The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

Iori quickly put her arm around his shoulder, and Hachiman could see that the woman's lips were practically curling up in a smile.

"Our battle plan will begin soon, remember to provide cover."

Iori said in a deep voice, exchanging a glance with Kohei not far away, and transmitting a signal.

"Would you like your ashes scattered at sea or in the ground?"

"Damn it, don't back down now! How can you do this to me and Kohei?"

"I just feel that this matter concerns life and death, and we need to think about it more carefully. For example, why don't you try kneeling completely naked?"

"That's a backup plan."

"You actually considered it..."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Bunch of Scum

Led by the two senior members, the new students gathered in the backyard.

The crowd gathered around the griddle, watching the senior member of the women's university club wield a spatula to mix the batter with shredded cabbage and fry it. Hachiman, who occasionally cooks at home, could easily tell that this was a Kansai-style okonomiyaki, also known as Osaka-style okonomiyaki.

He relaxed a little. When he first saw the ingredients, he thought he was going to make Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. Thank goodness, it wasn't Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

This statement doesn't mean he dislikes the flavors of Hiroshima, but rather that Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki has one more ingredient than Osaka-style okonomiyaki, and that ingredient is the reason he dislikes it.

That's right, yakisoba is usually served with fried noodles...

It's great to be able to change things up.

"It's done."

Hamaoka Azusa shoveled the finished okonomiyaki onto a plate and placed it in front of everyone. The exquisite appearance of the finished product caused everyone present to gasp in amazement.

"Greatful!"

His rapid-fire words made Chisa, who was about to praise the other's skills, swallow her words. She twitched her eyes and looked at Hachiman, who was bowing his head slightly and making a gesture of offering with his hands, her tone somewhat speechless.

"You...you can't be that serious, can you?"

"I was just marveling at how simple happiness can be."

Hachiman took the plate and placed it on the table. After everyone had tasted it, he picked up his chopsticks, took a piece, and put it in his mouth.

The rich pork cutlet sauce and cheese melted in my mouth like liquid, the dry saltiness of the bonito flakes blended perfectly with the aroma of the sauce, and the crispy texture was simply divine. So good! ˉ?ˉ )

"This tastes great! It would be a huge hit if sold at the Izu Festival."

After tasting it, Iori gave a fair evaluation, but he still felt that Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki was better, as the addition of fried noodles made it easier to feel full.

"That's our plan: to use the sales revenue as the club's operating expenses."

Diving is an extremely expensive sport, and the price of each necessary piece of equipment is usually high. Therefore, they often set up stalls at various festivals and celebrations to sell food that is simple and easy to make and does not require too much money in raw materials.

In addition, club members also work part-time in their spare time or participate in certain activities to earn prize money, so they can be said to have started to develop social skills before even entering the workforce.

"The freshmen's task today is to learn this! I'm counting on you this time, Azusa."

Shinji Tokita made his request to Azusa Hamaoka with a bright smile.

"Of course, no problem. But what are Shi and Shou going to do?"

Hamaoka Azusa gladly accepted his request.

"Let's go prepare the equipment."

Shinji Tokita pointed to a car on the road behind him with his thumb, where someone was already waiting in the driver's seat.

"Everyone will be coming to eat after this, so please make extra."

Juryujiro waved to the man and walked with Tokita Shinji toward the car.

"OK Bye Bye."

After the two got into the car, Hamaoka Azusa looked at the four people.

"Alright, let's begin. First, put on your apron, otherwise you'll get your clothes dirty."

Everyone followed instructions and put on aprons. At that moment, Hachiman saw Iori give him a look. Iori's eyes were slightly slanted, making him look almost like he was paralyzed.

[It's about to begin, are you ready?]

Hachiman squinted, picked up a cabbage, and began to chop it.

[Go die if you want, this has nothing to do with me, I don't benefit from it at all, why should I get involved in this mess?]

He's not pretending anymore; he's showing his hand!

Do you think you can escape?

Kohei smiled dismissively and walked to his side.

[What's the meaning? ]

Hachiman glanced at him sideways.

[You don't really think it's just the two of us participating in the men's competition, do you? Last night I discussed it with my seniors, and we felt that just having a clown and a beauty wasn't enough; we also needed a normal person to act as a foil. Want to guess who it is?]

The two revealed devilish smiles, and black energy emanated from their bodies like a volcanic eruption.

Hachiman paused in his downward thrust, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the two men. Who could they be? There were only three male freshmen this year; who else could they be?

You two are such scoundrels!

[Thank you for the compliment.]

[In short, let's work together to find a solution! This is the final holy war!]

The three exchanged glances, each seeing resistance in the other's eyes, and then simultaneously turned their gaze to Chisa, who was wearing an apron and walking towards them.

It's a women's beauty pageant. With Chisa's looks, she's sure to win. He just felt that it was free money, so he might as well take it.

[I'll try to calm her down and lower her guard. You guys figure out what to do.]

Hachiman gave Iori a look, then cut the cabbage into small strips.

"Hmm, your knife skills are quite good."

