40 Honesty (1/2)

”Ah...” Mika suddenly recalled her harsh treatment of the previous Seiji.

That was right indeed—why had she forgotten the way that she used to treat and insult that fat otaku?

As the memories surged back into her mind, Mika became increasingly embarrassed.

Her face was scorching hot to the touch.

The way she used to angrily shout at Seiji was similar to how Seiji had lectured the twins a few minutes ago.

So similar...

Considering how she was exactly the same way before, she was unqualified to judge Seiji...

Mika covered her burning face with her hands as tears seeped out the corners of her eyes.

”I’m the worst... I’m terrible... I...”

She absolutely had to apologize to Seiji!

...

”What?”

When Mika suddenly apologized to Seiji out of the blue, Seiji had no idea what was going on.

He had no clue how he should respond to Mika as she seemed extremely embarrassed and depressed, but he noticed that Chiaki, who was standing behind her, was trying to conceal her laughter.

”Chiaki... you must have said something weird to Mika, right!?” Seiji instantly saw through her.

”Chiaki?” Mika looked behind her and abruptly noticed that her friend was now laughing openly.

”Hahaha, sorry... I didn’t think that you would think this much into it. Haha, you’re so cute, Mika!”

Chiaki couldn’t stop her laughter.

Mika was stunned for quite a while; even though she wasn’t sure what was going on, judging from her friend’s laughter, her mischievous friend must have played a prank on her again!

”Chiaki! I’m gonna get angry!”

”Sorry... but, haha, Mika, I’m guessing that you still don’t know what’s going on. Honestly...”

”Hmph... waah!” Mika puffed out her cheeks: ”Fine... I’m just an idiot!”

She whacked her good friend lightly with her fists as she said this.

‘What a party.’

Seiji calmly watched the two girls that were now playfighting with each other.

It took quite a while for them to calm down.

Chiaki gave Seiji a brief and simple explanation that easily helped him understand what happened. Her explanation almost rendered him speechless.

”I see, no wonder Mika was entrapped by you...”

He then looked over at Mika and inwardly remarked on her simple-mindedness. However, her naivety was also one of her cute points.

”But...” Mika wanted to say something.

”Besides, during lunch break,” Seiji interrupted her, ”I admit that perhaps my attitude went a bit overboard, but the words I said then were what I truly wanted to say. Even if I remained completely calm throughout, I would still say the same things to those twins. For me, that was my method of expressing my distaste towards those wicked twins, and perhaps the method wasn’t entirely correct, but I don’t regret anything. Objectively speaking, Mika, from your standpoint it seemed like I was saying something so ridiculous to two beautiful girls that I never even met before. You thought my words were overly harsh as they haven’t even done anything that merits such a severe lecture. For you to feel shaken and even doubtful is only natural.”

”I... I didn’t...” Mika was shocked and tried denying Seiji.

Seiji smiled as he looked at her.

”You’re a kind, simple girl, Mika. But... I’m not exactly who you think I am. I used to be a depraved otaku, and even though I’ve changed myself, I don’t believe that I’m a nice, kind person. The true me... is different from the me in your imagination. My apologies for disappointing you, but… this is the real me.”

Seiji opened his hands to display his sincerity to the pigtailed girl in front of him.

”I’m just an otaku. An otaku isn’t someone that’s good. An otaku isn’t someone that’s evil. An otaku just does what he wants to do, what he likes to do, and ignores others’ opinions. Lastly, every otaku in the world is different, so I can only represent myself. That’s all.”

Seiji retracted his hands and had a deep smile on his face.

Mika Uehara’s eyes seemed slightly unfocused.

Chiaki, who was also listening to all this, could only smile helplessly and shake her head.

”Mika, Seigo’s already been quite clear with you. You need to figure out the rest on your own. Maybe... it will be rather difficult for you, but you already know what you should know, and if you make an effort, you should be able to understand. I can’t... always be beside you, explaining things to you.”

After speaking, Chiaki patted Mika on the shoulder and left.

Then, it was time for afternoon classes.

...