I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 53: Ryoma and Himeno's Battle ②

“I… I can’t relax…“

Ryoma found himself alone in Himeno’s workspace.

She had stepped out into the hallway to put the cake in the fridge and prepare drinks.

This apartment was a 2K layout—two rooms plus a kitchen. It was unusually spacious for someone living alone, but given that Himeno was a manga artist, it made sense.

She needed a separate room to focus on drawing, apart from the living area.

Ryoma looked around with curiosity.

This was the first time he had ever been inside a girl’s room—aside from his sister’s.

The unfamiliar environment made him restless, but since Himeno wasn’t around, he allowed himself to relax a little.

He couldn’t keep his guard up indefinitely. If he didn’t take a moment to breathe now, he’d burn out.

Once she returned, he’d put the mask back on. That was the plan.

Himeno’s workspace was surprisingly simple.

A white carpet, pink curtains.

A glass L-shaped desk with a PC for drawing manga. A pink gaming chair.

Two large bookshelves and a bed, on which sat an enormous stuffed orca.

A foldable guest table had been prepared as well. The air smelled sweet, like vanilla.

Clack.

The door opened, snapping Ryoma back into his act.

“I brought it.” Himeno entered with a white tray carrying two mugs.

She was still in that fluffy bear-ear pajama set.

For some reason, she kept the hood on, even indoors.

She had also changed from her cat slippers to indoor house slippers… this time, they were frog-themed.

That made four.

A giant orca plushie. A bear pajama set. Cat slippers. Frog slippers.

Himeno must really like animals. She had quite the collection.

“Shiba, is barley tea okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks.”

She only asked after pouring it. That was very Himeno.

Slipping off her slippers, she sat on the carpet, placing the tray on the foldable table before sitting in a neat, girlish kneeling position.

With the table between them, they faced each other.

Himeno remained as expressionless as ever. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, but if there was ever a time for an important conversation, this was it.

“U-um… Himeno.”

“What?”

“I know this is a weird time to bring it up, but… can we talk about that whole pushing-you-down thing? I mean, there’s gotta be a limit, right? I can’t actually do that. It could cause problems… y’know?”

Pushing someone down wasn’t the same as a kabedon. It was a step beyond—a prelude to something more adult.

Ryoma wasn’t her real boyfriend. Even if Himeno wanted to experience it for manga research, there were some lines he just couldn’t cross.

“Alright, we’ll leave that out.”

“I-It’s really okay?”

“It’s fine.”

Himeno had understood what Ryoma was trying to say without making a fuss.

“But I should’ve told you beforehand. That was my mistake.”

“Shiba didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Huh?”

“Himeno pushed Shiba too hard. It’s Himeno’s fault.”

“H-Hearing you say that makes things a lot easier on my end as the stand-in boyfriend…”

Ryoma had been so caught up in absorbing shoujo manga that he had completely forgotten to inform Himeno that pushing her down was off-limits.

It was entirely his mistake, so the fact that she was being considerate about it was a huge relief.

“…”

“…”

Neither of them spoke.

The atmosphere felt heavier somehow.

But Ryoma expected this.

They weren’t actually dating. Creating a romantic mood wasn’t as simple as performing a kabedon or patting her head.

Something needed to spark the moment.

“Himeno.”

“…What?”

“Let’s cut to the chase. You get that doing a kabedon out of nowhere in this kind of atmosphere is just gonna feel awkward, right?”

Ryoma carefully chose his words, trying to steer the conversation.

“…Mm. But I still want you to do it.”

“I plan on fulfilling your request, but I think we should set a proper order for things.”

“Order?”

“Can you list what you want to experience again, for your manga?”

“…Kabedon. Patting my head. Hugging. Princess carry.”

She listed them without hesitation, showing just how serious she was about improving her manga.

“Okay. If we arrange them from easiest to hardest, it’d be: patting your head, princess carry, kabedon, then hugging, right?”

“No. Hug first, then kabedon.”

Their thoughts aligned in one key way—bringing their faces close together was the hardest part.

Neither of them was used to this. Naturally, they’d have similar concerns.

“Got it. We’ll follow that order, then. Since we both agree on the first two, we’ll start there and build up the mood gradually. I think that’ll help you with your manga, too.”

“Mm. No objections.”

Himeno nodded in agreement.

If she had resisted, Ryoma would’ve been out of options.

“…Shiba’s amazing.”

“Hm? What makes you say that?”

“You’re making it easier.”

“Haha, well, it’s part of the job, after all.”

Ryoma spoke confidently, but in reality, he had spent every spare moment planning this.

A stand-in boyfriend gig didn’t work without preparation and study.

Just like in sports—you couldn’t win a game without training first.

“But how do we start?”

“Start what?”

“The mood for patting my head.”

“Ah… for that, I want you to draw something for me.”

“A drawing?”

“You’ll have 10 minutes. I brought paper and drawing tools, so just draw whatever you’re best at.”

“Anything’s fine?”

“Of course.”

