My otherwise normal day quickly turned on its head as I stared into my shoe locker.

What the hell is this?

Resting on top of my indoor shoes was a suspicious white rectangle. Not getting much sleep last night, it took me a moment to process what exactly it was that I was looking at.

Ah, it's a letter.

...

Why is there a letter here?

Clearing the first hurdle, I was met with yet another one. Unfortunately, this one was much more difficult to answer, but after waiting for the gears in my mind to start turning, the answer came to me.

Oh, I see. Somebody must have done it on accident. Ahaha, what a silly person. They must have been half-asleep like me and mistakenly though my shoe locker was their mailbox. They even forgot to write the mailing information on the front.

But before my half-woken mind was mislead, it became fully operational and I realized what I was truly looking at. Just then, a bright voice came from behind me, growing louder as its owner approached.

"Good morning, Hikki. What are you standing around there for? Did you get a love letter or some-"

In an instant, the pleasant mood emanating from the voice dissipated and I felt an unmoving gaze directed at the foreign object in my locker. At that moment, my body instinctively knew to start moving. I looked to my left and upon noticing that only a few stragglers were left, I spoke up while quickly sliding the letter in the front pocket of my bag and switching into my indoor shoes,

"C-classes are gonna start soon. We should hurry into class before Hiratsuka-sensei yells at us"

Using one of my 108 loner skills, I completed all three actions before Yuigahama could even snap back to reality and was on my way to the classroom.

"H-huh? Wait, Hikki!"

Reluctantly, I stopped and turned around with a small sigh,

"Hurry up."

Allowing Yuigahama to enter the class ahead of me, I followed suit after a few seconds and overheard a complaint from a certain bossy classmate,

"Yui! You're late, Hina was beginning to worry if you were like, sick or something"

"Ahaha, sorry. I just woke up late today..."

"Hmmm...well anyway, Tobe was..."

Once Tobe's name was mentioned, I lost all interest in their conversation.

Meanwhile, Hiratsuka-sensei came in to start class and normally, this was the point when I would shift into sleep mode. Unfortunately, this morning's peculiarity didn't allow for that to happen.

There's no way it's that. There's probably some sort of mistake. That or it's just some prank and people are laughing behind my back right now. I'm not going to make the same mistakes from junior high.

Keep your wits about you, Hikigaya Hachiman! That's right, this isn't some cliche manga where I receive a love letter and start thinking that my springtime of youth has come.

..But who would actually pull a prank like this? It's not like anybody still remembers me at this point. The school festival was last year, and it's already February so this can't be hate mail.

So does that mean? Arghhhh! Stop it! Don't even go there!

As I suffered in battling my own thoughts, time seemed to move even slower than usual and with every passing second, the urge to just pull out that letter and read it grew stronger and stronger.

Break soon came and I was left mentally exhausted trying to guess at the contents of the letter. Figuring the break wasn't long enough to read it, I opted to wait until lunchtime, silently hide the letter in my blazer and read it in my normal eating spot outside.

However, that plan was annihilated-

No, that's doesn't quite fit here, how about "sent to heaven"? Yeah, that works.

My foolish plan was sent to heaven once Totsuka called out to me so we could eat lunch together.

How silly am I? There's no need to read that letter since I already have Totsuka. Totsuka is all I need!

However, as I chatted with Totsuka, thoughts about the letter continued to pester me, and somehow noticing my inner turmoil, Totsuka asked,

"What's wrong, Hachiman? You look like you're thinking hard about something. Did something happen in the club?"

Ah...Totsuka. You're such an angel! You can even tell when something's bothering me. Don't worry! This Hachiman will be just fine!

"It's nothing, really. Nothing's happening with the club either. I might have just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. On a side note though, have you ever received a love letter?"

"E-eh? W-why are you asking something like that?"

Watching his face turn pink and flustered caused something strange in me to rise, but that feeling was soon overwritten as he continued,

"W-well, to be honest, I've received a few...but...they've been from guys..."

His now crimson-red face fell to the floor in dejection as he finished. Completely taken by surprise, I couldn't think of a single thing to console him with. Instead, rage took over.

