Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 164 Mio x Haruna (6000 words)
Mikazuki Haruna clicked on the video's description and saw two lines of text:

Lyrics/Music: Ken Sakamoto

[Performed by: Natsume's Cat House]

She immediately remembered what they had talked about when she called Ken Sakamoto to her office.

Ken Sakamoto mentioned wanting Mio Natsume to voice Machima in "Chainsaw Man" and even tried to get her in through connections, but she firmly refused.

Of course, she didn't make any absolute statements, promising him that Natsume Mio could participate in fair competition.

She was a complete newcomer with no prior works to include in her resume.

It seems that this video was made by Ken and Natsume Mio together so that she could pass her voice actor audition.

Did you write a song directly?
Haruna Mikazuki's finger hovered over the screen, hesitating for a moment.

She picked up the headphones from the table, put them on, and then pressed play.

Mikazuki Haruna initially seemed unconcerned, leaning back in the ergonomic chair and gently swinging her legs.

However, when Natsume Mio's clear singing voice rang out, her leg-swinging motion stopped instantly.

"梦ならばどれほどよかったでしょう..."

"无だにあなたのことを梦にみる..."

After hearing just the first two lines of the lyrics, Mikazuki Haruna suddenly sat up straight.

He shuffled his feet down, but didn't touch the ground, then stretched them forward before finally stepping onto the stepping stone.

She switched the video on her phone to full screen.

On the screen, Kenjiro Sakamoto's unique hand-drawn illustrations, accompanied by neat handwritten lyrics, continued to play.

She didn't even notice that her fingers were gripping the phone tightly, and her knuckles were turning white.

This song, this melody, these lyrics...

She originally thought that even if Ken Sakamoto could write songs, they would probably just be ordinary pop songs.

But what came through the headphones, both in terms of the catchy melody and the emotion in the lyrics, far exceeded her expectations.

As the song progresses into the chorus, the emotions intensify, and Natsume Mio's voice rises accordingly, carrying a penetrating power that is almost like a sob.

Mikazuki Haruna moved her lips slightly, silently singing along in her heart.

Even after the entire song "Lemon" had finished playing and the last melody had completely faded away, she remained in that position, staring blankly at the screen.

This song... is so good.

The melody isn't particularly complex, but it's incredibly catchy.

And the lyrics are written...

Haruna Mikazuki felt as if her heart had been gently bumped by something.

Dreams, forgotten things, the dust of memories, the sorrow and pain of that day...

It feels like she's writing about that strange dream she experienced.

Thinking back to that afternoon in the company office, he said he also dreamed about that scene...

Although she didn't elaborate, Mikazuki Haruna had always suspected that the two of them might have the same dream.

Could this guy also have those memories about the "future" like me?
My suspicions grew stronger; all the signs pointed to Ah Jian being abnormal...

Haruna Mikazuki listened carefully again, savoring every word.

Ken Sakamoto is already so good at drawing manga, but he can also write songs.

Just how many tricks does this guy have up his sleeve?

It has been only two days since Sakamoto Ken met her at the company.

Was this song something he wrote a long time ago, or was it written specifically for Natsume Mio in the last couple of days?
Either way, it shows that their relationship has progressed to a very deep stage!
They moved way too fast!
Mikazuki Haruna refreshed the video page and found that the video had been played more than a thousand times and had more than a hundred likes.

This video was posted around noon, so it hasn't been long since then.

Judging by this momentum, this song... really has the potential to become a hit!
Does she really have a chance to produce something within three months that is convincing enough to Director Mizushima?
Just then, Mikazuki Haruna's phone vibrated, and a LINE message popped up on the screen.

It was sent by Natsume Mio.

Mio Natsume: "[Video Link]"

Mio Natsume: "This song was recorded with Ken, listen to it~ /Happy/Victory"

provocative!

This is a blatant provocation!
Haruna Mikazuki gripped her phone so tightly she felt like her teeth were about to break.

She immediately switched back to the YouTube video page, and without thinking, she stomped hard on the downward thumb icon!

No!

We absolutely cannot let this guy succeed!
Isn't it just that you want to be a voice actor?

If things get too difficult, I'll use my investor power to reject her resume during the final interview!
The thought flashed through Mikazuki Haruna's mind.

But soon, she shook her head again.

No... I already promised Ah Jian...

However, he even came to me to ask for help in order to help Natsume Mio.

hateful!

Haruna Mikazuki thought about it again and realized it was just a video of a song.

Even if you end up with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of views, it's not really a particularly impressive achievement.

