Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 159 Whose Feet Are the Most Flexible? (6000 words)
Inside the car, Ken Sakamoto placed his backpack at his feet and turned to look at Ai Hoshihara.

Ai Hoshihara crossed her arms, her eyes slightly narrowed, and looked at Ken Sakamoto.

Come to think of it, every time I went to her house, she was never wearing anything.

It's a bit unusual to see someone dressed in a shirt and women's trousers now.

It's fair to say that Ken Sakamoto is very familiar with every fold and curve of her body, even the small mole on the base of her left thigh, but she still feels a little uncomfortable wearing clothes on her.

Ken Sakamoto, still smiling, said, "Ai, what brings you here?"

“No one was in your studio, I’ve been waiting for you here for a long time,” Hoshino Ai said. “So, where did you go at noon?”

"Chainsaw Man is getting an anime adaptation," Ken Sakamoto said.

Ai Hoshino raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't change the subject."

“We didn’t get sidetracked.” Ken Sakamoto shook his head and said, “I went to the investment company for the animation project at noon, met with the president, and talked about things related to the work.”

"When you're discussing your work with the club president, do you take a nap at noon?" Ai Hoshihara asked.

“I wasn’t going to sleep, but I had made an appointment with you after all,” Sakamoto Ken said. “So, after talking with the president, I took a nap on their company’s sofa, thinking I should at least see you as soon as possible and tell you what happened. But when I entered my dream, I didn’t see you.”

“Just tell me directly, who did you see, and what did you do?” Ai Hoshino asked directly.

Ken Sakamoto replied, "I did go to another girl's house, but I didn't do anything. You know, the whole dream I had at noon today probably only lasted for about ten minutes."

Ken Sakamoto checked the time at the time. From falling asleep to waking up, it was only about twenty minutes. Even including the time he spent falling asleep, the actual time he met Haruna Mikazuki in his dream was only about ten minutes.

It was supposed to last longer; at least we should have enjoyed her pranks.

Unfortunately, he lost his balance and fell to the ground along with the chair, hitting his head and waking up prematurely.

Ai Hoshihara nodded slightly; the timing that Ken Sakamoto mentioned was similar to her own feelings.

However, she still said, "Ten minutes is enough to do a lot of things."

“You know, it’s not enough for me,” Ken Sakamoto denied.

Ai Hoshihara leaned closer to Ken Sakamoto and said, "Even putting aside dreams, I think you've done bad things in reality too."

"No, that's not true." Ken Sakamoto denied it outright.

"Let me check and I'll know."

As she spoke, Ai Hoshihara pressed down on Ken Sakamoto's shoulder with one hand and pressed down with the other.

"No, how can you examine this?"

Ken Sakamoto quickly shrank back, trying to avoid her right hand.

However, the space on the seat is ultimately limited, and there's no way to avoid it.

Sakamoto Ken felt his clothes being pulled open, and Hoshihara Ai's hands were icy cold, making his stomach feel chilly.

Then, with a jolt, Ken Sakamoto immediately became obedient and didn't dare to move.

The muscles at the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and his expression froze: "Ahem... So, what did you find out?"

Ai Hoshino withdrew her hand, clapped her hands lightly, and then subtly swept them across the tip of her nose.

"Hmm...it seems he didn't do anything wrong."

"How did you determine that?" Ken Sakamoto asked.

Ai Hoshino gave a soft "humph" and said, "No matter how I judge it, the state is different after doing something bad. Can't you feel it in yourself?"

"I feel like I'm fine after resting for a while..."

"A rest only means it's still usable; the actual experience is quite different."

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not you, I haven't experienced it in depth."

At that moment, Ken Sakamoto heard a "click" from the car door; Ai Hoshihara had locked the door from the inside.

“You don’t mean to stay in the car with me…” Sakamoto Ken looked around and said, “There are few people here, but there are still passersby from time to time. You can see through the windshield from the outside, right… At least from the back seat, you can’t see much from the outside.”

"Who wants to be in the car with you?" Ai Hoshihara rolled her eyes at Ken Sakamoto and started the car.

"Oh, no..."

"Very disappointed?"

"No, not really... I was just thinking about some things from the past."

"Have we ever been in a car together?" Ai Hoshihara thought for a moment, but couldn't recall ever doing so.

Ken Sakamoto said, "It's not with you."

As soon as she finished speaking, the car jolted, and Ai Hoshino slammed on the brakes.

Ken Sakamoto quickly grabbed the armrest and said, "I'm telling the truth... You know, last time I was probably a jerk."

