Indeed, A Meeting With Orimoto Kaori Could Never End According To His Estimations

Golden Week.

It was perhaps one of the few respites a student can have from the jaws of the monstrosity known as school.

To someone like me, it was technically the only one as some of my days in the coming summer and winter break will be committed towards working for the Yukinoshita family as well.

Golden Week was the sole exception.

Thus I, Hikigaya Hachiman, pledge to do absolutely nothing during this small interval aside from lazing around the house…

Or at least, that was the original plan.

What was someone like me, who possessed fatal allergies to social interaction at this kind of time doing in a fancy café?

And I was sharing a table with a girl who is…

Not my sister.

Not my ex-club president who share similar interests with me.

Not my close friend who thinks she still owes me for saving her dog.

Not my foxy kouhai who always has this hidden ulterior motive.

Not my potential work colleague who is a brocon and a siscon at the same time.

Not my flamboyant classmate who unironically asks relationship advice from me.

Not my other classmate who looks strait-laced as heck but was actually a rotten fujoshi.

Not my bubbly senpai who was way too nice for her own good.

Not my former homeroom teacher who is still single until now.

And certainly not my demonic superhuman of a superior.

Sitting ahead of me was none other than my middle school crush, Orimoto Kaori on a casual getup composed of a cream blouse underneath a blue cardigan, black jeans and beige loafers.

On my side, I was on a white shirt underneath a bluish-gray jacket, denim jeans as well as black and white sneakers. Due to my imouto's wonderful misunderstanding, my hair was properly combed and I was even forced to wear some perfume.

While I did plan on dressing up a little in order to not be a shame to my family, I also did not want to give an impression that I was expecting something from my current partner especially considering this is Orimoto Kaori that we're talking about right here. I should know. I learned that the hard way during middle school after all.

In any case, the best course of action for both sides was to get things over with right off the bat.

"Do you need something, Orimoto?"

I knew it came out a little rude but Orimoto was someone who understood that I wasn't the type to beat around the bush in the first place so she should be able to take it in stride.

At least I thought she would until I noticed her pout after gently placing down her cup of coffee.

"You owe me a date remember?"

I almost reflexively responded with a denial before I managed to stop myself at the last second.

Huh, come to think of it, that kind of thing did sort of happen in the past. If I recall correctly, that was after my dance with Orimoto in the most recent spring break.

Truth be told, I thought she said all that because she was just influenced by the jovial mood of the event. I didn't really think much of her words back then.

If it happened, it happened. If it didn't, it didn't. How nice it would be if my middle school self understood such a concept beforehand. It would have saved me one less trauma at least.

"I see. Sorry about that. You didn't have to force yourself to honor that promise, Orimoto."

To this, Orimoto narrowed her eyes and responded.

"Why not? Do you not like hanging out with me?"

"I didn't say that. I meant you don't have to put too much effort for my sake. Surely, you had better plans for your Golden Week than spending it with someone like me."

"Not really. I mean what's wrong with spending my time with you anyways?"

Clearly, what I was doing wasn't working at all. Each time Orimoto responded, she looked a little bit more frustrated than before. As such, I needed to change gears.

"It's fine. If this is your decision, then who am I to judge?"

I dropped the topic like that before taking a sip on the cup of coffee on my side of the table. It wasn't Max Coffee but it will have to do.

"By the way, I don't remember exchanging mail addresses with you, Orimoto. From whom did you get it from?"

Her abrupt mail made me even choke from my breakfast. Because I had to take measures in preventing myself from dying in such a pathetic manner, Komachi took advantage of the opportunity and read the contents of the mail as well, without paying close attention to who the sender was. I can still vividly recall her smirk after I got back to my seat. It was scary how dangerously close it was to one of Iroha's many impish expressions.

"Ah, Yuigahama-san gave it to me. Don't be mad at her, okay? I was the one who was super pushy about it… Why didn't you just give me your mail during the joint prom planning?"

I ignored the second part of her statement in order to not reopen any old wounds from middle school and focused on how Yui jeopardized my plans for the first day of Golden Week.

"I see… No, it's not a big deal. I just wanted to know that's all."

So during the next tutorial session, Yui is required to answer more than everyone else. I wasn't mad but I wasn't necessarily happy as well. Though I don't have any kind of grudge against Orimoto, a part of me felt it was safer to lessen my involvement with her if it could be avoided.

"By the way, Hikigaya. Why did you ditch the glasses?"

"The glasses? Ah… Well, those are only used for formal occasions like that ball to hide my eyes. I don't really need to do that on people I already know so I don't wear them on regular days like this."

Also, because they were probably super expensive and I don't want to break them.

But Orimoto didn't need to know that part.

This small talk was pleasant and all but I was sure that this was nothing more than a preamble to what was yet to come.

Eyes looking at the window or counter instead of the person in front of them. One hand absent-mindedly stirring the cup of coffee on her side even though the milk she added earlier should have blended with her drink already. Her other hand was curled into a fist and she was occasionally fixing her cardigan even though it was never crooked in the first place.

