Watching My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Terrible, As Expected

by superlance909

Hachiman finds a box of DVDs in his room, along with some instructions. But he refuses to follow them! A bored god decides the DVDs must be watched, no matter what! After a few days, everyone is dragged into a theatre. On the screen is a show called... My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected? What the hell is this? (Occurs after Season 3)

3. Episode 2

...Hi?

---

Watching My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Terrible, As Expected

Episode 02

…

What's taking so long? The annoying voice said it would take only a few seconds, yet it's been a minute already. Was it so annoyed with our conversations that it wanted to stop us from talking? Don't worry god, I know that feeling very well.

"Hikigaya-kun, do you have any idea what the screen will show us next?" Yukinoshita questioned, looking at me.

I shrugged. "Who knows? It skipped everything that didn't relate to the service club, but that might not stick around." I don't remember what else happened back then, so hopefully it's something that isn't embarrassing.

Knowing my luck, I'm probably screwed.

Whoops! Sorry about that~. The DVD player had an issue, but it should be fixed now!

Seriously? Even god-made DVD players have maintenance issues? I glared at the screen, along with everyone else in my row.

Wow, you're all pretty mad!

"Of course we would be!" Miura angrily shouted. "Like, you brought us here against our own wills! What's so special about watching Hikio's school life anyways?"

Oi! I don't really want to watch this either, but don't call my school life boring!

Hehehehe~. I said it before; I'm bored! But don't worry, by the end of everything, I'll make sure to return you back!

Several sighs of relief were let out at that. However, I remained suspicious. After all, that wording seemed really odd. Why was it "The end of everything," and not "The end of the show?" I would have thought about it more, but unfortunately we had a show to watch.

Anyhow, enjoy the viewing!

The screen faded to black, before revealing something that I recognized.

The scene opens to show a picture of a sign showing the words "Class 2-F".

"It is in the nature of animals to live in groups."

Huh? Those words seemed familiar, but where have I heard them from…?

"Really? Another monologue from Onii-chan?" Komachi gave me a deadpan stare. I was too busy thinking, so someone else chimed in.

"Heh heh." Zaimokuza used his finger to shift his glasses. "But of course. This is clearly how the show draws in viewers! By-"

"Quit your drivel," Yukinoshita interrupted, not bothering to turn around. "I could care less about your irrelevant analysis."

The silver-haired chuynoboi froze, before he sank into his seat in despair. Ouch, I kind of feel bad for him. Then again, he was being pretty annoying just now.

As Hachiman is monologuing, it switches to show a shadow of a person walking, before it shows Hachiman himself sitting in the classroom.

The camera pans over a group of students talking amongst each other.

"Hey, that's us!" Tobe pointed at the screen. "I didn't think we would show up!"

Hayama nodded with a smile. "I did not expect this either." Truthfully, he thought it would be a while before he showed up. I realized we would show up, but not so early in Hikigaya's "story".

Ebina also noticed herself, but she decided to remain silent.

"Hah? Hikio noticed us?" Miura, on the other hand, did not stay silent.

I overheard her and rolled my eyes. Obviously I was going to notice the clique. They were the biggest group in my class, not to mention loud and annoying. Anyone who didn't notice them had to be both blind and deaf.

"Carnivores maintain a hierarchy. Those who don't become the boss must carry stress all their lives."

Hachiman puts on a smirk and looks away from the group.

"Whoa! For real? What is this?!" At the person's words, Hachiman looks to see Tobe crouching over to look at someone playing a video game. "That is so cool!"

Kawasaki frowned. If someone randomly did that to me, that person would regret it.

Nearby, Tobe felt a shiver go down his spine for no reason. "Hu-Huh?"

Haruno, however, was more interested in the monologue. Hehe, his thoughts are so interesting! Though, I'm admittedly curious why he's thinking about that.

"And herbivores surely feel the dilemma of sacrificing their peers in order to survive attacks from their natural enemies."

"Yo, this is seriously awesome!" Tobe shouts out.

"What's up?" The camera cuts over to show Hayama's clique, noticing Tobe's shouts.

"Can I borrow it for a second?" Tobe asked the person with the game console.

"Okay…" With little argument, the guy agrees.

Yukinoshita sighed and rubbed her nose bridge. "Idiot."

...That's it? You're only calling Tobe an idiot? Your insults are lacking!

"It kind of feels like the guy agreed too easily," Isshiki commented. "I bet he's like senpai; doesn't like to talk!"

"Yeah, that sounds right!" Next to her, Komachi easily agreed.

"Oi, you lost some points for that one," I said, pretending to be offended.

Tobe takes the game console and walks back to the clique. Miura reaches out to take it and use it.

"This is why living in groups is of no benefit to the individual." The camera cuts to show Hachiman's face up close. "That being the case, I choose the path of a bear, which never forms groups." It shows a brief glimpse of a drawing.

Oh. I just remembered what this essay was from. Behind me, Hiratsuka made a face of recognition. When she did, she glared at my back. I pretended to ignore it, but it was difficult.

"Oh!" Ebina suddenly cried out. "Hikitani-kun, you draw?" Something that isn't about her yaoi obsession? Who are you?! In my shock, I gave a nod. "I bet you draw yourself with Hayama all the time!" Never mind, she's still there.

"Ebina-san!" Shiromeguri piped up with a glare. "You shouldn't be saying those kinds of things!" Eh? She's speaking up now? Where were you the entire last episode?! "It's rude!"

"But-!" The former student council president continued to glare. "...Eheh, sorry senpai!"

Shiromeguri continued to glare for a few more seconds, before smiling. "Ok! That's good enough!" Huh? That glare disappeared really quickly! I was surprised at how quickly she stopped, but I didn't have the time to think about it too much. The episode was still moving forward.

The camera zooms out to show the classroom. "Bears are solitary creatures that feel no insecurity with living alone. Better yet, they get to hibernate. How awesome is that?"

I felt several stares on my back, but once again, they were ignored. I could care less about what the normies (and not-so normies) thought about my opinions. Besides, they have to admit that sleeping for long periods of time is awesome. If they disagree, they're crazy!

Once again, Hachiman's face is shown. "If I were to be reborn, I would definitely want to be a bear." It shows that he was writing in the essay, before cutting to a closeup of a bear drawing.

Haruno managed to stop herself from laughing out loud. "My, Hikigaya-kun, you're quite lazy aren't you?"

I managed to hear her and rolled my eyes. "To work is to lose, after all."

"E-Eh? W-What do you mean by that?" Totsuka asked. Oh shit, I didn't think he would hear that! Think, Hachiman, think!

"U-Um…" Crap! I'm blanking! Luckily, Komachi came to the rescue.

"Basically, Onii-chan is too lazy to do anything!" What?! No! That's technically the truth, but Totsuka can't know!

"O-Oh…" Normally, the silver-haired guy would assume it was a joke, but the previous episode had destroyed the image of Hachiman he held. Maybe that's how he really is?

Suddenly, I felt weak. It was like an innocent being had a negative thought about me. Ah, what's the point of going on...

OPENING PLAYS

Zaimokuza had a hand on his chin. "I see. It's the same opening. That is to be expected." He focused his attention on the screen, trying to search for the smaller details. I rolled my eyes, but didn't say a word. He wasn't being that annoying about it, so I let him be.

Since the room had already watched the opening, almost everyone moved their attention away from the screen and started talking amongst themselves.

"Why were we shown with the essay?" Miura asked, scrunching her face up in thought.

Hayama didn't respond, but he knew the answer. Hikigaya thinks our clique is somewhat similar to the social patterns of wildlife. I'm not too surprised he would think that. Whether that was true or not… it didn't matter.

"Dude, maybe Hikitani-kun was jealous!" Tobe, on the other hand, completely missed the mark.

"Really? Hikigaya doesn't strike me as the jealous type! Haha!" Orimoto laughed, though it was pretty forced.

"Oh… maybe I'm reading things wrong then!" The orange haired guy quickly abandoned his position. It was a cute girl talking to him after all.

In my row, we weren't talking about such irrelevant subjects. Instead, we focused on what was coming up.

"Hmm… Hikigaya-kun, with this information, do you have any other ideas on what will be shown next?" Yukinoshita asked me. It was the same question from earlier, just worded differently. I merely shrugged in response. I guess I can see why she would think I know what's next, since it's supposed to be about my life, but I didn't make this stupid show!

"I think senpai's just hiding what he thinks!" Isshiki, on the other hand, had a different idea. Whoa whoa, what are you doing?!

"Oi. That's just blatant misinformation." Don't try to rope me into your entertainment!

"My, Hikifroggy-kun, don't be so embarrassed." Oh no! The devil woman's back! I turned to look at Yukinoshita, who held the smug smile she always had in these situations. "Maybe we'll see how you intend to spread your germs across the world?"

I rolled my eyes. "For your information, I'm the cleanest person that I know. It's impossible for me to hold any germs." Heh, not the greatest rebuke, but Yukinoshita's insults have decreased in level recently, so I can afford to lower my offense.

As we bantered, Yuigahama looked at us with a… nostalgic expression? "Hehe, it's just like the service club." Are you really fondly remembering the times when my self-esteem was on the verge of destruction?!

Komachi felt a little left out, but the exchanges were still common enough that she sort of knew what the pink-haired girl meant. "Yeah! Onii-chan and Yuki-nee are totally in love with each other!"

That statement made us both freeze. I felt my face grow hot. Now what the hell does our banter have to do with our feelings towards each other?! Er, actually, I can see how. Ok Hachiman, calm down! Avoid saying anything!

I firmly closed my mouth, but Yukinoshita didn't do the same. "U-Um…" She only managed to squeak out that, before covering her face with her hands. Damn, that was adorab- shut up brain!

As we were dealing with our extreme embarrassment, the others were having their own conversations.

"Haru-san!" Shiromeguri was shaking Haruno back and forth. "When did you meet Hikigaya?! I wanna see it!"

The older Yukinoshita giggled. "Don't worry, I bet it will show very soon~. Say, how did you meet him?"

She stopped shaking Haruno and thought about it for a moment. "Hmm… it's been a while, so I don't really remember… Oh, but I'll get to see it here!"

"I bet it was pretty exciting~." The woman leaned back again, going into her thoughts. I can't wait to see what he was thinking when he saw me. Ooh, I'm so excited!

Before anything else could be said from anyone, the opening had ended and the show had resumed.

2. All People Surely Have Their Own Worries.

Huh? The title's at the start now? I guess that makes sense. Having episode titles at the start of the first episode doesn't exactly make sense, but after that, it works better. At least those thoughts distracted me from Komachi's words from earlier.

The camera starts with showing the front of Sobu, before it cuts to a panning of Hachiman's essay.

"You really gave serious props to bears." It shows Hachiman and Hiratsuka talking about the essay.

"I thought you were a modern Japanese teacher."

"I give students life guidance. That's why the biology teacher gave me this theme to assign." Hiratsuka starts tapping her finger on the table. "So, what part of this is 'the ecology of wild animals'?"

Several people from Class 2-F had a sudden flashback to them writing their own essays. Compared to theirs, Hikigaya's was… very unique.

"It's a powerful antithesis on the social habits of wild animals."

"Pfft." Haruno had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Onii-chan…" "Senpai…" Komachi and Isshiki deadpanned at me. I feel like I'm being severely judged right now!

"Ohoho, just hearing that really makes me want to punch you, Hikigaya." To make matters worse, I felt the teacher glare at me. Damn it, past self! Why would you write that and subject yourself to Hiratsuka-sensei's punches of death?!

The camera shows Hiratsuka sitting down. "Quit splitting hairs…" She places a finger on her forehead. "You make it sound like living in groups is a sin."

"But you live alone yourself, and are single in fact, so you don't-"

Bad idea, thought nearly everyone.

The screen suddenly goes pitch black, before it shows Hiratsuka's fist dug into Hachiman's stomach. It goes black again, before it shows him hunched over and grabbing his stomach in pain.

The audience went silent for a moment, not expecting Hiratsuka to go that far.

"U-Um… s-should a sensei be acting like that?" Yuigahama shivered slightly at the thought of being punched.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Hiratsuka waved her off. "Hikigaya's fine."

That's a very bold claim, sensei. Maybe you should experience it yourself and see if that statement holds up! Geez, I swear I'm feeling phantom pains from her punches...

Hiratsuka is shown sitting down again. "Anyway, did that request for help go well?"

Hachiman gives a small smile while still hunched over. "Well, she seemed satisfied with our services." He stands up straight, holding his stomach. "Speaking of which, what's going on with that showdown you talked about?"

"Oh, that?" She turns away from him with a smirk. "Don't worry. I'll be passing my own one-sided judgement on the outcome." She taps her chest with her hand, making Hachiman look away. "It's all locked up in here."

