Yuria and I continued on toward the high school together.
"By the way..."
"Hmm?"
"The amount of manga and light novels in your room, Ryouta... it was insane."
"I've been collecting them since I was in elementary school. It was bound to reach that number eventually."
"Elementary school... I see."
"Hmm?"
"N-now that I think about it, those Anumate bags... they seemed a lot like the blue bags held by the kid who first dragged me into the otaku rabbit hole."
Right, she was talking about the child who’d handed her that slightly lewd shonen magazine and started her down this path. She’d mentioned they had a blue bag, but there were surely plenty of other blue bags in the world. And besides...
"If it really was an Anumate bag, wouldn't you have realized that way sooner, Yuria?"
"W-well, because going with you was my first time ever actually stepping inside an Anumate. Even back when we bought the Milk-tan baby bottle, I had a feeling it might be the case, but..."
Right, her trip to Anumate with me had been her first time. I’d completely forgotten.
"Well, it wouldn't be strange for an elementary schooler who owned slightly lewd manga to visit Anumate, right? I'm sure the one they gave you was bought there too."
"I guess... you're right."
Yuria spoke with an unusually solemn expression. Since that person was the reason she’d become an otaku, her desire to meet them again must have been incredibly strong.
"M-more importantly, I was worried yesterday that you'd slip up and let it show," I said, changing the subject.
"Huh? As if! How many years do you think I've been a hidden otaku?"
She certainly had a lot of experience...
"Actually! If anything, Ryouta, you're the one who's... bad at hiding things."
"Hiding things?"
"...There was a mountain of nukige under your bed. Like, almost all of it was nukige."
Silence followed.
"When I sat in the gaming chair, I dropped my phone under the bed. I saw everything when I reached down to pick it up... so?"
I said nothing.
"Got anything to say for yourself?"
"...Just kill me now."
She gave me another gentle chop.
☆☆
And so, the two of us headed to school together.
It was bad enough that Rui knew, but to think Yuria had found out too... the sheer humiliation made me feel like I was facing a literal 'death by embarrassment.'
"Ryouta, are you still worrying about the eroge?"
"Of course I am! My fetish for the busty and thick has been exposed! There's no way you could understand how I feel right now!"
"What era is that meme even from...? Well, whatever. I use oppai mousepads normally too, so I didn't think anything of it. It's not something to be ashamed of, is it? I just thought, 'Oh, Ryouta really is an adolescent boy after all.'"
"You're not grossed out?"
"Like I said yesterday, I look at that kind of stuff pretty often too... so I can tolerate it."
Ah... right, that was true. Then did Yuria also play insanely lewd games in private, just without mentioning it?
"Anyway... more importantly, I've been feeling a lot of eyes on us for a while now."
"Eyes on us?"
At Yuria's prompt, I looked around.
As expected, as we drew closer to the high school, the gazes of everyone around us focused on the two of us. Well, just like with Miyama and Rui, there were boys throughout the school who had their sights set on Yuria. Gazes full of jealousy and envy were directed my way.
(Be as envious as you want, boys... but I've had to deal with my own fair share of hardships, too.)
I recalled my struggles up until now. There were the whispers of strange rumors when I went to the school cafeteria or Snoto with Miyama; Yuria glaring at me when I tried to walk home under an umbrella with Rui; having to play Snow White in a gender-swapped drama because of Rui's suggestion; Yuria finding my ero-goods because of Rui... Wait, there were way too many things caused by Rui.
"Ah! Good morning, you two."
When we arrived at the shoe lockers in the school entrance, Rui—who had just finished morning practice with the track and field club—was busy changing her shoes.
"Morning, Rui. Good work on practice."
"Yeah, thanks. Still... the Prince and the Princess walking to school together so harmoniously? You're certainly dedicated, Yuria."
"W-wha!? Hey, Rui, what are you talking about! I just happened to run into Ryouta and we came together!"
I was fairly certain she'd been waiting right in front of my house, but... oh well.
As Yuria flusteredly panicked, Rui suddenly leaned in close to my ear.
"If you flirt with Yuria too much, I—the Afternoon Prince—might get jealous."
Jealousy... she was saying things she didn't mean again. More than that, I couldn't help but worry about whether Rui was going to blackmail me over the ero-goods incident.
"Hey, Rui. What are you talking to Ryouta about?"
"Nothing at all. Come on, let's go, both of you."