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On Sunday morning, Seiji Went to work at the confectionery store for the first time in a long time.
He no longer needed money. He only worked for the sake of helping out the owner, Rika Amami.
After all, he had worked there for quite a while and still bore positive feelings for the place. Even if it was no longer necessary, Seiji felt that it would be fun to visit the store once in a while.
When Seiji explained his current financial situation and intentions to Rika, she smiled and said: “I’m happy to hear that you think that way. We’ll always welcome you, regardless of whether you’re an employee or a guest.”
Seiji began working just like normal.
Hoshi was here this morning as well. Their combination was the legend of the Divine Taste confectionery store: a bright and sunny handsome boy paired with the weak-seeming beautiful boy. Many female customers received a happy surprise when they saw the duo back in action again.
These customers all called their friends, and they came promptly. In a matter of minutes, the store was overflowing with customers.
And so, Seiji, who hadn’t worked for so long, finally experienced the difficulties of working during a rush hour again.
After he finished his work shift.
“Senpai, here’s some water.”
“Thank you.”
Seiji gulped down the entire cup of water that his junior handed him in one go and released a huge contented sigh.
“You’ve worked hard, Senpai,” Hoshi praised, all smiles.
“Yep, you worked hard as well.”
“I don’t feel like I have. Senpai came today, and it’s really nice working together with Senpai, since I feel like the time goes by so quickly.”
Seiji was rendered speechless. In a way, he felt that Hoshi Amami had already become strong… probably.
“It seems that you’re already completely used to the work here.”
“I suppose so. Now I’m at the point where I won’t get in everyone else’s way… but I still have a long way to go till I reach Senpai’s level.”
“No, I think you’re doing a fine job already. You’ve made so much progress since your first time on the job, so don’t belittle yourself.”
Hoshi’s smile grew even more dazzling as he received his idol’s praise.
“Oh, right,” Seiji said suddenly, “there’s something I want to show you.”
Seiji took out his cell phone and opened up a saved image of the picture that Mayuzumi drew to show Hoshi.
“What’s this?” Hoshi asked.
“Peach-sensei drew it and gave it to me as a present for accompanying her during the school festival. I told her that she didn’t need to give me anything, but this present was right up my alley, so I found it impossible to refuse her,” Seiji replied with a chuckle.
“It really is an excellent drawing,” Hoshi exclaimed.
Seiji handed his cell phone over to Hoshi so that Hoshi could have a closer look.
“As expected of Aunt Mayuzumi—she’s really talented at drawing.” Hoshi’s eyes shone as he examined the picture.
“I can send you a copy of the picture—would you like one?”
“Of course!”
“Tell me your email address, then.”
After he learned Hoshi’s email address, Seiji sent him a copy of Mayuzumi’s drawing.
“Thank you, Senpai. I shall print it out and treasure it,” Hoshi said happily as he confirmed that he had received the picture.
“…You aren’t intending to have it framed, are you?”
“I am!”
“That’s not necessary! Just treasure it normally, normally!”
“Eh, but this is a very precious picture…”
“It is precious, but framing it is a little too much! Don’t you feel embarrassed!?”
“Not at all; it would seem like a pity to not use an excellent frame for such a beautiful picture.”
“It won’t be pitiful at all!”
Seiji really wanted to cover his face as he imagined the scene of the picture with him in the center. He cringed at the thought of a drawing of him wearing an extravagant angel costume while making an immature pose being framed and hung on a wall somewhere.
In order to prevent such a scene from becoming reality, for once he decided to be strict and use his authority as Hoshi’s Senpai to absolutely forbid Hoshi from doing so!
Hoshi could only reluctantly cancel his plan.
“I heard from Chiaki that you officially joined the drama club—how is it?” Seiji changed the topic.
Hoshi smiled thinly. “It’s very nice, and the club’s atmosphere is even better than I thought. Wakaba-senpai and the others really take good care of me, and everyone is so close with each other.”
