Perspective will be in Third Person
In this world, it isn't the humans that have taken over the world. They have not populated in the entire world. There is not one dominant species in this world. It's impossible to claim land without someone dying. Let alone, claiming the entire world. And it is rather too risky to even think about planning to take more land without guaranteed victory.
Thus, the humans have come to a decision to establish a kingdom within a vast amount of land that spans within miles with a monarchy system.
A king and a queen.
A royal family that is.
And the royal family has relations with other families in the kingdom that are considered royal as well. Such as the General of the Army and Supreme Judge.
The Yukinoshitas, they are the top royal family that are the first in command that rule this kingdom. King and queen, husband and wife.
The Hayamas, the second family in command with their father as the General of the Army.
The Yuigahamas, the third family in command with their father as the Supreme Judge.
And many more families.
Families like these are normally more stronger than others. Not because of their title, but because of their ancestors passing down their strength onto one another. Their genes getting stronger with each generation.
And with their own weapons in their hands, they become even stronger.
With such a powerful family, they can form an army to defend their kingdom in exchange for goods and promises.
That being said, let us spectate this kingdom growing stronger and stronger, day by day.
And maybe, they will be able to conquer the entire world.
...
In the castle of the Yukinoshita's, the number one royal family in command of the entire kingdom, there is a little girl at the age of 12 who is preparing herself for her education.
Her name is Yukino Yukinoshita.
Despite her small figurine, she is rather more physically stronger than you think. Stronger than most of the boys in her classroom. As shown during her first day of middle school education. She flipped the most physically fit boy in her classroom with only her upper body strength.
She is the younger sister of the family. Her other sibling being the elder sister, Haruno Yukinoshita. Unlike her elder sister who likes to show off her power to everyone she sees, most specifically teenager boys who drool over her, Yukino is the type to keep everything to herself. She doesn't want to show off. She doesn't want to gain someone's satisfaction when it means nothing to her.
Thus she only has a specific group of friends she normally talks to. But due to being the number one royal family in command, she's always popular in her own school.
But being royal isn't her only reason for her popularity.
She's insanely beautiful, leaving every boy awestruck in not just her classroom, but the entire school board of education. She excels at everything the teacher has taught to every other student. And she's frighteningly friendly compared to her elder sister due to alleged rumors from a few years back when Haruno was a middle schooler herself.
That being said, Yukino is just getting ready for her last day of the school year. She wants to dress nicely this time with a unique set of clothing even though she has already been doing that ever since she was 5. But this time, she genuinely feels like she should celebrate, passing through another grade. Being the daughter of the king, she can dress whatever she wants, breaking the school dress code.
"Do you need help getting dressed, Yukino?" Her mother opens the door to her room to ask.
"Yes, mother." She nods to allow her mother to come in.
"Breaking your school's dress code? You do this every time it's the last day of your school year. Why not just do it everyday? You're the youngest daughter of your father. It's okay to break a couple of minor laws." asked her mother as she is helping her daughter with a set of clothing.
"Because I only reward myself when I truly deserve it. And besides, I don't want too much attention at school everyday. Well, not a lot since I already get attention everyday." Yukino explains her reasoning to her mother, slipping her arm through her sleeves.
"You're already thinking like a big girl. When your older sister was a middle schooler, she would always break all sorts of rules. To the point we may have gotten in trouble." Her mother picks out a pair of pants for her.
"Really?"
Her mother put her index finger on her lips, "Maybe, but don't tell your sister that. It's best that we keep it that way. Even though your sister is your sister, she cares about us."
"She almost made me trip into a fountain yesterday in front of the public..." Yukino pouts, putting her pants on by herself.
"And we already scolded her for that. And believe me, she will never ever do it again. But I'm not confident that she'll try something else. So best keep your guard up at all times."
"Right. Because I'm an important person?" Yukino answers as if she's done it everyday in her life.
"Indeed." Her mother nods.
"Why?"
"Yukino, in the future, you may think you're invincible because of your social status and capabilities. But believe me, there will be a day where you will be at your most vulnerable and we won't be able to save you. There are people that want to hurt you regardless of your social status."
"Why do people fight other people?"
"Because some people don't have any other purpose than to just fight. Remember that book about that crazy warmonger?" Her mother excitedly says.
"Give war a chance!" shouted Yukino, imitating the character in her book.
"Indeed but a wiser king would try to seek peace rather than war."
"Right. But there's only one kingdom in this world."
"And there will probably be multiple in the future. Maybe when you grow older. But that is a subject we will talk about when you get older. It's time for breakfast."
Yukino and her mother leave the room to head downstairs for breakfast.
...
The king and eldest princess await for the queen and youngest Princess's arrival before feasting on the beloved food made by the finest chefs in the kingdom. Paid handsomely to make sure they provide the best nutritious food for children and adult alike.
"Good morning, father." As Yukino arrives, she bows to her father before turning to her sister with a hesitant voice due to the events of yesterday, "Good morning, Nee-san."
"Hello hello! Good morning, mother." Haruno formally greets her mother, while only waving at her youngest sister to play mind games with her.
And it worked, making Yukino think she wasn't formal enough with her greeting.
"Morning, Yukino, and my queen." Their dad says, getting his utensils ready.
Yukino and her mother seat themselves and grab their own set of utensils.
"You guys can eat now." Their father allows them to eat their first bite of the day.
The entire family feast on their breakfast for today, enjoying the immense amount of flavors coming into them.
Yukino grabs a spoonful of her omelet freshly cooked with fried rice inside the omelet.
Haruno who prefers eating dinner three times a day, grabs a long piece of meat from a crab and eats it to her fullest.
While the girls were eating as much as they want, the older people of the family had to watch their cholesterol intake and decided to eat some cooked salmon with oat meal on the side. A strange combination but healthy nonetheless.
"So, how are things going with your small group of friends, Yukino?" Her father questions her.
"We are doing splendid. There is no such thing as drama involved. Which I heard is a really big deal as there is always drama everywhere from the conversations from other students." She answers her father's question gracefully and carefully.
"Are you sure there isn't anything between you and Hayato?" Haruno sneaks in a snarky and teasing comment.
"Absolutely not. Like I said many times before, me and him are friends who are comfortable with each other's presence. As with Yui." Instead of getting flustered about love, Yukino dismisses her sister's failed attempt to get an eccentric reaction off of her.
"You know, in my opinion, you shouldn't just be friends with other royal families. You should try to make a friend with a commoner, boy or girl, I don't mind." Haruno says to her sister, with a normal tone of voice. One that sometimes surprises Yukino and sometimes scares her.
"And why is that? I would rather have a small set of friends rather than have everyone be my friend."
"You're going to turn 13 pretty soon right? Once you get older, you'll have more responsibilities and duties as a princess. And the people will start to look up to you more and more. And more importantly, they will have high expectations of you."
"What do you mean?"
"If you only favor a few people, then the people will start to not like you. They may come to despise you."
"And why should that concern me?"
"For once, your sister is right, Yukino." Their father chimes in their conversation.
"How so, father?" Yukino begins to take this topic seriously after her dad stepped in to agree with Haruno for the first time in a while.
