Nothing lasts forever, everyone knows that, but it's not something that's easily accepted. Eventually, everything you're feeling, smelling, and hearing now will be in the past, and you won't be able to do anything about it other than reminiscence. The curtains on this act will eventually fall, and everything that I have been through up until this point will all be a memory. And I will only be able to think about scenarios that I wanted to happen because once something is in the past, chances are you won't be able to get it back into your life.

Once I graduate and completely lose my connection to them, the only thing I can do is think about a potential reality in which we're all together and happy. A reality where my confession got through to her, and we were able to revive the service club with our newfound relationship. Even if I keep telling myself to move on and forget about her, I just can't. I want to be with her, I want to be around her, and I want to just share my life with her.

I didn't cherish the time I had with her back then. The days went on like it was nothing and I didn't care, but of course, I started to regret everything once I lost it all. It's painful knowing that everything the two of us built together over time was shattered with my rejection. Trying to get over someone you genuinely loved is difficult, and it's going to take time because time heals everything. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. I was broken back then, but as time went on, I eventually got better and all those moments became a thing of the past. I forgot all about Orimoto Kaori even though I thought about her quite frequently back then. So, it's only a matter of time before I forget entirely about Yukinoshita Yukino.

Even so, I did manage to acquire something out of my anguish… Kawasaki Saki. The destruction of my relationship with the girls allowed me to become closer with one of my female acquaintances. And at this point, it's become a priority of mine to experiment around with our potential relationship, because the feeling whenever we converse is strong. It's not as strong as the one I shared with Yukinoshita, but it's strong enough for me to pursue it. There's no way that I met her just by coincidence, right? There has to be a reason why I'm involved with Kawasaki, and I am on a mission to find out that reason.

So, all I got to say is I hope this is all worth it in the end because I did not create a freaking prom just to get rejected.

It's been close to a month since my rejection, and the rumors still seem to be at a peak. Whenever I would walk inside the classroom, I can almost instantly feel the gossip and the gazes hit my person. I would have people looking at me and chatting away with their friends, and it's not like they're being subtle about it either. I feel like the majority of people at school don't understand how close the two of us were. They just hear the names Yukinoshita and Hikigaya and they immediately start talking crap about me. It was unfortunate that my peaceful life had to come to an abrupt end. Now I have to deal with this shit every day until the rumors die out. You guys really don't have anything better to do than gossip? Pathetic, but what can you expect from people who play follow the leader because they're scared to have any opinions of their own.

Ever since the club got disbanded, I found myself with loads of free time throughout the day, which is a blessing and a curse. It's great knowing I have spare time, but there are times where I feel like I should be doing something productive with my free hours. It kind of doesn't feel right just to sit around at home for hours doing practically nothing, but what else more can you do, right?

I'll tell you what you can do. Well, not really, it's more like for me and dealing with this boredom.

I decided to take a visit to the literature club today mainly for a change of pace. I know nothing about the literature club other than it was a rather well-known club with a respectable amount of members. Whenever I would walk in the halls, I would see fliers advertising the literature club, so I know that it's at least somewhat attractive to the other students. The service club only consisted of us three, and we only used online consultations as a way to expand our club activities. I wonder if people were interested in joining the club but were too scared to join because of my presence. I mean, some people were brave enough to request our services even knowing that I was there. So, I guess they had a limit or something. Sure, I'll make a request but joining the club with Hikigaya? No way, lol.

My stroll to the literature club wasn't long, it only took about a couple of minutes of casual walking to get here. The first thing I observed was how detailed and artistic the decorations outside of the club were. The door was filled with images of well-known books. And there were lots of posters with information about the club. Immediately, it just shows how popular and well-known this club is to the school. I think Yuigahama started putting stickers on our club's entry tag a while back. But besides that, our club was just a random room at the far end of the building with nothing attractive going on the outside. To others, it might've looked boring. But to us, the room was special, and it was responsible for most, if not everything that's happened up until this point.

I took a small breath in and out, before knocking on the door, to alert the others of my presence.

As soon as I walked into the room, I counted at least 10 people here, and they were all sitting in their chairs in a circle. I immediately spotted Zaimokuza as I expected. But I noticed there was a particular girl here who gave off a weird vibe. I didn't know who she was, but she seemed to be either the president or the vice president of the club just based on the aura she had. Then the other 8 people looked like either first years or second years just based on their physical postures. They looked rather shy, almost as if they were afraid to speak or something.

The interior of the room was quite detailed as well. There was a large rather expensive-looking bookshelf directly to my right; it looked like it was made of some high-quality, sturdy wood. In the right-hand corner of the room, there was a small area that looked like a comfortable reading space. It had carpet, and even some bean bags as well. It seems this place is pretty well funded, huh? Well, not as well funded as the sports teams, but close enough.

