Understandably, Sagami Minami Remains To Be Bitter
Do you ever get those days where the world just seems like it's out to get you for some reason?
I can't help but ask myself that as I ran as fast as I could to try and make it to the classroom before the school bell rang.
Allow me to explain why I'm harbouring such a thought so early in the morning.
For some reason, my alarm did not go off and I woke up much later than usual.
I hit my toe on the side of the bed as I rushed to my closet.
An unannounced water interruption caused by a nearby leak happened while I was taking my shower.
We ran out of gas so I had to eat a half-cooked breakfast to start my day.
In my rush, my bike had to run over a sharp nail which seemed to have appeared from the nether thus, forcing me to run to school while carrying my trusty steed with me, effectively even slowing me down further.
But you know what?
It's all good.
I'm totally fine.
After all, if you're late by just under five minutes then there was a good chance that the teacher was still on the way to the classroom and they won't catch me entering the classroom on the last minute.
I was betting on this small possibility.
An optimistic hope from Hikigaya Hachiman of all people?! Will it suddenly snow today?
Well, not really. It's not that ridiculous.
In fact, I have a very solid basis for this.
If too many good things happen in sequence then it was only going to go downhill from there.
The same can be said in reverse.
If too many bad things happen in sequence then it can only get better from that point, at least, comparatively speaking.
Loner Skill No. 8: Stealth Hikki.
I was now finally right in front of my classroom's entrance. A certain degree of balance should be utilized here. If you apply too much force, the door opens too fast and will hit the wall which would attract too much attention. Conversely, if you pull too weakly then it will only make it creak and that leads to the exact same scenario I mentioned earlier.
What you need is just enough strength to make the door move as if it was the gentle breeze in a fair day.
This wasn't the first time I've ever been late and it's not like I'm afraid of being tardy. Far from it, I've been late in multiple occasions last year. What I was terrified of was what Yukimama would have me do if she finds out I was late even once.
*whoosh*
With all my experience, I managed to pull off such a complicated maneuver and easily salvaged the predicament that I was in.
Surely, given how terrible my luck was earlier, it couldn't possibly get any worse…
"Hikigaya."
…Or it could.
I felt like my soul left my body when I heard my name being called up.
Turns out, Otonashi-sensei was already taking attendance and the timing of him calling my name lined up at the exact moment when I just opened the door.
"You're late, Hikigaya." similarly dead eyes gazed at my own, his being gray while mine were pitch black.
"Yes, sorry for being late, sensei," since the cat was out of the bag already, there was no use in trying to play dumb.
I cast my gaze downwards and silently headed to my seat. Upon sitting down, I found myself massaging my temple with one of my hands as I zoned out the ambient noise of the classroom, of course all after I greeted Tobe, Ebina and Miura with a nod beforehand.
Once taking in attendance was finished, Otonashi-sensei turned his gaze back towards me. At that moment, I knew that the worse was yet to come.
"Hikigaya."
"Yes, sensei?"
"As punishment for being late, I will have you be the class' male representative for the Cultural Festival Committee," his attention then turned towards the rest of the class. "Of course, only if no one wants to take the post for themselves."
I was initially hit by a strange sense of deja vu that did not involve a drifting car before I calmed down and remembered something important. [1]
Unfortunately for sensei, given how the festival last year ended and the part that I played in that, there was no way that anyone was going to let me in on the committee once again.
Right?
.
.
.
I stand corrected.
For a brief moment, I forgot that people are inherently selfish.
As such, they'd rather let me potentially destroy another girl's self-esteem than make the noble sacrifice to end up being dumped with more work.
Well, it was no secret that being in the committee is more work than helping out in what the class wanted to do for the festival so I can understand their thoughts.
Heck, I would have done the same thing if I were ever in their position.
"There you have it, Hikigaya. We'll be relying on you to do your best on the committee okay?" the smirk that Otonashi-sensei made was so reminiscent of Hiratsuka-sensei's own expression that I had to physically stop one of my brows from twitching in annoyance.
"Understood."
"Alright then, who's going to be the partner of Hikigaya over here?"
Now this is a whole new different story altogether.
After all, the girl whose self-worth I destroyed just happened to be the same girl whom I partnered up with in the festival committee last year.
Now although I didn't do that on purpose, it can't be avoided that people tend to connect these kinds of things with you whether you like it or not. I don't blame them. It was so easy to end up with that conclusion after all.
This reluctance was evident from how almost every girl in the classroom acted. It was either them being completely silent or they were trying their best to try and avert their eyes away from sensei's gaze.
As the teacher who just replaced Hiratsuka-sensei just this year, he should've been aware of what went down during last year's Cultural Festival but because he wasn't involved there himself, he probably couldn't completely understand the hidden implications of it all.
"No one then?" Otonashi-sensei looked a little apologetic after saying that. "We don't have much of a choice. I'll have to elect our female class representative to be a member of the committee. Are you okay with that, Ebina?"
It can't be helped. I guess it's time for me to cash in on a favor she owed me last summer.
I made eye contact with Ebina and tilted my head slightly downwards such that it made it look like a bow.
She seems to have gotten my message as she responded with a light nod from her side.
