Prologue

As my sister dropped of my bike before the school gate, she wanted to walk with her friends you see, I found myself slowing down. My heart got heavy and my breathing quickened.

Summer break had recently finished and with that my free time had been used up. Granted, I wasn't really free in the break – even when I discounted the assignments and projects needed to be submitted. And I can tell you now that I had accomplished all of them. The sudden heaviness of pushing my bicycle nor the upcoming deadlines did not send me this dread. No, it wasn't even dread, at least not wholly.

I was excited, much more than I had been a year or two ago. And even with my luck, there wasn't anything in sight, at least with these eyes of mine, that could ruin this day. Why was excited for school? You're asking the wrong question, really. It was who I was excited to meet in my school that was clouding my mind, slowing my movements. This was no time for me to falter however, I didn't want to leave a bad impression.

After all we haven't really hung out for two weeks thanks to some errands we needed to do. I wasn't going to say it out loud, – especially in front of her family or anyone really – but I really wanted to see her.

"Good morning," there she appeared as I heard her faintly say her greetings. That blank yet enticing expression of her face immediately morphed into a smile that lured me closer faster than a siren would do to a doomed sailor… and while we're at it, please don't mind the weird grin I was giving her!

"Yo, morning," she moved to my side while I pushed my bike through the gates. The surrounding mass gave way to both of us, whether that was due to her presence or my unwieldy bicycle I did not ponder too long. My mind was finally relaxed after constant excitement and anxiety this reunion brought me. So much in fact that we quietly headed for the bike racks.

While I had no issues with the silence – we enjoyed each other's presence, but my curiosity of her time without had me riled up so I asked her, "So how was your break? Hokkaido must have been exhausting for you…"

I realized why I rarely started the conversation: my skills were poor when it came to ice breakers and I haven't really attempted to correct something that needed no correction! I let my excitement off the leash too much. Yukinoshita however simply sighed instead of taking a jab at my question.

"It was quite uneventful to say the least. Mother, Father and I had met a few relatives. Some idle talk here and there and several reunions. Hmph, but it doesn't matter now-" she takes me by surprise as she edges her hands closer to mine – a cat striking with her best paw – and grabs it. I feel her soft digits merge with my own. "–that you're here with me."

My heart skips a beat, but I've endured more intense attacks from her before we parted for school break. I was still on the back foot and I simply decided to endure. "Going on the offensive already? Did your sister egg you to be this pushy? Huh?"

She looks at me with her deep blue eyes, her head tilts and that reveals the cute side of her. "Do you have an issue with this arrangement?"

She seemed hurt but that subtle smile that only sharpshooters could spot in the heat of the moment told me another story, something I was a hundred percent confident in assuming – she was enjoying this. "Well I'm not complaining, no. I just feel this isn't the usual modus operandi of Yukino Yukinoshita. I feel like your sister pressured you into doing this. My heart can't handle this kind of firepower."

I'd be disappointed if that were true, for a multitude of reasons of course. Yukinoshita Yukino is a strong girl, the Ice Queen of Sobu, but she was up against the literal She-Devil Haruno Yukinoshita. Fire Types beat Ice Types by a margin, right? Thankfully, it wasn't the case as she answered me with, "Not at all."

"Oh, that's good."

"Mother had given me this advice."

"Eh? What?" this couldn't end well for me.

"Closing the gap with no room for the prey to escape, I quote." She has that smug smile on her face, the one she wore when she had the upper hand, and that giggle she let out only solidified her initiative rather than stall it. "And I must admit, it has given me the results I want."

The results were her moving closer to me than earlier. We were practically bolted to the hip and she did not mind the contact, in fact she reveled in it. If this was one of her mother's tactics of getting her prey, then that means… You're mother's scary Yukino! Too scary! I can't help but pity your dad if he has to put up with such tactics every day of his existence. Would I end up the same way if you keep at this doctrine? I really should say that I'm horrified at this outcome but now that I think about it, I am one of those sailors too attracted to the sirens. "Is that so? Well it makes sense. She looks like the kind of person to get what she wants."

