The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

"Then I'll go too!"

"Mitarashi..."

Hachiman, who was watching this scene quietly from the sidelines, felt a strange emotion rise within him instead of seeing what should have been a beautiful picture of honesty between close friends.

What exactly brought these people together?

Chapter Seventy-Five: My Best Friend's Room

"A diving shop? By the way, Kitahara and Hikigaya, you two actually live together."

Looking at the sign above their heads, Nojima, carrying a case of beer, said that a rare stroke of luck had befallen them; although it was already dark, it still hadn't rained by the time they arrived.

Perhaps even the heavens want them to cherish this hard-won friendship. Gods, please bear witness! Tonight, will it be the death of Hachiman Hikigaya or the joy of Eden? It's all a matter of fate's choice!

"No wonder you two have such a good relationship."

Yamamoto recalled the last social event, and how their interactions always seemed to convey a deep understanding of each other.

"How can you tell?"

Hachiman was puzzled. If that incident had happened to anyone else, they would have at least cut off their beard and abandoned their robes, if not completely severed ties.

He thought the other guy had a change of heart and felt he should go to great lengths for his brother, but it turned out he was just lustful and wanted to stab his brother in the back!

"Don't say that, the three of us have sworn brotherhood."

Iori put his arm around his shoulder, looking like they were best buddies.

"I don't recall that. Whom did you worship?"

Just as Hachiman was about to dislocate his arm, Kohei reached out again, and the three of them huddled together. Kohei took out his phone and looked at the video on the screen.

It was taken at some unknown time. The three of them were kneeling on the ground wearing only their underwear, their faces full of piety, worshipping... Nanaka-senpai?

"Loneliness brings life, those who rush die! Drink this barrel of wine, and from this day forward, we are lone wolves!"

"Isn't it an Izu penguin?"

In the video, he burps as he expresses his doubts about the title he has been given, then boldly picks up a bottle of brandy with an alcohol content of over 40 degrees and gulps it down, before clicking his tongue in disapproval.

"Why does this plain water taste bland?"

"Have you drunk too much, Hachiman? How can plain water taste like nothing?" Iori, who was already walking a little unsteadily, chuckled like a chicken, picked up his oolong tea and drank it all in one gulp, then stared at the paper cup. "It really does taste like nothing."

"You two idiots!" Kohei mumbled, his index finger slightly bent, his upper body flushed as he leaned back on the sofa, drunkenly. "Plain water is tasteless, of course. You should add some cold water~"

Having only seen half of it, Hachiman couldn't help but dig his toes into the ground, creating a castle in the image. Is the person in the picture really him?

"You actually filmed it?"

They choose not to forget things that could be a source of a lifetime of laughter, but instead record them. Don't they care about anyone else?

"We didn't film it."

Iori's tone was melancholy; he was joking, but he still had his pride.

"Who took the picture?"

Who's so bored? Could it be Senior Azusa? Only she would have such a motive! Come to think of it, it seems like it's been a long time since I've seen her. She hasn't come to the store to drink with them lately.

“Chisa sent me the video.” Iori’s eyes were lifeless. “I begged her to delete it, and she agreed, but judging from her expression, it was obvious she had a backup.”

This is blackmail! He already foresaw a future where the three of them would be forced to agree to certain demands because of this.

You three wouldn't want other people who care to see you looking so foolish, would you?

A chill ran from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet; this was truly a major crisis.

What's wrong with the three of you?

Yamamoto looked at the three people who suddenly froze, puzzled.

"It's okay, let's go in."

Hachiman chose to forget about it for the time being. Since it hadn't happened yet, he would pretend it never would!

"What were you looking at just now?" Nojima pushed up his glasses, sensing a hint of something being hidden.

"I didn't see anything."

Kohei put his phone back in his pocket, pretending he had nothing on it.

"That's suspicious." His behavior made the other two feel that something was off as well.

"No way! Come on, let's go inside and have a drink."

With a forced smile, Iori led everyone into the house.

Looking at the various diving equipment and everyday drinks in the store, Yamamoto and his friends temporarily shifted their attention. It was their first time entering a diving store, and well... it lived up to its name.

"Where shall we drink?"

Iori pondered that drinking in the lobby might attract the attention of his seniors. He didn't care, but Yamamoto and the others probably wouldn't accept it.

How about the activity room? They often drink there.

"Wait, Kitahara, this isn't urgent." Nojima smiled and looked at Hachiman. "Let's take a look at Hikigaya's room first."

"They've got their eyes on us," Hachiman thought helplessly as he led everyone upstairs to his room. He'd already cleaned his room again after the Izu Festival, so he was sure there wouldn't be anything strange this time.

He pushed open the door and turned on the light.

Calmly giving everyone space, the four Yamamotos, upon entering the room, quickly dispersed around like cockroaches wriggling in the shadows and began to inspect the surroundings.

Yamamoto: "H-works book, none!"

Mitarai: "Erotic AV? No way!"

Nojima: "Bubble gum? No!"

Fujiwara: "Women's clothing? No!"

"Are you even a normal man anymore?"

When Iori heard the results of the examination, he couldn't believe it. In this day and age, there are still college students who are in the prime of their youth and don't have a single adult-related item. Does he like using websites?

"I don't want to be talked about like that."

Hachiman shrugged. "Is it only adult topics that can prove whether someone is a normal man?" He sighed. "Well, to prepare for Komachi and the others' visit last time, I hid all my treasured books in Iori's room. But how come this guy didn't notice?"

That's true. There were probably dozens of books in that cabinet. Even if there were one or two more, it probably wouldn't be noticeable. But this guy was really too careless in hiding those things.

