Chapter 11 – True Self of the Otaku Girl
Misao's POV
"Mario, Luigi, and a Donkey Kong, too…
A thousand troops of Koopas couldn't keep me from you!
Princess Peach, at the end of the line…
I'LL MAKE YOU MINE, OH!
Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches…
Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches…
I! LOVE! YOU! OH!
PEACHES! PEACHES!
PEEEEEEEEEEEACH! PEEEEEEEEEEEEACH!"
"M-Misao-senpai! Please stop shouting like that! You're disturbing the other customers!"
"Hehhehheh…Sorry about that, Yutaka."
"We just saw The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Misao's had that song in her head pretty much all day." Ayano said.
"I can understand how catchy that song is…but if you're going to imitate a giant turtle professing his love for a fictitious princess, then please do it quietly. AND NO SPOILING THE MOVIE, EITHER!"
"Don't worry. Don't worry. Our lips are sealed." I said.
"You won't hear a thing from us, Yutaka-chan." Ayano added.
"*sigh* Good. Just give me about another hour and I'll be done with my shift. Then, we can leave."
"Sure thing." We both replied to the catgirl waitress as she walked away from our table and returned to work.
The two of us had come here after watching the Mario movie (Best. Movie. EVER!) because Yutaka was going to be spending the night at Ayano's place. According to her, Chibikko and her uncle were going to have an all-night gaming binge and she did NOT want to be there for it. Mainly because the games they're playing are all contain some form of sexual content.
It must suck having such perverted family members…
And so…with Minami busy taking care of a sick Miyuki (man, that girl's always getting sick), Hiyori and Patty busy with their doujin (didn't know they made those), and Konno busy with Nega-Gravity board training (still the most shocking of them all), the last resort was staying with Ayano. Neither one seemed to mind, though. They are good friends with each other.
…
Heh. Good friends. Saying that reminds me of…
"Wh-Wha…What the hell's with you, Misao?! You've been treating Konata like crap lately and it's been pissing me off!"
"Heh. Thought so. Now…let me give you a response to such a statement!"
"And it's gonna feel like aggravated assault once I'm through with your ass, you damn little bit…"
Gah! Stop it, me! I've got no reason to be thinking of her anymore! I've said my peace. And now, I'm done with her.
…
At least, I should be…
"That movie was really good, wasn't it?"
"H-Huh? Oh…yeah. It was." I replied to Ayano's sudden question.
"Misao…are you okay? You're looking sad all of a sudden."
"What? No. I'm fine. I mean, I just saw the best video game movie adaptation of all time. Why wouldn't I be happy?"
"You don't sound happy…"
"Well, I…*sigh*I'm gonna wait outside." I then grabbed my soda and began making my way outside the restaurant.
"M-Misao! Geez…what's up with you?"
I exited the restaurant and stood outside leaning on the outer wall. Casually taking sips of what was left of my semi-watery soda.
"*sigh* It's already been a week…but I still can't get what happened out of my head. I finally got to say what I've been wanting to say since 10th grade. So, why do I still crappy about it?"
I then took a long sip of my soda.
…
Maybe I'm not satisfied? But who else do I need to tell off just to feel better about myself?
"M-Misao?" I suddenly heard a voice call out my name.
"Chibikko?" And I wasn't all too happy at who it was.
Great. Of ALL people to show up right at this freaking moment…
"I…I didn't think I would run into you here." Chibikko said.
"I can say the same thing about you, Chibikko." I replied with an unamused face. "What are you doing here in Harajuku this late?"
"Oh, um…n-no particular reason. Just in the area."
"Huh…"
She's lying…but why should I care?
"A-Actually, Misao…I'm kinda glad I ran into you. There's…something I've been wanting to say."
"Oh, really?" I said. Thinking back to my still-floating anger towards Kagami. "Well, I've got a few choice words for you too, Chibikko. But…I'll be the bigger person and let you go first."
