Notes: It was difficult to finish this. I still don't really like it, but that's the case for most of my works. I haven't edited anything, so all mistakes are mine. At least the arc can be considered complete. Thanks again to SouBu for his assistance.

oOo

The fact of the matter was that I was pretty far behind in Komachi points.

So I had to take this trip as an opportunity to catch up as much as possible, by buying her a cute plushy or some other sort of gift that she'd like. But this in itself presented a major problem. What would Komachi even find cute? The last time I had bought her something, some sort of octopus keychain from the local aquarium, she'd given this disappointed little sigh and asked me if I could pick something cuter next time.

And then she somehow managed to turn it into even more Komachi points for herself!

"Normally I wouldn't want to be seen with something like this, but since it's a gift from my beloved onii-chan I'll wear it on my phone strap everywhere so that people know how much I love my onii-chan! Kyaa! That was so high in Komachi points!"

Unfortunately for me, nothing at the museum's souvenir shop even remotely resembled something that I thought my sister would find cute. If even I found the souvenirs unappealing… well, there was no way that Komachi would ever like them then. Seriously, all of the stuff I could find were serious souvenirs that were designed for history buffs or tourists, or really anyone but a girl in junior high. Was this place only visited by retirees and foreigners or something? After browsing the aisles for a few more minutes, I settled on a miniature, rather lifelike figurine of Izanami, crossed my fingers, and headed back to the tapestry. I'd given Yukinoshita enough time to think; I hoped she'd come to some sort of conclusion on what I'd tried to say.

We also really needed to make plans for somewhere to spend the night, but I'd cross that bridge when we came to it.

I wandered back to the tapestry to find Yukinoshita still staring at the artwork, although her eyes seemed a million miles away. She didn't seem to notice my approach, so I figured she was still preoccupied with her thoughts. Leaving her to it, I ambled my way over to a smaller exhibit. There were a couple of people in front of me, so I took the time to start looking for nearby hotels on my phone. Most of them were already full, which left me with the growing anxiety that we wouldn't be able to find a place to sleep, but I eventually found a small ryokan that had a room available. It was only the one room, which meant that Yukinoshita and I would have to share the room. She would probably make some sort of complaint and force me to sleep as far away from her as possible as befitting her character, but at least there'd be a roof over my head.

I don't think I've ever had less qualms about spending money as I did then.

With lodgings secured and the visitors in front of me having moved on, I moved up close to see the featured piece of art. This one was a pottery piece painted quite intricately depicting a man being tied to the roof of a palace by his hair. I smiled a little at the familiarity of the scene; it was one of the more popular myths after all.

A piece of pottery from the early Kofun era, depicting Okuninushi's escape from Yomi, after he tied his father-in-law Susanoo to the palace rafters by his hair.

"I suppose you will argue that Susanoo was the victim here as well; that he was a misunderstood, but well-meaning father that tried to protect his daughter from being stolen away by Okuninushi." A rather cold voice rang out behind me.

I jumped, startled. I hadn't even noticed that during my search for a hotel Yukinoshita must have caught up to me, because she was now standing behind me with her arms crossed, her face betraying nothing.

"Uh...-er...-ah… no?"

"Quite the intelligible response, Hikigaya-kun. And here I thought that perhaps your brain hadn't been completely degenerated by those wishful fantasies you call light novels."

I sighed in disappointment.

"Why do you so desperately cling to your facade of superiority? Anyone who is honest with themselves can see that you have many gifts. Is it really so necessary for you to remind the rest of us of our inferiority?"

Yukinoshita looked taken aback for a brief moment, but quickly gathered herself and shot back, "Of course I would not need to remind people of their shortcomings if they weren't so presumptuous."

"Presumptuous?"

"Of course, Hikigaya-kun."

"How was I presumptuous, Yukinoshita?"

Yukinoshita stared at me. I fidgeted.

"You had me fooled for some time, Hikigaya-kun. I had thought that we were only speaking of the myth of Izanami. However-"

"But that's exactly what happened." I cut across her.

"You complained of me insulting your intelligence, and yet you are displaying none of it in this discussion. Stop playing the fool, Hikigaya-kun. You spoke to me; at me with your words. Perhaps, in the beginning, you were referring to Izanami, but by the end, you were referring to me. Somehow, you believe that I am a comparable figure to Izanami and her plight in Yomi. You believe that my situation would improve, or perhaps even be solved, with someone on my side."

