Chapter 22: The Pitiful Shunsuke, Toyed with Like a Puppet
The next day, Shunsuke still woke up early.
After making breakfast and noticing that Mashiro was still not up, he was already mentally prepared.
"Mashiro, it's time to get up."
He knocked on the door and called out.
As expected, there was no response from inside the room.
"Mashiro, I'm coming in."
Without waiting too long, Shunsuke directly opened the door.
Although he had seen it yesterday, Shunsuke, being honest, still wanted to take another look!
This was the courage to admire a girl's...!
A gentle breeze blew in as the door opened, lifting the curtains. Sunlight streamed in through the gaps, revealing the scene in the room.
In short, it looked like a tornado had hit a parking lot.
Shunsuke had intended to see how bad things could get, which was why he hadn't packed away Mashiro's belongings yesterday, but now that he was seeing it, he couldn't help but be amazed.
Is this the legendary state of a girl's dorm room?
Stepping over scattered clothes, crumpled paper, and random trash thrown everywhere, Shunsuke made his way to the desk, moving a chair out of the way. At that moment, a bundle wrapped in blankets wriggled on the bed.
Glancing at the computer and the drawing tablet on the desk, he was surprised. This clueless pet-like girl actually knew how to use these tools? It seemed that the power of hobbies was truly limitless.
The computer hadn't been shut down, so Shunsuke moved the mouse. The screen, in sleep mode, came to life, and upon seeing the display, his jaw slowly dropped.
It was a character design. In the top right corner, the name "Chitoge Kirisaki" was written. The artwork was exquisite, the character design alluring. Though different from the original, it immediately caught his eye.
On both sides of the drawing were notes—a summary of the settings he had roughly described the previous night.
Without thinking, he scrolled the mouse wheel, revealing another drawing. It was still Chitoge Kirisaki, but in a different style. The only constant was the near-perfect execution.
He scrolled again, revealing yet another new design...
"Did she really draw all night?"
Shunsuke rubbed his temples.
What he had described yesterday was nothing more than a rough idea: blonde hair, blue eyes, long straight hair, tsundere, lively and energetic, bunny-eared ribbon, black knee-high socks, a spoiled but slightly violent heiress—a simple stack of tropes.
You could come up with a thousand different character designs from that!
Half of them could probably be called "Alice."
Looking at the mass of intricate drawings, Shunsuke felt a chill run down his spine.
This was perfectionism taken to an obsessive level!
Glancing at the still-sleeping Mashiro, he suddenly didn't have the heart to wake her. Who knew how late this girl had stayed up last night?
However, skipping school on the first day after transferring wasn't really an option. If he did that, Chihiro might suspect he had done something inappropriate to Mashiro, making her unable to attend school the next day.
If that actually happened, it would be one thing, but if it didn't, and he was still accused of it, wouldn't that be really unfair?
Thinking of this, Shunsuke steeled himself and gently shook Mashiro's shoulder. "Mashiro, wake up. It's time for school."
"Hu...mm..."
Mashiro was still sound asleep, her breathing calm and steady.
Shunsuke shook his head, then reached out and gently pinched her petite nose. "If you don't get up now, you're going to be late."
"Ha...mm... Ha...mm..."
Mashiro began breathing through her mouth. There was no doubt—she was pretending to sleep.
As the saying goes, you can never wake up someone who's pretending to sleep.
Shunsuke decided to stop wasting time on futile efforts and resorted to his ultimate move: pulling the rug out from under her. With a swift motion, he yanked the blanket off of Mashiro.
It was as if he was staring at a female version of David.
Her pale skin, slender arms, small but delicate curves, and a waist like an hourglass—all of it was perfect.
Mashiro remained motionless, likely still resisting. Shunsuke just stood there quietly, watching her act without any intention of playing along.
The weather in April was still chilly, and the morning breeze blew into the room, causing Mashiro to shiver.
"If you don't get up and get dressed soon, you'll catch a cold. Then you won't have time to draw your manga."
"…Fine, I'm getting up."
"Good girl."
Shunsuke patted Mashiro's head, smoothing her already messy hair to make it just a little bit neater.
"Shunsuke, my clothes."
Slowly standing up, Mashiro stared blankly at Shunsuke.
"Alright, alright, you want me to get them for you too?"
"Slowpoke."
Shunsuke's hand froze mid-reach, gripping tightly.
"You promised that from now on, you'd help me get dressed."
Resigned, Shunsuke began carefully picking out her clothes.
No wonder she's Mashiro. Poor me, completely at her mercy.
By the time Shunsuke had fully dressed her and finished everything, it finally dawned on him that he had probably been tricked the entire time.
....
"Shunsuke, who is she…?"
On the way to school, Hanabi's expression was a bit stiff.
"Shiina Mashiro, a transfer student from the UK. She's Chihiro-sensei's cousin and will be staying at Mrs. Izumi's place for now. I'm responsible for taking care of her during that time," Shunsuke explained concisely, then introduced Hanabi to Mashiro. "Yasuraoka Hanabi, my childhood friend and neighbor."
Mashiro silently looked at Hanabi without saying anything.
"Ah, haha, I see. Hello, Shiina-san! It must have been exhausting coming all the way from the UK. This guy Shunsuke can be pretty careless sometimes, and he's not too mindful of things when it comes to girls. If there's anything you find inconvenient, feel free to tell me—I'll help out too."
Hanabi forced herself to remain cheerful while indirectly dropping hints, but Mashiro only nodded and then shook her head.
—Ugh, what an arrogant woman. So annoying!
Hanabi's eye twitched in irritation, but she kept her feelings hidden.
"Shunsuke was great. He made me very satisfied yesterday."
"Sa…satisfied?"
"Shunsuke is the first boy I've ever been with."
"You're calling him by his first name?"
"I'm glad Shunsuke was my first."
"That's enough!"
Hanabi glared at Mashiro, but Mashiro remained unfazed and continued, "Back in the UK, I was only surrounded by girls. So, Shunsuke is the first boy I've gotten close to."
"…Huh?"
Hanabi was already considering making a run for it.
Sensing the tension, Shunsuke quickly stepped in to diffuse the situation. "Mashiro's just like that. She has no sense of what's normal here in Japan. Please be patient with her, Hanabi."
"Is this really a Japanese common sense issue? What kind of alternate world is the UK from!?"
Shunsuke's blatant favoritism was too much for Hanabi to handle, and she loudly vented her frustration.
Shunsuke shrugged. Don't ask me. I've never been to the UK. How would I know? And you haven't either, so how do you know?
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