The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Hurry up! Hurry up!

"Shall we go to the Yamamoto's house for drinks tonight?"

After finishing their morning swimming practice, Hachiman and Chisa ran into Iori and Chisa on their way back. The four of them headed towards "Grand Blue." During their conversation, Iori mentioned their appointment with Yamamoto and the others that evening and asked Hachiman if he had time to go with them.

Although they verbally invited him, in reality, even if he said he was busy, the two of them would forcibly drag him over.

Allowing such an invisible scumbag to stay in a store where only girls are present might mean that while they're brooding over why they're not popular, their only safe haven could become someone's hard-party party.

"I'm fine."

After thinking about it, Hachiman realized he didn't have any plans for the evening, so he agreed. It had been a long time since he'd gotten together with those guys.

"But you're not going to force me to organize another social event, are you?"

He looked at the two of them suspiciously. If that was the case, then he should forget about it. It wasn't that he really wanted to keep it all to himself, but rather that if he rashly gave the contact information of a girl who liked him and was still in contact with him to another single guy who was pursuing love, the other guy might very well think he was a pervert too.

If both parties agree, it's fine for him to act as a go-between. The main problem is that after he discussed this with Yise, the other party's tone, which was originally joking, suddenly turned cold, and he ended up being blacklisted by the other party for a day.

Given her current situation, among all the women he knows, only Yuihama would probably agree, because she is very gentle. However, it is precisely because he thought of this that he was even less willing to bother her.

Using someone's good temper as an excuse to dump a mess on them will only make them look down on you.

He had been annoyed by unreasonable demands many times before, so he understood this feeling all too well.

"No, no, I just went out for drinks."

Iori waved her hand dismissively and said casually.

Some things can only be done once or twice. If you know the other party is unlikely to agree to something, asking again and again will only lead to the same result, so why waste your time?

Besides, these things aren't really needed these days.

He recently started flirting with a hot, mature woman online who's also very flirtatious. He's been very busy lately, and he's even thinking about meeting her in person someday, but he hasn't mentioned it yet—too soon.

As for Kohei...

Iori clicked his tongue. Oh well, let's not talk about it. It's just that he's lucky to have such a good life. But he was still clueless and thought the other person was just expressing gratitude.

He'd never eaten pork but he'd seen pigs run, so he knew very well that the country girl had taken a liking to Kohei. Well, when he was being harassed by thugs, a handsome guy suddenly appeared and chased them away for him. This kind of plot, which only happens in third-rate novels, actually happened to him. It was hard not to be moved.

Seriously, who is writing this kind of low-class life story? Can't they at least grant him a dream of getting rich overnight?

"That's good." Hachiman decided to trust Iori for the time being. He turned around, intending to ask Chisa if she wanted to come along, but then he thought about what kind of gathering it was and gave up the idea.

He doesn't want to play Jesus again.

-

Time flew by and it was evening.

"we are coming."

Led by Iori, the group arrived at Yamamoto's apartment, each carrying a case of beer. Looking at the photo of Yamamoto with a single wink on the room sign, Hachiman remarked, "Putting everything else aside, this guy has a pretty high opinion of himself."

"Oh, here we come."

Yamamoto's reply came from inside the room. A moment later, the door opened, and a bright incandescent light illuminated a dark corner outside the door through the crack. Yamamoto poked his head out and looked at the three of them.

"You're really late."

"Sorry sorry."

The three entered the house. Nojima and Fujiwara were already there. Hachiman looked around but didn't see a certain squinty-eyed figure: "Where's Mitarai?"

Yamamoto put down the bottles of wine they were carrying: "Mitarai, he hasn't replied to my message yet. I don't know if he's coming or not."

"What happened?"

Iori sat down at the table, placed the meat skewers and takoyaki she had packed on the coffee table, took the grilled bird skewers Nojima handed her, took a bite, and found they were cold.

"No, no, you probably didn't see it."

"You only sent one message?" Kohei opened a bottle of beer and took a sip.

"I sent several messages, but they're all unread," Yamamoto said, sitting down.

"That guy's been acting all mysterious lately, and he keeps showing that disgusting smile. He's probably lost his mind." Nojima picked up a small dumpling with a skewer and popped it into his mouth.

