“Why has it started serialization again?” Miyuki sat on the caregiver’s chair next to the hospital bed, picked up the manuscript and began to look through it.

She flipped through the pages slowly, her eyes following the movement of the manuscript as she looked at it very carefully.

“Yanogami, you’re not a fan of mine, are you?” Shirakawa Natsu teased. When he first took out the Bleach manuscript, Yanogami commented that only chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur) would like it.

“I’m reviewing the manuscript.” Mikoto said seriously, and if you only looked at her expression, you would really believe her.

Shirakawa Natsu wanted to learn how to control his facial expressions from her, so he put on a cool and aloof expression and seriously flipped through the manga that Shirakawa Natsu mentioned as being in the late stages of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).

As long as I’m not embarrassed, it’s others who are embarrassed.

Miyuki spent half an hour flipping through the 63-page manuscript until she reached the last page. She then closed the manuscript, flattened it with her hand, and carefully placed it into the envelope used to store the artwork.

After finishing everything, he turned to Shirakawa Natsumi and said, “I want to talk to you about the request I made yesterday.”

Shirakawa Natsu knew she was referring to commissioning an investigation into Hashimoto Arina, but the mention of a commission…

The strange sensation of being enveloped involuntarily surfaced in my mind: warm, moist, wriggling, sticky, alluring, and… excruciating pain.

“It’s not about mouth. I didn’t study after I got home last night.” Miyuki said casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Why would you want to date Hashimoto Arina?”

Shirakawa Natsu was taken aback. He couldn’t possibly say it was because of the app, so he wanted to find an excuse to cover it up first.

“At first, I thought it was because of that woman’s gentleness that you had unrealistic fantasies.” Mikoto cut him off before he could speak, silencing his excuse.

“But after I thought about it carefully when I got home last night, I realized that’s not the case.”

As she spoke, she leaned forward, her expression serious as she met Shirakawa Natsu’s eyes: “You’re not the kind of guy who would accept other women’s advances without a second thought after having a girl he likes, so what’s your reason?”

“Do you think I have a mental obsession with cleanliness?” Shirakawa Natsu chuckled awkwardly. He hadn’t expected his childhood friend to have such keen intuition, detecting the problem from such subtle clues.

One lie requires countless lies to cover it up; Miyuki’s gaze has an invisible pressure.

His face remained expressionless, but his heart was pounding, and he couldn’t find a suitable reason in a short time.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then forget it.” Miyuki suddenly sat up straight, and the oppressive feeling from before vanished instantly: “Sometimes, a man doesn’t need too many reasons to do something.”

“I want to have a serious relationship with her,” Shirakawa Natsumi said. Even without the app, Hashimoto Arina’s outward strength, gentleness, and understanding, as well as her playfulness during dates and her vulnerable side that evoked a protective instinct, all attracted him.

“I will help you continue investigating her.” Miyuki picked up the manuscript and suddenly said seriously:

“But you also need to be prepared that the woman is not as pure and innocent as you seem.”

Shirakawa Natsu frowned. Hashimoto Arina had given him the feeling of being under immense pressure during their date yesterday, and he was also concerned about it.

“Why do you say that? You only started investigating yesterday, right? How come you found out so quickly?”

“The hospital director has a daughter who is 19 years old and studying at Tokyo Medical College,” Miyuki said.

“She has a relationship with Hashimoto Arina?” Shirakawa Natsumi’s mind was already conjuring up all sorts of chaotic scenes from a prime-time soap opera.

“No.” Miyuki shrugged. “I hit on her last night. She told me some rumors about Hashimoto Arina, but most of them were just hearsay.”

“However, there’s no smoke without fire. I’ll let you know once I’ve confirmed the truth.”

After finishing speaking, Mi-no-Kami stood up, waved to him, and left gracefully.

Shirakawa Natsu watched her retreating figure, a mountain of complaints swirling in her mind, unsure where to begin. She’d really pulled off that impressive display.

The amazing app has chosen the wrong host. If it appeared on Miyuki’s phone, it would be taking off.

As for the rumors about Hashimoto Arina, he didn’t care. Reality isn’t a Korean drama where two people break up and get back together over a misunderstanding, dragging on for several episodes. Mature adults observe the truth quietly before drawing conclusions.

Given Miyuki’s fighting prowess, it wouldn’t be surprising if, after some time, he came to tell him that he had already slept with all the beautiful doctors and young nurses in the hospital and obtained firsthand information.

“Don’t waste your precious time on meaningless things.” Shirakawa Natsu picked up her paintbrush and sketchbook, found a comfortable position on the hospital bed, and began to paint quickly.

While the disease brought him pain, it also gave him extraordinary endurance.

After enduring the pain, his willpower became stronger, allowing him to focus intently and quickly enter a state of flow.

His drawings seem to be a passage to another world, allowing readers to glimpse another world from this side of the paper.

There’s a reason why many of the world’s greatest works were completed when the authors were battling illness.

He continued painting until evening, when the setting sun cast a red veil over the sky outside the window, before being interrupted by a phone call from Miyuki, who had taken the painting.

“A fan briefing? Because the hiatus has been too long, we need to hold a press conference to apologize!” Shirakawa Natsumi said matter-of-factly.

