"What's wrong?", Hachiman turned his head to look at Gabriel beside him and smiled softly.
Although he already had many methods to lie flat and live off others, in this world, Gabriel was still a pretty thick thigh to hold onto.
Well… Gabriel, as an intern angel, might not be thick enough even if she's the top angel of this generation, but her sister Zelel is strong.
He didn't know when he would be able to meet the parents.
"No, it's nothing…", Gabriel was slightly dazed when she saw the usual smile on Hachiman's face and shook her head.
She wanted to talk about Hachiman's self-indulgent lifestyle and persuade him to work harder, saying she wasn't suitable for him and such.
But when the words reached her mouth, she didn't know how to say them anymore.
Hachiman's self-indulgence didn't actually cause any harm to others. Even his seemingly depraved behavior now was helping Iris and Elliot.
Not wanting to go out and work, wanting to be a househusband instead, wasn't really a problem. She really couldn't persuade Hachiman that he could have better ideals and not sink into this kind of lifestyle.
Since she was the one who caused the problem, she had to be the one to solve it. She couldn't just place the problem in front of Hachiman and make him choose.
As someone who was only here for experience and wouldn't stay long, she wasn't a good candidate, but she would help Hachiman find someone better than her, someone more suitable for him.
"I'm going to change now, Gabriel bye-bye~", Seeing that Gabriel didn't say anything, Hachiman just smiled, waved, and left.
He wasn't in a rush with Gabriel. Their friendship was already established. The rest could be left to time.
"Bye-bye…", Gabriel waved her hand. Watching Hachiman disappear into the distance, she pursed her lips and also left.
'I should go ask Yuina and the others. As Hachiman's friends, they know more about him and will be able to give useful advice.'
Hachiman walked to the outdoor pool used by the boys, changed in the locker room, and heard the class bell ring. Together with the other boys who had changed into swim trunks, he went out to gather.
Unlike tennis class, where they had to find partners to train with, the PE teacher simply led them in some warm-up exercises and then dismissed them, letting the boys swim on their own.
No training tasks were arranged, and no one was supervising.
Hachiman looked at the excited boys who were jumping into the water and shook his head, then sat at the poolside to rest.
'What is fun about swimming class with a bunch of guys? Better to skip class again.'
But since they had just been dismissed, it wasn't good to run off immediately. So after waiting a bit, Hachiman sneakily left the outdoor pool under the guise of wandering and returned to the locker room to change back into his clothes.
He didn't have any close male friends in class. There was no need to waste time here. He might as well go educate Ichinose Ayano and Sakurase Shino.
He had spent so much effort on Urusula this morning, and he still hadn't educated Sakurase Shino properly.
He couldn't let Yukinoshita Yukino look down on him.
———
Elsewhere, in the indoor pool locker room, Gabriel had changed into a navy blue school swimsuit, the so-called sukumizu.
Although the boys and girls' pools were separate and the school didn't require a uniform swimsuit for swimming class, many girls liked to buy brighter and newer designs of swimsuits.
But Gabriel couldn't be bothered with all that. The school swimsuit issued based on her body measurements fit perfectly, so there was no need to waste money.
"Tenma-chan, you're so cute~", Yuina, who had changed into a pink string bikini, brightened up when she saw Gabriel in a swimsuit and immediately hugged the petite Gabriel into her arms.
Gabriel froze and quickly pushed Yuki away, 'I am not a mascot. How can people just hug me because I look cute?'
"No wonder little Hiki likes Tenma-chan. Even in a school swimsuit, she's so cute," Minami, also in a swimsuit, walked over and praised as she looked at Gabriel.
"Indeed, this appearance easily evokes a protective desire in boys," Rin looked at Gabriel's fair and moist skin like a baby's, crossed her arms, and nodded in agreement.
"...", Gabriel, who usually didn't care about her figure, looked at Yuina and the others gathered around her with arms crossed, which further accentuated their already impressive chests, nearly pressing against her face. She suddenly felt full of malice.
