On Totsuka Saika's Special Day, The Cynic Takes Another Step Towards Change

Unfortunately, just like how gravity pulls a ball thrown to the air back downwards, so too does time resume and eventually, a break has too end.

It was already a few days after Golden Week ended and yet I still find myself in this stage of denial where I did not want school to resume at all.

Regardless, that was what we're at now.

It was finally the first week of May.

Classes are back again.

Which meant to me that I have to once again juggle my time between my part-time job, a club that deals with the various trifles of other high school students and tutoring some of the members of the clique that I apparently belong to all while making sure that I don't end up failing at my own subjects this year.

On top of all that, I also have to prepare for the herculean task of getting into Todai.

But all that will be set aside for now.

Because I don't mind going to school in this particular day.

In fact, it was not farfetched to consider this day as blessed.

In this grand cesspool known as Earth, today was the day that a human being as dazzling and as radiant as Totsuka Saika was born.

Last year, I would've cursed the heavens for not making him be born as female but now I realized that in the grand scheme of things it was indeed wiser to have him be born male.

Had Saika been born female, I would have confessed to him during our first meeting and get rejected on the spot.

Then, I'll probably spend the rest of my high school in despair because of said event.

Huh, if I put it that way, did the Gods and Goddesses of Romantic Comedies do me a favor?

Whatever. I refuse to acknowledge it.

Following the invitation of the Tennis Club, the entire roster of the Service Club came to the tennis courts to enjoy a modest banquet courtesy of their members.

Miura was invited as an esteemed guest too which also meant that the rest of the clique was present, even Kawasaki was here as well.

Even though I've been exposed to much grander celebrations than this, I was not at all desensitized to how homely humble gatherings like these are.

In the first place, a loner like me wasn't fond of parties in general. If I really had no other choice but to join one, I'd rather it be composed of the few acquaintances I know than a crowd of strangers whose sole existence was just to occupy space and make some noise.

With that train of thought, you could say that I prefer this kind of celebration over Isshiki's grand birthday party a few days ago. But that's just me.

Regardless of what scale the party is set to, my natural habitat in these kinds of events will not change.

It will always be something like an inconspicuous corner at the edge of the venue. However, for an outdoor gathering like this, going out too far would make you stick out like a sore thumb instead so it was best to lurk just in-between the crowd and the stragglers.

As such, the perfect spot to blend in with the surroundings was under the shade of a tree and close to the walls of the Tennis Club locker room.

In this manner, I was still in the general area of the occasion, I was close to the table where all the free food was being served and finally, the tree's shade boosted my already potent lack of presence. It was the perfect spot.

Even my own genius scares me sometimes.

Furthermore, I don't have that violent and still single sensei present now to try and incite me to take action once again.

I would have been okay in doing that had it been any other day but it just so happened that my tolerance for social interaction reached its limit when I had to spend my entire Golden Week with the chatty Orimoto of all people.

Why she stuck around me during that entire interval bothers me a little even to this day so I try not to think about it too much. But it's not like I dislike her presence, it's just that loners have a tendency to enjoy their alone time more than other people. And since I didn't get to enjoy that kind of privilege during Golden Week, I thought I'd get it on the next few school days though the opportunities to do so has been rather few and far betweeen for the time being.

Truthfully, I would have wanted to talk with Saika during this event but as expected of today's star, he was surrounded by quite a number of people already.

I was far too timid to try to insert myself in such a situation. Fake Hikki might help me break through but that would also cause a whole new set of headaches as well so I'd rather not.

I'm sure Saika will understand. He already knows I'm not one for these kinds of events anyways.

For now, I leaned languidly on the locker room's wall while I helped myself with a glass of juice. It was not Max Coffee but it will be good enough for now, especially considering that it was free.

While I was deliberating between playing with my phone or not, an unfamiliar voice then called my name.

"So this is where you are, Hikigaya-senpai."

A bowl-cut and a pair of glasses. These two prominent features in the Tennis Club were possessed by only one person.

Kayano Kaito. The Tennis Club's new captain.

"Kayano, huh…"

While I did know of his name because of the most recent request from Saika, this was in fact the first time that the two of us directly interacted with each other like this.

"Do you need something?"

He walked towards my direction and leaned on the wall just a little bit away from me before responding.

"There's something that I want to talk to you about, senpai."

"I see. If it's a request please forward it to Hikigaya Komachi who is my club president."

It was only natural that any student who came to me would be asking for a request to the Service Club, especially if it's one of the boys. After all, for the average male, it was far too huge of a hurdle to try to talk with either Yukino or Yui. As for Komachi and Taishi, the two were not as known to be affiliated with the Service Club yet. That was why these people are left with only one option.

