I was going to wait a week before I posted this chapter. But, I figured I'd update early as a last hurrah to 2016.

I hope you enjoy!


Gold Fibre


Two Days in a Row

...

Classes went by a little too slowly for my liking. Math and science classes were a haze, but my other classes were okay, I suppose. Once class had finally ended, I started getting my things together, preparing to leave for the clubroom.

"Hikio."

Turning to the voice, I was surprised to see Miura standing behind me. It's not often the Queen of Fire graces you with her presence during class.

"You need something?"

"Huh? Why would you assume I need something from you?" she said, placing her hands on her hips as her eyebrows knitted in annoyance.

"Like I said last night, we never talk, so what else would it be," I said more than asked.

She huffed before continuing. "We talk once in a while."

Well, I guess she's right. On occasion we'd have to talk during class for school related reasons. But, those were usually one or two word conversations. Other than last night, I can't remember a single time where we've just talked.

Also, don't huff like that; it's kind of cute.

"Anyway, why were you late for class?"

Huh? Why the hell would you care why I was late? We're barely acquaintances, after all. "Hiratsuka-sensei needed to talk to me for a bit."

"Ah, is that it. I thought you might have slept through your alarm or something. Did you end up getting much sleep?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest, causing her decent bust to become a bit more prominent.

Averting my gaze before she notices me looking, I replied, "A few hours. I wouldn't call it restful, though."

"Ah, same for me. I went back to my house after I left, but it still took me a while to fall asleep."

With the way she was crossing her arms and kept glancing around, it was clear she was using quite a bit of energy to force herself to stay in my vicinity. She must be worried about our classmates seeing her talk to someone like me. If you don't want people to see, then why bother talking to me in the first place?

"Is that it? I need to get to club," I say in a dry tone.

She looked away from me with a rather miffed expression. "Yeah, I guess."

You guess? Well, it doesn't matter to me. I turn from her and make my way out of the classroom before she decides to say anything else.

Walking down the hallway, I can't help but wonder what possessed her to talk to me in the first place. Plus, it's not like it was some random place like last night; it was in the classroom with most of our classmates still present. I feel that normally, she wouldn't feel any curiosity at all as to why I was late or how I was doing. Did she feel obligated to talk to me after randomly meeting last night? If so, then she's just deluding herself.

Realizing that I'd made it to my club, I can hear Yuigahama's excited voice through the door. With a slight smile making its way to my lips, I slide the door open and walk in.

Yuigahama turns to the door and smiles at me.

"Hikki!"

"Hello, Hikigaya-kun," Yukinoshita said with a slight nod.

"Yo." And with that, our usual signal to begin club activities, I take my seat and pull out my newest novel.

"Hikki, how was class?"

This was the normal routine at the beginning of club.

"Fine. Nothing special," I said, not even looking away from my book.

"Ah, same for me! Except Ebina..." she began, but I ended up only half listening to her. It's not that I'm being rude, it's just that what Yuigahama normally talks about is either nonsensical, or something I'm just straight up uninterested in.

As I was reading my book and catching a sentence or two from Yuigahama every now and then, my mind began to drift.

"Hikki!"

"Hm?" I turned to the voice I had just heard to see a pouting Yuigahama.

"You, like, totally just nodded off!"

Did I? Well, I wouldn't be surprised. I only got a few hours of sleep last night. Plus, I'm usually relaxed whenever I'm at the club. Usually...

"Sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"How come? What were you thinking about?" Yuigahama asked with a look of mild concern.

What's with all these questions Gahama-chan? "Not much. I just can't sleep sometimes."

"Yuigahama-san, there is no need to be worried. With his current lifestyle, I'm not surprised in the slightest that he would have developed a sleeping disorder," Yukinoshita said in her usual icy tone before she turned to me. "Maybe you should consider exercising from time to time."

Hey, I'm athletic enough as it is. I bike to school every day, you know. Besides, I kept pace with the Riajuu King himself, remember?

Oh, wait. No one knew about that but Hayama and myself. Eh, I never get the credit anyway, so it doesn't matter in the end.

"Yeah, yeah," I say, too tired to come up with a proper rebuttal.

Just then, I remembered something that had been on my mind since last night. "Yuigahama, is something wrong with Miura?"

"Eh? Yumiko?" she said, making a thoughtful expression. "I don't think so, but why?"

"Indeed. It is quite rare for you to show concern for someone else, let alone a girl." Leave it to Yukinoshita to insult me at every turn.

"I don't know how to put it. She seems... lonely?" I say, ignoring the Ice Queen's comment.

"Lonely? I don't see why she would be. We hang out together all the time."

"Hmm... Never-mind then."

Both of them were giving me strange looks, but decided against saying anything. I took that as my cue to return to my book.

So Yuigahama, who's usually pretty perceptive when it comes to her groups dynamic, didn't see anything wrong with Miura? Maybe I'm just looking too deep in to things again.