“Is that your honest opinion?” Seiji detected something abnormal.
Hoshi’s smile froze over slightly. “The drama club president… is rather unique, and the vice club president… is a little scary. Wakaba-senpai… and many other members seem to really enjoy seeing me wearing female clothing…”
‘I knew it!’ Seiji’s cheeks twitched.
“The club atmosphere is indeed nice, but… I think I may need some time to get used to it,” Hoshi said sighing.
‘It’s really difficult to get a job class change. Good luck, former literature club boy.’
…
Kaho Miyamoto was feeling slightly melancholy.
No, melancholy was the wrong word to describe it… she wanted to say that she felt some indescribable subtle sense that something must have gone wrong somewhere, as if something were troubling her.
She could still clearly recall everything that happened yesterday afternoon, but even so, today she was unable to believe that she made friends with one of the most popular and beautiful girls in class just like that.
But thinking it over more carefully, she was friends with Harano-san already, so it seemed only normal to become friends with the beautiful girls by his side as well?
No matter what, she already promised Uehara-san… no, Mika, to help her understand and enjoy otaku culture.
How should she go about doing this?
Kaho spent the entire afternoon pondering this question. In the end, she decided to have Mika watch various top-notch anime in each genre and have her write down the characters and storylines that she was most interested in.
The goal was for Mika to learn her own preferences, or what her sweet spot was.
Everybody enjoyed different things and found different things interesting or funny. It was common for two otakus to have different preferences or even opposite opinions.
Even two people that enjoyed watching the same anime might argue fiercely because of different ways they viewed a specific character, and there were obviously plenty of examples of people being in “factions” supporting various characters. People that didn’t understand might view this as rather strange, but this was quite common in otaku circles.
Mika needed to first recognize her own preferences before she could enter the otaku world.
“I understand—I’ll absolutely do my best, Kaho-sensei!” was the double pigtailed girl’s reply.
‘I already said to stop calling me Sensei!’ As Kaho recalled this memory, she wanted to retort just like how she did when she heard it.
Kaho felt an itchy feeling at how Mika was accepting her advice and taking it so seriously. She hoped that Mika would be able to find her own likes.
Just as Kaho was thinking this, her cell phone rang. When she looked at the caller ID, she saw that Mika was calling.
“Hey, Kaho, I already know what type of character I like now!” Mika’s voice was bright and peppy.
“Oh, what type is it?” Kaho asked.
“Many types… first, the open and gentle handsome boys.”
‘Princely handsome boy characters… isn’t this just Harano-san?’
“Also, tomboyish, friendly, and lively beautiful girls.”
‘A common female character type… isn’t this Wakaba-san?’
“Also, I like young girls that like to act spoiled.”
‘Loli characters… this is rather common.’
“Also boys that are really cute and look somewhat like girls.”
‘Trap characters… they aren’t so common in real life.’
“Also girls that are really cute but easily get embarrassed or maybe lack self-confidence.”
Kaho was rendered speechless by this point.
“Yes—” Mika showed no signs of ending her monologue “—I like all these types of characters. Whenever I see such a character in an anime, I think it’s more interesting.” Mika finished as if she were concluding a report.
‘Mika… she’s probably the type that unconsciously overlays the people she knows in real life on the anime characters.’ Kaho made such a judgement.
“Then what about storylines?” Kaho asked. “Do you know what type of stories you enjoy?”
“Stories… I think I really like the school romance type.”
‘Yep, just as I expected.’
“Now that you know what you like, I’ll recommend some manga in this category to you,” Kaho said. “I’ll give you a few to start with, and apart from that, you can find more of the same genre on the internet.”
“Yes, Kaho-sensei!”
“I said to not call me Sensei!”
This type of retort was becoming a habit for her.
Mika chuckled on the other end of the phone. “Hey, Kaho, what type do you like, then?” she asked Kaho the same question.