Regarding the Matter of Beautiful Girls Relentlessly Seeking My Body (Experience Points)
“Yura-chan, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I think I must have accidentally blocked your number by mistake when I was confused. So, really, don’t worry about it.”
“Really? I’m not being a bother… right?”
“Not at all! You’re absolutely not a bother! Actually, I should be the one apologizing for not reaching out. I should have at least contacted you through Nishimura-san.”
“No, it’s okay. Thank you. You’re really kind, Tatsuya-kun.”
Yura-chan gave me a delicate smile, her beautiful face looking so fragile that it made my chest tighten with guilt.
“But I’m really glad we ran into each other. I almost left you with the wrong impression. Thank you for speaking to me.”
“I’m glad I gathered the courage to talk to you, too. When I found you, I thought… maybe it was fate.”
“Fate? Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”
“It’s not an exaggeration. It’s fate. I mean, out of all the people in Japan, we managed to meet again, didn’t we?”
Yura-chan tilted her head slightly and smiled. Hearing such a cute girl say it was fate was enough to make me start misunderstanding things.
“I’m really glad we met by chance. At first, I was desperately searching for you, hoping for a coincidence, but I didn’t even know where you lived… so of course, I couldn’t just run into you. But then, I saw something on the news. An article about a person who had so much experience that just holding hands with them could make you level up. The moment I saw it, I knew it had to be you, Tatsuya-kun. It wasn’t just the amount of experience, but also the shape of the hands, the veins, the muscles—everything looked the same.
So, I went to Yokohama to look for you. I figured the hotel used in that DTuber Ain-nyan’s video was probably the Apple Hotel in Yokohama Bay, specifically an Executive Suite. The background was just a wall, so I couldn’t tell exactly which Apple Hotel it was, but from the sound in the video and a faint reflection of colors, I could figure it out. I thought maybe you were in Yokohama. I even tried asking the hotel for guest information, but they wouldn’t tell me anything, so I couldn’t find out more.
After that, I started thinking… what if you stayed at a distant hotel on purpose to avoid being found? So, I looked through Ain-nyan’s older videos and found one where your voice was faintly recorded. That made me think—maybe you live near her? I tried analyzing the outside sounds from her videos and they seemed to be from around Tokyo. But since Ain-nyan is a DTuber who dives into Shibuya Dungeon, it made sense that she lived near Shibuya, right? I can be a little slow sometimes, huh?
So then I thought, if Ain-nyan lives near Shibuya, maybe you do too. I started looking for apartments with the same layout as Ain-nyan’s room. I even went to real estate agencies and toured places. Finally, I found an apartment with the same layout. It was already vacant, but the scratches on the walls matched. I guess Ain-nyan must have moved out, maybe to live with her little sister?
That made me think—if Ain-nyan was nearby, maybe you were too. So, I kept walking around near her old apartment, and today, I ran into you. Such an amazing coincidence, right? This has to be fate, don’t you think?”
…Uh-oh.
It looks like Yura-chan and I have very different definitions of the word “coincidence.”
I slowly put down the coffee cup I had been about to drink from and looked at her. She was still smiling brightly with that same beautiful face—but there was no light in her eyes.
“So many coincidences led me back to you, Tatsuya-kun. I think… even God must have helped me out.”
I don’t know of any coincidence that involves this much deduction, effort, and sheer force of will. That’s not a coincidence. And if God were listening, He’d probably be freaking out right now after being made an accomplice.
“Hehe. I really am a lucky girl, aren’t I?”
No, this isn’t luck. This is all you, Yura-chan.
“A-Ahaha… I-I guess it feels less like a coincidence and more like… destiny, huh?”
Hearing my words, Yura-chan blushed slightly and looked down.
“Destiny…? But yeah, you’re right. It’s not just a coincidence. It’s destiny. We must be drawn to each other, Tatsuya-kun.”
Oh no.
My desperate attempt at protest had been completely misinterpreted in the worst way possible.
I needed to change the subject. Fast.
“S-So, um, I heard you put your idol activities on hold? The news said it was due to health issues. Are you okay?”
“My health? I’m totally fine. I put my idol career on hold so I could go look for you. I mean, it’d be pretty hard to search all over Yokohama while still being an active idol. Believe it or not, I’m actually a pretty popular idol, you know?”
