Omae o Otaku ni Shiteyaru kara, Ore o Riajuu ni Shitekure!:Volume 1 Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I was awoken by the noisy alarm clock.
I'm not a morning person, so one ring of the alarm clock usually wouldn't be enough to wake me up, but this day was special. I managed to wake up with a clear, refreshed mind.
It was the day of my high school entrance ceremony.
I wondered how long I had waited for this day.
I, Kashiwada Naoki, was determined to live a completely new life starting from this very day.
In other words, from today onward, I shall become a 『closet Otaku』.
I had sworn to myself that I shall never again engage in heated Otaku talk in class, nor talk about manga and Galge[1] and Doujinshi[2].
When I learned in middle school the truth that Otakus were labeled as creepy people, it was really a great shock to me. I was on the verge of becoming unable to trust women.
Even though I was an Otaku, I was of course still interested in real women, and I wanted to fall in love one day.
Therefore, I had decided that I would bury my past and spend my high school days as a closet Otaku.
To accomplish that, I purposely took the entrance exam of a high school which none of my acquaintances would be attending.
I took care of my attire so as not to give myself away as an Otaku, in order to get a girlfriend and become a Riajuu in the end --- with that as my final goal, I started making preparations for my high school debut.
I changed my glasses for contacts, and during the spring break before the school entrance ceremony, I visited a hairdressing salon instead of the usual 1000-yen-in-10 minutes barbershop[3].
I had also changed the standby display of my cellphone from a game character I liked to the photo of a stylish-looking scenery, and also removed all the cellphone straps that I'd bought from an anime shop.
My resolve was the real thing.
Wearing my brand new uniform, I took a deep breath.
From today onward, I shall begin my Riajuu life.
I arrived at the station for the school I was attending, Fujimi High, and got off the train.
During middle school, I attended a school in the local vicinity and this was my first time taking a train to school. I exited the gantry.
Right now, I held a faint hope for the school life that was about to begin for me. I wondered what kind of girls there would be in high school.
My ideal type would be a clean, cute girl with a kind heart. I'd heard that high school girls these days dye their hair brown and perm it, though I had no idea why they would want to do that. If I were to get a girlfriend, she should have straight black hair with a clean, neat look. I believed without the shadow of a doubt that straight black hair was the hairstyle that can bring out the absolute beauty of a Japanese woman.
On leaving the station, I saw a girl wearing my school's uniform walking in front of me. And that girl had the very same beautiful straight black hair that I had just painted in my thoughts. What great timing. Unconsciously, my eyes ended up following her.
Her long black hair that reached even her back fluttered in the spring breeze. Even from afar, I could tell that she had a slim figure and a pair of slender legs. Her posture, and even the way she walked, was beautiful. Even though it was just her back, everything matched my ideal. Aah, I want to take a look at the face that belonged to that beautiful back. I prayed for a chance for her to turn her body around, but it seemed like it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
At that moment, I heard running footsteps from behind. A little girl with a school backpack passed me. Is there also an elementary school by the same station? She was a little girl who was probably in grade one, two or three.
Just when I realized that the little girl had passed me, she went on to pass the female student who was walking in front of me.
She sure is persistent, I thought in admiration, but, just as she had passed the female student, she fell hard over onto the ground.
Uwaah, that looked like it hurt. Will she cry, I thought worriedly, and the female student who was walking in front of me hurried to the little girl's side. She knelt and helped the little girl up.
As it happened five meters in front of me, I couldn't hear their words, but the female student seemed to have spoken something to the little girl.
As I continued walking, I got closer and closer to the pair. I couldn't help but feel concerned and as I turned my eyes toward them, I saw the female student brushing dirt off the little girl's clothes.
"Are you ok now?"
I heard her words. Even though only the side view of her face was visible from my position, I could see a kind smile surface on the female student as she spoke to the little girl.
"You didn't cry at all. That's really brave of you."
She patted the head of the little girl. "Uhm!" Replied the little girl energetically. Aah, how wonderful. Even her voice is beautiful.
Perhaps because I had been looking at them for a little too long, she seemed to have noticed my gaze and for an instant, she turned to face me.
For the first time, I was able to catch a complete view of her face.
I was surprised.
She had really fair skin. And well-defined fine features.
Just an instant's look at her beautiful face took my breath away.
She immediately turned back to the little girl. I too continued walking, and left the female student and little girl behind me.
My heartbeat became more and more rapid.
An angel.
I saw an angel.
