Otaku 3 (Hifumi End)

It seemed Arata was going to be stuck here with Hifumi a little while longer. A part of him didn't want to stick around to talk with people he didn't know. However, at the same time, the boy didn't want her to be left alone here with them. And this wasn't for the entirely selfless reason of not wanting her to feel uncomfortable.

The true reason was much more selfish than that. The boy felt a bit jealous with all the attention she was getting as she chatted with the crowd. All the while he was outside of the circle watching it all unfold before his very eyes.

"So, do you live around here?" One of the boys asked. Despite what he assumed was a shy personality. Hifumi seemed to be conversing with everyone like it was the most natural things she had ever done. Maybe he was wrong to think she was a quiet unassuming girl. Especially after all of the rather close and intimate things she had done with him. It was just that they were in private places when those things happened. So of course he would believe she only wanted to not be seen by others when committing such acts.

"Hehehe, I've lived here my whole life." She giggled as she answered their questions. Maybe she was enjoying getting this much attention. It certainly was more than he ever gave her romantically. "I've supposed we've never really talked, but I've attended these kind of events all the time." That much was true as well. The boys here only noticed her after she took this change in appearance. A little odd in Arata's opinion, a girl like her when she was in her normal state was attractive enough. Was he really the only one to think that way?

This continued on, only causing the boy to feel more and more upset with the view. Why was he feeling this way? Since he had rejected her at first, it shouldn't be that big of a deal to give up on her. Why not, the boy already did that the first time. And sure, he might've told her she was in the running once more. However, he should be glad to see this since if she ended up liking some other boy here it would make things easier with his harem situation.

Yet, no amount of rationalization made him feel better on the inside.

"You just going to watch?" Suddenly, he was a little surprised when the author talked to him. "She's your friend, shouldn't you be closer to her?"

"Well, she looks like she's having fun." Arata responded. "And I'm sure you're only here because you still think she's my date."

"Well, I imagine people don't like it when their dates are chatting up with plenty of those of the opposite gender." He replied. "But I don't have to make assumptions to know you're unhappy with this scene."

"Um…" He was bewildered as to why this author kept acting like he knew so much when the man hadn't even an inkling of the situation and circumstances the boy had found himself over the past year. "What makes you say that?"

"Just from your body language." The author explained his reasoning. After all, as a writer, he was aware of trying to understand the feelings of people so that he could capture it into his works. How else would one think he got to be as good and popular as he had? "Plus, before I made my entrance, I was observing all of you." Which meant he saw everyone's surprise, including Arata's, when Hifumi made her arrival. So that clued him on what this girl was all about before even meeting her in person. "Obviously she likes you, so what's the hold up? You in a harem or something?" That joke was either a lot more or less funnier depending on one's view of the true situation.

"And what if I am?" Arata begged a question. "What if she's just one of the people who like me?"

"Then I'd say still go with her." The man answered. There was no way he could know what the right answer was, so why was he so confident. "Because I can tell you'll be unhappy if she finds somebody else."

"…" Now it made sense to him. Thanks to the talk with this man, Arata was able to figure out what his feelings were in this moment. The boy never was worried about her love for him until now. Now when it was a possibility that someone else could steal her away from him. Because at some point, she was going to give up on him. "You're right." With that, there was only one place for the boy to go to.

"So, are you busy later tonight?" One of the otakus in the crowd made their move. "Maybe we could watch a movie together?"

"That's a wonderful offer." She was a bit nervous upon hearing it. This was the first time the girl had ever been asked out on for a date. "But, I guess I'll say-"

"Wait." Arata cut in between them, putting an end to this engagement. "You can't go out with him." In his head, he believed that he was right in the nick of time before she accepted the offer. In reality, Hifumi was going to decline, because there was only one place where her heart was aiming for.

"Arata…" She spoke, stunned as he took her hands. "What are you doing?"

"You've been waiting long enough for an idiot like me." It was time for him to make a confession. "I should've never turned you down in the first place… Because I'm in love with you."

"You… You are?" Her eyes teared up a bit as she finally heard the words she had been dreaming of for over a year now. "This… This can't be real."

"It is." To prove it, he pulled off the only move that mattered in this moment. That would be to lean in and kissing her right in front of this entire crowd that had surrounded them. Of course, despite the beautiful moment, there were mostly sounds of groans and moans as the boys were disappointed to see such a pretty girl be taken away from them like that. "And I'll do everything it takes to show you that. Like everything you've done for me."

"This makes me so happy." There was a smile that was impossible for her to wipe off her face. Today was when Hifumi's dreams had come true and she had gotten Arata to fall for him.

"You should put your glasses on. That's the Hifumi I know." She did as he asked, putting atop the spectacles allowing her to see him in his full glory once more. Funnily enough, her attempt was to make herself appear prettier than normal. Something that took hours of work to try and grab his attention. Her planned worked, but not in the manner she was hoping it was. He didn't fall for her looks, it was seeing everyone enamored with her appearance that he came to realize that her feelings, and most importantly his, were true and from the heart.

"This is all so wonderful." Of course, there was one person who was happy for them. Hifumi's favorite author was clapping his hands and trying to wipe away the tears forming in his eyes over what he considered a beautiful sight. "Oh, this would make for a great idea for a book one day." Already, he was preparing for his next novel with the idea of a girl who appeared like a plain librarian girl, but actually looked absurdly hot… With giant breasts too.

"I feel like I've heard of that somewhere before." Said Arata. Though he had read plenty of light novels and manga, so eventually they were going to run out of ideas at some point.

"Well, either way I think we should celebrate this occasion." The man offered. However, most of the people weren't really that hyped for it as some already began to leave the store. At this point, there was no reason for any of them to be hanging around anymore now that the star of the show was no longer available.

"Kind of weird to be celebrating with someone you don't really know…" The boy wasn't sure about this. That man seemed like a nice guy, but they really were strangers who only knew each other because of the event.

"Oh come on, if it wasn't for me, then the two of you wouldn't even be together." He countered. There was a good point there coming from him.

"It would be nice to have a dinner with my favorite two guys." Hifumi said, tightly grabbing onto Arata's hand. A pity that her dad was not among the top two, and was only a distant third at best.

"All right then, I guess it's a date then." Except, since that man was going to be joining them. It wasn't really a true date either. Well, these two were going to find a real date one day in the future. "And you're right, I should be thanking you for pushing me in the right direction." When he kissed Hifumi on his own accord for the first time, it was when the boy knew for certain he had made the right choice in picking her.

"Awesome, now let's go!" With that, the trio headed out to a nice rest restaurant to eat out. "Oh, by the way. Tell Hine that I'm doing great by the way."

"Wait a second, how do you know her!?" The man laughed as he ran off with Arata giving chase. It would seem that this author knew a lot more about their relationship, and everything else about Arata's adventures, than he let on.