When I enrolled in Sobu, I thought that these three years were going to last forever, but the reality was not that kind. My first year blew by quickly, and my second year felt like it went on forever, and my third year feels like a mix of the first two years. I felt like I wasted a good chunk of my remaining time here, but it also feels like these days have been some of the best days of my life.

Youth, huh? Many people think youth ends after high school, but I think it continues during college. Because you'll be around 18, 19 years old as a college freshman, right? That's still pretty damn young if you ask me, so even if my high school life is coming to an end, I'll still have many more years to enjoy before I have to succumb to modern-day slavery.

As I was heading for the exit I encountered two familiar-looking faces. I was just as surprised as they were, but the feeling was short-lived as I heard a loud shriek behind me.

"Hachiman!" He said walking over to me.

I turned around and faced the voice. I knew it was Zaimokuza, but I wasn't expecting the president of the literature club to be present by his side. She let Zaimokuza do all the talking as she stayed calm and collected throughout our interaction.

"Yo," I said casually. "Were you two coming from club?"

"Indeed that's correct. We were working on my light novel, and I am receiving assistance on the matter from yours truly!" He said, dramatically pointing to Haruhi.

"I've been helping him out of school with his project for a little over a week already, by the way."

I hope they're not forgetting that we have entrance exams coming up soon. Even someone like me knows not to neglect this particular exam, since it'll determine our future and what university we can attend.

"Is that so? How's it looking so far?"

"Honestly, it's not bad, but he's still a pain to work with." She said, glancing over at him.

"Y-You certainly don't mean that, right?" He said nervously.

"It's not just your personality, but the fact that you still have the tendency to self-insert even after I told you numerous times not to."

Oh, right. She had that blunt personality that came with the ability to speak her mind with very few filters. But I feel like that's only with things she's critical about, things that she may not be completely fond of or interested in

"But even you said my writing improved!"

"It's not hard to improve on garbage."

If they're just going to go at it right now, then I'll just head on home.

"I'll see you guys later," I said turning my back towards them, but I didn't make it very far as Zaimokuza invaded my personal space.

"Hachiman, would you be interested in looking over my writing once again? I need a man of culture like yourself, people like her make me want to stop writing forever, but at the same time she's been my main source of motivation to continue writing this novel, but I still want you to come!"

"That's enough, Zaimokuza. Just meet me in the library, I'll be there soon."

"Roger!" He said disappearing into the streets.

She seemed to be fed up with him, but she also seemed to be content, or rather she seemed to be enjoying the process of revising his work. I couldn't tell which one it was, but I'm curious to know why she'll go this far for one person she probably doesn't even know.

When we opened the gates, we were greeted by a moderate breeze with the sun in full swing. I didn't waste any time and I immediately jumped the gun.

"Hey. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead." She said, somewhat cheerfully.

"Is there a reason why you're still helping Zaimokuza? I mean, it just seems like a lot of work without any incentive for yourself."

She smiled softly. "Oh, but there is an incentive for myself, do you know what it is?"

"No, probably not."

She took a seat by the nearest bench and stretched excessively, while I sat down slowly, lazily if you will.

"I was always big on reading and writing, I mean, what kind of president would I be if I didn't like literature, right? But since my juniors would come to me for second opinions on their writing, I've started to realize that I had a passion for this sort of thing, editing, that is. I saw Zaimokuza as the perfect opportunity to see if I would seriously consider a career in editing, and I do… I really love doing this… it makes me happy."

I can see that. Everyone is different, and everyone will have things that will make them tick. For her, it's editing, she finds enjoyment in being able to edit other people's work. I don't really understand it, but if she is happy doing it, then I won't judge it or knock it off, because the old me would've definitely commented something negative just because it didn't resonate with me.

"So, you like helping people, right?"

"I like helping people with their writing, not just in general. If I liked helping people then I would've opted for a career in social work or something, but those kinds of jobs are tough, you know? So, even though it feels nice to help people get through a tough situation, I am most fond of editing people's writing."

"So, even if this whole thing fails in the end, you wouldn't mind one bit?"

"Nope! The experience I'll gain from this will be invaluable, plus it'll look good on my resume especially if Zaimokuza goes big."