"Do you want to do it again this time?" Ai Hoshihara asked.

"I didn't want to do this, but you all have memories of last week's game, which makes things difficult for me..."

Sakamoto Ken rested his elbow on the armrest, turned to look at Hoshino Ai who was driving, and said, "Knowing that you remember me and still have feelings for me, if I choose not to see you or have any contact with you this time, wouldn't that make me a scumbag?"

"You say that to all of them?" Ai Hoshihara asked.

“I haven’t said it that bluntly yet, since only you understand the essence of things like rebirth and dreams,” Sakamoto Ken said. “However, I will tell them sooner or later.”

"To put it bluntly, you wanted to start a harem last time but failed, so you want to try again this time?" Hoshino Ai said.

“No,” Sakamoto Ken denied. “I didn’t actually intend to build a harem last week. The failure was mainly because I accidentally revealed that I was dating you all at the same time.”

"Then why did you just tell me directly?"

“I think I should be honest.” Sakamoto Ken shrugged and said, “Ai, you’re the eldest sister, and the smartest and most understanding of me among you, so… I’ll tell you everything.”

"Do you think I would agree?" Hoshino Ai asked.

“It’s not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing,” Sakamoto Ken said earnestly. “You have to help me.”

"help you?"

"Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll get two cuts and four holes this time."

"Why are there only one cut and two holes missing?"

"Because you won't cut me with a knife." Sakamoto Ken's tone softened. "You know, if someone is stabbed, they will die."

Ai Hoshino snorted and said, "It doesn't matter if it's a scumbag who died."

"I'm really not a scumbag," Sakamoto Ken said seriously. "If I could barely be considered a scumbag in last time, then I'm completely saving everyone now."

"You put it very well."

"Not as pretty as you," Sakamoto Ken said, reaching out to Hoshihara Ai and gently placing his hand on her leg.

"I'm driving."

"I know, I'll just touch it, I won't go in..."

Ai Hoshino turned her head and glared at Ken Sakamoto: "Let's talk at my place."

“Okay,” Sakamoto Ken replied with a smile.

Although the previous attempt to guide her didn't elicit a positive response from Ai Hoshihara, her current attitude speaks for itself.

According to Ken Sakamoto's idea, the best course of action would be to train Ai Hoshihara to be a teammate.

As for what the price is...

Ken Sakamoto counted; he used seven throughout the afternoon.

There's one more than last time.

It was already evening when I left Ai Hoshino's house and returned to the studio.

He sat in his chair and watched an episode of the newly aired second season of "My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU".

Unsurprisingly, Natsume Mio sent her a LINE message.

Mio Natsume: "[Image]"

Natsume Mio: "Ken, is it good-looking~"

Mio Natsume: "I just had my passport photo taken for my resume!"

Ken Sakamoto zoomed in on the image and examined it closely.

She had put on makeup and even used software to enhance it; with a slight smile on her lips, it was a very standard ID photo.

Ken Sakamoto: "Is it used for voice actor auditions?"

Mio Natsume sent a voice message: "Yeah, my vocal coach helped me find the email address for Bones' voice actor application. I'm sure I can get the role in Ken's work!"

Ken Sakamoto: "I've gathered some information from the investment company. The official selection of voice actors will probably take about three months. You'll need to prepare well during this time."

Mio Natsume: "Did Ken specifically ask for me? How is it? What preparations do I need to make?"

Ken Sakamoto: "I think you're definitely capable in terms of professional skills, but they will also consider other aspects, such as singing."

Mio Natsume: "Eh? Singing is required too! Hmm... But I've learned it, Ken. Have you ever heard me sing? Oh right, I sang the school song at the high school summer festival, but that's about it... I usually just go to karaoke with a few close friends..."

Natsume Mio talked a lot in one go. She preferred voice messages to typing. In fact, Sakamoto Ken also liked her voice. He thought it was very pleasant and was even willing to listen to it a couple more times.

Ken Sakamoto figured typing would be too much trouble, so he simply called her directly.

"Ken!" Natsume Mio was especially excited when she received Sakamoto Ken's call. "How will they assess your singing skills, the one you mentioned?"

After considering for a moment, Sakamoto Ken said, "Actually, it's quite difficult to land a main role because they collaborate with some large voice acting agencies, and there's a possibility that famous voice actors will be involved..."

“I know, after all, it’s such a big-budget anime…” Natsume Mio said, “But I definitely have to give it a try! Even if I can’t voice Ms. Makima, I can at least get a supporting role, right?”

