Yamada Elf's body was tiny and soft, and she carried that natural scent only top-class pretty girls seemed to have.
Holding a cute little blonde beauty in his lap while reading submissions… Hayashi Maki felt downright blissful.
Of course, he didn't forget why he was actually here.
He needed to find a rookie writer who could handle character setting work.
Finally, heaven doesn't disappoint those who put in the effort: he spotted a particularly thick stack of pages.
This manuscript was way thicker than the others.
The author name was "Fallen Angel Saint Kuroneko."
So… was it the "Kuroneko" he was thinking of?
In high spirits, Hayashi Maki opened it up and started reading.
And immediately got a headache.
Kuroneko's submission was supposedly a light novel, but it read more like a personal autobiography.
Sure, light novels often use first person for immersion.
But right now, third person would have made it much smoother.
On top of that, she'd written a fanfic about the Queen of Nightmare—crammed with setting notes.
Half the manuscript was basically chūnibyō monologues.
If Machida Sonoko were the one screening this, she'd take one look, toss it aside, and mark it for return the next time she had a spare moment after work.
But right now the one reading it was Hayashi Maki—and this was exactly the sort of thing he needed.
Yamada Elf stared at him with a strange look.
"Hey, you giant perv, you're not actually thinking of signing this one, are you? No offense, but this isn't even a novel. It's just one long chūnibyō self-dramatic speech."
Hearing that, Hayashi Maki gave her a dangerous look and lowered his gaze to the girl in his lap.
"Yamada Elf, what did you just call me?"
"A giant perv. What's wrong with that?" she shot back, annoyed.
Her body twisted a little on reflex.
Being poked by something "evil" down there was making her uncomfortable.
The corner of Hayashi Maki's mouth curled. "Nothing wrong at all. I am a giant perv."
Then he bent down and, without the slightest hesitation, pressed his lips to hers.
"Mmn—! Mmph…!"
Yamada Elf froze.
The burning warmth on her lips, the strong arms wrapped around her, and the sudden rush of masculine scent—
She… she was being kissed. Forcefully kissed.
Her face went bright red, and once her brain caught up, she started making muffled protesting sounds, pounding on his chest with her little fists, trying to shove him away and escape his mouth.
It was useless.
With practiced ease, Hayashi Maki held her tight and deepened the kiss.
Gradually, Yamada Elf's eyes filled with tears, and her body went limp.
Her breathing turned ragged.
The truth was, she did have feelings for Hayashi Maki.
On one hand, he was handsome—right up her alley.
On another, he'd helped her get in touch with "Kashiwagi Eri" so they could collaborate on a new light novel.
Most importantly, Hayashi Maki carried this strange, reassuring aura that made her feel safe.
That was why she'd dared to sit on his lap and let him hold her like this.
But kissing was still way too intense for her.
Her first kiss—just gone like that.
Yamada Elf felt miserable; she wanted to cry.
Hayashi Maki savored the sweetness of the little blonde's lips with a veteran's ease.
His hand slid up from her waist to cradle the back of her head, holding her in place.
Only when Yamada Elf was on the verge of running out of air and her eyes were starting to roll back did he finally, reluctantly let go of her soft pink lips.
"Ha… ha… you jerk… were you trying to kill me? I almost suffocated…"
With tears in her eyes, Yamada Elf glared at him pitifully while gulping for breath.
Hayashi Maki grinned in satisfaction. "You're out of breath after just a few minutes? You need more practice, little fairy."
"P-practice your head! You pervy loli-con… you… you—mmph!"
He didn't give her the chance to properly blow up.
Hayashi Maki lowered his head again and sealed her mouth with another kiss.
She'd had a few breaths; she'd recovered enough.
If she still had the energy to sass him, that meant continuing was fine… right?
Thinking shamelessly, he focused even more on the girl in his arms.
By now, Yamada Elf's face was red all the way to her ears.
Forget it. Just let the world burn.
If she couldn't fight him off anyway, might as well let him do as he pleased.
Her body relaxed as she quietly leaned into his chest, her eyes turning hazy as she looked up at him.
Her heart was pounding like crazy.
…
"Thanks for the treat," Hayashi Maki said at last, chuckling as he ruffled the blushing girl's hair.
Yamada Elf snorted, her face still bright red as she glared up at him.
"Shameless! Perv~!"
"Why, thank you," he said cheerfully, accepting it as praise.
"I wasn't praising you at all, you thick-skinned creep!"
She thumped his chest a few more times with her tiny fists, puffed up with indignation.
Maybe because they'd kissed, she found herself feeling a little closer to him.
Hayashi Maki stroked her golden hair and smiled. "To me, that is praise."
With that, he turned his attention back to the stacks of submissions, then at the phone number on the manuscript in his hand.
He was ready to contact this "Fallen Angel Saint Kuroneko."
Her story was packed with worldbuilding, full-on chūni, and came with a queenly persona—perfect for the villain character in his magical girl game.
A cute, charismatic villain is way more appealing.
Most light novels on the market make their villains ugly, repulsive scumbags.
In a field like that, creating a ridiculously adorable, personality-rich villain would stand out in the best way.
"You're really going to work with this author?" Yamada Elf stared at him, stunned.
"Of course," Hayashi Maki replied. "And I'm not signing her as a novelist—I want her to do game work."
He finished and dialed the number listed for Fallen Angel Saint Kuroneko.
Yamada Elf just curled her lip and dropped the subject.
She was interested in games too, but right now her main focus was light novels. She didn't have the bandwidth to help out.
Still, as she absently touched her lips, she snuck a peek at his face, her heartbeat speeding up.
Damn guy… kissing a girl like that, what's he planning to do to me?
He'd have to take responsibility!
After something like that, she… could never get married now!
The author behind the pen name "Fallen Angel Saint Kuroneko" was a petite, black-haired, loli-sized beauty named Gokou Ruri.
Yep—one of the heroines from Oreimo.
She'd been submitting her own works for a long time now, but they were always rejected.
Her family was poor, and she had two younger sisters to take care of.
Her parents were away working most of the year and rarely came home.
As the eldest, shy and chūnibyō Gokou Ruri had pinned her hopes on becoming a novelist, making money from home to ease the burden.
By the time Hayashi Maki called, Gokou Ruri was at home drawing a curse circle on the floor.