8 Summer Holiday (2)

In the living room of Hikigaya Household, a young man with a height of 170 centimeters is shaking his hip enthusiastically. His face is flushed, and his entire body is full of sweat.

He breathes heavily, but he doesn't show any sign of stopping. He still has the stamina, and the energy to keep shaking his hip.

This young man is me.

Yes, I am playing hula hoop.

What? What did you think I am doing, you horny four dimensional being?

Anyway, hula hoop is good for training your hips. It also trains your abdomen, so most of your fat will be burnt away. So, the reason I am doing this is I am aiming to develop abs, while having a flexible hip.

"You know it is hot in summer, and you still doing things that make you sweaty. Are you dumb or something?"

"Shut it, woman. You will never know."

"Do you want me to smack you?"

I instantly stop shaking my hip, and throw away the hula hoop. The rabid woman called Shizuka is already by my side, ready to aim for my jugular.

"For Odin's beard, Shizuka! What's the point of asking if you just immediately do what you said?"

"Watch your mouth, brat! It's Shizuka-san!"

"Who cares?!"

"I care!"

Smack!

Luckily, I managed to block her hit. This woman really packs some punch. She has never really hold back on me.

"Huuh... You know what? You are really likeable if you're quiet."

"I am sorry, I'm not mute."

At my sarcastic remark, Shizuka swings her hand at me once again. "That's not what I mean, idiot!"

Surely, I managed to dodge it. Her attack has never hit me even once, and it will stay forever that way.

"Anyway, let's go get a bite. I am famished."

"Let me do one last set first. It won't take long."

Shizuka sighs, and says, "I thought you wouldn't be working out everytime I come over?" At this, I stop squatting, and say, "I didn't say that. I said I wouldn't go to the gym whenever you came over. Anyway, why did you come over more than once in a week?"

Shizuka smiles, and shamelessly says, "The agreement between your mother and I states that I should visit you AT LEAST once a week." She gave me a perfect comeback.

Looking at her disinterestedly, I say, "Nah, you come here often for the free food. You must be tired of eating ramen and stuffs."

"What? No! How can you say that?!"

Shizuka, although you said that indignantly, your flushing face says it all. I know you fell in love with my cooking. Therefore, I regretted ever cooking food for you.

"Kuhum! Anyway, finish your workout quick! My stomach can't bear it any longer."

"Sure."

With that, she leaves me alone, and sits on the sofa to watch the TV. I glance at her briefly, before resuming my workout. My mind thinks about things that have happened for the last two weeks.

Firstly, Chōmusuke... I mean, Kamakura had a territorial fight with my lovely kitten, Raphtalia. Needless to say, Raphtalia lost it. She's just a little kitten, how could she win? Therefore, Raphtalia only spends her time in the living room whenever I am around.

For most of the time, she spends her time in my bedroom.

Secondly, after my head healed — which is around seven days ago — I enrolled myself to a gym. The reason is simple, I want to train this feeble body of mine. No one knows it, besides Shizuka, of course.

I didn't tell my family, because I don't want them to question my every course of action, as they will surely deem it 'Un-Hachiman-like'. Luckily, Shizuka is cooperative. Thus, she stays shut.

Thirdly, a week ago, my mother won two tickets of summer tour to Osaka. Of course, I told Komachi to go with her, thus amplifying the guilt she has over me. I know I'm the worst, but it is fun messing with her.

Also, another shocking thing I found was I eventually have no father. That dude has passed away when I was six. Therefore, my mother is a single parent.

Fourthly, under the help of Shizuka, I have successfully made a trading account. With some of her money, I have started trading four days ago, and it already bears some result, thanks to my experience as a successful trader.

Fifthly, Shizuka became my sugar mommy! Or should I say, "Sugar mommy"? I mean, she's not married yet, but she does things every sugar mommies do. Yes, she gives me money whenever I ask her.

No, no, no. I am not using her for my own benefit. The only time I need money was when I wanted to begin my first trade. It's not my fault she keeps giving me money from then on!

