TL: ntsugu
TLC: learning2tl
ED: N/A

The four us used the escalator and went down all the way to the first floor . Hinami and the others were saying things such as 「Man~ I bought something nice~」, 「I wonder where we should go next?」, and 「Ah, Tomozaki, what are you going to buy?」 . I ended up replying half-heartedly with, “Ah, hm . ” I wasn’t paying attention .

The feeling of excitement from earlier was still lingering in my mind .

Perhaps having sensed something strange about the way I was acting, Hinami suggested,「I guess it’s hard deciding . For now, how about we take a quick break at Starbucks or something? I’m tired!」in a playful tone of voice . To which Izumi replied with,「That sounds great! I feel like having a green tea frappuccino!」 . The words didn’t really enter my head .

I hadn’t looked like a gross otaku .

I hadn’t instantly recognized that figure as my own . Just as I was thinking ‘well there’s a student with their appearance all nice and tidy ── riajuu go explode!’, I had come to the realization that it was actually me .

Even I was fully aware that it was ridiculous for me to feel this way, or rather, that it was nothing too impressive . After all, I had precisely followed what Hinami had taught me about the use of correct postures and expressions, so it wouldn’t have ended badly . My eyebrows and hair had been handled by an expert in the field and an aspiring expert, so the results would obviously be good . As for the clothes, I had simply copied the outfit from a fashionable mannequin at a fashionable clothing outlet .

As a result, regardless of how bad the qualities of the target person might be, it would not have made sense for the result from the combination of those factors to be terrible .

However, I was happy .

I had changed enough for my sister to ask me if I had read an Escape Otaku-ism book . Mizusawa had told me that the way I spoke had become more cheerful . Those kinds of things had happened . And I had also felt delight each time, realizing that I had changed . Even so…

A clearly visible change . A sense of accomplishment .

Such a trivial feeling had made a deep impression on me, to a degree even I found unexpected .

｢What’s wrong, Tomozaki-kun?｣

｢Hinami…｣

｢Hinami…｣

Walking over to my side, Hinami called out to me . There was no way I could tell her those feelings under our current circ.u.mstances anyway, so I merely shook my head and said,「It’s nothing . 」

Hinami didn’t appear convinced, but she switched her expression right away…

｢We’re leaving, you know?｣

Then called out to me with her usual fabricated voice .

｢Sorry, coming!｣

I replied to Hinami in a voice as extroverted and cheerful as I could manage, then began to walk .

I replied to Hinami in a voice as extroverted and cheerful as I could manage, then began to walk .

And then, once again, I lined up next to Hinami .

｢I’m going to do my best from now on, too . ｣

｢Eh?｣

Then whispered in a voice that only Hinami walking beside me could hear .

Hinami seemed to have trouble understanding the meaning of my words . ‘But it’s fine that way’, I thought .

TL: ntsugu. TLC: learning2tl. ED: N/A.

 .

The four us used the escalator and went down all the way to the first floor . Hinami and the others were saying things such as 「Man~ I bought something nice~」, 「I wonder where we should go next?」, and 「Ah, Tomozaki, what are you going to buy?」 . I ended up replying half-heartedly with, “Ah, hm . ” I wasn’t paying attention

The feeling of excitement from earlier was still lingering in my mind

Perhaps having sensed something strange about the way I was acting, Hinami suggested,「I guess it’s hard deciding . For now, how about we take a quick break at Starbucks or something? I’m tired!」in a playful tone of voice . To which Izumi replied with,「That sounds great! I feel like having a green tea frappuccino!」 . The words didn’t really enter my head

I hadn’t looked like a gross otaku

I hadn’t instantly recognized that figure as my own . Just as I was thinking ‘well there’s a student with their appearance all nice and tidy ── riajuu go explode!’, I had come to the realization that it was actually me

Even I was fully aware that it was ridiculous for me to feel this way, or rather, that it was nothing too impressive . After all, I had precisely followed what Hinami had taught me about the use of correct postures and expressions, so it wouldn’t have ended badly . My eyebrows and hair had been handled by an expert in the field and an aspiring expert, so the results would obviously be good . As for the clothes, I had simply copied the outfit from a fashionable mannequin at a fashionable clothing outlet

As a result, regardless of how bad the qualities of the target person might be, it would not have made sense for the result from the combination of those factors to be terrible

However, I was happy

I had changed enough for my sister to ask me if I had read an Escape Otaku-ism book . Mizusawa had told me that the way I spoke had become more cheerful . Those kinds of things had happened . And I had also felt delight each time, realizing that I had changed . Even so….

A clearly visible change . A sense of accomplishment

Such a trivial feeling had made a deep impression on me, to a degree even I found unexpected

｢What’s wrong, Tomozaki-kun?｣.

｢Hinami…｣.

Walking over to my side, Hinami called out to me . There was no way I could tell her those feelings under our current circ.u.mstances anyway, so I merely shook my head and said,「It’s nothing . 」.

Hinami didn’t appear convinced, but she switched her expression right away….

｢We’re leaving, you know?｣.

Then called out to me with her usual fabricated voice

｢Sorry, coming!｣.

I replied to Hinami in a voice as extroverted and cheerful as I could manage, then began to walk

And then, once again, I lined up next to Hinami

｢I’m going to do my best from now on, too . ｣.

｢Eh?｣.

Then whispered in a voice that only Hinami walking beside me could hear

Hinami seemed to have trouble understanding the meaning of my words . ‘But it’s fine that way’, I thought