Beautiful looks, a distinguished family background, outstanding talent…
The girl named Togawa Sakiko was, without a doubt, a darling of the heavens in the eyes of the world.
If nothing unexpected happened, she would never have to worry about money in her life. All she needed to do was sing the praises of youth and pursue her dreams to her heart's content.
However, not only might God be a girl—God might also be a Togawa fan.
And when you think that nothing unexpected will happen, that's usually exactly when something does.
Compared to another person who was also from a single-parent family yet still managed to live in a high-rise building, the psychological gap of falling from Roman nobility to kneeling mule-horse class was obviously not something one could easily accept.
It was only on the day she faced the ferocious beast called reality head-on that the girl realized just how laughable the bird named "dream" was in the face of reality's gravity.
Even so, fate still had no intention of letting her go.
Though she had already fallen from the sky into the dust, fate still sought to drag her further down into a bottomless abyss of darkness.
After leaving the Togawa family, Sakiko not only bid farewell to the wealthy life of the past that once suffocated her, but also took on a massive debt beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
And now, the claim to that debt had fallen into Kamijou Mutsuki's hands.
On the surface, it didn't seem like much—after all, it was merely a matter of paying back a different person. But to Sakiko, the two were entirely different concepts.
After all, no matter what, she was still the eldest daughter of the Togawa family.
Even in the past, if she had been given a choice, she could have continued being her ladyship. But proud as she was, and valuing family bonds above all else, she herself had chosen the life she now lived. Therefore, although the debt objectively existed, the Togawa family would not pressure her too harshly.
But if it were Kamijou Mutsuki instead, who knew what he might do?
After all, this debt was by no means a small sum to anyone. Why would Kamijou Mutsuki willingly take over as the one to collect it?
It couldn't possibly be out of pure kindness—or for the sake of her useless father, who drank all day and had to rely on his own daughter to support him, could it?
Togawa Sakiko knew very well how attractive she was to the opposite sex. Kamijou Mutsuki's intentions were obvious even without thinking.
In just a few short seconds, she had already mentally played out almost an entire story titled The Fallen Noble: Togawa Sakiko.
Kamijou Mutsuki wouldn't even need to use any special methods. Just as he said, all he'd have to do was send people to collect the debt while she was at school, and he could easily crush every last shred of her dignity.
"What… do you want to do?"
The girl bit down hard on her already pale lips, staring stubbornly at the boy.
Yet deep within her eyes, the confusion and despair were difficult to conceal.
She should… in the end…
"You."
"?"
"Ahem. Miss Togawa, wasn't my purpose made very clear from the very beginning?"
Although Sakiko's current expression looked exceptionally sweet and tempting, Kamijou Mutsuki felt that if he kept teasing her any further, he might really see her flying through the air tomorrow.
"Flying Sakiko" was fine as a joke, but actually making it happen was completely unnecessary.
"Now, Miss Togawa, you should be interested in my proposal, right?"
"Your proposal…"
Hearing Kamijou Mutsuki's words, Sakiko finally recalled the reason he had approached her in the first place.
"…That is… having me do the voice acting for your animation?"
She looked at Kamijou Mutsuki with some hesitation, her gaze suddenly turning strange.
Spending that much money just to have me voice your animation?
Even in her current situation, Sakiko couldn't help but think to herself: this guy is sick.
After all, with that amount of money, you could buy a not-so-small animation company. What kind of voice actor couldn't you hire?
Was she really worth that much?
Even with Sakiko's personality, she couldn't help feeling somewhat flattered.
"Here's the contract, along with the scripts for the first three episodes. Aside from the necessary living expenses, the rest of the salary will all go toward paying off the debt."
"There shouldn't be any problem with that, right?"
"…I don't really have the ability to refuse, do I?"
After a long silence, Sakiko bit her lip and replied like that.
No matter what Kamijou Mutsuki's true intentions were, she could only choose to comply—she had no power to resist.
Still, she had more or less come to terms with it. If Kamijou Mutsuki really planned to do something excessive, then at worst… "Flying Sakiko" it would be.
With that thought, Sakiko took the contract and the script from Kamijou Mutsuki.
However, she wasn't particularly interested in the contents of the contract.
Like she said—at worst, she'd just go all-in with him.
What kind of animation was worth that level of investment?
Yet when she saw the four characters "Togawa Sakiko" printed on the cover of the script, the girl couldn't help but furrow her brow slightly.
There wasn't even a character name for the role?
She didn't dwell on it too much; she'd find out sooner or later anyway.
But Sakiko's calm didn't last long. The very first line of dialogue made her nearly lose it.
"Today I came because I have something to say. I'm quitting CRYCHIC."
Sakiko: "???"
She never would have imagined that she'd see the word "CRYCHIC" appear in a script.
And moreover…
It felt as if Sakiko had been dragged back to that rainy day—one she knew she'd probably never forget for the rest of her life.
How… did he know?
"This line…"
Standing in front of Kamijou Mutsuki, the Sakiko who had just calmed down completely broke again within a matter of seconds.
"…What is going on with this line?"
"Why does CRYCHIC appear?"
Damn it, the past is still chasing me!
"Because I'm a fan of CRYCHIC…"
Faced with Sakiko, whose emotions were spiraling out of control, the well-prepared Kamijou Mutsuki answered with a smile.
"…I feel that making an animation based on CRYCHIC's story would definitely be a huge hit."
"…Based on CRYCHIC…"
It had to be said—true to her character, Sakiko quickly adjusted her emotions.
Or rather, if the earlier events hadn't already shattered her psychological defenses, she wouldn't have lost control so easily.
"So that's why it has to be me?"
"…You really are a nasty person."
Even though the person in front of her was her creditor, Sakiko couldn't help saying that.
Kamijou Mutsuki's actions were, without a doubt, like tearing open a wound that had already scabbed over—and then sprinkling chili oil on top of it.
Just recalling the past was already unbearably painful for her, and now Kamijou Mutsuki wanted to turn it into an animation and show it to the whole world for free.
You really know how to torment people!
Togawa Sakiko suddenly felt that Kamijou Mutsuki might indeed have some kind of "interest" in her—only that this interest wasn't desire, but hatred.
However, regardless of what Kamijou Mutsuki's intentions were, she had no power to resist.
"You've misunderstood me there. Can't you see my love for CRYCHIC?"
A twisted MyGO fan was still a MyGO fan—and among people who love MyGO, who isn't at least a little twisted?
"…Let's just go with that. When you need the voice work, come find me. If there's nothing else, I'm going to work."
No matter what happened, work still had to go on.
"Alright then. But for convenience, we should exchange LINE IDs."
Now that his objective had been achieved, Kamijou Mutsuki had no intention of making customer-service Sakiko quit her job to become a full-time voice actor for him.
There was no need for it yet, and he didn't have the standing to do so.
Besides, poking Teacher Big-Sakiko's nerves any further might make her go all-in with him!
As for exchanging LINE IDs, Sakiko clearly had no reason to refuse. However, when she saw Kamijou Mutsuki's LINE display name, she nearly lost her composure once again.
"I have never felt happy being a capitalist."
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