"I think it'll look good regardless, because you're not a professional, right?"

"Correct, this is my first major project."

"Yeah, even if it doesn't sell as well as you wanted to, you'll be able to make his next project even better and slowly increase your credibility and skills."

She smiled. "Do you think Zaimokuza and I can really be this dangerous duo of writer and editor?"

"Well, it's without a doubt that Zaimokuza is filled with unlimited creativeness, but I think it might take some time until you guys can seriously consider this as a profession."

In my eyes, I feel like they can do well working as a duo, but that doesn't mean they can make a good living like this. If they want to seriously consider a career in these fields, then they need to be willing to invest years' worth of their time, but I'm sure she's already aware of it.

"Even if our dreams end up getting crushed and even if we end up with office jobs, I can at least say that I tried to follow my dreams. That's what my parents told me when I was a child because they didn't have the same luxuries that I have now."

"I see."

"Do you have any dreams, Hikigaya?"

Becoming a househusband? Becoming the CEO of Maxx Coffee Inc.?

"Not really, no."

"Ah, I see. You just plan on working until your inevitable death, right?"

"What's wrong with that? A lot of adults opted for that life anyways."

"But you're not an adult yet, are you? Don't choose such a depressing path when you have the resources and time to find something that you really like to do."

She shook me for a second, but I composed myself. "It's going to be like this unless I find something that I really enjoy doing."

In truth, there was nothing I really liked doing. And I was perfectly fine with waking up, working, and repeating that cycle until I retire then eventually die from old age.

"I… see."

I didn't intend on telling her anything further so I stood up and grabbed my bag.

"I should be heading home now."

She stood up quickly in response and grabbed my attention. "Will ever you stop by the club one more time before we graduate?"

"If it's just one more time, then I can endure it."

She smiled. "What an indirect way of saying yes." She paused. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, later," I said, walking in the direction of my house which was straight, while she turned the right.

My walking came to a halt when I directed my attention to the vibration I felt in my pocket. I opened my phone to a message from Komachi, it seems she wants me to pick up a small list of things for dinner tonight. Sometimes I forget how popular she is, but I guess if she wants to hang with friends while I get the groceries, then I guess I can tolerate it. There was a shopping district not too far from our school that I can go to as well, but this small trip is going to burn at least an hour of my time, unfortunately.

As I was walking to the shopping district, I noticed that I was getting some looks from some of the other students who were also going to the district. Yes, yes, I know, my eyes are dead and I'm probably a menace to society, but can you not make it any more obvious, by chance? Like I can see you, you know? I guess going shopping right after school is seen as something only friends do or something. And I can understand that because I only go shopping on the weekend, while I go straight home after school on the weekdays.

Upon entry into the shopping district, I pulled out my phone to check the list one more time. Alright, so I need chicken, rice, broth, and bell peppers, seems simple enough.

And as expected, this place is already flooded with groups of students from various schools in the neighborhood. Growing up, mainly during grade school and middle school, I always wanted to go out like this with a group of friends. Getting disowned and traumatized by my classmates, I gave up on youth completely and decided to go solo until the end of time. Even now, being alone still feels empowering, but I wonder if I ended up wasting all of those years that I had. Could I have actually made some memories instead of complaining and acting hard-headed all the time? Perhaps.

When I entered one of the markets buried inside the heart of the mall, I grabbed a shopping basket and began walking to the produce aisle.

Peppers, peppers, peppers, and what else did I need? Oh, right, I think I needed some Maxx coffee and instant ramen. Too bad I'm currently running on my own currency or else I would've bought an 8 pack of Maxx without hesitation. As I turned the corner and into one of the aisles, I bumped into someone familiar.

"H-Hikigaya?" She said, totally surprised to have seen me.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, I didn't think I would see you shopping here from all places."

"A-Ah, I was in the area, and I decided to see if there were any good deals here!"

This place is slightly more expensive than your average market due to it being in the mall, and as an adult, wouldn't they be super tight on saving money?

"Right," I said nonchalantly.

"What about you? Don't you grocery shop somewhere else?"

