NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game Leveling System
chapter-193

Mayuzumi Amami finally received the phone call she had been waiting for .

She had been looking forward to the agreed upon date, but now that it was here, she was so nervous that she was trembling and unsure of herself .

Should she contact him of her own volition or wait for him to contact her?

Just this question gave her over an entire hour’s worth of frustration . She called her cousin Rika Amami, but the only response she received from her cousin was "Just do whatever you like!"

"Are you a middle school girl that’s going out to have fun with a boy for the first time to get frustrated over such a small matter!?" scolded her older cousin when she heard of her 'dilemma . ' "By the way, even among middle school girls nowadays, it’s really rare to find one as shy as you . "

"Seiji Haruta is a good kid—just relax and be casual with him . "

Rika told Mayuzumi and went on saying similar stuff before she hung up .

Mayuzumi could only collapse listlessly on her bed .

She honestly didn’t have to courage to voluntarily call him first, so she chose to wait .

At noon, she received a call from his number .

"H-Haruta-kun . . . " she answered the call by speaking in a weak voice .

"Peach-sensei, it’s me . Long time no see . " A hearty male voice spoke up from the other end of the call . "Sorry that I took so long to contact you . I had to help out my class with their store earlier this morning, which is why I didn’t have any free time until now . "

"So how about you, Sensei? Do you have time to come over and have some fun?"

His words were so open and direct .

Just like the way he remained in her memories . . . this was only natural though, as only a few weeks had passed by .

Mayuzumi no longer felt as nervous when she recalled her previous meeting with him .

Just like Rika said, he was a trustworthy boy .

'I should just relax and be casual with him . '

"I-I’m free . "

"That's great . Shall I wait for you at school or come by to pick you up?"

"Er . . . " Mayuzumi was unable to respond immediately .

‘When was the last time I went outside by myself?’

Going outside by herself to an unfamiliar place? Just imagining it seemed really scary .

Let him come and pick her up? This also seemed a little . . .

A period of silence fell between them .

"I got it . " The voice on her cell phone spoke up again . "I’ll come over and pick you up, Sensei . What’s your address?"

"Er . . . this . . . troublesome . . . "

"It’s not troublesome at all—just tell me your address," he said in a steady tone .

In Mayuzumi's mind, Seiji's image instantly felt more reliable .

Mayuzumi blinked .

"Then . . . Sorry to trouble you . " She told him her address .

"Okay, got it . I’ll be there as soon as I can . "

Just like that, he hung up the phone call .

Mayuzumi stared at her cell phone for a long time as she rubbed her chest and released her breath that she had been holding .

It was great that their conversation proceeded smoothly .

She didn’t leave him with a bad impression of her . . . probably .

Mayuzumi put down her cell phone and curled up on her bed while hugging her pillow .

There was no logic to her androphobia . Even if she didn’t want to, she would still feel insecure and nervous when dealing with anyone male .

‘Can I do a good job? Can I face Haruta-kun? What if he hates me . . . No, no! I can’t think such thoughts . ’

All she could do now was continue to wait .

. . .

Seiji rang the doorbell to Mayuzumi Amami’s apartment .

He recalled the way she appeared from their last meeting .

He recalled the way she appeared from their last meeting .

She was probably dressed like that again? That seemed probable, or else she’d probably be wearing something like a full outfit of sportswear .

She was a manga author, after all; she didn’t need to care about her personal appearance .

Honestly speaking, Seiji felt that it was a bit of a waste . With Peach-sensei’s innate beauty, if she took better care of herself, she’d definitely be a great beauty .

But Seiji also believed that people were free to dress however they liked . Besides, Sensei had androphobia, so looking more beautiful would probably increase the risk for her .

Thoughts like these ran through Seiji's mind as he waited for the door to open .

A few moments later, the door opened .

"Haruta-kun . . . "

"Sensei . . . "

Seiji was on the verge of greeting her, but he paused in surprise when he saw her appearance .

