She’s the Cutest… But We’re Just Friends! - Volume 1 - Chapter 4

Episode 004: A Student Otaku’s Work is Never Done! 

The next day, on the way to school. 
Every morning, one of the teachers stands before Asagi High School’s front gates. The rules here might be lenient, but someone has to round up the students who think that leniency extends to what they can wear or when they can arrive. 
And on that morning, the duty fell to a newly hired social studies teacher. Kai wasn’t too familiar with him given that he taught first-year classes, but he did know that he’d made quite the splash among the students. 
He was young at 29 years old, and—to be blunt—was quite handsome. He looked like the kind of slender-faced gentleman who came right out of a shoujo manga. Naturally, he was all the rage among the girls. Kai had spotted him surrounded by a squealing entourage plenty of times around the school. 
This morning was no different. The schoolgirls all told him, “Good morning, Prince!” or “Looking good, Royalteach!” as they lingered around the gates and crowded around him. And not just the first-years—plenty of older girls joined in as well. 
Incidentally, “Prince” wasn’t a nickname granted in deference to the appearance he was blessed with. His first name was written with the characters for “Ouji,” meaning “Prince.” Except it was pronounced as the English word “Prince.” Yes, really. Being a fellow bearer of a ridiculous name, Kai could sympathize. If anything, that particular brand of silliness must have been even rarer in his teacher’s generation. The level of shame Kai had suffered must be nothing compared to what he went through. Not that Kai particularly cared. 
As Kai crossed the gate, Mr. Royalteach looked up from the girls he was cheerfully chatting up to throw an amicable “Morning!” his way. Kai did his best to return the gesture with a cordial “Good morning” of his own. 
You’d think being such a hit with the girls would draw the ire of the boys, but that friendliness of his seemed to be the trick to ensure it never did. Despite his heartthrob appearance, he’d often jump at the chance to chat about the hit manga and video games of the moment without a hint of pretension. And Mr. Prince was dependable, to boot. If you had the slightest concern and needed someone to talk to, he’d give you his full attention. 
But he could still be an airhead at times—he apparently drifted from his curriculum fairly often to chitchat or tell stories about how hopelessly whipped he is by his wife. As a result, he was often the butt of ‘Wifezilla’ jokes among the first year boys, which probably made the dashing Mr. Royalteach a bit easier to warm up to. 
And those were just the rumors that made it to the ears of someone as out of the loop as Kai, which spoke to just how popular this teacher was. Asagi High had no shortage of unique teachers—perhaps due to being a private school—but this guy was already in a league of his own. 
Talking to a teacher about manga sounds like it’d be neat. 
Kai proceeded to the school building with a bit of disappointment that Mr. Royalteach couldn’t have been a second-year teacher instead.

When Kai reached the shoe lockers, he found Reina putting on her indoor slippers. Kai couldn’t help but remember that yesterday, when Momoko and the others had a field day with him in their group chat, Reina was one of the girls trying to put a stop to it. Surely a pleasantry or two wouldn’t hurt, right? 
“Morning, Fujisawa!” Kai said, greeting her with vigor. 
That got Reina’s attention. She slowly turned to face Kai. He saw that her morning makeup was applied perfectly—her lovely face was eye-catching, yet not so garish as to harm its dignity. The eyes under her bewitchingly sensual eyelashes met his...

“Tch.”