Before she could get the opportunity to stand up and accept the post…
"I'd like to do it!" a clear voice rang out in the classroom whose only sound for the past few minutes was Otonashi-sensei trying to convince one of the girls the pair up with me.
The owner of said voice was easily spotted as she was the only student who raised her hand in the class filled with individuals who obviously did not want to be involved.
Needless to say, Otonashi-sensei had no reason to refuse her enthusiasm.
"Are there any other volunteers?" Otonashi-sensei asked as a formality. He even waited for a few minutes for someone else to get the guts to raise their hand but that moment never came to be. "Well then, we'll be relying on you and Hikigaya. Do your best, you two!"
With that, both male and female representative were asked to go to the Student Council office while the rest of the class began to brainstorm what we'll be doing for the festival.
…
"Who would have thought that you would decide to take up this role yourself?" I threw that question towards the girl beside me who foolishly volunteered to be the female representative of my class. From the way her brows furrowed, she wasn't too pleased with how I stated my inquiry.
"What's that supposed to mean? Any complaints?" the girl said while crossing her arms to her chest and showing a displeased expression.
We were still walking towards the Student Council office which would be the place where all the other class representatives would gather starting today until the day of the actual event. On the way, I decided to open some small talk, it was a little habit I despised from this clique in the past but it was now something I unwittingly picked up from them. This was also my way of adjusting to my counterpart who preferred to have this kind of conversation rather than my usual preferred silence.
Intense green eyes gazed back at my dull black irises.
The owner of these verdant orbs was of course…
Not Ebina Hina but her best friend, Miura Yumiko, Sobu's Fire Queen instead.
"I'm not complaining," I bowed to display my sincerity. "I am really thankful, in fact, I'm moved. It's not often that a girl volunteers to be my partner in these kinds of things. You have my thanks, Miura."
The one with Sagami last year didn't count.
Though I have a vague idea of Miura's other motive for putting herself in this position, I still appreciated the gesture. After all, the only two girls that I'm comfortable working with in our class are either her or Ebina. As such, this is a big help for me in more ways than one.
"Is it really that big of a deal?" Miura asked back with slightly redder cheeks than normal.
"Yeah, it is. You have no idea how many girls in the past pretended that I was air," I sighed after I finished. "Let's not get too into that though. I really don't like the idea of reopening any old wounds if I could help it."
"How bad was your childhood even, Hikio?" Miura asked worryingly to which I responded with a wry smile.
"It's at the point where calling it bad would be an understatement," I waved my hand off as a gesture for Miura to not think about it too much. "But its fine now, I have you guys anyways."
Hearing the latter half of my statement prompted Miura to look away from me.
While I initially thought that she found me acting a little too presumptuous, that sentiment changed when I heard her next set of words.
"If you have anything you're worried about, you can always come to me for help, Hikio."
Never in my wildest dreams would I ever imagine for Miura to say something like that to me.
Perhaps this was the reason why my entire morning was awful.
Alright reality, I'll take this trade.
I consider us even for now.
"Sure. I'll be relying on you when that time comes, Miura."
"Mm."
While we were descending the stairs, Miura decided to open up a different topic.
"Is committee work difficult?"
"I wouldn't really describe it as difficult but it's not something easy as well," I stared at the ceiling as I tried to come up with a way to realistically reassure Miura's worries. "Then again as third-years, our workload should be comparatively lighter than last year so it will be fine."
"Why is that?"
"All the third-years are expected to still be continuing their studies for university exams even if it's during the festival preparation. As such, majority of the workload are on the lower year's shoulders. The second-years will lead, the freshmen will follow-up and us seniors will only need to support them," I raised my hand and began to enumerate our potential tasks one-by-one so that Miura can have a better idea of what to expect. "We will probably work mostly on budget adjustment, proposal revisions, double-checking of records as well as damage control in case our kouhais mess something up," I waved my hand languidly afterwards to make it seem like what I just said was no big deal at all. "Essentially, it's like we're babysitting."
"That still sounds like a lot of work to me though," Miura commented with a disgruntled face which only made me chuckle.
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to try and help you out with your work as well. You can consider it as my thanks for pairing up with me."
"That wouldn't be right. If I'm doing this, I'll do it properly!" Miura frowned after hearing my suggestion but ultimately lightened up at the end of her statement. "But if I really need you help, I'll ask for yours, okay?"
There was no reason for me to refuse if she was willing to put in the effort. After all, that would mean less work on my end.
"Sure."
Shortly after that, we now came face-to-face with the door to the Student Council office.
…
"Oh! Hachi-senpai, you're here! Yahallo!" Iroha strolled towards my direction and greeted me. Once she was right in front of me, she noticed Miura who came with me. "Ah, you're here too Miura-senpai! Yahallo!"
"Yo, Iroha."
"Why did you make me sound like an afterthought?" Miura huffed in displeasure before just letting her irritation go maturely. "Anyway, hello to you too, Isshiki."
After we exchanged greetings, Iroha guided us to our seats where an unpleasant reunion waited for me… And maybe even more so for the other party.