"I am glad that you kept your word, Hachiman. This is my haunt of choice, the literature club, I welcome you."

"Right," I said, averting my gaze to the other club members. "I'm Hikigaya Hachiman. A, uh… acquaintance of Zaimokuza." As I said that, I noticed Zaimokuza gave off a loud shriek while holding his heart.

"Huh, Zaimokuza-kun, I thought you said that he was your friend."

"Y-You see, Hachiman is just stubborn like that. He knows that we're friends, he just won't admit it."

Why is this man going around telling people that we're friends? Tell them the truth, Zaimokuza, the truth!

"Right," Said the mysterious woman, before facing me. "My name is Haruhi Fujioka, it is nice to meet you." [1]

"Wait, you're…"

"Yes, I am the club president."

I was about to say something totally different, but oh well.

"Right," I said looking over at the other group of students who seemed to flinch slightly at my gaze.

"They are a mix of first and second years. You, me, and Zaimokuza are the only third years here."

After saying that, they all spoke at once. "It is nice to meet you, Hikigaya-senpai."

Hikigaya-senpai, huh?

"Yeah, same," I said, lazily.

As I said that, Haruhi-san put the nearby chair in the circle for me. I sat down, and pulled out my book, and placed it on my lap. Noticing that, Haruhi spoke.

"You read light novels, huh? Do you read more advanced readings by chance?"

"Yeah, but only at home. I like reading easier titles at school since the concentration level doesn't require complete silence like the more challenging reads."

"Good mindset," She said, then continuing briefly. "Alright. Let's pick up where we left off."

As she said that, the underclassmen opened up a packet of some sorts. But since it was so bulky, I can only assume that it was a copy of Zaimokuza's writing.

One of the underclassmen spoke, upon hearing Haruhi. "Umm, I think this is kind of predictable, Zaimokuza-senpai. But it's still good! Just, a little predictable."

He took the critique well, then responded. "I see, I shall work on that."

Before I knew it, Haruhi spoke. 'No, it's not still good, Zaimokuza. By making this story so predictable, the reader can almost know how the rest of the story will play out, and it'll end up just being a waste of their time, do you want this? If not, I recommend changing how you want your story. What do you guys think?"

Zaimokuza clenched his heart, but he took it like a champ. Damn, buddy. If it wasn't for Haruhi destroying their critique, who knows how this story would end up. Be grateful for her, Zaimokuza.

The group of students talked amongst themselves before someone decided to speak. "Yes, we agree. Perhaps a character death, like one from your supporting cast."

"N-No, I plan on killing them all off later on during the story in one final battle!"

Jeez, how violent.

"See, that's your problem, Zaimokuza. Why should you kill off your entire supporting cast in one fight? Wouldn't it make sense to kill off one of them to act as a catalyst for the main character's development? Not everyone has to die at the end, you know. Like I said, incredibly predictable."

"Who do you suggest, then?"

"I was thinking of The Jester. Compared to your other side characters, he's been given a minimal amount of character development. And not to mention he's clearly a plot device for the story. At least have him die for a good cause because he should not be responsible for moving the entire rest of the story forward. That is lazy writing, Zaimokuza."

"I-I see. That definitely makes things a lot more challenging now…"

I decided to speak up this time, which surprised everyone. "Writing a good book is not easy in any way. The fact that it's going to be more challenging this time around, only means that the writing should theoretically be better. It's a blessing and a curse at the same time."

"Yes, I agree. And doing it this way destroys the plot device of The Jester, and you will have more options for plot progression as well."

"Noted-" She cut him off abruptly.

"But this story still reeks of self-insert. I mean, come on, Zaimokuza. The beginning of the story is just pure cancer, it's not even funny. Granted, it's gotten better but you ought to write in a more serious tone if you're building up to an intense final battle."

"B-But the people who read these kinds of stories will appreciate the references I added into the story!"

"Sure, maybe. But common folk like us would immediately drop the story after the first chapter. The only reason we're still reading this is because your story has actual potential to turn into something great. So, let's not continue to insert a bunch of crap for the remainder of the story, alright?"

"Harsh," I said.

"The truth hurts, but this story does indeed have potential. We have less than a year to make as much progress as we can with his story. And I want to see it through to the very end, I think it will end up being a best seller in the future.

I was surprised by her words, then Zaimokuza answered. "R-Really?'

"Now, don't let my words get to your head, Zaimokuza. Your story is still very much incomplete and not even close for publication. But if everything goes well, it might be one of the best selling light novels of the decade."

"Really?" I said.

"Who knows. I'm just worried about what he's going to do with his story once we graduate."

