"If you guess right, I'll pretend none of this ever happened."
Kamijou Mutsuki calmly laid out the rules of the game.
"But if you guess wrong, I'll fire you and replace you with Sakiko as Uika's partner."
In a certain sense… that would be "respecting history."
"How can you do that…"
Miss Donut instantly turned into a teary-eyed cat meme.
Being separated from Uika again?
Absolutely not!
At least wait another ten years!
"C-Cat-shaped donut?"
But right now, she was the fish on the chopping block.
Faced with a boss who could fire her at any moment, she had no choice but to follow his rules.
What plunged her into despair, however, was his response.
"Nope."
"You can guess again."
"C-Chocolate donut?"
Mutsuki looked at the girl whose eyes had already lost their shine and smiled.
"I don't eat donuts."
"Alright, Boss, stop teasing Mana-chan."
Just as Miss Donut was on the verge of shedding tiny pearl-like tears, a helpless voice sounded from behind them.
"Uika!"
Like a wronged child finally spotting her mother, Mana immediately threw herself into Uika's arms.
"Waaah, he bullied me…"
Uika, you have to stand up for me!
Look how wronged she looked.
"Alright, Mana…"
Uika, who had been quietly watching from behind the whole time, sighed softly and rubbed her temple.
"You were the one who badmouthed the boss first, weren't you?"
As she spoke, she looked toward Kamijou Mutsuki.
"Sorry, Boss. Mana may have some misunderstandings about you. She didn't mean it."
Then she lowered her head and addressed the girl in her arms.
"Mana, apologize to Boss."
Huh? Me? Apologize?
Mana blinked blankly and pointed at herself in disbelief.
When Uika gave her a confirming look, mist instantly gathered in her eyes.
Wait! Uika, why are you siding with an outsider?!
It had only been two days.
Had her best friend already been reshaped by someone else?
Miss Donut found this reality hard to accept.
Earlier, Mutsuki had openly said he poached Uika because he coveted her cuteness.
Could it be that in just two days… Uika had already been—
In less than a second, several full episodes of late-night drama played out in Miss Donut's imagination.
She had heard from Miyamori that their boss was very skilled at dealing with girls.
Uika was such a pure and innocent girl—of course she wouldn't be able to resist!
I'm sorry, Uika. I didn't realize how much you'd suffered. I came too late!
"Mana?"
Uika suddenly felt that her partner's gaze had become extremely strange, making her skin crawl.
"I understand!"
Miss Donut abruptly straightened up, suppressing her usual willfulness.
So what if she felt a little wronged?
Compared to what Uika must have suffered, this was nothing!
Don't worry, Uika. No matter what you've been through, I won't ever hate you!
No matter what happens, you're still my best partner!
Even if you've already been "reshaped" by someone else, I'll still protect you!
"I'm sorry, Boss. I shouldn't have spoken badly about you."
Mana apologized pitifully, but her eyes gradually turned firm.
If even she ran away, then who would protect Uika?
Seeing that oddly familiar determined look in Miss Donut's eyes, Kamijou Mutsuki felt a slight chill run down his spine.
…Yeah. He should probably visit a shrine and ask a few shrine maidens to cleanse something. This was starting to feel like Soyo's spirit had possessed someone again.
"It's fine. Kids will be kids. I understand."
Naturally, he wasn't going to fuss over something so minor. A little scare was enough.
Who are you calling a kid?!
Mana nearly ground her teeth at that comment, but she quickly suppressed her emotions.
For Uika's sake… endure!
Seeing that Mutsuki wasn't pursuing the matter further, Uika quietly let out a sigh of relief.
She obviously hadn't become "reshaped" by him like someone's imagination suggested. He wasn't some succubus like Tomori, and besides, they hadn't even interacted much over the past two days.
That said, Uika was genuinely very satisfied with him as a boss.
Houbun Entertainment's contract terms were far more relaxed than her previous company's. It wasn't just industry-leading—it practically surpassed the industry standard.
The conditions were so generous she'd briefly wondered whether Mutsuki had ulterior motives.
But in reality, not only had he made no ambiguous advances, he hadn't even come looking for her after signing the contract.
And after learning that Sakiko and the others received similar contracts, she completely put her mind at ease.
After all, it's not like he could have designs on everyone… right?
A boss this good was rare. Uika naturally didn't want Mana clashing with him over something trivial. That would only make things difficult for herself.
Besides, Mana had indeed been the one badmouthing him first.
"Kamijou, you didn't even come pick us up today and made Mutsumi-chan do it instead. Isn't that lacking sincerity?"
At that moment, the five members of MyGO!!!!! finally arrived at the company.
They weren't even visible yet before Anon's complaining voice rang out.
"Eh? These two are…?"
But when she saw Uika and Mana standing beside Mutsuki, her expression changed instantly.
As everyone knows, Anon is a Sumimi fan. The very first time she dragged Tomori to karaoke, the song she wanted to sing was a Sumimi track.
She never expected to see the real duo here.
"A living Chihaya Anon!"
Before Anon could even rush forward for an autograph, Mana shouted in shock.
Having just joined the company, she didn't know much about Anon and the others.
Seeing what looked like an anime character appear in front of her in real life, she couldn't help but widen her eyes.
"U-Uika… did we transmigrate?"
Miss Donut genuinely felt her sense of reality wobble.
No wonder Kamijou Mutsuki was so terrifying.
Was he some demon king from another world?
"Mana, what are you thinking?"
Uika couldn't help but smile helplessly.
Wouldn't most people assume "real-life inspiration for an anime character" first?
Then again… it's Mana.
After that, Uika patiently explained Anon and the others' existence to her partner.
"A-Anon-chan, I really like you!"
Mana's emotions always came fast and left fast. At this moment, she was completely immersed in the excitement of meeting her favorite anime character in person.
"Can you give me an autograph?"
......................