Does gravity make me stronger?

While she was enjoying a relaxing shower, the door was opened.

Currently, only Xiangzi has a spare key to his room, so—

"Xiangzi?"

As Hachiman was lathering up, he called out, and a slightly trembling voice immediately came from outside the bathroom: "Hachiman, I have some oranges from the agency here, I'll put them on your desk first."

"Ah, okay, I'm taking a shower, feel free to do whatever you want."

Ignoring the noises in the room, Hachiman focused his attention back on scrubbing himself.

Today's shower took a little longer than usual. After I came out of the bathroom, I found Xiangzi still peeling oranges on the small stool.

After seeing Hachiman come out, Shoko threw the white veins on the orange into the trash can: "I heard this is a specialty from where the manager is from."

"I remember your manager was a very mature-looking middle-aged man."

As he dried his hair, Hachiman said calmly.

"You've seen it before?" Xiangzi asked curiously.

“I met him once during your last performance, but it was only me who knew him.”

"Actually, he knows you too."

After all, he is the boyfriend of the precious keyboardist, so the manager also looked up some information about Hachiman, though not as much as Kaguya Shinomiya.

"It's good that he doesn't hate me." Hachiman chuckled awkwardly, listening to the sounds outside the window.

During the summer vacation, most of the students in the dormitory seemed to have returned to their hometowns, with only a few who lived far away remaining.

Therefore, the lights outside the window were sparse, and the surroundings were very quiet.

After a while, Hachiman spoke again: "Do you need me to meet with him?"

"Huh?" Xiangzi stopped what he was doing and asked in surprise, "Does Hachiman need something from him?"

"Well, I was just thinking about whether or not to pay him a visit, for work-related reasons?"

"The agent isn't that rigid, so it's okay if we don't meet up specifically. Besides, we'll have the chance to meet again in the future."

"Is that so? Then forget it."

"Hachiman, here you go." She cut the peeled orange in half, giving the larger piece to Hachiman and keeping the smaller one for herself.

Thank you.

Just as Hachiman was about to eat, Shoko suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!"

"what happened?"

"If you eat an orange, won't your kiss taste like an orange?"

"..."

Looking at the innocent orange segments in front of him, Hachiman was lost in confusion.

Is there a problem with the orange flavor?

[It's a hint, a hint!]

what?

This time, Hachiman really didn't react until he saw Shoko's evasive eyes and then he suddenly realized what was happening.

"Cough cough."

After deliberately coughing, Hachiman walked to the window and drew the curtains.

The girl who was fiddling with the orange pulp immediately sat up straight and looked down at her thighs.

"Um, want a kiss?"

For a boy of that age, asking for a kiss is obviously too shameful, so Hachiman had to mentally prepare himself before saying those words.

Without speaking, Xiangzi simply nodded and then closed his eyes.

Walking slowly over, trying not to disturb the other person, Hachiman stretched out his neck.

The soft touch on their lips made their breathing quicken, and they didn't know who had taken the initiative to stick out their tongue.

From that moment on, the tacit understanding between the two, which was originally limited to kisses, was instantly shattered.

Hachiman impatiently pushed Shoko forward and pinned her to the edge of the chair, while Shoko wrapped her arms around Hachiman's shoulders.

"Wait a moment!"

The girl's slightly trembling voice forcefully stopped Hachiman from doing anything further.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I got too excited just now," he quickly apologized.

"no."

Xiangzi pulled back a strand of hair from his bangs, then took out a small, square toy with serrated edges from his pocket and put it in his mouth, a glint of light flashing on his pink lips.

Hachiman:? ? ?

"Who told you to do this?"

Avoiding Hachiman's gaze, Shoko stammered, "Um, Su Shi said you would like it if I did this."

"Well, I really like it, so I'll continue."

Hachiman slowly reached out his hand, but was interrupted again.

Xiangzi covered his face shyly, his bashful expression making his head feel like it was about to explode.

"Hachiman, could you please turn off the light?"

"...Um."

Chapter 288, Section 284: Su Shi: My Turn

Because the curtains were not open, Hachiman was woken up by a phone call.

"Hikigaya."

The voice of a woman nearing thirty came from the other end of the phone.

Slightly roused, Hachiman rubbed his sleepy eyes and replied, "Hey, it's me. What brings you here so early, shopkeeper?"

His still somewhat dazed mind cleared up, and after realizing that tonight was his shift, Hachiman's tone suddenly hardened.