“I stopped updating on my own merits, why should I apologize? I’m not going, absolutely not going. If they have the guts, they can’t publish it!”

Shirakawa Natsu hung up the phone after she finished speaking.

“Pfft.” A soft laugh suddenly came from the side.

It was Hashimoto Arina, dressed in a doctor’s uniform, holding a lunchbox, standing next to the hospital bed.

She came in while he was on the phone and listened to his entire conversation with Miyuki.

After Shirakawa Natsu hung up the phone, Hashimoto Arina lightly tapped his head and scolded him playfully:

“Honestly, it’s clearly your fault, yet you speak so self-righteously. Apologize to your fans.”

“I don’t have any fans.” Shirakawa Natsu shrugged. “They’re all just haters.”

“Moreover, comic book readers are actually very easy to satisfy. They care more about the quality of the comic than the waiting time. As long as the story is exciting enough, they will still curse the author as a scoundrel while honestly taking out their money to buy it.”

“You just have a lot of fallacies.” Hashimoto Arina looked like she couldn’t argue with him, and handed him the lunchbox: “Here, lunch.”

“Oh, is there a bento box made by Sister Cai?” Shirakawa Natsu asked with delight, placing the bento box on the bedside table in front of her, her eyes shining.

“Sister Youcai is too omnipotent. Is Sister Youcai the perfect heroine in a comic book? She is beautiful, a strong worker, and good at housework.”

“You’re so glib.” Hashimoto Arina patted his head. “Eat up, we still have time to go for a walk tonight.”

“Hmm.” Bai Chuantian was already tired of eating the hospital food every day, and now he felt a sense of excitement, like opening a blind box.

The bento box was slowly opened, and Shirakawa Natsu saw the dishes clearly. He kept his smile and closed the bento box again before opening it once more.

“Stop looking and eat.” Hashimoto Arina’s face was slightly flushed: “This is a nutritious dinner, mainly taking into account nutritional balance and combination.”

“I appreciate Sister Cai’s kindness.” Shirakawa Natsu picked up her chopsticks and started shoveling food into her mouth.

Hashimoto Arina held her hair up with one hand, constantly glancing at his expression out of the corner of her eye; she was actually quite concerned about his opinion.

“I’m full.” Shirakawa Natsu put down her chopsticks, her expression happy.

“How is it? Is it to your liking?” Hashimoto Arina turned her head away, not daring to look at his expression, and spoke in a very soft voice.

Shirakawa Natsumi didn’t answer immediately. After organizing her thoughts for a moment, she praised him in a way that demonstrated high emotional intelligence:

“It melts in your mouth, is light and healthy, and the food is mixed together, which can fundamentally solve the problem of picky eating.”

“Pfft…” Hashimoto Arina laughed out loud, then covered her mouth and scolded, “Nonsense.”

He said he was blaming her, but he was actually smiling happily.

Hashimoto Arina packed up the lunchbox and helped him out of the ward.

It’s evening now, and most of the patients in the hospital who are able to get out of bed do so for a walk around.

The two walked side by side, maintaining some distance between them because they were in the hospital.

In fact, the attending physician does not accompany the patient for walks; that is the nursing job.

But when the two walked together, no one suspected that they had an improper relationship.

One is a sunny, beautiful, and mature female doctor; the other is a thin and weak little boy.

No matter how you look at it, there’s no way there could be any ambiguity; it’s just that Dr. Hashimoto Arina is gentle and kind, taking care of a bedridden child.

Shirakawa Natsu is not short; she is 178 cm tall. She just appears small because she has been bedridden for a long time.

Arina Hashimoto greeted the patients and their families warmly along the way.

She raised her hand again, smiling and waving to an old man.

“Arina, watch out!” Shirakawa Natsu suddenly spoke up as he noticed a pebble under Hashimoto Arina’s feet.

She was waving, so she didn’t notice where she was standing.

By the time Shirakawa Natsumi spoke, it was already too late; Hashimoto Arina’s high heels touched the pebbles.

The body lost its balance in an instant and fell backward.

Shirakawa Natsu reacted quickly, stepping forward and standing behind her as soon as she called out, reaching out to catch her.

“Ah!” Hashimoto Arina exclaimed in surprise as she felt herself leaning against a firm and strong embrace.

Shirakawa Natsu also stumbled, but reacted quickly, bracing herself with her right foot and embracing her with both hands.

The soft fragrance enveloped him, and only when he embraced her, pressing down her clothes and touching her skin, did he realize how delicate Hashimoto Arina’s body was.

At that moment, time seemed to be paused, and only the two of them could understand the feeling.

Hashimoto Arina hurriedly got up from his arms and reached out to straighten her uniform: “Natsu, you’re surprisingly reassuring.”

“Of course, I’m a man.” Shirakawa Natsu raised her arms.

Hashimoto Arina is around 1.7 meters tall. She usually wears high-heeled uniforms and flesh-colored stockings, which make her white coat look very big because it is stretched out of place.

When you actually hold it in your arms, you can feel that uniquely feminine delicacy.

Hashimoto Arina smiled and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a nurse suddenly ran up to her.

He called out to Arina Hashimoto, “Dr. Arina, there’s a handsome guy with long hair looking for you at the hospital entrance.”