（＞人＜;）
Inside Iori's room...
"I'm really sorry, Kitahara, for making you bear such a heavy sin," Kohei said.
But even as he said that, he clutched the wetsuit tightly to his chest—and even hugged it closer.
He'd made up his mind: for the next three days, he was going to spend quality time alone with this wetsuit!
"…That's quite a heavy sin indeed."
Shiro looked at Kohei with nothing but sympathy, hoping that when he finally learned the truth, he wouldn't choose to commit seppuku.
After all, having… feelings for an older man's wetsuit? The very thought was horrifying.
Now that the wetsuit was in their possession, Kohei had no more regrets. He grabbed Shiro's phone and prepared to post the auction listing he'd just drafted.
"Watch closely, you two! I'm about to sell my kidney!"
"Stop! You're seriously hurting my conscience here!"
As always, Iori's last shreds of conscience kicked in at the crucial moment. Even though Kohei did have two kidneys, trading one for an old man's wetsuit still struck a deep blow to morality.
Shiro nodded in agreement. In truth, it was the power of friendship that stopped Kohei. If it had been anyone else, Shiro might've already reserved a hospital bed.
The group turned to browse other auction items and slowly started to hatch a new plan.
Since they couldn't sell something high-value, they'd try selling in volume instead.
On a shaded path lined with trees, four people were leisurely walking toward Kohei's place.
"…So why am I going to Imamura's room again?"
Chisa was a bit confused. Was it really okay to leave Aina alone at the shop?
"Well, this is our first time going too."
"If we see something sketchy, someone needs to call the cops, right?"
"..."
It sounded a bit absurd—but since they were talking about Kohei, it was hard to argue.
"But… there are already two of you. Why do you need so many people just to call the cops?"
Chisa tilted her head in confusion.
"Ah, I'm afraid I might fall to temptation!" Shiro replied earnestly.
He had a very clear sense of self-awareness. If there was enough blessing (i.e., fanservice), he would fall.
"..."
Chisa had no words. She had to admit—when it came to self-awareness, Shiro truly excelled.
Up ahead, Kohei glanced over his shoulder in confusion. He had a strong feeling the three behind him were talking trash about him…
Soon, the group arrived at their destination:
Kohei's apartment.
It looked like a typical rental—nothing special. Just… far.
Shiro was especially curious. He'd been to Yamamoto and Mitarai's rooms before, but never Kohei's, despite being closer friends with him.
Even when they borrowed and returned games, they always did it at the dive shop. He'd never actually been inside Kohei's home.
A shut-in's room…
Surely there would be tons of figures, collector's edition games, and doujinshi.
The thought alone got Shiro excited. He nudged Kohei. "Hurry up, I can't wait to see your collection!"
However, Kohei froze at his words. As he unlocked the door, he tried to block Shiro's view inside.
"Uh, wait a sec. Let me tidy up first…"
(′｀;)?
"Tidy up?"
Shiro blinked. "It's just us. Do you really need to clean up?"
They'd all seen each other naked already.
Well, not Chisa, obviously.
"We don't mind a little mess, so—"
"No! That's not it!" Kohei cut him off, turning his back to them. "Even I have things I'd be embarrassed for others to see…"
He stepped inside, leaving the trio confused and stunned.
"Things he'd be embarrassed to show…"
Shiro and Iori exchanged a glance—and both looked at Chisa.
It must be because of her. Kohei was trying to be considerate of her feelings.
For the three guys, even if the room was filled with lewd magazines or AVs, it wouldn't be shocking.
Hell, even if he had a full-size blow-up waifu, they wouldn't be surprised.
Which meant they could afford to wait a little.
And this gave Shiro time to ask Iori something that had been bugging him. "Hey, Kitahara… isn't selling the wetsuit still kinda problematic? Isn't it basically the same as just giving money to Aina?"
It felt no different from what they'd tried before. Might as well have Shiro hand her cash directly.
"Wetsuit?!"
