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

"Hachiman Hikigaya, third grade at Haneoka Elementary School, this is my younger sister."

"Hachiman, there's more...?"

"Komachi!"

Komachi raised her hand energetically, and her lively voice cheered Ichinose Honami up a little.

"Hello, Komachi-chan."

While Ichinose Honami and Komachi were talking, Hachiman began to analyze why they had resorted to theft.

Although she was somewhat thin, the girl's complexion was generally healthy, and hair clips are not necessities, so it can be largely ruled out that the hair clips were for living expenses.

Hikigaya's perspective gradually shifted.

That familiar uniform came into view once again.

However, Hachiman observed that although the girl's clothes were washed very clean, they were obviously quite old, with patches in some places.

Besides, there were no visible ornaments on the other person, suggesting that their family's financial situation was not very good.

Hey, hey, could it be because of that reason...?

A sad thought flashed through Hachiman's mind. After hesitating for a few seconds, he tentatively asked, "Didn't you buy that hair clip, sister?"

Honami Ichinose scratched her head sheepishly, "Well, I didn't bring enough money with me today, so I can't afford it."

"Oh, I see. Was that a gift for someone?"

"Hey, how did Hachiman know?"

Honami Ichinose couldn't control her expression, revealing an incredulous look.

You guessed right.

"Actually, that's a hair clip my sister really wanted." Honami Ichinose looked at the bench in front of her and answered herself. "That hair clip may look ordinary, but it's actually a celebrity's favorite. Hachiman, do you know the Suzimi group?"

No wonder the price is so attractive; it turns out it's a celebrity favorite, you wouldn't guess it at all.

Ordinary hair clips cost only a few hundred yen, but the hair clip on the shelf that Hikigaya remembers costing as much as 30,000 yen was naturally unaffordable for an ordinary junior high school student.

Damn it, the darn celebrity effect!

052 What can we do when everyone's a sister-complex?

To be honest, Hachiman has never been interested in celebrities in the entertainment industry, nor does he have the habit of watching dramas or variety shows.

Unfortunately, he had heard of the group called SUZIMI.

In my memory, SUZIMI wasn't a very popular group. When he entered high school, SUZIMI's number of followers hadn't even broken 100,000. If we look at it six years ago, SUZIMI would probably just be a rookie group that had just debuted.

Thinking it would be troublesome to say they knew each other here, Hachiman thought for a moment and replied, "Sorry, I haven't heard of you."

"Haha, it's okay. They're not super popular stars, but my sister really likes them. She watches their performances on TV every night."

Honami Ichinose introduced the situation with great seriousness, her expression just beginning to soften, but for some reason, her mood suddenly turned somber again.

"This is one of my sister's few wishes, but I still can't help her fulfill it. I'm a useless older sister..."

Hikigaya's mouth was slightly open.

Could this be some kind of story where the younger sister is seriously ill, and the older sister is willing to sacrifice her own development to fulfill her younger sister's dream?

Hikigaya was sweating, and similarly, upon hearing this, Komachi trembled slightly and couldn't help but ask with concern, "Hamina-neechan's sister, is something wrong?"

"No, no, she's fine. Sigh, why are you looking at me like that? Was there something wrong with what I said earlier?"

Well, it's normal for others to misunderstand what you're saying!

Hikigaya is genuinely complaining.

Then he saw Ichinose Honami looking at him with a confirming gaze. He shrugged noncommittally: "I understand the general situation. In short, you wanted to go... to buy that hair clip to fulfill your sister's wish, right?"

Although there are various circumstances, the reasons themselves are not complicated.

In summary, the story is about a poor older sister who wants to buy her younger sister a birthday present she likes.

The Hikigaya family isn't exactly wealthy, but they're at least well-off. If they want a gift, they'll just ask their parents for money. But the Ichinose family probably can't afford such a burden.

What about working part-time?

Hachiman tried a different approach, but he quickly rejected it himself.

The other party is currently a junior high school student, and the minimum requirement for part-time jobs in the area is a high school diploma. In other words, Ichinose Honami is currently unable to earn income through legal part-time work.

Speaking of this, similar experiences slowly surfaced in Hachiman's mind.

At that time, Komachi was preparing for her middle school entrance exams. Hachiman saw a very suitable gift for her, but he was short of pocket money.

To fulfill his younger sister's wish, Hikigaya deliberately found a place far from school and lied about his age to work and earn money. Although the income was not much, it finally solved his immediate problem.

Of course, Hikigaya wasn't implying that Ichinose Honami should learn from him, since if the student affairs teacher found out about her secretly working part-time, not only would her parents be notified, but she would also be publicly criticized.

Furthermore, given Ichinose Honami's personality—she'd proactively apologize for her mistakes—it's unlikely she would do something like secretly working while hiding her age.

No, compared to secretly working without telling the school, stealing is still a much more serious offense!

Thinking of this, Hachiman sighed silently in his heart.

Hikigaya understands the feeling of wanting to care for and cherish someone, and being willing to do anything to meet their needs.

What can we do when everyone's a sister-obsessed person?

However, there are differences even among those who are obsessed with their younger sister!

He would not approve of Honami Ichinose's approach.

Ichinose Honami's sister might be happy to receive the gift, but once the lie is exposed, it will make her feel conflicted or even betrayed.

