When I say that Otakus should "drop dead!" I mean that with every fiber of my body. Otakus are a repulsive, revolting, and repugnant subclass of human beings. If anything, they were more related to beasts than to men. They always gave in to their carnal desires, without as much regard for anything or anyone else. They lived selfishly, obsessing over fictional characters that would not give them the light of day. In my eyes, Otakus were no better than the dirt on the ground. However, it would suffice to say that even dirt had much more purpose than the useless Otaku. At least dirt could be used to grow plants or be the foundation for new buildings or homes. Otakus do nothing more than waste their life and time in deluding themselves. They never wanted to face reality and the harsh challenges that came with it. I knew better than anyone that the world was a cruel place, but people shouldn't cope with that by falling into an unhealthy anime addiction. When the going gets tough, people shouldn't give up and run away to a world of fantasies and lies. Instead, they should maybe learn to grow a pair and try to overcome those challenges.

IN FACT-----

"Hey, Yusei, I understand where you're coming from. But do you really need to bring this up each time I see you? It's been like six months since we've met, and all I've heard for the past hour, 37 minutes, and 33 seconds is how much you hate otakus. All of which was narrated in the third person, by the way. This couch is already really heavy, and it doesn't help that your new apartment is on the third fricken floor! Can we get like just 5 minutes of peace and quiet before I decide to toss you over the railing along with your damn couch?"

"You're rather grumpy this morning. Is it that time of the month already, or do you just genuinely hate my guts?"

"Well, when you say stuff like that, how could I not? But rather than hating your guts, can I give you one good kick there right now?"

The person with the violent tendencies was none one other than my female cousin, Yui. It would appear that she doesn't share the same sentiment as me about Otakus. It's a shame too because I considered her to be one of the better family members. In terms of appearance, she was above average. She had long brunette hair that reached past her shoulder blades and light skin. Her hair was a bit messy since she forgot that today was my move-in day. When I showed up at her house this morning, she wasn't exactly too thrilled. Apparently, she had gotten the move-in date wrong in her phone and wasn't expecting to help me move around luggage at 8 in the morning. In fact, I remembered the scene vividly. Yui had answered the door half awake and yawning; then her eyes popped out of their sockets when she saw the rental moving truck parked in her driveway. My sudden arrival left her with no other choice than to rush to get ready. She brushed her teeth like a mad man, grabbed a thin hoodie for the chilly spring morning, and tried her best to fix her bed head. 

She basically left the house in what she slept in, which was a solid win for me. Yui's outfit for our morning excursion was just a simple grey tank top and grey shorts. The grey shorts clung to her butt and highlighted her womanly charms. In simple words, my cousin Yui had a nice ass. Yui wore a hoodie to keep warm, but she didn't zip it up, and her bra couldn't conceal the entirety of her breasts. Due to this, I had a nice view of the front side of her modest chest. She had to be no less than an H cup, so it's a bit surprising to me that she didn't have a boyfriend.

Though if given a choice, I wouldn't mind filling the role myself.

After all, It wasn't wrong to think this way about your cousin if you shouted no chromo...

Those were certainly words to live by.

We then got into the moving truck, and I drove us to a house that was on the way. The family's elderly grandma had just died, and I found her couch for really cheap online. Ironically the grandma had died while sleeping on the very couch I was buying. However, I couldn't help but think that it was their loss and my gain. After all, sharing my new apartment with a ghost granny was worth the yen I managed to save. Since I had gotten a steal of a deal on the couch, I couldn't help but think that people should die more often. Just thinking about getting a nice cheap T.V. gets my blood pumping.

After driving down the familiar streets, we arrived at the house where the couch was. The family had known I was coming, so they left the black leather couch outside for an easy pick-up. It was fine since I had already given them an advance payment through the online website. Though I doubt anyone would be suspicious since I was moving the couch into a moving truck. 

Then that brings us back to the current situation...

Yui and I had no issues putting it in the moving truck. However, a problem arose when it turned out that the couch wouldn't fit into my new apartment's elevator. Hence, that's why we're currently lugging a rather heavy couch up to the third floor. However, I didn't mind since I had won our game of rock-paper-scissors. Yui was the unfortunate soul who had to walk backwards up the stairs, as per our game's wager. Meanwhile, I got to grip the couch from the opposite end and walked up the stairs in relative leisure. Even though I was supposed to be guiding Yui, my eyes kept being drawn to her chest. I mean, could you blame me? Where else was I supposed to look? If anything, I was walking slower than usual so that I could look at her bust for a little while longer. 

