Following Yuria’s lead, we stopped by the same arcade we’d visited once before.
"Ryouta, you have to do the UFO catcher again!"
"Sure, but is there a specific prize you're after?"
"Totally!"
Yuria marched over to a specific machine and pointed at the figure inside.
Once again, her target was a beautiful anime girl.
I set to work, aiming for the box with the practiced movements of a veteran.
"Hey, Ryouta."
"What is it, Ichinose?"
"Geez, I told you to call me Yuria. You’ve been slipping back to the formal stuff for a while now."
"I-I mean... I’m just not used to calling girls by their first names. Give me a break."
"Then you should just get used to it with me. It feels more right to be called Yuria anyway."
"Is that... so?"
Yuria, Yuria...
Just saying a girl’s first name made my heart race.
But if she was that insistent about it... I didn't really have a choice.
"When we came here last time, we were total strangers. Now, a few days later, we’re back here as friends. It’s funny how things work out, isn't it?"
"I... I never thought I’d be able to talk so frankly with you, either."
To be honest, it wasn't just Yuria. I never imagined I’d end up in this kind of situation with Miyama or Kuroki, either.
"So, Yuria... why did you become an otaku anyway?"
"The reason I became an otaku?"
"Yeah. I was just a little curious about how you got into anime and all that."
I’d planned to avoid the subject since she seemed like she might have a dark past, but today, I felt like I could push the boundaries just a little.
"I’ve never really talked about why I became an otaku... I was just a kid, so my memory is a bit fuzzy."
Yuria gave a shy, bashful smile as she continued.
"It happened back when I was in the lower grades of elementary school."
"That far back!?"
"Yeah. Back then, it all started when I was given a certain manga in a neighborhood park where I used to play every day."
"A certain manga?"
"It was a shonen manga—one of the slightly... spicy ones. After reading it, I got totally hooked. I guess I am who I am today because I looked up to the gyaru heroine in that story."
S-So, the origin of Yuria Ichinose, the school’s number one gyaru, was a manga series...!?
That was the last thing I expected.
"So, thanks to that one book, both the gyaru Yuria and the otaku Yuria were born at the same time?"
"Hmm, I guess that’s one way to put it."
I felt a surge of gratitude toward whoever had bestowed the 'gyaru' and 'otaku' traits upon this beautiful girl—a girl blessed with the holy trinity of a pretty face, a large chest, and thick thighs. But then...
"What kind of creep hands a provocative manga to an elementary schooler in a park...?"
"No, no. The person who gave it to me was another kid about my age."
"A kid!?"
"Yeah, he was always sitting on a park bench by himself reading manga, so I asked if he wanted to play. We ended up hanging out, and he gave me the book when he left."
"I see..."
Reading spicy manga in elementary school... to think there was another precocious brat in this world besides me.
(I couldn't read those kinds of books at home when I was a kid either, so I used to take them outside to read... That kid must have been in the same boat.)
Hearing Yuria’s story made me feel a strange sense of nostalgia.
"So, what about you, Ryouta? Why did you become an otaku?"
"M-Me? I... well, how should I put it..."
"Hmm?"
"M-More importantly, Yuria! Look, I think I can drop this figure on the next try."
"Wait, for real? You’ve only spent four hundred yen! That’s incredible!"
I successfully steered the conversation back to the UFO catcher.
(There's no way in hell I can tell her my origin story...)
Because compared to Yuria’s, mine was far less wholesome.
(I can’t exactly tell her that it all started when I sat on the lap of a well-endowed, thick-thighed older relative when I was in kindergarten. That encounter gave me a lifelong craving for curves that eventually drove me toward the 2D world... I can't let a dangerous story like that slip.)
I had been a full-fledged little degenerate since the very beginning.
Clutching her Breast-Kyun goods and her new figure, Yuria looked genuinely happy as we reached the station platform.
"Today was seriously the best! Thanks, Ryouta."
"I-I’m just glad you enjoyed yourself."
It was my first actual date... but seeing how satisfied she looked, I figured I must have done okay.
"Just remember, don't you dare call me Yuria in front of Airi or Rui, okay?"
"First you tell me to call you that, now you're telling me not to... You're a lot of work."
"I mean, I don't personally mind, but I think it’ll be a disaster for you if they get the wrong idea."
"Back to Ichinose it is, then."
"Ahaha, figured as much."
Kuroki had already grilled me enough over the 'Ryouta Incident' with Miyama. If she caught me calling Ichinose by her first name, things would reach a breaking point.
"Preparation for the cultural festival starts next week, so it’s going to get busy, but you’d better hang out with me again, Ryouta."
Yuria gave me a soft, genuine smile.
She seemed so much more approachable now than when we first met. It felt like this date had finally broken down the walls between us.
"I... I look forward to it. Thank you."
"Gosh, you're way too stiff."
"I can't help it!"
And with that, the first date of my life came to an end.
We boarded the train together, but Yuria’s stop came before mine. We said our goodbyes as she stepped off.
Once she was gone and I was alone, I finally felt like I could breathe again.
"Phew... I was so nervous..."
But honestly, it had been fun.
With a heart full of fulfillment, I waited for the train to reach the next stop.
...Or so I thought.
As the doors opened at my station, I looked out onto the platform. There, sitting on a bench while reading a paperback, was a beautiful girl with long, elegant eyelashes.