Does gravity make me stronger?

Page 229

"Hey, have you had enough fun?"

"Let's meet at the main gate."

"Row."

Chapter 228, page 225: Cucumbers, oh cucumbers!

Having determined the meeting point, Hachiman calmly stepped out from the shade.

Just as you step into the edge of the shadows, the blinding sunlight follows, at the hottest time of day.

Those lifeless, dead fish eyes immediately narrowed into slits. Hachiman covered his forehead with his hand to block out the excess sunlight and returned to the doorway.

Where is he/she?

After looking around, I couldn't find Yukinoshita.

Just as he was about to pick up the phone to ask if the other person was lost, long, black hair cascaded into his view from the corner of his eye.

What follows is a reassuring, ethereal voice.

"Ara, Hachiman-kun, it's been a long time."

He turned his head away hastily.

Wearing the Soubu High School uniform, Yukino Yukinoshita stood gracefully in the center of the crowd.

The girl seemed to possess an aura of cool indifference that kept others at bay, like a stabilizing pillar in the ocean tide. The surrounding crowd automatically parted to both sides, using her as a boundary.

Coming to his senses, Hachiman replied, "Long time no see. I'm glad you didn't get lost."

Upon hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita immediately retorted fiercely: "You dare to say that? It's just following the navigation to the destination. Anyone can do that, right? Or is it that Hikigaya-kun, whose mental age and physical age are completely inconsistent, can't do it? That's really a pity. I suggest you go back to elementary school and relearn everything before you come back."

The familiar long, sharp tongue—yes, it was Yukino Yukinoshita, whom he knew.

but.

I always felt that this guy seemed unusually sensitive to the topic of getting lost?

He retorted with amusement.

"Yukinoshita, it seems your judgment is nothing special after all."

"Oh?"

She raised her eyebrows slightly beneath the snow.

Hachiman added, "If you ask why, most people I know would praise me for being mature and reliable, so from an objective point of view, my mental age is probably older than my physical age."

Upon hearing this, Yukinoshita paused for a moment, then simply sneered.

"Yes, middle school students are indeed much more reliable than elementary school students. From this perspective, I was wrong to judge them. I want to apologize to you, Middle School Gu."

As she said this, Yukino deliberately made a bowing gesture.

What a vicious woman!

"Tch, I'm not going to argue with you anymore."

Hachiman gritted his teeth and admitted that he had lost the argument, but who knew that his opponent would press his advantage.

"If you can't win an argument, you run away. Well, considering that Hachiman is only at the mental age of a middle school student, it's barely acceptable. But remember, never do this in front of strangers, because it's really disgusting for someone like you to do it."

"..."

Stop criticizing! The audience is watching!

After exchanging a few words, the two fell into an unbearable silence.

That makes sense, since they don't share any common interests besides liking to bicker, and their relationship isn't that close.

Nowadays, they don't get along as well.

After a while.

"So, Hikigaya-kun, what should we do next? Are we just going to stand here like idiots?" Yukinoshita asked, arms crossed.

Hachiman coughed and cleared his throat: "Excuse me, let's go rest for a bit. Two more people are coming. Wait, why are you looking at me like that?"

Yukino Yukinoshita frowned deeply, feigning panic as she distanced herself from him, hugging his shoulders while casting a hostile glance.

"I was careless. I didn't expect Hachiman-kun to still be committing crimes. Now, please allow me to be alone..."

"Hey!"

Hachiman's lips twitched slightly, realizing that the other party had probably misunderstood something: "They are two girls, who are also my and Goto's friends."

"Is that right?"

Yukino Yukinoshita spoke up definitively.

"I'd be a dog if I lied to you."

"Soga".

Yukinoshita let out an undisguised sigh of relief, then relaxed her shoulders, but a few seconds later she straightened her face again with a serious expression.

"I didn't expect that the spread of Hachimani infection would expand again after a period of time. It seems that ordinary penicillin is completely insufficient. We should stop here. This is just normal social interaction. Don't overthink it."

At this point, Hachiman paused, then suddenly said, "Yukinoshita, let me ask you this: do you know what normal social interaction is?"

Yukinoshita's face immediately darkened: "Oh dear, I can't pretend I didn't hear that, Hachiman-kun, are you implying that I have no friends?"

"I didn't say that, but since you asked, I'll just look into it. It's okay if you don't answer."

