After leaving the classroom, Otaku-kun headed down the stairs toward the shoe lockers.

Partway there, he heard Yua’s voice.

She was standing in a spot that happened to be hidden from view by the staircase where he was.

“Sorry, Riko.”

“I’m going shopping with Otaku-kun today, so you can head home without me.”

“Aww, man. Fine, whatever.”

Realizing Yua was talking with her friend, Otaku-kun instinctively hid himself.

It wasn’t because he had anything to hide.

He simply still wasn’t comfortable around gyaru other than Yua.

If he walked out now, Yua might introduce him to her gyaru friend.

The thought alone made him duck out of sight.

The girl with Yua was a petite girl named Riko.

She was incredibly small, barely reaching 140 centimeters in height, and her rough speech and casual manner gave her a somewhat intimidating air.

Whether she counted as a gyaru was debatable.

Still, since she was close friends with Yua, Otaku-kun concluded she probably was one.

“By the way, is this Otaku-kun the Otakura from your class?”

“That guy’s all timid and wimpy.”

“He’s like the definition of an otaku.”

“Isn’t he kind of creepy?”

Without meaning to, Otaku-kun found himself listening more closely.

‘Creepy, huh…’

‘Well, I am an otaku, so I guess that’s only natural.’

Maybe going with Yua really would just be a nuisance.

Perhaps he should send her a message saying something had come up and that he had to go home.

Just as that thought crossed his mind…

“Riko, don’t you think that’s kind of awful?”

“Huh?”

“Otaku-kun didn’t do anything wrong.”

“So isn’t it messed up to just call him an otaku or creepy like that?”

“Ah… I…”

Yua’s tone was unmistakably angry.

The girl called Riko looked completely caught off guard by her reaction.

She wasn’t the only one.

Otaku-kun was stunned as well.

Both of them had expected Yua to laugh and say, “I know, right? He’s creepy.”

He’d always known Narumi-san wasn’t a bad person.

He understood that logically.

Even so, he’d assumed that, from a gyaru’s perspective, that was exactly how someone like him would be seen.

That’s why seeing her genuinely get angry on his behalf filled him with shock…

…and a small sense of guilt.

She had never judged him simply because he was an otaku.

Yet he had judged her simply because she was a gyaru.

“…Sorry.”

“I’m heading home.”

After saying that, Riko took off running.

Unfortunately, she was running straight toward where Otaku-kun was hiding.

He hurriedly tried to conceal himself, but it was already too late.

Riko spotted him.

As she passed by, she shot him a sharp glare before continuing on her way.

Meanwhile, Yua walked off in the opposite direction.

Holding his breath, Otaku-kun waited until she was completely out of sight before finally making his way toward the school gate.

‘Wimpy… huh.’

He stopped in front of the large mirror mounted beside the staircase.

The reflection staring back at him wasn’t exactly disheveled, but his hair was completely unstyled, and his glasses, combined with his hunched posture, made him look every bit the stereotypical otaku.

He spent a moment fixing his hair in front of the mirror.

Then he straightened his back.

It was the best he could do to avoid looking so much like an otaku.

It was the least sincerity he could show…

…to the girl who had gotten angry for his sake.