I Love, Love, Really Love You, so I Want To Tell You How Much I Love Being With You - Chapter 2 - I want to experience my first time with you! - Part 2

“You’ve murdered my enthusiasm!”

“It’s a catastrophe!” 

Eija and I exchanged random idioms and prepared a variety of drinks and snacks as we waited for the game to be downloaded.

A set of personified canine characters were lined up in a row. At first glance, a heart shape appeared in Eija’s eyes. 

“Kyuuuuu~Kawaii desuuu…”

She wasn’t aware of her own beauty and cuteness, perhaps because she lacks self-confidence.

I once asked her about it. She made a surprised face, then turned bright red and was extremely embarrassed. Then, as if to make an excuse…

“It’s not like that! I’m just an ordinary girl. There are many more beautiful people in Helsinki!”

TLN: Helsinki is the capital city of Finland! 

Finland… what a scary country! No, maybe Eija is just being modest. If she isn’t, then the Nordic face index inflation is too dangerous. It is a hyperinflation of beauty.

“All of them are really cute… who’s the character designer? I’m curious.”

“Let’s leave out the staff for now…”

Lately, Eija’s otaku level has been rising steadily. She even started to talk about the illustrators and voice actors of the characters. Well, the same went for me. I was pretty into otaku activities during elementary school, but I stayed away from otaku culture once I entered middle school.

Instead of being focused on a single subject, I tried to keep up with what everyone was talking about by checking out the trends. You don’t have to stand out, but you shouldn’t be an airhead, either.

Don’t cause the dissatisfaction of others. Don’t disturb others. Don’t be resented. Don’t be struck down.

I think I did pretty well. Being obsessed with something makes you look like an idiot to other people, especially if it’s something they don’t understand. People criticize what they don’t understand to prove they are right. So I spent my time trying not to obsess over anything that was important to me.

At that time, I thought it was the best, or rather, the safest and wisest choice. While I was somehow living my life, I graduated from middle school.

An ordinary person. The world has decided that we are mass-produced people who shouldn’t get in anyone’s way. It seems to me that the world is looking for that. However, I wasn’t.

 “Ah, I’m so conflicted! It’s like every character wants me to pick them!” Eija furrowed her eyebrows and stared at her phone screen.

“Well, if you don’t pick one, we won’t be able to start the game…”

“I have to make a decision! Eija, you can do this!”

If I said this pun in a classroom, would you laugh hysterically or just remain silent? Which would it be…?

My guess is that they’ll laugh at us behind our backs after we leave.

After looking for a while, I was having trouble deciding which character to choose, but Eyja was relieved to know that she could start over again and again. Then, she went with… brown hair, twin-tails, and a tiara that looked like it belonged to a princess. By the way, its breed was Pomeranian. Afterwards, I decided to look up how to raise a dog. But as I was about to search for a strategy site, Eyja stopped me.

“No! That’s an evil way, I think we should accomplish this on our own!”

How hardcore! Then… let’s see what you are capable of! The dog is training for the D1 race, the pinnacle of dog racing, and gradually working his way up to bigger and bigger races.

 “Eh? How did you get sick before the race?”

“I thought I’d try and recover my energy by taking a break… but I don’t understand how my character failed to take a break…”

There were conditions that had to be met in order to progress, being that you had to finish first in the race. This round ended before the condition was met. 

‘Well… we didn’t reach the goal, but thanks for telling us.’

The line “I’m sorry!” and a scene of the character waving to fans with a happy expression brought tears to Eyja’s eyes.

“I’m sorry…I’m a bad trainer… I couldn’t make us win… I’m a bad person after all…”

“Don’t be so disheartened. Let’s try harder next time.”

“Yes! That’s right! This time… I’ll definitely make her happy!”

“But… why do you already look so happy?”

“I love dog characters! In Finland, Japanese manga featuring dogs as characters are popular on a national level!”

Dogs? Was there ever a manga with one as a main character?

“Sorry for interrupting but… are you sure?”

“Well, the reason why we love dogs so much is because dog sledding is a huge part of our childhood!”

“I see…”

“So I really like this canine girl!  I want to know everything about her! Let’s just search it up on a website – Is that what you said before? Because I can’t watch these adorable girls get any sadder… I’m sure we’ll be able to find out more about the game!

However… it was limited to otaku activities. The reason she came to live in Japan was because it was the home of otaku culture! Eija’s fascination with Japanese culture caused her to study abroad.

