manga artist Kirito

“Indeed.” As Kirito and Suguha were talking, Kato Megumi’s unique soft voice rang in their ears.

“Shocked!”

"Yeah!"

Not only Kirito, but even Suguha was so frightened that she almost picked up her wooden sword and slashed to the side, staring wide-eyed at Kato Megumi, who had actually arrived after they sat down, but had only just spoken.

"Hui... Sister Hui, she suddenly... suddenly jumped out, that's dangerous!"

Yes, especially when she's around Kirito, Suguha's vigilance towards the outside world increases significantly.

"...Ugh!!" Kirito covered his right eye, staring at the paintbrush broken in two, his face contorted in pain—Ahhh! My hand, my thumb seems to be broken, how am I supposed to continue creating?

Kirito looked at his reddened thumb and forefinger on his left hand with a pained expression. "I probably can't draw anymore... Uh no, I should take a picture first, make some adjustments, and send it to Ms. Shizuka!"

“I’ve been here for a long time~” Ms. Kato Megumi’s voice fluctuated slightly.

"Eh, I didn't notice anything at all..." This was Suguha's exclamation.

"Well, just like you said, Nao, it's normal," Kato Megumi said, seemingly indifferent.

This girl seems to care about this matter quite a bit.

After putting away the broken paintbrush, Kirito glanced at Kato Megumi as he took out a new one. Although he was hiding... no, it was more like he wasn't hiding anything, but rather that he didn't want to show any emotion. Even though it was very faint, this subtle loneliness was definitely there.

Well, Kato Megumi is strange. You could say she doesn't have a girlish heart, but she seems to know how to dress very well. As for her current outfit, it looks very good. If you added some pleated ruffles, it would look even more beautiful. You could say she doesn't have a unique personality, but her subtle presence is really quite special.

So, Kato Megumi, what exactly are you missing?

Yui adjusted the photo, and Kirito sent it to Hiratsuka Shizuka's email address.

"This is clearly not ignoring you; everyone seems to genuinely want to avoid seeing you. Kato, do you have any clue about your situation?"

"The impression given is too weak, making it easy to overlook?"

In short, you can't see it.

Poor Kato! No wonder you looked so happy when I called your name earlier... By the way, all I could remember at the time was your surname; I couldn't recall your given name, Megumi.

Don't you think the problem actually lies with yourself?

"...Is it my problem?" Kato Megumi asked, slightly confused. "I...am I alright?"

If you hadn't sounded so doubtful, I might have believed it wasn't your problem.

"As for Megumi-neechan's situation, it's probably just like what my brother said—she hasn't shown her true self yet... right?" Suguha made a rough deduction. "A loner, Megumi-neechan hasn't tried to make friends before, has she?"

Ah, I did say that you absolutely cannot live alone!

And the source of this sentence is Yezi, how you took care of me!

—Although it does reference the name of Brynhildr's Noble Phantasm.

“Yes, but…” Kato Megumi pursed her lips, recalling the disguised Eriri she met when she went shopping in He City. She was later recommended the light novel “The Lonely Queen of the North”, but it seemed that she hadn’t made a friend in Eriri… because the two hadn’t spoken since that day.

Ah, it's been so long since high school started and I still haven't made a single friend. My parents seem really worried, but...

"Kato, are we friends?" Kirito glanced at the email from Hiratsuka Shizuka asking for his current address, casually blocked Hiratsuka Shizuka's number, and looked up at Kato Megumi to ask.

"...Hmm, does it count? I guess it does?" Kato Megumi tilted her head. "But shouldn't it depend on what you, Kirigaya-kun, think?"

Kato Megumi may have different requirements for the definition of friendship than most people... I should recommend that she watch The Godfather.

"I'm asking you."

A chapter that's not dirty at all!

Requesting recommendations~ Requesting monthly tickets~ Requesting tips~ Not asking for death threats~

116

[NO.114 Kato Megumi Won't Fall for It (Bonus Chapter)]

Because of her low profile, people around her subconsciously ignore Kato Megumi's existence, but she still longs for friends.

However, while Kato Megumi has this idea, taking action to cultivate the friendship requires courage that she currently lacks.

For the time being... Kirito and Eriri can both be considered half friends of Kato Megumi.

Kirito glanced sideways at Kato Megumi, who had somehow pulled out her phone, and raised an eyebrow slightly. Kato Megumi seemed to really enjoy playing on her phone... Although it wasn't good to pry into other people's secrets, Kirito could see the page refreshing multiple times from his angle, with the displayed content changing with each refresh.

Hey Kato, you haven't been emailing friends or reading any novels or comics. You... you don't happen to be in the habit of quietly refreshing your phone when no one is looking, do you?