Chisa looked at Iori in shock. She had just checked earlier—Mizuki Kaya's wetsuit was still there. In fact, she had hidden it in her own room.
"That one's just the uncle's old wetsuit."
Iori quietly explained. After hearing it, Chisa gave both Iori and Shiro a look like she was staring at scum. Poor Imamura, having these two as friends.
"Ahem, anyway, it's still different."
Iori brushed off her judgmental gaze—he was long used to it—and returned to Shiro's question.
"We can frame it as a donation from Mizuki Kaya. But honestly, that's probably not realistic. For now, let's see what valuable stuff we can auction."
Since they didn't have the real Mizuki Kaya wetsuit, that story wouldn't work.
And having Shiro just donate a huge sum under that name? Unrealistic. That would mean Shiro would have to cough up a fortune for free, and Aina wouldn't even know.
Even though Shiro could probably afford it, it should be a last resort.
So the best option right now was for everyone to auction off their own stuff to help Aina through this tough time. They couldn't just sit by and watch her drop out.
This way, she'd probably be more willing to accept the help too.
"Got it. So we're starting with Kohei's stuff!"
Shiro, with full marks in comprehension, nodded enthusiastically. Time to go treasure hunting.
As a full-on shut-in...
Kohei was bound to have lots of forgotten, unused junk lying around~
Shiro couldn't wait to raid the otaku's hoard. If he found any top-tier doujinshi, he'd even buy them himself!
He and Azusa had just burned through all his stash during "study sessions"—he needed to restock!
And if they happened to be dark themed? Even better.（λ?_??）
Ten minutes later.
The trio lay collapsed by the rail like sun-dried sardines.
"What the hell is that bastard doing in there?!"
Shiro was at his limit. If the door hadn't been so sturdy, he'd have blown it up already.
The summer sun was deadly without A/C!
"You guys can come in now!"
Just as Shiro contemplated stripping to cool off, Kohei's voice finally came, and the door creaked open.
Creak~
No hesitation—they yanked open the door to salvation.
A blast of cold air washed over them, bringing them back to life.
"'Scuse the intrusion~"
"Geez, made us wait forever."
"Even if you were hiding your waifu, there's no—wait, wait… WHAT THE HELL DID YOU EVEN CLEAN IN HERE?!"
They'd expected something at least slightly normal after ten minutes.
Instead, it was exactly what they imagined a shut-in's room to be—times ten!
Comics and game consoles everywhere. Walls plastered with little sister-type posters. Light novels and doujinshi crammed every shelf. It was even worse than Shiro's place—and he writes light novels!
Compared to all that, the life-size body pillows on the bed and the figurines on the desk almost seemed normal… almost.
There was barely space to stand.
Shiro now desperately wanted to know just what the hell Kohei had spent those ten minutes hiding.
Wham!
Meanwhile, Iori expressed his shock through physical action—with a righteous punch to Kohei's gut.
"Did you really need to make us wait this long?!"
"..."
Even Chisa, for once, didn't argue. Clearly, she agreed that getting roasted under the sun for ten minutes wasn't worth it.
"Eh?"
As she examined the bookshelf, something caught her eye. She tugged on Shiro's sleeve.
"There's a ton of identical books here."
"Oh, that? That's the legendary… 'evangelism.'"
Shiro glanced over, completely unfazed. For an otaku, having multiple copies of the same book was totally normal.
Chapter 247: The Real Reason Aina Came Home!
After all, when it came to things they loved, otaku usually bought three copies.
One for reading, one for collecting, and one for "spreading the gospel"!
It was precisely this fanatical evangelism of diehard otaku that made most people in Japan extremely disgusted by them.
Kamashiro Shirou had encountered many such diehard otaku buying his books at bookstores before.
Honestly, he couldn't bring himself to hate them!
These people were his meal ticket! (λ?_??)
He even hoped more people like that would come. Maybe he could even raise the price and start a "buy three, get one free" promotion.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. He was ready to discuss it with Hanabi-chan when he got home tonight!
"..."
(???)
