Lonely Otaku – Chapter 14

TLN: Apologies if your comments didn’t appear straight away. I’ve changed the settings so comments are auto-approved, but it doesn’t seem to be working.

Sorry if the chapter is a little messy explanation wise. I’m very tired at the moment so could only do a brief check to see if everything makes sense.

FYI this is almost the end of the first volume of the LN (if I was translating the LN), it’s about 96% of the way there.

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 14 – Behind the scenes…

After waiting for Momoi to change into her uniform—we left Saijo behind and began to walk home.

Momoi’s condition did not improve even after leaving the gymnasium, so I was walking hand in hand with her whilst pulling lightly.

Occasionally Momoi squeezed my hand tightly, but I didn’t say anything.

I decided to let her do what she wanted until she was satisfied.

Eventually Momoi stopped.

I also stop and look back at her.

She was looking at me with trembling eyes.

「What’s wrong?」(Kaito)

When I asked her that, she opened her mouth to speak.

「Why…..help me….?」(Momoi)

「What do you mean?」(Kaito)

「Because…..you’re not the type of person to do this….」(Momoi)

I understand what she wants me to say.

Certainly, I’m not the type of person to do what I did to Saijo.

Well I don’t know if that’s exactly true.

Why—did I show up there?

Why—was I so well prepared?

It goes back a week.

２

「Onii-chan…..please help onee-chan….」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan came to my room in tears.

I led her into my room and let her sit on the bed.

It’s the first time I’ve seen her this way.

I wonder if she’s overwhelmed by everything that’s happening…

「What’s wrong?」(Kaito)

Sakura-chan slowly opens her mouth to answer me.

「Onee-chan has been acting strange….」(Sakura)

At Sakura-chan’s words, I think of how Momoi has been acting recently.

…..

I don’t think there’s anything different, but…?

「I haven’t really noticed anything different. Are you sure it’s not in your head?」(Kaito)

「That’s not it! My sister hasn’t fought with you lately!」(Sakura)

…..eh?

That’s what’s strange!?

It’s not something else? Just that she hasn’t argued with me recently?

In truth, I don’t remember fighting with her these past few days.　….

Is it really that normal for Momoi to argue with me….?　　　

「…..isn’t there anything else that has changed?」(Kaito)

I feel a little sad and ask Sakura-chan.

Besides we can’t prove she is acting different because of just that.

「Um…she sometimes forcibly makes herself laugh, although it’s rare, it made me wonder…it also seems like she hasn’t appeared at the student council these past few days….I’m sure she’s involved in something bad….」(Sakura)

「I see….」(Kaito)

Well….I don’t know if that’s true or not…

—–It’s useless even if I think about it.

Then why am I so relieved?

I don’t know if anything has happened to Momoi, but it’s strange for “that” serious Momoi not to attend the student council.

It’s possible that I’ve only noticed this because of Sakura-chan.

Sakura-chan has been with Momoi for a very long time, so she would notice a difference in behaviour compared to me.

Then what should I do?

If I ask Momoi, she probably won’t talk honestly.

Then should I get Sakura-chan to ask her?

—-no, if Sakura-chan could ask her then I’m sure she would have already heard about it from Momoi.

If she hasn’t asked her yet, it’s probably because she knows she won’t get an answer.

…………..is this the only way?　

Uwaa….if it turns out to me nothing and she finds out….she’ll definiitely kill me….

—-with the help of Sakura-chan, I was able to hack Momoi’s smartphone to find out what she was involved in.

「….seriously….」(Kaito)

I couldn’t hide my surprise after reading the logs I extracted from Momoi’s smartphone.

No way, so Saijo-san was involved in this matter….

Moreover looking at the logs, it seems that Saijo-san is cornering Momoi little by little.

Perhaps she’s trying to block Momoi’s escape route.

….no, she had no escape route to begin with….

Saijo-san was cornering her step by step because she was wary, but Momoi already can’t go against her.

It seems she cherishes the image of an honour student.

Momoi may not have noticed, but she was taken as a hostage as soon as she was photographed as a shoplifter….

The only way to resolve the issue is to delete all videos and photos…　　

To do that we’ll need to get an app to delete all the data—that’s right!

I remembered a conversation between Saijo-san and Nishimura-san about how slow her smartphone was.

Her personality is one that does what she wants.

I obtained Nishimura-san’s contact information from Momoi’s smartphone.

The app that I had originally made to speed up PC’s, then modified for Sakura-chan to speed up her phone. I would use that against Nishimura-san.

Due to her personality, the app would definitely end up in Saijo-san’s hands.

However there’s not enough time for that.

The app works differently in both windows 7 and windows 10, even the different versions of android could cause issues.

So I’ll need to create an app for every version.

But…in terms of OS….I only have windows 10….

I can’t afford to fail….so it can’t be helped…

—I decided to gather people to act as my application testers online.

There was no criteria as the only problem would be if they had the app installed already on their device, so we recruited a considerable number of people.

…..I’ve lost a large amount of the savings I’ve saved up so far….

Even with the same OS, it’s necessary to have multiple testers, so it’s unavoidable to have so many testers.

Well, when I think that this is to help Sakura-chan, it makes me feel a little better.

I’m not doing this for Momoi!

….who am I making excuses for…?

Maybe it’s because of my lack of sleep, I feel like I’m going crazy…

３

—I was able to get Nishimura-san to use the app, and I kept getting the conversation logs of Saijo-san and the others by remote connection, so I was able to grasp the situation at all times.

However at the time I couldn’t find anything decisive to use against Saijo-san and the others.

The conversation logs alone could be wiped completely by the power of the Saijo Conglomerate.

That said, I’m not going to use Momoi’s photos as physical evidence.

If I do that, her pictures will be exposed to the eyes of many people, and above all, unless Saijo and her friends send the pictures, it is impossible to prove who took them.

There was one instance where they shared an image with each other, but that would likely be wiped as mentionied earlier.

So I kept gathering evidence so that they couldn’t escape.

Saijo-san….no Saijo gave me the evidence I needed, as expected. (TLN: He stops using honorifics when referring to her from now on)

But, because at the time my smartphone was hidden in the gymnasium, I was hiding in a place where I could hear the situation inside…

「Shit…..」(Kaito)

I was furious at the laughter from Saijo and other, who were talking happily with each other.

Originally I wasn’t going to reveal myself, as I was trying to get all the evidence before 6pm, but when I heard Momoi’s scream my anger reached it’s peak and I immediately left my hiding spot.

４

—that was the actions I took before and during the gymnasium incident.

But now that I think about it, I would have had to reveal myself earlier anyway.

If I had waited any longer, they could have taken a decisive photo of Momoi and potentially distributed it before the time turned to 6.

In this case it may have helped me because I was so angry I had forgotten about that.

—but I won’t tell Momoi these things.

So I’ll just say that the reason is because she asked for help–

「—you don’t need a reason to help family, stepsister」(Kaito)

—I smiled at her.

「….gross….」(Momoi)

Momoi turned away from me and muttered with a red face.

「Y, you….is that really the thing you say to the hero who saved you….?」(Kaito)

「You think of yourself as a hero? That’s really gross….」(Momoi)

Yeah, I agree with you there, but why did you have to say it!

But it’s a little depressing.

She was giving me a cold look as usual.

Then, why is her face red and her eyes full of tears as she’s cursing me?

She’s probably still upset from what happened earlier, so I can’t complain.

….yeah, let’s not fight with her today…

Other than that, maybe I didn’t want to change Momoi’s expression because I found it cute….?

In the end I just thought it was pitiful to argue with a girl who had been cornered like she had.

…is that really the case?

「—hey, I want you to tell me one last thing…why were you so kind to Saijo-san in the end….?」(Momoi)

Whilst my thoughts were in conflict, Momoi asked me a question.

Her words seemed sharp, she still seems to be sulky about that.

….are you angry that I didn’t destroy the person who trapped you?

I was a little confused, but I decided to explain it to Momoi honestly.

It’s difficult with the current atmosphere, but I begin explaining it for the sake of the future Momoi.

「Why? Did you want me to end their lives to get back at them?」(Kaito)

「Th, that’s not it….」(Momoi)

「Then why ask that?」(Kaito)

「E, etto….」(Momoi)

To my words, Momoi’s gaze wanders as if its hard for her to say.

Since it’s unlikely she’ll provide an answer, I speak up first.

「If I leave them alone, you think they will get revenge…?」(Kaito)

Momoi nodded anxiously to my question.

I shake my head to Momoi.

「They won’t do that」(Kaito)

「Eh?」(Momoi)

Momoi looked at me in surprise.

「Do you think Saijo is an idiot?」(Kaito)

「Th…that is….」(Momoi)

She looks away from me.

I must have been right.

「Why do you think so? Is it because her test results are bad?」(Kaito)

「Y, yes….」(Momoi)

「That’s wrong in the first place, I don’t think academic ability is a good measure of human intelligence」(Kaito)

「Why…? Isn’t it natural that academic ability leads to intelligence」(Momoi)

I sigh at Momoi who tilts her head.

She seemed to dislike my attitude.

Oh—are we going to argue?

However she quickly closed her mouth, as quickly as she opened it.

….really, it’s difficult….

….wait a moment, I…..

Maybe I was looking forward to arguing with Momoi….

I shook my head in a hurry to blow away those thoughts that passed through my mind and continued talking.

「I’ve been in the same class as Saijo since I was in first grade–she hasn’t listened to any of the lessons, so her test results are bad」(Kaito)

「Then isn’t she stupid…? She doesn’t even listen in class….」(Momoi)

Momoi frowns.

「Do you really think so? Why do you think she doesn’t listen in class?」(Kaito)

「Isn’t that because it’s boring?」(Momoi)

「No, she just doesn’t need to」(Kaito)

To my words, Momoi shakes her head.

「Your grades have an impact on your future, so they are neccesary for everyone」(Momoi)

「No, she doesn’t need that. She already has her future set in stone. I’m sure she will enter a private university with the power of her household. Then she’ll succeed her parents business. That’s why lessons are unnecessary for her. That said, she doesn’t sleep during class when others do, do you know the reason why?」(Kaito)

「I, I don’t know! I’ve never been in the same class as her!」(Momoi)

「Well, that’s true…it’s because she was seriously reading books about etiquette, psychology, negotiation, leadership. She would always read these books whenever I sat next to her in lesson」(Kaito)

Momoi’s eyes opened wide to my words.

Maa, students don’t usually read those books.

When I mentioned there were multiple reasons why I was scared of Saijo, this was one of them.

「She’s actually smart, she has a firm grasp of the extent of her power and knows how to get people to follow her. Hey Momoi, why do you think she did such a roundabout thing to corner you? Why did she make you out as a shoplifter to force you to do what she wanted? Haven’t you wondered why the final orders she gave you were so different?」(Kaito)

Momoi had a dark expression for a moment at my words, perhaps remembering some unpleasant memories.

Then she shakes her head.

Does she not get it…?

「At first, she ordered you to do easy tasks so that you would listen to what she said. If she had increased the difficulty of the orders too quickly, it would be easy to have them rejected. However if she started from the easy stage, she could use the shoplifting to leverage you to obey her orders. Then gradually increase the difficulty. This way you will always weigh the orders against the risk and obey them. This is because humans have a habit of escaping to what they find comfortable. It’s better to obey obediently that do something against it. In fact, when you were ordered to do stuff, you decided to obey the orders and then regretted it after」(Kaito)

(TLN: Basically, the shoplifting incident was used as leverage to get her to take a H pose, then they increased the difficulty to cat-girl cosplay and used the H-pose as leverage, then they did swimsuit posing with the cat-girl cosplay as leverage. Each stage was designed to force her to do more and more outrageous things)

「U…..un…..」(Momoi)

「By moving up the stages steadily, but the time you reach the final stage, your heart will be weakened considerably from fear and it will be instilled in your mind that you can’t go against her. However the plan ended prematurely due to your resistance」(Kaito)

「Eh…what do you mean? I didn’t do anything did I?」(Momoi)　

「Even though she was being careful with each stage, there was a chance you wouldn’t obey her orders. Well the degree of what you can accept depends on the strength of the person. Saijo is a person who feels very strongly about you, so she definitely knew you would resist. That’s why she kept increasing the steps quickly」(Kaito)

Momoi was surprised at my words.

She probably didn’t realize that.

「What did she say when you resisted today? If you didn’t listen to what she said, she would reach out to Sakura-chan?」(Kaito)

「She said…she would make Sakura do something similar to me…」(Momoi)

「Right? She intended to shift her aim to Sakura-chan when you stopped listening to what she said. She intended to weaken your heart as much as she could, then use Sakura-chan to force you to listen to her. However she miscalculated because you kept listening to her orders anyway….your heart was too weak」(Kaito)

My words connected the dots in Momoi’s mind.

She must regret it.

She was easily made to do what they wanted…

She could only listen obediently…

To be honest, I also thought it was unlikely that Momoi would obediently listen to Saijo.

I thought she was a strong girl.

But–she continued to obey.

At the very least, she’s not as strong as I and Saijo originally thought.

However , I’m somewhat glad that Momoi’s heart was rather weak in this case.

「You may be upset, but….Sakura-chan is safe because you didn’t resist, so don’t worry too much」(Kaito)

「Y….yes….」(Momoi)

「Well, she looks like a blonde gal, but she has a cautious personality. She also understands that I won’t crush them as long as they don’t put their hands on Momoi and others, so I’m not going to do anything」(Kaito)

When I said that, Momoi looked in my eyes.

「But….it wasn’t anything to laugh about…besides Kabedon and Agokui…」(Momoi) (TLN: Kabedon is where a man slams his hand besides girls face pushing her against a wall. Agokui is where the man lifts the girl’s head using her chin)

When she says that, Momoi’s cheeks swelled as if she was angry.

Kabedon….?

Agokui….?

What the hell is she saying?

Are her words referring to the last things I did…..?

….you’re saying that, you, who are you…..?

It feels like I’m dealing with Sakura-chan….

「I did that to Saijo to arouse her fear, just like Saijo did to Momoi. I wanted her to despair. But I couldn’t drive her into a corner, so smiled and approached her. She wouldn’t believe the words of an angry man」(Kaito)

「But why drive her so far….? Do you like her….?」(Momoi)

「Haa!?」(Kaito)

Why is that what you think of!?

What kind of thought process do you have to think that I like her!?

「You know the saying “a cornered rat will bite a cat”. If I cornered her more than necessary, she would definitely drag you down with her. If I had provided judgement, all the students would know what they made you do. So I couldn’t do that」(Kaito)

「Won’t she notice this…? if she notices, she might do something else….」(Momoi)

Saying that, Momoi looked frightened.

It seems that the incident has become a trauma.

「Do you think she noticed?」(Kaito)

「Eh!?」

Momoi looked at me in surprise.

Her complexion was dyed in despair.

「Don’t worry, she won’t do anything. Even if though I say that, I can’t judge her right now. But if Momoi and Sakura are actually harmed, even if I have to announce what happened, I would still crush them. So Saijo won’t do anything, I acted out in a certain way to bring this entire case to an end」(Kaito)

「Really? She won’t do anything….?」(Momoi)

….isn’t her fear gone yet…?

