The Next Step

Pov: Hachiman Hikigaya

"I really love you, Hikigaya"

These words left me stunned. The rapid beating of my heart surely caused fractures on my ribs. I could hardly contain myself. Five words riddled my mind that night. They repeated over and over. My face would permanently be smiling if this keeps up. I suspect another sleepless night because of you Yukinoshita. Maybe love is bad for your health. However, I do not mind.

I can say for sure that I would gladly give up some of my lifespan for this strange emotion. The warmness of her words perfectly contradicted her name and ice queen persona. I very much like this new side of her. Its quite cute.

Although the statement was very pleasant to hear I am still confused. What did she mean? I do realize that I must be someone important to her for her to say such a thing, however it still doesn't make sense to me. Hiratsuka said that all these emotions and concepts make up the word love. Does that mean that the word is just a shortened version of how you truly feel? I suppose it could be understood after you let the other person know the specifics of how you feel. Like how I subconsciously want to look out for her and how I enjoy being around her even if she's just roasting me on my dead fish eyes. The banter we share brings me a strange sense of comfort. And the silence within the clubroom when were just reading is oddly satisfying. And when... ok all those and much more. Maybe after I tell her those things would it make sense to summarize them into one word? Love. I guess its worth a try.

"Can you come over for dinner tomorrow?"

Shit...

I guess this comes along with being associated with her. Doesn't mean I wont complain about it, although I suppose it must be done.

Thankfully Komachi had my back and picked out some presentable clothing for me. A nice grey dress shirt with black trousers and a fashionable belt from my father's closet.

"You look great Onii-chan!" Komachi said while throwing me a thumps up.

"Do you think this is enough, I mean this is Yukinoshita's family I'm meeting, what if they think I'm not dressed formal enough."

"Well this is all you really can do, your old suit doesn't fit you anymore. And why didn't you ask Yukino-san what to wear?"

"...I was stressed okay. I mean there's bigger things to worry about you know."

I put on some black dress shoes that might be a bit small, but they will have to do.

"Yeah yeah, now you better head over there." Komachi said as she ushered me to the door. "You can't be late for this or you'll for sure die a loner"

"Komachi! Don't say those things to your brother."

"Don't mess this up Onii-chan! Your sis totally believes in you!"

SLAM!

I guess that's that.

I proceeded to walk towards the train station. Now there's only one goal I need to achieve tonight, to not make a fool of myself. For most people this comes naturally, however, I am probably not entirely normal. Okay, I'm severally abnormal. That's ok though right? I mean Yukinoshita likes me or rather... loves me. It should be fine right? Just highlight your good points, like... reading... shit. What do I have going for me? I guess I'm good at humanities and reading people. Also I am confident in my ability to get people to underestimate me. Is that really a strength? Why do I feel like I'm going into a interview? This may be rougher than I thought.

After the train ride I was walking into a extremely well off neighborhood. If I was not dressed as I am the police would already have detained me for suspicious activity I'm sure. Thanks again Komachi.

I looked down at the note again, which held her address, and navigated towards the their street. Upon coming closer to the address I began to feel overwhelmed.

This is fucking huge.

At least a 10 foot metal fence surrounded the property which stretched wider than 4 or 5 of the houses on my street.

This is bad. I'm so out of place.

I proceeded to walk towards the gate when I was stunned by a astonishing sight. Her. She was wearing a alluring black dress that displayed her white shoulders and hugged her torso nicely. The dress cut off around her lower thighs. Don't start thinking perverse thoughts Hachiman now is not the time.

"Ah, Hikigaya!" She pronounced looking gleefully at me. The excitement in her eyes had me in trance. She was actually eager to see me, it made my heart beat even faster.

"Hey" I tried to reply casually.

"Hi"

Ok that was cute.

"I.. um you look great.. really cute I mean"

"M-my thank you Hikigaya, you look quite handsome yourself!" She said with a smile.

I'm gonna die from this cuteness one day.

There are worse ways to go.

"Come on in." She insisted. "My family is excited to meet you."

"Oh..sure"

"Um, just to be ready, who exactly is here tonight?"

I really just needed to know if I'll be meeting her father. I can deal with the other two, as I know them and apparently they approve of our relationship. Source: Yukinoshita.

I am not entirely sure why they do. Maybe Yukinoshita told them about what I did just to get back into her life or they just figured it out. Well, I guess Haruno already knows, as I made it quite obvious as to why I acted out the joint prom. She probably told their mother about and possibly the father too. I hope she did, it would show me in a better light if they know, but I don't think it would be wise for me to just tell them how far I went for the opportunity, as that would just come across as egotistical.

"Oh just my immediate family, I suppose my mother, father and Haruno."

Mmm that should have been expected. Okay Hachiman you can do this, just be confident. However, it really doesn't help that I'm so socially awkward.

