“Now then… what should I do?”

As soon as Otaku-kun got home, he tossed his school bag onto the bed and lined up the press-on nails on his desk.

He could recreate the design from the picture Yua had shown him.

The problem was whether it was okay to paint them using the same paints he used for plastic models.

“I’ll strip the old polish off these first.”

The sound of keyboard clicks echoed through the room as Otaku-kun searched online for how to remove nail polish.

Most of the results recommended using nail polish remover.

“Nail polish remover costs five hundred yen…”

Five hundred yen wasn’t exactly cheap for a high school student.

For just a little more, he could buy a light novel or a manga volume.

Since Otaku-kun didn’t even have a part-time job, five hundred yen was precious.

Spending that much just to remove nail polish made the decision even harder.

“Wait… thinner works too? I’ve already got some!”

After staring at his computer and agonizing over it for nearly thirty minutes, he finally found an alternative.

He immediately soaked a tissue with plastic model thinner and carefully wiped each press-on nail one by one.

Since the polish had been applied in several thick layers, it took longer than expected, but he eventually managed to remove it completely.

“Now then… what should I do?”

After placing the cleaned nails into the dish dryer he used to dry painted plastic models, he returned to his desk and folded his arms.

If he painted them with plastic model paint, the finish wouldn’t peel off easily.

‘I wonder… how would Narumi-san feel if she knew that?’

“I should ask her first.”

[About the press-on nails, once I paint them, the finish won’t come off anymore. Is that okay?]

“That sounds way too stiff.”

“We’re classmates, so maybe I should be a little friendlier.”

[About the press-on nails, once I paint them, the finish won’t come off anymore. Is that okay with you?]

“No… now I sound way too familiar.”

“She might think, ‘Don’t act like we’re friends.'”

An entire hour passed as he tried to send Yua a message.

Otaku-kun still hadn’t managed to send even a single one.

The reason was simple.

He didn’t have many friends.

More importantly…

He had no female friends at all.

If he were talking to his fellow otaku friends, he could chat casually without thinking twice.

But when it came to girls, he had no idea how he was supposed to talk to them.

So he continued staring at his phone, typing messages only to erase them over and over again.

Just as he was writing yet another draft…

– Otaku-kun, are you awake~?

“Whoa!”

A strange sound escaped his mouth.

A message had suddenly arrived from Yua.

“What do I do…?”

“She can already see I’ve read it.”

– You read it so fast!

“Ah… ah…”

Otaku-kun panicked.

Of course, Yua couldn’t see what was happening on his side of the screen.

Just like she had during the day, she continued firing off messages one after another.

Every time a new message popped up, all he could do was mutter, “Ah… ah…” like one of those shadowy spirits from a certain famous spirited-away movie.

– Yes.

– I’m awake.

That single sentence was all he could manage to send back.

– So you were awake!

– What are you doing now?

– I just got out of the bath!

Another barrage of messages arrived.

One of them included a photo.

“Huh?”

It was a picture of Yua wearing pajamas, winking at the camera with her collar hanging slightly open.

She hadn’t meant it to be seductive.

She had simply thought she’d taken a cute picture.

For Otaku-kun, however…

It was a little too stimulating.

– About the press-on nails, once I paint them, the finish won’t come off anymore. Is that okay?

If he took too long to reply, she might think he was having dirty thoughts while looking at her picture.

If he mentioned the picture itself, she might think he was some kind of pervert.

In less than a second, Otaku-kun’s brain raced through every possibility before deciding to steer the conversation toward something she actually cared about.

– They won’t peel off anymore!?

– That sounds amazing!

“Ah… so she’s okay with it.”

What Otaku-kun didn’t know was that cheap nail polish chipped easily and peeled off over time.

Yua wasn’t using particularly cheap polish.

In fact, she bought fairly decent products for a high school student.

Even so, they were still nowhere near the quality of expensive professional products.

– Then I’ll get started on them.

– Thank you!

– About how long do you think it’ll take?

“How long, huh…”

Since he had the dish dryer, the drying time wouldn’t be much of an issue.

He estimated how long the actual painting would take if he started right away.

– They’ll be finished by tomorrow.

– Seriously!?

– Otaku-kun, you’re way too amazing!

Overwhelmed with excitement, Yua began bombarding him with sticker after sticker.

At this point, it was nothing short of message spam.

– I’m going to start working on them now, so my replies will be slow.

Deciding he wouldn’t get any work done otherwise, Otaku-kun sent the message and then turned off his phone.

“If I stay focused, I should finish before midnight.”

It was ten o’clock at night.

Normally, Otaku-kun could have finished a project like this in under two hours if he concentrated.

In reality…

He didn’t finish until just before three in the morning.

Why had it taken nearly twice as long?

Because even after turning off his phone, he couldn’t stop wondering whether Yua had sent him more messages.

He was an otaku.

But he was also a teenage boy who wanted to talk to girls.