"I feel like that was some kind of insult towards my height…" Chibikko said with a sweatdrop.
It was…
"…But whatever. What I've been wanting to say is…I…I-I'm sorry!"
"Hmph. Yeah, you better be…w-wait, what?!" I yelled in shock as I turned to see Chibikko actually bowing in shame.
"I-I said…*sniff* I-I'm sorry! F-For everything! M-Making Kyoko write that novel based on you! *sniff* R-Ruining your friendship with Kagami! I-I'M SORRY FOR IT ALL~! WAAAAAA~!" Chibikko then continued to cry really loud hard tears as she fell to her knees from her legs giving out. Meanwhile, people passing by were staring at us with a mix of concern and annoyance. Wondering why there was a girl crying in the middle of the street.
"H-Hey! Chibikko! Calm down! People are staring!" I tried telling her.
"I'M SORRY~! I'M SORRY~! I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY FOR IT ALL~! PLEASE FORGIVE ME~! WAAAAAAAA~!"
"Aw, geez…what do I do?!"
"Misao? What's going on out here?" Ayano asked as she came out of the restaurant after hearing all of the noise. Then she noticed the source of it all. "I-Izumi-san? What's she doing here? A-And why is she crying?"
"Ayano! L-Look, I'll explain in a sec! Just help me get her inside before the police show up!"
"I-I don't really understand, but…fine. Grab one arm and I'll grab the other."
"*sigh* Thanks, Aya-chan."
We both then grabbed Chibikko by her arms and proceeded to drag her limp body into the restaurant. Just so her crying won't cause enough disturbance to get us all arrested.
"I'M SORRY~! I'M SORRY~! I'M SORRY~! I'M SORRY~! I'M SORRYYYY~!"
Geez! This girl can REALLY cry one out!
"K-Konata-oneechan was just crying in the middle of street?!"
"*sigh* Yeah, that's the gist of it." I said to Yutaka as we were telling her what happened and why her older cousin was sitting at one of the tables.
"Did she say why?"
"She never got that far. She just kept yelling "I'm sorry" and fell to the ground. It took me by surprise, too."
"I see. Well…I would go talk to her…b-but I'm still on my shift. A-And there's no way I can let her see me in this outfit."
"It's okay, Yutaka. We'll go talk to her." Ayano said.
"It seems like a situation between us and her, anyway." I added.
"Yutaka-chan~! Can I get another glass of juice~?!"
"I'll be purright there, Sir! Purrease be patient, meow!" Yutaka then turned back to us. "*clears throat* Th-Thank you both so much! I'll get you a free cake for helping me out! See you later!" She then rushed off to get back to work.
At least I'm getting a free cake for this…
"Hey, Misao." Ayano said to me. "Those things Izumi-san apologized for…do you think she's serious?"
"She sounded serious…but even then, I can't be too sure. This could be another one of her jokes, for all we know."
"True…I say we take this slowly."
"Ugh. I really don't want to talk to her~." I complained.
"Get over it. I'm sure you're just as curious about this as I am."
She's right. I am curious as hell. Chibikko apologizing for anything is an interesting plot point in its own right…
And so, we both went over to the table Chibikko was sitting at. By this time, she had stopped crying and was sitting at one of the tables by herself (and in an area where Yutaka wouldn't be seen by her). Taking small sips of the water she got earlier.
"Um…hey, Izumi-san." Ayano said to her. "Feeling any better?"
"Y…Yeah. A little better. Thanks for…calming me down back then."
"Well, we didn't really have much of a choice." I said. "People were already calling the cops for a noise complaint. Had to get you out of there quick."
"Huh. Well…thanks, nonetheless."
The atmosphere quickly got awkward between the three of us. It was literally only DAYS since Ayano and I decided to fully cut Chibikko from our lives…and now here we are comforting her because she was crying in the middle of the street screaming "I'm sorry".
…
Like, really. Where do you go from here?!
