"Thank you, senpai, for your concern, but I'm going to eat a set meal with my classmate in the cafeteria," Nanasaki Ai looked at the takoyaki in Hachiman's hand, gave thanks while shaking her head, and pointed toward a purple twin-tailed girl standing not far away.
[Character card detected, Kumatsu Yukariko.]

Another name he hadn't heard of. This world really was chaotic. Nanasaki Ai's good best friend wasn't Tachibana Miya, but rather an ero-anime heroine.
Hachiman heard the system prompt and calmly added Kumatsu Yukariko to the romance list. Since no mission was triggered, that meant nothing was happening, no need to worry.
He didn't care right now who Kumatsu Yukariko was. Instead, he was curious about why Nanasaki Ai came to find him.
"Nanasaki, so what did you come to find me for?", Though he knew Nanasaki Ai wasn't the type to casually ask strangers for help, he also didn't seem to have much interaction with her. So far, their only connection was the girls' competitive swim club, but he hadn't even gone to look for Nanasaki Ai yet, how come she came to him first?
"Senpai, may I ask if you have time to guide me in swimming? Yesterday, I saw that after Uenohara received your guidance, her performance recovered quickly, even improved compared to before, so I also wanted to ask you to guide me," Since Hachiman took the initiative to ask, Nanasaki Ai didn't hesitate anymore and directly explained why she greeted him on her own.
Yesterday, after Uenohara Ayano and the others left, she went back to train for a while. Originally, her training performance had dropped significantly due to poor condition, but when she went back and tested again, everyone noticed that her state had returned, and even slightly improved.
It had to be known that Uenohara Ayano had just received Hachiman's support guidance. The actual effect hadn't even manifested yet. But even without showing it, just seeing Uenohara Ayano adjust her condition so quickly and even improve her training performance made Nanasaki Ai, who was in the same year and a strong rival, realize that Uenohara Ayano had gone to find the new manager Hachiman during her disappearance.
It had to be Hachiman who gave Uenohara Ayano extremely effective guidance. However, the second-year senior in the club, Tachibana Mikari, was also waiting for guidance from Hachiman.
Nanasaki Ai knew that she and Uenohara Ayano were in competition, and in the club she couldn't compete with second-year seniors like Mikari and Hayase. Now that she ran into Hachiman while eating with her classmate in the cafeteria, she thought she might as well ask if he was available and could guide her.
"So it's because of Ayano, huh? She was just in poor condition, and I just helped her adjust her state. The actual guidance effect isn't that obvious," Hachiman suddenly realized after hearing Nanasaki Ai say that. So she saw Uenohara Ayano's performance after he removed her pressure and wanted to receive his guidance to improve her own training results.
However, even if he could help them improve, it wouldn't be that fast in reality. Hayase Saki had to be filled with so much before she showed significant change. Uenohara Ayano's sudden improvement from just one session was only because she usually underperformed due to poor condition. What Nanasaki Ai saw was just him helping her relax and bring out her original strength, with only a tiny bit of actual improvement.
"I know improving performance isn't that easy. I still hope to receive your guidance. But if it troubles you, then forget it," Seeing that Hachiman wasn't very interested in guiding her, Nanasaki Ai hesitated slightly.
Since she trained with Uenohara Ayano in the same club, she naturally knew her situation. But for someone like Uenohara Ayano, so negative and filled with gloomy energy, to suddenly become so proactive, that was already an impressive feat. She felt it was necessary to receive guidance from this new manager Hachiman.
After all, it was Club President Hibiki who brought him into the club and introduced him to them as the person responsible for managing them. She didn't think Hibiki would randomly pull in just anyone. Clearly, Uenohara Ayano's change was the most reliable proof.
"It's not a bother to me. If you really want guidance, just come find me when I go to the girls' competitive swimming club. But you might not be able to accept that kind of guidance."
"You might want to ask Ayano or Saki about it first. Once you understand the guidance, then decide whether you still want it."
Hachiman was a bit troubled about how to explain to Nanasaki Ai. If he straight up said that his method for improving performance was to fu*k you, that would just be sexual harassment. But he couldn't not say anything, Nanasaki Ai would find out eventually. For now, the best he could do was have her talk to Uenohara Ayano in detail, and once she understood, she'd naturally avoid it.
