[AFTER] Chapter 236 – Time to make some friends!

Time Stamp: College Era

Takei Tanaka was very nervous about starting his first day of college. This wasn't like high school where he was told what to do and what not to do, rather he was completely independent and was responsible for his own actions.

For his first semester, Takei went with the standard path for his degree and didn't stray off path. That meant he was taking quite a few general education classes, so his workload shouldn't be too heavy.

"Where do I sit?" He mumbled.

Takei scanned the room to find a good place to sit before his first lecture of the day started. Even though he had shown up half an hour early to his math lecture, there were already quite a few students here who had already claimed seats.

"Hmm... let's aim for one on the side so I can enter and leave easily. Oh! There's one over there!" Takei grinned as he headed towards the seat that he desired.

Sitting down with great vigor, Takei managed to conquer his first obstacle of college and unconsciously pumped his fists.

"Excuse me?"

As his neck creakily turned to the side, he realized there was a girl trying to get through the row. She had quite a gentle appearance as evident by her short brown hair and soft amber eyes.

Takei felt incredibly embarrassed at having been seen doing that gesture, but there was nothing he could do now.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

He apologized and moved his feet back so that the girl could get through. Interestingly enough, she passed by him and sat down two seats from him which meant there was only the space of a single seat between them.

The lecture hall is nearly empty, but she chooses to sit right next to me? Could she have something to do with me? Nah, I'm just overthinking things.

Takei plugged his earbuds back in and texted back and forth with Akari until class finally got started.

For his first class of college, it was surprisingly laid-back. The professor went over the syllabus and then continued to lecture the class about the importance of making an impact on the world.

About an hour of boring lecturing passed before the professor finally let the class go.

"Haaaah, that was boring..."

As Takei packed his materials away to get ready to leave, he felt a slight tug on the back of his shirt.

Ehhhh? Isn't that the girl from earlier? What could she want from me?

"Hey, you."

"Y-Yes?" Takei nervously replied.

"Come with me. Now."

"..."

Takei still wasn't understanding her intentions, but his gut feeling was telling him that she was a good person. Since his gut feeling had never failed him before, he believed the girl would not do anything malicious to him.

"Sure."

The girl let him pack up the rest of his materials and left the room with Takei after the fact. Since he was still new to the campus, Takei wasn't really sure where they were heading just yet.

After a few minutes of silently walking, they reached the library on campus. Once they entered, the girl rented out a small room and the two of them entered.

As she closed the door behind them, Takei felt a chill run up his back.

Am I about to get robbed?!

The girl silently approached him with her face downwards as if hiding her expression.

I'm dead! I'm going to die! Someone delete my internet history!

Then, as if to destroy his delusions, the girl looked up at him and presented him with a popular shonen manga.

"You're an otaku just like me, aren't you?!" The girl stared at him with excitement in her eyes.

Takei was surprised to see her so energetic, but he nervously nodded. "Y-Yeah? So?"

"Please become my otaku buddy!" The girl begged him.

"Wait, what?"

It seemed that the girl was not out to rob him, rather she was just an otaku looking for a friend with the same hobbies. This made a lot of sense since the first week of college typically consisted of people trying to find friends.

"It's okay if you don't want to..." The girl looked like she was about to cry.

Not wanting to make a girl cry, Takei hurriedly nodded his head. "No, it's okay! It's great even! Let's be friends!"

As soon as the words had left his mouth, the girl's expression brightened instantly. "Nice to meet you, Hazuki Nishino at your service!"

"Takei Tanaka, it's nice to meet you as well."

The two shook hands as if they were long lost best friends that had just reunited after many years of being separated.

"Have you read the XXX-gatari series?" Hazuki asked as the two sat down at the table in the room.

"Not yet, but I was planning to get to it soon," Takei replied. "Have you read the Spy: Reborn series yet?"

"Yeah! Actually, I own the whole series in physical print!" Hazuki proudly nodded. "I've been reading from the very beginning, so don't underestimate my otaku power!"

"Otaku power? What's that?" Takei curiously asked.

"It's my source of power! Otaku power is the reason why I was able to find you in the first place. Mwhahahaha, I used my special skill, otaku sight, to pinpoint the location of the closest otaku!"

Yeah, she's a bit on the bonkers side. Did she never grow out of that middle school phase with the delusions?

"Well, guess what?" Takei grinned evilly.

"What?"

"I, Takei Tanaka, am the reincarnation of the dragon king himself. I command you to kneel in front of your king!"

"My king!" Hazuki immediately kneeled in front of him and kept her face lowered as a sign of respect.

Hey, this is pretty fun. Messing with her like this might not be the most morally right thing to do, but it's her fault for not growing out of her middle school phase yet! I promise I'm not the bad guy here!

—

Dude, I think you might be the bad guy.

Serious-san: Hazuki Nishino... why does that sound familiar?

Sugar-chan: She's related to a certain someone~ (check ch. 227)