I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 67: Devil-chan's Warning and Aira's Claim

“See, I’m also following Devil-chan, but she hasn’t followed me back! That’s so unfair!”

Aira showed the screen where she followed Devil-chan.

There was no text under Devil-chan’s name that said “Followed by.”

In other words, Aira was the only one following, and Devil-chan wasn’t following Aira back. This happened quite often on Twitter.

“Even if you say it’s unfair, I’ve got my own reasons.”

He couldn’t admit that he got followed because of his work as a lover-for-hire. He couldn’t stir up any trouble with Devil-chan, after all.

If trust was lost, there’d be no more requests. He needed the money, so he’d stay silent about it.

“Having Devil-chan as your first follower is just crazy… Wait, Ryoma-senpai, you’ve actually met Devil-chan in real life, right?”

“No, I just got a follow and returned it.”

“That’s a total lie! If it were from you, I’d get it, but there’s no way a famous person would follow a newly created account like that! You haven’t tweeted anything, and with that messed-up ID, it’s impossible to even show up in searches!”

“…”

Ryoma fell silent, agreeing with Aira’s reasoning inside his head.

Anyone who’d been on Twitter for a while would know that being followed by a famous person, especially a new account, was astronomically unlikely.

Devil-chan’s account was for work. She only followed people in the same industry or comic publishers. For Ryoma’s real account to be followed among those people was highly suspicious.

There was no hiding the fact that there was a reason for this.

“I already know you’ve met her, so tell me what kind of relationship you two have.”

“…We’re friends. We get along well.”

Ryoma, realizing he couldn’t keep dodging the question, shifted to a strategy where he told the truth when he had no way to avoid it. Aira’s probing wouldn’t escalate any further by giving an answer.

“Ryoma-senpai is definitely after Devil-chan, aren’t you?”

“…I don’t know about that.”

At this point, denying it and revealing that he worked as a substitute boyfriend would create a major gap in the story if Aira found out. Ryoma carefully handled the situation, thinking about Himeno.

“Stop dodging the question. I never knew you liked smaller, cuter girls like Devil-chan.”

“…Huh? Aira, do you know who Devil-chan is?”

From Aira’s words, it seemed like she knew who Devil-chan was.

“I met her first when I went to Comiket this year. She’s my favorite manga artist. Her popularity is crazy, you know? Her works sell out almost immediately, and after that, she wears a gothic-lolita outfit and works as a seller for another circle.”

“She works really hard, huh…”

Devil-chan’s style must have been intended to attract attention. She was definitely a tough person.

“They say that when Devil-chan works as a seller, sales double.”

“Well, it’s no surprise she attracts male customers…”

There was a decent number of men who were into that type of style. Especially with Devil-chan, what with her having a cute, youthful face. It made sense that sales would go up when someone like Himeno worked at the booth.

“Devil-chan doesn’t allow photos, so there aren’t any circulating online, but people in the industry say she’s known as the ‘Little Heavenly Devil’ because she’s so cute. If you search her Twitter, you’ll see tons of posts saying ‘Super cute!’”

“Ah, yeah… Anyway, what’s up with the ‘Little Angel Devil’ name…? It sounds like ‘shrimp tempura udon’ or something…”

“It’s ‘Little Heavenly Devil’… but the fact that you’re being followed without even knowing that is seriously annoying!”

For Devil-chan’s fans, just being followed by her was enough to make them feel like they were in heaven. No matter how hard they tried to hide it, they couldn’t help but feel jealous.

“Sorry about it, but ‘Little Heavenly Devil’? Isn’t that kind of all mixed up?”

“Well, from the perspective of the circle next to Devil-chan, she’s a devil-like figure. But when she’s a seller, she’s like a little angel, so they combine it all and call her ‘Little Heavenly Devil’, and from that, it became ‘Chitcha-ten Devil.’”

“I see…”

Famous people were a bundle of crowd-pulling power. If such a strong rival was selling comics next to you, they’d definitely come across as a devil.

If you only heard the name, you might have been confused by the phrase “Heavenly Devil”, but once you heard the reason for the name, it would make perfect sense.