"As a princess, you are given tons of responsibilities. The reason why you don't have any is because you're still young. But the older you get, the more me and your mother transfer some of our responsibilities to you. We are already transferring some to your sister right now."
"Yup! I'm handling farming transportation. And will be handling weapon transportation soon." Haruno expresses a fake cheery smile towards her younger sister.
"I see. So when do I start making friends with other people? A commoner, Nee-san said?"
"Now."
"Now."
"Now."
The entire family spoke in unison.
"Understood."
...
After finishing up her breakfast with a clean plate, Yukino was then dropped off to her school by a horse carriage.
"Take care, Yukino-sama." The horseman wishes her goodbye.
"Thank you. And please be careful next time. You almost ran over that boy with the horses. Who knows what could've happened if he was injured or worse, killed."
"Yes, ma'am."
During the middle of the transportation, the horses almost ran over a boy the same age as Yukino if the horseman had not reacted quickly due to his years of experience.
"Goodbye." She says as the horseman leaves with the horse carriage.
As she turns around to face her school, she was already beginning to get stares and remarks about her. Of course, they weren't rude or mean. Only compliments of her beauty as she walked passed them.
"She's wearing something different today."
"She's not wearing the school uniform!"
"She's the princess of this kingdom. She can do whatever she wants."
"I want to marry her."
"She makes feel like a stranger to everyone, even towards my family."
Of course, as a beautiful girl, she gets confessions once or twice weekly from other boys. And of course, all of those ends in rejections. And her reasonings being because she doesn't know them, like them, and sometimes uncomfortable around some.
She doesn't have any particular boy she likes.
Though maybe...
"Hey look, it's Hikigaya. The guy who asked out Omori last week."
"Really? Did she accept his request?'
"Obviously not, c'mon dude. Who would swing with a dude with that hair and those eyes?"
Yukino was used to rude sentences about other people, as she had a fair share of her own during elementary and some by her own sister. But thinking back about the word 'responsibilities', made her feel like she should stop the nasty remarks towards another student.
She looked at the boy who was being talked about by a pair of students.
She noticed how familiar the boy looked, as if she just met him somewhere.
Being lost in her thought, she didn't notice her friend being in front of her.
"Yukino-chan." Her friend says.
"Oh.. Hayato. I didn't see you there. I was lost in thoughts sorry." She apologies to her friend, bowing profusely.
"KYAAA! It's Hayato-kun!"
"He's so dreamy."
"They are obviously together by the looks of it. Yukinoshita just said she was lost in thought. Maybe because of Hayama."
Hayato awkwardly waved at everyone with his smile, grabbing Yukino's hand, "Let's meet up with Yuigahama, yeah?"
"Sure." She nods, allowing Hayato to guide her to where her best friend is at.
A minute later, they arrive to their classroom. A dozen of students were already present in the classroom but not the entirety due to school not being started yet.
"Ah, Yahallo, Yukinon! Wow, you look extremely beautiful with that dress!" A girl with short pink hair, and the same age as her notices her presence and greets her with the everyday greeting she always have been since they've first met. She runs to her with the biggest smile she's put on today.
"Good morning, Yui. And thank you." Yukino replies.
"And hello there, Hayato." Yui also greets her other friend next to Yukino.
"Hey there, Yuigahama. Was your transportation to the building safe?" Hayato asks her, earning her a sense of curiosity.
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"Just wondering. The horses from my horse carriage almost got loose from a loud explosion accidentally made by a gunpowder store. So, I was almost late."
"Wow, that is crazy. Really! What about you, Yukinon? Did you get here safely?" Yui turns to her best friend, pausing herself to wait for her to answer.
"Well, to be truthfully honest, my horse carriage almost trampled over a boy." For some reason, Yukino felt really satisfied for letting it out. It wasn't drama she talked about but something that brings attention to anyone who hears it.
"Oh my god. By almost, was he like close to dying or close to getting hit?"
"No, he survived, Yui. If he had been injured in any way or worse, I wouldn't be here."
"Oh right, sorry then. So have you guys heard about the knights in our vicinity talking about an attack on our kingdom by some ogres and trolls?" Yui brings up another subject to lengthen the conversation before the bell rings.
"Not at all? Are you sure you're getting your sources correctly this time?" Yukino asks with a sense of doubt in her mind.
"Yeah, last time you revealed something to the entire classroom, you almost got in trouble by the principal." Hayato adds with Yukino, being on the same side of her.
"I'm serious this time..."
Yui's voice fades away as something gains her attention.
She notices the same boy she saw twice today enter her classroom. And it's surprising that she's actually realized that he attends to her classroom everyday. She should've noticed by now since every classmate in her room has talked to her or at least tried.
But for this moment, she's never actually see him try to talk to her at all.
"Yukinon, what do you think about it?" Yui's voice snaps her back together.
"I think it's something not to worry about." She instantly replies back. "This kingdom has been protected for many centuries and there has not been one incident where there has been a major death count or breach of our territory."
"She's right, Yuigahama." Hayato says.
"I didn't say that we were going to be affected. Just maybe the commoners might be. And that will be horrible."
Surprised by Yui's sentence, Yukino thought about her family's lecture with her earlier this morning. To be friends with the commoner, to have care for them and take care of them literally, and to make sure to be responsible with them.
RING!!
And then the bell rings.
The students quickly and professionally go to their assigned seats, waiting for the teacher to arrive.
...
Lunch break has started for the students.
They all go to their collective groups and hang out while eating their lunch made by their family chefs. The things they talk about always revolve around their school or about their hobbies. What they did yesterday. What they did long ago. And what they want to do in the future.
"I want to be a knight for this kingdom. But not just any knight. A royal one that protects royalty at all times."
"Same here, but I especially want to be personally guarding Princess Yukinoshita."
"Which one?"
"The one in our school currently. Duh?"
"Smart decision. I heard the elder sister is insanely scary when she was here."
"I want to just help my parents do what they are currently right now. Because that is where our wealthy income is coming from. And if we stop it, we will lose money, and then our status."
Walking past these impossible to unhear conversations, Yukino spots her 2 friends already at their usual spot. She sees them talking about something but can't hear it from the other students in the area.
"Excuse me, Princess Yukinoshita." A voice behind her stops her pacing.
She turns around to see a very flustered boy, avoiding eye contact with her.
"Would you like to eat lunch with me?" He asks.
"Sorry, no. I want to eat with my companions today."
"Next time?"
"This is the last day of school."
"Dammit." The boy gives up with defeat in his tone, walking away shamelessly and embarrassed.
Feeling nothing, she continues to walk to her friends. But then she sees how overwhelmed they are with other people. It seemed that since it was the last day of school, a lot of boys and girls were trying to talk to them as much as they could.
Both Yui and Hayato are identified as beautiful people.
So it's not surprising they too get a lot of confessions as well. It's not just her that receives the same amount of attention.
So she decides to find another place to eat. It's alright as she will probably see them tomorrow or in the upcoming days during summer. Summer is where it is her favorite as she gets a break from learning but not practicing but it's better than doing 2 things at once, if that even makes sense.
She walks away from the populated area of the lunch break and walks around the building to find a good place with proper shade and peacefulness.
