My Girlfriend's a Geek, Volume 2

by Pentabu

Y-KO: I mean, this case… It’s what I think it is, right?

  ME: Yes. Exactly what it looks like.

  Y-KO: … Just one question.

  ME: What is it?

  Y-KO: Which finger should I put the ring on?

  And with a devilish little grin, she opened the case up in front of me.

  —Oh, come on.

  The answer should be obvious.

  I silently pulled the ring out of the case and took her left hand.

  ME: This one.

  And I slipped it on her left ring finger.

  Y-KO: —Thank you.

  ME: No problem.

  Y-KO: … Didn’t you ever learn that you shouldn’t make a girl cry?

  ME: I did.

  Y-KO: Well, you failed… stupid Sebas. I ought to scold you.

  ME: I’m sorry.

  Y-KO: …… But just this time, I’ll forgive you. Tears of joy don’t count.

  ME: Oh good. You’re scary when you’re mad.

  Y-KO: Argh! Come here and let me use your shirt.

  I’ll mess it up with tears and snot.

  ME: Of course, madam. Here you are.

  And I pulled her close to me.

  —Since the day I met her…

  I’ve been exasperated by the amount of manga she buys.

  I’ve been shocked at the BL she smuggles into my apartment.

  I’ve been impressed by her expansive knowledge of anime.

  I’ve been aroused by the maid uniform she wears.

  I’m sure that in the future, I’ll continue to be manipulated by her fujoshi hobbies.

  And I’m sure that slowly but surely, her tastes will rub off on me.

  Day by eccentric, precious day.

  I’m sure I’ll always be by her side as her Sebas.

  After all, even in my arms, she said—

  “Here’s looking at a long life ahead, Sebas.”

  —And her head finally raised again, I answered,

  “As you say, Y-ko.”

  Afterword.

  So.

  My Girlfriend’s a Geek reaches its happy ending.

  So many things have happened since I met her,

  and I’ve learned so many things as well.

  Fujoshi, BL, manga, anime, video games, cosplay—

  At first it was a never-ending string of shocks…

  But as I spent more and more time with her,

  all of those things became ordinary and familiar,

  until everyday life with my girlfriend became something precious and essential to me.

  We had our fights.

  I made her cry on occasion.

  We even had a long-distance relationship when she transferred.

  (When she nonchalantly said, “I’ve been ordered to switch locations,” I had no idea what to do…)

  But after that, after I had grown used to her impish grin and manipulative ways, the thought of life without her became unbearable.

  I made full use of the degree that I worked hard to obtain and nearly forced myself into a job in her new city.

  She cried again.

  And because of all that, both of us are still smiling.

  I have no doubt that in the future,

  I will continue to be manipulated.

  But to me, that has become the very definition of happiness.

  She has brought so much happiness into my life.

  This time, it’s my turn to return the favor.

  The ring sparkles on her finger.

  I can only hope that this will make her happy…

  —But I suppose that will all depend on me, going forward.

  To everyone who has supported My Girlfriend’s a Geek,

  from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

  This is the happy ending for the blog,

  but our lives will continue beyond this point.

  Y-ko and I will do our very best to lead happy lives together,

  so I hope you will continue to cheer for us.

  August 1, 2007

  My Girlfriend’s a Geek.

  Pentabu, Y-ko

  Notes/Glossary

  Adachi, Mitsuru A veteran manga artist who specializes in stories about youth sports. His baseball epics Cross Game, H2, and most particularly the early 1980s Touch are famous for their deft touch and introspective nature, in contrast to the flashy and exaggerated style of most sports manga.

  Amuro Amuro Ray, the hero of the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

  Angel’s Egg A novel (and its subsequent film adaptation) by Yuka Murayama. Not to be confused with the surrealistic animated film of the same name by Mamoru Oshii.