"That is indeed another problem."

"Let's not worry about the future, let's just focus on the here and now," She said, looking at her phone for the time before continuing. "Let's take a break, shall we?"

Everyone agreed. And with that, I casually got up from my seat and made my way to the door. I was thinking of getting a Maxx coffee, but I already had one today, so I guess black coffee has to do. But black coffee isn't even that bad, now that I think about it. Sure, it's bitter, but that's what makes it good. And you don't have to worry about 120% added sugars since it has 0 sugars added to it. So, I could drink as much as I wanted to.

Noticing how the club operates is indeed a lot more manageable than the time we critiqued his work. Yukinoshita just straight up destroyed his work and his will. But Haruhi here managed to give him lots of positive and negative feedback. She's said some pretty harsh stuff back there, but also mentioned a lot of his good points as well, which is what a reviewer should do.

It seems like Zaimokuza has found a place where he belongs, huh? These people aren't judging him or anything, and I think they practically treat him like a god. Oh, a good story with potential, we haven't gotten this kind of thing ever. And didn't he say they only write fanfictions? So, I would assume they'll be excited to see one of their members publish an actual good story to the public.

As I was walking in the direction of the vending machine, I was stopped by a loud voice from behind.

"Wait up."

I turned and faced the person, it was Haruhi.

"Can we chat?"

Well, since you're here we might as well. "I don't have much of a choice it seems."

She smiled. "So, I was kind of surprised to hear that Zaimokuza actually knew people beyond our clubroom. At first, I was like, "a friend? No way!" then it turned out to be a lie, such a shame."

"I bet," I said, barely contributing anything to the conversation at all.

She took a while to respond after hearing me."So, you and Yukinoshita-san, huh? Such a strange, yet compatible duo."

Great, we're having this conversation, are we…

"Must you remind me of my past failures?"

"Well, sorry. But it's just everyone is talking crap about you and I kind of feel bad, because I knew how close you two were. And yet, some people act like you guys never met or something."

Surprised, I answered her. "You knew, really?"

"Yeah. I was there when you essentially stood up for her during the festival committee. And then I heard what you did on the roof with Sagami. So, I just kind of assumed that you guys were close."

"Ugh, why did you have to say her name."

She chuckled. "Sorry, sorry. But I always wanted to talk to the boy that stole Yukinoshita-sans heart. Not many people get through to her, you know?"

"You can thank the service club for that. I would have not gotten involved with her if I wasn't forced into the club by Hiratsuka-sensei."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. But it looked like it was worth it in the end, huh?"

"I suppose so," I said, giving her a vague answer.

As we approached the vending machine, I picked out a black coffee while she selected a cola. After we retrieved our drinks, we made our way back to the clubroom.

"What do you think of the club so far?"

"It's alright, I guess. The interior looks nice, though. How much money do you guys get from the school every month?"

"Only $130."

"Only $130, huh?"

"Were you expecting a hefty number? We're a literature club, we're lucky that we managed to get such an amount of money every month. You know, we actually started with like, $8 per month."

"I'm assuming all the funds go to you, right?"

"Yeah. But between you and me, I don't trust anyone in the club with the money. I mean, who knows what they'll buy with $130. But I'm going to have to pass down the torch to someone eventually."

"So? You'll be gone by then, it won't be your problem anymore."

"Yeah, but still…"

I didn't answer her, and we continued to walk in silence. "You should really join the club, Hikigaya. I think we'll appreciate having another club member around, especially someone like yourself." She said, continuing the conservation.

"I'll rather die than join a club of my own will," I said, nonchalantly.

She smiled. "I figured. But the offer still stands."

I looked at her briefly before averting my gaze to its original position. Trying to join another club is practically impossible for me. I don't believe in pointless chatter, or partaking in activities that seem like a waste of time to me. I'd much rather waste my time at home doing nothing, compared to wasting my time at school with my classmates. But, if I were to join a club, it would be this one.

When we arrived at the literature club, I managed to startle the first years a bit, which I quickly brushed aside as I slowly made my way toward the club's bookshelf.

As I was browsing through their selection of books, the club president slowly crept up behind me and spoke. "Most of these books here belong to Zaimokuza and the first years, the better ones are mine."

"And long how have you been here for?"

"I've been here since I was a first-year. And I became the president last year."

"I see,"

It would've been nice to see our club grow and to be continuously passed down over the years. Since Yukinoshita was the only member as of last year, then I'm assuming the club was made not too long ago.

"You can borrow a few books if you want."

"I'm good."

She didn't answer, but she did return to the circle with the rest of the other club members.

