DISCLAIMER: I do not own Oregairu.

SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you have not read up to the end of the translation of Volume 12 Chapter 4 Part 1.

So, by now it should be a well known fact that the Volume 12 fan-translation has been dropped due to being unable to guarantee quality. There was also news this week that Volume 13 had been delayed yet again. As a result, I decided to have a go at writing a fanfiction about what might happen in Chapter 4 Part 2.

This is my first fanfiction, will possibly be my last, and was done on a whim. It has not gone through editing of any sort.

As the end of the school day approached, even the classroom that seemed so silent in the morning began to bustle with activity. It felt like the entire school building was steadily growing more and more feverish.

Perhaps because of how their activities had been put on hold during the entrance exam period, those in the sports clubs were becoming especially animated. The shouts of the baseball club and rugby club could already be heard resounding across the field.

Even in our classroom, with the inclusion of Hayama's group, those into sports had already left, and the other students were also slowly dwindling in number.

Club activities, huh. …Club is on, right? Maybe not? For now, perhaps I should go there and find out. While lost in thought, I slowly prepare to leave, quietly rising from my seat. Upon doing so, I hear the pitter-patter of flurried footsteps approaching.

These footsteps must be… With a sneaking suspicion, I turn around. At that exact moment, the other party leans their head as if to take a look over my shoulder. As a result, both our faces end up startlingly close.

"W-Whoa! That surprised me…"

"Ah, s-sorry!"

Swaying pink hair tied up in a bun; innocent, wide-open eyes; a breath leaking from her supple lips; her chest, emphasized as it warped in a big way due to the momentum of her recoil; the sweet smell of citrus as I turned away my face to separate our gazes that had met.

With every one of those features at point-blank range, my heart leapt.

Breathing out a big sigh, Yuigahama glanced at me.

"Really, you're way too surprised."

Unable to hold it in, Yuigahama released a puff of laughter, then while lightly hitting my shoulders, giggled. Please no, it's all sorts of embarrassing and I feel like dying a few times over… You speaking in a loud voice has even drawn several gazes to us, you know… For now, could you stop touching my upper arm? It's so overwhelmingly effective, I might even put in some strength and start showing off.

"About club… are you going?"

"...Y-Yeah. I suppose."

Still struggling to suppress the thumping in my chest from the earlier surprise, I answered her somewhat disoriented. For a short while, Yuigahama appeared to be thinking. However, she quickly nodded.

"...Is that so. I see. Wait just a sec, okay." Yuigahama immediately rushed back towards Miura and the others. After exchanging a few words of goodbye, she gathered her bag and numerous other belongings in one jumble, then hurried back to my location.

"Let's go."

With that being said, she suddenly pushed my back as if to urge me on. U-Umm, I'm really going, so please don't push… It is especially important at times of crisis like this that you do not push, run, or speak. At my level, awareness of disaster prevention routines is so strong I even avoid talking to people on a regular basis.

No, I actually am in a personal state of emergency. We had gone to the clubroom together before. However, I had the feeling that the two of us leaving the classroom together was an unprecedented first.

Which is why I unconsciously turned to look back, concerned about the attention we would receive. However, those remaining in the classroom were scattered, the majority of them focused on the person in front of them and not paying us any heed.

As for the two with whom Yuigahama had been speaking earlier, they too simply glanced at us, Ebina waving her hand saying goodbye and Miura tugging at the curls of her hair. They weren't particularly suspicious of us.

I was secretly relieved by that.

My inner thoughts aside, to other people this must be a typical everyday scene.

It had become a given that Yuigahama would head towards the Service Club clubroom after school, and both of them also knew I was a member of the Service Club. As a result, the two of us leaving together for the clubroom was an extremely natural scene.

In the past, I think we would have been faced with strange looks. Not just towards myself, but also towards Yuigahama.

I had not given it any thought during the time when I still lumped the hierarchical elite together under a single label. However, by interacting as individuals and catching glimpses of each other's circumstances and backgrounds, using those as clues it becomes possible to infer all sorts of things. Although I would not equate it to understanding, they would use some kind of pretext to get to know each other to a great extent.

Of course, this was something that could also be said about the girl currently walking beside me.

Perhaps because of how several minutes had passed since the end of school, the hallway leading to the special building was even more lacking in human presence than usual. As ever, it was full of cold, parched air.

Nevertheless, by no means was it chilly.

As for the reason, I had Yuigahama beside me… carrying a fluffy bed sheet that was probably the cause. When I glanced to the side, the tip of Yuigahama's chin was buried in the bed sheet she carried in her arms. Just why is this girl is bringing along a bedsheet. Linus? Are you Linus? Could this be a link to Peanuts you would only expect to find in Chiba, I wonder…? [1]

"Actually, what's with the bed sheet, something up?"

There was something about how we were walking in silence, so I attempted a casual question to start off the conversation. On doing so, with a "whah?", Yuigahama tilted her head questioningly.

"Bed sheet? Ahh, you mean the blanket?"

"Aren't they the same thing… What, is there a subtle difference? Like with pasta and spaghetti? Stop making decisions to put anything and everything in horizontal Western form."

