My dear wife, I still love you more.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Kato Megumi Falls into the Pit (Seeking First Subscription)

"Yah hello. Yumiko-chan." Yui Yuigahama's energetic and cheerful voice made Yumiko Miura and those around her pause in surprise.

"Yui, you—" Miura Yumiko couldn't help but ask.

Yui Yuigahama's image is so different from before.

Even though Yui Yuigahama still looks the same as before, her temperament, speech and behavior are completely different from before.

"Yumiko-chan..."

Hasegawa, now back in his seat, quietly observed Yui Yuigahama's appearance, a smile involuntarily appearing on his face. This change in Yui Yuigahama truly pleased Hasegawa; he felt his previous efforts hadn't been in vain. He had finally transformed Yui Yuigahama into a different person.

"Yuigahama-san looks unusual today." Another elusive voice suddenly rang out behind Hasegawa.

"Yes, it's definitely different now." Hasegawa nodded with a smile.

"Hasegawa, did you do something to Yui-hama-san?" Kato Megumi tilted her head and looked at Hasegawa. "I heard that a girl undergoes a very big change after she completes the transformation from a girl to a woman. So, Hasegawa, did you finally give in and make a move on Yui-hama-san?"

"Hey, hey, hey, Kato, don't talk nonsense. If other people hear this and spread it, I won't care, but Yuihama will be in trouble." Hasegawa quickly looked around, and seeing that no one seemed to be paying attention to him, Hasegawa breathed a slight sigh of relief, and then said to Kato Megumi.

"Well, just kidding. But, Hasegawa, did you really not do anything to Yui-chan? After all, Yui-chan looks so cute, and she has such a great figure. I've heard that boys generally prefer bigger ones. As for flat-chested ones, or young lolis, only perverts like that. Or are you, Hasegawa, actually a pervert?" Kato Megumi said these incredibly hurtful words to Hasegawa with the most indifferent expression and tone.

"Kato, can't you think of me in a better light? Besides, everyone has their own preferences. So what if you like lolis? Does liking lolis make you a pervert? Your argument is a bit far-fetched." Hasegawa couldn't help but argue.

"So, Hasegawa likes lolis? I guess it's better to call the police. It's better to be arrested by the police now than to actually commit a crime and be locked up in jail." As Kato Megumi spoke, she took out her phone and dialed 110.

"Hey, hey, hey, you're not really going to call the police, are you? I was just kidding," Hasegawa quickly said.

"I was just joking," Kato Megumi said expressionlessly.

"But the tone of your voice doesn't sound like you're joking at all."

"Sorry, I've gotten used to this tone of voice. I've tried to change it, but it seems like I can't change it anymore."

"...No need to force yourself. Just choose whatever state you feel most comfortable in. Besides, you look good like this."

"The 'three-no attribute,' is it? Indeed, it's a common attribute in anime and light novels, and quite popular characters. It's just a pity that I live in reality. If I lived in a light novel or anime, I might probably become the protagonist." Kato Megumi said this with the same expression.

"...Kato, it seems you're really starting to get interested in anime and manga." Hasegawa couldn't help but say this to Kato Megumi, since Kato Megumi always seemed to bring up topics related to anime and manga when they chatted.

"Well, Hasegawa is an otaku who loves anime and manga. After all, Hasegawa is my only friend, so I can only accommodate him and go check out some things that Hasegawa likes," Kato Megumi said calmly.

Hasegawa frowned slightly upon hearing this, sensing a hidden meaning in Kato Megumi's words: "Kato, you—"

"Well, actually I was just a little curious. I was curious about what anime and manga was that could make you, Hasegawa, and that Aki Tomoya who you especially like so much, even become obsessed with it. So I went to take a look out of curiosity and found it to be surprisingly good, which is why I started to really look at those things," Kato Megumi explained.

"I see." Hasegawa breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a change made specifically for him, that was fine. After all, if a girl made changes to accommodate a boy, it really meant that she liked him.

"Fortunately, Kato Megumi isn't like that," Hasegawa thought to himself.

"Speaking of which, Hasegawa, your novels are really great," Kato Megumi said to Hasegawa again.

"Ugh?"

“Tokyo Ghoul, it’s a very interesting novel. I bought three copies at the bookstore.” Kato Megumi held up three fingers.

"Three books? Why did you buy so many?" Hasegawa couldn't help but ask.

"Well, one for collecting, one for reading, and one for spreading the word. A lot of people online say that, so I bought three copies," Kato Megumi said, counting on her fingers one by one.

"You, you don't seem to need to. Even if you want to buy a brand new copy for your collection, two copies would be enough."

"Two books?" Kato Megumi blinked, tilting her head to look at Hasegawa, as if puzzled as to why Hasegawa said that.

"Because you seem completely incapable of proselytizing. Most people in the class don't know you, or even seem to have never seen you before, let alone become your friends. Without friends, how can you proselytize or share?"