"Ugh! It's you!" a voice filled with disdain echoed from my left side. Turning around, I was met with the scowl of a girl with short brown hair. While she definitely possessed all the traits for her to be considered popular, if she was put beside girls like Miura or Yukino who are on the same school, she definitely fell short. More than that however, what stood out to me were her resentful brown eyes.
As far as I know, there was only one girl in this campus who harboured such a grudge towards me.
It was Sagami Minami.
It's just like they say. Speak of the devil and they'll come.
I blame Hiratsuka-sensei for all of this.
I'm pretty sure it's because she mentioned her name to me when we were drinking back at my birthday.
In all honesty though, I really have nothing against this girl but you can't blame me for getting a little annoyed when she reacts like this just because she saw my face.
The seats were arranged such that it followed the alphabetical order of the classes on each year level. The boys and girls were seated alternately. As me and Miura belonged to Class 3-F, it could not be avoided that beside us were the class representatives of Class 3-G where Sagami Minami apparently belongs, which would mean I was seated right next to her.
Since we technically knew each other, I decided I might as well do the bare minimum and greet her.
"Hello," I say before turning my head elsewhere. If she didn't like to see me then I'll do her the favor and try to make myself as less noticeable for her as possible.
Needless to say, I wasn't the only one who noticed Sagami's presence.
"It's Sagami, huh?" Miura involuntarily projected her imposing queenly aura as she said which startled Sagami a little.
"Geh?! Miura?!" Sagami then took a few seconds of alternating her gaze between Miura and me. "Wait, you're the other representative along with this creep? Ah, is it some kind of punishment game? That must suck."
Miura noticeably became angrier after every word that came out of Sagami's mouth. As someone who's been friends with this girl for a while, I could easily spot the metaphorical flames building up on Miura's visage.
At that point, I knew she was not just going to quiet down.
"He's not a creep. He's..!" Miura tried to defend me but I tapped her forearm to get her attention before things got worse. When she turned her head to me, I immediately shook my head to try and dissuade her from what she was about to do. "Ugh..!" she stopped herself in between and left Sagami hanging. The Miura of the past would not have yielded but after understanding that this will likely do more harm than good, Miura just chose to close her mouth.
If the atmosphere wasn't awkward before, it sure as heck was awkward now.
It was a good thing that an existence that could easily dispel this kind of mood was just within the classroom.
Similar to how I was beside Class 3-G's female representative, Miura was also seated next to Class 3-E's male representative.
He was taller than the average male high school student and he had a body build that would not be obtained by someone who didn't train in a sport, a crown of blond hair like that of a foreign prince was on his head, he had blue eyes that gleamed like sapphires and a smile that could only be described by the word perfect. Literally every fibre of his being was trained to always give the other party a good impression.
The person I was talking about was none other than Hayama Hayato.
As expected of the most popular male student in the campus, his entrance alone garnered the attention of everyone in the room. Some even stopped what they were doing in order to get a glimpse of him. His popularity was already at the level of a celebrity at this point but the guy was able to act calmly and respond to each and every greeting without breaking a sweat.
Given his situation, I knew he would not ignore me at this timing.
"Yo, Hayama," I greeted a little louder than how I usually would.
The purpose of this was not only to make Hayama hear me but also to attract the attention of the two girls who were on the verge of fighting just earlier.
After all, for these two and probably 99% of the female students on campus, Hayama was not an existence that they can just ignore.
"Hayato?"
"Hayama?!"
After passing a glance on each girl for one second, Hayama's gaze then locked onto me. At that moment, I immediately communicated my intentions through my eyes.
I'm counting on you.
One of Hayama's brows twitched ever so slightly but there was no way I was going to miss a reaction like that.
Even if I hadn't asked him to do this, there was no way that his tendency of trying to make everyone happy won't automatically kick in at this kind of scenario. While he has indeed become a bit more selfish with the clique, he still has a long way to go before he could emulate that in a much grander scale such as this one.
"Hello, Hikitani. Yumiko and Sagami too, hello," Hayama then feigned a troubled expression. "Ah, did I interrupt something perhaps?"
As if looking virtually perfect wasn't enough, Hayama was also a sharp person, not only in academics but also in social cues. The fact that he instantly understood what I needed him to do for me without me explaining it to him vocally is more than enough to prove that point.
Really, you can't help but think that the Kami above are a little unfair.
"It's nothing too important right, Sagami?"
"Yeah, just random girl stuff. It's completely fine."
As tempting as it was to retort that it was probably the first time that I heard these two girls agree on something, I restrained myself from doing so in order to not risk fanning any potential flames.
Instead, I opted to scan the room to check who the representatives from the other classes are.
Naturally, given her excellence in administrative work such as this, Yukinoshita Yukino was chosen by her class as the representative yet again. When our eyes met, I made a slight bow to her which she acknowledged with a nod and a vague smile. Since she was in Class 3-J, she was seated quite far from me so this kind of greeting will have to do for now. We can always talk later after the meeting.
On the other side, also a bit far from my reach was another friend of mine, Yuigahama Yui. She ended up being the female class representative of Class 3-D. When our eyes met… Or rather, her eyes seem to have been glued on my direction for quite some time now so it's more appropriate to say that when I finally met her gaze, she beamed and waved her hand at me whereas I just nodded in response.
