OMAE O OTAKU NI SHITEYARU KARA, ORE O RIAJUU NI SHITEKURE! Index

 
Omae Otaku ni Shiteyaru kara, Ore o Riajuu ni Shitekure!

Volume 10 Chapter 4

That day, after school, I went to work at my part-time job.

"Hey, Kashiwagi-kun, the other day, after work, did you go on a date with Kizuna?"

With the winter break over and it being a regular weekday, we didn’t have many customers, and with more free time than we knew what to do with, my co-worker, Watanabe Aya, said this to me.

"...Eh?!"

"What, were you spacing out again? Like I said, I was talking about what you did with Kizuna after work the other day~"

"A-ah...Oikawa, huh...we just lightly talked about our memories from middle school...we went our separate ways right after."

"Eh!? After Kizuna came all the way to your part-time job to meet you, Kashiwagi-kun!?"

"Ah...well..."

"Really, what a waste~ Despite Kizuna being so popular, boys from other schools try to talk to her-"

"Eh, ah...that’s true..."

"Kashiwagi, you’re devoted to your girlfriend, I guess....Ah, but, your relationship was a bit unsteady with her, right? What’s happened since then?"

"Eh, ah..."

I was getting ready to answer Watanabe Aya’s question, but it was at that moment: the automatic door opened, and a customer came in. Seeing this customer, I was surprised.

"...Wait, Suzuki!? And, all of you..."

Suzuki walked into the shop with the members of the light music club.

"We’re here."
I had told Suzuki where I worked, but I had not thought that he’d come here, so I was surprised.

"Kashiwada~ hey~"

The members of the light music club also greeted me.
"’We’re here’, you say...if you’re gonna come here, at least say something, I was seriously surprised..."

Crash.

I could hear the sound of glass breaking from behind me.

Surprised, I turned around to see Watanabe Aya, who had been pouring juice, look like she had dropped and broken the glass.

"Hey, Watanabe-sa...?"
"Souta-kun?"
Watanabe Aya opened her eyes wide and called out that name. In a surprised state, she was looking straight at Suzuki.

"Eh...A-Aya-chan?"
In turn, Suzuki as well looked at Watanabe Aya with a shocked expression and called out her given name.

"?! Eh; you know each other...?"

"So-Souta-kun! Um..."

Watanabe Aya ignored my words and spoke to Suzuki. Somehow, she looked...desperate in that stat., But...why?

Suzuki, to whom she is speaking...with an unpleasant face, doesn’t look Watanabe Aya in the eye.

"..."

Looking at Suzuki like this, Watanabe Aya made an expression as if she had been terribly shocked.

"...? Suzuki? This girl is an acquaintance?"

Member of the light music club, Kawano, spoke to Suzuki strangely.

"A-ah...no..well, she was  classmate during middle school..."

Suzuki, explaining, seemed somewhat...as if he grew pale. Suzuki and Watanabe Aya were classmates in middle school...eh? But, even given that, the way they are now is odd. It appears that they weren’t just classmates.

Anyway, Watanabe Aya cleans up the glass she broke and I finish setting up Suzuki’s group’s room and inform them about it, and they disappear from view as they head towards their room.

At the front, it becomes just me and Watanabe Aya, ad we are visited by an awkward silence. There’s often silence before she becomes frank, but usually it is more of a mix between silence and openness. Combine with such silence during such a peaceful time at work, and the silence is painful I am very interested in what kind of relationship those two had, but...that’s probably not something I can ask lightheartedly.

"Ha~~~...that was too sudden, I was super surprised~!"
The one to destroy the silence was Watanabe Aya.

"Besides that, you and Souta-kun are acquainted...seriously an amazing coincidence. You and Kizuna were also classmates in middle school, what’s going on with this part-time job?"

"Ahaha...when you put it like that, it sure is incredible...umm, about you and Suzuki, what kind of..."

I boldly was going to ask what kind of relationship they had, but she interrupted my words.