"I'm so sorry I don't have any friends. I'm so insignificant, nobody knows me, I'm really sorry. In fact, I don't have a single real friend in the whole school, I'm really sorry," Kato Megumi said calmly, her head bowed. She seemed suddenly filled with loneliness.

"Um, ah, that, I'm sorry, I, I didn't mean that. I meant, you still have me, you still have me. I already consider you my good friend. Yeah, the best friend kind of friend." Hasegawa was a little flustered, probably realizing that his words were a bit too hurtful, and quickly apologized.

However, Hasegawa wasn't lying about his friends. After all, even Aki Tomoya was actually a friend left over from his predecessor, while Kato Megumi was Hasegawa's first friend.

This is the first update after it's been released. I'm not sure if this is normal, as I didn't see the VIP label when I uploaded it. Anyway, please subscribe!

Chapter Thirty-Six: Kato Megumi Ignored by Aki Tomoya

"Well, I'm used to it, so there's no need for apologies. But, Hasegawa, I'll accept you as a friend." Kato Megumi raised her head again, her expression completely unchanged, showing neither sadness nor joy, neither delight nor sorrow.

"...Completely no change in expression. I think even the most brilliant psychologist wouldn't know what you're thinking. I think if you were a secret agent, you'd never be discovered." Hasegawa couldn't help but retort as he looked at Kato Megumi.

"She was an assassin before, and now she's a secret agent. Hasegawa, how many professions are you going to assign me?" Kato Megumi retorted.

However, Hasegawa couldn't help but laugh at Kato Megumi's reaction. Although Kato Megumi's expression didn't show any change, Hasegawa felt that she was probably laughing inside at that moment.

Yui Yuigahama glanced at Hasegawa and noticed he was smiling, seemingly quite pleased. Seeing Hasegawa so happy made Yui Yuigahama happy too, but she still felt something was a little off.

"Hasegawa seems to be talking to someone. Who is it? Or is it just my imagination?" Yui Yuigahama wondered to herself, "It seems like it was like this last time too."

"Yui, what are you looking at?" Miura Yumiko patted Yuigahama Yui on the shoulder.

"No, I wasn't looking at anything. But Yumiko, you look really beautiful today. What shade of lipstick are you wearing? It suits you perfectly."

"Really? I think so too, let me tell you..."

On the other side, Hasegawa was unaware that Yui Yuigahama was spying on him and was smiling when suddenly someone patted him on the shoulder.

"Kenichi, you're really amazing." Aki Tomoya was excited, almost to the point of being overjoyed.

"Huh? What's wrong, Tomoya?" Hasegawa turned around and asked, looking at Aki Tomoya in this state.

"What's wrong? It's your autograph session, of course! You rascal, I didn't expect it to be this weekend. I knew you'd hold one sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to be so soon," Aki Tomoya said excitedly.

"Huh? You found out?"

"Of course I know, I saw the news on the Shinazugawa Bookstore website. But Hasegawa, why didn't you announce this on your Twitter? If I hadn't been paying attention to the Shinazugawa Bookstore website, I wouldn't have known you were holding a book signing this weekend," Aki Tomoya said with a slight complaint.

"Uh... I... forgot." Hasegawa was a little embarrassed; he really had forgotten about it. Or rather, Hasegawa wasn't very active on his Twitter account, and rarely even seemed to follow it.

Machida Sonoko had previously reminded Hasegawa to tweet more when he had free time, but she didn't say much more. After all, a light novel author is just an author; he only needs to focus on writing good books. As for tweeting, he can tweet more if he likes and less if he doesn't. That's normal.

Just like online novelists in China, many of them have their own Weibo accounts, but apart from a few active ones, many others rarely log in even if they have Weibo accounts.

"I knew it. Hasegawa, you're a well-known author now. You should be able to interact with your readers on Twitter more or less. Also, you forgot to mention something as important as the book signing on Twitter. Luckily, I was there. As soon as I saw the news about your book signing, I immediately tweeted about it. So at least everyone knew. You should thank me properly." Aki Tomoya said, taking credit for his efforts.

"Indeed, I really do need to thank Tomoya." Hasegawa didn't hesitate to thank Aki Tomoya directly.

"Haha, I appreciate your thanks, but I'll work even harder to promote this news when I get back."

"Well, then, we don't need to."

“Why wouldn’t I use it? You know, there are many readers who are very interested in you as an author. If you hold a book signing event, they will definitely attend. But if they don’t hear about it, they will definitely feel disappointed,” Aki Tomoya said confidently.

Seeing Aki Tomoya like this, Hasegawa smiled and didn't say anything more.

"Wow, that's amazing. Hasegawa, you're actually going to hold a book signing event." Kato Megumi tilted her head and looked at Hasegawa, seemingly surprised and even admiring. However, there was no extra expression on her face, and her tone was just as calm.

