A/N: As promised, back with another chapter of A New Start. I'm really glad to see you guys so pumped for this. Well then, let's get on with it.

Story Start!


The rest of the weekend faded all other thoughts from my mind. After my meeting with Haruno I had grown even more quiet, or at least that's what was noted by my family. I was thinking about a lot of things, a lot of different factors involved with my decision to side with her. But there was another issue springing from my thinking. There were no emotions to my thoughts. I had no regard for feelings of my own. I thought of other's reactions and feelings merely to gain a sense of what would happen, but not once in my entire two days of thinking had I thought about what I wanted. I only knew what I needed to do to survive.

This is how it should have been from the very beginning. It's more generic line than what I'm used to, but expectations will bring forward nothing but disappointment. I know I'm in no position to have 'wants' in this situation. Now, I'm merely hiding behind the dark wings of Yukinoshita Haruno, nothing less then her pawn in battle. I had no value myself. I wasn't the protagonist anymore, if I ever was one to begin with.

I decided to put aside these more depressing analogies of my situation when I 'woke up' on Monday morning. As in, I never slept to begin with. Still, droning around my house I somehow managed to complete my morning routine as I left the door with a can of Maxx in my hand and a slice of toast. I was running late, and Komachi had already left. I would barely make it in time at my current rate. But that's fine, because I know I won't exactly be alone. In fact, you could even say I planned for it.

As expected, when I reached a now more familiar intersection on the road, I could hear hurried footsteps catching up behind me. After hearing the sound nearing me for a second or two, I was prompted to look around as I was tapped on the shoulder by most likely the running person. I turned around, gazing into green eyes and blonde hair. A face I could call familiar now.

"Hikio." She said, gasping for breath. She probably ran trying to catch up to me. Before I could reply the light on our cross turned green and I walked along with her just a step behind me.

"Yo." I finally said, lamely as usual, when we reached the other end of the road and continued our stroll to school. I finally glanced to my side to get a good look at her as she was now.

The Fire-Queen of Sobu, a creature of beauty that I shared a class with this year. By logic of my own name scheme, you could consider her to be the arch-nemesis of Yukino, who I dubbed to be the Ice-Queen. Last year, that could have probably applied, seeing as Miura literally attacked her at one point, but that's not the case anymore. They lost their status as equals. And that's because Miura Yumiko is simply too much nicer than Yukinoshita Yukino as she was now.

After the 'incident' with her own social circle, Ebina was the only one Miura had left, being her best friend. Surprisingly, even Tobe was someone Miura still spoke to, though very occasionally, and it was probably because of Ebina anyway. As for the rest of them, I can leave it to imagination what happened between them. I knew the story of Miura and Hayama, because she told me, but I still didn't know what caused the rift of Yuigahama and her or the rest of Yuigahama's old clique. My assumption had always been it had to do with taking sides with Yukinoshita, but I couldn't be sure.

Still, even after a heartbreak and hating Hayama, losing most of her friends and by extension, some of her social standing, she couldn't be happier. In her mind, she was free from the shackles of her binding social contract of everything fake and unreal that she faced because of Hayama Hayato. She had enough friendships to call true. She didn't need to be on a phone to fill in the gaps of empty conversation.

Speaking of which, that's exactly what Miura was doing the whole time I spent monologuing. She had pulled out her phone and tapped away at lightning speeds. Oi, does that mean I'm empty conversation?

"If you're going to keep up like that, don't expect me to jump in and save you if you get hit by a truck at the next cross." I said, cracking open my can of Maxx Coffee and sipping down the now lukewarm liquid. A godsend for days where sleep escaped me. Nothing better than this. In response, she glared at me like the normally did, but obliged anyway, quickly typing away what I can assume to be a quick 'goodbye' and closing the phone.

"So, how was your weekend?" she asked after a moment of silence between us. Shit. I didn't know the opposite of that was engaging in conversation.

"Nothing special." I said, and I could visibly see her forming a tick mark on her forehead. We walked a few more steps before I finally felt the glare that was very not-so-subtly directed at me. I turned to see her looking at me expectantly. Oh, right.

"How was your weekend?" I asked tiredly, taking another sip of my coffee.

"I didn't do anything." she said plainly.

"Then why the hell did you make me ask?!" I asked irately, gaining tick marks of my own. Miura looked like she was having the time of her life after seeing my reaction. It was an intended joke, but Miura answered the question anyway.

"It's something friends do when they see each other after a while, Hikio." She said, almost condescendingly. Don't try preaching to me, it won't work.

"I don't have friends." I shot back, continuing on my walk.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." She said, letting out a tired sigh. Hey, stop looking at me like I need pity! I visibly sulked, gulping a large amount of the Maxx this time. We were almost at school now. I finished the rest of my drink and threw it away.

"Miura. I need to ask you something." I say, with a more serious tone, and hers immediately follows suit, as if knowing what I had to talk about.

"What is it?" she asks, gaining a cold look in her eyes. Miura Yumiko's own hate was something to be feared.

