The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

Could it be...?

No, no, no, that's impossible. This is a school, a sacred place.

However, it seems that the more sacred a place is, the more likely it is to have hidden filth, such as bringing one's treasured pornographic books to school for exchange.

Hachiman stood at the door, unsure whether he should go in.

After much deliberation, I decided to move forward anyway, because even if that were the case, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Men, after all, go through a molting period.

"that……"

"The world of anime is terrifying..."

Upon getting closer, I heard the teacher whispering.

What exactly did Kohei do?

"Teacher, is there anything else you wanted to see me about?"

After waiting quietly for more than ten seconds, the male teacher seemed to have restarted after a system crash, and returned to normal.

"Oh, Hachiman, you're here. I'm so sorry to have called you over during your lunch break. You must be tired from walking all this way. Let's sit down and chat."

Hachiman looked puzzled, but after seeing the teacher's calm expression, he understood.

This is such a huge blow that he's forgotten a certain point in time. What exactly did Kohei do to the teacher?

"Actually, there's nothing too important that I asked you to come here. I just wanted to discuss something with you."

"What is it? Please tell me."

The teacher placed her hand on his shoulder, her eyes shining brightly.

"Have you ever thought about becoming the class monitor?"

"I do not have."

"Such a quick answer!"

The teacher was astonished. This guy actually blurted it out the very next second after he finished speaking. How resistant he must be!

Hachiman spoke calmly: "Teacher, to be honest, what do you think of this class?"

"Well, that's great. Everyone is very united and loving."

The teacher paused for a moment before replying, "That's strange, shouldn't that be his line?"

"That's just the surface. In reality, this class is filled with the atmosphere of battle, and everyone is suspicious of each other..."

"You bastard, you added water to your drink last night, didn't you?!"

"I didn't! On the contrary, you deliberately tilted your glass and spilled the wine on the floor last night!"

"That's slander!"

"Struggle".

"How dare you, you bastard, have a sister! A creature like you should stay alone in a dark corner as a reptile!"

"Huh? You're just a sour grapes. Are you jealous? Jealous that you're a siscon but don't have a sister, while my sister calls me Onii-chan every day."

"Kisama! You must die here today!"

"Come on, let's see who gets naked first!"

Wait, it seems like my memory is a little messed up.

"pornography."

[...Oh, come more, come ** me!]

Sorry, I'm afraid of going too far with the content, so I'll just give a brief overview.

"This is the true face of this class, so, teacher, do you understand?"

Hachiman, with a serious expression, questioned the teacher.

"Um, it seems that in your memories, it's always those two people who appear, which means they're the only ones who are bacteria, right?"

"Bacteria are easily spread."

The teacher rubbed her eyes and waved wearily.

"I understand. Okay, I won't make you the class monitor, but I need your help with something."

"Please tell me, whether it's finding someone to take the fall or eliminating the germs, I will do my best."

"I have a feeling you're part of the bacteria too, Hachiman," the teacher said casually. "It's nothing serious. Could you help me move a few boxes from the corner of the first-floor corridor to the school warehouse? Those boxes are just gathering dust."

Is there anything inside?

"No, it's empty, so it's very relaxing."

"Ok."

After hearing this, Hachiman walked out of the office. Before leaving, he asked his teacher a question.

"Why would you want me to be class monitor, teacher? I think Kotegawa would be a better fit than me."

"Because you look old... but capable!"

You mean to say he's honest, right? Because he seems like the kind of guy who handles small things on his own and doesn't report big things, which is very reassuring.

Thinking this, Hachiman closed the door.

……

cheated.

Hachiman tilted his head, staring at the trembling pink unidentified creature inside the box.

Slime?

Chapter Twenty-Four: Goto Ichiri

Ichiri Goto is a first-year science student majoring in mathematics at Izu University. She loves rock music and was once a member of a band called Bond in high school. They performed at the "Starry Night" concert hall. Due to the band's compatibility and her outstanding guitar skills, her performance was recorded and posted online, which earned her considerable praise.

As a result, she has many nicknames online.

A cardboard box that can play guitar

"The guitar-playing girl with a listless look in her eyes"

"A person who looks somewhat melancholic but is surprisingly good at rock music."

These nicknames, whether meant as teasing or praise, had a simple and easy-to-understand synonym in Hachiman's eyes.