And for some reason, she immediately clicked her tongue. Loudly, at that. Her response was dripping with animosity. 
She only gave Kai a glance before leaving him behind. She looked at him as though he were a bag of rotting garbage. The ferocity was enough to give him a knot in his stomach. 
“Wh-Whoa. What was that for?” 
Kai scrambled to catch up to her. 
Was she faking it when she said a friend of Jun’s was a friend of hers? 
Unlike Momoko, Reina treated him with kindness all day yesterday. At least on the surface. And yet today, she was pulling a 180. Kai felt he had to know what had gotten into her. 
Well... he probably wouldn’t have worked up the courage to do so had it been anyone else. But this was Jun’s friend. He didn’t have to be buddies with her per se, but being enemies would risk getting Jun caught in the middle. When that risk came to mind, his legs moved into action on their own. 
“Did I... do something to offend you?” 
Kai caught up to Reina’s side and asked in a hushed voice. 
“...” 
But Reina stuck to her silent treatment. She wouldn’t even look at him. The woman who ruled from the top of the class’s food chain—if not the top of the entire school’s—wore a suit of frigid armor that rejected all advances. Kai could feel his courage shriveling up. 
But he didn’t give up. Jun’s friendship gave him strength. 
“C’mon, say something!” 
“...I’d prefer you simply take the hint, but I don’t want to speak to you again. Got it?” 
Reina clicked her tongue yet again. She kept her pace quick and her gaze forward-facing. 
Kai matched her speed as they walked down the hallway and explained, “It’s kinda rough to be ignored by someone without even being told why, you know.” 
“I’d rather not get on Jun’s bad side by insulting her boyfriend.” 
“Where’d that come from?!” 
“There’s a limit to what dimwittedness can excuse, and I’ll have you know that men who make women repeat themselves are far past it.” 
Reina wouldn’t give Kai so much as a foothold, but he still dug in and kept trying. Denying that he was Jun’s boyfriend was getting a bit repetitive though, so he let that one slide and asked, “I won’t tell Jun, so go ahead and be honest. What about me bothers you so much?” 
“You are one dense man!” 
Reina, clearly annoyed, stopped dead in her tracks. She finally faced him... and unleashed the fearsome aura of a yakuza’s woman as she glared at him with all the hostility she could muster. 
Kai wasn’t maintaining his composure against that. He flinched a little. Reina was so imposing that Kai felt he deserved a medal for not running for his life. 
She continued in a tone that sent shivers down his spine, “Very well, I’ll make myself perfectly clear. What were you thinking yesterday at karaoke?” 
“What was I... Did I do anything in particular?” 
“You’re not even conscious of it? You acted like you were bored out of your skull from start to finish! You must have been trying to infuriate me!” 
Kai was left stumbling for words at Reina’s criticism. He didn’t need to think it through to feel in his soul that she was right on the mark. 
Reina’s barrage of beratement continued. 
“Do you have any idea how hard everyone had to work to not let you completely ruin the mood?! You wouldn’t cooperate a bit! Even Momoko tried to be nice and sing a duet with you, but you turned her down.” 
“I can’t tell with her! How am I supposed to know she’s being nice when every word out of her mouth is an insult?” 
“...Fair enough. That one’s on Momoko.” 
Reina retracted her last point. No matter how much she may have despised Kai, she wouldn’t go so far as to twist the facts to express it. And Kai knew that this queen was a fair ruler; that’s what gave her words the weight that made them hard to shake off. 
“Couldn’t you have at least sucked it up for a song or two?” 
“...What do you want from me? I don’t know any popular songs.” 
“Then just sing the songs you like.” 
“Are you kidding? Letting me sing anime songs is what would’ve really killed your mood!” 
“Don’t make assumptions about me. I watched Precure as a kid.” 
“You expect a man to sing Precure?!?!?!?!” 
In front a bunch of fashionable girls he’d practically just met? That’s too tall of an order. 
“Well, I like Castle in the Sky and Totoro when they come on TV.” 
“Yeah, gotta hand it to Ghibli.” 
Kai sighed, half in exasperation.

See? I knew it. 
No matter what excuses they gave, a non-otaku could never understand the ways of the otaku. It wasn’t a bad thing; after all, Kai didn’t understand partier culture, and he had no desire to. That’s what let people stay out of each other’s way. There was nothing wrong with that, as there’s nothing more boorish than forcing each of your hobbies onto everyone you meet. That was Kai’s policy.