But she doesn’t need to worry anymore.

「Are you worried?」(Kaito)

「Y….yes….sorry…?」(Momoi)

「No, I know you’re worried. Because of everything that has happened. However–」(Kaito)

I put my hand on Momoi’s head–

「If she does something, I’ll protect you」(Kaito)

As I say that, I smile whilst stroking Momoi’s head.

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Lonely Otaku – Chapter 13

TLN: Final chapter for today and maybe tomorrow since I’m exhausted, but if I’m not busy I’ll try and pump out a chapter.

Just realized I missed an image, so just added it. It’s the hugging image.

Arc 1 – Changing everyday

Chapter 13 – Otakus suddenly change if their important things are hurt….

「—heh, such cute underwear」(Saijo)

Saying that, Saijo-san and her friends start taking photos of me.

I keep posing in the way I’m told to.

I couldn’t resist anymore…

「Momoi-chan? What’s this?」(Saijo)

「Eh…?」(Momoi)

Saijo-san showed me something.

「Scissors…?」(Momoi)

「That’s right~! Now then, what do you think it’s used for~?」(Saijo)

She smiled as she said such a thing,

「It….it couldn’t be…」(Momoi)

I hurriedly covered my chest with my hands.

「Ooh~ Definitely an honour student, correct guess~!」(Saijo)

Saijo-san grins whilst looking at me.

Ah, demon….

This girl…is nothing but a demon….

「Well before that, I’ll tell you something good. I’m going to have a party for Momoi-chan tomorrow~」(Saijo)

「Pa…rty…?」(Momoi)

「That’s right~ Tomorrow I’ll invite all the boy to have a fun party~」(Saijo)

「Waa~ we’re finally doing it, Kirara-chan!」(???)

「Finally, we get to see Momoi-chan get destroyed!」(???)

With that said, they all started laughing happily.

So cruel….so cruel….

Why….why can they say such a thing to my face…?

「But Kirara-chan, if that’s the case why not do it quickly? Why do it in such a roundabout way?」(???)

「Hmm…well to be honest, there was a mistake in my calculations. Or rather, I read Momoi-chan incorrectly….well I didn’t think too much about it in truth. Besides, it was fun driving Momoi-chan into a corner~」(Saijo)

「Ahaha, that’s right~ Momoi-chan who always has such an apathetic face now looks like this. Kirara-chan is amazing~!」(???)

「Fufu, you’ll see more amazing things tomorrow~」(Saijo)

Saying that, Saijo-san stroked my head.

「Tomorrow, I’m going to make sure Momoi-chan is broken on video, okay?」(Saijo)

「No…I hate it…I won’t do it….」(Momoi)

「Fufu, are you sure you want to say that? If you do, I’ll make sure your imouto goes through the same thing you have」(Saijo)

She lowered her voice and turned her cold eyes towards me.

「What would your imouto think if she found out that her onee-chan was doing such things? If I say『if you listen to what I say, I’ll release your sister』what do you think she will do?」(Saijo)

「No, no way…」(Momoi)

No way…if she says such a thing, that kid will definitely listen to what she says…

「Please….please don’t touch Sakura….」(Momoi)

「Then, you know what to do right?」(Saijo)

「Ye…yes….」(Momoi)

My whole body was weak as I lay on the cold ground.

…..it’s impossible…I can’t go on….

「—Uuu~」(Momoi)

I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer…

「Ah, you finally cried~ I tried my best for so long and you didn’t cry. Is the idea so disgusting?」(Saijo)

「No..please…please…forgive me…」(Momoi)

「Ahaha, it’s okay~ you know it only hurts in the beginning, it’s seems to feel very good after that. Well I don’t really know ’cause I have no experience~」(Saijo)

「Eeh? You have no experience Kirara-chan? I thought for sure you had already done it」(???)

They ignored my plea and started excitedly talking about another topic.

「I haven’t done it, there are no worthy guys around after all」(Saijo)

「Then what about Minami-kun? He’s really handsome isn’t he?」(???)

「Ah~ no way. I’m not looking for handsome looks. I’m looking for a man who makes me feel scared. Well it’s an absolute requirement that they also look cool~ 」(Saijo)

「Kirara-chan’s ideal guy is so strange~」(???)

「That’s right~ then let’s add our finishing touches here~」(Saijo)

With that said, Saijo-san turns around and walks towards me.

With scissors in her hand–

「Stay, stay back!」(Momoi)

I felt a sudden sense of danger and shouted.

「Oh~ you still have the energy to say that? Fufu, you don’t have to look so scared you know? Once I’ve taken a few naked photos, I’ll end the session for today~」(Saijo)

「No way! I hate it!」(Momoi)

「Miyu, Aoi, hold her down~」(Saijo)

「「Hai!」」

Following Saijo-san’s orders, the two of them hold me down by my left and right hands.

「Le, let me go!」(Momoi)

「Ahaha, if you thrash about so much, I might cut your skin with the scissors you know?」(Saijo)

「Stop! Don’t come near me!」(Momoi)

I scream as hard as I can.

However no-one is even paying attention to my cry for help.

Saijo-san slowly approached me whilst smiling.

Her method of walking was extremely slow.

She was doing it deliberately to increase my fear.

Please…help me…someone….

As I strongly wished in my mind…

Ban–!

With that sound, the door to the gymnasium opened.

I reflexively look towards the door.

—why…why….is he here?

３

—When I opened the door to the gymnasium, I saw Momoi in her underwear being held down by two girls as Saijo was approaching with a pair of scissors in her hands.

「Kanzaki…? Didn’t you take a leave from school…?」(Nishimura)

Nishimura asked me with a suspicious expression.

As Nishimura said, I haven’t been at school recently.

She’s wondering why I’m here in my uniform.

But I couldn’t be bothered to answer her.

I was so angry I could feel my intestines boiling.

Whether or not they recognize my feelings, they don’t look away from me.

Eventually–

「Ah, I thought about something good~」(Saijo)

Saijo suddenly said as she walked towards me.

「Hey, Kanzaki. You’re a virgin right? How would you like to “do” the most popular girl in school?」(Saijo)

Saying that, she pointed to Momoi.

I glance at Saijo and sigh.

I then look at Momoi.

The two people holding Momoi down, release her.

「Go on Kanzaki, do it quickly」(Saijo)

With that said, Saijo pushed my back.

Following her words, I walked towards Momoi and removed my shirt.

「Hii—!」(Momoi)

Momoi was looking at me with a frightened expression.

It’s not unreasonable of her to be frightened in this situation.

Looking at this from a distance, it would look like I was trying to have my way with Momoi.

From behind me, I could her Saijo and her group’s laughter.

—-but I didn’t pay attention to them.

「Momoi–」(Kaito)

As I called her name, Momoi shut her eyes tightly.

She adopted an attitude as if she was going to have to endure something.

To that Momoi—

「Wear this」(Kaito)

I put my polo shirt on Momoi’s shoulders.

「Eh….?」(Momoi)

Momoi looked at me with a surprised expression.

「I’m sorry….but that’s all I can give you right now. By the way, can I borrow Momoi’s hairclip?」(Kaito)

I crouched down to Momoi and asked.

「Ah….yes…」(Momoi)

Momoi obediently followed my words, removed her hair-clip from her hair and gave it to me.

I then use it to fasten my bangs out of my way.

Yes—this looks good.　

I once again look at Momoi’s face.

Momoi’s face was dyed red, likely from the embarrassment of me seeing her in her underwear.

There are tears in her eyes.

It’s easy to see the abuse she has had to endure, it’s not hard to imagine that she was terrified.

「–what are you trying to do, Kanzaki?」(Saijo)

From behind me, Saijo spoke with a low voice.

Probably because I did something she didn’t expect.

I stand up and look towards Seijo and the others.

Saijo and her friends were surprised when they saw my face.

「Hmm…did you always have this kind of face?…a little, no it’s really surprising, but no matter how you look, the contents inside are still a loner-kun right?」(Saijo)

With that said, Saijo gave me a mocking look.

They think that because I’m alone, I can’t do anything.

I look into Saijo’s eyes and talk back to her.

「Oi Saijo, don’t you know this is a crime?」(Kaito)

To my words, Saijo’s mouth distorts into a laugh.

「Crime~? What are you saying? This is something Momoi-chan agreed to. Isn’t that right Momoi-chan~?」(Saijo)

With that, Saijo looks towards Momoi.

Looking at Momoi’s face, it’s dyed with horror.

Momoi, who had been called out by Saijo, opened her mouth to speak.

「Kanzaki-kun….we were just playing…don’t worry…」(Momoi)

Momoi replied with a quivering voice.

It seems that her heart was completely broken.

I look away from Momoi and towards Saijo.

「Do you understand? Momoi-chan can’t go against me anymore~ If you try and stop me, I’ll release her embarrassing photos to everyone, so good luck suing me~」(Saijo) (TLN: I’m guessing the idea here is that if she releases the images to everyone, then it would be hard to track down who released them)

Saijo’s mouth distorted into a smile.

On the contrary, Momoi has slumped down like a doll.

I gently pet Momoi’s head.

Momoi whose head was pat by me, looks up with tears in her eyes.

From her expression, it seems as though she has completely given up.　

So I–

「It’ll be okay—leave it to me」(Momoi)

—I smiled gently.

３

「—are you messing around?」(Saijo)

Saijo, who had heard my earlier words, started glaring at me.

「What?」(Kaito)

I tilted my head to Saijo’s words.

Maybe she was angry at my words–she frowned for a moment before opening her mouth.

「Do you think you can do anything in this situation? Let me tell you something, if you try anything I’ll spread these photos everywhere」(Saijo)

With that said, Saijo waves her smartphone around.

I take my eyes off of Saijo and look at my watch.

The current time was 17:59:50.

After checking the time, I clasped my right hand and rotated it to show Saijo and the others my watch.

「10…..9…..8….」(Kaito)

「Ha? What are you doing so suddenly?」(Saijo)

Saijo and her friends were confused, but I didn’t stop my countdown.

「3…..2…..1…..Bon–」(Kaito)

I opened my right hand as I said the word『Bon–』

「Ahaha, did you go crazy due to fear?」(Saijo)

Saijo and her friends ridicule me.

In response I talk to them with a smile.

「Hey you guys, look at your image gallery on your smartphone」(Kaito)

「—ha?」(Saijo)

「Do you really have those pictures of Momoi that you say you do?」(Kaito)

To my words, Saijo and her friends immediately check their smartphones.

Then–

「「「Haaaaaaa!?」」」

—the screams of Saijo and her friends echo in the gymnasium.

「What did you do!?」(Saijo)

Saijo glared at me with an amazing expression.

She had lost all composure.

I shrug my shoulders to her question.

「Who knows, what are you talking about anyway? I didn’t do anything?」(Kaito)

「Don’t deny it! It’s not just Momoi’s images and videos, all my images and videos have been deleted! You definitely did something!」(Saijo)

Instead of answering Saijo’s question, I turn towards Nishimura.

「Hey Nishimura, do you like the app?」(Kaito)

Nishimura suspiciously tilts her head at my words.

「What the hell’s with that?」(Nishimura)

「It’s an app that speeds up your smartphone, didn’t you have a problem with your smartphone being slow?」(Kaito)

When I told her that, her expression changed in the blink of an eye.

She knows what I’m getting at.

–I chose Nishimura as my prey because she had previously complained about her smartphone being slow in class.

She’s the type who acts without thinking about things, she also has the character of sharing all her likes and dislikes with her friends.

So I targeted her.

「Aoi, where did you get the app!?」(Saijo)

Saijo approached Nishimura.

In response, she opened her mouth to apologize.

「Ano…I got an email a few days ago saying it was free and that I should try it out…so I tried it…」(Nishimura)

Saijo and Shimizu both opened their eyes wide to her words.

「Are you an idiot!? You’re supposed to ignore emails like that!!」(Saijo)

「That’s right Aoi! What did you do!」(Shimizu)

「That’s because! I never thought this would happen!」(Aoi)

Nishimura answers the angry Saijo whilst in tears.

「Well…it doesn’t matter….I have a backup on my home computer…」(Saijo)

Saijo muttered.

Saijo’s words make Nishimura and Shimizu feel relieved.

Probably because Saijo’s anger had abated.

But—

「Then let me ask you girls one other thing, did you put the app on your computer as well?」(Kaito)

The blood disappears from Saijo’s face.

She must have remembered putting the app on her computer.

Of course, the other girls had it on their computers too.

「No way…..the computer….」(Saijo)

「Maa, if you have the app installed, all your images and videos will have disappeared by now. The original purpose of the app was to make your smartphone or computer run faster. As a means of doing so, the app automatically imports all the data on the smartphone or computer into the app and organizes it. I simply set it to delete all the image and video data captured in the app at 18:00 today. Of course, I also made it impossible to restore」(Kaito)

「Don’t be stupid! All my photos of my boyfriend have disappeared, what will you do about it!?」(Shimizu)

It was Shimizu who yelled that.

I look coldly at Shimizu.

「So?」(Kaito)　

Shimizu looked frightened and held back her words.

So I continue talking.

「I don’t give a shit about your photos of your boyfriend, I don’t care about trash like that」(Kaito)

To my words Nishimura and Shimizu show frightened expressions.

But Saijo was different.

「Ahaha, I see. I didn’t think you could do such a thing~」(Saijo)

Saijo laughed whilst applauding.

It seems that she regained her posture in the time I spent staring at Shimizu.

She must have thought of an idea.

「It’s a pity that Momoi-chan’s photos were erased…hey Aoi, did you distribute the app to anyone other than us?」(Saijo)

「Ah, no…I’ve only sent it to Kirara-chan and Miyu-chan….」(Nishimura)

Saijo grins at Nishimura’s words.

「Fufu, Kanzaki. Unfortunately it’s not just the people here who have the pictures of Momoi-chan, I sent to pictures to all members of my group. So there are still embarrassing pictures of Momoi-chan don’t you know? Hey what will you do now? Because of your “bravery” Momoi-chan will live with embarrassment for the rest of her life. Isn’t that right you two?」(Saijo)

Saying that, Saijo looks at Nishimura and Shimizu.

The two turned their eyes to Saijo and immediately nodded.

After seeing that, Saijo turned to look at me again.

「It’ll be okay to ruin her life like this, but it’s a bit boring. Besides Kanzaki, I should thank you for deleting the images….if you submit to us, I won’t spread Momoi-chan’s images you know?」(Saijo)

Saijo was smiling as she said that.　

But her eyes weren’t smiling.

It was like she was trying to exert pressure with her gaze alone.

—this must be her bargaining technique.

If other people were negotiated in such a way, they might have swallowed the terms.

But it didn’t make much sense to me.

「Sorry, but I don’t feel like accepting those conditions」(Kaito)

I answered Saijo in such a way.

In response she squints at me.