"Ex-boyfriend."

"...?...!? Huh?! Se-seriously!?"

Being shocked, I spoke in a loud voice. No, that’s...by how they were acting earlier, I thought that there was no way they were just regular friends or anything like that, but...even so...

"Oh my, is it really something to be so surprised about?"

"Eh, yeah, it’s surprising!"

"Why?"
"I mean..Suzuki did not have ANY interest in girls, in fact it felt like he hated them, and he’d always say he didn’t need a girlfriend, so..."

The ex-girlfriend...of that Suzuki who hated girls to a shocking degree...!? He had gone out with someone before!? He’s never even once told me about such a thing. So there was a time when he was interested in 3D girls, eh...I can’t imagine it at all. And, if this ex-girlfriend was someone who shared the same otaku tastes as him, I still wouldn’t understand it, but it’s not even that: his ex-girlfriend is Watanabe, a broad who doesn’t know anything about that world.

"What’s up with that..."

TO my words, for some reason, Watanabe Aya changed her facial expression.

"Is that...tr-true?! Souta-kun hated women...?"

"Eh...ah...yeah...?"

Watanabe Aya’s face grew pale, and she took in a big sigh.

"Haa...that might be...no, not might be...Aya’s fault, perhaps..."

"Eh? What do you mean by that...? Did you bully him while you were going out?"

"Hu-huh? There’s no way Aya would do something like that, what’re you saying?"

If he was bullied by his older sister and his girlfriend, of course he’d come to hate women, I quickly thought, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.

"Then, exactly what did you do to Suzuki?"
"...Aya didn’t do anything...in particular."

"Eh? Then, why.."

"Aya didn’t do anything while we were dating....Just...Souta-kun thought we were in a serious relationship, it would appear, but...sure enough, Aya at that time loved many men..."

"Eh? You cheated?!"
"Wrong! Ah~ so annoying! Well, if it’s Kashiwagi-kun...Aya, before dating Souta-kun..he found out that Aya had done it with a lot of other guys!"

"Bu!?"

At such a too-radical admission, I blurted out such without thinking.

...ugh~~~! I had thought she was just some easy broad before, but what if...the loose thing is just an act and she’s actually pure...or that she’s holding such a moe element isn’t something I truly suspected, but she’s just truly a loose broad.~~~!!

"Souta-kun seemed to totally think Aya was a virgin, it seems. Sure, when he asked if Aya had dated or gone out with someone before, the answer was...ah, now this is seriously true, Aya had not dated anyone before..."

"You had never dated anyone before? Then why!?"
"Well, you know, during puberty you get interested in that kind of stuff? That was around middle school. By now Aya has totally calmed down, OK? That’s why, despite not dating anyone, I could do it with my tutor who was in college or my brother’s senpai, in whom Aya held interest."

Looking at Watanabe blab on like that without blushing, I couldn’t help but think that this person is an entirely different creature than the girls I know, like Koigasaki or Azuki-chan or Hasegawa....This woman almost certainly matched the definition of a genuine trollop.

Thinking about it, she said she became sexually curious in middle school but that now she’s calmed down...a lot of things seem to have happened too quickly!

"But really, Aya didn’t cheat or anything when dating Souta-kun. We were really lovey-dovey, Aya really liked him and he seriously loved Aya...ah, we even promised to get married and stuff!"

Wha...!? Se-seriously....Are you saying that Suzuki was so madly in love with this woman...!?

"So...after that, he found out and,...? How..?"

"Souta-kun had walked Aya home from school, but in front of my house was an upperclassman Aya had done before. ‘Why don’t you message me?’ is his reason for being so angry at Aya. Souta-kun was somehow able to get him to go away, but after he left, Souta-kun asked ‘Who was that?’ and Aya answered frankly....Aya desperately explained how we never dated, so it’s not like Aya had lied or anything, and how Aya had not gotten in touch with him at all, but..."

"A-ah...and then...?"