Compared to those professional voice actors who debuted long ago and have countless well-known works to their name, you, Natsume Mio, are still far behind!

This song is good, but it's mainly because Ah Jian wrote it well; she's just a singer!

Haruna Mikazuki calmed herself down.

Realizing it was Monday, she opened the LINE chat window of editor-in-chief Tomohiro Ohno and sent him a message.

March Spring: "Editor-in-Chief, have the reader survey results from last week come out yet?"

The editor-in-chief's reply came very quickly.

Tomohiro Ohno: "It's out! Congratulations, Ms. Mitsuki Haru! 'The Young Lady' received 15900 votes last week, a very impressive number! The remake's effect is immediate!"

Fifteen thousand nine hundred votes?

Seeing this number made Mikazuki Haruna feel a little better.

This number of votes is already very high, which shows that the remastered version's visuals have indeed attracted a large number of readers.

but……

Haruna Mikazuki knew that Ken Sakamoto definitely had more votes than her.

Because on JUMP+'s new release popularity chart, Chainsaw Man is always number one, and its number of views and comments are much higher than hers.

She still asked one more question, unwilling to give up.

March Spring: "What about 'The Chainsaw Man'?"

Tomohiro Ohno: "The data for 'Chainsaw Man' last week was 27300 votes."

"..."

Mikazuki Haruna had a sullen face.

27,300 votes.

She still had more than 10,000 more votes than him.

She spent so much money hiring top assistants in the industry, working tirelessly to meet deadlines every day...

In the end, he still pinned her down!
Mikazuki Haruna leaned back in her chair, looking at the storyboards she had just finished on her desk, feeling utterly listless.

Whenever Mikazuki Haruna thought about being "pressed down," the scene from that dream last Friday at noon would appear in her mind.

He handcuffed him to a chair, then sat on the table himself, looking down at him with his feet...

She can still recall the sensation of his burning skin when she touched him with her toes...

But I've heard of the saying "dreams are the opposite of reality," so if this dream is a prediction of the future... wait, wait, it's impossible that I'm being handcuffed by her! Impossible!

Moreover, she could have pinned him down, but when she pounced on him, she lost her balance and fell down, chair and all.

The moment I fell, the entire dream vanished.

It's all that broken chair's fault!

So, can I dream about Ah Jian again?
Ideally, it would be a lucid dream like last time, the kind where I could do whatever I wanted to him!
Throughout the noon, Mikazuki Haruna seemed preoccupied.

Seeing that she looked unwell, her four assistants didn't dare to chat as usual.

After lunch, Mikazuki Haruna sat back down in her chair and said to the four of them, "Everyone, take a break at noon. I'm going to take a nap. Don't wake me unless it's important."

Haruna Mikazuki reclined the ergonomic chair, adjusted her posture, and closed her eyes.

In his mind, he started counting sheep: "One Sakamoto Ken, two Sakamoto Ken, three Sakamoto Ken..."

……

In Ken Sakamoto's studio.

At lunchtime, he always lets his three assistants rest on their own.

Taking a nap is fine, you can read a comic book, or watch anime on the studio's computer.

Ken Sakamoto checked the time; it was almost one o'clock.

The assistants had already begun to rest in their respective seats.

Ryuki Shin was wearing headphones and was lying on his drawing table, seemingly working on his new piece.

Yuji Kaku was engrossed in reading a copy of JUMP.

Tatsuya Endo reclined his chair and covered his face with a copy of JUMP to sleep.

As for Keiko Kaji, she didn't seem to be planning to take a lunch break; she was still revising a document about an animation project.

She sat at the corner table that had been reserved for her, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

At this moment, Natsume Mio asked Sakamoto Ken, "Ken, do you usually take a break at noon?"

Ken Sakamoto looked at the girl in front of him.

Around noon...

He always naturally thought of taking a nap.

For him, "afternoon nap" now has a completely different meaning.

This is a pattern that Ai Hoshihara figured out.

If you take a nap in the afternoon, around 1 p.m., you may enter a dream that connects to the memories of the "last time".

The dream will generate a scene he once experienced based on his memory of the previous timeline.

Then, if one of them happens to be taking a nap at the same time, they might successfully "connect" and enter that scene together. This scene isn't limited to two-player co-op; Natsume Mio also appeared when Sakamoto Ken and Hoshihara Ai were on a bench in the city park.

Moreover, it's not guaranteed that the two will appear in the same location.