I shrugged. "So what if that's true, Yukinoshita? Listen to yourself. You've been hearing these voices in your head for over a year now; you mentioned that they began after you entered Soubu. You also mentioned that, after your incident in junior high, you shunned your original contacts and as a result, you became an outcast. Do you not find it a little too convenient that these two incidents occurred around the same time?"

"What is it that you are implying, Hikigaya-kun?"

"What I've been trying to tell you all this time, Yukinoshita, is that your rejection of all forms of social contact is the underlying cause for your problems. Or, to put it more plainly, you're lonely."

"L-lonely? I-I'm not-" Her voice, for a brief moment, wavered.

I, in turn, hesitated.

"I can't claim to know you well enough to form any sort of definitive conclusion on your issues with the Syndrome; I speak only of my own experiences, but-"

And Yukinoshita, perhaps sensing my lack of conviction, regained all of her confidence.

"If you admit that you have none of the requisite knowledge to form conclusions about me, then what right do you have to lecture me about my supposed problems?"

"Because your problems are not so difficult to see, Yukinoshita! At its core, Adolescence Syndrome manifests itself in people who lie to themselves, who seal away their emotions and desires and pretend they don't exist. Despite your repeated insistence otherwise, you feel lonely. Your desire for companionship clashes with your self-imposed isolation from others, leading to paranoia over how others may perceive you. You're worried that the world hates you; that everyone sees you in a negative light. If I had to guess, those thoughts are the reason for the manifestation of the malicious voices in your head."

"Your assumptions are, quite simply, incorrect," she said, crossing her arms under her chest. "I have people that I interact with regularly; I am not like you, whom society has shunned. I am beautiful and talented which you yourself admit that the world can see. I do believe that you are simply projecting your own desires for companionship onto me, and I do not appreciate your insinuations."

"The fact that you are afflicted with those voices means that you, in fact, are the one that is lying, Yukinoshita. You would be a much happier person if you would only admit that you were wrong; that you do need someone to rely on. Nobody, not even I, can live on their own forever!" My voice rang out in frustration, and Yukinoshita took a step back, her eyes widening as she glanced around us. With a jolt, I realized that our raised voices were beginning to attract the attention of the other tourists.

"I… I don't…- I don't need… I don't need you." Yukinoshita said tremulously.

"Yukinoshita I-," I tried to approach her, but she backed away slowly, her eyes shining a fragile, crystalline blue.

"I'm going home." she half-whispered, before she spun on her heel and darted out of the museum.

oOo

I wanted to abandon everything and chase after her. Of course I did. At one point in my life, I probably would have made up some excuse about how the only reason I wanted to chase after her was because Hiratsuka-sensei would have my hide if I didn't. But if there was one thing that she taught me, it was that I had to be honest with myself.

And the honest truth of it all was that I cared about Yukinoshita Yukino. Somehow, some way, through all the insults and the arguments, I'd slowly begun to understand the girl. Our conversations, when they weren't laden with barbs and backhanded compliments, were easy and free-flowing. She may have had a twisted view of it, but at her core, she wanted to help others with her talents. She wanted to be liked and accepted by others, and her inability to communicate those feelings was her greatest stumbling block.

So I was on the verge of just dropping everything and sprinting after her, but reason prevailed in the end. After all, I still had my suitcase on me, and Yukinoshita herself had left her travel bag behind. With a heavy sigh, while doing my utmost to ignore the stares and whispers that surrounded me, I picked up her belongings and slowly shuffled my way towards the exit.

By the time I'd made it outside, Yukinoshita was nowhere to be seen. The rain hadn't really stopped, so I fumbled with Yukinoshita's rather heavy travel bag before I managed to extract my umbrella from my backpack. In doing so I remembered that Yukinoshita didn't have an umbrella and wondered if maybe that meant that she wouldn't have gone too far, but I quickly discarded that notion. She probably didn't care for the rain at the moment.

Had I gone too far? Perhaps. But I had never been very good at comforting others, or approaching things in a tactful way; Komachi had often complained of this trait of mine when she was younger. But Yukinoshita needed to understand that her problems didn't stem from external factors. She certainly hadn't had the most fortunate childhood, but her Syndrome ultimately stemmed from herself.

I called a cab and headed to the ryokan. I'd go searching for Yukinoshita, but I definitely had to get rid of all the luggage first. The trains were all shut down for the day, so I wasn't too worried about her actually returning to Chiba. I just hoped that she hadn't done something extreme, like order a cross-country Uber to Chiba or something.

