CHAPTER 2: A DATE?
"Who are you?" with a blank face, Iroha said.
"What are you talking about Isshiki? You trying to give me a chance to back out?" the nerve of this girl, she asks him out on his precious weekday and treatment that he gets is this?
"'What are you talking about?' that is supposed to be my line! You can't just act familiar with me all of a sudden and you still haven't answered my question," this stranger was acting familiar with her and that annoyed her. But that also confused her, then who was it that she argued with earlier. This stranger also looks similar to her Senpai. The only difference was…
The eyes. The stranger had the height, hairstyle, built, posture and even the voice of her Senpai. What made this stranger clearly different her Senpai was definitely the eyes. While her Senpai have the eyes of a dead fish, this stranger had eyes of normal human, big irises and all. He was even acting the same way her Senpai usually does.
Is this person a doppelganger of her Senpai? If so then they definitely cannot be allowed to meet, her Senpai could die! Under no circumstances would she allow that to happen. In the first place, doppelganger was only supposed to look similar; they weren't supposed to have similar personality.
Then is this a twin of her senpai? But if that was the case then she would have definitely known, considering that she learned all details of her Senpai from his bio.
Isshiki was brought out of her ridiculous thoughts when Hikigaya called her out. His faces close to her, rather uncharacteristic of him, a man that likes his personal spaces.
In normal situations, Isshiki would be a blushing mess if her Senpai were this close to her. But since she thought that this man wasn't Hikigaya, all that was shown on her face was a cold look that sent shivers down Hikigaya's spine. That look did not suit her.
"Um, could you please back off, you may be confident in your good looks but I'm rather uncomfortable that you are this close to me, in fact it creeps me out. So once again, could you please back off," Hikigaya immediately backed off. Iroha was being plain cold and her tone was scaring the shit out of Hikigaya. Is this really his Kouhai that was usually sly and foxy and cute?
"You still haven't answered me, who are you?" her tone still cold and uncaring.
"It's me Isshiki. Me," Hikigaya answered rather hastily, still scared of Isshiki.
But Hikigaya's response was not what Iroha was looking for. "Oh, so your name is Ore (A/N: Me in Japanese is 'Ore' for man that is) huh? It's nice meeting you Ore-san but could you please leave, I'm waiting for someone," impossibly, Iroha's tone got even colder to the point that it could surpass Yukino's.
" Keep acting like this and I'll go home Isshiki," Hikigaya sighed and in Iroha's mind was 'Sure, go home. By all means'. " This senpai of yours have a bed welcoming him back at home that I would definitely choose over a cold self-proclaimed cute Kouhai that calls me out and straight out treats him like a stranger ya know?"
The moment Hikigaya said the word 'Senpai' Iroha's cold expression turned to one of absolute shock. This man is her Senpai? That dead fish eyed senpai? If that is so then what happened to his eyes? How come someone's eyes change drastically overnight? Is that even possible? What is she supposed to do? Her Senpai is good-looking enough with his dead fish eyes but now he looks even better than ever.
The gear in Iroha's mind keep on turning over and over to process her thoughts, making her freeze on spot. Hikigaya took this as his cue to go home and went on his way.
Just as Hikigaya was a good few meters away, Iroha's went out of her stupor and ran after him. "Wait Senpai!"
Hikigaya turned around and was instantly brought down to Iroha's face. Iroha grabbed his collars to bring his face down and inspected it. Nose, looks the same. Lips, no changes, how about the cheeks? Its…red? Then it came to her, the distance between their faces was just a few inches. Their nose was almost touching.
Blood came rushing to her face and a red faced Iroha jumped back a few meters away, in one jump, pretty impressive.
"Are you really Senpai?" Iroha asked, face still blushing.
"Who else am I supposed to be?" Hikigaya himself was still blushing but he got his composure back. Damn girl really have no sense of personal space. But he was confused; did she really not know it was him? His dead fish eyes should have been a clear give away. So he asked, "Is my dead fish eyes not a dead give away?"
Once again, Iroha was confused. Did he not know that the very thing that can be called one of his identities was gone? Instead of answering him, she went fishing in her purse for a while and took out a small mirror, and turned it to Hikigaya for him to it himself.