All these unconscious actions lead me to believe that she was either trying to hide something or was just buying time. Whatever it was, I intended on finding out now.

"I'll ask once again, Orimoto. Do you need my help for something?"

This startled Orimoto for a brief moment before covering it up with her usual nice girl smile.

"What are you talking about, Hikigaya? Like I said…"

This prompted me to sigh and speak in a much colder fashion.

"You can lay it on me, Orimoto. It's fine. I expected as much anyways. For your sake as well, let's stop with this façade, okay?"

What if I told you that you could get to spend the first day of Golden Week with your middle school crush? What would you say?

Of course, it's nothing but an illusion. If there was one thing I was sure of, then that is how I am not that significant of an existence to the girl named Orimoto Kaori.

As such, why would she be willing to spend one of her precious holidays with someone like me when she has a whole cluster of friends probably waiting in line to hang out with her.

Only one answer comes to mind.

She needs my help with something.

And if it had to be brought up on the first day of Golden Week of all days then it must be something that required immediate action.

The moment I read the word date on her mail, my mind immediately thought that something was up.

Orimoto looked at me with an expression I can't quite describe. I saw traces of guilt and confusion on her brown eyes. Then afterwards, she lowered her head and gazed at her knees as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Perhaps she's realized how insensitive this entire arrangement was. But even so, she still had no other choice but to come and find me for help.

Since Orimoto didn't look like she was planning to say anything any time soon then I was the only one who could break us away from this stalemate.

"If there's nothing else Orimoto then I'll take my leave. I still have something else to do, you see. Enjoy the rest of your day."

My voice came out a lot colder than I expected but I had to do that in order to make Orimoto take action.

Loner Skill No. 50: Maou Hikki.

The ultimate bluff that brings out the worst out of others by making myself do something equally as despicable.

In this case, by acting like I'm heading out, it pushes Orimoto's desperation to the limit. Whether it will work or not however was a different issue altogether.

Just when I was about to stand up and leave some money, the sleeve of my right hand was grabbed by Orimoto. You can tell how much courage she needed to summon in order to do such a thing from the way the said hand was trembling a little.

"Hikigaya, I need your help…"

Hearing those words made my lips curl into a wry smile. It was just one of those times where I wish I was wrong with my assumptions. Haruno-san was right. It seems I really was far too smart for my own good.

Since it's come to this, I could only sit back down and hear her out. It was the least I can do for pushing her this far.

"Okay, Orimoto. I'm listening."

Orimoto became silent at my prompt. I was half-tempted to once again bluff by attempting to leave but I doubt that would work so smoothly after doing it once already.

Left with no other choice, I waited for Orimoto herself to compose the words she really wanted to say.

Thankfully, the wait wasn't as long as I thought it would be.

It was just a little troublesome when Orimoto's brown eyes finally met with my coal-black ones.

For some reason she just had to make this flustered expression that would've made me misunderstand had I been any other ordinary high school boy.

And as expected, the words that Orimoto dropped at this moment were by no means remotely close to a line a protagonist should be receiving from a heroine in a romantic comedy.

"Please help me study for midterms."

"…"

Even if I sort of saw something like this coming, I was still taken off-guard by that statement. While I was right with my hunch, it still felt like I was defeated for some reason. It was a complicated feeling.

As usual, the woman named Orimoto Kaori still continues to baffle me.

I would not be surprised at all if she ends up being a herald sent by the Gods and Goddesses of Romantic Comedies with the sole mission of making my life even harder to deal with than it already is.

But even beings of the higher dimension are at the mercy of luck. Even if I choose to accept Orimoto's request right here, there was still the matter of her being in the same major as I am. After all, I was terrible at the Sciences.

Thus, I asked the question which could very well end up being my sole escape route or the final nail in the coffin.

"By any chance, what's your major, Orimoto?"

"Uh, it's Liberal Arts."

Ah, I forgot. My luck was terrible.

It was already my loss when I tried to decide it all with a 50:50.

Well, checkmate it is then.

Author's Note:

Well, no one got the answer right or rather, barely anyone participated in my guessing game (that's okay) but because this chapter is a little short the update came fast anyways.

At any rate, welcome to the Orimoto Mini Arc, I guess.

While I understand that this girl is not that popular given her history with Hikigaya, I still wanted to give her a chance.

This arc is somewhat planned already, even before the Isshiki Arc to be honest. You could even say that a big part of the reason why I needed Hikigaya to be some of his classmate's tutor was to set-up for this arc.

I can only hope that this part of my story can attract the Orimoto fans or at the very least convince others that this character is not that bad.

I apologize for the little redundancy with my extra chapters. I just ended up writing them alternately with the main storyline before I noticed anything peculiar.

At the very least, I'll promise that the next chapter that comes after this will not be an extra.

With all that being said, I stash my tools for the trade for now and I bid you all farewell.

Here's to hoping I'll be seeing you guys again and more in the next chapter.

Reviews, follows and faves are all very much appreciated.

May everyone's good wishes and realities intersect.

Mori Hikiko