The day of the offline meeting.
I was rendezvousing with Suzuhara at a family restaurant.
After I finished ordering and placed only the self-service water on the table, Suzuhara, who was tanned as expected, was sitting across from me.
"Every time I see you, I'm like, 'Who are you?'"
"Think a little about how I feel when my friends forget me every time I meet them."
Suzuhara played with the trim that he had secretly tucked inside with his fingers.
Maybe it was the influence of Miyu's scolding, it seemed that he was spending a lot of money on clothes and hair.
"More than that, Sotomichi, you're looking a lot better, aren't you? I guess it's Miyu-san's influence after all!"
"Y-yeah, well, I guess so."
How long will this guy continue to call her 'Miyu-san.'
I don't understand the desire to worship, but.
"This is definitely something worth assisting...!"
Suzuhara clenches his fist with hot tension.
The off-line meeting was a local meeting where everyone ate lunch on their own.
It seems that it is not uncommon at offline meetings for people to gather separately from those who can only specify a meeting place.
That said, it would be tough if a group of friends were formed first, so Suzuhara and I decided to meet up early at a family restaurant near the location.
Other members may be doing similar things, so we should be cautious in our conversations.
"It's time to bid farewell to being a virgin today. It's time for Sotomichi to get to know women."
Those were the first words that came out after the food was served.
I have to tell this guy something.
“Did Suzuhara play with women in the summer?”
I took a sip of water and clinked the ice cubes.
"For me, I guess it's fine. I haven't harvested yet, but it's progressing pretty well."
Suzuhara proudly shows off the names of the girls listed on his messaging app.
He has already exchanged messages with five girls in such a short period of time?
Looks like he's working pretty hard.
"That's remarkable progress. I think you've changed a lot."
I didn't expect Miyu's scolding to have such an effect.
At the same time, I was surprised and convinced.
Miyu took me from being such a good-for-nothing person to being this respectable.
This Suzuhara is like a mirror of me.
Miyu is good at reading people's minds.
To be precise, it's a matter of exquisite judgment as to how far the other person's spirit can withstand.
In this way, Miyu strips the person's heart completely bare and then gives that person the one candy they really need.
This 'trigger making' is the most outstanding thing of Miyu, whether it is an advantage or a desire, but Miyu forces the other person to bring it out themselves.
Yuka, Suzuhara, Yamamoto-san, and above all, I, were unable to resist Miyu's tricks.
"More than anything, Sotomichi. Today's purpose is to let you experience a woman, so be a little nervous."
"I'm not thinking about getting a girlfriend at an offline meeting, you know."
"Are you still saying that? A girlfriend is something you'll never be able to make unless you force yourself to have one."
"I know. It's not like that. There's someone I like right now. I've decided that my true love is her."
I can't lie.
So, I'll partly tell the truth.
I don't feel guilty about this, and I can stay calm.
"Haah? You, why did you keep silent about such an important thing?"
"It's probably harder to say things like this to your friends."
We don't have the kind of relationship where we usually talk about love, so we don't have the timing to start things off.
Even if my lover wasn't my sister, I wouldn't have been able to confide in him.
"Then I can't force you."
Suzuhara obediently backed away.
This guy's biggest growth was being able to understand people's feelings.
"If there's a girl you like, that's fine as your goal. But, Sotomichi. If you're not dating yet, it's not at all dishonest to play around with other women in the process, you know?"
Suzuhara put his elbows on the table, put his hands together once, and then pointed his palms at me.
"No, I understand what you're trying to say. It'll be your first, and I can understand how painful it is to want to stay clean to cherish that first time. I was like that too. But, you know, love doesn't necessarily end with the goal of going out, right?"
Suzuhara's expression was completely serious, and I was honestly impressed by this transformation, wondering what kind of experience he had to go through to speak in such a powerful way.
"If you can get in a relationship with your first love staying clean, you get 100 points. If you've played with other women, that's 80 points. But 80 points is fine, you know. It's the overall experience you've had with love, whether it ends in a breakup or marriage. That's how you get a perfect 1000 points.
Although there was no evidence, Suzuhara's story was convincing.
This feeling is the same as when talking to Miyu.
Confident stories attract listeners.
And eventually, it just turns theory into fact.
"If you're into that girl, I think you should think about what happens after you start dating, so get some experience with other women too. Of course, I'm not going to force you to do this, and I'll leave it up to you to decide what to do. Try to attract a woman's attention. The world will change."
Apparently, Suzuhara has changed after such an experience.