With a kindness that allowed her to go forward and help that little girl without hesitation, and a beautiful face that can fascinate anyone who just catches a glimpse of it. With those two traits combined, that female student was nothing short of an angel.
Is it ok for a girl like her to exist in this world, I wondered.
I was really grateful to be in the same school as that angel. At the same time, more desires were born within me. I wanted to know her name. I wanted to get close to her. While I didn't know if she was in the same year as me, if possible, I wanted to be in the same class as her.
As both hope and uncertainty swelled up in me, the entrance ceremony at the gymnasium ended.
I moved towards my assigned classroom. I took my seat in class. My seat was beside the window on the left, and two rows from behind.
Immediately after taking my seat, I looked around the classroom in search of the female student I'd seen this morning.
However, since I was sitting two rows from behind, I could only see the backs of the majority of the students. And since there were a number of female students with straight black hair, I could not ascertain a thing just from viewing their backs.
In the first place, I didn't even know whether she was a freshman or not, and I knew full well that to have her in the same class as me would be akin to a miracle, but.
It happened in the midst of the self-introduction session, where each of the students would step forward and introduce themselves, as prompted by the homeroom teacher.
A miracle happened.
The female student who sat in the middle column right in front of the teacher's desk stood up from her seat and proceeded towards the front of the teacher's desk. That face...... was that of the angel I'd seen this morning.
I was so touched and happy that my hands started trembling.
With her black hair flowing in a regal manner, she appeared before the teacher's desk.
I could only catch a glimpse of her this morning, and once again upon looking at her, I found her to be really beautiful.
Her fair skin and clear large eyes. Her lashes, long enough to cast shadows. That lustrous straight black hair. And her beautiful, slender form. Everything turned into a dignified, picturesque view.
Not just me alone, but probably all the guys in class were staring at her, I guessed.
Her looks, the air around her, everything about her, she was totally my type. Even though I'd only just met her, I was already strongly attracted to her.
At that moment.
"I'm Hasegawa Midori, nice to meet you."
After a short and curt introduction, she headed back to her seat without a shred of hesitation.
Even though the homeroom teacher had told us that we could say what we like in our self-introductions, everyone had at the very least given their birthplace or the place they were living. And those who talked more would supplement with their hobbies or the clubs that they were planning to join, trying to impress on the rest their desire to blend in with the class.
By the way, she didn't even smile for a moment, went back to her seat a little too promptly, and just like that, her self-introduction ended. Like a completely different person from the kind girl who had smiled at the child this morning, she radiated a cold aura.
The classmates could only become dumbfounded after hearing her, and, forgetting to even clap, the class returned to silence.
Even thought she was a beauty, she was a strange and unsociable person.
That was the impression of 『Hasegawa Midori』 fixed in the minds of the class on the first day of school.
However, my feelings did not waver.
I was getting increasingly interested in her.
Is she a shy person, or did she have stage fright, or is she originally an unsociable person?
But, I wanted to believe that the face I'd seen on my way to school this morning was her real self.
I wanted to talk to her.
I wanted to see her smile again.
I was able to find someone I like on the very first day of school... maybe my high school life will have a promising future.
From that day onward, my eyes were always following Hasegawa Midori.
It was a week after entering school.
As I was consciously cautious of what I did, nobody had yet to find out that I was an Otaku.
I managed to somehow make a friend. He was Kiritani, whose seat was behind me. He was sociable and easy to talk to, and we would talk immediately during breaks. Of course, unlike me, he wasn't an Otaku, but quite a normal guy.
On that day, the homeroom teacher said it was time to decide on the class representative, so we started a discussion. However, there were no candidates nominated, and we were at our wits' end.
"This won't end if we don't decide, you know ~?"
Despite the pressure from the homeroom teacher, still, no one stepped forward.
A buzz started in the class. Surely, everyone was thinking, "will someone volunteer?". Of course, I was also one of them.
At that moment, a hand rose.
I looked at the person who raised her hand and was surprised.
It was Hasegawa Midori.
She had volunteered herself as a candidate for the class rep.
"Hasegawa-san, are you willing to become the class rep?"
"Yes."
Of course, no one objected and it was thus decided.
The discussion ended and it was recess time.
I had a few questions in my mind and thus turned around and muttered to Kiritani.
"It's puzzling, isn't it...... Hasegawa doesn't look like the kind who would try to stand out, so why did she volunteer to become the class rep?"
"Kashiwada, you're always talking about Hasegawa. What's the deal? Are you in love with her?"
"Hey, don't say that so loudly!"