Ken Sakamoto said, "It's not that there's no chance at all, it's just that two things are missing."

"What is it?!" "Personal works and the number of fans," Ken Sakamoto said. "If you have your own original music or a lot of fans, plus your voice acting skills, you're almost guaranteed to get the role."

"Does it have to be original works... and what about fans? This is too difficult, Ken. If the company is considering these things, will they not even consider newcomers?" Natsume Mio said.

"It's just a general standard. For example, if the work is particularly good, the requirement for the number of fans is less. If it's just covers, then a very large number of fans is required," Ken Sakamoto said. "I've confirmed with the investment company that even newcomers are treated equally as long as they meet the requirements."

"That's good!" Natsume Mio said. "As for music, I have written songs, but I don't think they're very good..."

Ken Sakamoto said, "I've been giving you special training these past few days, with the goal of getting you selected as a lead voice actor. What do you think?"

“Okay!” Natsume Mio agreed immediately without even asking how the special training would be conducted.

"Shouldn't you ask about the content of the special training first?" Sakamoto Ken said.

“Since it’s Ken’s special training, I’ll take whatever it is!” Natsume Mio said firmly.

“It’s good that you have this belief. Then come to the studio tomorrow,” Ken Sakamoto said.

"Great!"

Mio was very interested in this, as it was a path she hadn't tried in the previous playthrough. When the two of them went to karaoke together, they recorded her singing and uploaded it to YouTube. They even tried creating a virtual singer avatar to match her covers.

I was short of money at the time and wanted to see if I could make money as a YouTuber.

The video that was released had no impact whatsoever. It's inherently difficult for covers of other songs to become popular. When listeners hear a cover, they already have the original singer in mind, so no matter what, they're just following in someone else's footsteps.

From this point in time until the end of last week's run, there are still quite a few popular songs that Sakamoto Ken could choose from over the past decade.

For example, the song "Lemon" that he is typing the lyrics for now on his computer.

The reason his first thought was this song was entirely because of the lyrics.

"If only all of this were a dream, so I could still meet you in my dreams..."

"..."

"The sorrow and pain of that day, along with you who loved all of it, have transformed into the bitter lemon scent deeply imprinted in my heart."

"Unable to return until the rain stops and the sun shines again, like a lemon that has been cut in half."

Even now, you are still my light...

Originally, this song was written as the theme song for the TV series "Unnatural Death" and was dedicated to those who died "unnaturally." Because of the genuine emotions involved, it touched millions of listeners.

Later, it completely transcended the TV series, and the song itself became a phenomenal masterpiece.

On YouTube, the music video for "Lemon" was the first music work in Japan to surpass 500 million views, and it has been far ahead ever since, continuing to rise rapidly after breaking 900 million views.

Its single downloads, CD sales, and karaoke song requests all demonstrate its absolute dominance.

If Lemon had been released a few years earlier in 2015, even if it didn't reach the same level as later releases, its success would still have been considerable.

Ken Sakamoto hadn't really appreciated these lyrics before, but now that I think about it...

Well, now we have dreams and unnatural deaths.

Isn't this the song dedicated to me?

Then have one of the assassins who killed him last week sing it...

It has a particularly hellish feel to it.

Ken Sakamoto quickly wrote down the lyrics to the entire song and then recalled the melody.

After all, it's a song with extremely high national recognition; he's heard it countless times and sung it in karaoke.

Although he can barely keep up with the tune when he sings, that's enough.

Ken Sakamoto used his phone to record the song, and it took him several attempts to finally record the entire song.

After listening to it repeatedly, the rhythm matched the original song in my memory.

In addition to this song, Ken Sakamoto created another document: "Koi" (Love).docx.

Mio really liked this song at the time, and she even dragged him to sing it together.

I quickly typed out the lyrics, reviewed them several times, but decided to put the song on hold for now... the emotions were too intense.

Are there any songs about a chaotic love triangle...?

correct.

Ken Sakamoto picked up the sketches next to him and looked at them. They were character designs for "The Quintessential Quintuplets".

Create a new document in your computer folder: The Feeling of Five Equal Parts.docx.

Although the comic hasn't been published yet, the theme song has already been prepared.

However, this song is too much of a theme song and it's hard for it to exist as a single.

However, here's the problem: this comic has five female protagonists, two more than in real life. Won't that cause them to have unnecessary associations?
For example, if you want to find out who the other two are...

