"August 8th already?" Hachiman Hikigaya sighed as he looked at his phone's calendar in slight resentment. "For it being my birthday, it sure as hell feels just as boring as any other day in the year. I suppose that's probably because I never end up celebrating it other than an extra-special dinner from my favorite sister. It's not like I ever get birthday messages from anything other than my games. Then again, I wouldn't get messages like that no matter where my birthday was, people can barely remember my name most of the time, let alone my birthday. Speaking of which I'll need to log in to my gacha games today, they usually shill out a bit more than normal on your birthday, and I'll take what I can get as a F2P player. Those games can be so greedy sometimes, and unfair as hell. I always end up having to spend all my currency to get the new units, just to have Zaimokuza send me a picture of him pulling the unit twice in one multi. Is it so hard to give me what I want without immediately making me feel terrible afterwards? I'm making myself depressed just thinking about it. I might as well head back to my room then, not like anything special will happen just sitting on the cou-"

"Big Bro, let's go shopping!"

"..Eh?" Hachiman turned his head towards the outburst that had cut his train of thought short, coming face to face with his one and only sibling, Komachi. "Why do we have to do that? Don't you know what day it is? I'm pretty sure it's the one day of the year I shouldn't have to do any sort of work."

"I don't think it being Monday exempts you from doing work."

"It's not just a Monday, it's my birthda-"

"I know, I'm just teasing you. How could I ever forget the day my wonderfully awful brother was born? I think that's high in Komachi points, right?" With that subtle jab, she stuck her tongue out and gave a small "tee-hee".

"It would've been if a certain word wasn't not-so-sneakily placed in there…" Hachiman sighed, even during his birthday he wasn't safe from verbal harassment. "It seems that Yukinoshita is rubbing off on my dear sister, I'll have to talk to her about that…"

"Anyways, I need you to come with me so we can pick out what to make you for your birthday dinner... and the rice cooker broke and I need someone to carry back the new one." He could practically feel the pain forming in his back as those words tumbled out of his sister's mouth. "So, go get some outside clothes on, and make it quick!" As she said that, she started to push her brother into his room, much to his dismay. With one final shove, he crossed his doorway, and heard the door slam behind him. "Meet me in the kitchen in 10 minutes, and tidy up your room while you're in there, you never know who might see it!"

"What does she mean by that?" Hachiman pondered for a second, before starting to rifle through his dresser. "Well, might as well do as she says, once she's got her mind set on something, there isn't too much I can do to stop her." Almost 10 minutes later, he emerged from his room in a white 'I Love Chiba' shirt and a pair of navy blue shorts. As he walked into the kitchen, he could practically see the disgust radiating from his sister.

"What? I'm sure you're used to seeing my dead eyes enough for that not to disgust you, so what's with the face? If you keep this up, you're gonna look like me eventually, and I'm not too sure the world can handle that."

"I could never look like you, bro. Eyes like yours are one of a kind, after all. But seriously, I knew I couldn't trust you with dressing nicely, and yet I'm still disappointed. Come here." For the second time in less than 15 minutes, Hachiman was pushed into his room, looking exasperated as his sister rummaged through his clothing, before pushing an outfit into his hands and leaving, mumbling something about "how hard it is to be a loving sister". Confused and a little annoyed at having to redress, he relented and dressed himself in the newly picked out clothes. After that was said and done, he walked out to a much more approving look from his sister.

"Alright, that's much better. Now come on, we need to get moving!" Komachi said as she walked towards the door, gesturing for her brother to get a move on.

"Fine fine, let me put my shoes on first.."

And with that, the Hikigaya siblings were off… almost. "Hang on bro, I forgot my wallet inside. I'll be back in a second, so just wait out here!" Komachi sprinted back inside to grab the missing accessory while her brother just shook his head in dismay. In actuality, the younger Hikigaya had her wallet with her the whole time, and was instead setting up for the real reason she had to get her brother out in the first place. She shot a text to a certain someone saying that everything was ready, and walked back outside, leaving the door purposely unlocked.

"C'mon, let's get a move on! We need to be back before dark!"

"Isn't that a long time away… aren't we just grocery shopping and buying a rice cooker?" Hachiman pondered this while starting the trek to the train station, unknowingly falling right into place.

