Crossover anime, starting with Hachiman Hikigaya replacing Subaru Natsuki!

"Go find Reyd—don't call me master, I'm not your master! Also, don't faint at the mere mention of Reyd's name, hey, don't faint on me!!"

397. Emilia's Climax

"Humph!"

The fan snapped shut, and Priscilla's displeasure intensified. Up to now, she was furious about the scoundrels her fool had encountered in this dilapidated tower.

Aside from the three gluttonous siblings who are sure to kill her, the person she hates the most right now is Xia Wula.

Although not as intense as her conflict with Hachiman Hikigaya, Shaula's stubborn belief in him as her master creates a master-disciple relationship that is still remarkably similar to her interactions with Hachiman Hikigaya in the "what if" route.

"If there is only one, it is a rare treasure. If there are two, its value will drop. No matter how much I dislike that fool's arrogant confrontation with me, those days belong only to him and me. How dare this mere crazy woman try to extort money from me!"

It's decided. Once Echidna and the Gluttony siblings are dead, her next target will be this exhibitionist nymphomaniac, and the next one will be the shameless vixen.

"You're more concerned about this, Princess? I thought you'd regret not going to the Sage's Tower with him and giving your brother a loving hug at that moment."

Al shrugged, and the next moment, as the price for his talkativeness, he was slapped away by Priscilla's fan, swung around several times in the air, and slammed heavily onto the floor, his whole body aching.

"I have not given you the right to tell such jokes to amuse me—if I were here, I would simply find it too troublesome and just chop the idiot down with a sword. That is not what I would like to see; it would take away far too much of the fun."

"Uh..."

Al remained silent, struggling to get up, knowing perfectly well... saying anything would reduce the fun, it was simply that she no longer wanted to hurt her fool. This princess was truly a deeply hidden tsundere.

However, Hachiman Hikigaya is also a tsundere, always saying one thing and meaning another to cover up his actions of helping others.

A pair of arrogant people paired with another arrogant person—that's quite a spectacle, isn't it?

"The negotiations between Hachiman Hikigaya and Rayd did not go as planned."

"He lacked the performance that made Rey's eyes light up and secretly admire him when they first met. Even though he was still the same person, this time he failed to win Rey's approval and was instead ridiculed by the other party."

"How the two met and what first impressions were formed are all very important. Now that he has lost the initiative, Hachiman Hikigaya knows that he cannot gain Rayd's help if he has lost his existence."

"The plan to lure Gluttony to the Sage's Tower and ask Reid for help has already failed before it even came to fruition."

"So I said, yeah, that demon, that devil, that guy who's worse than hell, is impossible, Master!"

"Upon waking up, I found that my master had already returned from the second floor after their discussion. Relieved that I didn't have to face that monster, Xia Wula was full of energy: 'Just rely on me, Master!'"

"Alright, alright, I'll rely on you—but excuse me, could you please leave for a moment, Shaula?"

"Huh!?"

With a sour face, Xia Wula had already seen Emilia and Beatrice arriving together. She clung to her master's sleeve longingly, but was ultimately ruthlessly driven away, unable to stay here and compete for favor.

"They've already spent a lot of time preparing, but when they arrived in front of Hachiman Hikigaya, Emilia and Beatrice both became hesitant. They looked at each other, each hoping the other would speak."

"Um... excuse me, are you really...?"

"Considering herself the older sister, Emilia couldn't resist her younger sister Beatrice's pleading. She clenched her fist to encourage herself, and then cautiously asked this silly question."

Then I received an unexpected reply—"I don't think so."

"At least not now," he added.

Emilia was completely stunned. She stammered, then instinctively said, "But...but, I feel a sense of closeness when I look at you?"

"Looking at this silver-haired girl who self-destructed, Hachiman Hikigaya remained silent for a moment, then raised his right index finger. 'What has been done cannot be changed; it is the objective past. But memories shape a person.'"

""What's the meaning?""

"The reason I accepted the identity of 'Hachiman Hikigaya' that you told me was because you all still remembered 'Hachiman Hikigaya' who was active after coming to this world."

"But thinking about it carefully, you don't remember 'Hachiman Hikigaya' anymore, and I have no memory of that year and a half. We don't have any impressions of each other, so why do you still view me that way?"

"Hachiman Hikigaya's wording is very straightforward because he feels that Emilia, this simple-minded girl, would probably not understand if he spoke in a roundabout or philosophical way."

"If neither of us has any memory of this, and you still treat me as someone you've known for a year and a half, someone you've shared life and death with, then perhaps... that would be the greatest hypocrisy."

"In fact, even though he had been very straightforward, Emilia was still a little confused, but no matter what, she finally understood what was most important."

"If that's the case, then why," she asked sadly, "why did you want to cry at that time?"

"——"

"What Emilia was referring to was his state when he left the Green Room."

"Even without a year and a half of memories, being forgotten by someone you've known for just over twenty days must be incredibly sad, right?"

Emilia's voice made Hachiman Hikigaya's heart tremble. Then, Beatrice, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up: "Betty doesn't remember anything... but she doesn't reject you, not at all... Betty wants to try to believe you, Betty wants to try to believe that maybe you are the 'person' who pulled Betty out of her mother's curse."

"I don't feel any repulsion at all, and I even have a faint desire to get closer to the man in front of me."

"It transcends memory, transcends contracts, transcends thought and body—it's a feeling that is utterly illogical and incomprehensible."

"Emilia too, and Beatrice too."

"That little girl is right, we must be careful to avoid being usurped... But Betty has her own ideas too."