Identifying a staircase with the building being the shade itself, she finds her potential spot. But then she sees that same boy again from earlier. From her classroom, from the entrance of the school building, and from that incident.
She sees him just casually eating his canned food. He looks like he's bored but also thinking about something important in the future. He hasn't even noticed her staring at him until she walks towards him.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" She politely asked, knowing she will probably be accepted almost immediately. But for some reason, it felt like he was bothered by her presence.
"Um, sure?"
A response totally different from other people, regardless of gender. They would either be flustered and surprised, or excited and thinking they have a chance with her.
But with him, he seemed curious with a glimpse of annoyance that someone has instigated a conversation with him.
Suppressing her reaction, she sits about 3 feet away from him. And they sat in awkward silence as they munched on their lunch.
The variety of their food showed an extreme difference in their life and wealth.
The boy was eating canned peas and carrots while Yukino had fresh steamed rice with cutlets of pork. The portion being almost exactly half with a little more steamed rice.
For the first few minutes, Yukino expected the boy to make a conversation with her. Complimenting either her expensive lunch or herself. Or maybe even talking about his life and maybe showing off his swordsman skill.
As more time gone by, she felt nervous around him. Should she be the one starting the conversation? She's never instigated a conversation before, it's usually the other side. Her friends would speak to her first, her parents, her sister, her butler and chefs. But she's a princess, she doesn't need to. It should be him. It should be expected for him as a commoner.
As the word commoner ran through her mind. Haruno's words and her family reminded her again that she should make friends with the commoners. It is the duty of a princess to make friends and be friendly with everyone, no matter if they are royal, commoners, or even homeless.
She rolled up her fingers to make a fist as it rests on her thighs.
"What is your name?" She quietly says.
"Hm?" The boy could barely hear her.
"I said, what is your name?" She spoke in a more clear voice, raising it a little.
"Um, Hikigaya?"
He spoke too little for her to find a response.
"Hi-ki-gay-a?"
The boy almost took it as an insult, showing a very suspicious look at her.
"I deeply apologize for mispronouncing your name. Could you say it again?"
"Hikigaya."
"Hikigaya?"
"Yes. Is there anything you want with me? I'm going to assume that you've come here because of a dare or you're going to prank me."
Surprised that Hikigaya was still suspicious of her, she had to clear things up.
"No. I have not come to do either both of those things. I've only come here for a peaceful lunch. My friends are being overwhelmed by other students and it's rather noisy to eat over there."
Hikigaya paused to see if Yukino was telling the truth. In the distance, he could hear laughter and screams from the populated lunch area.
"Alright I believe you. And besides, it's the last day of school so I'm okay with it." Hikigaya puts his empty canned of food over to the side, reaching for something else in his backpack.
"If it wasn't, would you have refuse to let me sit beside you?" Yukino asks, afraid of his next response to her question.
"Depends on the situation again. Why?"
"To be honest, this is the first time..." She stops.
"First time of what?"
"Well.. you're bothered by my presence. You sound like you don't want to be near me. And you seemed relieved that it's the last day of school." She comes up with all her reasons and suspicions as Hikigaya takes it full force.
"Okay, don't make it sound like I hate you with all my guts. Because I just met you so there is no reason for you to hate me."
Even though Hikigaya tried to reassure her, Yukino just felt even more like a stranger to him.
"You don't know who I am?"
"I know who you are, Princess Yukinoshita. I just haven't actually talked to you in person."
"Is there any reason why you haven't talked to me at all ever since the first day of school?" For once, there was a sentence she would regret saying. As she finished her sentence, she felt terrible for saying that to him. It felt like she was spoiled child expecting everyone to always be friendly to her.
But she has been like that ever since she met him, or maybe this whole time she was acting extremely spoiled.
"Well for one reason, I have no reason to talk to you as I am not familiar with you. You already have your own set of friends consisted of high individuals themselves. It seems very out of place for you to be friends with someone like me."
Yukino had very mix feelings on what to say next. She was at a lost of words as she has never encountered an individual like this before.
"Is it wrong for me to make friends?"
"I'm not saying it's wrong for you to make friends. It's extremely weird that of all people for you to attempt to be friends with, it's me."
"What's so weird about it?"
"Well.. I don't want to insult myself but I'm a commoner. And you're a princess. It's literally in front of your face."
She bit her lips in frustration and impatience.
"It doesn't matter... It doesn't matter if I live in a different world. And you live in a different world. We could still be friends no matter what."
For the first time, Yukino felt like she said something her father would say.
Evidence being that the boy who has been pushing her away was too shocked to say anything.
"Well... if you truly do want to be friends. Then... sure."
A huge weight lifted off of her shoulders after finally hearing the boy accept her request to be her friend. She couldn't wait to tell her parents she made a friend with a commoner. And a very unique one. One that doesn't try to ask her out all the time. One that isn't nervous or cocky when around her.
Just a normal person with more important things to worry about than impressing her.
Well maybe she should double check...
"What are you worried about, Hikigaya-kun?"
"If there is any food tonight."
She turned around, holding her fist with excitement. Hopefully, they could do this again tomorrow.
Oh wait...
"Tomorrow.. do you want to hang out on a spot in the afternoon?" She turned around to ask, seeing Hikigaya reading a book.
So he is a bookworm? She thought.
"Hm? I mean... Maybe. If I don't have to take care of my 7 year old sister who constantly gets spoiled a lot. Wait hold on, what's going on here? I just became friends with you and now you want to hang out the next day?"
"I mean.. today is the last day of school. So we have to schedule a specific time and date to hang out."
'I want to get to know him more'. She thought to herself.
She wanted to know what his life was like. What he eats. Where he lives. What he does. And what he wants to be in the future. All because she wants to be a responsible and caring princess.
"Okay. Maybe in the middle of town is fine. And then I'll show you where I usually stay during the summer. Because you probably would get lost since you've lived in a castle for your whole life."
She pouts, "That's not true."
"Well you can prove me wrong later. Lunch is already over." Hikigaya puts his book inside his backpack, keeping his empty can that was just previously filled with peas and carrots and putting it inside his backpack as well.
"Oh dear." Yukino rushes to finish her last remaining food and puts it in her backpack in a rush manner.
"Also, you probably shouldn't walk next to me. Not because I don't like you or anything. But I don't want much attention near me. For both of our sake." Hikigaya says to her as she was getting ready to walk with him.
"Oh. Alright."
She understood and respected his decision, waiting for him to disappear into the crowd of students before seeing her other 2 friends waving at her.
And for the last few hours of school, Yukino sat on her seat, staring at Hikigaya's back from the other side of the room as she sat in the further back. Wondering what they would be doing tomorrow.
...
Today was tomorrow for Yukino. By that, she meant that she was meeting Hikigaya today. Sure she has met with Hayato or Yui more than she could count. But they would usually come to her castle instead. But this time, she's the one attending someone's place. Well the middle of town for the matter, and then somewhere else.
She has already dressed up nicely just like yesterday to meet up with him. It's formal to be dressed nicely for a friend, she thought.
"I am off to go to town, mother and father." She announces to her busy parents who are dealing with a bunch of paperwork. She has already told them the previous night about making friends with a commoner. Her parents couldn't be much prouder, telling her she did a great job.