He almost never has to look for them to know where they are.

Wrap it in a normal cover and place it in the bookcase, under each drawer, or under the tatami mat—that's so naive.

"We misunderstood you, Hachiman."

After examining him, Nojima looked at him with pity. So the reason this guy could have friendly conversations with women was because he had no desire to have children? Otherwise, how could he not even have a single book on that subject?

"Ah, really, I never expected you to be so innocent." The veteran driver Yamamoto sighed. He thought he was surrounded by lustful wolves, but he never expected to find such a pure and innocent lamb. No wonder he left halfway through the last social event.

"If you have any needs, just tell me, and I'll do my best to find the type of movie you want to watch." Yamamoto patted his chest confidently; he had a collection of nearly a hundred rare movies, so he was sure he could find whatever he wanted to watch.

"Why am I being pitied for no reason..."

Hachiman couldn't understand their thought process.

"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it, let's drink."

Nojima waved his hand, saying that since he had already put his mind at ease, there was no need to delve into it further. He suggested drinking to forget everything.

Then, when he got drunk...

Then force him to reveal the contact information of his group of beautiful female friends!

The four, harboring ulterior motives, all revealed smiles that resembled those of demons from hell, without Hachiman noticing.

Chapter Seventy-Six: The Most Desperate Moment

The group sat around Hachiman's room, drinking the beer they had bought and chatting idly about some interesting things that had happened recently.

"I really didn't expect that today's German test only required a score of 10 or above to pass."

Nojima licked the foam off his lips. He thought he would fail the exam today without the cheat sheet, but he was surprised to find that there was an unexpected bonus.

"That's right, you got a great deal!"

Mitarai smiled. Of the seven people present, only three passed the test, and he was one of them.

When this topic came up, Iori and Kohei lost interest. In the end, they were caught cheating because their answers had too high a similarity rate. In the end, it was all Hachiman's fault. They were usually so in sync, so why couldn't they connect at the crucial moment?

Thinking about how they had always been able to fight side by side in perfect harmony no matter how many hardships they had encountered, he had reason to believe that the other person at that time was definitely driven by lust and only thinking about his date with Chisa!

Sitting close to the two of them, he overheard their entire conversation. Going to listen to rock music together—wasn't that the prerequisite for making a move?

As Chisa's cousin, he felt it was his duty to help her choose the right person! (He wouldn't let Hachiman run away!)

"Speaking of which, I heard something interesting during the exam," Iori said with a smile.

"what's up?"

Hachiman, who was quietly drinking, noticed Iori turning to look at him and his eyelids twitched. What kind of trouble was this guy up to now?

"Hachiman, you gave Chisa a music ticket, didn't you?"

Music tickets?

Everyone's brains started racing: two people, a band, alone together, a date!!!

This kid really was trying to sneak away!

Having successfully stirred up the atmosphere of conflict, Iori glanced with satisfaction at the others' gradually convulsing, ferocious faces. "Fine," he thought, "let's see how you choose to escape! You little bastard trying to run away!"

"Ah."

Hachiman nodded, somewhat speechless. He thought it was something serious, but it was just a music ticket.

What! ! !

Iori's eyes bulged. He admitted it! He actually admitted it! Masaka! Did he want to die? Had he lost all fear of hell? There were six people present who were jealous of him. If we're really comparing, he might be even worse off than Shang Yang!

“I have something to do next week, so keeping this ticket would be a waste. Since Chisa also likes rock music, I'll just do her a favor.”

Hachiman took a sip of beer. He had made a big decision. It wasn't that he was unhappy about giving the tickets to Chisa, but it was very likely that when Ryo saw that he wasn't there during her performance, she would nag him for not attending their concert despite being a die-hard fan, and use that as punishment to borrow money from him.

He doesn't really like lending things to others. In his view, lending out something is not just about the item that is not needed at the moment, but also about the sentiment behind it.

If you borrow too much, you'll easily become strangers.

"Wait! Let me sort this out."

Iori was a little confused, and he tried to sort out his thoughts.

"You only bought one ticket?"

"if not?"

He's all alone, he can't possibly buy half a ticket.

Hachiman didn't understand why he reacted so strongly. In his opinion, wasn't this a perfectly normal thing? Did someone really buy two tickets just to go see the movie alone, and then when the ticket inspector asked, say with a sigh, "I bought these for my future girlfriend"? Just hearing that made him feel a bit awkward.

"No, if you invite a girl to a concert, shouldn't you go together?" Iori didn't understand his baffling actions. Wasn't this a perfect way to increase her favorability? "You went to see a movie with a girl, and you each chose the same bizarre one! How could such a thing happen in the world!"

Why not?

Is it wrong for him to like watching Power Rangers?

Why must we go see something so romantic?

"Heh." Nojima chuckled lightly, looking at Hachiman with admiration. He really was an innocent boy; his virginity was truly admirable.

How could someone like him run away behind their backs? He exchanged glances with Yamamoto and the others, all seeing reassurance and appreciation in each other's eyes. From this moment on, they and Hachiman were the best...

[Knock—Knock]

"Hachiman, are you back?"

Nanaka pushed open the door and entered, carrying a black backpack in her hand. Hachiman immediately recognized it as the bag he used to pack his luggage.

“When I passed by your room before, I saw that your bag was very dirty and hadn’t been washed, so I took the liberty of washing it for you. This is the photo you kept inside.”

She looked up and saw that besides Hachiman and Iori, there were many unfamiliar faces in the room. In just a moment, she understood the situation and smiled gently.