The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

Hachiman Hikigaya spat out the fish bones and some fish meat from his mouth. To avoid affecting everyone's appetite, Chisa caught the food in a napkin, wrapped it up, and threw it into the trash can.

"You eat something else first, and I'll help you remove the fish bones before you eat."

"it is good."

Iori, who was watching from the sidelines, swallowed hard as he witnessed this heartwarming scene. He glanced at Nanaka Kotegawa, who was gripping her chopsticks tightly, with veins bulging at the corners of her eyes, clearly angry but still maintaining a smile.

Silently making a cross gesture for Hachiman.

Don't let him off so easily, Nanaka-nee.

Kotegawa Toshio watched this scene quietly, then suddenly realized, this... shouldn't be the way to play.

In other words, is the cabbage he's been raising for so long finally going to be eaten by a pig?!

Chapter Two: The Wild Ideas of Men at Sea

I really want to die...

Once he was fully sober from the numbness of alcohol, staring at his lower body covered by a white towel, Hachiman Hikigaya looked at the plaque with the words "I am a scumbag" written on it that had been placed aside. Recalling how he had been taken care of by Chisa this morning, just like a demented elementary school boy, he felt a great sense of shock.

Drinking leads to trouble, drinking leads to trouble! Those despicable bastards! I already said that the photos were just taken among classmates to keep memories, and that I didn't have any intimate relationship with them. But those bastards insisted on getting me drunk, forcing me to find out if I was a virgin, and to get my chat history with Yukinoshita and the others.

Just kidding. Being executed by these scumbags is already embarrassing enough for him. If he were introduced to Yukinoshita and the others, they would definitely torture him with their eyes. Perhaps in the end, he would get comments like, "Hachiman, you are getting closer and closer to the direction of fungi," or "Senpai is disgusting."

No way! How could he let the image of an intellectual senior and a reliable club member that he had worked so hard to build be ruined by these scumbags! So yesterday, he kept his mouth shut and never took the bottle out of his mouth, relying on his strong alcohol tolerance to drink them all under the table.

Ha, these scoundrels. If he hadn't mixed that half-bottle of brandy into their drinks at the end, and then secretly gone downstairs while they were getting high, and given them the "life-giving water" that the seniors had hidden earlier, he might have been the first one to collapse.

But that's not what we should be thinking about now.

Feeling a strong gaze focused on him, Hachiman Hikigaya pretended not to notice and exchanged a glance with Nanaka Kotegawa, who was unaware that his eyes were glowing red.

At the moment when they gazed at each other, Nanaka Kotegawa revealed a very gentle smile. Her smile was like a spring breeze, warm and refreshing. If you ignored the kitchen knife in her hand, it would definitely be a beautiful scene.

It feels like he'll be facing real execution soon. I hope the executioner will be swift and efficient so he doesn't suffer too much.

"Hachiman, don't you have class today?"

The gospel of heaven always arrives when people are filled with the highest prayers. Toshio Kotegawa sat at the counter, looking at Hachiman Hikigaya lying on the sofa pretending to be dead. He cleared his throat. As a professional farmer, he felt it was necessary to have a chat with this pig who was trying to steal his cabbage.

"Yes, Chisa and I passed our German exams, so we don't have anything to do today."

Iori and the others needed to retake their exams, so they set off after dinner. He, however, was still not fully conscious, so Chisa placed him on the sofa, while Chisa went back to her own room.

After saying this, Hachiman Hikigaya felt Nanaka's gaze become even stronger. She was now just like the GT robot from Terminator; mentioning any related words would trigger the annihilation command.

"Since you're free, how about we go fishing together? You mentioned before that you enjoy fishing, right? The fishing has been really good lately."

Kotegawa Toshio chuckled and said that men can only speak freely when they are of equal status. Whether it's about alcohol, cigarettes, or shared hobbies, many secrets can be extracted from these points.

"dad."

Nanaka Kotegawa had something to say, but she didn't say it. She saw her father give her a reassuring look.

So that's how it is. Father also wanted to take this opportunity to find out about the relationship between Hachiman and Chisa? He's much stricter than me, he certainly wouldn't let little Chisa be deceived so easily.

