Otaku Freak

"Mutsumi!" Mutsumi Asuma turned around to see a young man running towards him. He paused, waiting for him to catch up. He did and stopped, panting. "Thanks for waiting, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages Mutsumi."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Sato. I guess you're right it has been awhile since we've seen each other." Mutsumi felt bad that he'd been ignoring his friend. He'd been working hard lately, which made sense. Afterall, he was in his first year of university now. He was doing his best to balance between his coursework, his university friends, old friends, and his girlfriend. "How have you been Sato?"

"I've been good. Busy, as usual, but where have you been, man? I've seen you walking to classes sometimes but the guys and I haven't seen you out at all lately."

"I've actually been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend lately. She's been having a rough time." It was true. Kae had been having a hard time ever since Lord had gotten betrothed to an ambassador's daughter on the season finale of Kanchu Ranbu. Mutsumi watched it with her and he was well aware that Lord had been ignoring Akane's unease about the woman. Kae had been losing her mind, switching between melancholy over the impending marriage to anger at Lord's actions to obsession over the true meaning behind Akane's wariness. Mutsumi, ever the supportive and caring boyfriend, had been spending his free time with her a lot lately, working to help her through her emotions, listening and agreeing to her rants, and (when it got really bad) trying to distract her with Mirage Saga. Igarashi, Nanashima, and Shinomiya were attempting to do the same in their own ways, to varying degrees of success (Nishina was in a similar state as Kae so, unfortunately, she wasn't much help. They had developed a habit of sobbing together). This had left little time for his university friends.

"Oh yeah! I forgot you had a girlfriend in high school. Are exams coming up or something?"

"No, she's just working through some personal problems." Mutsumi was too polite and courteous to share another's personal problems without asking their permission first. It was Kae's choice whether or not she wanted Sato to know, not his.

"That sucks. This might be a bad time but since you brought her up, I was wondering when we could meet this girlfriend of yours." Mutsumi was surprised.

"You want to meet her?" Sato nodded.

"Of course. You're always mentioning her and we're all curious." Mutsumi thought. Maybe going out and spending time with his friends would take Kae's mind off of Lord and Akane for a bit and cheer her up. It couldn't hurt to try and it would make his friends happy.

"I suppose I could ask her to come hang out with us this weekend." Sato smiled.

"That's great! Hey, does she have any cute, single girl friends for us single guys?" Mutsumi thought back onto Kae's friend group. Besides the guys and him she really didn't have many female friends. Nakano Amane had a boyfriend and he didn't think that Nishina was all that interested in boys who weren't in anime or gay.

"Not really." Sato shrugged.

"Too bad. Just message us to let us know when are where to show up, okay?" Mutsumi nodded. "Sweet! See ya later Mutsumi, don't forget!" Sato said as he hustled off in the direction of his class.

"I won't, have a good class Sato" Mutsumi called after his friend. He looked at his watch, it was almost time for his own class. As he walked to the education building he made a mental note to talk to Kae tonight about the get-together tonight.

Mutsumi knocked on the front door of the Serinuma household. The door swung open to reveal not Kae but her older brother, Serinuma Takuro.

"Oh, it's you again," he said.

"Hello, good to see you again. May I come in?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Takero moved to the side allowing Mutsumi to walk inside.

"Thank you Serinuma." When he stepped inside Mutsumi was immediately greeted by Kae's mother, well made up as usual.

"Oh, Mutsumi! It's so good to see your handsome face in my home again." Mutsumi nodded and smiled. He was very fond her ways of showing affection.

"It's good to see you too Serinuma-san."

"Oh Mutsumi, so formal, you're making me blush. You know you can call me Oka-san." She turned to her son. "Takero go let Kae know that Mutsumi is here." Takero rolled his eyes and muttered to himself before calling up the stairs.

"HEY KAE! YOUR BOYFRIEND IS HERE! GET YOUR ASS OUTTA BED!"

"TAKERO! Such language in front of a guest!" Serinuma-san said.