I frantically looked around me. After ascertaining that no one had heard that, I felt relieved.
Up till now, I hadn't talked to Hasegawa even once. Correction. Actually, I had yet to talk to any of the girls in class. My plan of getting a girlfriend in high school was in dire straits.
"Give it up. She might be a beauty, but she's giving off an atmosphere that says, 'I don't even want to talk to worthless people', isn't she? She definitely won't entertain you. During breaks, she doesn't even talk to anyone and just absorbs herself in her book."
Indeed, just as Kiritani said, every part of Hasegawa Midori's body was radiating an aura that made approaching her difficult. She always had a cold expression on her, and I had yet to see her talking happily to any of the classmates.
She would either be reading her book by herself at her seat during recesses, or she would be quietly taking care of class rep chores. Her actions could only be seen as deliberately distancing herself from the rest of the class.
However, I never thought of that as her true self. Because I'd seen it. Her kindness. Her smile.
Even now, she was earnestly erasing the blackboard of the writings in the last lesson. While looking at her constantly, I realized that the class rep's responsibilities basically involved mostly menial tasks, it seemed.
"Hasegawa."
At that moment, Hasegawa was called by the homeroom teacher. She stopped her task of erasing the blackboard halfway, and walked out of the classroom.
"...... all right!"
I gave out an utterance of determination and stood up from my seat.
"Ah? Kashiwada, what's wrong?"
While Kiritani called out from behind, I walked to the front of the blackboard. Then, I finished erasing the blackboard that was half-erased by Hasegawa. On her behalf, who was summoned by the homeroom teacher.
Hasegawa Midori returned just as I was sitting back down on my seat. She then looked at the completely erased, clean blackboard in wonder. As if she had realized that someone had done it for her, she looked around her.
She looked in my direction for an instant. ...... it seemed to me.
"Hasegawa has realized that it was me."
"No no no!? There's no way she could have realized that, right!?"
What kind of fantasy world are you in?, even when Kiritani said that in disgust, I was still absorbed in thoughts of "Hasegawa realized that I was the one who did it for her". Though I myself did not know how I could have concluded that without any basis.
After that, I started secretly helping out with Hasegawa's chores as a class rep.
It would be the best if I could just offer my help openly to her, but regrettably, I did not possess such a Riajuu skill. Rather, it would be embarrassing.
Since then, I continued helping Hasegawa with her chores as a class rep. The chores I helped out with were mainly erasing the blackboard and writing on the back blackboard the lesson timetable for the day. These were the only two tasks I could do secretly while Hasegawa was not around.
While I did them when she wasn't looking, I kept believing that Hasegawa did realize who it was, and continued helping her every day.
It was two weeks after the start of school.
The cliques in class had already been formed. Aside from Kiritani, I did manage to talk a little to other guys as well. However, I had yet to talk to any girls, and even for guys, I had been mostly talking only to Kiritani.
Even now, it seemed like Hasegawa was by herself most of the time. While I'd considered talking to her, I obviously didn't have the guts to do it. It was all I could do just helping her from the shadows with her class rep responsibilities.
In addition, she radiated a cold aura that made talking to her difficult, confirming that it would be difficult to get a notch closer to her.
Hasegawa was a perfect superhuman. Even though there had been no tests yet, so I couldn't know her results, judging from the answers she gave during class when she was called, she must be an ace student in all subjects. On top of that, I was able to witness her excellent athletic ability during P.E. class. Guys and girls each have their separate P.E. lessons, but during health education classes, since my seat was just next to the window, I was able to see the girls in the courtyard engaging in their P.E activities. Each health education lesson, I ignored what was going on in class and was absorbed by what went on outside the window. Each time, the girls were asked to run five laps around the courtyard, and Hasegawa would definitely be either the first or the second to finish.
She was certainly someone gifted in both beauty and brains, and excelled in both studies and sports. In Galge, heroines with such specs would exist, but it was hard to believe that such a girl existed in the real world.
That perfection, without letting her guard down, which made her even more devoid of openings, was what isolated her from the rest.
On that day, due to the teacher's circumstances, the fourth period became a self-study period. I wanted to talk to Kiritani and turned around, but before I could even begin, he proudly stated that he'd only had two hours of sleep the previous night, went on to prone himself on the desk, and was fast asleep.
Left with no choice, I took out the novel that I'd just bought yesterday from my bag, and opened it at the page marked by my bookmark.
