Before long, Shiina Mafuyu caved.
Because a certain someone said if he saw her online in a game again, he'd come over in person to "grab" her. So she logged off and pretended she wasn't playing—then started up a different game.
She was sprawled on her bed, happily playing, when a chat window popped up.
Nanako: "Hey hey, Nakamaguro, have you been following the latest novels? There's a new romance that came out of nowhere—getting huge alongside Love Metronome."
Mafuyu's handle was "Nakamaguro." Yep—the same name as the seme protagonist from her imagined BL world, Nakamaguro-senpai.
And "Nanako"? That was Yumiko Miura's bestie, Ebina Hina. Makes sense: both single, not into guys, super into BL—the odds they were online friends were high. Ebina made friends through BL; her first one was the user "Nakamaguro," a.k.a. Shiina Mafuyu.
Mafuyu quickly replied:
Nakamaguro: "Heh heh, I already preordered it. I even messaged Kurosora Twilight-sensei on Twitter to suggest adding something spicy—like BL scenes."
Nanako: "And then?"
Mafuyu's shoulders slumped.
Nakamaguro: "Then I got muted and blocked. Uuu…"
Ebina burst out laughing. Come on—posting under a mainstream author's account asking for BL? Of course you got blocked.
Nanako: "Anyway, I saw two people at school who really looked like a pair!"
Nakamaguro: "Oh? What kind of vibe? Tell me!"
Nanako: "A black-haired hottie—total top energy! And Hayama, you know him? Blond 'nice guy'—totally uke."
Nakamaguro: "Oh oh—great minds think alike! (shake hands shake hands jap)"
At that very moment, Hayato Hayama, busy with an inter-school friendly soccer match, shivered. Hayashi Maki, elsewhere, let out a big sneeze.
Rubbing his nose, he muttered, "Who's talking about me?"
Honestly, he didn't mind girls having their own interests. But BL? For a straight man, that hits hard. How could such a cute girl like little Mafuyu be into that? He didn't get it. So he'd just have to "educate" her more at school—keep her too busy to think about it. That would be more effective.
As he was thinking, his phone pinged—a message from Utaha Kasumigaoka. When the white-headband, long black hair, black-stockings senior texts, you pay attention. It was just one line:
Utaha: "Maki-kun, take a look at my volume 2 and give me notes."
Hayashi Maki: "If I read it and give feedback, how will Senpai thank me?"
Squeaky wheels get the grease; he wasn't doing pro bono work.
Utaha: "How about a lap pillow? Doesn't your LN protagonist love his senpai's long black-stockinged legs?"
Hayashi Maki: "Send it; I'll read it now. Lap pillow—tomorrow!"
Utaha's cheeks heated. "You lech of a kouhai," she muttered, glancing at her manga-heroine-grade, sleek black-stockinged legs, a tiny swell of pride stirring.
A moment later, she sent over the revised manuscript for Love Metronome volume 2. Hayashi Maki dug in—and his eyes lit up. Utaha's prose needed no commentary: elegant, immersive diction. She'd also reworked the plot to be more grounded. It was… gut-wrenching. The heroine suffered a lot.
When he finished, he messaged her:
Hayashi Maki: "Senpai, bring antacids tomorrow. My stomach already hurts."
Utaha's lips curled.
Utaha: "Oh? You get stomachaches? Look at what you suggested—girl gets hit by a car, amnesia, mistakes someone else for the MC; then when she regains her memory and chases the MC, he has an accident, gets amnesia too, and she has to chase him. With you spewing that, you still get a stomachache? I don't buy it."
Hayashi Maki: "I got too into it. I can't stand how hard you're punishing Sayuka."
Utaha's cheeks tinged pink. Sayuka was her. So he was saying he couldn't stand to see her hurt.
Utaha: "Then for tomorrow's lap pillow, answer properly: how's volume two? What should I fix?"
Hayashi Maki: "There has to be something!"
Even if there wasn't, he had to propose changes. Otherwise she'd think she'd outgrown him—no longer needing his notes—and his stock would drop.
Hayashi Maki: "The amnesia is fine, but too rushed. Set a plant: have the driver who hits the heroine be the lovesick second lead. After she loses her memory, he tries to take advantage—sticking by her in the hospital. The MC sees it and misunderstands. Don't rush, Senpai. Lay out the details. Don't start with straight-up suffering—slow-burn it. That way the immersion will be deeper."
Utaha's eyes lit up. She finally saw her problem. She'd followed too many of his ideas at once; inspiration had overflowed, speeding up her scenes without polishing the plot. And what he'd just described was even more gut-wrenching than her draft—just imagining two people who loved each other being torn apart by a third party's scheming made her heart ache.
Utaha: "Got it, Maki-kun. Thanks for the notes."
Hayashi Maki: "So… Senpai, about that lap pillow?"
Utaha: "Tomorrow at lunch on the rooftop. Don't be late."
Hayashi Maki: "Ossssu~!"
Thinking about getting a lap pillow on those flawless legs on par with little Yukino's, he couldn't help adopting "Ossu-man's" catchphrase to show his excitement.
But since he'd set a date with Senpai for tomorrow, he couldn't use the rooftop to "train" the little demon Satania—or to tease the Second Heiress. So he immediately started messaging, fully leaning into his time-management-master role to adjust each "lesson" slot.