“Look, we live in different worlds. I knew it from the start. Your friends and I aren’t gonna have a fun time at karaoke together. I had a feeling it’d turn out this way, and believe me, I wasn’t surprised!” 
“You’ve got some nerve acting like you’re the victim here. Did you really look at Jun yesterday and think nothing of it? She is your girlfriend, isn’t she?” 
“Oh, I thought something all right! And it’s that she looked like she’d rather have been anywhere but there!” 
“And whose fault do you think that was?” 
“She was just trying to please you girls, wasn’t she?” 
Thinking it was now his turn to hit right on the mark, Kai went on the offensive. 
“Hah!” 
But Reina just sneered at him. Kai’s biting rhetoric bit nothing but air. 
“You really don’t get it. Jun was trying to please you.” 
“...What?” 
“She tried as hard as Momoko... no, even more. Jun stuck to singing backup so everyone else could have fun just in case your presence made anyone feel awkward. She’s normally the life of the party at karaoke. Did you really not know that?” 
...Yeah, I knew that. 
This second blow was enough to make his knees rattle. Jun was under that much stress, and yet Kai thought that he was the one bending over backwards to help her... 
“You really are pathetic!” 
Reina raised her voice, a first for her. 
“You did nothing but embarrass Jun. Do you have any clue how much shit everyone talked about you the moment you were gone?” 
“...Yeah, I do.” 
“But do you realize that insulting you equates to insulting Jun? Can you think it through that far?” 
“...” 
Kai hung his head in silence. He was humiliated. Anyone would after being told off like that. 
But Kai had no easy way to defend himself. All he could do was grit his teeth. 
“... So, what the heck should I have done?” 
What the heck should he have done to avoid embarrassing Jun? Was he supposed to have partied his head off to fit in with those extreme extroverts? He wasn’t gonna master that skill at the drop of a hat. That was asking too much. 
“Isn’t it obvious?” 
Reina gave a haughty “Hmph,” as though she were treating him like an idiot for not understanding something so simple. 
“You’re working from the wrong assumption. The way I see it, you never should have come to karaoke to begin with.” 
The third blow rocked Kai’s balance. 
“No matter what Momoko demanded, you could’ve just politely declined. You remember what happened at lunch, don’t you? Jun was trying to get you to turn her down. And I certainly didn’t invite you. Yet you had to show off and stick up for your girlfriend by saying you’d come. Which is fine in itself. Men like to show off; there’s nothing wrong with that. Even I was impressed, hoping against hope that you’d amount to something... but I clearly overestimated you.” 
Reina’s every word made Kai grit his teeth tighter. To a painful extent. 
“Do you get it now? If you want to go to Rome, then you do as the Romans do. If you can’t, then stay home. I think that’s a fine policy to follow. I’m not so boorish as to force each of my hobbies onto everyone I meet, and you knew we lived in different worlds to begin with, so we could have just stayed out of each other’s way. Or am I just being crazy here?” 
“You’re... not crazy...” 
Kai was completely defeated. He was mercilessly put in his place. Reina continued looking down on Kai as he sulked before giving one final warning. 
“A man like you doesn’t deserve Jun. I refuse to accept you. But I can accept that Jun has her own tastes, so I’ll keep my mouth shut and stay out of it. Like I told you, I’d rather not get on Jun’s bad side, so feel free to treat her the way you always have. Just don’t talk to me when you don’t have to, got it? Looking at your face is enough to make me sick.” 
That was enough to make Kai’s gaze shoot up. His body moved before his brain thought it through. There was something in there that he just couldn’t let slide. Something he couldn’t accept. 
But he didn’t know what it was. His mind went nowhere. So he just glared at Reina, hoping for a retort that never came. 
Reina was completely unfazed. She waited for a bit, but once it was clear that Kai had nothing to say in his defense, she didn’t hesitate to leave him behind for good. 
“Goodbye... Nakamura.” 
Those were some tough parting words to bear. And to think, he had spent so much time telling her not to call him “Ash.” Wasn’t “Nakamura” supposed to be the name he wanted to hear? 
 
Whether he accepted it or not, Kai’s classes continued. And with his mind still in a haze, the school day ended. 
He had his part-time job that day. Indulging in his otaku hobbies required a war chest, so he worked twice a week to fill it. The schedule of his shifts depended on the day; on school days like this, he’d work for five hours from five in the evening to ten at night. He even got a paid fifteen-minute break in the middle, so it was a pretty above-board gig. 
The place? Beaver Video Rental, store #4. It was a local, long-established chain that had expanded to eight stores around Sakata. Competing stores might have been forced into submission before the might of the Tsu**ya Empire, but Beaver kept up the fight through its unique brand of guerilla warfare. Yet despite their blow-for-blow battles, it found itself in an age where the fast-approaching tides of online streaming services threatened the rental industry as a whole. 
Beaver hung on for so long by having each store double down on a particular specialty. For store #4, that specialty was anime, tokusatsu, and the occasional movie that otaku would find interesting—typically live-action adaptations of manga or Marvel movies. They offered this content via a wide selection of Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs. 
That factor tipped the scales in Kai’s decision to work there; the employee discount was a lifesaver. Jun had fallen deep into the Netflix rabbit hole, but Kai was still a BD renter. Keeping track of which streaming service did or didn’t have a particular anime was a pain, but he felt like it’d be a waste to subscribe to them all, so he couldn’t bring himself to make the leap.

It was a typical weekday shift—not too busy, but not too dull. Kai spent two and a half hours ringing up customers. Kai had been working this job since he started high school, so it was second nature by now. A bit of a heavy heart wouldn’t be enough to get in the way of his work. 
Once his break came, he retreated to the break room in the back. Along with lockers and a water cooler, it had a table surrounded by four chairs, one of which Kai thrust his weary body upon. 
Once he settled in... 
“Good work, Nakamura.” 
A girl who had also entered the break room greeted him. She was a coworker who had a more charming appearance than the average person, as well as the somewhat obnoxious expression of someone who knew it.

