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

"Hey, Hachiman, according to the script, you're dead now."

"...Uh."

Hikigaya felt very tired, as if all his strength had been drained from his body.

"Ah, sorry, Hachiman, we seem to have gone too far." After calming down, Judge Nijika scratched her head awkwardly. "Alright, Ryo, stop fooling around and let's get back to business."

"cut."

Yamada Ryo reluctantly put the revolver (in his finger) back into his pocket, while Nijika gave up her seat so that Hanami Anana could return to her own place.

The topic finally got back on track.

"Apricot Sauce, please take me in for a few days!"

"OK, I'm bored at home alone anyway, so I can stay as long as I want!"

Anzu Hanami was feeling bored at home alone, and if she had some friends to keep her company, the evening might become quite lively.

"Apricot Sauce, you can't spoil Liang too much, otherwise she will definitely take advantage of you."

Hongxia spoke up to remind her from the side.

"Don't worry, I'll keep things in check... Speaking of which, Hongxia and Shoko, do you two want to come over tonight?"

"Sigh, isn't it too much trouble with so many of us?"

"No, no."

I want to go.

Nishimiya Shoko hesitated for a moment, then wrote down her thoughts in her notebook first.

"After school, I went to tell my grandma that I would be going home later tonight."

"Look, even Shoko-chan is here! And the more people the better, so I can ask my parents for money to order delicious takeout."

Hanami bent her finger and made a gesture as if asking for money.

"Oh, then I won't stand on ceremony."

After discussing it, the girls quickly decided to have a party at Anna Hanami's house that night, while Hachiman, who was sentenced to three years in prison, decisively chose to leave.

After school, Hachiman said goodbye to several enthusiastic girls. When he got home, he was surprised to find several new messages on his phone, which was hidden in the closet.

There was only one person with this phone number, so Hachiman could roughly guess what the other person wanted to contact him about.

Ichigo Saito: They are twins, and both mother and babies are safe.

Upon seeing this message, Hachiman laughed from the bottom of his heart.

Hikigaya: Congratulations.

My fingers smoothly typed those words on the electronic screen, and then I pressed the send button. The message showed as unread, so maybe Saito and his wife were talking to Miss Ai right now.

After finishing these tasks, Hachiman put down his phone and, as usual, went into the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for the evening.

but.

Perhaps because he learned that a new life had been born, Hachiman felt much lighter, and even the originally lush green vegetables now seemed refreshing.

"Onii-chan, what good thing happened?"

Komachi, who was reading a fairy tale book on the sofa, noticed his actions.

"Oh, it's nothing. How about we have red bean rice today?"

"Sigh, something must have happened."

"No."

After washing the vegetables, Hachiman returned to his bedroom, unlocked his phone, and a series of messages popped up.

Saito Ichigo's account posted a series of photos of baby carriers. Through the glass of the baby carriers, you could see the babies inside, both with their eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

This was the first time Hachiman had ever seen a baby in swaddling clothes. He hadn't even realized what was happening when Komachi was born, so he had long forgotten that memory.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the skin of the human infants was not as beautiful as he had imagined; instead, it was wrinkled and glowed red due to the distribution of capillaries.

After receiving a bunch of baby photos taken from various angles, Ichigo Saito sent me a special one.

That's Miss Ai holding her child. The young woman, who has just given birth, looks exhausted, but still proudly makes a peace sign at the camera.

Even Hachiman couldn't help but feel an urge to protect the other person when he saw this photo.

Before he could compose himself, the phone rang abruptly. Hachiman quickly checked that the bedroom door was closed properly before pressing the answer button.

"Hello, this is Hachiman."

234. Suffering in silence

"Hey, Hachiman, it's been a long time since I've heard your voice."

As the familiar voice rang in his ears, Hikigaya couldn't help but wonder why Ichigo Saito, the president of a well-known company, had such a loud voice.

but.

More than the other person's voice, Hikigaya was concerned about why Saito Ichigo, who had just been communicating via text message, suddenly wanted to call.

Hachiman's brain was working at lightning speed.

Now that Ai has given birth to twins, is there something Ichigo Saito is unable to explain over text, or is he hoping to put pressure on me by phone?

By guessing the other party's motives, he quickly came to the corresponding conclusion.

As expected, President Saito wanted to confirm by phone that he hadn't leaked Ai-san's information, right?

With this mental preparation, Hachiman suddenly felt much better. He slowly replied on the phone:

"Oh, um, is there something you need?"

"Hey, hey, you're so cold right from the start! I even showed you pictures of our precious child!"

The foolish old man uttered an unpleasant complaint.

"No, isn't that Miss Ai's child?"

"Idiot, I'm nominally the guardian of love, so what's wrong with treating these two children as my own?"

Isn't he a grandson?

Upon hearing this, Hikigaya smiled speechlessly. However, Saito Ichigo himself wasn't actually that old, and calling him a grandfather would be too hurtful, so he decided to go along with the other's feelings.

"...I'm glad you like it."

