The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

Are the people from 'Pab' ready?

"It should be mostly ready."

Shinji Tokita looked at Hachiman and Chisa. Although he didn't understand what had just happened, he had no choice but to go along with it since it was already like this. Anyway, it was just that they weren't wearing pants, so it was no different from a regular meal.

Members of the two participating clubs stood on either side of the net. Kudo, the tanned tennis club president, explained the rules of the upcoming match. In short, the doubles match was a three-match series with one set to decide the winner. The final singles match was a duel outside of the main competition, and the winner would receive 10,000 yen in addition to the prize money. It was essentially an exhibition match.

After the rules were explained, it was time for the trash talk showdown.

With a smile on his face but a murderous intent hidden beneath, Kudo said to Iori, who had embarrassed him last time, "You're not wearing women's clothes this time?"

"What's wrong? Does my not wearing any clothes make you even more excited? Mr. Kudo, who likes men, muah."

Seeing his constipated expression, as if he'd swallowed a fly, Iori sneered. Trying to disgust him? He was the one who always disgusted others.

Come to think of it, this guy admitted to being a dual-wielder during the men's competition, right? But why...?

"Go, President Kudo!"

At the Tinker Bell members' rest area, several beautiful girls were cheering on their handsome club president. Seeing this, Iori was so angry he almost got red-eyed. They all admitted to being bisexual, so how could people be so different? He had to be careful not to get too close to someone and be misunderstood by Azusa-senpai, while Iori was still enjoying harem treatment!

Is your face really that important?

Speaking of which...

He looked towards his own resting place, where Hamaoka Azusa was resting her chin on her hand, looking at him with a quiet smile. The moment their eyes met, Iori looked away as if he had been electrocuted.

Azusa-senpai hasn't discussed topics about her crush with him in a long time. She used to ask him about her and Hachiman's progress every week, but now she doesn't ask anymore.

Could it be that he's already been found out to be lying?

Just as he was deep in thought, realizing that he couldn't get anything out of Kudo from his opponent and was preparing to get something out of his next opponent, he turned around and saw a pervert with dead fish eyes and naked from the waist down.

"...Why aren't you wearing pants?"

"This story dates back to when Oda Nobunaga was trapped at Honnoji Temple. His trousers were burned in the fire, so in his will he instructed his descendants to create a pair of trousers that could not be destroyed by any external force. After hundreds of years of effort, the trousers were finally created. However, because their special properties were too eye-catching, many people wanted to have them. To avoid being envied, Oda Nobunaga's descendants modified them to make them transparent and borrowed the fairy tale of The Emperor's New Clothes to design trousers that only clever people could see."

Kudo, whose mind had been forcibly filled with a long passage of unofficial history, was momentarily stunned. He blinked blankly and then looked at Hachiman's bare legs.

“You saw it, didn’t you, Chairman Kudo?”

"Ah, uh, I saw it."

Just kidding, how could I admit to being an idiot?

“I see.” Hachiman nodded and pointed to the side. “Then I suggest you turn right when you go out, take a taxi for twenty kilometers to a place called Chongshan Hospital to have your brain checked.”

"what?"

Kudo's expression froze.

"What the hell? I'm not Oda Nobunaga's junior, so where would I get invisible pants? Besides, even a three-year-old wouldn't believe this, so how did you, President Kudo, believe it? Is your IQ even lower than a three-year-old's?"

"Pfft..."

Unable to contain their laughter any longer, it echoed across the playground. Shinji Tokita and Ryujiro Kotobuki exchanged appreciative glances. Although they had told Hachiman during their internal discussion that they should try to dampen Hachiman's spirits during the pre-match exchange, they never expected him to be so capable, even going so far as to fabricate a fake story on the spot.

Kudo, realizing he'd been tricked again, could hardly keep his composure. What was wrong with this year's 'Pab' newcomers? They were all so glib and smooth-talking. But the girls were probably much better, since pretty girls tend to be more mindful of their speech.

He looked on with hope and saw that the winner of the beauty pageant he had his eye on was wearing a cute pink tracksuit. With such a top, he figured she would definitely wear a refreshing tennis skirt on the bottom!

Kudo looked down, his eyes filled with horror.

"It's Oda Nobunaga's invisible pants!"

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and in his final moments, he seemed to see Oda Nobunaga's smile floating in the sky—it must have been an affirmation of a wise man.

As he fell to the ground and the other tennis club members gasped in surprise, everyone on 'Pab's' side was a little confused. Had they effortlessly taken down the enemy general before the battle?

"Ah, everything is going according to plan."