"What's with this mirror? You want me to look at my 'handsome' self?" his sarcasm was answered with a nod. And when he did, he was stunned. Who the heck is this guy? Who is this man staring back at him from the mirror? Is this an edited photo of him with big eyes? But how can it blink at the same time as him and copy the small movement that he does with his head? So technologies really have advanced so far huh.
"Isshiki, what kind of mirror is this, the normal kind?" he was answered with a nod. "Did you put an edited picture of mine on this mirror?" a shake of head this time. "Then who the fuc- oof!" he was interrupted by a punch to the stomach by his Kouhai.
"Curse at me again and my cute little fists will be the last thing you will have to be worried about, Senpai," the megawatt smile he received from her only delivered coldness that for the second time of the day, scared the living shit out of him.
Quickly regaining his cool, he continued " Then who is this, staring back at me from the mirror. This is definitely not me."
"Exactly my thoughts! What happened to you Senpai? Did you eat something bad yesterday?" now she won't have to explain her previous behaviors towards him just a few moments ago. That saves her some trouble of thinking and explaining.
"Eating something bad won't have this kind of effect. Anyway, I don't think anything can explain this for now so let's just put it aside. I'll go to the doctor later. Now it made sense to me, about how Komachi was acting this morning."
"Yeah, Komachi-chan is probably really shocked to see the change in her brother so early in the morning. I pity her," Iroha just went with it but she was shocked at how casual her Senpai was acting about this whole thing. Even though it was a matter concerning him, he just shrugged it off just like that. He just lost one of his identities and this is how he acts, how cool! Iroha was truly impressed.
"Well then, have a nice day Isshiki. I'm off to home," he was about to walk away but a grip on his shoulder with the grip strength that could rival an eagle's made him stop. He was afraid to turn around to see what was it holding him back but still did so. And when he did, he was greeted with Iroha's smile that just tells, "Walk another step and you're dead meat Senpai." How could that cute smile send that message to him?!
"Where do you think you're going Senpai? Home?"
"That much should be obvious."
That was what Hikigaya was supposed to say but words couldn't be formed. That smile of hers was cute, but it was only on the outside. On the inside, the scariness of that smile has no bound. It was scary as hell.
Instead what came out of Hikigaya's mouth was " To that vending machine over there, you must be thirsty right, rushing to come here and all. I'll treat you so stay still 'kay?" he may sound cool and composed but inside, he was nervous that he would displease this unexpectedly scary girl that usually acted all sly and cutesy on him.
"Hooo! Senpai is trying to earn points from me!" Iroha giggled, she wasn't really sure but that cold attitude of hers earlier seemed to scare her Senpai and now said person is trying his best to please her. It was somewhat cute, seeing him act like that.
Hikigaya had something to comment about what she said but he decided to tease her to get back at what she did to him so early in the day, "Well you could say it like that, I've been low on points with you lately after all," he then faced forward and walked to the vending machine, posture all slouched.
Calling it a success would be rather sufficient as just as he said that, Iroha's face became red. So red that it could easily be compared to a radioactive tomato. Not only that, but Iroha's mind went haywire.
What did he meant by earning points from her? Is he trying to hit on her? Then how come her usual rejection isn't coming out of her mouth, as she wants? 'Low on points with you lately'? Is he initiating that he had been trying to earn points her for a while now? If so then that shouldn't be necessary as he was always earning points from her just by interacting with her. Seriously that guy, he calls himself a loner but how can a loner easily make her heart beat so hard by merely a few words?
Just as she got her mind all together, she noticed that Hikigaya was already back from the vending machine, holding two cans of drink with one hand. She could see that one of it is the usual favorite drink of his, MAXX COFFEE, the drink is practically concentrated sugar, and he should stop drinking that before he got diabetes. The other drink is MAXX COFFEE? But it have a label that says 'low sugar' so it should be safe to drink right?
"Here, I don't know what you like so I bought you what I would call the 'Diet MAXX COFFEE'!" he handed her the drink and opened his own can then immediately chugged on it.
Iroha stared at the drink on her hand, doubt filling her mind that this thing is less sweet that the original version. She once had a taste of the drink that her Senpai liked so much by stealing a sip from him and that was definitely one of the best and worst moments of her life. Reason for that being that she had an indirect kiss with him and the other because the taste of the drink was so disgustingly sweet that it lingered on her tongue for a good few days. Drinking normal water doesn't work and somehow black coffee tasted sweet in that few days.