"Komachi says that she's ready, let's start heading towards the house." Yukino Yukinoshita motioned for the rest of the group to start following her. Said group contained her and most of Hachiman's other closest friends, Yui Yuigahama, Saika Totsuka, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza, Shizuka Hiratsuka, and Iroha Isshiki. Their mission was simple: decorate the Hikigaya residence while the siblings are away to surprise Hachiman for his birthday. Just as promised, when they arrived, the door was unlocked. "Perfect, Miss Hiratsuka, please bring your car around so we can start unloading supplies."

"I don't teach you lot anymore, so please just call me Shizuka."

"I'll keep it in mind, Miss Hiratsuka."

"You… ah well, you've always been stubborn. I'll be back in a minute." With that and a swing of her keys around her finger, Shizuka walked back outside to her stashed Aston Martin a few blocks down.

As Shizuka brought the materials into the house, the remaining members of the group split up into their respective roles. Yoshiteru and Saika were in charge of moving furniture and clearing space, Iroha and Shizuka were in charge of decoration, and Yui and Yukino were in charge of cooking the meal and dessert.

"Alright everyone, let's get to work!" Shizuka yelled.

"Yeah!" cheered everyone. They had been planning this little surprise party for almost a month now, making sure that everything was in place so it could go off without a hitch. Now that it was finally coming to fruition, no one could contain their excitement. They quickly split into groups to start their various preparations.

After unpacking all the ingredients, Yukino and Yui started to prepare the cookware. "Ah, Yuigahama, I suppose we should wash our hands first. We're already cooking for Hikigermy, we can't be bringing any other germs into the house as well."

"You really can't help yourself from making fun of Hikki, can you Yukinon? Even on his birthday he isn't safe from verbal harassment, huh?" Yui giggled, with Yukino eventually joining in, laughing softly alongside her dearest friend.

"Ah, but seriously, we should definitely wash our hands. You use the kitchen sink, I'll go and use the one in the restroom."

"Okay Yukinon, don't take too long!"

"Oh trust me, I know not to leave you alone with cooking items for any longer than necessary. I'll be back soon."

"Hey, Yukinon! That was mean…" Yui whimpered as Yukino walked out of the kitchen, heading for the hallway leading to the restroom.

"Her cooking has gotten significantly better since the first disaster of a lesson, to be fair. She can make edible food without supervision now, that's a considerable improvement for sure. Maybe with a bit more practice she'll be able to add spice without ruining the balance of flavors…" As Yukino was searching for the restroom, she noticed a slightly open door on the left side of the hallway, and an inexplicable curiosity overcame her. She decided to peer inside through the crack to see who's room it was. Just from that glance she could easily tell it was Hachiman's room, mostly because of the bookcase overflowing with light novels. "I suppose a quick look wouldn't hurt, right?"

As she entered his room, a slight coffee smell wafted into her nose. Upon investigation, she found that the smell was coming from a candle that was recently put out, probably right before the siblings left. "It makes sense he'd want his room to smell like coffee, with his dependency on MAX Coffee and all." Yukino then focused her attention on the bookcase, searching through the books to see if she recognized anything there. Unsurprisingly, most were light novels, but what did catch her off guard was the row of classic English literature she was currently staring at. "Wow, if only he'd read these at the Service Club instead, we could discuss them.."

After looking through his collection a bit more, she moved on to his desk, and specifically to the notebook poorly concealed under another book. "Of course he'd have one of these." Yukino thought as she read the words "Kill List" scribbled on the front cover. "I do wonder who from our school will be in this… perhaps a better question is who won't be?" She opened the notebook and started to flip through the pages, stopping when she reached the page with the date of their first day of highschool on it. On the page, only one thing was written on it, but those words carried the purest essence of hatred, scrawled in deep black lettering. "THAT DAMNED LIMO DRIVER." Yukino closed the book seeing that, feeling a pang of guilt ricochet throughout her body. "I don't think I ever actually apologized for that incident. Instead, I hid behind half-truths and redirection. I'll have to think of something to give him as an apology sometime soon."