"Right" I responded softly.

We walked up to the door of the the house, no, not a house, a mansion. The place was huge lets leave it at that. Although the front yard is really nice, probably cost a lot to maintain such a elegant terrain.

With a few knocks we entered their place. Two familiar faces and one not so familiar. He definitely had it going for him, he stood a few inches taller than me and was dressed in a black suit. The same hair and eye colour as the rest of the family. Definitely a business man.

"Ah Hikigaya-kun it is a pleasure to meet you!" The man said with a smile and stretching his hand out.

I quickly responded "Ah yes, likewise Mr. Yukinoshita" I proceeded to shake his hand with a firm grip. One of the few things my father taught me.

"Not bad." He smiled.

I turned towards Mrs. Yukinoshita and Haruno and bowed respectfully. They were also dressed up nicely. Haruno having a red dress similar to Yukinoshita's although slightly more revealing among the chest area... and the mother wearing a traditional Japanese style kimono dress.

"Its nice to see you again Hikigaya-kun, how have you been?" Mrs. Yukinoshita questioned.

"Oh, well pretty good, just glad the situation with the joint prom is over."

Haruno smirked but I could tell she was holding her self back on commenting something unreasonable. She must have been instructed to be polite tonight, either that or she's terrified of her parents potential scolding.

"Come in and have some tea, dinner is still being prepared" Mr. Yukinoshita stated as he walked further into the house.

Great, introductions done. Wiping the sweat of my for head I came to appreciate their mansion. Everything was modern and practically perfect. pictures of the family were on the walls along with some expensive looking artwork and antiques. The walls were white and the roof was twice the size of me. I would never have thought this type of home was even real. I mean its nice and all but dose a single family of four really need something like this. We are from completely different worlds, I hope this doesn't cause a problem for us.

I followed their family along side Yukinoshita who was looking at me smiling for some reason. When I turned to look back at her she quickly averted my gaze. Weird.

As we dove further into the mansion my uneasiness became more apparent. If this was my house we would already be out the back door. We entered something like a dinning room but much more grand. The room was way to big for the table, so much empty space being used inefficiently.

Yukinoshita guided me where to sit then quickly sat to the right of me. Haruno sat across from me while their mother was across from Yukinoshita. Mr. Yukinoshita took a seat at the head of the table as a person entered the room with a tray of tea cups. From the looks of it a butler maybe.

"Here is the teas you've requested, the meal will be ready shortly." He announced.

"Thank you" Mr. Yukinoshita retorted then looked at me "So Hikigaya, my family has told me quite a bit about you, however I am still unfamiliar as to how you met my daughter."

That's not good, how much does he know? Doesn't matter just think of an answer.

"Yeah, I guess it started last year where I happed to write a troublesome essay for a humanities assignment, back then I had different view on society as I do now. For some reason my sensei thought it would be a good idea to put me in the club your daughter made so she could... fix me I suppose."

Mr. Yukinoshita grinned then started laughing. "Hahaha, I see, do you think it worked. Has she fixed you?"

"Um I think its working, perhaps its a process." I answered as a looked towards Yukinoshita.

"True, his problems are quite severe, it may take a while to completely reform him." She chuckled.

"Hey, I don't need reformation, just some altering, and the first step to change is to realize your faults so I'm already making progress." I replied and sipped my tea.

Then Haruno join the conversation giggling, "I see, is that why you wanted to be with Yukino-chan. So she could fix you?"

Looking back at Haruno I began, "Hmm maybe part of it, but... I also... I also wanted to help her to grow as well."

Damn that was cringy to say in front of her family. But, it is how I feel so I don't regret it.

Mrs. Yukinoshita spoke up, "By the looks of your influence has been effective as well. The two proms back to back you two pulled off is not an easy task, not to mention the lack of complaints for the joint prom. We were expecting the PTA to give us some backlash for the event but they did not seem to have much of an issue."

Now I know that Yukinoshita did originally want to do the prom herself to gain recognition from her mother. Maybe I should push all the credit onto her, it really wouldn't be a lie either, she did pretty much organize the two proms by herself. All I did was stayed back and schemed.

"Oh that's great however, it really was all Yukinoshita, she did most of the work and just told me what to do"

Looking at Yukinoshita blushing from my complement made it worth it.

Mrs. Yukinoshita smiled, "Oh, interesting, so I'm quite curious Hikigaya, have you decided on a future career path for yourself?"

A stay at home.. not the time for jokes.

"Yeah, well as of now I am still unsure as to what I want to pursue specifically. Though I do want to study at Tokyo university in psychology or some sort of liberal arts degree if possible. Ideally I'd like to become a novelist at some point as I do enjoy reading."

"Oh, that's where Yukino wants to study. Although, it is quite difficult to get in, are you sure you can make it?"