As soon as I'd opened up the page, I hurriedly closed shut the book having realized the bookmark was Otaku-ish in nature. Shit, I got the wrong one. This was a light novel that I read exclusively on the train while commuting to school. While I had two novels inside my bag, regrettably, as they were both of the same size, and since I used the same book cover jackets for both, it was easy to mix them up. I used a trading card of a game I liked as the bookmark for the light novel and a normal bookmark I got from the bookstore for the mystery novel to differentiate them, so once I saw the bookmark, I would be able to tell which was which right away.
I looked around immediately. Fortunately, no one appeared to have seen my trading card.
As a closet Otaku bent on hiding his secret, reading a light novel in class would be incredibly foolish of me. After reflecting on the need to be more careful, this time round, I look out the mystery novel paperback that I'd just bought yesterday from my bag, and opened it.
However, just as I was about to start reading it, with my eyes falling on the words of the page, the girls to my right started a noisy conversation and I couldn't focus at all.
"Hey you know, isn't Momo treading dangerous ground? The other day, I saw her with a salaryman at Shibuya."
"Seriously!? Is she prostituting herself? Or is she fooling around? She has always been negative towards it though."
How should I put this, in short, it was a conversation of the creatures known as Gyaru. It was a species that I had never in my life come into contact with.
I ended up hearing a conversation that I didn't want to hear, so even as I was staring at the words in my book, the contents didn't seem to register in my brain, which was troubling to me.
"Do you think she really was five-timing during middle school? A girl in class C who went with her to the same school said that, it seems."
"Eh, I don't think that's true, do you? She herself denied it."
"But Momo never says anything about her love life at all. I think that's pretty suspicious."
Five-timing during middle school...... if that was true, she would be a real slut. And prostituting herself to a salaryman? High school girls these days are really scary.
"Hey, what're you girls talking about?"
"Momo!?"
At that moment, the voice of a newly appeared character added to the mix. It seemed like the said person...... whose name seemed to be Momo, joined the conversation. What an unexpected development. I mean, you shouldn't really be gossiping about your classmate with such loud voices. Gyarus sure have guts.
"Ahh, Momo, you really have no boyfriend?"
"Huuh? Didn't I say that I don't have one? Why do you ask me that every day?"
"Seriously? Don't lie to us. You actually have one, right!?"
They had just been chattering about the rumor of this Momo girl fooling around, but it seemed like they were hesitant to continue that topic when the person in question was around. In a teasing manner, the Gyaru started asking this 『Momo』 girl questions that had little to do with the said rumor.
At that point, I became very curious. About the face of this 『Momo』 girl, who had five-timed and even prostituted herself.
When I was in middle school, I had always thought that, while the loose girls who fool around blatantly looked rather glitzy, their faces weren't anywhere near as cute on closer look; with such thoughts stemming from a point of view that even I couldn't comprehend myself, I casually turned my face to the right.
On looking, I was surprised.
Among the three Gyarus, one of them was an incredibly beautiful Bishoujo. Two of them were seated while one of them was standing as they conversed, but that standing girl was the only one who was unnaturally cute. Judging from the conversation, that standing Bishoujo was no doubt the girl called 『Momo』.
She had dyed brown, curled hair, wore a short skirt, and had on a red plaid ribbon instead of the tie stipulated by the school...... she really is a Gyaru to the bone; she's more petite than a top magazine model, like the center of AKB; anyhow, she's really cute.
It was amazing that I hadn't noticed a girl like her after being in the same class for two weeks.
Now that I think about it, I just realized that, other than Hasegawa, I hadn't even glanced at the other girls.
Worried that I would be noticed if I stared too much, I hurriedly turned my face back to the front. Immersed for a while in the lingering cuteness of that strikingly beautiful Bishoujo Gyaru whom I'd just looked at, I then remembered a certain truth.
Oh right, that girl's a Bitch[4]. No matter how cute she is, I dislike Bitches. As a matter of fact, I really hate Bitches.
Besides, even though I only took a glance at her, probably at no more than 150 cm, she seemed pretty short and petite, and her face belonged to the loli-type. She was a Gyaru. The type I like has black straight hair and is the pristine-type of girl, tall in height, with a calm, adult, beautiful look. In other words, it's Hasegawa Midori. The complete opposite of that Gyaru.
After straightening out my thoughts that Hasegawa was the only one for me, I stopped getting bothered by the conversation to my right and went back to reading my mystery novel. This time round, I managed to focus smoothly on my reading.
At the end of the period, Kiritani woke up at the sound of the bell. Out of curiosity, I asked Kiritani about that Gyaru.
