Miku looked at Kuro in confusion.
Border collies are large dogs, and anyone who's owned one knows how strong they are—when they pull, even adult men can't hold them back.
Kuro suddenly changed course, and Miku couldn't stop him.
At this point, it wasn't her walking Kuro—it was Kuro walking her.
"Kuro, wrong way. This isn't the route."
Miku couldn't hold him back, so she whispered a reminder.
After spending time with him, she realized Kuro was actually really smart. He understood almost everything they said—maybe even smarter than her sisters.
Kuro glanced at her, ignored her, and kept going.
He had caught the scent of his owner.
The Nakano family treated him so well—he had to repay them somehow.
So he decided to help unite the five sisters as one happy family. That way, they'd never be separated again.
Seeing Kuro ignore her, Miku had no choice but to follow.
He led her down twisting streets until she completely lost track of the way back.
Walking along the stone-paved path, Miku faintly heard footsteps ahead.
She looked up and saw a blurry figure running toward her through the fog.
"Woof woof!"
Even without seeing his face clearly, Kuro instantly recognized Takashi. His tail wagged excitedly, and without warning, he unhooked his leash and sprinted toward him.
A full-on dog charge right at Takashi.
"Kuro!"
Before Miku could stop him, Kuro had already slammed into Takashi's stomach and knocked him flat on the ground.
Miku's face went pale, and she ran over in a panic.
Kuro was pinning Takashi down, wildly licking his face.
"You dumb dog! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Though Takashi cursed, a smile flickered in his eyes.
He hadn't seen Kuro in a long time. Back home, he always found the mutt annoying, always wrecking the place.
But not seeing him for a while, he'd started to miss him.
It was just like having a college kid—you miss them when they're gone, but after three days at home, you're like, "When are you leaving?"
Takashi rubbed Kuro's head furiously.
"Are you okay?"
Miku ran up. Seeing it was Takashi, she instantly understood Kuro's strange behavior earlier.
Takashi looked at her, then at Kuro, and gave the dog a look that said "Nice work!" before flopping dramatically onto the ground.
"Ugh!""Oww!" Takashi yelped while pulling out his phone and opening "Dongchedi." (Transportation App)
"Your dumb dog ran into me—pay up!"
"What do you mean my dog? Kuro is obviously yours."
Miku wasn't the argumentative type, but for some reason, when it came to Takashi, she found herself speaking up with unusual courage.
"You're not gonna pay? Fine. Just wait—I'm calling on my fans to tear you apart online."
Takashi turned on the front-facing camera and took a video with himself, Kuro, and Miku all in the frame.
"Woof woof! (Turn on the beauty filter!)"
Kuro barked in protest.
He had a public image to maintain, okay? He had tons of puppy fans out there. So demanding… Takashi cursed internally, but still turned on the beauty filter.
He began recording.
"Guys… I'm speechless. I was just out on a morning jog when I ran into this girl walking her dog without a leash! Her dog slammed into me and she refused to apologize. Who can relate~?"
After filming, he even added the hashtag: #WalkingDogsWithoutLeashes
That alone would trigger a war between dog lovers and dog haters.
Given his existing online presence, the fact that the topic involved gender conflict and public safety made it pure viral bait.
He couldn't even imagine how messy the comment section would get once this video was posted.
"You're really going to post that?!"
Miku stared at him, dumbfounded.
She browsed the internet often and knew exactly what kind of storm that would stir.
Especially since the person posting it was Takashi.
Even after the media exposed him as a scumbag, he still had legions of fans defending him online.
Have you ever heard of: As long as Onii-chan looks good, his morals will follow his face?
There was once a rich, handsome American guy who killed a mother and daughter in a street race—yet after his photos went viral, he had fan clubs pleading for leniency.
Compared to that, what Takashi was doing barely scratched the surface.
"So? Are you paying or not?"
"I'll pay! How much?!"
Seeing that smug look on Takashi's face made Miku so frustrated she nearly cried.
This jerk was always bullying her!
"My annual salary is 340 million yen. Since we know each other, I'll give you a 1% discount! Just pay me 336 million yen, and I'll even waive the 600,000 yen. Aren't I generous?"
Takashi opened his mouth wide like a lion demanding ransom.
Miku's blue eyes widened in shock.
Where was she supposed to get that kind of money?
"What?! You think I'm lying? Look, it's right here in this article."
He pulled out a news article and shoved it in front of her.
In truth, that article was just PR fluff, a publicity stunt arranged by Hitomi with a call to his boss.
Did they really think the company would throw that much money at someone over one game?
"I—I don't have that kind of money!"
Miku glanced at the article and saw that what he said was true. Her face instantly paled, and her voice faltered.
"What? No money?"
Takashi's expression flipped in an instant. Just a moment ago he was all smiles, and now he was ready to unleash a scathing post with an ugly face.
Miku, imagining what kind of impact a post like that would have on her family and sisters, bit her lip—then tears fell like beads.
"She's crying?"
Takashi blinked, stunned.
Wait, I was just messing with her—why'd she really start crying?
She was way too easy to scare.
"…Fine, fine! Don't cry. I won't post it, okay?"
He scratched his head.
"Really?"
Tears still brimming, Miku looked up at him with a face so pitiful it could melt anyone's heart. She sniffled.
"I even deleted the draft."
Takashi showed her as he deleted both the post and the video.
Well—not from the "Recently Deleted" folder.
Why?
Because it's useful for future leverage, obviously.
Girls like Miku—introverted and quiet—tend to stay in their own little world. If you didn't take the initiative, you'd never get close.
So how do you win over someone like her?
Easy!
Take a page out of Chen Hansheng's playbook.
If you can't solve the problem, just copy the answer.
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