Why do I feel like she would be biased? Kawasaki thought. Then again, she didn't really know the relationship between the teacher and the service club. I wonder what happened with that.

On my end, I felt Yukinoshita glare at me. Oi, what's there to get mad about? The chest part? It's not my fault she drew attention to that area! Besides, you're fine the way you are!

Of course, I didn't voice any of that out. I would have been way too embarrassed to say that. Thankfully, she doesn't have esper powers like my sensei, so I should be safe.

"Okay…"

"By the way, what's your opinion of Yukinoshita Yukino?"

Hachiman seems to think about it for a moment. "I don't like her."

Hayama widened his eyes slightly. I didn't know he disliked her at first. While it was stated in the previous episode that he didn't hold feelings for her (yet), he still thought they got along well. For him, hearing that was a surprise.

Haruno giggled softly. "My my, Hikigaya-kun. Yukino-chan might not be happy to hear that, you know?~"

I wanted to wave her off, but Yukinoshita was glaring at me just a second ago. There's a possibility that she might be… a little mad. Oh crap! With great hesitation, I nervously turned my head to face her.

To my surprise, she was not glaring at me. Rather, she was smirking? I have a bad feeling about this…

"I see you were still deluding yourself, Hikigaya-kun." Huh, not the response I expected. "After all, how could someone like you not fall for someone like me?"

"Oi, did you forget my statements from the last episode? I'm worried your memory is eroding. Maybe you should go see a doctor," I retorted.

"That was simply another delusion of yours." Wow, you're really insistent on this. Maybe I'll try throwing a curveball.

"Okay, you win. I've had f-feelings for you since we first met. Happy now?" Damn my stutter. That was a little embarrassing, but I'll have to accept that.

My statement made her suddenly turn away. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "I d-didn't expect that…" she muttered to herself. Damn, that was very cute. Finally a victory!

As we bantered, the others watched us with various different expressions. Yuigahama and Isshiki were pouting at the exchange. Komachi held a look of glee.. Zaimokuza was simultaneously betrayed, yet proud of his brother-in-arms. Hiratsuka had a soft smile on her face, glad that the two were able to reach this point.

Meanwhile, Shiromeguri was feeling slightly confused. "How did they get from talking about disliking each other to that?" Her question went unanswered.

"I see." Hiratsuka closes her eyes and smiles. "She is a very bright student, but…" The camera zooms out to show the teacher's lounge. "Well, those who 'have', carry their own burdens. She's actually very sweet."

That statement brought confused expressions to much of the audience. What exactly did that mean?

Yukinoshita snapped out of stupor and widened her eyes. Luckily for her, no one noticed it before she schooled her face back to normal.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, how long have you known Yukino-san for?" Isshiki turned around to ask the teacher behind her. It seemed like she knew a lot about the raven-haired girl.

"Hmm. I might be remembering wrong, but not for too long." The teacher crossed her arms in thought. "Of course, I'd known who she was for a while, thanks to Haruno. But we didn't exactly communicate with each other until the Service Club was established."

"That would be correct," Yukinoshita said with a nod.

"Really?! I totally thought you two had known each other for a long time!" Isshiki exclaimed in shock.

"Heh, we just happen to get along really well," Hiratsuka smirked. "Anyways, I'd like to see what I said to Hikigaya again. It's been some time since this happened."

Isshiki nodded and returned her attention to the screen.

It cuts to a view of some flowers in a pot. "Sweet and, sometimes, she's right. But the rest of the world is neither sweet nor right." Hachiman is shown looking at Hiratsuka with a neutral expression. "Must be hard for her."

"You're both contrary kids, so I'm worried that you'll have trouble adapting to society. It makes me want to bring you together in one place."

"What is that room, a sanatorium?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"Sana… torium?" Yuigahama asked.

Yukinoshita sighed. "A sanatorium is a word used to describe a medical facility in which they treat long-term illnesses. It was mainly used in the 19th and 20th centuries, before the creation of modern medicine." She rubbed her fingers on her nose bridge. "You should have learnt about this already."

The pink haired girl nervously laughed. "Haha…"

"Don't worry, Yui! I didn't know about that either!" Totsuka exclaimed. "So don't feel bad about that!"

Somehow I'm simultaneously surprised and not surprised. On the one hand, I thought Totsuka was pretty smart. The idea that Totsuka would not listen in class sounds too absurd to be true. On the other hand, he's too innocent to know about it!

Hiratsuka turns to Hachiman again. "But you kids are fun to watch." She lets out a small giggle as the camera cuts to a pot with white flowers. "So maybe I just want to keep you close by."

Haruno perked up. "My, my, someone's attached~," she said in a teasing tone.

Hiratsuka rolled her eyes. "I'm a teacher. Why wouldn't a teacher want to see their pupils grow up?"

Haruno pouted. "You never said anything like that about me. So mean, Shizuka!"

I mean, how would you know? Yukinoshita wouldn't have ever known this scene happened if it wasn't for this viewing. Maybe Hiratsuka said that about you once upon a time, you knoooow?

Though, I had a feeling that wasn't the case.

The screen switches to a view of outside the school, where it is raining. Then it shows Hachiman eating inside the classroom. "Normally, I have the best place to eat lunch alone, but when it's raining like this, I have nowhere to go."

"Oh! It's that spot near the courts, right?" Yuigahama suddenly asked.

Oi, why are you leaking my secret lunch areas?! Worse, I can't lie about it either. Several people here already know about it, so I would get caught instantly. "...Yeah," I replied hesitantly.

Totsuka perked up. "Oh yeah! I think that's where we first met!" Ah, that brings back good memories. Now I feel much better! Thank you Totsuka!

Ebina noticed the interaction between the two and started to giggle. However, she refrained from saying anything out loud.

Hachiman drinks some chocolate milk, when Miura pipes up. "Aww, Hayato…"

The camera shows the clique all gathered together, in which Hayama and Miura are having a conversation. "I can't today. I have club."

"Couldn't you skip just one day?" Miura pulls out her phone. "There's a great deal on double scoops at Forty-One today! I want a chocolate and a chocolat one."

"Miura-san! Don't encourage your friends to skip clubs!" Shiromeguri scolded the blonde haired girl. To magnify the effect, she gave the girl a pout.

Miura would have normally waved her off, but the pout made her hesitantly back down. "...Sorry..."

Isshiki considered jumping on the train against her, but ultimately decided against it. After all, there were a few times she skipped club too.

Meanwhile, some people were confused about her wording.

"Eh? Why did she say chocolate twice?" Totsuka questioned.

"Oh yeah!" Yuigahama turned around to face the silver haired guy. She had been to the place a few times with the clique, so she knew what the difference was. "They have two different products spelled 'Chocolate' and 'Chocolat'. Although, they tasted the same…"

"That's stupid," I pointed out. Seriously, that's a weird business decision. Having two products that were spelled very similarly and tasted the same was a bad idea. If I was ever in charge of a company, I wouldn't make a mistake like that!

"Those are both chocolate."

"Yeah, he's right." Ooka says, making them all smile.

"Huh? This seems pretty normal, so why is it showing this scene?" Orimoto asked.

Hayama heard her question and gave his thoughts on the matter. "Perhaps it is our introduction? We may be important characters to Hikitani-kun's story."

Orimoto placed a hand on her chin and thought for a bit. "Yeah… you were all in the same class, right?"

"Yeah!" Tobe piped up. "Almost everyone here was in the same class!"

As they talked, Kawasaki had her own thoughts. The show already showed off the clique at the start, didn't it? I don't see the point in doing it again. Something else is going to happen, I think.

The camera suddenly cuts to show Yuigahama, seemingly flinching when Miura speaks. "They're totally different! And I'm really hungry!"

"Oh…" Yuigahama suddenly remembered this. It was before the first time she ate with Yukinon, wasn't it? Do we have to watch this?

I also remembered this, although I didn't know the pink-haired girl knew as well. Since this was technically from my point of view, it was easier for me to remember these events. The rest of the audience still seemed clueless, although I have a feeling that won't last for long.

Hayama rejects her offer. "Sorry, but I'll have to pass today. Besides, Yumiko, you'll regret it if you eat too much."

"I don't gain weight, no matter how much I eat."

"Seriously?! Wow, I'm jealous!" Orimoto piped up with an easygoing smile. "I always have to monitor my intake!"

Miura, who finally recovered from Shiromeguri's attack from earlier, simply patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. You look cute enough already. I bet you'll be fine if you let loose a little bit."

The brown haired girl rubbed her cheek. "Oh, really? If you say so!"

"Yeah, Yumiko, your figure is seriously godlike!" It zooms in to show Yuigahama holding a pink bag. "Your legs are gorgeous! So anyway, I just…"

"You think so?" Miura makes a smug face and looks away from her. "But that Yukinoshita-san girl looks even more amazing, doesn't she?"

Yukinoshita turned around to glare at the blonde haired girl. Seeing the pink bag made her realize what this moment was. She didn't hear what had occurred before she barged in, so hearing this was new for her. "My, Miura-san, I didn't realize you were so… interested."

Miura returned the glare. "I wasn't giving you a compliment!"

"Oh? Then what would that be considered?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but then froze. Her memory was coming back to her, and she suddenly remembered when this was taking place. So she closed her mouth and turned away from the black haired beauty.

That reaction surprised Yukinoshita. Giving up like that didn't seem to be in Miura's personality. What happened? She turned back to the screen with a confused expression.

As the two were arguing, Haruno internally nodded in approval. Yukino-chan is so much more interesting when she speaks up! Onee-chan is proud! At the same time, Zaimokuza shivered in fear, as he was in between the two girl's line of sight. Hiratsuka was too, but she didn't seem to notice.

Then there was me. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I agreed with Miura. Yukinoshita's legs are so- Gah, what are you doing brain?! Focus!

"Yeah, Yukinon is amazing…"

"Yukinon?"

Hachiman looks back at the two girls in the corner of his eye. "Uh, but you look way more glamorous, Yumiko!" Miura makes a movement with her hands, cutting Yuigahama off.

That made a few people frown, but no one spoke up.

It was here that Hayama spoke up again. "Oh, why not? I can go with you after my club."

A very faint blush can be seen on Miura's face. "Ok, Hayato. Send me a text."

"Hayama-san!" Shiromeguri aimed a disappointed look at the blonde haired guy. "While I appreciate you not skipping club, you need to focus on your studies!"

He sheepishly rubbed his neck. "Sorry, Shiromeguri-senpai. I felt prepared enough already. I didn't think I needed to do much more."

"Hmph! Just be careful and pass all of your tests! Or senpai won't be very happy!" She wagged a finger as she spoke.

I chuckled at Shiromeguri's behavior, but inwardly I was frowning. I had a feeling the tension would be rising soon.

As this is going on, Hachiman observes the group as he eats. "Damn, that looks really rough. Are they a feudal society or what? If you have to kiss up to people that much to feel complete, I'd rather fly solo forever."

"Wise words, Hachiman!" Zaimokuza declared. Ugh, I should feel grossed out, but I don't. Don't tell me that I'm taking his compliments seriously?!

Hachiman didn't know it, but several people internally agreed with him. All of whom were notably not in the clique. That included Kawasaki, who was slightly surprised at how similar their own thoughts were. Kissing up to people, ugh. I hate doing that, especially if I'm not being paid to do it.

Yuigahama peeks back and notices his observing of the situation. With some hesitation, she turns back to the group and speaks up. "Um… I've got somewhere to go during lunch."

Miura is the first to respond. "Yeah? Then could you pick up some of that lemon tea for me? I forgot to bring a drink today."

"Uh, but I won't be back until fifth period…" It shows her still grabbing the pink bag. "I'll be gone for all of lunch, so I don't know if I can…"

While her memory was a bit spotty, Miura knew that she said some things that she regretted saying. But the specifics evaded her. D-Did I say something really rude to Yui? I can't remember…

Meanwhile, Ebina was watching the screen with a frown. The screen may have shown her only eating without saying a word, but she definitely remembered this moment. Unlike Miura though, she remembered what happened.

"Huh? What're you saying? You haven't been very sociable lately, Yui."

"Well, you might say… it's kinda out of my hands…" It cuts to a closeup of Miura. "I hate to let personal matters take me away, but…"

"That doesn't tell me anything. Just say it straight. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Sorry."

At this point, several other students are starting to notice the conversation. "I told you, 'sorry' doesn't cut it. There's something you want to say, right?"

The audience was quickly becoming uncomfortable as the tension in the room started to rise. No one wanted to see someone chew out a friend of theirs.

Hiratsuka was even prepared to make a comment to Miura, but when she turned around, she saw the blonde haired girl holding a pained expression. Ah. She doesn't like this either, huh? She turned her focus back to the screen, not saying a word.

"U-Um…" Totsuka was tempted to say something, but he was too nervous to put it into words. It just felt wrong to do so right now.

