[490] Embarrassing Past

Chapter 490: Embarrassing Past

In the end, after Iroha Isshiki offered up a year's worth of club funds, Hachiman and the other two accepted the request.

Though Yukino initially hesitated to take on the task, Hachiman had already agreed before she could object, leaving her with no choice but to go along with it. So, the three members of the Service Club decided to tackle the job together. After all, Yukino wasn't about to let Hachiman and a certain sly "cat" spend time alone together.

With plans set to start the next day, Iroha left, satisfied.

After she left, Yui curiously asked, "Hikki, why did you ask Iroha for money?"

The girl was puzzled. Hachiman had plenty of money himself, so why would he need to ask Iroha for any?

"That's right," Yukino added, nodding in agreement. "If we take payment, it wouldn't really be the Service Club anymore."

Hearing their questions, Hachiman smiled. "I didn't ask her for payment for our help. I just asked for what was rightfully ours—the club's budget."

"Now that the weather is getting colder, we should get a heater for our clubroom. Otherwise, it's going to be freezing in here soon."

"Oh, that's a good idea!" Yui said, her eyes lighting up.

"We can use the club funds to buy a heater, so we won't be cold."

Yukino also nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's definitely a good idea."

Seeing that they understood his reasoning, Hachiman smiled.

Before long, the sound of the two girls laughing filled the clubroom once again, while Hachiman sat back, contentedly watching them enjoy themselves.

...

The next afternoon, Hachiman and his two clubmates followed Iroha Isshiki to the event's host school, Kaihin Sougou High School.

"Thanks for coming," Iroha said as she opened the door to the meeting room, leading the group inside.

Upon entering, Hachiman noticed that quite a few people had already gathered, chatting in small groups. It was clear that everyone from Kaihin High was present and that they had been waiting for their arrival.

"Christmas, huh…" Hachiman mumbled to himself as he thought about the event's theme. This also reminded him that he might need to prepare some Christmas gifts for the girls in his life: Saeko, Kotonoha, Utaha, Yui, Yukino…

"Ugh, that's quite a list," he sighed, realizing he would need to put some serious thought into the gifts.

Just then, a surprised voice called out to him. "Hikigaya, is that you? It's been a while!"

Hachiman turned to see a girl with curly brown hair, looking at him with a delighted expression. It was… Kaori Orimoto?

Yes, this was indeed the girl who had been Hachiman's "first love" back in middle school.

That was before he had crossed into this world. The two had been classmates, and because Orimoto would occasionally chat with him, the then-naive Hachiman mistakenly thought she liked him. Emboldened, he confessed to her, only to be rejected. It turned out she was just a friendly person who could talk with anyone.

After that, Hachiman had been so embarrassed that he had practically fled, which only deepened his reclusive nature.

Afraid of being hurt, he didn't want to reach out. Afraid of losing, he didn't want to possess.

"Are you… Oriki?" Hachiman responded, pretending to be confused and intentionally getting her name wrong.

"Orimoto!" Kaori replied, clearly displeased. "You jerk, how could you forget my name? You even confessed to me once!"

At this, Yukino looked surprised, and Yui, more shocked, burst out, "What?! Hikki confessed to you?"

It wasn't just them— even Iroha turned her gaze towards them, clearly intrigued. After all, Hachiman was someone she considered as a potential romantic option, so knowing his past was crucial.

Kaori seemed taken aback by Yui's reaction, stepping back slightly and awkwardly explaining, "Ah, it was just something from middle school. We only talked a few times, and then out of nowhere, Hikigaya confessed to me. I was really surprised."

Please stop talking, Hachiman thought desperately. This is my embarrassing past!

Hachiman couldn't help but internally scream. Even though this wasn't something he had done, he was still stuck as Hikigaya Hachiman, and there was no escaping it.

"Hikki, what's going on?" Yui asked, clearly curious.

It wasn't just her— Yukino and Iroha were also looking at him, wanting to know the full story.

Hachiman sighed slightly, his expression a bit uncomfortable as he explained, "Back in middle school, I didn't really have any friends. Since Orimoto-san talked to me more than others, I kind of… mistakenly thought she liked me. So, in a moment of stupidity, I…"

He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Admitting to his embarrassing past out loud was just too mortifying.