Unfortunately for them, it just happened to me.

To my surprise however, Kayano shook his head towards my response.

"Allow me to rephrase that, Hikigaya-senpai. There's something I'd like to clarify with you."

"I see. Well, as thanks for the free food, I'll at least hear you out."

"Is it true that you were the one who encouraged Takahashi when he was down after he was not selected as the new captain?"

I had no idea where he was going with this but just to be safe, I decided on playing dumb for now.

"Oh, was Takahashi down after that?"

Towards my reply, Kayano narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Senpai, playing dumb won't lead you anywhere. Just to let you know, Takahashi mentions your name almost every single opportunity he gets during our recent practices."

"If that's true then why are you still asking me?"

"…"

That made Kayano speechless. He may look smarter than the average student but that won't help against me who has some experience in dealing with one of the most sinister beings on earth: Adults.

"Okay maybe that part was an exaggeration. In any case, is it safe for me to assume that you were behind his recent overwhelming desire to get better?"

I shrugged at his accusation. Although, there was no more use in denying it any longer if Kayano was this confident about my involvement already, it's not like there was also any merit in admitting otherwise so I decided on taking the middle ground.

"For the purpose of conversation, let's just say it was me... How is this relevant?"

"Then I would like to know senpai…"

Kayano's hand then grabbed my shoulder. When I looked at his face, all I can see is the expression of an old war veteran whose survived hundreds of bloody battlefields.

"Do you have a grudge with me or something?

"Excuse me?"

…

Kayano then took a couple of minutes to explain his circumstances to me.

As it turns out, Takahashi has been abusing the fact that Kayano is the captain to have him be taught a lot of techniques. All of this is because of the brilliant idea that I whispered to Takashi's ear.

In the end, this took too much time out of Kayano that he wasn't even able to do his own drills anymore.

"It's been like hell really…"

"Well as much as I'd like to apologize, I don't think you'll find it sincere enough given that I am indirectly the cause of it all…"

I then made a smirk which truly encompassed the word evil.

"So what would you say if I told you that I can make things even for you two."

At this, Kayano then blinked in surprise once before responding.

"I'm listening, Hikigaya-senpai. "

"When Takahashi asks for tips from you, tell him to do something difficult, something silly or a combination of both. Looking at him while he's doing said maneuver should be good stress relief, no?"

Kayano's expression then lit up before his lips finally curved into a vague smile.

"Hikigaya-senpai… Did someone ever tell you that you're a lot smarter than you look?"

"I get that quite a few times, yeah."

"Thank you, Hikigaya-senpai. Now I understand why Takahashi respects you a lot. I hold you in the same regard as well. Let's get along more from here on out."

"I'm not quite sure if I should take that as praise or not but sure. Also, I'm not necessarily on your side so if Takahashi comes to me, let me warn you ahead of time that it'll probably make your life a little bit more troublesome later down the line."

Kayano then took a contemplative expression for a brief moment.

"I see. Is there any way to bribe you not to do so?"

"It depends on the bribe."

"I understand. I'll keep that in mind."

I had thought that that was the end of our conversation but apparently, Kayano still had something else left to say.

"Before we part today, senpai. I'd like to make this declaration…"

"Hm?"

"I will become the Tennis Club's ace even though I already am the captain."

It may have sounded a little monotone but the words that Kayano said carried a lot of his passion and determination on it.

He usually gave this elite honor student aura. Now however, he really looked the part of a standard athletic student who was just oozing with competitiveness.

To this, I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Come on. You should be smart enough to understand that I needed to say all that in order to motivate Takahashi, right? Besides, shouldn't you be saying that to Takahashi instead of me?"

Kayano then nodded in a matter-of-fact manner.

"I do. Even so, it felt wrong if I didn't get to say that to you directly. As for Takahashi, I'll let my actions speak for itself. He'll understand it better that way."

"Is that so? Well, knock yourself out then."

"See you around, Hikigaya-senpai."

"Yeah, you too."

I gave Kayano a languid wave after he bowed to me.

Due to the fact that I was talking with arguably the second most important figure in the Tennis Club next to Saika, I was drawing a good number of eyes onto myself that I would've shrunk back in embarrassment if it was the me from last year on my current shoes.

Thankfully, upon Kayano's leave, a good portion of the curious eyes left me as well.

Since it felt a little awkward to stay in this place for now, I pretended to drink from my already empty glass of juice before heading over to the table to get a refill.

