I Was a Loner Who Tried Finding an Otaku Friend on a Matching App and Ended Up Matching with the Number-One Beauty Who Won the University Miss Contest

Chapter 19: The Sweet Mask and Teasing Hints from the Miss Con Winner

“Alright then, Amane-san, see ya later.”

“Yeah, Akito-kun. See you at uni, okay?”

“Whoa whoa! Uni is a no-go, remember?!”

“Ahaha, chill, it’s just a joke, just a joke!”

Man, the thing with Yui Amane’s jokes is… they always feel like they could actually happen for real.

I mean, she literally applied to my part-time job just to create an excuse to talk to me.

She’s like the living embodiment of “go get it” energy… or something like that.

“Anyway, see ya?”

Yui flashed a big grin, then bounced off with light steps and disappeared into the night streets.

And right after she left, this huge wave of exhaustion just slammed into me.

Getting messed with nonstop by her is way more tiring than dealing with some random new coworker. What even is that about?

I let out a massive sigh and dragged myself back to my apartment.

☆☆

—The next day.

I got up at my usual time, did my usual morning routine, and headed to uni.

My lectures don’t start till the afternoon today, but I still come early on purpose just to grab the super cheap lunch special at the cafeteria.

No matter how many part-time jobs I juggle, wasting money is still the enemy.

My family’s back in some super rural part of Shikoku and we’re not exactly loaded. They actually opposed me going to a Tokyo university at first, but I managed to come here thanks to scholarships. Money from home barely trickles in once in a while for anything besides rent, so I pretty much cover my living expenses with whatever I earn from jobs here.

That’s exactly why, if there’s a decent-sized cheap lunch at the cafeteria, I’m going for it. No question.

In this crazy high-price era, for a college kid my age who wants quantity over everything else, the uni cafeteria is literally god-tier.

Sure it’s not the healthiest, but skipping breakfast and combining it with lunch saves cash too.

“Alright… what should I get today…”

I was scanning the cafeteria menu, trying to decide, when—

“Hm?”

Someone suddenly tapped my shoulder from behind. Tap tap.

There’s only one person who ever taps my shoulder like that.

No way… is it her again?

“Uh, look, at uni we really shouldn’t—”

I turned around kinda exasperated, and the second I saw who it was, I legit doubted my own eyes.

“…Huh?”

A woman stood there wearing a pure white cap pulled way down, big sunglasses, and a floral scarf covering her mouth.

She had on a stylish long skirt, a pure white sweater, and a denim jacket thrown over it… wait, that outfit. And that glossy black hair.

Haah… I actually felt embarrassed for even thinking for one second that I didn’t recognize her.

“Um, so what exactly are you doing here today, Amane-san?”

“Shhh! Don’t say my name out loud, Akito-kun! Someone might figure it out!”

Yeah, the person who’d tapped my shoulder was Yui Amane, face mostly hidden behind random accessories.

She clearly thinks she’s in disguise, but between her height, that gorgeous black hair, and… uh, that very noticeable chest, it’s painfully obvious who she is.

“So what’s up today? You bored again and came to tease me?”

“Nooo, stop! Don’t talk about me like I’m some creepy senior who gets off on making suggestive comments to her cute underclassman boy!”

“You literally just described it perfectly yourself! And you’re doing it right now!”

Looks like Yui Amane has officially turned into the type of troublesome senior who straight-up enjoys messing with me. And she knows it too.

“So anyway… what did the master of teasing come all the way here for?”

I steered the conversation back and asked her.

“What else? I finished volume 1 of Opasui, so I came to return it to you, Akito-kun〜”

Oh. That’s actually pretty normal.

“And I wanna read the next one too!”

“Yeah yeah… wait, the next one?”

So… volume 2?

“Akito-kun, what time are your lectures today?”

“Just one after 3 p.m. or so.”

“And how long does it take to walk from uni to your apartment?”

“About ten minutes on foot… why?”

The second she heard that, Yui’s eyes lit up like a cat that just spotted its favorite treat.

Ugh, I’m getting a really bad feeling already…

“Yay! Perfect! In that case, let’s head to your apartment right now, Akito-kun. You lend me volume 2, and in return this big-sis Yui will cook you a homemade lunch! ♡ You save money on cafeteria food, I get to borrow the book—win-win, right?”

“Wait—how does your brain even jump to that?!?!”

And just like that, Yui Amane threw another one of her completely out-of-nowhere proposals right at me.

—

Chapter 20: The Miss Con Queen Is Coming to My Room!?

So, I got spotted by Amane-san at the university cafeteria while she was (supposedly?) in disguise, and for some reason now she’s coming over to my room to cook lunch for me… wait, hold up!

“Why’s it turning out like this?!”

“Whoa, what’s with the sudden yelling?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s with’—you can’t just suddenly say you’re coming to my room like that!”

“Really? I mean, I have friends over for pajama parties all the time, y’know.”

P-pajama party?

Isn’t that the thing the heroines are always doing in yuri light novels?

I guess it makes sense since Amane-san went to an all-girls high school—she could totally be into that yuri-light-novel kinda stuff.

But… wait… what if it’s a pajama party (with implications)?

N-no way! She said before she doesn’t have any guy friends, and there’s no way Amane-san would—

“Akito-kun? You suddenly went quiet—what’s up?”

“Uh, no, it’s just… those pajama parties… there aren’t any guys there, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, obviously.”

Phew… I feel so gross for even feeling relieved about that.

Whether Amane-san has guys around or not doesn’t matter anyway—I’m just her light-novel buddy. There’s zero chance of anything happening.

Seriously, why do I always get so hung up on whether there’s some guy in the picture whenever I’m near her?

This is such classic annoying-virgin-guy thinking… I’m actually disgusted with myself.

“Ah!”

Amane-san suddenly clapped her hands like she just figured something out.

“Jeez ♡ Akito-kun, you were thinking something pervy about me again, weren’t you~?”

“Huh!? N-no! I wasn’t thinking that you might be having a pajama party (with implications) with some guy or anything like that!”

“Wow, you just straight-up said the whole thing. Classic Akito-kun.”

I accidentally blurted everything out in a panic and instantly slapped my hand over my mouth.

Ugh! What the hell am I even saying!!

“Look, Akito-kun, just so you know—once you’re in university, basically the only reason people let someone of the opposite sex into their room is for something naughty, okay!”

“What kind of biased take is that!? Also, that’s kinda hard to believe coming from the person who’s literally about to go to a guy’s room right now.”

“Oh… true… But Akito-kun isn’t really ‘the opposite sex’ to me—you’re more like a comrade underclassman! Right!”

What kind of logic is that… But yeah, I get it.

Of course Amane-san doesn’t see me as a guy in that way.

“Well… if that’s how it is, then sure, you can come over to my room, I guess.”

“Really? Yay!”

Amane-san pulled the scarf off her face while grinning happily.

Uh, what happened to the whole disguise thing!

And just like that, Amane-san ended up coming over to my room.

“Okay, let’s head to the supermarket first to grab ingredients for cooking.”

“Uhhh…”

“Don’t act all lazy about it!”