Having a good figure wasn't a big deal. There were too many girls in class with good figures. With her build, there was no one worse.
But having Yuina and the other three stand in a row, complimenting her cuteness right in her face…
"Stop teasing Tenma-chan. Hiki-kun is nowhere to be found, and we don't even know if he's attending class," Ichinose Honami saw Gabriel being "assaulted" by Yuina and Minami, and quickly went over to rescue her.
"As for Hachiman, he's already gone to class," Gabriel was rescued from Minami's arms by Ichinose Honami and breathed in some fresh air, but seeing Honami's equally well-endowed figure, she sighed helplessly and softly explained.
She had been thinking about Hachiman all morning and had forgotten that Honami and the others hadn't seen him all morning either.
"Tenma-chan, did you see Hachiman?", Ichinose Honami was stunned and looked at Gabriel in surprise.
Other girls in the locker room, Rurikawa Tsubaki, Yumiko Miura, Ichinose Ayano, Kotegawa Yui, also turned their attention to them after hearing their conversation.
Hachiman had been absent almost all morning. Though he was called away by teacher Kirisu Mafuyu, he never returned, and everyone had been quietly discussing it.
Although Hachiman wasn't very active in class and sat in the back row, only Yuina, Gabriel, and a few others were close to him. But because the Elf Princess often came to find Hachiman, many still paid attention to him.
Disciplinary committee member Kotegawa Yui even went to ask Kirisu Mafuyu in another class, but the answer was that Hachiman had long since left the student guidance office. He wasn't being punished or detained.
As a student who was skipping class without reason, Kotegawa Yui couldn't bear it anymore.
Even Kirisu Mafuyu was speechless after hearing the news. She had told Hachiman not to go to class to avoid disturbing Ichinose Honami and Gabriel, and he interpreted that as skipping class completely… Looks like she needed to have another talk with Hachiman in the guidance office.
This time it had to be a private talk. She couldn't let that meddlesome senior Hiratsuka interrupt again and ruin the serious educational atmosphere.
"I saw him during lunch at the cafeteria. He was busy with something the Elf Princess asked him about regarding the mermaid idols, so he was absent this morning. Now he's just going to class," Gabriel naturally noticed the few gazes falling on her and quietly kept note of who they were before softly explaining.
"So that's what it was. I'm glad nothing happened to Hiki-kun. But… mermaid idols? Are you talking about the national idol group AQUA MARINA?", Ichinose Honami breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that Hachiman was okay, but then became curious.
'What kind of matter made the Elf Princess disturb Hiki-kun during school hours and even make him skip class?'
'Is it because of their good relationship? Or is this the reason they have a good relationship?'
"Those three mermaid idols… So they're also close to little Hiki?", Yuina exchanged glances with Minami and Rin, secretly feeling something was wrong.
They had thought that among all the demi-humans, only the Elf Princess was close to little Hiki. Who would've thought that the mermaid idols were also involved. And three of them at once.
They had been planning to visit little Hiki's house after school, but now what if the mermaid idols took that chance? They couldn't possibly compete with three super national-level idols.
Well… They didn't know what Iris asked for specifically, but they instinctively assumed the mermaid idols approached Hiki just like them.
After all, there had never been any talk about Hiki having connections with mermaid idols before. Suddenly being sought out by them must mean the Elf Princess told them something, making the mermaids also interested in the handsome guy she personally raised.
"Their relationship… should be considered relatively good. It seems like they're asking Hachiman to be their part-time manager and help out occasionally with idol activities," Gabriel hesitated and spoke softly. Even though she knew what Iris and the others really asked for, how could she say such things out loud? She could only vaguely summarize.
"Idol manager?", Minami and Rin exchanged glances. Their sense of crisis deepened.
Even if they didn't know why the mermaid idols wanted Hiki as a manager, just being in that role, even if part-time and short-term, meant spending a lot of time with them.
Managers didn't necessarily live and eat with idols, but they were definitely close during work.