Both Komachi and Taishi also seem to have been elected for their respective classes as well.
As it turns out, the entire roster of the Service Club have all become part of the festival committee this year. Just like last year, we probably won't be able to open the club to process the requests of the other students for the duration of the Cultural Festival though I can't say the same for the third-year's study group. That will ultimately be up to how busy the coming days will be.
The other Service Club members aren't the only ones that I was acquainted with among the members of the committee. The two new aces of the Tennis Club, the fiery-haired Takahashi Takibi and the bespectacled Kayano Kaito who both belonged to different classes were also present. They both acknowledged my nod with a greeting of their own.
Aside from that, it also seems like some of our juniors recognize me though I have no idea who they are. The female representative with wavy bluish-green hair who appeared to belong to Isshiki's class has been casting sporadic glances my way and I've pretended to not notice her chestnut brown eyes on me each time she did stare at my direction. There was also a first-year who had short strawberry-blonde hair. Unlike the former, this girl's grey eyes just locked onto me and she wasn't being discreet about it at all.
There was also a third gaze being cast on my direction but as the source was literally right beside me, I didn't pay it any attention however the same cannot be said by the owner of the stare herself.
"You've become surprisingly popular now, huh," it was Sagami once again but after a few seconds wherein I didn't say a single word, she went ahead and shook my arm that was closest to her. "Hey, are you ignoring me?"
Unfortunately, my hunch was right. This girl was actually talking to me for some reason.
Without looking at her direction, I decided to defend myself.
"I just assumed you weren't talking to me in particular. After all, as far as I recall, you pretty much hate my guts."
That caused Sagami to flinch but even then, she chose to respond to me after a few seconds later.
"I was just making small talk. It's taking way too long for this meeting to start and we're not allowed to use our phones so…"
I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable like this but I guess it helps that I now have an idea of what her intentions are for talking with me. For the time being, since I wasn't doing anything as well, I decided I might as well entertain her whim.
"I see. Well, I guess that's understandable," I say as I scratched the back of my head. "Regarding what you mentioned as my popularity, it's more appropriate to call it as gratitude as those are just my kouhais who I've helped out as a member of Service Club."
"You didn't seem to greet the two girls though?"
I had no idea that she was observing me that closely but I'll pretend that I didn't hear that for now in favour of correcting her misunderstanding.
"Frankly, I don't know who they are and I'm not even sure if they really are looking at my direction in the first place. After all, Hayama is just two seats away from me. They're probably just looking at me so that they won't be caught by Hayama when they look at him," by the end of my statement, I shrugged. "That's why I wouldn't call it something grandiose like popularity."
It took Sagami a few seconds to respond after that. It even reached the point where I thought the conversation between the two of us was already over.
"You've changed," she suddenly said. Since I was certain that she was talking to me this time around, I decided to glance towards her for the first time in these past few minutes that we've talked.
It was still a bit difficult for me to discern anything from her because I don't know her too well but given her body language, it was a safe bet to say that she didn't seem to have any bad intention…
At least for now.
"And you seem to still be the same," I commented as I redirected my stare back in front of me.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" she asked a little irritated but I chose to answer her vaguely.
"Whatever you want it to mean."
Before she could raise another complaint, the last pair of representatives from the third-years finally arrived.
"Sorry we're late," came their apology but everyone did not mind it too much in favour of the relief that this meeting can finally begin.
And given the situation, there was of course only one person who can initiate this session.
"We will now formally begin the first Festival Committee meeting."
Topaz-like irises that normally gave a mischievous light scanned all the other individuals present on the room.
Who else could it be but the Sobu's Current Student Council President, Isshiki Iroha herself?
When she is acting like this, you really can't help but feel that she really is fit for the job.
Now if only she could carry on this demeanour regularly, that would be swell.
"The first agenda for today's meeting will be to select who the Festival Committee Head will be…"
As soon as I heard those words, my eyes inadvertently darted towards the girl to my left.
Before the panic got into me, I remembered one infallible fact.
We were now third year students.
While there was no formal rule that disallowed the seniors to take on this role, it was implicitly discouraged.
After all, that extra time should be used by the graduating students towards preparing for the coming university exams which is less than five months from now.
As such, the Committee Head is usually chosen from the pool of second year representatives.
At that, I breathed a sigh of relief.
There was no way that the hell last year will ever be repeated now that Sagami Minami will be unable to lead the committee now.
It seems I was not the only one with that worry. From the corner of my eye, I could see some of the second-years and third-years throw a passing glance towards Sagami to which the latter could only endure by lowering her eyes.
"…Are there any volunteers?" Iroha asked the group of representatives solemnly. Her eyes were fixated mostly towards where the second-year students are.
Right, there was nothing for me to worry about anymore. It was not only Sagami who learned from that incident, the other students from back then did as well.
No one from the second-years would dare to step up to this task with a wishy-washy feeling anymore.
And yet, why do I still feel paranoid?
It was probably just all the series of unfortunate events that happened in the past few minutes.
