“I hope I have the right place...” I whispered to myself.
There was a long line of people in front of that Akihabara karaoke shop, full of both girls and boys who looked older than me. Many of them were talking to each other, and I realized that most people had probably brought friends along. Having come alone, I considered coming up with an excuse to go back home, but I remembered that same-day cancellations weren’t allowed.
So I, Kagetora Ichigaya, got in line too.
The event I was going to attend was called the “Otaku Meetup & Matchmaking Party.” My reason for going there was obvious: I wanted an otaku girlfriend.
I became an otaku back in grade school and, since then, have only had eyes for fictional girls. However, in middle school, I started watching a lot of rom-com anime and, also because of that, started wishing I had a real girlfriend. Of course, I couldn’t just date anyone. She’d have to be an otaku too.
If I were a more casual otaku, just watching anime every now and then, any old girlfriend wouldn’t be an issue. But someone like me, who spent considerable amounts of time and money on gacha games and anime swag, needed a girlfriend who could match his power level.
Then we’d be able to watch anime together, have fun singing karaoke, and maybe she’d even cosplay my favorite characters for me. That’s why I needed an otaku girlfriend.
Unfortunately, there was no one who fit the bill at my school. The girls in the manga club weren’t really my type, and they probably didn’t like the same stuff as me anyway.
I was into works full of cute girls, but they were more into anime with sparkly dudes, Boys’ Love (yuck), and girly gacha games. I didn’t eavesdrop on them, but they always talked so loudly that I was forced to listen.
Since the situation at school was like that, I’d looked online for another way to find my ideal girlfriend. That’s how I found out about the “Otaku Meetup & Matchmaking Party.”
Hosted by a matchmaking company, it was an event where otaku could look for friends and dates with similar interests. Minors couldn’t usually join this kind of thing, but no alcohol was being served, so there was no age restriction in place.
The party would be in a large karaoke room with a standing buffet, where all the attendees could get unlimited drinks. Reading about it, I’d been excited to turn up.
If possible, I’d wanted someone I knew to come with me, but my only otaku friend from school said he wasn’t interested, so I had to suck it up and go by myself.
This is a huge chance for me. It’s no time to be scared! I promised myself that I’d find the ideal otaku girl and get her number! I clenched my fists and mustered up all of my courage.
When it was my turn to enter the room, the staff greeted me.
“Hello! Let me check your reservation. One man, no women. Correct?”
I paid the three thousand yen admission fee and received a name tag. The name I wrote on it was what I’d be called for the duration of that day. What should I choose?
After thinking for a while, I wrote the handle I used online, ShadowTiger, and pinned the tag on my chest.
I was too caught up in my nervousness to take in the people around me, but now I noticed just how many there were. There were barely any couples, though the party had only just started.
I wonder if there’s a girl my type; long black hair... pure, feminine looks...
I opened my eyes wide and scanned the room. All of the girls are kind of meh.
“The bar is now open for orders!” called one of the staff members, directing us to the counter.
During the short time I’d spent checking out the girls, several boy-girl pairs had already formed.
I have to hurry up and find a cute girl!
Unfortunately, all the decent girls were already busy chatting with other guys. Ugh! Too late!
I looked even harder, trying to find someone who was still free. In a corner of the room, I saw two average-looking girls silently staring at their phones. They weren’t exactly my type, but I realized that if I kept nitpicking, there’d be no one left for me to talk with. That was the one outcome I had to avoid at all costs, so I started walking toward them.
However, just a few steps away, I stopped dead. My legs wouldn’t move any further.
What am I even supposed to say to them? “Hi, where are you from?” No way! That’d be just like trying to pick them up!
As I imagined a conversation with them, a realization dawned on me. I’m no good at talking to girls, am I?
I couldn’t even approach girls at school. Being alone in an unfamiliar place made it even more difficult. Impossible, actually.
Why did I think I could do this? What the hell was I thinking when I signed up for this party?
I probably thought that I just needed to show up and things would magically turn out fine. Maybe someone would even talk to me first, or I’d be able to find a reason to go up to them.
As if. I always convince myself that I can do things that are clearly impossible. It’s a bad habit of mine. I should stop fooling myself.
Sighing, I made up my mind. Enough. Time to leave.
I’d signed up for the party, came all the way here, lined up, and actually entered the joint. That was a feat in itself for an asocial otaku like me. Well done, Kagetora.