After a couple of minutes, we had finally managed to reach the third floor. Though since I was too busy staring at Yui's boobs, she banged her elbows on the stair railing a few times. Each time she hit her elbow, she didn't even try to hold back on her vulgar language. If anything, she alternated between saying,

"Bastard, watch where we're going."

"Stop doing this on purpose, asshole."

and "When we finish, I'm gonna kill you."

Once the couch was fully away from the stairs, we gently placed it on the ground of the third floor. I mean, what other choice did we have? If we just dropped it, we'd surely disturbed the neighbors. Though if the neighbors turned out to be filthy otakus, then disturb away. However, it was better to be safe than sorry. I had no choice but to play the role of an ideal neighbor until I could scope out who all the apartment tenants were. 

Yui's face had slightly blushed, but I couldn't tell if it was because of carrying the couch or the intense noon sun. At this moment, I realized that we had been working nonstop without so much as even a few seconds of break. Coincidentally, as I thought that, Yui's stomach let out a loud growl. In fact, it was so loud that I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to keel over at this given moment. 

Yui then clutched her stomach and said, "Yusei, you have the keys to the new apartment, right?"

I replied with, "Yeah, I do. The landlord had actually given me the keys yesterday."

Yui then started to trudge towards the stairs and said, "Alright, I'm gonna go to the convenience store for a bit. Just move in the small things, and I'll help you with the heavier things when I get back."

Before she trailed off too far, I tugged on the back of her hoodie and said, "If you're heading to the convenience store, can you get me some food too? The cheapest thing they have, please."

Her back was still facing me, but she turned her head around and said, "So, in other words, the usual tuna onigiri and a green tea bottle."

I smiled and decided to flatter her a bit, "That's why you're my favorite cousin. You pretty much got my tastes down to a T."

Yui shrugged and said, "I never did it willingly, though. Alright, I'll be back soon."

With that, I released my grip on Yui's hoodie and watched her moped down the stairs until she was completely out of sight.

Since Yui was kind enough to get lunch for the both of us, it only felt fair that I try to finish as much work as possible. Yesterday when the landlord gave me my keys, he said that my apartment number was 23. Therefore, according to his instructions, I walked across the third floor until I reached a white door with a gold 23 nailed onto it. However, I couldn't help noticing some oddities. For one thing, the nameplate next to the door wasn't my own. In white characters, it was clear as day that the name on the nameplate was "Katou." The last time I checked, my last name was Yasui. Unless I had miswritten my name on the tenant form, there could be no way that this was my apartment. The second dead giveaway that I didn't live here was that the mailbox was filled to the brim. Old envelopes were protruding out of the narrow slit of the mailbox as if no one had bothered to bring in the mail for weeks. Whoever lived must be living like a slob. That was just great since disorganized neighbors were the worst. The chances of them being Otaku had just increased. After all, leave it to a filthy Otaku to have no sense of cleanliness or manners. 

Disregarding everything I've seen, I still wanted to confirm that I didn't live here for good measure. Therefore, I slid the key I received from the landlord into the top lock. It should have been nothing but harmless curiosity, but it was then that a critical mistake was made.

"Click" 

I hadn't even gotten a chance to twist the key, but a noise had come from behind the door. I could've run away, no rather I should've run away. However, my feet stayed there, glued to the ground. I had been caught too off guard to do anything. The door to apartment 23 then crept open. Was the neighbor going to think I was a stalker, thief? I mean, I certainly looked that way since I was trying to fiddle with the door lock. 

Then it happened

There I was face to face with the tenant of apartment 23

Her eyes were wide and brown, her complexion as pale as a ghost, and she was all bones with barely any meat on her skin. 

However, what happened next surely disturbed all the neighbors.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Two loud screeches echoed and synchronized throughout the vicinity, penetrating through thick doors, through clear windows, and even the highly advertised soundproof walls that this complex was known for. 

Then as if on cue, everyone living in the apartment complex opened their doors.

Though as they were opening their doors, tenant 23 slammed hers, and what the neighbors ended up seeing was a pathetic 20-year-old college student with scalding instant ramen all over his body.

It hadn't even been an hour yet, but I could gladly say that I had seen all my neighbors, albeit in an unconventional way.

This was certainly a warm welcome, and now I'll have the scars to prove it.

Both physically and mentally...