Surely, given how terrible my luck has been this morning, something positive was bound to happen next.
That girl who is from Iroha's class looks proficient enough. She would likely be a decent candidate for this.
"I would like to take up this role."
That hope was dashed when I heard a voice that was definitely not feminine.
The student who stood up just happened to be the male representative of the class that Iroha belongs to.
He wasn't particularly tall and the way his posture was a little slouched did not make him seem like the most confident type of person. He had brown hair styled into a bowl cut and brown eyes underneath a pair of spectacles.
He looked completely like your average male high school student but it was not his physical characteristics that shook me to the core.
Rather, it was his identity.
That student was none other than Sagami's brother.
Why the heck do I have a bad feeling about this?
…
In order to come up with an effective plan of how we wanted to execute our study group even during the Cultural Festival preparations, the clique decided to cut our session short and allocate the last thirty minutes before the school bell rang to have a meeting.
"We should try half the usual study load for tomorrow," I suggested while I noted Yukino's eyebrow twitch. She was probably thinking that I wanted to slack off once again. "We'll then adjust accordingly if we think it's doable to increase it or not."
"I suppose this is fine but isn't cutting it down to a half a little too excessive?"
Of course I saw this resistance of Yukino coming from a mile away.
As such, my retort has already been prepared in advance.
"We should not underestimate the burden on the mental faculties of us, the members of the Festival Committee, and the physical fatigue of the rest of the clique who will be helping out on their class," I then decided to play my trump card at this juncture. "I really don't want to see you or any of our friends here get sick because of getting over-fatigued."
My remark prompted Yukino to sharpen her eyes in displeasure.
"How dirty."
I shamelessly shrugged. At my words, the rest of our friends began to naturally follow up.
"I will not let Yukino get sick because of getting overworked ever again. Not on my watch!" so declared the Fire Queen who was agreed to by the majority of the clique.
"You should learn to take better care of yourself, Yukino," the rational advice this time came from Saki.
"That's right. You're much frailer than us after all," supported Ooka who is directly being tutored by Yukino herself.
Of course, it would take more than this to make Yukino yield.
"Yukinon…" that soft cooing voice instantly flustered the Ice Queen.
There was only one existence that could easily bring down this ravenette's walls with one word just like this.
Yuigahama Yui.
"I don't want to see Yukinon pushing herself too much again, okay?" Yui gently said as her hands wrapped around one of Yukino's own.
"But that's..!"
Before she could get another word out, Yui pushed her advantage.
"Promise me you won't do it again."
Now that things have reached this point, it was already for Yukino.
Checkmate.
My current score tally against Yukino so far has been: Hachiman – 8 | Yukino – [insert big number here].
However, an absurdly large number is equivalent to infinity.
The concept of infinity could either mean extremely large or ridiculously small.
Since emptiness is no different form and form is no different from emptiness, that basically means that the two are interchangeable.
In other words, you can substitute zero for infinity.
Hence, the final tally is: Hachiman – 8 | Yukino – 0.
Thus, it's my win.
QED.
See? I can be good at Math.
Wait, does this even count as Math in the first place.
You know what? Nevermind.
Moving on.
"Alright… I promise…" her lapis lazuli eyes were now redirected towards me. Instead of the gentle light they had when she talked with Yui, all she had for me was a glare. "I swear Hachi-kun, if this is all a scheme just to slack off..!"
"Don't worry. In fact, I'm setting this up as a contingency plan just in case," I cut Yukino off before she could say anything else.
"What do you mean by that, Hikigaya?" my words prompted Hayama or rather Hayato to voice out his suspicions.
At that, I could only scratch my cheek and reply a little awkwardly.
"I really don't want to say anything because it might really end up happening."
"Eh?!" that over-the-top reaction came from Tobe. "I didn't know you were the superstitious type, Hikitani bro!"
I, of course, denied such a claim.
"It's not that I'm superstitious, it's more like I just really don't want to deal with other troublesome things if I could help it."
My gaze was locked completely on my smartphone's clock, as if urging it to move faster.
It was very nearly approaching the end of school hours, around fifteen minutes in fact.
There's no way anything else is going to happen at this juncture.
Surely, given how terrible my luck has been the entire day, it couldn't possibly get any worse…
"Onii-chan! We need you help!"
Oh come on!
SS: Firmly, Ebina Hina Makes A Stance
During the meeting conducted by the Festival Committee, the rest of the students of Sobu were also busy brainstorming in their own respective classes about what it is that they wanted to do for the festival.
Class 3-F was no exception.
"Alright, now that we've got the representatives out of the way, it's time for us to think about what we're going to contribute to the school's festival," he turned towards Ebina's direction. "Ebina, as the only remaining class representative, can I ask you to take charge?"
At Otonashi Osamu's request, Ebina stood up and bowed.
"Of course, sensei."
With that, Ebina was now standing in front of her classmates while Otonashi settled down on his teacher's desk.
"I'll be right here in case any of you guys have questions or anything. Please cooperate with each other, alright?"
"Yes, sensei!" the class answered in unison.
