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2. Two Days Prior: Part 1

Yukinoshita Haruno has always been a beautiful woman. Yukinoshita Haruno has always been a charming woman. Yukinoshita Haruno has always been the perfect woman and persona that every guy would want to come back home to.

Everyone who's ever had the pleasure of interacting with the elder Yukinoshita child has always been bewitched by the enigmatic presence that is her. Not only everything she does has just the right amount of playfulness; but also an equivalent amount of subtle authority that makes people serve her. Now, of course, this authority would be recognized as malice by the more perceptive of the bunch.

All of this contributed to Yukinoshita Haruno becoming one of the biggest mysteries of my life.

I 'saw through her' at our first meeting itself, at least that's how her younger sister had described it. But over the years that had passed after that first encounter, the idea that I didn't ever get to see the real Yukinoshita Haruno gnawed away at me, incessantly. Thus she, quite frankly, became a mystery that deep down I did want to unravel someday. It was a hundred-year quest my subconscious was probably willing to take.

Not that the said quest was without its dangers, however. If I could be crude for a moment, Yukinoshita Haruno has always fucking terrified me. If I had to pick the person I was scared of the most, I'd pick her. Not even a certain beautiful yet brazen and somehow still unmarried sensei could top her when it came to that.

Also, while we're at it, please someone marry Hiratsuka sensei already. Every time I have to join her for one of her sad drinking sessions because "we're both free and single", the fear that I'm inevitably heading towards the sensei route of this visual novel called life, scares me.

Coming back to the subject at hand, that person did not scare me for the reasons one would think. She did not scare me because of the cold demeanor she exuded if someone went against her wishes. I had been trained very well by her younger sister for years, almost too well actually, to stand something like that. I was immune to it. She did not scare me because of the endless resources she had at her disposal to take care of me in case I ever wronged her. I swear I'd noticed her driver give me shady glances on more than one occasion. That guy doesn't even look like a driver; he looks like a freaking ex-mafia boss. Still, I had known multiple such people by then, I was over that fear already.

Thus, these were not the reasons she scared me for. No. She scared me because of her ability to expose everything under the sun. The farce that people maintain, the phony smiles, their fears, their untold secrets, their genuine relationships, everything; and then laying it all out in the open for everyone to see; whilst hiding everything about herself from everyone.

But with all that said, I've never once hated Yukinoshita Haruno, no, in fact, I knew for a fact that beneath all those layers that she had to keep up due to her status, there was one of the few actual nice people I knew. Okay, maybe nice is going a bit too far, so let's just settle with alright.

The notion of having an actual intimate conversation with the real her, not eclipsed by any of that perfect-girl act even intrigued me somewhat. Keyword: somewhat. Though, my brain had decided that the intimate conversation wasn't worth the peril that'd come with it. I knew that getting involved with her any more than I should've, wouldn't end up well for me. So I had decided to keep my interaction with her, which I knew was inevitable, to a bare minimum and especially from a safe distance.

And so that December morning when I woke up next to the same Yukinoshita Haruno in her birth suit, I was quite perplexed. I certainly hadn't kept the safe distance I had decided to keep from her, hell, there had probably been no distance between us the night before.

Perhaps, focusing a bit on the odd events that lead up to that morning could help shed some light on how I had ended up like that.

As I can recall, that whole chain of events started, at least for me, two days prior to that day.

[December 27]

You've got mail!

I glared daggers at the phone that had disrupted my evening slumber. I did not enjoy that particular sound, at all. At any given point of time I chose to ignore it if I had confirmation of Komachi's wellbeing, which right then, I did. Alas, due to the predicament I had been facing during those times, I did not have the luxury to ignore notifications of any sort that came in through that device, or any device for that matter.

The reason? Job hunt.

I know, I know, I can hear the boos all the way from the back. I accept it, I gave in to society. I became one of them, but hear me out my loner brothers for there's a very good reason as to why I had ended up that way. It's not like I was pleased to do so either. I'm just as disgruntled as you are.

You've got mail!

I love Chiba. Anyone who claims to know even a little about Hikigaya Hachiman knows so. My love for Chiba is as deep as my love for a certain little girl who despite being related to me somehow manages to be the polar opposite of me. Okay, maybe not that much, but you get the point. I love Chiba, so much so that it was the city where I had my entire life planned out down to the very last detail. It was a simple plan: Get married to a woman who made a lot of money, be a house husband, grow old and lead a peaceful life; maybe entertain Zaimokuza once a year in case he pestered me too much; I could do that much charity for that friendless Chuuni I reckoned.

So when the time came for me to leave my beloved Chiba, one could say that Hikigaya Hachiman was not impressed. Not in the least. And why did I have to make a decision as horrid as leaving Chiba you ask? Well, it turned out that despite me receiving a University degree, having decent looks, even making money from some temporary jobs here and there, and being of marriageable age; there just wasn't any woman who was ready to support my house husband dreams! I know right! I was shocked as well!

You've got mail! You've got mail!

It's not even like I didn't try to woo girls. I did actually. I did put my house husband plan into action, even before I went to college. I did get together with a girl. A girl from my high school even! Unfortunately, that didn't really work out due to…well circumstances. I don't really talk about it that much anymore, nostalgia and I aren't really on very good terms.

I had worked in a lot of places by then, from law firms to magazines to press and almost anywhere where I could use my skill set; while actually pursuing my true goal of finding the one. And by the one, I mean the one woman who could sustain me for the rest of my life. But ultimately my parents decided that they had had enough of me juggling temporary jobs. They cut my funding and concluded that the only way to get me to find a permanent job was to kick me out of their residence. And so they did.

