Multiverse: Why does the world show a health bar? !

The appearance of Yuigahama Yui and Hikigaya Hachiman as a pair was... quite interesting.

Li Mo immediately thought of "loser heroines" when he saw Yuigahama Yui, and then he thought of Touyama Nao. Touyama Nao's voice acting is great, but she does tend to play a lot of "loser heroine" roles.

"Um, Li Mo-kun, is there something on my face? Why are you and Yukinoshita-san staring at me like that…"

Yuigahama Yui asked Li Mo and Yukinoshita. After she and Hikigaya Hachiman entered the room, both of their gazes were fixed on her, as if they were pondering something.

Then, she noticed Li Mo and Yukinoshita exchanging a glance, after which Li Mo spoke up: "Hikigaya, since your classmate doesn't have a seat, why don't you give her yours and go grab another chair?"

Hikigaya's seat was the one Li Mo had originally sat in. Yesterday, Li Mo had sat next to Yukinoshita. Then, Yuigahama Yui watched as Hikigaya gave up his seat to her and moved to sit next to Li Mo after fetching another chair.

Yuigahama Yui was about to politely decline, but Li Mo cut her off: "Shouldn't you introduce yourself, miss?"

"Yui, Yuigahama Yui. I'm Hikki's classmate."

"Oh, I see. Let me answer your earlier question.

It's actually quite simple. The fact that Hikigaya Hachiman came to the clubroom with someone else is surprising in itself.

Just yesterday, I was saying that the three of us combined probably don't have more than ten friends. Today, Hikigaya proved me wrong," Li Mo said.

Yuigahama Yui sat stiffly in her seat, already regretting asking Li Mo anything. It felt like he had complete control of the conversation. Even when talking to Yumiko, she could still get a word in, but with Li Mo, she had no say at all.

"Isn't that a bit too harsh…" Yuigahama said.

"Hikigaya practices 'isolationism.' In short, he lives in his own little world. Then there's Yukinoshita, the untouchable beauty of Soubu High. You don't see her with many friends, do you? As for me, well, I don't have any friends!"

Wait, why do you sound so proud when you say you don't have any friends? That's not something to be proud of!

Yuigahama once again concluded that Li Mo was a strange person.

She said, "Um, it can't be that bad, right?"

"Yuigahama-san, look, neither Hikigaya nor Yukinoshita-san are refuting me."

"Maybe, but to just lay it all out like that…"

"Oh, I think I get it now. You're one of those 'popular' types, huh?"

*Snap…*

That was the sound of a book closing.

Yukinoshita deliberately closed the light novel in her hands.

"Yuigahama-san, it's time to get to the main point."

"Hey, Yukinoshita-san, I was just getting to the good part."

Then, Li Mo received a sharp glare from Yukinoshita. He had no choice but to make a zipping motion over his mouth.

—Actually, he had been planning to trick Yuigahama into revealing that the person she wanted to thank was Hikigaya. That would have been much more interesting.

Unfortunately, Yukinoshita shut it down before he could.

"Yuigahama-san, just ignore him. Did you come here with a request?"

"Y-Yes," Yuigahama glanced at Li Mo, who was smiling, but it only made her feel uneasy.

Hikigaya Hachiman handed her a cup of tea in a disposable cup. "Have some water. Li Mo-kun doesn't mean any harm. He just has a bit of a mischievous streak."

Hikigaya, who was good at reading people, had been observing Li Mo since entering the room.

He no longer had the sharp edge he had yesterday. At the very least, he seemed like an ordinary person now.

Yuigahama Yui took a sip of water and said, "Yes, I have a request…"

...

...

Among all the classes in Japanese schools, there was one that Li Mo hated the most.

That was home economics. For most students, the best part of this class was that they didn't have to study. "Not having to study at school—what a wonderful thing!"

Now, Yukinoshita and the others were standing outside the home economics classroom, waiting for someone to bring the key. "Yukinoshita-san, I've got the key."

Li Mo arrived in the hallway with the key to the home economics room.

"You're late."

"I was just chatting with Hiratsuka-sensei for a bit."

Li Mo unlocked the door and said, "By the way, what was Yuigahama-san's request again?"

"Cookies."

"Cookies, huh… I can't make those. Can you, President?"

"I can."

Yukinoshita led everyone into the home economics room and took out aprons from the back cabinet. "You're not going to help, Li-san?"

"I'm afraid I'll just get in the way," Li Mo said. "So I'll just sit here quietly with Hikigaya-kun. Hikigaya-kun, can you make cookies? Want to help?"

Hikigaya shook his head like a rattle drum, afraid he'd be dragged into helping.

"Hikki, is helping me really that hard?"

"I'm just not good at cooking," Hikigaya said. "Please spare me."

Li Mo chimed in, "Alright, you two girls can handle the cooking."

With that, the four of them were split into the girls' group and the boys' group. Simple as that. The girls' group was making cookies, while the boys' group sat to the side—not saying a word.

Nothing is more awkward than sitting next to someone you know and not saying anything.

That was how Hikigaya Hachiman felt.

He kept his head down but occasionally stole glances at the man beside him. Li Mo was deep in thought, and his presence felt unexpectedly comforting… Not because of his looks—aside from Saika, Hikigaya wasn't interested in other guys. It was his… aura.

Like a reliable older brother in his thirties. Someone who made you feel at ease?

Then, he lowered his head and stopped looking.

Hikigaya Hachiman realized something else. The man named Li Mo had a story to tell.

"You were staring at me, weren't you, Hikigaya?"

"N-No, I wasn't!" Hikigaya couldn't bring himself to admit he'd been staring at another guy—except for Saika, of course.

Li Mo said, "My senses are sharp. I could feel your gaze… Hikigaya."

Suddenly, he paused, placing a hand on Hikigaya's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Have you ever thought about working out?"

"Huh? I'm not really interested in working out."

"Really? I was just thinking about finding someone to go to the gym with."

"You want to work out?"

"Well… how should I put it? I guess so."

Li Mo thought for a moment and said, "It's mainly because I recently traveled to another world, and I got used to being active there. Do you think I'm just being chuuni, Hikigaya?"

"Can I say no?"

"Whatever. Yukinoshita-san looks at me the same way," Li Mo shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

As time passed, their conversation became more normal. For example, they talked about the latest light novels. In Hikigaya's eyes, if Hiratsuka-sensei was an old-school fan who liked classics like *Fist of the North Star*, then Li Mo was a new-school fan who enjoyed modern, fluffy anime.

But the sharp-eyed Hikigaya could tell that whenever Li Mo stopped talking about "traveling to another world," he would smile, but the sense of distance between them actually increased.