Yukinoshita then backs me up, "It shouldn't be a problem mother, he is quite adept in humanities and I'm sure I could tutor him to the point that he could pass the entrance exam."

Now that's a thought. Yukinoshita teaching me would surely be beneficial. But I can already tell she's going to be a very strict teacher. A problem for another day.

"I see, well make sure you two study hard."

The butler then entered the room with a trolley of food, "Dinner is ready." He announced.

"Thank you, well hopefully you can make it Hikigaya," Mr. Yukinoshita proclaimed, "Well lets eat."

We then proceeded to eat and talk more about the club and the other situations we found ourselves in. The food was amazing, I could tell that the beef was very high grade and cooked to perfection. They prepared so much food I was beginning to wonder what was even the point of having so many different dishes at the same time. Not really my style I'd say. However, I still go by the rule of always accepting free food so I ate my share.

The accident was also brought up during dinner. I assured them that it wasn't their fault and that I don't blame them for anything.

After the meal and some more random chit chat Mr. Yukinoshita looked towards his family, "Could you guys leave for a moment I have a few words to say to Hikigaya-kun"

Haruno and Mrs. Yukinoshita simply nodded while Yukinoshita looked at me worried. I knew what was coming. After all Komachi just entered Sobu so already prepared a few words to potential suiters of my dear sister, mainly that Taishi kid. They were not pretty lets just say that.

I could only nod at Yukinoshita to try to ease her current worries. They all got up and exited the dinning hall leaving only Mr. Yukinoshita and I seated.

He turned towards me and began, "Well I will start with this Hikigaya-kun, I do like you and approve of your relationship with my daughter... however, you do know what will happen if you ever hurt her."

His normal comfortable presence turned to being serious in a matter of seconds. It was definitely scary but I was prepared for this. All I had to do steal my nerves and say this.

"I hope I would be found dead if something like that were to happen." I announced sternly.

His serious persona quickly shifted back as a grin grew in his face "That's quite the answer, I was not expecting something like that."

"Yukino Yukinoshita is too important to me to take this lightly, having the extra pressure is a good thing, I do value my life quite a bit so it should be a good motivator to do my best." I responded with confidence.

It seems like he was pleased with my statements as he began laughing, "I will hold you to it then Hikigaya, your quite the individual."

He then stood up and reached out for another handshake. "Well than Hikigaya, thank you for coming over for dinner tonight. I hope you enjoyed it."

As I stood up and returned his gesture and spoke, "It was a pleasure Mr. Yukinoshita"

I guess its time to leave. Thank god that went rather smoothly. Honestly, I thought tonight would be much harder than it was.

He led me out of the room and we met up with the rest of the family who were waiting in the living room by the exit. They stood up to see me off.

Mrs. Yukinoshita started, "Thank you for coming over tonight Hikigaya, it was nice speaking to you."

"Yeah, thank you for dinner, it was amazing" I replied as I put on my shoes.

"Would you like a ride home?" Mr. Yukinoshita asked, "I could get our driver to bring you back."

"Ah that's okay, I have to go pick up a few things for Komachi on my way home." I really didn't need to get anything, I just didn't want to be relying on their family. Perhaps the walk and train home could help clear my mind off tonight's events.

The parents looked confused as Haruno noticed and smirked. "Its his little sister, she just started going to Sobu this year."

Oh that's why, I didn't really talk about my family tonight.

"Oh alright then, have a safe trip home" the father said as he opened the door.

Yukinoshita turned towards the living room, "I'll be right back."

"Yeah, thanks again" I bowed to the other three.

Yukinoshita came back with her phone in her hand and started to put on her shoes, "I'll see him off."

Her father nodded, "Ok see you Hikigaya."

We exited the residence and walked along the path toward the gate.

Yukinoshita looked to me, "Thanks for coming over tonight Hikigaya"

"Yeah, it was actually quite pleasant, went a lot better than I expected"

"Um.. do you mind telling my what my father said to you back there?" She said rather hesitantly.

"Oh... just the usual daughter's boyfriend talk. Nothing to worry about, that went smooth as well." I responded with a smile.

"Ah, I see. I'm glad it went well."

We were approaching the gate when she asked a interesting question.

"Hikigaya, do... do you have your phone on you?"

Of course I have it on me, I always do.

"Umm yeah I do."

"Would you mind giving it to me for a moment?" She asked reluctantly.

I stopped and proceeded to pull out my phone and enter the pin then give it to her. She started fiddling with it. After a moment she handed it back to me with the screen displaying a new contact, Yukino Yukinoshita.

I looked at her blushing. How cute.

"Make sure you let me know when you get home." She shyly stated.

"Ah right... but you forgot something" I said smugly as I began editing the contact. I entered a blue heart emoji next to her name and showed it back to her.

She darted her eyes back and forth from the screen to my face. Her cheeks were extremely red and I could tell she didn't know how to respond.