"It's fine Serinuma-san. I really don't mind." Having been dating Kae for almost year by now Mutsumi was well used to the eccentric Serinuma family and was quite fond of them and their antics. Kae rushed down the stairs, still in her Shion t-shirt and Mirage Saga pajama pants with a blanket around her shoulders.

"Mom! Takero! Stop being so weird!" she exclaimed. She grabbed his hand and raced up to her bedroom, dragging him along behind her. "I'm sorry. I thought for sure they'd be more normal be now."

"It's fine. I like it, they're so full of character." Mutsumi said smiling.

"They're full of something alright, she muttered. "Did you get it?" Mutsumi nodded and held up the bag of takeout in his hand. "Thanks! You never forget!" She gave him one of her radiant smiles.

"How could I? You always get so excited whenever we watch Mirage Saga together and have your favorite takeout. It's so much fun." Ever since they'd started dating Kae had been introducing him to her favorite animes. They'd started getting together Wednesday nights to share dinner and watch the newest episode of Mirage Saga. He preferred Kanchu Ranbu since it was more historical but he enjoyed the story and loved seeing how passionate Kae got about her favorite show. He was especially glad because lately the anticipation of a new Mirage Saga episode seemed to be pulling her out of the funk she'd been in since Kanchu Ranbu's season finale.

"Come on! Let's go watch! I heard a rumor that tonight's episode is supposed to be Shion centric tonight!" Mutsumi smiled. He loved it when his little otaku was so happy.

It turned out the rumor Kae had heard was correct and the episode was entirely focused on Shion. This meant that by the end Kae was completely elated. Mutsumi figured that this would probably be the best time to ask her about meeting his friends.

"Hey, Kae?" Not long after they started dating they'd agreed to start calling each other by their first names.

"What is it Asuma?"

"I was talking with my friend Sato today at school and he mentioned that he and my other university friends want to meet you."

"Really! Why?"

"Well I do talk about you a lot," Mutsumi admitted nervously. Kae blushed. After everything they'd been through together, he knew that, while she had no trouble shipping anime men, she still got nervous whenever it came to her own relationship. "I guess they want to get to know my girlfriend.

"I don't know… I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friends." He was confused.

"Why would you?"

"People don't always like fujoshis. I've learned to accept it and not really care because it's who I am. You and the other helped me do that. But I don't want my fujoshi nature to make you look bad in front of your new friends. Maybe I should try to hide it." Mutsumi remembered that horrible first outing with her and the rest of the guys. Kae had been so miserable because she'd been struggling to hide her true self.

"Please don't. I would hate for you to go through that. Besides, the girl who is so passionate about her interests is the girl I fell in love with." He gently rested his hand on top of her head as she flushed bright scarlet. "That's the girl I want my friends to get to know, okay?"

"Okay," she squeaked. "Let's meet up at the cafe downtown this Saturday?"

"That sounds perfect, thank you," Mutsumi leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.

"You're welcome," Kae whispered, hugging her boyfriend before he gently kissed her lips.

Saturday afternoon rolled around and it was time for Kae to meet Mutsumi's friends. They had planned to meet up at the cafe around 3:00. Unfortunately, Kae's train had been late so she was currently jogging to the cafe already 20 minutes late. As she approached the cafe she saw Mutsumi waiting for her outside. He was wearing his glasses, Kae loved his glasses. They always made him look so cute and smart.

"Asuma!" Kae called out to him as she ran up. He turned to her and smiled. She stopped, panting. Even though she was in better shape now she still wasn't the sporty type. Mutsumi rubbed her back gently. "I'm sorry… I'm late," she rasped out, "Train was late... got here… fast as I… could."

"It's all right. I'm glad you made it here okay." He gave her a quick hug. "Are you still sure you want to do this?" Mutsumi would hate himself if he forced Kae to do this when she didn't want to. But Kae nodded.

"Of course I do. They're important to you and I want to get to know them." Mutsumi smiled. Kae had always been such a kind and generous person, she showed it every day. And she was showing it again right now, reminding Mutsumi why he'd fallen in love with her in the first place.

"We should get inside then." When they got inside Sato immediately waved the couple over.