"How do you even know that? You're scaring me now." I said.

"Calm down, your sister tells me a lot of things, so I know a lot about you guys."

Ugh, why is Komachi disclosing such information to our teacher from all people?

"You don't have her in any of your classes, right? She told me she's seen you a couple of times for guidance counseling."

"That's right. Her teachers say she's a great student, but she seems to be struggling in math, which is not surprising since I've seen your test scores."

"But I'm still third in Japanese, sensei! You can't keep jabbing at my inability to execute mathematical problems when I'm third in my grade in Japanese.

"You're right, but you only improved to a 20/100 which is still a failing score. I guess it's better than, what was it again? 3/100?"

"Somewhere around that." I said proudly.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck during your college level math courses, because you'll need it. Oh, and are you free right now? Let's go get some drinks and chat."

"I can't, I need these groceries back home as soon as possible."

It wasn't entirely lying, but I really want to go home and play with my vita.

"Don't worry, I'll text your sister and tell her that you'll be late for the evening."

"Why are you so insistent about this, anyways?"

"Because you'll be busy with entrance exams and university, so this might be the only time we can see each other for a while."

"You're acting like I don't have your contact information or something."

"No, but I know you, Hikigaya. You're lazy and stubborn, so you're coming with me, and that's an order too."

"You're not even my teacher anymore, so you can't execute commands like that and expect me to obediently follow them."

"No, no, no, I am still working at Sobu, just not as a teacher or guidance counselor anymore. So, if you don't tag along with me then I'll put in this a disciplinary notice."

"T-This is tyranny."

She smiled. "Great, shall we?"

I obediently followed her around the store while listening to the various things she would blurt out on random. While we were in the frozen food aisle, she stopped and asked me a question.

"You still don't know how to cook, right?" She said, examining some chicken she picked up.

"Not really, no."

"Well, you should learn how to soon, you won't be able to survive off instant ramen throughout university alone."

"Says who?"

"Says me! Once you begin to eat them multiple times a day for weeks at a time, your body will start to give out on you, since your diet is missing a bunch of vitamins and minerals."

"I think I'll be fine."

Just because her body gave out on her during university doesn't mean mine will. And even though she might be right, I'll see how it goes before I have to resort to cooking my own food.

"Maybe, but when you become a working adult of society, spending your money on these things will eventually add up to the point where you'll need to cook your own food to save a bit of cash."

"Damn it, I don't need a lecture right now."

She smiled. "Just keep it in mind, alright? You're still living at home, so at least try to be adept at making pasta or something."

"What about my protein source?"

It's a fact that a certain number of calories and protein needs to meet every day to be considered a 'healthy' adult.

"Can you grill chicken?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"Ah, you'll be fine, just make sure hydrate yourself, alright?"

"Sensei, I got a feeling that you're just sharing your past university mistakes with me."

"That's because I am! I want you to only stress about your course work, and not the food you'll eat. Because if you don't graduate…" She didn't finish her sentence, so I finished it for her.

"I'll get disowned, right?"

"Most likely, yes."

"Yeah, my old man already gave me the university talk, so I know the consequences of not graduating."

My parents, especially my father, are strict about me graduating university on time. I wasn't sure why exactly, because they never told me, but I had no right to question their orders, so I had no choice but to obey them. Plus, I'll be paying for the courses out of my own pocket, so the more courses I fail, the more money I'll have to pay back.

"Ah, I see," She paused putting the chicken in her cart. "Is this all?"

"I guess so."

"Alright, let's get this paid for."

After she said that, we began walking in direction of the cashiers, mostly in silence.

After we finished paying, we exited the market and headed in direction of the nearest coffee shop.

"Coffee is fine with you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Great," She paused. "Did you ever think about drinking, Hikigaya?"

"Is that really something you should be asking a student?"

"Nope, but you should answer."

Drinking, huh? I guess if I ever become a househusband so I can leech off my wife's income, then I'll probably have a drink or two during the day or something. Or at least something that'll give me a little buzz, but I never thought about it that much.

"Well, if I end up with a decent paying salary, then probably. But I don't think English teachers get paid that much, though."

"So, you decided on being a teacher, huh?"

