Crossover anime, starting with Hachiman Hikigaya replacing Subaru Natsuki!

"That moment."

"The crimson world has faded from the traces of slaughter, and the sky has returned to its clear blue. A kiss from one cheek reveals a bright future. A warm ray of sunshine, unique to love, fills the tranquil space with the sweet atmosphere of dreams coming true."

"Rem, with her demon horns activated, stands frozen in place!"

63. What a disgusting person.

""Eight... banners? ""

With a slightly dazed yet gentle call from Rem, she touched the man who was kissing her cheek with her warm hand.

Kirino Kousaka lowered her head and secretly glanced at her brother. In that instant, even a proud girl like her was touched. She finally understood the captivating charm of a girl who was frank, straightforward, and would treat her beloved with sincerity.

“This is what love is all about, and so it is…” Kirino Kousaka was subtly changing.

But Kyosuke Kousaka shook his head. "Wrong. This isn't love. It's still unrequited love."

"Huh?" Kirino Kousaka was stunned. "But, don't they both have a lot of feelings for each other? Hikigaya-senpai even followed Rem-senpai's wishes and took the initiative..."

“It’s true that he has feelings for me, but,” Kyosuke Kousaka said in a deep voice, “if you observe carefully, you’ll see that Hachiman Hikigaya is hiding and running away—even though he’s suppressing his hatred for the Witch Cult and his grief over the deaths of Emilia and the villagers, he’s fully aware of it.”

"But when it comes to love, I don't know why, but in reality, Hachiman Hikigaya is unwilling to face it. He doesn't even want to realize that he has discovered this love."

Kyosuke Kousaka's observation was correct.

"Rem's face was flushed, and her body still retained traces of madness, but for the man she had fallen in love with, she was gradually able to control herself."

"But just as she was about to say something like 'I'm happy' as a hint of confession, Hachiman Hikigaya, who was in a panic, suddenly turned grim. He immediately left the girl, rushed out the door, and ran away as fast as if he were getting away from a vortex that would devour his life."

"His disheveled figure seemed to be saying, 'Don't follow me, your back is getting closer.'"

"Felix, who was outside the door, was stunned at first. He turned around and saw Rem who had regained her senses. He immediately reacted and caught up with Hachiman Hikigaya, who suddenly seemed to be in pain."

"When he found the man, the dim sunlight shone on Hachiman Hikigaya, who had run to the pond. His back was filled with bright light, but his face, which was still nauseating, was deeply buried in darkness."

"..."

Felix's astonishment and bewilderment reached their peak. He did not abruptly interrupt his close friend's outburst. After waiting quietly for a few minutes, he slowly stepped forward and squatted down from behind.

"Rem kisses you, she likes you, meow."

""I know.""

"Phyllis doesn't think you have any romantic feelings for her at all, meow."

""I know.""

"Phyllis wasn't referring to anything physical, meow."

""I know.""

""and you……""

"In the exchange of questions and answers, Hachiman Hikigaya seemed to have calmed his mind. He raised his head and looked up at the clear sky. At times like this, he kept his own and Felix's positions firmly in mind, so he was very vague."

Rather than explaining to Felix, he finally stopped deceiving himself and brainwashing himself into thinking, "Rem could never love me," and "It's all just wishful thinking and fantasy."

"I can't do it. I can't reciprocate these feelings. I'm simply—this is truly the third biggest mistake of my life. I can only apologize to Rem, Phyllis—but I can't even bring myself to say that."

When it comes to matters of the heart, Hachiman Hikigaya seems to be true to his age.

That is by no means cowardice, affectation, or weakness, but rather the pureness that a very few people possess and remain steadfast in.

Sincere feelings should be reciprocated with the same sincere and pure feelings.

But Hachiman Hikigaya... for some reason, he couldn't respond, and didn't know how to respond.

This is baffling to other people watching the video, because they know nothing about it.

Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath, her back was covered in cold sweat, and her heart was pounding fiercely. "What I know, what I understand, is only understood by Hachiman himself and me."

'Before we time-traveled, Hachiman fell in love with me, just as I fell in love with him. All we were waiting for was to confess our feelings. Even without the video playing, sooner or later, when our cold war ended... we would both realize it.'

'Hachiman is punishing himself. Even after being transported to another world, he still thinks of me and loves me, but he's also developed feelings for Rem because of her meticulous care and pure affection—he loves two girls, maybe even two and a half…Hachiman feels utterly disgusted with himself for this!!'

'He's a rational person, but he becomes willful and lets his emotions run wild when faced with affection from others; otherwise, he wouldn't have given me the silent treatment before.'

Yukino Yukinoshita was spying on her boyfriend, and it was clear that she understood why he had suddenly exploded in the future.

However, there was nothing that could be done.

At least for now, he doesn't think he has a better way to deal with it.

"Despite experiencing so much, human nature doesn't change easily—change is difficult, but improvement is possible."

Because of the regrets with Yukino Yukinoshita, my future self has already made improvements once.

Now, will it be improved again because of Rem? This is something that even Hachiman Hikigaya himself can hardly predict now.

Felix could tell that Hachiman Hikigaya acknowledged him as a friend, but given the difference in their camps, he couldn't possibly confide in him, at least not now, so he didn't press the matter further.

He simply stroked and gently patted his close friend, treating him at the same time, until Hachiman Hikigaya completely suppressed his sudden outburst of emotions.