The two girls looked at each other again and reached a consensus: they wanted to try to believe in that feeling that came from the depths of their souls.

"I understand Miss Anastasia's concerns, and she has persuaded me quite well, but I think..."

Emilia pursed her lips, still harboring many doubts and hesitations about the unknown man, a man whose trustworthiness she didn't know.

"Doubt and hesitation, even so."

"But I think... if a year and a half isn't enough, and if both of our memories fade, then let's just consider you, Hachiman, as a friend we've known for over twenty days!"

"—Amelia, still bravely took her most trustworthy step."

398. The True Thing That Defeats Everything

"The seeds planted will one day grow into towering trees that in turn protect the planter."

"Time and time again, day after day, glance after glance, sound after sound, as we hand in hand cross countless hardships called pain, on this distant and boundless sea of ​​suffering, suddenly looking back, the tattered little wooden boat beneath our feet, unknowingly..."

"It has transformed into a new continent called Hachiman Hikigaya and Emilia, which stands tall and fearless against wind and rain, and can remain unmoved even in the face of a massive tsunami."

"From wooden boats to small boats, to sailboats, to arks, to islands, and then to the continent that gradually filled the sea of ​​suffering, which was equally thick and wide and boundless."

"The Sages' Council cannot be interrupted, Petitschius cannot plunder, Roswaal cannot stop it, Echidna cannot halt it, and Regulus cannot seize it."

"Everything, everything, all along the way, all of it, even if the memories are lost, even if they have all been forgotten, will still pulsate, will still flicker, will still appear."

"That's Emilia."

"That is Emilia's feelings for her chief knight named Hachiman Hikigaya."

"——"

"Hachiman Hikigaya stood there like a stone, staring blankly at Emilia, his throat involuntarily moving; he was terrified, he was trembling."

"How...is this possible..."

"In Emilia's eyes, in the eyes of this silver-haired girl, there was a trace of affection that she herself did not realize, an affection that existed before she lost her memory, an affection that she always reserved for him, Hachiman Hikigaya."

"Hey, Betty's here too! Betty thinks the same way she does! Why only look at her? If you really are Betty's person, then show some concern for Betty too!"

"Betty's commotion was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The trembling Hachiman Hikigaya felt all his strength drained away. He leaned against the wall of the corridor, his legs bent, and he was about to fall to the ground."

"It was a pair of kind hands that, instead of a wall, reached out and supported him."

"Emilia..."

He murmured as he looked up, and the perfect, beautiful face that came into view was full of care for him. Just last night, that face had smiled and argued vehemently, saying it would protect him forever.

""…sorry.""

"Huh?"

"What met Emilia's panicked eyes were tears accompanied by sobs."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Emilia, I'm so sorry..."

"I didn't cry when I found out I had amnesia, I didn't cry when I inexplicably received a one-sided love that I didn't want, I didn't cry when I was killed by Ram, I didn't cry when I lost my existence, and I didn't cry when Anastasia suspected me."

"But he knew better than anyone that Hachiman Hikigaya was actually a person who could cry."

Inside the convenience store, Hachiman Hikigaya knew better than anyone else what thoughts were behind each of his apologies.

I'm sorry, because I betrayed the unspoken understanding I built with Yukinoshita during my long time in the Service Club, and the feelings that gradually grew between us, which we both knew were true.

I'm sorry, I didn't believe in my pre-amnesia self's obsession with genuine objects and my discerning eye, and I didn't believe in my own pursuit of genuine objects.

I'm sorry, in just over twenty days I've hurt Emilia far too much, I owe Emilia far too much, far too much that I can never repay in my lifetime, far too much that I've fallen in love with this real thing, far too much that I'm not worthy of loving this silver-haired girl.

I'm sorry, Emilia, despite her amnesia, still retains her feelings, while I do not. Perhaps my love for her before my amnesia wasn't sincere or deep enough; it was completely unequal. I deceived Emilia.

I'm sorry, but before I lost my memory, I was able to fall in love with that girl named Rem even though I already had Emilia. I was a complete scoundrel, so I have to say, I was a total scoundrel.

"Compared to Emilia, I seem so lowly and inferior... From beginning to end, I never loved only Emilia for a single moment."

But Emilia loved only him, Hachiman Hikigaya, every single moment.

So, I'm sorry.

"I'm so sorry... Emilia."

The person who needs to apologize is not only Hachiman Hikigaya after losing his memory, nor only Hachiman Hikigaya before losing his memory, but also the same despicable and lowly Hachiman Hikigaya now.

And the people Hachiman Hikigaya has to apologize to are not just Emilia.

"Don't apologize to me, Hikigaya-kun." A finger touched his lips, and Yukinoshita's eyelashes trembled slightly as she stared blankly at Emilia.

“I… cannot compare to Emilia.”

Hachiman Hikigaya gently moved her fingers away, sighing and whispering, "Even so, I still have to say, I'm sorry, Yukinoshita."

That despicable bastard who, while liking Yukinoshita, is also attracted to real people like Emilia and Rem.

"Hachiman Hikigaya, you...you really deserve to die!"

He murmured words that only Hachiman Hikigaya would acknowledge, which came from Hachiman Hikigaya's mouth.

"...There's nothing left to compare."

Inside the Hexin Chamber of Commerce, Anastasia gave a bitter smile. She didn't want to lose, but she never had a chance to win.

When she saw that Emilia still retained Hachiman Hikigaya's affection for her even after losing her memory, she knew that if she could overcome the Gluttony Archbishop's challenge, the future Prime Minister would definitely marry Emilia.

Even if it means regaining all memories, even if it means Rem awakens.