Crossover anime, Hachiman's childhood friend's growth diary

The two used their hands as shovels, digging the soil quickly. At one point, Qi would occasionally offer advice to Nishimiya Shoko on how to find earthworms, speaking from experience.

It all feels a bit inexplicable...

Seeing that both children were working hard, Hachiman sighed deeply.

Who would have thought that he, who had already moved beyond the low-level pleasure of digging in the mud, would one day eat a boomerang? Oh well, let's just dig it.

With his sleeves rolled up, Hachiman joined the army of earthworm diggers.

More than ten minutes later, the plastic that Ji Jie had brought was now completely filled with pink wriggling creatures. Hachiman curiously peeked inside and got goosebumps all over his body.

Looking at them one by one is fine, but if they're all lined up together, it's a godsend for people with trypophobia.

Regardless, the work was at least done. Hachiman patted the dirt off his hands and checked with Inori to confirm:

"So, what are these earthworms used for?"

"This bag of earthworms was asked to me by an old man at the ice rink."

As Qi finished answering, he filled the uneven lawn with soil.

"An ice rink?"

"Yeah, he asked me to help dig up some earthworms, and in return, he let me in to slide for an hour for free."

After filling the pit, Qi smiled slightly, then carelessly wiped her face with her unwashed hands, leaving several mud marks on her cute little face.

"I have some paper here."

Hikigaya handed over a few napkins, asking Kiyoshi to wipe her face clean.

That said, the old man at the skating rink was basically giving Jie Qi preferential treatment. After all, that bag of earthworms wasn't worth much, and it was unreasonable to exchange it for an hour's ticket.

Moreover, Hikigaya found it hard to imagine what the other party had in order to collect so many earthworms. Could it be that the old man was actually a seasoned fisherman?

But this number is far too many. According to Hachiman's calculations, even an air force couldn't consume this many earthworms.

Anyway, it still feels a bit strange...

102 On the Proper Use of Cameras

It was clear to Hikigaya that Kijima was very interested in figure skating and even dreamed of becoming a professional athlete.

But judging from what she's saying now, it seems she'll have to resort to extreme measures like bartering to get into the skating rink for training.

In other words, is it because the normal training time is not enough?

Or is it that there was never any opportunity to train?

Following this line of thought, Hachiman roughly deduced the situation of the ending. He stood up from the ground with a bitter expression and washed his hands with the tap next to him.

"Classmate, don't your family support your figure skating?"

"what!"

Seemingly having been corrected by Hachiman, Inori's movements became stiff and her expression turned somewhat serious.

"How did Hikigaya-kun find out?"

She said it with a lot of insecurity.

In fact, this conclusion is not hard to imagine.

First of all, figure skating is a relatively expensive sport, with ticket costs alone being quite high.

For primary school students without a source of income, if they lose the support of their families, they may have to resort to unethical methods to get into the ice rink.

For example, bartering.

The old man mentioned by Jiezhiqi probably has some special connection with her, or perhaps he took pity on her and agreed to let her exchange earthworms for ticket fees. However, from a sustainability perspective, this is not a commendable practice. Putting aside the fact that the ice rink will lose income as a result, if this continues in the long run, Jiezhiqi may develop the habit of exploiting loopholes.

"Well, I was just guessing, so was I right?"

"Um..."

After finishing, Qi Chu lowered her head heavily, her face flushed red with guilt.

"Ending with shoes, porridge, and ice skating?"

Nishimiya Shoko reacted rather slowly, speaking uncertainly after clarifying the situation.

"I love it the most!" Qi answered without hesitation, but her confidence quickly vanished. "But my mom is worried about me getting hurt, so she won't support me skating."

"So, have you discussed this properly with your mother?"

Hearing Hachiman's question, Kisame timidly shook her head.

"...Not yet, I don't dare tell my mom."

Hikigaya deeply understands the feelings of ending the prayer.

Well, children's emotions are actually more sensitive than adults imagine. Perhaps the child felt that their parents wouldn't agree, so they simply kept their feelings to themselves.

But if things continue like this, Qi will never become a figure skater.

Thinking of this, Hikigaya's gaze lingered on Nishimiya Shoko for a moment.

In some ways, the child is the same.

Because of their low self-esteem and excessive concern about others' opinions, they often lose things they cherish.

"If you like skating, you should communicate with your family and get their support, right?"

Hikigaya toned down his initial forceful tone. He realized that being too assertive with a child who lacked confidence would only frighten him.

The best approach now is to find a way to build her confidence and then gradually overcome the current difficulties.

but.

Time is running out.

Although Hachiman didn't know much about figure skating, he knew that the sport had many similarities to diving, such as the importance of age advantage.

No matter how self-disciplined one is, one cannot control the weight difference caused by growth, and even a change of one kilogram can be fatal for such high-precision projects.

In other words, the earlier you train, the greater your advantage, and every day you delay is a huge loss.