"I'm going to call upon that 'favor' you owe me." her eyes softened, realizing that the conversation wasn't what she originally thought.

"I'll tell you the rest after school."

"Hey, don't just assume I don't have plans!" she said, crossing her arms.

"Ebina isn't even coming today. You have no plans." I said. And how did I know that? Well Miura told me herself last week. Why was I spending time with Miura last week? I had no idea.

"Hm. Alright." she said, as we finally entered the gates to school. We ended up arriving a bit earlier, giving us ample time to reach class before I made my way to the new seat, which was, in fact, next to Miura's at the back of the class. I promptly fell asleep.


As the classes went on I had more time to think about my situation. Why did the Fire-Queen of Sobu owe me a favor, you might ask? That story goes back to the end of the second year, when things were already starting to wear thin between me and the Service Club. Miura Yumiko had approached us with one last request- A request to finally confess to Hayama Hayato and break through the ties that were holding back her clique of friends. She had noticed the smaller details, like how Ebina refused to talk about herself, refusing that sort of intimacy with anyone. She wanted her group to grow closer, so she approached the Service Club.

She was shot down. She was torn apart once more, this time with Yuigahama disagreeing with Miura's idea, and Yukinoshita ridiculing her and calling it 'humorous'. Miura had left the room with a sad look on her face, mainly directed at Yuigahama.

Naturally, having the 'savior complex' that I had, I once again chose to approach Miura alone. I had told her that I would help her. Naturally, she felt bad about having me betray my 'friends' like that. Thus, unlike a request, this time I approached her under the pretense that she would owe me for all the help and advice that I gave her. Not as a member of the Service Club, but simply for my own benefit. And so, we proceeded with our plans together.

And we all saw how that turned out. The only consolation was that Miura didn't regret what happened. It didn't make it any easier for me. A screw-up is still a screw-up. And that time, it was my ignorance that led to those results. It never mattered to me how grateful Miura was in the end, the fact had remained that I had completely failed the original request. While in my mind her situation now was the best for her 'true' friendships, it was never her wish in the first place. No matter how happy she was, it wasn't what she originally wanted. It was as if I forced my own idealism of what should happen into the equation.

And I never felt more sorry. Until now, I actually had no plans of making use of that favor.


After classes had ended, I quickly got up from my desk and made my way to the Literature Club. My constant thinking and lack of sleep had led to a painful headache in the back of my head and I needed that tea. Miura was going to play Tennis today anyway, so it meant we would meet after 4:30 anyway.

Literature Clubroom

I opened the door quickly and walked in, receiving greetings from the usual members and the one or two that only stopped by a few times a week.

"Ah, Good afternoon, Hikigaya-senpai!" said a cheerful Yoshino Miyabi, who was at the kettle near the sink. I of course took note of her greeting as well. 'Good afternoon'? Finally a generation I found hope for!

"Yo." Of course, I myself took no shame in being a degenerate for those kinds of things. I sat down on one of the desks, nowadays rather instinctively going to sit across wherever Yoshino was sitting. She made a point to do the same whenever I came here first, so the least I could do was oblige to that. Instead of taking out my book like I normally would, however, today I plopped my bag on the table and simply buried my face into it. Yoshino gave a worried laugh at my actions and gave me my cup of tea.

"It's still perfect, kouhai-san." I said, mumbling to myself at this point, gaining some form of relief from the tea. She heard it anyway and smiled.

"Thanks Senpai. What got you like this in the first place? I bet you stayed up all night playing eroge." Ah, back to deprecating comments about me? Well, that's something I can never truly escape. At least she was amused.

Time for me to have some fun though.

"You know Yoshino…" I said with a smooth tone. She visibly stiffened up, with a scared look in her eyes.

"When I play those eroge as you say… I have a very bad habit." She grew even more scared as I continued on, but she made the mistake of humoring me anyway.

"A-and… What would that be?" she asked, very meekly.

"Well… I can't help but always go… for the kouhai route." Her face went completely red, and if this were a cartoon she would have had steam blowing out of her ears.

"E-eh? W-what are you implying S-senpai?! My heart can't-"

"Just kidding." I said, in an emotionless voice and immediately started reading my book. I wonder what she was gonna say if I hadn't ended it there. Funnily enough, Yoshino isn't the type of girl that would shoot me down like Isshiki would do in this situation.

After a while I finally glanced up at her for a second. She was still sulking and fuming with a pout on her face. It took all the restraint I had not to smile. It was a good feeling.

The Literature Club isn't really that bad. To an extent, I would even say I'm happy to be its president, even if only on paper.


I finally made my way out of the special building after saying my goodbyes to the club. Now being 4:30, or relatively close to that time, I started walking towards the tennis courts. Within a matter of minutes, I had reached my destination. From the looks of it, Miura had just finished up her match, just putting her blazer back on. After seeing me, she quickly muttered her goodbyes to her club mates and joined me in our walk.

