The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

"I'm the one who punched the Atami Nursing Home, kicked the Izu Kindergarten, and is known as the Little White Dragon of the Diving Shop. As for the army, I don't have one, but I have five Heavenly Kings. Each of them is a leader in their respective fields, and one of them is enough to be worth an army."

Watching the two of them complimenting each other so amicably, Hachiman Hikigaya almost widened his eyes in disbelief. Could it be that Iori, having spent so much time with Kohei, is starting to lean towards anime and manga? This is even a topic of conversation!

"Hachiman's friends are really quite unique."

Hina Ebina remarked with a sigh, "Indeed, birds of a feather flock together. People who are unique in themselves are more likely to attract other unique people."

"...He's just a complete scumbag."

I couldn't help but complain.

Under the increasing torment of these two, his mind could no longer maintain its previous calm. More often than not, he thought about whether an alien could come and take this thing to study how it could be so despicable.

Hina Ebina smiled enigmatically. There was always an invisible pressure when chatting with someone who was too intelligent. Hachiman Hikigaya knew this well. He pretended not to care and stirred his coffee with a spoon. Fortunately, he did not ask for latte art and did not need to worry about ruining the maker's carefully prepared pattern.

Looking at Iori, who could already boast to Zaimokuza and chat with Totsuka about tennis, it's clear that extroverts make friends much more easily than someone like him who's waiting for a robbery to break into his home.

Hachiman Hikigaya picked up his coffee and took a sip. The rich, milky aroma filled his mouth, a sweet treat he hadn't had in a long time.

"Speaking of which, Hachiman, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Totsuka's unintentional question made him choke while immersed in sweetness. How did the topic veer to this?

"Are you alright, Hachiman?"

Seeing Hachiman coughing, Totsuka asked him worriedly.

Hachiman Hikigaya waved his hand, and when he looked up, he saw Iori Kitahara staring at him. When their eyes met, he revealed a sinister and vicious grin. Kisama! Is he trying to confirm whether he has betrayed the Brotherhood Code by asking someone he knew before?

He forced a smile: "Why are we discussing this kind of topic?"

Such hurtful words are a major taboo for boys, especially when they might be attending the wedding of some classmate whose name they don't even know a few years later. It's a double whammy.

"Well, it's because Kitahara-kun was just talking to me about how you were on good terms with several girls in college, Hachiman," Totsuka said innocently.

Having a good relationship doesn't mean they can openly do some naughty things, Totsuka-kun. Anyone who thinks that just because they have a good relationship they can become partners with this guy is just daydreaming.

Just as he was about to explain, Ebina, who was standing next to him, "kindly" came to his rescue: "You can't say that, Ayaka. After all, Hikigaya-kun has been close to many girls before, hasn't he?"

"Come to think of it, that makes sense." Totsuka tilted her head slightly, recalling how during those two years of high school, he was always accompanied by different girls, and she thought he would definitely get married to someone, until she learned after graduation that he had gone to Izu alone.

"Hachiman is very attractive to girls."

"After all, she is a Bodhisattva who grants children."

[The Bodhisattva Hachiman, who shares or borrows the name from Hachiman Hikigaya, carries the symbolic meaning of raising children.]

Her teasing words left Hachiman Hikigaya somewhat helpless. Just then, he heard a sickeningly loud, twisting cracking sound. Turning around, he saw Iori performing a trick of breaking a spoon with her bare hands.

Unfortunately, he failed; he didn't want to pay for the replacement spoon.

If this continues, he'll probably be assassinated the moment he gets off the high-speed train.

He tried to change the subject: "Didn't you come here to have fun? What are you planning to do?"

His words reminded Totsuka of the purpose of his trip. He smiled, took out his phone, opened a certain screen, and showed it to the other person: "We're here to attend a Fan Meeting."

"Fan Meeting?"

"Yes, it's a fan meeting for the famous voice actress Natsuyo Mizuki."

Why does this name sound so familiar?

Hachiman Hikigaya and Iori Kitahara were both taken aback. Then they remembered their main purpose for today. Could it be that Kohei came here just to attend the meet-and-greet of her favorite voice actor?

Thinking of this, he stared at Iori speechlessly.

Catching someone in the act? Haha, that's quite a skillful way to catch someone cheating.

Iori, feeling awkward under his gaze, turned her face away.

Neither of them could have imagined that this trip to Akihabara, which began due to a misunderstanding, would unexpectedly lead to another coincidental ending.

"Speaking of which, the time is almost up."

