The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

Fujiwara was really in a hurry to urinate. After saying so, he hurriedly went into the bathroom, found an empty urinal, and started to urinate. He wasn't too afraid of this so-called game of hide-and-seek.

After all, when he punished Hikigaya, he didn't do anything as outrageous as Iori and the others. He was only responsible for writing the words "scumbag" on the board and hanging it around Hikigaya's neck.

If it were really a matter of seeking revenge, it wouldn't be his turn for a while; his guilt is the least, and he hardly contributed anything.

Therefore, he was the one who survived to the end.

A gentle breeze blew by, and a few drops of water dripped from the faucet, sending a chill down his neck. He looked up at the open window.

[Crunch—Squeak—]

The cubicle door behind him made a hoarse sound, which made Fujiwara, who had already relieved himself but hadn't yet fastened his belt, turn around to look.

The cubicle door was only half open, and shadows spilled onto the floor from inside. Fujiwara swallowed hard as he watched this scene, a bad feeling creeping into his mind.

He slowly approached and pushed the door open.

Inside sat someone he had never expected.

His pupils contracted rapidly, his mouth opened wide, and he was about to shout when a spasm shot through his body from his waist. His tongue was paralyzed, and he could only look helplessly at the man, his eyes filled with disbelief and incomprehension.

As another electric current coursed through his body, he lost consciousness.

The mysterious man looked at the stun gun in his hand. Hachiman had already tuned the frequency of this device to a level that could only slightly stun a person without causing too much harm to their body.

After moving Fujiwara's body into the cubicle, the mysterious man, following Hachiman's instructions, began to play pranks.

-

Why is it still not better after so long?

Iori, who had been waiting outside for ten minutes, looked curiously into the restroom. Could it be that he suddenly switched to the large toilet?

"Fujiwara?" he tried calling out, but there was no answer.

what happened?

Iori went into the restroom, but Fujiwara was nowhere to be seen. The windows were tightly closed, and all the stall doors were open except for the last one, which was slightly ajar.

He went over and saw Fujiwara sitting on the toilet.

"What's wrong with you? Why didn't you answer?"

Iori clicked her tongue, realizing she'd seen something filthy and needed to cleanse her eyes.

He turned around to walk to the tap to wash his face, but then felt something was wrong. He turned back and called out again.

"Fujiwara?"

Still no one answered.

Even the slowest person would realize something was wrong by now.

Iori swallowed hard, then slowly approached the cubicle, looked at Fujiwara sitting inside, and gently patted him with her hand.

The other person's body went limp and fell down. A red rope was tied around his exposed neck. When Iori touched his body, he realized that his hands and feet were also bound, forming a shape like a tortoise shell.

As he was inspecting, he noticed that Fujiwara seemed to be holding something in his hand. He pulled it aside and saw that it was a wooden plaque with the following written on it.

【lazy】

How can it be!

Iori looked around in disbelief.

Hachiman, could he really be here?

[dududu~]

"Hey, Iori? We've found a clue."

"Nojima, Fujiwara... he's been murdered."

Chapter Seven: The Seven Deadly Sins—Lust, Wrath (Part 1)

how so……

When Nojima saw Fujiwara bound tightly, his face contorted in agony, he knelt down in disbelief, his pupils constricting and his teeth clenched in fury.

This shouldn't be happening. Hachiman actually followed the clues, hid in the school, and even attacked Fujiwara in the toilet. Is he really such a trustworthy person?

Tsk, when information is mismatched between friend and foe, it's easy to fall into a trap! It was his mistake.

Yamamoto squatted down beside him and patted him on the shoulder with a forgiving expression: "Nojima, you've done enough."

"But Fujiwara still sacrificed himself..."

Nojima was furious. In just one hour, they had lost two like-minded partners, while the murderer was still roaming freely at large.

Mitarai also wanted to offer some words of comfort, but he noticed that Iori was squatting next to Fujiwara with a serious expression, as if she had discovered something, and walked over to him.

He looked at Fujiwara's "corpse," which was drooling from the corner of its mouth and had an expression of enjoyment, and asked, "What's wrong? Did you find something?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Iori stared at the red rope around Fujiwara's neck, her gaze traveling down to his two tightly bound feet. "I just think, this technique is so professional."

Normally, people wouldn't use such humiliating methods of binding someone, as it's quite tedious. However, only a dozen minutes had passed between Fujiwara entering the toilet and the other person discovering him. In that time, the other person not only silently killed Fujiwara but also removed his clothes and bound him in a tortoise-shell shape with rope. This alone is enough to show that the other person was an experienced practitioner.

But Hachiman doesn't seem like someone from the BDSM community at all, so how could he have such advanced techniques for binding people?

Could it be that he found someone to help him? But who would help him?

Tokita-senpai or Kotobuki-senpai? Impossible. They might watch the fun, but they certainly won't get involved themselves. If they did, Hachiman's revenge plan would probably turn into a 'pab' game.

There's no one else... they're all girls. Who would want to hide in the men's restroom and strip a guy naked?

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, the world before him shrouded in a hazy, black mist.

"By the way, you said you found a clue, what clue? Where did you find it?"

Iori looked up at them and asked a question.

Encouraged by Yamamoto, Nojima rallied.

"When the three of us were looking for Hachiman's whereabouts, we unexpectedly ran into Shimokawa, who had just come out of the cafeteria. After chatting for a few minutes, I asked him if he had seen Hachiman at school. Shimokawa said no. Just as we were about to ask other acquaintances, Shimokawa said that although he hadn't seen Hachiman, he had just sent him a text message."

"What text message?" Iori asked quickly, grasping the key point.

"It's about the sharing information for your video."

Iori nearly collapsed. So that's all? What's the difference between this information and no information at all? These people investigated for so long, and this is all they found? Were they just slacking off?

