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 6: Encounter with Yui Amane — The Truth Revealed at Last??

That “Amane-san”… is actually Yui Amane…!?

I look toward Yui Amane, who is sitting on the waiting bench in front of the café, from under the street tree nearby.

“W-Wait, are you seriously saying that?”

I’m so confused that I break out in weird sweat even before meeting her.

Well, that’s only natural, right?

Yui Amane is the number one winner of our university’s Miss Contest — in other words, she’s officially recognized as the top among the mountain of girls at Southeast University.
There are several victory posters of her plastered all over the bulletin boards. She’s insanely popular.

And now the fact that such a Yui Amane was looking for friends on a matching app — and the fact that she ended up matching with a loner like me — has become clear.

Oh, and also the fact that Yui Amane is a light novel otaku.

“Uh… so what the heck should I do now?”

I panic and fidget in the shadow of the street tree.

To any bystander, I definitely just look like a suspicious person.

C-Calm down, me.

Even though it’s a matching app, the reason we connected was to become ‘friends’.

It’s not like I’m meeting Yui Amane to become lovers or anything, so I should just act confident as a fellow light novel friend. That’s all.

“Right!!”

“Eek! You scared me!”

“Huh?”

While I was hyping myself up alone, suddenly right in front of me stood a girl wearing a beige coat over a white sweater and a soft pink flare skirt… wait!!

“Uwooooh!”

I stumble backward toward the tree behind me and slam the back of my head hard against it.

“A-Are you okay? Um, sorry for startling you!”

“Ah, no, I’m fine…”

I say while rubbing the back of my head.

At some point Yui Amane had moved from the bench over to this spot.

Of course anyone would react like this if Yui Amane suddenly appeared right in front of them without warning.

But… seeing her this close up, her figure looks even more amazing.

Compared to the posters, her breasts seem ridiculously bigger, her face is outrageously cute, and her perfume smells insanely good!?

My vocabulary drops to the same level as a creepy otaku at an idol handshake event.

“Um, sorry if I got this wrong, but… are you Kayama-san?”

“Y-Yes. I’m Kayama.”

“Phew, thank goodness. I was worried that if you were a total stranger and I suddenly talked to you and made you hit your head, I might get arrested.”

“Well, in that case I think there would definitely be room for leniency.”

“Ooh〜, nice comeback!”

What exactly was nice about that comeback…?

The strangely close distance in our conversation really drives home that this person is a sunny extrovert — and that she really is Yui Amane.

“Anyway, more importantly — nice to meet you, Kayama-san? I’m Amane. Looking forward to today!”

“K-Kayama… Thank you for inviting me today.”

“No no〜 So, shall we go inside the café and chat right away? The sandwich in the coffee lunch set here is really delicious, you know?”

Oh no. The conversation started without her realizing that I know she’s Yui Amane.

We go to the same Southeast University, and with that many posters around, there’s no way I wouldn’t know…!!

“Um, do you come to this café a lot, Amane-san?”

“Yeah, I do. Actually, my university is Southeast University right nearby, so at lunchtime I somehow end up coming here instead of the school cafeteria.”

“I-I see…”

Yeah, that makes sense…

If Yui Amane were in the cafeteria, the whole place would be buzzing. It probably wouldn’t feel comfortable for her either.

Should I just come out and say that I know she’s Yui Amane?

Or should I keep pretending I don’t know…?

“Oh right! I completely forgot to ask — which university do you go to, Kayama-san?”

“Uh… umm…”

What… what should I do!?

—

Chapter 7: Shocking Confession and a Naughty Relationship ♡

“Which university do you go to?”

“Uh, that’s, umm…”

Before we entered the café, Amane-san asked me which university I attended, and I ended up stumbling over my words.

Oh crap, crap, crap…

Is it really okay to tell her the truth?

Since I’m a student at Southeast University, it wouldn’t be strange at all for me to know about Amane-san… no, about Miss Contest first-place winner Yui Amane.

In fact, I already do know her.

From Amane-san’s point of view, does she not really mind even if people find out she’s Yui Amane?