Hachiman turns away from the two girls. "Idiotic. Go ahead and tear down your own friend." He quickly looks at his phone, before he looks at Yuigahama. "It's not like I have any desire to help her whatsoever, but when I see a girl I know looking like she's about to cry, my stomach twists up and nothing tastes good."

So those were his thoughts… A soft smile appeared on Yuigahama's face. Thanks Hikki.

Near the back, Miura tightened her fists. He was right. And she didn't like it.

"Besides, I'm the one who belongs in the position of being attacked. I can't just hand that over to someone else."

"Huh?"

That was the collective sound made by those who didn't know Hachiman well. Hayama was one of those people. I knew he did that thing on the Kyoto trip, but this just sounds… wrong. Even for someone like me.

As for those who were more familiar with his behavior…

Yukinoshita and Komachi were both glaring at me, sending shivers down my spine. I knew why, but it was still scary. Please forgive me for my past self's words! I also noticed Yuigahama looking at me with a concerned face, but she wasn't glaring at least. Thank you for your mercy!

"Hachiman, Hachiman." Zaimokuza suddenly spoke up behind me. He was waving a finger. "While your words sounded cool, I'm afraid you're in the wrong genre!"

Isshiki deadpanned at the chuunibyou. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked in a cold tone.

The chuunibyou started sweating. "W-Well, Hachiman here is in a r-romcom. The protagonists usually don't h-have that line of thinking!"

I sighed and turned to face Zaimokuza. "Quit comparing my life to a whole genre. While the screen might be showing my life in a weird anime-like format, everything shown has happened before. That automatically makes me better than a typical romcom protagonist." And far beyond your two-dimensional characters!

The white haired teen flinched slightly. "Aye aye…" He backed off without another word. That didn't surprise me much, although I don't know if he'll finally stop with the comparisons or not. Eh, they were annoying, but they could be much worse.

...Oh, the two girls are still glaring at me.

"Onii-chan…" "Hikigaya-kun…"

"I've already said it before!" I cut in before the two could say anything else. "Quit glaring at me for mistakes I've already corrected!" Seriously, what's with everyone's short-term memory loss?

"But Onii-chan…" Komachi made a face that nearly made me collapse, but I held strong. Not today, imouto!

Yukinoshita frowned for a moment, before turning back to the screen. He makes a good point, but I cannot help glaring at him for his stupidity. Still, it may be better to refrain from treating him too harshly.

The screen shows a close up of Hachiman's face as he stands up. He turns to the girls and starts talking. "Hey, how about-"

The camera rapidly zooms in towards Miura, showing her making a disgusted expression. A drawing of a snake is shown next to her. "Shut your mouth."

Hachiman smoothly rewords his planned sentence. "H-How about I go get myself something to drink. Or maybe I won't." He sits back down in his chair.

That managed to get a few chuckles out of the audience.

"You backed down quite quickly," Yukinoshita observed with a smirk.

"I'm not brave enough to face the fire queen in this state," I pointed out. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was still thick with tension. Should I be worried about suffocating?

Miura moves her attention back to Yuigahama. "Oh, yeah. I will say this for your sake. That indecisive attitude of yours is really irritating."

The tension increased. It was starting to become unbearable. Any minute now, the tension would snap and something terrible would happen.

Ebina frowned, disappointed that she didn't try anything to stop this from happening. Though, she understood why. If the clique was stronger, I could have intervened...

"Sorry…"

"That again? All you've been doing is apologizing."

"I'm sorry!"

Those words cut through the theatre, which had been silent except for the show on the screen. Eyes turned to the person who shouted it out. And to everyone's surprise, it was Miura, who was now standing.

Hooh, I didn't expect that, Haruno thought. She thought that she was too focused on Hayato to bother with anyone else. That's… interesting.

Hayama was also slightly surprised, but a small smile appeared on his face. After all, it meant the clique wouldn't fall apart from this. I hope this brings them closer together.

Yuigahama, on the other hand, was staring at Miura with an expression of surprise. "Yumiko…?"

The blonde haired girl hung her head down. "L-Like, I know it's very overdue, but… I-I never apologized for saying that, did I?" She tightened her fists. "So… I'm sorry for saying that to you!"

Silence. For a few seconds, the whole theatre was quiet. Everyone wondered what Yuigahama would say in response. The tension seemed to reach a tipping point.

Then Yuigahama started to giggle softly. That threw some people off guard, although I half expected this. That was just how she was, wasn't it?

"Hehe, isn't this funny?" She scratched her cheek. "I was saying 'Sorry' a lot back then, and now you're doing the same!"

Hm? That wasn't the response I was expecting. Don't tell me she was holding in a lot of repressed rage?! Apparently, Miura was worried about the same thing, because her fists tightened even more.

"But that's okay!" And just like that, both of our concerns were dispelled. She tilted her head and giggled. "We're friends. And I wasn't even that mad about it anyways! Besides, that happened so long ago that I needed a refresher!"

Miura finally brought her head up to look at Yuigahama. Her face was filled with so much relief that I was taken aback. She was really concerned about this, huh? I guess the fire queen may have cooled off a bit.

"T-Thank you!" The blonde haired girl sat down again and leaned back into her chair. The tension in her body released and she sighed in content. "Ahh, I feel so much better."

With the issue apparently resolved, the tension had mostly disappeared. However, just because there was nothing in real-life to worry about, didn't mean that the viewing was over. After all, the argument was still going on.

Before Yuigahama can reply, someone else cuts in. "You're apologizing to the wrong person, Yuigahama-san." The two turn to look at the entrance, along with the rest of the class.

Standing by the entrance into the classroom is Yukinoshita. "Yuigahama-san, if you're going to invite me yourself and then not show up, I have to wonder what that says about you."

Some of the audience thought that seemed rude to say, but that was only because they knew why Yuigahama was late. Without the context of the situation, it made sense why Yukinoshita would say that.

That didn't stop the raven-haired girl from speaking up. "U-Um, I do apologize for my words, Yuigahama-san…"

"Don't worry about it Yukinon!" The pink haired girl hugged Yukinoshita, making her blush. Did you really expect anything different? I knew exactly what she was going to do. She released the hug quickly, wanting to remember what happened next.

The camera pans over the students in the classroom. "If you're going to be late, isn't it common courtesy to call me?"

Yuigahama lightly jogs over to her. "Sorry! But I don't know your number…"

"Oh? Then I guess it's not entirely your fault. I'll let it go this time."

"Really? You didn't get her number?" Totsuka asked with a tilted head. "I think you asked for m-my number pretty early on...

"H-Hehe," Yuigahama rubbed her cheek with a finger. "I didn't really think about that at the time…"

Miura stands up from her chair. "H-Hey! You and I aren't finished talking!"

"Talking? You consider that a conversation?" Yukinoshita retorted. "It appeared to me like you were just forcing her opinions on her."

Despite having made up with Yui, Miura still flinched. The raven-haired girl's statement was completely true. Her friend's words from earlier, however, kept her calm.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry I didn't notice. I'm not well-versed in the ecosystem you all live in. Sorry. I thought you were an ape trying to intimidate me." The camera switches to show the clique looking at Yukinoshita as she talks. "It's fine if you want to play king of the mountain and try to look tough, but please keep it confined to your own territory. Your bluff will quickly flake off, just like your makeup."

...Whoa, that was a powerful attack. With Yukinoshita having cooled off (or would it be warmed up?) recently, I forgot how deadly her insults could be.

I wasn't the only one startled by the long-winded insult. Despite not even looking at him, I could feel Zaimokuza's fear. He's still scared of what Yukinoshita said to him before, huh?

Isshiki shivered. "Yukino is scary…" Thankfully, she never really got onto her bad side. How did Senpai deal with that? Maybe he really is a masochist...

"Huh? What are you talking about? You make no sense."

Of course, if you don't understand a word of the insult, then it has no effect! Damn, that's a really good defense. Maybe I should have tried that...

Wait, why am I using gamer terms?! I'm not a chuunibyou! I swear!

"Okay, okay…" Hayama suddenly jumps into the conversation. "Yukinoshita-san, that's enough." She simply looks away from him. "You too, Yumiko."

Haruno didn't show it on her face, but she was quite disappointed. How boring. I wanted to see what Yukino-chan would say.

For some reason, Hayama felt slightly uncomfortable all of sudden. He shook it off though. That was odd...

Miura sits back at her desk, biting her thumb in frustration. Yukinoshita is about to take Yuigahama out of the classroom, but she notices her grabbing the pink bag.

"I'll go on ahead."

Yuigahama looks up from the floor and smiles at the black haired girl. "I'll be right behind you!" With a nod, Yukinoshita leaves the classroom.

At the same time, everyone outside of Hayama's clique starts leaving the classroom. "Man, I'm thirsty. I'm gonna go get a drink." "Yeah me too!" "I think I'll go to the restroom…" "Oh, I need to go take care of that!"

"Tch." Miura clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Listening in on our conversation…"

You realize that you were the one who started it in a public classroom, right?

"You realize that you were the one who started it in a public classroom, right?!" Kawasaki, to my surprise, shouted out. Huh, she repeated the same thing I was thinking. Wait, didn't something like this happen earlier too?

Miura angrily retorted, "Hey! That doesn't give them-"

"Now, Yumiko, calm down." Hayama placed a hand on the blonde haired girl. "It's in the past, alright? You and Yui already talked it out." The interruption made her stop her retort and she sat down. She didn't feel satisfied, but it was Hayato that stopped her, so she felt a little better.

Kawasaki continued to glare at Miura, but didn't say another word. There's no point in arguing right now.

"If the mood gets any more serious in here, I'll suffocate and die."

I snorted at that. That sentence described the mood in the theatre just a few minutes ago. If Miura did not apologize to Yuigahama, I fear for what would have happened.

Hachiman gets up to leave as well, but as he is about to exit the room, Yuigahama speaks up.

"Thanks Hikki… for standing up for me."

A blush erupted on Yuigahama's face. No one else was supposed to hear that! Thankfully for her, no one reacted to it very much. The atmosphere was still slightly tense from earlier, so smaller things like that bypassed their attention.

Hachiman stops for a moment, before he continues and closes the classroom door. He then notices Yukinoshita waiting outside.

Miura stood up and glared at the raven haired girl. "Oi! Why are you listening in on us?!"

"Oh?" Yukinoshita turned around. "I was still waiting for Yuigahama-san to join me for lunch. I could not, in good conscience, leave without her."

Miura opened her mouth to argue, but realized that she couldn't retort her statement. With a click of her tongue, she sat back down. "Tch."

The camera switched back into the classroom with Yuigahama and Miura. "Sorry. I just feel uneasy when I don't match everyone else. Like, I end up trying to follow the mood.

It zooms out to show the whole classroom. "I've always been like that, you know? When we played house, I wanted to be the mother, but if someone else wanted to do it, I'd be the dog. It might be because I grew up in a housing complex."

Miura continues to type on her phone. "I have no idea what you're trying to say."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm not sure, either. But watching Hikki and Yukinon made me think… They say what they think and pick up on each other's moods, and they seem to have fun without trying to match each other." Her eyes became watery. "They just seem right."

Hiratsuka nodded to herself, a soft smile on her face. Those two were perfect for each other. I'm so glad they were able to get past their issues.

On the other hand, both Yukinoshita and Hachiman blushed at her comments. It wasn't their first time listening to it, but considering their current relationship with each other, those words held a different meaning to them.

Iroha felt a slight pain in her chest, but she shrugged it off. She knew Yui wasn't referring to a romantic relationship with those words.

The screen switches to show Yukinoshita and Hachiman waiting outside of the classroom, listening in to the conversation.

"So I thought, maybe I was wrong to try so hard to match everyone else." It zooms in on Hachiman's face. "I mean, Hikki is totally reclusive, right? He pretends to sleep during breaks and laughs while he reads books, and it's so creepy." He sweatdrops at the words.

"...U-Um, is it n-not normal to laugh while r-reading?" Totsuka nervously asked.

The pink haired girl flushed. "Nono! It's just…" She glanced over to Hachiman. "...Hikki's laughs are kind of creepy."

"Really? But Hachiman's laughs seem normal to me?"

I was following along with the conversation and felt a sense of joy from Totsuka's words. Thank you! You're the first person to say that to me in so long!

Yukinoshita smirks at him. "I thought you only did that weird laugh in the club room. But you do it in the classroom too?" She stops smirking. "That really is creepy, so you should probably stop."

My joy was brought down at the black haired girl's words from the screen. Another insult to my laugh, as usual. Although, now that I think about it, I don't think anyone's insulted my laugh in the past month or so. Of course, that wasn't including Yuigahama just now, but I'm not sure if that was referencing my laugh from before.

...Can a person's laugh change like that?

"If you noticed it, say so then."

