The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

"No, Yudai! You'll get entangled with them!"

"They haven't paid me back yet."

Goto Ichiri murmured softly.

Hachiman watched this scene quietly, never expecting that the girls who looked so glamorous on stage were actually like this in private.

There's a certain contrast to it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Women's Beauty Pageant Begins (Part Two)

Leading the four girls toward the shop, Hachiman pretended to be calm and ignored the somewhat piercing gazes around him. He raised his voice and enthusiastically introduced the types of assorted okonomiyaki sold in the shop and how delicious they were. Only then did those gazes slowly disappear.

University is truly another synonym for sexual repression. As students, we should be doing our job and studying hard! After all, you can find a girlfriend anytime (whether you find one or not is none of my business (o˙▽˙o)), but studying hard can only be done at school!

Once you enter the workforce, you'll have to consider many things before you start learning something on your own.

"It seems like a lot of people are looking at you. Is Hikigaya-kun famous at Izu University?"

As the class's social butterfly, Kita Ikuyo was very sensitive to stares. She was certain that as they walked along this road, everyone on both sides of the road would glance at Hachiman Hikigaya, who was walking at the front, at least every two seconds, and some were even staring at him the whole time.

"hehe."

Hachiman smiled awkwardly. He was indeed quite famous. On his first day at school, he was labeled a friend who was an exhibitionist, and later, he confirmed that title by showing up in the classroom shirtless one day.

But he thought that they weren't looking at him because of this; the main reason was that he was walking down the street with four girls, each with their own unique beauty and charm.

Putting aside students from other departments, the male-to-female ratio in his engineering department alone is 138:3! And most of them are single.

Imagine you've been starving for years, and you see someone with a belly as round as a ball, holding four chicken legs in their hand. What would you think?

To put it bluntly, he was afraid that he would be beheaded the very night he left the school.

Fortunately, he was quick-witted and quickly distanced himself from the four people; otherwise, they might have continued to lose their composure and, at the critical point, packed him up and dumped him in Tokyo Bay overnight.

After turning a corner, you'll see where the shop is located.

Upon closer inspection, there were only Chisa and Senior Azusa inside the shop, while outside, there were two scoundrels who looked like no good people behaving frivolously, bending over and placing their hands on the counter with flirtatious smiles on their faces.

Hachiman squinted at the two men. Sweatpants, sneakers, loose shirts for easy movement, plus that punchable handsome face—they must be members of the tennis club "Tinker Bell" that I mentioned earlier.

Tsk, it's like seeing the Hayama gang from high school, but at least their leader has some sense of propriety and isn't so greasy.

He walked forward slowly...

"Hey buddy, having fun, huh?!"

"Want to come play with us for a bit?!"

Iori and Kohei, shirtless and spitting blood, spun the bouncy ball in their hands, gritting their teeth. Hachiman could clearly see the killing intent in their eyes.

The two people who had come to chat him up saw this and slunk away.

"Sprinkle salt, quick!"

"Say goodbye to your mother!! You social butterfly!!"

"These two guys are really reliable," Hachiman said with a helpless smile.

"Um, Hachiman, are they also members of the diving club?"

Kita Ikuyo's lips twitched as she pointed at the two people throwing salt into the air not far away, somewhat doubting what Nijika-senpai had said.

Free and unrestrained? Why did she only see the word "free and unrestrained"? What about "unrestrained"?

"Hmm, ah, don't let their current appearance fool you, they're usually... quite serious."

"You paused during your sentence, are you deceiving yourself?"

Kita Ikuyo looked at Yamada Ryo in a panic.

"Senior Liang, that club looks really off."

"It has a very rock and roll style."

Yamada Ryo calmly observed and commented.

"Huh? Huh—"

Kita Ikuyo was shocked.

"Senior Zi?"

At the same time, Ichiji Nijika recognized one of the two women in the shop. She squinted and saw that it was her senior's friend, Hamaoka Azusa-senpai.

"You know her?"

"Ah."

Ichi Nijika nodded. Senior Azusa was very famous at Qinghai Women's University and was the perfect representative in the eyes of most of the lower-grade girls.

She is beautiful, has a great figure, a cheerful personality, and is always willing to help others. She and her senior, Nana, are known as the Twin Flowers of the Blue Girls.

“Let’s go, Yudai. It’s not as scary as you think. Look, little Boqi isn’t reacting at all.”

"Senior Hongxia, it seems that Xiaoboqi has fainted."

"Um?!!"

Everyone looked at Goto Ichiri, who was foaming at the mouth and had a dazed look in her eyes. Fortunately, she was holding onto Nijika's clothes so that she didn't fall to the ground.

"No wonder I felt a little heavier than usual."

Ichika placed her hand on Goto Ichiri's face, gently rubbing it, her tone mild.

"Don't be afraid, little Pochi, we're here for you."

Mother?

As Hachiman watched this scene, he couldn't help but think strangely to himself.