"So…Izumi-san." Ayano spoke. "About what you said earlier…"
"Where you dead-ass serious or is this another one of your cruel sick jokes?"
"M-Misao!"
"What? You were thinking the same thing not too long ago."
"Y-Yes, but…*sigh* you really need to know how to be subtle…"
Again with the subtle thing. Why is that such a big deal?
"Heh. It's fine, Ayano." Chibikko said. "I wasn't expecting you two to believe me, anyway. Given my reputation…"
"What brought this up in the first place?" I asked.
"W-Well…" Chibikko went silent for a bit. "…I heard about your fight with Kagami. How bad it was and…how it ended…"
"How it ended?" We then thought back to that day of the fight.
"Shotei-Uke!"
*BLOCK*
"H-Huh?!"
"Tai Otoshi!"
*SLAM*
"…if you EVER come near me or my Misa-chan again…I'll drag you out of that bullshit delusion and send you into reality in a motherfucking body bag! Got it?!"
"Oh, yeah…that." We said with sweatdrops.
Ayano's DEFINITELY still scary when she's angry…
"When I heard that your friendship basically ended, I felt nothing but guilt. I didn't want any of this to happen. I thought that light novel was nothing but harmless, but…to know that it led to this…I just wanted to be happy…"
"Be happy?"
"*sniff* N-Nothing. F-Forget I said that."
"No, no, no." I said. "You said you wanted to apologize, right? I want full deets on why you're such a pain to be around."
"Wow. So straightforward…" Chibikko gained a sweatdrop.
"You brought this on yourself, Chibikko. Crying out in public like a little bitch, begging for our forgiveness, and hiding from your own cousin from seeing you like this. You've REALLY gone downhill. *giggle*"
"Tch! You know what? Screw this." Chibikko shot up from her chair in a pissed-off manner. "I thought I could come over here and reason with you guys. Give my heart out for once and try to fix my own mistakes. But now I see that this was a goddamn mistake."
"Well, fine. As if I wanted to hear your damn apology anyway. You're just an unforgivable midget, no matter what."
"Tch! Quit calling me a midget! It's aggravating as hell to be hearing that all the time!"
"YOU'RE aggravated?! How do you think WE feel?! We had our lives written in a light novel and it was plotted behind our backs by someone we thought was a friend! Until you came along and took her from us!"
"M-Misao…" Ayano spoke out. "I-I don't think now's the time to…"
"Oh, PLEASE! Will you just get over it already?! Kagami isn't yours to possess or anything!"
"Yet, you do the same thing! Clinging onto her constantly and giving her that girly-ass nickname…I bet you manipulated her emotions to become a lesbian in order to satisfy your pervy fantasies, you narcissist!"
"M-My love for Kagami is genuine and pure!" Chibikko yelled with a faint blush.
"Hmph. I call bullshit…"
"Even I gotta admit…that sounds like a fake-as-hell lie." Ayano added.
"Tch! Damn, you two…you're the ones who are unforgivable! Letting this "loneliness" of yours hate me for such as petty-ass reason!"
"Y-You're the reason why we're like this in the first place!"
"Yeah!" I yelled. "What gives you any right to ridicule our loneliness when you freaking caused it?!"
"You two TRULY believe that you're lonely?! Even after becoming a couple yourselves, you're SO lonely without Kagami?!"
So, she does know about us…
"You started it! So, yeah!"
"Now, THAT'S a load of bullshit! You two aren't lonely! Far from it! To claim that you are…" At this point, Chibikko was so angry that she began to shake rapidly in a fury of rage. Her hands clenched up tightly as if she was ready to attack us right here in the restaurant.
We were both prepared for the worst. I mean…after seeing it with Kagami, we were more alert this time. So, we weren't taking any chances.
But…when we thought Chibikko was going to start attacking us…she shouted out with all her might:
"NOBODY IS MORE LONELY THAN ME!"