A back-and-forth discussion which involved Ebina and several other members of the class followed…
Is what was supposed to happen but it seems that Ebina as well as most of the girls of Class 3-F were thinking about something else.
"Girls," the heads of all the members of the fairer sex in the classroom straightened their seating postures at once upon hearing Ebina's call. "We all know what we want to do, right?"
It is usually overlooked because of Miura's overwhelming presence but as a member of the same popular clique, Ebina herself was quite influential among the other girls in Sobu.
"Of course, Ebina-san! We'll leave it to you," came the declaration of one of her classmates to which Ebina nodded and began writing something on the board.
"Otonashi-sensei, we've already decided!"
A part of Otonashi Osamu wanted to retort at the fact that they didn't even consult with the boys first but upon analyzing his own state who was sweating bullets from the pressure exerted by his female students, there was no way that the boys of his class would be in any better shape than him.
After taking a look at what Ebina wrote on the blackboard, he made his decision.
"Right. Maybe I can help you guys with this as well."
If you can't beat them, join them.
Naturally, an adult like him knew how to back down from a fight he couldn't hope to win.
My condolences, boys.
At that point, the remaining guys in the class even ended up thinking that Hikigaya was lucky to have been chosen as their male representative.
Or was he?
SSS: Needless to say, Hikigaya Komachi Keeps An Eye On Her Troublesome Brother
"Hikitani bro, did you do something?" a confused Tobe Kakeru asked Hikigaya Hachiman while they were out playing on the sea. He was accompanied by two others namely Ooka and Yamato.
Hikigaya Hachiman could've easily played dumb at this juncture but after the most recent turn of events, there was no way he could keep his mouth shut.
"I didn't do anything recently that would make Miura make that kind of action," Hikigaya admitted before sighing. "But I can't say for sure that my actions or my personality after I joined the clique did not influence her in some manner."
"Then…" the one who spoke this time was Yamato. "Were you aware of this side of Hayato from the very beginning?"
Hikigaya nodded. "Yes, but not entirely. I knew he had a hidden side to him but as to what it is exactly then I'm not too sure."
This was two days after Miura's confession to Hayama.
Sure enough, the differences with their attitudes between each other were worlds apart compared to how they were before.
"We're an embarrassment as friends," Ooka sighed as he let his body sink into the water a little further.
Hikigaya took a few seconds to note the expression of the three before saying anything else.
Tobe Kakeru looked lost.
Yamato was just staring blankly at the sky.
Finally, Ooka's eyes were filled with a lot of self-loathing.
They were states of mind that Hikigaya Hachiman were very familiar with.
It wouldn't even be an understatement to say that in the same age group, he was probably an expert.
As such, he was the perfect person to help them out.
And the best way he could do so…
Loner Skill No. 50: Maou Hikki
…Was to hit them with reality as hard as he could.
"So what?" those two words prompted the three guys to look at Hikigaya who in turn was casting them a reproachful glare. "Whether you were negligent in the past or were just taking things as they go doesn't matter," Hikigaya's gaze softened and inadvertently landed on the rest of their friends on the distance. "You should be asking yourselves this instead. What can I do for them now?" Hikigaya's lips twisted into a smile. "Isn't that what's most important?"
The three guys who finally understood his intention also began to smile.
These smiles slowly turned into a grin, a chuckle until it finally…
"Hahahahaha!"
…Transformed into full-blown laughter.
Even Hikigaya himself laughed along with them after being influenced by the mood.
"Seriously, what will we do without you Hikitani bro?"
!
Those words that Tobe casually dropped shook Hikigaya to the core but he tried to pick himself up after a few seconds later.
"You're exaggerating. All you really need to do is watch, talk and listen to the clique members more properly from now on. Anyone can do that."
Although Tobe just nodded earnestly, Hikigaya's words were interpreted a little differently by one of the three.
"You're not going anywhere, right?" asked Yamato rather nervously.
!
It was the second time that Hikigaya was caught by surprise in this conversation. Nevertheless, he once again decided to conceal his reaction.
"What makes you say that?"
The way Hikigaya tried to hide what he was really feeling was very similar to how that blond friend of theirs glossed over his own secrets so the trio couldn't help but be a little bothered.
Nevertheless, they decided not to force the issue for now.
"Well, just tell us if you ever need someone to talk to," Ooka said while pointing his thumb towards his chest. "You're free to talk to either of us any time."
!
Hikigaya never thought that the day would come where this trio that he mentally branded as idiots would ever console him in this manner.
"I'll keep that in mind," his response was met by the smiles of satisfaction from the trio of boys.
It seems that it wasn't just Miura that I underestimated.
When he arrived at that revelation, he too couldn't stop his lips from curling into a smile.
"Let's go Hikitani bro. We don't want to keep the others waiting."
"Right."
It might've looked like Hikigaya helped those three with their own insecurities but looking at it from Hikigaya's own perspective; it was those three who helped him with one of his biggest doubts recently.
Once again, his position in the clique was reaffirmed by someone else.
Even though Yukinoshita and Yuigahama had already proven to him somewhat that he was an important friend to the others, hearing it from those people themselves was definitely much more significant.
And so long as he still has a role to play in the clique, Hikigaya Hachiman had no reason to leave.
