I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 54: Ryoma and Himeno's Battle ③

“You’re so sticky…”

“I told you… It’s because you keep touching me…”

In the manga workroom, Himeno muttered this. Meanwhile, Ryoma, though reproaching her, spoke in a voice tinged with apology.

“Why is it so sticky…”

“I can’t help it…”

“…But, it can’t be helped. Take it out.”

“Even if you say ‘take it out’…”

If a third party with an adult mindset had heard this exchange, they would have probably burst through the door and shouted, “What are you doing?!”

However, Ryoma and Himeno weren’t in a romantic relationship. They were simply a client and a proxy through a company.

Such a thing wouldn’t happen.

“—Show your red face.”

Ryoma, who had made Himeno’s face turn red, was now at her mercy.

“Why aren’t you turning red?”

“I think there are people who do and people who don’t turn red.”

Himeno was gently stroking Ryoma’s waxed hair, as if returning the favor from earlier, using her small, soft hand.

As she had said earlier, her goal was to make Ryoma’s face turn red.

But Ryoma wasn’t embarrassed. Rather, the feeling of it being “pleasant” won out.

“If Shiba doesn’t turn red, then Himeno’s hand will just stay sticky.”

“Why do you make it sound like it’s my fault? Well, fine. I’ll take responsibility and wash your hands for you.”

“…No.”

“Why not?”

“Shiba’s hands are dirty.”

This was what it meant to say something completely contradictory.

Her words had sharp thorns, but she said them shyly.

Perhaps because Ryoma had peeled away her facade with the head pats earlier, he was now seeing a side of Himeno he hadn’t seen before.

It was also clearer whether she was bothered or not.

It was the magic of shoujo manga at work.

“Wow, you really say that? You could just be honest.”

“What are you going to do…?”

Noticing that she wasn’t actually bothered, Ryoma grinned and stood up. He began to slowly close the distance between them.

(I can’t stand this anymore. I’m not even myself…)

While maintaining the persona of a shoujo manga protagonist, Ryoma mentally cried.

He was forcing himself for the sake of fulfilling the request. It was a completely natural feeling.

“What do I want to do? What do you want me to do? Right now, I’m only yours, Himeno.”

“W-Well, sit down then.”

“If I sit down, nothing will happen, right?”

It was a line from a shoujo manga. Thanks to studying, Ryoma was able to turn it into power.

He was on track, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had completely found his rhythm.

“There’s nothing you need to do.”

“Really?”

“Mm… Sh-shiba is Himeno’s. Absolute obedience to orders.”

“Ah, Himeno said it.”

“Shiba said it first, I just copied.”

“Haha, I see. Well, I’ll wait here then.”

Ryoma had one of the buckles come undone.

By patting Himeno’s head, he no longer felt any resistance to that action.

With his hands not sticky, Ryoma patted Himeno’s head gently, just the right height, over her hood, playfully and big, including the round ears of the bear.

“Don’t pat me again…!”

“Hm? Isn’t that phrasing a bit off?”

If Himeno showed resistance, her words should have been “Don’t pat me anymore.”

Ryoma lowered his posture while moving his hands and met her eyes.

“You actually want me to do it more, don’t you?”

“Th-That’s not true.”

“Really? Your face is turning red again, though.”

“I-I’m not…”

“Ah…”

And then, reaching her limit, Himeno slipped through the gap in Ryoma’s arm and escaped from the workroom.

Despite having Ryoma’s wax on her hand, she pressed her hood down with both hands to hide her face completely.

“…”

Ryoma was once again alone in the workroom.

And it wasn’t just Himeno who couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ugh… I can’t take this anymore. Someone kill me already…”

Ryoma slumped, finally collapsing onto the carpet.

He felt like he couldn’t stand up, as if the pain in his stomach was so severe it paralyzed him.

His hands were clenched into fists, trembling as he writhed in embarrassment.

(Come on, Ryoma… You can do this… For the money…)

He cheered himself on, trying to muster his strength.

To get the huge sum of money after the job was done.

Ryoma shakily stood up and sat back in his original spot.

He drank the barley tea Himeno had poured for him in one go and, as an escape from reality… no, to calm himself down, he entered a meditative state.

＊＊＊＊

“No, no…”

Himeno continued washing her hands with ice-cold water, trying to calm herself by stimulating her sense of pain. She kept removing the wax.

Her face, exposed in the fixed mirror after taking off her hood, was dyed bright red.