…
…
…
"H…Huh?" Ayano and I both asked in pure confusion.
"NOBODY! NOBODY, NOBODY, NOBODY! NOBODY CAN COMPETE WITH ME! I'M THE LONELIEST PERSON IN THIS GODFORSAKEN WORLD!"
The loneliest? What does she mean by…
"*sniff* Nobody~! Nobody~! *sniff* NOBODYYYYY~! WAAAAAAAA~!"
"A-Aw, geez! She's crying again! I said after Chibikko had begun crying again out of nowhere.
"*sigh* She's gonna cause more disturbance if we leave her here." Ayano said. "Let's take her in the back."
"Ugh! I swear, this girl's a real piece of work."
We both then proceeded to drag the still-crying Chibikko into the back of the restaurant where people wouldn't hear her. Hoping that we can put this "apology" to an end already.
"Nobody~! Nobody~! NOBODYYYYY~! WAAAAAAAA~!"
Which, at this point, may take a while…
Ayano's POV
It took about 20 minutes for Izumi-san to stop crying. She jugged down nearly 4 bottles of water and blasted a bunch of anime songs that we're not allowed to mention due to copyright reasons.
It wasn't until we were absolutely certain that she was calm enough that Misao and I tried to continue the "conversation" from earlier.
…
If…you can really call it that.
"So…um…Izumi-san." I spoke first. "Wh-What did you mean by "you're the loneliest person in the world"?"
"You're really not gonna let that go?"
"You erupted into tears TWICE and called us petty for missing our "friend"." Misao said. " I think we deserve an explanation at this point."
"*sigh* Fine." Izumi-san went silent for a bit before continuing on. "What I meant was…well…what else could I mean by it? It's pretty self-explanatory."
"Not when you're too busy crying like a sissy..."
"Misao!" I quietly yelled while nudging her in the arm.
"Tch! Really?! I'M a sissy?!" Izumi-san's anger was coming back again. "I'm a sissy for hiding the fact that I've been depressed for most of my life?! Is THAT how you define sissies, Misao?!"
"D-Depressed? You?!" We both said in shock.
"Yeah…that's the real me. Contrary to the popular belief of me being a happy-go-lucky pervy otaku, I've been suffering from depression for the last 13 years. Shocking, huh?"
"Well…y-yeah." Misao said. "Out of all the people to be suffering from depression…you're definitely the LAST person I'd expect, Chibikko."
"What would you have to be depressed over, Izumi-san?" I asked.
"*sigh* Well…I know nothing about or have any memories of my mother. She died when I was young."
Wow…I never knew that about her…
"My dad's a questionable pervert who spends more time with work and playing Z-rated games than spend time with his only daughter."
Oh, yeah. I know about her father. He really is questionable…
"My first friend ever moved away without a care in the world for my feelings."
She's…talking about Tsukasa-chan, right? She was her first friend ever?
"And the biggest and most recent of them all…my girlfriend broke up with me."
Her girlfriend broke up with her…
…
…
…
"W-Wait…WHAT?! YOU AND KAGAMI BROKE UP?!" We both yelled in shock after replaying that last part in our heads a few times.
"*sniff* I-It was last week…after she had that fight with you two. We had our own fight about what we want in our own lives…and it didn't end well."
"W-Woah…"
"Th-The break-up made my depression resurface again after a year or two of hiding it. So, I figured that maybe apologizing to you two for what I did would ease it up a little. But *sniff*…I was wrong."
No freaking way…they actually broke up?! Right after Kagami got into a fight with us?! We basically caused the end of their relationship!
The whole reason why this story exists was because we didn't like them dating. But now that it's no longer a thing…now what? Where do we go from here?
…
…
…
"H-Hey…Izumi-san. I'm…I'm sorry it didn't work out with Kagami."
"A-Ayano…" Misao said in shock after hearing me suddenly apologize to Izumi-san.
"Y-You…really mean it?" Izumi-san asked. Just as shocked as Misao was.
