The Hikigaya couple's youthful love story is definitely not a problem.

If she could, Rumi would wish that Hachiman were in front of her right now, stroking her cheek with his hand and softly calling her name.

Rumi craves the gentleness and recognition of those who are like her, and even feels from the bottom of her heart that no one but Hachiman can truly enter her heart and understand what she really needs.

Liu Mei did have some doubts about whether her current actions were correct. In her view, girls who were fifteen or sixteen years old, the age of abandonment, should be as pure as a blank sheet of paper.

Such self-pleasure is almost impossible for such a young woman.

Especially when imagining the image of her beloved in her mind, she felt a great sense of shame and guilt while studying in the United States.

Driven by his conscience, his body responded accordingly.

As if she deeply loathed herself, Rumi sat up as if she were having a seizure, even pulling back her lotus feet that had been resting on the edge.

Ruixi stared intently at the ducks bobbing up and down with the water, her eyes slightly dazed. Regardless of her inner thoughts, the physical relaxation brought her genuine pleasure.

For some reason, Liu Mei always felt that the little yellow duck, which looked so cute and adorable just moments before, was now laughing at her with its wide-open mouth.

For some inexplicable reason, the girl's mood soured, and she quickly flipped the duck over, filling the empty core back in.

Hachiman.

She murmured the name again and again, a name she knew so well that it even appeared in her dreams, causing the girl's bedsheets to become wet with tears.

Liu Mei felt that he was definitely capable of understanding her.

Forgive yourself.

Her fingers traced across her body, but Rumi felt nothing.

I have no idea what that girl was talking about during their casual conversation—that roughness brushing against my skin and the resulting heat that makes my brain go numb. The only thing I could feel was that my skin became smoother after being soaked in hot water.

The girl was unaware that most of the stories told by the girls at the real high school about their relationships with their lovers were just recollections she had seen from various sources.

Then these people who had no experience with their relationships but wanted to show off their love lives to those around them believed it to be true and even became the spreaders of the rumors.

Liu Mei simply saw their unusually confident demeanor and took their words as truth, believing them to be true.

However, apart from certain nerve-sensitive areas, most of the skin does not produce any strange burning sensation when touched.

Otherwise, who knows how many more couples would have burned each other to ashes because of their love?

After sitting for a few minutes, waiting for her body to gradually recover from the afterglow, Rumi finally stepped out of the bathtub wearing a towel.

Sitting on the bench, I spent a lot of time drying my long, black hair until it was half dry. Although I spent an hour or two washing my hair, in the end, I only managed to have a complete and satisfying experience.

Lying on the bed with her bare shoulders exposed, the beautiful woman recalled the events of the day, and for some reason, a few tears suddenly streamed down her face.

If Rumi had simply reached out and said "long time no see" to Hachiman back then, she wasn't sure if they could have had a pleasant conversation. But she knew that by doing so, she could undoubtedly declare that a relationship still existed between them.

Unfortunately, just like when Rumi was bullied by other elementary school students and didn't say a word, now that she has someone she likes, she still sees herself as an observer.

It would be inaccurate to say that Rumi doesn't understand Hachiman, since she has been diligently gathering all information related to him.

However, it's not entirely reasonable to say that someone who studied in the US understands Hachiman.

If Rumi truly understood Hachiman, she wouldn't be so conflicted now; instead, she would shamelessly approach Hachiman and confess her feelings.

As for other things, such as what to do if Hachiman doesn't accept, those are not things that need to be considered for studying in America right now.

Hachiman's ability to play dumb is definitely among the best of his peers. Even when others have clearly expressed their feelings, Hachiman can still show a confused expression as if he doesn't know the situation.

She closed her eyes and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers. Rumi assumed that she was just yawning because she was too tired and had squeezed out the excess water from her eyes.

Since it was already late and her parents didn't seem to be coming back today, Liu Mei decided to go to sleep.

Regardless, we still have to go to class tomorrow. Because of skipping a grade, the girl's foundation is not very solid. Her previous top grades are now only around the top ten.

Therefore, I dared not relax too much while studying in the United States, otherwise—if I accidentally failed to get into my target school, I would miss the last year of studying at the same school as Hachiman.