"Eh—Is that so?"

Iori also opened a can of beer and started talking as she drank.

"Why can you accept this statement so easily?" Hachiman glanced at Iori, picked up a grilled squid and started eating it. He liked the way this shop cooked; they grilled the squid tentacles until they were a little overcooked, making the tips crispy and giving them a very fragrant taste when you bit into them.

"Heh, I'd believe anyone here who's out of their mind without a doubt," Iori said with a nonchalant smile, uttering a smug remark. "That's the bond between us."

"Even a ghost wouldn't want this kind of bond." Yamamoto pulled the tab off the can and raised the beer. "Anyway, let's have a toast."

"Cheers!" x6

Everyone raised their hands, which, under the light, formed a circle.

After the toasts, Yamamoto slumped onto the sofa and said wistfully that the real purpose of the party was to solve a problem he had been struggling with. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a solution.

"Why is it that even though I'm working so hard, I still can't find a girlfriend? As the saying goes, 'Where there's a will, there's a way.' I'm already so careless about quality, but why isn't the quantity increasing at all?"

The others looked at him, and Hachiman was the first to complain: "Just the scumbag quotes you just said are enough to make it impossible for you to get a girlfriend."

People in relationships are sincere, but this guy doesn't care about anything. He claims to love people deeply, but in reality, he's just a lecherous wolf with a plastic bag over his ass.

"Hey, Hachiman, that's not right. Only good-looking guys are called scumbags and playboys," Iori pointed out the grammatical error in his statement.

"What's the ugly one called?" Fujiwara asked.

No one answered; they simply turned their gazes toward Yamamoto.

Nojima Yuuyu spat out her final blade: "Give up."

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto became enraged and retorted, "Are you guys just going to attack me to death? What happened to our friendship? Did it get eaten by a dog?"

"Oh, oh, oh, don't worry about it." Nojima waved his hand with a smile. "We haven't gotten girlfriends either, have we?"

“Yeah, not just us, almost no one in our grade has a girlfriend,” Fujiwara said. “After all, the male-to-female ratio is 140 to 3.”

"Really? Thinking about it that way makes me feel a lot better." Yamamoto took a sip of beer and then fell silent. Nojima also suddenly stopped drinking.

The sound of a can being squeezed reached Hachiman's ears. He looked at Fujiwara, who was crushing the bottle, and then a rustling sound followed. Iori and Kohei, who were sitting next to him, both shifted their positions to the side.

An ominous feeling descended upon him like a death knell, and Hachiman hurriedly raised his beer: "Wait, I don't have a girlfriend either."

"You bastard, it's as simple as saying the word if you want to get out of being single!" Yamamoto suddenly stood up, took out a shovel from his four-dimensional pocket, his eyes gleaming red, his bloodlust rising.

"I don't have that kind of thought."

I haven't even progressed through the main storyline yet, so where am I supposed to find the time to do side quests?

"really?"

"real."

"Alright, I'll let you off this time."

"There'll be a next time..."

Hachiman shook his head speechlessly: "Besides, you guys made me look so bad that time, you're still angry."

The group blinked, all recalling the prank they had played.

Nojima closed his eyes and laughed freely: "Speaking of which, that time was really enjoyable."

Yamamoto was in high spirits: "It was truly an unforgettable memory, especially with Mitarai. It was his idea to hang you up like that."

Hachiman chuckled. That squinty-eyed guy was definitely from the BDSM community. No wonder he blushed and screamed when he was shocked later.

"As expected, it feels like something's missing without Mitarai." Yamamoto sighed, recalling his best friend's smile.

"I don't know what that guy is busy with and can't see his phone." Nojima sighed helplessly. How could such a big reunion be complete without anyone?

"Could it be that you've gotten a girlfriend?" Fujiwara asked a startling question, a taboo topic that might trigger the gaze of an ancient evil god.

"How could that be?" Yamamoto chuckled, clearly not believing it. How could Mitarai possibly be single? He was always the most excited when it came to matchmaking events.

"Yeah, but if you just look at his face, he's not bad." Although I really didn't want to admit it, he did have the face of a scumbag.

