The azure sea, but a lonely, fulfilled life.

"What's wrong, Hachiman? Why do you look like you've seen a pervert?"

Kotobuki Ryujiro, holding a flyer, walked up to him and greeted the new students who came to visit the club. He was very enthusiastic, and every time he handed out a flyer, he would start clapping in a certain part of his body.

"Senior Kotobuki, could you tell me which clothing store you usually shop at?" Hachiman asked, trying not to look at his body.

"Hmm? Are you short of clothes? I often go to a store called 'Fashionista' on the east side of town. Their fabrics are very sturdy."

I can tell, it is indeed very firm, but the shop assistant seems to have poor eyesight and misjudged the size.

Hachiman made up his mind that he would never buy clothes from that store again.

"What's wrong?" Nanaka, with a serene smile, walked to their side, looking at Hachiman with gentle eyes. "Are you too shy to speak up?"

"No, it's not so much that I find it hard to speak, but rather that I don't know how to speak." Hachiman's gaze involuntarily fell on the plump swan, his words carrying a hidden burden.

“Yes, beginners do get nervous in situations like this.” Ryujiro Kotobuki laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. “Just imagine them all as completely naked and you won’t be nervous.”

"Oh, I can't do that."

If he had that kind of skill, he would have become a pornography reviewer long ago.

Hachiman looked at Nanaka-senpai, who was smiling, and tentatively asked, "Nanaka-senpai, don't you think there's anything strange about this?"

"Strange? Is there something strange about it?"

Nanaka naturally shook her head from side to side, looking around.

"Oh, no, it's right here, within arm's reach."

Hachiman glanced at the lower body of the three people present, excluding himself and Nanaka, and nodded.

His actions were too obvious, and Nanaka naturally understood. She looked in that direction.

"What's wrong? Isn't everything normal?"

Hachiman looked up at the sky and began to doubt whether the first nineteen years of his life were a lie or reality.

So it's okay to expose your genitals openly in Izu? That doesn't make sense, why was Kitahara arrested by the guards?

"Could it be that he's too abnormal?" Hachiman pondered, head bowed.

"Who's the pervert?!" a naked man jumped over the table and shouted.

"So you were here all along." Hachiman glanced at him, his eyes indifferent.

"Damn it! Don't look at me like that, like I'm trash!"

"Garbage can be recycled; at worst, it will end up in the sea."

"Huh? You lazy, dead-eyed guy, go back to that old lady's stall and sell yourself for a measly 300 yen! That's all you're worth!"

"Huh? You perverted naked man, are you going to enter the adult film industry to become a masked, one-second-per-second man? Anyway, you only have three seconds left!"

This is the first time I've felt so good about swearing. Is it because the other person is a masochist?

"You bastard!"

"You pervert!"

"Alright, alright, we're all members of the club. If we're not satisfied with each other, let's settle it with games at the party later." Kotobuki Ryujiro put an arm around one of the members and laughed. It's great that the new members are so energetic.

"A cocktail party?" Hachiman keenly spotted the key word.

"Yes, it's a welcome party, an event we hold every year when new students join our diving club."

"Why is the welcome event for new members of the diving club all about drinking? That's not right, it's really not right," Iori complained in horror, still remembering yesterday's madness.

"Speaking of which, could I borrow a piece of clothing? The guards are still chasing me."

“That’s a strange thing to say.” Ryujiro thought for a moment, released Iori, and held up a finger. “Well then, if you find another new person, I’ll lend you my clothes.”

"Is he not good enough?" Iori asked, glancing at Hachiman.

“Hikigaya? He joined the club even earlier than you, so it won’t work.” Kotobuki Ryujiro crossed his arms to indicate that it was no good.

"Huh? Someone as wooden as you actually joined this club? I thought you'd join the student council or the arts club," Iori said, stroking his chin in surprise.

"Do you have a way to refuse?" Hachiman asked, getting straight to the point.

Iori fell silent, tears streaming from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, my dear friend."

"It's okay('oωo)ノ(._.`)."

Yahata replied gently.

"Then, I'm going to work hard!" Iori wiped away her tears, held her head high, and walked towards a certain direction.

"Although I feel I might be letting someone down, I wish you success."

I wonder which unfortunate soul will be drawn into this dark vortex. Life is truly unpredictable, like a large intestine enclosing a small intestine.

Hachiman shook his head helplessly and continued handing out flyers.

……

"Why? Why?! Why isn't there a harem club of beautiful high school girls centered around me?!

Kohei Imamura knelt down on both knees, pounding the ground in resentment and shouting.

"Damn it, what do you mean by saying there are no female high school students in the university and that the clubs don't include harems? Everyone is talking nonsense."

"do not give up."

The warm sunlight accompanied the man's hand on his shoulder. Kohei Imamura turned to look at the perverted man who had just taken his fatal punch. He smiled, his eyes filled with longing and admiration.

"As long as you don't give up, you will succeed."

“But reality is cruel.” Kohei Imamura pounded his head on the ground. “The dreamlike university life simply doesn’t exist.”

"It exists! You see, even if you don't pay attention to it, the sun is always shining on you."

Hearing these encouraging words, Kohei Imamura looked up at him and asked, "Really?"

“Yes, the light is just ahead.” Iori pointed to the road ahead, smiling brightly and freely. He stretched out his hand, meeting his gaze. “So, would you like to step into that dreamlike world hidden in the light with me?”

An indescribable emotion welled up inside him. Kohei Imamura sniffed, his eyes filled with emotion, and he reached out his hand.

"Ah."

