A/N: Hello reader's, I'm back yet again. Personally, I didn't think I'd end up posting something again after I lost passion for a bit. I'm honestly still lacking passion but here's something I worked on awhile back. If it gets positive feedback, I'll finish and release the second chapter.
Enjoy :)
VacantThoughts -
Yumiko never thought she'd want this, never thought she'd want to get away from her clique. But here she was, sitting with them in class yet she couldn't get the thought out of her head.
It wasn't like she disliked them or anything of that sort, because she still cared about Ebina and her obsession with BL, she still cared about Yui's bubbly but airheaded personality, about Tobe always being happy and excited, and about Hayama's...huh? That can't be right, she cared about Hayama's...
Alright, she had nothing, and that surprised her. Maybe she wasn't feeling well. Yeah, she'd go with that. Nonetheless, Yumiko wanted to take a break, not only from her clique but from socializing in general. As much as she liked the members of said clique, things were starting to feel much too repetitive for her, to the point that she'd sometimes be able to predict what would happen before it even happened.
Tobe would talk about something enthusiastically, then Hayama would respond, causing Yamato and Ooka to agree with him for whatever reason. Yui would then give her airheaded response, which would be her cue to give whatever input she had before finally, Ebina would sometimes respond normally, but most of the time she'd talk about the guys of the clique as if they were a part of a BL manga.
She figured that it was probably just doing the same thing for a while that made her bored and need some space and that after the weekend was over she'd feel differently, but that wasn't the case. Weekdays and weekends passed and she still felt the same. After every week that passed, she started to feel herself become more and more distant from her clique. Frankly, she was tired of this dynamic and felt like she needed some space.
Though there were multiple things wrong with this though. Firstly, she'd have to either tell the clique why she needed space, which would cause more harm than good, or just distance herself without telling them a thing, and that would surely put a strain on her relationship with them. Secondly, being alone in class for days if not weeks would surely put her on the level of loners like Kawasaki Saki and Hikigaya Hachiman. He was probably the worst of them in her opinion.
The last problem was how she was going to accomplish the feat of being a loner in the first place. There were only two loners in their class which were Kawasaki, and Hikigaya. Kawasaki was pretty much out of the question since she was friends with Ebina, leaving only Hikigaya as a viable option.
Yumiko didn't think much of Hikigaya Hachiman, but she had to admit that his methods when it came to Minami Sagami, Tsurumi Rumi, and finding out Hayato's career path were surprisingly effective, even if said methods weren't respectable. She'd seen him interact with Yui on a few occasions, but she didn't think they had any sort of relationship, they were just in the same club together. Which meant the possibility of him telling Yui wasn't high.
"-Right, Yumiko-chan?" Yui said, breaking Yumiko out of her thoughts. Crap, she was too focused on her thoughts to listen to whatever conversation they were having.
Along with feeling increasingly distant from her clique, Yumiko had started to drown out whatever conversations they usually had while mostly still picking up her cue to respond. Unfortunately, it seemed like now wasn't one of those times. She just decided to give an offhanded response and hoped it would suffice.
"Y-Yeah, right." She nervously nodded, hoping that was a good enough response for her. Yui stared at her in confusion for a second, before going back to talking about whatever they were talking about.
She probably knew something was wrong, but just left her to her thoughts. While Yui could be very airheaded at times, she wasn't by any means dumb. At least when it came to her friends she wasn't.
She looked over at Hikigaya, who had his head down on the desk, and shook her head in amusement. Whenever she looked at Hikigaya (which wasn't often at all) he always had his head down, probably taking a nap. And she found it strange how he always seemed to not be paying attention, yet he still ended up with relatively good grades. Better than hers, at least.
Nevertheless, Miura would have to find the right time to approach and ask him. Asking in the middle of class would surely draw attention, and she was sure that if she asked him while Yui was nearby she'd start to grow suspicious. He was in the service club, right? Maybe she could just say she needed his help for something.
Things were definitely going to become weird between her and her group, but surely they'd understand if she needed a break, right? So maybe after a few days of becoming a loner, she'd just tell them she needed some space, that was surely a viable excuse.
Yeah, maybe she'd do that.
First, though, she'd have to ask Hikigaya for his help.
Hachiman's day went as normal as any other day he had. He woke up, ate breakfast with his cute sister Komachi, and made his way to school on his beloved bike. Not to mention the numerous cans of MAX COFFEE he'd drank so far. The class was set to end soon, and all he had left to do was to make an appearance at the Service Club with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama.
Right now though, he was currently wondering why one Yumiko Miura kept glancing at him. She didn't seem to realize that he noticed her gaze due to what he liked to call "Hachiman's 108 Skills".
Some of the skills were essential to becoming a loner, but most were just things he had mastered while on said path of a loner.