"No way. I don't want to talk to you when you're being creepy."

"Psst." Orimoto tapped Miura's shoulder. "I don't know a lot about Yukinoshita-san, but is she usually firing off insults like this?"

The blonde haired girl rolled her eyes. "All the time. Like, she can be really annoying about it too." She paused for a second. "Though, they've definitely been less frequent recently. Guess Hikio's finally getting to her."

Orimoto nodded and leaned back in her seat. That's a relief. I wouldn't want to be on the other side of her insults.

The screen cuts back to Yuigahama and Miura. "And, well… that's the story. It's not that I don't like you, Yumiko. So… think we can still be friends?"

Miura snaps her phone closed. "Really? I guess so."

"Sorry. Thanks."

"...Um… Compared to the d-discussion just now…"

"That felt really shallow, right?" Iroha finished off Totsuka's sentence. "It feels like blondie didn't really care at the time."

Miura felt a flash of anger, but she tempered it. They might be right. I don't know what I was thinking back then. Yui's constant apologizing probably annoyed me, but the way I responded was just… shallow.

Shiromeguri looked nervously at the rows below. "Um… please don't fight!" She called out.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Meguri!" Haruno placed a hand on her shoulder. "Miura-san's apology is still in their minds. There's no point arguing about the past, right?"

"Oh, that's good!" Shiromeguri relaxed, although she kept an eye on the people below. As the former student council president, she was one of the best choices to break up any fights.

It returns to show Yukinoshita smiling. "So she can actually say it." And with no other words, she leaves the hallway and Hachiman behind. Moments later, Yuigahama finally emerges from the classroom. When she spots Hachiman, she appears startled.

"What are you doing here, Hikki?! Were you listening?!"

Hachiman looks away from her. "T-To what?"

A few of the watchers chuckled. "That kind of reaction makes it obvious you were listening in, Onii-chan," Komachi deadpanned.

I flushed at her words. "I-It's not my fault Yukinoshita left me so suddenly." Was she actually planning on that the whole time? It really seems like she was!

...She's not denying it was her fault?!

"You were! Eavesdropper! Creepy! Stalker! Pervert! Also, creepy! You're seriously way too creepy!"

Kawasaki winced at the choice of words. Yuigahama-san calls him creepy a lot. Kind of weird, considering she has a thing for him. I think there's a word for those kinds of people, but I forgot the name…

Yukinoshita glanced at Yuigahama next to her. I know we both tended to insult Hikigaya-kun, but hearing it now still makes me feel… uncomfortable. Maybe they went a bit far…?

Totsuka was terrified. "U-Um… t-t-that w-was a l-lot of i-insults…"

"Learn a little restraint…"

"Huh? Why would I show restraint now? Whose fault do you think it is? Stupid!" She sticks out her tongue as Hachiman just blankly looks at her.

"Whose fault?" It shows Yuigahama catching up to Yukinoshita. "Obviously… It's Yukinoshita's right?" The screen slowly fades to black.

"Anddd that's the midway point of the episode." Hiratsuka stretched out her arms, unintentionally pushing out her chest. Thankfully (?), I wasn't looking at her when that happened. Rather, I was looking at the other people sitting behind me.

I noticed that Zaimokuza had been acting pretty quiet since I scolded him earlier. He seemed to be determinedly staring at the screen. Huh, I wonder what's on his mind.

...On second thought, I'd rather not know.

I moved my attention to the clique sitting near the top (Totsuka, I'm sorry for ignoring you!). They seemed mostly relaxed, but the atmosphere was slightly tense. I wonder why? It's not like they ever cared about being genuine with each other.

...Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Miura seems to really care about her friends. A lot more than she did when that scene happened. And I know Ebina cares about the clique as well, regardless of how fake it may be. It's certainly more "genuine" than it once was.

Now if only Hayama would finally tell Miura to back off. It's been clear for a while that he has no intentions to actually be in a relationship with her. While I'm far from the biggest fan of the fire queen, I do hold some respect for her. So seeing her act all lovely with Hayama and knowing he won't do anything about it kind of ticks me off.

But it's not like I can really do anything about it. Besides, maybe the screen would do something about that status quo they're stuck in?

Wait…

"Onii-chan!" My sister shook me out of my thoughts. She was pouting for some reason. "Stop staring at Miura-san! Instead, you need to be staring at Yuki-nee!"

My cheeks heated up quickly. "W-What?" Oi! That's a really embarrassing comment! Watch your words, Komachi! "I-I wasn't staring at anything."

She squinted her eyes at me, as if she didn't believe me. "Hmmmmmm…"

"It's the truth!" Maybe it looked like I was staring, but I really wasn't!

"Komachi." Yukinoshita cut into the conversation. "I would appreciate it if you did not doubt your brother so much." She smirked. "I would certainly know if he is staring at something that I would not approve of."

Eh?! You're a dictator! And how would you know about that? She better not have developed esper powers like Hiratsuka has! If she has, it's over for me!

As Hachiman panicked over the possibility, several other people had noticed his semi-staring. One of which was Ebina.

"Hehehe, I saw that! Hikitani-kun was staring at Haya-" Her words were abruptly cut off by Kawasaki covering her mouth. "Mmmph!"

"When will you say something that doesn't have to do with Hikigaya and that stupid blonde guy?!" The blue haired girl yelled out. "It's really weird!"

"Mmm!" Ebina tried struggling free, but Kawasaki's grip was strong. She wasn't letting go anytime soon.

Well, that would have been the case if not for a former student council president intervening. "Kawasaki-san! Don't choke your friends!" Shiromeguri cried out. "It's not very-"

"Now, Meguri-chan, let them be!" Haruno piped up. "They're just doing what friends do, you know?"

"...I don't think I've seen friends choke each other though..."

"Hah, don't worry about it. Kawasaki-san is bound to let go eventually." Internally, Haruno found Ebina... quite amusing. Hikigaya-kun and Hayama together is such a funny idea! Someone who wants to have something "genuine", and someone who wants to keep things the way they are. Ah, I can't help but laugh at how absurd it is!

It only took a few seconds before the screen started to flicker back on. Kawasaki released Ebina from her clutches, but not before giving a quick glare. Everyone was curious to see what was next.

The screen starts with showing a view of the top of the school, before cutting to Hachiman walking in the hallway. He stops to see Yukinoshita and Yuigahama peeking into the service club room.

"What are you doing?" Hachiman asks, startling the two girls. They both glare at him.

"Would you not sneak up on us like that?"

"Hm? I do not recall this event," Yukinoshita thought out loud. "Yuigahama-san, do you remember this?"

"Um…" The pink haired girl thought for a moment. "...Sorry, I don't remember."

"I mean, only two lines have been said so far," I cut in. "You usually don't remember something like that." I don't even remember this myself, although I'll probably find out very soon.

"...Valid point." Yukinoshita nodded and turned back to the screen.

"Sorry, sorry. So, what are you doing?"

The two nervously look at each other, before explaining. "There's someone suspicious in the club room."

"What?"

"What?"

Most of the audience expressed their confusion. Only the three people who were there didn't. That was because they finally remembered what this event was.

"Ohhh, it's this!"

"Sigh, this will not be pleasant."

I didn't say anything, but I sent out a silent prayer to Zaimokuza. Let's hope his already low reputation isn't shattered by this.

Hachiman opens the door with the two girls behind him. The camera zooms out to show a coat, before it cuts to scenes of papers being blown around. A man is crossing his arms.

Totsuka recognized the arms. "W-Wait, is that-"

"Imagine meeting you here." It shows the back of their head, revealing white hair. The trio simply stare blankly at the person. "I've waited so long for this, Hikigaya Hachiman!" The background turns purple and dark, before the person makes a pose. Around him, glowing purple lights surround him.

The theatre was silent for a few moments. It felt like no one knew what to say.

Except for the person in question. "Heh heh heh, looks like my introduction was done excellently." The white haired chuunibyou shifted his glasses up. "All it needs is my name!"

"Hmm, I don't know about that one, Zaimokuza," Hiratsuka cut in. "While it certainly established you as a person, it doesn't quite fit with this genre. Wouldn't you say?"

Zaimokuza thought about it for a moment. "Hmm, that is a fair point." He leaned back into his chair. "Perhaps I could have had-"

"Can you shut up?!" Miura yelled with an annoyed expression. "We have a show to watch!"

"G-Gah! Understood, ma'am…" Zaimokuza curled into himself slightly. Jeez, just one comment and he's already like that? He's not going to enjoy this.

"...U-um, I liked your i-introduction!" Totsuka hesitantly gave his opinion. But Zaimokuza merely grunted and focused on the screen.

It cuts back to the club room. "You know him?" Yukinoshita asks.

Hachiman turns his face away. "Nope. Even if I knew this guy, I wouldn't know him."

"Don't tell me you've forgotten the face of your partner." It shows a samurai arm raising a katana. "You disgust me, Hachiman!"

"Why does the weirdo have better effects than everyone else?" Isshiki innocently asked.

The question made the weirdo in question dramatically grab his shirt, as if he was in pain. "Grk! P-Perhaps you could p-phrase your words a little better?"

"Eh? Did I say something wrong?"

"...N-Never mind." There was no point in retorting. Even he recognized a battle that would lead to a loss.

"He says he's your partner," Yuigahama observes.

Zaimokuza points a finger at the group. "That's right, partner! I know you remember those hellish times we went through together."

"Really?" Komachi asked, turning around to face the silver haired guy.

Despite his current state, Zaimokuza nodded. "T-The terrors we have faced have certainly strengthened our bond to an unbreakable level!"

Ugh, you sound really stupid right now. And what kinds of terrors are you even talking about?

"I might've been paired up with him in gym or something."

"..."

Zaimokuza received several deadpan stares from the others. He sweatdropped from the attention, but stood strong. "A-An evil custom, it was!"

"An evil custom, indeed. Pair up with whoever you like, they say?" He chuckles. "I am a man who could perish at any time. I do not make friends!"

"As much as I cringe at this behavior, don't bully Zaimokuza too much," I said before anyone else could say anything. I needed to speak up, in order to not completely demolish his self-worth. Then again, the fact he faced off against a Yukinoshita insult and came out somewhat okay (?) is proof that he may not be terribly affected by this in the long-run.

The silver haired guy weakly smiled and gave a thumbs up. "D-Don't worry, Hachiman. I can handle the attacks. They mean nothing in the long run!"

Hmm, well, if you insist.

The three just look at him blankly, before Hachiman sighs. "What do you want, Zaimokuza?"

"So you do know him!" Yuigahama accused.

"Who is this?" Yukinoshita asked.

Zaimokuza mimics putting a katana away. "I am the Kengo Shogun, Zaimokuza Yoshiteru!"

"Kengo Shogun?" Tobe loudly asked. "What's that?"

Huh, for a second, I thought Yuigahama would have asked that. Either she somehow already knew, or perhaps Tobe was just faster?

"Umm, I think it is a reference to the name of an old ruler?" Shiromeguri explained, with a finger on her chin. "If I remember right, their last name was the same as Zaimokuza-san's."

"Correct!" exclaimed the person in question. "His name was-"

"That's pretty cool!" Tobe interrupted, facing Shiromeguri. He didn't intend to speak over Zaimokuza, but that was what happened. Speaking of which, he slumped over with a gloomy face.

Jeez, he doesn't get any breaks, does he? How many times is something like this going to happen?

"And so this friend of yours wants something from you?" Yukinoshita asked.

"He's not my friend," Hachiman explained.

Zaimokuza nodded. "That's right. I have no friends. Seriously. Not one."

…

"That's kind of depressing…" Orimoto muttered. "And he's not embarrassed to say that?"

"Well, he seems pretty weird," Miura pointed out. "Like, it's obvious by the way he acts."

Orimoto nodded, although she didn't really see it as a bad thing. Tamanawa was also pretty weird, but he was still kind of fun to hang out with.

"Yoshiteru!" Totsuka cried out, turning to the mentioned person with a sad expression. "W-What about me?"

"Ah, Saika, do not worry! This was before I met you, if you recall!"

"Oh, that's right!" Totsuka's expression rapidly brightened up. "We're friends, right?"

Zaimokuza nodded with a small smile. "Indeed, we are." Totsuka's expression became so bright that it was nearly blinding.

"Anyway, Hachiman! This is where I might find the Service Club, correct?"

"Yes, this is the service club."

Zaimokuza stared at Yukinoshita for a few seconds, before turning back to the fish eyed man. "I thought so! If the advice Ms. Hiratsuka gave me was correct, then, Hachiman, you have a duty to grant my wish."

"Hiratsuka-sensei, why did you insist on telling all of our clients that 'we granted wishes?'" Yukinoshita asked, sounding slightly frustrated.

"Consider it free advertising!" The teacher replied. "The service club sure sounds a lot more appealing if it can grant wishes, right?"

