Tokyo Yandere Girlfriend

Chapter 3

Creak, creak.

In the pale dawn, the girl's bed rocked with a dry, wooden complaint. Sunlight spilled like liquid gold along her long blond hair and pooled on the floor.

The glare pried her eyelids open. Takahashi Mio yanked the quilt over her head.

Moments later the heat became unbearable. She kicked one long, milky leg out from under the covers; from thigh to toe there wasn't an ounce of excess flesh. It looked like a baguette soaked in condensed milk—one bite and you'd be hooked for life.

She rolled over, curled into a tight C-shape, and hugged the blanket.

Still sleepy. Not nearly enough sleep.

Her head felt stuffed with cotton, her eyes gritty, as if a mosquito had bitten her eyelid. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to force herself back into unconsciousness. Impossible.

Something like quicklime sat in her chest, fizzing and burning until she couldn't stand it. After wriggling like a silkworm for several minutes, Mio gave up and opened her eyes.

Irritated, she pulled the phone from beneath her pillow and held it above her face.

7:23.

Only seven o'clock.

She sighed.

Her first lecture wasn't until the afternoon. On a normal day she'd sleep until noon. And last night she'd tossed and turned, waking up two or three times.

She did what she'd done every time she woke up: opened the banking app, typed in the passcode.

Account balance: ¥1,312,085.

She tapped the screen with a fingernail and counted.

One, two, three...

Seven digits!

The corner of her mouth lifted involuntarily; a warm wave of satisfaction washed over her. She still owed two million in revolving online loans, but those had been rolled over for ages. The highest her account had ever reached before was three hundred thousand yen.

Fearful she might be dreaming, she bit the inside of her cheek. A sharp sting flashed through her, instantly clearing her head.

It's... real?

Someone had actually wired her 1.3 million yen in one go.

That guy really is an idiot.

He'd said something about becoming his girlfriend and fulfilling "girlfriend duties," but he hadn't specified what those duties were—so she could define them herself. And these days, even kissing or sex could probably count, right?

What a moron.

Still, if he actually asked for that, she'd probably refuse...

At the thought, her brow knitted; her toes curled under the blanket.

Could she really refuse?

A rock dropped into the still pond of her mind, sending ripples everywhere. She hated admitting it, but—

Wasn't this... being kept? She'd never even been in love, and already someone was keeping her?

What kind of garbage plot twist is this? Life really sucks.

But it didn't feel like the stories she'd heard. Some classmates had sugar daddies, and their arrangements always seemed to involve sex...

Shiratori Seiya wanted neither this nor that—he just wanted her as his girlfriend. Could he have been secretly in love with her for ages, head-over-heels, and had finally decided to confess with a grand, selfless gesture?

She replayed yesterday's conversation in her head. After a long moment she sighed.

All she remembered of Shiratori Seiya was that dead-fish-eyed, expressionless face.

With her looks she'd been confessed to plenty of times; the shy boys who'd worshipped from afar were too many to count. But Seiya's face had shown no trace of affection at all.

Besides—how did he know about her debts? That note had even threatened to call her mother...

How much does he actually know about me? This pervert...

Damn it, who is he?

The more she thought, the more unfathomable Shiratori Seiya became. He had some secret, no doubt.

Tsk.

She clicked her tongue, inhaled sharply, and sat bolt upright. Scrolling to the top of her contacts, she tapped the first name.

The phone rang for ages before a groggy female voice oozed through.

"Mio, you have ten seconds to explain why you just cost me ten million yen."

Mio blinked. "Huh? What ten million? Reika, are you still half-asleep?"

"Exactly—I was half-asleep. I was dreaming about making beautiful babies with a gorgeous guy when you ruined it. Ever heard the old Chinese saying, 'A single night of spring is worth a thousand taels of gold'? A thousand taels—that's ten million yen. I'm letting you off lightly, considering our friendship..."

"Cut the nonsense. I need to ask you something important."

"If you can't blurt it out, it isn't important. Five seconds left—"

"Tch! Do you know a guy named Shiratori Seiya?"

...

Tokyo outskirts, a cramped apartment.

Shiratori Seiya had no idea what mental gymnastics Takahashi Mio was currently performing. He was chewing on a half-cooked steak while staring at the system interface, planning his next move.

He opened Mio's profile and a stream of data appeared.

[Name]: Takahashi Mio

[Stamina]: 5

[Charm]: 8

[Intelligence]: 6

[Special Skill]: Acting

[Acting Potential]: S

[Acting Level]: Entry (Entry → Apprentice → Proficient → Master → Perfect)

[Next Level Rewards]: ¥1 million, unlock LV2 Script purchase permission.

[Romance Check-in Days]: 0 (30 consecutive days → ¥1 million bonus)

Four years ago—when Seiya was still a third-year middle-schooler—he had awakened the Romance Career Development System. Its function was simple: raise the skills and daily check-ins of a designated romantic target to earn money.

For a boy whose parents had died in an accident and who now lived with an aunt, the system was a godsend.

At first, Seiya had been ambitious: he'd cultivate a generation of Sword Saints, Song Gods, Painting Saints, Best Actresses—then sit back and rake in the cash.

Reality was harsher.

Over four years he'd met plenty of prospects—many of them geniuses stuck in obscurity. But because he was underage, no one wanted to end up in handcuffs for grooming.

When he confessed, the gentle older girls would pat his head and say with a smile, "You're adorable, kid, but you're too young. If I'm still single when you grow up, maybe we can talk." The sharper, colder ones looked at him as if to say, "Whose brat is this?" and told him to scram.

Mission failed before it began.

Unable even to establish a romantic link, Seiya changed tactics and aimed for girls his own age. Maybe luck—or a system failsafe—kicked in. From third year of middle school to high-school graduation, he managed to cultivate two romantic targets.

The first had been a disaster in terms of profit. She swept every kendo tournament during her first year of high school and, had things continued, would have become the Heisei era's first Female Sword Saint. Yet Seiya earned barely two million yen over two years, all of it from daily check-ins.

In other words, the Sword Saint route was a money pit.

That was when Shiratori Seiya finally understood: unless an instructor had real fame, teaching kendo paid nothing.

He took the lesson to heart and switched to a career that actually earned cash.

At the same high school he discovered a girl who possessed top-tier vocal talent.

After months of courting her—and finally locking down a relationship—he poured every ounce of scheming into turning her into a singer.

He used the system to cash in for every catchy tune he could find, pushing her hard toward stardom.

To catapult her into the spotlight, Seiya burned every last yen he'd saved in senior year on two LV3 tracks: "The Old Man and the Sea" and "Yakimochi (Jealousy)," pulled from a parallel world.

She didn't let him down. After a year of groundwork she exploded onto the scene, and within months Japan's music press was already hailing her as the next big star.

Seiya pinned all his hopes on his second protégée; with her talent and work ethic, reaching the "Perfect" tier in singing was only a matter of time.

Once she hit Master—then Perfect—he'd unlock LV4 and LV5 works.

With enough cash he'd then purchase phenomenon-level songs like "Lemon" and "Uchiage Hanabi," and by graduation the two of them could finally be free of financial worry.

A win-win for both sides.

But plans, as always, lose to reality.

Barely a few months after her breakthrough—before Seiya could even recoup his investment—the girl grabbed his hand and said, eyes shining,

"Seiya, let's get engaged after graduation, okay?"

Seiya blinked. "Huh?"

"Engaged first. Once we finish university I'll stay home and nowhere else. You'll write songs, and I'll take care of you—always be with you. How's that?"

"Seiya, do you want a boy or a girl?"

Seiya stared, speechless.

...