I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 52: Ryoma and Himeno's Battle ①

The time was exactly 6:00 PM.

Ryoma arrived at a thirteen-story apartment complex called Merveille.

“Let’s see… 507…”

The building had an auto-lock system, meaning he had to enter the room number into the machine at the entrance, press the “Call” button, and wait for the resident to unlock the door for him.

Unfamiliar with the device, Ryoma fumbled with it and called room 507, where Himeno lived.

A few seconds later, a voice came through the built-in speaker.

“Hm.”

It was just one word, but he knew immediately that it was Himeno.

“It’s me,” Ryoma said, teasingly leaving out his name.

But university student Himeno responded in a way that showed her sharp instincts.

“Who?”

Her voice carried a firm tone, and she didn’t open the entrance door.

“It’s me. I even bought cake,” he said, continuing to tease her.

In his right hand, he was indeed holding a cake.

During their meeting at university, when he’d asked, “Is there anything you want to eat?” Himeno had answered, “Cake.”

Having received sweets from her before, Ryoma wanted to return the favor, so he stopped by a cake shop and brought one to her place.

“What kind of cake?”

The word “Who?” had disappeared from Himeno’s vocabulary, replaced by “Cake.”

Her tone hadn’t changed, but as someone with a sweet tooth, her interest was obvious.

“A Mont Blanc and a shortcake.”

“What shape?”

“The Mont Blanc is round, and the shortcake is triangular.”

“Hm, you pass.”

“I pass?”

The moment she said that, the door unlocked without warning.

Himeno had pressed the unlock button without asking anything else about who was at the door.

“Thanks for the cake.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Her voice, filled with happiness, came through the speaker.

She must have really been craving it, but this completely defeated the purpose of the auto-lock system.

“I’ll be waiting, Shiba.”

“Huh? So you knew it was me?”

“If it were a stranger, I wouldn’t have opened the door. The cake confirmed it.”

“W-well, yeah. Otherwise, what’s the point of having an auto-lock system?”

“Hm.”

It was a simple, casual conversation.

On the surface, neither of them seemed nervous, but they were just good at keeping up appearances.

Especially since they were only talking through the intercom. Speaking was easy when they didn’t have to see each other’s faces.

“Shiba.”

“What is it?”

“How long are you going to keep talking?”

“Huh? Oh…”

Ryoma finally understood what Himeno was trying to say.

Just as he realized, he caught a glimpse of the door—already unlocked by Himeno—closing right before his eyes.

“Sorry, Himeno. Looks like this building really doesn’t want to let me in.”

“You’re just too slow.”

“Thanks for the comeback.”

“Hm. I’ll open the door again.”

“Appreciate it.”

Just as she said, the door unlocked again immediately.

“Alright, I’m coming in now.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

With the door unlocked for the second time, Ryoma stepped inside the entrance.

Himeno lived on the fifth floor—definitely a floor worth taking the elevator to.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Of course, at a time like this, the elevator was already on the first floor.

Most people would think, Lucky! But for Ryoma, it was the opposite.

There was no time to mentally prepare himself.

Taking the stairs was an option to buy some time, but he was already running late. Plus, there was the issue of keeping the cake intact. Taking the elevator was the only choice.

“Phew…”

Looking up at the ceiling, he took two, then three deep breaths.

He had no choice but to prepare himself as quickly as possible.

Before leaving his apartment, Ryoma had been using shoujo manga as a reference. One thing he had realized was this—

There were no stories featuring a protagonist acting all nervous and fidgety.

Every single protagonist was depicted as confident and composed.

This led Ryoma to one conclusion:

Appearing unsure or inexperienced in making a move was not well-received. It wasn’t desirable.

And so, Ryoma had to wear the mask of confidence, while his task was to break through Himeno’s mask of an emotionless façade.

I’ve done this a million times before. See? You like being treated this way, don’t you?

At this point, Ryoma was completely under the influence of the shoujo manga.

But that was exactly what would lead to the success of this request.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

Flipping the switch in his mind, Ryoma put on his game face and stepped into the elevator.

He pressed the button for the fifth floor, and the doors closed.

From there, it was automatic.

Two, three, four—the numbers climbed with each passing second. The elevator smoothly ascended, stopping exactly where he had intended.

And when the doors finally opened—

Right in front of him, in a completely out-of-place setting, was an adorable teddy bear.

“Huh…?”

“I was waiting.”

The small teddy bear in front of him—fluffy and soft—said this with a completely straight face.

