Tokyo Chapter 94

The sports festival has come to a successful end, and everyone is happy. Of course, for an otaku, this day was nothing short of a nightmare.

Even Hachiya Uchida, who had the cushy job of guarding the storage room, felt like it was a nightmare—having to eat two lunches by himself, despite not being hungry.

Seriously, this is torture!

And both the morning and evening were insanely busy.

"Chiba... You bastard, if this happens a few more times, I think I'll evolve from an otaku into a fat otaku!" Hachiya Uchida protested bitterly.

"Then why don't you just skip a meal tomorrow?" Shuichi Chiba shrugged.

"...Do you even hear yourself?!" Hachiya Uchida was stunned.

"With all the snacks you eat, their calories aren’t any lower than a proper meal. You've been eating like this for years and haven't gained weight—clearly, you’re not the type to get fat. Stop worrying about unnecessary things." Shuichi Chiba said, patting his equally flat chest.

Uchida and his past self were quite similar—both were skinny and weak otakus obsessed with the 2D world.

"Yeah… that makes sense." Hachiya Uchida muttered to himself, finding the logic convincing as he absentmindedly opened his shoe locker.

Shuichi Chiba did the same, and as expected, he found an envelope from An Akiyama stuffed inside. He didn’t think much of it and casually tossed it into his bag.

But while he acted like it was no big deal, Hachiya Uchida, who had witnessed the whole thing, couldn’t just let it slide. With a face full of shock, he shouted,

"Wait a second! What was that?! Could it be… the legendary love letter?!!"

His exclamation instantly drew the attention of everyone around them.

Shuichi Chiba twitched the corner of his mouth. “Why don’t you just go shout it over the school broadcast? Is this really such a big deal?”

“How is it not a big deal?! That’s a love letter! It’s a badge of honor for normies! You traitor! Have you abandoned the otaku way to become one of them?!”

Hachiya Uchida clutched his head, his face full of disbelief.

Shuichi Chiba shook his head and sighed. “With that mindset, you’ll never be a normie. Treating a girl’s love letter like some kind of achievement badge…”

“Ah, sorry, that was a bit rude of me.” Hachiya Uchida immediately realized his mistake.

“No, I mean, you’re just overthinking it.” Shuichi Chiba said, patting his shoulder.

“Huh?” Hachiya Uchida was dumbfounded. “Huh???”

“Are you some kind of ‘Huh?’ warrior? Want to be a live audience member on a TV show?” Shuichi Chiba quipped as he casually tucked the letter away, took out his shoes, and swapped them on.

“So what exactly do you mean?” Hachiya Uchida was still full of confusion, but seeing that Chiba had already finished changing his shoes and was heading out, he quickly did the same and followed after him.

Once they left the school building and were finally free from all the staring eyes, Shuichi Chiba felt much more at ease.

“It’s nothing deep. It’s just that the more seriously you take something, the further away you get from it. Just stay chill. A love letter is no different from a regular phone message—it’s just putting feelings into words.”

"This can't be right! No matter how you look at it, it's totally different!" Hachiya Uchida couldn't wrap his head around it.

"It's the same," Shuichi Chiba said with a light chuckle. "The moment you start seeing it that way, you're not far from success."

"You're talking like some kind of guru..." Hachiya Uchida deflated. "Not that it matters—I’m never getting a love letter anyway, so there’s no point thinking about it."

"Mm, true." Shuichi Chiba gave him a once-over and nodded in agreement.

Hachiya Uchida looked utterly heartbroken. "Hey, that's just mean! As a newly minted normie, can't you at least comfort me a little?"

"What's there to comfort? Just live the life you want. One day, you'll marry a 2D wife and still be happy, right?" Shuichi Chiba chuckled.

Hachiya Uchida's face was full of black lines.

Shuichi Chiba continued, "I'm not even joking. With how fast technology is advancing—AI, robotics—there’s real potential. A 2D wife might actually become a reality in a few years."

Hachiya Uchida immediately perked up. "You know what, you're right! I heard AI can already chat with people. A 2D waifu might actually happen… and it wouldn’t even be illegal!"

Watching Hachiya Uchida get more and more excited, Shuichi Chiba was left speechless. At least the guy stayed true to himself. But… AI robots, huh? Yeah, not illegal…

….

By the time they returned to the shopping district, it was already six o’clock—later than usual.

At the entrance, Shuichi Chiba glanced at the beauty salon and gym. Both seemed lively, packed with people busy at work.

Ichika Kitagawa’s flower shop was also closed, so he didn’t bother knocking and headed straight back to the management office’s bedroom.

After setting down his backpack, he pulled out An Akiyama’s love letter and tore it open.

She got straight to the point.

[Chiba-kun, I like you. Will you go out with me? If not, I'll ask again tomorrow.]

[I’ll bring you dinner tonight, so can you share some food with me too?]

[Also, about what happened this morning… I have a bad feeling my sister might retaliate. Can I move in with you? I don’t mind sleeping on the floor.]

Shuichi Chiba shook his head with a chuckle. “Told you, it’s no different from a regular phone message.”

This idiot foodie’s confession sounded more like routine business than anything romantic.

And despite being so scared she wanted to move in with him, she still prioritized food first. Now that was dedication.

Around seven o’clock, An Akiyama arrived with dinner. After setting the food down, she looked at Shuichi Chiba with big, expectant eyes.

No need to ask—she definitely wasn’t thinking about the sleeping arrangement. It was all about the food.

Shuichi Chiba sighed and picked up a bite with his chopsticks, feeding it to her. As expected, An Akiyama’s eyes squinted in bliss the moment she tasted it. With food in her mouth, she forgot everything else.

They ended up eating together, taking turns feeding each other, until the meal was completely gone. By the time An Akiyama left, happily carrying her empty food container, she still hadn’t remembered anything about staying over.

“This idiot… she’s hopeless,” Shuichi Chiba muttered with a helpless smile, shaking his head. “She really can’t be left alone.”

….

After finishing dinner and resting a bit, it was already past eight when Sayuki Ogawa’s message arrived right on time. Shuichi Chiba changed into his workout clothes and headed to the gym.

“Oh? Looks like Sayuki-san didn’t take a shower today. Could it be because I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to see you all sweaty, so you actually kept it in mind?” Chiba teased the moment they met.

Sayuki Ogawa shot him a glare. “You think too much. I was just busy today. Besides, I’ll be sweating while training you anyway, so I might as well shower before bed.”

“Ah, I see… I was hoping I’d be at least a little special in your heart.” Chiba put on an exaggeratedly disappointed expression.

Sayuki wasn’t falling for his nonsense. “Enough with the useless talk. Today’s real training starts now. If you don’t meet my standards, you’re in for a world of pain.”

"Sayuki-san is really terrifying..." Shuichi Chiba sucked in a breath dramatically. "But if there's punishment, shouldn't there also be a reward?"

Sayuki Ogawa smacked his butt hard with an annoyed expression. "Quit wasting time. Whatever you want, you can talk about it after you train properly."

As they walked, Chiba mused, "Then can I at least choose the training method? I feel like if Sayuki-san cooperates a little, I could perform even better."

Sayuki raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Like what?"

"For example… while I do push-ups, Sayuki-san lies down on the floor." Chiba said, full of anticipation.