Chapter 45 Kohei's Otaku-Style Explosion (Bounty Offered)

Natsuyo Mizuki is one of the most outstanding voice actors of our time. She has voiced dozens of anime, two-thirds of which became hits. She deservedly won the Best New Generation Voice Actor Award in her third year as a voice actress.

This is a rising star in the world of anime and manga, but for someone like me who isn't particularly into otaku culture, it's completely irrelevant.

The only connection between the two that puzzled Hachiman Hikigaya was that he had heard the name once before and felt like he had heard it somewhere before. Then he remembered that Komachi had watched an anime program she voiced, and guessed that he might have seen it on the credits at the end of the program while accompanying her. So he forgot about it.

But now, the mere mention of it brought back that eerie sense of familiarity. Before he could even think, Totsuka grabbed his hand. The other man smiled radiantly on his delicate face and said, "Hurry up." Even though he knew the other man was saying he was walking too slowly, his face still flushed red.

He's so cute! I wish he would make miso soup for me for the rest of my life.

Kitahara Iori, walking beside him, found it all very strange. Just moments ago, he had heard the other man admit that he was a boy, and the next second, his best friend was being pulled along by the other man's hand, walking step by step like a couple. And that wasn't the strangest thing.

He looked at Hachiman's smug smile and felt a chill run down his spine. No matter how cute he was, he was still a man!

At that moment, he remembered what the other person had mentioned when they talked at the Izu Festival—that he was also a dual-wielder. When he asked if it was true or not, the other person had decisively refused, and he thought it was a joke to tease him. Now it seemed that it lacked a bit of authenticity.

Kitahara Iori doesn't believe her best friend is gay. The photos she witnessed firsthand can't be faked, so he really does like both women and men. But this man is also cuter than most girls, no, even cuter than most girls. So...

He made the same gesture Conan uses when solving cases, pushing up glasses that weren't actually on his nose.

That cunning frog keeps touching your belly! This guy wants everything cute! What a beast!

He had to tell Chisa about this, in case she was cheated on one day for no reason.

A chill jolted Hachiman Hikigaya back to his senses. He fled the gentle embrace of Ayaka, the little angel, and looked around.

Just now I had a strange and terrifying intuition, more terrifying than when I was surrounded and tied to a cross by six people, and even more terrifying than when Nanaka-senpai was angry.

If I had to describe it, it seemed like he just saw his own tombstone, and not just one. Why was that?

Hachiman Hikigaya looked at Iori Kitahara without thinking. If anything happened, it would definitely be related to him. However, the other person was not looking at him, but was looking around as if searching for Kohei.

It wasn't him? That's really strange.

Hachiman withdrew his gaze, recalling whether he had offended anyone recently.

-

"Summer night, are you ready?"

Inside an ordinary-looking Toyota minivan, the woman who was both a translator and driver looked up at the rearview mirror, gazed at the elegantly dressed Maya Iida sitting in the back seat, and asked a question.

"Of course, Fujiko-nee."

She nodded slightly. As a well-known local voice actress who had participated in many offline fan meetings, she no longer felt the nervousness she once did.

"You are indeed very suitable for the stage." The woman nodded. As a manager of an artist who doesn't require much effort, she didn't need to say anything more.

"Wow." Sitting next to Maya Iida, Kanako Iida looked out the car window at the dark mass of people in the distance. Although she knew her sister had many fans, this was the first time she had seen it in person.

"Don't wander around when you get there, Kanako."

Maya Iida chuckled softly as she looked at her younger sister. This was the first time the child had mentioned wanting to see what she looked like at work.

"I see."

Kanako Iida sat back down in her chair and nodded.

The car arrived at its destination in just one minute. The woman in the driver's seat made a phone call, and soon staff members arrived. They followed them through a separate, dedicated passage.

Smiling and greeting each fan who passed by, Maya Iida and the others went backstage and waited for the time to come. When the host finished his opening remarks and called her name, she walked onto the stage.

-

"Hachiman, how much money do we have left?"

With his mouth agape, Kitahara Iori sat listlessly in his chair, lost in thought. The host's voice buzzed in his ears, making him feel as if he were in a tropical rainforest.

Hachiman, who was also looking rather listless, took out his frog wallet and shook it. A moment later, a Fukuzawa Yukichi note fell out, along with some loose 100-yen coins.

That's all I have. What about you?

Kitahara Iori reached into her pocket, rummaged around for a bit, and pulled out two 500-yen coins and one 100-yen coin.

The two of them together had exactly 13,213 yuan.

Staring at the three coins he pulled out, Hachiman's eyelids twitched: "Aren't you planning to go back?"

