CH 14

It’s like the conflict between people who likes dog and people who likes cat

.

Going to school with Amane… Even though this was the first time in years that it had become a reality instead of a wishful dream, it didn’t suddenly change the way she and I interacted with each other at school.

Even though we went to school together, we entered the classrooms separately. At lunchtime, various classmates of both genders gathered around Amane as usual, laughing, and I gathered with my usual four otaku guys.

But today we’re not talking about otaku hobbies in a friendly way.

The topic of discussion led to an atmosphere of heated argument and standoffishness.

“… I didn’t think you were on that side.”

“Look who’s talking… I thought you were one of us, but I didn’t realize you were an enemy.”

There are inevitable disputes in the world.

There are all kinds of reasons, such as money and pride that stand in the way, and because of these reasons, human beings have been engaged in futile conflicts over and over again.

It is a fact of life that some of the reasons for this are irreconcilable and unavoidable, such as “preference”.

Just like dog and cat, bamboo shoot and mushroom, and fox and raccoon have been incompatible since ancient times.

I clench my fists and force myself to explain.

“I have already said, Real robots are the strongest when it comes to speed, versatility, and mass-producibility!”

“Exactly! There can be no greater strength than quantity!!”

However, Kudou stood up, his glasses shining.

“No, the strength of the armor and the overwhelming firepower! It’s obvious that Supers are the absolute strongest robots!!”

“Right, right! If you’re not careful, you’ll be shot down with a single blow, and this is stronger than the Real!”

The discussion heats up, but the two sides refuse to compromise, so there is no conclusion.

…… During lunch break, we started talking about anime as usual, but when we started talking about a new robot game, someone suddenly asked, “Who is stronger, Real or Super? And this is what happened.

In my opinion, male anime otaku usually has a favorite robot, and inevitably, they tend to call the ones they are attached to the strongest.

And when we started this debate, the result was a brilliant two against two scheme.

By the way, I’m on Real side, as I’m very attached to that thing that covers everything from the “One Year War”… I don’t admit any objection!!

“Why is Kudo is on Super side? I thought your favorite thing this season was the Real Route of works, right!”

When I argued with him, Kudo held his chest for a moment and then moaned as if he was squeezing out of the depths of hell.

“The girl went missing last week…”

“”Ah……””

We, who are on Real side, of course watched last week’s episode.

That’s right… His favorite, a little sister character who interacted with the protagonist was shot down and blown up by the protagonist after antagonizing him.

Kudou said that she went “missing” because he is not satisfied with the development.

“Real robots’ thin armor can’t deal anything! I realized that I’d rather have a Super where my favorite characters have a better chance of riding the same machine!”

I-It’s hard to argue with that… That being said, it’s true that the robots in this category have the drawback that our favorites tend to die in the middle of the story.

“Well, you have my condolence about that, but… If you start citing things like that, even superheroes are at risk of death, so you can’t say they’re generally safe, right?”

“But as for last week, if only the armor on the machine had been strong enough, that tragedy wouldn’t have happened! The issue of strength in an aircraft that is capable of mass production will continue to be an important issue in the future… And she’s still alive!! Don’t be sorry!!”

“He’s right! If the aircraft had been stronger, last week’s tragedy could have been avoided!!”

“But in this world, there is words “If it doesn’t hit”, it’s no different in any robot animation, and even the biggest, sturdiest robots break when they break.”

“That’s right… And once it breaks, there is no versatility or compatibility, so the disadvantage is that it takes time to repair. This side can be repaired faster, and the same model can be replaced!”

“Even if it can’t be repaired right away, modifications and further power-ups are promised, and that’s the real fun of it! And then, when all is said and done, a passionate union!”

“If it’s a power-up event, Real has promise to transfer to the second machine! Rather, it’s a cool development where heroine and friends ride on the previous aircraft and launch a coordinated attack !!”

“I said! That doesn’t change the danger to the favorite character!!”

“So it’s the ruthless reality of battle that doesn’t change even for giant robots, and it’s not just a matter of armor…”

“Wait, wait, wait! Calm down for a moment, Yumeji!”

As the discussion heated up, my otaku friends shook me to stop me.

What the heck, when I’m in a good part of it… That’s what I thought, but when I look, there are 4 people.

……Are? When did you guys get on our side?

The next thing I know, Amane is sitting right in front of me with a serious expression on her face as if to say, “I’m not giving in”.

A-Ara? When did I get into a heated argument with Amane?

Kudou fearfully calls out to her.

“Ano, Kanzaki-san? When did you get mixed up in our conversation?”