"Yeah…I do. I mean…we were always angry at the fact that you two were spending so much time together. But now that you two aren't seeing each other anymore…I…kinda feel sorry."
I then looked over towards Misao to get her to give her input on this. It took a good while. But…
…
…
…
"*sigh* Yeah. I feel the same way. I've been having some guilt over all this recently and…wh-what Ayano said. Sorry it didn't work out."
It took a lot of guts for her to say that…
"W-Wow…that has to be the nicest thing you guys have said to me." Izumi-san said with a grander look of shock. "Especially after you said that you hated me right to my face."
"Uh…" We didn't know how (or wanted) to respond to that.
"*sigh* But then again…I did say to be honest. So, that's my own damn fault."
For once, she's right…
"Anyway…" Izumi-san stood up from her seat and dug in her pocket to bring out a white envelope sealed off with some tape. "…Here. I-I meant to give you this."
I took the envelope and opened it with little care…only for us two to be completely surprised at its contents.
"Th…Th-This is MONEY!" I yelled in shock. "¥100,000, to be exact!"
(equivalent to $700)
"Wh-Where'd you get this kind of cash?!" Misao asked.
"I…got a cut from Kyoko from Happy Go Lily 2 selling so well. Since I gave her the idea of using you two as inspiration. I know money is a lazy way to apologize to someone…but…you two deserve it more than I do."
"O-Oh, wow…o-okay, then. Thanks, Chibikko."
Izumi-san gave a weary smile of satisfaction. It could be due to how much she was crying earlier…but she also just told us that she's been dealing with depression for most of her life. So, it could be showing right this second.
It's so hard to tell…it's like she's a totally different person now…
"Well…I better get going. The last train back home is coming soon and…well…I don't want to embarrass Yuu-chan more than I already had."
"W-Wait…y-you mean you know that Yutaka-chan works here?" I asked.
"I've known for a while. I figured that she wouldn't want me or my dad instigating her about it. So, I kept it to myself. Plus…washing a catgirl outfit is surprisingly harder than it sounds."
"Huh…" We both responded to the completely useless fact.
"Anyway…see ya. I'll try not to bother you guys much at school. That way…you can at least try to have calmer lives."
We then watched as Izumi-san made her way out of the restaurant. Still showing her true depressed self while somehow keeping that weary smile from before.
Once she was fully out of our sight, we stared at the money she gave us. Still in shock that we had this much in our hands.
¥100,000…it doesn't feel right as to how we got it, but…having this much is every teen's dream! What to do with this amount of money?!
"Misao-senpai! Ayano-senpai!" We suddenly heard Yutaka-chan's voice as she walked up to us. "Huh? Did Konata-oneechan leave?"
"Uh…y-yeah, you just missed her." Misao said. "She wanted to catch the last train back to Kasukabe. She was definitely feeling better, though."
"I see…well, at least she didn't see me in my work uniform." Yutaka-chan then noticed the envelope of money still in my hands. "Woah…that's a lot of money. Where'd you guys get it?"
Misao and I looked at each other for a bit before turning back to Yutaka-chan to give some kind of answer.
And the only one we came up with was…
"I-It's…It's complicated."
Author's Note: After running into Konata in Harajuku, Misao and Ayano learn the true side to their common nuisance: she's actually depressed. And has been hiding it from everyone for most of her life.
And with the cherry on top of her and Kagami breaking up, the two start to wonder if their hatred for the duo is really justified.
So…yeah…a 4-month gap from the last chapter. I think it's shorter than the last one…but nonetheless, sorry for the wait. I actually considered discontinuing this story again…but with it having over 1100 views and a decent amount of people following it, I decided to give it another chance. If it works out, I'll continue with it more.
…
And also…the Mario Movie bit was written just DAYS after I saw the movie in theaters. So, if it feels outdated to you, that's the reason.
Thanks for reading. Later.