The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

However, unless absolutely necessary, they probably won't go to Ito City again, and the matter was temporarily put aside.

On the morning of the third day, Tokita-senpai suddenly convened an emergency meeting and summoned all the new members of the club.

-

"Do you know that tacit understanding is extremely important between diving partners?" Shinji Tokita asked solemnly, scanning the group before him.

"It's to prevent accidents while diving, so a dive buddy must stay by your side."

Iori raised his hand in response, saying he had looked at the manual for a while after his last licensing training.

“That’s right. Today’s training session was specially organized by Shou and me to help everyone develop this kind of teamwork.”

"Are we going into the water again?" Yoshihara Aina asked.

"No." The two then took out two tennis bats. "We're playing tennis."

Can playing tennis improve teamwork?

"That's completely untrue!"

Iori and Kohei echoed each other, refuting the claims.

At that moment, Hachiman, who had been silent, suddenly remembered something.

"Is this a sparring session with 'Tinker Bell'?"

“You know Hachiman, right?” Shinji Tokita nodded.

Hachiman chuckled. How could he not know? They declared war right in front of him and even made him a hero to save the damsel in distress.

Kotobuki Ryujiro took out a piece of white paper with the name of the inviter written in black on the top: "The president of 'Tinker Bell' has declared war on us, saying that if we lose, we will get the prize money for the second prize in the women's beauty pageant and the men's club competition."

"But, the chances of winning against the tennis club aren't great, are they?" Hachiman weighed the pros and cons, then looked up and asked, "What will be the punishment if we lose?"

"Of course, it's the prize money for first place."

This seems like a loss no matter how you look at it...

However, judging from the expressions of the seniors, they didn't seem to have considered losing at all. Could it be that they have some kind of trump card?

"The president of 'Tinker Bell'?" Iori recalled the person's appearance. "Is he the one with glasses?"

"They're just club members." Hachiman said speechlessly. "Please, remember the people you've messed with."

"Why should the person who did the prank remember? Only the person who was pranked needs to remember what the perpetrator looks like." Iori spread his hands, looking completely innocent.

"Looks like they're planning revenge." Kohei stroked his fair chin, looking like something was seriously wrong. He wasn't good at this kind of thing. Although he had played similar games on PS4, his score was still at zero.

"Yeah, they definitely want us to make a fool of ourselves." Iori patted Hachiman on the shoulder. "But Hachiman, you don't need to worry, you've already made a fool of yourself in front of everyone."

"You'd better watch out, I'll come up with an even crueler plan to mess with you next time." Being stripped naked by these bastards and forced to wear a scumbag plaque was the most humiliating memory of his life.

"Huh? What happened?" Yoshihara Aina was puzzled by this strange conversation. Could it be that something terrible had happened while she was away from club activities?

"It's nothing, just a small scramble," Chisa said slowly, picking up her teacup and taking a sip.

"In short, it's not worth making you look bad just to get the prize money. Get ready, freshmen."

Shinji Tokita and Ryujiro Juji pushed open the door and walked towards the sun, their defiant words carried on the wind.

"Let's go crush them."

Chapter Twenty-Six: Danger!

Whether it's elementary school, middle school, or high school, the homeroom teacher usually says one sentence at the beginning of the first class.

As a student, you not only need to work hard in your studies, but also need to exercise regularly.

Born in Chiba, Japan, Hachiman Hikigaya never experienced his class being taken over, so during each physical education class, he would usually listen to the teacher's instructions and then do the sport alone.

However, he really didn't expect that he would actually play tennis one day. He thought that this kind of activity, which requires a lot of people, would not be related to his future life. After all, he was already in college and didn't have the energy to play singles against the wall when he was young.

Now that we have cell phones, aren't games more fun than playing tennis alone? Or are there just people who are stupid enough to do things that others can't understand?

Bending down to pick up a bottle of mineral water, Hachiman Hikigaya curled his lip and sneered. If people's mentality changes with their experience, then he must have gone through the Honnoji Incident.

"What are you doing?" Chisa Kotegawa walked up behind him. "Are you already thirsty before you've even started?"

"I was just wondering if they'd get more excited if I replaced the water with alcohol." It has to be said, his senses were gradually being assimilated.

Hachiman turned around and saw that the other person was still wearing casual clothes: "Aren't you going to change into your sportswear?"

"It's been washed off, and it's not dry yet." Chisa walked over to him, took the water from his hand, and put it into the water tank. "Also, don't do that, it might cause some strange problems."

"Really? At most, it's just taking off your clothes, it's not that common."

What you consider common may be quite unusual to others.

Chisa sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead. Ever since the last prank, the other person had been forced to take off their clothes every time they drank with Iori and the others. She thought the other person was just going through the motions, but she didn't expect that they would get used to it in less than a week.

If you can't avoid it, then enjoy it! That's truly his consistent approach to life.

"Alright, then we'll have to rely on our own strength."

Hachiman glanced at the members of the 'Tinker Bell' club on the other side. Hmm, they all walked with unsteady steps and had listless eyes. This group was definitely a bunch of trash cans. However, one of them, wearing a baseball cap and holding a badminton racket, had a very piercing gaze.

"Wait a minute! Why is it a badminton racket?"

He suddenly pointed at the man, and Iori and Kohei were drawn to his gesture and moved closer.

"What's wrong, Hachiman? Is something amiss?"

"Something is wrong in every way."

Hachiman told them what he had just discovered, and Iori raised an eyebrow and looked over, seeing that strange guy.

