February 14 2022
An Unexpected Tryst at the Rooftop
Sweetness And Bitterness
Hikigaya-kun led us out of the school building without turning back once. He also didn't take his hands off of mine and Minami's but I didn't mind. We did do something similar to him earlier when we jumped at him. Once we turned at the corner, away from the curious glances of the schoolmates that we would walk past, I poke his arm to get his attention.
He looks to me to see hear what I have to say. "Hey, wasn't that… Ugh what was her name again… Tch!" I click my tongue in annoyance when I briefly forget her name.
What was it… It was on the tip of my tongue when the thought of getting some ice cream distracted me… Ice-cream… Ice… Snow… Yuki…
"Ah! Yukinoshita-san!" I snap my finger with a grin. "Wasn't that Yukinoshita-san? I haven't seen her in a while!"
He blinks at me before shrugging and nodding with disinterest. "Yeah. What about her?" Yuuko who was walking at the front turns to us at the new topic being opened. Minami on the other hand was looking at her phone but I can tell that she was still listening on.
"Well, I wanted to say hello…"
Hikigaya-kun scoffs and shakes his head. "Heh, no offence Ehime-san, but I doubt that she even remembers your face." I frown and pout and attempt to stomp on his shoe, but he sees through me and removes his hand from my hip and quickly holds my left earlobe in response. He grins sadistically and chuckles when I yelp and yield to him.
"Ack-! Okay! Okay! I give up!" I cry out as he twists my earlobe, before releasing it. I give him a nasty glare and rub my ear to try and soothe the pain away. "Asshole…"
"Fufufufufufufu! Nice try, but you can't get past my [Mystic Eyes]."
I have no clue what he's talking about, so I just turn to his giggling girlfriend for context. "Just ignore him, Naomi, let him be a Chunni now and then~!"
Minami finally opens her mouth after leaving the school grounds for the first time. "Eeeehh… Chunni huh. My little brother was like that once. He was super gross and cringe, but kinda funny."
"Asshole… Well, I think you're right about that anyway. Yukinoshita-san has always been a bit…disconnected? Like, on the few times that we talked, she didn't seem like she was listening to me at all. Or something like that." I say, not sure if I had conveyed my words properly.
I didn't have to worry about that since he slowly nods in agreement. "Yup. And don't forget being cold."
"Hmm, is she like that?" Yuuko asks and puts a finger to her lip. "I mean, she looks like a nice person but-"
"Aside from that, I've never heard anything else good about her. I've heard that she looks down on everyone and her personality is that of a block of ice." To our surprise, Minami interrupts and puts her phone back in her blazer. She was frowning and sounded irritated. Hikigaya-kun looked like he had expected that from her.
"You had a run-in with her too, Sagami...?" He asks with a raised brow.
"Yeah. At the cafeteria once. She bumped into me and refused to apologize while eating on the table, mind you! Like I was eating at the edge since the place was packed that day. How that heck was I supposed to avoid her when she walked up from behind me?" She says with agitation and gesturing with her hands.
Hikigaya whistles at the new information. "Ah. That's something to be expected from her…" He lets go of her hip and starts patting her head. "Jeez don't get too worked up over it."
Minami's eyes become half-lidded. A shadow seemed to go over her face as she gives him an expression of disgust and displeasure.
"Gross, stop touching me, you creepy pervert."
Yuuko and I giggle as Hikigaya continues without a care, despite being glared at with daggers from the smaller girl. Minami also didn't make a move to stop him. Their staredown continued, Hikigaya looking calm and at ease while Minami glaring at him with hostility. Both of them not taking their eyes from and daring the other to stand down.
Unfortunately, there was a slight change in footing on the sidewalk. It became slightly higher than a step before it.
"Kya!" Minami let out a cute and unexpected yelp, tripped and lost her footing. Almost falling to the ground had Hikigaya not caught her in time by grabbing her arm.
"Damnit don't yelp like that…" He pulls her up as the four of us briefly stop. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." She thanks him begrudgingly and blushes a bit when Yuuko and I start teasing her. We continue walking to the train station, but the topic of our conversation soon go back to Hikigaya's cold friend.