Thinking this way, Nanaka Kotegawa felt relieved.

"I'll be in charge of the shop today."

Toshio Kotegawa smiled and nodded.

Nice! Now I can openly go fishing while the shop is open! He hasn't experienced this feeling of taking a break from work for a long time.

"okay."

Is it suggested that the elders explore first? That would be good; after the explanation, at least there would be one more companion.

……

Hachiman Hikigaya and Toshio Kotegawa arrived at a cliff edge, a fishing spot the latter had used for many years. The tide was about to come in, and below were turbulent waves. According to his estimation, the probability of catching fish here was 99.9%.

After putting down the folding chairs, the two took out their fishing rods from their bags. Since Hachiman hadn't brought his own fishing rods, the shopkeeper had lent them to him.

They attached the float and sinker, and put a ball of bait on the hook. The two of them then chose a spot and cast their lines.

"Hachiman, what are your thoughts on fishing?"

While waiting for the fish to bite, Toshio Kotegawa started chatting casually.

"It's a legitimate form of entertainment."

Holding the fishing rod, Hachiman Hikigaya's thoughts seemed to return to that summer, a time when he had nothing to do but every day was fulfilling.

"I see. But to me, it's more like a form of companionship."

A salty sea breeze swept over me, and shimmering light rippled between the clouds and waves. It felt like stepping into a Japanese role-playing game, where the protagonist was simply going about their daily routine when a certain item triggered a heavy and ancient storyline.

“I used to aspire to become a seaman, so when I graduated from high school, I chose to go to Hokkaido with the fishing boats from my hometown and become a fisherman.”

Toshio Kotegawa reminisces about the past.

"I leave early and return late every day, hoping to catch enough seafood to sell and save up enough money to buy my own fishing boat."

Hachiman Hikigaya listened quietly.

"During that period, I interacted most often not with my fellow crew members, but with the various fish that were caught. Fish can't talk and don't understand human language, so you don't need to worry about anything when communicating with them. But it's different with people. You have to say the right thing to the right person. There's a set of procedures behind it. When you meet a captain who is of higher rank than you, you have to say hello to the captain. When you meet a newcomer who is of lower rank than you, you have to teach him as an elder."

Toshio Kotegawa raised the fishing rod, and the hook was pulled back by the force of the pull. There was nothing on it. The cunning fish ate the bait without making a sound.

"Hachiman, you and Chisa seem to have a very good relationship?"

Here comes the parental, step-by-step approach.

"Yes, she helped me a lot."

“Mutual help is a good thing.” Toshio Kotegawa nodded. “Chisa, like her older sister Nanaka, has a very gentle personality. She will definitely be a model of the Yamato Nadeshiko in the future.”

"Ah."

If you don't know how to answer, just use "um" or "oh" to cover it up.

"As for you, Hachiman, having lived here for so long, I can see that you are a good boy."

"……Thank you for the compliment."

Something feels off. This atmosphere doesn't seem like an accusation. Hachiman pulled the hook back, removed the sardine from it, and threw a little more bait back into the sea.

"So when can you start calling me Dad?"

"……what?"

Chapter Three: A Prank! (Bonus Chapter)

Toshio Kotegawa, the owner of the diving shop "Grand Blue," is separated from his wife and lives in the shop with his two daughters, Nanaka Kotegawa and Chisa Kotegawa.

The three of them lived together, not exactly wealthy, but they managed to save enough money to provide for their daughter's dowry. Their life was simple and happy, and the relationship between the two daughters was excellent.

He had always been content with this life, until one day he saw his eldest daughter, Nanaka, holding his younger daughter, Chisa's, clothes that she had changed out of, burying her face in them and laughing in a silly way. At that moment, he began to wonder if the relationship between the two sisters was a little too good.

The hardworking father initially thought he was out of touch with the times and didn't understand the close relationship between modern women, so he chose to ignore it. However, in recent years, such incidents have occurred frequently, which has made him feel uneasy.

It wasn't uncommon for girls to fall in love with each other in his time, but these girls were sisters! They shared the same blood.

As an elderly father, he didn't want to see his teeth fall out after having two daughters!