"Aah, Koigasaki? She's really cute, isn't she? Though rumor says that she's slutting herself."
The same information which I heard earlier came out of Kiritani's mouth.
The only new piece of information I gleaned was that the family name of that Momo girl was 『Koigasaki』.
"What's with you? Are you switching targets to Koigasaki because you couldn't make Hasegawa your girlfriend? She's really cold to guys of her age, so I think it's best for you to just give it up. Besides, she's really popular."
"Cold towards guys? I thought she's a Bi...... slut?"
"The rumor is that she's only interested in older people and has no interest in guys her age. The proof is, when the guys in our class tried to talk to her, she was so cold that she didn't even respond. Though she's really sociable with the girls."
"Seriously......"
To be cold towards people whom she doesn't have an interest in, how self-centered can she be?
I gradually became more and more inclined to avoid contact with her.
After the end-day homeroom period, Kiritani wanted to go visit the clubs, so we parted ways and I headed to the shoe cupboard area, planning to go home. I never thought about joining any club in high school.
I felt like reading that mystery novel and resume from where I stopped earlier, and took it out from my bag, to read it as I walk.
At that moment, I bumped full force into a girl who suddenly appeared from around the corner.
The girl fell on her backside, and dropped the paper bag that she was holding onto the floor. The contents of the paper bag fell out, and stuff like manga and magazines lay scattered all over the corridor. I was carrying a backpack, so it was fine for me, but the book I was holding dropped on the floor.
"S-Sorry."
I apologized as I thought I was also at fault for not paying attention.
Then, I became dumbfounded as I looked at the girl before me.
It was the Bishoujo Gyaru, Koigasaki, whose existence I'd only recently become aware of.
The strong fragrance probably came from the perfume she was wearing.
Koigasaki looked at me and remained in a daze for a while. She seemed like she was surprised by something, but I had no idea what could have surprised her so. She appeared as she wanted to say something, but, without uttering a word, she quickly gathered her manga and magazines into her pink paper bag that had a branded logo on it. I was still spacing out when she finished gathering her stuff, stood up and left.
"That feels like shit."
I murmured without thinking after she left, in a barely audible voice.
I already apologized first, so she should at least say something. Which reminds me, it did seem like I was told she had no interest in guys her age and was thus downright cold to them.
With indignation, I picked up my novel from the floor and shoved it into my bag. I no longer had the mood to continue reading, so I made my way home while listening to the music on my iPod.
Before I knew it, I'd reached home.
I threw myself on the bed in my room, took out the mystery novel from my bag, opened it to continue reading it, and an incredible world unfolded before me.
"Even though I only just met him, I ended up coming to Tomonari's house... I looked at Tomonari in spite of my bashfulness and, 'Come over here', he said... ehh... you're kidding me! Even though we just met today, Tomonari flashed me the same smile he showed me at the club as he sat on the bed... but, there's no way I can go over! (blush)."
"......"
I closed the book involuntarily.
The text that I had seen so far.
The generous spacing between the lines.
Those text symbols and emoticons scattered all over the place.
"What the hell is this!?"
I hurriedly took off the book jacket, and on the pink binding of the book I saw, written in large letters, what appeared to be the title, 『To My Beloved』. The paper wrapper was still properly affixed, and written on it were the spurring words, 『A Heartrending Love, written by a current female high school student author』.
Even though this was the first time I had looked at the actual contents, this was what was called a cellphone novel. Since it was the same size and had the same jacket as the novel I was reading, I didn't realize it until I saw the contents inside.
I thought back calmly. I could only think of one instance where I could have swapped my novel for this cellphone novel.
Which was the time when I bumped into Koigasaki. This novel was probably among the manga and magazines that fell out after we bumped into each other.
I bought the novel at a bookstore near our high school. I got the book jacket at that time too. And the book jacket that this cellphone novel was using was also from that store. As many of our students visited that bookstore, it wasn't that surprising if Koigasaki had bought her novel and book jacket from that same store.
And since they both had the same jacket, Koigasaki had picked up the wrong book and put it in her paper bag.
"Uwah, seriously ~......"
While murmuring to myself, I flipped through the cellphone novel.
What I was reading earlier was the scene where the female high school student protagonist had gone back with the host she'd just met and fallen in love with at first sight. In the next scene, they did it. It was a development which filled me with disgust on top of the zingers I wanted to make.
"Is there anyone who could read this earnestly...... hahaha......"
