ad meliora | omota uramichi

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨: 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜

important note at the end pls read

"calm down self."  hayasaka was pacing back and forth in her dressing room, panicking as she thought up of the many different situations that could make everything go wrong.  you see, today was the day that hayasaka was going to introduce omota to her parents.  while it's true that they were just faking their relationship, it still doesn't change the fact that she had to introduce him to her family.

so many things could happen such as omota telling her parents the truth (though she didn't really see that happening), or her parents not believing their lie and instead will be making some drastic measures to marry her off.  she couldn't really afford that if she wanted to stay where she currently is (despite the fact her job is kinda awful).

a knock on her door disrupted her thoughts, making her bump into the table.  a loud yelled sounded through the room, most likely making its way out into the hallway.  and with that, her door opened revealing a worried omota staring at her.

"i'm okay!"  she managed to say before he asked.  she rubbed her hip gently, a forced smile on her face as she walked towards him.  they left the studio, walking on over to a restaurant a few blocks away.  what omota didn't know was that they'd be going to fancy one (one that he couldn't afford dining at unless he wanted to lose his current place).

and so, omota stood there, his eyes wide staring at the building before him.  his soul had left his body the moment the two approached it.  hayasaka chuckled nervously before grabbing onto his sleeve (she's shy okay) and dragging him in.  they both stopped in front of a host, hayasaka telling him her last name before he lead the two to where her parents are seated.  before they could reach them though, omota grabbed her hand laced them together.  obviously someone like hayasaka who barely interacted with people (and in such an intimate way) turned bright red.

"honey!  it's been awhile since we've last seen each other."  a woman with the same hair and eye color as hayasaka greeted them with a smile.  they both greeted her back as well as her father, though omota noticed that the smile on the woman's face wasn't genuine.  "so your fiancé is actually a real person, huh?"  this time her father spoke, his face expressions eerily similar to hayasaka's.  he didn't smile, and in fact he looked a bit timid.  it made his presence seem non-existent compared to the woman beside him.

"yes, this omota uramichi, we just got engaged quite awhile ago."  they were all seated now, food being placed in front of them as the parents ordered already for all of them.  "ah yes, you told me about this the other day.  how long have you been together?" before going reaching the restaurant earlier, hayasaka briefed omota over with what he should say when asked questions. "we've been together for six months now, ma'am." her mother feigned a look of surprise, a hand placed in front of her lips. "you've started working at the studio for eight months now, right? it's surprising you've managed to hit it off immediately."

    so far, everything was going okay. they were all having a nice dinner and enjoying the atmosphere that was created. "i'm surprised though. omota-san, surely you must be popular among women. why is it that you chose our dear tomoe here?" hayasaka's smile soon disappeared, her eyes wide in disbelief at her mother. in fact, she only smiled at her daughter as though she wasn't going to hurt her in a few minutes.

    "you see, my daughter here is what you would call an otaku. you know how those types are, right? they're obsessive, lazy, even going so far as to spend so much money on those figurines and comics. is this really the person that you want to get married to?" the moment she said that question, hayasaka tuned everything out. it felt as if time slowed down for her, basking in the fact that her own family would insult her like this. her father didn't even defend her or tell his wife to stop. the glow in her eyes faded, making whatever happiness she felt in the eight months go down the drain.

    "ano, all of these things that you are saying, i already knew of them all." hayasaka turned to stare at omota, disbelief on her face as a thousand thoughts ran through her head. her mother had a frown on her lips and a displeased look in eyes. "it doesn't matter what she is, i still plan on marrying her either way." omota stood up, picking up his and hayasaka's bag before dragging her out of the restaurant. hayasaka could only let him drag her away, still being in a state of shock. the only thing that managed to snap her out of her thoughts was when a drop of water landed on her cheek.

    as realization set in, the two adults ran through the rain. hayasaka didn't know where to go (her house was in the opposite direction of where they are), so instead she decided to follow omota. she didn't have another choice as he was still holding her hand. the two ran up a staircase before stopping in front of a door. omota had taken out his keys and unlocked the door, ushering a dazed hayasaka inside.

    "make yourself at home." was the last thing she heard before she passed out on a sofa from exhaustion.

IMPORTANT NOTE: so there's this website (i'm sure a lot of you already know about this) that took this book and pasted it there. it's called novelhd and it copied not only mine, but other author's works as well. practically everything, even the banners and the book cover was copied onto there. idek if i can report it seeing as nothing has been done (it got shut down but rn it's up again). all i can do right now is make other people aware of what is happening.

there's this account on twitter called stopnovelhd, it goes into more detail about what's happening so go check them out if you want.

about the otaku thing on this chapter, from what i know otakus or weebs aren't really accepted in japan, especially in the workplace. i think they can consider that as being lazy since in japan they usually work people to the bone. (don't quote me on that)

an anime that shows that type of thing is wotakoi: love is hard for otaku. there is also a game (also has an anime) that shows that which is a3! (act! addict! actors!). one of their characters there, chigasaki itaru is a hardcore gamer and he hides that part of him when he goes to work.