"Huh? How could I like him. Seriously, could you stop joking?"
During the unforgettable summer of the 3rd year of my middle school, on a certain day after school ---
I heard a cute voice that I was familiar with.
"I see, that's a relief! I was so worried when I thought Aikawa might like that Otaku ~"
"Hey, could you stop that already?"
"Well, you often talk to Kashiwada, don't you?"
"No, it's just that, I thought it might be fun so I just happened to talk to him."
"Ah, so you were just playing around with him?"
"Of course! That's the only reason why I'd do that!"
Along with the conversation, the sound of merry laughter rang out from several girls.
I was on my way back to my classroom to get something I'd forgotten. However, I could do nothing but stand rooted to the spot after hearing the voices from inside.
The female student named Aikawa Kizuna in the classroom right now was someone I'd had a crush on until that moment.
Is the voice coming out of the classroom right now really the same kind voice that I've always been hearing? I couldn't help but doubt my ears then.
She's really kind. Why would a cute girl like her talk to a lame Otaku like me? I had always found that baffling.
But.
"There's no way I would like him."
"I just find it fun to play around with him."
The words I'm hearing now are her true feelings.
Those words of hers had always been echoing in my head.
"I mean, aren't those Otakus way too creepy?"
"Yeah, their conversations are somewhat overly heated, they're also noisy and goddamn annoying, and their creepiness is contaminating the entire classroom as well."
The other girls with Aikawa continued their insults. The word "they" in their conversation was obviously referring to us Otakus.
It's true that my friends and I would have our Otaku conversations in the classroom. But we didn't realize the people around us could hear us, and I would never have imagined that the others would find us creepy and annoying.
Right then, for the first time, I realized how the people around us view us Otakus.
And it was a such a shock to me that I couldn't move away from that place.
That very day, when I accidentally learned how the girl I liked thought of me, and how the other girls badmouthed me by calling Otakus creepy, was the worst day of my life.
After that, the rest of my middle school life went by dully.
As much as possible, in order to avoid being thought of as creepy, I tried to be conscious of the people around me, refrained from doing anything that would stand out, and spent the rest of my school life in that manner. Even when my Otaku friends were having their Otaku talks, being conscious of my surroundings, I stopped joining in.
The girl whom I used to like, Aikawa Kizuna, still talked to me, but after hearing her true feelings, even when she talked to me, I could no longer respond properly the way I had in the past.
Just like that, my precious middle school life came to an end with those most unpleasant memories.
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