, she decided to show off her skills after a long time.

As he spoke, he took the ingredients out of the refrigerator and went to the stove.

Hasegawa Shion looked up at Sakurai Itsuki, who was standing in front of the kitchen stove, and thought to herself, "How rude of you! Who gave you permission to use the ingredients in my fridge? Who asked you to cook for me? Besides, who wants fried rice?"

He keeps bringing up the time he burned the pot; he's such a jerk! So annoying.

Sakurai Itsuki turned her head and asked, "Where's your apron?"

"It's in that drawer." Hasegawa Shion quickly stood up, stretched out her hand, and pointed in a direction.

Sakurai Itsuki opened the drawer, put on an apron, and turned around to say, "OK, you can sit for a while. Most people don't get this kind of treatment. You're lucky today."

"Ah."

Hasegawa Shion nodded gently, then sat down quietly and watched Sakurai Itsuki cook for her.

Doesn't it remind you of a scene from a movie or TV series where a rich girl and a painter elope and live together in a small house, where the rich girl cooks for the painter?
Actresses always have a happy smile on their face in these kinds of situations.

Oh, I see. She can understand that now, but none of those things are real.

The actress's happy smile in the drama is fake, and in this scene, the elopement is fake.
Just before the sun completely disappeared below the horizon, the light grew increasingly red, streaming through the balcony and windows into the house, painting it a deep wine-red hue.

The skirts and pantyhose hanging on the clothes rack provided further concealment, leaving only a small shadow.

The girl's face was a mixture of wine red and shadow, interwoven and intertwined, just like her complex emotions.

The room was filled with a cacophony of sounds: the crackling of the stove flames and the sizzling of oil boiling in the pan.
The two were silent for a moment until Sakurai Itsuki placed a steaming bowl of fried rice in front of Hase Shion: "Eat first. You didn't eat much at noon, did you? You just drank those Russian specialty drinks."

Hasegawa Shion nodded, picked up a spoon, and gently scooped a spoonful into her mouth.

The tears that had been welling up in my eyes several times today, but hadn't fallen, finally burst forth like a dam breaking after I had held them back several times.

He's still so gentle with me, but how long can that gentleness last?

Why, why can't I stay by his side forever?

This was completely different from the life she had envisioned when she decided to rebel against her father and come to Tokyo from Kyoto.

Is she going to be all alone again? Does she really have to drift further and further away from him?

Sakurai Itsuki looked at Hase Shion, who was chewing fried rice while tears streamed down her face, and asked, "Is it really that delicious? It's so delicious that I'm crying."

Hasegawa Shion sniffed: "It's just hot! It doesn't taste good at all."

She's still so dishonest.

"I see." Sakurai Itsuki said, propping her chin on her hand, and then reached out as if to snatch the plate. "Then I won't eat it."

Hasegawa Shion quickly pulled the plate closer to herself: "This was made with ingredients from my house!"

After tearfully guarding her food, she paused, lowered her head, and said in a tearful voice, "You, you just bully me."

Seeing her pitiful appearance, Sakurai Itsuki's heart softened, and he quickly handed her the paper: "Okay, I was just kidding. Don't cry. I was wrong, okay?"

Hasegawa Shion ignored Sakurai Itsuki, focusing solely on shoveling rice into her mouth with her spoon, even as the scalding heat caused her delicate brows to furrow repeatedly.

Sakurai Itsuki was the type of person who responded better to gentle persuasion than force, and seeing this, he panicked a little.

But not knowing why the young lady was unhappy, he could only say, "If all else fails, just yell at me! Don't you always yell at me when you're unhappy?"

While shoveling rice into her mouth, Hasegawa Shion glared at Sakurai Itsuki, as if to say, "Isn't scolding you just to make you feel good? Why are you still thinking about this at a time like this?"

"What's wrong? What's happened that makes you reluctant to scold me now?"

Sakurai Itsuki knew her personality all too well, so with this reverse provocation, Hase Shion indeed put down the spoon in her hand.

"asshole."

She swallowed what was in her mouth and muttered a curse under her breath.

Sakurai Itsuki didn't refute, and nodded in agreement, "Mm."

"Scumbag."

Sakurai Itsuki nodded again. "Mm."

"Bad taste."

"Ah."

"abnormal."

"I will not refute this point for now."

"Panty stocking fetish."

"Is this considered swearing?"

"You're a bastard, you scumbag."

"Wipe your tears. There's still food on your lips. You'll start blowing snot bubbles. Shall I help you?" Sakurai Itsuki said, pulling out a tissue and reaching out to wipe the tear stains from her face.

"Annoying, so annoying. Waaah." Hase Shion was slightly taken aback, but did not flinch, letting him gently wipe away the tears that kept rolling down her cheeks.

But then she cried even harder.

Sakurai Itsuki said, "No, why are you crying even louder? I told you, one percent alcohol is still too much for you."

Hasegawa Shion said, "I'm not drunk. I'm just thinking about how after graduation, I'll lose all the friends I finally made."

Sakurai Itsuki thought to himself, "You were perfectly fine at the graduation ceremony, staring wide-eyed at Sato Wakaba as she cried. How come you're only feeling sad now, a week or two later?"
Isn't it a bit too slow to realize this?

