Two days had passed since Shizuka had assigned the cultural project. Hachiman and Saki had had minimal contact over these past couple of days, only sharing brief greetings in the hallway, after which Hachiman would look the other way, going whichever way was opposite of Saki. She had tried holding him up after class, but he somehow got out of the classroom and out of her sight in about fourteen seconds. Highly impressive, she noted, for someone whose foot was covered in a large boot. Saki had walked past (eavesdropped on) Yukinoshita telling Yuigahama that Hachiman's sister had needed help with something, so he wouldn't be attenting club that day.

Saki knocked on the Service Club door. "Come in," said a muffled voice she discerned as Yukinoshita.

Opening the door, she was greeted by Yuigahama. "Oh, Saki-san! I wasn't expecting you to come in here!" Yuigahama grinned at Saki.

On the other side of the table, Yukinoshita was far from grinning. "Hikigaya-kun isn't here right now. If you wanted to talk to him, you-"

"I wanted to talk to you two, actually. I realize this might be a bit mundane compared to what requests you probably get," Yuigahama glanced at Yukinoshita. "But I don't actually have a way of contacting him. I was planning for us to get together on the weekend to work on our project. One of you has to have his email address, right?"

"Is that what you wanted? Here, let me give it to you." Yukinoshita got out her phone. "Anything else?"

Looking around the room, Saki could see that Yuigahama and Yukinoshita had somehow been paired together for their project. "You mind telling me what you've got going for your cultural project?"

"Yes, I do mind." Yukinoshita made no move to show Saki what they were doing, and neither did Yuigahama.

Saki chuckled. "Yeah, I thought so." She waved and walked out the door.

When the door clicked shut, Yuigahama looked to Yukinoshita. "I'm worried about Hikki, Yukinon. He's been acting really weird lately."

"He's always like that," Yukinoshita said instantly.

"No, I mean, like, even more than usual! Haven't you noticed?"

Racking her brain, it would seem that Yukinoshita had. In the previous couple of days, when Hachiman had appeared in the club room, instead of bickering with Yukinoshita, he simply sat and said nothing. She recalled him staring blankly at his book, not turning the pages. If she had to describe him in that moment, she would have said "deep in thought" or perhaps "sleeping while awake."

"Hmmm. I suppose you have a point," Yukinoshita saw Yuigahama opening her mouth. "I presume you want to do something about it?"

The latter closed her mouth. "Y...Yeah...I mean, I don't think he'll tell us what's going on with him, though..."

Yukinoshita sighed. "No, most likely not. If anything, Kawasaki will be the one he says anything to, considering she's his partner. However, we could always follow him on the day that they meet up and see if-"

"That's it! Yukinon, you're a genius!" Yuigahama jumped up, apparently not noticing that what had been said was in jest. "Hmm...hmm...And if he sees us, we can just say it's for the club! No, wait, he's in the club..."

Seeing there would be no swaying Yuigahama, Yukinoshita resigned herself to her fate. "Most likely, we can tell him that the request came in while he was out. Either way, we won't be having club for the next couple of days. We might as well make use of the time and see what we can find out."

She sighed again.

Exiting the school grounds, Saki pulled out her phone and entered in Hachiman's email address. Sending him a quick text letting him know who was messaging him, she jogged across the street. Her phone dinged, and she reopened her phone. Staring back at her were the letters "OK."

Sighing, she sent another message. "I think we should get together and work on the project over the weekend. Does Sunday work with you?" Saki knew full well that Hachiman wouldn't have any other plans.

"Uh...I think Komachi and I are going shopping that day," The reply came in almost instantly. A quick text to Taishi with a request to ask Komachi if this was true quickly blew Hachiman's excuse out of the water.

"That's not going to work, idiot. You and I both know that's not true."

"Gahhh...I've suddenly come down with a fever and I won't be getting out of bed until Monday..."

"I'm going to hit you."

"..."

When no response came, Saki sat herself down on a nearby bench.

"...Fine, Kawashiki. It looks like my fever just went away. Just tell me when and where we're gonna meet."

After some contemplation, she sent her reply. "11 AM, outside the grocery store on Sunday. And my name's Kawashiki, dumbass."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"...I hate autocorrect."

Saturday came and went, and Hachiman's alarm signaled the arrival of Sunday morning.

"Hrgghhrrggrgh..." He flopped his arm around until he hit the snooze button. He flipped over. "Hrmpgh."

"Onii-chan, what are you doing? It's almost 10! Aren't you meeting Saki-san at 11?" Komachi opened his door violently. "You still gotta eat and get ready!"

"Nooo...five...more...minutephgsp," Hachiman fell asleep again.

Komachi sighed, and walked up to his bed. Getting a firm hold on the blankets, she yanked all of them off. However, Hachiman was clutching desperately to the blankets, resulting in him being pulled off of the bed with them. "Breakfast is on the table, Onii-chan. You don't want to be late, do you?"

"Ahhh...Komachi, how could you do this to your beloved Onii-chan?" Hachiman grabbed her leg.

"Hey, gross! Let go of me!" Komachi tried to shake him off her to no avail. He didn't let go of her leg until they got to the kitchen.

After Hachiman finished eating and getting ready, Komachi handed him some money. "Don't go spending it all in one place, now."

"Komachi, I don't need your money. I have my own, you see."

"Oh, I know. I just thought that this would be a good opportunity to get some points in, you know?" She grinned. "Now, get going! You don't want to keep Saki-san waiting, do you?"

"Wh- ack!" Hachiman tried to respond to her statement, but he got shoved outside before he could so much as form one word.

Rubbing his sore back, Hachiman set out to meet Saki.

Meanwhile, Komachi was dialing someone on her phone.

"Hello?"

"Taishi? It's me. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, Nee-chan just left. I'll see you over there."

"Yep! See you soon!"