"I'm not late, am I?"

"No, but today is payday. If you want your salary, come over within an hour."

"Wait a moment..."

Before Hachiman could reply, Ijichi Seika hung up the phone.

It only takes a few tens of minutes to get from the dormitory to the performance hall, so he has plenty of time and can take his time.

Just as I was about to get out of bed as usual, my left hand unconsciously reached out and touched something soft.

Reflexively withdrawing his hand, Hachiman looked to his side.

In the dim light, a glimpse of the girl's flawless body curves peeked out from the gap in the blanket. Her delicate face was breathtakingly beautiful, and her azure hair cascaded down like flowing water.

"It can be admired from afar but not touched or played with"—Hachiman suddenly thought of this poem he had learned in class, but in fact, the two of them had been playing until very late yesterday.

"Ah, that seems a bit too much..."

Just as Hachiman sighed and rubbed his forehead, perhaps awakened by his sigh, the girl in bed slowly opened her eyes.

The next moment, her fair face turned as red as a ripe apple.

"Good morning... good morning, Hachiman," Shoko greeted softly.

"Hmm, good morning. Are you feeling unwell?" Hachiman looked away and asked as calmly as possible.

Xiangzi tilted his head: "Where do you feel uncomfortable? Ah, no."

Hachiman licked his dry lips and continued, "Well, you can sleep a little longer. I'm going to the Starry Sky now, so I'll get up first."

"Yes, I'll join you too."

The two of them lifted the blanket together.

Suddenly, Xiangzi froze on the spot, frantically wrapping his upper body in the quilt.

Hachiman stopped abruptly: "What's wrong?"

"Hachiman, I can't find my clothes."

"..."

After looking around, Hachiman finally found the woman's top, which was crumpled into a ball and looked quite disheveled, in the corner of the floor.

"Can I still wear this?"

After showing off his spoils, Hachiman smiled wryly.

"Um, if it's alright, could I borrow Hachiman's clothes?"

"no problem."

After crawling out of bed, Hachiman at least put on a pair of panties and searched through the closet before finding a relatively new white shirt.

Is this okay?

"Ah."

Xiangzi nodded slightly and placed the shirt in front of him.

While changing clothes, Hachiman still turned his head away in embarrassment, but he couldn't help glancing over there out of the corner of his eye.

There were still many traces of last night's battle left on the bedding, especially a red stain that was particularly noticeable, as well as some wet marks nearby.

As Xiangzi carefully put on his clothes, he noticed obvious bruises near the girl's knees.

Hachiman quickly blamed himself and decided that next time he should launch an attack from the front.

Just then, Xiangzi's voice drifted over.

"I probably won't be home for dinner tonight. I have some things to take care of at the company. How about you and Suze go out for dinner together tonight, Hachiman?"

"Oh, um."

Hachiman nodded, wondering why the conversation had abruptly ended, when he noticed the girl's subtle gaze.

He looked down and quickly turned his back: "Well, this is just a normal physiological phenomenon, don't worry about it."

"But it happened three times yesterday." Xiangzi covered her mouth, unable to hide her surprise.

At this age, three times is quite normal.

"Has Hachiman still has something to do? I'll change the blankets, you can go ahead."

"Ah."

After a quick wash, Hachiman opened the door, the heat outside forcing him to back away.

Then, he suddenly realized something very important.

Damn it, I haven't changed my panties yet!

...

Starlight Performance Hall.

As Hachiman entered the room to collect his salary from the previous month, he was suddenly grabbed by Ijichi Seika, who had been waiting nearby, and instantly transformed into metal...

"Hachiman, do you know that girl over there?"

Ijichi Seika's scorching breath made Hachiman's ears itch. He struggled for a long time before finally breaking free from her clutches, and slowly looked in the direction Ijichi Seika was pointing.

With her long, light green hair, a princess dress with lace trim, and doll-like, delicate features, the girl stood out in the center of the crowd, like a crane among chickens.

Hmm, wild Wakaba Mutsumi, very good... my foot!

“She’s someone I know.” Hachiman sighed again, feeling helpless.

"Then you should hurry up and deal with it. The child hasn't done anything since he came in. He's just been standing there like an idiot for an hour. If this continues, I'm going to call the police."

"Ijichi Seika threatened, then pushed Hachiman out and ran backstage herself."

Walking up to Wakaba Mutsuki, Hachiman thought for a moment before speaking: "Wakaba-kun, you didn't come here to see me, did you?"