On the surface, however, Eija says that she only came to Japan because of her interest in Japanese culture. Her parents allowed her to study in Japan in order to broaden her life experience and perspective, and to learn the values of a different culture. Therefore, the otaku activities were to be kept a secret, even at home.

As soon as three people know a secret, it is no longer a secret. If my parents find out, they will inform Eija’s parents. If my classmates find out, the whole school will know within a few days.

Because of that, I’m the only one who can openly talk about otaku topics. I’m also the only one who can teach Eija about otaku culture.

It is understandable to wonder, “Well, is it really necessary to go to such lengths to keep it a secret?” However, Eija also has her own circumstances.

The person in question took their eyes off the screen and clenched their fists. 

“I can’t stop myself from liking it… I want to convey this emotion to others.”

These days, Eyja not only wants to enjoy what she likes, but she also wants to talk about it. Unfortunately, she can’t talk properly to anyone but me. And I can’t let others know about her otaku activities. So… Eija uses another persona that isn’t “Eija” to express her feelings.

 “Hello! The game we will be playing today is called ‘Inu Musume’. I’m going to do a play-by-play now, since I’m still new to this game.”

TLN: For those of you that don’t know, a play by play is where the commentator talks about every action with a lot of details.

We moved to my room and she sat down in front of the webcam. I booted up my computer and launched the software. 

“She’s always so cute!”

Eija smiles, and the girl on the screen also smiles. She is a silver-haired wolf girl with ears on her head, just like Eija. Her name is Souya.

At first, there was a debate. 

“Since we created this character together, let’s both put our names on it! How about.. Aoi Eija?” 

Unfortunately, the risk of being revealed was too great, so we decided against it. It’s not like we were married, anyways. 

“This girl is, so to speak, our daughter!” 

“… Was it a fake marriage?”

Of course, the figure isn’t actually alive; it was originally a 2D illustration. The movements of Eija, captured by a web camera, are traced to the on-screen Moi, who tilts her head and moves her gaze when Eija does.  This is a so-called VTuber.

It would be nice if she could communicate directly with others, but not everyone has good social skills.

You don’t have to worry about not being able to change yourself. You don’t have to suffer to express what you like. With the help of technology, you can do what you like without changing yourself. I created this character so that Eija can be Eija. 

I moved the mouse and clicked the ‘start recording’ button on the software.

“Let’s test it out. Can you say something?”

Eyja smiled and started waving her hands at the camera.

“I’m Moi~ You can also call me Souya Moi! Today, too, I’m going to show you my ‘likes’”

On the monitor, Moi is waving her hands in a cute motion. Yes, it was a success! The cuteness was of the highest grade. I stopped recording and called out to Eija.

“I’ve confirmed. It’s working properly.” 

Eija nodded, “Thank you ♡. See you soon~”

She even said a polite goodbye… I opened Eija’s channel from my browser’s bookmarks. There were about ten videos that I had uploaded by hand. She had twenty-three subscribers. All the videos had views in the single or double digits. The highest one had 40. It wasn’t surprising since she was just a new V-Tuber. I don’t really mind the number of subscribers… but I’d like to increase her views a bit more.

Then, the girl on the screen shook her head from side to side.

“No! I’m so nervous! One or two people are happy just by listening to me, and above all–“

Eija looked embarrassed as she peeked down a little. “I’m happy to talk about my ‘likes’ with Orge…”

Oh man… this is so embarrassing…

“Well, it’s fun to stream. It’s not about what other people think, it’s about having fun.”

“Yes, it is. Watching other people can be entertaining, but it’s even more fun when we do it ourselves! And above all, I get to have my first experience with an Ogre!”

There was a problem with how she said it, but this is certainly the first time we became the creators of our own otaku activities. However, we still only talked about other people’s works, and even Moi’s illustrations were made by others. 

Still, there was no denying that we weren’t fully on the receiving end. 

“Then, let’s get started!”

“Yes…huh?”

At that moment, we got a new subscriber.

“That’s a good way to start things.”

“It must be a gift from God!”

Hmm? My eyes were glued to the screen. A change was quietly, but surely taking place. 

“What’s this… this is…” 

Something extraordinary had begun. I had a hunch. No.. it was a premonition.

From the moment I met Eija, I knew that my life would be changed.

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TLN: Hello everyone. Due to personal reasons and laziness, this chapter has been very very very delayed. I am truly sorry and I’m still thinking about whether to continue on with this novel or not.

At the very least, I will translate the next chapter or two for the few people that are still interested in this novel. All that aside, please enjoy the chapter!