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

Respecting the opinions of parents or elders is certainly a good thing, but that doesn't mean you have to completely abandon your own thinking. On the contrary, if you completely follow other people's opinions, what's the difference between living and being a puppet?

but.

Nishimiya Shoko is someone who cares about what others think. Even though this has improved after the bullying incident, she still can't express her thoughts well when faced with her mother's demands.

Sure enough, the next moment, Hachiman's worries came true.

"Do not..."

Nishimiya Shoko forced herself to look away, shook her head, and a complex, heartbreaking smile appeared on her face.

This kid is really something...

Hachiman never expected that Nishimiya's mother's concern would become an obstacle for Nishimiya Shoko at this time. If this had happened to Hachiman, he would have ignored his parents' opinions and bought his beloved books first.

"There are many books on crafts over there. If you're interested, we can go and take a look."

"no need."

Nishimiya Shoko smiled and waved, seemingly resisting something. Seeing this, Hikigaya sighed slightly and walked straight towards the book stall owner.

A few minutes later, he returned to the same spot with two books, one thicker and one thinner. The thinner one was the "Handicraft Class" that Nishimiya Shoko had just picked out.

"Has Hachiman found the book he wanted to buy?"

Nishimiya Shoko asked curiously.

"Ah, um."

Hachiman showed off the two books he had just bought... or rather, one of them, since the other one was a free gift.

"Also, this is a free gift, but I'm not really interested in handicrafts or anything like that. If you want it, Nishimiya-kun, I'll give it to you."

Hikigaya casually handed over the complimentary copy of "Handicraft Classroom".

Nishimiya Shoko was frozen in place, not reaching out to catch it. At this moment, Hachiman sighed with feigned regret:

"It seems that Nishimiya-san isn't very interested in this book. I'll just throw it away later."

"Is it really okay if you give it to me?"

Upon hearing that Hikigaya wanted to throw away the handmade book, Nishimiya Shoko immediately responded anxiously in sign language.

"Well, I don't need it anyway, and books really do only have value if someone reads them."

"...Thank you so much, Hikigaya-kun." Nishimiya Shoko solemnly accepted the handmade book, then clutched it tightly to her chest. "I will cherish it dearly!"

Hikigaya smiled knowingly and put the book he had bought into his bag.

After doing all that, the two continued walking toward the next section.

In the end, Nishimiya Shoko bought some textbooks for the course, while Hachiman bought a lot of things at various stalls.

Despite having only 3,000 yen, Hikigaya managed to buy several well-preserved literary works at prices almost like buying waste paper. These works were available both domestically and internationally, and importantly, they were all first editions and collectibles!

While secretly pleased with his bargain find, he also cursed the foolish shopkeepers who didn't know about rare books, and then said to Nishimiya Shoko, who was standing there dumbfounded:

"Nishimiya-kun, do you have any more books you want to buy? We're about to leave."

"what?"

Seemingly infected by Hikigaya's happy mood, Nishimiya Shoko also showed a joyful smile and waved her hand to indicate that her feelings were not a concern.

What made Hachiman feel a little ashamed was that even though they were about to leave the library, the child was still holding that thin craft book.

There's no need to exaggerate like that; it's just an ordinary craft book.

Since Nishimiya Shoko herself saw how important it was, Hikigaya didn't want to forcefully interfere. He shrugged, took another stroll, and then left the library with Nishimiya Shoko.

His current plan is to take Nishimiya Shoko home first, and then find a quiet place to start reading. However, as he walked out of the library, he almost bumped into a girl.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

A girl with a braid tied in her hair suddenly stopped in front of Hachiman and then hurriedly began to apologize.

The voice seemed somewhat familiar, and Hachiman couldn't help but scrutinize the other person closely. At the same moment, the girl's scrutinizing gaze also fell upon him.

"Ending the class?"

"Ah, it's Hachiman!"

The two recognized each other. Nishimiya Shoko noticed the movement ahead and couldn't help but cast a questioning glance at Hachiman. She gestured in confusion using sign language:

"Is this a child that Hachiman knows?"

"Ah, um, we exchanged a few words before."

Hikigaya's eye twitched as he answered. He hadn't expected to run into two people he knew in the Holy Land Library in the past. This was simply illogical!

Shouldn't little kids be playing in the mud in the park on weekends?

Is a library a place for someone your age to go to?

Damn it, are you all secretly cheating? It's only elementary school, is it really necessary?!

"Hachiman, you don't look too well."

Inori anxiously reached out her hand, but Hachiman instinctively flinched. Sensing a hint of rejection from Hachiman, the sensitive girl immediately withdrew her hand uneasily.

"Um, I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay."

To appease the other person, Hikigaya quickly waved his hand.

