"Mm... Hachiman... Hachiman..."
Feeling the warmth coming from her head, Gotou Hitori still somewhat tense and stiff body slowly relaxed. She looked at the first good friend who smiled at her and softly murmured Hachiman's name.
Although she had stubbornly claimed in front of Sister No. 2 that she had made friends at school, it wasn't until now, hearing Hachiman emphasize it once more, that she dared to be sure that Hachiman wasn't lying to her, that he really wanted to be her friend.
'Yes, that's right, we are friends.'
Hachiman even gave her the nickname "Bocchi-chan"!
Although there were some misunderstandings in between, if Hachiman wanted to do anything bad to her, he could have done it long ago. There was no need to worry or be afraid.
Mm... Right now, the girl in Hachiman's arms had a great figure and amazing aura. Hachiman must be friends with her just out of pity for her. If Hachiman really wanted to do something to her, he wouldn't have stopped her that day even when she had opened her mouth to him, and even explained that it wasn't like that.
Hachiman said she was pretty and wanted to find friends for her all out of sympathy and comfort. In reality, she was just a worthless potato, 'Hehehe...'
"Bocchi-chan?"
Seeing Gotou Hitori emotions just stabilized and suddenly her expression collapse again, her body involuntarily shaking and emitting strange laughter, Hachiman hurriedly shook her to snap her out of her brainstorming, and firmly patted Gotou Hitori head again, using the passive skill Absolute Taming by feel.
Bocchi really was too troublesome. Even though he had been desperately trying to soothe her, she almost started rolling on the floor and going berserk.
"President..."
Sakurase Shion quietly watched Gotou Hitori, who made Hachiman at a loss, and blinked.
'Could it be, this is the next girl the president wants to help?'
She knew the president was very kind and treated her, who easily brought misfortune to others, equally. Even though she had never asked the president for help, and even silently rejected his help, the president never gave up and had spent great effort on her these days.
Now, this girl called Bocchi was also a very troublesome girl. Was the president going to use the bracelet? The bracelet that gave Ichinose Ayano an unbearable stimulation.
Sakurase Shion looked at the Empathy Bracelet on her hand, then suddenly reached out and put the other end on Gotou Hitori wrist.
"Ah?"
Gotou Hitori, who was being comforted by Hachiman's head pats and had just come to her senses, stared blankly at the silent Sakurase Shion, then looked at the silver bracelet on her own hand.
'What is this thing? A gift?"
Gotou Hitori didn't know the power of the Empathy Bracelet. She was even happily imagining whether it was a gift from Sakurase Shion.
Sure enough, Hachiman was right. The girls in the Service Club were all friend-worthy. She had just arrived and received such a pretty bracelet.
But Hachiman, who had seen Hayase Saki, Narahashi Miki, Ichinose Ayano, Sakurase Shion and the others being tormented by the Empathy Bracelet, unexpectedly gave Sakurase Shion a look, and without showing any emotion, reached out and took the Empathy Bracelet off.
"Ahem! This isn't for you to wear, Bocchi-chan. Shion made a mistake."
Those who had worn the Empathy Bracelet before either had a very close relationship with him or had special reasons. Even Ichinose Ayano, who left early today, had a request for him and forced herself to endure it.
He couldn't say for sure if Bocchi would join the Empathy Game later on.
'But right now, Bocchi-chan and me aren't that close yet. Letting her wear this thing suddenly will definitely not do. Bocchi-chan might get so tormented that she'll be scared of me and hide at home, afraid to come to school.'
However, after he said that, Gotou Hitori, who had been feeling a bit happy inside, immediately became gloomy, lowered her head silently, and her bangs fell to cover her face as a self-deprecating voice sounded, "That's true... How could I deserve to wear such a pretty bracelet..."
"Sorry, I got carried away..."
"Hehehe..."
"Ugh...", Seeing Gotou Hitori misinterpret things again with such sensitivity and inferiority, after he had just spent so long comforting her, Hachiman was speechless and instantly had the urge to tame her by force.
However, what could be done to the love-brained girl Ichinose Ayano, or the silent, introverted succubus Sakurase Shion, could not be done the same way to Bocchi.
Because Bocchi had social anxiety. Forcing things like that might make her symptoms worse. He had to let her get used to normal social interaction.
"Bocchi-chan, don't misunderstand. If you want to wear this bracelet, you can. But this bracelet isn't an ordinary one. If you wear it, there will be bad consequences," Hachiman thought for a moment, reached out to grab Gotou Hitori hand, and while explaining, put the Empathy Bracelet back on her.