Just like last time, he and Haruna fell asleep in her office, went into her apartment, and were handcuffed to a chair. If he hadn't suddenly fallen and woken up, she would definitely have given him a good beating... Of course, Sakamoto Ken wasn't disappointed.

Meanwhile, Ai Hoshihara was also online at the time, but when she woke up, she was in her own apartment and did not see Ken Sakamoto.

Ken Sakamoto felt that there seemed to be a safety net mechanism in this dream-based online game.

That is, no matter what, as long as he successfully enters the online dream world, he will definitely encounter one of the three of them.

Today, Ai Hoshino didn't message him to "log in".

Ken Sakamoto glanced at his phone; the guy's profile picture lay quietly in the list.

Considering that today is a Monday, a workday, Ai Hoshihara is actually quite busy with her own work.

As a professor at the University of Tokyo, she has to mentor students and advance her own research projects, and recently she has also been thinking about researching things related to dreams.

As for Natsume Mio, Sakamoto Ken did see her in a dream, but that time it was on a rooftop, and the two of them didn't actually do anything in the dream. At that time, Mio was holding a knife in her hand...

Unlike Ai Hoshihara and Haruna Mikazuki, Ken Sakamoto was thoroughly devoured by these two in his dreams.

But with Natsume Mio... nothing happened in the dream.

Ken Sakamoto said to Mio Natsume, "I'd like to take a nap at noon; I've been a bit tired lately from rushing to finish my manuscript."

“Mmm!” Natsume Mio immediately agreed, “Ken, you should get some rest.”

She looked around the studio and saw that Tatsuya Endo had reclined his ergonomic chair and was lying down to rest.

"Where do you sleep? On the chair?" Natsume Mio asked.

Ken Sakamoto shook his head: "I can go back to my room upstairs; it'll be more comfortable there."

As he spoke, he stood up.

Natsume Mio looked towards her assistants, but none of them noticed her. However, when Kaji Keiko noticed Natsume Mio's gaze, she made a brief eye contact with her, but immediately returned her attention to the computer screen, pretending not to see anything.

At this moment, Ken Sakamoto had already reached the top of the stairs leading upstairs.

Seeing this, Natsume Mio quickly tiptoed and followed quietly, afraid that her footsteps would be too loud and disturb the others in the studio.

When she arrived at the stairwell, Ken Sakamoto had already climbed several steps.

He glanced back at Natsume Mio who was following behind, but didn't say anything. Instead, he continued walking uphill, and Natsume Mio continued to follow.

Sakamoto Ken stopped at the door of the room on the third floor, turned around and looked at her, whispering to Natsume Mio, "You came up too?"

Natsume Mio stood at the top of the stairs and looked around.

The third floor was quiet, and the corridor was empty.

She lowered her voice nervously and said, "I...I want to be with Ah Jian..."

Ken Sakamoto raised an eyebrow: "Sleep together?"

"Hmm..." Natsume Mio pursed her lips and nodded gently.

As soon as she said that answer, she felt her cheeks instantly burn.

My mind has started wandering into all sorts of fancy and whimsical thoughts.

She knew the house was made of wood, so the sound insulation probably wouldn't be very good.

In my mind I was thinking:

The assistants and editors are all downstairs now. Even if we're on the third floor, if I do something with Ah Jian... we'll definitely make noise, right?
Although I can cover my mouth and try my best not to make a sound, as long as there is any movement or sound of physical contact, it will definitely be heard... That would be too embarrassing!

but……

She glanced at the other room next door.

She had heard from Ken Sakamoto before that the room was soundproof, but it was currently empty and not furnished.

If it's in here, it seems like it would work?

"hiss……"

Thinking of this, Natsume Mio quickly shook her head, trying to shake off these strange thoughts.

What am I thinking! Ah Jian only said he was taking a nap!

She took a step forward and whispered to Ken Sakamoto, "Ken, I want to take a nap in your room, um... just a nap."

Ken Sakamoto had already pushed open his room door; this kind of wooden frame sliding door covered with paper offered virtually no sound insulation.

He went into the room and whispered to Natsume Mio, "I'll just take a nap. There are some bedding in the closet. You can take out a set and put it here."

Mio Natsume immediately went to the wardrobe, opened the door, and took out a spare set of bedding and a thin blanket.

She laid out the bedding next to Sakamoto Ken, with less than half a meter between the two sets of bedding.

Ken Sakamoto lay down directly on his bedding and covered himself with a thin blanket.

Natsume Mio sat beside him, watching Sakamoto Ken lie down.

Seeing that Sakamoto Ken did look very tired, she didn't bother him any further.