"Sigh~ Don't say things that are detrimental to unity." Yamamoto waved his hand, clearly not wanting to continue the topic.

"But what if they actually hand it over?" Hachiman asked, wanting to know just how low these people's morals had fallen.

The three of them paused in their beer-drinking.

Yamamoto closed his eyes and remained silent, only taking the shovel out of his four-dimensional pocket again, while Nojima deftly put on white gloves, and Fujiwara took out a bottle of unidentified liquid.

"What's that?" Kohei, who was closest to him, asked, looking up at the bottle.

"Corpse water."

"How did you manage to pull something out of a fantasy novel from real life?"

"Rely on faith."

This group is truly extraordinary. Their incredible execution ability, spatial manipulation skills, and the ability to create things that don't even exist in this world through sheer willpower—they wouldn't even need a hero's team in another world. Just by spreading a rumor that the Demon King was plundering beautiful women and creating a giant crystal palace, this group would probably have received the Goddess's blessing in the morning and by evening had the Demon King hanging up and dressed up as Jesus.

"I guess I should call Mitarai. He can't see text messages, but a phone call should be fine." Iori said, taking out her phone and making a call to Mitarai.

The call was quickly connected, and the sound of the blankets rustling reached everyone's ears.

What? Sleeping?

Yamamoto and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hello." Mitarai's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Mitarai? We're having drinks at the Yamamoto's house right now, would you like to come join us?" Iori said in a cheerful, even tone.

"Sorry, 15, I'll call you back in 30 minutes."

Mitarai's anxious voice came urgently, but just a second later, a sweet female voice rang out.

"What's wrong?"

A busy tone came through the phone, and it was abruptly disconnected. At the end of the message, Mitarai's words, "Oh no," echoed in everyone's ears.

Oh ho, Hachiman is calmly watching this scene while drinking his beer. Someone's about to suffer.

"Thirty minutes, which means he was having a great time with a woman, right?" Kohei's words interrupted the silence of Kangqiao.

Yamamoto silently stood up, walked to a cardboard box, bent down and looked for something. After a short while, he went out with a color photo of Mitarai. Five seconds later, he returned with a portrait of Mitarai.

"That's way too fast," Hachiman muttered.

Yamamoto placed the portrait on the coffee table, looked at everyone, placed his hand on the portrait, and said in a heavy voice, "The shame of Jingkang has yet to be avenged!"

"Why are you suddenly reciting poetry? By the way, you can do this too?" Hachiman asked in surprise.

Yamamoto ignored him and continued reciting, "The hatred of a subject, when will it end! Those who betray their brothers shall be executed immediately!"

The crowd was filled with excitement and stood up.

"Does anyone know where he lives?" Nojima asked hurriedly, hoping they would get there quickly so they might not see Yu tonight.

“I’ll lead the way,” Fujiwara said, raising his hand. He had been to the Mitarai family’s residence several times before.

"Well done!" Kohei praised.

"I'll reward you next time." Yamamoto grinned maliciously, letting out a cacophony of laughter.

Hachiman didn't speak. He didn't know what to say. He just had a strong sense of déjà vu. Could it be that those guys were discussing how to deal with him after he fell unconscious?

Mitarai, although you did do something very wrong, he sincerely praised your spirit of not being afraid of power. Hold on a little longer, so that they will no longer focus their main attention on him.

You know, it looks like this guy is about to have some bad luck, but these chicken skewers taste so good.

Mmm, it gets more fragrant the more you chew it.

Watching the group leave the room, Hachiman, sitting by the coffee table, had no intention of getting involved in this farce. The few of them were enough, and besides, he had no interest in disturbing other people's normal love affairs.

Instead of wasting time on this, you should eat more. A full stomach will make you feel more at ease.

Hachiman reached out for the green pea, but the door was flung open. He turned and saw Iori. Kohei and Iori pushed him on the shoulder and, as he fell, each lifted him up on one side.

"Let's go, or we'll miss it."

"No, what does this have to do with me?!"

The door was slammed shut, and beneath the closed door, the unlit light shone outwards, illuminating the carpet that had been trampled upon by the boys.