"I never imagined that a scalped ticket would cost us 14,000 yen."

Kitahara Iori said aggrievedly, "After arriving at the venue, Hachiman realized that they didn't have tickets to attend the meet-and-greet. He was about to give up when faced with Totsuka's expectant eyes and words of encouragement to share their experiences together. He had no choice but to look around to see if anyone who had bought tickets had something come up and could give them up. After searching around, he actually found some, but each ticket cost a whopping 14,000 yen. He reluctantly took some more from his reserved diving funds, and now he was practically broke."

"What a huge loss! This amount of money is enough for us to travel back and forth by high-speed rail."

Iori stared at the stage, which was at least twenty meters away. She had spent so much money, but all she got was a last-seat ticket. If it weren't for her good eyesight, she probably wouldn't even be able to see the faces clearly.

"You know that too!"

Hachiman had nothing to say, so he put all the money into his wallet. Well, they were truly out of money now. Money really is hard to save by trying to save it.

"Speaking of which, have you seen Kohei?"

Kitahara Iori looked around but didn't see anyone he knew. That shouldn't be the case; the voice actors were about to enter, so why hadn't he arrived yet?

“This, really not.”

Hachiman Hikigaya also joined the search team, but they couldn't find Kohei after scanning from beginning to end. Could it be that he went to the toilet?

Meanwhile, an unfortunate blond young man who had just bought a limited edition Lala Goko figure was clinging desperately to the scalper's leg, refusing to let him leave.

The joy of finally getting the item I'd been longing for vanished the moment I learned that my idol would be holding a fan meeting there today, and that I didn't have enough money for even a single ticket.

No!!! Oh God!!! Why did you have to do this to him? Isn't the meet-and-greet tomorrow?!

“I’m telling you, young man, you have to be honest in business. If you don’t have enough money, there’s nothing I can do.”

"The show's about to start, can you give me a discount?"

"I've already lowered the price by four thousand. If I lower it any further, I'll lose money."

The scalper looked speechlessly at the little rascal on his lap. Even scalpers have to follow the rules; lowering the price too much would break the rules.

"Please, have some mercy! This is the last wish I have in my life!"

"Make it cheaper! Do you think money grows on trees?!" The scalper uncle pulled his leg away with a look of disgust. "Let go, I need to find other business to do."

After a struggle, Kohei Imamura could only watch his idol leave from afar. His face pale, he leaned against the wall outside the venue, hoping to hear a glimpse of his idol's voice.

"Lying down is not allowed near the venue, and the area is completely enclosed once the program starts, so you can't hear any sound."

The staff kindly persuaded him to leave the cold wall. Like a wandering ghost, Kohei Imamura stood up, swayed, and left with his figurines in his arms. After walking a dozen meters, he collapsed to the ground.

"Aaaaaah~ I'm doomed~ Aaaaah~ I have no money~"

He really is the worst kind of fanatic.

Curled up with his legs drawn up like a cicada pupa, Kohei Imamura sucked on his thumb, a look of utter despair on his face.

Just when he was in despair, a gust of wind blew by, brushing against his cheek and bringing with it a crumpled paper ball.

Looking at the familiar pattern on the outside of the sphere, Kohei Imamura blinked, then suddenly stood up and grabbed the small sphere in his hand.

This... could it be...?

He opened the ball with trembling hands, his eyes filled with joy.

He held up the opened paper ball, and under the sunlight, it was clearly a five-thousand-yen banknote.

Kohei Imamura stared at the banknotes, hesitant. He looked around, but no one was paying attention to him.

He turned his gaze back to the banknotes, closed his eyes, and finally opened them firmly, having made up his mind.

Chapter 46 An older fan? (Bounty offered)

"Next, let's give a warm round of applause to welcome the famous voice actress, Ms. Natsuyo Mizuki!"

With a loud shout from the host, Maya Iida took a deep breath and stepped onto the stage. A perfect smile graced her face, and the bright lights shone on her pure white dress, highlighting her noble气质 (qi zhi - inherent quality/temperament).

She grasped the microphone, possessing a naturally beautiful voice, having participated in the Red and White Song Festival for six years: "Hello everyone, I am Natsuyo Mizuki."

A wave of cheers erupted from below the stage. Hachiman Hikigaya and Iori Kitahara, sitting at the back, were so shocked by the sound that their ears hurt. As this was their first time participating in such an event, the intense unity and enthusiasm were truly awe-inspiring.

After the heatwave subsided, Hachiman let go of his hand and happened to bump into the person who had just sat down to his left.

"Feel sorry."