Deciding to throw away all doubt, she opened the can and took a sip of it. With a deadpan face she stared at the can again, specifically the label. 'Low sugar'...
My ass! If this thing is low sugar then just how low sugared is the normal beverages?! This thing is far sweeter than any sweet drinks that she ever drank! Except for the original MAXX COFFEE that is… But that's beside the point! How dare they call this sugar abomination low sugar?! Any normal person shouldn't be drinking this stuff. This thing is a lie that could bring disaster upon humanity just by existing! No, a lie would be an understatement.
Mendacity. Yes, that's the right word. This thing is mendacity! It's trying to trick humanity using the 'low sugar' label to lure humans to drink it when in fact; this thing could be in the same level of sweetness of the original version. This thing is trying to increase diabetes victims!
Seeing all sorts of face form on Iroha's face, Hikigaya couldn't help but let out a chuckle and take the can away form her. He didn't think that she would actually drink it. He thought that she would distance herself from any drink that had the name MAXX COFFEE the moment she saw it, considering her reaction the first time she tasted. It was hilarious, she even threw all sort of curses at him while he was laughing.
"Here, take this. It'll wash away the taste," Hikigaya took out a can of drink from his pocket that strangely didn't bulge from the size of the can, and put it on Iroha's hand. "But still, didn't really think that you would drink it. You practically swore at my face the first time you tasted the original version after all."
Opening the second can, she muttered small thanks before drinking it all in one go, hoping that any lingering taste of that abomination of sugary drink will be washed away. Which it did, making her feel relieved. She turned to her Senpai to give him a small smile.
Hikigaya gave his own smile that instantly turned to a grimace as for the second time of the day and his life Isshiki Iroha punched him. He hunched over from the punch, the drink that was originally his Kouhai's thankfully didn't spill while his own drink was already finished and thrown away.
"Geez, it's not a thing to joke about you know? That thing could possibly give diabetes just by drinking even half a can of it and you call that the 'Diet MAXX COFFEE'?" Iroha pouted, making Hikigaya laugh again despite the lingering pain on his stomach. "So what are you going to do with that drink?" Iroha pointed at the so-called 'low sugar' MAXX COFFEE.
"What am I gonna do with it ya say? Drink it of course, don't wanna waste after all," Hikigaya said, making Iroha a bit flustered. She may not seem to be the type to mind it but she actually does, about indirect kiss that is. Seeing her getting flustered, Hikigaya smirked, "with a straw of course."
And there it goes the good atmosphere, thrown away just like that. "Senpai, you're enjoying this aren't you?"
"Now, whatever you are talking about I have no idea," Hikigaya chuckled a bit. "Am I supposed to enjoy seeing your rare flustered face that I can only see every once in a while or am I supposed to enjoy getting you all riled up like this?"
Hikigaya leaned a bit closer to Iroha and then landed the finishing blow "or am I supposed to be enjoying you as a whole?"
Blood filled Iroha's face again, making her red all over. Hikigaya hanging out with Yukinoshita Haruno was definitely a bad thing. He's starting to pick up her teasing habit and a teasing Hikigaya is bad for her heart. He is even starting to mind less and less about personal space, a thing that he used to mind a lot.
But Iroha, despite being flustered didn't back down. Teasing was her field of specialty after all so she countered him. "Senpai is getting bolder and bolder by day, are you perhaps starting to get serious about trying to get me to go out with you?" Iroha then leaned closer to his ear and softly blew on it.
But Hikigaya didn't falter at all, compared to Haruno, this kind of flirty teasing was nothing. Haruno's way of teasing was more extreme than this. "Too bad for ya Isshiki, that won't work on me, no matter how sensitive my ear is," Hikigaya then backed off with a smug face. This was probably the first time Hikigaya ever won against Iroha in this kind of thing so he was very proud of himself and made a reminder to thank Haruno for this, for her indirect involvement.
"I see, so Senpai is getting more invulnerable to this stuff huh?" Iroha mumbled. "Maybe I should take it up a notch and take it a bit more to the extreme?"