After being comforted for a while, Goto Ichiri regained her composure. She looked at the two men who stood in front of the shop like war gods, their faces resembling giants, with fear on her face, and once again felt her own insignificance.

I'm so sorry, Your Majesty, she still doesn't have the courage to look directly at the windmill (╥╯﹏╰╥)?

"Then let's go over there."

Seeing that she had returned to normal, Hachiman led the group forward.

"Yo, Iori."

He had just reached out to greet someone when a handful of salt was sprinkled on his face, freezing him in place with his mouth open and hand raised.

Hachiman brushed the salt off his face and stared blankly at Kouhei and Iori, who were each clutching a handful of salt.

"What are you doing?"

"Hey! Evil spirit, begone! What kind of evil ghost are you, daring to possess my beloved family, friends, and brothers? I'll beat you back to your original form!"

Iori tossed the salt grains in her hand, her eyes filled with grief and indignation.

怒?

"If you say it again, I'll tell everyone you're gay!"

"Didn't you already say it?"

"What?!" "A gay man!"

Upon hearing this news, Kohei and Chisa both took a step back, while Hamaoka Azusa scratched her cheek and laughed.

"Kitahara, I never imagined you were that kind of person."

Kohei covered his cheek, memories of sharing a bed and sleeping side by side flashing through his mind. Could it be that after that, he would always show a disgusting smile while Kohei was asleep?

"Iori, you've had a tough time all these years..."

Chisa turned her head away, her feelings quite complicated. What had her childhood friend gone through all these years? She used to always beg her older sister for hugs when they were little, but now...

Iori looked at the two of them, then glanced at Azusa, swallowing the words she wanted to say. In the end, under the strange looks of everyone, she could only say in despair.

"Actually, I use dual swords."

As applause rang out, Iori stared blankly at Hachiman, who was clapping with a smile on his face. Then, another round of applause rang out, this time from Chisa, followed by Kohei.

What's causing this eerie atmosphere?

Iori wanted to create a thought exchange group, but was interrupted by a look from Hachiman, who gestured for him to look in a certain direction.

Iori looked over and saw Hamaoka Azusa leaning against the railing, her head lowered, her face hidden under her purple hair.

Could it be?

The thought exchange group has been successfully established. Online participants: Hachiman Hikigaya and Iori Kitahara.

[That's possible.]

The applause continued, and even passersby who were unaware of what was happening joined in. They didn't know what was going on, but everyone clapping together must mean something good had happened, and this was the time to celebrate.

Amidst applause, a farce began.

As time quietly passed, the farce came to an end.

"So why are we clapping?"

Chisa asked in confusion. She saw Hachiman clapping and then clapped along, but then she thought that there didn't seem to be anything worth celebrating.

"I don't know, I just clapped because I saw you guys clapping." Kohei also looked confused.

"Well, I'm moved by Iori's commendable courage."

Hachiman glanced at Hamaoka Azusa out of the corner of his eye, who hadn't clapped until the very end, and said calmly.

Looks like it was a failure. Tsk, all that villainy for nothing.

"What commendable courage?! You damn 'social butterfly'!"

Iori pointed his index finger angrily at Hachiman, his eyes reddening as he looked at the four cute girls hiding behind him. He hadn't even dated a single girl yet, and this guy had dated four of them all! Did he have no humanity at all?!

Is there no law anymore? Is there no justice left?

"Ha, pathetic three-dimensional men."

Gengping ignored it and simply held up the bag of salt in his hand.

The first one clearly has an angelic quality; she's very clingy. The second one is expressionless, probably aloof; after winning her over, she's very likely to reveal many unique expressions. The third one, well, has a cheerful, girl-next-door vibe; she's obviously the shy type, easy to win over. As for the last one…

Sensing that someone was watching him, Goto Ichiri, who had taken advantage of the chaos to run to the back, shrank back again.

That is!

"Pfft!"

Gengping vomited out a mouthful of old blood, and his eyes were about to burst.

She's an introverted homebody?! The kind of person you can beg to do really bold things if you only have a little bit of affection for her, like calling her "Onii-chan"!

"Onii-chan, you're back."

She usually speaks in a very melancholic tone, but as soon as she sees you, she will run to your side, stand on tiptoe waiting for your petting, and after you pet her, she will make a purring sound like a kitten. Finally, her cheeks will turn slightly red, and she will welcome your return in a shy tone.

This, this! Utter bliss—

Kohei passed away, cherishing sweet fantasies.

"Who are they?"

Qian Sha asked, and compared to the other two, her reaction was quite calm. After all, she could tell from her intuition that he was definitely not the kind of person who would play with emotions.

"Guests are also friends, so just charge the price."

Hachiman deliberately added a second sentence.

Ten minutes ago——

"Hachigaya-kun, can we be friends?" Yamada Ryo asked him.

"of course can."

"Since we're friends, can we get the meal for free later?"

"..."

"Of course not!" Ichiji Nijika strongly refused.

Back to the present——