--split line--

Hachiman Hikigaya sat on a folding chair, reached out and picked at his ear with his finger. The wind was so strong that he thought he had misheard something.

"Manager, could you repeat what you just said?" he asked again, still unsure.

"Hachiman, be my son."

Toshio Kotegawa ignored the bait, which remained completely still, and spoke earnestly.

"..."

Wait, this plot isn't going right!

Could this be a trap? If he agrees, then Nanaka-senpai can take action without any mercy? After all, an older sister can teach her younger brother a lesson without any leniency.

What a sophisticated scheme!

Isn't this supposed to be the countryside? How come it's even more cunning than the city?

"Well, although I don't really like my dad, how should I put it, one dad is enough."

Hachiman Hikigaya politely declined; he wasn't in the habit of claiming fathers everywhere. Oh, the float moved; it seems he's been hooked again.

Watching him remove another squid from the hook, Toshio Kotegawa glanced down at his nearly full bucket, then at his own bucket, which he had worked so hard to fill but now had no water left. He was a silent fisherman in the air.

"You're destined to have two fathers from now on."

That's a really rough way of putting it.

Hachiman pondered this statement but couldn't find any point to refute it. He wasn't some protagonist from a harem anime who could say that the number of his future fathers was determined by how many girls he knew.

If things proceed normally, once he becomes a kept man, he will indeed have to call the woman who is keeping him "Dad" along with her.

"Manager, aren't you bothered by what happened this morning?"

He'd spent the whole morning branding himself as a scumbag, and yet the shop manager still wanted to take him in as a son-in-law. Such magnanimity was truly admirable.

"I understand what happened this morning."

Kotegawa Toshio patted him on the shoulder and, taking advantage of a blind spot, secretly scooped two fish from his bucket and put them into his own.

"That was just cosplay, right? Iori told me that."

Cosplay? What normal person would cosplay a scumbag? If he saw any post about anime conventions with the word "scumbag" in it, he knew without a doubt that it was some guy trying to freeload by bringing Ito O's portrait with him.

“It’s normal for young people to joke around, I can understand that.”

While saying that he was still keeping up with the times, Toshio Kotegawa was still picking and choosing with his right hand behind his back. Hmm, this bonito looks good, it's lively. Wait, this slimy texture, could it be an octopus? No, octopuses don't eat bait.

Playing around, huh...

"What's wrong with your face?"

Looking at Hachiman's extremely grotesque and twisted face, Kotegawa Toshio thought that his fish-stealing behavior had been discovered, and he awkwardly withdrew his hand.

"It's nothing, manager. I just realized something."

If it's normal for young people to roughhouse, then he doesn't need to hold back anymore.

Iori Kitahara, Kohei Imamura, Gen Nojima, Shinichiro Yamamoto, Yu Mitarai, Kenta Fujiwara.

Get ready for our best friend's hilarious prank! (smirk)

--split line--

"Ah!"

In the cafeteria, Kitahara Iori and Imamura Kohei, who had already passed their make-up exams, both sneezed.

"What's wrong? Have you caught a cold?"

Nojima Gen looked at the two men wearing only underwear. He had to admit that after seeing their naked bodies for a long time, he had gradually gotten used to it.

"Maybe." Iori casually pulled out a tissue and wiped her nose.

"Speaking of which, how did the battle go this morning? Did Hachiman utterly embarrass himself?"

The thought that they hadn't managed to get the phone numbers of those beautiful girls yesterday made Yamamoto's heart bleed. To avenge this guy's escape, they tied him up like that after they woke up. They believed that both Kotegawa and Kotegawa's sister would despise him when they saw him like that.

Kitahara Iori waved his hand, admitting he had embarrassed himself, but he had certainly had his fill of being fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).

Just as Kohei Imamura was about to ask about the specifics, he suddenly noticed that the students at another table, who had been looking at their phones, looked up and glanced at them a few times.

"What's wrong, Kohei?"

"Something seems to be going on."

[Drip, drip.]

A text message? Kitahara Iori turned on his phone; Chisa had sent him a text message.

I need to speak with you. Can you come back as soon as possible?

"What's wrong, Kitahara?"

Iori put her phone away.