The ryokan was pretty packed when I got there; there were a lot of people crammed into the lobby area and the receptionist looked like she wanted to pull her hair out. I couldn't blame her, some of the more obnoxious customers were offering to pay three times the normal price for a room, all while completely ignoring the receptionist's repeated announcements that the ryokan was completely booked and had been for a while.

Hell, after I finally made my way to the front and obtained the key to my room, I was accosted by some fat businessman wearing what was probably a ruined suit offering me five times what I'd paid in exchange for my room. I politely declined, of course, but that certainly didn't stop him from making some rude comments when he thought I was out of earshot.

I quickly escaped the place after setting down our belongings and decided to wander around the city with my umbrella. I didn't know Yukinoshita too well, but I did know that she was quite interested in cats, if her choice of reading material was anything to go by. On a whim, I pulled out my phone and typed in "nearest cat cafes" into my phone. I found that most of them had closed early due to the weather, but one cafe that was located not far from the museum had remained open.

"Maybe…" I muttered to myself as I booted up the navigation system on my phone. It was going to be a long walk, almost thirty minutes, with the rain coming down as hard as ever.

Somehow, though, everything felt peaceful. I was alone on the streets, except for the occasional car that drove past. I could just stroll along, and let my thoughts wander.

"Ne, Hachiman," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "It's been three months now, since we first met."

I glanced over at her, surprised. "Has it really been so long?"

She nodded, looking back up at me with a serious expression on her face. "It's really been three months. When are you going to go back?"

"What do you mean?"

She gently touched my arm. "Go back to living your life, Hachiman. Go back to school. Grow up. Pursue your dreams. Find a girlfriend. You know, everything that makes life worth living."

I snorted, "Me? Do all those things? I don't know if you actually don't realize it or you're willfully ignoring it, but my life is pretty pathetic right now. I spend all my days cooped up in the hospital unless I can somehow sneak out and find you here. You're the only person outside of my family that would talk to me willingly. How am I gonna do any of those things you're talking about? Even if I get discharged from the hospital, it's not like everyone at school is gonna see me in a different light. To them, I'll still be the same weird, creepy kid that they all made fun of before. The one that everyone disliked on some level."

"That might be true, but Hachiman, nothing in this world is absolute. No one in the world is universally hated; much as no one in the world is universally loved. There's someone waiting for you out there, I promise."

I stared at her. She didn't understand.

"Well, I think you're wrong. There are universally hated people. Like Hitler. Or Stalin. And me? Well, I'm pretty sure that everyone I've met dislikes me. I mean, that's why I have these scars on my arms, right? The world, the atmosphere itself, decided that I should be dead. Why would that be the case, unless I wasn't even worth the energy to keep around?"

She sighed, before closing her eyes and turned her face to stare out at the sunset. The brilliant rays of the sun lit up her face in a golden glow and in spite of my own insecurities, my heart skipped a beat.

"It's difficult to change the atmosphere on your own, but twisting it might not be so hard. Here. Let me give you some advice as a senpai in life, and as your friend."

"Advice?"

She smiled and said, "Every single life has value, Hachiman. You're special. Maybe you're not a special person in general, but someone out there in this world sees you as special. And perhaps more importantly, everyone deserves to be happy. Everyone should pursue their happy ending. Don't give up just because you've been misfortunate, because it's not an excuse. In the end, the reason you're not happy is because you're not trying to be happy."

"But-"

She turned towards me and leaned forward to press a finger to my lips, effectively silencing me.

"Can I tell you a secret, Hachiman?"

"I-sure…?"

"I was alone and quite miserable as a kid too, you know. My parents… they passed away at an early age and my adoptive family… wasn't that great. I thought it was normal, that every family had their own share of problems. But then every day at school I saw how effortlessly happy some of my classmates were as they were picked up after school by their parents, even though I enjoyed none of that luxury. And so I thought that the world was against me. thought that I was cursed to be unlucky, that I wouldn't be allowed true happiness in my lifetime. I felt isolated from my peers, and soon that isolation became a reality."

"You?" I asked incredulously.

Her eyes were a thousand miles away.

"Yes. Not so long ago, I wasn't much different from how you are now. There were very few people that cared for my well-being. And I was constantly asking myself why. Why me? What had I done to deserve this punishment? Then, just as I was on the verge of giving up, someone showed up to save me. And do you know what he told me?"

"...what?"

"There are a million ways to find joy in life. It's not good to expect too much out of everything, but you'll never get anywhere by being overly pessimistic. If you spend your whole life thinking that it's useless, that you don't deserve to be happy, then nothing will come of it."

