She'd been thinking purely about book pages, but Shiroi Shiori's overly vivid imagination immediately conjured an image of their two bodies overlapping.
No, no, no! That definitely won't happen!
Shiori felt her cheeks heat up. Just like Akira earlier, once the serious atmosphere dissolved, her sense of shame suddenly revived—and the embarrassment she'd accumulated instantly burst out, making her entire body hot.
Maybe because their conversation kept circling around the topic of nudity, and she actually did strip completely naked in front of him, her imagination was now running at full throttle.
When she looked at Akira sitting there on her bed, it felt like she had X-ray vision, clearly picturing him without clothes. Yet the most crucial part remained fuzzy, as she'd never seen the real thing.
I kind of want to see it… Wait, no!
Stop it, me! Stop thinking these dirty thoughts!
Shiori shook her head vigorously, as if rattling a drum.
Besides, he was the guy Hitomi cared about!
According to Shiori's understanding of her best friend, Anri Hitomi treated everyone warmly but always maintained a polite distance from boys—even toward that childhood friend of hers.
But when Hitomi faced Kuroba Akira, it was obvious that distance shrank dramatically—not just physically, but emotionally too.
This meant that Akira had successfully entered Hitomi's heart.
This guy really knows how to persuade people, Shiori thought. Even she had been thoroughly convinced by him.
It wasn't smooth talk or empty flattery, but genuine sincerity, which was precisely why it moved hearts so deeply.
And because Akira had always been such a blunt, straightforward guy, she initially misunderstood him. But now she realized that he was actually entirely transparent in his words and deeds.
After removing her biased lens completely, Shiori found that she actually rather liked this person named Kuroba Akira.
All her negative impressions had reversed, now becoming charming qualities instead.
Still… even though Akira wasn't dating anyone yet, if things continued like this, it was very likely he'd end up with Hitomi…
At that thought, a sour ache stirred inside Shiori's chest.
Akira was the first true soulmate she'd encountered, and Hitomi was someone she wanted as a lifelong friend. Two such important people coming together—logically, she should wholeheartedly bless their happiness…
Yet why was she feeling this way…?
Could it be… that she… liked… him…?
No!
It was merely admiration and respect!
She couldn't yet definitively call this feeling romantic attraction!
At most, it was just an illusion created by the ambiguous atmosphere and raging hormones!
She'd never seen a boy's body before, which naturally piqued her curiosity!
This was just desire clouding her judgment!
It wasn't a denial born purely out of shyness, but a rational assessment.
Shiori had read countless romance novels, and so her definition of love was especially rigorous.
Unlike Shion, who immediately accepted her feelings as romantic, Shiori would carefully dissect and analyze any unknown emotion.
Only after eliminating every other possibility, if the feeling still remained—then, and only then, would she acknowledge it as love.
At her current stage, she decided she could simply treat Akira as a mentor and friend.
"Then I'll keep using this pen name," she said.
"You don't want to pick another one?"
Shiori slowly shook her head, smiling softly.
"No need. Actually… can I use this pen name later, too?"
"Hm? You want to use it too?"
"Yes. I also really like the pen name 'Shirako.' My family name is Shiroi, after all—this pen name suits me perfectly."
Indeed, compared to Kuroba Akira, "Shirako" sounded much more natural for Shiroi Shiori..
"So… you mean, you want me to give you this pen name entirely?"
Akira thought that handing over the pen name was no big deal; after all, he wasn't sure if he would continue writing light novels beyond this series.
If everything went smoothly, Imouto Travel could reach around twelve volumes, and with extra IF scenarios and special stories, perhaps twenty volumes total.
At a pace of one volume every three months, finishing the whole series would take about five years.
But now, with Shiori's help, their productivity could easily double—meaning it might even conclude before graduating high school.
Of course, this all depended on good sales for the first volume to guarantee the publisher's continued support.
Generally, once past the hurdles of volumes one and five, publishers rarely cancelled a series unless the author personally gave up. Publishing was a long-term investment, continually reprinting as long as books sold.
For Akira, as long as he earned enough startup funds from his light novel, he could fully shift his attention back to grooming Shion into a star. Once she hit fame and fortune, he'd comfortably coast on her earnings.
"No, that's not what I meant," Shiori clarified. "I was thinking we could share this pen name."
"Share it, huh… Then you have to pay me a usage fee, right?" Akira joked.
Unexpectedly, Shiori replied with complete seriousness, nodding earnestly:
"That's fine. If my future novels get published successfully, I'll share my royalties with you too."
"Hah?!"
This time it was Akira's turn to widen his eyes in utter disbelief, letting out an idiotic sound.
Even sharing a pen name didn't justify handing over part of her royalties, right?
What was she thinking? She had to know how important royalties were for authors—that was their main source of income!
Seeing his stunned reaction, Shiori wanted to laugh. Earlier I was the one standing there gaping like an idiot—now it's your turn!
She placed her hands on her hips, proudly lifting her chin:
"Of course, I'm not saying I'll share royalties unconditionally. I hope you'll continue guiding my writing from now on, and whenever I complete a new manuscript, you'll give me advice and feedback just like today."
"So basically… you're hiring me as your novel supervisor and editor?"
"Exactly. I know I'm not mature enough yet, and you have far richer experience than I do. I'll absorb everything I'm missing from you, so I can advance further down the literary path."
"I see… So you're planning to devour me and turn me into nourishment?"
Hearing this suggestive phrasing, Shiori's ears turned bright red again.
You, seriously…! It's because you always say things like this that I keep misunderstanding you!
But now, on second thought, this metaphor was precisely the kind a writer would use. If she'd read such a line in a novel, Shiori would definitely appreciate its creativity.
He'd completely integrated his creativity into everyday conversation… I should learn from him too!
With that resolution, Shiori boldly transformed her previous style of speech, declaring with dramatic flair:
"That's right! I'm going to eat you up completely!"