"But we're not genies. We can't just grant any wish from the top of a hat," I pointed out. It's fake advertising and I really don't like that!

"Hmm, fair point. However, does it matter in the end?" Hiratsuka retorts.

"I mean, not really. Just kind of annoying having to explain that, you know?" I retorted back. Maybe I should slow down. I might accidentally say something I'll regret…

Hiratsuka smirked. "Sounds like you're just complaining for the sake of complaining."

I opened my mouth to retort again, but then I immediately closed it. I was totally about to say something about her age there. So instead, I turned back to the screen.

Yukinoshita, however, assumed my silence meant something else. "Oh? Hikilazy-kun isn't fighting back? My, you're quite lazy."

"I didn't say anything because I would have regretted it afterwards," I grumbled. "Besides, you disliked doing it too, didn't you?"

"Hmm, perhaps it was a bit inconvenient." The black haired girl surprisingly agreed with me with not that many insults. My self-esteem thanks you for your mercy!

The camera pans up Zaimokuza's body. "To think, after countless centuries, our bond is still that of master and servant. Could it be the guide of Hachiman Daibosatsu?"

"The what?" Tobe asked.

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I will explain it later." No point in wasting my time if I'm just going to repeat myself.

Little did Hachiman know, Ebina had a terrifying idea. "Ohohoho! Could it be that I had it all wrong?! Maybe the real ship was-!"

Kawasaki firmly held her hand against the girl's mouth. No! Don't say it! Please! Ebina tried to fight back, but she quickly gave up when she knew her friend would not let her say it.

"The Service Club isn't for granting your wishes. We only help people."

Zaimokuza again stares at Yukinoshita, with sweat on his face, before he turns away. "Then, Hachiman, lend me your assistance! As I recall, our bond is that of equals. Let us strive once more to conquer this world!"

"What happened to our master and servant relationship?"

"Cough! Cough! Such trivial things matter not between you and me. I shall… forgive…" Zaimokuza trails off when he sees the disgusted expressions of the two girls. He starts profusely sweating before he again tears his eyes away from them and stares at Hachiman.

In the present, Zaimokuza was sweating a little. Even though he had already experienced this before, seeing the expressions on the two girls still scared him. A man should never be under those kinds of glares!

He was not the only one who had a nervous look. Tobe also sweated slightly, despite not being on the other end of their expressions.

At some point, Kawasaki did remove her hand from Ebina's mouth, but she was ready to do it again if necessary. Ebina was very tempted to say something, but for once, she held back.

"Why are you looking at me?" asked Hachiman.

Before Zaimokuza could respond, someone tugs on Hachiman's sleeve. "Hikigaya-kun, a moment." Yukinoshita leans up to whisper into his ear, making him blush very faintly. "What does he mean by 'Kengo Shogun'?"

"My, you're embarrassed?" Yukinoshita said in a teasing tone.

Her tone made my cheeks flush slightly. "A-Any guy would flush if a girl got close to them like that!" I'm pretty sure it's happened to me several times.

"Oh? Any girl?~" Isshiki slyly smirked. "Want me to test that?"

Before I could stutter out a response, Yukinoshita coldly responded, "I'm afraid I must discourage that, Isshiki-san."

Isshiki flinched back. "Eep! Don't use that scary tone against me!" she cried out. Hah, you finally experienced a sliver of the pain I had to go through!

"That's a delusion of grandeur."

"Delusion of grandeur?"

"A delusion of grandeur is…"

The screen goes black, before it cuts back to show a speaker and a fan on the wall.

"Huh? Why did it cut out my explanation?" I asked out loud without realizing it.

"Maybe the screen thought it wasn't worth showing?" Yuigahama suggested. Ouch, that's harsh. She realized what she said a second later. "W-Wait, that's not what I meant!"

"I believe it was likely due to time," Hiratsuka suggested, her arms crossed. "It would be pointless to take up crucial broadcasting time on a long-winded explanation that would not be beneficial for the future of the show."

Hmm, that's a reasonable explanation. While I'm sort of offended that my explanations aren't good enough to show, it would have been a waste of time to listen to it again. Though, where did it skip to?

"So it's not an illness," Hachiman finishes explaining.

Ah, it's after I explain everything.

...Isn't that obvious?! Obviously it would skip to after the explanation! That's just logic!

"I don't get it." Yuigahama hugs herself with a disgusted expression.

"You're saying he's basically acting out a setting he's created for himself?" Yukinoshita clarifies.

"Pretty much. And…" He looks at Zaimokuza, who is making exaggerated movements. "Just because he happens to have the same name, he's apparently convinced that he's the thirteenth Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru."

"Indeed, I am!" Zaimokuza declared. But everyone just ignored him.

"Oh! That was the name!" Shiromeguri exclaimed. "Hikigaya sure knows his stuff!"

Next to her, Haruno was silently giggling. Hehe~, I wonder how Hikigaya-kun knows. Perhaps he was like Zaimokuza-san in the past? Oh, that's so funny!

Hayama also had his own curiosities about how much Hikigaya knew, but he chalked it up to Zaimokuza-san telling him about it. Anyone who wasn't there for the explanation did not suspect anything about that fact.

"Why does he regard you as his partner?"

"My name is Hachiman Daibosatsu, the bodhisattva revered by the Seiwa Genji as a god of war."

"...I understood none of that," Tobe stated. Looks like someone didn't pay attention to their classes! Wait, I'm not sure if I even learned that in my class. I might have learned that during the dark ages.

"Do not worry! I believe Hachiman shall explain everything momentarily!" Zaimokuza confidently claimed. Right, I think I did explain myself after this.

"I'm surprised. You're quite well-informed."

"I guess. Well, at least he's basing his setting on actual history."

"There are people worse than him?"

"Yep."

I got shivers just thinking about that. The internet is a scary place…

"Purely for my own reference, what others are there?"

Hachiman just looks at her for a second, before going into detail. "The first seven gods of this world included the three creator deities, the good emperor Galan, the war goddess Methica, and the protector Heartia, as well as…" He abruptly stops himself. "Hey, you're pretty smooth with leading questions. I'm actually freaked out. I almost went into way too much detail."

Hayama sat up. He sure knows a lot about that. I wonder… maybe he was like Zaimokuza-san at some point? Unknown to him, his thoughts lined up with Haruno's earlier thoughts. Only, she was now completely certain that Hikigaya was formerly a chuunibyou.

Yukinoshita smirked. "My, you don't have much faith in me, Hikigaya-kun? I wasn't leading anything, after all."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up."

"I wasn't leading anything."

"Creepy." Yuigahama finally says something.

Huh, same words.

Totsuka was interested. Wow! Hachiman seems to know his stuff! I don't remember learning anything like that. I wonder where he learned it from...

Isshiki tilted her head at Hachiman. "Senpai, what was that?"

I waved her off. "Don't worry about it." No one will ever know about my dark past!

"Well, you know… I may have thought that way once, but not anymore." Suddenly, a bunch of overhead lights shine on Hachiman. "I don't make up stupid fantasies anymore."

My face rapidly paled the second those words were spoken. "Wait wait wait no no no no!" I shouted out. Why is the screen adamant on showing my dark past?!

In the back, Haruno smirked. Another part of Hikigaya-kun's past. Ooh, this will be fun to tease him about!

So my guess was right. Hayama wondered how this fit into his past. Was it important to how he became the person he was today, or not?

Zaimokuza had a glint in his eye. "Ooh ho ho! Looks like Hachiman was once a man of culture! Now this has piqued my interest!"

Hiratsuka didn't react much, but internally she was smirking. Ah, I bet he's freaking out a lot.

Komachi already knew a lot about her brother's… old self, but that didn't keep her from sitting up. I wonder what Onii-chan hid from me!

Ebina perked up and stared at the screen. We touched on it last episode, but I'm still curious about his past.

Kawasaki was also curious, although she refused to admit it to herself. I-It's just part of the episode. There's nothing interesting to see!

Orimoto, despite having been classmates in middle school, wasn't aware of Hikigaya's "stupid fantasies." It only made sense she didn't. After all, they weren't ever friends, right?

It shows Hachiman standing in the middle of fire, before it switches to show him standing in front of a mirror. "And I've graduated from cosplaying. I'm not keeping spiritual world diaries or government reports. The only thing I still write is a list of people I'll never forgive."

"Spiritual diaries? Government reports?" Totsuka sounded confused. "What were those for?"

No! You don't need to know! Avert your eyes Totsuka! Forget this ever happened! I despaired at the possibility of him finding out about everything. Wait… what was that at the end?

Most of the audience were surprised to see that Hachiman was a chuunibyou at one point. It wasn't something they had expected out of him.

"Guess it goes to show how different our middle school selves were," mused Kawasaki.

The notebook opens to show a page on Yukinoshita. In the page, Hachiman described his grievances with the black haired girl. The dates on the top said "April 2013" and "May 2013."

I didn't think it was possible, but my face somehow got even paler. Directly to my left, I felt the presence of death itself.

"Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita said my name in a cold tone. Maybe if I don't respond everything will turn out ok! "Look. At. Me." Help! Someone call the police! I'm about to die! "Komachi, may you assist?"

"Eek!" Komachi paled at the look the ice queen was giving her. "S-Sorry Onii-chan, but Yuki-nee is super scary right now! Please forgive your cute younger sister!" She forcefully turned Hachiman's head towards the girl.

It felt like I was staring into the frozen pits of hell itself. That was how intimated I felt at that moment. It had been a while since I'd seen Yukinoshita this… mad? Is that even the right word anymore?

"Hikigaya-kun. You seem quite tense." Of course I am! Under that glare, anyone would be scared for their life! "All I wish to know is if you still have that… notebook."

"Nope! Definitely don't have it anymore! It's gone!" I replied with no hesitation. I actually don't know what I did with it, but hopefully it's locked somewhere so Yukinoshita can't ever find it. I got lucky in that it only showed my entries from April and May last year.

"Hmm. Are you confident?"

"Yes!"

"Then perhaps nothing too terrible will happen." With a smirk, Yukinoshita turned back to the screen. The cold presence had faded away and I let out a small sigh of relief. Then her words fully registered in my mind.

"Wait, what?!"

As the exchange was going on, Haruno watched it with a smirk on her face. You're lucky Hikigaya-kun. If you weren't Yukino-chan's "partner", let's just say I'd have to get involved. But you have her best interests in mind. Besides, she'll make you regret it anyways.

"Ehh? Yukino called senpai creepy 15 times?" Isshiki asked, reading the pages on screen. "What did he even do?"

"Ah, don't worry about it," Hiratsuka answered. "That's just how they bond."

"...Sounds about right!" Isshiki giggled, though she felt a small pain of jealousy. As usual, she ignored it. There wasn't much she could do, especially right now.

"Yukinon, run!" Yuigahama suddenly shouts out.

"Huh?" "Eh?" The audience expressed their confusion and worry. Considering the previous scene had shown off a notebook page declaring that Hachiman would never forgive Yukinoshita, hearing Yuigahama's words worried some of them more than it normally would have.

The screen shows Yukinoshita standing in front of a trembling Zaimokuza. "I think I understand. Your request is, you want us to heal this mental illness, right?"

He does his best to ignore her and instead calls out to Hachiman. "I have come here to request that you grant my wish, as per your agreement! It is the most noble of-"

"I'm the one speaking to you." Yukinoshita cuts in. "Look at people when they are speaking to you."

Even though this was the past, I still felt fear from her words. Thank goodness I was not on the other side of those words.

"While she, like, may be a bit harsh, he should be paying attention to the person speaking." Despite Miura's apparent dislike for Yukinoshita, she actually agreed with her.

"Dude, like, I couldn't imagine ignoring a girl like that!" Tobe exclaimed with his own opinion. "Though, Yukinoshita-san is acting a little forceful. And scary!" Said girl glared daggers at the brown haired guy, making him flinch back. "T-That was a j-joke! N-Nothing more!"

"Come on, let's calm down everyone," chimed Hayama, waving his arms. "Let's continue watching this, alright?"

What do you mean? There wasn't really anything going on, aside from Tobe being loud and Yukinoshita being her normal self. And frankly, Tobe probably deserves that. But sure, let's keep watching this event I already know about.

As the screen played, Orimoto couldn't help but wonder if Hikigaya acted like Zaimokuza on his own, back when he was a chuunibyou. Looking at him now, I can't even imagine it.

Zaimokuza hesitantly turns to look at the raven-haired girl. Then he starts laughing. "Well, good heavens-"

"And stop talking like that." That makes him stop laughing.

"You're awesome, Yukinon!" Yuigahama cheers her on.

"And it's still true!" Yuigahama exclaimed, hugging the raven haired girl.

"T-Thank you Yuigahama-san, but m-may you lessen your h-hugging?"

"Hmm, no!" If anything, she only hugged her even tighter.