"Of course! Hachiman, things are settled here with Ai. How are things going on your end?"

Hearing this, Hachiman finally confirmed his guess.

"Don't worry, I didn't say anything."

"Huh, you didn't say anything?" The voice on the other end of the phone paused for a second, then spoke in an annoyed tone, "Are you an idiot? Who would ask you about this at a time like this!"

"Ugh?"

Could it be that President Saito didn't call to warn me?

"I was asking you how the new semester is going, whether you've been bullied or anything, but given how cunning you are, most ordinary brats probably wouldn't dare mess with you."

Hey, I have a feeling that President Saito has a big misunderstanding about him.

"Thanks to you, I'm doing pretty well now."

"That's good. Oh, by the way, there's something I need to ask you..."

Before Ichigo Saito could finish speaking, Hachiman immediately replied:

"Can I say no?"

"Hey, at least let me finish explaining before you refuse!" Saito Ichigo sighed. "You haven't changed at all. You'll become an outcast if you keep going like this."

"..."

"Alright, let's get down to business. Our company is attending an important banquet. We originally planned to send Ai, but as you know, given her current condition, it's impossible for her to attend. So we're planning to find someone else from the company to replace her."

"Ah, um, that's a shame, but it shouldn't be a problem to have other members of the company participate, right?"

Hikigaya lay on the bed and switched hands to answer the phone, but for some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Sigh, that was our original plan, but unfortunately, all of our company's employees had other commitments on the day of the banquet and couldn't spare the time at all."

"Ugh..."

It sounds like Strawberry PRO has encountered a common business challenge.

Simply put, it's like a celebrity rushing to a gig when they unexpectedly discover that their agency has received two events scheduled for the same time. Let's not discuss what went wrong during the preparation process; the important thing right now is how to resolve it.

"What a pity, it seems I won't be able to participate."

Hachiman spoke perfunctorily, but to be honest, he couldn't think of a good solution. At this point, all he could do was apologize to the banquet organizers.

He might also have to pay a penalty for breach of contract. He didn't know the specifics, but he'd heard that penalty fees for similar events were quite expensive.

"No, it didn't come to that. Through my efforts, the banquet organizers accepted Ai's reason for not being able to attend."

"Oh, congratulations."

Hachiman's voice remained cold. He was somewhat confused as to why Saito Ichigo was telling him this, but what the other man asked next surprised him greatly:

"So, Hachiman, you'll come with me then."

"No, no, no, I don't understand what you're talking about at all. Are you kidding me?" Hachiman shook his head repeatedly, his dead fish eyes widening in astonishment. "Besides, President Saito, putting aside whether I accept or not, what's the point of having me attend this banquet for the company?"

In his view, gatherings of celebrities are basically places for exchanging resources. Ordinary people like him would not only be unable to help Strawberry PRO build connections, but might also have a negative impact on their company due to their status.

"You don't need to worry about that for now... Also, Hachiman, I won't let you work for nothing. How about a 10 million yen appearance fee?"

"ha--?"

Saito Ichigo undoubtedly asked for an astronomical price. Hachiman thought that even a third-tier star's appearance fee was only this much. Could this guy have gone crazy?

"And this time we will officially sign a contract. You won't need to do anything at the party. Just stay by my side and do things that elementary school students would do."

Saito Ichigo continued to add.

Hearing this, Hachiman suddenly realized what was happening. He was about to say something, but was interrupted again:

"Of course, this appearance fee might be too much for you, so I'll add some other items to the contract. Of course, you don't need to complete them. This condition should be pretty good for you, right?"

"Ah, normally it would be really great."

Hikigaya said awkwardly.

To put it bluntly, Ichigo Saito is simply paying back the hush money from last time in a roundabout way.

He figured that if he earned his reward through labor, even Hikigaya wouldn't have anything to say, and he suspected that if he refused to attend the banquet, Saito Ichigo would compensate him in other ways in the future.

He's a complete and persistent pursuer...

Hikigaya sighed silently.

"I understand, I will attend the banquet."

"Okay, if you don't like those places, you can just wander around the venue, fill your stomach, and then you can leave."

How could I possibly like it...?

Hikigaya isn't in the entertainment industry, so appearing in those high-society social settings would definitely make him feel out of place, and he might even faint on the spot from embarrassment.

However, in other words, once this party is over, it means that the relationship between the two parties will come to an end, and Hachiman will no longer have to worry about being "harassed" by Saito Ichigo in the future.

"President Saito, could you send me the time and location?"

With these thoughts in mind, Hachiman and the other party confirmed the details of the banquet.

"The banquet is this Friday. I'll pick you up from school. Could you please send me your address later?"

"Ok."

Although reluctant, Hachiman was eventually forced to attend the celebrity party this Friday.

Think about it the way you would look: getting ten million yen for just attending a meeting sounds incredibly appealing.

But for some reason, Hachiman always felt like there was a thorn stuck in his heart, making him feel uncomfortable but not completely removed. Was it because the red bean rice was cooked too early?