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

"Hey little girl, get in the car, I'll take you for a ride."

Sato Wakaba poked her head out from the driver's seat and, mimicking the frivolous men on the streets of Shibuya, greeted Sakurai Itsuki.

Sakurai Itsuki remarked, "If you try to pick up girls in this car, no one will want to get in."

What's in front of Sakurai Itsuki now is a pink four-seater mini car, whose owner is nominally Sakurai Itsuki.

Before the two flew to England, Sato Wakaba had already obtained her driver's license and took Sakurai Itsuki to various 4S stores to look around and order the car.

"Why? This child is so adorable! I don't believe it, let's go try it!"

Sato Wakaba pressed her face against the steering wheel, looking like a child who had just received a new toy, completely captivated by it.

Sakurai Itsuki shook his head and opened the passenger door: "Whatever you like. But I think even if someone is willing to get in the car, it has nothing to do with the car itself."

Sato Wakaba pouted: "I'll take that as a compliment on my looks! Oh, I'm not the kind of person who would actually drive around picking up girls on the street. Nobody would get in this car, so wouldn't that make you feel more at ease?"

Actually, the two had some disagreements when choosing a car.

Although Sakurai Itsuki doesn't have high requirements for cars, she still felt that this pink Mini was a bit too girly.

At least the car should be registered under his name.

But Sato Wakaba won the argument with the line, "Anyway, I'll be driving this car 80% of the time, and the price isn't very cheap, is it?"

Because both of them knew perfectly well that Sato Wakaba, as the "laborer" of the family, would have to work as a driver from now on.

Sakurai Itsuki, on the other hand, is definitely the type of person who spends most of his time lying in the back row, enjoying the service.

Thinking about it carefully, the car wasn't expensive, and their purpose in buying it was simply to make going to school and the studio more convenient; they would basically only use it within the city.

From this perspective, the mini version is indeed a good fit.

Therefore, Sakurai Itsuki finally gave in, after all, Sato Wakaba had said, "If you don't want to buy it, I'll buy it myself, anyway, I've saved up some money."

It has been two years since Sato Wakaba became Sakurai Itsuki's assistant, and Sakurai Itsuki has been receiving his weekly salary without fail.

In addition, Sakurai Itsuki covered all the expenses for food and daily necessities at home, and her father, who lived in England, paid the rent. Occasionally, Sakurai Itsuki and Sato's father would also give her pocket money.

So Sato Wakaba actually saved up quite a bit of money, and could easily afford a Mini car that cost less than 200 million yen.

Although Sato Wakaba used to be a gyaru (a type of female stunner) and came from a well-off family, she has always been a very frugal person, except when it comes to eating sweets.

In short, she seems like the kind of woman who would be perfect as a mother and a housewife.

Of course, the occasional minor argument she has with her husband over shopping is a drawback of being too much of a housewife.

Sakurai Itsuki got into the car and fastened his seatbelt.

Faced with Sato Wakaba's insistence on buying the car to reassure him about not being able to flirt with people, Sakurai Itsuki twitched his lips: "What do you mean by reassuring me? What do I care if you flirt with people or not?"

Upon hearing this, Sato Wakaba's face immediately darkened, and she turned around to glare fiercely at Sakurai Itsuki: "What did you say?"

Although the two were just joking, she was clearly quite dissatisfied with Sakurai Itsuki's answer.

Sakurai Itsuki glanced at the dashboard, which Sato Wakaba had already covered with all sorts of cute stickers and trinkets since the car had just been picked up, and tried to change the subject: "You've already dressed up your little darling? You're really fast!"

Sato Wakaba angrily threatened, "Heh heh, I'm going to Shibuya today to chat up some handsome guys!"

Sakurai Itsuki replied, "Are there any handsome guys in Shibuya more handsome than me?"

He wasn't in a hurry; he knew, of course, that she was just joking.

If she were truly the kind of infatuated woman who couldn't resist handsome men, she wouldn't still be without a first love, or even a childhood sweetheart.

Upon closer reflection, Sakurai Itsuki suddenly realized that Sato Wakaba now had almost no close male friends besides Sato.

Even the people in the club seem to have grown a little distant lately.

Is it because she's too clingy? I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

"Ugh, you can be so narcissistic sometimes it's nauseating, my dear Ashu! *sigh*"

Sato Wakaba looked disgusted, then turned to Sakurai Itsuki, pulled down her eyelids, and stuck out her tongue.

She still made that signature classic funny face to show Sakurai Itsuki that although she was a little dissatisfied, she wasn't really angry.

She actually hoped he would act even angrier.