The topic didn’t change at all.
I took a sip of coffee to moisten my completely parched mouth. It was so dry I thought my throat might stick together.
“You… You put your idol activities on hold just to look for me?”
“Yeah! I became an idol in the first place so I could find you, Tatsuya-kun. If being an idol was stopping me from searching for you, that would be putting the cart before the horse. Fufu, you’re so weird, Tatsuya-kun.”
“A-Ahaha. Am I really that weird?”
“Fufu, yeah, you are.”
No, the weird one here is definitely Yura-chan. But there was no way I could say that out loud. Looking at her, smiling with that same beautiful and delicate face, I started to feel like maybe I was the one who was wrong.
“S-Speaking of which! You dyed your hair black, huh? It kind of reminds me of the old Yura-chan… It’s nostalgic. But it suits you!”
“Oh, this is actually a wig. When I was searching for you, my white hair stood out too much, so I wore a wig. But if you think it looks good on me, maybe I should just dye it completely—”
“N-No no no no! Yura-chan is all about that shining white hair! Yeah! Both look great, but the usual Yura-chan is the cutest!”
“Really? Hearing you say I’m cute makes me really happy. Thank you, I’ll hold off on dyeing it.”
This is bad. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to change the topic. And could she not decide to keep or change her defining hair color just based on my words alone?
“A-Ahh, um… S-Speaking of which, Yura-chan, have you ever played VR games? I had a chance to try one recently, and it was really fun!”
“I’ve never played VR games. I’m not very good at games… Are they that fun?”
“Yeah! And it’s not just RPGs or fighting games. There are games where all you do is take care of a cat!”
“Oh, really? I like cats, so that sounds kind of interesting.”
I forcefully cut off the previous conversation and shoved a new topic in. It was an unnatural transition, but Yura-chan didn’t seem to find it strange and went along with it.
◇
“—So yeah, the thing he caught was actually a goose! But I thought it was a chicken at first too. You don’t really see turkeys in supermarkets, after all.”
“Fufu, I know, right? I always thought it was a chicken too.”
“But thanks to that guy, we got to eat as much foie gras as we wanted—Oh, crap, I’ve been talking way too much!”
Somehow, my desperate topic change had led from VR games to me rambling about random funny things that happened recently. Yura-chan had been smiling and listening the whole time, which made me enjoy talking even more.
When I glanced at the old clock on the café wall, it chimed exactly at noon.
“It feels like we’re back in elementary school… Sorry for talking for so long.”
“No, I had a great time chatting with you, Tatsuya-kun.”
“Like I said at the start, I’m really glad you talked to me today. It’s not much of a thank-you, but let me pay for this. Just the drinks, though.”
“Eh? No way, that’s not fair. I’ll pay too.”
“It’s fine, just let me do this. I mean, you definitely make way more money than I do, so it’s not really impressive or anything.”
After all, Yura-chan was a popular idol. Compared to her, my part-time job earnings were probably nothing.
“That’s not true. I think it’s really cool. Thanks, Tatsuya-kun.”
She said that with a slight blush, looking incredibly cute—fitting for an idol.
After paying and stepping outside, I suddenly remembered that I had been on my way to buy groceries. And as if on cue, my stomach rumbled.
“I was actually on my way to the store. Well then, Yura-chan, I’ll see you—”
“Tatsuya-kun, do you have any plans besides shopping after this?”
Just as I was about to say goodbye, Yura-chan cut me off.
“Uh, not really. Just grocery shopping and then lazing around at home.”
“Really? I still want to talk more, so… can I come over to your place?”
“Uh… My room’s not really that clean, but if you don’t mind—”
I had such a good time talking that I answered without thinking. I had completely forgotten about the earlier yandere-ish vibe from Yura-chan.
“Uh, actually, my place is really messy, so maybe next ti—”
“Thanks! Let’s grab some snacks at the store first! I’m so excited!”
“…Ah, okay. Let’s go, then.”
Before I could take back my words, Yura-chan’s enthusiasm drowned me out.
As I started walking toward the store, I heard her mutter softly behind me.
“……You’re not getting away anymore.”
“……”
I had no choice but to pretend I didn’t hear that.