Through this, I would be able to reset everyone's attention such that when I return to that spot a little later, I would once again be more or less invisible. A little misdirection, so to speak.

However, that would only be successful if I actually managed to return…

When my lifeless coal-black eyes met the vivacious emerald irises of a certain Fire Queen, I knew that my fate for the entire afternoon was more or less sealed.

"Ah! There you are, Hikio! We've been looking for you!"

"Huh…? Hey…! Wait!"

Miura suddenly grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me over to who knows where. As expected of an ex-athlete, she was quite strong. Then again, I was not that heavy for my age in the first place.

Unexpectedly or should I say, just as expected, she brought me over to a place which in my perspective was tantamount to the middle of a warzone.

In other words, it was right next to today's celebrant, Totsuka Saika himself.

"Oh, Hachiman! Nice of you to join us. Where've you been?"

On the bright side, seeing Saika's radiant smile was enough to offset all this unwanted attention I was getting.

"Yo, Saika... Happy Birthday… You see, I was…"

I awkwardly scratched my cheek and averted my eyes away from Saika while I tried to find words to make lurking on a corner not sound so creepy.

Before I had the opportunity however a voice akin to a breeze on a winter morning interjected on my behalf.

"Hachi-kun was busy creepily moving around on the more obscure places around the tennis court."

I was flabbergasted at how accurate Yukino's answer was.

"Wait, how did you know?"

To this, I see the Ice Queen make her signature smug expression.

"I didn't. I just guessed. Judging from your reaction, I seem to have hit the nail in the head… You should really fix those kinds of habits, Hachi-kun. Weren't you accompanying Nee-san on formal parties at some point? Why don't you apply some of the things you've learned here?"

"Ugh…"

As much as I wanted to retort, her words alone dealt far too much psychological damage that it just made me lose my will to fight. It was further amplified by the fact that we were not in the walls of the clubroom so it felt a lot like a public execution.

"Oh wow! Hikio is stumped for words. You don't see that often. Mind if you teach me a little bit on how to do that to him as well, Yukino?"

"I don't mind but it will be quite a long lesson. Hachi-kun is a difficult person to deal with after all."

I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult. For the sake of my already negative self-esteem, I'll take that as the former just for today.

The thought of having to deal with Miura also trying to be witty against me was also bringing in a new load of stress.

"Ah, speaking of which, a couple of juniors I was talking to earlier were looking for you, Hikio."

"I see…"

So that was why she was looking for me earlier. To go that far just for a couple of kouhai… Yep, that does sound like something this Mother Hen would do alright.

I had really wanted to not be involved too much but since I was here anyways, I might as well listen to what they say. It was most likely a request to the Service Club or something.

"Where are they?"

"Over there. The ones currently talking to Totsuka."

When I put my attention on that direction, it was just in time for me to hear Saika say something embarrassing about myself.

"Ahahaha. Contrary to appearances, Hachiman is actually very kind to others…"

Before Saika could get another word out, I rubbed his head vigorously and interrupted him

"Don't just go ahead and decide things on your own, Saika."

"Ehhh… It's true though, Hachiman."

"You're just saying whatever you please…"

I sighed before looking at the three Tennis Club members who was talking with Saika just earlier. One of them was easily recognizable with his trademark red hair and was grinning at me while the remaining two looked a little anxious.

"Hikigaya-senpai, it's me, it's me. Takahashi."

"Yes, I know. So, what do you need me for?"

Even with a harmless greeting and a completely neutral expression from my side, the other two students beside Takahashi flinched a little. This wary reaction caused Yukino from behind to giggle a little which tempted me to click my tongue in annoyance.

"Umm…"

Because the two seemed too timid to continue speaking, Takahashi decided to be their representative. Either that or he was just unable to contain his own excitement. Regardless, it seemed like the two were very thankful for his act.

"These guys are first years you see and when I told then that you managed to beat Miura-senpai, they were very curious to meet you!"

Recalling about that stupid match that was forced on us and where there was nothing for us to win but everything to lose felt a little unpleasant. Then again, I did win against Hayama here, so I guess it was not that bad.

"Oh, that match? I got lucky, really. And it was a doubles match to boot. Yukino was the one who paved the way for our victory and I just finished it."

"But but, you had those special serves, right?"

The words special serves seemed to trigger something as the two freshmen suddenly gained their courage to talk to me, rather enthusiastically if I may add.

"One of them was that wind-manipulating serve, right?!"

"The other was a serve that was so high, it was like a star came crashing down, right?!"

"Hikigaya-senpai, can you show us how to do those special serves?"

