Chapter 8

It's still the same day, and it's lunchtime. I just finished helping the math teacher carry some notebooks. Walking through the hallway, I suddenly heard something familiar, the sound drifting through the ventilation.

"Katajikenai! Kono shakkin wa kesshite wasuremasen!"

Did I just hear someone speaking Japanese? And so fluently, too? Curious, I decided to check it out, thinking it might be a transfer student. After all, I'm sure the voice doesn't belong to Mashiro, or Rita who is still working on her Japanese.

"No! I forgot to press the shutter button. Now, I have to repeat the pose and say the whole line again."

That voice belongs to a girl. And she switched to English really quickly. Anyway, I should greet her.

"Katajikenai, huh? Hmm—"

But when I finally saw her, I realized I was wrong—she wasn't Japanese. Things became awkward as we locked eyes. She was holding a rainbow-colored fan and do some kind of pose with it.

"Sorry. Please continue."

"WAIT!"

She called out, but I was already heading back to my classroom.

---

Weeb.

A group of people obsessed with Japanese culture. In general, they have a bad reputation. But being Japanese myself now, I can't help but think back to how the term "Otaku" has a similar negative image in Japan. So, internationally or domestically, they share the same stereotype.

I might be called a hypocrite or biased, but in many cases, I just don't care. I'm not saying it's all bad, though. Not all weeb are losers. Some just enjoy watching anime and stop there, but because they like it, people often misunderstand them.

The girl I met yesterday is one of those people—commonly labeled as a weeb.

"Hmmmmmmmmm…"

"…"

To my right, the same girl kept glancing at me. My classroom seating was arranged on the first day of the semester, and the girl next to me was the one I had mistaken for Japanese because of how fluent she was. As soon as I saw her doing her hobby, I apologized and walked away.

Now, sometimes she looks at me, like at the moment, with a face that says, "Let's talk." But it's not intimidating—it seems more like she's embarrassed. She hasn't said anything yet, but as soon as lunch break starts…

Shhhh!

She stood up quickly, her chair scraping the floor in a hurry.

"Ahem!"

I looked up, meeting her hazel eyes.

"…hm?"

"C-ca-can we talk somewhere?"

"Uh…" I paused, noticing Rita raising an eyebrow at me from across the room. I sighed, "Okay."

The girl with the blonde ponytail nodded shyly. "I'll wait for you at the same place as yesterday." She ran off quickly, instantly making a scene in the classroom.

"Eh? Did you see that?"

"Whoa! I think she's going to confess, right?"

"It's a confession!"

Damn it! I was really enjoying my peaceful NPC-like school days, and now I'm about to get dragged into some romantic comedy.

"Masamune…" Charles suddenly placed a hand on my shoulder. "Please don't hurt her feelings. She's a kind-hearted girl."

I sighed, brushing his hand away. "It's not like that."

The girl, Teresa Wagner, is someone Charles is close to. I don't know much about her since we've never talked before. Soon, I reached the meeting spot.

"Um… about yesterday, you know..." she stammered, her face turning red. "I've been getting tutored in Japanese, and my tutor wanted me to make that video. It's for learning purposes, okay? It's not like I like Rainbow Shogun or anything. I just used it as a reference for studying."

I see. Her expression told me the opposite—she's definitely one of those weebs who won't admit they like anime.

"I understand. Your secret's safe with me. I promise I won't tell anyone."

Hearing that, she let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank you so much! I won't forget this debt!" she exclaimed, then quickly went quiet. Hm... my guess is she just quoted something from an anime she watched.

"I think it's partially my fault too," I said. "I mistook you for Japanese because of how fluent you are."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?! Am I that good?!"

"Y-yeah…"

"You're Masamune Makabe, right? You transferred here from Japan last year?"

I nodded. "Uh-huh... something like that."

"Then, um, if you don't mind… can we be friends? I also have some questions that have been keeping me up at night."

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Are you Rainbow Shogun?"

"....no, I'm not."