In Rumi's mind, the recent period was not very important. As long as she continued to extract information about Hachiman from Komachi and learn about the things he liked, that was enough.

As for what comes next, of course, she will first cultivate herself into the type that Hachiman likes the most, and then study his interests and hobbies, so that the way they spend their free time becomes important.

The rest is up to time to act as a catalyst, allowing their feelings to deepen gradually, until they finally fall in love with each other.

Nowadays, studying in the US takes at least ten years, if not too long.

Ten years later, Hachiman was only in his early thirties, just the time when a man begins to take on the responsibility of supporting his family.

Men of this age are most prone to fatigue and need a gentleness different from their own to soothe them. When a 25 or 26-year-old woman from the United States appears beside Hachiman with the results of her research over the past decade, there is a very high chance that she will obtain what she has always longed for.

No need to rush, take it slow and steady. I believe Hachiman will eventually be mine.

As Rumi thought about this, she couldn't help but imagine the scene of Hachiman holding her body. Her body, which was already a little weak, became even weaker this time.

Covering her head and curling up in the blankets like a cat, Rumi decided that after going to school tomorrow, she should go see Komachi and tell Koko about her conversation with Hachiman yesterday, so that her teammates could help her.

Next time, I'll have to buy some memory cards, otherwise I won't have enough space to store the photos.

As the last whimsical thought flashed through her mind, Liu Mei's consciousness gradually blurred with drowsiness, and soon the soft snores began to slowly rise in the room.

While enjoying a rare good night's sleep, studying in the US also means losing something, such as the phone number that wasn't in the contact list on the phone that suddenly lit up.

Unfortunately, because of her poor sleep quality, Liu Mei always has to put her phone on silent mode before falling asleep. Therefore, now that she is asleep, she has no idea who is on the other end of the phone or what they want to say.

if line

Chapter Fifteen: The Last Time Forever

Who is he still calling at this hour?! Even when he was busy at night, Hachiman still kept some of his attention on Komachi. So even though his cute little sister was lying in his bed, Hachiman could still see out of the corner of his eye that Komachi hung up the phone.

Hey classmate, I need to call and ask you something.

With a slight frown, Komachi remembered that Rumi's lifestyle wasn't exactly healthy. The two of them had spent countless nights in the dim light of their phones, sharing their longing for the same person.

Hachiman gave a casual reply. He wasn't the type to completely control Komachi. As her older brother, he was always happy that his sister could have her own social circle.

This proves that Komachi is trying to transform the bond between siblings from a necessity into something important but replaceable.

So, what are you doing, Onii-chan?

She quietly hugged Hachiman from behind, and Komachi's petite and adorable girlish charm greatly comforted him.

With her chin resting on Hachiman's shoulder, Komachi's eyes were full of curiosity. She already knew that her brother had a job.

However, when Hachiman shared this good news with her, he only mentioned it briefly and did not explain in detail what he was doing.

How to put it? It's really just about verifying the sample and finding the mistakes. Hachiman looked at the dictionary sample from the three editions in his hand very carefully, word by word. Although this kind of thing is not that difficult, it requires time and a meticulous mind.

Moreover, it's not unusual for a dictionary to be compiled over a period of more than ten years.

In particular, the school that Hachiman is currently attending, which he got into through a teacher's introduction, wants to collect the vocabulary used by young people today in order to compile a trendy dictionary that young people can use.

Using a whole bunch of words to explain another word, I don't know if that's convenient or just makes things more difficult.

When Xiao Ding saw that the paper was covered with densely packed words, he immediately felt dizzy.

It's just an explanation, not something to worry you about in your daily life. The biggest use of a dictionary is to let people know the parts of speech and the meanings of words.

Take the character "右" (right) for example. How do you think this character should be explained in a way that allows people to fully understand it?

After Hachiman covered up the three swords in his hand, he stared at Komachi with a smile.

Right? It's the right of the right hand, how else can it be explained?

Looking at her brother with a puzzled expression, Komachi didn't think anyone would not know which hand was the right hand.

Then explain to me again, which hand is the right hand?