Koigasaki won't think that I'm mocking her while reading this, right? Maybe it's better to pretend that I never read it when I return this...... while thinking that, I closed the cellphone novel, and this time, fished my bag for the light novel that I wanted to read. I took it out and opened it.
In the next distant, my pupils became dots.
The book which I opened and thought to be my light novel wasn't a light novel at all. It was the mystery novel that had the same book jacket. It was the very book I had read in class today, and had thought to have dropped in the corridor and swapped with Koigasaki's cellphone novel.
Why was this novel in my bag?
At that moment, an unthinkable truth dawned on me.
"Craaaaaappppp!!"
The fact that this novel is with me now would mean that the novel I dropped in the corridor and that Koigasaki brought back by mistake, thinking it was her cellphone novel, was not the mystery novel, but the light novel with the same book jacket. Since they both have the same appearance, I had mistakenly taken the light novel out of the bag instead of the mystery novel.
Just like how I accidentally read the cellphone novel, Koigasaki might have read my light novel too.
Crap. This is bad.
Besides the fact that the light novel would let my Otaku secret out, to make things worse, the light novel that I bought yesterday was - shall I call it a romcom or an erocom? - a harem story where the protagonist suddenly gains four elder stepsisters who make erotic advances on him.
While harem erotic comedies are not uncommon among light novels, a normal person reading that would be freaked out.
Even if there were a chance in a million that Koigasaki had no interest in the text that was inside it, the cover and the illustrations alone were erotic enough. Just by flipping through it would be enough to know that it was some indecent Otaku stuff.
In other words, there was no doubt that she already knew my Otaku secret.
And to think that I had taken the trouble to become a closet Otaku, of all people, the one who found out was that superficial girl who looked like someone who'd hate Otakus.
If I were to leave it like that, it would only be a matter of time before that girl goes around telling everybody. My middle school history would then repeat itself again.
"Uwoaaaaahhh!!"
I let out a yell to unleash my pent up indignation.
"Shut up, idiot Naokiiiiiiiii."
The door to my room suddenly swung open and a girl with a ponytail, dressed in sailor uniform, threw her rage at me.
"Uwahh, Akari. You're home?"
It was my little sister.
"I'm at a really good scene in my game, so don't you disturb me with your shitty voice, jeez!"
What she was proudly holding out appeared to be a PC game. The box artwork was made up of two men with awfully long chins and sparkling eyes.
"Don't tell me that's......"
"A BL game[5] ♡"
That innocent smile could have been on the smiling face of a pure, cute, uncorrupted girl.
If it wasn't for the goods that she held in her hands.
My little sister, who was in her freshman year of middle school, was a Fujoshi[6]. Both siblings in my house were Otakus.
"If you start ranting and disturbing me again, I will seriously kill you next time!"
With that, she slammed the door shut. Wait a minute, at least let me verify that the game is all-ages. I'm not going to let a middle school girl like you play a '18+ only' game, I wanted to say, but there was no chance for me to do that.
That night, I couldn't sleep due to the anxiety within me. I kept imagining the fearful worst...... where Koigasaki had already let my Otaku secret out to the rest of my classmates and they were looking at me with discriminating eyes.
In order to protect my peaceful school life, I definitely won't let that happen. And more than anyone else, I can't let Hasegawa know that I'm an Otaku.
Tomorrow when I return the book, I have to make sure that Koigasaki doesn't go shooting her mouth about my secret. I swore to myself with determination.
The next day, I was thinking of calling out to Koigasaki, but I found a piece of paper slipped under my desk.
"DuRiNg LUnch bREaK, cOmE TO tHe BaCk Of tHE GyM. I hAvE soMEthInG tO teLl YoU. KOIGASAKI."
Were the words written on the piece of paper, with the characteristic mixed cases of Gyarus.
I first thought it was about the book, but it didn't quite add up. If she wanted to just return my book, she needn't take the trouble to arrange a meeting.
But it sure helped that she had set us up with an opportunity to talk. Even if she hadn't, I would still have to call her out to talk alone anyway.
Judging from her appearance, she looked like one with a bad personality, and I had no idea whether she would be willing to cooperate and help me keep my Otaku secret even if I asked her. But, in the worst case, I would even pay her money just to keep her mouth shut. That was how far I was willing to go.
While assaulted by the feeling of fear, I got through the morning classes, and went to the back of the gym without even taking my lunch.
I descended the stairs to the ground floor, left the school building, crossed the courtyard and arrived at the back of the gym, and Koigasaki was already waiting there. She had her back leaning against the wall and was playing with her cellphone. There was no doubt that she had a well-featured face at a closer look, but she wore really thick make-up. Her other hand held my light novel.