Who the hell is bullying my Totsuka!? Even if you were serious, he already belongs to me!

Oh, I started to claim him as mine again. Let's watch ourselves now.

"A-ah, sorry. Let's talk about something else, okay? How's the tennis club doing? Think you can get more members for next year?"

As I talked to the silver ball of hair in front of me, an angelic face soon rose up and responded to me,

"It's okay. As for the tennis club, hmm.."

Soon enough, I was torn away from Totsuka and forced to go back to my seat. Without Totsuka to keep my mind busy, the thoughts I've been suppressing began creeping up.

Could it be someone I know? Well, I doubt there's anybody I don't know who actually knows me. Hell, even people I know don't know me. That means-

No, stop getting your hopes up like this! You know this can't be anything but a prank-

But who's going to do that? I can't see a single reason for it.

Hold on, we're not even sure if it's a love letter.

It's got to be either a love letter or a letter of challenge, right? And there's even less of a chance that it's a letter of challenge.

...Shut up! We'll figure it out once we get out of class.

What about club?

...after club...

What if the letter is asking us to meet them somewhere after class?

Arghhhhhh!

"...All right, that's it for today. Dismissed."

Hiratsuka-sensei closed her folder and left the classroom. Not wanting to go to club, I was going to stay in the room until I really had to leave. As more people were leaving, I heard behind me, Miura's concerned voice,

"Hey, Yui. You seem out of it today, you sure you aren't sick? And since this morning, you keep looking over at-"

"A-ah! I'm okay, Yumiko, really! Look, I can balance my pencil on my nose."

What the heck is that supposed to prove?

"Huuuuh. Well, if you say so..."

"Don't worry, I'm fine! I have to go to club now though. See ya!"

I heard the light pitter-patter of her feet grow closer as she started running which came to an abrupt stop, followed by a backpack hitting my head.

"C'mon, Hikki! Yukinon's waiting for us."

"Hey, that hurts. Domestic violence is illegal for both genders, you know?"

I threw a complaint before I even realized it while I rubbed the back of my head to which Yuigahama responded by blowing raspberries at me.

After that, we walked to the clubroom in silence. It was probably obvious what each of us was thinking about, but in the end, the words we wanted to say were left unspoken.

Yuigahama entered the clubroom first with her traditional greeting followed by me.

"Good afternoon, Yuigahama-san, Hikigaya-kun"

Yukinoshita welcomed us in and with that, only silence followed. Noticing something different with Yuigahama, quietly playing on her phone, Yukinoshita was awkwardly sneaking glances towards her while trying to read her book.

How do I know this, you ask? Well, obviously because ended up doing the same thing to her.

There's no way I would be able to focus on my book, so I began checking the clock while pretending to read, but every time I would look up, I noticed her eyes dart towards Yuigahama, only to return back to her book just as fast.

Oddly enough, I also felt like the something similar was happening to me, but I was too scared to check myself.

After a while, Yukinoshita's focus seemed to have shifted and she looked straight at me just when I was looking at her. The momentary look of surprise in her eyes quickly turned into interrogating one.

"What happened to Yuigahama-san? What did you do, scum?"

I desperately wanted to claim my innocence and argue back, but I'm not sure if the current state of Yuigahama wasn't entirely my fault, so I picked the alternative solution.

I looked away.

I felt the other side of the room somehow become colder, but just then, as if God was on my side, the door opened.

"Hello~! Can I have Senpai?"

Never mind.

"Good afternoon, Isshiki-san. I'm sorry but that won't be possible right now"

Contrary to the kind words spoken, the tone of the voice, lacked the warmth one would expect which only added to its eeriness.

Isshiki almost shrunk back in fear, but bravely responded anyways,

"Y-Yukinoshita-senpai, I-it doesn't look like he's doing anything right now, so it's okay, right?"

Logically, nothing was wrong with what she said, but something in the way she seemed determined to snatch me away, put me off. In any case, this was my chance to escape.

"Well, I'm fine with it. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

While I was making my quick get-away and signaling Isshiki to go, I heard Yukinoshita's voice as she began to stand up,

"W-wait, Hikigaya-kun!-"

Closing the door before she could finish, I walked briskly forward as Isshiki caught up.