Iroha probably didn't mean to say it out loud but Hikigaya definitely heard it and a shiver immediately ran down his spine, if she's gonna take it to the extreme then she's probably going for Haruno's level of extreme teasing and Haruno's level are almost to the intimate level of teasing. (A/N: In Haruno's chapter, I will try to show what level I meant)
"H-Hey Isshiki, let's forget about this kind of stuff and start doing what you came here for. I-I mean we're just wasting time standing around and not doing anything productive," scared at the thought of Iroha turning into a second Haruno, Hikigaya tried to turn her attention away from this teasing shits.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well then, let's go Senpai, you're going to have so much to carry so better prepare yourself."
Hikigaya grunted as they began to walk after hearing what Iroha just said. "Spare me please," he said pathetically " isn't taking away my weekend enough punishment for what I did yesterday."
"What are you complaining for, it should probably be nothing for you. I may have said that you're going to have so much to carry but all that you're gonna carry is the clothes that I'm gonna buy. Other than that we'll just hang around the mall and do some stuffs," her eyes travelled around Hikigaya's body for a bit "or is all that muscles just for show?"
"Huh? That doesn't have anything to do with my body. What matters is that you sound like you're gonna buy a lot of clothes and then make me walk around the mall with all the heavy clothes. Can't you at least shop before going home?" negotiating has the high possibility of not working but what's wrong with at least trying.
"Nope, if I go shopping last some clothes that I want may be out of stock so I'm not taking any risks. Anyway, complain all you want later, for now lets just walk."
Any complaints stopped and as they continued walking, Iroha became a Yuigahama, just that she is a bit smarter…and sly. Surprisingly, Hikigaya went along the conversation and gave long replies instead of his usual short replies.
That is another thing that changed about Hikigaya, aside from his eyes that is. But this is actually something that happened a while ago, during club time. It was when he forgot to bring his light novel with him so he joined the conversation that Yuigahama forced on him and since then, he became somewhat nice in going along with conversations. That Yuigahama probably infected Hikigaya with her bubbliness.
Anyway, after a while of walking and talking they arrived at the mall.
(TIME SKIP)
After a painfully long time of shopping which took a few hours, the two went out of the clothes section and went down a floor to take poor Hikigaya away from any clothe related stores. Poor guy was reminded of the harshness of shopping with women once again, the first time being with his mom and Komachi.
"Ahahaha, you sure look tired Senpai. But you better get used to this, might be useful for you in the future," she then accidentally let out a thought of her " I may not be the only one you're going to do this kind of thing with."
"Huh, what was that?" Hikigaya tried his best to pretend that he misheard that and also that he didn't hear any of what Iroha accidentally let out.
"N-No, it's nothing. Let's just go find somewhere to eat, I'm getting hungry," a bit panicked, Iroha stuttered. Good thing he didn't hear that, he doesn't have to know about for now.
"Sure, I think I know a good café not far from here. Should be good enough for ya right?"
"Maybe, I rarely eat at this part of the mall so it's my first time going around here. How high your points are going to be depends on how good the café is. You are running low on points so please treat me well okay?" a sincere megawatt smile bloomed on her face, making Hikigaya blush before he quickly turned his head away to hide his blush.
"What, are trying to be Komachi? Sorry to say but you're not as cute as her so it won't work on me," he may sound firm but he's still facing away with a blush on his face.
Iroha giggled at his antics, as always, a brocon. She went closer to him, grabbed his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder "but it seemed to work well in my opinion Senpai."
Although a bit shocked at her bold action, he brushed it off as her being touchy feely just like Komachi does when with she is with him thus, activating his brotherly instincts. Even then, it was still somewhat embarrassing for him.
"Well you could say it like that, but still, not as cute as Komachi," to say that the two of them was an interesting sight to see would be an understatement because it's not everyday that anyone could see tomatoes walking beside each other like a couple.
"H-Hey Isshiki, I think this is a bit too close don't ya think?" at first it didn't seem to matter but as time passed on and they walked further, he started to realize that their physical contact is more intimate than he thought so he tried to pry her off gently.
Same with Iroha, as soon as she realized that, she jumped a little away from him and just walked ahead, face down.
The two of them continued to walked around in silence. Just as it was starting to get awkward, the café that Hikigaya mentioned earlier came to view and with no words, they entered.
The café was small and doesn't have many customers, making it look pretty empty. But it gave a off an aura of calmness that soothes away any negative emotion as soon as they enter the café.