"Ehhh? But it says blanket here… Huh? Both of them are written horizontally…"

Immediately after Yuigahama pouted her lips and spoke in a dissatisfied voice, she suddenly came to a realization and frowned. So she's noticed, has she… However, not particularly minding her reaction, I instead took a long hard look at the blanket. There is the fact that it was folded up, but even so it was by no means very large. Perhaps about as large as half a tatami mat. With that sort of size in mind, I recalled the perfect words to describe it.

"So it's one of those, a lap blanket."

Upon me saying this, Yuigahama nodded, her face comfortably burying itself in the blanket as she did so.

"Ah, yeah, that's right. Something like that."

"Humm. Didn't you already bring a lap blanket?"

I suddenly recalled a scene in the clubroom. At one time or another, with Yuigahama and Yukinoshita sitting next to each other, using a single blanket sheet like a kotatsu. It must be nice to be so warm, over here it's so cold, I want to go home already. Such were my thoughts at the time, so I remembered it well.

It's awfully cold where in the place where I sit, you know… Feeling slightly envious, I looked at the blanket Yuigahama was carrying. As I did so, Yuigahama blinked in surprise.

"You pay surprisingly close attention…"

"W-Well, rather than paying attention, things just naturally enter my field of vision…"

"Naturally…"

"Ahh, well, I just have a broad view, you see…"

I said that on the spur of the moment, but in reality I am not so sure about having a broad view. No matter how much I turn my head in embarrassment, at the edge of my vision I am still able to see Yuigahama's face as she buries a reddened cheek in the blanket.

The sound of footsteps echoes in the hallway. Also audible are the sounds of wind knocking against the windows, and of the small sighs quietly escaping next to me.

Crap, this silence is making me super anxious! I don't know why, but I feel like I dug my own grave there. If this silence keeps up, five seconds will pass and I will be out of time, making it an incorrect answer. I would end up with a Bad for communication! My remuneration will decrease! Even though a Perfect is out of the question, I would like to at least achieve a Good, no, a Normal for communication. Well, even if I managed a Perfect it's not like there would be an increase in affection points, right. [2]

Therefore, I blurt out whatever comes to mind. "Wait, so you bought another lap blanket despite already having one? Just how many laps do you have? Are you a centipede?"

"I'm not! It's a freebie that came with the magazines I bought!"

Suddenly raising her head, Yuigahama talks back at me. However, that vigor quickly faded away. Her expression fell, and, dispirited, she began to somewhat grumble.

"...Before I knew it, I had tonnes. I'm really not sure how to get rid of them."

"A-Ah. I see…"

So you're getting rid of it...? Well, it's true that during the winter season you would receive an indiscriminate number of freebies, special items, or presents. Ones of the blanket kind. Come to think of it, I have the feeling we get those now and then too. I catch glimpses of them at around the same frequency at which you receive dishes at the Spring Bread Festival [3]. Those dishes really don't break, so they quickly pile up over time…

When I went "mm, mm" in assent, Yuigahama nodded in return, smiling as she did so. "That's why I brought it from home. After all, it's still cold. And…"

Suddenly, Yuigahama cut her words short. Her gaze was suddenly turned to face forwards. Drawn in, when I looked, right there was the Service Club clubroom.

As if taking a pause to choose her words, Yuigahama softly inhaled.

"...I was thinking, if by any chance club continues for a little longer, why not leave it in the clubroom?"

After adding those words in a mutter, she immediately fell silent, then looked down as if slightly uncomfortable. Watching her profile from the side as she did so, I could not even give her a short response like "ah" or "I see".

It might have been better to crack a joke here in the usual way. However, no such deception had come to mind.

—If club continues, huh.

Echoes of a belief in its demise were present in the way Yuigahama said that.

While still unable to produce a proper response to the words that had come my way, the two of us arrived at the clubroom. Instead of speaking, I placed a hand on the doorknob.

However, although the door made a single loud clunk noise, it did no more, refusing to budge.

"...It's locked."

When I say this, Yuigahama peers over my shoulder, looking at the door.

"So Yukinon hasn't come yet…" As Yuigahama spoke, she shifted her luggage to one arm, then began rummaging in her coat pockets. Not paying this very much attention, I began walking.

"I'll go get the key."

"Eh? Ah-"

Yuigahama attempts to say something. Simply brushing her off with an "it's fine, it's fine" and waving my hand in response, I quickly make my way towards the staff room. The door to the Service Club clubroom had only ever been unlocked by Yukinoshita. I only realized it now. The fact that every time, she was the only one who held the key, and I had yet to even touch it.

Notes:

[1] A popular American comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts, has a character Linus van Pelt (first appearance July 14, 1952) who is often seen carrying a security blanket. Just wanted to give the guy a shout-out, okay? Incidentally, Chiba is the largest producer of peanuts in Japan.

[2] A reference to Idol Master Million Live! Theater Days that I decided to slip into this fanfiction, even though I don't quite understand it myself.

[3] Of course, who could ever forget about the Yamazaki Spring Bread Festival. White dishes galore. You must have gone there at least once.