If I didn’t reassure myself like that, I’d probably start crying. In order to pay the entrance fee, I’d had to sacrifice a considerable amount of my gacha funds and lunch money. Not to mention, I’d wasted a whole day off school.
But I’d rather blow three thousand yen than have to spend one more minute in this place.
I started walking—almost running, actually—toward the exit, when...
“Ouch!”
“Ah! I’m sorry!”
I bumped into a girl.
I continued to apologize while I turned to look at her, then froze in place, shocked.
“What...?!”
I’d seen her before.
No wonder I’d seen her, since we went to the same school. I’d never spoken with her, but she was in the same year as me, and her class was right next to mine.
What is she doing here?!
Kokoro Nishina. She was so popular that I knew her name even though we were in different classes. She’d stood out from the very first day of school.
Kokoro had a lot of friends and looked like she’d seen her fair share of guys’ bedrooms. Most of the popular boys were into her. However, except for her clothing and hairstyle, she was actually a diligent student with decent grades. Or at least, so I’d heard.
I took a good look at her. Dyed hair. A short, red dress that revealed her shoulders. High heels. Large earrings. Makeup that even I, who didn’t know the first thing about makeup, could tell was flashy. You would never expect a girl that looked like this to show up to a party aimed at otaku. So why was Kokoro Nishina, renowned popular girl and normie extraordinaire, attending a party like this?
I looked at her face again and noticed she’d turned terribly pale.
“You seem familiar. Could you be... from school?” she asked me, fumbling for words.
“Oh, Two-Heart-san! We found you!” a couple of men called out to her. “You ran away like that, so we’d been looking for you!”
The approaching duo were as stereotypically otaku as you could get. Their faces, their clothes, their rambling speech: they had it all (not that I’m one to talk).
They kept creeping closer and closer to Kokoro, who looked clearly distressed.
“Ah, s-sorry, I ran into an acquaintance, you see...” she said, grabbing my arm.
“Huh?!”
“Acquaintance?” one of the two men asked.
“He’s a f-friend of mine... I need to talk with him. See you later!” she said, successfully escaping the men while dragging me with her. I had no idea what was going on.
My only experience with being touched by girls was when they accidentally bumped into me on crowded trains. To be honest, having my arm grabbed like that was enough to make my heart race. The sweet smell that permeated the air around her (Shampoo? Perfume?) was making me dizzy.
Kokoro left the two men hanging there, dragging me out of the karaoke room and into the light of the stairway landing.
Once we were out of sight of everyone else, she stared up at me.
“I don’t know your name, but we go to the same school, right?” she asked, still pale for some reason. “Why are you here?”
“I’m just here for the party. Why are you here? You aren’t even an otaku,” I replied, annoyed at how she’d made it sound like I wasn’t allowed to be there.
Now that I could take a better look at her, I understood why she was so popular. Even in the first year of school, she was well-known for her good looks and, sure enough, she was cute enough to be on TV.
Her face and body were close to perfection. Of course, so were her outfit and hairstyle. I wasn’t exactly a fashion expert, but even I could tell that she was on another level from most other girls at the party.
However, I wasn’t into gyaru or slutty-looking girls. I didn’t want anything to do with them.
I never hid the fact that I was an otaku, which the gyaru in middle school made fun of me and bullied me for. I was so traumatized that I’d started avoiding social interaction altogether, sitting by myself in a corner of the classroom trying not to be noticed by anyone.
That was why gyaru, no matter how cute they were, brought me nothing but fear.
Kokoro Nishina, especially, was the exact opposite of my “long black hair” and “pure, feminine looks” dream girl.
“For the party? Like, you want to meet otaku girls?” she asked me, confused.
“Y-Yeah.”
“I see. So, you’re an otaku too,” she said, and her expression relaxed a little bit.
Wait, what did she just say? You’re an otaku... too?
“I guess you do look like one,” she added after looking me up and down.
“What?!”
What’s that supposed to mean?!
Her comment was rude and unwarranted. I’d done my best to clean up for this party.
“More to the point, what are you doing here?!”
“That’s...” she dropped her gaze with a troubled expression.
After a moment, sighing deeply, Kokoro looked back at me as if she’d found the courage to say something very important.
“Isn’t the reason obvious? I want a boyfriend who’s an otaku like me!”