Crossover anime, Hachiman's childhood friend's growth diary

"It's Shoko-chan's turn to clean today." Nijika tugged at her backpack straps, then easily jumped onto the higher steps. "Let's hurry and find Su-se-senpai, or we'll run out of time."

"There's no need to be in such a hurry."

The commercial street is open until night, so it doesn't matter if the traffic is a little slow.

The two went to the fourth-grade floor to meet up with Nagasaki Motoyo, and then walked towards the shopping street. As they walked, Nijika suddenly noticed that Hachiman was walking far behind them, leaving a considerable distance between them.

"What's wrong, Hachiman? Are you feeling unwell?"

When a concerned voice came, Hachiman immediately looked at the girl who had spoken to him, shook his head, and softly denied it:

"No, no, I'm perfectly healthy."

"What did you say? I can't hear you."

Nijika stopped in her tracks, somewhat annoyed. Hachiman didn't answer immediately, but sighed deeply in his heart.

This child is so sensible, yet he's so slow-witted in a place like this.

Now, Hachiman has been ostracized by the entire school; no, to be precise, he has isolated the entire school.

Although he had instigated the incident himself, after experiencing the Ishida Shoya and Nagasaki Motoyo incidents in one go, his reputation among students had plummeted to its lowest point.

It wasn't just the students; some parents were also pointing fingers at Hachiman and warning their children behind his back not to associate with him.

While this feeling made Hachiman feel very reassured, it also brought him a lot of trouble.

Thinking of this, Hachiman looked around. The students who had been staring at them from the beginning immediately turned their heads away and began whispering to their companions.

At this time, if we get too close to Ijichi and the others, it might implicate them.

Seeing the blatant disgust on the students' faces, Hachiman became even more certain of this—humans really are incapable of understanding each other!

Incidentally, the truth about the incident that Hachiman learned from Mr. Koba was not kept absolutely secret, so the teachers at Haneoka Elementary School knew some of the inside story.

Even so, most faculty and staff still keep their distance from Bikiguchi.

After all, it's human nature to avoid trouble, and nobody wants a troublesome teenager around them.

Hachiman could understand their actions perfectly, but to be honest, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

"Honestly, talking like this is so tiring!"

Unaware of the changes around her, Hong Xiatian pouted and complained.

"...No, I think it's fine."

As he spoke, Hachiman looked towards Nagasaki Motoyo for help, as she was a senior in the same grade and should be more mature than Nijika.

however.

Nagasaki Motoyo simply ignored his signal and walked straight up to him.

"Hachiman, I've been thinking about the custom doll this afternoon, and there are still some things I don't understand that I'd like to confirm with you, is that alright?"

"Hey..."

He sighed, and just as he was about to step back, he met those pale gray eyes. Then, as if by magic, Hachiman was deeply drawn into them.

Wait a minute, calm down!

Hachiman forced himself to come to his senses, but recalling what he had just witnessed, he still found it somewhat unbelievable.

The reason is simple: the eyes of Nagasaki Motoyo did not express sympathy or pity, but rather a more indescribable emotion.

Perhaps startled by that look, Hachiman did not keep his distance as originally planned, but instead stood there blankly.

168 Nishimiya Shoko's figures

"Hikigaya-san?"

"Ah!" Hachiman rubbed his temples to relax, and continued, "Sorry, I understand. Just tell me what you want to know."

"Ah."

Seeing Hachiman's resigned expression, Nagasaki Motoyo's lips curled into a smile. She greeted Nijika with some delight, and the two of them came over to Hachiman's side together.

The three walked and talked, and soon arrived at the entrance of the commercial street.

Because of the roof overhead, the light softened considerably after entering the shopping street. Hachiman blinked, letting his pupils readjust to the environment.

"Hachiman, Sosei-senpai, we have dorayaki here!"

Nijika's attention was quickly drawn to the shops on both sides of the shopping street, but Hachiman declined the request due to insufficient funds.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I almost forgot."

Slightly embarrassed, Hongxia touched her fair face and returned to the queue.

Led by Hachiman, the group stopped in front of a gaudy shop.

Since it wasn't yet time for most office workers to get off work, the shop owner, whose business was slow, was idly smoking a cigarette at the shop entrance.

Hachiman frowned. He had originally planned to pull the two girls away from the secondhand smoke, but when he saw the white smoke rings above the boss's head rising into the air at an incredible speed, his eyes widened in surprise.

This is a master of the smoke ring world!

Even so, Hachiman still took a few steps back until the burning cigarette butt was completely extinguished before he walked forward expressionlessly.

"Hello, are you open for business now?"

Seeing the three children approaching, the shop owner shook the cigarette in his hand, stuffed it into the ashtray on the ground, and then got up and went into the shop.

"Come in, it's so hot it's killing me."

Following behind the shop owner, the group entered the decorations shop.

Perhaps because it was their first time entering such a store, Nagasaki Motoyo and Nijika were a little overwhelmed by the dazzling array of goods. The former quietly stopped around the counter, while the latter excitedly asked the shop owner for permission to touch them.

"You can look around as you like, just remember not to deliberately drop it on the ground."

Because the items on the counter were all low-value decorations, the shop owner didn't pay much attention to them.

After entering the cool, air-conditioned room, Hachiman felt much more comfortable, but he didn't forget the purpose of his trip and began to seriously discuss the matter of customizing a doll with the shop owner.

"I'm sorry, our store specializes in jewelry; dolls and similar items are not within our business scope."

After hearing Hachiman's request, the shop owner explained it frankly.

"Oh, I see. Sorry to bother you..."

