The day of the date had finally arrived.
I’d used wax to style my hair into textured strands and had even gotten a little carried away with the perfume. Standing before me—or more accurately, lurking behind me—was the "Perfect Superhuman" herself, Rui Kuroki, on her way to track and field practice.
The coincidence I’d been waiting for turned out to be a "Devilish Coincidence"... an occurrence so demonic and fated it felt like someone had orchestrated it just to mess with me.
"What’s wrong, Ryouta-kun? Oh, don’t tell me you’re 'excited' by my ponytail?"
Rui Kuroki stood behind me on the station platform, swaying her ponytail for my benefit.
"Hehe... seeing the nape of my neck like this is actually a bit embarrassing," she teased.
"......"
"Hey, why the silence? Actually, Ryouta-kun, why are you so dressed up today?"
It was a perfectly reasonable question.
I was a shadow of the class, a loner and a gloomy otaku at the very bottom of the school's social caste. If someone like me was standing on the station platform at nine in the morning on a Sunday, looking all slick and stylish, anyone would naturally suspect that something was up.
"Could it be... a date?"
And it was also inevitable that she would suspect the presence of a woman.
Anyone would think that. I would too... it was just that obvious. This wasn't because Rui Kuroki was a Perfect Superhuman or possessed incredible insight; it was just common sense.
Now, how was I going to get through this?
If an otaku went out on a Sunday acting like an extrovert... alright, this was the only way.
"Uh... I..."
When an otaku got cocky and spruced themselves up, there was really only one possible reason.
"That’s right! I’m heading out to see my 'oshi'!"
"Your oshi?"
"There’s a Real Event for my oshi in Tokyo today! I wanted to leave early so I’d make it in time for the afternoon performance!"
I piled up the fabrications, using a desperate lie about "Oshi-katsu" to hide the truth.
However, it was a brilliant comeback. Typical otakus had a tendency to groom themselves excessively when meeting their oshi at a Real Event, trying to set themselves apart from the rest of the crowd. They wanted to project an image to their oshi that they were a boy far removed from the stereotype of a sweaty, unkempt fan.
I could only use this as an excuse because of my usual gloomy otaku reputation. It was a perfect counter. Between this and the incident with Miyama yesterday, I really felt like getting better at lying was a sign of becoming an adult—though I was clearly just justifying my own dishonesty.
"Hmm. Is that so?"
"Y-Yeah, that’s it! It’s a bit embarrassing, I know. Ahaha."
"Ryouta-kun has an oshi... so that’s why you won't fall for me."
"Eh?"
Kuroki's beautiful face suddenly clouded over as she slumped. My intuition immediately told me this was "bad."
"Because Ryouta-kun has an oshi, you won't even say a single word about how cute I look, even though I went to the trouble of wearing a ponytail. And because you have an oshi, you haven't even looked at the extra-generous school swimsuit selfie I sent you yesterday. It’s all that 'oshi's' fault, isn't it, Ryouta-kun?"
Yandere Mode?! Seriously?!
And what was that about a school swimsuit selfie...?!
Because I’d muted her on LIME the other day, I hadn't seen her messages at all. A school swimsuit selfie?! Even in this situation, a part of me desperately wanted to see it... No, that wasn't the point!
"L-Liking you and Oshi-katsu are two completely different things!"
"...Then why? Am I not cute with my ponytail?"
"T-That’s... it’s way too late for me to start calling you 'cute' now!"
"Eh."
In that instant, something rare happened. Rui Kuroki's cheeks flushed a deep red. As if a ray of sunlight was breaking through the clouds, her expression brightened.
"H-Heh. So even Ryouta-kun has the normal sensibility to think I'm cute."
It was a comment I’d blurted out in desperation, but it had worked in my favor. I had to admit she was cute, even if her lack of volume in the chest and thighs was a reminder that even God doesn't grant every blessing at once.
"If you truly think I'm cute, then will you 'push' me as your oshi too?"
"Huh? Push you?"
"Or was what you just said a makeshift lie to suck up to me?"
Kuroki's sharp gaze pierced through me. This was bad... if I admitted it was a lie now, her interrogation would continue, and I’d be late for my date! If that happened, Ichinose would...!
I had to play along.
"I-It wasn’t a lie. If I don't say you're cute, you're grumpy, and if I do, you're suspicious... that's just mean, don't you think?"
"R-Ryouta-kun... fufu. Then you'll 'push' me as well."
I didn't really understand what she meant by "pushing" her, but since she was in such a good mood, I decided to just go with it.
"Well then, as a reward for supporting me, I'll increase my daily selfies from one to two, starting today."
"W-What!?"
"It’s the duty of the one being pushed to provide service to the fans, after all!"
"I-I don't need that—"
"Also... the content might become a little more extreme ♡"
Kuroki whispered those words into my ear before hopping onto the train that had pulled into the opposite platform.
Extreme selfies...!?
Her words echoed in my brain. Not only were her selfies doubling, but they were going to be extreme!? In other words... were they going to be genuine lewd selfies!?
I gulped.
I was supposed to have made it through the situation, yet right now, I felt more frustration than relief. Even though Ichinose was the one I was actually dating today, I was already being thrown off by Kuroki's provocative remarks.
"That Kuroki... she went and left a hell of a bombshell behind."
It was frustrating. It was incredibly frustrating... but regardless, I found myself opening my phone to check the school swimsuit selfie she had already sent.