Hachiman stroked his non-existent long beard and looked at the fallen Kudo with pity. He thought it was too pure to be convinced that girls with cute appearances had pure hearts.

You can't judge a woman just by her appearance.

Just like you never know, behind the beautiful girl in the last row on their side is actually a corpse monster with extremely bad makeup skills who has even infiltrated the enemy camp.

By the way, she should have had a scene here.

Never mind, let's schedule her to play in the next round.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sportsmanship? Is it edible?

With the referee's whistle, the first doubles match began. Since both sides were only at a mediocre level, after discussion, they decided that the two senior students would go on stage and take the first point to boost morale.

Can they really win?

Kohei glanced at Shinji Tokita and Ryujiro Kotobuki, who were flipping through their rackets in the distance, trying to find the best grip. Judging from their appearance, they were complete beginners.

"We will definitely win."

Hachiman and Iori spoke in unison, expressing their absolute confidence in them.

In tennis, besides testing the brain's ability to react in a very short time, the most important thing is physical strength, and in this respect, the two senior students were almost completely superior.

"Alright, get set..." Shinji Tokita dropped the ball on the ground, caught it in his hand, and tossed it upwards with his head tilted back.

At that moment, the onlookers saw once again the hideous face that resembled a demon, and the scene of the opposing player collapsing to the ground and his racket flying away after a powerful slam dunk.

Kohei's jaw dropped as if he'd just eaten a super-sized hamburger with four meat patties on it. Hachiman and Iori simply smiled faintly. Having been tossed into the air countless times by their two seniors with their strong arms and powerful reach, they already knew that apart from technological power, there was probably no physical damage that could bring down their seniors.

These two are complete beasts.

"15 to 0."

After regaining his composure, the referee sitting by the net blew his whistle and announced the change in score.

"These two are monsters."

The members of Tinker Bell bent down to pick up their rackets that had been knocked down, still shaken. It's no exaggeration to say that the moment their rackets touched the ball hit by the opponent, their hands were instantly numb and they couldn't move.

"Your strength will eventually run out, and besides, we've trained our arm strength. We just weren't prepared for a moment. It'll be fine in a bit," his teammate comforted him, keeping a close eye on Shinji Tokita, who was holding the ball.

The whistle blew, and the second round began.

"Eula!"

The ball spun rapidly in mid-air. The member of Tinker Bell saw the ball coming straight at him and quickly swung his racket to block it. At the moment the ball flew out of his hand, his hand was clenched.

"life!"

"give it to me!"

With his knees slightly bent, Juryujiro jumped up with great force, raising his racket high. At that moment, the sun was level with him, and a halo like that of a solar eclipse appeared behind him.

The ball flew in rapidly once again, this time with a wave of heat. It bounced up the moment it hit the ground and struck the wire mesh surrounding the playground, widening the gaps in the mesh.

Looking at the scorched marks on the ground, Kudo, sitting in the shadows, couldn't sit still any longer. If things continued like this, they had no chance of winning.

It seemed it was time to start the plan. A sinister light flickered in his eyes. He exchanged a glance with the member next to him, who understood his meaning and turned to walk towards his own water tank.

The members of 'Pab' didn't notice this scene, but Hachiman's ahoge (cowlick) activated, sensing that danger was approaching. However, when he looked at the resting place of the 'Tinker Bell' members, he didn't find anything strange.

"Is it just my imagination?" he murmured.

"What?" Chisa, who was closest to him, heard his muttering and looked at him with her bright brown eyes.

"It's alright, if things continue like this, we have a very good chance of winning."

Hachiman attributed his earlier penguin-sensing experience to an error caused by his recent overthinking, and analyzed the current situation with the girl.

"Indeed."

Chisa said that if they could take the first match point, they would have already secured the key point, and as long as they played steadily in the next two matches, they would definitely be able to win.

However, she might encounter some trouble when she goes on stage later. After all, she can't wear this guy's pants during the game anymore. He's taller than her and his legs are longer, so the pants that fit him will look sloppy on her.

Her cheeks flushed slightly. Of course, she didn't mean that she was reluctant to part with this guy's pants. It was just that this guy would definitely pay attention to some strange, erotic things during her competition. The reason she was so sure was because of what he had just said!

What does it mean to have great leg shape and be able to see the curve of your hips? Would a normal person compliment your outfit on that? Wouldn't they usually compliment how well it matches your skin tone and makes you look youthful?

Is that kind of thing on his head all day long?

Chisa, realizing this, glared at Hachiman, leaving him completely bewildered. What was wrong with him now?