I remained silent, unsure of what she wanted me to say.

"You're a good person, Hachiman. You've made people's lives better. You've made my life better. You deserve happiness as much as anyone else. So please… you have to try; you have to live. You can find your little corner of happiness in the world."

Silence reigned as the meaning behind her words sank in. Had I been wrong this whole time? But then, where would I find happiness? It wasn't something that grew on trees, nor could it be bought with money at the local convenience store. What made me happy?

My eyes settled on her. Ah. Of course. How foolish of me to not notice. Every time I saw her, my spirits rose. She lifted me up from my lowest points. She taught me that the world was fun; that people could be warm and kind. One could even argue that any happiness I might currently possess stemmed directly from her actions.

I opened my mouth. "I-I…"

My voice stuttered and died.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't get the words out. In that moment, etched into my memory forever, on the beach walking next to her, the feelings and emotions running through me were far stronger than anything that I'd ever felt before. Orimoto Kaori was already nothing but a distant memory. My heart was thumping loudly, and I'm sure my face was flushed crimson as well. But in the end, I couldn't work up the courage.

I couldn't tell her that I loved her.

Next time, I vowed. On the bus ride home, I promised myself that I'd tell her how I felt next time.

Of course, as my luck would have it, I couldn't find her again. I went down to the beach over and over again, even after I went back to school. I'd sit down on the same bench and stare out at all of the beachgoers, carefully combing my way through the masses of people over and over again. But no matter how hard I tried, she never came back.

I never found Tsurumi-san at the beach ever again.

oOo

The cat cafe turned out to be on a small side road. It was the type of alley that people wouldn't frequent unless they wandered in by chance, or if there was something specific they were interested in. As I wandered up to the cafe, I saw that it was mostly empty. There was no Yukinoshita in sight. Still, knowing her, she'd likely dropped by for a little bit, at the very least. It couldn't hurt to ask.

The lady at the front was pretty surprised to see me. I guess she probably didn't get too many high school guys in her shop. When I asked about Yukinoshita, however, her eyes did light up in recognition at my description.

"Yes, she did drop in an hour or so ago. She seemed pretty troubled, but still stayed and played with the little ones for a bit"

"Do you know where she possibly could have gone?"

The lady shook her head sadly. "No, she didn't mention anything like that. I tried offering to let her stay longer for free, but try as I might she wouldn't accept my offer."

"Oh, well, thanks anyways, I guess." I said, turning to leave.

I suppose it was a bit too much to expect Yukinoshita in some random cat cafe on a small side road in the middle of an unfamiliar city. But then again, she did visit some time ago, so perhaps I knew Yukinoshita better than I was giving myself credit for.

I wandered around the main streets for some time, hoping to catch her at a cafe or on a bench somewhere.

No such luck.

In the end, after about an hour or so of searching, I decided to stop putting off the inevitable and visit the train station. Hopefully she hadn't somehow managed to find a running train and ditch me.

I needn't have worried however, as I caught sight of her long raven hair almost as soon as I got to the station. Despite this being Yukinoshita, I still half expected some sort of outburst at my sudden appearance as I sat down next to her on the bench, but her expression remained as stoic and unmoving as always.

"...I thought I told you to stay away from me, Hikigaya-kun."

I raised an eyebrow, "I don't recall you mentioning anything of that nature. I do believe the last thing you said to me was that you would be returning home, however."

"I do intend to take the first train available to Chiba."

"You really want to go home so soon? That's a shame."

"Yes. If nothing else, you have taught me that my time would be wasted on such a trip."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Of course, Hikigaya-kun. What have you offered me in these hours since we first embarked on the train that would lead me to believe otherwise?"

I shrugged, and slid onto the bench next to her. "That's a question only you can answer, Yukinoshita."

"And I have answered it, Hikigaya-kun. So let me go."

"I wasn't aware that I was preventing you from going back, Yukinoshita. I rather thought that it was the weather."

"So stop-...what?"

"I wasn't planning on stopping you from doing whatever you wanted, Yukinoshita. Even if I could somehow stop you, I wouldn't."

"Then what are you doing here? And how did you even find me?"

I glanced at her. She'd curled her hands into fists as she stared at the ground.

"To answer your first question I figured you'd be interested in, at the very least, getting your luggage back. And I don't think you're going to be able to leave today anyways, so unless you have your own reservation, you're welcome to stay at the room I reserved."