「Hmmm….so you’re going to abandon Momoi-chan~?」(Saijo)

I shake my head to Saijo’s question.

「The point is that you have nothing to bargain with」(Kaito)

「What are you saying?」(Saijo)

「That’s a lie—right?」(Kaito)

Saijo’s eyebrows twitched at my words.

However she immediately starts smiling again.

「What are you saying? I’m telling you I really did give it out to the other members, why don’t I call them here to prove it?」(Saijo)

Saijo raises her smartphone and shows me.

Her attitude was full of confidence.

I see…at first glance it looks like she’s telling the truth.

But–

「Ah, try it then」(Kaito)

「Eh….?」(Saijo)

My words stumped Saijo.

「What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to call them?」(Kaito)

Perhaps she didn’t expect such a reply.

No matter how many times Saijo lies, it’ll never work. After all I know “everything”.

「Hey Saijo–you seem to have misunderstood something. My app doesn’t just erase images and videos, you know that right?」(Kaito)

「Ha…?」(Saijo)

Saijo looks like she has no idea of what I’m talking about.

「I’ve downloaded all the logs from the chat app you’re using. I’ve checked every person you’ve talked to these past few days, regardless of who they are, so I know for a fact you’ve never sent any images to anyone. There’s also a conversation on there about framing Momoi as a shoplifter?」(Kaito)

My words cause Saijo’s smile to dissappear.

I look towards Shimizu.

「Hey Shimizu, not matter how much your boyfriend is your partner is the word “doing it” the only thing in your head」(Kaito)

Shimizu’s face turns deep blue.

She knows what I mean when I say that.

「Nishimura, you’re surprisingly an angry person. I didn’t think that more than half your conversations with the other girls were you complaining about the girls in the group who you seemed to be getting along with」(Kaito)

Nishimura and Shimizu have different expressions.

But both of them collapsed to the ground.

I look to the side and stare at Saijo.

「Hey Saijo. All your conversation logs are in my hands. The conversations about the things you forced Momoi to do are all there. You’ve lost」(Kaito)

Saijo laughed through her nose when I said that.

「What? you say that because you have the conversation logs? As you confirmed, we did not send any of the images of Momoi in the chat app. In other words, there’s nothing in the logs! Moreover, all the images we had, have been erased. So how do you prove what we’ve done to Momoi? There is no physical evidence. If it’s just a conversation log, it’s possible to avoid getting in trouble by saying we were just having a laugh, if I borrow the power of my parents. In other words, you can’t do anything to us with just that conversation log, right?」(Saijo)

Saijo glared at me as she said so.

Certainly, with the power of the Saijo house, it’s possible.

That’s why I purposely waited for this.

I walked to the place where Momoi was collapsed depressed.

Momoi was staring at me with a shocked expression, but I didn’t have time to deal with it.

I pick up the device I had hidden in the gymnasium.　

「As you say, I won’t be able to drive you into a corner without physical evidence. That’s why I waited this long to act」(Kaito)

With that, I showed her my hidden smartphone.

「It, it can’t be…」(Saijo)

Saijo’s expression was a mix of fear and regret.

「That’s right, I recorded all of today’s conversations. The joyful laughter of you all as Momoi cried. Also, since the data is recorded by connecting the call to my home computer, it’s useless even if you steal my smartphone」(Kaito)

When I said that, Saijo stared at me with tears in her eyes

「Do, don’t joke with me! I won’t let an loner otaku like you get in the way of my plans!」(Saijo)　

I slowly approached Saijo who was yelling at me with a desperate look on her face.

「Do, don’t come close–!」(Saijo)

Saijo shouts at me whilst holding the scissors in both hands.

But–I don’t stop.

I’m confident this woman won’t stab me.

Saijo steps back as I move forward.

「What the hell are you!? Are you really “that” Kanzaki!? Not a completely different person!?」(Saijo)

Saijo’s eyes betrayed that she couldn’t understand the current situation.

「What’s that? so what if I’m a loner otaku. But don’t you know? An otaku is a weak creature–well they may be weak normally, but if you hurt their important things, they’ll change suddenly. You hurt my dear family, that’s all」(Kaito)

After I had finished my explanation, Saijo’s back hit the wall.

I sandwich Saijo between myself and the wall to eliminate her means of escape, I then put my right hand next to her face.

I then stare at her with eyes like I’m looking at garbage.

「Ku—」(Saijo)

Saijo tried to look down to escape my line of sight.

So with my free hand, I lifted her chin from below and forced her to face me.

「Le, let go!」(Saijo)

「You ignored Momoi’s pleas didn’t you? You think I’m going to listen?」(Kaito)

「Uu….」(Saijo)

I lean in close to her ear and whisper.

「Hey Saijo—between you and Momoi, I wonder which one’s life is over?」(Kaito)

「Hii—!」(Saijo)

Saijo let out a frightened voice and tears began to flow from her eyes.

The scissors fell from her hands.

—for the next 10 seconds, Saijo didn’t resist and just merely shed tears.

After looking at her for a moment, I exhaled as if to let my feelings of anger swirling inside me escape.

But—

「I won’t do anything」(Kaito) (TLN: Sorry guys, I know what you were hoping for, but this is arguably better. See my explanation below)

I smiled at Saijo with a gentle voice.

「Eh…?」(Saijo)

To my words, Saijo looked at me in surprise.

She probably didn’t expect to be told such a thing in this scenario.

To be honest, I have a strong desire to ruin Saijo and her friends lives.

But it will hurt Momoi as a result.

So instead of destroying Saijo here, I extended a helping hand.

「Then you’ll forgive me…?」(Saijo)

Saijo looks at me with tears in her eyes as she asks.

「Forgive you….well this and that are different things. What I mean is that I’m not going to do anything right now. Regardless of the circumstances, I’ve erased your precious memories. No matter what you do, you can never get those back. There are individual difference between people, but memories are irreplaceable for everyone. The fact that they are gone forever must be causing unbearable pain, so in a way it’s repaid. That’s why, if you don’t go near Momoi from now on, I won’t do anything terrible to you anymore」(Kaito)

「Repaid the pain?」(Saijo)

「That’s right. Of course, I’ll destroy you if you put a hand on Momoi’s imouto as well you know? But if you don’t do that, then I won’t do anything」(Kaito)

When I say that, Saijo gets depressed.

She may have lost her mental strength along with her peace of mind.

Saijo knows I’m not lying because I’ve been smiling this whole time.

She definitely wants to drop the issue, so I believe she won’t do anything else.

I take my eyes off of Saijo and look towards Momoi.

She looked at me stunned.

I walk up to her like that.

「–Momoi, it’s okay now」(Kaito)

When I say that, Momoi hugged me.

「Mo, momoi…?」(Kaito)

「Sniff….I was scared….so scared….」(Momoi)

Momoi presses her cheek against my face and cries.

I was confused by her actions.

No matter how much she was cornered, the Momoi in front of me now is a completely different person than the Momoi I know.

I was wondering what I should say–

「You did your best」(Kaito)

—I said kindly.

When I said that, Momoi hugged me even tighter–

(TLN: I’m guessing Kaito’s choice will be controversial, but I think this is a great option. Kaito is holding on to all those girl’s weaknesses and he’s basically flipped the situation from them having blackmail material on Momoi, to him having blackmail material on all of them. Now they’ll have to walk on eggshells around both Momoi and Sakura, forever in fear that their secret will get revealed and they’ll all be imprisoned, their lives ruined. It’s a constant psychological pressure, as opposed to a few months/years of imprisonment and then freedom)

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Lonely Otaku – Chapter 12

TLN: Honestly this chapter made me feel genuinely sick to translate, so it’s gonna be difficult for some of you to read. There will be cruel depictions of blackmail, but if you get through this part I guarantee it will all work out, trust me on this.

I’m mass releasing these chapters which I translated and edited today (all 5 of them, please kill me now), because I think it would be too cruel to keep you in suspense for too long.

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 12 – The fallen stepsister

Why…why did this happen…?

「You! Answer me!」(???)

「It’s wrong! I didn’t do anything!」(Momoi)

「Then what’s this? Why did this store’s product come out of your bag? You can’t escape!」(???)

The one speaking seems to be the manager of the store, he was holding a ballpoint pen in his hand.

It came out of my bag.

This guy had dragged me to the backroom of the store.

But why—even though I never touched it, the pen ended up in my bag somehow.

Currently I’m being held on suspicion of shoplifting.

「If you’re not going to be honest, I’m going to have to call the police」(Manager)

「Pl, please wait! I really have no idea how it ended up in my bag! Please believe me!」(Momoi)

「I have evidence! Don’t think you can pass a lie like that!」(Manager)

「I’m telling the truth!」(Momoi)

No…he doesn’t believe me at all…

At this rate the police will really come….

「–yes yes, manager-san, please forgive this girl~」(???)

「Eh….?」(Momoi)

Suddenly I hear a cheerful voice that doesn’t match the serious atmosphere.

I look towards the voice.

Saijo-san…?

Why is that girl here…?

「Who are you?」(Manager)

「U~n, me? I’m the saijo conglomerate’s princess don’t you know?」(Saijo)

Her words instantly changed the manager’s complexion.

This store must be part of the saijo family, which is why his face changed so much.

「Ah, store manager. That ball point pen, I’ll buy it. So forgive this kid–」(Saijo)

With that said, Saijo-san smiled at the manager.

And the store manager–

「Of, of course!」(Manager)

He bowed his head.

２

After that, I left the store with the help of Saijo-san.

However I have a bad feeling.

Why exactly she appeared with that timing—soon became clear with what she said next.

「Nene, Momoi-chan, what’s this?」(Saijo)

「Th, that is…」(Momoi)

What she showed me, was a picture taken earlier of when I was taken as a shoplifter.

The image was taken like a voyeur image…

「Fufu, isn’t Momoi-chan a shoplifter? Everyone at school would be surprised to find that out」(Saijo)

Saijo looked at me happily.

I immediately fought back.

「That’s wrong! I didn’t do it!」(Momoi)

But she just laughs and shakes her head.

「But~ there’s a picture that clearly shows that. As long as they see this, they would just see you as a shoplifter right?」(Saijo)

I felt the blood drain from my body.

It’s over…I was set up by her…

「What’s your aim?」(Momoi)

I glare at her in an attempt to show my resistance.

But—

「You shouldn’t show a rebellious attitude anymore, or I’ll show everyone at school the image」(Saijo)

She said with a cold look, as if her laughter from earlier was a lie.

「…」(Momoi)

I couldn’t say anything back.

If she’s in a bad mood, she might share the image and everyone at school would think I’m a shoplifter. The reputation I’ve accumulated would crumble…

I definitely want to avoid that.

She must have been happy that I was silent, as she started smiling again.

And–

「Then, see you tomorrow~ Mo, moi, chan~」(Saijo)

She whispered in my ear.

３

The days since then have been hell.

The first few days were still ok.

The day after I was caught as a shoplifter, she made me buy her drinks or rub her shoulders.

But then it escalated, until I was finally asked to perform a H pose… (TLN: H pose means Hentai pose. In this case she is being forced to basically make an ahegao face, but with her clothes on)

However as long as I’m not reported as a shoplifter, I was fine with it. I could keep my clothes on after all–

That is—something that should never be done.

I didn’t notice when I was posing….but it was actually pretty obscene when I was shown the image…

People who see it would think I’m someone with “that” profession.

If such a picture was released, my reputation at school would plummet to the ground.

On the contrary, I can imagine scary men would try to flock around me…

Because of that, today–

「Momoi-chan, wear this」(Saijo)

「Eh….? I can’t wear this!」(Momoi)

What I was given, was a cat girl cosplay costume.

I don’t want to wear such an embarassing thing.

「Fuun~ If you’re that against it, I guess I can report you as a shoplifter to the school? Maybe you’d be happier if I gave that h-pose photo to the boys?」(Saijo)

「Hiii—-!」(Momoi)

She was looking at me with glee.

In comparison, her eyes were cold, but they seemed to be saying『I will never forgive you unless you listen to me』

「Please….I beg you….no more….stop…please…」(Momoi)

I begged and bowed my head.

I couldn’t stand this humiliation for much longer.

「Ahahaha, no way~! If you don’t quickly change into the clothes, maybe you want to go bare?」(Saijo)

「S, stop….」(Momoi)

「Then, hurry up」(Saijo)

「……y…..es…..」(Momoi)

I held back my tears as I put on the cosplay costume.

Then—

「Oooh~ so this is the most popular girl in school, so cute~」(???)

「Wow it’s true~! She looks like she works in “that” type of store~!」(???)

「Should I send her to one of those stores? I don’t know~」(Saijo)

Saying that, they all laughed at me whilst taking pictures with their smartphone.

How…how am I going to get through this?

「Hey, Momoi-chan, make a cat pose and say『Nyan~』」(Saijo)

Saijo-san said such an embarrassing thing.

「N, no!」(Momoi)

Naturally I refuse.

I don’t want to do these embarrassing things anymore….

But—

「Do it」(Saijo)

She ordered me with very cold eyes.

I’m about to cry….

But crying here is just what they want.

So I held back my tears and obeyed her orders.

I bend my knees on the ground, bring my right hand to the side of my face and curl it.

Then–

「Ny, nyan~」(Momoi)

—I imitated a cat.

Ah….mou….I want to die…

Why are they doing this….

「Ah, no good! If you don’t smile more, you won’t meet todays quota」(Saijo)

「Ye, yeah….」(Momoi)

Despite the unbearable humiliation, I smile…..

But they don’t let me off.

–in the end, I was ordered to start over many times as they continued to take photos.

４

After eating dinner and after returning to my room, I remembered what happened today and started crying.

I was careful so that my family wouldn’t notice, but when I was alone I couldn’t bear it anymore.

It’s like I’m falling into a bottomless swamp.

From now on, if I decline any of their requests. Every single photo they’ve taken will be shared…

But the more I follow their requests, the more photo’s they’ll have.

There’s nothing I can do anymore…

I look at the message I just received.　

This—

『Tomorrow, we’ll be shooting swimsuit pics~♡　If you run away…well you know~?♡』　　

–was written.

Someone….anyone…please help me…

—but nobody answers my wish.

Because….I can’t talk to anyone about this…

Besides I don’t know who I would even talk to.

I haven’t messaged umi-kun in a while.

I stopped messaging him after I was forced to do H poses.

The last time I talked to him, I almost told him everything.

If we had kept on talking, I would have likely ended up telling him everything.

But I knew that would only worry him and not solve anything.

I don’t even know where he lives.

We haven’t talked about which city we’re both from either.

So I can’t get him to come and help…

But even when I didn’t reply, he still sent me messages.

….I don’t receive any messages from him anymore.

Maybe he was shocked that I haven’t replied in so long…

I can’t talk to dad, mom or sakura….

I’ve been abandoned by umi-kun.

I don’t have any friends anymore.

For a moment, Kanzaki’s face came to mind…but he rarely comes out of his room now….

I don’t know what he’s doing, but he eats his meals in his room.

Even though I know he’s probably reading light novels…

Really, he has a good life….