Try to attract a woman's attention as a man, huh?
When I think about it, I was just dating girls because of the flow of things, and I hardly ever showed off my masculinity.
I am aware that I am still lacking to Miyu as well.
I don't have any intention of ogling the girls I'll meet today, but it might be a good idea to make an effort to show myself as a reliable older brother.
"Well, it's almost time. Everyone's messages have arrived. It looks like no one is late this time, so eight of us will be entering the room at the same time. It's gonna be pretty tough for Sotomichi's debut, so listen carefully."
Before we left, Suzuhara gave me a few lectures.
First, make sure to use the restroom.
In the early stages, if you are left out of the conversation for even a second, it will be difficult to get back into the conversation.
It is important to establish a position as a person who is easy to talk to first.
Next, avoid mentioning appearance.
Not even as a joke or compliment.
Even if you are used to women, complimenting a woman you have just met for the first time will make them feel uncomfortable.
This is a basic principle.
"At the beginning, there is no doubt that the group will be divided into a girls' group and a boys' group. However, there is no need to break this up. Leave it to the organiser who is responsible for that. If you do that, no one will have any sour feelings."
"Suzuhara and Senpai are the organisers, right? Should I just talk to the other guy?"
"That's right. Senpai and I will take care of the girls' group, so get to know Tanaka in the meantime."
At today's offline meeting, Suzuhara's senior, Kurokan, is the main organiser, with Suzuhara and Harumaki serving as sub-organisers.
Tanaka-san, also known as Tanaka Krauzer II, seems to be a year older than me, but I wonder if we can get along well.
"Also, we haven't made it public in the game yet, so I only explained to the members that Sotomichi, Senpai, and I have known each other since junior high school. Understand, right?"
"It's hard for people to talk if the inner circle is too strong, I guess. I'll try to talk to people other than Suzuhara as much as possible, so it's okay."
There's no need to hide our relationship, but we do need to be considerate so that the participants of the offline meeting don't feel intimidated.
I was advised to keep this in mind, and Suzuhara and I moved to the front of the karaoke.
There stood a pair consisting of a well-built man and a cutely dressed girl holding a parasol.
It's probably the organisers, Kurokan-san and Harumaki-san.
"Senpai, it's been a while. Is that Harumaki-san?"
Suzuhara took the initiative and moved to greet.
Kurokan-san knows Suzuhara well, and furthermore, these three people, including Harumaki-san, are the group of organisers, so it's not like I can just butt in.
Let's remain calm until Suzuhara introduces me.
"Hello, I'm Harumaki. My nickname in real life is also the same, so please call me Harumaki."
When Harumaki bowed, the rest of her braided hair, tied into two knots, fell smoothly from her shoulders.
Her attire was a slightly more casual version of Miyu's lolicon cosplay, and if I had to describe her in one word, she would be a cute otaku princess.
"Is that so! Well, Sotomichi's the same, this guy's nickname is Hanne."
Suzuhara took the initiative to introduce me, so I gave a nod and a light greeting just like Harumaki-san.
Speaking of which, Harumaki-san is a college student, right?
She looks rather younger, but I have to respect her properly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Sotomichi."
"Yes, it's nice to meet you. It's fine for both of you to talk to me as if it's a chatroom. It's an offline meeting, so feel at ease."
Harumaki-san nudged my arm, perhaps to relieve the tension.
If it had been me when I had no female experience, I would have fallen right now.
"I heard from Suzuhara-kun that Virgin-kun is boring, but he doesn't look like that at all, does he?"
Harumaki-san casually makes radical remarks while peering into my face with sharp eyes, as if provoking me from below.
My heart would have skipped a beat if I hadn't gotten used to this angle from Miyu.
Despite her calm demeanor, she's actually quite capable.
This person might possibly be a real otaku crusher.
"That guy, he used to be quite unrefined. Even I was surprised when I met him today. But, he's definitely a virgin!"
Suzuhara hurriedly followed up, but it actually seemed unnecessary.
It would be troublesome to claim non-virginity in this state, so let's give up on that idea.
"Well, it's true that I'm not that remarkable."
It's bad for Miyu to look down on myself too much.
However, it is true that I am not very impressive as a man.
I want to improve, but I'm still conflicted about not wanting to show unnecessary favoritism.
"Kurokan-san, it's also our first meeting."
I also say hello to the well-built guy next to me.
According to Suzuhara, this person is also a former otaku, but there's not the slightest hint of that.
