Does gravity make me stronger?

Page 146

From the moment he started looking away, Hachiman's gaze never left Shoko.

What did this child just say?

Owner?

What owner?

Is this the master I imagined?

In Hachiman's mind, an image of a medieval fat slave owner picking up a whip to discipline his servants flashed through his mind.

Weird.

How innocent must a person be to think like that!

A normal guy, upon hearing a girl dressed as a maid call him "master," would naturally have some lewd thoughts!

There is no way.

Hachiman's heart suddenly started pounding, and his gaze kept shifting between Xiangzi's face and his own.

Suppressing the urge to run away, Xiangzi raised her eyes, her large, watery eyes gazing intently at Hachiman, and whispered, "Um, how do you feel?"

Ah, the feeling...

The feeling is...

So cute.

Hachiman suddenly felt something warm flowing out of his nose and quickly covered it.

"Excuse me--"

He quickly pulled out a few napkins from the box on the table and covered his face with them. Soon, red marks spread across the napkins.

Hachiman looked up in astonishment, roaring in frustration.

Am I an idiot? I actually got a nosebleed in front of a girl!

Xiangzi: "Don't tilt your head back, that's not a good look."

Hachiman: "I'm sorry."

After a while, the nosebleed finally stopped, and Hachiman's heart, which was about to explode, calmed down a bit.

"Well, you go ahead and get busy, I'll handle it myself."

"Are you alright?"

Xiangzi looked very worried.

Just then, a familiar figure walked into the classroom.

Oh no, could it be that Su Shi and the others have returned?

I really don't know how I'd explain it if they saw me with a nosebleed.

So Hachiman threw away the blood-stained napkin and pretended nothing had happened.

Then, with a nervous heart, he looked towards the door, only to see Kaori Orimoto leading her classmates, laughing and joking as they walked into the classroom.

Although I was glad that I wasn't caught red-handed by Nagasaki Motoyo, it was obviously not a good thing to run into Orimoto Kaori here.

He turned to the side and covered his face with his hand, hoping to avoid the other person's gaze in this way.

"Oh, it's Hachiman again, long time no see!"

Kaori Orimoto spotted Hachiman immediately and greeted him happily.

"Hehe, long time no see."

Hachiman turned around helplessly and greeted the group.

Xiangzi also yielded, returning to the distance a shop assistant should maintain, and quietly watched from the side.

Chapter 163, page 160: A thin veil over a world of others—am I dreaming?

Kaori Orimoto rushed over, taking two steps at a time.

He glanced at the omelet rice and black tea placed in front of Hachiman and revealed a smile that was hard to tell whether it was mockery or ridicule.

"Oh, Hachiman, you're eating alone again. Oh, speaking of which, you were often alone in middle school too."

Kaori Orimoto gently nudged Hachiman, probably trying to help him regain his memories.

The latter, however, had no intention of retaliating and simply pinched his nose cautiously.

Don't touch me!

If it leaks out, it'll spray all over your face!

Hachiman unconsciously tilted his head back, but remembering what Shoko had said before, that it was bad to tilt your head back when you have a nosebleed, he awkwardly straightened his chin.

Once the liquid gushing from his nose seemed to have stabilized, Hachiman shouted.

"Hehe, thanks to you, I was able to enjoy such an interesting solitary life during junior high school."

You're a hermaphrodite, aren't you?

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng and the president of the Seaside Comprehensive High School simultaneously furrowed their brows, sensing that the visitor was up to no good.

Kaori Orimoto was also visibly taken aback, and suddenly her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

"Well, I was wrong back then, but Hachiman, you're not still dwelling on what happened back then, are you?"

Kaori Orimoto's words once again pierced Hachiman's heart.

What do you mean by still being conflicted?

It's as if it has nothing to do with her.

If Kaori Orimoto hadn't spread this story around, Hachiman wouldn't have become the laughingstock of his classmates.

He had fantasized countless times about what would have happened if he hadn't been so impulsive as to confess his feelings that day.

Or perhaps, if the person he liked wasn't Kaori Orimoto, would his middle school years have been any better?

After rational analysis, Hachiman concluded that: No.