Even though he didn't complete his explanation, the girls got the gist of it. Hachiman had been so lonely back then that he mistook a girl's simple kindness for affection and ended up confessing his feelings.

Understanding this, the girls couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for him. It was a sad thought— Hachiman was so desperate for connection that he misunderstood casual conversations as romantic interest.

"Hikki, that's really sad," Yui said, her voice filled with genuine concern.

Even Yukino and Iroha shared the same sympathetic looks, making Hachiman feel a bit awkward.

Noticing their gazes, Hachiman couldn't help but twitch his mouth in irritation. *Come on, give me a break! I already said it was just a stupid misunderstanding.*

Before he could explain further, Orimoto, with a puzzled look, chimed in, "Wait, did I really talk to you that much? I thought we just exchanged a few words each day out of habit."

Her blunt remark only made things worse for Hachiman, who felt like a dark cloud had formed over his head.

But before he could react, the three girls immediately turned their sharp gazes toward Orimoto, clearly not appreciating her unintentional jab.

Feeling the intensity of their stares, Orimoto nervously stepped back. "I-I see you've made some good friends, Hikigaya," she stammered before quickly making her exit.

At that moment, a tall figure approached them—a male student with a confident demeanor.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Tamanawa, the student council president of Kaihin High. You must be the students from Sobu High, right?"

Hearing this, Iroha, as the student council president, quickly gave a polite bow. "Nice to meet you. I'm Isshiki Iroha, the current student council president of Sobu High. Please take care of us."

"Haha, there's no need to be so formal," Tamanawa laughed, though his speaking style was a bit odd. "It's great to collaborate with Sobu High. I've been hoping we could establish a mutual respect and partnership, and really create some synergy together."

While Tamanawa seemed friendly, his constant use of English words mixed into his Japanese, paired with exaggerated hand gestures like he was performing a strange dance, left Hachiman and the others feeling a bit puzzled.

If you're going to talk, then just talk normally. What's with all the hand movements?

However, since they were guests, it wasn't appropriate to criticize Tamanawa, the host. So Hachiman and the others had no choice but to endure it for now.

After the introductions were made, the meeting regarding the **Christmas Event** officially began.

Everyone took their seats, and as the host, Tamanawa was the first to speak.

"Alright, let's get started with this meeting. I'd like everyone to brainstorm some ideas for the event."

He continued, "Please bring your best ideas for the concept of the event."

Seriously? You really have to talk like that? Can't you just speak normal Japanese?

Hachiman and the others frowned at Tamanawa's awkward mixture of Japanese and English.

But it seemed like the other students were used to this style, as someone immediately raised their hand.

A trendy-looking guy sitting across from Hachiman, wearing glasses, chimed in, "Considering the needs of us high school students, I think we should focus on fostering mid-level innovation."

Before anyone could react, another student offered their opinion.

"With that in mind, we definitely need to consider how this event can be a win-win for both us and the community."

Then a third person added, "Exactly, we need to approach this from a strategic perspective and think about cost-performance."

*…*

What's with all of you and this way of speaking?

Do you really think throwing in some random English words makes you sound smart?

Instead of impressive, it was only making everyone feel uncomfortable.

Just look at Yukino sitting next to Hachiman—she was frowning with clear disapproval. Meanwhile, Iroha seemed to have given up trying to make sense of it and just nodded along occasionally.

Then Tamanawa, as the student council president, spoke up again.

"Everyone, I think you might be overlooking something important."

Just as the girls were expecting him to share some profound insight, Tamanawa continued in his same half-baked English-mixed Japanese.

"We need to use logical thinking. Approach it with logic."

He added, "And let's not forget to consider things from the customer's perspective."

Wait, wasn't that basically the same thing just said twice in different languages?

Does repeating yourself in two languages make you sound smarter?

And what's with your hands constantly drawing circles in the air? Are you about to form a Rasengan or something?

If you can actually pull off a Rasengan, then I'll have to counter with a Rasenshuriken!

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