Considering the super spicy title of her favorite light novel, she probably wants to keep it secret. Plus, she herself said she’s a closet otaku, didn’t she?

The more I think about it, the more I have no idea what I should do.

I know I need to answer quickly, but I keep overthinking.

Still… there’s a chance Amane-san and I could become long-term light novel buddies, right?

If we become that kind of friends, then sooner or later the day will definitely come when I have to tell her who I am.

Even if I tell a temporary lie right now thinking it’s for Amane-san’s sake, keeping up a friendship based on constant hiding and deception forever… that’s not the kind of friend relationship I want.

If it means I have to keep lying, I’d rather not become friends at all.

That’s why there’s only one thing I should do.

“Actually—I go to Southeast University right nearby, and—”

“…Huh?”

“I’m sorry, Amane-san. To be honest, the moment I arrived here, I already realized that you’re that Yui Amane.”

I bowed deeply and apologized, deciding to tell her everything truthfully.

If being honest about this means “we can’t be friends,” then that’s the end of it with Amane-san, and honestly, that would probably be better for both of us.

“…I see.”

Amane-san murmured softly while looking down, then sat back down on the waiting bench in front of the café where she had been sitting earlier.

She kept her head down and pulled out her smartphone.

Did I really shock her that much?

If she doesn’t want this, maybe she’ll say we should just part ways here for today…?

“Um, Amane-san?”

“Sorry, can you be quiet for a bit?”

Q-quiet? What does that mean?

With an eerily blank expression, Amane-san stared down at the phone in her hands and started typing something.

“Uh… Amane-san, what are you—”

“Yeah! Right now I’m writing my suicide note email! Dear Mom and Dad, your daughter somehow managed to win Miss Contest and made you proud, but the truth is she grew up to be a girl who loves super perverted light novels. Since I can never get married now, please disown me—”

“W-Wait! Hold on!? What are you suddenly doing!?”

I couldn’t help letting out a huge shout.

Sitting on the bench, Amane-san was seriously typing that into her phone.

Does this person actually have surprisingly fragile mental strength?

“Come back to reality! Just because your otaku side got exposed doesn’t mean you have to do something like this!”

“Ah… my university life is over… I never imagined the person I matched with would be someone from the same university. If word gets out around campus, I’ll end up with the nickname ‘lewd, super-pervy Miss Contest queen’…”

“I’m not going to spread it around! Why are you assuming I would!?”

Amane-san slumped on the bench, looking as defeated as a boxer who just got knocked out.

It seems she thinks I’m the type of guy who would gossip about her to everyone.

Well, we only just met, so I guess it’s understandable… but still.

“First of all, you’re the one who brought up liking erotic light novels during our chat, right?”

“But I never thought the person I matched with would be from the same university out of all the hundreds in Tokyo! Even if we were from the same school, I figured there was no way anyone would connect it to me being Yui Amane!”

“No, people will definitely figure it out! Your posters are plastered all over the bulletin boards—don’t you realize how famous you are!?”

With her beautiful face on the verge of tears, Amane-san gave a small nod.

Wait, you seriously didn’t realize!?

Since she won Miss Contest, I had assumed she would be more confident and self-assured, but apparently not?

“A-anyway, I’m really, really not going to tell anyone about you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Even if the person I matched with—who shares my hobby—is actually that Yui Amane, to me you’re just a fellow light novel fan I can talk about books with. The Miss Contest win doesn’t matter. You’re simply a friend.”

“Friend…”

“So please, become my friend, Amane-san.”

It almost sounded like a confession.

I tried to cool my burning face with the warm spring breeze.

But there was no reply from Amane-san for a while.

Guess it’s no good after all…

“…Hey, what’s your first name?”

“My first name? Oh, it’s Akito. Akito Kayama.”

“I see… then, Akito-kun.”

Amane-san stood up from the bench and looked straight into my eyes.

“Sorry I lost it earlier, Akito-kun. We’re supposed to be light novel friends, after all.”

Wait… does that mean…?