Faced with his suspicious gaze, Yamamoto quickly followed up on Nojima's words: "Iori, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush. After sharing that information, Hachiman sent another text message."

"What is it?" He looked at the three of them with clear eyes.

"The wind is quite noisy today," Yamamoto said aloud.

"……Gone?"

"Gone."

Is the wind particularly strong today? Another riddle? What's the answer? Are the potato chips at the supermarket next door half price? Or is he at the beach right now?

Iori grabbed his hair in exasperation. He had only come to study engineering because he was bad at humanities! How infuriating! Hachiman was so good at humanities, why did he come here to study science? This isn't how you develop in all aspects! Who's going to be driven crazy by this?!

"What do you think?"

He couldn't choose between the two options, so he decided to listen to the opinions of the three people in front of him.

"Is that even a question?" Nojima pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the sunlight.

"The answer is pretty obvious, isn't it?" Yamamoto scoffed dismissively.

"A riddle that even a third-grader could solve." Mitarai narrowed his eyes, adopting a sly demeanor.

"It must be a supermarket! (The beach!) (A massage parlor!)"

The three men, having shared their answers, fell silent. After a mere 0.01 seconds, they began to fight.

"How could it be a supermarket? Where would the wind come from in a supermarket!"

"Haven't you guys watched the anime 'Daily Lives of High School Boys'? This is a very famous meme! Remember, it's a riddle, how could such a normal answer as 'the beach' appear!"

"Why can't it be a massage parlor? It's too noisy there!"

"All that's making noise is your lower body!" x2.

The alliance is beginning to crumble.

-

"The wind is quite noisy today."

Hachiman sat on the rooftop of the shop's second floor. It was about to rain, and a heavy atmosphere filled the air. He moved the electric fan from his room to this spot and turned it on to let a cool breeze blow through it.

He opened his phone's photo album, scrolled through the photos of the four people gathered to watch the hanging corpse, and the next picture that appeared on the screen was of Fujiwara naked and tightly bound. He had to admit that his technique was quite good; his skill was really impressive.

"Aren't you afraid they'll retaliate if you keep teasing them like this?" Chisa sighed as she looked at his interested expression and handed a piece of melon to Hachiman.

"Thank you." Hachiman took the phone and put it aside. He figured when you're watching the drama unfold, you have to watch it. "Since you've gone to prank someone, you should also be prepared to be pranked in return."

He learned a lot from his three years of high school. The first thing he learned was that life doesn't revolve around you; you have to follow the world's rhythm. Therefore, there is a necessary reciprocity between the two.

You can't expect someone who has done something wrong to know how to repent next time. The only way is to fight evil with evil, but he won't say that.

Hachiman took a bite of the melon, and the crunchy texture of the flesh proved that it was a good melon: "If I keep tolerating them, I will only be left further and further behind."

Since his last near-drowning experience, he has truly realized where he is now living.

This is a happy place, filled with laughter and struggles with all sorts of oddities. He is a rather unambitious person, and apart from finding a rich woman and overcoming his fear of the sea, he has almost no interest in participating in their fun activities.

All of the past actions were merely attempts to cater to others, and Shizuka-sensei actually made a very accurate point.

He is like a buoy; although he has his own opinions, he is easily swayed by strong winds and waves. Therefore, he often focuses on the air and tries to restore it to a peaceful state, thereby harming himself.

Although he didn't see it as a form of harm, he also felt no joy whatsoever. A world where no one gets hurt is possible, but it would have to be built on the foundation of a world where someone is hurt.

Ultimately, he still failed to find the real thing.

Perhaps, his hesitation on the overpass that night had already wasted all his opportunities.

"Chisa, am I a very boring person?"

Chisa looked at his profile upon hearing this. He had said the same thing when Hachiman invited her to participate in the game at the beginning.

Now, he repeated it again, but she could tell that the two versions contained different meanings.

“You’re not boring, you’re just a bit serious,” she said softly.

So serious, in her eyes, that's what makes her so unique.

Chapter Eight: The Seven Deadly Sins—Lust, Wrath (Part Two)

The three men, their hair a mess and looking like beggars, sat on a stone bench by the roadside, heads bowed and silent. Iori, watching this scene, sighed helplessly and bought a piece of cardboard from the old man who was collecting recyclables for ten yen.

He borrowed a watercolor pen from a nearby shop, wrote a few words on a board, and placed it in front of the three people.

[He has been deaf and mute since childhood, and he and his two brothers depend on each other for survival. They hope kind passersby will offer their assistance.]

Nojima stared at the words on the cardboard, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He looked up at Iori and saw that he was unharmed and looked clean and tidy. He felt a surge of anger get stuck in his throat.

He pulled a black ballpoint pen from his pocket, ready to record phone calls from beautiful women at any time, flipped the board over, and wrote a few words.

[We're selling ourselves to bury our child; we hope a young and beautiful girl can help us fulfill this small wish.]

He then suddenly stood up, grabbed Iori by the neck, and prepared to flip him over.

"Wait, wait! Let's not escalate the infighting at a time like this. Remember, we have the same enemy."

With his amazing stamina, Iori managed to stand firm and prevent Nojima from succeeding. He hurriedly advised Nojima to prioritize the overall situation.

Nojima paused for a moment. Yes, what could be more important than catching the "culprit" at this moment? After all, they were carrying the last wishes of two "sacrificed" comrades!

Having figured it out, he released his grip on Iori's hand.

Under the other person's gratified gaze, he used a sweeping leg to kick the other person to the ground, and then covered Iori's face with a white tissue that someone had thrown on the ground.

"Death under the peonies, even being a ghost is romantic."

Nojima, his voice heavy with worry, put the sign up.

"No normal woman would really believe that you, at such a young age, have such a big child!"