Because the café was pretty much empty, they were able to get a table for them right away.
"This is a nice café, it just soothes you. I wonder why it doesn't have many customer?"
"I don't know, but to me it's both good and bad that it doesn't have many customers. Bad that their business isn't blooming well and good that because the fewer the people here, the more calming it gets when you enter this place, it's a mystery to me that this café functions like that," Iroha can see the trueness of what Hikigaya just said, even though it's her first time in the café.
Hikigaya called for the waiter and a man that looked like he was in his forties came. "Old man, give me the usual and for this girl, what do you want Isshiki?"
"Um, can you elaborate a little on what you mean by the usual? For all I know this is your first time coming here," the old man said, making shocked that the nice old man that sometimes gave him food on the house would forget him.
But then he remembered, his damned eyes! He thought that it was going to be a pain in the ass to explain his situation so he just listed his usual order that only he ever ordered. "House blend coffee with extra amount of sugar and cream, make sure to use sweet milk and add some caramel in it. For the food, a sweetened strawberry cheesecake would be fine. That good enough for ya to remember me old man?"
"Oh, Hikigaya-kun! You look different somehow; I didn't recognize you at all. What changed?"
"The eyes, don't know what happened though. Just ignore it, you'll get used to seeing me like this. So Isshiki, your order?"
"Ah, I'll just have black coffee and this dark chocolate cake (A/N: Actually tastes good). I kind of don't want to eat anything really sweet for now," Iroha shuddered as she remembered the abomination she drank this morning.
"Okay, I'll be back with your orders in a bit," the old man then went back to the kitchen.
"Now that I think about it, yesterday you threatened to drink MAXX COFFEE in front of me right?" yesterday was pretty hectic since she came.
"Yeah why?"
"Should've let you go on with it, it may be a torture for me but seeing you suffer from the sweetness would have been good," Hikigaya chuckled at the thought of Iroha cursing him again for always drinking that sweet monster.
"Geh, now I'm glad that I didn't go through with it. The sweetness would have been enough torture but added with you enjoying me suffer is something I don't think I can handle," Iroha grimaced at the bad combination of torture.
"Yesterday you said that the student council work is done for the month right, so you gonna be coming to the club everyday?" not that he wanted for her to come everyday, but something just doesn't feel right when she doesn't come on her free time.
Being serious for once, she answered for real "I can't say for sure, even though our work is done, sometimes the teachers just throw works on us all of a sudden so I may not come everyday."
"Oh, I see," Hikigaya accidentally used a disappointed tone. She may sometimes annoy him but he grew fond of her antics throughout the year he had known her.
Iroha noticed his disappointed tone but didn't make any comment on it. She knew him long enough to know that when he uses a disappointed tone in this kind of situation, it's accidental.
It also made her happy that she is something somewhat special to him but she knew, there is more girls that can make him feel like this. She grew determined to win more of his affections, even though that will make some people sad. She also had a last option plan and if she were to tell that plan to her rivals in his affection, she may be called crazy for her plan is kind of crazy.
"Senpai, you never told me what happened between Orimoto-san and you. That time you just brushed it off without explaining anything, same with her."
"Like I said that day, a lot of things happened in the past. You could say that is what made me what I am today. Maybe it could have gone the other way and made a different me but I can say that if given the chance to change it, I won't change it."
"Why is that? If I were given a chance to change something drastic I would probably take the chance," Iroha was a bit confused at his choice, why throw away such a big chance?
"If I were to change it, then I won't be what I am today," he was cut off by Iroha.
"You already said that Senpai," she deadpanned.
"I know, but I'm not finished yet. As I said before you interrupted me, if I were not the person I am today, then I can surely say that I won't meet the service club. Not meeting the service club changes a lot of things. For instances, I won't be able to help you with the whole president stuff, thus me not meeting you. There would be a lot of things that I would be missing out on if I were to be different. Though it was a pain, the service club made me meet a lot of people," he was starting to see that he couldn't really call himself a loner anymore. The least he can call himself would be a man with few friends.
Yes, friends. That is what he has nowadays. They won't admit it when face-to-face but they surely are friends. The service club and Iroha, he can call them his friends for sure. There were some more but he can't really be certain about those peoples.
Iroha laughed a little, making Hikigaya confused " I asked you out today to have some fun but I didn't expect it to become a little heart to heart talk."