Still, though, why was she staring at him? They had to be complete opposites, and there were about a dozen or so more students in class, so what about him was interesting enough to capture the interest of Soubu's Fire Queen? Honestly, the whole idea of Miura wanting anything with him sounded troublesome. Things were perfectly fine for him right now, there was no way he'd let himself be roped into something stupid.
Or at least, that's what he thought.
After class ended, things remained the same for the most part. Upon entering the Service Club room (albeit a bit late), he was greeted by Yukino's usual insult. She didn't hesitate to insult him even as she was conversing with Yui.
"And here I was, getting my hopes up that you wouldn't come. After all, It's only natural that I wouldn't want such rotten and lecherous eyes gazing upon me and Yuigahama-san, Creepygaya-kun." She said, shifting her attention and insulting him as if it were as automatic as breathing.
"Lecherous? Don't go and make your own assumptions!" He replied, feeling his eye twitch at her insult. He didn't mind it though, as this was a part of their usual dynamic. Yuigahama pouted before speaking.
"You guys, I'm here too!" She turned her head away, feigning being upset at them not acknowledging her presence. Hachiman had already seated himself in his usual chair and fished out a manga by this point.
"Oh? You were here, Yuigahama? I didn't even notice." He said casually, teasing her while Yukino nodded in agreement.
"Meanie Hikki. And why are you nodding Yukinon?! You were just talking to me, hmph!" She pouted and turned her head away. The three slightly smiled at their dynamic before doing their own thing. Yukino read a book whilst drinking tea, Yuigahama messed around with her phone, while Hachiman read his manga.
Not 20 minutes later, Hachiman and his two clubmates looked up as they heard a soft knock on the door before it slid open. The person on the other side of the door was revealed to be Yumiko Miura as she walked in. Hachiman gave an exaggerated sigh as she walked in, why was he not surprised?
"E-Eh?! Yumiko? Are you here to make a request?" Yui asked, surprised to see her close friend here. Yukino merely raised an eyebrow at Hachiman's sigh.
"W-Well, it's a bit more complicated than that." She said, her eyes looking everywhere else but at Yui. She felt guilty that she was about to confide in Hachiman, but not her. She believed it was for a good cause though, and that it was because only Hachiman could help her.
"Complicated? Care to explain, Miura-san?" Yukino asked, shutting her book and setting It down as she shifted her attention to Yumiko.
Hachiman just watched the interaction, not knowing what to say or do. He wondered if this had something to do with her staring at him earlier, he hoped not. He watched with interest as she took a deep breath, regaining her confidence.
"Well, I do have a request to make. But I specifically need the help of Hikio." Yumiko said, nodding her head in his direction and crossing her arms. Hachiman's eyes widened slightly, wondering what a girl like her would need from him, a loner. Not that she was better than him in any way. He sighed, disappointed at the fact that she wanted something from him.
Yui looked a bit hurt at this and started to wonder if Yumiko trusted Hachiman more than she trusted her. She shook her head free of the foolish thoughts, one-hundred percent sure that wasn't the case. Yukino just watched with an emotionless face, her train of thought matching Hachiman's as she too wondered what Yumiko wanted with him. Sighing once again, Hachiman closed his manga before speaking.
"So, what's your request?" He said, his tone uninterested. Left unspoken, was the true meaning behind his words.
'What do you want from me?'
Yumiko shook her head softly.
"Not here, I'll tell you somewhere else. Follow me." She said, turning around and walking out of the door without a second thought.
This caused Yukino and Yuigahama to become very curious. Was it that important that she couldn't even talk about it in the presence of others? Their curiosity was growing more and more as Hachiman looked back at them, shrugging before walking out behind her and following her.
Why him? There were hundreds of people in their school! Most would be ecstatic to talk to her too.
But no, she had to choose him of all people.
They eventually stopped in the middle of an empty stairway. Yumiko's olive-green eyes stared into his rotten ones. Hachiman boredly looked into her eyes. For some reason unknown to Yumiko, his gaze made her a bit uncomfortable. Looking away, she cleared her throat.
"So, Hikio..." She started.
"Yeah?" He asked, wanting to hear her request already.
"I-I was wondering if you could..." Her reluctant tone was starting to irritate him.
"Oi! Hurry up and get on with i-"
"T-Teach me how to be like you!" Hachiman cut himself off as Yumiko finally finished. What she said had left him stunned.
"...What?"
"I said, please t-teach me how to be like you." Yumiko calmly responded, a blush of embarrassment starting to grow on her face.
Hachiman blinked.
A silence ensued.
Honestly, when he learned that Yumiko needed him specifically for her request, he thought it'd end up being something stupid like helping him confess to Hayama or something of the sort, but he was not expecting something like this. Why would she even want to be like him? Why would anyone want to be like him?
Not to mention he didn't even understand what she meant in the first place.