Noticing a familiar photo broke Yukino out of her thoughts however. It was the photo that she, Yui, and Hachiman took during their trip to Destinyland (though unwillingly on her and Hachiman's part). When she picked it up to inspect it, the back of the picture frame fell off, clattering on the desk, and with it came a smaller photo. After her initial jolt of surprise at the sudden noise, she went to pick up the smaller photo. As she did, her cheeks turned bright red. It was the photo that was taken of the two of them during the amusement park ride they rode together. The same one she had also gotten a copy of."He must've snuck off and gotten one while buying us drinks afterwards…" She carefully placed the photo back in its place and fixed the frame, shaken up by this development. "Why? Why did he keep a copy of the photo? There's no logical reason for him to want a memento of this moment back then, right? I did tell him an important request of mine, but there's no way he'd know it was that important to me, so why does he have it? Does he have his own special reasons for cherishing this moment? What went on in his mind during that moment? Whatever it may be, I can't dwell on it right now, it isn't the time. Wait, the time?" She looked at the digital clock on Hachiman's desk and her eyes widened in surprise. She had been in his room for almost 15 minutes now, and even Yui was bound to notice her absence at this rate. She quickly placed the photo back on his desk, made sure that everything was back in order and left his room, rushing to the restroom.

After washing her hands, she made her way back to the kitchen dreading the potential explanation she'd have to give Yui.

"Yukinon, where have you been? You've been gone for a long time!" Yui walked over to Yukino, brushing her hands on her apron. "I was portioning out the ingredients waiting for you to get back, but halfway through I really started to get worried, you know?"

"I'm sorry Yuigahama, the restroom door was closed, so I wandered around the house a bit looking for it. I didn't mean to make you wait so long."

"Oh, I see! Alright then, I'm just glad nothing bad happened!" Yui smiled brightly at Yukino, accepting her half-truth without a second thought.

"It's times like these where I really appreciate Yuigahama's airheaded nature." Yukino thought as she put her apron on, finally ready to get started with the birthday dinner. Luckily Hachiman was very open about his favorite foods, with ramen always at the top of the list. As a group, and with Shizuka's guidance as a ramen connoisseur, they had agreed on spicy miso ramen as the main dish, with various smaller dishes so everyone could get what they wanted. Luckily those dishes didn't take much effort to create, and before they knew it, everything dinner related had been fully prepped and ready.

Next was dessert, which was a chocolate cake with MAX Coffee frosting. Yukino inwardly sighed thinking about this. "Any normal human would cringe thinking about the amount of sugar present in this cake, but as long as we have tiny slices we should be fine.." As they prepared the cake batter, Yui suddenly spoke up.

"I wonder why Hikki never told us his birthday. We had to get it from Komachi since he'd always change the subject whenever the topic came up. He went along to shop for both of our birthdays, and always picked out meaningful presents, so it's not like he thinks birthdays don't matter. We ended up completely passing over his birthday last year, and he didn't say a single word about it." Yui frowned, feeling guilty about missing it.

"I think I may have thought about a potential reason why." Yukino said, staring down at the mixing bowl she was holding. "Perhaps Hikigaya had never had a birthday party with friends before. We're both well aware of his lonely past, so it really shouldn't come as a stretch to you that maybe nobody knew or cared about his birthday, so he just learned never to bring it up. His parents seem to be never home as well, so he probably only ever celebrated it with his sister."

"That's really awful if it's true." Yui said, frowning to herself. "It isn't that hard to see why he's the way he is when stuff like that happened his entire life. Though, he's changed a lot now. He used to never really smile, only creepily grin whenever he was ranting to himself. But now he smiles a lot, real smiles, and even if he's still a cynic who prefers to be alone, he's really softened up."

"I suppose you're right, he really has changed a lot. Perhaps even more than the rest of us. However, he's quite the hypocrite, I can remember a time not too long ago when he said that changing is equivalent to running away. Though, I guess the marathon event showed that he can run quite fast, even if it hurts him in the process."

Yukino smiled a bit, reflecting on all the various lengths Hachiman had gone to to finish requests for people. Even if she disagreed with the methods he used in the beginning, she had always admired just how far he went to make sure people were happy. He was so determined to see their requests finished that he would throw himself into the fire to save them from their own mistakes. At first she had thought that maybe he had been going so far so he could win the Service Club competition, but as it went on and as he hurt himself over and over again for other people, she had realized that he was just a good person at heart. He thought that no one would care how hurt he got as long as people were happy, and for a time that was true. But as time went on, he had found people like herself and Yui that truly cared about him, and were hurt when he was hurt, even if they didn't exactly know why it hurt so much at the time.