Instead of the usually negative expressions she would form whenever it concerned her family – specifically the Yukinoshita matriarch – she instead wore a smile, a genuine one at that, before humming approval. "She is that kind of person."

That must have been a good summer break for her then.

With that silence consumed us again, our hands reminding us that we weren't alone in this trip. The students gawking at us didn't help with this little scenery we both had concocted. The way they looked at me, their eyes wide open even as I let go of her hand to safely lock my bike. My mood showed as Yukino gave me a worried look.

"Are you alright?" she placed her hand on my forehead, checking my temperature. If you do that here with everyone looking at us, my temperature's definitely going to spike! "Perhaps you've caught the cold, and we've yet to find the cure for your Hikigerms."

Well… at least she knew how to take my mind off unnecessary things. "Woman, need I remind you're with THE Hikigerms right now?

Placing one hand on her chin in deep thought, she nodded. "You're absolutely correct."

She was planning something, but my attack won't be repelled! "So, by proximity and frequency, wouldn't that mean you've caught it by now?"

Now there was one thing I remembered too late when engaging with a Yukinoshita: you don't.

"Well certainly, however I certainly don't feel sick or rotten when close to you. Mmm- perhaps it wasn't contagious as your classmates assumed. It's simply a burden that you'd have to endure for the rest of your life, wouldn't you agree?"

Arghhhh. There's no winning against her when it comes to playful quips. Yukino had a tongue tempered by the sharpest steel, and no one would survive her verbal disputes unless they themselves carried her family name. Of course, that somehow makes me prideful in a way seeing as I'm not dead nor bleeding on the floor with my pride destroyed! I couldn't let her have the last laugh however, so I tried to rebuke her statement with "Well-," but she interrupted me, tugging my cuffs and gazing with those concerned blue eyes into my own.

"But really, are you ok? You've been quite uneasy this morning?" as she spoke those words, we both turned to our surroundings. A small – and when I small I mean three kouhais – crowd took their sweet time to gawk at two perfectly warped individuals.

"So, it was true! Yukinoshita-senpai's been dating him!"

"Man, that guy's so lucky."

"Hey, isn't that the dude that trashed Sagami-san back at the Cultural Festival? Hikitani-kun?"

"Hey, you're right… it kinda makes sense why he was acting all pissed at Sagami-san then! Boi was protecting his girl!"

"H-hey shaddup! They can hear us."

They left as quickly as they spoke, all the while looking back at us with a mixed expression of surprise and curiosity. I can understand why. How could a former loner like me end up with the Ice Queen of Sobu? In their eyes I was most likely closer to an insect, but who cares what a bunch of kouhais thought. Not me. Certainly not. Still, they remembered the Cultural Festival last year and they didn't seem so agitated at me. "I guess no one really forgot that incident huh."

"Of course, they would not have." She had that lecturing expression on her, the way her perfect eyebrows curled with criticism, how her stance stood firmer than usual or how her deep blue eyes challenged me to not look away. "You made quite the turbulence 'changing this world' to fit your twisted images at the time."

It was still a sore spot for both of us, though not enough to break us just enough to give concern. Back then I saw myself as alone, and to circumvent that idea that being a loner was a weakness I did some things that hurt a lot more people than would really help. I didn't really see the issue at the time with my sacrifices or I ignored such thoughts… after all I was alone. Not today however, nor tomorrow. And while she trusts me not to do it, I believe another pact would be in order. "Well as twisted and wrong as this sounds, a lot of what I did then was to help you."

"And I don't fault you for thinking that way," she doesn't sigh – she hasn't given up. Instead she takes both my hands and holds it close to hers all the while her eyes glare at me, both determined and concerned for me. "but please, things are different now, okay?"

My face must've been red with that ultimatum of hers. An ultimatum I would accept, no second thoughts. As I nod, she gives me a smile with her rosy cheeks much more pronounced. We left the racks and headed for her classroom. I had to drop her off or rather I wanted to drop her off.

Even then, I wanted to plan out our date later. I needed to think 10 steps ahead of her you see if I wanted to gain the initiative. "So, we're still going to that Book Café by your apartment later right?"