Sure, he didn't think there was anything wrong with himself and his personality, but a lot of people did. And he was pretty sure that once upon a time, that included Miura too. First of all, he needed to know why she wanted to be like him in the first place.
"I don't see why you would want to do that. Being like me won't benefit you at all. If anything, I'm pretty sure it'll do the opposite." He told her, breaking the silence.
"No-" Yumiko cut herself off as she thought about something before responding. "It's not like that, at least not completely. What I mean is, teach me how to be a loner. Y'know, like you and Kawasomething."
"It's Kawasaki."
"Right, Kawasaki."
"You do know that there are other loners, right?" He said, a frown on his face. If he was being a bit honest, he didn't really like the word loner. Mainly because anyone who knew it almost always associated it with people too weird to even have normal conversations when that was in fact not true.
Some loners became loners completely by choice, like him. While others didn't necessarily get along with others easily so being a loner was the easiest choice, also like him. And some were just outcasts that didn't bother trying to shed their status or didn't care what anyone thought of them. Okay, he was getting annoyed, why were all of these meanings fitting him?!
"Of course I know! What do you think I am, dumb?" Yumiko said, a bit irritated. She composed herself before speaking again. "It's just that you and Kawasaki are the only ones I know. It's not like I just go out searching for them." She rolled her eyes.
"Okay, but why do you want to be one? It'll almost certainly cause your social standing to plummet." Yumiko grew quiet, causing Hachiman to smirk. He was going to say something but was cut off by her.
"I'm tired."
"Then go to sleep."
"That's not what I meant!" She yelled, glaring at him. Of course, Hachiman knew she didn't mean it like that but couldn't resist. She continued, looking away from his stupid face.
"I'm just...tired of my group of friends. I think It might just be me needing a break but even so, everything always feels the same, and hanging out with them doesn't exactly feel as fun as it used to. It always seems repetitive, like I've done it a million times." While that was obviously an overstatement, her statement was valid.
"So in other words, you don't like them anymore?" Hachiman responded, raising an eyebrow.
"No! It's not that I don't like them, because they're honestly great people and great friends. What I mean is, I just don't connect with them the way I used to." Yumiko responded, looking down with a frown on her face.
"And you think being a loner will help you?" He asked.
"I-I don't know, but it's worth a shot, right?" Yumiko said.
She thought that being a loner would help her because she thought it'd give her a better outlook on her situation and might just help her figure out what she should do next.
"Don't ask me, ask yourself. I do have a question though."
"Hm?" She looked up.
"Why don't you just tell them that you need some space? Surely they'll understand." Hachiman was a bit confused, all of this could be avoided if she was just honest with them. They were her friends, right? Then why didn't she just tell them that she needed space?
Well that was what made Yumiko think. Because while they were more or less her friends, she was sure at least one of them would either take offense to her wanting space or would take her words out of context, which would cause more harm if not make things worse.
"It wouldn't be that simple." She eventually settled on saying. Hachiman just raised an eyebrow but decided not to question it further. Still, there was one more thing that he was curious about.
"Why should I help you?" Was his question, and it was a good one.
There was no reason why he would help her in the first place. First off, they weren't even remotely close. Second, for most of the time up until today, Miura didn't like him. She still couldn't say she liked him, she just tolerated him. Still though, wasn't it his job as a member of the Service Club to grant its clients' wishes? If anything, a reason shouldn't be necessary.
"Hah? Aren't you supposed to grant whatever wish I have? That's why I came to the service club in the first place." She said, taking on a confused and arrogant. It didn't faze Hachiman in the slightest though.
"Wrong. The Service Club only helps people. We don't give fish to starving people, we teach them how to fish so they can stand on their own. I don't know what you're expecting from me but be glad I at least listened to what you had to say. If you're gonna be this arrogant, go and ask someone else." Hachiman told her, taking Yukinoshita's analogy as his own and hoping Yumiko understood it. He began to walk off, deciding that he didn't have time for this.
"Wait!" She exclaimed, hoping she wouldn't be left to do this on her own. She composed herself, clearing her throat before speaking again. "It was just a misunderstanding, s-sorry if I was being rude. There's just no one else I can turn to at this point, and you're the only one who can even help me a little."
Hachiman sighed, feeling a bit of empathy for the girl. He knew what it felt like to have no one on your side that understood exactly what you were going through and he didn't really wanna leave her to deal with it by herself. He knew that he'd appreciate someone helping him go through what he did back then, so what kind of person would he be if he left her in the same situation? Their circumstances were very different but they still shared some similarities.
Sighing, Hachiman turned around to face her, making his decision. "Fine, I'll help you. You better not regret this later, you're the one that wanted me to help you after all." He said, not wanting this to be for nothing in the end.
Yumiko nodded determinedly, confident in herself and confident that she'd be able to change. It wasn't even her wanting to change for the sake of changing, she wanted to improve herself.
"So...where do we start?"
