Watamote ch230-2: Since I'm Not Popular, To Each Their Own Stage (Part 2)

Scary and Sad

Are you okay with ghosts, Itou-san?
I'm bad with jumpscares, but I like scary things.

Heh, is that so? Well, I guess otakus, or rather literary people tend to like the occult.
Yeah. I often read scary stories online.

Here's a scary story I can easily recite right now.

This happened to a certain boy. Whenever this boy was in his room, be it day or night, he would hear the sound of an unfamiliar girl humming quietly. "Hmm~... Hmm~ hmm~" At first, he ignored it since it was so far away, but it gradually drew closer. "Hmm~... Hmm~ hmm~" Even so, he kept ignoring it and it kept getting closer. "Hmm~... Hmm~ hmm~" And so, finally taking notice of the voice, the boy began chanting heart sutras in response.
By doing this, the voice gradually became more distant. He wasn't able to relax doing this every day, but then one day, his favorite band put out a new album, so he put on his headphones and forget all about the voice. After listening to the music from start to finish, while basking in the ending, he took off his headphones and heard a "HMMMMMMMM" next to his ears.

...!?

I went and said too much... Never thought I'd see the day where I'd be the one creeping Koto out...
You really like that kind of thing, huh.

How did I not know that in the three years we've been together!?
I never really mentioned...
IT!!

Thank you for always going along with my own hobbies.
Eh?

You came with me to the play again, and you even cheered me on yesterday.
I just came along cos I wanted to.

It made me happy all the same.
Yeah...

Come to think of it, I also have a scary story that I like from this old messageboard.
Yeah.

There was a certain woman. We'll call her M-ko.
On her day off, M-ko was part of a group of three men and three women from her company taking a drive to the beach.

M-ko had spent the previous night making 6 x 3 pieces of ohagi for everyone to eat in the car, picturing everyone's happy faces while not getting any sleep... [tn:ohagi = sweet rice balls made with sweet red bean paste and mochi rice, also known as botamochi (though some say they're different depending on the type of red bean paste used)]

During the drive, one of the men said he was hungry, so M-ko said "I-I have some ohagi..." and brought out the 18 pieces of ohagi from a paper bag...
At that moment, the whole car became silent...

"You made these, M-ko-san? Woah. lol" "Did you wash your hands properly? This looks crazy lol". The whole car burst into laughter and nobody brought any of the 18 pieces of ohagi to their lips... M-ko put on a forced smile and put away the ohagi while being on the verge of tears..."
Oh wait. This isn't a scary story. It's a sad one.

Well done~ Was it scary?

I was surprised with fear, then felt kinda happy midway, and then it ended with helpless sadness.
Was our haunted house always that much of a spectacle?

A Cringey Matter

This is an announcement from the Festival Committee. The finals of the Miss Haramaku Crossdressing Contest will begin on the courtyard stage this afternoon.

I bet you have really lewd fantasies about that little bro in girls' clothes, Glasses-chan.
I can't even imagine Tomoki-kun in girls' clothing.

I have had fantasies about dressing up as a boy, doing baseball with Tomoki-kun, going to Koushien...
getting eliminated in the first round and getting together to bring Koushien's dirt home with us, though...

Koto, you shouldn't go... any further.
Any further? Don't you mean any lower...?

Captured

Thanks for helping, Sacchan~ We can switch now~
If it gets busy, you can switch with me any time.

Huh?
Where's Koharu-chan...?

Huh? Sachi?

Are you kidding me!? She wants to walk around with them!? I'll be done for if Nori and Maki see me with that group of pathetic guys!!

...Where's Makocchi...?
What're you doing right now?
The movie's finished, so we're taking a break.

Mako, about my thing just now... How was it?
It was good.
In what way?
In general.

Makocchi~
Tamura-san.
Good work~
Ah...
Yeah.

Her little bro did a play too. It was pretty stupid.
Do you know that girl?
She was the student council president last year.
Ah, I thought she seemed familiar.
Is that so? I'm kinda interested now.

She's smart, cute and was really popular, right?
Yeah~

But isn't a college student with her hair and makeup like that pretty crafty? She's like one of those old TV announcers.
Bet she must play around a lot, huh?
...Yeah~

That was close...!!

Defamation

Thanks, Yuu-chan (Uchi).
My mind and body are all refreshed thanks to you.

See? I told you it wasn't a big deal.

I'm only okay because of my unrivalled toughness. If it were any other normal girl, that strike of yours just now would've killed them.

Injury Resistance A - Glass Heart
Recovery A - Stray Ball
Kuroki - Mo
Trajectory
Meat
Power

Tough what?

There seems to be no problem, so I'll be leaving now.
I'm very busy.
If you get any real injuries, go to the nurse's office or something.
I'm so gonna rape her someday!!!

Committee chairman, we're out of paper pamphlets.
There's more in the student council office, so go fetch those.

It's almost time for the next event. Should we make a move?
It's still too early.

Get off, you filth!!

Ah, I'm sorry...
I thought you were someone else, or rather... someone different inside...