Chapter 5

I want to change.

While everybody is off enjoying their school life, I felt like I was just watching from the sidelines. The 2D world is great and all, but I’m growing up. I have to differentiate the line between fantasy and reality and live in the real world.

“Does that mean you’ll stop watching anime, reading manga, and playing galge?” Yoshio asked, before taking a sip of his fruit shake.

“BA~ KA… Do you really think it would be that easy?” Kenzo retorted.

Kenzo, Shou, Makoto, Eita, Yoshio, and I gathered in a family restaurant after leaving the anime convention. At first, Yoshio was reluctant about entering the place, as we were still in our costumes. That was the same person who’s now nonchalantly drinking his fruit shake, in his full “Hero of Wind” attire. The rest of us removed most of our costumes before taking our seats, as our cosplay costumes were hard to move in.

“No no! I will just try to be less enthusiastic about them,” I replied, waving both hands to shake off the thought.

“That, coming from the person who looks most Otaku-like in the group,” Shou chuckled. “You’ll have to change your whole appearance if you really want to make a difference,” he continued, pointing his parfait spoon at me.

“Yeah! First, you’ll have to take off those eyeglasses!” Eita suggested.

“Maybe also change your hairstyle,” Makoto chimed in.

“You also have to build yourself up,” Kenzo added, poking my chest.

“You do know how gay this conversation sounds, right?” Yoshio interrupted, before taking another sip from his drink.

Everyone else turned to stone, shocked by this realization. We continued eating our snacks in silence.




2D World = Game World
Galge = Shortened form of 'Gal game'. This refers to Japanese games which focus on interactions with anime girls. Often similar to dating sims.
BA~KA = Lengthened version of "Baka", which means "Idiot".