Hikigaya's Inner World of Spring

After dealing with Kasumigaoka-senpai's situation, Hachiman Hikigaya had no desire to interact with other girls. Unfortunately, his girlfriend, Yukinoshita, insisted that he approach someone else, leaving him no choice but to comply.

He walked up to Eriri Spencer Sawamura, who was struggling to reach a book.

"Let me help you, Sawamura-san."

Without waiting for her response, he pulled down the book she had been reaching for.

It was a manga!

As expected, Sawamura-san was a true-blue otaku.

"Ah!"

Hearing a voice from behind, Eriri jumped like a startled rabbit.

Whoa, what a cute reaction. She even has little fangs like Komachi.

When she turned to see Hachiman handing her the book, she bit her lip. "What... are you looking down on me? I could've reached it myself! Hmph~!"

Despite her words, she obediently took the book while sneaking hesitant glances at Hachiman, as if she wanted to say something but found it hard to get the words out.

Ah, a textbook tsundere!

Hachiman could tell she wanted to say "thank you," but her personality made it near impossible—just like how he struggled to speak to girls.

"I wasn't looking down on you," Hachiman said. "I was just grabbing a manga for myself and figured I'd help you while I was at it."

He picked a manga from the shelf and sat on the floor to read it, acting completely at ease.

"Huh? You're here for manga too?"

Eriri's surprise was evident. Her initial nervousness began to fade as she realized they were both slacking off in the same way.

"Yeah," Hachiman replied. "After studying for so long, I feel like my brain's going to explode. Taking a break now and then is necessary."

Eriri nodded emphatically. "Exactly! Sitting all afternoon is killing my back."

"But if you're reading manga, it's best to be sneaky about it. If Kasumigaoka-senpai catches you..."

"I know! She's always nagging me to study this or that. If she catches me slacking, she'll chew me out for sure!"

"Well, she is the group leader."

"Hmph! So what if she's the leader? Does that give her the right to boss everyone around?"

"Uh... cough."

Hachiman wisely avoided fanning the flames of their rivalry. No need to get himself caught in the crossfire.

Eriri, meanwhile, pouted as she hugged her manga. After glancing around hesitantly, she finally sat down beside him, mirroring his posture.

And so, the two of them began reading manga together.

---

A few minutes later, Hachiman closed his book and stood up.

"You're leaving?" Eriri asked, looking up at him.

Reading manga alone was awkward, but having someone else to slack off with made it much more bearable.

"No," Hachiman replied. "I just didn't like the manga's plot. I'm picking another one."

"Oh, good..."

Eriri breathed a sigh of relief. Being alone again would've been nerve-wracking. She stole a glance at him as he browsed the shelves.

"What kind of manga do you like?" she asked hesitantly.

"Me? I enjoy action and battle manga. Especially those by Harumaki Eri-sensei."

"Ah, action and battle—wait, what?!"

Eriri almost dropped her book.

"Harumaki Eri-sensei? Who's that?" she asked cautiously.

"She's an artist who creates male-oriented action manga," Hachiman said nonchalantly, not expecting her to know such a niche creator.

"..." Eriri lowered her head and asked in a small voice, "Is she... really that amazing?"

"Definitely. Her art, storytelling, character development, and battle scenes are top-notch. It's just a shame she's still relatively unknown. But I'm sure she'll be one of Japan's best someday."

"One of Japan's best?!"

Eriri's heart skipped a beat. She stole a glance at him, unable to believe his words.

"Well, that's just my opinion... ah, sorry, I probably got carried away."

Hachiman coughed awkwardly, realizing he'd gone on a tangent.

Damn it! Why am I exposing myself like this? Another embarrassing memory to add to the pile...

Lately, he'd been studying Harumaki Eri's work to prepare for Yukinoshita's challenges. Mentioning her here had been a slip of the tongue.

Phew... thankfully, Sawamura-san doesn't know who Harumaki Eri really is. Otherwise, I'd die of embarrassment.

"Hmm?"

As he glanced down, he noticed Eriri tugging lightly at his pant leg.

"Huh? Sawamura-san?"

"N-nothing!" Eriri quickly let go, her face slightly flushed. "I can tell you're a big fan of Harumaki Eri-sensei. If she heard what you said, I'm sure... she'd be very happy!"

"Who knows."

Hachiman shrugged, brushing it off.

"She'd definitely be happy!" Eriri emphasized, her voice unusually firm.

"Maybe."

Hachiman answered halfheartedly and turned back to browse the shelves, unimpressed by the library's manga selection.

---

On the other side of the shelf, Yukinoshita peeked through a gap, observing Eriri.

As a sharp observer, she couldn't help but notice the subtle changes in Eriri's behavior.

"Hmm... what's going on here, Hachiman-kun? What did you do to make her act so... eager?"

---

Meanwhile, back at the group's seats, Kasumigaoka frowned at the empty chairs.

"They're still not back?"

Katou, focused on her homework, answered absentmindedly, "Maybe Hachiman-kun and Sawamura-san ran into each other and started chatting. It happens."

"?"

Fresh off her rejection, Kasumigaoka stiffened at Katou's offhand remark.

"What?!"

She shot to her feet, her expression darkening.

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