"I umm.. oh yes.. do you mind sending a text now so I know that it works?" She muttered out.

"Sure" I did as she instructed and heard a ding coming from her hand. I guess this is why she went to grab her phone earlier.

She opened up her phone and entered the number as a contact. Upon finishing she showed me, my name with a red heart before and after my name. Seeing this made me extremely happy, the same warmness as when she accepted my life.

I smiled to her and announced, "Alright, thanks for everything, see you tomorrow."

I turned to leave when something stopped me. Her. She engulfed me into an embrace and dug her head into my chest. The fragrance of her hair had me in a trance. It was a fruity smell kind of like strawberries but really refreshing.

"Thank you" she mumbled.

I awkwardly moved my arms around her back to embrace her. We stayed like this for a few moments. It was quite enjoyable I wouldn't mind staying like this forever but then I realized that her family could be watching from the windows. I reluctantly let go as did she. I looked at her smiling face when I made another realization, I want to make her smile more. Such a attractive smile that complimented the beauty of her blue eyes and the sharpness of her face. I want to see it more.

"See you Hikigaya"

"Yeah see you"

She waved subtlety and I proceeded home.

What a stressful day... but man did that hug ever make it worth it

Pov: Mrs. Yukinoshita

Looking at my youngest daughter embracing Hikigaya made me realize something. She is not the little girl I thought she was. She has been growing. Becoming an adult as everyone does. The success of the two proms support this claim, they were rather well organized. The smile on her face did make me happy yet scared as well, because of the source of it. Him. Hachiman Hikigaya, a common boy, on the outside he's average, nothing special at all really. But I can not deny he has something to him, something similar to me. He will do anything to get what he wants.

He has shown that to me. The dummy prom was a well thought out scheme in an effort to support Yukino, but it seems like just helping her wasn't enough. He proceeded with it as well, just for the opportunity of something more. Its kind of amusing really, two schools full of people and the PTA were manipulated for his advantage. Even Yukino herself was brought into it, though it did give her more experience. I gave him a chance and I suppose he made the most of it.

This cunning kid could surely be useful in the future, he has the same ability to control people as me. If he is to be Yukino's partner that type of skill would definitely be useful to me and to my family. Well see how this goes, if Yukino's serious about following her father's footsteps I should test him to see if he is capable of supporting her down that path. Perhaps he could eventually take over my role as the puppeteer. It doesn't matter what he wants to do with his life, I can probably get him to agree to switch career paths he would probably do it for Yukino. Also a psychology degree would be beneficial for him to have. If he refuses however, it will become a battle of manipulation and underhanded tricks.

Might as well start now.

"My dear husband, what do you think of him?"

My husband looks at me smiling, "I suppose it really doesn't matter now that she made her choice, but I will say he does seem like a nice boy. Interesting for sure... I guess we will just have to wait and see how this progresses."

That's good if he already likes him it should be easy to proceed.

"You know we have that gathering for the Hayama's twenty years of successful business, maybe we should request those two to attend so he can get a feel for the environment."

"Oh, yeah that would be a great idea. Speaking of which, I guess your desire to have Hayato for a son in law is no longer an option." He said as he looked back at the two.

Unfortunately, Yukino has shared her thoughts on the matter before, very angrily I remember. She doesn't like him at all. Can't be helped, I suppose its because he acts perfect and fake. Good for business, not for relationships I presume.

"Yeah, well as long as she's happy. There are other ways of keeping close with the Hayama family."

"I suppose... I'll ask Yukino sometime then."

Alright that's done. I'll have to speak with Hikigaya during the gathering.

Yukino then came back inside smiling looking at her phone.

"Ah, Yukino do you have a moment?" My Husband expresses.

"Oh sure father... um what do you two think of him?" Yukino replied nervously.

"Well, we do think that he is a nice boy and also capable one at that. I do hope you make sure that he preforms well academically." I express.

"Yes I will handle it mother, and thank you for making him comfortable tonight." She responded.

I nudge my husbands arm and gave him a nod.

"Oh right, Yukino would you and Hikigaya like to attend the gathering for the Hayama's celebration in two weeks?"

"Oh um, I'm not sure if he would like to go to such an event."

I quickly intervened, "Well if he is to walk with you down the path of your future, he will have to get used to the situation."

"I suppose I can ask him."

"Well do make sure he agrees, it could also be a fun time for you two. Perhaps you could dance with him, as you guys couldn't during the prom due to running it." I retort

"Ok then I will do so." She said blushing on the mention of dancing.

She really dose love Hikigaya, no matter I just hope she dosn't lose focus on her studies because of him. I will have to keep up on her grades this upcoming year. I suppose, I could check on his grades as well, as I am familiar with the principal of the school. I could probably get him to share them with me.

Well that settles it, the plan is set.