“I overheard you guys talking for a minute and felt that I must interject into your heated discussion.”

Hmph, Amane snorts with great pride.

Come to think of it, this girl has always been a fan of Sunday morning Heroes, and she is the type of girl who likes “Combined Robots”.

…… Just like in last night’s dream, it seems that she hasn’t graduated, but rather has come to have her own hot and heavy theory…

“I vote for Super Robot! Same machine, same cockpit, all of it, and also shouting the special attacks! There’s nothing better than that!”

The Super Team, including Kudo, seemed to be puzzled by the fact that a girl who was not expected to enter their territory suddenly entered the scene, but when they understood, they shouted with joy.

“Whoa! I never thought that Kanzaki-san was our comrade!”

“Welcome to our Alliance of Special Machines!”

“Let’s fight the Federation Mass Production’s member together!!”

They’re uniting with gussied up palms together… I thought Amane was sitting over there talking to me a while ago, but when did she come here?

However, there was someone who wanted to stop Amane.

“I’m afraid I can’t accept that… Amane-san.”

As she said this, Amane’s friend, Kamui-san appeared from behind me, with her dark bob hair and glasses shining with a quick lift.

“Real route based on an machine that is versatile and can be ridden by anyone depending on their training will have a better chance of survival in some situations than a development that is limited to the “chosen ones”. Focusing only on special situations, it is impossible to argue which is the strongest. I vote for real robots.”

Oh! I didn’t expect to see reinforcements on our side!!

“… And Super usually have strong characters. There are so many slim, handsome men in real life that they are supreme!”

…… Although there are some strange remarks, we were encouraged by our reinforcements.

“That’s right! A fighting style that focuses on skill and speed rather than super strength, which tends to take care of everything by force… It is a fact of life that the Real is the stronger!”

“Well, you came! My friend!”

“Sorry for the wait… Let’s fight together against Powerful Exterior Cannon Rule guys.”

When I glanced to the side, the brown-haired Kagura-san saying, “Yareyare” and had a dumbfounded look on her face.

It seems that “She is neutral”.

The “trivial” debate heats up as reinforcements come from unexpected directions…

Yes, we know it’s a silly argument, but we’re talking about it.

Even with that in mind, it’s still fun to be able to talk about what you like…

I suddenly felt a gaze on me and looked over to see a group of shallow playboy staring at me from the seat where Amane had just been.

As if to say, “Why are you going there?”…

Or rather, isn’t he totally staring at me?

I’m already starting to think that the rumor that he and Amane are dating is completely ridiculous.

After a while, we were chatting as if we were admiring each other.

Strangely enough, once people realize that they are in the same boat as you, the hurdle of conversation goes down tremendously.

This is especially true for otaku, as we are aware that we are in the minority.

“Iya~, I didn’t expect Kanzaki-san to participate in the discussion of otaku culture, much less robots.”

“We~ll, you want to say girls don’t watch robot anime? You’re not the ones who would say that girls shouldn’t watch those kinds of shows, are you?”

“Of course not! Rather, I was impressed… that our comrades were the opposite gender and in the same class…”

Most of the time, stories based on “Battles” are not well received by girls.

I mean, stop crying! How disparaging can you guys be!!

But it’s true that we’ve never had any contact with each other before, so I don’t know why Amane approached me today… and I stopped to think about it.

Getting started, huh…  We only have one case, from last night.

“Ne~ Ne~, Amachi, did something happen with Ama-cchi yesterday?” (TL: Maybe this nickname will make you confused, but later she will change how to call the protagonist.)

As I was thinking about this, Kagura-san asked me a question with a slight grin on her face.

It’s the same word as yesterday when she was worried about Amane, though it’s entirely clear that it contains a completely different meaning and nuance.

“No, there’s nothing special about…”

“That’s a lie. Up until yesterday, Ama-cchi had some~how refused to talk to Amachi only but anyone. I was wondering wh~y that girl who gets along with anyone but only to Amachi like that.”

“That’s right. Amane-san were concerned about Amachi-kun, but it seemed like there was some distance between you. I don’t know what to say, but even though it was yesterday, you two are talking so naturally.”

Kagura and Kamui are making strange and sharp comments, but I can’t tell them the truth.

I don’t think they’ll believe that “I can dream at will”, and even if they did, I can’t ethically say that “I thought I was dreaming, and I did something to Amane, and of all things, she found out and got very angry at me last night”!

“No… I happened to have a chance to talk to her last night… We’ve been kind of~ estranged, so we didn’t get a chance to talk to each other…”

When I said something bland to muddle the waters, they both seemed to be satisfied, and gave me an “Ah” look. Well, it’s not 100% lie.