It wasn't because I spent too much time with that weird guy, Ashu, that I developed some strange fetish.

However, Sato Wakaba felt that if he were to get angry at her now, wouldn't that mean he was jealous of her?
I really want him to know how uncomfortable I feel when I'm jealous.

It's so unfair that I was so jealous.

Sato Wakaba felt increasingly awkward, turned the key, and asked, "Let's go. Should we go to the cake shop first or pick up Shion?"

Sakurai Itsuki said, "Let me make this clear first, I'm not planning to pay the bill today."

Sato Wakaba was immediately taken aback: "Huh? Why!"

Sakurai Itsuki said, "Go find a handsome guy in Shibuya to buy it for you."

The awkwardness on Sato Wakaba's face vanished instantly, and she immediately smiled brightly: "Okay, okay, you're the most handsome, you're the most handsome, our Asuka is the most handsome in the world, okay?"

Hearing those words that sounded like they were being coaxed to a child, Sakurai Itsuki twitched his lips and said, "It's too late for you to say nice things now. I'm not paying any money today."

Sakurai Itsuki originally intended to tease her on purpose.

He thought Sato Wakaba would say something like, "I'm your driver now, and you won't even buy me a cake to appease me!" and make a scene.

However, Sato Wakaba's reaction was completely unexpected by Sakurai Itsuki.

Instead of being angry, she giggled and said, "It's okay, hehe, I have savings, I can still afford a cake. So, Sister Ruoye, I'll treat you to a meal!"

Sakurai Itsuki was somewhat annoyed that he had actually guessed her mistake.

No, I shouldn't be upset about this.
"Let's go! Sato One! Start!"

Sato Wakaba energetically swung her fist forward, then stepped on the gas and started the car.

"Slow down. To be honest, I'm actually a little worried about your driving skills."

Sakurai Itsuki quickly pulled on his seatbelt, feeling that Sato Wakaba's impulsive driving style was quite dangerous.

Sato Wakaba said, "It's okay, I practiced thoroughly yesterday!"

Sakurai Itsuki asked, puzzled, "Where did you get the chance to practice yesterday?"

I just returned to Japan yesterday, and only this evening did I ask someone to bring my car over.

"Need for Speed! Horizon Zero Dawn! KartRider!" Sato Wakaba exclaimed excitedly, clutching the names of the dishes as she floored the accelerator.

Sakurai Itsuki immediately felt fortunate; buying a Mini was definitely the right decision.

If she were really allowed to drive one of those flashy, high-powered cars, then I'd probably have to become a candidate for reincarnation into another world.

Of course, besides that, Sakurai Itsuki turned to look at her, who was excited like a child, and also felt that the money was definitely worth it. In just over a minute, Sato Wakaba drove the car to Hase Shion's apartment building.

At that moment, she was holding up her phone, gently touching her still swollen eye sockets with the front-facing camera.

I cried so much last night that my eyes are so swollen.
I tried to cover it up with makeup, but it didn't work. We even made plans to go to the university together today.

But, I just can't help it.

They both went too far.
He didn't tell her when he went on trips, he didn't say anything when he stayed at her house, and he didn't tell her what happened between them.

Am I really that unimportant? Am I really that indifferent?

This is so unfair! I have a temper too! I really don't want to talk to them anymore!

Oh no, my nose is starting to sting again, and I feel like crying again.
"Shion, look at my new car! Although you think you already saw it last night!"

The sudden sound startled Hase Shion, who was staring at the front-facing camera of her phone, causing her to nearly drop it.

"Oh, oh," Hasegawa Shion quickly wiped back the tears that were almost uncontrollable and responded nervously.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Sakurai Itsuki looked up at Hase Shion and asked, "What's wrong? Your eyes are all swollen. Who made you cry again?"

Hasegawa Shion said fiercely, "Mind your own business!"

Then I opened the back door and got in the car, thinking to myself, "I cried because of you."

Sato Wakaba quickly turned around and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Shion? What happened?"

Faced with Sato Wakaba's concern, Hase Shion couldn't bring herself to respond as fiercely as she usually would.

She could only lie and say, "It's nothing, I stayed up all night drawing, and then I watched 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' again, and that's how it ended up like this."

"Puella Magi Madoka Magica isn't exactly a tearjerker, is it?"

Sakurai Itsuki saw through Hase Shion's lie at a glance, for a simple reason: he hadn't received any vulgar comments from a doujinshi artist on Twitter last night.

Sato Wakaba agreed: "Yeah, after watching it, I felt more of an emptiness, a very lonely feeling. It's probably depressing. I feel like I'd rather have a good cry."