"Alright, do you need to be transported there?" Her father asks.
"No thanks, I want to walk this time."
Wanting to know how it feels to walk just like a commoner, she decided that she didn't want to ride in a horse carriage today. She also wanted to prove Hikigaya wrong that she knew her sense of directions.
"Stay safe, dear." Her mother wishes her goodbye and with that, Yukino takes her leave.
...
Walking towards town was pretty easy, as it was a pretty big area with tons of houses and shops as well as a big and long river inside the area. It was just the matter of finding the pathway towards it. The wind would sometimes make her forcefully close her eyes as leaves would crash into her face.
There was always dust that made her dress a bit dirty but not to the point it was noticeable by someone.
The walk was long and tiring, due to how spread out this kingdom was. She heard it was at least 100 miles big. And her castle was in the center. There were probably many towns in this kingdom. But this was the nearest, and it had to be the nearest for Hikigaya at least.
She finally made it to the middle of the town. And for the first time, she was extremely frightened by the loud noises. People were shouting, little kids were playing around and screaming, babies were crying and animals were just being animals.
She wanted to go back to her castle where there was peace and quiet. But she wanted to wait for her friend. He said to come to the middle of town. But to be honest, she doesn't even know if she was in the middle of town. She just kept walking, hoping out of all these people, she would notice him.
She tried to remember what his face looked like.
But all she could remember was his eyes and his hair. Not how tall he was or if he was skinny or overweight. Hopefully not overweight, or extremely skinny.
It's surprising that no one has noticed her yet.
She's the princess of the kingdom yet not one person paid attention to her. Is this why her parents told her to make friends with everyone in the kingdom? So they could recognize her for her personality rather than her social status?
Is it really hard for people to recognize her?
"Hey."
A familiar voice she desperately needed to hear was behind her. All the other noises went numb as she turned around and saw Hikigaya in front of her.
"H-How did you recognize me?" She asked, shocked that it was her he found first and not the other way around.
"Because you're the only noticeable person with expensive clothing. Look around."
She follows his orders and looks around at what the people are wearing. Dirty, stale, and one color clothing. Meanwhile she was wearing a white small dress with her hair worn down.
"But... they don't recognize me as the princess."
"They probably think you're just a rich family's daughter. And they have no reason to talk to you because these people are trying to make a living, not scam a rich little girl and then receive a tax bill over their net worth for it."
She looked at what Hikigaya was wearing. A simple brown t-shirt with brown pants.
"Okay... What now?" She nervously says, not knowing what to do next.
"Follow me. Now we can go somewhere that's peaceful and quiet. And I'll show you the way as many times as you want me to so we don't have to meet here again. Because this place stinks and extremely loud." Hikigaya walks away out of town.
Yukino quickly sprints to be beside him. "You mean, you don't live here?"
"God no. I would kill myself if I did. I live in a farm not far from here. My mom and dad farm crops for a living and I'm gonna be doing it soon. Meanwhile my younger sister gets to do whatever she wants and I have to clean up after her mess."
"That is something very abrupt and random to bring out. You should like you dislike your younger sister." said Yukino, remembering yesterday that Hikigaya talked about his little sister being spoiled a lot.
"Sorry. It's just hard to keep it inside me because if I say it in front of my parents, I know I will probably get the beating of my life."
"Do you want to talk about it when we get to the destination?"
Seeing Hikigaya in a very troubled state, she offered him to let it all out later.
"Maybe... But I have a question for you." He turns to her.
"What is it that you need?"
"Why are you doing all this?" He says.
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you suddenly want to be my friend. Doing all of this. Scheduling a hangout, etc." There was hesitation in his voice. And he felt afraid of what Yukino was going to say.
"Because... I want to get to know you. I want to know what a commoner does for a living. My parents told me to make friends with everyone in the kingdom so I decided to start with you."
She said it so clearly and cleanly, it felt like she practiced saying that in case he ever asked. But it was the truth she spoke to him.
She wasn't interested in being with him like a couple. She was just following her parent's advice and making friends with everyone. And he is the first to start with.
Hikigaya took a few seconds to absorb the sentence, looking up at the sky.
"Okay. That's way better than the last girl." He turned his head down to look at where he was walking, as if he was never looking up at the sky.
"What do you mean? You have another friend?" Yukino inquires him.
"I wouldn't call her a friend. More like an obstacle that was in my way."
"That's not nice."
"What she did wasn't nice."
Sensing more trouble inside his mind, Yukino offered him to let it all out
"Do you want to let it all out? Your little sister and the girl?"
"Sure. We're almost there anyway."
Not realizing how long they were talking, Yukino didn't even noticed that she was out of town and in a rural area. In the distance, she could see a medium size lake and only 1 tree in the area. The place looked extremely beautiful and peaceful. Hardly anything was noticeable in the distance. Not a house in sight.
"What a sight to behold." She commented.
"That's what I said when I found out about this place. Anyway, we just hang around on that tree because it's the only place I can rest my back on."
They finally make it to the destination.
After 30 long minutes of nonstop walking with no breaks. Feeling her legs about to give up, she sits and lays her back on the tree. The tree wasn't soft, but not to hard and sharp to lay on. It was better than the dirt that would stain her white dress in the chest and back area completely.
"So, do you want to let it all out now? We've reached our destination." She says.
"You sound like a therapist." Hikigaya sighed, sitting a few feet away from Yukino.
"But you agreed to talk to me about it. You promised."
Yukino wanted to understand what a commoner does throughout their life. What does he do when he has free time? Will he have any free time at all in the future?
"Alright fine. I'll talk about the obstacle that was in my way. And I would appreciate if you do not interrupt."
She nods, looking at him straight in the face with her lips shut.
Hikigaya takes a deep breath and begins his story.
"Two weeks ago, it occurred during the final moments of school. I was already reading my book and was so revolved around it to the point I didn't even hear the tower bell ring. Then she came and tapped me on the shoulder. At first, I was surprised because no one had come to talk to me first. Only time I've talked to someone is when we are partnered up. She asked what I was reading and I answered her question. And to make the conversation longer, she said what it was about and that she liked it. And that was what tricked me into believing I found someone who likes the same things I do. Being alone that entire school year and I thought I finally found the person to be friends with. And for the few couple of days, she kept on bothering me about that same book. And I really enjoyed being bothered by her. I talked to my mother about it and she said that if you truly love her, go for it. And so I did. Turns out, it was all an act because she just wanted to be nice and felt bad about me being lonely. Rumors were spread out by her friends, it wasn't her fault but now it feels like everyone hates me. And it isn't my fault. It is her fault for talking to me. And now I have to keep my guard up on other girls. Which was why I was a bit rude to you during our first interaction."
Hikigaya took a few deep breaths, allowing Yukino to absorb all the information given to her. She rested her chin on her thumb and tried to come up with a response.
"Interesting. To me, it seems it was your fault as well for asking her out."
"How?" Hikigaya seemed baffled, the same reaction she had when she first met him, expecting him to act flustered and excited.
"Well, you only talked for a few days right? If I was in your situation, I would instantly know there was a very slim chance of her being interested in me."
"I... You wouldn't understand. You're a beautiful princess who gets asked out every period. So you have no right to talk."