I let out a short laugh. Seeing Yuigahama act so bubbly around Yukinoshita was always pretty amusing to see. Then I felt Komachi tap my shoulder, so I turned to face her. For some reason, she had a mischievous look on her face. Uh oh.

"Onii-chan, you should join in!" My sister attempted to push me towards my "partner," but I held strong. That caused her to pout, but I resisted the effects. Barely.

It wasn't like the idea was not appealing. If anything, hugging Yukinoshita… gah, I'm getting embarrassed from this! Best to not think about it for the time being.

"Anyway, you want us to heal your illness, right?"

"Uh, it's not really an illness…"

"But you know that you have something?" Ebina asked, asking something normal for once.

Zaimokuza turned around to face the brown haired girl and smirked. "Well, it is obvious! I am different from the other peers in the school! With my-"

"You're not being very convincing, Zaimokuza," I cruelly cut in, making him whirl his head to me in betrayal. "Look, you're the only person I'm aware of that acts like this. Maybe calling it an illness is harsh, but since you're such an oddity, it gives off the wrong idea."

The white haired Chuunibyou slumped in disappointment. "As much as I wish to refute your words, Hachiman, you may have a point." His head darted up. "But that will not stop me from this path!"

Heh, I didn't expect any less. Zaimokuza may be incredibly annoying at times, but if he lost his… flair, he certainly wouldn't be the same. Sometimes, it's a breath of fresh air with him around.

Though, I didn't really like it when he kept saying things about me being an anime protagonist. In the context of this showing, it might be true, but everything here did actually happen. Comparing myself to the trashy harem protagonists would infuriate me.

Hachiman speaks up again. "Hey, don't be so-" He stops when he steps on one of the papers flying around earlier. "Is this…" It cuts to him placing all of the papers onto the table in the room. "A manuscript for a novel?"

"Oh? A manuscript?" Hiratsuka perked up slightly, facing towards Zaimokuza. "I knew that you were interested in writing, but a whole manuscript? I'm impressed."

He beamed on the praise. "Thank you, Hiratsuka-sensei. I shall remember these words in my quest!"

Heh, I don't think Hiratsuka would say those words if she knew how bad that manuscript was. Though, I suppose she'll find out soon.

Yukinoshita finally pulled away from Yuigahama's hug to give the teacher a questioning look. "You were not aware of his request?"

"Nope. He only asked me where to find help, so I pointed him in the right direction."

I'm not too surprised about that, though I wonder if Zaimokuza could have asked Hiratsuka herself to review the manuscript. Wait, nah, she's probably way too busy doing whatever women her age do. For some reason, I felt a glare directed my way, but I pretended I didn't notice.

"Indeed. That is a manuscript for a light novel. I am thinking of submitting it to a certain newcomer contest, but as I have no friends, I cannot ask for their opinion." The camera zooms out to show the entire clubroom. "Please read it."

"Aren't there websites that deal with that sort of thing?" Kawasaki asked.

Ebina frowned. "I don't think he wants to have his self-esteem destroyed. The internet can be… ruthless." She had written her own share of… stories, so she knew the issues.

"Huh." Kawasaki was surprised she didn't say anything dirty. "But wouldn't it be easier?"

Yukinoshita rubs her forehead. "I think he just told us something really sad without a second thought."

"He's kind of like senpai in a way," Isshiki observed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"

"You both like to point out that you have no friends!"

Ouch. The worst part is that I can't really deny her. Actually… "That was me in the past. I'm a changed man!"

"Name one person who is your friend," Isshiki challenged with a smirk.

I opened my mouth, but paused for a second. Who did I really consider my friend? Some of them I was uncertain about our relationship, while others I merely considered acquaintances.

Except for… "Totsuka." I know he considered me a friend. It was a matter of whether I considered him a friend or not. And I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with an angel like him?

The silver haired guy's face lit up. "T-Thanks Hachiman!"

Gah, that voice was a critical hit. I merely gave a thumbs up to him and turned back to Isshiki. She looked a little surprised that I actually gave a real response. Like I said, I'm a changed man!

"There are sites you can submit these to. Just post it there," Hachiman points out.

"I can't do that. Those people are ruthless. If they criticized it harshly, I think I would die."

Ebina nodded. "Like I said, Saki-saki."

Kawasaki understood what they meant, but she had her own doubts. Is criticism on the internet really that bad?

"The internet can be a dangerous place! So be careful!" Shiromeguri suddenly shouted out. I was a bit confused about what she was talking about. This was about criticism online, not the dangers of the internet.

"Haha, Meguri, I think we're all aware of that," pointed out Haruno.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure!" The former student council president pouted. "I don't want people to be hurt online!"

"Don't worry about it, Shiromeguri," Hiratsuka said. "I trust that everyone here knows not to be too stupid on the internet."

Hmm… somehow, I doubt Tobe's ability to be smart on the internet. He strikes me as the kind of guy to accidentally leak something. What? Am I wrong?

"You're so weak-minded. But you know… Yukinoshita would probably be way more ruthless than any site you submit it to."

Zaimokuza shivered from fear. "Hachiman, you were indeed correct."

"Oh? Now I'm even more curious," Haruno said, grinning. Seeing her younger sister in action was always amusing to see.

The screen shows the sunset in the distance, before it cuts to show Hachiman waiting at a stoplight with Zaimokuza, explaining his story while doing weird dance moves. "The foundation of this story is spatial rupture… that which they call Dimension Driver! In the end, it grants the world parliament access to the akashic records…"

As he is explaining his story, a car drives past them. Hachiman then looks down to see a dog barking at it. Suddenly, it switches to show a fancy looking car driving, an orange dog sitting on the street and a toppled over bike.

I widened my eyes. Guess that car did look somewhat similar to the limo that hit me. No wonder I thought about that incident.

Most of the audience did not understand what the sequence of images meant. But to Yuigahama and Yukinoshita, they immediately knew what that was all about. A sense of guilt filled them both, but they did not ponder on it for long before shrugging it off. They had moved past that event months ago.

"Oh…" Komachi connected the dots a moment later. Despite it not being necessary, she decided to give her brother a hug.

I was surprised, but then I smiled. "Don't worry about it, Komachi. That was long ago. I'm not concerned about it anymore."

She looked me in the eyes. "Really? Are you sure?"

I nodded. "If anything, it brought us closer in the end." After all, Yuigahama wouldn't have cared for me in the first place if that didn't happen. I hate to say that, but it's the truth. Actually, I'm not quite sure about that...

"...Well, if you say so!" Komachi pulled away, smiling. Yukinoshita and Yuigahama overheard their conversation and gave small smiles of their own.

In the rows behind them, however, they all had expressions of confusion. "What was that all about?" Miura pondered.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Maybe we will find out?" Hayama suggested, his internal thoughts laying low.

"Yeah… I don't know either," Orimoto said with a frown. "I guess we will totally find out, right?"

"That might depend on what the screen shows," Kawasaki pointed out, having overheard their conversation. "It might not even bother with it."

"That's true. I guess we'll see." They all focused back on the screen, trying to push down their curiosity.

He blankly stares at the street while Zaimokuza calls for him. "Hachiman! Hachiman!"

"Huh? Oh. Sounds lame," he says, walking away.

"Pfft." Haruno tried to hold in her laugh. "So blunt."

That was kind of mean though. Shiromeguri said with a frown. She wasn't a fan of the bluntness, but she supposed it made Hachiman who he was.

Hayama frowned as well, but for a different reason. Hmm, it's not going to elaborate on the sequence of images? I suppose it might do that later.

"Now, hold on. Relax, Hachiman. Listen." He chases after him. "The heroine also has the hammer of the gods, Gungir Hammer! And it-"

The camera cuts to show a house at night, before going to Hachiman's room. He appears to be flipping through the manuscript from Zaimokuza, cracking his neck as he does so. It then shows Yukinoshita doing the same. Then Yuigahama is shown sitting on the couch, using her phone. She falls over laughing at something.

Zaimokuza sent a betrayed look at the pink haired girl. "You did not even read the manuscript?!"

Yuigahama jumped and started fidgeting her hands. "U-Um, I'm sorry! I was just so busy doing things and-"

"Don't worry about it, Yuigahama-san," Yukinoshita interrupted. "The manuscript was so terrible that you would have lost your remaining brain cells from reading it. You made a good decision in not reading it."

Zaimokuza clutched his chest. "Even to this day, you insult my work! You are a devil like no other!"

I felt bad for him, but Yukinoshita was right. I don't think Yuigahama would have survived reading it. However, she still should have read itt! How dare she escape her suffering?!

The sun rises on Hachiman's house, showing him waking up from his sleep. Yukinoshita is sipping something out of a mug, while Yuigahama continues to sleep. It shows that the manuscript is still in her backpack, unopened.

"She really didn't read it!" muttered Zaimokuza.

Hachiman parks his bike at the racks at school. He lets out a yawn, before he's slapped by Yuigahama's backpack.

"Morning, Hikki! Hey, you're not very energetic. What's wrong?"

"Hell, you know. After reading that thing… Actually, I want to know why you're so energetic after reading that."

"G-Gah!" Once again, Zaimokuza clutched his chest. "I-It was truly t-that bad?"

"You know my answer to that," I replied. He's already heard my criticism, why is he asking about that now?

"...Indeed, I do." The chuunibyou nodded sagely. "I shall face the pain of the criticism once again."

The rest of the audience couldn't help but feel curious about the manuscript. Kawasaki had to ask herself, "How bad was that manuscript if it made those three- er, two feel so hostile about it?"

Next to the blue haired girl, Ebina was in thought. I can't help but wonder what would happen if I had them read my stories?

...I think that might be a bad idea.

"Huh? Oh, y-you're so right! Yeah, I'm really sleepy…"

"You didn't read it, did you?" Yuigahama simply looks away, not responding.

"Hehe…" Yuigahama scratched her head. Look, just because this occurred a year ago doesn't mean I forgive you for leaving us dry! You can't just say "Hehe" and then get away with it!

The screen shows outside of the school, before cutting to the service club. Hachiman opens the door, only to see Yukinoshita sleeping. He hesitantly walks up to her.

"Thanks for your hard work." When she doesn't respond, he starts blushing as he keeps staring.

"Oh? My my, what a pervert," Yukinoshita turned to face me with a smirk. "Were you truly enraptured by my sleeping form?"

Damn it past me! What were you doing?! What am I supposed to say now? "I was probably just embarrassed by the silence. I wouldn't worry about it," I responded. Ok, maybe that'll work?

"Onii-chan, don't try to lie!" Suddenly, Komachi ruined my plan. "Admit it! You're already together anyways! In fact, Yuki-nee would take it as a compliment!"

I felt my face get hot for a moment. For one, her words were incredibly embarrassing to hear. And two: there's no way that Yukinoshita would take that as a compliment!

At least, that was what I thought before I sneaked a peek at the girl in question. To my shock, she was no longer looking at me, instead having her attention focused on the screen. And… was that a blush on her cheeks? Did she seriously want me to admit that?! My my, looks like you're the real pervert here!

I would have called her out on it, but I was still feeling a bit embarrassed from Komachi's words. So instead, I decided to keep quiet and returned my focus to the screen.

Little did Hachiman know, Yuigahama and Isshiki started pouting at him. He didn't notice any of it though. Not only that, Haruno had a light smirk on her face. Yukino-chan really wants your attention, huh? My, such a demanding "partner."

Suddenly, Yukinoshita opens her eyes and turns to her right, noticing Hachiman. She doesn't say anything for a second.

"I'm surprised." She looks away from him. "When I look at your face, my sleepiness is gone instantly." She lets out a yawn as Hachiman turns away from her with an angry expression.

"I was too close to being deceived by her looks and losing my mind there. Wish I could put this woman to sleep forever."

I paled at my past self's words. Why is the screen showing off my thoughts?! I already knew that was going to happen, but it seems oddly selective on which ones it will show. It's almost like it's trying to ruin me!

"Eep!" Totsuka let out a small noise of shock. "H-Hachiman, y-you're a l-little scary…"

See, my thoughts are just being proven right! At this rate, Totsuka will think bad of me! I don't know if I could go on with that knowledge!

"Hikigaya-kun~!" Haruno called out from the top. She was smiling, but there was a sense of danger hidden behind it. "I hope your past self was joking~!"

"Yes ma'am!" I replied with no hesitation. Haruno might be one of the scariest women I have the (mis)fortune of knowing, but I knew that she truly loved her sister. So if I was a "threat" to her safety…

Just thinking about that sent chills down my spine.

Luckily for Hachiman, Yukinoshita had not yet recovered from Komachi's words, so she remained silent. Though, his words did snap her out of her embarrassed state.

"Pfft!" Orimoto had to keep herself from laughing. H-He sounds so serious! That's hilarious!