It's natural for elders to care about their younger sister, but that doesn't mean they should ignore her feelings.

The reason is that after discovering that Hachiman had worked part-time to save money, Komachi cried all night in her room, so from then on, Hachiman vowed never to do such a stupid thing again.

If I'm ever short of money, I can just kneel down and beg my parents for forgiveness.

"Ah, um."

Honami Ichinose lowered her head and said with some difficulty, "But that was wrong, and I won't do it again."

Hikigaya gave an "oh" and squinted slightly to carefully observe Ichinose Honami's expression. If the other party still hadn't given up by now, he had nothing more to say.

"Onii-chan..."

"what?"

Looking down, Komachi was pursing her lips, her bright eyes full of expectation: "Onii-chan, can you help Honami-neechan?"

"What help do you need? If you ask me, it would be better to give something else instead of a hair clip. The thought is what counts."

Hikigaya gave a straightforward answer.

"Yes, Hachiman is right..."

Honami Ichinose responded somewhat embarrassedly.

Yes, I really shouldn't have been thinking about getting the hair clip anymore. If the other person hadn't reminded me, I might have already made an irreparable mistake...

But then I thought, what would happen to my sister if I didn't bring back that hair clip?

Honami Ichinose frowned, lost in thought.

Ugh, this is so troublesome, why does it have to be my sister!

This scene came into Hachiman's view. He shook his leg irritably, paused for a moment, and then said, "By the way, I actually have a way to fulfill your sister's wish."

"Ugh?"

At first, she was a little surprised, then Ichinose Honami shook her head and politely declined, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Hachiman, but I will figure out the gift myself."

If you could think of a suitable method, you wouldn't steal it, right?

Although there was an element of impulsiveness involved, Hikigaya believes that Honami Ichinose must have tried different methods before deciding to do something bad, and only resorted to stealing from the convenience store when she had nowhere else to turn.

"Fine, if that's how it is, then forget it..."

Just as Hachiman was about to get up and leave, Komachi tugged at his sleeve again: "Hominami-neechan, why don't you listen to what Onii-chan has to say first?"

"Sigh, but..."

Seeing Ichinose Honami's somewhat conflicted expression, Hachiman slowly said, "Just take this as a reference. I know a good place where they can make hair clips that are similar in shape to that one."

"Really?"

Honami Ichinose pondered the possibility of success, a glimmer of hope rising in her heart.

Even if they're not the same style, if they look similar, maybe they'll make my sister happy too.

Hachiman added, "Ah, well, it's only about right, and it's not free."

"It's alright, I have four thousand yen here, is that enough?"

Honami Ichinose hurriedly took out all the change from her pocket; this was all she had at the moment, and she was still more than 20,000 yen short of the price of that celebrity hair clip.

With these funds, it should be possible to succeed.

Hachiman quickly calculated in his mind, then looked away and said, "There shouldn't be any problem, so shall we go?"

"Hehe, I'm a little tempted, but wouldn't doing this be too much trouble for you guys?"

"Hanami-neechan, why don't you give it a try? Besides, Onii-chan and I don't really have anything to do anyway."

Komachi poked Hikigaya.

Hey, who said nothing's wrong? I need to go back and read my light novel...

Although Hikigaya thought that Komachi's enthusiasm was mostly due to her finding it fun, thanks to her encouragement, Ichinose Honami's remaining hesitation was quickly dispelled.

"I understand. I'll leave it to you!"

Honami Ichinose bowed slightly and politely thanked the two young children.

Do you have a cell phone?

"Yep."

Honami Ichinose took her phone out of her pocket, and Hikigaya saw that it was a gray slider phone, a model that seemed quite old.

However, because it was used very carefully, there are no obvious scratches or cracks on the phone. It could easily be listed as 90% new on the secondhand market. Oh, and it should also be labeled as "used by a girl"!

Thinking about all this random stuff, Hachiman reached out his hand and asked, "Um, can I borrow this for a bit?"

"Ah, um, sure."

Honami Ichinose confidently handed over her phone.

As soon as he touched the phone's casing, Hachiman felt the lingering warmth of the girl's body, and his body involuntarily stiffened.

Hey, hey, stop overthinking!

Hachiman warned himself in his mind, then carefully checked the camera and network to make sure they were working properly before saying, "Wait here for me."

"it is good."

After Hikigaya left, Honami Ichinose gradually regained her composure, and at that moment, an indescribable sense of unease washed over her.

It took her several seconds to figure out the source of this unease—

Sigh, she's already a middle school student, so why is she being led by the nose by an elementary school student?

Staring in the direction of the convenience store, Honami Ichinose tilted her head in confusion, her long cherry-colored hair swaying from side to side in the breeze.

According to her original plan, she only wanted to apologize to the kind child, but before she knew it, it turned into a discussion about solving the gift problem with them.

it's wired.

Ichinose Honami rested her chin on her hand and thought for a long time but still couldn't understand how she had fast-forwarded to this point. Could it be that she was so useless that even an elementary school student couldn't stand her?

Ugh, I don't want that kind of thing.

She needs to mature quickly so that she can share the burden with her sick mother.

Not long after, Hachiman returned to his original spot with his phone.

"I'm sorry, I borrowed your phone and took a few photos without permission."

"It's ok."