"similar"

However, that was just my previous opinion. Looking at it now, it seems there is still a considerable gap between him and her.

At least he won't crawl into a cardboard box to eat lunch during his lunch break.

“Um…” he began tentatively. “The cardboard box is very dirty.”

"Sorry sorry."

Unexpectedly being discovered, Goto Ichiri stood up, bowed hurriedly in apology, and held up the lunchbox in her hand.

"To express my apologies, please enjoy!"

"Um, while I appreciate your kindness, I really don't know what you need to apologize for."

What kind of person is he? Does he look scary? Why don't I dare to look up at him?

Hachiman's expression turned strange. Was this person being a little too neurotic? He thought that what he had seen in the videos before was just a form of expression, but he didn't expect it to be much more serious in reality.

"I'll be moving out soon, could you please make an exception and let me get through today?"

The girl spoke anxiously but in a low voice, as if a mosquito were buzzing.

"Let's not even mention that this is a public area and not under my jurisdiction."

Hachiman sighed, his tone helpless.

"Aren't you being far too nervous, Goto-kun?"

"Do you know me?"

Upon hearing him say his name, Goto Ichiri finally mustered the courage to look up at him.

So fierce (*?????) Judging from his eyes, he's definitely been through the wringer.

"do not know."

Hachiman speaks the truth.

"Anyway, could you find another place to eat? My teacher asked me to move these boxes to the warehouse."

Looking at the nutritionally balanced food in the girl's lunchbox, he felt a little hungry since he hadn't eaten lunch. If he waited any longer, he might only be able to eat fried noodles with bread without the fried noodles.

Why is it fried noodles again? Why does he always think of fried noodles bread whenever he thinks of bread?

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry."

Having left the precious place she had finally found, Goto Ichiri walked out of the school building, looking dejected, and headed towards a certain place.

Gazing at her lonely figure, Hachiman felt as if he had bullied a small animal. When he saw her final destination, Hachiman could no longer bear it and grabbed her by the back of her neck by the collar.

"Hmm, eh (?⊿?)ツ"

The girl, whose fate had been seized, let out a cute exclamation of surprise. She turned her head tremblingly and looked at the terrifying face of the other person, which was shrouded in shadow. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and he looked very unhappy.

At times like this, she has to pay protection money, but she has spent all her money on maintaining her guitar and borrowing coolness from her seniors. Now she only has one Fukuzawa Yukichi card on her.

"I said……"

"I'm very sorry, I don't know the rules. This is the money I plan to use as my dowry. Please accept it."

Small money is still money.

"Can you help me? I'll buy you a drink afterwards."

Help? Goto Ichiri's eyes widened in surprise.

Dowry? Hachiman froze.

What exactly did she imagine him to be?

……

"Ah ha ha……"

Carrying the box that had recently contained her, Goto Ichiri smiled awkwardly. It turned out that things weren't as she had thought. She had thought she was experiencing a bullying incident that she had only read about in novels.

That's true. The other person wasn't aggressive in their speech, nor were they burly. Apart from their slightly fierce gaze, they seemed no different from a normal person.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, he has a rather decent appearance; while he may not be considered handsome, he is certainly quite good-looking.

Hachiman carried the box, pretending not to notice the girl's furtive glances. This guy was surprisingly bold when he was being watched.

"Goto-kun, it seems like you haven't been updating your videos much lately."

"Well, because I don't know what songs to play lately."

Still lost in thought about how naive she had been, Goto Ichiri answered unconsciously, then looked surprised and pointed at Hachiman in a panic.

How did you know I was making videos?!

This person seems a bit slow-witted.

"In any sense, I'd consider myself one of your fans."

Hachiman held the box in his left hand, swiped his phone screen with his right hand, opened his Twitter following list, and then opened an account called Guitar Hero, whose last update was two months ago.

After the school festival in his second year of high school, he began to develop a little interest in rock music. He would occasionally browse videos and listen to songs on Twitter. One day, he saw this account on the music streaming chart, clicked on it and saw that the player played quite well, so he followed it.

Later, after someone posted the album video of "Band of Bonds", he found that the guitarist's movements looked familiar, and after comparing them, he realized that it was actually the same person.

"Eh? Eh!!!"

Goto Ichiri's cheeks flushed bright red; this was the first time anyone other than her friends had recognized her identity as the guitar hero.

"How...how did you recognize me?"