Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 43 Harem Boys' Manga

Absolute sincerity—that's the best trick Mom taught Mio.

Even though he didn't agree, she still considered herself his girlfriend in effect.

Ken Sakamoto sized up Mio Natsume, who was kneeling in front of the low table.

The girl was wearing a beige cardigan over a simple white T-shirt, and her legs, clad in flesh-colored stockings, were visible beneath a deep blue pleated skirt.

I hadn't looked closely before and thought she was bare-legged, but now, with the sunlight streaming into the room from the window, I could see the subtle folds in the fabric on her legs.

Even in winter, some girls go bare-legged, but it can still be cold.

Moreover, these flesh-colored pantyhose, known as "bare leg magic," can accentuate the curves of the legs even more perfectly.

In early spring, the weather was still a bit chilly, and Mio's pantyhose were also a thin and light style.

Although her leg curves are definitely beautiful, girls always feel that they are overweight, have bad skin, or have too small breasts.

I'm not sure if pantyhose counts as socks, but Mio wore a pair of pure white cotton socks over her pantyhose today.

Last week, Ken Sakamoto was taught by her that this prevents slipping and makes wearing shoes more stable. Otherwise, if the pantyhose material is too silky, the feet can easily slip out of the shoes, and it can also prevent the heels from getting blistered.

She knelt perfectly, with her feet together behind her back, soles facing up, slightly tilted inwards, and the backs of her feet touching the tatami mat.

Natsume Mio pursed her rosy lips, a faint smile playing in her eyes.

Finally, I heard a "ding" and the microwave oven stopped running.

Mio Natsume quickly got up, opened the microwave, and took out the steaming hot bento box.

After taking out the tonkatsu bento, she stomped across the soft tatami mats to the table, opened the bento box, and then took the chopsticks out of their plastic packaging for Sakamoto Ken and placed them neatly on top.

"Ah Jian, you eat first, I'll heat up my portion." After saying that, Natsume Mio didn't linger and immediately went to the microwave.

Ken Sakamoto didn't pick up his chopsticks first; he silently watched the girl standing in front of the kitchen counter waiting for the microwave's display to reset to zero.

Two minutes later, she took out her own yakiniku bento and naturally sat back down at the opposite side of the low table.

The scene just now gave Sakamoto Ken a strange feeling, as if he were still in the first timeline, before he fell into that abyss, living in this room with Natsume Mio...

"Eat quickly, it's getting cold." Natsume Mio picked up a piece of grilled pork and put it in her mouth, chewing it a few times.

Ken Sakamoto kept smiling and picked up a piece of fried pork cutlet.

The fried pork cutlet from this convenience store is definitely not as crispy as the freshly fried one from a restaurant, but the taste is still pretty good.

"How is it?" Natsume Mio asked expectantly.

"...Not bad." Sakamoto Ken gave a vague reply and buried his head in his food.

He had thought that Natsume Mio would take the opportunity of having lunch together to confess her feelings to him, and he had even prepared his rejection speech, but she never mentioned anything about "dating" or "liking" him.

"Ken, I read the latest chapter of Chainsaw Man! Denji-kun is so handsome!" Natsume Mio talked about his manga in the tone of a pure fan.

"Really."

“And Miss Machima is also very charming.” Natsume Mio said, tilting her head and flicking the braid at the back of her head.

Ken Sakamoto paused his chewing motion for a moment.

Here you go, catering to preferences, is that your tactic?

Ken Sakamoto nodded slightly and said, "I like Machima too."

"Um..." Natsume Mio placed her hands on the table, leaning forward slightly, but she was wearing a crew-neck T-shirt underneath, so there was nothing revealing. She continued, "Ken, isn't Makima the female lead in 'Chainsaw Man'?"

"If this 'female lead' refers to a main female character, then yes," Sakamoto Ken's answer was very precise.

Natsume Mio pondered Sakamoto Ken's words for a moment, then said, "So you mean there are other 'female main characters'?"

“Of course.” Ken Sakamoto shrugged and said, “It’s a shonen manga, so it’s normal to have many female characters.”

“Oh…” Mio didn’t seem disappointed at all. Instead, she smiled and said, “Then Ken, you have to make all the heroines interesting.”

“Of course,” Sakamoto Ken assured, patting his chest. “It’ll be absolutely interesting.”

“However, I feel like Denji is a bit of a womanizer,” Natsume Mio said.

“It’s a harem manga, and even in real life, there are many girls who like the same boy,” Sakamoto Ken said. “Actually, that’s quite reasonable.”

"You're not talking about yourself, are you?" Natsume Mio rolled her eyes at Sakamoto Ken.

"Hmm?" Sakamoto Ken was slightly taken aback, but Natsume Mio's next words dispelled his doubts.

“You must have received a lot of love letters from girls when you were in high school,” Natsume Mio said.

Oh, that's what happened. Never mind then. I thought you were going to say I'd received a lot of hatchets from girls...

Ken Sakamoto maintained his smile and said, "Anyway, I didn't agree to any of them."

"Mmm..." Natsume Mio nodded gently, not continuing the topic.

She knew very well how many girls had pursued Ken Sakamoto back then, and she remembered all those fake friends.

Thankfully, Ah Jian wasn't taken away...

Natsume Mio chewed on the grilled pork, swallowed it with a gulp.

"Jian, speaking of which... I recently had a dream about a scumbag."

With a wistful expression, Natsume Mio said, "In that dream, the scumbag was also a manga artist, also named Sakamoto Ken, and also my boyfriend..."

Sakamoto Ken narrowed his eyes slightly, catching one key point: the last "also" was probably said unintentionally.

"and then?"

Ken Sakamoto chimed in with a comment, then buried his head in his food.

“Then…” Natsume Mio said in a seemingly lighthearted, joking tone, “then we just killed him.”

Sakamoto Ken paused slightly with his chopsticks, then asked in a calm tone, "Who?"

"We are the three of us who were secretly dating by that scumbag boyfriend."

"Heh..." Sakamoto Ken forced a half-smile and said, "Is that so? What are their names?"

“I don’t know…” Natsume Mio pouted and said, “In that dream, I could only see myself and Ken clearly… Haha, I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about that scumbag Ken in the dream, everyone else’s faces were blurry.”

"Oh, then don't overthink it." Sakamoto Ken breathed a slight sigh of relief and said in a calm tone, "You're overthinking it. I'm a manga artist, but I can't be a jerk, and I certainly wouldn't date before becoming a bestselling author."

Natsume Mio simply said "Oh," seemingly somewhat disappointed.

"What, you're disappointed that I'm not a jerk?" Sakamoto Ken said.

(End of this chapter)