３

「Ahaha, erotic~ This is great Momoi-chan~ Do you want to go out into the schoolyard like this?」(Saijo)

「We, well that…please don’t…forgive me….」(Momoi)

I bow my head and plead with Saijo-san who seemed to be in a good mood.

「Wow~ It feels good when Momoi-chan is obedient, doesn’t it Mio-chan?」(Saijo)

「Hey hey, let’s do more!」(Mio)

The two people around Saijo-san try to incite her.

「Well then…Momoi-chan. How about you open your legs in an M-shape next?」(Saijo)

「Y…es….」(Momoi)

Saying that, I spread my legs in an M-shape, exposing my crotch.

—-I have no intention of resisting anymore.

In the first place, I was always a weak girl, wearing the mask of a cold woman. Yet even with that mask I can’t protect myself.

I couldn’t stand such a hell, so I decided to not resist anymore.

「Waa~ It’s smooth~」(???)

Saying that, the girl to the left of Saijo-san starts taking photos of me.

「Fufu, looks like it’s almost time. Momoi-chan, should we do an underwear shoot tomorrow?」(Saijo)

「–!」(Momoi)

No…no way…

I want to decline, but the words won’t leave my throat.

Her eyes were telling me『I won’t allow you to refuse』

I can’t go against Saijo-san anymore…

「Even so…my smartphone has been so slow lately…I’ve probably been taking too many images…」(Saijo)

Saying that, Saijo-san shook her phone in annoyance.

「Ah, then I’ll tell you about a good app! I happened to get it the other day, the app takes in all your images and does something to them to speed up your phone~ I tried using it and it’s surprisingly fast! It seems that it can also be used on your computer! I’m using it, so I can send it to you!」(Mio)

The girl on the left of Saijo-san shows her smartphone, completely ignoring me.

「Oh that’s good, I’ll use it as well~ I’ve already saved Momoi-chan’s photos and videos to my home computer, so I’m grateful!」(Saijo)

「Yeah, I’ll use it too」(???)

I was staring at them exchanging words.

I couldn’t think of anything anymore.

Tomorrow….they’ll be filming me in my underwear…

When I came here, I already knew it….

What act will they make me do that is worse than underwear shots–?

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Lonely Otaku – Chapter 11

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 11 – Moving Shadows

「Can you stop being so rude?」(Momoi)

As we were enjoying our lunch on the rooftop, a moody girl approached us.

Momoi is famous for being the most popular girl in school.

「No no, why even bother with it? You’re so persistent」(???)

I shrug my shoulders with an attitude that makes Momoi seem like an idiot.

「It’s true, Momoi is really persistent」(???)

「That’s right, we’re just talking and eating right?」 (???)

My followers also complain about Momoi, in line with my words.

There were six of us that often came to eat lunch on the rooftop.

That’s where Momoi appeared every lunch break at the same time.

「Every time, every time you do this, aren’t you tired of saying the same thing?」(???)

Momoi looked down on us.

She’s probably looking down on us because she has talent.

Certainly, this girl is popular.

She’s very beautiful, and she always ranks high in the national mock exams due to studying all the time. She can also beat the average boy in physical education.

You could call such a girl a “perfect woman”

I’m the complete opposite, I don’t exercise and I always struggle on tests.

Because of that she is popular with everyone, even with her bad personality.

….some people even enjoy her personality….

I hate this girl.　

But it’s not because she can do everything.

Because of this girl, I—

「But the roof wasn’t locked right? If they really didn’t want us on the roof, the school would lock it right?」(???)

With that, one of the members of my group, Hisayama Miki, tilts her head cutely.

「That’s because they can’t afford it! You keep breaking the key every time!」(Momoi)

Momoi yells at us.

Un, that’s right.

Originally the roof was locked.

But we just broke the key and ate our lunch on the roof. (TLN: They likely unlocked the door, then broke the key so it couldn’t be locked again)

It was about two months ago when it started, and they originally just replaced the key.

That’s why we broke the key every time, but it only came to the attention of Momoi three weeks ago.

It’s only Momoi who has a problem with us.

Why doesn’t the student council or the teachers say anything?

There’s a simple reason.

They don’t want to make me, Saijo Kirara—no, they don’t want to turn Saijo conglomerate into their enemy.

To be honest, I admire Momoi.

The Saijo conglomerate, which is run by my family, is called one of the three major conglomerates in Japan-along with the Shinomiya conglomerate and the Byodoin conglomerate.

Turning such an organization into your enemy means that your future would be under threat.

So normal people don’t say anything about me.

Only Momoi has the courage to tell it to me face to face.

To be honest, I don’t dislike this type of person.

But irritating people are irritating, I need them to disappear for me.

「Ah, yes yes, let’s all go then」(Saijo)

I put away my bento and talk to the members of my group, who are still arguing with Momoi.

Everyone obediently listened to my words, glaring cruelly at Momoi.

No-one objected.

Because they are my servants–

２

「Then, are you going?」(Saijo)

After confirming that Momoi had left the student council room and was on her way home, I spoke to Nishimura Aoi who was next to me.

「Yes, yees~」(Nishimura)

She replied cheerfully to my call.

Aoi had been in the same class as me since first grade, she was always by my side.

Another girl, Shimizu Miyu also used to be by my side….but not anymore.

Miyu works part time at the moment.

「Are we doing it today?」(Aoi)

Feeling a little tired, Aoi asked me a question.

「I wonder if it’s time to do it?」(Saijo)

「I hope so….I’m tired of the same thing every day」(Aoi)

When I said so, Aoi puffed her cheeks up.

We had been following Momoi on her way home for two weeks.

That said, we’re not following her the entire way. We just wanted to see if she enters a store, so our plan will work.

That’s why we stopped following her when she got to the road leading to the store.

「I can earn money when I work a part-time job, but I don’t earn any money just following her~」(Aoi)

The part-time job was the role of the person working in the store, not the person following.

She and Miyu take turns at that role.

The reason is simple, it’s impossible for one person to work at the same store everyday.

Although it’s annoying, apparently it’s good to work part time.

Don’t you want more money?

To be honest, I don’t get that feeling.

However if money can make me happy, then I’ll accept it.

「Yes yes, if you do it properly I’ll give you lots of money later」(Saijo)

「Really!? Yay! Kirara-chan, I love you~!」(Aoi)

Saying that, Aoi suddenly gets excited.

She really loves money…

All the girls around me are like this.

But that’s fine.

Those types of people are easy to control.

「Oh, Kirara-chan. Momoi has entered the store!」(Aoi)

When I was lost in thoughts, Aoi suddenly spoke up.

「Idiot, what if Momoi heard you?」(Saijo)

「Ah….sorry…」(Aoi)

By the time I had noticed it, Aoi had started shouting.

This girl listens obediently, but she’s a bit stupid.

However I’ve had a long relationship with her, and since she’s generally closed-lipped, I chose her for this role over Miyu.

「Then, on schedule」(Saijo)

I say to Aoi and then move away from her.

I keep an eye on the movements of the employees.

I could see Miyu.

Miyu who had noticed me suddenly nods, then moves towards Momoi, away from the other employees.

We knew the positions of the security cameras in advance.

When Momoi moves to a place where the cameras don’t reach, Miyu gives the signal to Aoi.

Momoi was currently absorbed looking at the sweets.

In some ways she’s surprisingly girly…

To be honest I can’t imagine Momoi eating sweets with shining eyes.

That’s why Momoi doesn’t notice Aoi approaching.

Aoi was holding a ballpoint pen, which was the easiest object to sneak in, and gently opened Momoi’s bag, placing it within.

After confirming it was in place, I sent a signal to Miyu–　

[Previous Chapter]– [Table of Contents] – [Next Chapter]

Lonely Otaku – Chapter 10

TLN: Mass release today! I’ve changed Saijo Unmo -> Saijo Kirara. Mainly because I was too lazy to actually read the furigana and just read it as is.

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 10 – Two people, like magnets

「Can w–, be caref–, let’s–」(???)

Everyone in class was greeting each other at the end of the day.

Home room was over, so all that was left was to go home.

But—

「I couldn’t concentrate during lessons at all…」

I mutter on my own.

Momoi’s actions yesterday were stuck in my head.

Why did she take away the light novels so happily….?

Is she interested in eroge?

….no, there’s no way that’s true….

If that’s the case, then why did she choose that book?

Ah….I’ve been thinking about that for so long.

I don’t know why it bothers me so much…

「Oi, where are you going?」(???)

「Let’s go to the arcade!」(???)

「Hey hey, let’s go eat cake now!」(???)

「Eh~…I’ve been gaining a little bit of weight recently…」(???)

「It’s okay, you’re still thin! Then let’s go!」(???)

「Ah, wait~!」(???)

When I looked at my classmates, they were all arranging their after school schedules.

I’m the only one by myself in class…

I want to mix with my classmates, but I don’t have the courage to talk to them.

Haa…I can’t keep Sakura-chan waiting, so I’d better go…

「Hey, do you have a minute?」(???)

When I tried to get up, a girl started talking to me.

「Wh, what?」(Kaito)

I turned away from her and asked.

「Well, can you look at me and speak?」(???)

「So, sorry….」(Kaito)

「Haa….well it’s fine. The teacher told me to return the materials to the podium, so go and do it for me」(???)

With that said, the girl turned her back to me and walked away.

Haa, pashiri again… (TLN: Pashiri means “gofer”, someone sent to do menial tasks like fetching things)

Most of the work given to my classmates, was forced on me instead.

So this was not a rare occurrence.

I inform Sakura-chan that I would be a little late.

「Hey, isn’t he really gross?」(???)

「I get what you mean, he’s an otaku right? Seriously he’s an eyesore」(???)

「Hey Kirara-chan, can’t you do something about him~?」(???)

「I can do it, but I don’t want to get involved ’cause it’ll feel bad. Besides you already have something in mind right?」(Saijo)

「Ah, that’s right」(???)

—such a conversation reached my ears.

The girl who had asked me to return the materials earlier, returned to Saijo-san’s group and started talking bad about me.

This scene is not uncommon.

It was deep-rooted that I was a hated existence in class.

They’re talking in front of the door, so I’ll wait for them to leave.

Looking at the outside scenery through the window–I saw Momoi.

She was walking towards the back of the school building.

Maybe she was called out by a boy for a confession.

The position of me and her in this school are complete opposites…

At this time, I would have never thought that we would eventually be attracted to each other–like magnets.

[Previous Chapter]– [Table of Contents] – [Next Chapter]

Lonely Otaku – Chapter 9

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 9 – When I tried to lend a light novel to my stepsister, it exceeded my expectations….

「Lend me your computer」(Momoi)

Suddenly Momoi came to my room.

Momoi looked like she had just come out of the bath, her hair was a little wet and there was a slight blush on her cheeks.

More than that, she was dressed in her adult-like black pyjamas.

I’m suddenly conscious of her figure.

The current Momoi was very sexy and cute.

No matter how much I hate this girl, I can’t ignore her looks.

However if I stare at her too much, she might glare at me like the night before.

「Etto, why so suddenly?」(Kaito)

When I ask that–

「I have some things I have to get ready by tomorrow, but I ran out of time at school so I brought back the data to finish at home. So, please give me your computer」(Momoi)

「You don’t have one?」(Momoi)

「If I had one, I wouldn’t be here right? How can you not get that?」(Momoi)

Although what Momoi said was true…is this the attitude you take when trying to borrow something from someone?

「Then, use dad’s. It should be in his room」(Dad)

I replied like that because it’s awkward to obediently do whatever Momoi says.

But Momoi–

「Dad isn’t home right now right? Since I can’t contact him, it’s impossible for me to borrow it without permission. Or do you use other people’s things without asking?」(Momoi)

Momoi who says that, looks at me and squints.

What’s with that…Momoi is right, but still I’m angry!

But even if I keep fighting, I won’t be able to beat Momoi.

Then what do I do?

Will this person have to be in my room….?

Or rather, does she have no sense of danger?

Don’t you know what it means to be alone in a guy’s room?

「You’re…going to be in my room….?」(Kaito)

「I don’t want to stay in your room if possible, but your computer isn’t a laptop right?」(Momoi)

「….how do you know?」(Kaito)

「I heard it from Sakura before…you’re okay with Sakura in your room, so you’re not going to say I can’t enter are you? If you say that, I’ll call you a siscon from now on okay?」(Momoi) (TLN: Siscon = Sister Complex, someone with an obsession for their sister)

What a threat…

Did she misunderstand the meaning of sister complex to mean your favourite sister?

Doesn’t that make you a siscon too?

In other words, you’re just like me right?

—I won’t say that, because it’ll just start an argument.

Maybe….I do have a sister complex….

I don’t really like Momoi.

Sakura-chan is too cute.

If such a child becomes your younger sister, then 10 out of 10 people would develop a sister complex.

It’s exactly this type of person that overturns the saying “ten people, ten colors” (TLN: Japanese idiom, basically means “each to their own”)

…why am I thinking of something so stupid?

When I stay silent for a while, the yuki-onna in front of me suddenly starts glaring.

「Haa….got it, don’t stare at me like that. Also, don’t touch things in my room without permission, ok?」(Kaito)

「I won’t touch anything, it’s gross」(Momoi)

To my words, Momoi offered a scathing reply.

If it’s gross, then don’t enter the room.

「Hee…」(Momoi)

Momoi who had entered my room, made an impressed noise for some reason.

Her line of sight was focused on my bookshelf.

However she was looking at the shelf with lots of light novels on it, not the shelf with programming books.

「Are you interested in light novels?」(Kaito)

When I ask that–

「Lanobu? What’s that? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Please lend me your computer quickly」(Momoi) (TLN: She pronounces it incorrectly in katakana)

She spoke those words quickly, like a machine-gun.

「A, I see」(Kaito)

Her words jolted me to my senses and I quickly started up my computer.

That’s right, there’s no way this person would like light novels…

Sakura-chan said that she borrowed a light novel from a friend and read it once, so I thought that maybe Momoi might have read it, but there’s no way this honour student would read such a thing.

But–Momoi’s gaze, which should have been focused on her work, kept drifting to the bookshelf filled with light novels.

….are they interesting to her?

If I word it poorly, I would be in for a storm of abusive words, so I just silently watch Momoi.

…..this girl….is really cute….I should keep silent….

「What should I do….」(Momoi)

As I waited for Momoi to finish her work, she suddenly muttered these words.

What’s she talking about I wonder?

「What’s wrong?」(Kaito)

When I asked that, Momoi glared at me.

「It’s nothing, so can you not get so close to me?」(Momoi)

「Haa….why do you have to say it like that?」(Kaito)

「Shut up….leave me alone」(Momoi)

「Yes yes, I get it」(Kaito)

I turn my back to Momoi and sit on the bed.

Momoi glanced at me and turned the screen away.

However her hands suddenly stop.

She seemed to be stuck and unsure of what to do.

I saw the screen a while ago, so I already know what she’s doing. But I can’t be bothered to help because her attitude is irritating.

２

Yet even after one hour, Momoi’s hands did not move.

