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

"We'll take care of starting the fire. Nishimiya-kun, could you please wash the vegetables?"

"Ah."

The two boys immediately started giving orders, leaving the tedious tasks of washing and chopping vegetables to the two girls, while they themselves went to the kitchen counter to play with firewood.

"Hey, it's a match! That's really interesting!"

Unfortunately, before the two kids could even take out matches to light them, Mr. Xiaoba stepped forward and took the matchbox back.

"You need the teacher's permission to use fire."

"Oh dear, how could this happen!"

After uttering a complaint, the two of them enthusiastically started a fire under the guidance of Teacher Xiaoba.

On the other side, Hachiman was also assigned to wash vegetables. He washed the vegetables and beef he had received at the sink, and then mixed a homemade sauce to soak the beef in.

The beef is already cut, so it just needs to sit for a while.

After finishing these tasks, Hachiman went to the kitchen counter.

"Do you need help?"

At that moment, Nishimiya Shoko, who was standing still contemplating life because she didn't know how to cut vegetables, nodded immediately after hearing Hikigaya's voice.

"I'm sorry to have troubled Hachiman-kun."

Nishimiya Shoko gave up a seat, then looked embarrassed. She explained in sign language that she had only ever done baking at home, so she wasn't very familiar with how to use knives.

"It's okay, and these children's knives aren't very good anyway... If you're interested in baking, there seem to be related activities later."

Hikigaya comforted her, and upon hearing this, Nishimiya Shoko immediately regained her spirits.

"Leave it to me then!"

Because of his cooking experience, Hachiman was quite skilled at chopping vegetables, while the two boys who were trying to start the fire were in a rather messy state and failed to get the fire going for a long time.

Hachiman had reason to suspect that these two guys were just playing with fire.

"Everyone hurry up, everyone else has started cooking."

Teacher Xiaoba gently reminded them. Because she was there to keep an eye on things, there were no safety issues on site. However, because they were not familiar with cooking, the cooking process was very slow.

"We can do it!"

After a while of effort, the two finally managed to ignite a small flame.

Overjoyed by this achievement, they performed an awkward dance on the spot, much like Native Americans.

At this moment, Nagasaki Motoyo came over from another group. Because of her experience in making bento boxes, she took on the task of cooking for the group by herself and completed the preparation of the dishes at a very fast speed.

We're waiting for the water in the pot to boil right now, which will probably take a while.

"Hachiman, do you need any help?"

"No need, we've almost finished our work here too."

Hachiman politely declined their help, explaining that it was just simple curry, which he could handle by himself, and that the two boys were actually a hindrance.

"I see. Judging from Hachiman's expression, have you tried cooking before?"

Nagasaki Motoyo asked curiously.

"Yes, I have some experience, but it's limited to simple dishes. My skills can't compare to yours."

Hikigaya had no intention of lying, but his skills were only average; otherwise, he wouldn't have been defeated by Komachi.

Nagasaki Motoyo smiled happily at his praise:

"Oh, no, may I have the honor of trying it sometime? Actually, I'm quite interested in Hikiya-kun's cooking skills too."

"Whatever. By the way, is everything alright on your end?"

Hikigaya glanced at the distant location and saw that Nagasaki Motoyo had taken care of almost all the work except for lighting the fire, so the others simply wandered around the campsite.

"It's okay, thanks to everyone's help, our progress is going very smoothly."

Although he claimed to be helping, in Hachiman's eyes, only Nagasaki Motoyo actually did the work; everyone else was just slacking off.

Of course, this is also due to Soseta Nagasaki's competence.

199 Strange Little Devil

"Sometimes we shouldn't spoil the younger kids too much. It's good to let them do things on their own... even if what they make tastes terrible."

According to Hachiman Hikigaya, there are three criteria for evaluating food: color, aroma, and taste.

but.

Since the lunch chefs were inexperienced kids, we can basically rule out the possibility that it was delicious; in other words, it just wasn't good.

But even though it was Shi, because he made it himself, the little devils were still able to eat it happily.

Hikigaya made it very clear and straightforward, telling Nagasaki Motoyo to delegate some of the work to others and not to take on all of it herself.

Unfortunately, the other party did not seem to accept his proposal.

"Hmm, I'll think about it... Hachiman, the water seems to be boiling."

"Ah, excuse me for a moment."

As mentioned before, the process of making curry is very simple. Just pour the processed ingredients into the pot and stir constantly.

Hachiman stepped away, put the beef and vegetables into the pot, and just as he put the lid on, the boy next to him cried out in alarm.

"Oh no, the onion hasn't been cooked yet."

Hey, why didn't you say something so important earlier!

Hachiman glared at the other person resentfully. Although he didn't care much about the taste of the finished product from the beginning, he still wanted to do his best in the parts he could, since he didn't want to eat Shi.

"How about we cut another one?"

The boy suggested in a low voice, while the other person simply started setting up the stall:

"Forget it, besides, cutting onions feels really uncomfortable, and it makes my eyes water."