Since Komachi said that, Hachiman naturally wouldn't let it go easily. As soon as Komachi finished speaking, Hachiman once again raised his question: "The right hand is the dominant... no, some people are left-handed."

Xiao Ding frowned; now, the girl probably understood why dictionaries existed.

My teacher explained that when you open this dictionary, even-numbered pages are on the right.

Hachiman's eyes held a different kind of brilliance. The boy had been surprised to discover that even a very common word could possess unparalleled charm.

Tsk, what a clever explanation, but it feels surprisingly flawless.

For some reason, the image of Hachiman's mentor in Komachi's mind suddenly became much larger. Even the most common and everyday word could be explained in such a professional way. Looking at this thick stack of words, there must be at least tens of thousands of words. Each one needs such professional and vivid annotation. His literary skills are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Otherwise, if they dare to compile a dictionary, they must demonstrate some convincing capabilities.

Moreover, I'm just someone who picked up a leftover; this dictionary project has been in the works for eight or nine years, and the original plan was to complete it within fifteen years.

Currently, it's at the third edition, and new words are constantly being added. By the time it's published by the sixth edition, it will have at least 100,000 words. Hachiman sincerely remarked that this kind of large-scale publishing house, which is not short of money and is just trying to gain a good reputation in the industry, has spent nearly ten years to achieve this result, which is far beyond what those small dictionaries can reach.

Otherwise, how could Hachiman, a college student, enjoy a salary of several million yen a year?

Although it sounds interesting, brother, you still need to take care of yourself and get some rest.

Although Komachi finds Hachiman's work somewhat interesting now, after seeing so many densely packed characters, she still gets a bit tired of it.

Moreover, Hachiman had been sitting at his desk for three or four hours since finishing his meal.

I'm going to sleep soon, so you should get ready to go back to your room too. But before you do, could you please tidy up my bed? I don't want to sleep on a wrinkled bed later.

After reading the last bit of this page, Hachiman put away the red pencil in his hand. Although it had only taken two months to complete half of the three schools, there was still plenty of time, so Hachiman was not in a hurry. As the chief clerk, he understood the importance of taking his time and doing things carefully.

If continuous work causes mental problems and leads to mistakes, even though Hachiman isn't the only one from the three schools, if several people make mistakes, it will increase the burden on subsequent work.

Okay, I'll head back soon. Anyway, it's still early, only a little past ten o'clock. On weekdays, when Hachiman isn't home and it's just Kodama living alone, ten o'clock is just the beginning of the nightlife.

The girl, who was already used to falling asleep around 1 a.m., was still full of energy and could go for a night run with Hachiman.

It's good to get some rest early. No matter what, I have to be asleep by 11:30 pm now.

After entering university, Hachiman always felt like he had suddenly aged. Back in high school, he often stayed up until three or four in the morning or even longer. But now, if Hachiman were to stay up late again, as long as he passed the critical point of 12 or 2 a.m., the extremely sleepy teenager would fall into a sweet dream in no time.

Even if you have something important to do, you may have to give it up because of your mental state.

Hachiman would rather wake up refreshed and complete the task in one go than do it half-asleep.

Well then, brother, you can go to sleep. You don't need to worry about me at all. I'm just playing on my phone here, and I'll go back after you fall asleep.

Komachi shamelessly lay back on Hachiman's bed. She was saying nice things now, but Hachiman knew perfectly well that if he actually did that, he would probably find Komachi clinging to him like a tentacle the next day, impossible to get rid of.

Do you think you're the older sister? After all these years, if I still don't understand your tricks, then am I being a terrible older brother?

With a helpless sigh, Hachiman would always be surrounded by a very familiar and sweet fragrance the next morning after he and Komachi had been away for a while.

However, what could be considered a stroke of good fortune was, for Hachiman, nothing more than a source of shame.

A young man in his early twenties, full of vigor and vitality, was embraced by a girl with a soft body. Even if she was a younger sister he had watched grow up and knew every part of her body intimately, it couldn't stop the normal physiological reaction of the young man.

Every time Hachiman woke up from his sleep, he was being held at gunpoint, which undoubtedly gave him, as the older brother, a strange sense of immorality.