"What are you doing, you idiot?" asked an irritated voice.

Forcing myself to raise my head, I stared down and beyond my feet to where a familiar figure stood, hands on hips. Realizing my positioning and the fact that it was quite breezy up here, I let my head fall back to the ground before anything could happen.

"How rude of you to immediately call me an idiot" I responded nonchalantly.

"Not if it's true."

"It's not."

"It is" She replied firmly, stifling my response in its infancy.

Taking in one last deep breath of the fresh, crisp air, I sat up slowly.

"And what makes you so sure about that?" I asked, exhaling quietly.

"Hmm, I wonder. Maybe the fact that you're sprawled out on the middle of the roof when we only have two minutes left until class starts."

Ah.

"I, uh, knew that. I totally did. I'm a fast walker."

"Certainly not fast enough to get back to class in time. Those long legs of yours can only walk so fast."

"Huh?"

I stared up at Miura. She stared down at me. A gentle breeze passed through.

"Eh, you've been looking at my legs?" I asked suspiciously, bringing in my legs and doing my best to cover them with my arms.

Of course, despite my best efforts, I wasn't doing a very good job.

"W-wha!? No! What the hell are you saying!?" Miura responded, her face lighting up an unnaturally bright shade of red. It was kind of cute.

Well, okay, it was really cute, but whatever.

Pushing myself into a crouch, then finally standing upright, I felt my mouth form a small smile.

"Joking, Miura" I told her "Now, let's get going."

Not even halfway back to the classroom, we heard the bell ring. As we hurried back, I glanced at Miura.

"Hey."

"Hmm?" she responded absentmindedly.

"Why'd you come get me? Now you're going to be late as well."

In response to my question, Miura simply stopped walking and turned to face me.

"I… don't know. I guess I was just worried. For all I knew, you fell off a building and decided to stay there because the grass was nice or something else stupid."

Oh, that does sound like me.

"Ah, in that case, thanks…" I told her, my voice as serious as possible.

"… Mom." I finished, bowing in an exaggerated manner.

Looking up at Miura, I saw that a bit of her blush had returned.

"Oi. I ain't your damn Mom, Hikio" Miura responded, shaking her head to clear the blush, and pointing an accusing finger at my chest.

"I know" I replied, flashing her another small smile, and starting back towards the classroom.

…

Once we finally made it back to the classroom, I stopped Miura by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Huh, what's up? Don't tell me you want to do the whole 'you go in first' thing again?"

Bringing my hand back, I shook my head.

"Nah. Something else."

"Hmm. What is it?"

Now is as good a time as any. Well, not really, but whatever.

"Do you want to partner up for the workplace observation?"

We stared at each other for a moment before realization dawned in Miura's eyes.

"A-ah… well, I mean—yes—no, uh, but…"

I cocked my head to the side slightly, waiting for her to finish.

"… I'm already in a group with Yui and Ebina…"

Ah.

"Oh… yeah, of course. Just, uh, thought I might as well ask."

"B-but I'd go with you if I weren't!"

The tiger has been reduced to a cub? How odd.

Letting out a small sigh through my nose, I shot Miura a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, that means a lot."

Miura still looked a bit doubtful.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll figure something out. You were just my first choice."

Looking away, I ignored the cute squeak that came from Miura.

Well, she really is—was my first choice. She's pretty much the only person I know in class except from Yui. And, for some reason…

… I feel like asking Yui would be a bad idea.

Looking back to where Miura was, I realized that she… wasn't.

She went in without me. Huh.

"ni-kun… tani-kun… Hikitani-kun."

Hmm? I know this feeling… it's…

… the feeling of someone important trying to wake me up in class!

Jolting up, my hands came up to cover my head in an instinctive defense against a certain teacher's ruthless chop.

Looking up to better gauge which direction the physical assault would be coming from, I noticed that…

… Oh, it's just Hayama.

Letting my hands and head flop back down onto the desk, I let out a relieved sigh.

"Can I sit here?" asked Hayama, pointing to the chair in front of me while clearly trying to maintain his composure.

"Hmm? I guess."

"You managed to settle it peacefully, thanks" Hayama told me as he took his seat.

Well, whoever-sat-in-front-of-me's seat.

"Not like I did anything special" I huffed out.

And it's not like I did it for you.

"Those three were surprised when I said I wouldn't team up with them. But… I hope this is a good chance for them to become friends."

Uwah, save the inspirational quotes for someone else, please.

"Hikitani-kun, you don't have a group yet, right? Want to team up?" Hayama asked, shooting me his classic smile.

I looked at his outstretched hand. Then I looked at him. Then back to the hand.

He was offering me a solution to my problems served on a silver platter, how convenient. Thinking it through logistically…

"… No way" I told him bluntly.

Not a chance that I'll willingly be in a group with Mr. Perfect himself. Doing so would be like painting a target on my forehead.

"Eh…?" sweat-dropped Hayama.

"I'd rather not. You're too… you" I clarified lazily.

Placing the side of my head flat onto a cool, fresh part of the desk's surface, I blew one of my stray bangs out of the way.

I'll figure something else out. This can't even be considered a solution.

"Hey!" called out a girl's voice from my left.

Cracking open one eye, I saw that Totsuka was only a few feet away from me.

"Hikigaya-kun! What about me?" came Totsuka's girly—I mean completely normal voice.

"What about you?"

"I-I don't have a group yet!"

Ah. Oh. Oh…

Chance!

"In that case…" I said, excitedly grasping Totsuka's slender hands together "… let's group up."

"H-hey…" came Hayama's voice from my right, which I promptly ignored.

Grr, what a shitty situation.

I got paired up with blondie—I mean Hayama anyways.

What do you mean he's the last person without a group! I mean, he's Hayama!

Make some changes! Reform! Anybody but him!

Well, whatever.

Letting my bag slide from my shoulder and onto the ground, I simply fell over into the bliss that is a well-cushioned couch.

Today was particularly tiring. Too much going on, must rest…

*ding* *ding*

… or not.

Feeling around the general area where I dropped my bag, I eventually grabbed onto a strap. Pulling it over to me, I eventually managed to get it open and my phone out.

Cracking an eye open, I saw that the message was from Komachi.

Ah, it seemed that she was going to a café, so she wouldn't be at the normal time. Oh, she's going with a friend, that's nice. Hmm? Taishi? That sounds an awful lot like the first name of a guy, hahaha… haha… ha…

I was up in an instant, tiredness temporarily forgotten.

Ripping the front door open with one hand, I texted Komachi asking for her location with the other.

Quickly grabbing my bike from the rack, I heard my phone ding once again. Opening the message, I saw that Komachi had sent the name of the café along with a concerning amount of emojis.

Jumping onto my bike and immediately starting to pedal, I felt a strange determination take a hold of me.

Taishi, huh?

So, technically the same 'groups' but either way it all ends up the same. Everyone goes on the same day as Hayama anyway so I just kept them the same.

On a side note, I've always loved the Tanaka siblings' dynamic. However, Rino and Komachi's personalities are too different to choose one or the other. I'll have a blend, instead. It'll be a more responsible Komachi as opposed to a more playful Rino.