"He's so difficult, seriously!" Yui puffed, breaking Yukino out of her thoughts once again. "And yet, I don't know what I'd do without him around nowadays…"

"Indeed, the Hikivirus has infected us both to the point where it's a permanent part of our souls." Yukino suddenly jolted up because of some sort of realization, then looked briefly around the room, as if searching for something. "Thank goodness, his family doesn't have any cameras around, now he can't find out everything we've been saying about him. If he heard any of this I'm sure his ego would be unrivaled." They both chuckled as they began the final steps of preparation for the cake. "Alright, I think we are about finished. And luckily it doesn't seem like any unneeded ingredients were added along the way." Yukino shot a cold yet inquisitive glance at Yui. "Right?"

Yui looked away under the freezing pressure of Yukino's glare. "L-listen! I just like to experiment, okay? Sometimes going off the beaten path can make food better!"

"Scientists experiment as well, and that's how mustard gas came into existence. So please, refrain from "experimentation" when you cook for other people. I doubt even the Service Club can get you out of a murder charge."

"Jeez, you're always so mean! Hmph." Yui pouted as she turned back to the frosting bowl, stirring with an increased pace.

"Wait, Yuigahama! Stirring it too much will ruin the consistency of the frosting!"

"Alright everybody, in your places! Komachi said that she's a block away and approaching fast!" Shizuka yelled as everybody skittered to their hiding positions.

"Any louder and they probably would've heard her from that distance away." Yukino sighed as she hid with Yui behind the couch, waiting for the door to open.

A few moments later, the telltale sign of jangling keys resounded from outside, along with the complaints of the birthday loner. "Komachi, as soon as we're done putting away the groceries, I'm going to take a bath. I can practically hear my bones creaking after carrying this rice cooker for so long."

Komachi giggled to herself. "I honestly don't think that'll happen, bro."

"What do you mean by that?" Hachiman replied as he turned on the lights to the house while staring at his sister warily. "You're not gonna make me work even more, ri-"

"SURPRISE!"

"AAGH!" Hachiman yelped as he scooted back to the door, clutching the newly bought rice cooker like it was a comfort object. "What the hell!?"

"Actually quite the opposite, oh brother mine. You won't be doing anything else today except celebrating." Komachi smirked at her brother as she went to join the other party planners. "Happy birthday, bro."

Hachiman stared at the group of people before him for a few seconds before finally loosening his grip on the rice cooker and stepping back into the living room. He sighed heavily, then smirked. "I didn't expect something like this. Did Komachi drag you all here, or..?"

"We came here on our own accord, Hachiman." Yoshiteru exclaimed, while pushing his glasses into place, and failing to look cool while doing so. "How could I refuse to celebrate my best fighting companion's day of arrival on this plane? Oh, the powers I wouldn't have awakened, the gods I wouldn't have felled, THE W-"

"Okay, that's enough, Zaimoku…something. It is true what he said though, we not only came here at our own volition, we also were the ones that brought up the idea to Komachi. Also, I never knew you could scream at such a high pitch, Hikigirly." Yukino snickered, already reliving that scream in her mind, filing it away for later teasing potential.

"Is this whole party gonna be spent yelling at and teasing me? If that's the case, I'll just go to my room." Hachiman ran his hand through his hair, contemplating if he even wanted to be there. "Look, I don't know if you're waiting for me to do something, but I don't have any sort of experience being the 'birthday boy' so you're gonna have to help me out here." He looked away from the group, feeling uncomfortable with his inexperience.

"You don't really have to do anything specific. I can't believe I'm saying this, but all you have to do is be yourself." Shizuka affirmed, putting her hand on one of his shoulders. "We've got most everything else covered, so just have a good time, alright?"

"Yeah, seriously Senpai, you need to take it easy sometimes. We're not always out to get you, you know." Iroha said, leaning against the counter.

"It seriously feels like that sometimes. I swear, at least once a week it becomes 'Harass Hachiman Hour." Hachiman shivered, thinking back to the various times his quiet lunchtime had been ruined by a particularly noisy Iroha coming around and forcing him into some sort of request.

