I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 88: Hazuki's Lover-For-Hire ⑥

The batting match with a penalty at stake had concluded—Hazuki stood inside the batter’s box, while Ryoma stood outside. A green net separated the two.

The one with a composed expression was… Ryoma. In contrast, Hazuki, her face flushed red, pulled her helmet down low, as if trying to hide.

Despite enduring the psychological attack of being called “Dote-kun” (virgin boy), Ryoma had managed to hit 11 out of 20 balls in a single round. Hazuki, on the other hand, had only hit 7—not even half.

In other words, Ryoma had won.

“Your blushing face is lovely, Hazuki-san. But you seemed to be in terrible form, only managing seven hits.”

“You… you… you…!”

Ryoma grinned like a mischievous gang leader, while Hazuki glared at him with an expression that tried to mask her embarrassment but failed to be intimidating.

Just like Hazuki had done to him, Ryoma had employed psychological warfare during the batting match.

Words like “lovely,” “beautiful,” “my proud girlfriend,” and “kind” were his weapons of choice—an all-out flattery attack.

Ryoma had refrained from teasing Hazuki about being “inexperienced,” something she had likely braced herself for.

That strategy worked to his advantage. Instead of attacking from the obvious angle, he blindsided her with relentless compliments, gradually eroding her focus. The result? Seven hits.

“So, what should your penalty be? I have quite a few ideas.”

“W-Wait! That’s unfair! Who just starts throwing out compliments in the middle of batting!?”

“I don’t think it’s any different from Hazuki-san teasing me about my inexperience. Psychological warfare is psychological warfare.”

“T-That… that may be true, but…”

Hazuki seemed to realize she had been bested. Though she exuded an unwilling-to-accept-it aura, she verbally admitted it. A sign of her maturity.

“Now that the match is over, I’ll say this—being called a virgin by Hazuki-san didn’t actually affect me much. Once I realized that, I changed my strategy to flattery.”

“L-Lies…! But, Shiba-kun, you looked so affected…!”

“Only at first. By the middle of the game, I was acting.”

“Wha—!? Y-You were acting…?”

“Yes. That was part of my strategy. I made you let your guard down while actually executing my plan.”

If Ryoma had ignored psychological attacks and played at full strength, hitting 11 balls would have been easy for Hazuki. That number was deliberately chosen to make her underestimate the competition.

Ryoma could have hit around 15 balls, but that would have only put Hazuki on high alert. With that mindset, she wouldn’t have been as affected by his compliments.

By allowing her to feel at ease, he was able to make his words sink in more effectively.

“Hahh… I admit complete defeat.”

“Victory is mine.”

“Ugh, I can’t believe I didn’t realize you were acting…”

Hazuki took off her helmet, returned the bat to its place, and stepped out of the batter’s box.

“S-So… Shiba-kun, what kind of penalty do you plan to give me? N-Nothing perverted, okay…?”

The moment she stepped out, she crossed her arms protectively, bracing herself.

She wasn’t joking—she was genuinely on guard. And Ryoma understood that feeling completely.

After all, they were both “inexperienced”. It was only natural for that sort of thing to be intimidating.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise. There are boundaries to respect.”

“Ah… T-Thank you…”

“There’s no need to thank me. It’s just common courtesy.”

Ryoma’s ability to prioritize his role as a stand-in boyfriend over personal desires was one of his strengths. It was also the key to earning his clients’ trust.

“Well, before we get to your penalty, I have a question for you, Hazuki-san.”

“A-A question? What is it…?”

“If you had won, what kind of penalty were you planning to give me?”

“…!”

That was the question. While Ryoma had been the one to enforce the penalty, Hazuki had been the one to suggest it in the first place.

There was no doubt she had something planned.

“That surprised look… you definitely had something in mind, didn’t you?”

“I-I don’t have to answer that…! You won, Shiba-kun. I lost. That’s all that matters.”

“That’s true… but, Hazuki-san, I just realized something about this match. Since you were the one who proposed the penalty, you must have had a specific goal in mind.”

“…W-What do you mean?”

Hazuki’s voice wavered slightly. She blinked more frequently.

It was obvious she was trying to hide something. But Ryoma was already convinced—he knew there was more to this than she was letting on.

“’The winner gets to impose a penalty on the loser’—that’s what you said, Hazuki-san. But you never specified how many penalties, did you?”

“…”

“Silence means agreement… In other words, since you didn’t mention a specific number, that means I could impose two or even three penalties, right?”

“…”

“Am I wrong?”

“…You’re right.”

Realizing she couldn’t hide it anymore, Hazuki admitted defeat.

“You really are something else, Hazuki-san…”

A penalty with such flexibility—she must have been confident in her victory. However, now that Ryoma had won, her calculated plan had collapsed.

Hazuki had walked into her own trap.

“Alright, here’s your first penalty. If you had won, what penalty were you planning to impose on me? Answer honestly.”

“…H-Honestly…!? U-Um… Well…”

Since honesty was part of Hazuki’s nature, she couldn’t ignore the condition. As a result, her voice grew weaker and weaker, and she started fidgeting with her hands.

There was no way this reaction wasn’t a penalty in itself.

“W-Well… I wanted… you to… pat my head… and say I did well in batting…”

“…Huh?”

It was only natural to doubt his own hearing.

After all, the cool, intellectual “Queen”, who had a reputation for being a veteran-killer, had just made a request like that.

“I-I won’t say it twice…”

“It’s a penalty. Say it again.”

“S-Stop it…”

“Say it.”

“I-I wanted you to… pat my head… and say I did well in batting…”

There was no longer any room for misinterpretation. Ryoma had heard Hazuki’s true feelings loud and clear.

“Understood. Then, your penalty will be to let me pat your head. No objections.”

“Eh!? W-Why… That’s not even a penalty—”

“—Didn’t I tell you? I understand you, Hazuki-san. You don’t have to put on a front around me. No need to hold back.”

“Shiba-kun…”

Hazuki looked taken aback as Ryoma nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.

“But, doing it here would be a bit embarrassing. Can we do it in your car?”

“E-Eh, sure… If you’re patting my head, I don’t care where we do it…”

“Oh, actually, I take back what I said earlier.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m not patting your head. There’s just some lint stuck in your hair. I’m just going to remove it. That’s all. Okay?”

“Heh, so that’s what you meant… In that case, I think I have a lot of lint stuck in my hair, so please take your time and be gentle while removing it…”

“Understood.”

Yes, patting her head would technically break the stand-in boyfriend rules.

But removing lint from her hair? That was an exception.

“Hehe, Shiba-kun, you’ve turned into quite the bad boy. Exploiting loopholes in the stand-in rules like that.”

“You’re no better, Hazuki-san. During our first time together, you scolded me for breaking the rules. But now look at you…”

“Well, isn’t it because… you’re my ‘understanding’ stand-in boyfriend?”

“That’s true.”

“Then hurry up! Let’s go to my car. Now.”

“Wait, no need to pull me by the hand—!”

At that moment, Hazuki became uncharacteristically bold, grabbing Ryoma’s hand and leading him hastily toward her car.

A few minutes later, inside the GT-R, a side of Hazuki that only Ryoma got to see—the sweet, affectionate one—would come to light.