Let's do it again, Yukino.

……

For elementary school students, they might not think there's anything wrong with keeping a girl out of the circle, but from Haruhi's perspective, who is always competitive and concerned about his image, he simply couldn't stand it.

"Friendship isn't something you can gain through a humble, ambiguous, half-close, half-distant attitude. Sigh... young Chinese students studying in the US these days don't understand this..."

“If you don’t get involved, Hachiman will come to help.”

Xiaoxue spoke up.

However, this only strengthened Chunri's resolve to head in that direction, and she didn't even bother to turn her head back to Xiaoxue.

"Even Da Zhangwei isn't sure about his own friends, do you think I'd trust his methods?"

Kasuga doesn't understand Hikigaya now?

Even if it really exists,

It's definitely one of those crooked and unreliable methods that only treats the symptoms, not the root cause.

Although he met Xiaoliumei later,

However, enough people have already changed.

It wouldn't make a difference if there were one more student studying in the US.

"I'm angry, Xiaoxue! Yes, I'm very angry!!"

Watching the stubborn boy ignore her advice and walk straight in that direction...

Feeling utterly helpless, Yukinoshita put her hands on her hips and sighed.

"You idiot, you're not a little kid anymore, why are you getting so angry..."

……

Haruhi impatiently pushed away Hayama, who had originally intended to meddle and strike up a conversation with someone who had returned from studying in the US.

Looking at the little Chinese girl in front of her, who was holding a camera almost as big as her own face in her hands,

The camera probably only captures the backs of the girls next to him, or even more monotonous forest scenery photos.

That circle of elementary school girls didn't go far either.

The little girl at the head of the group stood still, her somewhat sarcastic eyes scrutinizing Haruhi and the little girl behind him.

Speaking of which, elementary school students, especially little girls, are the strangest creatures.

They had agreed to keep a certain girl out of the group, but they would still occasionally keep an eye on how far they were from that girl.

This cheap handout inexplicably annoyed Haruhi, who already had a bad temper.

He frowned slightly and glared at them.

"If there's nothing else, you guys get out of here..."

The latter girls transformed into birds in the forest and fled forward in an instant.

As the surroundings quieted down again, he slowly squatted down, gently patted Rumi's shoulder, and revealed a row of bright white teeth.

"Hehehe... Hello."

Haruhi smiled at Korumi with a nostalgic look.

In his past life, the connection between this little girl and himself could be considered a karmic entanglement.

"You... are you what they call a lolicon?"

With the same courage as Yukino, looking at Haruhi who was approaching her, Rumi showed no panic. She simply stepped back slightly while asking in a cold voice.

"certainly not."

"That's the weird uncle?"

"This title is, in a sense, irrefutable."

Considering his age in his previous life, it doesn't seem out of place for Haruhi to be called "uncle" by elementary school students.

"It's a bit disgusting, so please don't come near me anymore, you'll catch it, you idiot."

Rumi must have heard what Hiratsuka Shizuka thought of her back then.

……

Before long, Chunri, accompanied by Xiaorumei, the two figures, one big and one small, headed towards their destination.

Under the blazing sun, sunlight filtered through the lush green leaves of the trees, casting dappled and fragmented shadows on the ground.

"Do you really want to join them?"

"Are you planning to do the same thing as that idiot blond senior from earlier?"

"How could that be? I'm not an idiot like Hayama!" Haruhi disliked being compared to Hayama and the others, and instinctively retorted. "Besides, friends are never something you can gain through charity, and don't you think that behavior just now seemed pathetic to others?"

Do you have any friends?

Tsurumi looked at Haruhi without showing any anger, but her eyes contained a hint of resentment as she asked Haruhi with dissatisfaction.

"Of course I do, I have a lot of friends."

Springtime boasted arrogantly.

"I don't believe a weird old man like you!"

"Okay, let me verify it for you."

As he spoke, without looking up, Haruhi, as if sensing something, casually took the hands of Tobe and Yumiko, who were passing by him and Rumi, and led them to him.

"Yumiko-chan, and Sho-kun, am I Kasuga Gian's friend?"

Spring looked at the two classmates with whom she had a special connection with a smile and asked with an extremely kind expression.

"Ha... what dream are you talking about—"

Yumiko, who was being held captive by this boy with a rather bad impression, was unable to break free from his clutches for a short time. When she heard Haruhi's comments, which she found laughable, she was about to refuse, but in an instant, Tobe on the other side decided to speak for Yumiko.

The blond-haired official looked straight at Chunri, whose forehead was shrouded in a dark cloud, and spoke in a firm and powerful voice.

"Huh? Could it be that Haruki never considered us as close friends?"

The unpretentious, heartbroken expression on Hobu's face, as if he were deeply distressed by his friend's question, almost made Haruhi wonder if she had some kind of past friendship incident with them...

"So we really are friends?"

Spring asked again, confirming the question.

"Of course, we've been close friends from the very beginning, sharing our private matters, haven't we?"

"Alright, Xiang-jun, you can go now."

Haruhi released her grip on Tobe's arm, which had been like a pair of pliers, with great satisfaction, and then looked at Miura Yumiko with a peaceful expression.

"Yumiko-chan, we must be very good friends with Sho-kun, right?"

No way!

"Think it over carefully before you speak, otherwise that junior who used to sing with you at the karaoke bar will be very sad."

How did you know?!

Yumiko, who had been stubborn, looked at Haruhi with some fear as he exposed one of her secrets.

"So, are we still friends?"

Haruhi didn't answer the question about the truth, but continued to ask Yumiko questions.

"…………yes……"

The blonde loser's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"Speak louder, I can't hear you."

"We're friends."

"One more time, Yumiko, say it again with that beautiful voice you showed at the karaoke."

"Miura Yumiko is Haruharu Kasuga's friend!!!! Is that alright now?! Waaah..."

With an expression that was almost on the verge of tears, Yumiko roared out this sentence, her face flushed red.

"Okay, you can all leave now."

Spring closed her eyes contentedly and waved to her two close friends as if enjoying herself.

……

Looking at the two staggering teenagers who seemed to have lost something at some point, Haruhi turned around, bent down, and patted Rumi's head.

"See? I told you I have a lot of friends..."

"..."

Liu Mei looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Those aren't real friends at all...

Chapter Fifteen: Let's Exercise!

"Everyone around me is a bunch of ignorant brats. I can actually manage to get along well with them, but it just feels too boring, so I don't want to do it anymore. Anyway, I'm fine on my own."

Following Haruhi's footsteps, who boasted of being able to make a lot of "friends," the boy heard the voice of a little girl named Rumi behind him.

"You don't quite understand yet, but friends are actually quite important."

Spring Day continued patiently.

"Friends gained through threats and violence can hardly be called friends, can they?"

The young Chinese student bluntly exposed the true nature behind the claim of having many friends.

Compared to other girls her age, Xiaoliu Mei's behavior appears quite precocious.

"Friends earned through one's own abilities do count, and they're much better than a brat like you who dares not do anything and does nothing."

"I just don't want to be friends with those ignorant brats, if I were to—"