"Ummm, Senpai? Don't you think that was a bit rude to Yukinoshita-senpai? You sure you aren't going to regret that later?"

You already know the answer to that question, you sly fox. Quit teasing me.

"I'm already regretting it. Anyways, what do want from me? Grunt work?"

A small pause took place before she replied,

"...Yeah, some boxes need to be put away, so I'm counting on you, Senpai!"

After a workout from moving boxes, I was walking back with Isshiki when I felt like I was forgetting something important. Then as we were nearing the entrance of the school,

"By the way Senpai, have you read the letter yet?"

It was quickly remedied.

"...How do you know about that?"

"Hmm? Yuigahama-senpai told me about via text!"

She then grinned and threw me a wink while holding up a sideways peace sign.

I ignored the obvious attempt at appeal and responded to her question,

"...I haven't looked at it yet. I was planning to during lunch, but I got sidetracked."

"Eeeeh~? Senpai, you're horrible! How could you? What if the girl in that letter wanted to meet with you after school behind the courtyard?"

The expression on her face went from shock to a devilish smile which was poorly hidden by the end of a sweater sleeve. Then she took on a lecturing pose with one hand point upwards,

"Make sure you read it later, okay~? Girls put a lot effort into confessions, you know? Take it from me!"

With that, she ran out as I watched her become smaller in the distance.

Finally at home, I was free to do what I want without anyone to interrupt, yet ironically enough, I hesitated on opening the letter. A slight fear slowly crept up and the thought of disappointment invaded my mind. However, I've already put this off for long enough.

I slowly pulled away the letter from my bag's front pocket and for the first time, saw the side of the envelope which had the flap.

It was sealed with a red heart sticker.

*Ba-dump* Don't get your hopes up! Don't fall for it! You can't be disappointed if you don't expect anything. Now! Open it!

Despite my overly energetic thoughts, I slowly peeled away the heart sticker as my own heartbeat continued to speed up. Then with the same care as a surgeon removing an organ, I took the letter out of the envelope. One deep breath later, I opened it up,

"Hello, I bet you didn't expect to receive anything like this, but I just can't keep myself from it anymore. I like you. Ah, this is so embarrassing! I'm so happy you can't see my face right now. Knowing you, you probably don't even realize it but I'm not the only one looking at you. That's why I decided to make my move now. From now on, I'm going to come at you full-force. So until you figure it out, please remember this, I love you."

...

I-Wha... L-let's calm down here. First off, this letter doesn't have a sender nor does it mention the name of the receiver. In other words, it's possible that this letter was mistakenly placed in mine. Second, the letter mentions other people attracted to the receiver. I can't imagine anyone who could possibly like me so this means that it's now highly probable that this letter was sent by mistake.

...Don't feel down. We shouldn't have gotten excited about it.

*Ring ring*

Snapping me out of the emotional roller-coaster I was in, I looked at my phone and saw an incoming call from Yuigahama. I took a moment to collect myself and answered,

"Hello?"

"A-ah, u-um, Hikki, are you, um, busy this Saturday?"

"Huh? This is the first you asked me that instead of just telling me to meet you somewhere. Did you suddenly learn proper etiquette?"

"Ecchi-ketu? ...Stop confusing me with that kind of stuff and answer already!"

Why did I expect you to understand that?

"...No, I'm free that day"

"Ah, good. What about Sunday?"

"Yes, I'm free on Sunday too. Why do you keep asking me?"

"J-just because!..."

I let out a sigh I've been holding in for a while as softly as possible,

"...If this is about the letter this morning, it was a mistake, they put it in the wrong shoe locker."

"...I didn't say anything about that... Anyway! Yukinon and I are going to visit a new shop in the mall this Saturday and we're going to buy a lot of stuff so you better come!"

Even through the phone, I could notice her mood brighten and as I began to accept the outcome from the letter, I decided to tease her,

"Okay okay. But you know, Yuigahama, I'm a little disappointed in you for telling Isshiki about the letter."

"...Eh? I didn't tell Iroha-chan about it though."

Huh?

[End]