The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

Are emotions actually transmissible?

While he was pondering this question, Kohei had already finished speaking. He scratched his head and buried it in his knees, wanting to say so much, but in his nervousness, he forgot to say it all.

Ugh, Kohei Imamura, you're such an idiot!

Is this necessary?

Looking at Kohei's face full of regret, Hachiman felt somewhat helpless.

He didn't recognize any of the next few fans who got the chance, except for Totsuka. Soon, only one chance remained.

Hachiman Hikigaya, who had no particular thoughts, was buying Shinkansen tickets for an hour later on his phone. He bought two tickets first, and he would have to borrow some from Zaimokuza after the fan meeting to buy the other one.

After he placed the order for two tickets, he suddenly noticed that the surroundings had become quiet. He looked up and saw a microphone shoved in front of his face. He looked at the staff member who was gesturing to him, then at Mizuki Natsuyo on the stage who was looking this way, and pointed to himself.

Has he been selected?

The staff member nodded and shoved the microphone into his hand.

Oh no! He doesn't know anything about the other person, and he doesn't even know how to start a conversation. Is he supposed to say something like Kohei, "I'm your fan," and then end with "I really like your work"? That's too perfunctory. Anyone with eyes can tell he's a fake fan.

He stood up, hesitatingly wondering how to begin.

After thinking it over, he asked cautiously.

"Um, can I transfer this opportunity to someone else?"

His words caused an uproar in the room, and even the host was stunned. Seriously, are you even a fan? You can give up the chance to talk to your idol one-on-one? What, are you here with your girlfriend?

Iida Maya was also taken aback by this. Why would she react like this? Could it be that she really made a mistake?

The host looked at Mizuki Natsuyo, wanting to hear her opinion.

Iida Maya thought for a moment and nodded.

If that's not the case, then there's no need to ask any further.

"Of course, may I ask who you want to transfer it to?"

The host gripped the microphone and asked in a loud voice.

Hachiman Hikigaya glanced at Kohei sitting beside him, who looked hopeless about the future, and patted him on the shoulder speechlessly.

"Hey, here comes the double strike."

"what!"

-

The fan meeting ended successfully. Hachiman got up and walked towards the door. The golden light behind him made his eyelids twitch. He glanced at Kohei, who had a silly smile on his face, and asked Iori where the sunglasses he had been wearing earlier had gone.

After taking the sunglasses from the other person and putting them on, my eyes finally felt a bit more comfortable.

"Hachiman." Totsuka and the others came out as well, and he hopped over to him. "How was the meeting? Was it great?"

"Yeah, great."

Although he spends most of his time sleeping, who says sleeping isn't great?

"Right, right!" Totsuka said excitedly, seemingly genuinely happy.

Seeing his expression, Hachiman Hikigaya felt a little more at ease. Just as he was about to say something, a staff member from the venue walked up to him.

"Hello, Ms. Mizuki would like to ask you to come backstage."

This shocking news stunned everyone present. After Hachiman came to his senses, his first thought was whether the other party had discovered that he was not her fan and wanted to confront her.

But upon closer reflection, it doesn't seem like it would come to that. She's a national-level voice actress; losing one of her fans is just like removing a grain of sand from a beach. It's impossible for her to come and interrogate her about something else.

"What did Mizuki Natsuyo invite you to do?"

Kitahara Iori's scumbag mine-sweeping radar went off again. Could this guy have hooked up with someone again?

That's impossible. He did nothing but sleep during the fan meeting, and he even gave up the last chance to interact with fans to Kohei. How could he possibly hook up with someone with no interaction at all?

Unless they already knew each other, which is unlikely, why didn't Kohei react at all when he brought it up?

"I don't know either." Hachiman shook his head and looked at the staff. "Can we not go?"

"Please make sure to visit us. In return, we will give you a special little gift."

A special little gift? Sorry, he's a bit sensitive to the word "gift" these days.

“Go ahead, Hachiman. This is a golden opportunity.” Kohei patted him on the shoulder with a righteous air.