"My well-being should not concern you. Though I do not understand what it means to be like you, I do understand that you can learn your mistakes. And my father taught me that to learn my mistake, I must come to accept them. And then the next step is to improve upon that said mistake."
It seemed that their personalities were switched or their situations were switched. Yukino was the more calmer and mature person meanwhile Hikigaya was troubled and couldn't find a response to speak out on.
"Hikigaya-kun, right now, you are reminding me like one of those boys from our school who grow frustrated over a rejection and then proceed to have an outrage, blaming anyone they see fit. And while I don't know how it feels to be rejected, I cannot understand why people blame others. I think the first step you should do is accept that it was also your fault, not the girl solely."
Hikigaya stood silent for about 30 seconds.
In the meantime, Yukino took the time to look at the sunny sky and the beautiful lake. The gooses flying on top of it. And the ducks floating on it. She might come here for a second time. Maybe grab a piece of paper and a pencil to draw it. So when she doesn't have time to look at it, she could look at it through a piece of paper and imagine what it feels like to be there. It could be her medicine to calm down whenever she grows angry at something or maybe her older sister.
"Fine."
His words interrupt her thoughts.
She turned to look at him as he looked down at the grass he was sitting on.
"I accept that it was my fault that I decided to ask her out. Even though we knew little of each other."
Yukino smiled.
"Wonderful. Now shall we go to the next topic?"
Yukino have never been more proud of herself. She couldn't wait to tell her parents that she made friends with a commoner and she made him felt better about himself. She made him accept his own mistakes and now he won't have to live on the rest of his life thinking about that day.
"Okay, my younger sister. Ever since she was born, she has taken over the entire farm. And I'm not being childish about it. She is literally queen of our farm. Our parents are like a bunch of masochist maids, accepting every punishment they receive from her. If she wants to throw a plate, she can throw a plate and I have to be the one cleaning up after her. I can't lash out or yell at her because I would get yelled at too. As the eldest sibling, I am expected to be more responsible and mature at certain things. I feed her, clean her clothes, and sometimes have to clean her myself when she's old enough to. At the end of the day, she ends up eating the bigger portion of our food because she's hungry and I'm left starving for more. And I just think that it's unfair for her to be treated this way when I haven't. When I was 7, I was already working on the farm. And I knew how to read books at the time because of my father. It is so unfair that she gets this luxurious life while I had to work hard to get where I'm at. And the only luxurious thing I'm receiving right now is this horrible private education that caused more issues than solutions."
Wow.
This was not the same person she met yesterday.
It felt like she met a different person instead.
But Yukino remembered that it was just Hikigaya letting all his frustration and anger out. While she doesn't respect his reasoning for blaming the girl. She had immense respect for him for not blaming anyone else for his younger sister. Well maybe her and his parents.
"How do you feel after that?"
"I feel a little bit better. But also still very pissed because even if I talk about it, it's gonna happen again and again. And I don't know how much and long I can take it."
There was a long pause after that sentence.
"You know about my older sister right?"
"Princess Haruno?"
She is still upset that people call her Princess Haruno while others call her Princess Yukinoshita. Like she isn't much respected like her elder sister.
"Sometimes, me and her fight. It's normal for siblings to fight. But every time, I feel like it's always her that instigates it. Most of the time we argue, but there are very few cases where we go hand-to-hand combat. Of course, she always wins because she's more older and much more experience. She makes me feel like I'm inferior to her sometimes. But my parents tell me that older siblings tend to mess with their younger siblings. But I feel like siblings fighting once a while feels very not normal, if you know what I mean. So I would like to give you my respect for somehow not fighting with your sister at all. For holding your anger for as long as you could. If you'd like, we could do this again and again."
It was Hikigaya's turn to absorb all the information that was given to him straight in the face.
"Uhh thanks? Not sure what a princess's respect gives me. Anyway, I don't want to talk about negativity anymore. I feel great about talking about my problems. I'm actually kinda interested in a new thing."
"And what's that?"
"While I am interested in poetry and books. I am also interested in combat. Using a weapon and defending and protecting myself from other monsters."
"You want me to teach you how to use a sword? But hasn't the school already taught you about the basic techniques? And when we get older and go to a Knight School, we learn more and more and then self-teach ourselves?"
In this world, people who pursue in fighting as their career. Whether to become a knight, a guard, royal guard, or just someone to be able to protect their family from other beings. They are obliged to enter Knight School to master the a mindful of weapons.
Weapons like the knight sword, or knight mace, and knight shield. You are also taught about hand-to-hand combat.
"To be honest, I'm actually quite bad at it. And since me and you are technically friends. I figured you are able to teach me a few skills."
Yukino took a few seconds to put his sentence into deep thought.
Should I help this commoner more? Is it okay to reveal some of my techniques to a commoner?
"Well... we are just friends. So why not?"
"That is really great."
"But not today. Tomorrow, same spot, but come to this area every afternoon. When the sun hits the middle of the sky, is when we both shall arrive. This time, I will arrive in a horse carriage because I do not want to walk for 30 straight minutes again. Got that?"
"Yes, I do."
"Alright then, I will be taking my leave." Yukino stands up, wiping dirt pebbles off her white dress.
"Do you want me to walk you back to town?" Hikigaya offers her.
"No, I am fine. I know my way home now."
And with that, Yukino walks away from where Hikigaya was at.
"Also, one more thing." She stopped walking but continued to not look at Hikigaya though.
"What's that?" He asks.
"A person you should ask out is someone you've been with for a long time. A person who you know a lot about. Knowing that person is okay... But understanding that person is the hard part."
And then she walks away, with her mind completely on a different person.
A boy she has known for her entire life.
But she doesn't understand him. And it could take a while for her to understand that boy.
...
And so, Hikigaya and Yukino begun meeting at the same spot everyday in the afternoon. Everyday it would be him walking his way over to the destination as his farm was 20 minutes away, walking distance. While Yukino was sitting inside of a horse carriage, that took only 10-15 minutes.
She begun teaching him the basics of using a sword.
How to safely handle the sword without accidentally cutting himself with it. And how to properly grip the handle of the sword.
Of course, they used a wooden sword because they weren't that stupid. Only use an actual steel sword when in real combat or during a tournament. And there is no death battle in the tournament, only cause minor injuries that aren't fatal.
Students are taught about where to strike to cause either fatal or minimal damage to their opponents. And about different beings such as ogres and goblins during Knight School.
Day after day, Hikigaya was learning and practicing his wooden sword from Yukino's knowledge. He truly felt like he was genuinely enjoying learning how to fight with a sword.
On the 5th day, he decided to tell her something. It wasn't really top secret but it was kept between him and his family.
"I know my dad told me not to tell anyone about this. But last night, we were digging out new land to increase our cornfield. My dad told me to dig in a specific spot and my shovel accidentally dug into something that didn't felt like dirt. So I looked closely at what my shovel was making contact with and I found a very strange sword."
"What do you mean a strange sword?" Yukino asked, obviously intrigued by his story.
"It was a sword that was curved slightly. It wasn't extremely huge but also not extremely tiny. It was thin but extremely sharp. I haven't actually tested how sharp it was but I know it could probably cut through flesh like butter." He explained.