"......"
By the way, even though Koigasaki was the one who called me out, she never opened her mouth. Even though she had already realized that I was here, she never even took a look at me. What the hell? Is it because you feel so creeped out by an Otaku who reads that kind of light novel that you don't even want to talk to me? Then why the hell did you call me out?
"...... erm, you want to talk about this book, right?"
Unable to bear the silence, I spoke up.
While saying that, I held out Koigasaki's cellphone novel, and she swiftly and roughly snatched it from my hand. Without saying a word.
I was getting mad. There should be a limit to how discourteous she could be.
"E-erhhmm, did you see what's inside my book?"
However, the timid me couldn't even voice my displeasure, and it was all I could do to ask her in a timid voice.
But Koigasaki did not answer and still would not make any kind of eye contact with me.
"If you saw what's inside...... I hope you can keep it to yourself."
"What is this?"
Koigasaki cut me off and opened her mouth for the first time. I felt peeved at her sudden outburst but still took a look at what Koigasaki help out in her hand. It was a card. It was the card that I had used in place of a bookmark. It was a trading card from the DS game, LoveMinus[7]. The illustration on the card was a character I liked, 『Anesaki Nono』.
"E-eehhh......? Well......"
I broke into a small panic. She finally spoke, but it was something incomprehensible. Why did Koigasaki express interest in the trading card of LoveMinus?
"It's a game card......"
"What game?"
"Er-rmm, a game called LoveMinus......"
"What kind of game?"
"Eeh? It's a dating simulation game......"
I cringed and finally answered her question. I really didn't want to answer, but in the face of Koigasaki's overbearing questioning method, I couldn't not answer.
"Dating simulation...... what's that?"
"Uhm, it's like, building relationships with girls......"
"Just as I thought......"
For some reason, Koigasaki's shoulders slumped in disappointment at my words.
"Errhh...... why are you asking that?"
This time, it was my turn to ask.
"...... do you know Suzuki-kun from class B?"
But, she asked me back another question.
"Suzuki......? No, I don't......"
"Suzuki-kun also has a card like yours!"
Koigasaki suddenly became energetic and said in a manner that seemed like she couldn't quite accept what she said.
"Suzuki-kun dropped his student handbook and I saw him pick it up, and a card like this one was really carefully slotted inside it! ...... but on closer look, while they look similar, they aren't identical...... Even though the drawing and the design look really similar, they are not really the same. The one here has a girl brown hair, down-turned eyes and humongous breasts, but the one that Suzuki-kun had...... was the drawing of a girl with short black hair and small breasts."
While I felt that it was really regrettable that the Nono-san I loved so much was described as having humongous breasts, there were other matters that I was more concerned about.
"Short black hair with small breasts...... isn't that Rinka from LoveMinus?"
"Rinka? Then, does it mean that Suzuki-kun loves that Rinka character from that game? ...... then, he's an Otaku?"
"Well, I'd believe so, since he has it carefully slotted in his student handbook......"
Koigasaki's face contorted in sadness.
It was understandable. Koigasaki liked that guy called Suzuki and took the trouble to call me out to ask about him, but after learning that he was in fact an Otaku, she received a shock.
"I can't believe it, to think that Suzuki-kun is an Otaku......"
Koigsaki murmured, with a look that said she was unable to accept it.
"Well, I think it's better to ask the actual person himself......"
If she could take the trouble to call me out to ask me, she should have just asked the person in question.
It was rumored that Koigasaki was pretty intensely involved with guys. Then, it should be easy for her to just go talk to the guy she liked.
"Hey, won't you go ask Suzuki-kun for me? You play the same game so it should be easy to approach him as a fellow gamer, right?"
"...... huh?"
I doubted my ears on hearing Koigasaki's request. Why should I go talk to a stranger for the sake of a classmate Gyaru whom I was barely acquainted with? Besides, to ask a shy person like me to approach a stranger, the difficulty level was simply too high.
"You can just go talk to him yourself, right......"
"It's because I can't do it, that's why I'm asking you!"
Said Koigasaki, who appeared to be irritated, or anxious perhaps. Why did she snap at me when I should be the one to do that?
"Well, I can't do it either...... And, I want to quickly go eat my lunch, so can I go back already?"
Normally, I would be a timid guy who can't speak so assertively to a person he's first talked to, but her attitude was so bad that my mind just snapped.