"Absolutely, I have several texts I'd like to check out there. I may try to get back into reading some of Dostoevsky's works while it's still early." The way she looked at me means she probably wanted me to read with her. I wasn't really a fan of Russian Literature, or American or European… I liked reading Japanese Literature. And said literature was quite a light read that I got from Zaimokuza. It was certainly no bastion of complexity or historical appreciation even with the many Graeco-terms used in it, but it certainly had descriptive scenes that any hormonal teenager would enjoy. "Please don't rot your mind even more than it is, Hikigaya-kun."

"What was that? Were you reading my mind again, Espernoshita-san?"

"Nothing of the sort, though with how divisive and disorganized your mind is right now, it wouldn't be too far-fetched for you to assume that telepathy exists, Raskolni-gaya-kun."

"You're going easy on me now? I haven't a faint clue who you're referencing," of course it probably related to one of her current reads. Dostoyevsky, right? I have no idea who that man was but if it piqued Yukino's interest it must have been worth a read… better add that to my back log.

Pinching her nose, she faced away from before going Yukipedia on me, "Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. My analogy is rather shallow, to be frank. Not even Hikigaya-kun would go through such lengths and to justify his misdeeds as a net benefit to society."

"Hold on a second, I definitely think that some of my actions have actually led to the betterment of society. Some of them at least. The later ones..."

My ramblings ceased when she cut through with her sharp tongue. "We're here Hikigaya-kun. Thank you for escorting me."

I smiled. Being a good escort meant I had to open the door for her. As expected from Yukinoshita's boyfriend! And gracefully, she took one step, swung herself to face me once more, a gave me a subtle but heartfelt smile. Cute, that was cute. I had to control myself lest I make an unwanted expression.

"I'll see you at lunch," she says sounding closer to a decree than a suggestion. Whatever happened to her in their family trip must have strengthened her resolve for me given her initiative. That thought of her growing up to be this mature ojou-sama who would dance around you with words was proven when she had given me the familiar Yukinoshita family grin.

"Yeah sure," if I'm lucky Ebina-san and Hayama-kun wouldn't try to bother me at break. I can do this, "um, l-later Yukino… shita-san."

Arghh. I can never say it in public… what the hell is wrong with me?

"I'll see you later, Hachi- Hikigaya-kun," she finishes with a tone tinged with more embarrassment than my own. And that embarrassment soon flooded into me as well. The looks the students in Class 3J gave us put us under a spotlight, once more. Why do they have to give me the same look they've been giving me at the start of the school year? Are we in a loop right now? Were we in a RomCom situation created by the gods? It felt that way.

"Yukinoshita-san and Hikigaya-kun have been doing this for months now and I still can't get over it. Kyaa~," that squeal gave me an answer. We were definitely being punished by the gods of RomComs.

"I know right! And, and! Hikigaya-kun has improved a lot y'know? Last year he was a solid 3 but he's definitely an 8 now!" I'm being picked apart right now. Please stop talking about me like that, that group at the back doesn't look too pleased with your comments.

"Well duh, Yukinoshita-san must've worked hard to turn him into a treat. Those creepy eyes of his are more like eyes for a bad boy, gya~ It's the love from Yukinoshita-san I tell you, I tell you!" haaaa, now you're crossing the line! Only one person gets to criticize these despicable eyes and she's currently fuming. Oh no.

"Ladies, once again we have perfect proof on how love can even fix problem children– hey! What are you doing?!" The girl didn't even know she was dancing to her funeral music… another girl followed up with "Not in front of Yukinoshita-san!" but it was too late. Her two blue orbs were directed at them, freezing them in place.

"Please, cease with that noise. It's impolite."

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

This was a sight to behold. I was watching my partner immolate a group of students with that trademark glare of hers and I wasn't collateral for once! I fear for my future self when he has to deal with Yukino in her prime but honestly it wasn't that bad. That meant I would be with her after all.

Then the school bell rung. Class was starting and I was going to be late.

What a great start.

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