"You found a katana." Yukino gave the answer to Hikigaya's question.
"A katana? What's that?"
Unsurprised by Hikigaya's knowledge, she explained what the weapon was.
"The katana is a weapon no one hardly uses at this day and age. I've seen some in my father's weapon collection but that's it. If you could try to bring it and show it to me, I would appreciate learning about the weapon."
Hikigaya puts his hands up to his chin, scratching it as he thinks about his next decision.
"I'll give it some thought. I've already went behind my dad's back about telling you about it. Stealing it from him and showing it to you is a different topic. I will ask him tonight."
She nods, "Fair enough. I think we are done for today. My horse carriage should be arriving anytime soon."
"Do you think I have improved better?" Hikigaya asks her.
"Well you've gotten better practicing. But when it comes to the real thing. I am for sure that you are not ready to fight huge monsters yet. Because of your fragile body. You're not bony, but you're not muscular. Once you get older, go into Knight School and we shall see."
"Wow, that hurts a lot. Are you going to attend Knight School?"
"Indeed. I'll be receiving the top education and skills by my father's picking. And my father himself will teach me a few of his techniques. I'm sure you're aware of my father's powers right?" She questions him, waiting for him to answer her question.
"Yes, I heard from my mom that the king possess a cold so freezing that it could freeze molten metal in an instant."
I forgot to mention.
Some humans are born with a special power.
By some, I mean very rarely.
That is why the Yukinoshita's are rulers of the kingdom. They posses a freezing ability so cold, it could freeze the oxygen around them. And also super strength and speed.
And other royalty families possess other unique abilities such as super strength or super speed individually. Though it isn't insane, it is highly noticeable such as being able to catch a fly with chopsticks or being able to lift a rock that is 5 times their weight.
"Correct." She makes a small smile before noticing her horse carriage arriving from a few meters away.
"Also, tomorrow, instead of meeting here... Can we meet in the middle of town?" Hikigaya nervously says.
"Hm, sure? I don't see why not."
The horse carriage finally stops in front of her but rather than her opening the door herself, someone was already inside the carriage waiting for her.
"H-Hayato, why I didn't expect to see you here." She stuttered, not expecting him at all truly. She would've thought it had been her mother or worse, her elder sister, Haruno.
"Your mother told me to come and see what you were doing. Now I know why you haven't invited us into your castle for a while. You've been out here for these past few days." Hayato takes a look at the scenery.
After observing the beautiful lake and the lonely tree, he noticed Hikigaya standing from the background looking at him as well.
Hayato looked back at Yukino, "We should get going. Before your mother becomes more worried."
"Right." She grabs Hayato's hand for support and lifts herself up to get inside the horse carriage.
After closing the door, the horse carriage begun moving.
As they were sitting inside, Hayato decided to ask Yukino a question.
"Who was that boy you were with? A friend?"
"You could say that." She answered. "I met him during the last day of school."
"Is there any reason why he is your friend?"
"Well, it all started when my parents told me to make friends with the commoners. And so I decided that he should be the first friend to make. And now he wants me to teach him how to correctly use a sword."
"Do you experience any other emotions towards him?"
"Like what?"
"Nervous feelings?"
"None that should I should concern myself with. I'm just doing what my parents told me to do. And I know I'm doing a great job at it."
"Alright, that's good enough."
...
The next day, Hikigaya and Yukino decided to meet in the middle of town. As requested by him yesterday. Though she wondered why he wanted to meet her in town and not rather the same place. Could it be that he wants some advice on what to buy in a weapon shop? To tell which is a scam or not?
She wouldn't know until she got there.
She wasn't nervous but rather curious.
"You can stop here." She shouts at the horseman to stop their tracks.
They reached the border of the town. The reason she didn't want to continue any further was to not accidentally trample 100 people every 100 feet.
Yukino opened the door from her carriage and jumped off of it. The distance being only 2-3 feet which didn't affect her that much.
"You can head off now. Come back during sunset, usual time."
She walks towards the crowded town and began hearing the same noise from a week ago. The townsfolk advertising their shop, animals making animal noises, kids and babies crying and screaming, and the crowdedness.
She wasn't even sure if she could find Hikigaya in this area.
But she made sure to wear the same dress when they first met here to be more noticeable.
"Yukinoshita."
She turns around to see Hikigaya wearing the same old plain clothing.
Seems like her idea worked, she was able to be noticeable by him.
"Alright so what is it that you need in this town." She asks, looking around to scout the area.
"Umm.. It should be here in this town. I remember seeing it a few days ago. Just follow me."
And so, Yukino began following Hikigaya right behind him.
...
"How have you not been able to locate it? We've been looking around for about 15 minutes. I think I should just be getting back home if we're not getting anything done today." Yukino seemed extremely annoyed by this.
After 15 minutes, Hikigaya still couldn't find the things he was looking for.
But in truth, he wasn't looking for anything at all. For he has already found the thing he was looking for and began walking with her. But he couldn't tell her because it was be too embarrassing. Should he tell her now? But it goes against everything she said a week ago.
To not fall for a girl instantly because y'all just hung out for a while. Knowing each other is great, but understanding each other is the hard part.
But this time, it felt different for him.
There had to be a good reason for her to be hanging out with him everyday like this. Even the previous girl wouldn't do anything like this.
The only explanation was that she liked him, and he liked her.
But little did Hikigaya know, that all this time, he was just someone that was her own obstacle to overcome. That he was what her parents told her to do.
To be friends with a commoner like him. Not to be his girlfriend or wife.
"Yukinoshita..." He spoke.
"Yes?"
Should he tell her how he truly feels? What happens if it doesn't work out? Would she stopped hanging out with him? Would he go into another depression while his younger sister makes fun of him for being rejected by a girl a 2nd time?
Or was it okay to just keep everything like this? But he wants to take things a bit further.
"There's something I actually need to tell you."
"Well what is it?"
She waited for Hikigaya to respond.
She waited and waited.
"Ah, there you are, Yukino-chan!" A familiar voice came from the side.
They both turn around to see Hayato in a fancy suit.
"Oh, Hayato! Good afternoon." Yukino says to him, forgetting about what Hikigaya was about to say.
"I didn't expect to see you here."
"Me neither." She smiles.
Just from the small interaction, Hikigaya instantly knew what was going on. While he didn't know that this was a whole skit to get Yukino away from him. He knew what Hayato meant to Yukino. He knew instantly how she felt about him.
For a few words to make her smile, while it took a week for him to do.
"I also saw Yuigahama in town. Do you want to see her?" Hayato asks.
"Of course, I haven't seen her in a week."
Hayato grabs her hand and pulls her with him.
Thus signifying her answer towards Hikigaya without her even realizing.
He stood there, feeling a vast amount of mixed emotions swelling up in his brain.
In a desperate attempt from denial, he tried to catch up with Yukino by running straight after them.
But he was only met with the crowd in his way. The crowd being his first obstacle towards his foolish goal.
But by the time he finally got through, he could see the entirety of his reality shattered to immeasurable pieces.
"These are a few commoner friends I made. Guys, this is Princess Yukino."
Hayato introduces about 3 boys the same age as them to Yukino.