"You can say that. But I think I might go for the professor title for that boost in income, but I'm still thinking about it."

"I see. Did Kawasaki ever tell you about her career path yet?"

"What does she have to do with anything?"

"Haruno told me a lot of things, but she is the girl you've been a lot spending time with, right?"

I sighed. "Yeah."

"Interesting," she said, before stopping in front of a café. "Let's go in, hopefully we can find a booth."

The café we entered was fairly casual, with multiple groups of high school students occupying the capacity. Luckily for us, we found a booth and got seated rather quickly. The place was well lit, and the atmosphere had a Saize type of feel to it, but it was a bit more formal than Saize, but still casual enough to walk in with our school uniforms. A waitress quickly made her way to our booth and took our orders.

When the waitress left, Hiratsuka-sensei looked at me and spoke. "So, how's it going?"

"I'm not sure how to answer that, but I guess you can I've been all over the place."

"I can understand that. Getting rejected by Yukinoshita then rejecting her must've strained your mental health pretty badly."

"Well, yeah," I paused. "How is she doing, by the way?"

She gave me a peculiar look before answering me. "She's still maintaining the best grades in the school. But emotionally and mentally, Haruno told me she's been managing it."

"Only just managing it?"

"Aren't you only just managing it, too? I can tell that you haven't fully healed yet."

"S-Shut up." I said, passively.

She smiled. "Well, with Yukinoshita done and away, what are you going to do about Kawasaki?"

Even I don't know the answer to that question yet. I have a vague idea of what I want to do, but the chances of it working out in my favor are slim, but at this point it's the only thing that I can do.

"The plan is to confess before we graduate."

"Is that so? Now just how are you going to do that?"

"I'll figure something out."

Upon saying that, our drinks arrived and the both of us took sips from our respective beverage. She had some alcoholic concoction while I went with Maxx coffee.

"You know, Hikigaya, you eventually need to be comfortable opening up to people without overthinking it this much. You're going to miss a lot of opportunities if you're still afraid to be emotionally vulnerable with people."

Nothing she said was wrong, she hit it right on the mark, but even so…

"Last time I tried doing that I got rejected."

"That was before though, wasn't it?"

I couldn't respond to her, so she continued from where she left off. "Let's say you're at a bookstore and you see a cute girl. And immediately you become attracted to her entire physical appearance. You want to talk to her, but you can't, and after a while she left the store before you could even mutter a single word to her. And all that's left are the thoughts of the aftermath of what could've been, so basically delusion, nothing more. Do you see where I'm getting at?"

"No, not at all."

"If you want something, you need to go and get it. I know that sounds incredibly basic and you probably heard that multiple times, but if someone is important to you, then there should be nothing standing between you and that person. And if you don't go for it, then she didn't mean as much to you as you thought. But you already know this, because you did it once, and now you're going to do it again."

"But how can I get in a relationship with her if I'm still in love with Yukinoshita.?"

"That is indeed a problem, but I guess it depends on Kawasaki, really. She may be willing to take that risk, or she may not be willing to, we won't know."

"Risk, what risk?"

"If Kawasaki is aware that you are still in love with Yukinoshita, then she'll be taking a risk in getting into a relationship with you because you very well might just crawl back to Yukinoshita at any time, while leaving Kawasaki in the dust like nothing happened."

"So, I might get rejected again?"

She sipped her drink before answering. "It's possible, but if she's important to you then you'll overlook that possible outcome and remain focused on your desired outcome. Maybe this is your genuine thing, after all."

When she said that, I flinched subtly, but not enough for her to comment on it.

"Genuine, huh?" I never thought I would hear that word come from her mouth.

"That's what you're searching for, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah. But why do you think it's with Kawasaki?"

"Let's say she accepts you and all your problems, right? If she's willing to be with you regardless of your apparent feelings toward Yukinoshita, then that just shows how much she's willing to sacrifice for a chance at love. And aren't you the same, too?"

I had my mouth slightly open as I was completely taken aback by her words.

"Hikigaya, if it's not with her then you will need to keep searching, but you will never know unless you take that single step forward."