With that thought, I put all of my focus on the book in my hands.

After a while, the atmosphere in the clubroom returned to normal.

...

...

...

The rest of our club time went by the same way it usually does. Yuigahama always either talking, or tapping away at her phone and Yukinoshita throwing the stray insult my way every now and then.

Once club was over, I said my farewells, left the clubroom, and made my way to the front gates of the school.

'Bzzt!'

Surprised for a moment at the unexpected vibration in my pocket, I check to see who had sent me a text. Although, I'm pretty confident I already know who it is. Not many people would willingly contact me, after all.

Ah, I was right. It's Komachi asking me to run to the grocery store on my way home. Cheh, what a pain. But, since it's my cute Imoutu asking, I suppose I'll listen. Not to mention the fact that Komachi is usually the one who cooks for me.

Good thing the store isn't too far off from my path home.

It takes me about ten minutes to reach the store. Checking my phone, I go through the list of what Komachi needs so I can map the fastest route through the store. As I grab a basket and begin gathering the requested items, I start to feel something I'm rather used to. Given how often I felt Yuigahama boring holes into the back of my head last year, I can tell when someone is staring at me; and someone is doing just that right now.

Activating my master level peripheral vision, I slowly scan my surroundings. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of gold. Turning fully to the blonde haired individual, I see Miura standing two aisles down from me. To my surprise, she wasn't glaring at me.

Never-mind. Now she's glaring.

"Hikio!" she says in an annoyed tone as she stormed over to me. Hey! What the hell did I do to earn that kind of reaction? Also, what did the floor ever do to you?

"Yo."

"What are you doing here?" she says, putting her hands on her hips.

"Um, what else would I be doing in a grocery store?" I say, holding up my basket for Miura to see.

"Ah, well..." she begins, her scowl lessening a bit as she uncomfortably scratches her arm. "I guess I just figured you were following me or something. I wouldn't be surprised if a creep like you ended up being a stalker," she finished with a slight smirk.

Harsh! But, it's not like this is the first time I've been accused of stalking.

Anyway, what's with the smirk? It's not like me being creepy is an inside joke between us or anything.

"Of course," I say, turning from her and heading to my next destination: Eggs.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Turning to my blonde classmate, I note that her scowl is now at least twice as intense. I guess the Queen Bee doesn't like it when her pawns walk away from her without permission. I just look at her without saying anything. The silence must be too much for her to handle considering how uncomfortable she looks right now.

"Why'd you walk away?" she says with a frown, her piercing green eyes letting me know just how unhappy she was with my actions.

"I didn't know we had anything else to talk about. Like I've said twice already, you and I never talk outside of the bare minimum required for school."

Her frown deepens as she crosses her arms over her chest; and what is that expression? It looks like a mix of shyness, annoyance, and disgust all in one. I'm flattered, Miura, that you would create a whole new emotion just for me.

...

Actually, that kind of hurts now that I think about it.

"It's not like it's my fault we never talk," she says in a relatively soft voice. At least, relative to her usual bossy, condescending tone.

"Huh, whatever you say. I need to finish shopping; my sister's waiting for me," I say, turning from her and walking away. This time, no one stopped me.

After about fifteen minutes of gathering the necessary ingredients for tonight's dinner, I line up at one of the registers.

"Ah, Hikio again," a dry, yet somehow annoyed voice is heard behind me.

"Hoh, look who's following who," I say as I turned to look at her.

She frowns once again, looking like she was sentenced to life in prison. "Hey! It's not like I had a choice. The other register has a huge line!" she almost hisses at me.

Well, if you were going to be this upset about lining up behind me, you certainly could have cued up in the other line.

"I get it," I waved her off, returning my attention once again to the back of some insignificant person in front of me. I could hear a small huff behind me, but she didn't say anything else.

After a few minutes of waiting, I finally get to pay for my stuff.

"That will be twelve-hundred yen, sir."

Handing the man behind the register exact change, I grab my bags and head out of the store.

'Bzzt!Bzzt!Bzzt!'

Startled because of my phone for the second time in one day, I put one of my bags down and answer the incoming call.

"Komachi."

"Onii-chan! Where are you? Komachi has been waiting forever! Ah, that scored me a bunch of points!"

Jeez... So energetic.

"I'm on my way from the store right now. I'll be home in ten minutes or so."

"Okay, Onii-chan! I'll be waiting, so hurry up!" And with that, I hang up the phone. Putting it back in my pocket, I reach down and retrieve my grocery bag.

"Hikio."

Seriously? This is the third time you've said my name in the last half hour.

Wait! Hikio isn't even my name!

"What is it?"

Miura's eyes narrow and a frown once again mars her face. "Can you sound any less excited to see me," she says in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Anyway," she begins, tossing her hair with her free arm, "are you heading home?"

"Yeah. Like I said, my sister is waiting for me." Did you not hear me say that not even twenty minutes ago?

