Chapter 320: Yukino - Why Can't I Grow Up
"Heh... I won."
Although the voice was not loud, Hachiman and the others could still hear it clearly.
However, Yukino herself was a bit puzzled, tilting her head as she watched Yumiko's departing figure.
"Won? What does that mean?"
Hachiman couldn't help but chuckle, patting the girl's shoulder and comforting her.
"Yukino, don't worry, after all, your sister Haruno can do it, from the perspective of genetics, you still have a chance."
"Sister? What does this have to do with my sister?" Yukino still looked confused.
Komachi also agreed: "That's right, Yukino-nee, don't be discouraged."
"Girls' value is not reflected in this area, but there are individual differences. No matter what, I support Yukino-nee."
"Thank you, Komachi-chan..."
Yukino still didn't understand the meaning of the two, and she seemed quite silly at the moment.
"Sister? Genes? Value? Differences..."
Yukino muttered to herself and glanced around, finally realizing when she saw the ample breasts of the other girls. She covered her own chest with her hands.
"I actually don't care at all. Even if appearance traits are used to determine a person's evaluation, it should be a relative standard, not just one part, but the overall balance should be judged..."
Although Yukino spoke eloquently, Hachiman and the others could tell that she was just putting on a brave face.
Yui: "It's okay, Yukino, you'll grow up for sure."
Shizuka: "That's right, Yukinoshita, it's not time to give up yet."
Saeko: "That's right, Yukino-kun, sometimes it can be very inconvenient when it's too big."
Kotonoha: "That's right, that's right, when it's too big, your shoulders will hurt, and you won't be able to see your feet when you tie your shoes, which is very inconvenient."
"..."
The girls were all trying to comfort her, but Yukino didn't feel happy at all.
Sob, sob, sob, you're all talking about big breasts, but do you know how much effort I've put in to grow bigger?
After comforting Yukino, the girls continued to play in the creek, while Hachiman sat under a tree nearby to enjoy the rare scenery.
The sound of splashing water and the girls' laughter echoed in his ears, as water droplets slid down their skin, outlining endless beautiful curves. Watching the beautiful scenery in front of him made him feel like the weather wasn't as hot as it seemed.
Just then, a slightly immature voice rang in Hachiman's ear.
"Why don't you go play with them?"
Looking towards the voice, he saw Tsurumi walking over and sitting in the shade of the tree just like him.
"Well, I didn't bring a swimsuit, so I can only watch from here." Hachiman said regretfully.
He indeed did not bring swimwear, but what puzzled him was why Saeko and Kotonoha would bring swimwear.
A certain Komachi: Plan successful.
Swimwear and such, of course, were things she privately told the girls.
Being on good terms with her older brother at home, Komachi had already obtained the contact information of the girls, so that she could help her older brother to increase the girls' favorability towards him, or help the girls to increase their favorability towards her older brother.
"I thought today was a free activity, why didn't you play with your classmates, Tsurumi?"
Tsurumi sighed, "When I went back to my room after eating breakfast, there was no one else around."
"So, it's just you by yourself now, huh?" Hachiman fell silent.
"Well, I'm used to being alone, and soon elementary school will be over, and in junior high, I will surely be able to make one or two friends." Tsurumi laughed, but her laughter was tinged with bitterness.
"Although I think being alone isn't so bad, I've gotten used to it."
"But my mom is still very worried about me, always asking me how I get along with my friends, and this time, she even gave me a camera, hoping that I would take some pictures with friends."
"And if I was always being ignored, I would feel like I was at the bottom of the pecking order."
"I just didn't want to, it felt too pathetic."
Now, this little girl still persisted in putting on a brave front.
"But now, it's too late to say anything, I've been abandoned, and I can't interact with them as friends anymore. Even if we made up this time, who knows if it would happen again in the future, so it's better to just stay as I am."
"I'm fine alone, alone..."
As she got to the end, Tsurumi hugged her knees, her entire being sinking down.
In her heart, she still hoped to have friends, as no one truly wished to be alone.
Seeing her like that, Hachiman couldn't help but feel sorry for her, and his resolve to help her grew stronger.
"Tsurumi, don't you want to stop being so pathetic?"
"Yes... "
"Then enjoy the trial of courage tonight."
After saying these words, Hachiman stood up and left.
Watching his receding back, a faint glimmer of hope appeared in Tsurumi's heart.
The Trial of Courage is prepared indoors.
Everyone has also changed into their Trial of Courage costumes.
The first one to change clothes was Ebina, dressed in a miko outfit, waving her kagura bells and shouting "Takamagahara," "Michi-man," and "Seimei-man," looking quite convincing.
Saika was dressed as a magician, though it's not clear what kind of yokai a magician is.
Komachi changed into a cat youkai outfit, and behind her, Yukino, dressed in a yukata, appeared as a snow woman, Yukino tickled Komachi's ears and tail, and finally gave her approval.
"It really suits you, Komachi-chan, very cute."
Yui was dressed as a little demon, with black horns on both sides of her head, a deep groove between her breasts, and a belly button exposed on her stomach. There was also an arrow-shaped tail at her waist.
Saeko was dressed as an oni samurai, with a slight red "bloodstain" on her armor, which strangely matched the outfit of a young girl, and her waist was adorned with an arrow.
As for Kotonoha, she was dressed in a classic ghost costume, wearing white clothes, a white cloth on her head, and a high white cloth on her chest. The only problem with the ghost costume is that it's a bit too big.
Looking at the gathered people, Hachiman said softly, "Have you thought of any other ways to deal with that child?"
While changing clothes, Hayama stopped and said, "I think it's better to let Tsurumi talk to everyone."
"There's no use for that, even if they appear to be friendly on the surface, they will revert back in secret." Ebina shook her head.
"If you don't have any other ideas, let's use my plan." Hachiman made a decision.
Hearing his previous plan, Yukino furrowed her brow, "But how do we specifically implement it?"
"Since that child was originally ostracized by her small group, all we need to do is break up that group. We'll intercept them after they leave and tell them they must leave half of their people behind. Tsurumi, as the one who was ostracized, will definitely be chosen, and other people will be pushed out as "hostages," and then we'll see how Tsurumi handles it herself."
After hearing Hachiman's plan, everyone fell silent.
"Isn't there any other way?" Yui was a little reluctant, because this way, Hachiman was paying a big price.
"For now, this is the only way I can think of." Hachiman shook his head.
Indeed, there was no other way to break the current situation. If there were other events that had happened in the original story, he could make preparations in advance by using his knowledge of the plot. But there was no room for him to manipulate this particular event.
Tsurumi being ostracized in her class was not something that happened overnight, and he could not have prepared for it in advance.
Breaking the existing team structure and dividing it into new small groups was the only way now.
Although this might not result in long-lasting friendships, Hachiman had promised the child that he would make her happy during this trial of courage, even if it was just for a moment.
Perhaps this approach would cause a great loss to his reputation, but as he had said before, true strong individuals did not care about others' gazes, and these were just some fleeting elementary school students. Furthermore, how much damage could they cause to his reputation?
As for why he wanted to help Tsurumi, it was simply a small act of defiance on his part.
"Alright, everything is up to me now. We should prepare for tonight's activity."