“Being followed by such a famous person, Ryoma-senpai, you really are popular, huh…”

“Being followed by a famous person and being popular aren’t the same thing… If my number of followers and following was like yours, maybe, but look closely at mine. It’s 2, you know?”

“You don’t need to show me. It’s not brand new, but it’s still a fresh account.”

To make his defense, Ryoma showed Aira his profile screen—when an unbelievable timing occurred.

From the bottom, a notification appeared in a blue speech bubble: “You have a message from Devil-chan.” That notification caused Ryoma’s direct message (DM) mark to show a ①.

“Huh?”

Aira grabbed Ryoma’s wrist tightly, looking up at him with a “Why?” expression. Ryoma was hit with the sensation that a secret message had been exposed.

“Speaking of which, getting a DM from Devil-chan is insane… Come on, let me see.”

“It’s private, so I can’t show you.”

Ryoma twisted his wrist free from Aira’s grasp and half-turned his body to check the message so she couldn’t see the screen.

“Thanks for yesterday. Come over to my house again. The cake was delicious. Let’s eat it again.”

A simple message. Yet, it was enough to imply their close relationship.

“Thanks from my side too. Got it, I’ll see you soon.”

With Aira standing next to him, Ryoma quickly typed a brief reply and put the phone back in his pocket.

…Aira, who had been standing there, unusually puffed up her cheeks.

“You didn’t peek forcefully, huh… Aira?”

“It was private, so you shouldn’t have peeked without permission. I wanted to see it, but I get why you wouldn’t want me to… Everyone has secrets, right?”

Sigh “Honestly, Aira, you really don’t act like a high schooler.”

With the feeling that Aira had shown admirable self-control, Ryoma poked her soft, puffed-up cheeks twice.

“Don’t poke my cheeks… And, by the way, I’m pretty normal for a high schooler.”

“I don’t think that’s true, though.”

“Knowing you, Ryoma-senpai, you probably didn’t even realize what is bothering me so much.”

This time, Aira pouted. It was obvious that she was sulking.

“I thought… as expected of a manga artist. Now I understand why Devil-chan followed you with her work account, Ryoma-senpai.”

“That’s just because we’re close, right?”

“Nope…It’s definitely a warning and a way to mark her territory.”

“Huh?”

“…She’s literally living up to her name as a devil. She looks so cute, but she’s ridiculously possessive…”

Up until now, Aira had referred to her as “Devil-chan-san,” but now it was simply “Devil-chan.”

A warning and marking her territory—she spoke as if she was certain, but it was all just a woman’s intuition.

A strong sense of hostility overflowed from Aira’s shining jade-colored eyes, but only she knew the truth.

“I can’t keep dragging my feet anymore… Ryoma-senpai, are you free next Saturday? No, actually, you have to be free.”

“Well, I don’t have work or university that day, so as of now, I’m free, but…”

“Then keep that day open. My school’s having a cultural festival.”

“So… you want to go around it together?”

“Of course. Here, this is your invitation. Just give it to the reception at the main gate, and they’ll let you in.”

Having planned to give it to him today from the start, Aira took a neatly folded invitation from her pocket and slipped it into Ryoma’s chest pocket.

“If you lose it, I’ll kill you.”

“Stop saying scary things…”

“Alright, let’s head home already. I just remembered something I need to do.”

“Whoa!”

It was sudden. Aira tightly clung to Ryoma’s arm, the one holding his umbrella.

“You don’t have to get all flustered. I did this before, remember? This way, we stay close, and neither of us gets wet.”

“W-Well, that’s fine, but… Aira, um… those are… pressing against me…”

Ryoma turned his face away in embarassement. Right now, Aira’s soft, round mounds were snugly pressed against his arm.

“I’m doing it on purpose… I mean, I have to mark my territory too…”

“What’s with you and that phrase today?”

“…It just means I won’t let you go, Ryoma-senpai.”

Aira stuck out her red tongue and licked her lips—looking amused, embarrassed, and a little desperate.

She was possessive. Just like Devil-chan.

To Aira, Ryoma was like an older brother—the only person who could ease her loneliness.