"Mutsumi! Over Here!" Kae was gently guided to the table by her boyfriend. "Glad you could make it, we were starting to think you ditched us."

"I'm sorry, that was my fault. My train was late and he was waiting for me," Kae said, looking around the table at the five boys present. "I hope you all weren't waiting too long." The boys were all blushing at the sweet, cute girl. None of them had expected their quiet, kind of nerdy friend to have such a hot girlfriend.

"It's cool," Sato said nervously, the other four nodding wordlessly.

"Let me introduce my girlfriend, Serinuma Kae. Kae, these are my friends: Sato Kosei, Takahashi Ryusei, Watanabe Sota, Ito Yuto, and Yamamoto Haruto." Sato was smiling at her his faced framed with short purple hair. Takahashi was winking cockily and had very wavy blonde hair. Watanabe was the one with glasses and gray hair in a ponytail. Ito was mostly hidden in his hoodie but some black hair stuck out from underneath. Yamamoto looked to be the most athletic and tallest, he was the one with the orange hair. Kae was relieved to find that Mutsumi's friends looked exactly how he had described them. It would make it easier to remember who was who. They were all very cute, she hoped she could get through this without shipping them too hard. Whether or not she went home and called Ah and Nishina when she got home and fangirled was a completely separate issue.

"It's so nice to meet all of you. I was really happy when Asuma told me that you guys wanted to meet me."

"It's our pleasure," Takahashi seemed to put emphasis on the word pleasure. "But if you don't mind me asking, how did our dear Mutsumi manage to get such a cute girlfriend?"

"You're too kind." What was it Asuma had said about him? He was very friendly with girls. This was her sweet boyfriend's way of saying his friend was a total player. "Actually we were friends in high school. He was actually my senpai in history club." Players were fun. It was always nice when they chased after a hard-to-get, smart boy.

"You're in the history club?" This was Watanabe, the one with glasses. Asuma had said that Watanabe was the best study partner.

"Yes, Asuma was the president. Now that he's graduated I'm the vice president of our current one. Asuma still helps us out a lot though." Watanabe was really slim and pretty, almost like a girl.

"What sort of historical events is your club discus-"

"WATANABE! No one cares about your boring history obsession! We're trying to get to know Serinuma-chan." Takahashi jumped into the conversation.

"I keep telling you, Takahashi. History is actually quite fascinating if you give it the chance. Why just the other day I was reading this very interesting book about the last of the Samurai families in the Meiji Era-"

"BORING! Stop being such a drag, Watanabe." Kae was watching the exchange, enraptured. A hot player and his friend the quiet, pretty nerd who's trying to encourage him to enjoy more intellectual pursuits! It was almost too much! But the fujoshi in her needed more.

"Cool it, you two. We don't want to listen to this argument again." Sato jumped in. It was clear to Kae that he was in some ways the leader of the group. Nothing like a hot guy who took charge of his fellow men. It was so hot! "We're trying to get to know Mutsumi's girlfriend so please try to make a good impression." He looked over at Ito. "Which means you actually have to put down the hood and socialize, Ito," Ito grumbled and dropped the hood. Kae was surprised to see that he looked just like Hikaru, the main character from For Love! Iitate Swim Club. He gave off the same quiet, mysterious vibe as Karu too. So cool! "You'll have to forgive Ito. He thinks that silence and grunts are an acceptable form of communication." Yup, just like Karu!

"It's alright! It's better than my brother, he just yells all the time, right Asuma?" Mutsumi smiled affectionately and nodded.

"Your brother does have a very vocal way of expressing himself."

"Sounds like the exact opposite of Ito here," Sato said, nudging his friend. "Come on Ito, say hi to Serinuma." Ito glanced up with a bored expression.

"Hey." Sato smiled.

"Good job! You sounded almost social that time." Ito tried to pull away from Sato's prodding fingers, only to be put in a headlock and nugied. Kae was having a hard time containing her emotions. It was like she was watching a live episode of Iitate Swim Club with Ito as Karu and Madoka, or Mado, Karu's childhood friend, and the club's friendly president. These two were perfection. It was all just so, so… MOE!