Hikigaya sighed regretfully.

It seems there's probably no hope for this shop, but there are still other shops in the commercial street that we haven't explored yet, so there's no need to give up so quickly.

However, at this moment, the shop owner called out to the group who were about to leave, and casually pulled out a yellowed business card from the cabinet next to him:

“I don’t do this here, but I have a friend who does something similar.”

For some reason, the boss's attitude was somewhat ambiguous, and his expression was also very strange. Hachiman seriously suspected that the friend the other party mentioned might be making some kind of adult doll.

"Excuse me, could you please tell me what you mean by 'something like'?"

"Ah, it's the popular anime figurines these days. Sigh, these days you can find all sorts of things, those kinds of things can't even be called dolls."

The boss launched into a long rant, seemingly expressing his dissatisfaction with the view that young people nowadays treat anime figurines like wives.

Hikigaya, standing to the side, remained silent, listening quietly to the other person's long-winded speech.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've talked too much. So what are your plans?"

"Yes, we are very interested in this. If it's convenient, could you please put in a good word for us?"

The shop owner squinted deeply. He thought the elementary school student's tone was a little strange, but since he was in business, he didn't think much of it and quickly dialed the number on the business card.

After chatting for a while, the shop owner brought good news:

"The other party agreed, but they need you to provide the corresponding photos, or you can go to their store to be a model."

"Understood. Can we provide photos later? By the way, how much does it cost and time to make these dolls?"

The boss stroked his beard and calmly explained all the details:

"Because it's custom-made, it might be a bit more expensive. Also, the final price will depend on the materials used in the doll. As for the time, I think it will take about two weeks?"

While it's said to be a bit pricey, it's actually not that bad. A complete set of dolls costs around 7000 yen, and if the materials are of lower quality, it can even be cheaper.

However, since it was a gift for another person, Hachiman wanted to use better materials, and in the end, through his communication, the price of the whole set was reduced to 6000 yen.

"Then it's settled. Remember to bring the photos over in the next few days. Of course, if you're shy, you can use your own drawings."

The shop owner prefers character designs to photos of the doll itself, as this makes it easier to ensure consistency between the doll and the design. Otherwise, if you only have a photo, the doll maker has to improvise, and if the result is different, you can only make simple modifications.

Hearing this, Hachiman looked at the two children behind him:

"Ijichi-san, Nagasaki-san, is either of you good at drawing?"

Seeing the two's blank and somewhat troubled expressions, Hachiman knew he had asked in vain, so he shook his head slightly and said to the boss:

"Thank you, I will send the photos over as soon as possible."

Leaving the decoration shop, Hachiman walked along the street, lost in thought. The other people's photos were easy to find, but where could he find Nishimiya Shoko's photos?

Are you suggesting we film it on location?

But what kind of reasons should you use to persuade the other party?

After a moment, he had two feasible plans in mind. The first was to find a few people who could take photos secretly, but this was relatively risky and could easily arouse Nishimiya Shoko's suspicion.

The second option was to directly ask Nishimiya Shoko's sister, Nishimiya Yuzuru, for a photo of her. Hikigaya always felt that his relationship with Nishimiya Yuzuru wasn't very good, so from a certain perspective, getting a photo was quite difficult.

"Oh dear, this is a difficult situation."

After leaving the shopping street, the group temporarily dispersed. On their way home, Hachiman encountered an unexpected person while passing by the park next to his house.

169 The Earless Monster

Let's rewind to an hour earlier.

Originally planning to go home with her friends, Nishimiya Shoko learned that Nijika and the others had something urgent to attend to and couldn't go with them, so she had no choice but to pack her bags alone and head home in the direction she remembered.

but.

She didn't feel lonely or sad because of this; on the contrary, Nishimiya Shoko felt very relaxed at the moment.

She is satisfied and content with her current life and hopes that it can continue forever.

Sometimes she even wondered if she could stay with Hikigaya and Nijika forever if she never grew up.

It's so nice to be able to get along with friends. Since starting elementary school, Nishimiya Shoko has never had such a pleasant time.

With these thoughts in a pleasant mood, Nishimiya Shoko quickly arrived home.

"I'm home." Taking off her pink sneakers, Nishimiya Shoko stepped into the entryway and softly called her sister's name, "Yuzuru, is Nii there?"

Strangely, no familiar reply came from inside the house.

Is Yuzuru not here?

Nishimiya Shoko put down her schoolbag in confusion. Usually, her younger sister would have been home by now, but she searched the house and couldn't find her anywhere.

Did you go out to play again after you got home?

"grandmother..."

Nishimiya Shoko was about to call for her family when she suddenly realized that her grandmother was going to the hospital that afternoon and wouldn't be back until very late.

Now she's all alone at home...

Thinking of this, a sense of loneliness that hadn't existed just moments before crept up on me.

Nishimiya Shoko sat on her bed, spending a long hour reading the handmade book she had bought last time. Then, she gazed out the window, and for some reason, a feeling of unease kept churning inside her.

Has something happened to Yuzuru?

The thought quickly swelled in her mind. She carefully put the precious craft book back in the drawer, then put on her shoes and left the apartment, heading straight for the kindergarten where her younger sister was currently attending.

but.

When she arrived at the kindergarten, the teacher in charge of picking up and dropping off the students told her that Yuzuru had already gone home.

"Yuzuru, has she... gone to the ashes?" Nishimiya Shoko stammered, struggling to express herself clearly. "Teacher, did you tell her where she went?"

"Hmm, I'm not really sure either. Did they go to play in the park next door?"