This girl is too stubborn…

I won’t be able to sleep in peace at this rate, so I decide to help.

「Momoi, move out the way for a moment」(Momoi)

When I say that to Momoi–

「I told you not to get close to me」(Momoi)　

She said as much and glared at me.

But I can’t be bothered to fight anymore.

「Don’t you have to finish it by tomorrow? I’ll be quick, so shift a little to the side」(Kaito)

To my words, Momoi reluctantly slides to the side.

Now–

I open the command prompt and see if the computer is connected to the router.

So it’s like that, the connection to the router has been broken…

It disconnected while Momoi was using it.

I immediately reconnect the router.

「Just now….what did you do?」(Momoi)

Momoi was looking at me with interested eyes.

「Router….even if I say that, I’m sure you don’t know what it is. Well basically I just reconnected it to the internet」(Kaito)

When I say that, Momoi looks a little impressed.

It’s somewhat embarrassing for Momoi to act that way to me.

I open my mouth to dissuade those thoughts.

「After this, how long will it take?」(Kaito)

Momoi look away from me at my words–

「After…just this…」(Momoi)

With that said, she showed me 4 handwritten A4 pieces of paper.

「Are you trying to summarize the data? What are you trying to figure out?」(Kaito)

「Etto, I wanted to make a graph….but it didn’t come out the way I expected…」(Momoi)

「In that case, why were you on your smartphone…」(Kaito)

At my reply, Momoi looked down.

「That’s because….I thought I broke your computer and would have to fix it…」(Momoi)

Ah, so she was trying to do it herself…

Then you should say so honestly from the start…

「Move aside, I’ll do it」(Kaito)

「Ha? I can’t let you do it, you’re not part of the student council」(Momoi)

Saying that she glares at me.

This girl, can’t she get rid of her habit of glaring already….?

「Can you continue saying that when you see this?」(Kaito)

I say so and show her the screen of my smartphone.

The time on the LCD screen was reaching midnight.

「Eh…before I even realized it…?」(Momoi)

「Well you were absorbed in your work…if you understand, then move aside and let me help」(Kaito)

With that said, I steal the paper from Momoi.

In response she sat quietly without saying anything.

I immediately start typing in the data.

I’ll finish this quickly.

10 minutes later–

「I’ve finished, Momoi」(Kaito)

I save the data onto a USB stick and hand it over to her.

「Eh, already!?」(Momoi)

She looked at me in surprise.

The reason why Momoi, who should have been sitting next to me, was so surprised was that she wasn’t looking at the screen, but at my bookshelf containing the light novels.

「Th, thank you」(Momoi)

Momoi who had received the USB said thank you obediently.

To such a Momoi–

「Hey, are you interested in light novels?」(Kaito)

I asked.

Then–

「Haa!? I’m not interested in the light novels otakus read!」(Momoi)

Momoi’s face turned bright red as she yelled.

She denied it, but I wasn’t convinced.

「I thought you didn’t know what light novels were? How do you know what otakus read?」(Kaito)

Momoi was stuck by my words.

Just as I thought, she knows what light novels are.

「Th, that’s because….yes that’s right! It’s because you own it! I thought it must be something otakus read!」(Momoi)

What a painful excuse…

However I suddenly thought of something interesting.

「You’re an otaku but never read a light novel, then why not borrow one to read?」(Kaito)

「Eh….?」(Momoi)

「Isn’t it strange to bash light novels when you’ve never read one? If you read one and still find it’s boring, you can make fun of it then」(Kaito)

I worded it in such a way to make Momoi seem like an idiot.

This is because Momoi would definitely not accept that and try to come out on top.

「….I see, what you say is true. Then I’ll choose a light novel now」(Momoi)

When Momoi turned her back to me, I couldn’t help but grin.

That’s right, she was looking on the shelves for a light novel.

If you can’t make a good excuse then don’t bother.

—but it’s not like I wanted to get Momoi interested in light novels.

I just wanted to increase the amount of fans for my favourite light novel series.

Momoi tilted her head in front of the bookshelf.

「You can take whichever one you like」(Kaito)

「Even though you say that, there are so many…」(Momoi)

Momoi’s expression looking at the light novels couldn’t contain her joy.

This expression was different from the usual cold Momoi. It was like a kid looking at a new toy.

I feel like recently I’ve been seeing more and more of Momoi’s expressions that she never shows at school….

But which one will Momoi choose?

Momoi had been repeatedly taking out and putting back light novels since a while ago.

Eventually–

「Ah!」(Momoi)

Momoi made a sound as if she had found something.

What on earth did you find?

….eh?

「I will borrow this! Then it’s late, so I’ll be going back to my room! Good night!」(Momoi)

Momoi quickly left my room with a bunch of light novels of a certain title.

I was only going to lend one volume, but she took all the volumes…?

No more than that…is she really going to read that…?

３

(TLN: Momoi’s POV)

「I did it….!」(Momoi)

When I returned to my room, I jumped into bed.

I actually regretted my actions earlier….

I get out of a bed a little and look at the book I borrowed from him.　

On the cover was the title–『She is too interested in the eroge I have…』

When I saw the cover, I knew I had to get it….

That’s because someone like me could never buy this book.

I don’t have the courage to buy this because of the word “eroge” in the title.

However umi-kun highly recommended this novel on his blog, so I have to read it.

If I had known he had this book on his bookshelf, I would have snuck in and borrowed it without asking…

He probably only intended to lend me one book, but I likely only had one chance to choose, so I took all the volumes…

What should I do….

I remember his expression from earlier–

—he had a completely disgusted face….

How am I supposed to show my face to him tomorrow…

I was so embarrassed that I had returned to my middle-school personality that I couldn’t sleep all night–

[Previous Chapter]– [Table of Contents] – [Next Chapter]

Lonely Otaku – Chapter 8

TLN: I saw that a lot of you guys don’t like Momoi, but I guarantee she will be your favourite character in a little over 10 chapters time.

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 8 – I don’t understand how my stepsister feels

(TLN: Momoi’s POV)

I am known as an honour student.

That’s not a lie, but it’s not entirely true either.

I’m not the kind of honour student every thinks I am.

I had a hobby that I hid from everyone, other than my imouto.

That was–

２

「Hey onii-chan, are you in a good mood today?」(Sakura)

During dinner—Sakura spoke to the boy sitting in front of her.

That boy had long bangs, you couldn’t see his eyes at all.

His atmosphere was gloomy, he didn’t have any friends at school.

He was a so-called “loner”

I will never accept such a boy as my stepbrother….

Even though his atmosphere is gloomy, that’s only when he’s at school.

He quarrels with me and happily talks with my imouto.

I was a little worried he would act that way in school.

But I don’t think I need to worry about that now.

Besides, surprisingly Sakura immediately grew fond of him.

That kid may seem friendly at first glance, but she’s actually quite cautious.

It’s like she can see the essence of people, and stays away from untrustworthy people.

As such this kid was the same as me and didn’t have many friends.

Well I think it’s still better than being a loner without any friends at all.

However because of that, Sakura easily gets attached to people she accepts.

In other words, he might sink his poisonous fangs into her if I’m not careful.

He brought Sakura to his room when I wasn’t there yesterday.

Well maybe it was Sakura’s fault, but I made him sit in seiza and lectured him for about two hours.

Sakura is cute so I have to be cautious.

It seems that Sakura made a promise to cook with him, but I forced her to cook alone. She’s sulking, but I hope you’ll forgive me.

After all, that boy is evil–

But he did manage to get the approval of the vigilant Sakura, so maybe he is kind.

….I don’t see that part of him at all….

I wonder why?

Is he a so-called tsundere? (TLN: Someone who isn’t honest with their feelings)

Well, no matter how much he likes me, I don’t want to get involved with him much.

I hate him.

Because it’s physiologically impossible—

「—well actually the latest issue of my favourite light novel『Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor』was release today and I bought it. After dinner I’m going to read it in my room」(Kaito)

His words made me stop in my tracks.

『Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor』—was also my favourite light novel series.

That’s right, my hobbies are the exact same as his, reading light novels and watching anime.

Is that surprising?

Isn’t it strange that I, a perfect girl, have otaku-like hobbies?

Why is the world like this?

Who decided that it’s bad for an honour student to watch anime and read light novels?

Light novels are better than normal novels right?

So when I heard from Sakura that he had lots of light novels in his room, I became very jealous of Sakura.

It’s not like I want to talk to him or anything.

I just want to read his light novel collection.

If Sakura who is on good terms with him asks for a light novel, I’m sure he will lend her one.

But even if I ask, I have a feeling I’d be turned down.

Because he’s a tsundere.

…..that’s good.

「What’s wrong, onee-chan?」(Sakura)

Whilst I was watching the interaction between the two, they noticed and both looked towards me.

「….you made this dish right? No wonder it’s so gross」(Momoi)

To disguise what I was thinking, I complain about the “sweet and sour pork” he made.

…actually it was surprisingly delicious, rather than gross.

This…how did he make it? the meat is very tender to chew.

The pineapple that comes with the meat is probably used to soften it, but the onions and peppers are also sweet and delicious. (TLN: Pineapple’s contain a protein called bromelain which can break down other proteins into acids)

I heard from Sakura that he made the seasoning sauce himself, rather than purchasing a pre-made one.

Why is he so good at cooking?

This type of skill is more suitable for me rather than him….

I’m not good at cooking.

….actually I’m bad at most housework, let alone cooking…

The only thing I can do is clean….

If I try and cook, it will end up as either a charred lump, or a purple poisonous looking gloop.　

It’s strange, I put a lot of seasonings in it to make it delicious….

If I try and wash clothes, the moment the washing machine starts, bubbles will overflow and it will break.

….I’m sure I followed the procedure properly.

I put a lot of detergent in so that my clothes would be clean…

Why are there so many defective washing machines nowadays?

I want the manufacturers to get better.

…when I told Sakura about that, her face looked like she was about to cry….

「Is that not okay?」(Momoi)

To my surprise, she didn’t sympathize with my hardship, but looked disappointed instead.

….if you look at me like that, it makes it seem like I’ve done something wrong.

….no maybe I am bad no matter what I think….

People who eat delicious food and say that it’s not delicious have strange taste no matter what.

They should immediately go to hospital.

….I’m that type of person now.

Sakura looked at me in embarrassment.

I realize I shouldn’t have said that, but it was too late.

「Thanks for the food」(Momoi)

I said so and stood up to run away.

「Ah, un….」(Sakura)

Feeling their eyes on my back—I took the dishes to the kitchen to wash them.

３

「Haa….」(Momoi)

I sighed as I walked up the stairs.

I’ve done it again….

I dislike him, but I don’t want to fight with him.

However it seems like thinking that has led me to being cursed.

Also since he’s a tsundere, he naturally tries to find ways to get involved with me.

As a result, it always leads to a quarrel.

Because I dislike him, I’ve maybe said one or two bad things.

But that’s only because I want him to be a better person….

When I returned to my room, my smartphone was glowing.

I’m not going to let it get to me right now.

That’s because I just received a message from “him”

『I bought the latest issue today! Did you manage to buy it, Hanahime-chan?』(Umi (Kaito))

『Of course (*´▽｀*) I’m about to read it nowヾ(≧▽≦)ノ』(Hanahime (Momoi))

I reply and send the message to umi-kun.

I bet everyone at school couldn’t even imagine that I would use emoticons like this….

I’m a girl too.

I want to use emoticons normally, I want to laugh with everyone as we make a detour to have fun on our way home from school.

But I can’t do that.

There’s a reason why I act like an honor student, when reality is different.

I’m wearing a mask right now…..

The mask of a cold-woman.

If I use cute emoticons or laugh and talk with everyone, the mask will quickly come off.

So I treat everyone coldly and don’t interact with them normally.

The real reason why I wear this mask—is due to my trauma from middle school.

When I was in middle school, I had a personality like Sakura.

……I’m sorry I lied, my personality wasn’t as cute as hers…..

But, I had the same personality as the girls around me.

At that time, many boys approached me.

It was scary.

Even now, I’m still scared of boys.

Regardless of the amount of boys, that fact doesn’t change.

The only difference—is that I’m able to ignore them easily due to my mask.

So I can’t take my mask off, nor can I break the image of an honour student.

However only in front of umi-kun will I remove my mask.

I can talk to him as my real self.

That’s why I liked interacting with him.

He’s not scary like the other boys.

He’s very kind, and I enjoy talking to him because we have the same hobbies.

We met two years ago—when I commented on a blog he wrote as a hobby.

He explained his favourite light novel works on his blog.

I was just beginning to get into light novels at the time, so I took the plunge and sent him a message saying that we like the same works.

He replied immediately, and after many exchanges since then, he became a close friend to me before I knew it.

Most of the light novels I currently own were the ones he recommended on his blog.

So, our collections match.

He doesn’t know that though.

He probably thinks it’s a coincidence because we like the same novels.

I know it’s a little sly, but I really want to read his favourite books, so please forgive me.

Besides, I really like light novels myself.

Well….it’s about time to read『Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor』—-

４

(TLN: Kaito’s POV)

Haa, that was fun.

As soon as I finished reading『Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor』I opened my blog.

Updating my blog had become a daily routine.

I have no one I can introduce my favourite novels to, so I express myself this way.

As soon as I finished writing my update–

『I finished reading~ヾ(≧▽≦)ノ This time too, the combination of the teacher and shironeko-chan was good~ (*´▽｀*)』(TLN: Shironeko means white cat and is the nickname of Sistine Fibel whose white hair is held back by a headband with cat ears on, hence “White Cat”)

There was a comment.

I can tell even without looking at the name who wrote it.

Hanahime-chan.

She always immediately comments on my blog updates.

Although she probably has notifications on, I think it’s amazing that she’s first every time.

I’m happy that she commented first.

But the spotlight should have been on the teacher this volume….it seems that Hanahime-chan still loves shironeko-chan as always.

However, I still go along with her.

『I also thought that was good! But I like hime-chan better than shironeko-chan~』(TLN: “Hime” is Rumia Tingel from the akashic records LN, NOT hanahime-chan)

『Muu~ (>_<) shironeko-chan is a better match for the teacher ( ｀―´)ノ』

My favourite character was a princess who was exiled from her country, but her favourite character was girl with the nickname “shironeko”.

However, even though our favourite characters are different, we don’t fight with each other.

Rather we continue talking about our favourite characters.

That was—-our promise to each other.

Time passed as we exchanged such a conversation–

『Sorry it’s time to go to bed, so I have to go and sleep now (>_<)』

『Un, I’m going to sleep too, good night!』

『Good night~（´-`）.。oO』

That’s how we ended today’s exchange.

Well then, let’s go to the bathroom and then go to sleep.

Momoi told me that my food wasn’t delicious and it made me feel depressed, but thanks to hanahime-chan, I feel like I could sleep well tonight.

When I open the door to go to the bathroom–

「「Ah」」

Momoi was there…

The scene from before flashed in my mind.

It’s awful.

It felt like I was going to get a good nights sleep, but now I’ve met someone I never wanted to meet….

