Around 6 o'clock in the morning, Hachiman awoke and donned his sportswear, getting ready for a run.
While he outwardly claimed that exercise was for his health and kendo practice improvement, the underlying motivation was slightly different. Hachiman harbored a fear that if he ever had a girlfriend in the future, he wouldn't want to run out of energy during intimate moments, which would be rather embarrassing. Hence, he deemed it essential to whip himself into shape for the sake of his future endeavors.
What? You think I can't get a girlfriend?
Don't underestimate me. Even in the original storyline, Hachiman ended up with Yukino in the end. And let's not forget Yui—she's in the picture too. It's not limited to just Yukino and Yui. If Shizuka Hiratsuka is still single by then, well, I could begrudgingly consider her as well.
A wry grin formed as Hachiman mused on the idea of sharing this thought with Shizuka-sensei. "Although," he added, "if she took it seriously, I might just get beaten to a pulp."
As he continued his jog down the street, Hachiman's thoughts wandered in wild directions, a blend of determination and amusing hypotheticals.
"Wait... If you can overpower Shizuka-sensei, you could even dare to say that to her face," Hachiman pondered with a mischievous smirk, his thoughts veering into whimsical territory.
Jogging along the street, his mind continued to race, driven by imaginative notions.
As the hour was still early—before seven o'clock—there was a notable lack of people on the streets.
.....
"Mom, I'm taking Sable for a walk," a girl with light peach hair informed her mother as she exited the Yuigahama residence, her dachshund on a leash.
"Alright, Yui. Have fun and take care!" Her mother's response trailed behind her as she stepped out.
With a vibrant smile, Yuigahama Yui addressed her companion, "Ready, Sable? Let's give it our all and run together today!"
"Woof! Woof!" Sable enthusiastically barked, eager for the impending activity.
As Hachiman jogged, struggling to catch his breath, Yuigahama Yui embarked on her own exercise routine with her dog.
He and she, destined to cross paths in a car accident a month later, found themselves brought together sooner due to Hachiman's impromptu exercise regime.
Hachiman jogged up to a traffic light on the road, halting as he reached it since it was showing red. He paused to catch his breath and regain some energy.
Coincidentally, at that very moment, a girl clutching a leash with her dog in tow emerged on the opposite side of the road.
Their eyes locked, a brief yet meaningful connection established between the two strangers.
"Is that? Yuigahama Yui?"
Hachiman's surprise was palpable as he recognized the girl's face. Encountering her in this moment was an unexpected turn of events.
As the traffic light switched to green, both Hachiman and Yuigahama started moving forward, each on their separate paths, unknowingly converging towards each other.
When their paths intersected, their eyes briefly connected, though the moment was fleeting. At this juncture, they remained strangers, unaware of the future connection that awaited them.
Hachiman didn't expect to meet her today.
......
As Hachiman jogged across the road, he kept moving ahead without casting a backward glance.
Following his planned route, Hachiman coincidentally encountered Yuigahama again as she was returning along the same road. As their paths crossed once more, Hachiman hesitated to say something, but ultimately held back the words that had formed on his lips.
He realized that there was no legitimate reason to engage with Yuigahama in conversation at this point.
Observing Yuigahama's figure fade from his view, Hachiman let out a sigh. He understood that the opportunity to meet her again today had slipped away. However, he also noticed that she seemed to walk her dog around this time daily. This presented him with the chance to establish some kind of interaction with her.
With this in mind, he turned towards his home and started walking.
"Huh? Did that boy just want to say something to me?" The girl, while observing Hachiman's departing figure, caught onto his moment of hesitation earlier. She found herself murmuring to herself in a puzzled tone.
"But I don't know him at all, and I haven't seen him during my morning jogs before. Maybe I'm overthinking this."
It's worth mentioning that girls seem to possess an inherent sixth sense, even if they are stupid.
Back home, Hachiman prepared breakfast for Komachi as usual. As they sat at the dining table, Komachi finished her miso soup and looked at Hachiman curiously. "Onii-chan, why did you suddenly go for a run today?"
In the morning, she had bumped into him returning from outside, and when she asked him about it, he mentioned he had gone for a run. It was a bit surprising since her brother was usually quite the homebody.
"Well, there isn't a particular reason. I just realized my body needs some improvement, so I thought running could help," Hachiman explained with a smile.
"Ah, I see. In that case, Komachi thinks it's a good idea for Onii-chan to exercise," she replied with a smile. "But Onii-chan, don't overdo it."
"Don't worry, Komachi, I'll stick with it," Hachiman assured her. He couldn't help but smile slightly at her concern. Glancing at the newly loaded physique module on his mental panel, he made a firm decision. He would continue running and exercising until his physique reached level three. With the anticipated benefits of the third-level module, he believed he'd have the strength needed for his kendo practice.
Looking at the 100 points of proficiency added to the physique module, I realized that my jogging distance today covered about 5 kilometers. This means that every 5 kilometers I run can add 100 points of proficiency, making it likely that I'll reach level three soon.
Interestingly, after cooking breakfast, my cooking skill had also upgraded to level 2. However, it requires a total of 5000 proficiency points to reach level 3 in cooking, which is a significant fivefold increase. That realization left me a bit taken aback.
Sticking to my routine, I continued writing words for another day. Including today, I've written 50,000 characters, and I estimate that I'll be able to complete the first volume in three days.
The next morning, Hachiman resumed his morning run, heading towards the same traffic light intersection as before. Once again, he crossed paths with Yuigahama, who was out walking her dog. Today, he took the opportunity to observe her more closely.
Her light peach-colored hair flowed in the breeze as she jogged, and Hachiman's eyes unconsciously glanced at her figure. While he noticed that her face appeared a bit younger compared to when she was in the service club during their second year of high school, he couldn't help but note the subtle movements of her chest as she ran. Though still developing, they were by no means small; a visual assessment would easily put them at least at a C-cup.
Realizing where his thoughts were heading, Hachiman quickly looked away, reminding himself that he and Yuigahama were strangers after all. He couldn't help but speculate, though, about what she must have eaten to develop like that. Considering her age, he couldn't help but imagine her future and how her proportions might evolve.
"What's with these measurements? She's only in high school. If they keep growing like this, what will she end up with if she gets married and has kids?" Hachiman mused, his thoughts inevitably turning to the character of Mrs. Yuigahama from the Original light novels or Anime, who was known for having a well-endowed figure. The mental image left him a bit speechless.