"How did he find out about HHH?" Iroha whispered to herself, before snapping out of it and stammering, "Well, a-anyways! Just go get ready to eat, dinner should be done soon enough, right Yukino-senpai?"

"Yes, it should be about 15 minutes until it's ready, so go wash up and make yourself presentable. All that hair touching destroyed any sort of fashion sense it had, not that there was much to begin with."

"I can always count on you to destroy any pride I have in myself, can't I? Fine, I'll be back in a bit." Hachiman sauntered off into the bathroom, muttering something about how tired he was already.

"Geez, you all really never give him a break, do you?" Saika said while gently taking a seat on the living room couch. "I thought he was overexaggerating, but he really does get put through the wringer pretty consistently, huh? Whether it's teasing, service club requests, or physical labor, he must be absolutely bushed from it all."

"I guess you're right, though I can't help but feel like he deserves it for complaining about everything. For today, and only today though, let's tone down the teasing, alright guys?" Shizuka said, then she walked over to Yoshiteru and Saika and put a hand on each of their heads. "I'm not talking about you two though, it's really the girls and I that mess with him most. I'm glad he has some people in his life not hell-bent on trashtalking him every other minute. Keep being good friends with him in the future, okay?"

"No problem Miss Hiratsuka, I plan on being friends with Hachiman for as long as I can. He's a good person, and he's helped me a lot more than he knows." Saika grinned, thinking about the various memories they've made through their friendship.

"Same here. Despite my actions and mannerisms, Hachiman has stuck by my side for longer than anyone else, and for that I'll always be grateful. We're the most powerful duo in the whole galaxy after all, hahahahaha!" Yoshiteru chortled, reverting back into his chuuni persona after breaking character for just a second.

"That's a relief." She smiled and ruffled the boys' hair a bit before turning to face the whole group. "Alright, we should start putting out plates and silverware so everything's ready when the birthday boy returns."

A few minutes later, Hachiman sauntered out from the bathroom with freshly "groomed" hair and washed hands. "What's with all the commotion out here? I could hear almost everything… is that ramen I smell?" He looked to the kitchen counter and Yukino could swear that his jaw almost hit the floor. "Huh? How'd you get all this food? That must've cost a ton, I would've been fine with just Cup Ramen…"

"Don't worry about it, it was a gift from my sister." Yukino said, not wanting to delve any further into the exhausting story of how Haruno found out about the birthday plan.

"Is.. is she here?" Hachiman scanned the room carefully, looking for the demoness in question. If she was around, he really wouldn't get any sort of rest. He could practically hear her laugh echo in his brain.

"No, she's at a meeting right now. She did tell me to say 'I'm still waiting!', but I don't exactly know what she means by that." Yukino sighed, her exasperation with her sister's antics clearly evident.

Hachiman gulped. "Oh man… she was serious about that 'date'? Of course she was serious about that, it's Haruno. I'll have to make up a game plan on how to postpone that for as long as possible, but that can wait until later. I should probably send her a text saying thanks for the food though, but that'll take a long time to formulate so she doesn't drag me into something that'll last for hours. Man, what am I gonna d-"

"...chiman… HACHIMAN!" Saika yelled, finally breaking him out of his downward spiral. "The food's gonna get cold if you just stand there, so come on!" He tugged on his arm to get him moving.

"O-oh, yeah. Sorry about that, let's get to eating, not gonna let this go to waste now."

"Woah, that really hit the spot. Who the heck did you guys hire to cook this? Was it one of the chefs at Yukinoshita's house?" Hachiman said as he helped clean up the table after everyone had finished eating.

"Wow, who knew you could be so nice when it came to food reviews?" Yukino responded from the kitchen.

"It's like I always say, free food is always the best."

"Of course you'd say that, your dedication to slacking off astounds me. Anyways, for your information, Yuigahama and I made all the food ourselves."

"Yeah, we did it all ourselves Hikki, so you better praise us!" Yui interjected, her face beaming as she walked up to him.

"Well, I'm honestly surprised. I didn't feel like I was being poisoned at all, though that may be due to Yukinoshita's influence."

"You jerk! I've been getting a lot better at cooking, you know! I haven't made any potential poison in almost a year!" She lightly punched him in the arm a couple times, pouting.