Anyway, I have finished taking a bath, and now I am looking at my reflection on the mirror. It gets better each day, and the wretchedness on my face starts to disappear slowly.

I also have figured out why Hachiman has dead eyes. His eyesight is bad. Although his scepticism is mostly the reason behind his dead eyes, the bad eyesight worsen it. Therefore, I have decided to wear a glasses. With glasses, my eyes look normal now.

I get out of the bathroom, head to my room, and get dressed. I decide to wear a simple white t-shirt under a black hoodie jacket, and a black tight jeans to compliment that. With that, I go down the stairs, and meet the waiting Shizuka.

"Oh, you look presentable that way, Hachiman! You just need some haircut, and you'll be popular among girls!"

"Hm? Were you complimenting me?"

"Yeah."

I hum in interest. I am not insecure in my appearance. Hachiman isn't ugly. In the light novel, people who met him always commented on his unsightly facial expression, not his facial feature. That means, he is attractive, if not for his eyes. I can attest to that.

Now, the shocking thing is Shizuka complimenting me. I thought she would be embarrassed doing such thing. It turns out, she isn't.

I smirk faintly, and ask, "Aren't you afraid I will be snatched away by the other girls if I were to be popular?" She snorts, before asking back, "Why would I?"

"Well, that means you are going to lose your future husband?"

"Future husband? You? Pfft! Hahahahaha!"

Shizuka laughs her fucking ass off. She really thinks it's funny as the laughter is humourous. That means, she doesn't laugh to cover her embarrassment.

I smile to myself. I am not mad, nor do I feel insulted. I am not an insecure young man. I know the reason why she thinks my word is funny. That's because, in her her eyes, I am no more than a brat.

A perfect comeback to her is not attacking her insecurity. It is to become a man, and change her perspective towards me. Therefore, I merely smile until she stops laughing.

"H-hold on... Pfft...! Kid, you are really funny. Oh my God, I couldn't believe you said that." She looks at my smiling face, and stops her laughter. As if finding it unsettling, she quickly clears her throat. "Kuhum! Anyway, let's go get a bite!"

"Where are we going to go? Ramen restaurant?"

She looks at me accusingly, and remarks, "Why do you think I only eat ramen? I also eat soba! Therefore, we are going to soba restaurant!"

I sigh, and merely go with the flow. She has the money, so I won't say a thing.

...

While we are on our way toward this eventually BEST SOBA RESTAURANT she has ever found, I am working with my laptop. This laptop was also bought by the money she gave me, and I use it to trade stocks.

"Kid, what are you doing fiddling with your laptop?"

"I am working. Just focus on driving. You wouldn't want your Aston Martin to hit someone."

"Are you underestimating me? I'm a GOOD driver."

"Emphasizing 'good' doesn't make you one."

"Tsk. As witty as always."

I have read from the light novel that Shizuka has been previously a loner. Due to her regrets over her past, she didn't want Hachiman to experience the same thing. I just didn't expect this woman will be so talkative. It's so un-loner-like.

Still, it isn't bad. She has many interesting things to say.

"We've arrived, Hachiman. Put down your laptop, and we'll enjoy our soba!"

"Wait, wait! Don't forcibly close it! I'm still on the market. You will make me lose money!"

"Well, I can give you more."

"I know you're rich a sugar mommy, but I have earned more than you give me!"

"What did you say, brat?!"

Just like that, an epic fight breaks between us. People must be weirded out, as I am sure our car is shaking right now. Luckily, I managed to get out of the stock market before it happened. So, my money is safe.

"We should stop! People will think we are doing something nasty in this car."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The car is shaking since then."

"So, what do— ohh! You dirty little bastard!"

???

Why did you hit me? I've done nothing wrong!

The car stops shaking only when Shizuka calms herself down.

As I expected, when we get out of the car, the people are looking at us curiously. I can see it plainly on their face, they are thinking about the naughty things we might possibly have done in the car.

Unfortunately, Shizuka's flushed face doesn't help to convince them the otherwise.