Chapter 28: Abnormally paved romantic comedy
(Sanshokuin Hachiju POV)
After answering father's question, I continued my skimming.
Hmm… the book doesn't state it specifically but I think I can grasp it a little.
From the content of what is written in the book, what 'Nebula Lores' has shown to its readers has the same concept as what hell looks like.
So in other words, those who take even a little interest in the content inside 'Nebula Lores' or sense our vengefulness written in it will have their minds wandering in the memories of hell for a time being.
Shouldn't have vented the stress into it in the first place, how silly I am.
And definitely there's no way I will use the word 'hell' like it wasn't a big deal for the rest of my life, especially after I learned how horrifying it actually is from this book.
Then I noticed that the bookmarks have something written on it.
Forms, feelings, perception, formation, consciousness. These five elements aren't owned by anyone, they are formed through a mean, stayed through a mean, and vanished through a mean. But those who were imprisoned by ignorance and shackled by cravings, take a liking to these five elements and mark their ownerships on them as their selves, theirs, their existences are continued to suffer from the loss of these elements and seeking for new ones then repeat their suffering over and over again. So, should one see these five elements as their selves, theirs or their existences?
After I read that line, my hands lost their strength and dropped the book they were holding.
And it seems Hassen and Hachiman also act the same.
It seems three of us are now on the same boat as the blinded eyes man that father has previously mentioned.
It's undoubtedly something I have never heard before, nor have I been taught to before, yet just learning about it makes me feel like being purified for some reasons.
Is it a paramount happiness that father mentioned?
Whether it is or not, one thing I could confirm is that I think this is what happiness should genuinely be.
(Sanshokuin Hachiju POV Ended)
(Sanshokuin Hassen POV)
When we see the unknown dry limbs get burned, we won't feel anything because they aren't our selves, ours and our existences. So one should see the forms, feelings, perception, formations and consciousness which naturally formed, stayed and vanished through a means as not their own selves, theirs and their existences.
That was what was written on the bookmark I picked up.
Upon reading that, I can sense that something was unlocked.
As a result, I was too occupied by this unfamiliar yet welcoming feeling to properly holding things in my hand.
And it seems my brothers are having the same reaction as me.
I wonder what we look like right now.
Um… is it that horrifying for her, I wonder?
(Sanshokuin Hassen POV Ended)
(Hiratsuka Shizuka POV)
Am I dreaming or what?
Hikigaya and his brothers, they've changed.
Ahem. I'm not talking about them in terms of appearance. Of course they still have their dead eyes and other things intact.
But the negative atmosphere they gave off is severely softened and started to turn into the one that is similar to their father's (although not much).
As a teacher, I could tell that they're becoming better.
However, something bugged me.
"Wait. You triplets came here out of your own will and got fixed. Why didn't you guys do that in the first place?" I asked.
"I don't think you want to know why, Hiratsuka-sensei." replied Hikigaya as he averted his face away from me.
"If I don't, I won't be asking right now." I retorted.
What the heck did you mean by that? Even if you're learned to be considerate towards others you still manage to annoy me.
"It can't be helped, I will try avoiding crude words as much as possible but don't expect much from me." said the older Sanshokuin.
After the considerate Hikigaya, we have the older Sanshokuin who has his malicious intention severely softened, it's really hard to have to get used to this version of them all of sudden.
"The moment we decided to do that meant we no longer had any reasons to count on or wait for anything else whatsoever." said the older Sanshokuin.
"So that's why he said I don't want to know why, huh?" I sadly muttered, in which the girls gave me their confusing looks.
He really did avoid crude words, but the meaning beneath those words are quite clear to me.
It's like they (especially the oldest two) gave it a try on trusting others to help them despite their headstrong attitudes, hoping that there might be a successful one within them. But by doing so numerous times and still not finding one, the number of directions that they could put their trust on decreasing rapidly, eventually, all of their trust will have the real deal who gained their absolute respect as their only target for their trust to direct to.
In other words, that means everyone else, including me, no longer have even a bit of trustworthy left for them.
Begrudgingly speaking, despite how obviously wrong their thoughts are, parts of me agree with them.
Because the fact that I'm here already screamed that I admit it.
Hearing that, Gocho-sensei picked up the box of milk he almost finished and shifted his attention to the older Sanshokuin.
"Here's a question, Hachiju. Between the amount of liquid drops that was left in this box and the amount of liquid drops gathered in the ocean, which one should be considered 'a few' and which one should be considered 'a lot'?" asked Gocho-sensei.
"The amount of liquid drops that was left in this box should be considered 'a few' while the amount of liquid drops gathered in the ocean should be considered 'a lot', father." replied the older Sanshokuin.
"I believe that you also even know how much difference there is between 'a few' and 'a lot' you have mentioned, right? I advised you to give people the chance so you can meet or create 'a few' you're seeking for, not to use 'a lot' as an excuse to justify your hostilities. Also, not everyone stays the same way in their entire life so you have no right to judge them to always be like this or that." said Gocho-sensei, in which his sons obediently nodded apologetically.
Well, that's true. It's possible that they might have misjudged people despite how accurate their past judgements so far and it would be unfair to the victims of their misjudgments.