Her name was Kotobuki Hotei. She was fifteen years old—a year younger than Kai—and had just started high school the other day. But unlike Kai, she went to a public high school in her neighborhood, so their relationship was just that of junior and senior coworkers. 
And she was a newbie, too; she’d only been on the team for two months. Kotobuki said she wanted to put off working until she started high school, but being done with her entrance exams left her with so much free time in middle school that she figured she might as well take the plunge then. Beaver usually only accepted applicants who were in high school or above, but they did hire third-year middle schoolers who were in that particular scenario. 
Since he was the closest to her age, Kai naturally ended up as Kotobuki’s mentor. He called her “Kotobuki.” He worried that using her first name might come off as being overly familiar, but the one time he tried her last name, she got mad and told him, “Hotei makes people think of Buddha, but that fatso’s image clearly doesn’t suit mine,” so he never did it again.

At the moment, Kotobuki was in front of the sink. 
“Shall I make you coffee?” 
Her tone was noticeably rigid and lacking in vigor, but still polite. 
“Oh no, I’m fine. Carry on.” 
Kai changed his tone to match hers in response. 
“Oh, it’s no trouble. I’m making some for myself anyhow.” 
“Is that so? In that case, don’t mind if I do.” 
“You simply could have agreed from the start.” 
“Indeed, I’ll mind my manners in the future.” 
Their back-and-forth might have seemed like a parody, but Kotobuki absolutely wasn’t playing around. That was how she spoke to everyone at work, employee and customer alike. She was undeniably obnoxious, but she also had the emotional stability of a wet paper bag. 
People who are a bad fit for the service industry tend to be spectacularly bad fits, and Kotobuki was no exception. When she first started, her shifts were one nervous breakdown after another. Kotobuki wasn’t used to polite speech, so she fell apart constantly. Kai wanted to help her get used to it, so he kept her conversations with her as polite as possible, even though she was younger and newer.

Which brings us to the present. Two months into her employment, Kotobuki was still talking to customers like a robot. As such, Kai continued keeping his speech polite. He’d started to enjoy their curious conversational style. 
Kotobuki placed two cups of instant coffee on the table and sat across from Kai. They began a chat that, as usual, would consume much of their allotted break time. 
“Did you complete your viewing of ACCA yet, Nakamura?” 
“Why, yes. I found it to be a splendid work of animation. I’ve already procured the manga it was adapted from.” 
“By all means, tell me your impressions in detail.” 
“I’d very much like to debate whether Lotta and Nino’s relationship shall grow into a romantic one. It’s quite the shame that I missed the chance to watch as it aired.” 
“Ah yes, I suppose you’re late to the party. Writing off that which you haven’t tried is a bad habit of yours,” said Kotobuki. 
“On the contrary, my palette is quite varied. But the world simply has too much anime I must watch, manga I must read, and games I must play.” 
“So, you have trouble remaining faithful.” 
“Heaven forbid. Unlike you, I’m not capable of viewing every anime out there,” said Kai. 
“Heaven forbid, neither am I. I merely watch the first episode of every show in a season and decide what to continue from there.” 
“Is that so? That’s quite the shock.” 
“I believe this warrants some respect, no?” 
Kotobuki looked triumphant. She may act arrogant and get on everyone’s nerves, but it was hard to hate her after seeing the many insecurities she attempted to hide.  

For example, take the coffee she just made. Kai took the cup to his lips and tasted its contents. It was nothing more than instant coffee, but it spread across his tongue more than he expected. 
“Did you put in more cream and sugar than usual?” 
Kai didn’t even ask Kotobuki to put any in, but it was just the amount he needed. 
“Well, you appear more tired than usual.” 
Kotobuki’s answer sounded nonchalant, but she was visibly so embarrassed that she couldn’t even make eye contact. She wasn’t great at admitting her feelings. 
“I see. You have my sincerest gratitude.” 
That’s why Kai made his feelings bare to an almost insulting extent. Kotobuki averted her gaze even further and started fidgeting. 
Kai knew how she worked. She was considerate despite her obnoxious demeanor because she was timid. She always kept an eye on the moods of everyone around her. Kai found her far too endearing to bring himself to hate her.