The two of them went back as if nothing had happened.

"Hachiman Hikigaya doesn't really want to get close to Rem right now, but he needs Rem to save everyone in Roswaal's territory."

"What a disgusting person," he said to himself.

"It was a difficult choice—he thought it was difficult. He lowered his head, went into the room, and after a long while, he finally had the courage to look at Rem. He was at a loss, like a helpless child."

Then, he paused.

"Rem's sadness and confusion were overwhelming, but she still greeted Hachiman Hikigaya with her brightest smile."

"She knows nothing. She knows nothing about the past of the man she loves. She feels terrible because she seems to have hurt him unintentionally."

"Rem will never cause Hachiman pain again," she said. "Rem will absolutely not get in Hachiman's way, absolutely!"

64. Beluga whale sighting

“Tch,” Kiyotaka Ayanokouji frowned unhappily. “That’s not what I want to see. Romance is such a hassle. It only slows me down from watching Hachiman Hikigaya.”

"Couldn't this video showing the future skip over all this irrelevant stuff? I have absolutely no interest in his love affairs!"

He was the only one who wasn't interested in this relationship.

In fact, even people like Horikita Suzune were itching to see Rem get the wonderful result she deserved.

However, in the courtyard of Roswaal's mansion, a slightly dejected Rem murmured to herself, "It's over."

"it's over."

"Rem still loves Hachiman Hikigaya, but after realizing that her feelings would trouble him, she chose to hide her love. Although she remained obedient and gentle, she kept her love hidden in her heart, creating the illusion that she had no special feelings for him."

"How awkward, meow." Felix shook his head helplessly as he watched the awkward mimicry fade away.

Even if they both tacitly understand each other, since neither of them has lost their memory, this illusion gives Hachiman Hikigaya a reason to continue deceiving himself.

"Rem cooperated with him, and he cooperated with Rem."

"In the following days, Hachiman Hikigaya spent time gathering and assembling the group of excellent mercenaries that had taken much longer to assemble during the last cycle, and drove to Roswaal's territory."

"I'm sorry," Hachiman Hikigaya said, bowing slightly as he looked at Otto, who had driven away the earth dragon for him, and remembering Otto's tragic and mutilated death. "And thank you, Otto."

"Huh? What are you saying, Mr. Hachiman? You provide the money, I'll provide the labor; this is the fairest deal. You don't need to say things like that."

"Though he said this, Otto was in high spirits and very excited. He smiled and said, 'I will get you to your destination safely. Please rest well along the way.'"

"have a good rest?"

"Hachiman Hikigaya can't rest easy. In fact, the reason he specifically called for Otto to take the stance instead of having the equally skilled Rem do it was precisely to keep Rem's physical strength and spirit up at all times."

"I strongly suspect that the Witch Cult has already begun its operations; they may already be lurking around the territory."

"The magnificent dragon carriage sped out of the capital."

"Inside the carriage, Hachiman Hikigaya had finished thinking about everything he needed to think about. He wanted to close his eyes to avoid Rem, but he felt unsafe as soon as he closed them. When he opened his eyes again, the carriage was only so big, and he could see Rem no matter what."

"It felt just like the last few days of my time in the Service Club."

"His voice was neither too loud nor too soft; he knew Rem could hear him."

"Why did we bring up the Service Club?" Hachiman Hikigaya didn't know. He only knew that he had been holding it in for too long, and his longing for Yukinoshita had grown stronger with time.

"Maybe he just wanted to confide in me, or at least wanted Rem to know about his past."

"The Service Club?" This girl, who had a slight connection with him, perhaps sensed his intentions, and a few days after that incident, unusually spoke to him outside of following orders.

""Um……""

"Hachiman Hikigaya remained silent for a long time, perhaps half a day, until he let out a long breath and was about to speak."

"Waaah————"

"A huge, whale-like cry echoed across the vast wilderness, while Otto, who was chasing away the earth dragons outside, shouted in great panic."

""What's wrong?""

"Hachiman Hikigaya quickly opened the carriage door, and the moment his head popped out, his face turned ashen as he uttered the words, 'White Whale…'"

"The surroundings, no, it seemed as if the entire world was submerged in white fog. This sudden appearance of thick white fog is not in accordance with the natural laws of weather. Most importantly, it relates to the rumor that has been circulating in the capital recently."

"It's a beluga whale! It's a beluga whale!"

"I can hear the voices of the mercenaries nearby, but the fog is so thick that I can't see anything."

"Mr. Hachiman, please hold on tight! I'm going to accelerate! If we don't break out of this white fog soon, things will get really bad! Damn it, why did we have to encounter a white whale?!"

"Waaah————"

"The beluga whale's buzzing is becoming clearer and closer."

"Boom!!"

"A commotion of people and horses falling over arose all around, accompanied by the mercenaries' miserable screams. The next moment, the earth trembled, shaking as if it were an earthquake. Something enormous moved across the ground, plowing it up."

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!!" Otto was extremely agitated.

"Hachiman Hikigaya was also gripping the carriage door, looking left and right. Although he couldn't see anything, this action itself brought him a little peace of mind—"

"No, it brings fear."

"—An eye, a gigantic eye, just one eye is the size of an elephant. Such a monster really exists. Compared to the eeriness of the witch cultists, the white whale is the most direct source of oppression."