Yukinoshita was quiet; she steadfastly refused to meet my eyes.

"And to answer your second, I asked around. It took me a couple hours of searching, but there's only so many places you could be in this city since the trains aren't running."

Yukinoshita remained mute.

"So, let's get out of here. It's a pretty comfortable room."

I stood up, but Yukinoshita stubbornly refused to move. I sighed.

"You can't stay out here forever, Yukinoshita."

The girl still didn't move.

"It even comes with a bath." I coaxed gently.

That got a looked up sharply. "How much did the room cost?"

"You don't have to worry about-"

Yukinoshita rose and jabbed a finger into my chest. "How. Much. Did. The. Room. Cost?"

"Around 30,000 yen." I said hurriedly.

Yukinoshita rummaged around in her backpack for a moment before thrusting three 10,000 yen notes into my hand.

"You don't have to-"

"I shall not be living on your charity, Hikigaya-kun. I absolutely refuse."

I sighed, but folded the bills into my wallet anyway. It just wasn't worth arguing over. And it wasn't as if Wallet-chan wouldn't appreciate it.

oOo

Almost as soon as I'd finished unlocking the door to the room, Yukinoshita took a look around and immediately asked me why it had only one western-style bed.

"Surely you did not expect that I would be comfortable sleeping in the same room as you, Hikigaya-kun? Such an act would place extraordinary stress on me, as I would feel great pressure to remain conscious, fearing for my chastity."

I sighed.

"You're cute, Yukinoshita, but you're honestly not my type."

She turned pink.

"I-I'm not cute!"

"I think you look pretty cute right now."

She punched me, although it didn't seem to have a lot of heat behind it. Or maybe I had just gotten used to Sensei. That was a scary thought.

"Fine, I get it, I get it. You don't like to be called cute." I held my hands up in surrender.

She huffed in annoyance before turning to her belongings which I had stashed in a corner and unpacking, all while determinedly ignoring my existence.

"I'm taking a shower," I said as I headed to the bathroom, grabbing a change of clothes from my suitcase. The damp clothing that I had on was getting really annoying.

Still, as I locked the door to the bathroom and stripped down, a part of me couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable and self-conscious about the fact that I was about to shower while a teenage girl was on the other side of the sliding door.

I don't think anyone could avoid thinking about that kind of stuff, okay?

The shower was decidedly colder than I normally would have liked. I was still shivering as I dressed.

I was then summarily kicked out of the room so that Yukinoshita could shower "with peace of mind."

I just shook my head in amusement and headed off to the local convenience store to buy a couple of bentos.

When I finally got back to the room I was greeted by a freshly showered Yukinoshita leaning against the wall, reading another of her novels.

"I'm back."

"And where did you go?"

"Lawson's. I figured you'd be hungry."

"I'm perfectly alright" she said, crossing her arms.

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly. She turned pink, and all I could do was laugh.

"If you're so concerned, Yukinoshita, it was only four hundred yen."

oOo

It was only when we were settling into bed… or rather she was settling into bed and I was settling into my nest of blankets on the floor that our conversation returned to what we had never quite resolved at the museum.

I was shifting around on the extraordinarily uncomfortable floor silently lamenting the fact that, for whatever reason, I agreed to Yukinoshita's rather outrageous demands about sleeping arrangements. I gave up after a few minutes, bundled all the blankets into one large lump, and flopped down in a heap. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, wondering if Yukinoshita was going to say anything, but she remained silent.

"Well, good night." I said, switching off the lights. It was completely dark. It was a new moon, so the only light that filtered through the window was the soft light of faraway streetlights.

I lay on my back in silence, looking out at the sky from my position near the window, listening to the occasional splashing of a car as it drove past through a puddle. After a few minutes, I turned over, still trying to find a more comfortable position on the hardwood floor, but it was impossible. I'd just about resigned myself to a sleepless night when Yukinoshita suddenly spoke up.

"Hikigaya-kun, are you still awake?"

In the silence of the room, her voice rang out unnaturally loudly.

I rolled over so that I was facing the bed, but I could only just barely make out the outline of hre figure on the bed.

"Yeah, unfortunately, being forced to sleep on this hardwood floor under threat of castration makes sleep a tad bit difficult to come by."

I braced myself for another one of her acerbic retorts, but it never came. Instead, her shoulders slumped and she remained silent. Was something wrong? This wasn't typical Yukinoshita behavior. Then again, Yukinoshita hadn't acted "normal" since the trip had first started.