So, Natsume Mio quietly lay down beside her.

Ken Sakamoto closed his eyes and began to clear his mind of all the distracting thoughts.

This is a method for falling asleep quickly that Ai Hoshino taught him. Although he can't fall asleep almost instantly like her, he can still fall asleep in about five or ten minutes.

Natsume Mio watched as Sakamoto Ken lay quietly with his eyes closed. She opened her eyes, staring at the white ceiling, her mind racing with wild thoughts.

She rubbed her face vigorously and turned to lie on her side.

And so, I quietly watched Sakamoto Ken's profile.

He looks so handsome when he's asleep...

The boy's eyebrows, the boy's nose, the boy's lips, and the boy's aura.

It stirred a deep, indescribable flutter in her heart.

I want to hug him, I want to kiss him, I want to be completely connected with him.

Natsume Mio's gaze fell on Sakamoto Ken's lips, and the sudden kiss in the Shueisha lounge that day immediately flashed through her mind.

That warm and soft touch is unforgettable.

Natsume Mio subconsciously stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked her lips.

I want to... kiss you again...

Ah Jian is asleep now. If I just sneak a kiss, I think... he won't be noticed, right?
Natsume Mio's heart began to pound wildly.

She slowly, little by little, moved her body toward Ken Sakamoto.

The tatami mats were soft, and her movements made no sound.

As she drew closer, she could feel Sakamoto Ken's warm breath gently brushing against her cheek.

Natsume Mio held her breath, pouted slightly, closed her eyes, and slowly moved closer to those lips she had longed for...

The skin at the tip of her lips barely touched hers, and just as Natsume Mio was about to go further down, Sakamoto Ken suddenly let out a soft nasal sound and unconsciously rolled over, turning his back to her.

"Ah!" Natsume Mio was startled by the sudden noise and shrank back as if she had been electrocuted.

She clutched her chest, panting heavily, and only after confirming that Sakamoto Ken had merely rolled over unconsciously and had not woken up did she breathe a long sigh of relief.

Phew...that was close...

Almost got discovered...

She was actually prepared that if she were discovered, she would simply go for it and give him a deep, wet kiss.

What a pity, what a pity...

Natsume Mio looked at the back of Sakamoto Ken's head and pouted somewhat resentfully.

Forget it, let's go to sleep.

Natsume Mio was also lying on her side. The room was unusually quiet, which calmed her down.

After an unknown amount of time, Natsume Mio gradually felt drowsy and fell asleep.

……

Mio Natsume found herself experiencing a similar feeling to the last time.

First, I was in a state of complete confusion, and then slowly the light returned to my eyes.

She saw the scene before her: an ordinary street with no one around and no vehicles on the road.

"Where is this?"

Natsume Mio looked around, but the place was empty; she couldn't see anyone else except herself.

After careful examination, the street seemed very familiar.

Walk forward along the street.

This dream world is strange; all the shops are closed, and all the buildings are like empty shells.

She tried to push open the glass door of a shop, but it wouldn't budge.

"Ugh... I'm so bored..."

Mio Natsume sighed.

If Ah Jian were here, at least there would be someone to talk to.

And there's no one around, so even if you're in the middle of the road, you can do whatever you want, right?
She walked aimlessly for about two or three minutes, then turned a street corner and Natsume Mio suddenly stopped.

"Wait, something's not right?!"

Natsume Mio looked ahead and saw a red luxury car parked on the side of the road about several dozen meters away.

A car suddenly appearing on an empty street is too conspicuous.

This car is clearly Mikazuki Haruna's Porsche!

No, that's not right, this is a dream, not reality.

But more importantly, in that very long memory about the future, she first discovered that Ken had contact with Mikazuki Haruna when she was following him and found him getting into this car.

Mio Natsume hid behind a vending machine, watching the car from a distance.

Sure enough, through the car window, I saw a woman sitting in the passenger seat.

What about Ah Jian?!
At that moment, a teenager came out of the convenience store next to the vehicle, carrying a plastic bag in his hand.

It was Ken Sakamoto!
Are you buying something at a convenience store?
Ken Sakamoto had already arrived at the car. He seemed a little surprised or astonished, standing there looking around with a puzzled expression before bending down to look inside the car.

He spoke something to the woman in the car, but because he was far away, Natsume Mio didn't hear him.

Just as Ken Sakamoto was about to reach for the doorknob, Mio Natsume jumped out decisively and ran towards him.

"Ken?!" Natsume Mio shouted.

(End of this chapter)