"Huh? Who are you?" Aki Tomo was also startled by Kato Megumi's sudden question.

"Rinya, this is our classmate, Kato Megumi. She's been standing here the whole time." Even knowing Kato Megumi's personality, Hasegawa still found this scene rather strange.

"Huh? Really? I didn't notice, I'm sorry." Aki Tomoya apologized casually, then turned his gaze to Hasegawa: "Kenichi, I'll definitely be there to cheer you on at your autograph session this weekend."

"Thank you then."

"Well, well, well, after all, I really love Tokyo Ghoul too. Being able to support my favorite author is something that makes me very happy. It's settled then, I'll definitely be there this weekend," Aki Tomoya said earnestly.

"Well, since it's Hasegawa's autograph session and I don't have anything else to do on the weekend, I'll go cheer you on too," Kato Megumi said from the side.

"Thank you very much then." Hasegawa smiled at Kato Megumi.

"Huh? Who is she? It seems, it seems—" Because of Kato Megumi's words, Aki Tomoya noticed Kato Megumi again, and then looked at Kato Megumi with a puzzled expression, as if he couldn't remember her at all.

"I just introduced you to her," Hasegawa said to Aki Tomoya with a wry smile.

"Oh, I see. I'm going back now. Don't worry, I'll definitely be at your autograph session this weekend." Aki Tomoya replied casually, then said the same thing to Hasegawa before turning and leaving.

Aki Tomoya completely ignored Kato Megumi. He didn't even remember her name.

"I'm sorry, Kato. That guy, Tomoya, he's just like that. He doesn't care about anything outside of anime and manga at all." Hasegawa couldn't help but apologize to Kato Megumi.

"Well, I'm already used to it. So Hasegawa doesn't need to apologize." Kato Megumi calmly shook her head, and she didn't care about Aki Tomoya or anything like that.

Chapter 37 Shizuka Hiratsuka with a guilty conscience

Hasegawa wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he always felt that Hiratsuka Shizuka was looking at him with a fierce gaze during class. However, whenever Hasegawa looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka, she would always turn her head away as if she were a little guilty.

Hasegawa frowned at this situation. He was a little worried. Could it be that Hiratsuka Shizuka hadn't told her parents the truth about their breakup?

Hasegawa always had a bad feeling, like the two times he had met the parents before. Would it happen again?

However, Hasegawa had made up his mind that this situation would never happen again. He would never meet Hiratsuka Shizuka's parents again, absolutely not.

However, Hasegawa was still a little worried, so after school at noon, he went straight to the office to find Hiratsuka Shizuka.

"Hiratsuka-sensei".

"Huh? It's you? Hasegawa, what do you want with me at this hour? Is something the matter?" When Hiratsuka Shizuka saw Hasegawa, a hint of nervousness flashed in her eyes, but she quickly regained her strong, teacher-like demeanor and asked Hasegawa in a nonchalant manner.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that I'm a little concerned. Hiratsuka-sensei, you should have told your parents about our 'breakup,' right?" Hasegawa looked directly at Hiratsuka Shizuka.

"Of course, of course I told them. We already agreed on it before. Don't worry, I've already told my parents about the situation." Hiratsuka Shizuka said, patting her chest. However, Hasegawa felt that there was a hint of guilt in Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes.

"Really?" Hasegawa looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka with suspicion.

"Of course it's true. Would I, as a teacher, lie to a student like you? You can rest assured."

"Alright then, I'll take that as you've already confessed to your parents."

"What do you mean 'taken'? I have already explained it to them," Hiratsuka Shizuka said loudly.

“Hiratsuka-sensei, you don’t need to speak so loudly. Speaking so loudly will only give the impression that you’re trying to cover up your insecurity by making a loud voice.” Hasegawa shook his head.

"You—I'm not guilty at all. Anyway, this has nothing to do with you anymore, you don't need to worry about it." Hiratsuka Shizuka was about to speak loudly, but then remembered what Hasegawa had said, so she quickly lowered her voice.

"That's for the best. By the way, after you told your parents, what did they do? Did they, uh, do anything to you?" Hasegawa said in a teasing tone.

Hasegawa was now certain that Hiratsuka Shizuka hadn't told her parents about the 'breakup' at all. However, regardless, Hasegawa had made up her mind not to meet Hiratsuka Shizuka's parents again, so whatever happens to Hiratsuka Shizuka later is entirely her own doing.

"Heh, what can they do to me? Nothing. You're none of my business, you little brat. Get out of here, go eat, and don't waste my time." Hiratsuka Shizuka rudely pushed Hasegawa out.

Shrugging, Hasegawa followed Hiratsuka Shizuka's push and left the office.

Hasegawa had just left the office when he ran into Yui Yuigahama.