It is now 6 pm on October 31'st, and I am waiting for Sakurai to head here for dinner.
A few hours ago, when she came here for breakfast, she acted as if nothing happened yesterday. So I decided to just stay silent as well.
"Good morning, Inoue-kun."
"Ah yes, good morning to you too Sakurai-san."
After we finished our greetings, we both headed to the table to eat. It was a very silent breakfast. We finished eating in only 10 minutes. Right after she finished her breakfast, Sakurai-san went straight back home.
"As always, your food is delicious, Inoue-kun."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"Yes, I shall head back home for now then. See you later."
"See ya."
And that's what happened a few hours ago. Now, I'm finally back home and am waiting for Sakurai-san to come. I decided that I'll ask her about that after we finish eating dinner.
While I was thinking about all this, I heard the doorbell ring.
"Inoue-kun, It's me."
The voice coming from the intercom said.
The time has come. It's time to recruit Sakurai.
"Yes, I'm coming."
I said as I walked towards the door. Finally, I opened the door and...
"Good afternoon, Inoue-kun."
"Good afternoon to you too, Sakurai-san."
Our dinner was very similar to the breakfast we had a few hours ago. Sakurai finished quickly and tried heading back home as fast as possible.
"Thank you for the delicious meal, Inoue-kun. Once again, I'm sorry that I keep bothering you with my meals."
"Don't worry about it. I already told you, right? I'm doing this because I want to."
"Yes... Well, anyhow. I must leave now. Goodbye, Inoue-kun..." she said as she got up from the chair and walked away.
"Wait." I said, halting her movements.
"...What is it?"
"We need to talk." I told her.
And thus, the negotiations begin.
Right now, me and Sakurai are currently facing each other at the library.
"Sakurai-san, I have a confession to make."
"Eh?"
"You see... Actually..."
"Wha- What is it?"
"You know the company you previously worked with for the illustrations I saw?"
"Ahh? Yes?"
"Well, you see, I'm actually the son of the current CEO there."
"Eh? ...EHHH?!"
As expected, Sakurai was shocked by the news I just revealed to her. But, for some reason, she was quite flustered at the start. Why?
But I decided to just ignore her reaction, as it didn't matter right now, so I headed straight back to our topic.
"And that's why, I'm looking into hiring you."
"Hiring me?"
"Yes, your illustrations can be compared to the top illustrators in japan. They are superb. And so, I thought I could hire you for my project."
"..."
"My project will be funded by my dad, and will be published by his company. It is also a test if I am worthy enough to inherit the company."
"I see..." Sakurai said with a worried face.
Though, I think I know what the reason is behind her face.
"Sakurai-san... The truth is... I know what your current situation is right now."
I said, as I showed her a printed document of what Uncle Ken sent me. She then opened it and read what was inside.
"Ah?"
"Actually, I told my father's friend to look into you since I got worried after that incident yesterday. So, I'd like to apologise for invading your privacy."
"Ah no, It's okay. It seems like you did it with no ill intentions, so..."
But before Sakurai could finish her sentence, I decided to just go straight to the point.
"And that's why, after learning about your situation. I'd like to hire you for my game. Currently, I'm the only one working on this game, but I've basically completed the script and most of the code for the game. So, right now, I'm currently looking for illustrators to work on the game. And that's where you come in."
"Yes?"
"Yes. You're by far the best illustrator I've seen. Though there are some problems with the art style, I feel like I can help you solve that. But before that, I'd like to ask you one more question. Sakurai-san, how long does it take for you to draw one illustration?"
"Well... from scratch, if I already know what I'm drawing, for one character, an hour. And for backgrounds, I'd say it takes me 2 to 5 hours depending on the detail.
"I see... Isn't that abnormally fast?"
"You think so?"
"Of course, don't most illustrators spend hours or even days on their drawings? So I think your speed is incredible, specially with the quality of the products you produce."
"Ahahaha, thank you for the praise..."
"So, with that. I want to hire you. Of course, I'll be giving you a salary of course."
"A salary? ...wait isn't a high school student working without school permission illegal?"
"It's not illegal if the government never finds out."
"..."
"But anyhow, let's go back to the topic. I'm willing to give you 300,000 yen a month and a living space for this job."
"EH?! 300,000!? Also, what's this 'living space' you're talking about?"
"Well, isn't rent here in Tokyo expensive? So I thought I'd give you a living space for free alongside your salary."
"So um... where is this living space located at?"
"Well... It's the guest bedroom in this house."
"EHHHHHHH?!"
"Uwaa, I've never imagined you could scream that hard... But, of course, I won't force you to living in the same house as me. After all, I might do something bad to you. So it's totally understandable if you don't want t-"
"No, I have no worries about you attacking me."
"...Excuse me?"
"Well, I mean, there's no way you'll attack me. You are THAT kind of guy after all."
"You know, It hurts when you say that."
"Besides, I've learned some basic martial arts from my mom, so I can probably beat you up too if you ever do something bad to me."
"That's uh... kinda scary."
"Oh, you better be scared of me alright."
A black aura appears from Sakurai's back, which made me physically repel a bit. But anyhow, I have to go back to our topic.
"That's besides the point! So? Will you accept it? Sakurai Fumiko-san. 300,000 a month for at least 5 months with a free living space? Yes, or no?"
And with that sentence, silence filled the room. Sakurai was in deep thought for a whole 3 minutes. And after that three minutes has finally passed, she removed her palms from her chin and told me her answer to my question.
"Inoue Haruki-kun... I-"