No, it's not you who are cutting onions.

but.

Hikigaya was too lazy to process the ingredients again, so he simply decided to make do with what he had.

After waiting for twenty minutes, the curry was ready.

Compared to the other groups' utterly unappetizing dishes, Hachiman felt that his group's result was passable. As for the taste, it was just average; the curry lacked depth and was a bit too salty.

Despite all the problems, surprisingly, no one in the group complained, and they immediately devoured the not-so-great curry.

Midway through, Nagasaki Motoyo also came over and had some curry.

It seems that the flavor was too subtle, and even a kind-hearted child like her couldn't bring herself to give it a high rating.

"Oh, if Hachiman likes curry, you can come to my house next time."

"No, actually I don't really like it that much."

Hachiman waved his hand, saying that curry was just for convenience.

"Oh, that's a shame." Nagasaki Motoyo rubbed her fingertips together slightly and placed them on the strands of hair on her chest. "Are you full, Glass-chan? If not, I have some more."

"Hmm, that's enough."

Shoko Nishimiya, having eaten and drunk her fill, wore a happy expression. Her grandmother had always been in charge of cooking at home, so being able to prepare the food herself, even if it tasted ordinary, was a very interesting experience.

"Can I learn cooking from Senior Su Shi someday?"

"Um, Nishimiya said she also wants to ask you for cooking tips."

Hikigaya relayed Nishimiya's message, and Nagasaki Motoyo readily agreed:

"Okay~"

After cleaning up the mess, Hachiman and his team went back to the hotel for a two-hour nap to recharge before starting their next activity.

Compared to the morning, the afternoon activities are more relaxed. They will visit the local museum under the guidance of their teachers, and the evening is free time.

The local museum didn't have many interesting exhibits, so Hachiman quickly browsed around before returning to his car to read the novel he had brought with him.

Around 5 p.m., everyone returned to the hotel.

Before dinner, Hachiman planned to go for a walk outside.

To avoid the wild Saito Ichigo and his group, he deliberately took a detour along the original route this time, but perhaps due to the route adjustment, he unexpectedly encountered members of the same group on the way.

"Ah, those two people seem to be Sawamura-kun and that An-something-lun?"

Eriri and Tomoya Aki were hiding in the nearby woods, whispering to each other. If you got a little closer, you could see that they were holding two unfamiliar comic books.

Huh, so they're here to exchange comic books?

but.

Why bother coming to such a strange place?

It's quite remarkable that these two managed to find such an inconspicuous spot. There was a stream just a few meters away from them, which would normally be the perfect place for mosquitoes to swarm in the summer.

As expected, a few seconds later, Hachiman saw the boy named Aki Tomoya suddenly slap himself, then open his hand to show his spoils to the frightened girl.

How silly...

Hachiman chuckled lightly. He wasn't particularly interested in their whispers, so he decisively turned around and prepared to leave.

just.

As I was leaving, I suddenly stepped on a tree branch.

"Squeak!"

Amidst the harmonious chirping of cicadas, a strange sound suddenly broke the silence.

The two elementary school students who were having a secret rendezvous in the grove froze on the spot. Startled, they looked around and quickly located Hachiman's position.

"Who's there!"

At this point, it's probably better to pretend you don't know anything, right?

After thinking for a moment, Hachiman decided to remain silent and turned to continue walking in the original direction. However, to his surprise, the boy named Aki Tomoya ran out of the grove.

"Hey, are you that strange person from this morning?"

He didn't remember doing anything strange that morning; it was you who was acting strangely. Anyway, Hachiman, caught red-handed, didn't give the other person a pleasant look.

"Hey, don't slander others. Who's the weirdo? I was just taking a normal walk."

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant."

Realizing he had misspoke, Aki Tomoya chose to apologize.

"It's alright. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I'll be going now."

"...It's Hikigaya-kun."

Just as Hachiman was about to slip away, Eriri followed Aki Tomoya out of the forest. After discovering that the guy who had spied on them was actually a member of their group, the girl visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

but.

Hikigaya suddenly noticed that the other person seemed to be hiding something behind their back. It must be those two comic books. Hmm, I really don't understand why reading comics is such a secret thing in the eyes of elementary school students?

In his experience, liking comics is not a shameful hobby. At least in junior high school, many students openly read comics in class.

Of course, I mean the kind of wholesome and popular comics.

200 otaku have attacked.

As we all know, there are also so-called circles of contempt in comics.

Traditional action manga is naturally the most widely accepted, and it's fine to read it even in front of family members. Next are popular shoujo manga, and finally, various niche seinen manga.

At the very bottom of the hierarchy of disdain are comics that use borderline content as their selling point. If someone finds out that you are reading borderline comics, you will not only be treated as an otaku, but you will also easily be socially reviled.

Especially on campus, even the most popular people wouldn't dare to look at these kinds of works in front of their classmates.

Even Hachiman would give a thumbs up to someone who dares to openly read suggestive comics in class.