Shirase agreed.
He didn’t have other plans today anyway. His only regret was that the sweet mood he and Nino had shared earlier had been cut short.
Nino’s beautiful legs had already been “tested” by his own hands—soft, smooth, delicate.
Seeing him accept, Ichika flashed a bright smile, ducked into her room to change, then promptly dragged him out the door.
Watching them go, Nakano Nino couldn’t help feeling suspicious.
It wasn’t that she feared Ichika and Shirase sneaking around; it was Ichika’s claim that it was “work-related,” plus the way she’d purposely avoided everyone’s eyes, that set Nino on edge.
“Secretive… work…”
Stringing the words together, Nino’s expression shifted.
Isn’t that exactly the kind of phrasing those shady places online use?
Her cheeks flared and she quickly shook the thought away.
No, no way. Ichika would never work somewhere like that. And besides, Shirase’s with her.
“But what kind of job fits those keywords and needs secrecy…?”
Another answer surfaced.
A part-time maid. Maybe even at a maid café.
Classic tropes from dramas and anime flickered through her mind. If it was that, everything made sense.
The more Nino thought, the more convinced she became. “A part-time maid job really isn’t something you announce. And if Ichika brought Shirase along, that means he already knew… Wait—when we watched that movie last time, he was clearly covering for her!”
Women, perhaps, turn into Holmes when it comes to certain hunches—maybe the conclusion lands a bit off, but the reasoning tends to be weirdly complete.
In five minutes, Nino had thoroughly convinced herself Shirase was helping Ichika keep a secret.
“But he never told me… so Ichika must’ve asked him to hide it from us.”
Nino felt like she was closing in on the truth.
Even so, the thought of Ichika at a maid café still felt off.
“I need someone to talk this through with.”
Instinctively, she glanced at the bedrooms. According to Ichika, Miku was the only one at home—but Nino had no interest in discussing this with her. They were hardly peaceful to begin with.
“Yotsuba’s a nonstarter—she’ll blurt it out. And Itsuki… too innocent. Her life experience is about the same as mine; I won’t get anything useful.”
She scrolled through her contacts until her eyes landed on “Kana-nee.”
A reliable older sister figure she trusted.
“Most importantly, Kana-nee’s already out in the world. Her work and life experience are way beyond mine.”
With her thoughts in order, Nino dialed Kojima Kana.
“Sorry to bother you right now, Kana-nee… Yeah, it’s me, Nino. I need your advice on something… Um, so, a friend seems to be hiding something from me, and I suspect she might be working somewhere she doesn’t want people to know about… Kana-nee, stop guessing randomly! I never said it was a shady place!”
…
While Nino was on the phone, Ichika had already pulled Shirase out onto the street.
“What was so urgent you had to rush me?” he asked, genuinely curious.
Looking a little sheepish, Ichika said, “The director from last time called. He asked if you’d signed with an agency yet. If not, he wanted me to talk you into it.”
Shirase laughed. “He thinks that highly of me? Guy’s got an eye for talent.”
Ichika pouted. “Quit flattering yourself. Anyway, I know you’re not interested, so I already turned him down. But I think he’ll keep calling—everyone on the crew knows we’re acquainted.”
Shirase nodded. “If you already turned him down, why bring me out here?”
“There’s a chance to make some extra cash—interested?” Ichika’s smile turned sly.
“Extra cash?”
“Right. Same late-night drama as before. Here’s the gist of this episode: the male lead is a former pro soccer player who retired from injury and is barely getting by, until one day he picks up a notebook…”
“Then he finds out the notebook somehow links him to the past. Its original owner was a high school girl who was a huge fan of his, but she died in an accident. They start communicating through the notebook, and with her encouragement, he regains the courage to return to the field.”
Seeing Shirase listening closely, Ichika grinned. “So? Interested?”
“‘Interested’ isn’t quite it,” Shirase said honestly. “After seeing how awful your last drama’s script and fight scenes were, I’m just surprised this one actually sounds decent.”
He added, “Time-bridging is cliché, but with a competent director, it could work.”
“Exactly what I thought.” Ichika looked relieved and pleased to have his approval—especially since he’d roasted her crew last time.
“I think I get what you mean by ‘extra cash,’” Shirase chuckled. “The lead can’t really play, can he?”
“That’s it. Soccer takes real skill, and since it’s a low-budget late-night drama, there’s no money to hire a skilled player-actor. And there’s no time to teach the current guy,” Ichika admitted.
“The pay’s lower than last time, right?”
“Yeah. You’d just be the lead’s double this time. Honestly, it won’t be much. If you’re not interested, I can tell the director no.”
“Is it really fine?” Shirase arched a brow. If it were that simple, she wouldn’t have rushed him out.
Caught, Ichika only laughed. “You got me again. Fine, I’ll admit it—I really hope you’ll say yes.”
“And your reason?”
“Our short film project. This is a perfect chance to observe a professional crew up close—equipment, lighting, all the little details we’ll need later.”
“Figures.”
Her reasoning matched his own guess.
What Ichika didn’t know was that Shirase had already met the director and several crew members last time—and he’d memorized a few faces.
If he truly wanted to pick up pro-level filming knowledge, he could always rely on [Immersive Hosting] to find the right targets.
But he’d still need a plausible excuse later. In the eyes of the quintuplets—and even Kana-nee—Shirase had never even touched a camera rig, much less learned the technical side.
—
This is a fan translation of 谁能拒绝中野二乃呢？by 六花吖六花. Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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