The Stand User Of The Daily World

Chapter 97: This Pink-Haired Girl Is Way Too Two-Faced!

Shunsuke really didn't want to go to Eriri's house.

Even though Mr. Spencer was always kind to him, Mrs. Sayuri was very warm and welcoming, and Eriri herself enjoyed drawing questionable doujinshi of the two of them, Shunsuke still didn't feel like going.

Or rather, the friendlier Mr. Spencer was to him, the less he wanted to go!

Does this man even know what kind of "sketchbooks" his daughter is drawing?

And not only does he know, but he even helps sell them?! Is this just how British people are?

Sure, he'd heard that Westerners tend to be pretty open-minded about these things, and compared to the wild stuff he'd seen at higher-end doujin circles, this was nothing.

But Shunsuke was neither British nor a devil-may-care type of person, so he couldn't help but feel guilty about the whole situation!

Believe me, that's the honest truth.

But now, there was no way out—he had to go.

Shunsuke sighed deeply and said to the utterly confused Suzuna, "Get ready. Mrs. Sayuri will probably help me settle this soon. By then, you'll be the editor-in-chief of the publishing house, so you'll need to take charge of this. In the meantime, see if we can poach a few more authors currently working with Shurin Publishing."

"That… doesn't seem right," Suzuna said, clearly troubled. "The editor-in-chief is still busy helping you with the literary award submissions, even though he suddenly said a few days ago it wasn't necessary anymore."

"Yeah, that's because I found someone else to handle it. So, strictly speaking, I don't owe Shurin Publishing anything. This is all just business."

Shunsuke spoke with a righteous air.

What era are we in?

Who still talks about loyalty to benefactors?

It's not like I signed a contract binding me to Shurin for fifty years after my death.

I'll submit my work to whichever publisher I please!

"Nishio -sensei, please stop changing the subject," Suzuna sighed. "We were talking about poaching authors. Doing this would completely ruin your relationship with Shurin Publishing. Aren't you worried I might have signed a non-compete clause?"

"Did you?"

"No, I didn't."

"Then there's no problem. Suzuna, the business world is a battlefield," Shunsuke said, pressing both hands on Suzuna's head and speaking with a serious expression, though even he didn't fully understand the words coming out of his mouth.

"War is deception. On the battlefield, morality doesn't exist. Victory is everything, and the victor is never criticized."

"Wasn't that Stalin's line? But look at the hammer-and-sickle bear—it's still criticized, isn't it? Its reputation is in the negatives. Using that as justification isn't very convincing."

"But in the end, wasn't it the bald eagle that won?"

Suzuna pondered for a moment before nodding. "True. If you look at it that way, it's kind of a profound statement."

Satisfied, Shunsuke patted Suzuna's head. "I'm glad you understand. My demands aren't that high, honestly. Just do your best with the other authors. All I really want is for you to poach Kirihime Natsuno for me."

Suzuna rolled her eyes, thinking Shunsuke was once again leaving her to clean up his mess.

One Kirihime Natsuno was worth ten average authors!

Since Suzuna didn't voice any objections, Shunsuke took her silence as agreement.

...

After tidying up the room, Shunsuke and Suzuna headed downstairs. On the staircase, Shunsuke unexpectedly ran into someone.

"Sa… Matsuzaka-san?"

Standing before him was a delicate-looking girl with pink hair tied into a bun. She exuded a soft, fragile charm, but Shunsuke couldn't help feeling slightly uneasy.

—The new home I just picked out… it won't end up burned to the ground, will it?

Though Shunsuke wasn't particularly afraid of this pink-haired, sweet-looking yet secretly yandere girl, his Stand couldn't extinguish fires!

—But wait, Matsuzaka Sato is now in her second year of high school instead of dying in her first year and becoming Sugar-chan. She survived her fated death without my intervention. Whose butterfly effect caused this? Is Kobe Shio around, too?

Matsuzaka Sato also seemed confused upon seeing Shunsuke. "Fujii-kun, what are you doing here?"

Shunsuke gave her a deep look and decided to test the waters. "I'm preparing to move in soon. Matsuzaka-san, do you live here too?"

Sato hesitated for a moment before letting out a soft "Mm," without revealing her exact residence.

Shunsuke smiled. "So the Matsuzaka name on the 305 doorplate is yours, huh? I'm moving into 303, so I guess we're neighbors now."

Sato quietly clicked her tongue.

She had long since secretly moved out of her aunt's place and was now living in Unit 1208.

If this misunderstanding persisted, it could cause trouble in the future.

But explaining it would be troublesome too… Wait.

A sudden thought struck Sato.

---My reputation at school is already in shambles anyway. Might as well just be upfront—it won't make things any worse.

Due to the influence of her aunt from a young age, Matsuzaka Sato developed an emotional void and was unable to feel "love."

As a result, she once went through a period of indiscriminately accepting suitors and frequently changing boyfriends, even setting a record of switching three boyfriends in a single day.

This naturally led to her gaining a terrible reputation among both girls and boys. With the girls, it was a given—no one was going to be friendly toward a beautiful femme fatale like her. As for the boys, while they might have been expected to adore someone like her, her antics were simply too outrageous.

Imagine this: a guy nervously confesses his feelings to her, only to hear her agree. Overjoyed, he practically floats home, daydreaming about their new relationship and how to start dating. But the very next day, he's told they're breaking up. Some guys didn't even get that far—still fantasizing in bed that night about their newfound "love," only to receive a breakup text before morning.

It was as if she were playing games with people's hearts!

Even though Momo Kashiwabara had over thirty boyfriends she could name—countless more she couldn't—she at least gave something back.

She scored a perfect 10 for generosity in that regard. If she didn't give, it was a hard 0. Because of this, the boys' opinions of these two girls were starkly divided.

No one could figure out how Matsuzaka Sato and Kashiwabara Momo became close friends.

Matsuzaka Sato was, of course, aware of her reputation at school, but her emotional detachment meant she didn't particularly care.

Adding another label—like being suspected of living with an older man and possibly being a "compensated dating" girl—didn't seem like much of a leap to her.

—But openly admitting it might cause trouble. After all, her school records listed her as living with her aunt. If that lie were exposed and someone investigated, things could get very messy.

The artist she was staying with was, in typical artistic fashion, completely eccentric and oblivious.

He didn't care what Sato did in his home, so she'd practically taken over the place.

In the original timeline, she had even murdered him and stolen the property, a textbook case of the cuckoo taking over the nest.

Now, the idea of moving back in with her aunt didn't appeal to her at all.

Seeing Sato's hesitant expression, Shunsuke made a rough guess.

It seemed the artist was still alive, and Sato hadn't gone entirely off the deep end—she hadn't killed anyone or fully "unleashed" herself yet.

She was still approachable, as long as Kobe Shio didn't show up. Without her influence, there was no immediate threat to his life.

That thought made Shunsuke exhale in relief.

After all, Sato was still one of Rui Tachibana's only two friends at Sobu High.

When Shunsuke found this out yesterday, his heart had nearly stopped.

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