"Oh, okay," she says with a look of annoyance. What do you have to be annoyed about? I'm the one who should be annoyed right now. Stop trying to-

It looked for a moment like she was about to say something, so I beat her to it.

"Miura."

"Y-Yeah?" My stern tone must have surprised her.

"Cut this out."

She tilts her head a bit with a confused expression. "Huh? What are you-"

"Don't feel that you are obligated to talk to me just because we ran into each other. I may be a familiar face, but stop forcing yourself to talk to me out of some misunderstood sense of duty."

As I was saying this, her jaw slacked ever so slightly and her eyes widened. At the end of my words, her expression morphed to one of anger.

"It's getting late. You should head home before it gets any darker."

She looked like she was about to yell at me, but stopped upon hearing her phone's obnoxious ring tone. She gave me a look as if to say, 'you're lucky,' and reached into her purse for her phone. Not wanting to be labeled an eavesdropper, I gave her a nod and turned to walk away. I was going to leave anyway, so it's for the best.

"Bye, Hikio."

In mild surprise, I turn to see her holding her hand over her phone's receiver and looking at me. You don't need to say goodbye to me, you know.

I turned once again and walked away, offering only a slight wave as my own farewell.

After I was a few blocks away, I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and let my gaze linger on the few visible stars in the night sky. I need to find a way to make her start ignoring me again. It would be one thing if we had already been on friendly terms, but that wasn't the case between the Fire Queen and myself. We weren't enemies, but we weren't friends either. Hell, I don't even know if I should consider us acquaintances. That being the case, it's annoying that she would start engaging in conversation after we met at the bridge early this morning.

You don't owe me anything, Miura. So stop acting like it.

Thinking about it some more, I didn't even notice I had arrived home until I was standing at the entrance to my family's house. Opening the door, I take off my shoes and call out, "I'm home."

"Ah! Welcome home, Onii-chan!"

Komachi came running from the living room with an ecstatic expression. Ah, Komachi, never lose that excitement you get for your Onii-chan.

Eh, on second thought, that didn't sound very good.

As I was carrying the groceries to the kitchen, Komachi trailed right behind me.

"How was your day, Onii-chan?"

"Fine. Yours?"

"Great! But, I couldn't wait to see you, Onii-chan! Ah, that-"

"Oi. You already used that one today. Negative Komachi points."

"Boo. Onii-chan's no fun," my little sister said as she began to sulk by the kitchen counter. I started storing the perishable goods in the fridge for Komachi to use whenever she starts cooking dinner.

"Leave me alone. I'm tired."

"Didn't sleep? What were you thinking about, Onii-chan?" she said in a mock tone of concern.

"Nothing," I said, closing the refrigerator door and turning to my little sister. "When's dinner gonna be ready?"

"Hmm. Does an hour sound good?"

"Sure. I'll be in my room," I say, walking out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"Okay, Onii-chan."

...

...

...

I must have fallen asleep, because Komachi was in my room standing over my bed.

"Onii-chan, I was shaking you forever! I thought you might have died!" she says with a cute pout.

"Ah. My bad." I must be more tired than I thought.

"Dinner's ready. Hurry up, Onii-chan!" she says, shaking me one last time for good measure before walking out of my room.

Stretching my limbs, I get out of bed and make my way to follow her. Once in the kitchen, I grab a plate and scoop some of Komachi's homemade food onto it. Taking my seat, I notice that she was staring at me.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," she says with a small smile. "Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu."

After a few minutes of eating in silence with each others company, I noticed Komachi staring at me once again.

"What is it this time? And don't say it's nothing; you don't usually stare at me too often."

Komachi smiled and waved her arms. "No. It's really nothing."

Deciding it would be less bothersome to just drop it, I offered her a small grunt and continued eating. It only took another few minutes for the two of us to finish our dinner. Taking Komachi's dishes, I make my way over to the kitchen sink.

"Let me help, Onii-chan," she says, rolling up her sleeves.

"No. You should go study; you have that big math test tomorrow, right?" She needs all the studying she can get, considering she shares the same weakness to math as me.

"Ugh... Yeah," she said in a dejected tone. "I guess I'll go do that."

With that, Komachi dragged her feet out of the kitchen and up the stairs. When I heard her bedroom door close, I couldn't help but wonder if she was actually going to study or not.

I took my time washing the dishes. I normally hate working, chores included, but something about washing the dishes has always been relaxing for me. Maybe it's because you don't really need to think about anything while you're doing it. Who knows?

When I was finished, I made my way upstairs to my room. Taking off my blazer, I threw myself onto my bed. Almost in an instant, I could feel my eyes drooping, and my consciousness fading away.

My last thoughts were of how I was going to deal with Miura from now on.


That's chapter two for you. I hope you were able to enjoy it!

If you notice any grammar or spelling mistakes, let me know with a PM.

Thanks for reading!

...

-Mystiirious