Yukino thought nothing of this but only that she could be able to make 3 new commoner friends.
Since they were friends of Hayato, she trusted Hayato's pickings and decided to interact with them.
"Hello there." She waved, smiling as her own smile melted the other 3 boy's heart.
They had already fallen in love with her from that one smile.
"This is also Yui Yuigahama, the daughter of the Supreme Judge."
"Yahallo!"
While Yukino was listening to Yui greet with the other boys, she looked at the crowd as she felt someone staring at her. But she saw no one in the crowd that was staring at her as they were more focused on something else.
"Huh. Wasn't I waiting for Hikigaya-kun to say something?" She said to herself.
"Who is this Hikigaya?" Yui asks.
"Nevermind. I'll talk to him later about it."
...
Heartbroken and humiliated, Hikigaya began walking his way back home.
He was foolish to think he had a chance with the princess, he thought to himself.
He shouldn't have never made friends with her.
He shouldn't have let her see his vulnerable side of him.
He shouldn't have felt these feelings in the first place.
He shouldn't have told her everything about his life as it was all useless to begin with.
He shouldn't have never met her and allow her to sit with him during the last day of school.
It was all too good to be true.
To be approached by the most beautiful girl you've ever seen during the last day of school and her asking you to be friends.
He was just a pawn to her.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" He stomped on the grass, shouting as loud as he could as no one could hear her.
He eventually arrived to his parent's farmhouse after about 15-20 minutes of walking. Not even greeting his mother, he entered his room and closed his door.
He should try to get some rest and let the pain hurt later. It was too much for him to bear.
...
"Hachiman! Dinner is ready."
His mother's voice called for him.
As it woke him up, he got up from his bed quickly due to a starving stomach telling him to eat something for tonight. He looked at the window to see the sun almost setting.
He opened his door from his room, walking out and closing it behind him. And then he walked towards the dining room, seeing his mother preparing his plate for him and his 7 year old sister already eating her own plate of food.
It seemed today was once again, potato salad. A bunch of mushed up potatoes from the boiling hot water with some lettuce and tomatoes mixed in. Not appetizing but nutritious nonetheless.
"Where did dad go?" He asked his mother.
"He said he went to go cut some wood a few hours ago. I'm not sure why he hasn't come back yet. Maybe he might've found a great fishing spot. And we may be able to cook some fish tomorrow."
"Fish? I want fish!" The younger sister shouted, with food coming out of her mouth.
"Tomorrow, Komachi. Tomorrow we will get fish." Their mother reassured her.
"But I want it now. I don't want potato salad anymore." Komachi crossed her arms, turning her head away from her plate.
Hikigaya ignored her annoying tantrum and began eating his plate which had a smaller portion compared to Komachi's plate.
"Komachi dear, you have to eat your potato salad to grow healthy and strong. Don't you want to be a strong girl?"
"I am already strong. I want to eat meat."
"I'm afraid I cannot give you fish tonight."
"I want fish!" Komachi screamed out loud, pushing her plate with full force that it hit Hikigaya's own plate, spilling his and her plate together onto the floor.
Both of their shattered plates and wasted food symbolizing their relationship of brother and sister.
"Goddammit Komachi! Be nice to your own goddamn mom for once! You can't eat fish tonight, alright?! If you want fish so bad, why don't you go get it yourself?!"
All of his anger and frustration let out on his younger sister, Hikigaya felt temporarily good for a few seconds.
The only answer Komachi could come up with was to cry for her mom.
As Komachi cried, their mother began to rush to her aid.
"Hachiman! Why would you yell at your little sister like that? She's 7 years old!" Their mother yelled at him.
"Because she's 7. When I was 7, I did 100 times more work than she ever did. And she gets to be this whiny and bratty?" For the first time, Hikigaya yelled at his own mother. But he didn't know whether to feel good or not to be biting at the hands that feed.
"You are her older brother. You should set a better example of yourself to her."
"By letting her abuse me and making me clean up her messes. Yeah, that's a good example of making me her goddamn slave in the future."
"Do not say one more word."
"Or what?!"
RUMBLE...
Loud footsteps began to occur around their house.
So loud that they stopped arguing and began focusing on what was the source of the noise.
CRASH!!
Their own front door was forced opened.
The 3 family members saw a giant ogre with a large clubstick aiming towards them.
"Humans..." It's deep voice vibrated through their skin.
"Hachiman, run!"
"RAAAAAAGH!!"
The large ogre charged towards them.
Hikigaya narrowly dodged the charge, as the ogre crashed into the dining table, ruining the table and the food that the family was about to eat.
Feeling his heart race, and his body freezing in terror, he didn't know what to do next.
"Hachiman, run! Mommy will come save you soon!"
Hearing his mother's voice, he knew he had to do what his father told him to do.
To protect mom and their sister at all cost.
"Hey, ugly!" He shouted at the ogre who was recovering from charging through a wooden table.
The ogre turned towards him and began charging towards him.
Hikigaya ran as fast as he could with his smaller body and ran towards their parent's room.
Was there any reason why he ran towards his parent's room? Why yes, there was a reason.
Underneath the bed, he looked and reached his hands towards something. The ogre's footsteps began thumping and thumping, shaking the bed.
"Got it." He said to himself.
He pulled out what was underneath the bed.
The katana he and his father found a couple of days ago.
He barely ducks from the ogre's swing with it's clubstick and runs out of the building.
As he runs out of the building, he notices how many monsters there was approaching his farm.
Everything was burning...
The crops, the shelters for the tools, and their own house was set on fire by the goblins.
The fires illuminated the dark night.
Goblins, trolls, and ogres were together on this attack. How did they get this far into the kingdom? Who sneaked them in here?
Realizing that if he doesn't get all of their attention, they would eventually go inside the house to kill his mother and younger sister.
"Dad... where are you..." He muttered, before shouting. "Hey, all you dumb idiots! If you want to kill a human, then come over here!"
He gained all of the monster's attention, as they walk straight towards him, knowing he wouldn't be able to run as long as they could.
For the first time, he unsheathed his katana by himself.
The long blade nearly half the size of him. He doesn't even know how to stance his position. All he could do was try to intimidate his opponents. While he knows how to use a sword sort of, he does not know how to use a katana.
And he's afraid of using it.
Ironic how he has trained for the past week with a sword, his only weapon was a katana.
He looked down to see a folded piece of paper. It looked like it came out of the cover for the katana. He picked it up, but he didn't have time to read it so he putted it in his pockets.
And then he ran as far as he could away from his farm to attract the monsters towards him.
...
"I had a great time hanging out with you guys." The princess says.
In the middle of town, Yukino was still hanging out with her newfound and actual friends after sunset.
"Me too, Yukinon. I actually enjoyed everyone's company today. We should try and do this more often." Yui said to everyone.
"Sure!"
"I'm in."
"Sounds great!"
The 3 boys accepted in agreement together.
Yukino felt a tap on her shoulder, turning her head to see Hayato.
He whispered into her ears, "Do you want to this every time? Alone?"
The sentence shook her to the core. Nervousness swelled up deep inside her.
"Umm... Ummm..." Yukino put her palms on her cheeks.