Zaimokuza sits down on a chair. "Now then, let me hear your thoughts."

Yukinoshita went first. "I'm sorry. I don't understand this sort of thing very well."

Hayama felt confused for a moment. Hmm? From the reactions of Zaimokuza-san down there, I had expected her to be much more harsh. Was he overreacting?

"No matter. I wanted to hear the opinions of ordinary folk as well. Say whatever you please."

"Okay." A pause. "It was bad. Reading it was actually painful. It was unspeakably tedious."

Ah, never mind. Hayama let out a light chuckle.

Zaimokuza flinched heavily, but he managed to restrain himself from grabbing his chest. I must face the pain of my past!

Next to him, Totsuka gave a concerned look. "Yoshiteru, a-are you going to be ok?"

The man in question nodded. "This is merely a trial! I shall pass with flying colors!"

I rolled my eyes. He's treating this way too seriously. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so, as I heard someone behind me scoff. I didn't bother to turn around, but I assumed it was Miura. Zaimokuza's behavior was probably getting on her nerves.

Zaimokuza grabbed his heart like he was in severe pain and hunched over. "F-For my own reference, might I ask what part of it you found bad?"

"First of all, the grammar is a mess. Why do you keep using inverse word order? Do you know how to use punctuation? (AN: Subs say she uses 'Particles' here, which can't be right, so I changed it.) Did you not learn it in grade school?"

"That was harsh…" Orimoto mumbled under her breath.

Haruno giggled. "My my Yukino-chan, you're quite the critic~." Ah, this is so interesting!

Jeez, I forgot how… extensive Yukinoshita was in her "criticism." Especially against those that were not named Hikigaya Hachiman.

Zaimokuza continued to clutch his chest. "I used a simple style that would sound more familiar to readers…"

"Shouldn't you achieve a minimal mastery of Japanese before you attempt that? And there are too many improper uses of furigana. 'Chikara' is not a possible alternate reading of 'nouryoku.'" She points at something on the manuscript. "Let me ask… Where does the 'nightmare' in this 'Bloody Nightmare Slasher' come from?"

"That sounds stupid," Isshiki commented, causing Zaimokuza to flinch again. "'Bloody Nightmare Slasher' sounds like something kids would make up to scare each other."

The chuunibyou remained silent, surprising me. I would have thought that he would have said something stupid right there. My guess was that he was spending his energy in "facing the trials of his past."

The camera shows Yuigahama reading through the manuscript as Zaimokuza protests, gradually starting to fall asleep. "You got it wrong! In modern battles, the use of furigana adds a unique touch to-"

"Why does the heroine take off her clothes here? There's no need for it at all. I'm not amused."

"That's disgusting!" Miura shouted out. "What kind of pervert would write something like that in a story?!"

Zaimokuza whimpered, but he remained silent. He continued to face forwards towards the screen..

"But without elements like that…"

"Could you not force others to read a story that isn't complete? You should get some common sense before attempting to show literary talent."

The theatre was silent for a few moments. Yukinoshita's criticism, along with the various comments made by others, had shocked everyone into silence.

Zaimokuza finally grabbed his chest, but that was as far as he went. Considering how dramatic he was earlier, I was surprised that he didn't act like he lost his whole family.

"...Yukinoshita-san was really harsh…" Shiromeguri mused to herself. It somewhat surprised her to see this side of the raven-haired girl. Of course, she was used to her barbed insults from the first episode and the few times she saw her with Hikigaya. But this was a different level.

Below her, Tobe shivered from the insults. "...B-Boy, I sure am glad I don't have to deal with that!" At the start, he was jealous of Hachiman for being close with a beautiful girl like Yukinoshita. Now though, he was content with what he had.

Hiratsuka frowned. "Yukinoshita, while I understand your disgust with whatever was in that manuscript, was it necessary to be that harsh?"

"Hiratsuka-sensei, I fail to understand." Yukinoshita turned to face the teacher. "I was 'allowed to say what I pleased' by Zaimokuza-san himself. It is our duty to fulfill the wishes of our clients, is it not?"

The teacher sighed. "I suppose so. Just… don't be too harsh, alright?"

I wouldn't worry about it, Hiratsuka. Compared to when we first met, Yukinoshita is far less of an ice queen than she once was. Of course, I wasn't going to say that out loud. I feel like I would be glared at.

Zaimokuza collapses, his hands and legs on the ground as he feels defeated. This is when Hachiman finally comments.

"Don't you think that's about enough? You don't want to criticize him too much at once."

"I'm not finished yet, but all right."

Ebina shivered. Yukinoshita-san was ruthless in her criticism, and to hear that she wasn't even done? That terrified her. For sure, she will never touch my stories! I just know she'll ruin Hikigaya x Hayama for me!

Kawasaki felt the girl next to her shiver. Concerned, she glanced over to the girl. "Ebina? You okay?"

"Eh? Sakisaki is concerned about me? How wonderful!" Ebina reached to hug the blue-haired girl, but she pulled away before the glasses wearing girl could reach her. "Aw, you're still shy!"

She rolled her eyes. "Last time I'll express any concern for you," Kawasaki mumbled, not realizing that Ebina didn't answer her question.

Yukinoshita turned to the pink-haired girl, who was sleeping. "Well, I guess Yuigahama-san is next."

At the mention of her name, she snaps awake. "U-Um…" She notices Zaimokuza's form on the ground. "You know a lot of difficult kanji."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Miura couldn't help but ask her friend.

"Hehe, yeah," Yuigahama admitted. She turned his focus to the writer of the manuscript. "Sorry for falling asleep, Zaimokuza-san."

The man in question had flinched again at the "compliment", but he continued to stand strong. "I-It was of no consequence!"

The writer let out a groan at that, making Yuigahama panic slightly. "O-Okay, Hikki, go for it!"

Zaimokuza whimpered out. "Hachiman… You can understand me, right?"

He gave a light smile, causing the silver haired guy to give a smile back. It all seemed like he would give a positive response.

"So what was that a ripoff of, anyway?"

"Gah!" Zaimokuza cried out and clutched his chest. "A-An unexpected attack!"

Huh, I kind of forgot I said that. Honestly, that might have been more cruel than what Yukinoshita said. Maybe I am the real monster…

In the back, Haruno whistled. Huh, Hikigaya can be quite harsh too! Hehe~.

"Dude, Hikitani-kun was quite rude there!" Tobe loudly shouted. I expected him to say something else, but he never did. Maybe he finally realized how annoying he was being and decided to shut up for once!

...Nah, that's hoping for too much.

In reality, Tobe was prepared to shout again, but Hayama placed a hand on his shoulder before he could say anything. "Now, don't be too harsh with Hikitani-kun. I think he merely wanted to help out a friend." He gave his regular smile that everyone relied on.

"Oh! That makes sense!" Tobe smacked a fist into a palm. "I guess Hikitani-kun is a good guy!"

Hayama chuckled and leaned back. Truthfully, he wasn't too sure about the relationship between the two, but considering their interactions, he figured that they must have been at least good acquaintances. Thus, he didn't want Tobe to think of things that would have been wrong about Hikigaya. At least, I believe it would have been a lie.

Zaimokuza cried out in pain and started rolling on the floor. Yuigahama and Hachiman had to stand up to avoid being struck by the writer.

"You're ruthless," Yukinoshita commented. He continued to roll on the floor, until he ran into a wall. The group looked at him in concern.

"Hey…" Yuigahama looked at Hachiman with expectation. With a sigh, he walked over to Zaimokuza and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, what's important is the illustrations. Don't worry too much about the story." That statement caused Zaimokuza's soul to fly out of his mouth.

"Really? Is that what you truly think?" Yukinoshita ask

"Not really. It's more of what the masses think," I explained. "Otakus could care less about terrible stories. To them, it's more important if they can self-insert themselves and whether the girls surrounding the protagonist fulfill certain tropes." It's the unfortunate truth of the light novel industry. Obviously, there are numerous exceptions to the rule, but you'd have to look for them.

"Onii-chan, stop being creepy!" Komachi started lightly punching me. "You need to look good for Yuki-nee!"

"What? It's the truth. And she's the one who asked me."

"Ehh… you did sound pretty creepy senpai." Isshiki poked her head around Komachi. "Not as creepy as before, but still pretty creepy!"

Sigh. Being called creepy is nothing new. That must have been Yukinoshita and Yuigahama's favorite insult. Wait, scratch that, Yukinoshita had some really devious insults. I don't even want to utter them!

Speaking of her, why hasn't she- "I understand. Light novel writers tend to cater towards the… I believe you called it chuunibyou?"

Cutting off my thoughts now, eh? "Sort of. Not all otakus are chuunibyou, but nearly all chuunibyou are otakus. They're the type who would enjoy Zaimokuza's story."

"Hmm…" Yukinoshita seemed to be in thought. "So," she suddenly put on a smirk, "Would the middle school version of you enjoyed that?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but found I couldn't say anything. Shit, I think he would have liked that. The fact my dark past was revealed really ruins a lot of my advantages. Curse this show! I slumped into my chair and kept my eyes on the screen, doing my best to not look my partner in the eyes.

The screen cuts to the outside of the school, where Zaimokuza is leaving. "Will you read my work again sometime?"

"Ehh?! Is he a masochist?" Miura blurted out. "If I was a writer, I wouldn't, like, want them to review my stories ever again."

"Maybe he has a reason?" Hayama suggested. "Perhaps he sees their feedback as reliable?"

"Is he that masochistic?" Yuigahama asked with disgust.

"After everything we said, you still want more?" Hachiman asked curiously.

"Of course. Indeed, your criticism was harsh. But it still made me happy. Having someone read the work I wrote for pleasure and hearing their thoughts is a good thing."

"...I suppose that makes a little more sense," Miura said with a small smile. "He's still a gross pervert though," she whispered to herself.

"Aww! I'm proud of you, Yoshiteru!" Totsuka gave his signature smile to the chuunibyou, making him blush slightly.

"W-Why, it is no problem!" Zaimokuza stood up from his seat and crossed his arms. "The past version of I speaks the truth! And despite the pain from the devil, the criticism was appreciated!"

That got him a weird look from Yukinoshita, but I faintly smiled at that. Knowing me, I'm probably gonna go into a monologue soon, so there's no point in explaining my logic.

Hachiman spoke up with a small smile. "Fine. We'll read it again."

Zaimokuza smirked and gave a thumbs up. "Farewell! When I write something new, I'll bring it to you!"

"How many new manuscripts have you guys read?" Hiratsuka asked, out of curiosity.

"Er… I haven't kept track," I replied, rubbing my head. "Pretty sure it wasn't a lot though. Zaimokuza tends to take his time."

"Do not worry, Hachiman. I have kept track of them myself!" Zaimokuza exclaimed, having sat down. "It would be approximately five!"

"Yeah. That." I swore it was a little more than five, but like I said, I wasn't keeping track.

The camera panned over Hachiman's face. "Yeah. What he has isn't just a delusion of grandeur. He's got full-fledged writer's fever." It shows the silver haired guy walking away. "He wants to write because he has something to write about. If he can move someone's heart with that, all the better. That's what writer's fever is." He looks back at the group. "Zaimokuza doesn't need to change."

The silver haired writer sniffed. "H-Hachiman, I greatly appreciate the kind words! Y-You are truly the greatest partner one could ask for!" He stood up with a victorious expression.

Ugh, he's been dramatic again. I waved him off. "It's nothing. Just take what you have. Also, your chuunibyou behavior is still creepy."

"G-Gah!" He sat back down, defeated. "I s-shall take what I can…"

"Even a year later, you are still quite harsh, huh?" Yukinoshita observed neutrally.

"Oi, I'm only harsh towards those who need it. Besides, his claim of us being partners is just false. You're the only partner I need." As soon as those words left my mouth, my eyes widened and I looked away in embarrassment. Oi, what are you saying brain?! That was incredibly embarrassing to say! Especially in front of everyone!

Yukinoshita also looked away in embarrassment, her face rapidly turning red. "I-Idiot, H-Hikigaya-kun."

The interaction between the two caused Yuigahama and Isshiki to feel downtrodden. They felt like they lost another battle, although they tried to hide it. Only Haruno had noticed their expressions falling, making her lightly smirk. Should have asked him out earlier. Hehe~.

Kawasaki also felt a pang of jealousy at the scene, but shrugged it off. That was odd…

"Onii-chan, great job!" Komachi exclaimed, smiling at her brother. "Now just go a bit further!"

I gave a deadpan look at my sister, though the effect was probably reduced thanks to my red face. "Seriously?" I moved my eyes away and focused on the screen. I had a feeling we were close to the end.

Zaimokuza stops suddenly and starts making random movements with his arms, before raising them both. "Go! Barrier!" Then the screen shows an actual barrier being created.