"You should've seen Hikigaya and Yukinoshita-san going at it back then!" I say, recalling my memories as a First-Year since I was classmates with the two of them. I tried inviting him to my circle of friends back then, but he was always so busy with other stuff, and maybe still shy. Nonetheless, since he was nice to me and didn't hesitate to help us out, I returned the favour. He wasn't exactly a loner, but he didn't have a particular group of friends to be with. If I had to describe it, he was like a floater that drifted off wherever the wind took him. Sometimes eating with the boys, sometimes the girls, some social circles in class, but usually he's alone where we realized that he was most content. "Yukinoshita-san was brutal and merciless when they would argue, but Hikigaya was always calm and collected. He was all like:" I stop for a moment and clear my throat, lowering the pitch in my voice and imitating him
"'Yukinoshita-san, you have a cute face, but the way you struggle and writhe to surpass me is adorably pitiful.' And he'd say that while giving her a conceited look. You know, like a villain that you'd see in movies! Oh! Like imagine a male Ojou-sama giving that 'Ohohoho~!' laugh! "
Hikigaya turns to the side and covers his face in embarrassment. "Ehime…don't bring that up please..."
Yuuko stifles, before bursting out into laughter and Minami was no less the same.
"Pffftt-! Hahahahahahaha! Holy shit, Ehime you should've told me about this sooner! This is priceless! You have to tell me more!" The pretty girl exclaims loudly and clutches her stomach while holding onto Hikigaya-kun's sleeve, earning curious glances from some of the people across the street and the neighbourhood shops that we walk past. Minami switches places with Yuuko and doesn't walk parallel with us since it'll block the sidewalk. She chuckles behind her mouth and gives him a mischievous look.
"Uwaah… That's so cringe and Chunni… Hehehehehehehe."
Hikigaya-kun visibly flinches from her words and mutters under his breath. "I-I still think I sounded cool."
"Hey, remember when you two got paired up for the Class Rep thing? I still remember your face back then, you looked like you wanted to be anywhere else rather than being near her." I add while the two other girls are still laughing at him in the background.
He scratches the back of his head absentmindedly. "Well, can't say that you're exactly off the mark." He sighs with exasperation and shakes his head. "I think she low-key hated my guts. Maybe I murdered her in the past life or something I dunno."
"Haaa? Low-key? Are you being sarcastic? I don't think you know what that word means…" He gives me a questioning look but Yuuko jumps in before I could explain it to him by affectionately poking his cheek.
"Hmm~… She sounds like more like a rival to him than anything."
"I heard that she still feels frustrated that she can't beat him in academics…" Minami says while looking closely at the ground lest she trips and falls again. Her bag isn't with her, and I realize that she must have made him carry it for her at some point since it's being held by his right hand. "That's way too petty if you ask me…" She says the last part more to herself and with a strange undertone in it.
While we were talking, I hear something vibrate from inside his blazer and he takes out his phone with his free hand. I expected Yuuko to get curious and ask him who it was, but she continued talking about the nice places that we should go to this evening. First, we were going to get a little snack, then take a look around the commercial district if we see anything interesting. If we still have some time, we'll go the arcade and play some games and have dinner after that. He presses a few buttons on it and puts it back in his pocket, and only then did Yuuko ask him about it.
"Just Hayama and Tobe asking if I wanted to play football. I had to politely decline since…" He glances at the three of us, pausing while looking into our eyes with a blank expression. Minami and I laughed when Yuuko blew air onto his eyes when it was her turn to get glared at. He pretends as if nothing happened and goes on. "I got kidnapped by three vixens."
"Three very beautiful vixens, amirite, Hachi-kun~?" She grins cheekily goes on her tiptoes and plants a quick kiss on his cheek before he could react.
"KYAAAAAAAAA~!" I couldn't help but make a giddy squeal at the sight and Minami pinched my side to shut me up since it was embarrassing. Quite a lot of people have seen us since we were nearing the busy train station.
A faint blush blossomed on Hikigaya-kun's pale face, a crooked smile forming and desperately holding it back. Yuuko giggles and rubs her cheek on his shoulder while grinning up at him and making him even more embarrassed at her affectionate display.
He might not be on the top of the list when it comes to physical appearance among the boys, but he isn't bad-looking either. It's just that he always looks so serious and cold that it can be a turn off at times. His aura of dignity and decorum, as well as his known status and reputation, can sometimes make him feel unapproachable and too intimidating. So seeing him get flustered at being teased by his cheeky girlfriend like this…
It's kind of cute and amusing to see this side of him.
"I'm home…"
I say, knowing full well that my words will just echo in this empty apartment. With slow footsteps, I take off my shoes and switch to indoor ones after turning on the lights. I tired sigh escapes from me, not from the physical exhaustion from school today, I did nothing to warrant such a result. It was something else entirely.