"Leave him alone Sato, you're just being weird now," Yamamoto said. "I have to be at practice later remember? I'd rather not waste my time before I have to go just watching you guys be weird again."

"You have practice?" Kae asked. "What for?"

"Basketball. I'm the center for the basketball club at the university."

"Center? That means you must be the tallest player on the team then?" Yamamoto looked surprised.

"Yeah, do you know basketball?"

"A little." Among the many sports anime and manga that Kae enjoyed was Kurano's Basketball. Most of what she'd learned about basketball came from there. She just loved the camaraderie between the teammates. She wondered if Yamamoto enjoyed the same manly camaraderie with his own fellow basketball club members. Especially when they hit the showers after practice… did it feel hot in here all of a sudden?

"History and now basketball! Please do tell Serinuma-chan, what are some of your other interests?" Takahashi was tired of being ignored by the pretty girl. Just because she was dating his friend didn't mean he wasn't going to engage in a little harmless flirting with her.

"Well, let's see I really enjoy history like I said."

"What's your favorite time period?" asked Watanabe

"Well, I do think that the Meiji Era is interesting…" Kae started. "But if I'm honest I'd have to say my favorite is the Edo Period."

"Ah! The period of the samurai. An excellent and exciting choice."

"It really is. I'm such a fan of Hyakki Sametora."

"I've heard of him. He's such a fascinating historical figure."

"I know! And I'm just such a fan of Akane and Lord."

"I kno- wait, what?" Everyone but Mutsumi was staring at Kae in confusion.

"Akane and Lord, their love is so pure! I still can't believe where they left off last season on Kanchu Ranbu."

"You mean the anime with the character based on Hyakki Sametora?" Watanabe asked, shocked.

"Of course. Asuma and I watch it together. I actually introduced him to it before we started dating."

"Wait," Sato interjected. "You're into anime?"

"Of course! Kanchu Ranbu is one of my favorites but Mirage Saga is my all time favorite. Shion is just too beautiful." The boys were staring at her like she'd grown three heads.

"What are you?" Yamamoto was the first to speak. "Some kind of fangirl?"

"Yup."

"What the hell Mutsumi! Is this some kind of joke?" Mutsumi was confused.

"No? What do you mean?"

"Yamamoto-" Sato started, but he was cut off.

"You keep going on and on about this girl and she's supposed to be so great but she's just some kind of Otaku Freak!" Kae's blood went cold. This was exactly what she had been afraid of. She'd been herself, let them see her true self and now she'd done it. She had embarrassed her boyfriend in front of his friends.

"I think I should be going," Kae said, standing up.

"I agree," Mutsumi said as he stood.

"Wait, Mutsumi-" Watanabe said but Mutsumi only leveled his friends with a cold look.

"No. You asked to meet my girlfriend and you did. I think it's time we were going. I don't think there's anything else to do here." He took Kae's hand gently and walked with her out of the restaurant. They were silent as they walked around. Kae knew Mutsumi was upset even if he didn't really show it. He needed some time to cool down.

"I'm sorry they said that. They shouldn't have been so disrespectful." Kae smiled and shook her head at her concerned boyfriend. Even when he was hurt he still wanted to make sure she was okay.

"It's fine. I'm used to it after all these years. Can't be a fujoshi without running into that a lot." Mutsumi stopped and looked her in the eyes.

"It's not fine. They were rude and disrespectful to you. So you have interests that you're passionate about. What's so wrong with that? I expected more from them."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Kae asked, concerned.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because they're your friends and we kinda just walked out on them."

"I can talk to them later. Frankly, unless they improve their mindsets about this I don't think I want to be friends with them anymore."

"But-"

"No buts." This was a rare side of Mutsumi, one Kae barely ever saw. The side he only brought out when he was firm in his beliefs and willing to fight for them. "I can always make more friends. I only have one you. After all," He leaned in close to Kae. "Friends come and go but what we have, Kae. That's permanent." Kae smiled as he leaned in and kissed her. She may be an otaku freak but as long as she had Mutsumi Asuma at her side then the world could judge her all they wanted. He knew what she was and loved her. What could be better than that?