“Well, I understand~ I understand. I don’t really talk to the boys I used to play with when I was a kid anymore either~.”

“It’s a little surprising that Amane-san like that.”

Of her two best friends, Amane has input as ‘someone who can get along with anyone, regardless of gender’, right.

It’s complicated to think that I’ve never been one of them.

As we talked about various things, I realized that the four of us and Amane and the three of us had a good affinity for each other, as I had felt during the robot discussion.

That’s because, although different in kind, we and the girls were both lovers of “stories”.

We mainly like manga, anime, and games, while the girls are more familiar with dramas, novels, urban legends, and other stories that are a little outside of our territory.

It’s a strange thing, but it seems that even stories from unfamiliar worlds can become mutually acceptable through the filter of a “story”.

Kagura-san, who had remained neutral in the robot discussion, seemed to have a lot to say about “Urban Legends”, and once she started talking, everyone was drawn in by her story.

“What… Lately, have urban legends evolved to such an extent? Does this mean that we ordinary people only knew the skinny parts…”

Kudou, who was listening to the famous “train-based” urban legend, took a breath.

When Kagura-san, who seemed to be happy with such a reaction, was about to happily enter the climax of the conversation, suddenly a man who must have been on the other side a moment ago, shallow playboy who rumored dating Amane, approached with a full-blown expression of displeasure.

“Oi, you guys, what are you talking about with those otaku? Let’s just ignore them and go over there.”

It’s obvious that he’ s looking down on us… It’s an arrogant attitude that thinks he is better than us.

Kudou was a little intimidated by such attitude, but strangely enough, my annoyance got the better of me.

Normally, I would just let it go and not get involved, but just the thought of Amane being involved naturally made me glare at him.

“Ha!? What’s that eye… Do you have a problem with that?”

“……………………”

The shallow playboy who apparently didn’t like my reaction, growled at me even more.

…… But, strangely enough, I’m sure I would have been scared before, but no matter how much he stared at me, no matter how much he scowled at me… I was pissed off, but not a single feeling of fear came over me.

[…Because of Lucid Dream, I often be a hero… I guess]

Every night here, I dream about all the battles I’ll have to fight, every time in a different world, but every time I dream about being a “Hero”.

There, I was dealing with enemies, demons, monsters, spirits of mountains and rivers, and all kinds of powerful people who were really trying to destroy Hero.

I was intimidated by a man my own age, who didn’t work out particularly hard… Compared to that…

“…Haa”

I let out an exasperated sigh, and the shallow playboy saying, “bastard” and he turned red and tried to grab me… but Amane stopped it.

“Ne~e… Why should we be told what to do? No matter who we talked to on our lunch break, we don’t need you, a stranger, to tell us what to do, do we?”

“Wha… You!?”

It was a very clear, cold voice… Even those of us in the audience felt a chill run down our spines.

But a stranger, huh… Amane certainly said that now.

Clearly against the guy who was rumored to be her boyfriend.

Then the shallow playboy made a hundred faces for a while, not sure if he was angry or confused, but eventually spat out “Not in mood” and walked out of the classroom.

I was watching the whole conversation…

“You look happy, Amachi”

“!?”

Suddenly, Kagura-san overheard my feelings and my heart jumped.

“That reaction… You heard rumors that Ama-cchi was dating him, right?”

“Uh? …Ye, yeah”

As I was trying to calm my rapidly racing heart, Kagura-san smiled and began to slap me on the back.

“Ahaha, don’t worry. That’s because it’s a deliberate hoax.”

“Did you do it on purpose?”

“I’ve told you before? That guy makes fun of her childhood friend, Amachi and tries to make himself look superior. He is the first that started it, and since Ama-cchi wasn’t falling to him at all, he decided to solidify the situation from the circumference.”

It’s obvious that the guy who described as a “thing” was the shallow playboy who left the classroom, but did he do that? He’s a little cunning for his looks, isn’t he…

“That was pretty stressful for Ama-cchi. She was worried about the atmosphere around and didn’t want to talk about it… She is being gossiped about with someone she doesn’t like…”

I was honestly surprised at Kagura-san’s concern for me.

Although I can’t tell by looking, she also seems to care about her best friend in her own way.

“In addition… They talk to us like we’re their friends, but the content is mostly about putting others down and bragging about themselves. I don’t find any of the stories interesting, even when I listen to them.”

Oops, Kamui-san, you have a very sharp tongue for someone of your appearance.