I wasn't familiar with first years at all, besides my sister, so seeing them interact with their kind up close and personal was a first for me. Well, Isshiki counts as well, but she doesn't count because she felt way more like a second-year than a first-year to me. But these guys seem rather timid, reserved, and there weren't many of them with a harsh or cold personality; they just seem rather peaceful.

"Umm, Hikigaya-senpai, can I ask you a question, if you don't mind?" Said a female first-year student.

"Go ahead."

"Well, what was it like to talk to Yukinoshita-senpai? We heard that you guys were quite close."

I sighed. "Did you guys want me to come to the club just so you can ask me about Yukinoshita or what?"

"N-No, it's just we were all curious that's all."

"We heard you got rejected too, like wow…"

First years, always so nosy. It doesn't even have to be first years, people, in general, are nosy and lived for gossip and drama.

I didn't want to say too much about her, especially since I know a lot about her and her personal problems. So, I'll tell them things that most people would be able to pick up on if they happen to see her.

"She's just like any other girl at this school, besides the fact she's ranked first in all the subjects. But if you overlook her constant verbal abuse and bitchy attitude, then she's not all that bad."

I didn't want to go off telling them everything I knew about her, so I guess this amount will do.

"Wow."

"I thought for sure that she was going to go for Hayama-senpai."

"Right? I wonder why those two never got together before."

I turned and faced Haruhi. "Do you have to deal with this all the time?"

"Unfortunately. But they're first years, what do you expect."

"W-What do you mean by that Pres?"

"Nothing, it's just third-year talk, you'll understand when you move upgrades."

She took her weak reasoning rather well, then continued to talk amongst themselves.

First years are like 14–15-year-old, right? Then I guess it makes a little sense to see them acting like this, especially in a new environment where we have two school idols in Hayama and Yukinoshita.

"Hachiman. When can you return to the literature club? I would appreciate having your presence here a couple more times."

"No, this just once is more than enough. If I keep dropping by, then I might end up joining the club which is something I don't want to happen."

"You never fail to amaze me, Hachiman. Well, it looks like we are about to continue the revision of my work, you are more than welcome to stay if you'd like."

"No thanks, I should be heading home now," I said, standing from my seat.

"Thank you for your time, Hikigaya-senpai!" Said all the first years.

"Yeah, no problem."

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Haruhi was looking at me.

"See you later, Hikigaya."

I didn't talk to many people, but she seemed cool and more tolerable than most people.

"Yeah, later," I said, exiting the literature club and began my stroll to my house.

The relationship I had with the girls is gone and it will soon be a fragment of the past, only to be slowly forgotten as time goes on. If I try to forget about the past entirely, then one person comes to mind, and that person is Kawasaki Saki; the person who is currently present in my life.

It's funny because she was right here all this time but I was so busy with Yukinoshita that I barely spent any time with her. And after spending a considerate amount of time with her, I concluded that I want to understand her more, and I want to keep being around her and I want to keep spending time with her. I don't want to expect her to do anything. But with how things turned out recently, it's almost impossible to say that she won't be back on the offensive. I carved an opportunity for myself and that's the study session this Saturday. So I guess all I have to do is wait and see what happens at the peak of the moment with her at the library. But that also applies to everything else as well; what will I do in the peak of the moment where everything is on the line.

Komachi can probably help me out with this, but I don't want to be comfortable relying on my little sister for my problems, it's pathetic. If it's not one problem it's another; when I will ever regain my peace of mind?

Rough Draft of Deleted Scene from Chapter 3.

As I finished washing my hands, I made my way to the door only to get stopped by two people.

"Saki-chan, why are you here with Hikki?"

Yukinoshita was standing aside, completely silent.

"Why do ya care, Yuigahama? I like him, and I'm just going after what I want. Sorry, I'm not a coward like you."

What I said was harsh, but I've always been a blunt person.

She was silent after hearing my words, but I kept talking. "You don't own him or anything, ya know?" I paused. "Why am I with him? To spend time with him obviously. If you're just going to waste my time then I'm going to head back." I said, trying to walk to the exit, only to get stopped by Yukinoshita.

"He will never accept you, Kawasaki-san, because he loves me."

"Okay, so? Do you think I'm just going to stop spending time with him? Honestly, you two are so stupid." I said, walking away from them.

AN:

Hello,

A chapter dedicated to Zaimokuza? How delightful!

For the deleted scene, you can guys can easily fit this into canon because the date during chapter three lasted a while before Hachiman got stopped by Haruno on his way out. But I liked Yui's interlude so I scraped this, but you get the general idea of what I was getting at. So, if you want this in the story, sure, if not then that's fine too.

Next chapter should be fun! See you guys then.

[1]: Ouran High School Host Club Main Heroine (LOVE THIS SHOW)