Go ahead and look for them. Once you join forces to target those two non-existent girls, you won't be targeting me anymore.

In the end, Ken Sakamoto only printed out the lyrics to "Lemon," keeping the other songs for later.

I stayed up all night drawing yesterday, and got up early this morning to draw again. I went to see Haruna at noon, and then spent the whole afternoon being bothered by Ai Hoshihara...

After nightfall, Ken Sakamoto exercised for half an hour on the newly added treadmill in his studio, then washed up and went to bed early.

Ken Sakamoto felt he needed to seriously consider the issue of time management.

……

Meanwhile, at the same time, at Mikazuki Haruna's home.

There were only two people in the house, her and Aunt Kazuko. Aunt Kazuko would stay on the first floor at night and wouldn't come up to bother her.

So it's no different for her to live alone in the whole house.

The girl stretched out her legs, lying comfortably in the bathtub, looking up at the ceiling, recalling what had happened after she met Ken Sakamoto at the company that day…

Especially that strange dream.

This is the second time I've dreamt of him in a lucid dream, and it's different from the first time. The first time, I didn't lock him up, which resulted in him pinning me down.

This time, she was in complete control; the guy's feet were shackled, and she could do whatever she wanted.

Then, he sat down at the table, intending to punish him severely.

Although such scenes existed in her memory, they were just memories. This time, she could do whatever she wanted.

Moreover, he later commented that although her feet were small, they were very agile.

Is it very small?
Mikazuki Haruna lifted her foot, and the water, slightly pink from the rose-scented bath soap, slid down her toes to the side of her foot and onto the surface.

The bathroom lights were bright, illuminating the wet feet and making their pale white skin glow with a slight pink tinge.

She usually buys shoes in size 22.5cm or 23cm, which is indeed quite small compared to the women she knows; she even seems only slightly longer than Ah Jian's...

As for flexibility, Mikazuki Haruna never had a real sense of it. Who would think about such things for no reason?

Thinking of this, she shifted her legs and picked up a bottle of skin care oil that was placed next to the bathtub. She placed the back of her left foot under the pump nozzle of the round bottle and pressed the pump nozzle with the sole of her right foot. A stream of transparent, light golden liquid gushed out from the pump nozzle.

She rubbed her feet together, patted them gently, making a squelching sound, spread the essential oil evenly, and then curled her five toes up like flower petals, twisting her ankles and striking various poses.

Is this what you call being flexible?
The girl placed her feet on the edge of the bathtub, holding the bottle of skincare oil between her left and right hands. The size of the bottle seemed somewhat familiar...

My legs were slightly sore and felt cool after my feet had been raised above the water for too long.

So Mikazuki Haruna used her feet to pick up the bottle of essential oil, took it from her hands, and put her legs back into the warm bathwater.

She just suddenly remembered the scene in her dream and tried it out. Actually, the thing she does most when taking a bath is massage herself.

The main reason is that after meeting Natsume Mio, she always used her most obvious advantages to suppress her, and she looked very smug.

Therefore, Haruna tried many ways to see if she could increase her fighting strength, so that she wouldn't be too much weaker than Haruna.

Because she heard that massaging would be helpful, she would apply some essential oil and then massage herself using techniques she learned online.

Although it hasn't even increased by half a size yet...

Ten minutes later, having finished her massage for the day, she took a deep breath, held it, put her hands on her hips, and straightened her chest, but she could only hold it for half a minute before giving up.

Indeed, hard work is hard to compete with natural talent.

But then again, Ah Jian doesn't actually like breasts; he's clearly more of a foot fetishist.

The dream ended at noon today after Ah Jian fell to the ground, but she remembered very clearly that before that, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Although it was supposed to be a punishment, he definitely treated it as a reward.

Speaking of rewards...

Someone's words still echoed in my ears: "You're alone in your room, lying in bed thinking about me, and then secretly rewarding yourself."

At the time, she hadn't realized what the reward was.

Then, seeing his meaningful expression, I realized what he meant...

The girl shrank back, immersing her neck and chin in the water. She felt warm all over, which was normal since she was taking a hot bath.

My body feels warm inside...

Mikazuki Haruna rubbed her face, trying to clear her mind of some strange thoughts.

In the end, she decided to follow her heart.

A few minutes later, the dizziness caused by soaking in the bath for too long, along with the electric shocks that ran through every cell in her body, made her head spin and she almost fell when she got up.

but……

Haruna muttered to herself.

In any case, I definitely didn't secretly reward myself by lying in bed thinking about him today.

(End of this chapter)