"Then, at that point, he had been shocked a fair, normal amount, but then...’Are there others like him?’ is what he asked, and Aya didn’t want to mislead him anymore, and so Aya told him about all the men Aya had done up to that point. He was dumbfounded at Aya’s stories, and couldn’t say anything...And the next day after that happened..’Let’s break up,’ he said..."

...Suzuki, you have my condolences. If I were to love a girl to the point of making future marriage plans and believed without doubt that she was a virgin, but then she were to come out with the fact that she’s actually experienced with a number of guys...I’d definitely break up with her! With that, I’m sure I would come to hate women! It would become a sort of trauma!

I thought my first love in middle school was fairly tragic, but in truth it was a mutual love, but on the other hand, Suzuki’s story is quite pitiful. Of course he’d come to hate women. He’d want to run away to 2D girls. It’d bring forth his childish comments about virgins.

"Suzuki...poor thing..."

Without thinking,k what was in my heart leaked out as words.

"Eh?! Wait, what’s with that!? Why?! After all, Aya didn’t’ do anything wrong!? Actually, the pitiable one would be Aya!? After breaking up with Souta-kun, Aya dated a lot of guys, but could never like any of them...it’s been over a year yet Aya still couldn’t forget about Souta-kun...and when Aya tried to contact Souta-kun, he had changed his email address..."

I saw her face, which looked like she was about to cry, and thought. Surely, she’s a streel, and there’s no saving her (even now she likes Suzuki yet is going out with other guys; she’s definitely a moll), yet for her to still be unable to forget about Suzuki because she likes him may mean that only her heart is earnest.

"When Aya thinks a reunion is possible after so long, he’d completely ignore Aya. Aya is really overwhelmed~ Meeting him again after so long...surely confirmed how much Aya likes him."

"..."

"Yup, Aya definitely cannot think...of dating other guys....It absolutely has to be Souta-kun. Aya wonders if Aya can do with only being able to date the one Aya likes the most..."

"...Watanabe-san..."

Not able to date anyone other than the one she likes the most, huh....She might just have some good in her after all aside from being such a tartlet. Despite being so sad, Watanabe Aya made a forward-looking expression.

"...Ah, that’s it! Kashiwagi-kun, tell Aya Souta-kun’s email address!"

In an instant, her sad look changed as though she had thought up a good idea, and she looked at me, saying that.

"Eh!? No, without Suzuki’s permission..."

"It’s fine, really! Aya won’t tell him that you told Aya~!"

After that, Watanabe Aya was persistent, so I said I’d ask Suzuki about it, and we somehow left it at that. That the cause of the way Suzuki would act is in such a familiar place as this is...surprising. I thought that next time, I’d wanna hear this story from his mouth. Soon enough, my shift for the day ended, I prepared to go home, and I left the shop. I turn to walk towards the station and...

"...Eh!?"
"Ah, Kashiwada-san!"
Before my eyes, I see a figure I am used to seeing walking towards me.

It was...Murasaki-san.

"Happy New Year~"

"Eh?! Why are you here...!?"
"This is really good! Actually, I was thinking just now that I might go into your workplace. I didn’t know if you’d be working or not, so if not I was thinking I might have to do some Karaoke alone by myself..."
Murasaki-san came all the way to my part-time job...yea, we did talk about which karaoke business I worked at before, but....

That aside, Murasaki and Suzuki..if you’re gonna come here, tell me about It beforehand! If it turns out I’m not working at the time you come here, it’d be a visit without reason....

"I-is that so...well, it’s a good thing we just so happened to see each other..."

"I want to hear about what happened after that..."

"Eh!?"

Murasaki-san’s "after that", of course, is probably about Azuki-chan and me.

"Kashiwada-san, after this, do you have a bit of time to spare?"

After this, eh....After this, there was a place I was planning to go.

But...it’s not as though I made a promise to go there or there’s a time limit for when I can go there. In addition, I can’t flat-out refuse Murasaki’s invitation after she has worried so much about us.