I turned my back towards Koigasaki, about to head back to the classroom. At that moment.
"......『Big Sis Syndrome』......"
"Eh......"
I heard Koigasaki's mutters from behind. Those words stopped me in my tracks.
That was the title of the big sis harem light novel which she had yet to return to me.
"Cohabiting with elder stepsisters? Entering the bath with elder stepsisters? And k-k-k-ki......"
Before she could finish the word 'kiss', I raised my voice.
"Hey, you read my book without asking!? How could you......"
...... well, I also read Koigasaki's outrageous cellphone novel without asking, so I shouldn't be talking about others.
"I don't believe this! Do all Otakus fantasize about such things!? It's really creepy and unbelievable!"
Koigasaki was red in the face, and was angry for some reason.
However, that reaction was somewhat different from my expectations.
Of course, I was expecting that she would be reacting in disgust to the light novel, but the kind of disgust she had was different from how I thought it would be.
The kind that I was expecting was a despising, belittling, exasperated kind.
That was the kind of reaction I imagined coming from the Bitch Sweet(LOL) Gyaru Koigasaki if she had seen the contents of the book.
If we are talking about the kind of line she would say, it would be something like......
"It's amazing how a virgin thinks, huh ~ It's better to quickly get a real girlfriend, you know ~ ? (snigger)"
But, the girl before me.
"You are the worst! Really gross! Dirty! Pervert! And with such a harmless looking face!"
She threw the light novel at me with apparent indignation.
"Hey, what are you doing!"
While frantically catching hold of the flying book, I could only wonder in amazement.
Her flushed face, while partially due to anger as well...... seemed to be one of embarrassment.
This reaction was as if it was coming from an innocent girl who had just been shown ecchi stuff......
"Didn't you just ask me to keep quiet about the contents of the book? If you don't go and verify for me whether Suzuki-kun is an Otaku or not, then I will tell all the girls in class about...... what's in the book!"
"What......!?"
I was speechless at her sudden shocking words.
It was a well-executed threat.
Does that mean that Hasegawa will also get wind of it?
"H-How can you......"
I couldn't stop shaking.
"I'm being serious here."
Koigasaki looked away and said brusquely. She looked determined.
"P-Please don't do that......"
"Then, you will do it?"
If my secret were to be discovered here, then my middle school history would repeat itself. All the efforts I had put in up till then in becoming a closet Otaku would go down the drain.
"Kuh............ I g-get it......"
I replied as I suppressed my chagrin. I no longer had any choice but to accept her request.
"Seriously!? You are a pretty good guy!"
A pretty good guy? What a thing to say when you've threatened me. Anyone else who had been threatened with that would accept it.
"In exchange, after I do that, you will keep mum about it......"
It was all I could do to emphasize that last part.
"Of course!"
Koigasaki answered with a smile of satisfaction.
"Well then, thanks in advance, erm...... what's your name again?"
"Kashiwada! Don't you remember your own classmate's name!"
It was a heinous thing to be threatened by a person who couldn't even remember my name.
I had only barely entered high school, and not only was my Otaku secret found out by a horrible Sweet (LOL) Gyaru, she even threatened to tell it to the rest of the girls in class...... Why was I so unlucky to have such a thing happen to me?
Translator's Notes and References & OTARIA Glossary
- ↑ Galge: Synonymous with Bishoujo games. See here for more information
- ↑ Doujinshi: Amateur works like manga, art-books, games, music, novels, etc. They are usually based on a popular published work of any media (manga, novel, game, anime) and sometimes akin to fan-fiction. Majority of Doujinshi are erotic in nature (but not necessarily so).
- ↑ 1000-yen-in-10 minutes: In Japan, there are several chains of barbers/salons that offer 10-minute fast hair cuts at 1000 yen. You go into such a shop, insert a 1000 yen into a machine and get a ticket with a queue number. Your haircut is done by a trained stylist and guaranteed to take no more than 10 minutes. While they don't offer anything fanciful like salons, it's actually a pretty decent cut. Some of these stores have set up operations outside of Japan.
- ↑ Bitch: In Japanese. 'Bitches' = Sluts (girls who are loose). I left the word 'bitch' in instead of using sluts because if there's an anime, you will hear the word 'bitch'; to avoid hearing and reading inconsistencies.
- ↑ BL game: BL = Boys' Love
- ↑ Fujoshi: Literally rotten girl. Refers to an Otaku girl who's a fan of BL/homo/yaoi. See here for more info.
- ↑ LoveMinus: Parody of LovePlus.
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