"Ouchie. Anyways, it really was good, so.. thanks, I guess." Hachiman looked away bashfully, a bit embarrassed to be saying thank you in such a heartfelt way.

"You're very welcome." Yukino said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, it was no problem!" Yui added.

Hachiman looked at the living room clock. "It's only 6pm, so there's still quite a bit of time until curfew starts. What else do they have planned?" He cleared his throat a bit. "Ahem, so… what else happens at a birthday party? Do we go home now, or..?"

"First, you're already home, Hikikomori, so there's no 'we'. Secondly, why would we go through the trouble of rearranging the living room if we were just going to have dinner then leave? Lastly, of course we have other things to do, like games and other birthday activities." Yukino put her face in her palm, amazed at how much of an introvert this boy was.

"Agh, jeez fine, I get it. Let's just start said activities so I don't get berated again."

After a few hours of games, karaoke, and one agonizing game of Mario Party, the time had come for presents.

"You guys really didn't have to do anything like this for me, I'm more than happy with just this dinner and company.." Hachiman said while staring at the group of boxes that had been laid before him.

"What are you talking about? Despite how much you deny your involvement, you've done quite a bit for us, it's only natural we repay the favor, right?" Shizuka said, stopping his negative thoughts in their tracks.

"Well, I guess. I'll start unwrapping them then. It's getting a little bit late and I don't want to spend all night just looking at the wrapping paper." Hachiman said, trying to conceal his slight excitement, albeit poorly.

First up was Yoshiteru's, which ended up being a signed copy of one of Hachiman's favorite light novels. "I saw that the author was doing a signing in Shinjuku a few weeks ago, so I went on a treacherous quest to get this for you. You've helped me with my writing a lot, so I thought that I could repay you for that." Yoshiteru said, with only the slightest bit of chuuni slipping through his words.

Next was Saika, with a new tennis racket. "Now we can play outside of school as well. Playing against you is really fun, and I'd like to learn a few of those techniques you've used in the past." Saika smiled, thinking back to his seemingly magic shots he used in his previous tennis matches.

Shizuka then gave her present to Hachiman, a collectors' limited run case of MAX Coffee. "You show more passion for this coffee than most human beings, so I thought you'd enjoy having this. Let's go have ramen again sometime, I've found plenty of new places to check out!"

Following Shizuka was Iroha, who handed him five laminated cards, all labeled 'Get Out Of Iroha Free Card'. "Use these if you ever want to get out of a student council request for a day. I didn't give you that many though, because we both know how much you love supporting the student council, riiiiight?" She winked, and Hachiman swore he heard a funeral march playing in the background for a second.

Finally came Yui and Yukino, who both presented their gifts at the same time to Hachiman.

"As it turned out, the gifts we got for you work better when paired, so we decided that it should be a combined gift." explained Yukino.

"Yeah, after we had picked out our presents for you, we realized just how well they fit together." Yui added.

"Ah, well now I'm a bit curious." Hachiman unwrapped the two boxes and inside was a black cotton turtleneck and a pair of glasses.

"You always wear the same clothes Hikki, so I thought that if I gave you something new, you'd start being open to more than just graphic tees and shorts." Yui said, thinking back to the numerous times she'd seen him in almost any possible color of 'I Love Chiba' shirts and gray shorts. "Sometimes it's good to experiment, try something that isn't just a shirt and pants, you know?"

"I feel like that was a poorly concealed jab at my lack of fashion sense, but thank you, I'll try to wear other clothes sometimes." Hachiman folded up his new gift neatly and put it back in its box before turning his attention to the glasses.

Hachiman examined the glasses before putting them on. They were navy blue and black and had an ergonomic design. "So, are these supposed to somehow diminish my rotten eyes so I don't scare away everyone in a 3 mile radius?" He asked, turning to Yukino with a questioning look.

"You said it, not me." Yukino said, before quickly continuing. "Actually, I've noticed how much you've been squinting at your light novels recently, so I thought that reading glasses would be beneficial for you. I picked the colors and frame that I thought best suited you while keeping in mind your aversion to anything flashy. I hope it's to your liking."

"It is. I like them a lot honestly, they fit my face well and won't draw too much attention, so thank you. Though, I have to ask why you were looking at me while I was reading enough to notice my squint."