"It's alright, but before we talk about that, let's first define what a friend is."

It was originally just a casual joke, but after Yukino Yukinoshita said that, Hachiman realized that she really didn't have any friends.

Such a pretty and lovely girl, how come she doesn't even have a single friend?

It's a little heartbreaking...

Yeah, right!

Hachiman felt a surge of schadenfreude, but the next second he wondered why Yukino had no friends.

Perhaps it's because of her overly serious and sharp-tongued personality...

"Under the snow, excessive rigidity is easily broken."

Are you lecturing me?

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced sideways and kicked Hachiman with displeasure, but the latter shrugged indifferently: "Think what you want."

The phone received a message at this time.

It was sent by Ai Yin.

Aine: Hachiman, we're almost there! Oh, and we ran into Soyorin on the way; she's coming too!

Su Shi?

Hachiman looked at his phone, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

He naturally didn't deliberately hide the matter of the Xiuhua High School Cultural Festival from Xiangzi and Sushi.

only.

The former has to go to practice as soon as school is over because of AveMujica, while the latter has to be a member of the Tsukimori Brass Band and participate in club activities regularly.

Now, neither of them has any free time, which is why they are in the situation of being alone at Xiuhua High School.

It's good that everyone's busy...

wrong.

Why is Su Shi here? What's going on with the brass band?

Just as Hachiman's question had been guessed, news of Nagasaki Motoyo followed one after another.

Suze: Hachiman, you're so lucky! The brass band club had to suspend their activities today because they were renovating the activity room.

Su Shi: I'm here with Aine and Akari now. Are you surprised? Are you happy?

Happy, of course I'm happy.

Hachiman's lips had just curled into a smile when he suddenly lowered them again, his gaze then darting uneasily over Yukino Yukinoshita beside him.

Seemingly noticing his gaze, Yukino Yukinoshita looked back impatiently.

Their eyes met, sparking a flame.

The pupils beneath the snow are clear and bright, seemingly possessing a mysterious magic that draws people in.

"what happened?"

"..."

Nothing happened between him and Yukinoshita, so there's nothing to worry about.

A battleground?

nonexistent!

"No, it's nothing. Let's go to the shady side of the tree."

"Ah."

Back in the shade, the rising heat dissipated considerably.

Hachiman leaned against a tree, closing his eyes to rest. Yukino Yukinoshita didn't disturb him, her deep, cold eyes fixed on the distance, lost in thought.

...

About an hour ago.

Tsuki no Mori Academy.

At the entrance to the wind band activity room, a square white notice was posted on the wall.

Dear members, due to an emergency repair of a leak in the activity room, today's club activities are suspended. Please practice on your own!

Nagasaki Motoyo silently repeated the message to herself, muttering, "The event is suspended for today..."

"Oh dear, the Tokyo Metropolitan Conference is just around the corner, why are we renovating at such a critical time?"

"Oh, it's only one day left, just bear with it and it'll be over soon."

Everyone around was complaining with regret, while only a few members were happy to be able to get a free day off.

Motoyo Nagasaki is one of them.

The activity room is closed, which means she can go find Hachiman now?

"Su Shi!"

Before she could even savor the good news, a short-haired girl quickly walked over and asked in a sweet, coquettish voice.

"Su Shi, shall we train together?"

"No."

"Hey?"

So unwilling that Nagasaki Motoyo forgot to control her voice.

Upon noticing the flustered and panicked expression on the other person's face, she immediately switched back to her usual popular young lady persona, smiling broadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've already made plans with Mu. How about we get together again next time?"

"Oh, it's He Mu. Okay then."

Although the other party was somewhat disappointed, they decisively gave up the idea of ​​forcibly intervening.

the reason is simple.

The girl named Wakaba Mutsu was quiet and reserved, and her behavior was quite peculiar. She was one of the few oddballs in Tsukimori Academy.

I heard that this child did nothing when he first enrolled in school; he just carried a pot of soil and a bag of seeds and started growing cucumbers in the cultivation area of ​​the central garden.

It's fine if you like gardening; Tsukimori Academy also has a horticulture club.

The key is.

Ruoye Mu is really difficult to communicate with.

At first, some people were willing to strike up a conversation with her, but each reply was only a few words, which made people lose interest. Occasionally, they would say some unpleasant things.