……

"Welcome!!!" x2

"You scoundrel, you tricked me!!!"

With a contorted expression, Imamura Kohei, now with another man on top of him, reached out and roared at Iori, who was dressed and looking relaxed.

Hachiman watched this scene in silence, then looked up at the sky.

The weather is really nice today.

Chapter Ten: The Cocktail Party and Mutual Destruction

"Alright, freshmen, come over here. The welcome party is about to begin."

Kotobuki Ryujiro led the three new members to a shady spot where a large crowd had already gathered. Tokita Shinji saw them, waved, and called out.

"I have a bad feeling," Hachiman murmured.

This was a completely different feeling from that time in 'Grand Blue'. Back then, it was just a chill down his spine, but now, as he stared at the smile on Tokita-senpai's face, he felt a chill run down his spine.

“I agree with your bad feeling,” Iori chimed in, his eyes darting around as if searching for an escape route.

"It's just drinking, why are you guys acting like cowards? Are you guys really that bad at drinking?" Kōhei, completely oblivious, shrugged, thinking they were being overly sensitive. He pressed two fingers to his forehead, shook his head helplessly, and said with a raised tone, "Boxer briefs, boxer briefs."

[Let's sell him later] x2

Hachiman and Iori exchanged a glance, both seeing the message in each other's eyes, and nodded in unison.

"Better to die than to die myself." He has always been someone who hates trouble. Since there is someone here who doesn't mind the trouble, then let him bear more of it.

"Now, to test if anyone is allergic to alcohol, everyone come over here to get some patch, just stick it on the inside of your arm," Shinji Tokita said, holding up a bunch of sticker-like items. "We'll divide everyone into table A, table B, and table C based on their alcohol tolerance."

Upon hearing this, Hachiman remained silent. While everyone else received their badges, he observed the differences between the three tables.

Table C has orange juice and cola, table B has beer, and table A is unclear, but based on the connection between the three, it should be spirits.

In this situation, should I still choose? Definitely choose desk C.

Hachiman sat in the chair at table C, looking at the non-alcoholic drinks, feeling a little disappointed that there was no Max coffee.

Just as he was wondering whether he should buy a can from the vending machine later, Iori sat down next to him.

“You’ve come to the wrong place,” Hachiman said, glancing at him.

"I'll return those words to you verbatim." Iori looked at the normal drink in front of her, feeling a bit grateful.

"Don't you know the story of the monk who had water to drink? Kitahara-kun."

"Two monks can carry water to drink, Hachiman."

"Table C is all non-alcoholic drinks, which are for girls and people who don't drink much. Kitahara-kun's performance last night was incredibly heroic. Has he already given up after just one day?"

"I've heard about it too. Hachiman was able to drink eleven cans of beer in just thirty minutes without even a headache. That proves you're the Tyson of the drinking world. Table A is more suitable for you than table C."

The two faced off peacefully, but the veiled barbs in their words sent chills down Kohei's spine as he listened from the sidelines. He looked up at the sky; it was a sunny day, and the sun was shining brightly, but why did he feel so cold?

Are you guys really that bad at drinking?

Kohei joined in, and his sitting down drew the attention of the two men.

“Now there are three monks, what will happen?” Iori asked.

"One monk has water to drink, two monks share water, three monks have no water to drink," Hachiman said, his eyebrows twitching, clearly agitated. "Why can't you two just obediently die?"

"Even if it's just for a second, I'll outlive you all." Iori smiled faintly, his face contorted.

"What? What are you talking about?" Just like Xing Tian, ​​Geng Ping was completely baffled by their conversation.

"Hey, freshmen, why are you all sitting at desk C? You should be sitting at desk A." Two seniors, now in their giant form, appeared behind the three of them at some point. Their thick arms were bulging with veins, and their faces were so ferocious that they resembled demons.

Before Hachiman could even open his mouth to defend himself, he felt a sensation of being turned upside down, followed by the feeling of being thrown into the air, then falling, and then being thrown into the air again.

"Wuhu! Let the party begin!"

You guys are just partying every day, aren't you?!

The two people, who had been thrown into the air, looked at each other and spoke at the same time, just as if in perfect unison.

"Die, Kitahara Iori!"

"Die, Hachiman Hikigaya!"

After being used as a punching bag for a while, Hachiman leaned against the large cherry blossom tree, groaning, "No, I'm already feeling drunk even before I've had a drink."

It's all those two guys' fault!

"Writing until the glass is empty!!!"

"Read it as 'Cheers!!!'"

Everyone started drinking heavily. Hachiman held a can of beer and sipped it slowly. He had no choice; if he didn't have anything in his hands, he probably wouldn't be able to leave today.

"Oh! You were one of the freshmen that day, right?"

Hachiman looked over at the sound and saw the big guy he had seen before in 'Grand Blue'.

"I was so focused on drinking that I didn't notice. Later, I heard from Xinzhi that you actually downed eleven bottles of wine in thirty minutes. That's amazing."

Haha, he doesn't even remember that incident.

"You flatter me."

"Hey, don't be so reserved. When we're out there, you can treat me like a senior, but here you can treat me like a drinking buddy. By the way, you have such good drinking manners, why are you drinking such low-alcohol beverages? We have some excellent spirits here."

Haha, if he could, he wouldn't even want to drink.

He's still a minor!

“Yes, this is a rare opportunity. Hachiman, would you like to try it?” Juryujiro held up a bottle of strong liquor with an alcohol content of 45% and recommended it. “This is pretty potent!”

"No, I'd rather drink tea than strong liquor right now."

Sigh, I suddenly miss the black tea someone used to brew.