As they were talking, Sato Wakaba, being a hater of the first generation, punched Sakurai Itsuki.

Sakurai Itsuki clicked his tongue in exasperation, seemingly condemning the violent woman.

Seeing the two of them like this, Hase Shion felt as if her heart had been gripped and clenched tightly.

A strong sour smell rose in my heart.

"Anyway, everything's fine now, let's drive. Stop asking so many questions. You didn't tell me a lot of things, like going to England and staying at your house, etc."

Upon hearing this, Sato Wakaba looked at Sakurai Itsuki with a guilty conscience, "What? You didn't tell Shion? I thought you told her."

She felt it was somewhat despicable of her to secretly take Ashu to England, and she was also worried that Ashu would come to England with her, so she was too embarrassed to tell her.

As for later, when Sakurai Itsuki got drunk, she secretly stole his first kiss, so she didn't have the courage to tell Shion the details.

Sakurai Itsuki said, "She didn't ask. I'm always lazy."

Hasegawa Shion took a deep breath, suppressing her displeasure: "Alright, let's not continue this topic! Let's get down to business! Are there any plans for a new serialization? You promised me that day in the house that you would stay with me forever."

The more Hase Shion listened, the more pathetic she felt. In her heart, she angrily denounced Sakurai Itsuki as a big liar who had promised to cook fried rice for her for the rest of his life and draw manga for her for the rest of his life.

Sato Wakaba, who was gripping the steering wheel, asked, "What were you doing that day?"

"Ah, it's nothing, just discussing the new serialization."

The way Sakurai Itsuki hurriedly explained made Hase Shion feel even more desolate.

Can't I just tell her that you promised to stay with me for life?
However, Hasegawa Shion couldn't bring herself to tell him what happened that day directly.

Ultimately, she's still a proud and arrogant person.

She's the kind of troublesome woman who's always seen as a loser even in the world of anime, making it even harder for her to win in the real world.

"As we've discussed before, we're planning to merge soon, so we're not planning to start a medium-length or long serialization for the time being. Before we launch multiple collaborative projects, I'd like to do a short story to test the waters."

Sakurai Itsuki got down to business.

AS Studio, New Dimension Studio, and their subordinate temporary animation team are all merging soon.

Both the "White Album" project currently being produced by the AS group and the bonus animation for Your Lie in April produced by the temporary animation team have been quite successful.

Meanwhile, New Dimension Studio's hand-drawn animations and various anime-related videos are steadily improving with the help and support of Yukiko and Jump.

With Sakurai Itsuki's overpowered buffs, everything went incredibly smoothly.

Therefore, everyone felt it was time to merge and move from a semi-amateur to a true multimedia company.

All three parties had absolutely no objections to the merger.

Everyone knows that without the work that Sakurai Itsuki entrusted to them as a safety net, they wouldn't have been able to achieve such success and smooth progress.

The only one who had a problem with it was Hase Hatsuna, because that person always had to supervise multiple projects, so she complained that she was "overshadowing the boss" and that she wanted to become President Hase!
If she disagrees, she will start a new club.

Of course, no one cared about this opinion; they just thought she was crazy.

The Japanese hot-bloodedness that shouted "Does Sakurai Jun have any guts?" and attempted to overthrow his superiors was quickly crushed by Yuuki Tsukimi's three punches.

Sato Wakaba asked curiously. She was by his side all day, so it was hard for her not to see the proposal: "Eh, isn't the new work AIR?"

"The final chapter of White Album isn't finished yet, and games are inherently slow, so I think we can use the time to work on a short story to practice. As for the manga, we can just publish it on Jump+. Shueisha doesn't have as many restrictions now."

Sakurai Itsuki explained.

Sato Wakaba nodded: "Oh, that's true. After all, everyone is still a beginner, so it's only natural that we need to practice. It's unreasonable for you, Asuka, to have everything go so smoothly."

“I don’t deny that most people in the world can’t do what this bastard does.”

After getting down to business, Hasegawa Shion finally calmed down and acknowledged Sakurai Itsuki's monstrous strength with her hands clasped behind her back.

It's worth noting that many people in the industry say that Hase Shion is actually a genius.

She had been tortured to tears by him.

Come to think of it, she always cried because of him.

Sakurai Itsuki painted a rosy picture for the two of them: "We do need to practice, and AIR is just a practice project for multimedia collaboration. There are bigger plans to come."

"what's the plan?"

"I want to create a classic work that will be recorded in the history of ACG. As for the name, it will probably be Clannad."

Hasegawa Shion complained, "What kind of weird name is this? I have absolutely no idea what it means."

Sakurai Itsuki replied, "It means life." (End of Chapter)