“Oh… I see. You didn’t have to wait, though.”

“Really?”

“Himeno, you’re always so diligent about things like this. I should learn from you.”

“No… This request today… I caused you a lot of trouble, so…”

“The company handled it smoothly, so you don’t have to feel responsible.”

Ryoma stepped out of the elevator and faced the cute teddy bear—Himeno.

As always, the height difference between them felt like a staircase. Himeno was barefoot, wearing cat-shaped sandals.

“I’ll carry the cake.”

“Oh, okay.”

Wanting to ease Ryoma’s burden, Himeno took the bag holding the cake without hesitation.

“Let’s go to my place.”

“Uh, before that… Can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“That outfit… It’s… really something. So fluffy.”

Today, Himeno wasn’t wearing her usual heavily decorated gothic lolita attire. Instead, she was in extremely casual loungewear.

“It’s pajamas. Warm ones.”

“Your hood has round bear ears, though…”

“Yeah. It had them, so I bought it.”

“Oh, I see…”

Despite it still being only 6 PM, Himeno stood there in front of the elevator, dressed in bear-eared hooded pajamas and cat sandals—completely mismatched.

If any other resident had come across her like this, they’d probably be puzzled, wondering, What is she doing here…?

“Wait… Don’t tell me you’re planning to do today’s thing in that outfit?”

“Is it bad? This is my loungewear.”

“It’s not bad, but…”

Ryoma, who had mentally flipped the switch for his “stand-in boyfriend” role, was already feeling a little shaky.

(I mean… calling her a pet animal wouldn’t even be an exaggeration at this point… No, what am I even thinking?!)

Was it the contrast with her usual gothic lolita look?

In this fluffy pajama set with bear ears, Himeno had just set a new personal record for cuteness.

(How am I supposed to do a kabedon or a hug like this…?!)

She was so small. Her sleeves were long enough that only her fingertips peeked out, and her little face barely stuck out from the oversized bear-ear hood.

She had the kind of looks that would never make her struggle to find a boyfriend, so why was she even using a stand-in service?

Ryoma had no idea.

But thinking about it wouldn’t change anything.

So he pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the job.

“…Yeah. That outfit is cute too, Himeno.”

“!?”

Ryoma smiled warmly, pretending to be completely at ease as he complimented her.

He had spent countless hours studying shoujo manga. There was no way he was giving up now.

He would endure, push through, and put on a convincing act—satisfying Himeno and earning a generous reward in the process.

Money. That was the power-up that kept Ryoma going.

“D-don’t just compliment me out of nowhere…”

“Your cat slippers suit you too. They really feel like you.”

“…Enough. Stop complimenting me…”

She must have been embarrassed about her bare feet. Himeno shuffled backward, using the cake bag to block his view of them.

“Don’t look at my feet…”

“Himeno, your face is red. Are you blushing?”

“…I’m not blushing. Like I’d ever blush because of you, Shiba.”

—!

In that instant, a spark went off in Ryoma’s mind.

“I’m gonna strip away that fake mask of yours.”

“It’s not a mask. And you could never pull that off, senpai.”

The scene played out exactly like a line from the shoujo manga he had read before leaving home.

A sharp-eyed delinquent protagonist teasing an expressionless heroine.

This was it.

Ryoma had studied shoujo manga carefully, preparing just the right phrases to use.

Now was his chance to put them into action.

“Then if I do manage to make you blush… Can I mess with you a little?”

“W-what do you mean by mess with me?”

“Hmm, maybe I’ll feed you a bite. Aahh~ and all that.”

“Fine. Do it. I won’t blush.”

“Oh? In that case, I guess I’ll have to give it my all.”

“Mm. Come at me, then…”

“Oho? You sure talk big. Well then, shall we head inside?”

“Mm…”

With Himeno leading the way, Ryoma followed her toward her apartment.

Her steps were small, and she walked at a slow pace.

It felt like watching a tiny bird waddle ahead of him. But inside, Ryoma wasn’t nearly as calm as he appeared.

(This is how it works in shoujo manga, right?! I’ve totally turned into one of those overly confident types, but it’s fine, right?! She doesn’t think I’m weird… right?!)

Struggling to keep up his act, Ryoma felt a creeping sense of uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Himeno was thinking—

(Shiba is… serious. Good thing I have my bear ears on…)

As if cheering herself on, she bit her thin lips.

Under the hood, her ears were burning hot—practically on fire.