His looks make it easy to understand that he has devoted his life to judo all his life.
"Kurosawa is fine. It was found out after we exchanged contact information anyways. Please call me by my real name."
Mr. Kurosawa smiles with a deep, dignified face that makes him look like he is not 20 years old.
He is a person who embodies the masculinity of a yankee.
Then the remaining four people came, briefly introduced themselves, and then joined in the karaoke.
We rented out a party room and started by sitting separately for men and women.
There were no special instructions.
Naturally, we settled on this group date format.
The main organizer this time is Kurosawa-san.
However, Suzuhara was in charge of the partition.
After confirming that everyone had left their baggage, Suzuhara stood up alone.
"Alright! Then, let's all open the app! For now, we'll just play games until we run out of stamina! If you tell me, I'll go get you a drink, so just laze around and talk whatever!"
When Suzuhara adds that it's okay to sleep in the room since it's a big room, several people laugh and the atmosphere becomes calm.
This guy has acquired terrifying communication skills.
I don't think I can imitate him, so I guess I'll just get along with Tanaka-san for now.
"Is Tanaka-san okay with Tanaka-san?"
"It's fine. It's my real name."
This person too, huh.
I guess they don't hide personal information these days.
Though, I have no intention of doing anything even if I know.
"Also, it's okay without the honorifics. If you're going like that, you're probably planning to use honorifics even with those two younger people. It's time to stop doing it because it's becoming a habit. You'll get used to it because you're used to it."
"T-that so...? Then I'll do just that."
I wonder if all the people who are used to offline meetings have this kind of atmosphere.
Momo-chan was also extremely casual and overly familiar from the get-go towards me.
However, I had an established image of Momo-chan as 'that kind of person' from the time we chatted, so I didn't feel any dislike towards her.
Even in real life, creating an impression of your character is quite important.
"This is my first time participating in an offline meeting. I wonder how much I can ask about, like personal things."
"It's okay to ask about high school, you know? But it doesn't make sense if it doesn't lead to a topic. After all, we're talking about games and other hobbies, aren't we?"
According to her, there are some things that girls are more attracted to, such as love stories and their preferred type of the opposite sex.
I used to have the impression that offline meetings were a gathering of unpopular people, but it seems that's not the case these days.
Thanks to the popularity of smartphone apps, it is now possible to reach people other than otakus, so it seems that you can control how unpopular your group is by choosing which people to invite.
After all, an offline meeting held by an unpopular person becomes an unpopular meeting, and an offline meeting held by a positive character becomes a cool meeting.
It seems that Kurosawa-san and Harumaki-san have a great influence this time.
First of all, everyone looks normal, including Tanaka-san.
And Momo-chan has a boyfriend, Harumaki-san seems to be more popular, and Yozora-chan and Kanata-chan are the youngest, so they're keeping a low profile, but they have the lively feel of first-year high school girls.
Rather, I'm the one who will be most troubled when the love stories start.
A relationship close to sex friends and a relationship with my real sister.
I definitely can't open up about that.
Speaking of which, Tanaka-san was also listening to that conversation.
Mr. Kurosawa said he would take Harumaki to a love hotel, but I wonder what he plans to do.
"So everyone's favourite is Harumaki-san?"
Tanaka-san asked so that the girl across from him could not hear.
Certainly, when it comes to good looks, Harumaki-san is the clear winner.
She is a soft-spoken and cheerful person, with both Kurosawa-san and Suzuhara immediately sitting down next to her and chatting.
Momo-chan, who is in high spirits, is trying to make fun of her, but Kurosawa-san has always been obsessed with Harumaki-san, and Suzuhara is only interceding to keep the atmosphere from becoming bad.
By the way, the other two, Kanata-san and Yozora-san, are modestly playing the game.
"I'm not thinking about going out or taking anyone to a hotel, so I'll just talk to everyone little by little. If you like looks, I'd recommend Harumaki-san."
That's because she's like a combination of Miyu and Yamamoto-san and divided by two.
Although, if Harumaki-san's cuteness is on a scale of 10, then Miyu and Yamamoto-san's cuteness would be around 100.
"Is that so? In that case, I want to become friends with her, so could you please help me?"
"Cooperation? It's fine by me."
Does this person have a goal?
It's a rare opportunity, and I would like to take advantage of it.
Somehow, when I act this way, I end up feeling like a nasty person.
I need to be more humble.
I shouldn't get complacent just because the absolute angel of beauty that is Miyu is my lover.
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