"I'm sorry Yukinoshita-san, but I'm quite busy."
I could not stop thinking about his words. The way he said my name, it sounded like I was a stranger to him that he cannot even care less about. His cold gaze as I struggled to find the right words made it a monumental effort to just breathe in his presence. Every little movement from him made me twitch and look down in fear. It was a miracle that I was even able to gather the courage and seek him out. I had prepared myself for the possible outcome that he might reject me, but it still hurts.
It hurts so much that tears threatened to fall from my eyes earlier.
I shake my head and take a deep breath, pushing all unnecessary thoughts away from my mind. Though it is harder than I care to admit.
After taking a quick bath and drying myself, I go to my room with only a towel over my body. I was halfway to the cabinet where I stored my clothes when something on the foot of my bed catches my attention. My legs move on their own until I find myself before it.
It was a bag filled with some shirts and other essentials for Hikigaya-kun. I wanted to invite him for dinner so I can properly apologize, and perhaps convince him to spend the night here with me. I had carefully picked these based on his personal preferences. And of course, I only chose those of the highest quality. I do not want him to think of me as some fickle girl. A sense of disappointment fills me as I look down on them with a melancholy smile.
Ah, if only he had said yes. But then again, he said that he is busy with some other things. There is always a next time. I am sure that he will see reason and accept my invitation at some point. If it comes to it, I will ask for Yuigahama-san's help if need be.
With that in mind, I put his things away into my closet and dress myself to prepare dinner. Upon opening the fridge, I remember that I had bought more food since I had planned to cook for him his favourite meals had he come here as a show of my genuine sincerity. I can just cook them on Monday morning, bring them to school and invite Yuigahama-san or him for lunch. The latter I am not sure he would accept. Or perhaps I can ask Nee-san to come here, but that would only raise her brow since I normally do not do such a thing. After cooking and eating dinner, I wash the plates and brush my teeth and head straight to my bedroom since I want to sleep early tonight.
Before lying down, I send a text message to Hikigaya-kun asking him how he is doing and knowing full well that he will not reply to me anytime soon. Our conversations in the past were short and meagre, the topics mostly about the Service Club. The last text message that we exchanged was nearly two months ago. I managed to get his number from Yuigahama-san, she is much closer to him than I am. Which is obvious given her character and personality, as well as being classmates with him. Even his other female classmates are friends or in warm relations with him. It is a fact that I am very envious of.
I set the air conditioning temperature to 23 degrees Celsius and turn off the lamp beside my bed, the only light in the room peering from between the curtains over the windows. The moon is covered by the clouds so much of the light was from manmade sources all around the apartment building. As I stare at them and my mind begins to wander, the beams of light look like searchlights looking for something in the darkness. I almost feel like a prisoner, hiding in the darkness while my wardens are seeking me out.
I lay in silence with nothing but the silent whirring of the Air Conditioner and my thoughts to occupy my mind. I was mentally and psychologically exhausted but physically still quite fine. I don't normally sleep this early, it's still 7:30 in the evening. Still, I choose to close my eyes and hope for the best.
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I feel something in my chest. Unnoticeable at first but gradually became to ache after every heartbeat. It was as if an ethereal hand was over my heart and slowly tightening its grip over it. My eyes soon tear up as hot streaks of tears fall and wet the pillow underneath my head. No matter how much I shut them, they kept coming out the more I resisted and the pain in my heart became unbearable. I open my eyes and look to the ceiling, letting go of the bottled up emotions that I had sealed shut for what felt like an eternity. I don't bother wiping the tears from my eyes since I have lost all feeling of my arms and hands. Hiccups rack my body and my vision becomes blurred from the tears, but there was only one thing in my mind.
I finally gather the strength and wipe my wet eyes with my hands and I accidentally taste the saltiness of it when it brushes against my lips. Just as I had thought that it was over, I feel as if a knife is slowly piercing my heart and twisting here and there. I cry out his name no matter how pointless it may be with a strained voice and teary eyes.
A-Ah…
It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts…
It hurts so much… I feel like I am about to die…
I knew that it would hurt…
But I didn't expect it to hurt this much…
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Hikigaya-kun…
Happy Valentine's Day :)
I'm going to rename this Fic sometime soon, (I think) so press that button that keeps you updated (Is it Favourite? Follow? idk) just in case I do it on an earlier date. I already have a title in mind but I'm still thinking about some other stuff.
See you next time :)