"Ah-, no reason! My eyes just wonder when I'm waiting for the tea to brew sometimes, that's all. I just so happen to have seen you glaring so hard at your novels that I expect them to catch fire on multiple occasions." Yukino quickly said, flustered at the fact that he caught that small detail.

"Okay.. whatever you say. Thanks again though, seriously. I wouldn't have noticed myself until it was too late to fix." Hachiman took off the glasses and put them carefully into the case they came in, before breathing a sigh of relief. He looked up at the clock, which read 9:15 pm. "Alright, I think it's about time we wrap everything up, it's getting late."

Everyone seemed to agree with this, and began to place everything back in order.

It was nearing 10:00 pm, and almost everyone had left the Hikigaya household. Shizuka had driven Yui and Iroha back, and Yoshiteru and Saika had walked back to their houses. The only guest left was Yukino, as she was waiting for her sister to pick her up.

"She's running quite late, even for her…" Yukino sighed, looking at her phone for any sort of notification about her sister's whereabouts. As if on cue, the phone rang and she immediately answered.

"Where are you?" Yukino said, her eyebrows creased in annoyance at Haruno's perfectly aggravating timing.

"Well my dear sister, I'm still at that meeting. Well.. meeting turned bar crawl. I won't be home tonight, and mom and dad are out of town on business. You'll have to find another way back to the apartment. Sorry~!"

Yukino could only stare at her phone in appall as the call disconnected. Shoving her phone into her pocket was the only thing she could do to stop herself from doing something more drastic.

"What was that about? You look like you could burst into flames at any second." Hachiman said cautiously, sensing Yukino's murderous intent emanating from her at an alarming intensity.

"My darling sister just bailed on me, leaving me without a way home." Yukino replied sharply.

"Oh. I see. The trains won't be running this late either…" Hachiman trailed off, trying to think of any way to solve this new problem. "We could try and call Miss Hiratsuka… no she's probably back home by now, and I wouldn't wanna bother her. There aren't any hotels in the area either, and cabs are out of the question as well. What can we d-"

"Why don't you just give her a ride on the back of your bike? You let me ride all the time, so it'll be fine, right?" Komachi said as she walked into the living room, shocking Hachiman out of his thoughts.

"First, that isn't legal. Second, it's more like you force me rather than me letting you. And third, Yukinoshita's father is a politician, it would be really bad for her if she was caught." Hachiman retorted, immediately shutting down that idea.

"It's really your only option Bro, unless you're saying Yukino should spend the night here of course." Komachi said, shrugging her shoulders.

Both Hachiman and Yukino's cheeks turned a dark red shade at that suggestion.

"Nope."

"Absolutely not."

"See, it's your only option." Komachi concluded, putting her hands on her hips in a victory pose.

"Fine, you win. Are you okay with it though, Yukinoshita?" Hachiman said, turning to Yukino. "There's no way she'll be fine with this. She still doesn't even consider us friends to my knowledge, and there's her family's reputation on the line. There's absolutely no way that-"

"Yes. I'm willing to go with this idea." Yukino said, a sort of steely determination on her face.

"See Komachi, it's off the tab… huh? Really?" Hachiman did a double take at her response, looking bewildered.

"Yes, it's the only way to get home, so I'm willing to take some risks." Yukino replied.

"It's settled then." Komachi said, nodding her head in satisfaction. "Oh, I know! How about we hide your face? You won't be recognized if you're wearing clothes that obscure your identity, right? Bro, get one of your hoodies, I'll grab a mask."

"O-okay." Hachiman said as Komachi shoved him lightly towards his room.

"We'll be back in a second!" Komachi told Yukino, leaving her in the living room by herself.

A couple minutes later, the two siblings returned. Komachi gave Yukino a black mask and Hachiman handed her a dark gray hoodie with a wool interior. After she had put on her new accessories, Komachi clapped her hands in joy.

"Perfect, with that oversized hoodie covering your eyes, there's no way anyone would recognize you! Alright, time's ticking you two, so get a move on!" Komachi pushed the two towards the front door.

"Fine, fine. You have to stop pushing people though Komachi, it's rude!" Hachiman yelled as he closed the door behind him. He then grabbed his bike and got on, before looking back at Yukino. "Just sit on the back and get as comfortable as you can, 'cause we'll be riding for a while."

"That doesn't look safe to do." Yukino replied, eyeing her structurally dubious seating arrangement.