"Yes, it’s fine."

After thinking about it, that was my answer.

"Then...won’t you have some tea or such with me?"

*

...So.

She indeed asked if we could have "tea" or such, but really. We are now for some reason going to a bar. Of course, this is the first time I’ve ever been to a bar in my life. She told me "Let’s go here," and brought me all the way to this place, and I am still flabbergasted at such.

"Kashiwada-san, you’re still a minor so that means you cannot drink alcohol, understand?"

"Un-understood...we even told the worker..."

When the worker came, I ordered an orange juice and Murasaki-san ordered a Shirley Temple, a fairly short and fancy name for a type of cocktail.

"Umm, Murasaki-san...I am sorry, after that I couldn’t tell you anything....Even though you got so involved with us..."

I spoke to Murasaki-san my apologetic feelings.

"No...about that, I was thinking that I should apologize."

"...Eh?"

"The day of the winter comiket...even though I said I’ll find out how Azuki-san feels...afterward, I couldn’t contact you at all..."

"Eh!? Ah, well, that’s..."

"The truth is, on the third day of the winter comiket...Azuki-san told me everything. ‘I’m sorry for keeping it a secret up until now, I will tell you what has been bothering me all this time...’ That you had been dating, what happened on Christmas Eve, everything....She also said, ‘how things are going now is the worst, so I will accurately convey how I feel to Naoki-kun!’ So, I thought it would be good if I didn’t unnecessarily say anything..."

Murasaki-san said such in an apologetic manner.

"Ah, is that so..."

"And so, the truth is...after that, I’ve been communicating back and forth on Line with Azuki-san, so I was told and know that she was to get across her feelings to you on the day of the opening ceremony...in other words, today. So, I sent her a message, but she still has not responded, so I have become curious..."

"I-is that so..."

I see. So, she came out here to hear what I had to say about this.

"Murasaki-san, you’ve worried so much about us, so I will tell you everything."

I told Murasaki-san a general outline of the events from New Year’s Eve to today. She’s been in contact with Azuki-chan this whole time, she said, so she may have heard about everything before today already, though...

"...Is that how it was..."

Murasaki-san listened well to my long story.

"Kashiwada-san also...surely was extremely troubled...it must have been terrible..."

"Welly...Murasaki-san, I really thank you for being so invested in this stuff with Azuki -chan and me."

"Eh...of..course."

"For some reason...a profound smile appeared on Murasaki-san’s face.

"After all, I have feelings for you"

At her expression and that line, my heart skipped a beat. Eh? Murasaki-san...?

"...in that I view you as a valuable friend, I think."

She said with a whole-faced smile.

"Eh?! Ah, yes..."

"Not just you, Kashiwada-san, of course, but Momo-san and Azuki-san as well..."

"Yes, of course....Thank you very much."
To her words, I returned a smile of my own.

I, just now...for only a moment, expected that some other words were going to come out of her mouth. Even though I already...should understand what she just put into words. I was pretty stupid there.

Murasaki-san got 4 refills of the same cocktail she ordered in the beginning. Though she handled it well in the beginning, I could tell by looking that the drink was slowly but surely affected her. If it weren’t for this, she’d be a steady adult....Well, on the other hand, it’s good to know she has such a chink in the armor.

After leaving the bar, we walked toward the station.

"Murasaki-san...you’re fairly drunk, aren’t you?"

I grew worried for the girl who was walking unsteady.

"Sure enough, I...will escort you there."

"Noo~, it’s fine~"

"No, I’m worried about you..."

"Worried? What, what’s there to be worried about~?’

"Well, I mean, like...if you’ll be able to get back home properly, or if you are seized by some weirdo..."

"...Hmph. Really, Kashiwada-san~ I am already a full-fledged adult woman? No matter how drunk I get, there’s no need to worry about me."
"No, no, no, there’s a need alright. After all..."