"Got it," I paused to take everything in. "What about you, how have you been?"

Somewhat surprised, she answered. "I never thought you'll ask me something like that. You're changing, you know?"

Well, people don't stay the same forever, plus it'll be rude to only be talking about myself here.

"It'll be inconsiderate to not ask you the same question you asked me."

"Yeah, you're definitely changing, but that's good, you're becoming a better person. And to answer that, things have been the same for me, but I've recently gotten myself into the dating scene! Can you believe that? But it gets even worse. Get this, this guy I met with not too long ago said I talk too much, and it turned him off, like you can't be serious? Do I actually talk too much, Hikigaya? Please tell me it's not true…" She said, desperately waiting for an answer.

"Haha," I said awkwardly. "It probably is true, but I can't say for sure."

Hiratsuka-sensei does talk a lot, especially if it's about ramen or something else she's passionate about, so she can get kind of scary at times.

"I bet it's true, ugh!" She said directing attention from of the other diners onto us.

Damn it, she's too loud, and honestly, she's almost like a kid. I said it once, and I'll say it again, if I was ten years older then I probably would've fallen madly in love with her.

"Hey, you're too loud!"

"Hikigaya, tell me why God won't let me have a good man?" She said, awaiting an answer.

"How the hell should I know? Go ask an online forum or something."

"No, no, tell me your honest opinion. Anything, I don't care, I just need somebody's else's perspective on this."

Damn it, doesn't she have coworkers she can talk to about this? I got a feeling she only brought me out here to vent about her men problems.

"Alright, fine. Maybe your expectations are too high, I don't know.

"What, really!?"

"H-Hey, you didn't even let me finish. I honestly don't know what to say, but maybe try acting not so desperate for man or something."

"Ugh, I knew that I was desperate, but I didn't think other people knew as well. That stings, but only a little bit, but it's nothing I can't handle."

I smiled. "It looks like everyone got some things to work on, huh?"

She composed herself a bit. "Of course, I am a human being just like you are. You got some things going on, just like I do, and just like everybody else here."

"But quite frankly, I've been having men problems for a long time, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm the one who's the problem."

"Why don't you ask Haruno?"

"That's my last resort, but I would prefer not to do that since it's kind of embarrassing."

"You don't like your coworkers or something?"

"Oh, please. There is constant gossip around the workplace, if I decide to open up to somebody about this then it'll spread like wildfire."

"Ah, so it happens even after high school, great."

"Eh, it's nothing though. Unless it's something newsworthy, such as my dating life, then it'll probably spread quickly."

"Are you sure?" I asked since I didn't know a lot of the workforce, so that meant I know practically nothing about workforce gossip.

"Everybody I work with is either married or dating someone. If they find out that I'm the only single one there, then I'll never hear the end of it."

"I guess even teachers don't like rumors about themselves."

"I don't think anybody likes to see people gossiping about you right in your face."

"True."

When we finished our drinks, we decided to head for the exit. Hiratsuka-sensei stretched her body, releasing a subtle groan, while I just casually yawned.

"Talking with you is always fun, you know that?"

"No, but now I do."

She smiled before walking aside me. "You got this, alright? And when you get together with Kawasaki, make sure to tell me, alright?"

"Sure thing."

We enjoyed this brief moment until I decided to speak up. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, sensei."

She waved her hand as if she was canceling out what I said. "Instead of goodbye, why not say, see you later? I'll see you later, right?"

"Yeah, I will," I paused. "See you later, sensei." She smiled and waved me off.

I began walking in a direction toward the exit with the bags of groceries at my sides.

Time can only tell at this point. There's realistically nothing I can do until our very last day of school, which is the graduation ceremony. After going through hell and back growing up, and some more shit during my high school experience, I wonder if it'll be all worth it in the end. I sighed deeply, destroying that thought so I can remain focused on exiting the building without interruption.

Kawasaki, huh?

If I had to say, I guess I liked how rowdy she'll get at times, and how awkward she can get with me and other people. My feelings for her run deeper than this but I can't explain it that well. Why do I like being around her that much? Why do I like talking to her and making her angry? These are the things that I can't put into words, I just… I just don't know.