How about I take the initiative and say a few words?

Speaking of which, it's said that quite a few people would die without their phones... Kato, you're not one of those people, are you?

—If, I mean if, the phone were taken from Kato's hand, what kind of expression would she have?

Oh, I forgot that this girl has no expression at all.

"Kiritani-kun, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but staring at girls like that isn't a good thing, you know~"

I don't see anything wrong with that. After all, I'm looking at your face openly and honestly, not sneaking around staring at something that might attract attention—and I reiterate, I really don't know the color of Kato Megumi's panties!

Looking at the girl who had put down her phone and whose expression remained calm, Kirito twirled the paintbrush in his hand and closed the sketchbook in front of him. "Do you like playing on your phone?"

"Huh? Hmm, it's alright~"

"You keep refreshing your phone's page, it must be really boring." Kirito rested his chin on his hand, quietly watching the girl sitting beside him, behaving as usual.

Incidentally, Suguha had already started giving the students a demonstration or practice a few minutes earlier. At this moment, there were only a few students sparring in the dojo, while Kirito was recording the scenes of those battles with his paintbrush.

Of course, no matter how fast Kirito's hand speed is, he can't keep up with their actions, so what is recorded are only drafts, and the number is very small.

During this time, Kirito almost forgot that Kato Megumi was still there. If he hadn't felt a bit uncomfortable in his back from sitting for too long and was planning to get up and move around, he probably would have completely forgotten about the quiet Kato Megumi.

Yes, Kato Megumi didn't leave during this time; she was looking at her phone the whole time.

Uh, maybe he left?

"Not really. I was just reading some content related to Yuuki-san's work, 'The Lonely Queen of the North.'" Even with her easygoing personality, Kato Megumi was a little embarrassed to say what she had just been refreshing, especially since the other person was Kirito.

It seems... there is a way to change things!

"Hey, Kato, what are your thoughts, or rather, impressions, of otaku?"

"A shut-in?" Kato Megumi tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then said, "At first, I thought shut-ins were all big guys who weren't good at interpersonal communication, but were extremely shameless in related matters..."

So what exactly did fat otaku do wrong?

Kato, is your first impression of otaku (homebodies) that they are overweight?

I'm really sorry, I'm a skinny couch potato!

Kirito discovered that whenever he was with Kato Megumi, his usually subtle comedic persona would become unusually rich. But then again, Kato, you say you're not good at interpersonal communication—do you really think you are?

Yes, I suspect you're an otaku too! Just a different kind of otaku than a typical otaku!

"However, seeing Yuuki-kun, Kiritani-kun, Sawamura-kun, and those seemingly enthusiastic readers at that event really changed my impression of otaku."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

"Wow, there are so many perverts among otaku..." Kato Megumi changed the subject, "Although I didn't actually look up what the name Fujiwara Echizen meant, Sawamura-kun still told me~"

...Eri, so you're the kind of person who can't stop talking once you start a conversation and can't keep a secret? Especially since you actually got tricked into telling information by Kato Megumi! What good are you besides being cute, tsundere, and drawing doujinshi?

"I'd rather not mention my profession!"

Although the profession of erotic artist is indeed known to many people, including my girlfriend, sister, teacher, and a large number of classmates, if my family finds out... my dad would definitely disregard the fact that I twisted my back and come with a wooden sword to break my legs.

Therefore, this topic is not suitable to be discussed too much within the temple.

But I'm still a little curious, how did Kato Megumi feel when she found out about my profession as an erotic illustrator?

—It is said that many older single professional erotic illustrators cannot find girlfriends because of this job.

"Well, Kirito-kun, you don't need to make that face. I won't tell anyone else." Kato Megumi told Kirito to calm down. "But to be honest, I really didn't expect that the strongest and most admired senior brother of the Tiger Dojo would choose this after giving up kendo... Hmm, my feelings are quite complicated."

Wait, has the way you address me changed?

"Kiritani-kun had absolutely no connection with otaku before."

In fact, Kato Megumi really admired Kirito Kazuto, who was once the senior disciple of the Tiger Dojo—yes, Kirito Kazuto, not the Kirito who is full of dirty jokes now—and of course, she still admires him now.

She became friends with several of the most popular female classmates at school, and even became a couple with one of them. Zhenshui is truly enviable.

"I'm such a homebody, I'm really sorry to disappoint you!" Kirito said expressionlessly, then opened the sketchbook again. Finding Kato Megumi's weakness was no easy task; so much time had been wasted, and there was still no progress.

"Since you're interested in light novels, Kato, how about trying out a visual novel?"