"That's true. They're playing tennis but they're bringing badminton rackets. But actually, there's not much difference, since they both have nets."

"Please don't make it sound as simple as saying we didn't have fried noodles or bread today, so we substituted pineapple buns."

He grumbled, "Could it be because I haven't played tennis in too long? Have we evolved to the point where tennis rackets and badminton rackets are interchangeable? Is that against the rules or not?"

"Let's not even talk about how skilled they are," Iori said. "Hachiman, how's your tennis?"

"I know a little bit."

To be honest, his tennis skills aren't really that good. Although he was once praised by Totsuka, gestures and rallies are two completely different things.

Back in Soubu High, he once used his ability to manipulate the wind to unleash a magic ball and defeat Hayama's popular group. But now, in Izu, he can only rely on his years of training in individual tennis to compete.

"That president suddenly mentioned wanting to add a one-on-one match at the end. After discussion, we decided to send you to accept the challenge."

"Send me to fight?"

-

As a participant, Hachiman leaned against the entrance of the sports field, waiting for Chisa. Originally, she was going to play in casual clothes, but Nanaka, who came to watch the game, disapproved of it, saying that it would be easy to get injured, and that she had already prepared tennis clothes for her, so she was "invited" to the women's locker room.

Since he was free for the time being and did not want to be under the spotlight, he hid in the shade under the pretext of waiting for the girl.

Seeing that Chisa had not returned for a long time, Hachiman, who already knew what was going on, did not feel curious.

After Nana mentioned the clothing suitable for playing tennis, he guessed that it would definitely not be ordinary sportswear, but more likely tennis clothes specifically worn for tennis training. The two were almost identical, both being lightweight clothing, except that the latter might be a little more revealing.

Sure enough, the older brother and sister had completely different thoughts.

He would never allow Komachi to go out with him in such revealing clothes; he would surely be killed by the stares of others, which was a terrible thing.

Hearing heavy footsteps, Hachiman looked up and was startled.

In the dimly lit corridor, Chisa, just as he had expected, wore a skirt that revealed half of her thighs to her calves. Her slender, white legs, in contrast to the environment, exuded a sense of power with every step. Her expression was extremely displeased, as disgusting as a reader who came to see a harem only to be disgusted halfway through when the author changed it to a single female lead.

Hachiman swallowed hard, his heart pounding. "Just changing a dress? Is this some kind of high concentration? Wake up, Chisa! Our opponent isn't a two-time champion, just an ordinary tennis club!"

"Um, Chisa? Are you alright?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was glared at fiercely, which startled him so much that he immediately moved even closer to the wall friend he had only made a few minutes earlier, and had some intimate contact with him.

"Hachiman."

Fortunately, the girl remained rational.

After recognizing the person, her depressed expression suddenly turned strange, and her eyes began to dart away.

Chisa pulled her clothes down as if she wanted to drag them down to cover her bare legs.

"Won't it break if you pull it like that?"

Hachiman kindly reminded her, and the girl froze, her hand resting on the hem of her clothes, unsure whether to pull it or not.

Hmm, it seems she's unhappy with her outfit.

Encouragement is needed in times like these.

"This dress suits you very well."

Ha, his emotional intelligence is second to none. In order to better flatter, cough cough, and get along well with the person who is supporting him in the future, he even went to read the book "Don't Lose in Expression".

"……Really?"

Chisa's tone was hesitant. She probably wasn't suited to wearing pink clothes; such cute things should be more suitable for petite and adorable girls.

"Of course it's true, I would never lie."

Sorry to borrow this line for now.

"Then, where do they match?"

"..."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Shouldn't this be the end? Why is there a third question?

"That goes well with everything..."

Which place do you like the most?

Chisa narrowed her eyes slightly, realizing that someone was not being sincere.

"..."

At that moment, Hachiman Hikigaya suddenly remembered Komachi's words.

[Onii-chan, did you know? How girls dress mainly depends on... and whether they want to show off their figure.]

"Your legs are perfectly shaped, and the skirt is so short that you can see the curve of your hips!" he praised, giving a thumbs up.

Chisa stared at him without saying a word, but veins were bulging on her forehead. At the same time, Hachiman Hikigaya felt as if a word was pressing down on his head.

He looked up and saw a character that read "danger".

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Oda Nobunaga's Invisible Pants!

"We're back."

"Oh, you're back."

The group, who were waiting for all the members to arrive, turned around at the sound and, after seeing the situation of the two people, their faces showed a variety of expressions.

"Hachiman." Iori looked at her best friend. "Were you secretly drinking behind our backs just now?"

“Why do you have such an idea?”

"Because you're not wearing pants."

Hachiman, who was naked from the waist down and wearing only a pair of shorts, looked at Iori with a serious expression and spoke slowly in a deep voice.

"Can't you see it?"

"what?"

"These are actually the emperor's outer trousers."

“Then…” Kohei pointed to Chisa behind him. “What kind of pants is Kotegawa wearing?”

Everyone looked at the girl whose upper and lower body attire was extremely mismatched. Chisa was wearing a pink tracksuit top, but surprisingly, she was wearing a pair of pure black casual trousers. Moreover, just a few minutes ago, they had seen the same trousers on another person's lower body.

Hachiman turned his head and looked at it calmly: "What? I don't see any pants."

"Alright, stop humiliating yourself."

(Only clever people can see the emperor's outer trousers.)

Just as Nana was about to ask further questions, the members of 'Tinker Bell' leaned against the net and loudly confirmed the situation.