A gust of cold air swept over him, and Hachiman's expression froze. Like a puppet, he mechanically turned his head to look at Nanaka, whose eyes were narrowed with a smile. Her pink lips opened and closed, silently uttering a few words.

"You need to explain it clearly."

Otherwise, you will suffer the most serious consequences in the world.

Hachiman's mind automatically filled in the unfinished words, and his expression turned helpless. What could he do? He was also desperate. There were only a few things a straight man could say to compliment a woman's clothes, and he had said them all, but the other person was still not satisfied. What could he do?

He was exhausted. Between the two sisters, if he tried to please one, there was a 50% chance the other would be happy or unhappy. If he didn't try to please either of them, neither of them would be happy.

Wait a minute... hiss, he seems to have figured out the key point.

If he tries to please Chisa, Nanaka-senpai will think he has ulterior motives and be unhappy. But if he doesn't try to please Chisa, Nanaka-senpai will think he is neglecting Chisa and be unhappy as well. Since either way will lead him to his doom, it means that the key to passing the level is not with Chisa, but with Nanaka-senpai.

Then, why doesn't he just try to please Nanaka-senpai? Unlike the Yukinoshita sisters, Nanaka-senpai and Chisa are very close, just like he is with Komachi.

Those who are close to him usually also have a good relationship with Komachi, but those who are close to Komachi are not necessarily close to him. So, as long as you are close to him, you will be close to Komachi. The same goes for the Kotegawa sisters; as long as you please the elder sister, you will also be close to the younger sister.

"I see. So if I just get closer to Nanaka-senpai, not only will my relationship with Chisa be better, but I won't have to worry about anything anymore."

"This method won't work."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Because Nanaka is mine, and there's no way I'll give her to you, Hachiman."

The alluring voice reached his ears, making Hachiman realize that he had unconsciously spoken his true feelings again. He turned around abruptly to look at everyone, only to see Iori with an expression of "you're a good student," and behind him, Azusa-senpai was holding the somewhat dazed Nanaka-senpai, licking her lips with a victorious air.

At that moment, he realized that Chisa must have heard his words as well, so he looked at her and saw that she was turning her head away and looking away.

Ya Bai, what I just said sounds like a brother-in-law who hasn't officially joined the family yet trying to get his wife's older sister's approval.

There's a strange sense of incest in saying this.

"Hachiman, become my son!"

No, no! He shook the memories out of his head; he wasn't thinking about having two fathers so soon.

Hachiman stood up, trying to find a topic to cover up the matter, when he noticed that his senior, who had been cheering from the stands, had fallen silent. So he suggested going up to check on him.

"I wonder what the seniors are doing? I'll go up and take a look."

"Then I'll go too."

Iori raised his hand in acknowledgment. To be honest, he had just caught a faint whiff of alcohol, which had whetted his appetite.

"If you two are going, then I'll go too."

Kohei paused as he flipped through the women's tennis manga.

The three of them went up to the stands, but before they had even reached halfway down the steps, a strong smell of alcohol, accompanied by a lingering purple aura, enveloped them.

Is it possible?

The three exchanged glances and quickly went up to the stands.

Gazing at the tragic scene before her, Iori couldn't help but cover her mouth and nose. The senior members of the club were all lying naked on the stone floor, with scattered bottles piled up haphazardly, some of which were still dripping liquid.

"How is this possible? There's still wine left!"

Iori was incredibly surprised; her seniors shouldn't have such a low alcohol tolerance! This was something they considered their lifeblood! They always cherished their lives.

After a brief investigation, Hachiman noticed something. He patted Iori on the shoulder and pointed to a spot. The two looked in that direction and saw a bottle of wine lying upside down on the ground under the sunlight. In less than two seconds, it turned into a wisp of wind and drifted away.

"It evaporated in an instant?" That must be an extremely strong liquor.

"Oh—Iori, Hachiman, Kohei, you're here." The afro-haired senior, still retaining a sliver of rationality, hiccuped and greeted them with a look of enjoyment while holding his sake bottle.

"Senior! What exactly is going on?"

"The Tinker Bell staff brought me a drink, and I drank too much without realizing it."

Was it a gift from someone at Tinker Bell?

Hachiman sensed something was wrong and quickly said to Iori and Kohei, "Let's go back quickly, we've fallen for a diversionary tactic."

"what?"

Ignoring the two slow-witted people, Hachiman quickly left the stands and went to the playground. As soon as he returned to the rest area, he saw the two seniors swaying and staggering towards him.

We were a step too late!