I am that male friend in the harem story-Chapter 237: Take it easy

"There are a lot of people..."

"Hold my hand. Don't let go."

"Um."

Despite being his first time in Tokyo, Irisu could see that Satoshi was calm instead of panicked or appeared so curious about everything, and even acted like a man, holding her hand and leading her, which gave her a sense of peace.

Still, looking at Irisu, who held her bag carelessly, he couldn't help but say, "Give me your bag. It would be terrible if someone stole it."

"...no one will do that, right? We're in Tokyo."

"It's better to be careful than sorry, right?"

"Well, that's true. Thank you, Satoshi."

"It's fine."

Satoshi's words were reasonable, so Irisu wasn't going to argue with him, especially when, as he had said before, "It was better to be careful than sorry."

"By the way, where are we going?"

It was as if this wasn't Satoshi's first time in Tokyo, especially since he appeared to be familiar with the location and everything there. On the other hand, Irisu had to admit that she was quite overwhelmed by the crowd since even if the number of tourists in Takayama during the peak season was high, it still couldn't be compared to the crowd in Tokyo, which had become a pack of sardines in a can, she thought.

At the same time, Irisu had to admit that she felt quite uncomfortable when she kept being stared at by many. She understood that she was beautiful, and everyone agreed with that; adding the fact that the environment of Takayama was fresh and she was also young, she appeared fairer than most of the women in this place, where they mostly put on thick makeup to hide their real faces.

Yet, she also had to admit that among all the men that she had seen along the way, Satoshi was the most handsome. All the women and some of the guys glanced at each other on their way and looked at him before glancing at his hand, which held her hand tightly with a regretful sigh, which made her quite proud somehow.

"While I know that you want to have fun first, I am sorry, I have to finish my business first."

Satoshi knew nothing about Irisu's thoughts, but after feeling a slight nostalgic feeling, he had to say Tokyo was the same as ever. It had never changed, but as he was used to the quietness of Takayama, he might need time to adjust himself.

"No, it's fine. I am the one who came with you, after all. Or... should I just wait for you here?"

Irisu knew that Satoshi came to Tokyo because he wanted to handle a contract for his manga, and when she thought of this, she couldn't help but feel quite guilty from her selfishness, so she thought to stay on the station since that way, she wouldn't bother him, right?

"Stupid!" Satoshi directly scolded Irisu, who made such a suggestion. "How can I leave you here? Follow me! If the publisher can't let the woman of their mangaka accompany him, then I will change the publisher."

"...there is no need to act that big, right?" Irisu was speechless, but her face was hot from his words.

"Once again, don't think that this city is all rainbows, okay? The security might become better with many cameras on the street, but even so, many perverts exist here, and there are also some robbers. The economy is bad now. To stay alive and feel happy, they will do anything, so stay with me."

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People might say that this country was peaceful and all, but the fact that many hentai stories started with rape had some problems. It was just that the media didn't tell it, and while the chance was low that something would happen to Irisu, while she was such a weird girl in his eyes, as she loved him so much despite their meeting and exchange, he didn't want her to be hurt.

"Okay."

"Good." Satoshi nodded. "Let's get some cream puffs before we go to the publisher. That store seems good."

"Ah, I want the chocolate one."

Somehow, Irisu was affected by him and quickly came to the sweet shop, and they had a nice coffee together, resting for a while after a long trip.

Satoshi didn't feel tired, but he knew that Irisu needed time to adjust to everything, and he could tell that she forced herself to appear okay despite how exhausted she was. Yes, on the train, they might not do much except talk, sit, and do some naughty kisses from time to time, considering how long this trip took, so he brought her to the nearby cafe to rest.

"The price isn't that much different. No, it's cheaper here."

"If it isn't cheap, then they will lose competition in this city since there are many similar stores."

"Then, why does our place have a higher price?"

"Logistics?"

"Well..."

Takayama was located at the top of the mountain; meanwhile, Tokyo was located near the sea, which meant it had a port, so its logistics were easier, and it could get many cheap ingredients easily than Takayama, which was a landlocked city.

"By the way, is it okay for us to rest here so relaxed? You have to meet the editor now, right? It won't be good if you meet the editor too late, right?"

In her mind, she knew that being late would give a bad impression, so she wondered whether it was okay for them to stay relaxed like this.

"It will be fine."

"Really?"

Facing her doubt, Satoshi said, "We can just say that the train is in trouble or we're unfamiliar with the city, so we're a little late."

"....." Irisu.

"More importantly, the editor of the book has a different time of working."

"Really?"

"Due to the writer's writing schedule is varied since sometimes one writes in the morning and other writes at deep at night, they also need to stay quite late, or rather, they work at night and rest in the morning, so this current time is perfect."

Karen Kino, his woman when he lived as Ishigami, had a publishing company owned by her parents, and he tried to get his hand on this industry in the past as his family's toy company could use the profitable copyright of famous works on the publishing company for the toy, too.

This was also the reason why many media companies dabbled in many forms, from manga, anime, novels, games, toys, and many others, which showed how a capitalist should work.

Still, hearing his answer, sometimes, Irisu wondered whether this guy was lying, yet watching how calm he was, she knew that he didn't lie, but then again, how could he know so many things?

"How did you know everything?"

"I don't know everything. I just know what I know."

"Now, I understand why your nickname is 'Database." Irisu nodded, then asked, "Is there a way not to get heavy from eating late?"

"....." Satoshi.

"Working out."

Regardless, his choice to rest in the cafe to eat sweets and drink some coffee increased their moods. The caffeine had kicked all the exhaustion out of their bodies, and they were full of energy to go to the headquarters of Square Enix in Tokyo.

Still, if possible, Satoshi wanted to have a mobile phone so that it would be easy for him to contact his editor. 'Let's buy it later, too.'

As he thought so, they didn't leave the Tokyo Station and just continued to go to the Shinjuku Station before they took the Toei Oedo Line, walked for a bit, and then arrived at the place where he would sign his contract.

The building was immense, bigger than anything in Takayama, probably even higher than some mountains there, with a facade featuring glass panels of various sizes and angles arranged randomly to express the diversity of the city of Shinjuku.

"...it's huge." Irisu was surprised and then looked at Satoshi, who was as calm as a cucumber.

"What's wrong?"

"Is the company that will publish your manga a huge company?"

"Hmm... it should be, but it isn't the biggest, though."

"....."

Irisu wasn't sure, but she felt that this guy really knew how to boast!

Yet, while she was helpless, she was also happy for his success, and at the same time, she also sighed in relief. After watching his expression, she could tell he wasn't blinded by the glamor of this city and thought of moving to Tokyo.

Regardless, the two entered the building together before Satoshi talked about his meeting with his editor. Then, as expected, soon, a beautiful career woman with long wavy brown hair and prim and elegant style came, stunned for a moment as she saw Satoshi, then greeted him with a smile.

"Are you Fukube Satoshi-sensei?"

"...just call me Fukube-san like before, Aikawa-san."

"But you are so handsome! If you become a model or actor, you will be successful!"

"Can we talk about manga?"

"Okay, okay." Eri Aikawa sighed since she could see that Satoshi didn't appear to have an interest in moving in the direction of entertainment; after all, if he combined his manga and his other careers, then wouldn't he be successful?

Still, Eri somehow noticed the girl who stood by Satoshi's side, which made her curious. "This is?"

Irisu knew that she should have appeared collected and calm, yet somehow, facing such an elegant, successful career woman, she couldn't help but feel a slight feeling of inferiority, especially when she was away from her base. However, as she felt down, suddenly, her hand was grasped as she heard Satoshi say, "My girlfriend."

"....."