"I mean, seriously, what is up with that guy?" Shino vented. "He's kind, he's cool, and he's rich? That's cheating!"
"Oh, Shino's finally getting into the spirit!"
"Well, Shino is young. It's hard to keep those emotions bottled up at that age."
"Still, I think Shino is one of the lucky ones," Minami sighed. "I've got nothing. Back in high school, I was absolutely horrible to him..."
"Wait, what? What did you do?"
"Well, actually..."
As the five of them listened to Minami's confession, they all began to comment.
"Hachiman-sama is honestly too much of a pushover, isn't he?"
"There's a limit to self-sacrifice."
"But I guess that's just who he is."
"You've had it rough too, Minami."
"Well, I'm satisfied just being needed right now, but I do wish I could see him a bit more often."
"Honestly, though, I think Kaori might be the most pitiful one here," someone whispered.
"Ah... you have a point."
"Wait, what happened with Kaori-san?"
"Ah... haha... back in middle school..." Kaori began, a look of pathetic regret washing over her face as she exposed her past blunder.
"Wait, Kaori, you actually got a confession from Hachiman-sama...?"
"'The one that got away' was a phrase literally invented for Kaori-san..."
Kaori covered her face with her hands. "Don't say it! I know! Believe me, I know...!"
"There, there, don't beat yourself up. Drink, drink!"
"Yeah... ugh, I just want to go back and punch my middle-school self! Why didn't I see his potential?!"
"To be fair, looking at how he was in middle school, nobody could have imagined he'd turn out like this..."
"I know that, but still! It hurts!"
The conversation then shifted to Cruz's exploits in GGO.
"Compared to that, Cruz, you were amazing."
"Yeah, you played your cards perfectly!"
"Even I was a little jealous of that one."
"I mean, you got Hachiman to go as far as converting his avatar just to come get you. Anyone would fall for a guy after that!"
Cruz shook her head, but her eyes were misty. "It's fine. I already loved him. But honestly, at that moment, I felt a heat deep in my core... specifically, in my lower half..."
"Stop! Too much information!"
"Oh, please, Shino. From what I've heard, you've had similar experiences, haven't you?"
"Urgh..."
Shino thought back to the day she first met Hachiman in the real world. Thinking of the man who had changed her life in an instant, her face turned bright red and she looked down.
"Shino, your face is beet red."
"I—I know that!"
"Did he do something that incredible to you?"
"In... in a different sense..."
"Like what?"
"Well..."
Shino began to recount her first real-world encounter with Hachiman. By the time she finished, the others were staring at her with wide eyes.
"What even is that...?"
"No matter how you look at it, he was definitely trying to woo you!"
"But for Hachiman-sama, it was probably just a random act of kindness."
"I can't believe it. I won't believe it! Excuse me! Another beer over here!"
"So, basically, Shino got hit with the finishing move right out of the gate."
"I—I couldn't help it! He was like a real-life prince!"
"Yes, yes, we understand. Here, have some more oolong tea."
"Okay..."
Mai, having listened to the whole thread, spoke up with a hint of envy. "Must be nice. I just sold myself on the job and got him to bring me here. I haven't had any 'events' like that, for better or worse..."
"I'm sure something will happen for you eventually. Perk up."
"I wonder if I'll end up falling for him too?"
" " " " " "Ugh..." " " " "
The five women groaned in unison, certain that was exactly what would happen, and felt a collective surge of annoyance. Suddenly, the four of them turned their gaze toward Bara.
"Actually, I feel like Bara-san is the most pampered of all of us..."
"You two are really close, aren't you?"
"I've always been jealous of that."
"You guys are totally misunderstanding things!" Bara barked. "Sure, I'll probably be by Hachiman's side for the rest of my life. But that just means that, unless some kind of 'accident' happens, I'm literally just going to be standing next to him, watching from the sidelines forever!"
"Ah... true. Hachiman-sama's attitude toward Bara-san does kind of look like a guy with a stray kitten he picked up."
"Right?! See?! What is with that guy? And the worst part is, I'm pathetic enough to be happy with just that..."
"Yeah, we get it. Here, Bara-san, drink up!"
Bara began chugging her beer. "Alright everyone! The gloves are off! Let out all your daily frustrations!"
" " " " "YEAH!" " " " "
And so, the meeting devolved into a pitiful venting session for the six of them. Two hours passed, and as they stumbled out of the restaurant, an unexpected figure was waiting for them.
"Yo. You ladies finish spitting out all your complaints about me?"
Waiting outside was Hachiman, leaning against a large Soleil company van.
"I'll drop you all off at your places one by one. Get in."
The six of them, suddenly overcome with sheepishness, piled into the van. One by one, Hachiman dropped them at their doors. When it was finally Bara's turn—the last one left—Hachiman spoke up.
"Did you have fun today?"
"Eh? Oh... yeah."
"Good."
(Ugh, seriously, what is with this guy? I talked to the others in the car, but is he just Mr. Perfect? Or is he intentionally trying to make us fall for him even harder?!)
"Alright, we're here. You can make it the rest of the way on your own, right?"
"Ah, yeah. Um... thanks."
"Sure. See you tomorrow."
Just those few words made Bara's heart thud. In reality, the others had reacted exactly the same way. Just a "see you tomorrow" at the end of the night was enough to send their hearts racing. They were a veritible army of "Easy Heroines."
"Yeah... see you tomorrow."
With that, Bara turned and headed toward her room, her footsteps significantly lighter than they had been moments before.
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