Chisa broke into a cold sweat. Shouldn't this guy at least look before commenting? This wasn't just a "buying three copies" kind of situation…
"This entire shelf is the same book…"
"Huh?"
Kamashiro Shirou stepped up and took a look. Sure enough, the whole shelf was filled with the same book—visually, there had to be over a hundred copies.
"Are you trying to start some kind of cult?"
His mouth twitched as he turned to look at Kohei, who had somehow ended up behind them. No matter how much you liked something, this was just too much.
"You found out, huh～"
!
The sudden voice startled Chisa so badly she nearly judo-flipped Kohei out of reflex.
"Who the hell are you trying to convert with all of this?"
Iori picked up one of the books to examine it. It was fairly thin, but every page was beautifully crafted.
"Evangelizing?"
"Yeah, what else would you call this?"
All three stared at Kohei. There's no way he'd buy so many just to collect, right? What kind of extravagant collector hoards a hundred identical copies of a book?
"Well… I guess you could call it evangelizing, but… these are all copies of a manga I drew back in high school."
!!!
The three looked at Kohei in stunned disbelief.
"You drew this, Imamura?!"
"You have that kind of skill too?!"
"Are you serious?!"
Even Kamashiro Shirou started to doubt whether Kohei was truly an otaku.
Wasn't this guy a bit too multi-talented?
Good looks, decent physique, could do falsetto voice acting, cosplay makeup, and draw…
If he claimed to be a normie, people would believe him!
But instead of acting all smug like usual, Kohei looked miserable, clutching his life-size body pillow with sorrow plastered across his face.
"Damn it… now even Kotegawa knows I'm a total otaku… (╥_╥)"
Hearing that, Chisa pointed at him with a disbelieving expression directed at Iori and Shirou. She didn't say anything, but her face clearly said: Does this guy have no self-awareness at all?!
"Just pretend you never knew," Iori and Kamashiro Shirou waved it off calmly—they were used to this kind of thing.
After all, Kamashiro Shirou(.Kitahara) often lacked self-awareness too.
He never admitted he was scum (or an idiot).
"..."
Looking at the three of them, Chisa suddenly felt like she was actually quite normal.
"So you were drawing lewd manga back in high school?"
Shirou's eyes lit up. If it was a (black beast) doujin, he wouldn't mind collecting a few.
"No way! Rarako is forever pure!"
That topic immediately triggered Kohei. His version of Rarako wouldn't even get involved in a pure romance!
Even if the male lead was himself—he still wouldn't be worthy!
"Forever pure sounds kinda sad though…"
"You're basically suppressing the entire human instinct."
Hearing it wasn't a lewd doujin, Iori and Kamashiro Shirou tossed the books aside in disinterest, muttering snide remarks.
"Anyway, let's hurry up and find something valuable," Chisa interrupted, clearly annoyed with the direction of the conversation.
That snapped them out of it. "Oh right."
"We better start digging!"
"I still have a few collectibles here."
The three of them immediately began their treasure hunt around the small room. For some reason, they all instinctively moved more quietly and stealthily.
"..."
Watching their suspicious movements, Chisa couldn't help but feel like they were a bunch of thieves.
If it weren't for the highly specific decor, she might have questioned whether this was even Kohei's room.
Luckily, it didn't take long for the "thieves" to make progress.
Iori: "Found one. How about this?"
Kohei: "That's a hentai magazine."
Shirou: "What about this?"
Kohei: "That's a hentai doujinshi."
Iori: "This one under the bed?"
Kohei: "That's a hentai game."
Looking at the pile of adult content, Kamashiro Shirou exploded. "Why the hell is everything in your house porn?!"
(;?＿?)
Kohei gave him a side-eye. "Just say whether you want it or not."
"Ahem…"
Kamashiro Shirou quietly pulled out his wallet. There were a few he was definitely interested in.
"Don't get the wrong idea, alright? I just want to study the art style and anatomy—you know I draw illustrations too…"
(???)
The three stared at him blankly. They clearly didn't buy that excuse one bit.
Pfft. Pervert!