Volume 4 Chapter 27 Spin-Off – The Ugly Otaku Who Was Bullied Became Inexplicably Involved With A Beautiful Younger Man Who Threatened Me – Part I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I was born ugly. People have been saying that about me since I was a kid.
My mom tried to make me look cute by dressing me in frilly clothes that didn’t really suit me, but that just made things worse.
Even though I didn’t do anything, I got hit with mean comments all the time. During my childhood and 6 years in elementary school, I was bullied hard, called “creepy” and “Yeti, stay away” when adults weren’t around. When I got to middle school, the bullying turned into gossip, and I was treated like I didn’t even exist. Luckily, I was good at studying, so when I got into a top high school, the bullying and gossip stopped completely.
Now that I’m 27, looking back, I realize that when I was bullied, I didn’t say anything back or ask the adults for help. The bullies had too much free time, which means they were just bored.
Being ugly started the bullying, but it wasn’t the only reason. If someone knows you won’t fight back, they feel safe using you as a punching bag and it kills their boredom. That’s probably what it was.
I was shy, so I just put up with the bullying and escaped into my own world.
My escape was studying, food, and… anime, manga, and novels (the two-dimensional world).
Others might think it’s silly, but at that time, I didn’t have the energy to think of other ways to cope. The wounds never healed, and I still carry them with me.
* * *
”Seriously, when I first heard about it, I thought it was a joke, but you really bought it. A tower apartment!”
On a hot summer day, my friend and I were walking down the street, pulling a cart full of stuff we got from an event.
”Yeah. Because booking a hotel near the event is getting harder every year, and I don’t want to ride a packed train early in the morning. Plus, I think I’ll be single forever, so I need to prepare to live on my own.”
I looked up at the tower apartment we were almost at while my friend, Tadano Yuki, was talking.
”Well, that’s true. If you’re deep into the two-dimensional world, you won’t have much connection to the real world. Risa-sensei doesn’t have any other hobbies, so she doesn’t have anywhere else to spend her money. It was a good buy, right? I’m lucky I get to stay over at your place.”
”Most of the money was borrowed from my parents, though.”
”Hidden rich girl!”
”I can’t help it. If you want a used tower apartment in a good location, you have to pay in cash upfront, or the deal won’t go through.”
”Buying a million-dollar apartment in cash without a bank loan… seriously?”
Yuki, my first real friend, is a nurse with a nice and straightforward personality. She doesn’t look down on me for being a trainee at a hospital run by my relatives, and she talks to me like a normal person.
By the way, I keep the fact that the hospital director is my relative a secret from her because I don’t want to deal with any extra drama. Yuki looks like a beauty who wouldn’t be seen as an otaku. I later found out that there are a lot of “hidden otakus” out there.
Our friendship started when she saw me using a tote bag that didn’t look otaku at all, and she figured out I was an otaku.
I never thought I’d find someone like her so close to me, and I was totally caught off guard.
I was ready for rumors to spread and for people to gossip at work, but that never happened. Instead, Yuki and I became battle buddies at events.
”Hey? Is that a person… maybe?”
”Where?”
”Look, over there.”
Yuki agreed when I pointed to a black shape crouching in the entrance. It might feel a bit cooler in the shade where the water flows, but today’s temperature is well over 38°C.
The humidity is high, and there’s hardly any wind. Just because it’s in the shade doesn’t mean it’s cool, so I think resting there is dangerous.
”What’s wrong?”
”…ah.”
He answered me. He seemed aware but looked weak. The black shape in the corner of the entrance was a man. He was looking down, so I couldn’t see his face, but he looked unwell.
”Sorry… I must be in the way. I felt a bit dizzy and was resting. I’ll move soon. Is there a convenience store nearby…”
When he said that, he tried to stand up, but he wobbled. The commercial area is far from the entrance of the building. If he walked like that, he would definitely feel worse.
”The convenience store is far from here. It’s hot outside, and if you’re not feeling well, you need to rest in a cool place quickly. Yuki, help me take this guy home.”
”Got it.”
It’s an emergency. I don’t know him, but I have to let him into my place.
* * *
After dropping off the cart with the stuff we got at the concierge in the entrance hall, Yuki and I carried the man who had collapsed into my guest room and laid him on the bed.
I had already turned on the air conditioner from my phone while I was at the event, so the room was nice and cool.
The man probably had mild heatstroke. I put wet towels on his neck and under his arms, and turned on a fan I brought from another room to help cool him down.
”Please drink this.”
I handed him a jelly-like oral rehydration solution to keep him hydrated while he lay in bed.
”…sorry.”
The man took the jelly in his mouth. For now, he seems okay. I’ve done what I can, so now I just have to keep an eye on him.
”Risa-sensei, what should we do for dinner?”
When I left the guest room and went back to the living room, I heard Yuki’s voice from the entrance hall as she received the cart with our stuff.
”Hmm, eating out might be tough.”
”Yeah, since we have all this, let’s order in. We can relax in the room while looking at our stuff.”
Yuki said this while stacking the items from the cart on the coffee table in the living room. There were colorful, flashy covers piled up that definitely couldn’t be shown to regular people.
”Right. I think there’s a…”
I pulled out a paper with the menu from a restaurant in the commercial area from an unused kitchen drawer.
”Whoa, what’s that? A secret menu just for tower residents!? I didn’t know this existed.”
”It seems like it. I’ve never used it, but you order with a special number.”
Yuki took the menu and looked at it closely.
