Chapter 59: A Hug Is Your Lie!
Mai had gone to take Futaba home, while Saki and Shino had returned next door.
Saki was being unusually disciplined because Saku had given her a small goal to accomplish.
For her current self, not studying meant she wouldn't survive.
Which made Shino her lifeline.
She had to study.
With everyone leaving one after another, the previously lively living room soon became quiet again.
Normally, Michiru would've been responsible for washing the dishes. Today, however, Saku volunteered and chased her back to her room.
There wasn't any special reason.
Michiru had been absentminded throughout dinner, with practically all her attention fixed on the video they'd uploaded earlier.
Rather than let her wash dishes while distracted and risk smashing half the plates, Saku figured he'd be better off doing it himself.
That left only Kasumigaoka Utaha in the living room and Saku washing dishes in the kitchen.
Utaha had eaten quite a lot and didn't feel like moving around yet, so she settled onto the sofa to digest her meal.
Of course, she wasn't exactly the domestic type either.
She certainly had no desire to let dishwater ruin her hands.
Crossing one leg over the other, Utaha folded her arms and stared directly at Saku without saying a word.
Her gaze was so blatant that even Saku eventually grew uncomfortable.
"Utaha-senpai, why are you staring at me?"
Utaha smiled without the slightest trace of guilt.
"If you weren't looking at me, how would you know I was looking at you?"
The teasing response came so naturally that Saku couldn't even be bothered arguing.
"Fine. Look all you want. It's not like staring will take a piece out of me."
Despite saying that, he noticeably sped up his dishwashing.
Seeing the conversation about to die, Utaha spoke again in an almost lazy tone.
"Earlier..."
"You were hugging Michiru."
"...Yeah."
Saku had initially considered denying it.
Then he remembered Utaha had literally caught them in the act.
There wasn't much point.
Besides, it had just been a hug.
Nothing else had happened, so Saku had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.
"Hmph."
Utaha understood now.
This guy truly had no shame whatsoever.
If it had been Aki Tomoya, he'd probably already be panicking and desperately trying to explain himself.
Since Saku showed no such reaction, Utaha decided to apply a little more pressure.
"Aren't you afraid Mai will find out?"
"What happens if she does?"
Saku sounded completely righteous.
"I, Jinnai Saku, have nothing to hide. What exactly am I supposed to be afraid of?"
「Utaha, Utaha... your perspective is too narrow. Would a guy who dreams about having a harem really be afraid of getting caught? Of course not.」
「Besides, my ambition is to have women on both sides of me, not to let women push me around. I can't abandon my original goal.」
Utaha fell silent.
Right.
She really shouldn't judge Saku using an ordinary person's sense of shame or morality.
This guy was shameless.
Utterly shameless.
Then again, perhaps that was precisely the first quality required of someone determined to accomplish something enormous.
"I was only teasing you."
Utaha's expression softened into exaggerated grievance.
"I just think it's unfair."
"Why does Michiru get a hug while I don't?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"Are you discriminating against me?"
Saku's hands paused beneath the running faucet for less than a second.
This wasn't jealousy anymore.
This was pure unreasonable troublemaking.
"Come on."
"Your boy Saku doesn't discriminate against people."
He paused.
"Well... except Mamba."
The sudden turn nearly gave Utaha conversational whiplash.
And he called that not discriminating?
Fortunately, she wasn't particularly fond of Mamba either, so at least they shared that bizarre preference.
Besides, pretending discrimination didn't exist in Japan would be ridiculous.
Regional prejudice alone could be severe.
Tokyo, for example, was remarkably egalitarian about looking down on people from practically every other region.
Still, Utaha hadn't expected Saku to answer like that.
Every time she tried crossing swords with him, she somehow ended up losing because she wasn't shameless or ridiculous enough to keep pace.
'Damn you, Saku.'
'I can literally hear your inner thoughts and I'm still losing every exchange?'
'Does Kasumigaoka Utaha not have any pride left?'
After giving herself a mental pep talk, she attacked again.
"If you don't discriminate against me, then you should treat everyone equally."
「Utaha-senpai, you're really aggressive. Do you seriously want me to hug you that badly?」
「Honestly, what am I supposed to say? If that's what you wanted, you should've said so earlier. How was I supposed to know if you never asked?」
「I'm practically famous for helping people. I'm a great philanthropist. How could I possibly refuse such a reasonable request?」
Utaha sneered internally.
'Then come over here and do it.'
'What's the point of acting brave only inside your head?'
Saku could think whatever nonsense he wanted, but when it came to actually doing things, he still had his principles.
"That's different."
"Michiru was facing online viewers with her band for the first time and lost her nerve. As her manager and friend, I gave her a hug to encourage her."
Saku nodded as though his logic were flawless.
"Perfectly reasonable, right?"
Utaha leaned back slightly. The movement caused her breasts to appear even rounder and more eye-catching.
'Bastard,' she cursed inwardly.
'So you have to invent up a plausible excuse for something like this? You really know how to turn a passive situation into a proactive one.'
This time, she finally understood how Saku operated.
In short, he needed a legitimate reason.
Something that could convince himself and anyone else watching.
That way, if somebody questioned him later, he could pull out that excuse with a completely clear conscience.
The bastard really did think several moves ahead.
Fine.
Utaha decided to play by his rules.
"Michiru needed courage."
She pointed toward herself.
"Then what about me?"
"I've been running around helping you with your light novel."
"Don't you think I deserve an encouraging hug too?"
The light novel she meant was Saku's Your Lie in April.
Originally, Saku had planned to follow the traditional route.
Either submit it for a newcomer award or publish it through web serialization.
He had plenty of confidence in the story itself.
But both routes came with advantages and disadvantages.
If he entered a competition, he'd first need to research what the imprint and its editors favored, then adjust his submission strategy accordingly.
Web serialization was even more unpredictable.
It was like being thrown into an enormous sieve with thousands of other writers.
Breaking through that competition certainly proved a work had value, but there was always the possibility that something excellent would simply be filtered out with the rest.
And even if the novel succeeded, editors could still begin interfering with its creative direction.
A suggestion here.
A requested change there.
Eventually, pieces of the editor's ideas could find their way into the author's own book until the finished product became something slightly different.
That sort of thing wasn't rare.
There was a reason so many light novels ended up with meaningful differences between their web version and print edition.
To avoid all that uncertainty, Utaha had taken the initiative and recommended Saku directly to Fushikawa Fantastic Bunko.
She'd even asked her own editor, Machida Sonoko, to personally look over his manuscript.
Connections made things easier.
Thanks to Utaha opening the door for him, Saku didn't need to struggle through nearly as many tedious preliminary steps.
He could speak directly with people inside the publishing imprint.
From that perspective, he genuinely did owe Utaha thanks.
"Fine."
Saku nodded.
"Next time, I'll use the backdoor and help you."
"Hm?"
Utaha narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
For some reason, she felt like that sentence ought to have contained another meaning.
Unfortunately, she had no evidence.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
She waved him off.
"Forget it. I'm done messing around."
Then her expression became more serious.
"I'll just tell you directly."
"Your novel passed every stage of review."
She smiled.
"According to them, it's one of the most promising manuscripts they've received."
"So..."
Utaha looked straight at him.
"When are you coming with me to Fushikawa Fantastic Bunko so you can formally sign the contract?"
…