Back in the past, I had felt as though it was a mood of drunkenness when talking with Murasaki-san when she was drunk despite my not drinking alcohol...

Now, I feel the same. If this mood of drunkenness was spreading...to me, then this mood was becoming a tad drunk-like. So...at this time, more than usual, I could say something a tad bold, I thought.

"After all...you’re a beautiful...woman....It’s already dark, and so, umm, I think it would be better if we were wary of weirdos creeping in this darkness..."

I said such, and I immediately regretted it.

Aaagh, how could I say such an embarrassing, useless thing...?! To be so embarrassed after saying it, I’m not drunk at all! Without a doubt, I am completely sober! I could tell that my face was growing hotter and hotter due to saying something so embarrassing.

"...Kashiwada-san..."

Saying such a thing, surely...Murasaki-san would tease me over it, I thought. Like always, she could say "You’re growing all red, how cute~"...or something. However, today, her response was...different from usual things like that.

She suddenly grew silent and stared into my eyes.

"...Kashiwada-san...Am I...beautiful...?"

With a trying expression, she stared seriously at me and said such.

"...Eh!?"

I was flustered over this line outside of my expectations. This is...exactly...?! Perhaps, is she kidding around again? IS she teasing me...?!

"Of...course..."

"...Really...?"

Staring at me pitifully, she again asked me the same thing. Her pupils are...I don’t know if it’s because she is drunk, but they seem teary.

"Hmm, o-of course!"

Blushing, I affirm the previous answer with all my might.

The next moment.

"...?!"

That moment, I didn’t understand what just happened. Now, I am enveloped in the smell of her perfume. Her arm was wrapped around my back firmly. Her soft hair was touching my face a bit. Her soft...chest was pushed against my body.

"...Mu-rasa..."

She was hugging me tightly.

I try calling out her name, just what was I thinking...’

"...Yukari...san..."

Coming to, I called out...her real name. It was an instant that seemed like an eternity.

Eventually, Murasaki-san...slowly let go of me.

"Go-tcha"

"...Eh!?"

She had...already returned to how she normally is.

"That’s no good, Kashiwada-san. If you’re so full of openings in your defense, you might get attacked by a drunk woman, just like just now!"

"..!? Hu-...huh...!? No, I don’t think there’s any curious pervert who’d attack someone like me..."

"Actually...you don’t think you might be wrong on that?"

Just like always, she gave an impish laugh.
"...Eh?!...say, Murasaki-san...after getting so drunk like that, won’t you forget what happens today!?"

"Probably~ Ah, but, I would rather if I did methinks..."

"Eh!?"

"Ignoring the fevered drunkenness, reverse sexually harassing a minor...and a virgin high school student at that..."

"What!? Just now, those were decisive, plain words!? Wh-what do you know about me concerning thaaat!?"

"Oh~ That’s the kind of thing you can tell by the aura, you know? You can’t hide that never been with a woman virgin aura!"

Aah~~~really! Th-this...drunkard! How can she tell!? Saying you can tell by the aura, I don’t get it! Shoot...earlier, my heart skipped so many beats I wondered if it would stop...but in the end, even drunk, she’s one to tease me, eh....

Eventually we arrived at the station.

"Ummm...seriously, I’ll escort you."
"No, I mean..Kashiwada-sad, don’t you have somewhere you should go?"

"...!?"

"That and...I also have somewhere I need to go."

"...Eh?!"

"This way...we’re facing Azuki-san’s home/"

"...Murasaki...san..."

"Even if I go, I’m not sure it’ll change much, however..."

While she was saying this, she wryly smiled. There’s no way it’s like that...I thought in my inmost heart.

"Well then, Kashiwada-san...keep fighting on."

Murasaki-san cheered me on....

"...Yes! Thank you very much!"

Facing her house, I resolved myself.

OMAE O OTAKU NI SHITEYARU KARA, ORE O RIAJUU NI SHITEKURE! Index

Next Part (Vol 10) (CH 5)