Mayuzumi Amami’s brownish-grey hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her bangs were tied back neatly with a barrette to reveal her white and beautiful face . She was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses together with a woolen shirt and a small jacket on top, and a flower-patterned long skirt below . Although the overall style was plain, it was elegant in nature, and her protruding breasts gave her a womanly charismatic appeal .

While she wasn’t astonishingly beautiful, she still seemed like a nice classical beauty!

At least that was what Seiji believed .

This plain and normal style that displayed her mature, womanly appeal was right in the middle of Seiji’s strike zone and caused him to be stunned for several seconds .

" . . . Hello . "

"Hello . . . "

A period of silence fell between them .

"Er . . . Sensei, I feel that your current appearance . . . is quite nice . " Seiji gave her his honest praise .

It was definitely much better than last time!

"Thank you . . . " Mayuzumi lowered her head and clenched her hands .

Seiji didn’t know if she was being shy or anxious .

‘She’s probably nervous and anxious, since she has androphobia and I’m a male,’ Seiji thought to himself . ‘I need to be as considerate as I can . ’

"If you’re ready, let’s go . "

"Okay . . . "

"Okay . . . "

Seiji walked in front of Mayuzumi .

When he reached the elevator, Seiji turned around and instantly felt rather helpless .

She was literally walking four meters behind him!

This distance made it seem like they were perfect strangers .

"Sensei, could you walk a little closer? At this distance . . . we wouldn’t even be able to get on the same elevator . "

"S-Sorry . . . " Mayuzumi slowly walked closer .

She stopped at a distance of approximately one meter from him .

Was this the limit for her? Okay, this seemed fine .

The elevator arrived quickly .

When the elevator arrived, there was a jacket-wearing middle-aged man already inside .

Even one meter apart from her, Seiji noticed that Mayuzumi stiffened .

"Sensei . . . is it alright?"

‘Should we wait for the next elevator?’ He asked that question using his eyes .

"I-It’s fine . " Mayuzumi forced herself to say that even though her muscles were stiff and tensed .

‘Is everything really fine?’ Seiji was rather worried .

But since she herself said it was fine, they at least had to try .

He walked into the elevator .

Mayuzumi also slowly entered .

The jacket-wearing middle-aged man felt that something was a little strange and shot an inquisitive look towards her .

Mayuzumi instantly froze over completely!

‘So scary, so scary, so scary!’

She was about to tremble when she saw a tall figure block the middle-aged man’s line of sight .

It was Haruta-kun .

She was about to tremble when she saw a tall figure block the middle-aged man’s line of sight .

It was Haruta-kun .

"Sensei, it’s fine—just relax . "

Seiji figured out that this wasn’t good for her and instantly moved to block the middle-aged man’s line of sight as he talked as gently to her as possible .

"Mmm . . . Mmm . "

Mayuzumi nodded as she retreated into the elevator’s corner and did her best to loosen her tension .

The tall Haruta-kun not only blocked the other man’s line of sight, he even completely blocked out the other man’s body from her own line of vision .

This indeed helped her to relax .

Even though Haruta-kun was a boy as well . . . he was special!

Mayuzumi believed in this and made an effort to increase her belief in this point .

Otherwise, she would be unable to accept even his help .

The elevator stopped .

The jacket-wearing man exited rather quickly . Perhaps he was in a hurry to begin with, or maybe he felt that the boy and woman riding together in the same elevator were rather strange .

"Sensei, are you alright?"

"I-I’m fine . "

"That’s good, then . " Seiji flashed a gentle smile . "Sensei, you’re working hard . There's no need to rush—we can take things slowly . "

There was no helping it; after all, it was a legitimate phobia .

It was good that she wanted to conquer her fear, but there was no need to challenge herself too much either . Slow steps were fine .

As long as she made steady progress, it was certain that she would eventually overcome her phobia .

Seiji smiled in an attempt to transmit such a message .

Mayuzumi seemed to feel something from his smile as she also smiled back at him .

"Okay . . . "

The two of them exited the elevator and walked out of her apartment . It was a nice and sunny day .

Their date had begun .