…
"What took you so long, Hachi?" Yuigahama asked after Hikigaya approached the group.
"Nothing too serious, really. It's just a little talk with the boys."
"In that case, it's got to have been something perverted," declared Miura who fully expected that her statement would send the logician in a flustered state.
Unfortunately for her, Hikigaya Hachiman had already devised the perfect way to counter that statement.
"Those who automatically assume that the topic between boys is something lewd is usually the one with a dirtier mind," the smug expression paired with how flat he delivered his argument easily turned Miura as red as a strawberry.
"Wah..! That's not..!"
"Now now, Hachi, Yumiko, let's not fight," so said Yuigahama as she tried to soothe her best friend.
Before the Fire Queen could completely recover and sock him in the face, Hikigaya made his move and swiftly changed the topic.
"So Yukino, what did you call all of us here for?"
The younger Yukinoshita heiress moved to the center of the clique and threw a glance at each individual first before saying anything else.
"Because this is the last day that we can stay at the beach, I thought that I should prepare something more memorable for you guys," Yukinoshita brought her mouth to a black item she held on her hand, a walkie-talkie, and delivered a set of instructions towards the people on the other side. "Please do it."
A few seconds of silence followed after that.
*swish*
A trail of light soared towards the sky. After reaching a particular height, the light scattered and left a beautiful pattern at the apex of its ascent as well as a sound akin to booming thunder.
That was only the beginning.
Similar trails of light began to chase after the first one, each delivering their own overwhelming visual and auditory sensation after they reached their respective destinations.
Simply put, it was the opening act of a fireworks show and a grand one, at that.
"Waaah! Fireworks!"
"It's beautiful!"
"Oooohhhhh!"
"Woooow!"
"Amaziiing!"
While the fireworks show continued and the clique members began to unconsciously stick closer to each other, Hikigaya found himself inadvertently taking a step back from the rest.
One step…
Two steps…
Three…
Before he was even aware of it, Hikigaya was already a few meters away from the rest of the clique.
As dazzling as the fireworks are, the brilliance exuded by the budding friendship of the people in front of him did not seem to lose out. How much more would that radiance sparkle if given more time?
At this point, Hikigaya's eyes were now locked on to the clique instead of the fireworks.
The pictures painted on the sky did not evoke his emotions as much as the bonds of the group of individuals in front of him.
Sure enough, there were still a couple of things lacking but friendship by itself is an ever-changing process so things were fine just the way they are right now. You could even say that the fact that their bonds could still come out stronger made it even more valuable.
Hikigaya made an expression filled with melancholy as he arrived at a conclusion.
"As expected, I… Ouch!"
Hikigaya's comment was interrupted by a stinging sensation on his ear.
Turning around, he saw the figure of Komachi with her arms crossed while wearing a pout.
He didn't think he did anything wrong to her just recently but from his experience in dealing with his imouto, it was better to pretend that he did.
"Komachi, did I do something to make you mad perhaps?" the big brother's inquiry was done with a whisper that was very close to Komachi's ear because she wouldn't be able to hear anything otherwise due to all the noise the fireworks keep making.
"Onii-chan is an idiot, a big idiot!" despite all the explosions in the air, Hikigaya could clearly hear the insults his little sister uttered to him.
"Komachi…"
"I could see it too!" came Komachi's exclamation before Hikigaya could even get a word in. "Komachi knows what Onii-chan is seeing and what he is thinking. We're siblings after all."
"In that case, you should understand that…"
"No!" once again, Komachi went ahead and interrupted Hikigaya. "It's Onii-chan who doesn't understand anything! No matter how bright they looked from where you're looking, the light that Komachi saw will always be brighter!" Komachi looked at her brother in the eye and continued. "Because Onii-chan is there with them!"
Her words prompted Hikigaya to reflect on himself even amidst the unceasing noise of the fireworks.
How many times will I have to be told that before I finally get it?
First it was through Yukinoshita and Yuigahama.
Next it was by Tobe, Ooka and Yamato.
And now, it was done by his very own sister.
"Onii-chan, go join them."
The answer to his insecurity was so simple all this time.
If he couldn't stop doubting himself then all he had to do was believe in the words of others whom he's put his complete faith in.
Sure enough, he could never bring himself to question his own sister's words.
"Right, I'm going."
When he got back to the rest of the clique, he stayed right there with them until the end.
As the last firework exploded in the sky and showcased a myriad of different colors, Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't stop himself from thinking that this was the perfect way to end the summer vacation on such a high note.
Wait a minute. Am I missing something here?
Although Hikigaya had such a thought, in-between packing their things and the travel back home, he was unable to get the opportunity to sort it out.
It wasn't until he woke up the next morning did Hikigaya finally realize something so obvious.
Wait a second..!
One look at the calendar on his room was enough for him to remember what he just forgot.
Summer Vacation was not quite over just yet.
And if he took yesterday's fireworks show as the peak then…
It was only going to go downhill from here..!
Unfortunately for Hikigaya Hachiman his paranoia was right on the money.
Author's Note:
Shot myself in the foot with that one, huh?