The burning passion in Takahashi's eyes made it hard for me to refuse but because those serves were special in a way that certain factors needed to align first before they can be performed, it was realistically impossible for me to provide a demonstration at this moment.

"Maybe next time. I don't think I'll be able to pull it off at this kind of time anyways."

I shrugged helplessly which disheartened the three kouhai in front of me.

"Eh? Is that so? What a pity…"

But in the next second, Takahashi's fire reignited as easily as it died off earlier.

"Okay, that's a promise, Hikigaya-senpai! I'll tell Kayano about it too. I'm sure that guy is curious about it as well but is too shy to admit it… Alright! I'm fired up!"

I sighed at such an unexpected development. I didn't recall promising anything at all but the momentum that Takahashi was carrying was too large at this point so I missed the timing to make that retort.

In the end, the three bowed to me and went out their merry way without asking my input on the so-called promise.

During the entire exchange, Saika was just silently smiling beside me.

"Your help would've been greatly appreciated there, Saika."

"I don't see the harm in it. Hanging out with other kouhai should be good for you, Hachiman."

I wanted to retort but upon further consideration, I couldn't really find anything wrong with Saika's statement so I kept my silence.

Meanwhile, another pair of girls who've just been giggling to themselves this entire time finally decided to join in on the conversation.

"I didn't expect Hikitani-kun to be in the company of that many younger boys."

"Ahaha. Well, we don't get to see him with others that often but surprisingly, Hachi is really kind towards his kouhai. Iroha-chan and Taishi-kun should be more than enough to prove that fact."

The two girls were none other than Ebina and Yui, respectively. They were both wearing smiles on their faces but unlike Yui's usual cheerful expression, Ebina's look on the other hand gave me an ominous premonition.

"I can see it now…! Hikitani-kun being surrounded by younger males on all sides... Even though he was supposed to be stronger, he was also afraid of hurting them so he could only resist…! And then… And then… Guh!"

Had Ebina's nose not erupted on that moment, my mind would have been subjected to a disturbing image, the likes of which will probably leave me scarred for life.

Since Miura was still being interrogated by the other Tennis Club members and Saki was busy talking to Komachi and Taishi, I became the de facto caretaker of Ebina Hina.

I pulled out a couple of tissues from my pocket which I now habitually carry for situations like these then went ahead and pushed a small bundle onto Ebina's face.

I hear Ebina mutter a thank you while I helped her fix herself.

While Ebina was still stabilizing, Yui, Saika and I silently communicated with our eyes and mutually agreed to change the topic to something else while the fujoshi was still down for the count.

Unfortunately, the chosen topic just had to hit me in another sore spot.

"Hey, how about I introduce you to the rest of the Tennis Club members, Hachiman? Just like those three, some of them might be curious about those serves of yours as well. To be honest, I'm quite interested in learning it myself."

"N-…"

I almost reflexively answered with a no but when I recalled the words that were uttered by both Saika and Yui earlier on how hanging out with others wouldn't necessarily hurt then I began to reconsider. It didn't help that both Yui and Saika were making a disheartened expression when I unconsciously blurted out my refusal.

I sighed. I can already tell how taxing this was going to be even before we got started.

"I mean… Sure, I guess. I don't see why not."

The smile that Saika and Yui made after my response almost made me feel that the ordeal I'll be going through in the next few minutes will be worth it. Keyword: almost.

Author's Note:

If the previous chapter was an extra chapter that felt like a main chapter then this one is the exact opposite.

It's a main chapter that feels like an extra chapter especially considering that I've set another goal to Hikigaya in the recent chapters.

Regardless, there's nothing I can do about that since I kinda have to write about Totsuka's birthday anyways and I decided that I might as well get it out of the way now while I can.

So yeah, just a fun little chapter for now although this actually acts as a prelude to an upcoming event so please look forward to that when it comes.

As for those who can't wait for their favorite girl to be featured... Look, I understand your excitement.

I am probably at least twice as excited as you guys are to write those chapters but realistically I just can't.

I am trying my best to pump out one chapter in at least 2 to 4 days here in order to compensate for my snail-like pacing so please be a little more considerate even though it's technically all my fault.

I already have a plan for most of the girls and since I'm going in chronological order, an event has to somewhat align before I can make a girl and Hikigaya interact. A good example is the most recent one with Orimoto and Golden Week. For the time being, that's the kind of format I'm going for.

Don't worry, I take no offense. In fact, I personally think that the best complement a reader can give to a writer is how excited they are to read their next work.

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

May everyone's good wishes and realities intersect.

Mori Hikiko