She was really shocked and disheartened when she heard that. The look of anticipation in her eyes was gone and she looked downwards with a sad expression and said in a desolate tone

“Oh, I see. I just assumed you like manga like me. Well it can't be helped since-”

“Wait, I think you’re getting the wrong idea”

She quickly raised her head and looked at me

“Huh?”

I smiled and told

“I don't just like manga, I love it!”

She instantly brightened up again

“Really!?”

“Yeah! I even like anime, games, light novels and all that otaku stuff. I'm a hardcore otaku”

She looked really surprised and happy

“No way! That can't be true! It doesn't suit your appearance at all”

“Same goes for you. You’re the exact opposite of how an otaku would looks like. I never would have guessed you were a hardcore otaku if I hadn't seen you at the bookstore”

“Wait! How do you know that I'm a hardcore otaku and not just a normal one?”

”Well from the way you were reading that manga in the bookstore with so much interest I guessed you really enjoyed reading manga. And when I saw you choosing between the two manga ‘Arcane’ and ‘Chaos counter’ in the store, I knew you were pretty invested in manga. That's also why I was watching you in the store”

She looked a little embarrassed

“So you also saw me choosing between those two?”

“Yeah, it was really funny watching you get frustrated over which book to choose. In the end you just bought both”

“But what should I do! Both of them are equally good! It's impossible to choose between those two”

As I thought, she knows her manga well

“Yeah, I get you! Even the protagonists have similar personalities in both the of the mangas. It's like both the them have the same author”

She suddenly looked really surprised and covered her mouth in excitement

“OMG! So you also think that's true”

“Wait, you also thought of that theory!”

I can't believe we thought of the same thing

“Yeah! Ever since I saw read both of them I've been thinking about that. The art styles are different but the armour in both of them, are so similar”

She even noticed that! I thought I was the only one who found that similarity

“I know right! I also noticed that both of the author’s pen names are written with the same katakana”

She put her hand under her chin as if she was thinking about something serious while looking at the road. She then turned and looked at me as if she had just found out a mystery

“Do you think we actually found out the truth behind the two mangas?!”

This was getting really fun

“I think we did! Maybe we can use this to blackmail the author and-”

Before I finished my sentence she interrupted and said with a eager looking face

“Get his autograph and make him add our names into his manga!”

!

“That's exactly what I was thinking!”

“OMG! It's like ours minds are connected when we talk about manga!”

Woah! Talking to Akatsuki-san is so much fun. It been years since I've had such a nice conversation about manga with another person. Even Akatsuki-san looked like she was having nice time talking to me

“Then what about anime? Do you have any theories regarding-”

*Phone ringing*

Just when the conversation was getting heated up, we got interrupted by a call from my phone

I took the phone out of my pocket and checked to see who it was. It was Kaede

It's already 8:30 and I should have been back home by 7:45. She must be calling to ask where I am

“Excuse me for a second, Akatsuki-san”

“Sure”

I took a step back and picked up the call

“Hey Kaede…”

She interrupted me and frantically said

“ONII-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU?! YOU SAID YOU'LL BE BACK IN HALF AN HOUR BUT IT'S ALREADY PAST THAT. DID ANYTHING HAPPEN?”