Ryoma moved the tray off the desk and onto the floor. Then, he pulled out a blank sheet of paper and some drawing tools from his backpack.

A mechanical pencil, a regular pencil, an eraser—everything necessary for drawing. He had prepared it all in advance.

“Just make sure you finish within 10 minutes.”

“Mm. I’ll go all out.”

“Having a professional manga artist do this… I feel like I should be paying you. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Himeno is the client here.”

“Thanks.”

Ryoma took out his phone, set a timer, and placed it on the desk. The countdown was exactly 10 minutes.

“Ready?”

“Mm.”

Himeno held a pencil in her right hand and an eraser in her left.

She was clearly planning to switch tools quickly, minimizing wasted motion. A sign of her skill.

“Alright, start!”

He tapped the timer, and it began counting down.

The moment it started, Himeno moved her pencil with purpose.

She immediately sketched a fist-sized circle and added soft guidelines inside.

It was going to be a face.

Her focus was intense, so much so that it felt strange to see her in her bear-themed pajamas.

Himeno was probably thinking—if she drew something good, Shiba would pat her head.

(She really is a pro…)

Ryoma watched, impressed.

But honestly, the quality of the drawing didn’t matter to him at all.

Ryoma’s job was to create the mood for head-patting.

And just by watching Himeno completely immersed in drawing, the mood had already formed.

He had learned a lot from shoujo manga. And right now, there was one technique he could use.

He had planned for this—the element of surprise, a move that would have more than twice the usual impact.

Since he had strategized thoroughly, he was handling the situation smoothly.

By catching Himeno off guard, he could avoid the most awkward scenario—having to pat her head while she was looking at him.

Time kept ticking down.

The timer showed four minutes left.

(Now… Now’s my chance…)

With the time past the halfway mark, when Himeno was at peak concentration, Ryoma made his move.

As she continued sketching with small, precise movements, he reached into her hood—and slipped his hand inside.

“You’re doing great, staying so focused.”

Because of the hood, there was warmth inside. The fluffy fabric pressed against his hand, sandwiching it between its softness and the silky texture of Himeno’s hair.

Ryoma stroked her head gently.

It wasn’t the most convincing excuse to pat her, but this was the best he could manage. The fact that his voice didn’t crack? That was already an achievement.

“…”

“…”

Mission accomplished—!

But just as Ryoma felt relief, something completely unexpected happened.

Scratch, scratch, scratch…

Himeno kept drawing.

Even though he was patting her head, she showed no reaction whatsoever.

Her eyes stayed locked on her work. Her hand never stopped moving. Not even a slight flinch.

She didn’t react at all.

(You’ve gotta be kidding me…!)

Ryoma mentally screamed.

Her sketch had already taken shape—outline, eyes, hair—all done.

It leaned toward a more stylized, two-dimensional look, and… well, it was really good.

So good that Ryoma temporarily lost all ability to describe it.

(W-what am I going to do now, seriously…?)

His hand was still inside her hood.

He had already been patting her head.

And for the second time—she wasn’t reacting at all.

Should he keep going? Should he stop?

Ryoma was completely lost.

“…You’re good at drawing.”

Ryoma decided to compliment her once more, but—

Shhh, shhh

Himeno had moved on to drawing the nose. She didn’t even respond.

It was as if Ryoma’s voice didn’t reach her ears at all—her focus had gone beyond mere concentration.

Ryoma was certain.

She was going to stay like this for the full ten minutes. There was no opportunity to back out.

At this point, he had no choice but to change his mindset.

“—If there’s no chance to pull away, I just have to keep patting her.”

It was a ridiculous, forceful tactic, devised precisely because he had to come up with something on the spot.

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

Ryoma had become stubborn.

He kept moving his hand, gently stroking her like a well-groomed small dog.

(Her hair is so silky… How does she even get it like this?)

His thoughts began drifting into escapism, but unexpectedly, his actions bore fruit.

After about two minutes of continuous patting, Himeno started to change.

“…Ngh.”

The smooth lines she had been drawing wavered. Her hand began to tremble.

The only parts left to finish on the face were the mouth and ears.

She was working on the mouth now, but because her hands were shaking, the shape had turned into something resembling a person eating something sour.

“…”

“…”

Then, her pencil, which had been moving steadily, finally stopped.

“I… can’t… anymore…”

“Huh?”

It happened just as the remaining time dropped below one minute. Himeno let out a trembling whisper.

Even though she hadn’t finished the drawing, she declared defeat.

“What do you mean, ‘can’t’?”

“…That’s not fair…”

She muttered, her face tilted downward, full of dissatisfaction.

She didn’t have to say it outright—her expression clearly said “Don’t interfere with my drawing.”

“Uh, I…”

Ryoma was at a loss for words.

But then—he saw it.

“I was trying to draw… and you kept… patting me so much…”

Himeno spoke in a frail, commanding tone.

She looked up at him with a resentful gaze—her usual blank, mask-like expression was gone.

She bit her lip, her face burning red.

At that moment, Ryoma realized—

In this very first round, he had already seen past Himeno’s facade.