”Wow, let’s get Chinese food then. In summer, you crave spicy food. Alcohol is… not a good idea.”
”Yeah, not today.”
When I agreed, Yuki’s excitement about the secret menu dropped.
”Ah, well, it can’t be helped. Anyway, he looked like a handsome prince, so it’s fine. It’s good fuel for my imagination, right? He’s definitely a ‘uke’.”
Yuki chuckled mischievously.
”Huh? He’s like 180 cm tall, so there’s no way he’s an ‘uke’ Of course, he’s an ‘seme’.”
It was tough to support the wobbly guy and bring him here, so I didn’t have time to check his face, and I was also thinking about what to do once we got to the room, so I didn’t care if he was good-looking or not.
I just thought he was tall when I laid him on the bed.
Is the guy who collapsed handsome? I don’t really have anything to do with that kind of stuff in real life, so I can’t quite picture it. More than that, I felt a little guilty for turning the guy I just happened to help into a topic for my imagination, so I quietly apologized in my heart.
* * *
”Thank you.”
As the sun set and the night view with the illuminated Ferris wheel and big bridge came into view from the window, the man who had been sleeping came into the living room. He walked steadily and looked good.
Yuki took the wet towel and asked, “How are you feeling?”
”Thanks to you, I’m feeling better.”
”That’s great. But just to be safe, please let Risa-sensei check you out.”
I urged him to sit on the sofa without giving him a choice. I started checking his pulse and other things while he sat on the sofa.
”Looks like you’re okay. On days like this, it’s better not to go outside. If you’re going to an event, you should bring drinks or frozen stuff to prepare ahead of time; it can be dangerous.”
”I’ll do that next time. I heard that celebrities and foreigners go to these events, so I thought it would be a chill hangout, but it was tougher than I expected. Sorry for causing trouble.”
Not a fan… really? Maybe that’s why. You can’t think of a battlefield as just a regular event space. It’s like trying to hike up the world’s highest mountain──Mount Everest──with just basic gear.
Still… seeing this guy who almost passed out, Yuki was right; his face is small and well-shaped, and he has long limbs like a sparkling prince. Is he straight out of a dating sim game?
He looks about… 20 years old.
After apologizing, the guy stood up from the sofa and looked around the room. He picked up his stuff from the corner of the sofa on the other side of the living room and said, “Thank you.”
”Um, is that all your stuff? Please check to make sure everything’s there.”
Yuki said this, and the guy checked his bag. As expected from a seasoned nurse, she knows how to handle things.
”Ah, yes. Everything’s here. Um, if possible, I’d like to thank you for your help.”
”You really don’t need to. Just be careful on your way home.”
Since Yuki and I plan to dive deep into the world of 2D soon, I really want him to leave quickly.
If he doesn’t go home soon, I won’t have enough time for my “otaku talk” at work, which I can’t discuss openly.
”No, I can’t just leave like that…”
Seeing the guy hesitate with a troubled look, Yuki suddenly suggested, “If you want to thank him, how about a one-day date with Risa-sensei next time you have a day off?”
”…Huh!? Yuki, what are you talking about?”
”Come on, a date with a cool guy. Risa-sensei usually has everything she wants, and she doesn’t have time to enjoy food gifts like summer or winter treats, so she just gives them away, right?”
”No way, a date is impossible. I don’t have time! Plus, he wouldn’t want to be with someone like me.”
I’ve never had a boyfriend in my life as an awkward otaku. I left the idea of romance in the real world behind when I was born.
I felt a headache coming from my friend’s silly suggestions, thinking it was all just a joke.
”Then do you have any other ideas?”
”I told you, I don’t need a thank you!”
I really don’t. But the handsome guy still doesn’t show any sign of leaving. I wish he would just read the room.
”It seems like he won’t be satisfied unless you thank him. He might not leave otherwise.”
”Ugh…”
”So, how about we exchange contact info?”
For some reason, Yuki took charge and pushed the conversation forward, and before I knew it, we were even setting up a schedule.
* * *
In the end, it was my fault that we couldn’t find a day that worked, and it took about a month to finally set a date for our one-day outing.
I don’t know what job he has or if he’s a student, but the guy seems flexible with his time and always messages me quickly, so even with last-minute cancellations, we managed to set plans smoothly.
However, just because we’ve known each other for a month doesn’t mean our relationship has progressed.
Actually, I still only know that the guy’s name is “Shuu” and his ID on a free calling app. Since it’s just a temporary relationship, that’s enough info for me.
For our one-day date, I just picked a place away from work where we wouldn’t run into colleagues and left everything else up to Shuu.
I’ve never been on a date, so I’m excited to see what kind of cool places we’ll go to.
”Karaoke?”
”Yeah. Risa-san said she can’t sing the songs she knows when she goes to karaoke with coworkers.”
”That’s true! That’s really helpful.”
Even though I’m going with coworkers, I can’t sing songs that show off my hobbies too openly. The places Shuu is taking me to are perfect for fulfilling my everyday interests.
I don’t need to worry about showing my true otaku self, right? After all, Shuu must have seen the pile of loot I brought into the house and stacked on the table, so he knows I’m an otaku who attends events.
It’s fun to go on a date with a 2.5D handsome guy without any reservations!
This is probably the only time in my life that something like this will happen. It’s just for today. I’ll never see Shuu again anyway. So, is it okay if I say I want to have sex with him? I want to experience it at least once in my life. And the best part is, he’s a 2.5D! If he says no, I’ll just say goodbye.
After karaoke, I invited Shuu to a boutique hotel.
* * *
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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