“Hey, hey, Otaku-kun.”

Narumi Yua, a blonde gyaru who could be found in any high school, was a first-year student.

The only reason she spoke to her classmate, Otakura Koichi, was on a whim.

She didn’t have any friends to chat with after school that day, so she simply called out to Otakura, who happened to be sitting nearby, to pass the time.

“Huh? By Otaku-kun… do you mean me?”

“Yeah, of course. Why?”

Otakura didn’t know how to respond.

He really was an otaku.

However, he’d been mocked for it back in middle school, so after entering high school, he’d done everything he could to keep his hobbies hidden.

And yet, out of nowhere, a gyaru classmate had started calling him Otaku-kun.

‘Being called an otaku is harsh… but somehow, being called Otaku-kun actually makes me kind of happy.’

A tiny smile crept onto his face.

He was an otaku whose brain had been thoroughly poisoned by internet culture.

“My last name is Otakura, but I’m not an otaku.”

“But Otaku-kun, you’re always drawing girls during class, aren’t you?”

“W-What!?”

Otakura—otherwise known as Otaku-kun—had never realized something.

He’d made sure people sitting beside him or directly behind him couldn’t see his drawings.

Unfortunately, they were perfectly visible from the seat diagonally behind him.

Luckily, his seat was the second from the back by the window.

As far as he knew, Yua was the only one who had noticed.

…Probably.

“S-So… what did you need from me?”

He probably thought he was changing the subject naturally.

To everyone else, however, it was painfully obvious.

“So, check out these nails.”

Without paying the slightest attention to his panic, Yua held out her hand.

To her, the fact that Otaku-kun drew pictures was completely irrelevant.

Whether he had otaku hobbies or not didn’t matter at all.

That was simply how she saw it.

After suddenly having a set of nails shoved in front of him, followed by the words, “Aren’t they crazy?”, Otaku-kun was left speechless.

He desperately resisted the urge to point out that calling someone “Otaku-kun” was the truly crazy part.

“Um… what kind of crazy?”

“I tried painting them myself. So, what do you think?”

Otaku-kun looked closely at Yua’s nails.

The patterns covering them couldn’t simply be brushed off as “colorful.”

They looked like someone had mixed every paint color together during an art class just for fun, creating a chaotic mess.

They were crazy…

…in the worst possible way.

“They’re… pretty unique.”

“Ah… I knew it.”

Yua, who had been talking nonstop with endless energy until now, immediately understood after seeing his troubled expression.

They were bad.

Very bad.

“Actually, I was trying to copy this.”

Her enthusiasm had dropped, but her machine-gun-speed chatter showed no signs of stopping.

As she rattled off words he barely understood, she skillfully operated her phone before holding the screen in front of him.

“I wanted them to look like this, but I just can’t get it right.”

“Hmm.”

The nails displayed on the screen were so incredible that even Otaku-kun instantly recognized just how “crazy” they were.

Stars sparkled across a beautiful night sky.

The flowing streaks of pale blue were probably meant to represent the Milky Way.

Every time the angle changed, the stars shimmered brilliantly.

Compared to that…

Yua’s nails looked more like something bubbling inside a witch’s cauldron.

They weren’t even remotely alike.

“Yeah… these really are amazing.”

Even someone like Otaku-kun, who had no particular interest in nail art, couldn’t help staring.

“Right!? They’re amazing, aren’t they!?”

Only moments ago she’d been discouraged.

Now that he’d praised the design, Yua proudly boasted about it as though she’d created it herself.

“Oh, right!”

“Otaku-kun, you’re good with detailed work, aren’t you?”

“Make these for me!”

“W-Wait… just because I can draw doesn’t mean I can do something like…”

Otaku-kun glanced back at the phone screen.

‘Is this a video showing how they’re made?’

‘It actually looks a lot like painting plastic models.’

“Ah… yeah, I guess it’s impossible.”

“Sorry for asking something so unreasonable.”

“I can do it.”

“Huh?”

“I think… I can make these.”

The nail art was certainly beautiful.

It was craftsmanship worthy of a professional.

But for Otaku-kun, who regularly painted plastic models, making something similar wasn’t especially difficult.

“Seriously!? Otaku-kun, you’re amazing!”

“I-I am?”

“Please, Otaku-kun!”

“Make me one just like this!”

Yua pressed her palms together in front of her face in a pleading gesture.

As she did, the opening of her uniform shifted slightly, giving him a brief glimpse of her black bra.

‘I-I didn’t see anything!’

While desperately lying to himself, Otaku-kun couldn’t stop sneaking glances.

From anyone else’s perspective, though, he was outright staring.

If there had been any other students left in the classroom, it would have been painfully obvious.

“I don’t mind.”

“But only if you promise you won’t tell anyone that I draw.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah! I promise!”

“Thank you so much, Otaku-kun!”

Overjoyed, Yua grabbed both of his hands, clasping them together like lovers would.

She smiled brightly with a cheerful, “Hehe.”

After expressing her excitement, she suddenly began removing her nails with a series of sharp cracking sounds.

“W-Wait! What are you doing!?”

“Hm?”

“I’m just taking off my fake nails.”

The nails she was removing were press-on nails.

It wasn’t as though she’d suddenly started doing something horrifying.

“So… you just want me to recreate the design from that picture on these fake nails, right?”

“Exactly!”

“Oh, right.”

“I’ll send you the picture so you don’t forget the design.”

“Register for the messaging app.”

“I haven’t really used it before, but… is this how you do it?”

“Perfect!”

“I’ll send you the pictures later, so I’m counting on you!”

“Yua!”

“What are you doing?”

“Come on, let’s go home already!”

“Yep, I’m coming!”

“See you later, Otaku-kun!”

“Yeah.”

“Bye.”

Called away by her friend, Yua hurried out of the classroom with her usual boundless energy.

Otaku-kun quietly watched her leave.

“I don’t have club activities today anyway.”

“I guess I’ll head home and start making them.”

He muttered to himself with an exasperated sigh.

But the truth was, he hadn’t held hands with a girl—or even talked to one this comfortably—since elementary school.

Right now…

His heart was pounding like crazy.