But before she could answer...
"AHHHH!!"
Everyone could hear someone screaming.
And then more screaming came after that.
And then even more screaming came after that.
The screams that usually involve yelling or a child, were now replaced by screams of terror by all sorts. Adults, children, and even animals.
Of course, this alerted the group.
The crowd began running from an unknown source. But they all knew they were running straight towards them and they had to do something.
So they ran with the crowd, trying to stick together.
But of course, it failed nonetheless.
Yukino was separated from them.
She had no choice but to run and run. But then she fell onto the ground. But thankfully, there was no one left behind her to trample her.
She looked forward to see knights charging towards her direction. She watched them pass by as they were now suddenly fighting ogres, trolls, and goblins.
And while watching them fight, she saw a woman on the floor with an unconscious little girl.
She rushed to their aid and got on her knees.
"A-Are you okay?" She stuttered as she spoke, clueless about what to do in this sort of situation.
But just because she was clueless, doesn't mean she can't catch onto things quickly. As Yukino heard the mother was still breathing, but she was exhausted as each breath hurt her even more. But even worse, it seemed she had a stab wound in her stomach. Something extremely large stabbed her in the stomach.
"I... I couldn't find him..." The mother muttered weakly.
"What was that?" Yukino could hardly hear the mother from all the knights shouting and screaming.
"My son... he risked his life to save ours... I promised him that I'd rescue him... Yet I couldn't find him..."
For some reason, tears were coming out of Yukino's eyes. As if this was her first time experiencing a mother's pain of losing a son.
"Please... save my little girl at least. Don't become a failure like me... Save my daughter." The mother uses all her strength but weakly lifts up her unconscious daughter towards Yukino's arms.
"A goblin attacked her skull with a rock... I don't know if it's cracked but she's unconscious and bleeding..."
Yukino grabs the unconscious daughter from the mother.
"Please take care of her... for me.. Be a good mother..."
"W-Wait! What's her name?" She desperately asks before the mother could die.
"Her name is... Ko... Komachi..."
Yukino waited for the mother to say her last name but the mother died...
Yukino herself couldn't believe it. A human being just died in front of her. A mother who lost her son and is about to lose her daughter if she doesn't do anything. She couldn't imagine what it would look like to see her own mother die in front of her.
But this incident will forever scar her mind as a reminder that no one can just live a happy life with a happy family.
And so, looking at the dozens of knights fighting valiantly to defend the kingdom...
She runs away...
...
"GAAAAAHH!"
Hikigaya was thrown away by a large ogre. His back forcefully meeting a concrete tombstone on a graveyard. The bones in his back shattered and his spine were shattered as well.
The amount of pain he was going through was incomprehensible. It was way worse than what he previously felt.
He looked down at his broken right leg that was twisted by an ogre and broken left arm that was snapped in half by a troll stomping on it repeatedly.
Both of them were still in immense pain but the broken spine added more to his suffering.
He could hear the goblins snickering, the trolls and ogres laughing uncontrollably. They were enjoying torturing him. They weren't gonna let him die yet. It was their nature to enjoy such violent acts.
But there was no way he could beat them.
With his 2 broken limbs, and a katana he doesn't even know how to use.
But then he was reminded of his parents and little sister. If he wanted to get out of this, to see them again, he has to fight back somehow.
"I will not lose... I am not weak..."
He tried to get up with only one leg. But with one other broken leg and a broken spine, it proved difficult for him to even sit properly.
"Humans are weaker than they tell you. They need to build a kingdom to fight against us. We nomadic beings like to travel in groups. Staying in one place? That's not good."
"Humans are our food source. And I cannot wait to eat you up."
They laughed more and more uncontrollably.
As they were laughing, Hikigaya grabbed his katana with his right arm, pointing it at them.
One of the ogres didn't take it lightly. And so it walked towards Hikigaya as the others watched quietly.
"Humans are so dumb, that they themselves are their own weapons. And as an example."
The ogre grabs the katana from Hikigaya's hands.
STAB!
The ogre stabs through Hikigaya's heart with the katana.
His body fell over lifelessly as blood began oozing out everywhere from the stab wound.
"YEAHHHH!"
"DINNER!"
"NO WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! THE HEART IS MY FAVORITE PART!"
The monsters begin to celebrate their victory over defeating a human. And not just that, but burning everything to the ground, and trespassing the kingdom.
A goblin hurriedly rushed towards Hikigaya's lifeless body with 2 set of small knives in it's hands.
"Alright, now let me take the first bite-"
SLASH!!
Only to see that his body wasn't lifeless.
The now stilled goblin was cut in half, as it's upper body fell onto the ground and it's lower body stood standing.
The others began to grow surprised, gasping at the sight as they instantly noticed that Hikigaya's lifeless body was nowhere on the tombstone he was laying on.
"There!"
One spots him.
Hikigaya stood staring at all of them... his broken right leg struggling to stand as his left leg was standing with no issue. His broken left arm stood hanging as his right arm stood strong and firm, holding the katana that was previously stabbed into his heart.
He slowly bent his broken spine forward, putting his katana on the left side of his hip, his knees bending to make him squat at a lower angle.
It looked like he was slowly preparing to rush at them to attack.
And as he said nothing...
"GET HIM!"
Everyone in the vicinity charged straight towards him, with revenge filled in with their minds. About 2 dozens worth of ogres, trolls, and goblins charged at him with whatever weapon was in their hands.
Slash!
Every monster in the vicinity stood still, not one sound was made...
Hikigaya who was previously in front of all of them just a second ago, now stood behind them with his back turned on them.
A blue lightning aura began to surround him, and then they slowly disappeared.
Around the monsters, looked like a glassware dome that has been cut into many shapes to form either triangles or squares.
As he slowly put down his katana into his saya (cover for the katana), the glassware texture surrounding the monsters disappeared, and pieces of flesh began to drop onto the floor from the ogres, trolls, and goblins that were in the area. A humongous amount of blood began spurting out of each cut out flesh, forming almost a small blood pond.
Without looking at his slain enemies, he wiped the blood off of his face.
And then... he looked at the dark sky with no light but the moon luminous light, bright enough to see the smoke from his burning family farm...
With no threats that could provoke him, he took out the piece of paper inside his pocket that was previously inside the katana. And he read the note.
Those who seek ultimate power
Must bury the love inside their heart.
If you cannot do that, then you must destroy the source itself.
He crumbled up the paper and looked back at the glowing sight.
And as he watched his parent's entire farm burn, he thought to himself...
Why did my mother leave me to die?
Why didn't she rescue me as she promised?
Did she think Komachi was more important than me?
Where was my dad when all of this happened?
With those 4 questions scattering in his broken mind that will be unanswered for eternity...
He walks away...
...
The next day after the attack on the kingdom, the town was evacuated.
Though the monsters have been killed, the damage couldn't be undone instantly.
Multiple buildings and shelters were burned to the ground or were either destroyed manually by tool.
Yukino went to the same spot she always met with Hikigaya.
But he never came...
After an hour of waiting, Yukino didn't want to believe the only potential reasoning as to why Hikigaya never showed up.
So she left, never to come back to spot ever again.
Knowing she won't see him again.
Immortal temptation...