If Kisame were to start training now, she would probably still be in her third or fourth year of high school. It might not be too late for her to receive professional training, but in Hachiman's view, continuing to train by exploiting loopholes would be tantamount to ruining her future.

"but..."

"Besides, when you were in the library before, didn't you want to invite me to watch the national competition? I've been looking forward to it."

"Well..."

Oh dear, this child's personality is a bit troublesome...

Hikigaya observed Inori's bewildered reaction and sighed inwardly once more.

"Well then, Nishimiya-san, could you please stay here and look after Jie-chan? I'll go home for a bit and then come right away."

Although she found Hikigaya's behavior somewhat strange, Nishimiya Shoko nodded vigorously.

"Don't worry, Hikigaya-kun!"

"Okay, then I'll leave first."

Hachiman waved to the two men and then quickly left the park. About fifteen minutes later, when he returned, he was carrying a black camera.

This is the machine that Hikigaya used to film Ishida Shoya in class, but the videos inside have long been transferred to other memory cards.

"this is?"

After finishing, Inori stared at the camera in Hikigaya's hand with a puzzled expression.

"Here, you can borrow this. You can use it to correct your movements during training."

"Hey, is that okay?"

“Yes, professional athletes nowadays use high-speed cameras to film their movements from many angles to help with training.” Hachiman nodded. “Although this camera can’t achieve such a high frame rate, the clarity is still sufficient.”

At his insistence, Qi temporarily accepted the camera.

"Then I'll return it to Hachiman after I've used it?"

"No, wait until you feel you've adjusted your movements enough before showing the video to your family."

"Ugh?"

This time, Inori really didn't understand Hikigaya's intentions.

"If I show it to my mother, she will be angry."

“When it comes to ending things with your classmates, the key isn’t your mother’s reaction, but your own attitude,” Hachiman immediately corrected her. “If you want to persuade your mother, you should show the right attitude.”

Hikigaya guessed that the reason her family rejected her on the grounds of worrying about Inori getting hurt was probably because they had seen similar scenes with other children.

For example, losing an important match due to injury.

In competitive sports, injuries are commonplace, so even if a child is talented, parents may still refuse their requests.

More importantly, it is difficult for outsiders to get involved in this matter. After all, once the parents bring up the argument that "the child has a long road ahead and should not be limited to this one dream," no one can refute it.

In such a situation, the only way to persuade the other party is to show an even more resolute attitude.

And that's all that Juji is doing now.

After conveying this thought to the other party, Qi remained silent for a long time before finally gritting her teeth and saying:

"I...I understand! I'll talk to my mom about it when I get back, thank you, Hachiman!"

103 The era of arrogance is over!

She asked Hikigaya in detail how to use the camera again, and after memorizing everything, she carefully held the camera in her arms.

Before leaving, the girl spoke in a rare, forceful tone:

"Hachiman, I will definitely return the camera to you in a while!"

"It's okay if you don't rush."

Hachiman waved his hand casually. Anyway, he wouldn't need the camera for the next few days, so he might as well make the most of it.

Having resolved a troublesome matter, Hikigaya let out a long sigh as he watched the departing figure of the departing Inori. However, when he shifted his gaze to the other side, he discovered that Nishimiya Shoko had inexplicably fallen into a depressed state.

Hey, we just saw one off, why are you here again?

Hachiman felt that after his rebirth, he had become a babysitter for several problem kids, helping them from beginning to end without stopping for a moment.

But how should I put it... you chose your idol yourself!

No, why am I making fun of myself here? It's disgusting...

Putting aside his unnecessary internal struggle, Hikigaya walked expressionlessly toward Nishimiya Shoko.

In Hikigaya's view, Nishimiya Shoko's symptoms were not much different from those of the character who had just ended, because both of them had a lack of self-confidence.

However, at least Qi had a clear goal, but Nishimiya Shoko was just drifting along, with a feeling of being in a daze.

Ugh, this is such a headache.

Hikigaya couldn't think of a better solution for the time being, so he could only say some innocuous things to soothe Nishimiya Shoko's feelings.

Unfortunately, the words of comfort did not seem to work, as Nishimiya Shoko remained listless.

Seeing this, Hachiman sighed.

"It's almost time, we should head back."

"Okay, Hachiman, I'm heading back now."

Realizing that it was almost time to go home as agreed, Nishimiya Shoko waved her hand in front of her chest, preparing to say goodbye to Hachiman.

"Wait a minute." Hachiman shook his head and walked to Nishimiya Shoko's side. "I'll take you home. I don't have anything to do anyway, and your house is in the direction of the school, so we're going the same way."

Nishimiya Shoko was surprised for a moment, then thought for a moment and used sign language to express:

"Then let's go together."

This was Hachiman's first time visiting Nishimiya Shoko's house. Since the direction was similar to Hachiman's house, the surroundings felt somewhat familiar.

After turning a corner, Hachiman saw a narrow bridge, and a little further across the bridge was Nishimiya Shoko's house.

Because there was a grandmother in their family, Hachiman only dropped them off downstairs before turning to leave.