"Galgame?" Ms. Kato seemed a little confused, as if she didn't understand the meaning of the word.

"—Dating game."

Come to think of it, why does this routine seem so familiar? Did I invite other girls to play visual novels before? But wait, it seems like there's no one else besides Kato Megumi, right?

"More than dating sims, I'm curious about... what are you drawing all this time, Kiritani-kun?" Peeking at the blurry sketches, Kato Megumi couldn't make out what was drawn on the paper at all.

"Besides, inviting a girl to play dating games—it just seems a bit ill-intentioned, doesn't it, Kiritani-kun?"

117

[NO.115 An assist that shouldn't have happened]

"Inviting a girl to play dating games—doesn't that seem a bit suspicious, Kiritani-kun?"

Looking at Kirito's casual expression, Kato Megumi turned to the side, a strange yet very polite smile playing on her lips. "Theoretically speaking, nothing is more troublesome than an invitation made casually that requires others to put in many times more effort to complete, right?"

Kato Megumi's expression was indeed very serious, but no matter what, Kirito always felt that beneath the calmness in her eyes lay a smile of a successful prank—this Kato Megumi might be a fake!

Those words just now seemed to have a slightly sarcastic tone. Although I don't have a bad impression of sarcastic remarks, Ms. Kato, do you realize that your public image has been ruined?

Honestly, sometimes Kirito really wants to study Kato Megumi's inner self properly—just literally, you old perverts shouldn't think too much about it.

But why would Kato Megumi suddenly say something like that? Is she experiencing one of the three great illusions of life?

"Kato, what do you mean?"

"It's nothing really, it's just that I've never played visual novels before, and I don't seem to have much time to waste on games right now~ If I remember correctly, I have an exam next Wednesday." Kato Megumi held a teacup that had appeared out of nowhere, taking a light sip of tea. "Of course, for Kirigaya-kun, getting good grades would be a piece of cake~"

No! Actually, my grades improved slightly after the high school entrance exam, reaching the admission line for the General Staff. Otherwise, they were just barely passing. Don't overestimate me.

"Exam scores don't matter at all. Maybe the Soubu (the Japanese military headquarters) cares about deviation values, but for us students in the special talent class, as long as our special talents improve, it's no big deal if our grades drop slightly." Kirito said calmly, sketching lines of varying thickness on the drawing paper with a paintbrush in hand.

Ah, I guess I shouldn't ask you what your special skills are, but the invitation was rejected... which seems entirely expected. After all, we're just new friends. If I could just casually ask and get invited—finding a girlfriend would be way too easy!

Note: If you are a patient suffering from visual hallucinations, please do not read this paragraph more than once.

"I see..." Kato Megumi tilted her head. "Kiritani-kun, what are you doing right now?"

"you!"

"……Eh?"

"Draw your character designs." Kirito paused for a moment, then calmly said, "Because the new work requires a lot of characters, whether they are main characters or background characters, I have to do it all myself since I don't have an assistant."

The character's general setup is that he is the first assassin with maxed-out stealth skills, and a red-named player.

Of course, whether Kirito will actually be useful is unknown, since everything is ultimately for the sake of the story.

"Hey, what are you doing sitting here?"

"Look at my character design." Kato Megumi stared at the unfinished drawing for a moment, then glanced at Kirito, before praising him with a flat, emotionless tone. "Wow, that's amazing, it looks so much like him."

...No, I mean, I haven't even finished drawing it yet, and you already think it looks like it?

Did you reach a consensus with the painting, or do you feel that this is who you truly are?

However, it's really a bit dissatisfying. Would you lose a friend if I gave you a little praise?

"I have a feeling that Kiritani-kun is in a bad mood right now..."

So you knew all along?

"Wait, let me check an email..." Feeling the vibration from his pocket, Kirito said to Kato Megumi before taking out his phone and opening his email.

[Kiritani, if you don't want to experience death, then remove me from the blacklist right now! —Hiratsuka Shizuka]

Wow, it's really hard to believe, Ms. Jing, that you actually had Akasaka post it on your behalf. You've really learned your lesson this time. But even if it's Akasaka's threat, I'm not afraid of it, okay?

Kirito casually pressed the power button and turned to look at Kato Megumi. Come to think of it, Kato Megumi seems to have been at the dojo for a long time. When we met this morning, didn't she say she was going home? Why is she still at the dojo?

"Has Kiritani-kun blocked Hiratsuka-sensei's email address and phone number again?"

"Guess?"

"Yes, the teacher mentioned it to me last time." The girl nodded. "Kiritani-kun and Shizuka-sensei are really close."