Anyway….

I look at Momoi’s appearance.

This is my first time seeing Momoi in pajamas and to be honest, I think it’s cute.

I get it now….I can understand why this person is so popular.

Momoi is a beautiful girl, provided she stays silent.

I wish she was silent…

「What?」(Momoi)

Mori asked as she noticed that I had been staring at her.

「Ah..my bad…」(Kaito)

I turn away from her.

She’ll fire abuse at me again…..

I prepare myself for Momoi’s rant.

But—no matter how long I waited, Momoi didn’t say anything.

Out of curiosity, I looked at Momoi only to find her staring at me.

It seems like she’s worried about something, but what’s wrong?

Just as I start wondering that–

「Hey, the book you bought today, was it interesting….?」(Momoi)

I suddenly heard such a thing.

「….eh?」(Kaito)

「I asked if the book you bought today was interesting, can you not even understand that?」(Momoi)

「No, that’s no the case! I was just surprised that you suddenly asked about my impressions on the book!」(Kaito)

Momoi squints her eyes at my words.

She seems to be telling me “give me your thoughts quickly!” with her eyes.

「Haa……ah, it was interesting」(Kaito)

「Which part?」(Momoi)

Haa?

Even though I don’t understand why you’re asking me…

It would cause more problems not to answer here.

「Etto……this time the main story focused on the main character, a magic teacher. In the second half of the story, one of the heroines goes to the aid of the teacher and both of them get involved in an accident that almost kills them, but because of the tenseness of the situation, it causes their relationship to grow stronger instead. Besides there was a cute scene of my favourite character hime-chan who was worried about the main character being stolen and I thought that it was extremely cute!」(Kaito)

—dammit, I’ve done it now.

Why am I talking about such things with Momoi!?

Moreover the longer I talked, the higher my tension rose and the louder my voice got!

Da..dangerous…?

I look at Momoi’s face.

–eh?

「I see, you really like the book. Then, with this」(Momoi)

With that said, Momoi started walking away.

She went in the direction of the bathroom.

More than that….was she listening to me and laughing?

Even if it was a laugh, it was a strange way of laughing.

It was a type of laughing that could be misunderstood as “smiling”

….why?

I’ve never seen her laugh like that before.

For some reason…I suddenly thought she was cute…

I wonder why she listened to my thoughts on the book….

Was she in a good mood?

I thought she was angry about my food, but to think she could smile like that…

What’s up with this guy…

After that, I was so worried about Momoi’s attitude that I couldn’t sleep–

[Previous Chapter]– [Table of Contents] – [Next Chapter]

The darkness was comfortable to me – Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – White room and skill design

「U…..un….?」(Hikaru)

How long did I sleep for?

Despite my weak consciousness, I opened my eyes.

A white room.

A pure white room with no dirt or stains.

I’m currently lying on the floor dressed in white clothes like a hospital patient.

「Am I alive..? Hospital….?」(Hikaru)

There was no bed in this hospital room.

There is a desk and a chair, and something that looks like a computer on the desk.

「My wounds….」(Hikaru)

I reflexively move my hand to my back, but there was no wound there. Or maybe I was hit with a blunt weapon, so there were no wounds in the first place?

Either way—I’m alive.

「…..no way, could this be the world after death…?」(Hikaru)

It was natural for me to think so.

「…dead, no I was killed….just like Nanami….Nanami…..」(Hikaru)

My memories come back to me in a flashback.

The fact that Nanami was killed was an even heavier blow than my own death.

Rather than the pure-white room I now found myself in, I was more concerned with the grief from losing my childhood friend.

「It was all a dream…..wasn’t it…..?」(Hikaru)

Though there’s no mistaking the fact that this pure-white room is likely reality.

The smell of blood that overwhelmed the natural smell of Nanami’s room.

Nanami, who had become unresponsive and expressionless, like a doll.

「Gu….fu….」(Hikaru)

My tears overflowed.

Was I upset that Nanami was killed, upset that I was killed, or both?

I couldn’t get up for a while, the intense feeling of loss dominated me.

Why did we have to be killed?

Nanami was someone who wouldn’t even hurt a fly.

Why—-why—why—-

Nanami cried because she didn’t want to go to the other world.

The criminal and cause of all this, I don’t even know his name.

Now for some reason, I’m in this kind of place.

The mind was messed up.

Sadness, doubt and resentment swirled in my mind. For a while I stay crouched and couldn’t move.

I don’t know how long I stayed like that, because I had lost all sense of time.

No-one had entered this room.

I shed so many tears, that when I finally stopped it felt like I was withering. I stood up and steadily approached the computer.

The words displayed there were more than enough to cool my raging thoughts.

「…you can’t be serious…」(Hikaru)

The words were—

『You have been selected as a transferee to be taken to another world. Complete the allocation of bonus points to set out for the new world』

—it seems that my life will continue.

　◇◆◆◆◇

「Why…why was I chosen…?」(Hikaru)

Does that mean that Nanami’s rights have been transferred to me because of how close I was to her?

No….that theory can’t be right.

When a transferee is killed in a certain country, somebody completely random from another country would be chosen to replace him. In other words, if the transferee dies, the lottery will be held again. (TLN: I previously translated that the lottery won’t be held again, apologies for this)

Of course, as a result of Nanami’s death and the re-lottery, the possibility that I was selected by chance is not zero, but the probability in that case is about 1/7 billion. It’s a number that can be said to be zero, besides I must have died long before the lottery was held again.

When I was stabbed in my back and lost consciousness, it was a full hour before the scheduled transfer time. It’s hard to imagine that I had survived for an hour since then.

There is a possibility that someone else who has nothing to do with Nanami died somewhere and the lottery was redrawn because of that…

「….maybe Nanami is in another room at the same time as me」(Hikaru)

It’s a possibility because I was originally supposed to be dead.

Because God has the ability to transfer us to other worlds, he must be a real God.

Nanami who was dead at the time, left behind her body and has likely been reincarnated in the other world right now…

It’s also possible that Nanami is still alive.

I didn’t measure her pulse, she might have just looked dead.

I remember reading somewhere that humans are actually difficult to kill.

Besides, I prayed to God before falling unconscious.

Maybe God listened and rescued me and Nanami from our unfair deaths.

I knew it was a long shot, but I still wanted to believe.

Neither I nor Nanami were dead, we can have adventures with each other in the other world—

Wouldn’t that be fun?

I pat both my cheeks and grab the mouse.

I’ll do it, I’ll go to the other world and meet up with Nanami.

The moment I made up my mind, I looked at the screen.

A pon~ sound echoed as a notification appeared on screen.

『3 minutes left until transfer』

「Eh…」(Hikaru)

Looking closely, there seems to be a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen. The value is slowly decreasing.

Probably–no, the timer surely started when I arrived in this room.

「Only 3 minutes–」(Hikaru)

Anyway I don’t have the time to slowly choose.

I’ll choose first and then adjust it if I have enough time remaining—it seems that’s my only option.

I need to avoid stalling or I’ll run out of time.

『Allocate skill points. Your total bonus points are: 73』

「73 points?」(Hikaru)

I’m not too sure, but it seems like a lot.

There was no information about this released by God.

What we do know is that if your age is 24 or over, your points are decided by a v-shaped graph.

In other words, it could be said that God values “experience” and “physical maturity” over the “potential of youth”

According to God, the better the ability, the more points required.

Either way, I don’t have enough time to allocate points carefully.

――――――――――――――――――――

・Name: Kurose Hikaru

・Age: 15 Years Old　▼

・Gender: Male

・Special Ability　▼

・Physical Ability　▼

・Resistances　▼

・Spirit Arts　▼

・Items　▼

・Transition Point　▼

・Debuffs　▼

　Remaining bonus points: 73p

――――――――――――――――――――

It’s surprisingly simple.

In this case, maybe I can make a good choice even with only 3 minutes.

A short explanation appeared whenever I hovered over an option.

For instance when I hovered over special abilities, it said『special power beyond human knowledge』

Roughly speaking, this may be God’s intention.

I’ll take a quick look at each one.

First of all, it’s strange that even age can be changed.

I click the ▼ mark to expand the window. It seems that you can gain points by increasing your age, subsequently, it costs points to reduce. it.

I’m 15 years old now.

Depending on the situation, it may be best to increase my age to earn some extra points.

Next, I open the special abilities window.

「Uu…..! The points cost is so high?」(Hikaru)

――――――――――――――――――――

●Special Abilities

・Courage – 20p

Gain the power to face your fears and move forward.

・Super Concentration – 30p

You can forget about eating and drinking and just concentrate.

・Presence Detection – 15p

You will be able to notice the signs of living beings.

・Night Vision – 15p

Even places with little light, become visible

・Intuition – 20p

You will be able to choose the most advantageous option.

・Apnea Activity – 10p

You will be able to hold your breath for 2 minutes.

Through training, this can be increased to 15 minutes.

・Widen Field of View – 10p

Gain a wide field of view, unlike a human.　

・Communication – 30p

Become able to communicate with animals.

・Loved by spirits – 30p

All spirits will love you.

・Charm – 50p

Gain a constitution that attracts others.

・Different world language　０ｐ▼

You will be able to read and write letters and common words based on your transfer location

―――――――――――――――――――

All of them seem useful, but their descriptions are ambiguous or unclear.

For example, how good are courage and presence detection? If the level of courage is too high and it becomes recklessness, that’s no joke. If the presence detection ability can’t even detect an enemy coming close, what use is it?

By the way, when I clicked the arrow icon under different world language▼「Currently Selected: plus 20p if you deselect」it’s basically a landmine!

A quick glance at the time shows that 1 minute has already passed.

There’s no time to complain.

After thinking for a while, I choose「Night Vision」and「Loved by spirits」

The two together cost 45 points and so only 28 points remain, but the two clearly can’t be gained through effort.

Above all, I find them extremely useful.

Originally I would choose more carefully, but now there’s no time.

My younger sister once said『in this type of game, it’s safe to spend a lot of points. Usually those expensive abilities are pretty useful, so don’t forget that』

I don’t know where she based that off of, but my sister is a real genius.

I can trust her.

Next, I open the physical abilities menu.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

●Physical Ability

Increase in physical ability due to spiritual power.

・Physical strength up. Level 1~5. 5/7/10/15/20

・Vitality up. Level 1~5. 5/7/10/15/20

・Spiritual power up. Level 1~5. 5/7/10/15/20

・Eyesight up. Level 1~3. 3/7/10

・Hearing up. Level 1~3. 3/7/10

・Smell up. Level 1~3. 1/3/5

・Taste up. Level 1~3. 1/3/5

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

The number on the right seems to be the cost for each level of the ability.

In other words, if you choose level 3 of physical strength up, you will spend 10p.

I read the description for physical strength up.

『Level 1 gains a 2x increase, level 3 a 5x increase, level 5 gains 10x. This skill is recommended if you plan to take part in life or death battles. Even if you don’t, it’s one of the best improvements even at level 1, along with vitality』

I wonder what the description is for vitality up?

『Vitality is hard to express numerically, but essentially it represents sturdiness in the face of injury or death. It also increases mental strength. In terms of games, it’s the equivalent of HP. If you don’t want to die, then raise it』

It seems to provide a considerable advantage in the other world, particularly in regards to mental strength.

There’s also spiritual power up, which is currently unknown to me.

『Spiritual power is the power consumed when using a spirit art. Increasing this stat increases the amount of spiritual power stored in the body. Originally the amount of spiritual power you can store in your body differs from person to person and can’t be easily quantified. If you plan on using spirit arts, definitely get this spiritual power up』

It’s difficult to understand, but if spiritual power differs from individual to individual. Then it may be useful even if your MP is originally low…

Although I really want to use spiritual power, it’s probably best to increase physical strength and vitality.

It takes a surprising amount of time to read the explanations.

There’s one and a half minutes left.

In any case, physical ability can probably be「strengthened later」since it has levels which is different than my previous world. So I should consider whether to choose it first.

I decided to look at resistances before choosing.

After all, resistances sound difficult to acquire or maybe even impossible.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

●Resistances

・Poison resistance. Level 1~3. Level 3 grants poison immunity. 3/7/10

・Disease resistance. Level 1~3. Level 3 grants disease immunity. 1/3/5

・Age resistance. Level 1~5

Immortality is granted at level 5. Aging rate halves at level 3. 3/5/7/10/15

・Natural resistance up (wounds). Level 1~5. 3/5/7/10/15

・Natural resistance up (spiritual). Level 1-5. 3/5/7/10/15

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

「The cost of immortality is too low!」(Hikaru)

That must be what my sister meant when she said『There will be certain abilities that cost little points, but are extremely useful』

The required points are so low, everything else is overshadowed.

Even with my remaining points, I can easily get level 5.

I wonder why disease resistance is so cheap? Maybe the other world has few illnesses?

I think that improving natural resilience, especially wounds, will be useful, but it depends on the degree. For example, if level 5 is taken and even a fatal injury was completely healed after a while, it would be vital to acquire it, but it may just subtly heal small injuries.

「I shouldn’t get lost here」(Hikaru)

I allocate points to aging resistance level 3 (7p) and disease resistance level 2 (3p). Then I immediately open the age column and raise it to 17.

By adding 2 years, 6 points are added.

Age resistance level 3 doubles my lifespan, so it’s a good deal.

Right now I’m not ready to be immortal.

With this, I have 24 points left.

The remaining time is quite tight, so I quickly check the spirit arts section.

『Only one spirit art can be obtained, each spirit art is useful for different reasons. There are no direct attack abilities, and since only one spirit art can be obtained, it’s not very efficient』

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

●Spirit Arts

・Fire spirit art – 10 points

・Water spirit art – 10 points

・Wind spirit art – 10 points

・Earth spirit art – 10 points

・Light spirit art – 10 points

・Dark spirit art – 10 points

●Magic

・Recovery magic – 50 points

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

「50 points」(Hikaru)

Only recovery magic is classed as “magic”. I don’t know how it differs, but the rarity of it might affect the price. 10 points seems fairly reasonable given the prices I’ve seen before.

For an example of what I mean, it might be easy to obtain spirit arts over there, but extremely difficult or impossible to gain recovery magic.

….in any case, 50 points is impossible.

「What about items」

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

●Items

・Assorted basic items – Recommended for transferees – 10 points

《Money (Medium)・Assorted recovery potions・Beginner’s “arts” scroll pack（「Fire Spear」×1「Wind Blade」×1「Earth Wall」×1「Water Healing」×1「Phantom Light」×1「Dark Fog」×1「Small Healing」×3「Medium Healing」×2「Large Healing」×1「Dispel」×1「Fear」×1「Short Teleportation」×1）・First aid kit・Map of surroundings・World Map・Compass・Adventurer’s equipment set（Shirt・Cloak・Pants・Belt・Underwear x3・Socks x3・Boots・Hat・Leather Gloves・Leather Chest Guard・Short Sword・Short Spear）・Note・Writing Set・3 days worth of food (bento/water bottle)・Long term food storage set・Tableware Set・Towel x5・Hankerchief x5 Pocket Tissue x10・Knife・Blanket・Lantern・Oil・Match・Hand Mirror・Portable Shovel・Rucksack・Belt Pouch・Nylon Rope・Wire・Cloth Tape・Sewing Kit・Hemp bag x2・Every type of spirit stone x1》

Some items can’t be obtained outside the basic pack, so please be aware.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

「I see, it would suck to be transferred naked. I mean, without this basic pack, would I still be wearing this hospital outfit when I transfer?」(Hikaru)

Isn’t that hard mode? I’d be barefoot as well right?