Hachiman doesn't look amused. "Except maybe for that creepy side of his." Zaimokuza rubs his chin in satisfaction.

Heh, there's the mention of his creepy side. I expected to hear Zaimokuza complain again, but when I turned around, he had a joyous expression on his face. Eh?

"Hahahaha! I managed to create a barrier around the school! Of course, that is to be expected of someone of my caliber!" Zaimokuza stood up and started doing weird arm motions.

"Um, Zaimokuza-san, you're blocking the screen," Shiromeguri pointed out. That got him to freeze his motions, before he sat down with a sheepish expression. "Thank you!"

The camera switches scenes to a field, a few days after the previous scene. It shows Zaimokuza stretching his legs while Hachiman helps him.

"Huh, you really were gym partners," Yukinoshita, who had stopped blushing, commented.

"What, you thought I was lying or something? I'm offended!" I exaggerated the way I said that last word, but I wasn't too offended. To be honest, I'm a little surprised it's showing this. Nothing noteworthy happened here, I'm pretty sure.

Near the back, Ebina started laughing creepily. "Hehehehe, Hikitani x Zaimokuza! Hikitani x Zaimokuza! Hikitani x Zaimoku-" The glasses-wearing girl was abruptly cut off by a slap to the mouth. "Owee! Saki-Saki, you're so mean!"

"Stop being creepy! This is getting repetitive!" Kawasaki cried out with a tired expression. I'm getting sick of doing this all the time!

"My hip… my hip…" A pause. "Hachiman… What amazing artists are popular lately?"

"You're getting ahead of yourself. Think about that after you win the contest."

The two start stretching their backs. "If it sells well, you think it'll get animated and I can marry a voice actress?"

"Is he, like, seriously already thinking that far ahead?" Miura asked.

"Haha, looks like it," Hayama replied with a chuckle. "That's pretty cool that he has a long-term goal like that."

"Y-Yeah, I guess it is…" Miura nervously said, twirling a strand of her hair.

"Forget about that stuff right now. Just start by writing a manuscript, all right?"

The camera zooms out to show another silver-haired person watching the two stretch.

Oh, that's why it's showing this scene. It's introducing a very important character that will be essential to the future of this show! What, am I wrong?

"Eh? I-I'm on here a-already?" Totsuka said, his voice filled with nervousness. "A-Am I really that important?"

You're very important! Don't you dare think otherwise! I didn't say that outloud, as I feared the consequences from Yukinoshita and Komachi, but know that I fully support you Totsuka!

It turned out my words weren't needed, as Yuigahama spoke up first. "Of course you're important Saika! You're one of my friends, and Hikki sees you as a friend too!" Oh yeah, I said that earlier, didn't I?

"R-Really?" As if the angels emerged from heaven itself, he let out a big smile that blinded my eyes. "T-Thank you!"

Ok, my eyes weren't actually blinded, but it was a beautiful smile. The only things that can compare are Komachi's cuteness and… Y-Yukinoshita's cuteness. Gah, am I really stuttering in my thoughts?!

"I apologize for asking, but I am curious," Yukinoshita suddenly posed a question. "Why were you watching Hikigaya-kun and Zaimokuza-san?"

"Oh! I-I didn't mean anything about it!" Totsuka waved his hands around. "I-I just saw Hachiman playing tennis on the wall and I was impressed by his skills, so I was wondering if he would have been a good fit…"

"Ah, so that was why you asked the service club for your request?"

"Y-Yeah, I originally asked Hachiman if he could join the tennis club, but he was already in your club," Totsuka explained. "So I ended up training with you guys instead!"

Yukinoshita nodded. "It was our duty to assist you, so think nothing of it." She turned back to the screen, to see how the episode would end.

I nodded. That sounded about right. Er, wait, since he showed up now, does that mean the next episode is focused on him?

"If it sells well, you think I could have wild parties every night?"

"You're not gonna have wild parties! Get your head out of the clouds!"

As the two argue, the silver-haired person faintly smiles.

ENDING PLAYS.

"And that's the episode!" Hiratsuka stretched out her arms. "Ah, I needed that. Not a bad episode overall."

"Indeed. I believe that it was better than the first episode, in fact!" Zaimokuza declared, pointing a finger towards the ceiling.

I only rolled my eyes. "You're only saying that because you're in this episode."

"Grrk! Y-You are correct… As expected of Hachiman!" Sigh, annoying as usual. Around me, conversations started popping up, most of them focused on the episode. In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Yuigahama start to stand up.

Attention everyone!

All conversations quickly came to a halt as nearly everyone groaned. Heh, I guess we all hate this stupid voice character.

Aww, you all don't like me? I'm so sad!

If you're going to say you're sad, at least act like it, dammit!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that episode! I'm just letting you know that you have a five minute break or so before the next episode begins! So have fun~!

As quickly as the voice arrived, they departed. On the screen, a countdown appeared, ticking away at the time. The conversations slowly started back up again, but I was deep in thought.

What was the point of announcing a five minute break? Last episode, we naturally started talking for that same length of time before the voice interfered. Maybe it's trying to be considerate for once? But there was also the "maintenance issue" prior to the episode starting. I find it hard to believe that a DVD player made by a god could have an issue like that. Hmm...

As I was stuck in my own thoughts, I noticed Yuigahama walking past me. I wonder where she's going.

The pink-haired girl walked up to the aisle Miura was sitting in. At the moment, she was trying to talk with Hayama, but he appeared to be busy talking with Tobe. She was about to shift her attention to Orimoto, but she noticed Yuigahama approaching them.

"Oh! Yui!" Miura waved. "What brings you here?"

"Hi Yumiko! I just wanted to talk, y'know?" She took the seat in front of Orimoto.

"Eh? What's up?"

Yuigahama opened her mouth, but then she remembered that Orimoto was there. "Umm… Yumiko, do you care if Orimoto-san listens in?"

The blonde haired girl turned to the brown haired girl, who looked sheepish and rubbed her head. "I can leave if you want. I'd understand if that's what you wanted."

"Wait," Miura turned to Yuigahama with a questioning look. "You didn't answer. What did you want to talk about?"

The pink haired girl looked hesitant. "Um… I kind of wanted to talk about earlier? We didn't really talk about that too much…"

"Oh…" Miura glanced at the girl next to her, before shrugging. "Eh, it's whatever. Anyone can listen in if they want."

"Eh?! Are you sure Yumiko?!" Yuigahama shouted out, drawing the attention of the audience to her. "Ehehe, ignore that! But, you're fine with this?"

"Why should I, like, care what others think between us?" Miura boasted. "Although… are you comfortable with her listening in?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'm totally cool with that!" Yuigahama smiled. "I was just concerned about you."

Miura smiled back. "Thanks Yui. So, like, what's left to talk about?"

"Hehe, I just felt like our talk wasn't finished, you know? It was in front of everyone and we still needed to finish that episode."

"Oh, really?" Miura put a finger to her chin. "But, like, what else did we need to say?"

"...I dunno… maybe something to tell us both that things are alright? I-I'm not sure…"

The two were silent for a moment, unsure of what to say next. In that silence, Orimoto darted her eyes between the two. This feels really private! I know they said it was fine if I listened in, but it still feels wrong!

"How about we hug it out?" Miura suggested. "Wouldn't hurt, you know?"

"Ehh? You're fine with that?" Yuigahama questioned with a tilted head.

The blonde haired girl scoffed. "Of course. We're friends, aren't we? Nothing wrong with us hugging, you know?"

"Yeah! Let's do it!" The two girls stood up and hugged each other. Though, with the difference in the row heights, it was a little awkward, as Yuigahama had to go onto her toes and Miura had to bend over. But the deed was completed.

"Ah, that feels better!" Yuigahama grinned. "Hehe, I guess I'll go back with Yukinon! Bye Yumiko!" The pink haired girl waved and half-skipped back to her seat.

"Heh, that's Yui for you." Miura smiled to herself. "I'm glad I met her." Next to the blonde haired girl, Orimoto softly smiled, though she felt somewhat jealous of their relationship. It was… real. Did any of her friendships have anything similar?

What the three girls didn't realize was that almost the whole audience had witnessed the exchange, thanks to Yuigahama's shout. The only one who hadn't listened to the whole thing was yours truly. I was too deep in my thoughts to focus on what they were saying.

I don't know why, but I was focused on finding out why the voice wanted to give us that five minute warning, when they didn't before. It's not even that big of a deal either. It's probably nothing! And yet, I couldn't help but wonder.

"Onii-chan? You have this really focused expression on your face. Are you okay?" Komachi snapped me out of my thoughts. Ah, thanks for that, my imouto!

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wondering some things about this stupid voice god," I explained. "I can't stop thinking about it."

"Hm, what is on your mind?" Yukinoshita asked from my left. "I happen to agree that the voice god is irritating, but I am unsure what its true intentions are."

"They said it themselves, they were just bored. For a god, that's a perfectly logical reason to drag sixteen humans from their homes and force them to watch a show about our own lives," I said, giving the screen a glare as I said that. "I wasn't really thinking about that though. I was wondering why the god announced a five minute break now, when it didn't earlier."

"Eh? That seems oddly specific, Onii-chan," Komachi commented.

"Yeah yeah, I know. But like I said, I can't help but think about it." One of my 108 skills is detecting something, but it doesn't know what it is.

Before anyone could elaborate on what I said, Hiratsuka interrupted. "While I'm quite curious about what you noticed, Hikigaya, your time's almost up."

I double checked the screen and noticed only ten seconds remained on the countdown. Komachi grabbed my arm in anticipation, dragging me closer to her. I chuckled, but quickly focused my attention on the upcoming episode.

Time to see how this show will screw with me now. I hope it's not anything too terrible...

---

It's done! At long last! Hooray!

Jeez, when I said the next chapter would take a while, I did NOT intend on it taking nearly six freaking months. Hell, I originally thought I'd have this done back in august. AUGUST! But thank you so much for all of the support on the previous chapter. Reading your reviews was great! And jeez, 287 favorites and 377 followers from just an intro and one episode? That's crazy!

So, why have I been gone for so long?

Well, if you have been checking out my profile (and a lot of you have!), you'd know that I'm currently in college. The original August release date was supposed to be right before college started. Though, it turned out pre-college preparation was more involved than I thought. I was only able to get the script for the episode + the first minute of reactions before I had to stop.

As for college itself… it's a lot of work. I was very focused on getting work done and I only got around 1-2% of this story completed every week or so, 5% at most. But then in November, the week before Thanksgiving break, I suddenly got a rush of motivation and got a whole 10% done in a day. That felt really good to do. Then I just kept chugging along and kept writing until… this!

Ok, enough of that. Let's talk about the story itself.

I'm not sure how this chapter holds up to the first chapter. Maybe it's better, maybe it's worse, maybe it's the same. I don't have a beta reader or anyone to check for me, I do this all on my own. So, feel free to give feedback! I'll probably act like Zaimokuza if I get negative feedback, but like he said, "Having someone read the work I wrote for pleasure and hearing their thoughts is a good thing."

Now, here are some points and questions brought up by the reviews. I'm not going to answer all of them obviously, just the ones that I felt needed to be reaffirmed.

POV Switches - Someone asked about switching between First and Third person. While it's not ideal, it's what allows me the most flexibility. Sticking with the first person means we get a lot of Hachiman's reactions, but the other characters get screwed over. Sticking with third person means we generally get everyone else's reactions, but it also makes Hachiman's reactions less enjoyable to write for me personally. So I'm likely sticking with this style of writing, even if it violates English writing rules.

Opening Lyrics - Unfortunately, I don't actually know the lyrics myself. Though that can easily be fixed by looking them up. The real problem is that I don't think it's necessary. It would add work that I'd rather not do. So this isn't happening sadly.

Extra Characters - I know last chapter I said I would definitely NOT be adding new characters. However, I decided to change that to a "maybe". Though, if new characters are added, it won't be for some time. We'll see how that goes. The biggest challenge would be balancing the reactions, but if I get a better groove for this, I might be able to do it.

Character Songs (CDs) - Apparently these are a thing. I didn't even know that until someone pointed it out. Anyways, I don't think I'm going to have them react to these. Not really something I feel like writing about. Sorry about that.

Light Novel - A few reviews asked about this. I still stand that for now, I will exclusively use the anime. Though, I do know that season 3 cut out some light novel content that seemed pretty interesting, so mayyybeee when I get there, I'll factor in some light novel material. That's not going to be for a LONGGG time

And… that's it! Before I go once again, do check out my profile! There, I give my progress on my various stories and what my status is. I heavily encourage you to look at it!

Well, that's it for real! See you next time!

(I had to write this author's note in a google doc. For some reason, it is causing my CPU usage to skyrocket and my battery to drain whenever I try editing this story in it's editor. Not only that, but somehow 1k words were magically added to the doc. They better fix that.)