However, she was crying loudly at the moment, so Sakurai Itsuki decided to go along with her and comforted her, saying, "All good things must come to an end."

"woooooo"

Hearing this, she seemed to cry even louder.

Sakurai Itsuki realized the password was wrong and added, "You can always make new friends when you get to university. You're a beautiful young lady and a famous manga artist."

Sakurai Itsuki stopped halfway through his sentence because Hase Shion's crying had not subsided at all.

Sakurai Itsuki was at a loss, thinking to herself that she would never let her touch any alcoholic products again, not even egg yolk pie or fermented bean curd.

"How about you take a break and rest for a while, and then we'll start a new series?"

Hasegawa Shion suddenly fell silent: "Huh? Us? There's a new serialization?"

Sakurai Itsuki said, "Yeah, you must have been working really hard lately. You're about to go to university, so let's not rush things."

Hasegawa Shion pressed on, "Are we going to draw a new series together? You...you never told me that."

Sakurai Itsuki said, "Huh? Do I need to tell you this? Didn't we agree that I would decide the subject matter and storyboard? Or are you unwilling to draw with me?"

Hasegawa Shion stopped crying: "I... I thought it was because you stopped drawing manga with me."

Sakurai Itsuki said, "How could I not draw with you? You are my original work. If I don't draw with you, who will I draw with? Where can I find an original work with such good drawing skills and such a good ability to roll up the paper? Besides, countless people in the industry envy me for being able to collaborate with such a beautiful young female artist like you. You are always the one who rejects me."

Given Hasegawa Shion's current drawing skills, she could easily find work even without collaborating with Sakurai Itsuki.

Besides, even without drawing comics, she could earn a high income through her work on white photo albums and original artwork for her club.

Therefore, Sakurai Itsuki had never thought of this possibility before, and only now does he realize it.

Today, she's not sad because of the ending of "Your Lie in April," but because her manga has come to an end.

"Is that so? You do have a good eye, hehe."

After barely managing to match the answer, Hasegawa Shion instantly burst into laughter through her tears.

"Oh, so you were unhappy all afternoon and even cried because you thought I wouldn't include you in my comics anymore?"

Sakurai Itsuki is a bit hard to judge. People always complain that men don't understand girls' thoughts, but girls' thoughts are just too mysterious.

It's not hard to guess who you're sending.

"No, is it not possible? I don't know where to find other comic artists to collaborate with. This is my dream!"

Hasegawa Shion initially wanted to refuse on her own, but she admitted it halfway through her sentence because it was only part of the reason.

She wanted to use this to cover up another idea she had.

Since we can still draw comics together, it's not time to completely drift apart yet.

"Hahaha, you're nineteen years old, but you still act like a child. You're so immature. Your sister even said you've grown up. Hahaha."

Sakurai Itsuki, having received confirmation of the answer, burst into laughter.

But he had actually guessed her other thoughts, but he needed to ease the atmosphere for the moment.

"You bastard! You pervert! You have a twisted sense of humor! You're a pervert! You're a pantyhose fetishist!"

Having been thoroughly mocked, Hase Shion combined all her previous insults into a fusion technique and gave it to Sakurai Itsuki.

Then, feeling that her attack wasn't strong enough, she grabbed her phone again, ready to send some outrageous remarks that she was ashamed to say aloud, just like she had done many times before.

Sakurai Itsuki, watching Hase Shion typing rapidly on her phone screen, propped her chin on her hand and said, "If you don't want fried rice, it'll get cold. If you like it, I'll make you more when I have time."

Hasegawa Shion glanced at Sakurai Itsuki and said, "So-so, we'll see."

Sakurai Itsuki continued, "In exchange for me making you fried rice, could I invite you to be the author of my original work, Ms. Hase Shion?"

Hasegawa Shion held her phone high, trying to cover it up. Despite still having tear stains, she smiled secretly and said, "Well, I'm too lazy to look for anyone else right now, so I'll just have to make do with you."

Sakurai Itsuki reminded him, "It's not just one, it could be one, two, or three. There are many manga that need you to be the original author."

Hasegawa Shion scolded, "Your fried rice is overpriced! You're so greedy!"

"Don't you want to?"

Hasegawa Shion thought to herself, "You really are an unreasonable person: 'Hmph, then you have to do it to me once, twice, many times, or even for a lifetime.'"

Sakurai Itsuki retorted, "Can you please never learn from Mizuno Yuki again, saying such weighty things?"

"Hmph! Who copied him! Idiot!" Upon hearing this, Hase Shion's smile vanished immediately.

Why bring up an annoying woman in this kind of situation?

Fingers flew across the screen.

In the end, the message was: "I'll force myself on you sooner or later."

Sakurai Itsuki went home and replied to the private message with a helpless "sweating soybean".

Dealing with pretty girls is a job that's both enjoyable and tiring.

Fortunately, although Hase Shion's temper is strange, it's not difficult to coax her.

Just as Sakurai Itsuki was relaxing, he suddenly noticed the food on the table.

Why are all the dishes you like to eat? Didn't you just make them casually?

Hiss, no.
Sakurai Itsuki frowned immediately, realizing that things were not so simple.

(End of this chapter)