But 10 points is too much, I only have 24 points left.

If I start in the city, I’ll only need clothes and money, rather than the other items in this pack.

Perhaps it’s better to buy the essentials individually, it would be much cheaper than 10 points.

Under the basic pack, there are a large variety of items lined up and it seems that you can pick items out individually.

I skimmed through it, but you can exchange points for weapons, armor, tools, magic scrolls, potions and maps. Even money can be purchased with points.

There aren’t many type of weapons and armor, but it seems that you can exchange for an armor than matches the size of each transferee.

There were also magic swords and armor, but all of them are in the tens of points range, so it’s unlikely anyone would buy them.

In any case, it’s better to exchange for those type of things later.

「With the remaining points, I’ll buy clothing and money. After that, I’ll put everything else into improving my strength and vitality and confirm my choice」(Hikaru)

The remaining time is only 40 seconds.

For the time being, I open the “transfer point selection” menu.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

●Transfer point selection

・Transfer to a relatively safe place – 27 points

Transfer to a place that is low-risk to humans. You will be transferred to a secluded place within the vicinity.

・Transfer to safe place – 30 points

Transfer to a place where dangerous wild animals are all but eliminated. You will appear within a city.

・Random transfer – 0 points (random transfer selected by default)

No guarantee of where you will be transferred to, but you won’t be transferred somewhere where you will instantly die such as the middle of the sea, lava or huge forest. However, if you’re luck is bad it could be very dangerous.

If you are lucky, you may transfer to a secluded area.

Potential for an early comedic scene. Not recommended.

　―――――――――――――――――――――――――　　　　　　　　　　　　

「E…eh….?」(Hikaru)

For a moment, I couldn’t understand what was written.

There are only 2 high-point options and that’s it? I thought.

I read it twice and finally understood.

The default option is a random transfer.

I can’t believe there’s such a trap–

「My remaining points!?」(Hikaru)

I had 24 points left.

Even for the most basic option『transfer to a relatively safe place』I didn’t have enough

If I don’t reroll now, I’ll be transferred to the other world as is.

By the way, people all over the world will be watching me in real time.

I should have considered this possibility as the God has a playful personality.

「Dangerous dangerous! It’s dangerous! Any safe place is fine, I need to erase my points and reroll–」(Hikaru)

By now I was completely panicked.

If I had operated the PC calmly, I would have had enough time.

However, in my rush I accidentally applied points to the wrong menu.

「Ah!? Which skill did I choose? Certainly I should have chosen physical strength and vitality–」(Hikaru)

The confusion was cleared up in a moment.

I hadn’t applied any points to physical strength yet.

It was a loss that would only take 5 seconds to fix.

—-but those 5 seconds were deadly.

I immediately close the physical ability menu and open the special ability one.

II just need to turn off night vision and open the transition point menu–

The timer is reflected in my eyes as it has reduced to single digits.

Erase one ability and increase another.

If I don’t make it in time, I’ll lose all the special abilities.

The moment that thought left my mind, I stopped moving the mouse.

The timer’s numbers had reached 0.

『You will now be transferred. If there are any points remaining, you can continue your build after transfer. However some abilities cannot be selected after transfer』

The screen dimmed and this message was ruthlessly displayed.

The PC froze after that, it did not respond at all, just the words “30 seconds to transfer” were displayed.

「….I felt like 73 points was a lot, I should have focused more on my instincts than thinking too much」(Hikaru)

The fact that the transition point was random cause the blood to drain from my body.

「I’m sure there are about 24 points left right….?」(Hikaru)

It’s good that I can exchange my points after the transition.

There was a possibility that the remaining points would disappear.

—in any case, the die has been cast.

『10 seconds remaining』

『5 seconds remaining』

『1 second』

『Now then, have a wonderful life. I wish you luck』

Then, I was surrounded by a bright light.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

・Name: Kurose Hikaru

・Age: 15 years old　▽

　　　　Increase age: 2 years +6p

・Gender: Male

・Special Abilities　▽

・Night Vision – 15p

・Loved by spirits – 30p

・Physical Ability　▼

・Resistances　▽

・Disease resistance: 2 – 3p

・Age resistance: 3 – 7p

・Magic　▼

・Items　▼

・Transition Point　▽

・Random Transition – 0p

・Disadvantages　▼

Remaining bonus points – 24p

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

[Previous Chapter] – [Table of Contents] – [Next Chapter]

Lonely Otaku – Chapter 7

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 7 – Beloved girl

「O—onii-chan, I made you wait!」(Sakura)

As I was waiting near the first grade classrooms, Sakura-chan came running over.

During lunch break, Sakura-chan said『Onii-chan, let’s go home together』so we decided to go together.

I thought that Momoi would get angry about that, but she told me to take her home as it would be troublesome if she got lost.

It seems she was more worried about her imouto getting lost than to bother with me.

Well, it’s not a problem for me at all to go home with Sakura-chan.

But to tell you the truth…..I wish we didn’t meet each other in such a populated place…

After all, the stares of the first-graders hurt.

In addition to that, Sakura-chan stands out in class more than anyone else, so the sharpness of their eyes increased.

These guys….staring at me like that….have they forgotten I’m their senpai?

I felt like a monkey in a zoo.

…no I’m sure even a monkey receives more favourable stares than me…

I knew this was going to happen, that’s why I didn’t want to meet here…

Yet if the meeting place was too far from the first-grade classrooms, she might get lost.

That’s why I’m waiting for Sakura-chan here.

…to be honest I regret that now, I should have waited somewhere else.

２

「Hey, onii-chan when we get back home, can I go into onii-chan’s room?」(Sakura)

「Eh….?」(Kaito)

My room?

Why?

Well, I guess there’s nothing wrong with it….

—even though I’m an otaku, I don’t collect figurines and other goods.

I’m an otaku who isn’t interested in such things, I only like light novels, games and anime.

When it comes to games, I don’t like normal games like RPGs.

The games I love are eroge. (TLN: Erotic games)

Even if I say eroge, I don’t mean the so called nuki games. (TLN: Think of nuki game to mean a game that you “beat off” to)

I prefer the scenario-oriented works, the ones that are close to being galge. (TLN: Girl games, games focuses heavily on interactions with girls, sometimes having a sexual component and sometimes not)

….I know they are prohibited for under 18s….I’m sorry….

I wasn’t originally interested in eroge, but as I read reviews about them on the internet, I became interested and told myself I’d only try it『once』

I’m a light novel enthusiast after all–I couldn’t help but get addicted to it.

Well I hide those games in my closet so they can’t be found, so it’s not a big deal if she comes in.

But is it really okay for Sakura-chan to go in my room?

If we get caught by Momoi, I’ll definitely be killed this time…

Besides, there’s work to be done today.

I have to keep it a secret from my dad, so I should decline here.

「Sorry Sakura-chan, I have something to do–」(Kaito)

When I try to refuse, Sakura-chan started sulking.

It feels bad.

But I’m troubled…

There’s no way I can leave Sakura-chan alone.

「Etto…if you keep what you see secret from my dad and stay quiet until I’m done, I guess you can come to my room?」(Kaito)

「Really!?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan exclaimed happily whilst looking at my face.

「You’ll really keep it a secret from my dad right?」(Kaito)

「Un!」(Sakura)

As soon as we got home, Sakura-chan immediately went to her room to change clothes, before coming to my room.

「So this is onii-chan’s room…!」(Sakura)

For some reason Sakura-chan was looking around my room with shining eyes.

It’s embarrassing if you look around so much…

「Waa…it’s light novels!」(Sakura)

When Sakura-chan looked at my bookshelf, she was surprised to see the amount of light novels there.

Rather–

「Eh, Sakura-chan knows about light novels?」(Kaito)

「Onee—–I have a friend who loves light novels, that’s why I’m shown them occasionally~」(Sakura)

「Hee~…then you can read whatever you like, I’ll finish my work in the meantime」(Kaito)

「What work? also what are those books next to your computer?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan looked at me with a interested look whilst tilting her head.

「Ah, I coded a small program and since it’s just been completed, I need to finish my work by debugging it. The books there are for different programming languages. They should be Java and PHP? The language used depends on the purpose」(TLN: He actually says Jova and PUP in English)

After finishing my explanation, Sakura-chan looked at me with respect.

「Onii-chan is amazing! onee-chan said onii-chan is stupid, but you’re actually really smart!」(Sakura)

That girl….did she say something behind my back?

Really, I want to make you cry someday…

「I’m not that smart, but….」(Kaito)

「Sakura doesn’t understand! I think onii-chan is amazing! That’s the program you’re working on now right?」(Sakura)

「Thanks…..if you’re interested, do you want to watch from the sidelines?」(Kaito)

「Un!」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan replied cheerfully and sat next to me.

This is just like lunch break when she stuck so close…

Why is this kid’s sense of distance so bad?

Eh, maybe this is normal and I’m just not aware of it?

Do girls like to feel so close together when talking with friends?

I don’t know….I’m a loner after all.

「But, why are you doing this?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan looked at me in wonder.

「Well, this is a part-time job. At first it was to save money to buy what I wanted, but now it’s become a sort of hobby. Don’t you think it’s good to make money from your hobby? I probably make more money than the company workers around here」(Kaito)

「Uwaa, onii-chan is rich. If there’s something I want, shouldn’t I just ask dad? Dad is a doctor and makes lots of money right?」(Sakura)

「Un…..dad doesn’t give me much pocket money. He says it would create bad habits to waste money as a kid. That’s why I’m keeping it a secret from him」(Kaito)

「Then it’s our secret!」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan showed a happy expression.

After that Sakura-chan watched my screen intently whilst I was debugging.

「Hey hey, what kind of program is this?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan asked me with interest.

「Simply put, it’s an application that speeds up your computer. Once you launch the app, it reads all the data on your computer and deletes any unused files. It then changes the storage type to make operation lighter. When new data is added, it’s automatically changes it to this type increasing processing speed」(Kaito)

「Eh, etto…?」(Sakura)

It seems that my explanation was too difficult, Sakura-chan is showing a confused expression right now.

「Well, for a visual example. I wonder if the best way to explain it is like folding clothes that are scattered about everywhere and putting them in a closet? Or for example, throwing a heavy object requires more power than a light object right? This program makes those objects lighter, so by running it on your computer, it will run much faster」(Kaito)

「He, hee that’s amazing!」(Sakura)

「…you don’t understand it do you?」(Kaito)

「Sorry, I don’t understand….」(Sakura)

To Sakura-chan’s reply, I couldn’t help but laugh.

That’s right, it’s hard to understand if you don’t know about it already…

「But I’m envious about the faster speed….Sakura’s phone is really slow….」(Sakura)

Saying that, Sakura-chan took out her smartphone.

I heard something similar somewhere else.

—ah, it was a girl called Nishimura who sits next to Saijo-san.

I remember her because she’s an otaku like me and had the habit of telling her friends her likes and dislikes.

She said she was having trouble because her smartphone is slow.

I wasn’t really listening to the conversation, so I don’t know how it started.

If you’re curious about what they were talking about before this.

『Momoi is ugly』

It was Saijo-san who said that.

I agree with her opinion, but her atmosphere when she said that was scary.

It seems she has a grudge against Momoi.

That’s why, the conversation from that time remained in my memory.

「—yosh! Debugging is complete! I just have to burn it to a CD and submit it!」(Kaito)

Saying that, I started to prepare a CD to burn–

「Good work onii-chan, have a drink and a rest」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan had brought me iced tea.

She’s a thoughtful kid….

Somehow I feel that because of Sakura-chan, I was able to do my best today.　

I wonder if I can do something for her.

—that’s right!

「Thank you Sakura-chan…by the way, you said your smartphone was slow right?」(Kaito)

「Eh? Un, that’s right…」(Sakura)

「Will you wait a little while? This application can be made to work on smartphones」(Kaito)

「Eh, is that alright!?」(Sakura)

「Un, it’s okay so wait a second」(Kaito)

I put the burned CD into a protective case and began rewriting parts of the code.

Depending on the work, sometimes I have to sign non-disclosure contracts, so I can’t distribute the software myself. However since the request was made for a company’s internal system, there was no such agreement.

Besides it’s not like it’s prohibited to be used in this case so it’s fine.

３

Two hours later–

「Yes, this should make your smartphone work faster」(Kaito)

I said so after returning Sakura-chan’s phone that I had borrowed.

She immediately began trying out her phone.

「It’s true! Amazing amazing! It’s so fast onii-chan!」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan’s face looked like a kid who had found a new toy.

「Haha, I’m glad you’re pleased with it」(Kaito)

Hmm….I’m a bit tired.

I wanted to make Sakura-chan happy, so I remade the code in record time and now my shoulders were stiff.

Despite that, I didn’t cut corners in debugging.

If I did such a thing and a bug occurred, Sakura-chan might cry.

Therefore I checked carefully.

「Ehehe, onii-chan. Thank you!」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan was smiling whilst holding her smartphone in both hands.

I wonder if it’s okay to ask now…?

It’s scary to ask directly, so let’s ask in a roundabout way.

「Hey Sakura-chan. You’ve been close to me ever since you became my stepsister. Are you doing that because Momoi said I have no friends?」(Kaito)

When I said so, Sakura-chan thought for a moment then shook her head.

「No~ Sakura-chan wants to be with onii-chan」(Sakura)

　『I want to be with you』is it….

I’m happy to hear that, but I don’t understand.

「We just met right? Why do you like me so much?」(Kaito)

Sakura-chan made a lonely expression at my question.

Why?

「Just as I thought, onii-chan has forgotten….just a minute」(Sakura)

With that, Sakura-chan left my room.

But she soon came back.

「Yes, this is a hint!」(Sakura)

Saying that, she showed me a picture that seemed to be of me in the second year of middle school.

….ha!?

「Eh, why does Sakura-chan have that!?」(Kaito)

「Yesterday I asked Dad to show me a photo album and I took this one」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan was smiling whilst holding the photo.

Dad, what the hell are you doing…　

Speaking of which, yesterday they seemed to be sneaking around together…

「But this hint…? Did I meet Sakura-chan when I was in middle school?」(Kaito)

To my question, Sakura-chan neither confirms or denies it.

She was staring at my face.

I wonder if she’s expecting an answer from me…

However did I really meet Sakura-chan in my second year of middle school?

Momoi and I went to different middle schools.

Therefore Sakura-chan also went to a different school.　

…..I can’t remember….

「Sorry Sakura-chan, I can’t remember」(Kaito)

When I say that, Sakura-chan starts untying her hair that had been put into twintails.