"...Are you… alright?"

"If your theory is to be believed, then no. I'm not," she said bitterly.

"It's not my theory that matters."

"No? You seemed quite convinced earlier."

"Because I wanted to help you, Yukinoshita. I wanted to give you my perspective on things to help you. If I was wrong about you, then I apologize. Ultimately, of course, you're the only one who knows everything about yourself."

"Why? Why did you do all this? Why did you spend so much time and effort to find me today? Why are you trying to help me?"

"Because someone once told me that everyone deserves happiness. She said that everyone should pursue their own happy ending. Underneath the insults and your carefully maintained image, you're just another person. Flawed, but with good intentions. I've seen glimpses of that kindness over the past few weeks. So I want to help you; to help you find your own happy ending, or at least, feel a little less alone, much like someone once did for me."

She stared at her hands, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I-" her voice cracked. "You're not wrong."

"What?"

"About me. You weren't really wrong about me. I- the lack of human contact; the lack of human relationships, it does bother me sometimes. I just wish that you hadn't put it in such an ugly way. It was as if you threw all of my insecurities at my face."

"Sorry," I apologized softly in my turn. "It wasn't intended to be that harsh.. I just didn't want to see you continue to lie to yourself.."

"Then," she glanced up at me briefly. "What-... how do I…- What can I do?"

I paused to gather my thoughts.

"It's not something that anyone can just fix. No one will come swooping out of the sky and save you as if this were some fairytale. The only one that can save you is yourself. That being said, what I said earlier was true too. At the very least, you don't have to suffer alone."

"Does it really help? The story of Izanami… do you really think she wouldn't have become the cold-hearted ruler of Yomi? Would she have refrained from trying to bring all those souls down to Yomi if she'd had someone to suffer death together with?"

And for the first time all day, I smiled. A real genuine smile.

"I can't speak for any deities, Yukinoshita. But I wanted to ask you a question."

Yukinoshita shifted.

"What is it?"

"What have those voices been saying these past couple of days?"

There was silence.

"I- Hikigaya-kun…" A sense of wonderment filled her voice, "I've not heard them… I've not heard them much at all."

"I'm glad. It's a step in the right direction."

"Only a step?"

I shrugged. "It's not as if there are documented cases of Adolescence Syndrome. So I can't really say if you've been cured. I mean, I still have those scars, and yet I'm fairly normal."

"That's a bit of a stretch, Hikigaya-kun." I could hear the gentle teasing lilt in her voice.

"Okay okay," I chuckled in response. "But at the very least, I don't believe I'm suffering from the same ailments that I once did."

"...And what were they? If you don't mind me asking." It was unlike the girl to be so hesitant.

"I'll tell you the full story sometime, but we should go to sleep. The train back to Chiba leaves at seven."

The silence returned.I thought Yukinoshita had fallen asleep, and attempted to do the same, but it was impossible. I tossed and turned a bit more, wondering if perhaps I should just give up and catch up on sleep on the train instead.

"Hey, Hikigaya-kun… would you like to get a little more comfortable?"

"I wish I had that luxury, Yukinoshita. But it's rather difficult on the floor."

"... so would you like to sleep somewhere more comfortable?"

"Where? This place doesn't even have a sofa."

"You're really going to make me say it, huh?" she murmured. "I meant the bed. You can take half of the bed."

' "Are you sure? Aren't you still deathly afraid for your chastity?"

"If I find that you've crossed even a millimeter across the center of the bed, I will of course take action against your future descendants but-"

"I get it, I get it!" I cut her off. I didn't want any nightmares.

Quickly dragging everything to the bed, I curled up on the left side, as close to the edge of the bed as physically possible without falling off.

"Oh, and Hikigaya-kun? There's no need to be awake at seven."

"Huh? But…-"

"But!" she cut me off. "I'd like to explore this town a little more. And then, when the trains are running again, I'd rather not return home so soon. I'd like to continue on to Fukuoka, to explore all the beaches, parks, and museums in the online brochure. And, as you've determined earlier, I'd really like to have somebody with me, by my side."

I turned around to face her.

"So you're saying…"

"I'm saying that I lied," she smiled. I don't think I'd ever seen Yukinoshita's real smile before. But there it was adorning her face, and all I could think about was how very lucky I was to have seen something so beautiful.

"I'd like to run away from home for a bit… with you."

oOo

The story of Okuninushi is an interesting one. If you have the time, I'd recommend you to check it out. A brief summary can be found easily via an engine search.