Like in dressing rooms, backstage breaks during concerts…
If the people involved didn't say anything, who would know what happened between them?
'That's too brutal!'
'What about Hiki and Gabriel's budding romance now?'
Even the Elf Princess, who seemed super close and fishy with little Hiki, didn't take him out of school for her own use.
"Hmm?", Gabriel noticed the odd expressions on Yuina and the others and felt confused.
She didn't think she had said anything inappropriate. Hachiman wouldn't hide these things anyway, especially if he was going to be the manager for Elliot and the others frequently from now on.
But why did Yuina and the others suddenly look so down? They were just normal people. It's not like they knew the real details.
Ichinose Honami also found their reactions strange. She never expected their minds to jump so wildly just from hearing that Hachiman was going to manage mermaid idols.
But it was time for class now, so she didn't have time to ask more.
She followed the others out of the locker room and went to the indoor pool to do warm-ups with the PE teacher.
But the sukumizu felt a bit tight, and the pressure on her chest made her frown slightly.
Having just transferred here, she hadn't prepared her own swimsuit and just picked a new school swimsuit in her size.
But this size seemed a bit outdated. She needed to find time to exchange it or buy a new swimsuit herself.
"Hiss…"
Gabriel didn't have Honami's growing pains. But while doing warm-ups, she quietly observed the girls in class. Seeing their youthful and hot bodies under all sorts of swimsuits, she sighed inwardly.
'Miura Yumiko, Kitagawa Marin, Honami Ichinose, Ichinose Ayano, Horigome Chino, Ijichi Nijika, Kotegawa Yui, Yuina…'
'So many girls, how am I supposed to pick a suitable partner for Hachiman...'
The ideal partner standard that Yuina gave before was wrong, she couldn't just find someone like herself to give to Hachiman again.
If she really did that, in Class 1-F, besides Ijichi Nijika, there probably wasn't anyone suitable.
Actually, Iris, who had long since become close with Hachiman, had always been a very good ideal partner, but Iris wanted Hachiman to support so many elf girls in heat, not just the two sisters.
Pretending to fall, Hachiman transferring his feelings to another, and finally pulling himself together.
Gabriel thought this plan was quite good. That way, no one would get hurt, and everyone would find happiness.
But while it was easy for her to pretend to fall, finding a suitable partner for Hachiman was very difficult.
Hachiman now wanted to be a househusband, unwilling to go out and work.
So should she choose someone who could tolerate Hachiman? Or someone who wouldn't tolerate him and would try to motivate him again?
After all, she herself had never dated, so she had no idea what kind of girl would suit Hachiman.
Even after the warm-up ended, sitting to the side watching Miura Yumiko, Kitagawa Marin, Yuina and the other swimsuit beauties in the pool splashing and playing around, Gabriel still couldn't think of a good way to figure out Hachiman's preferences.
Although Iris, who was currently extremely close with Hachiman, was very similar to her, girls close to Hachiman weren't limited to just Iris.
There were Kaede and Suzu, the short-haired twin sisters who were Hachiman's childhood friends and neighbors, and Shion, considered a younger-sister figure, who was a cold-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside long black-haired girl.
From the same club, there were Hayase Saki and Yukinoshita Yukino, also long black-haired girls. But the super well-endowed Saki was too shy and timid, while Yukinoshita Yukino, whose figure wasn't much better than hers, was too cold and strong-willed.
In class, Yuina and the others were each unique in style like the three mermaid idols.
The girls around Hachiman weren't just many, but also very diverse in type. It actually made her even more unsure who was truly the most suitable for Hachiman.
They all seemed kind of suitable, and also kind of not.
"Eh?", Gabriel suddenly lifted her head and looked toward the pool at Ichinose Ayano, Horigome China and the others, a trace of doubt flashing in her eyes.
"What is it?", Ichinose Honami, who was sitting next to Gabriel and also not playing in the water, couldn't help but ask.
"It's nothing, I'm just curious why you're not going to play with them."
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