"Not an ordinary bracelet... So it's not that I'm unworthy of it?", Gotou Hitori snapped out of her imagination, looking at the friend Hachiman, who was putting the silver bracelet back on her, with hopeful eyes.
'Hachiman really does treat me as a friend and doesn't discriminate against my awkward personality. But even Sakurase-san is wearing the pretty bracelet. Why can't I wear it too?'
Clearly Sakurase Shion had already put it on her, yet Hachiman directly took it off...
"Listen first. These two bracelets are a pair of magical items connected together. There's an invisible, extendable, space-penetrating chain between them," Hachiman sighed helplessly and first revealed the invisible chain of the Empathy Bracelet to show Gotou Hitori.
"Of course, if this bracelet only had that function, I wouldn't say you couldn't wear it. The real reason you can't wear it is because this bracelet allows the two girls wearing it to share each other's senses," After speaking, Hachiman suddenly raised his hand and slapped Sakurase Shion's plump, fair thigh.
"Ah!", Gotou Hitori screamed instinctively, almost jumping up.
The next second, Gotou Hitori eyes widened. She looked at her own fair thigh, then at Sakurase Shion sitting in Hachiman's lap, her gaze falling on her slightly red and white thigh. She stammered, "Th-th-that... Sharing senses means... if you two... k-kiss, then I'd feel it too?"
"Mm," Hachiman saw that Gotou Hitori wasn't so dumb as to need further explanation, so he smiled and nodded, not explaining further. He just gently smoothed out the redness on Sakurase Shion's thigh.
Actually, that slap just sounded loud. It wasn't really painful. Bocchi just got startled and screamed.
Maybe due to her weak succubus constitution, Sakurase Shion didn't exercise much, but her recovery was pretty good. She wasn't much worse than those who trained like Hayase Saki. More serious pain healed quickly. The redness and swelling on her thigh faded fast and didn't matter.
"....", Gotou Hitori saw Hachiman nod in confirmation and her brain instantly overloaded.
'Pain from a thigh slap can be shared. Kissing can be shared. Then... then... that kind of thing?'
'No wonder Hachiman told me not to wear that bracelet. If I really wear it, then when Hachiman and Sakurase-san get intimate, it'll be like me and Hachiman are getting intimate!'
She blanked out for a while before recovering, looking at Hachiman and Sakurase Shion with a complicated gaze.
"...Then, why did Sakurase-san put that magical bracelet on me?", Gotou Hitori opened her mouth but didn't dare stop Hachiman from touching Sakurase Shion's thigh. She moved her lips and softly asked again.
"Uh, maybe she considers you a friend now. Weren't you also in the student guidance room last time? She might have thought you liked me like she does," Hachiman noticed Gotou Hitori gaze, paused his hand movement, then casually reached out and took off the Empathy Bracelet from Gotou Hitori slim hand, changing the subject.
"You can just call her Shion. Shion will call you Bocchi-chan too."
"Right, Shion?"
"Mm... Bocchi-chan, hello...", Already completely opened up to Hachiman and unable to resist him at all, Sakurase Shion nodded obediently, eyes looking at Gotou Hitori, lips slightly parted.
"Mm... Shion, hello...", Seeing Hachiman take off the bracelet, the strange feeling on her thigh disappeared. Gotou Hitori hurriedly greeted Sakurase Shion in return.
But she really had very little experience talking to strangers, so after saying that, she didn't know what else to say.
And seeing how close Sakurase Shion and Hachiman were, her mind couldn't help but recall the shocking scene she might never forget in her life. Her mouth watered, and she swallowed nervously.
'This world actually has such magical items that can link my senses to another girl.'
'Thankfully, Hachiman only treats me as an ordinary friend and didn't let me join in at the time or make me wear the bracelet to experience it.'
'If I really join... it will be so embarrassing. I have no romantic experience and don't understand anything. Just seeing Iris and the others made my mind go blank.'
'Ah—no, wait! If this bracelet can share sensations, then even if I have no dating experience, won't I still get to feel what they feel and learn from their experience?'
'If Hachiman gets intimate with Shion or Iris-san while I wears
the Empathy Bracelet but doesn't actually join, will I still count as someone with no dating experience? Will my relationship with Hachiman still be just normal friends?'
