“Phew… the latest volume was amazing as usual…”
During lunch break, I had sprinted to the nearby convenience store and bought a manga along with my lunch. Now, after finishing it, I closed the book with a deep sense of satisfaction.
This was the clubroom of the manga research club, where I served as president. It was my personal oasis, a place where I could fully immerse myself in the many worlds of manga brought in by former club members. Well, that is—
“Oh, Prez, you’re done reading? Can I borrow it now~?”
If only she wasn’t here.
I frowned at the voice, which always sounded like it was on the verge of laughter, as she rudely interrupted the moment I was savoring the afterglow.
“Koyanagi… could you at least show some restraint?”
“Whaaat? I waited like three whole seconds! And I think I deserve some praise for putting up with your creepy grin for that long, Prez~.”
The one reaching out for the manga, with a smirk on her face, was my classmate and new club member who joined the manga research club out of nowhere two months ago—Koyanagi Kanon.
She had bright brown hair with permed ends, makeup done to perfection, and her uniform was so out of place that if a teacher saw her, there would be no question she’d get scolded. Her skirt was so short, it seemed like she was constantly testing the limits. And, naturally, she had piercings in her ears.
A gyaru. Without a doubt, she was a gyaru.
Faced with her overpowering look, in every sense of the word, I found myself speechless and silently handed over the manga.
“Hehe, thanks~.”
She took the manga, smiling happily, and confidently crossed her legs as she sat on a folding chair. Feeling awkward, I averted my gaze.
When she first joined the club, we members were initially surprised, and then… we had a glimmer of hope. Could it be? Was she one of those so-called “gyaru who’s nice to otaku”? We dared to dream that one of those “otaku-friendly gyaru” we’d heard about had graced our club. But our hopes were soon crushed.
In reality, she was just a gyaru who had no mercy for otaku.
Not that she was a bad person, probably. Seeing her happily reading manga like this, it was clear she hadn’t joined to make fun of us. She really did like manga. Apparently, she’d only recently gotten into it, but she proudly called herself an otaku now, so in that sense, we could call her one of us.
However… she just didn’t vibe with us gloomy otaku types at all.
“Whoa, this is insane! Such an intense scene!”
For example, this.
She blurted out her thoughts while reading. For us, the type of people who preferred to read manga quietly, this was unthinkable. Even if we asked her to tone it down, she’d stop temporarily, only to go back to her old ways soon enough. She probably wasn’t even aware of it.
This wasn’t just limited to manga reading. She always spoke her mind. If something was gross, she’d flat-out say it was gross. If something wasn’t there, she’d clearly say it wasn’t. All while laughing.
I doubt she meant any harm, but her merciless words would quietly stab at the delicate hearts of us introverted otaku. As a result, all the other members had stopped coming to the clubroom after school.
As for me, I kept coming every day out of a sense of responsibility as club president and… well, for personal reasons, too.
(Does she even realize?)
Koyanagi didn’t seem particularly bothered by the fact that I was the only one left in the clubroom. I couldn’t help but glance at her cheerfully oblivious face with a hint of resentment.
Noticing my stare, she suddenly looked up and met my eyes. Flustered, I quickly looked away, but I could still catch her grinning out of the corner of my eye, making me feel worse.
Predictably, she put down the manga and started talking.
“What’s up, Prez? Why’re you looking at me with such passionate eyes?”
“Nothing.”
“C’mon, tell me~. You’re making me curious.”
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