Watching him adjust his anime outfit, Hachiman Hikigaya chuckled. "This is a rare opportunity for you, isn't it?"

Fine, let him go. It's not like he's going to get a piece of meat anyway.

"Then, let's go."

A large group of people walked towards the backstage.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Mizuki only invited this gentleman."

"..." x6

-

Following the staff's directions, Hachiman Hikigaya arrived backstage and saw Natsumi Mizuki, who had been waiting for him for a long time. What caught his attention even more was that Kanako Iida, whom he had met at a previous matchmaking event, was standing next to her.

"Hello, Hachiman Hikigaya."

"……Hello."

Looking at his reserved demeanor, the stark contrast between them—apart from their names and appearances—made Kanako Iida even more suspicious that doppelgangers might exist in the world.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Mizuki Natsuyo."

"...We already learned about that earlier."

Seeing that he had no reaction at all, Iida Maya became even more confused. Had she really mistaken him for someone else? Or had this bastard really forgotten because so much time had passed?

“This is my younger sister, Kanako Iida.”

She deliberately emphasized the tone of her name, but the other person still didn't react. Now she was sure that if she hadn't mistaken him for someone else, then this bastard was deliberately pretending not to know her.

"Yes, it's been a long time, Iida-kun."

He greeted him politely.

"He must have mistaken you for someone else after all," Kanako Iida whispered in her sister's ear. "That guy wouldn't be so rule-abiding."

That's true, that guy always calls people by their first names.

Thinking of this, Iida Maya gave up the idea of ​​asking any further questions: "I'm sorry, I suddenly feel like I don't have anything to say anymore. I'm sorry to have troubled you with your trip. The staff will deliver the gift to you after we leave."

Is this the end?

Hachiman was confused, but he still replied politely, "It's alright, walking around is good for your health."

Maya Iida glanced at him but didn't say anything. She picked up a piece of paper, wrote her signature on it, and remembered that one of his friends was a loyal fan of hers. Accepting this was her way of making amends.

Seeing her actions, Hachiman understood her intention and replied more politely, "Actually, I should be the one apologizing. I accidentally fell asleep while listening to Mizuki-san sing and didn't wake up until the meet-and-greet was almost over."

As Maya Iida signed, her hand trembled. She abruptly looked up at Hachiman, who, under her direct gaze, subconsciously touched his neck. Should he have said those things? Would he have made her think he was saying she sang terribly?

Seeing the other person's familiar movements, Iida Maya smiled, stood up, and walked to him.

She tilted her head slightly; he was already taller than her.

"Um, Ms. Mizuki."

“My name is Maya Iida, you pretentious little brat.”

Huh? Putting on airs? Him? Come to think of it, why did his tone suddenly turn into that of a boss?

To his astonishment, the other person raised their hand and gently tapped him on the head.

"Fool."

Chapter 48 Iida Maya's Memories

"Are you the older sister who no one wants a girl?"

"Eh?"

-

During the plum rain season, the sun is nowhere to be seen all day. Without the warmth of a furnace, the world, which should be cool, becomes as stuffy as a steamer. The air is filled with the smell of mold growing, and just a light sniff can make one feel irritable.

That year, when Iida Maya was only twelve years old, she had just come home from school and hadn't even had a moment to rest after putting down her schoolbag when she heard her grandmother say worriedly that her younger sister had run away alone after arguing with her parents on the phone and hadn't returned since.

As darkness fell, a warning of an impending downpour, Iida Maya was mostly displeased with her younger sister, because while she enjoyed most of her parents' love, she was still unsatisfied and always craved more.

She hated greedy people, and therefore she hated her own sister.

The thought of running away and never coming back grew darkly in her heart, but she pretended not to hear it and started doing her homework for the evening.

The sound of dripping water on the eaves was crisp and loud. After she finished the homework assigned by her Chinese teacher, large raindrops began to fall from the sky. Iida Maya didn't care and took out her math homework from her schoolbag.

Grandma's voice rang in her ears again. The old woman was in her seventies and her legs were not very agile. She also suffered from a disease that caused her unbearable pain on rainy days, and she could only treat it with a water bag.