“I can’t think about the manga…”

Himeno, having reached her limit to the point of running away, couldn’t possibly have the energy to think about the manga.

“Calm down…”

Her heart was beating so loudly it almost hurt. Even though she didn’t want to remember it, she kept replaying the moment in her mind unconsciously.

It had a stronger effect on Himeno than expected. Being praised and then scolded while her head was patted was more impactful than she’d anticipated.

The cold water, even colder in winter, made her hands lose feeling little by little.

(Himeno doesn’t make faces like this…)

Himeno looked into the mirror. Her face seemed to reflect the typical expression of a heroine in a manga who had just fallen in love.

Of course, Himeno didn’t have the leisure to think about such things.

This kind of situation was going to continue for a while yet.

“I can’t go back… my face, go back…”

For Himeno, a relaxed face meant a strange face. It made sense, since she was usually expressionless.

Himeno closed her eyes, and with her cold, wet fingertips, she tugged at her relaxed face.

— Four seconds, five seconds. She pulled strongly.

Then, she let go and checked again… but it was pointless.

Her flushed face and current expression didn’t return at all.

In fact, even though she had pinched her cheeks tightly, she realized she was blushing so much that the redness couldn’t even be seen.

(This is so embarrassing…)

Finally, Himeno started washing her face with cold water. It was as if she were wishing her face would return to normal.

She had rarely ever been seen with an expressive face by anyone since she became self-aware.

She grabbed the hand towel, wiped her face, and checked again… but this too ended up being pointless.

(This is Shiba’s fault…)

The large orca plushie on the bed in the workroom reminded her of the goofy smile she had when it was first delivered.

In this moment, Himeno realized she wouldn’t be able to return to normal for a while. It was a problem she couldn’t solve alone.

Himeno turned off the tap and headed toward the living room, which was in the opposite direction from the workroom where Ryoma was waiting.

There was one reason. To solve this problem.

Himeno grabbed her phone, which was charging on the shelf, and opened the app she had been just browsing.

It was Yahoo! Answers.

A knowledge-sharing community where participants exchange knowledge and wisdom on an electronic bulletin board.

To put it simply, you ask questions and get answers in return.

This service also had questions about romance. Himeno used this app for inspiration for her manga.

Usually, Himeno was just a spectator, but not this time.

She pressed the post button and typed quickly with both hands.

Urgent! she added as a preface.

“I usually have an expressionless face. Today, my boyfriend came over. He patted my head, and I got embarrassed and ran away from the room. I haven’t been able to relax since then. My boyfriend might think I’m weird. What should I do?”

With no time to think, Himeno quickly wrote down her current situation in bullet points.

Then, in exchange for answers, she offered the maximum number of 500 Answer coins as a thank you and posted her question immediately.

This maximum number of coins was rare to see. It meant that her question would receive more attention than usual, and the response rate would be significantly influenced by the coins. These coins were something that respondents sought, and by collecting them, users could change the design of their profile page.

After posting, Himeno waited silently, as if praying. However, since she was also keeping Ryoma waiting, she had decided to limit her wait to five minutes.

Two minutes, three minutes, four minutes passed.

(As I thought… I don’t have much time to wait…)

Just a few seconds after Himeno showed signs of giving up, right as five minutes was about to pass, a “!” mark appeared on the screen.

“…!”

This notification meant that she had received a response.

Himeno quickly navigated to the post page to check the reply.

There, it said:

“There’s no way he’d think it’s weird (^^)

Your boyfriend likes you. He definitely wants to see that expression, which is reserved only for him.

You might feel some resistance to showing that kind of face, but your boyfriend will surely be happy.

Since it’s already showing on your face, holding it back would be unhealthy and, conversely, could make things seem even stranger. Be brave and let your gentle boyfriend see it!

He might get flustered and fall for you even more because of the gap. I’m cheering you on!”

The response was from an expert with a “Category Master” tag, a woman jokingly named “misunderstood as having two-timed”, who had answered with great care.

After finishing reading the message, Himeno, overcome with gratitude, forgot to tap the “Best Answer” stamp or reply. Instead, she turned off her phone.

“Thank you…”

She had forgotten in her happiness to reply properly, but she was grateful for the serious, thoughtful response.

Thanks to Yahoo! Answers, Himeno had gained the courage she needed.

For now… she had decided not to hold back her expression.

— This decision would ultimately reverse the roles between Himeno and Ryoma.