The child was the same as the one I saw a few months ago, wearing a pink jacket and jeans. The only difference was that his hair seemed to have grown a bit longer.

"Long time no see. Are you here to borrow books?"

"Huh, not this time." Inori shook her head, then noticed Nishimiya Shoko behind Hachiman. "Eh... I'm sorry, I didn't know Hachiman-kun had companions. I didn't mean to disturb you!"

"Don't mind him, this is my classmate."

Hikigaya made way for her, and Nishimiya Shoko followed closely outside, timidly offering a greeting.

"Great!"

"Hey, hello, hello!"

Watching the two adorable little girls interact amicably, Hachiman felt instantly healed.

101 Earthworm Experts

"Hey, Nishimiya-kun, can't you hear me?"

It was probably the first time that Inori had learned that someone her age had a severe hearing impairment. She looked at Nishimiya Shoko helplessly, wondering what to say to make her happy.

"I'm so sorry, you must have had a very hard time if you couldn't hear me!"

The empathetic girl slowly lowered her head, revealing an apologetic expression, and even her originally rising voice became timid at this moment.

Imagining herself living in a silent environment, unable to hear anything anyone said, Qi felt her mood begin to feel depressed after the event.

Unbeknownst to them, the unwavering determination hidden in those amber eyes began to slowly fade.

"Ending classmate..."

Seeing this dejected reaction, Nishimiya Shoko quickly waved her hand gently in front of her chest, then took out her notebook and wrote down her thoughts:

"I hope you don't mind if we end things here."

"Although I have hearing problems, my friends care about me a lot, so I don't feel sad at all."

"but..."

"Speaking of which, is there anything else after we finished our classmate meeting?"

Qi hurriedly raised his head, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Before she could even speak, Hachiman stepped forward and abruptly interrupted the incredibly frustrating conversation.

Let's leave this heavy topic here!

"what?"

After finishing, Qi gently stroked the soft little braid on her forehead and said hesitantly:

"Um, I have to go to work later."

"Working?"

Hikigaya looked puzzled.

"Yes, Mom said that you can get a reward for doing chores!"

"Of course I know that..."

"Ah, if it's alright, would you like to come with me to take a look, Hikigaya-san and Nishimiya-san?"

After finishing, Inori eagerly headed to the other end and invited Hikigaya and Nishimiya Shoko to join her.

Since they were invited to go together, it probably wasn't anything important. In any case, Hachiman was too lazy to go out much.

"No, I'll pass..."

"Oh, can we come together?"

Nishimiya Shoko blinked her eyes cutely.

What, you want to go with them?

Originally, Hikigaya had only offered a perfunctory greeting and had no intention of going through with it, but seeing that Nishimiya Shoko readily agreed, he had no choice but to change his mind.

After all, he had promised Nishimiya's mother that he would take good care of her.

"In that case, I'll go too."

"Okay, let's go now!"

Three elementary school students formed a makeshift team and set off in an unknown direction.

Hikigaya put his hands in his pockets and slowly followed behind the two. After a while, they stopped in front of an ordinary park.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"right here!"

Just as he was about to ask a question, the leader, Ji Jieqi, had already stepped into the open space of the park.

Hachiman turned to look around. Apart from a messy sandpit and a bare lawn, there was nothing else in the park.

"The classmate who asked you for help after the meeting, it's probably not your family, right?"

"Oh, of course not."

Qi was puzzled as to why he would ask such a question.

"So that's how it is. So what exactly is this 'help' you're talking about?"

"Wait a moment."

After finishing, Qi's eyes flickered, then he squatted down on the lawn, patted the left and right and searched, finally finding a spot where the soil was relatively moist.

"There are so many earthworms here, I come here to dig every time."

As she spoke, she started digging in the ground, without using any tools, relying mainly on bare hands.

Seeing Inori's inexplicably skilled demeanor after the event, Hachiman was completely stunned.

Wait a minute, is the help this kid is talking about digging for earthworms in the park?

Hachiman could understand that kids his age often did outrageous things, as he himself had done many bad things when he was young.

For example, creating useless traps in the sandpit...

Sigh, there was nothing I could do. I had too much energy back then, but since I had no friends, I could only entertain myself by doing some weird and wonderful activities to pass the time.

But then again, what kind of kind person would ask a primary school student to go around digging for earthworms?

Hachiman remembers the first time he met Inori, she also had a big bag of lively earthworms in her hand. At that time, he thought she was just an earthworm enthusiast, but now he realized that she was actually helping someone else.

"I'll help Ni."

While Hikigaya was still questioning his existence, Nishimiya Shoko stepped forward and followed.

Although she was a girl, she didn't care about her image. She squatted down and started digging with Jie Qi. In no time, her hands were covered in dirty mud.