“Nakamura, you appear to be troubled today.” 
With her gaze still averted, Kotobuki changed the subject. She had tried to avoid bringing it up, but the flow of the conversation seemed to push her to take the risk. 
“If you’d like, I’d be willing to lend an ear.” 
“Would that be all right with you?” 
“I just told you that it’s no trouble, did I not?” 
“Wait, that’s what you were referring to? ...Well, sure. But it’s nothing major.” 
Kai reverted to a casual tone and explained what had happened without naming names. He didn’t expect a solution. At best, he thought that complaining to someone about it might get it off his mind. But to his surprise... 
“I can understand where that classmate who scolded you is coming from. However, I think I have an idea of where your own misgivings may be coming from.” 
Kotobuki looked Kai straight in the eyes as she made her encouraging declaration. 
“Oh my, is that so?” 
“Why yes, of course.” 
“Would you be so kind as to impart your wisdom?” 
“Consider it imparted.” 
Kotobuki was back to her obnoxious, but still loveable self. 
“This classmate must be mistaking you and that girl friend of yours for lovers. Yet you claim that the two of you are merely friends. Perhaps that difference in perception is the source of your discord?” 
“...Ah!” 
Suddenly, the pieces fell into place. Kotobuki continued with no regard to Kai’s astonishment. 
“With lovers, it’s common to judge whether a boyfriend is suitable or not. However, there’s no such requirement for friends.” 
That explained why Reina lost her temper and said that a man like him didn’t deserve Jun. Conversely, Kai couldn’t understand why he suddenly needed to listen to someone talk down to him about ‘approval’ when he just wanted to spend time with his best friend.

“This girlfriend-boyfriend stuff is all a pain in the neck...”

Kai let a gripe slip out. He said it almost unconsciously... which he took to mean that he might really feel that way deep down. 
She’s really making me think... 
Kai gave a deep sigh and closed his eyes. He was no exception to society’s expectations for him. He had the vague desire for a girlfriend. But when he thought about it, having a girlfriend seemed like it’d cause more problems than it’d solve. If you had to question whether you were suitable or deserving of someone over every little thing, you’d never reach the end of it. 
Let’s say Kai worked for Reina’s approval. He’d have to pay attention to his fashion in order to be worthy of Jun’s looks. He’d need to learn how to blend in among normies on top of getting more real-world hobbies to avoid embarrassing Jun. Maybe he’d be better off hiding his otaku hobbies entirely. 
C’mon, that’s just crazy talk! 
But if they were just friends? They could hang out every day, play games, and talk about whatever. They wouldn’t need anything other than having fun. That was enough for Kai. He wouldn’t have it any other way. 
Jun isn’t my girlfriend; she’s just a friend. And I’m fine with that. No, I’m happy with that. 
Was Kai alone in thinking that the unreserved relationship they had now was far better than a romantic one? Or was he just being a sour grape over what he didn’t have?

It really made Kai see things in a new light. He let out another sigh, opened his eyes, and gave his thanks to the coworker sitting on the other end of the table. 
“I feel a lot better now that I’ve got my head sorted out. And I have you to thank for it.” 
“Perhaps you’d consider repaying this kindness?” 
“I’ll think of something later.” 
“I eagerly await it.” 
“But yeah, it figures you’d know what to do.” 
“Know what now?” 
“Well, you understand how women think.” 
“But of course. Who do you think I am?” 
Kotobuki beamed with pride. Obnoxious as she was, Kai still couldn’t hate her. He just had to chuckle and admit she gave him the help he needed. 
“Incidentally,” Kotobuki interjected, “I have some concerns over our own differences in perception.” 
“If I could be so bold as to inquire.” 
“Could Lotta’s love interest not be Rail instead of Nino?” 
She was continuing the discussion about the anime they started with. Her tone was dead serious, almost daring him to defend. Kai answered in kind. 
“You must be joking. Surely, Lotta deserves better than some lowly grunt.” 
“Quite the harsh judgment, considering that sounds awfully close to what that fearsome classmate told you before.” 
“I believe it was you who said that lovers need to judge who is suitable or not. In that sense, I’m in no position to disagree with her.” 
“I see. But is Rail not a dependable young man who saved Lotta from danger?” 
“I suggest you don’t forget that the one who really saved Lotta was the chief.” 
“Still, I believe Nino’s age is a bit far removed from hers...” 
“Lotta’s a strong-willed girl who harbors a dangerous secret. Nobody besides Nino could hope to handle her. And when you consider the themes of the story...” 
“However, I must say—” 
“Oh no, let me make clear—” 
They flared up furiously over their anime debate. Kai could always count on Kotobuki for a serious discussion, even when he missed the original airing and everyone else moved on to newer shows. It was so much fun that Kai could hardly help himself. A fifteen-minute break was just too short for them to talk everything through.