"Well yeah, that's why it's illegal. But we don't really have any choice. Komachi usually holds on to me for support but, uhhh…" Hachiman trailed off, his brain decided to force stop his mouth to save his scraps of dignity.

"That won't be happening. I'm not one to touch a virus purposely, Hikigerma. I'll just hold on to the sides of the seat." Yukino got on the bike, hands firmly on the sides of her ramshackle seat.

"Yeah yeah I get it. Well, let's get going then." Hachiman pushed off and started their ride back to Yukino's apartment.

After twenty or so minutes, Yukino had decided to pass the time by looking at the stars. "The night sky is always so calming to look at, I often find myself getting distracted by it late at night." She said absentmindedly.

"It is pretty nice, too bad I can't really look at it right now." Hachiman said between pants. "I don't remember the way to her apartment having so many hills…" He thought as he pedaled up the seemingly hundredth one.

Yukino's gaze slid from the sky to Hachiman, realizing how hard he's been cycling the whole ride.

"Sorry. You're working so hard for someone else on your birthday. You always seem to give it your all when helping me and Yuigahama and yet we never seem to thank you for it." She said quietly.

"It's okay, I don't mind if you don't, I don't do it for a 'thank you'." Hachiman replied as they reached the top of a hill.

"Why do you do it then? You constantly overwork yourself in the shadows, making sure that no matter how many mistakes we make, it always works out. You've even ruined your reputation and hurt yourself for the Service Club in the past. And yet you don't expect anything in return? Doesn't that seem unfair?" Yukino asked.

"It may seem unfair to you, but not to me. A wise woman once taught me that in order to achieve a real relationship, you have to struggle, fight, cry, and all sorts of other things. If you avoid things that may hurt, you'll never have something genuine." Hachiman answered, with a hint of melancholy in his voice. "I want genuine relationships. I'm sick of superficial people, including myself. That's why I try so hard, even if it could be classified as unfair. I want to be real friends with you and Yuigahama, and everyone else."

"I see." Yukino began. "Well, Hikigaya, we're-"

"Be careful, there's some potholes ahead."

"Wha-ah!" Yukino was suddenly jolted heavily in her seat, and out of fear she wrapped her arms around Hachiman for support.

Hachiman's heart felt like it stopped for a second, before kicking back into high gear. After he had safely traversed the potholes and was back on paved ground, he glanced down at Yukino's arms.

"Ah, um, the bumps are over now…" He stammered while trying to focus on anything but his current predicament.

Yukino only tightened her grip on him, not replying at all to his words.

"Oh…okay then." Hachiman said to himself. "Maybe she freezes up when she's truly scared. She acted the same way when Yuigahama's dog ran at her." He sighed and continued pedaling towards her apartment.

Once they had arrived, Yukino finally unclamped herself from Hachiman and jumped off of the bike instantly. "Remind me never to ride a bike with you again as I'd quite like to keep my heart from exploding in fear."

"I did warn you that they were coming." Hachiman said, hitting the kickstand on his bike and getting off.

"Not nearly early enough." Yukino snapped, before softening her words. "Anyways, thank you for the help, I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't helped me."

"It's no big deal, I wouldn't just leave you out in the cold." he replied. "Anyways, about what we were talking about before. Don't tell anyone I said that. If that got out to anyone else, I'd die."

"Fine, I'll keep what you said to myself, for now at least." Yukino said, giving Hachiman a chilling smile.

"That's blackmail! I knew I shouldn't have said anything…" Hachiman sighed deeply.

"I'm kidding. You've kept secrets for me before, so I'll do the same for you. Anyways, I should probably get going… Oh, should I give you your hoodie back?"

"Nah, I never wear it anyways, so do whatever you want with it."

"Alright. Good night then."

"Yep, see you later Yukinoshita."

Yukino turned around, then hesitated. After a second, she turned back towards Hachiman as he got back on his bike. "Oh, one more thing."

"Hm?" Hachiman looked back at Yukino.

"About being real friends with Yuigahama and I? Well, in my mind we're already a lot more than just friends." With that, Yukino turned around and went inside her apartment complex.

Hachiman sat frozen for a while, before finally snapping out of his stupor and riding off. "Today turned out pretty exciting after all it seems."