Hachiman saw Gotou Hitori face flush red, her eyes hazy, looking like she might faint. But since her expression was just collapsing and she wasn't rolling on the floor or going nuts, he didn't worry too much.
Compared to the self-loathing, self-destructive Bocchi, the Bocchi caught in an inner storm was actually very safe.
'No wonder Bocchi-chan never had any friends growing up.'
Not having friends as a child could be chalked up to bad luck, but Bocchi, now grown up, looked great without makeup and had a great figure. Yet she still had no friends. This had to be her own fault.
'With such a troublesome personality, if I don't understand her and isn't confident I can guide and change her, I'll probably also want to avoid such a girl.'
Of course, even Yukinoshita Yukino, a glamorous beauty, had no friends. So it was normal for the plain and often panicked Bocchi to have none.
By rounding up, Bocchi-chan was about equal to Yukinoshita Yukino.
Knock! Knock!
The open door of the Service Club was knocked on. Hachiman looked up and saw the very girl he had just been thinking about appear.
"Hikigaya-kun, did you bring in another new recruit? Or is there a new request?", Yukinoshita Yukino, holding a navy blue single-shoulder schoolbag, looked at Gotou Hitori who had appeared in the clubroom, narrowed her eyes slightly, and spoke coldly.
Normally, she wouldn't ask like that, but Hachiman was too outrageous. He recruited new members more often than fulfilling requests, and each newcomer was more beautiful and better figured than the last.
She seriously suspected that Hachiman was using recruitment as an excuse to scout beautiful girls, 'This unhealthy tendency needs to be corrected.' [T/N: In short 'I will fix him.']
'Not to mention, Hiratsuka-sensei keeps pushing problem girls into the club under the name of "requests." I have to become the official president of the Service Club to rightfully use my authority to stop Hachiman and Hiratsuka-sensei's nonsense.'
"Vice President Yukinoshita, please mind your position. You should call me President-sama. Or President-sama~nyan works too," Seeing Yukinoshita Yukino still alternating between calling him president and by surname, not acknowledging his position, Hachiman chuckled, cleared his throat, and kindly reminded her.
If she didn't acknowledge it, then he could use that to make trouble for her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have an excuse to bother her.
"Call you President-sama?", Yukinoshita Yukino slightly furrowed her brow and shifted her gaze from Gotou Hitori to Sakurase Shion.
Only now did she realize how overly intimate Sakurase Shion and Hachiman were. Even though the school prohibited impure relationships between boys and girls, they were actually sitting together on the same chair in an embrace.
'No, no. The point isn't that. The point is whether Sakurase-san is willingly sitting on Hachiman's lap, or if she was forced by him?'
Looking at Hachiman's calm and confident smile, even if she didn't want to believe it, Yukinoshita Yukino already had a faint answer in her heart.
"Shion, call her Vice President, or just Yukinoshita is fine," Hachiman patted Sakurase Shion's head and gestured toward Yukinoshita Yukino.
"Vice President...", Sakurase Shion got up from Hachiman's lap, looked at Yukinoshita Yukino, pursed her lips, and softly greeted her.
'Although Yukinoshita-san and the president don't get along very well, the president looks at her the same way he looks at us, occasionally even with a little pity in his eyes.'
'The president probably wants to help Yukinoshita-san just like he helped us.'
"....", Yukinoshita Yukino looked complicatedly at Sakurase Shion, who had called her Vice President, bit her lip, and said nothing.
'She really called me.'
'This silent girl can really speak and called me?'
She had worked for days, even taking her shopping over the weekend, and hadn't been able to get a single word out of her. She had even suspected Sakurase Shion was mute.
But now the fact was right in front of her, Sakurase Shion could speak. It was just that she hadn't been able to make her speak.
Although Sakurase Shion still looked unenergetic and only said one word before falling silent, this was a breakthrough from 0 to 1.
'What method did Hachiman use yesterday to guide Sakurase Shion?'
'To actually get Sakurase Shion to speak all of a sudden, no longer acting like a mute girl. And judging from her expression, she seems very close and obedient to Hachiman...'
"How about it, Yukinoshita? Do you admit you lost our bet?", Hachiman naturally didn't explain how he enlightened or educated her, smilingly looked over, and brought up the matter of the bet again.
"Actually, it's fine even if you don't say it, after all, we didn't leave any written record or audio recording, it was just a verbal agreement."
"Of course, if that's the case—"
"...President-sama." [T/N: I felt a great disturbance in the internet. As if hundreds of zippers were suddenly opened]
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