Could it be—

「Well then, this will be the last hint!『It’s not going to the station I want it to…』」(Sakura)

She said whilst keeping her eyes shut.

「–tsu!」(Kaito)

Those actions and that dialogue flash in my head.

It was that girl who was looking up at me and crying on the train.

No way–

「The girl who got on the wrong train was you Sakura-chan?」(Kaito)

Sakura-chan happily nodded to my question.

「I finally met you, onii-chan!」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan’s smile overlapped with the smile of that girl back then who thanked me after arriving at the station she wanted to go to.

４

「Haha, so there was such a coincidence. So the kid at that time was you Sakura-chan?」(Kaito)

I was so shocked my heart almost stopped beating.

A chance encounter like this can only be considered a miracle.

「When did you notice it?」(Kaito)

When she heard that, Sakura-chan smiled happily.

「Kaーiーto」(Sakura)

She called my name.

「Eh?」(Kaito)

「On the train I heard Onii-chan’s friends call you Kaito, so I remembered it. When you showed me the way to the library, I thought your tone and atmosphere was similar, but I couldn’t see your eyes because of your bangs so you looked like a different person. At first I was thinking “Even though you’re easy to talk to like onii-chan, you’re a different person right?”. But when I first came to this house, I could glance onii-chan’s face a bit and when you introduced yourself I thought “that’s him!”. Just in case I asked your Dad to show me your album」(Sakura)

Saying that, Sakura-chan let her feet go bura~ bura~ (TLN: Sound effect for something dangling)

「Then, Sakura-chan likes me because of something that happened that long ago?」(Kaito)

「Un, that’s right」(Sakura)

What do you mean by that….

I was afraid she might have feelings for me, but that’s not the case.

She was just fond of me.

I thought the girl at that time was 3 or 4 years younger due to her height, but Sakura-chan was only 1 year younger at that time…

Well I won’t say anything because it might make her feel bad.

「Saying that, I’m surprised onii-chan’s appearance has changed so much. Just like my onee-chan said, why don’t you cut your hair?」(Sakura)

「Ah…..un. It’s okay for now」(Kaito)

「I see…」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan looked a little disappointed, but didn’t say anything else.

There is a reason as to why I let my bangs grow out.

When I keep my bangs like this, they get in the way of my eyes and make it difficult to see. But they also make my eyes less noticeable.

I’ve been hiding my eyes with my bangs ever since that event in middle school.

「–come to think of it onii-chan. If you’re so smart, are you competing with onee-chan in school tests?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan moved to a completely different topic in an attempt to change the awkward atmosphere.

But in regards to tests…

It’s a painful story for me.

「I barely get an average score, except for math. I’ve never studied for a test before, so I don’t even match up to Momoi’s feet」(Kaito)

「Is that right?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan looked confused.

「Etto, sorry your ani is so pathetic….」(Kaito)

I’m sorry, I apologize.

「Ah, that’s not it! I just thought『do you really hate studying when you have this many programming books?』…」

Ah, I see.

Is she that type of person?

Well she’s Momoi’s imouto that’s for sure…

「I see……talking seriously, does Sakura-chan like studying at school?」(Kaito)

「Eh? e, etto…..to be honest I don’t like studying…」(Sakura)

With that said, Sakura-chan turned away from me.

I’m not blaming you or anything…

「Then, why does Sakura-chan study?」(Kaito)

「That’s because, studying is important right?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan looked at me strangely.

Are my thoughts unusual for her?

Well, I know that my way of thinking has changed quite drastically since the past…

「That’s right, studying in school is important—but it’s not important for everyone」(Kaito)

「Eh? Studying isn’t important for everyone?」(Sakura)

「Well, that’s not it exactly. Does Sakura-chan have a dream?」(Kaito)

「Eh….」(Sakura)

To my sudden question, Sakura-chan glanced at me with an embarrassed look on her face.

「Can you not say it….?」(Kaito)

「Etto…bride..」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan replied shyly.

…..wait a minute.

I’m talking seriously right now.

I can see that Sakura-chan answered me seriously as well.

I know—if you say such a cute thing with such a look, my face can’t help but break into a smile!

Wait, this child is too cute!

I can’t keep up the serious atmosphere anymore!

「Kohon–! That’s a lovely dream, but is there any job you want in the future?」(Sakura)

When I ask that, Sakura-chan’s face goes bright red.

Ah…she seems to have noticed that she misunderstood and quickly answers me…

「E, etto…well I don’t have one right now….?」(Sakura)

「I see. Well then Sakura-chan, keep studying hard for now on. Do you understand?」(Kaito)

「I don’t get it…」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan got depressed.

「Ah I’m sorry. I didn’t explain it well! Do you think it’s necessary for professional baseball players, pastry chefs and beauticians to learn at school?」(Kaito)

When she heard that, Sakura-chan got surprised.

She seems to understand what I mean.

「I understand that it’s important to learn at school. But that’s for people who haven’t decided what they want to be in the future. The school aims at giving you well-rounded knowledge so that when you decide what you want to be in the future, you can be that. Therefore school lessons are important and students are evaluated on their academic ability. But what about the students who know what they want to be? Don’t you think it’s a waste of time to learn things you won’t need in the future? Rather than that, I want to spend my time on things that are useful to me in the future—that’s my way of thinking. I’m not denying school lessons are important. So if Sakura-chan doesn’t know what she wants to be in the future, then you should study hard at school」(TLN: The author needs to stop with these huge walls of text)

When I finished talking after a long time, Sakura-chan fell silent.

Woops.

Did my explanation make her uncomfortable?

That’s right…..people find it annoying when I talk to them….

But the eyes of Sakura-chan who looked up at me were shining.

「Onii-chan, so cool!!」(Sakura)

「Eh?」(Kaito)

「Onii-chan is really amazing! Sakura never thought about that!」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan got excited and rushed towards me.

「E, etto…?」(Kaito)

I was flustered at Sakura-chan’s action.

It’s been a long time since someone has acted that way to me.

「Aside from that, is there anything else?」(Sakura)

「Anything else…? Well…..even if you ask me that….yeah, it’s connected to the previous explanation, but there’s no point in treating people with poor academic ability as idiots」(Kaito)

「Not treat them as idiots?….why?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan asked me, showing her genuine desire to know.

「That is–」(Kaito)

As I try to tell her why–

「I’m home」(Momoi)

Momoi is back.

—this is bad!

It’s that time already!

Looking at the clock, it was around 7:30.

It seems that a lot of time has passed since I was recreating the program I had written earlier.

「Sakura? Is no-one home?」(Momoi)

Cold sweat flowed down my back.

This is bad! This is bad!

If she finds out I brought Sakura-chan to my room, I don’t know what she will do!

「Ah, if I don’t hurry up and leave, she’ll get angry at onii-chan again like at lunch. Then, we’re going to cook together, right onii-chan? Also let’s continue where you left off later on」(Sakura)

With that said, Sakura-chan smiled at me.

I staggered down the stairs with Sakura-chan.

But—by the time I stepped off the stairs, it was apparent to Momoi that Sakura-chan had been in my room.

Why?

Because Sakura-chan’s room was on the first floor….

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Lonely Otaku – Chapter 6

TLN: The words for communication disorder the author uses are コミュ障 which literally means communication disability.

I’ll be extremely busy at work for the next few days, so there’s not likely to be multi-releases for a little while. Sorry in advance.

Arc 1 – Changing Everyday

Chapter 6 – Loli stepsister is too clingy!

「Hey, isn’t that girl cute?」(???)

Lunch break–a girl in class suddenly said such a thing.

「Ah really! She’s so small and cute, and her face is cute as well!…it’s strange that her chest is bigger than mine!」(???)

「They’re pads, they must be pads!」(???)

I can hear the ridiculous voices of the girls who are jealous of the big chested kid.

「Oi, that’s a first year kid isn’t it? Why is she in the second year classroom? Could it be she came to confess to me!?」(???)

「No way, she obviously came to confess to me!」(???)

「No, it’s me!」(???)

「No no, do you really think a girl as cute as this would come all this way for lazy guys like you? In other words, she came for me!」(???)

…somehow, the boys were having an even stupider discussion than the girls.

You guys, why do you think she came to confess to you when you’ve never met her before?

Maa, it’s not like it matters to me.

For the time being the front door seems crowded, so I’ll go through the back door to the cafeteria.

Just as I was heading out the door of the classroom–

「A, ano….is Kanzaki-senpai here?」(???)

I heard a very cute voice

Eh?

What my name called just now?

「Kanzaki…?」(???)

「Eh, Kanzaki? You mean that Kanzaki?」(???)

「Kanzaki the loner who is always hidden in the corner of class?」(???)

Oi….well it’s true, but wasn’t the last guy too mean?

No matter how true it is…you don’t have to say it out loud…

But…what business does this kid have with me?

I looked towards the front door, it seems the kid noticed me.

「Ah! Excuse me, let me through!」(???)

As I heard such a voice, a small shadow popped out of the crowd.

Ah, this kid–

「Onii….Kanzaki-senpai, good morning」(Sakura)

The true identity of the small shadow, was Sakura-chan–

２

「That surprised me just now」(Kaito)

This girl who was much smaller than me, was currently walking next to me.

This kid was walking beside me with a smile on her face.

Her trademark twin-tails seemed to bounce in time with her steps, it was very cute.

「Ehehe, that’s because I wanted to eat with onii-chan」(Sakura)

Whilst saying that, she looks up at me.

She’s really such a cute girl…

Perhaps because she heard that I have no friends yesterday, she decided to care for me and invite me to eat with her.

If that’s the case then maybe I should thank that cold girl.

…..I’ll make her cry someday.

「For the time being, is it okay if we go to the cafeteria? Or do you want to buy bread and eat somewhere?」(Kaito)

When I ask that–

「Jajan~! A bento!」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan brought out two lunch boxes she had hidden behind her back.

Really, I was wondering why she had her hands behind her back this whole time, so it was for this!

I am very grateful that she not only made breakfast, but also a bento.

Even I don’t usually make bentos because it’s a hassle.

Sakura-chan’s girl power is quite high–

「But when did you have time to make them? You weren’t making them when I woke up this morning?」(Kaito)

「Ehehe~ I wanted to surprise onii-chan, so I made them before breakfast and hid them」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan giggled at her successful prank.

Cute….

Yet I can’t help but wonder.

Why is this kid going this far for me?

Is it because I’m her new ani?

I don’t understand it…to be honest, I don’t know much about her.

Well that being said, there was something concerning me more now.

「Hey, isn’t that kid cute!?」(???)

「Really!…oi, is that her boyfriend next to her?」(???)

「No way, of course not! do you think a girl as cute as that would choose to go out with an otaku like that guy?」(???)

「Nai nai! But, I’m so jealous that he gets to hang around with a cute girl like that!」(???)

「That’s right~ I want to massage that big chest」(???)

…they were looking at us with expressions mixed with both jealousy and envy.

As expected of the imouto of the most beautiful girl in school.

But the last guy who spoke—do you think I won’t remember your face?

As punishment for looking at my imouto with those kind of eyes, I’ll throw a virus onto your smartphone later.

「What’s wrong, onii-chan?」(Sakura)

While I was wondering how to send a virus to that guys phone, Sakura-chan looked up at my face in confusion.

「No, it’s nothing」(Kaito)

I laughed as if to dispel Sakura-chan’s doubts.

But…I wonder if this kid is sensitive to my mood, she reacted so quickly…

Is she unexpectedly observant?

Although I’m thinking like this, it’s not like I don’t care at all.

Doesn’t it make you think you’re being watched?

I feel like this kid is the big one…

「Hey onii-chan, where do you want to eat?」(Sakura)

「Ah, I was thinking of going to the courtyard. There are lots of benches there, so we can sit and eat」(Kaito)

「Un!….so, where is the courtyard?」(Sakura)

That’s right….this kid has no sense of direction.

To get to the courtyard, you have to follow another path. Usually it’s a small detour if you leave by the front door.

I don’t think she’s be able to get there by herself–

Nn?

Speaking of which, this kid found my classroom by herself.

「Hey Sakura-chan, did you come straight to my classroom without getting lost?」(Kaito)

When I asked that, she puffed up her cheeks.

Apparently she seems to be sulking.

「Mou….even if it’s Sakura, you only have to go down one staircase, it’s hard to make a mistake!…though I did enter the wrong classroom twice…」(Sakura)

Isn’t that even worse than just being bad with directions?

I think it’s best if we paid a visit to the hospital.

「I, I see..I’m glad」(Kaito)

I couldn’t tell her my real thoughts.

３

Why did this happen…?

I look at my cute imouto next to me, eating with a big smile on her face.

What am I thinking about?–

「Sakura-chan…why are you sticking so close to me?」(Kaito)

That’s right, I don’t know why but as soon as I sat down, Sakura-chan started sticking close to me whilst eating.

「Un? Is it no good…?」(Sakura)

「Not at all, it’s fine!」(Kaito)

If you ask with such a face, how am I going to refuse?

I mean, it’s not like I dislike it.

The problem is–I’m too nervous to eat my lunch properly.

I can’t stay calm when someone like me with a communication disorder is stuck to such a cute girl!

I mean what is with this kid!?

Why are you like this!?

Don’t you know I’m scared that there’s a hidden reason!?

…is that it?

Is Momoi pulling the threads behind the scenes?

Is she trying to trap me with the pure Sakura-chan?

「What’s wrong?….was the bento not delicious….?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan looked up at me sadly.

「So, sorry….I was just lost in thought, Sakura-chan’s bento is really delicious」

「Ehehe~」(Sakura)

When I replied as such, she giggled happily.

There’s no way such a pure and innocent kid would do that.　

What’s wrong with me, thinking such stupid things…

「Hey, onii-chan are you on bad terms with onee-chan?」(Sakura)

Sakura-chan suddenly asked me such a thing.

No….

To be honest it seems like the real answer would make Sakura-chan sad…

「Well you see…we’re not on bad terms, we’re just not used to each other yet」(Kaito)

In the end, I decided to deceive her.

「I see…but onii-chan and onee-chan will get along with each other soon….right?」(Sakura)

Those eyes are unfair.

If you ask me like that, how can I refuse?

「Un, got it. I’ll do my best」(Kaito)

I smile and make a guts pose.(TLN: For history of the pose, see here)

Sakura-chan was looking up at me and smiling.

We were having such a pleasant time–we hardly noticed that it would come to an end so unexpectedly.

「…what are you doing?」(???)

It was a deep voice, as if coming from the depths of hell.

I look behind myself.

Standing there was the most popular girl in school, with eyes like a yuki-onna. (TLN: Yuki-Onna, literally “Snow Woman” a famous yokai from Japanese myth)

「Mo, momoi…?」(Kaito)

「You’ve got a lot of courage to put your hands on my imouto..」(Momoi)

Sakura-chan…I don’t think it’s possible…

Because this girl’s eyes tell me that she’s going to kill me…

I’ll leave it to your imagination what happened to me after this…

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