  BL “Boy’s Love.” A recent term synonymous with yaoi whose usage has largely replaced the other within Japan. Unlike yaoi, which could refer strictly to self-published manga parodies (djinshi) placing heterosexual characters from established stories in homosexual relationships, BL is considered more of a catchall term encompassing original and commercial works as well.

  Commodore Perry U.S. Naval Commodore Matthew Perry was responsible for convincing the Japanese to open their borders to the West in the 1850s, an agreement which is listed among the unequal treaties, a series of one-sided treaties which the colonial powers of the West used to exploit the weaker countries of the East. (Yes, despite the author’s puzzlement, Perry was a central figure in the unequal treaties.)

  Cyborg 009 A classic manga/anime series by Shotaro Ishinomori about an evil organization that turns ordinary people into powerful cyborgs. The nine cyborgs escape their wicked masters and band together to save humanity.

  Death Note A megahit manga series that was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump. The story of an otherwordly notebook that would kill the person whose name was written on its pages, it also spawned an anime series and live-action film.

  djinshi Self-published manga (or sometimes prose) that are widely bought and sold at conventions such as Comiket. Most djinshi are sexual in nature, and most are parodies based on existing series, though exceptions to both of these categories exist.

  Doraemon An iconic children’s manga by Fujiko F. Fujio starring lazy and flawed fourth grader Nobita and his friend, the blue cat robot Doraemon. Through Doraemon’s magic pocket full of tools, Nobita and his school friends embark on various adventures, usually with some moral lesson at the end. Because the story is so iconic, people are often associated with the characters’ different archetypes; that is, to describe someone as a Nobita is to suggest that he is a weak loser or dweeb, while someone who is selfish and bullying might be compared to the character Gian.

  Dragon Ball Akira Toriyama’s classic series, which is virtually synonymous with anime and manga throughout the world. Does this really need to be explained?

  Dragon Quest The most popular and long-running role-playing game series in Japan. The release of a new title in the series causes such a rush of activity and absences from work or school nationwide that the government has pressured the game’s makers to release them during holidays.

  eroge A Japanese abbreviation for “erotic game,” referring to computer games with erotic content. These usually take the form of adventure games with still illustrations for graphics and simple text dialogue, but some can have quite elaborate and literary stories. Some of the most popular eroge have been adapted for consoles like the PlayStation and even made into anime series (usually with the explicit sexual content removed).

  fujoshi A self-deprecating term referring to female fans of yaoi (or BL). The word is a homophone of the Japanese word for “respectable lady,” but the character for “woman” is replaced with the character for “rotten,” thus forming a word that means “rotten girl.” This refers to the supposedly “rotten” thoughts and fantasies that fujoshi have about characters or people in gay relationships, which would not normally occur. In recent years, the term’s definition has been loosened slightly to sometimes include female otaku without a strong predilection for BL. For example, some real-life self-identified fujoshi may claim that despit
e her fujoshi labeling, Y-ko shares more characteristics with regular female otaku than fujoshi.

  Hagaren The abbreviation of Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, the Japanese title of Fullmetal Alchemist.

  Haruhi Suzumiya A series of comedic light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa in which the titular main character forms a brigade with her school classmates to investigate mysterious events. Later adapted into manga and anime form. Available now from Yen Press!

  Honda, Takayoshi An award-winning Japanese novelist. His short story “Yesterdays” was adapted into a film.

  Honey and Clover A comedy/drama/romance manga and anime series by Chika Umino detailing the lives of a group of art students living in the same apartment building. The character of Takemoto is a mellow “nice guy” who is unable to act on his emotions. In contrast, Morita is an unpredictable eccentric who acts in mysterious ways.

  Laputa: Castle in the Sky A 1986 anime film (released as Castle in the Sky in English) directed by Hayao Miyazaki. As the first full-length feature from the incredibly prestigious Studio Ghibli, this film is perhaps more beloved than any other in Miyazaki’s canon.

