Mash-Up Anime World: Anything for Money

After a long while, Ginko snapped out of her thoughts, picked up her phone, and transferred three hours' worth of overtime pay to Hakuto.

A moment later, Hakuto's phone, tucked away in his pocket, chimed with the familiar sound of money being deposited.

And in the very next second, Hakuto's eyes snapped open. He sprang up from his futon in one swift motion, his long hair brushing past Ginko's nose, leaving behind a faint scent of shampoo.

"I hear it... the everlasting echo..."

Ginko: "??!"

Hakuto pulled out his phone and looked at the 30,000 yen that had just been deposited into his bank account. 

Instantly, all his fatigue vanished.

Turning around, he locked eyes with Ginko. They stared at each other for a long time before Hakuto finally smiled and said,

"I'm going to take a bath."

"Make sure you get some rest, Ginko."

"If you're hungry, there's some bread on the nightstand. Feel free to eat it."

As he spoke, he even made a heart shape with his fingers at her before leaving the room, leaving Ginko standing there alone.

Watching him form that little heart with his fingers before leaving, Ginko's face flushed red. 

She bit her lip.

"Hakuto... that day isn't far away..."

"I will become a professional shogi player."

Ginko swore to herself that the moment she reached 4-dan in the Shoreikai, she would confess her feelings to Hakuto.

Setting her phone down, she climbed into her bed.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Hakuto looked at the extra 30,000 yen in his account and couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement.

But he couldn't show it in front of Ginko. Every time she transferred money to him, he always wanted to laugh, but he had to hold it in.

So, every time, he would think of all the sad things in his life to keep himself from smiling. 

The result was his face always ending up in an awkward, twisted expression—one that looked oddly melancholic.

Poor Ginko. 

She actually thought he was struggling internally, feeling guilty about accepting her money.

Hakuto set his phone down on the coffee table and instinctively reached up to untie his hair.

But the moment his fingers touched his head, he realized his hair tie was missing.

"Huh? Where's my hair tie?"

"...Did Ginko take it again?"

For some reason, Ginko had a habit of specifically taking Hakuto's hair ties.

Every time she wanted to tie up her hair, she would reach over and yank the one straight off his head—without fail.

Even when she had extra hair ties on hand, she always took his.

At this point, Ginko had taken over a hundred hair ties from him. They weren't expensive, but Hakuto still pulled out a notebook and carefully noted it down.

"Even a mosquito is still meat..."

"I'm way too frugal!"

Satisfied, he placed the notebook into the coffee table drawer, wiped his nose, and gave himself a proud little smirk.

"Alright, time for a bath."

Just as he was about to step into the bathroom, he noticed something on the balcony.

A pair of small feet, clad in black stockings, slowly descended from above, dangling midair as they tried to reach the railing of his balcony.

The feet were too short, failing to find a foothold.

Hakuto let out a long sigh and walked to the balcony. 

But instead of immediately offering his hands to help, he simply poked his head out and looked up at the owner of the feet.

There, clinging to a rope with both hands, was Takanashi Rikka. Her legs kicked frantically, searching for a place to land.

When she met Hakuto's dark, ink-black eyes, a bright smile spread across her face—like she had just found something truly wonderful.

"Hero... help me..."

"I told you to stop doing such dangerous things."

Although he sighed in complaint, Hakuto still reached out his hands to support those small feet wrapped in black stockings, allowing Rikka to safely land on the balcony.

"Wahoo~ The Dark Lord's Mystic Eyes have successfully landed!!"

Hakuto ignored her chuunibyou-style proclamation and turned toward the door.

But Rikka remained completely unfazed, continuing to chatter away as she followed behind him.

"Hero, I've decided to establish our very own base at school."

"I need your help."

"Mm-hmm."

Hakuto absentmindedly nodded, not paying much attention. 

It was already past 10 PM, and having a girl show up at a boy's place at this hour wasn't exactly appropriate. 

Right now, the only thing on his mind was getting Rikka out of here.

"Right? Right? You agree that we should have our own base too, don't you, Hero?"

Hearing what she thought was his agreement, Rikka's face lit up with excitement. But the next second, what greeted her was a swift chop to the head from Hakuto's slender fingers.

"Ow!"

A crisp sound echoed as his hand struck her head, leaving a faint red mark on her forehead.

"Hero, that was so mean! Why the sudden sneak attack?"

Ignoring her grumbling, Hakuto simply opened the door and gestured toward the exit.

"Hmm? Hero, are you kicking me out?"

"No way, no way, no way! I went through so much trouble to escape the surveillance of the Holy Disciplinary Squad just to meet you!"

Panicked, Rikka suddenly latched onto Hakuto, clinging to him like a koala. No matter how he tried, he couldn't shake her off.

"The Dark Lord's Mystic Eyes, it's late. What you should be doing right now is getting some rest."

"If there's anything important, we can talk about it tomorrow at school."

"No way! If we talk about it at school, that golden-haired ice block will steal all your free time again!"

At that, she hugged him even tighter. Hakuto sighed and instinctively rubbed his forehead, a helpless smile appearing on his lips.

The golden-haired ice block Rikka was referring to was none other than his former collaborator, Sawamura Eriri.

As for why Rikka called her that, her own explanation was:

"She's got golden hair and is known as an untouchable flower on a high peak. If she's not a golden-haired ice block, then what is she?"

Even after two years, in the eyes of his friends, Hakuto was still seen as nothing more than a hopeless simp.

But Hakuto didn't feel embarrassed about it at all. In fact, he hoped Eriri would renew their contract for a few more years—after all, a stable income meant a more comfortable life.

Of course, telling Rikka tomorrow was just a stalling tactic. Even if Eriri wasn't a factor, he'd rather spend his time reading a couple more books instead.

"Alright, alright, let go of me."

"It's late. You should go home."

"But I just got here…"

"And? Does that change anything?"

Hakuto reached out, attempting to pry Rikka off of him.

Sensing his strength and realizing she couldn't win in a contest of raw power, Rikka, in desperation, blurted out:

"I can give you gold coins…"

Silence.

The entire room fell into a moment of stillness, and Hakuto's hands froze mid-motion.

Then, with a gentle smile, he spoke in a soft voice.

"The Dark Lord's Mystic Eyes~"

"I, the Undefeated Weakest Hero, swear upon the Holy Sword of the Realm—"

"Tomorrow at noon, under the sunlight at school, we shall reunite."

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Advanced Chapters will be available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics

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