You've got mail! You've got mail! You've got mail!

Thus, I finally moved out and quite unceremoniously if I may add. My dad just picked me and my bags up one day and dumped us at the train station. He didn't even say goodbye.

For contrast, when Komachi was about to move out, my dad threw a party, took mom and Komachi shopping, gave Komachi almost all the money he had saved up and was even planning on selling stuff to give her even more until mom found out because someone showed up at our front door saying they had come to pick up the TV they had bought from my father. After Komachi left, he had spent a whole week drinking and crying, the only time he wasn't doing that was when he went to work and even there his boss had asked him to take a leave because his eyes were bloodshot from all the weeping. I heard his boss mistook his state for him working extra hard, father got a pat on the back for it.

And then there was I, left alone with my belongings on a train station, at night, with barely enough money to make it to Tokyo and maybe get a soda along the way.

For a while, I did manage to sustain by relying on Komachi who was in Tokyo, where she was studying in college. But that soon became unfeasible as well when my sister announced that a bug…I mean her boyfriend was moving in with her.

I won't lie, I was heartbroken. Not because my sister was going to kick me out, but because some little shit thought that he was worthy enough to be with my little angel. I tried to find his details and I was very close to murderi…reaching an arrangement with him, but then Komachi got wind of it and I was subsequently barred from ever approaching the bug lest I shall never see her face again.

You've got mail! You've got mail! You've got mail! You've got mail!

"Don't you ever dare approach Ma-kun again Onii-chan or I won't even invite you to my wedding!" Komachi had thundered. Ha! The joke was on her because I never intended on attending her wedding in the first place! I would off myself before I have to witness an insect kiss my dear little sister.

And even more than heartbroken, I was shocked! Shocked that dad had allowed such blasphemy. I had once called him to officially discuss the matter, but as soon as I uttered Komachi's name, all that came next were sniffles from the other side. I heard mom snatching the phone away from him, she then proceeded to chide me for slacking off and meddling into matters that didn't concern me.

"Didn't concern me? What is this crazy woman even talking about?! This is the only matter to have ever concerned me!" I had thought. But before I could formulate a formal reply to the incredulous assertion my mother had made, the phone got cut off. The last thing I heard was my mother admonishing my bawling father. I even thought abou—

You've got mail! You've got mail! You've got m…You've got…You've… You've got mail!

The phone that I was trying so hard to ignore by reminiscing past incidents, finally managed to cause enough of a ruckus that I had to pay attention to it. The reason I had been avoiding it, despite me clearly stating that I did not have the luxury to do so, was because of the time that the notifications had come in at. It was dusk. And it was fairly easy for me to guess who would message me at a time like that. The barrage of texts that had followed made it adamantly clear who it was.

Hadn't this woman ever heard about not bullying the messenger!

You've got ma…

I finally picked up the phone before that woman could torment the poor piece of technology any further.

At which point something even worse occurred. My phone…started to ring.

Hiratsuka Shizuka Calling…

Now here's the thing about a Hiratsuka Shizuka call…you answer it. Doesn't matter what you're doing, you attend it.

Sleeping at night after working for two days straight and it's 2 am? Cute, answer the phone. Finally, having sex with your girlfriend after six months of lewd hand-holding? Good job soldier, answer the goddamn phone. Got hit by a truck and you're about to be isekai'd to another dimension? Too bad, answer the motherfuc…I think I've made my point clear. Thus, I made a silent prayer and picked up the phone.

"Yo Hikigaya!" The usual jubilant greeting I had grown pretty accustomed to, came from the other end. Anybody around Ms. Hiratsuka would have guessed that she was having a cheerful chat with a friend she hadn't met in years. But only I could sense that the voice was actually laced with malevolence.

"Took you long enough! I knew you were aware of my messages, why were you ignoring them?" The woman on the other end inquired in a voice that gradually grew intense with each syllable.

"I was bus—" I tried to reply.

"No, you were sleeping. How long do you think I've known you? Do you think you really have time to be wasting right now?" The tone was confident, mocking and patronizing, in that order.

"I was real—" I tried to—

"Forget it. Come to our usual bar in 30 minutes, I have some stuff I need to discuss with you. You'll forever regret it if you don't come, so make sure to be there in thirty!" She commanded me, ignoring anything I had to say in the process.

"But I—" I tried—

"Come to our usual bar in 30 minutes." A calm voice came from the other end cutting me off.

"Listen to me, I re —" I trie—

"Come to our usual bar in 30 minutes." A cold voice came from the other end.

"Will you ple—" I tri—

"Come to our usual bar in 29 minutes." Hiratsuka Shizuka hissed.

"…." I tr—

"Yes, mam." I meekly replied.

And thus I went.

And it was the biggest mistake of my life. I shouldn't have gone. Everything went south after that night. Every horrible thing that happened was because I decided to go that night. Maybe, even if I hadn't gone, things would have still ended up being this way but still, I should have never gone. I should have never gotten involved.

A/N: Thank You for reading. Special Thanks to all the lovely folks who reviewed the previous chapter. If you like this story, consider leaving a review.

Uploaded: Monday, Mar 30, 2020. 06:00 AM Japan Standard Time (JST).

Chapter 3: Monday, Apr 6, 2020. 04:00 AM Japan Standard Time (JST).