As expected, even if you offhandedly mention a character since it was the first time Sagami was ever mentioned in this fic, you can't help but feel suspicious.
I was naive enough to think that I could smokescreen it by putting Orimoto up last too.
Either way, what's done is done and as promised (sort of) since a lot of people got it right, I've uploaded the next chapter a little sooner (sort of) than planned. I really hope that hasn't affected the quality though I did run my usual checks on this beforehand.
With that, welcome to the School Festival Arc.
By the way, if you think that there's some inconsistencies that you've missed even though you've read the prequel then relax you didn't miss anything, it's probably something that happened in an SSS which I haven't gotten to writing just yet. Don't worry, everything will be clear to you guys soon (I hope).
Nothing much to be said for this chapter from me, just the usual setup chapter which will act as a foundation to the entire arc. If you've followed this fic for a while now, then you should know the drill already.
I also have a side project called Loner X Family (LxF for short) which is an Oregairu and Spy X Family crossover. Now while that one is marked as complete, I might still write omakes and the like for it occasionally so if I didn't update here for a much longer interval than usual then that is probably the cause. If you haven't checked that one out then please do. Unlike in this fic, the romance in there isn't a slow burn hahahaha.
Since the turnover for last chapter's guessing game was pretty good, let's try it out once again shall we?
Okay ignore the rule about this game completely focusing on the main chapter because I feel like that severely limits my options. It's also because given what I set up in this chapter, the answer will be quite obvious. From now on, I'll just mention which part I'll have you make your guess, alright?
Anyways, this time I want you to guess which character will I use in the title of the Side Story or the SS for short.
Today's hint: This character has short hair.
Too vague? Too bad, judging from my rough outline, the next chapter is going to be long so it would really help if you guys don't get this right.
If you're interested in participating, feel free to include your answer in your review.
Now with that out of the way, time to get on to the reviews from the previous chapter.
Regarding guest reviews, it's a bit difficult for me to acknowledge you specifically but since I arrange my responses in chronological order, you should know who I'm trying to respond to because of that.
Godzilla is the goat: Yeah, it's good to be back. Also, it's very nice to see you reading this again. I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, neither of Haruno's names end with I so you got it wrong.
SoulR3ap: Not quite there. As an implied hint, you should always exclude the characters that already had a major appearance in the current chapter as I usually rotate them around to give the rest more screentime.
Funkmaster1979: Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm glad to see you as well. Yep, those kinds of developments will probably become more frequent in this part. Unfortunately, Kawasaki's next moment will have to wait.
Deathenglegamers1144: Thank you for the compliment. While Isshiki is definitely a good guess, it's not yet her time for now.
HeroukaGrey: There we have it, our first winner. How fitting for it to be one of my earlier readers too. Thanks for the support. Congratulations and thank you for participating in the guessing game. Unfortunately, the only prize I can give you and the others is a slightly earlier upload than normal. So here you go, enjoy!
TemPexal: Congratulations for second place! Regrettably, there is no special prize for second place and it is instead shared with everyone else instead. You'll have to forgive me for that one. I hope this chapter can make up for it.
NNathann: Thanks. I'm happy to see you following this as well. Nothing too exciting for this chapter just yet but I hope I can surprise you at the climax of this arc.
Coochies: Well, it's understandable that you won't miss that little hint. Congratulations for getting it right though third place prize is the same as everyone else's hahaha. I'm hoping to see more of you in the coming chapters.
Guest: Hello, I'm guessing you've been following this series for a while then. Thank you for that and your suggestion is very much noted. Congratulations for guessing right as well because of that everyone is able to read this a little sooner than originally planned.
hakkuchan: We meet again. Thank you for the support. I'm quite flattered that you consider this fic to be your favorite. At any rate, you can always reread the previous one and maybe I'll have the next chapter up when you finish doing so. Hahaha. Just kidding. Well, if you're interested, I do have another fic called Loner X Family as a side project so check it out if you have the time.
Shiroraven: Hi, thank you for still being here. I do have several twists in mind but whether they're as interesting as I think they are will all be up to you readers to judge.
Gid Lucione Deviluke: Yep, I did. Thanks for the support as always. While Taishi is a unique guess, it's not the one I'm looking for right now. Good try though.
Idepths: Yep, it's good to be back. Thank you very much for waiting.
ghost9: Sorry, you're not. Try again on this one maybe you'll get it right this time.
Guest: I did think of writing an addendum but in the end opted to just keep things simple with just Part 2 instead.
Guest: Now why would you say that? Come on, don't lose hope yet. I will say though that I wouldn't really count Sensei as a character whose name ends with the letter I but you do you.
1.6180339887498948482045868: Oh another longtime reader! Thanks a lot for still sticking with the series. Nice try with answering Kawasaki but because she just got her spotlight, I'll have to bench her for now.
Thank you all for these reviews. Your input is very much appreciated.
To everyone else who takes the time to read this fic, a huge thank you to all of you as well.
That's it for this chapter.
I hope to see you all again in the next one.
Reviews, follows and faves are all very much appreciated.
May everyone's good wishes and realities intersect.
Morii Hikikko
References:
1 – Insert song from Initial D