A Few Minutes Later

Miura and I were now in a park, with her sitting on a bench probably exhausted. After watching her I had walked up to a vending machine and bought her some no-name peach flavored iced tea.

"So? What was it you wanted from me?" She asked, sipping my drink.

"It's best if I explain from the start. I spoke to Yukinoshita Haruno on Saturday." I said, quickly shutting up Miura.

"Yukinoshita's sister?" She asked, as if repeating my statement, but I answered her anyway.

"Yes."

"Hayama once told me that the two of you were 'close, in a strange way.' to put it in his words." she said. To an extent, that could be true if you looked at it from one way. Then again, it could have just been another lie for the sake of ensuring Miura's loyalty when she met her. I couldn't tell if he actually believed that.

"Maybe, I wouldn't really know about that. Anyway, she and her sister are why I asked you here." I took a moment to pause after that sentence, so that Miura would get the message. She has heard enough to make a decision. She can choose to walk away right now and just not get involved in this. She still has the luxury, and I can't take it away from her.

"Go on." she said, looking at me with conviction in her eyes. I see. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grateful.

"Haruno told me Yukinoshita intends to act against her, and everyone really. She said that Yukinoshita was going to go on a rampage, starting right from the school, challenging her sister to be the 'final goal' of her actions." she stayed silent.

"One of those goals along the way… In order to complete them, at least, she would need to get over her first challenge: Me." Miura's eyes widened at that. I think that one sentence was enough to tell her what she needed know. About why I quit the Service Club.

"And you need my 'help', most likely by joining you and Haruno-san to fight back?"

"Something like that… More like, I need someone with some influence on the student social body."

"And Hayama?" she asked tenaciously.

"What about Hayama?" I asked back.

"Will he be involved against you? Is he going to help Yukinoshita?"

"He already is. It's why he joined the Service Club unofficially." Miura's eyes widened once again.

"How do you know that?"

"Because they already started. Kawaguchi, an underclassman first-year of my club, she was approached by Hayama, and he probably used that riajuu suave into telling her that she needed the Service Club's help for one reason or another. She went to the Service Clubroom on Thursday with a request."

"Again, how do you know that?" Miura looked at me with a fake look of disgust. Aha, impressed, were you not?

"Yoshino Miyabi is a reliable source." I told her simply. I feel bad about teasing her after all her help.

"That second year… I'm impressed Hikio, you see through everything, don't you?"

"Not everything. In fact, sometimes, I miss everything." I said, still referring to the time when I screwed up Miura's request. My eyes were downcast.

"Hikio." I looked up to stare at her.

"I'm helping you. I'm going to be on your side." she said, in a calm voice, showing off the confidence in her decision.

"Are you sure you wanna play by my rules? There's a fair bit of manipulation in my first plan alone. Also, this might exceed the limits of something like a favor. You might want to think overnight or-"

"I've made up my mind. Also… The favor still stands. I still owe you. This is something different. This is my personal vendetta against Hayama." She said with fire in her eyes. Fire that scared the hell out of me.

Hayama is so screwed.

"So, what's our plan?" she asked.

"It's apples to apples. It's a retaliation process. Whatever they try to do with me, we respond in kind, but we never go first. By taking in and talking to my younger club members, they're likely trying to spread mistrust and uneasiness by filling out the members. Of course, this time, we have a headstart, because it's a slower process. The plan of attack is simple. Make their own club life impossible to deal with."


After that, Miura and I walked to the edge of the park, and back home to the common intersection where we parted ways. The sun was setting, leaving it's classic orange tint in the skies.

"The plan starts tomorrow then?" Asked Yumiko as she now stood before me.

"Yeah. I just need to talk to Isshiki to confirm it."

"Alright. Until tomorrow, then." She said, beginning to walk away, and she would have had I not called not a second after.

"Wait! Miura… I… Thank you." I said, looking away. Miura had turned around and looked at me once more. There was no smile, there was no blush in the look she gave me. I was never expecting one. But, there was a warmth, a certain warmth I can't express, in her eyes. She didn't directly respond to my words.

"You know, Hikio, you said something that pissed me off this morning." She said, still maintaining that cold demeanor of hers.

"W-what?" I finally stuttered, going back to my second year self when I used to fumble every time I was on the receiving end of one of her glares.

"I'm your friend. Don't you ever forget it." She said, turning around in a huff and walking away.

'I don't have friends' my words from this morning rang in my head. I see. To someone like Miura, that was probably the biggest insult of all.

Despite everything, Miura Yumiko was a kind person.


A/N: And there it is! I decided to flesh out more of the high school situation with this chapter, as well as introducing Yumiko. Don't worry the plan will definitely be shown next chapter, and Haruno will make a return as well for it. Apologies for the lack of Haruno in this chapter, I'll make it up to you guys next time.

A new 'My Teen Romantic Comedy was Different' chapter will be out on Tuesday or Wednesday for you people as well. Welp, time to sleep, school is in 6 hours. Rip.