  Love Hina A megahit manga and anime series from the late 1990s by Ken Akamatsu that exemplifies the harem genre—one male character surrounded by a variety of girls who serve as love interests with different characteristics.

  Lucky Star A hit manga and anime series by Kagami Yoshimizu about four high school girls and their everyday lives. It has a fanatical following for its many jokes about otaku topics and culture.

  moe A slang word that describes a particular emotion (pronounced “mo-eh,” not like the Stooge). In its original slang usage, the word moe describes a character or characteristic that elicits a desire to cherish or protect. For that reason, traditional moe characters are often cute, young, or fragile. In wider usage, the term simply refers to things or characters that produce arousal or excitement; in other words, what turns you on. Most uses of the word moe within this book are of the latter definition.

  Murakami, Haruki The critically acclaimed author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood (among many others) and unquestionably the most internationally recognized Japanese writer of the last several decades.

  Negima! A megahit manga and anime series by Ken Akamatsu, his first after the conclusion of Love Hina. In it, he expands on the concept of Love Hina by making the story about a young male teacher (and magician) teaching a class at an all-girls school.

  Nico Nico Video A streaming video website that’s similar to YouTube for Japanese users.

  NisiOisin A prominent author of light novels, perhaps best known in the English-speaking world for Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.

  “Once again…” The catchphrase of the samurai character Goemon Ishikawa XIII from Lupin III. He quotes this line every time he performs a superhuman feat with his sword, such as cutting a helicopter in half.

  Ookiku Furikabutte A wildly popular high school baseball manga (the title means “Take a Big Wind-Up”) noted for its thorough, in-depth study of the mechanics of the sport. Due to its large male cast and distinct array of personalities, the series has spawned a vast BL djinshi following.

  otaku An obsessive fan of anime and manga. The term can be affixed to any subject in which a person shows a powerful, geeky interest, such as cosplay, computers, trains, cooking, etc. On its own, however, otaku generally refers to members of anime and manga fandom or culture.

  relaxed generation The generation that was schooled since the creation of the relaxed education policy in Japan. This policy involved trimming school hours and lowering standards as a response to the extremely stressful classroom environment in the 1970s and ’80s, in which school violence exploded. As a result, stress conditions have improved but standardized scores have dropped.

  Saikano A sci-fi/romance manga and anime by Shin Takahashi about a normal teenage girl, Chise, whose body has been augmented with extreme weaponry for use in an imminent war. In contrast to the fantastical concept, the story focuses mainly on the fragile emotions of Chise and her boyfriend Shuji at being thrust into this incomprehensible, horrifying conflict.

  Sebastian A popular, stereotypical name for butler characters in anime or manga. The trend largely stems from the butler character Sebastian in the classic 1970s anime series, Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

  seme The “attacker,” or dominant member of a homosexual relationship in BL.

  Six Codes The six main legal codes that make up Japanese law. They are the Civil Code, the Commercial Code, the Criminal Code, the Constitution of Japan, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Code of Civil Procedure.

  Slam Dunk A massive hit manga/anime series from Shōnen Jump, drawn by Takehiko Inoue. A story about high school basketball players, it was responsible for a massive boom of interest in basketball throughout Japan and other Asian countries.

  soba Buckwheat noodles that are roughly the same size as ramen but with a different texture and taste. While they can be eaten in a soup broth like other types of noodles, the traditional way to serve soba (especially in the summer) is on a special tray, chilled. The noodles are then picked up and dipped in a small cup of strong broth (called tsuyu) before being eaten.

  Star of the Giants A classic baseball manga/anime series from the 1960s by Ikki Kajiwara and Noboru Kawasaki, it helped establish the possibility of a hit manga/anime property based on sports and extended the popularity of the massively successful Tokyo Giants franchise. In the story, young Hyuuma Hoshi is put through grueling training by his father in order to be a successful pitcher for the Giants. His name, Hoshi, means “star”; thus, the title can also be read as Hoshi of the Giants.

