In all aspects of the word, Hayama Hayato can easily be called a nice guy.

In fact, he's been bred and raised with the soul purpose of being one, a role model for men below him. A Shining light for others to follow, the perfect husband, the best friend you could hope for.

Being a nice guy, however, doesn't necessarily make you a good one.

For years, he's been cultivating this mask of perfection, of niceness, that his parents so desperately wanted for him as a child. He's been through a lot to reinforce it, to strengthen it, in the hopes of never getting into a situation to never lower it for the sake of being perfect. He's sacrificed a lot to get this façade, he's sacrificed friends, ignored pleas of help, even giving up on his love, just so that he could continue to wear it in the hopes of impressing Haruno-san, his first unrequited love.

He's not a dumb person though, he knows he still has ways to improve, he still has leaps and bounds to jump to get to the level that Haruno is today. A mask isn't an easy thing to keep up, it's tiring, exhausting, to say the least. So it's even more irritating when you see such mask that's so well crafted, so articulately created, that you only realize its their when the person deliberately chooses to take it off.

It's even more irritating when it's coming from the man you hate the most.

His hatred towards Hikigaya Hachiman started on the very first day of second year.

Hikigaya took one look at him, and immediately said "Nice mask, get it fixed though, lots of cracks."

That however, wasn't the most embarrassing part of it. It was the fact that Haruno, the one he 'loves' the most, the one he so desperately wants to impress, was talking lazily with him when Hikigaya said that. Both my and Haruno's masks cracked that day. Mine from anger and shock, Her's from laughing like she never had before.

Since then, Haruno-san has been frequently visiting Sobu in the guise of wanting to talk to me and Hiratsuka-sensei, but most of 2-F knew that it was all lies. She wasn't visiting to talk to me, she was there to talk to Hikigaya of all people.

It seriously irked me that I, the Prince of Sobu, who has a literal line of girls wanting to get a piece of me, is heavily losing to him, a boring loner who had nobody to talk to, and no other interesting traits to boast about except for grades, a nerd.

Or so I thought.

Seeing him not only wearing a mask as well, but purposefully taking it off for a teacher's well being, was a shock, not only to me, but to most of the student body. It was enlightening and surprising. Finally, now I know why Haruno found him so interesting, why she kept bugging him during lunches. She found something within him that I didn't. A A mask, a seemingly unbreakable one, just like hers. It all made sense now.

Even before leaving the classroom, rumors about the loner and the otaku teacher were flying throughout Sobu at a sonic-level pace. The phrase 'no one can keep secrets in Sobu' taking its full effect. While I'm walking to a nearby vending machine, different voices kept nudging my peripheral attention.

"is that Hayama?"

"You guys heard? Hiratsuka-sensei almost cried earlier!"

"I heard the loner from 2-f made her cry."

"No! Really? But I always see them together?"

"Maybe he blackmailed her, or something."

"Yo, I saw them running that way! WTH? Are they a thing?"

"That loner? Who is he?"

"Isn't she like too old for him?"

"She looks 23 to me."

"Yo have you heard.."

Tsk. Rumors. I hate them. But I need to keep smiling, keep smiling Hayato. Ugh, i don't know how Hikigaya keeps this up, no wonder Haruno kept an eye on him, he's a natural at this. And why did he even need to have one? He doesn't look like he has family obligations like us... What did he have to go through to be this way?

Suddenly. my train of thought about Hikigaya was cut off by the same exact person. Hmmm, He looks like he's being dragged by Sensei, weren't they supposed to meet at the faculty room? Why are they going to the roof? Wait a minute...

This is my chance! My chance to get Haruno to back off from him! My revenge! Yes, i need to expose him for what he did, for the embarrassment I endured from Haruno because of him.

Without thinking of anything else, I go to the left entrance of the roof, and got my phone ready to video record their talk. This is why you don't mess with the Hayamas. We might reek of aristocracy, but we're always out for blood.

I, Kawasaki Saki am a loner, much like Hachiman Hikigaya.

And as a fellow loner, I know how debilitating and irritating the stares could be, especially for someone like him.

Unlike me, who's had a good time getting under the radar, Hikigaya has been hounded by that Yukinoshita spoiled brat ever since the first day, making him the center of attention whenever she visits. It's easy to see that he's uncomfortable with her presence, and its mind numbingly irritating to see a fellow loner get pounced on by that wealthy woman despite his constant defenses.

I don't know if he still remembers me, but since its been a month since school started and he hasn't greeted me yet, it seems like he forgot me altogether.

I can't blame him, he's had it rough since elementary, so it's easy to understand that he might have just wanted to forget it all together, to forget the memories he had during that time.

Still hurts like a truck though.

We're neighbors, you see, and we've always been playmates since we were little. He might not remember, but its hard to forget your first crush when you constantly see him from your window. I could never forget the days when he was as happy as a child could be, the days where keeps making fun of forgetting my name, the days when we would play until we both were scolded for being away for too long. Those were the days.

I wonder what happened to him to make him be this way...

Hahahaha, that's a joke. I do know why, and its bad enough that I do, so I can't fault him for trying to forget.

We've always been classmates, him and I. Always been loners for the duration of our middle school. I saw him in my peripheral vision in class for days and months, even years. I saw the life in his eyes slowly drain from his face every time he gets bullied or laughed at. I saw his posture gradually incline, from straight as an arrow to the slouch that he has now. it ate me up inside, but I kept my distance, for I now how hard it would be to him if I did try to approach. I know how selfless he is, i know that he'd try to alienate himself from me, to the point of making me hate him, just so that I won't associate with him. I know because that's what he did to me in the first year of middle school. He doesn't want me to be bullied just be being his friend, and I appreciated and respected his concerns, opting to just look at him at the sidelines, while he endures what the other kids throw at him.

I was a coward.

I was weak.

I hated myself.

I should've helped him, but i couldn't.

I'd freeze every time he gets bullied.

I ran every time he gets laughed at.

I look away every time he cries about it.

I was a coward.

I was weak.

I hated myself for that.

It wasn't until the last year of middle school when he suddenly changed. Gone was the sad eyes I always saw for years, replaced by orbs full of life and joy. He had a friend that year. A girl. A redhead with a penchant for baking cookies.

That year, I saw the boy who I crushed on back in elementary. I saw the boy who helped me pass the time, made me laugh and made me smile like no boy ever did. I saw him getting better. But it wasn't because of me, it wasn't for me. His smiles were reserved for that girl and that girl alone. If only I stepped in first, if I was more brave. If I looked more like a delinquent, if I was more strong, I could've protected him from the bullies. But I wasn't, and that hurt me.

I was a coward.

I was weak.

I hated myself for that.

"Ahhhh... Damn, no more cigarettes."

It's been a while since I blew through 3 of them, but this morning's events were too stressful for me.

What was that about? Why the hell was he so chummy with the professor? I know they're close since Hiratsuka-sensei always visited him back in our past school but what the hell? Are they, like a thing?

I don't know why, but the thought of them being together irritated me the most. The similar feeling when I saw him with Rye-chan bubbled in my chest, urging me to do something, but still even with my delinquent looks, my cigarettes and my brown belt in karate, I can't. I was still a coward.

A noise from the doors of the rooftop stop me from my thought process, making me freeze from fear. I can't be seen smoking, I'd be suspended. I don't need my parents to be stressed because of me! Shit, I need to stay here, I cannot get caught smelling like this.

Peeking from above, I saw them. The two I was thinking about while I was inhaling my cigarettes like a madwoman, Sensei and Hachiman.