Otherwise, once she found out and Uenohara Ayano still had her around as a third wheel, it'd torture more than just one or two people.
"...Okay, senpai. I'll go ask. Then I won't disturb your meal anymore. Thank you for the reminder," Nanasaki Ai hadn't expected that kind of response from Hachiman. Her expression turned slightly confused, but she still nodded and gave thanks before turning to leave.
"No need to be polite. By the way, I'm actually a first-year like you. Next time, you don't need to use so much polite speech," Hachiman waved as he spoke, then carried his takoyaki, hash brown, and drink and left.
"Ah?", Nanasaki Ai stood there dumbfounded, staring at Hachiman's departing back.
When Club President Hibiki introduced him, she hadn't said much about his situation, just that he was the head of the Service Club and came to help.
A proper club president, plus he seemed very familiar with senior Hayase Saki, so she thought Hachiman was at least a second-year senpai. Who would've guessed he was also a first-year.
"Ai-chan? What were you two talking about just now? He's already gone and you're still staring after him."
"Nothing. He said he's not a senpai," Nanasaki Ai snapped out of it and looked at the cute girl in front of her waving her purple twin tails, then slightly shook her head.
"Eh? A first-year like us? Wait a second, Ai-chan, you haven't told me why you went up to talk to him. Don't tell me you snuck off to start a relationship?", Kumatsu Yukariko wanted to ask more, but realized her close friend had already turned and walked off to place her order, ignoring her questions.
Compared to the lively Kumatsu Yukariko, the quiet and less talkative Nanasaki Ai came off as colder.
But the two got along quite well. Nanasaki Ai wasn't shy or aloof, she just spoke less. Her temperament was gentle and very considerate.
Rather, Nanasaki Ai was slightly troubled by how overly lively Kumatsu Yukariko was, she'd keep asking questions whenever curious.
Because the Disciplinary Committee was strict about interactions between boys and girls, she couldn't reveal that the girls' competitive swim club had recruited a male manager. Otherwise, Kumatsu Yukariko might be so surprised that everyone would find out, which could trouble President Hibiki.
———
[Student Council Office]
Hachiman arrived at the office door and knocked. Only after hearing a voice from inside say "come in" did he push open the door and enter.
Once inside, Hachiman was surprised to find that besides the Kaede–Suzu sisters, and the master-servant pair Rurikawa Tsubaki and Maid Shion, there was one more person in the student council today.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Usui-san is here too today?", Hachiman looked at Usui Makoto, who was sitting with Kaede and Suzu, wearing the red armband of the Disciplinary Committee, and their unopened bento boxes on the table, and asked with some confusion.
Kaede and Suzu got along well with Usui Makoto, but they usually just ate lunch together in class or in the cafeteria. Eating together in the student council office like this was rare.
Technically, the Disciplinary Committee wasn't part of the student council. Their inspections and campus patrols were arranged independently. But just like other clubs, they ultimately fell under the student council's jurisdiction.
"Kaede wanted to ask me about the Disciplinary Committee's meeting yesterday… I just finished telling them...", Usui Makoto hadn't expected Hachiman to show up, and her face instantly turned red, her gaze flickering.
"What did the Disciplinary Committee discuss? It's not related to me, is it?"
Hachiman sat between Kaede and Suzu, but as soon as he sat down, he noticed Kaede, Suzu, and even Rurikawa Tsubaki hadn't said a word since he entered. All of them were staring at him intensely. He immediately sensed something was off.
"J-just that… Hikigaya-kun's impure relationships with the opposite sex have increased recently, which is disrupting school discipline… To prevent you from making moves on the girls at school, especially the elf princesses and mermaid divas, the Disciplinary Committee decided to carry out a… f-fuzoku activity on you to make you follow the rules...", Usui Makoto spoke more and more shyly, lowering her head as she haltingly revealed this difficult-to-speak matter to Hachiman in front of everyone.
"Huh?", Hachiman was stunned, 'What kind of fuzoku activity is this? All these girls teaming up to go after me?'
[T/N: "Fuzoku" (風俗) is a Japanese term that broadly refers to the adult entertainment industry, especially services that involve sexual or sensual entertainment, though not necessarily full s*x.]
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