Seeing that the rain had subsided, she prepared to get up and go look for her little granddaughter. The cracking sound of bones grinding together annoyed Maya Iida, making it impossible for her to concentrate on her homework. Although she disliked her younger sister, she couldn't ignore this loving old woman.

"I'll go find Kanako, Grandma."

She always addressed her sister by her full name, without any hint of intimacy, simply saying it coldly.

Despite her grandmother's worried admonitions, Iida Maya firmly refused to let her come along. Picking up the umbrella she had bought for only 500 yen, with its carved floral pattern, she left the house.

Outside her home was always a vast expanse of land, and this boundless landscape only added to her bewilderment when she didn't know where to look.

That girl always makes a fuss to get the adults to love her. I just don't understand, doesn't she get enough love already? She herself has even less time for company, yet she's still expected to take better care of her.

Just because she was born early, and was her older sister.

A cool breeze clung to the girl's calves. Iida Maya moved like an ant searching for food under the sky. Since she had chosen to come out to search, it meant that she had accepted this responsibility.

Whether you succeed or fail, you have to at least try.

Looking at the endless road, she turned and walked into a narrow path through the rice paddies. She decided to first go and search for the treasure trove that Kanako had mentioned earlier.

The croaking of frogs filled her ears, music that was described in textbooks as the song of nature, but to her it was incredibly noisy. Especially when a frog with poor eyesight leaped out of the mud and splattered dirt on her uniform, she felt like killing it.

Why is God treating her like this? Could it be because it's wrong of her to secretly complain that her bald homeroom teacher must have been a programmer? If that's the reason, she could give you her father's wig as an apology; she's already used to her father's bald head anyway.

The sound of footsteps echoed with each step, revealing the location of the treasure trove: a dilapidated shrine. The deity enshrined within seemed to be the Sea God, who protected fishermen at sea. However, with the passage of time, the people here no longer went to sea, so few people came to make offerings.

Kanako was among the few people in the group, but her reason for worshipping the deity was not out of faith, but simply out of pity for the deity.

Yes, the mighty sea god was pitied by a six-year-old girl. When she learned of this, Iida Maya didn't know whether to laugh or not. An absurd emotion left her speechless.

She sighed. Anyway, she hoped Kanako would be here.

As Iida Maya walked forward, keeping her eyes level, she forgot that the road beneath her feet was uneven. She accidentally stepped on a stone and fell forward.

With a splash, she kissed the earth.

Facing the embrace of the earth, Maya Iida had only one thought in her mind: once she found Kanako, she would definitely teach her a lesson.

She pushed herself up and frowned. The pain in her ankle clearly told her that she might have sprained it, but Iida Maya didn't care because there was something even worse going on.

She looked at the umbrella that had fallen into the mud not far away. She hadn't been able to hold onto it when she fell, and the umbrella had slipped from her hand and been blown away by the wind.

The cold rain stung the skin on her neck, and Iida Maya shivered as she struggled to her feet and walked toward the shrine.

Even if we get this umbrella back, it's useless. When it's open, the soil on top will definitely fall down.

Sigh, if Kanako isn't here, then she can't go anywhere else to look for her. It seems she can rest here for a while without any burden, which is perhaps good news.

Sometimes fate plays tricks on people. When he was still a little distance from the shrine, he heard Kanako's childish voice.

Well, at least she accomplished her mission.

Thinking about it, she was lucky no matter what. Iida Maya walked to the shrine expressionlessly, and was stunned when she saw the scene inside.

Kanako was accompanied by a boy her age. Before she arrived, the boy was listening to the girl's chatter with a look of utter despair. He had never known that girls could be such noisy creatures.

He desperately wanted to escape, but he couldn't; he hadn't brought an umbrella.

What's happening here?

Maya Iida blinked and looked at the blank-minded and unhappy figures in the shrine. As she was thinking, the boy noticed her arrival.

After a brief exchange of glances, the boy spoke: "You're the unwanted older sister, aren't you?"