"U-um… I’m into manga, anime, and games, so… I saw the club recruitment poster and thought I’d check it out…" It was near the end of spring when she—Minowa Sakura—showed up in our lives. Up until then, we’d been living the typical otaku lifestyle, with zero connection to women our age. She wore glasses and had a plain, unassuming look, but she came with an unexpected depth of otaku knowledge. Still, I figured she’d take one look at the reality of our group, get cold feet, and fade away eventually. Honestly, given my complete lack of experience with women my age, I thought it was better to brace myself for that outcome. It’d hurt less that way. But now, half a month later…