  Strawberry 100% A romantic comedy manga written and drawn by Mizuki Kawashita and serialized in Shōnen Jump starting in 2002. The main character, Junpei Manaka, is surrounded by four girls who correspond to the four cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west.

  Sumomomo, Momomo An action/comedy manga and anime by Shinobu Ohtaka. Koushi is the heir of a clan of martial artists, and he just wants to live a normal life. Momoko, also the latest in a long line of warriors, is Koushi’s fiancée (against his will)… and very obsessed with bearing his children. Available now from Yen Press!

  tsundere A character archetype referring to people who are normally cold or hostile, but who become markedly warmer or loving in intimate settings. The word is a combination of the adjectives tsun-tsun (aloof or combative) and dere-dere (love struck).

  Twelve Kingdoms A series of fantasy novels by Fuyumi Ono noted for their rich and elaborate setting reminiscent of Chinese mythology. Also adapted into anime and video game formats.

  uke The “receiver,” or submissive member of a homosexual relationship in BL.

  Whisper of the Heart A 1995 animated film by Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, in which a bookish girl goes searching for the person whose name is written on the library card of every book she checks out of her father’s library.

  Whistle! A soccer manga drawn by Daisuke Higuchi and originally published in Shōnen Jump.

  yaoi Media focusing around male-male homosexual relationships for a largely female audience. Within yaoi, the two members of a partnership are referred to as “seme” (attacker) and “uke” (receiver). When characters from an existing story are placed into a piece of yaoi as a romantic pairing, the pairing is labeled with the characters’ names separated by a multiplication sign; e.g., Roy x Ed from Fullmetal Alchemist.

  Y-ko A popular and slightly jokey method of providing a slight degree of privacy is to replace the bulk of one’s name with the initial in the English alphabet, leaving only the last character in place. In this case, “Y-ko” could be a replacement for women’s names like Yuko, Yoko, Yaeko, etc. The method is seen often in Japanese because many names—both given and family—end with one of a small number of characters, such as -ko for women or -ta/-da for surnames.

  My girlfriend is two years older than me… and she’s a fujoshi.

 
; Contents

  WELCOME

  DEDICATION

  LOOKING BACK… PART 2.

  MY GIRLFRIEND’S A GEEK, PART 2.

  BOOKSHELVES.

  TSUNDERE (?) TALK.

  GENERATION GAP.

  SHARING AN UMBRELLA.

  HONEY AND CLOVER.

  DORAEMON.

  SUIT.

  CHRISTMAS.

  SILLY CHAT FROM A SILLY COUPLE.

  TAKING MY GIRLFRIEND TO MEET MY PARENTS.

  TAKING MY GIRLFRIEND TO MEET MY PARENTS, PART 2.

  TAKING MY GIRLFRIEND TO MEET MY PARENTS, PART 3.

  TAKING MY GIRLFRIEND TO MEET MY PARENTS, PART 4.

  TAKING MY GIRLFRIEND TO MEET MY PARENTS, PART 5.

  TAKING MY GIRLFRIEND TO MEET MY PARENTS, PART 6.

  TAKING MY GIRLFRIEND TO MEET MY PARENTS, PART 7.

  INTELLECTUAL CONVERSATION.

  INHUMAN MONSTER.

  DS.

  AT THE BOOKSTORE.

  SUMOMOMO, MOMOMO.

  DREAM.

  TROUBLE DESCENDS.

  “HAPPINESS.”

  HAPPY ENDING.

  AFTERWORD.

  NOTES/GLOSSARY

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  MY GIRLFRIEND’S A GEEK Volume 2

  PENTABU

  Translation: Stephen Paul

  My Girlfriend’s a Geek Vol. 2 © 2007 PENTABU. All Rights reserved. First published in Japan in 2007 by ENTERBRAIN, INC., Tokyo. English translation rights arranged with ENTERBRAIN, INC. through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2011 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.