"Yeah, how did it turn like this? I expected today to be a pain but I enjoyed it, though still tiring."
"Tiring you say, let's see you complain when you're in my shoes, shopping with constant complains from your date."
They both then let out a heartfelt laugh. Times like this is rare between the two of them. At times, they would do this but that was usually done in the service clubroom where Yuigahama and Yukino are also present.
Their order came and they ate, finishing their food in silence with a bit of teasing here and there. When it time to pay, Hikigaya unexpectedly paid for both of them, stunning Iroha. The Hikigaya Hachiman, known in the service club for his unwillingness to pay for other people's bill, was paying for both of them! Is the meteor gonna strike down today?!
"You're paying Senpai? What's the occasion?"
"You said it yourself right, that I'm your date today. So I'm just being a good date and pay for our meal. Or are you suggesting that we pay for ourselves?"
Hikigaya once again stunned Iroha; he said that he is her date today. He not only paid their meal, but also admitted that this is a date! Butterflies swarmed Iroha's stomach and her face became red. Today Hikigaya just kept on making her fall for him more and more.
Deciding that it was time to go home, they went on their merry way out of the mall.
(TIME SKIP)
The two were on their way to the station, already nearing it.
"Thanks for today Senpai, I had a good time. If I were to give you points then I think I will give 80 points," Iroha said, surprising Hikigaya a bit.
"That high? I don't think I did anything good today except pay for our meal though. So where did the other 20 points go to?"
"Come a little bit closer to me and you will earn those 20 points. Please face forward until I am done."
Hikigaya did as Iroha said and moved closer to her. As soon as he was within her range, she took his arms for balance and got on her tiptoes, placing a quick peck to his cheek. That effectively got Hikigaya red, but Iroha's face was even worse. Her face was so red that Hikigaya was afraid that it would explode.
"That completes the point, giving you a hundred point. Now if you would excuse me," Iroha ran to the station with her face still red and facing down, bumping into a few people in the process.
Hikigaya stood still, placing a hand on his cheek that was kissed just a few moments ago. "That was new, is this what she meant when she said that she will take it up a notch?" he remembered in the morning, she said that she will take her teasing up a notch. He had other suspicion but he shrugged it off, no way that is possible.
He looked around and he could still see Iroha in the crowd, her red face making her easy to discover. He took out his phone and sent a text to her, the text containing something that he forgot to say before she ran off. "Be careful on your way home."
He saw her took out her phone and not even a minute after, a reply came "Yeah, you be careful too Senpai, don't take a detour when you see those scamming girls."
He smiled at her reply, even when she was embarrassed; she was still as cheeky as ever. He waited until the train departed before he went on his way home. It was getting dark and he didn't bring bicycle with him, it was going to be a long walk home for him. Even though it was night, it was still as hot as ever. Sweat was rolling down his face, so he decided to slow jog to get some cool air. It was also good for burning all the sugar that he consumed today, especially after drinking two cans and kinds of MAXX COFFEE.
When he jogged, he thought of what happened during the day, a torturous two hour of shopping with Iroha and a meal that became a little heart to heart talk though it was one sided. Thinking about it, they didn't really do much. Is Iroha really satisfied? But then, he remembered the kiss to the cheek yes she was definitely satisfied.
Feeling cooled enough; he stopped slow jogging and walked normally. But the heat soon replaced that and once again, sweat was rolling down his face. Why did he leave his bike at home he didn't know and he cursed himself for that.
As he was cursing himself for leaving his bike, he heard the loud sound of a dog's barking that was soon accompanied by a scream.
CHAPTER END
A/N: YO GUYS! I HIT THE 5K MARK! THOUGH NOT VERY IMPRESSIVE BUT AT LEAST IT PROVES THAT I'M IMPROVING A LITTLE. AND ABOUT THE CLIFFHANGER…IT WAS ON PURPOSE.
AND I WILL LEAVE IT TO YOU GUYS TO DECIDE WHO THE PERSON THAT IS SCREAMING WILL BE. I WILL TRY TO ADJUST THE SITUATION ACCORDING TO WHO YOU GUYS CHOSE.
PLEASE TELL ME THE PERSON OF YOUR CHOICE IN THE REVIEW.
STUPID DREAMS OF THE BETRAYED OUT!