A famous person once said: "How many floors does it take to carry a bag of rice? It takes two floors."

Perhaps some people won't understand.

He gave a simple translation—

People can only truly grow by experiencing pain.

Pain, however, is the best catalyst.

This is similar to when we were young and read the Three Hundred Tang Poems. No matter how rich the emotions or how ornate the language, students with little life experience would find it difficult to understand the true meaning of the poems.

It wasn't until after leaving school and experiencing the harsh realities of society that, looking back, I realized I had unknowingly become a character in the story.

The most important person in Hachiman's growth is none other than Kaori Orimoto, who is right in front of him.

Without the confession incident as a spur, Hachiman would spend his entire life immersed in false self-satisfaction, unaware that he is at best nothing more than a ritual goblin.

Thinking of this, his eyes gradually dimmed.

To ease the tense atmosphere, Yu Sheng pretended to look around as if admiring the scenery, then put on a troubled expression.

"We're losing money. There's not enough space. Shall we move to another place?"

"Hey?"

Orimoto sighed regretfully, but his gaze suddenly lit up as he glanced near Hachiman.

"There are still two empty seats here. I'll sit across from Hachiman."

She thought for less than a second, and then, to everyone's astonishment, sat down opposite Hachiman.

"There's someone at that spot..."

Just as Hachiman was about to speak, Nagasaki and the other two returned to the classroom.

When Nagasaki Motoyo saw that her seat had been taken by a strange girl, her eyelids twitched violently.

Who is that girl?

Also, Xiangzi, why are you still by Hachiman's side? Why don't you go to work?

She hurried over.

"Well, that thing from middle school is all in the past, and I'm not that bothered by your confession to me."

Kaori Orimoto was speaking carelessly when, a loud "bang" was heard from behind her.

She turned her head to look, puzzled.

Directly behind, a pretty girl was holding her waist; it looked like she had bumped into the corner of a table.

On the other side, the shop assistant who had been slacking off stumbled.

In addition, two unfamiliar girls were staring at her in astonishment at the classroom door.

Oh dear, did I say something terrible?

Unaware of the situation, Kaori Orimoto simply stared at the scene before her with a strange expression, unaware of the profound impact her words had on the girls.

Hachiman?

confession?

To whom?

me?

Nagasaki Motoyo's mind went blank for a moment; she instinctively thought she had misheard.

After all, how could that awkward Hachiman possibly confess his feelings to other girls?

I've never received such treatment.

But what if...

Nagasaki Motoyo bit her cherry lips hard as she carefully examined the curly-haired girl.

If you only look at appearance, she's not outstanding at all; she just seems lively, the same type as Aine.

Aiyin: Are you polite?

Then, Nagasaki Motoyo silently shook her head again.

You should never underestimate a girl like this.

During their school years, girls who were average-looking but had a cheerful personality were more popular with boys than girls who were good-looking but had bad tempers.

It's not impossible that Hachiman might develop feelings for the other person.

Furthermore, the past is the past, and the present is the present; liking something in the past doesn't mean you'll like it now.

After gathering her thoughts, Nagasaki Motoyo approached casually and asked Orimoto Kaori with a forced smile, "Excuse me, what business do you have with our Hachiman?"

"Our Hachiman?"

Kaori Orimoto tilted her head, pondering the meaning of the name, and after a moment, she finally came to her senses.

"Hachiman, is this your sister? She doesn't look like her at all."

How did you figure out she was my sister?

Hachiman's lips twitched slightly. He didn't answer directly, but instead quietly left his seat and walked towards Nagasaki Motoyo, then worriedly checked the spot where she had bumped into something.

Hachiman asked softly, "Does it hurt?"

Nagasaki Motoyo was flattered: "No...it hurts a little."

In fact, she was perfectly fine; she just felt a slight, subtle pain where she had bumped herself, but it would subside after a rest.

But isn't this situation a godsend?

The next moment, in front of the group, she nestled delicately against Hachiman, her hands pressed tightly against his chest.

Hachiman looks thin, but his chest is surprisingly firm...

Honestly, am I being too frivolous?

Takamatsu, Aine, and Shoko: Yes.