Chisa took a closer look and was somewhat surprised to see that the cabbage strips that Hachiman had cut were all roughly the same size.

"I often cook at home too."

Since it was just him and Komachi at home, they took turns cooking to prevent one of them from getting bored with cooking. Komachi cooked on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, while he cooked on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. As a result, he had considerable cooking experience, so chopping vegetables was a piece of cake for him.

"Hey~ you really can't judge a book by its cover."

Chisa said that she really didn't realize that the guy in front of her, who looked like he was just waiting to eat, was actually a knife expert.

Hachiman's lips curled slightly; he believed that if he were to reveal his future wish, the man would be even more surprised.

"Be careful not to get heatstroke if you don't drink some water in this hot weather."

Hearing the voice, he looked at Iori, who was walking slowly towards him, holding a cup of something in each hand. He understood; the plan was about to begin.

Iori and he exchanged a glance.

[Tea on the left, wine on the right, you know what I mean!]

[Wow, that's a simple plan, but it might have unexpected results.]

Hachiman took the paper cup from his left hand and put it aside; he wasn't thirsty yet.

"Chisa, this cup is for you."

Seeing that the plan was half successful, Iori couldn't help but smile and handed the paper cup in her right hand to Chisa.

"No need, I'm not thirsty yet."

Chisa shook her head and refused.

"Then I'll leave it here for now, and you can drink it when you're thirsty."

Seeing that the plan had stalled, Iori was not discouraged. He placed the glass of wine on the table next to her and gave Chisa a look as she turned her attention back to the cabbage in Hachiman's hand.

[I'm counting on you now, bro.]

Tsk, don't assign him the hardest jobs.

Hachiman squinted his dead fish eyes and lowered his head, pondering how to get Chisa to drink that cup of wine.

When do people drink water? When they feel hot or thirsty. But today isn't a bright day, and the sun isn't very strong anymore, so we need to look at the second point.

Thirst, thirst... People usually want to drink something after eating.

He stopped chopping vegetables and watched the slender, fair arm slowly withdraw from his sight, holding a paper cup. Yes, as long as he made the mixed stew and let Chisa eat it, she would naturally drink water.

With this in mind, Hachiman began making okonomiyaki. His movements were very smooth, perhaps because he had done it before and the memory had not yet faded.

Adjust the heat to about level 4, crack an egg to make a scrambled egg, then pour in the batter, add cheese, and wait for the cheese to melt. Place some cabbage strips on the batter, followed by bacon, sprinkle with pork cutlet sauce, and then spread another layer of batter on top. Adjust the heat to level 6, and once the bottom of the dough is set and cooked, flip it over and wait. Finally, once both sides are cooked, place it on a plate, put the scrambled egg on top, spread mayonnaise, sprinkle with bonito flakes, and if you're worried about it being too bland, drizzle some soy sauce. Okay! It's ready to serve.

"Wow, that's so skillful."

Chisa clapped her hands and said, "What he made is almost the same as what Sister Zi made. It seems that what he said about often cooking is true."

"Please taste it."

Hachiman handed the assorted yakiniku to Chisa, secretly delighted. He had deliberately made it a little saltier so that she would definitely drink the sake.

"Hmm, it's a bit salty. We should have used less soy sauce."

"After tasting it," Chisa said.

"Is it too salty? Looks like you're still not quite there yet. Have some water."

"That's true, but it's still very good."

Chisa gave him an encouraging smile, reached out and took one of the two paper cups, and handed him the other.

"for you."

"...Why do you have two cups?"

Hachiman took the paper cup, stared at the brown liquid swirling inside, and asked hesitantly.

"Your cup was too close to the griddle. I was afraid you might accidentally drop it while you were cooking, so I brought it over," Chisa explained.

"...Let me ask you this in advance, you should remember which cup you were, right?"

"Can not remember."

Chisa shook her head honestly. Since she hadn't drunk any of them before, she didn't pay much attention and casually put them down without remembering which cup was on the left and which was on the right.

"I suddenly realize I'm not thirsty right now."

Hachiman put down his paper cup; he was hesitant to gamble, after all, he had never been lucky.

"But you're sweating."

Chisa looked at the sweat on his forehead, then at his resistant expression, and then at the fact that it was Iori who brought the water to him. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"What's wrong? Did you put something in here?"

"How could that be! It's just ordinary oolong tea."

Just kidding, if he admits it, he'll probably never be able to get her drunk again.

"Then you drink it."

The gentle voice was like a death knell from hell. Hachiman swallowed hard. Damn it, a one-in-half chance, I'll take the plunge!

Chapter Thirty: The Magic of Glasses

You are now facing a probability problem with only two options. You think it's easy because there are only two choices. But the premise is that you have made countless mistakes on similar problems before. So, do you still think the probability is fifty percent this time? And what is the probability that you will choose correctly?

Okay, here's my answer.

The answer is zero.

Because he had no choice at all.

As the cup approached his lips, Hachiman could already smell the strong aroma of sake. He looked up at Chisa, who was staring intently at him, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

Good heavens, is his luck really that bad?

"Drink up, why aren't you drinking?"