Come to think of it, although I got scolded by him for my mistakes a lot, Gocho-sensei never once judged me as a bad person.
If it weren't for him being this old and already married then I might have fallen in love with him for sure.
"Therefore, if the urge to judge others occured to you, quickly abandon the following thoughts; people who are better than you existed, people who are equal to you existed, people who are inferior to you existed, people who are better than you non-existed, people who are equal to you non-existed, people who are inferior to you non-existed. It won't be easy but not too hard to do so, no?" said Gocho-sensei.
Because people won't stay the same way they have been, those six thoughts would eventually prove to be wrong anyway so it's better to abandon them right away, huh?
Easier said than done, especially when I was once again being reminded of how I couldn't hold any candle toward the person who said all of that at all.
(Hiratsuka Shizuka POV Ended)
(Hikigaya Hachiman POV)
Easier said than done, especially in Yukinoshita's case.
Well, it's no longer my concern anyway since I have already got my hands on something I need the most after all.
The more I read, the more I understand why my father said that what I probably want to know is already there.
Because the more I read, the more I felt like an idiot for ever coming up with such silly and unnecessary time-wasting questions.
"Once again, I have to admit that you're really wonderful for being able to come up with something like these, father." I praised honestly.
"Actually I'm not the one who should get praised for that. What's written in the books I gave you three is merely my understanding of certain teachings." said father.
"Eh?" Hachiju, Hassen and I uttered in unison.
"Even though it's this meticulous?" asked Hassen.
"Unbelievable…" said Hachiju.
It's really the most convincing line for Hachiju so far.
You meant to tell me that all these wonderful lessons are just some sort of short version of the actual ones? I couldn't imagine that would be possible.
"It's not like I deceived you about what I have said about the book, but it wasn't perfect either. Since the original is still far better than the derivation like these in every ways so I strongly recommend you seek for the original ones if you're truly interested. Not to mention that if it weren't for the original one having its texts faded and no longer intact, I would have given that to you guys despite the fact that it's not completely translated and full of difficult words. But once you read it and understand it, you will gain more than when you read my book, I'm sure of it." said father.
"And what exactly is this 'original' you're talking about, father?" I asked.
"Sutras. But not just any sutras, they have to be the pure, unaltered version of sutras that match with the content inside the books I gave you guys." said father.
Sutras? That's unexpected yet convincing.
"You haven't realized that you already took an interest in the fragment of similar things long ago due to how conveniently mutual it is with your mindset. If only you were serious with it and not just take only the convenient parts you might not have to wait this long." said father.
Was I? Well, whether I was or not, what I would do from now on won't change anyway.
Hachiju, Hassen and I bowed to father and prepared to leave.
But before that, Hachiju took out the book he claimed it's cursed to father's caretaker.
"Sorry to bother you with this but please burn this to ash for me." said Hachiju.
All the girls and Hiratsuka-sensei were visibly confused noticing that.
"Senpai, what's that?" asked Isshiki.
"Something that I no longer need." replied Hachiju.
"Just because of that reason doesn't mean you have to burn it." said Isshiki.
"Being nosy, aren't you? That's a horrible diary Hassen and I vented our stress and vengeance we had in the past in it." said Hachiju.
"For some reason, anyone who took a glance at even a single alphabet written in there will suffer from having all kinds of their happiness robbed away and left with unhappiness for one or two weeks." added Hassen.
"Are you serious?" asked Hiratsuka-sensei in disbelief.
"We are the victims ourselves, and the woman named Sagami also suffered the same way as us through it as well." said Hassen.
"So you two are the reason why Sagami suffered from a mind break and locked herself up in her room for almost a month." said Hiratsuka-sensei as she and the girls shivering in fear.
"Don't tell me that you are planning on using that on us?" asked Yuigahama.
"Depends on the situation, and it's still useful even after we lost the bet we made." said Hassen.
"And it's good for you that none of you will get any of it so rest assured already." said Hachiju.
They couldn't, they feared you two even more.
Isshiki. Sometimes it's a good thing to not be too pestering.
After the girls, including Hiratsuka-sensei, calmed down, we decided to take our leave.
Hiratsuka-sensei took her leave first, meanwhile, the six of us...
"What is it, Rokuji-ossan?" asked Hachiju.
Before we took our leave, Rokuji-ossan called out to us.
"Well, you might no longer want to know about it but allow me to give these to you three." asked Rokuji-ossan.
"We will take them as our Christmas presents from you then." said Hachiju.
It's a bookmark specifically given to three of us as well as three trolley bags.
How thoughtful of him, not only that we could carry these heavy books with less effort but they also can be used as a perfect place for pet parrots to rest.
As for the bookmarks…
"There's no need for you to write such things on this bookmark at all but I will also appreciate it as a Christmas present, Rokuji-ossan." said Hachiju.
"Same here, Rokuji-ossan." said Hassen.
Hmm… now I'm curious. What did he write on this bookmark anyway?
I flipped the bookmark I was given and read the texts.
Have you got yourself a girlfriend, Hachiman?
I almost tore it apart upon reading that.
What a wasteful way for a decoration. I would prefer the plain ones instead of this.
If you doubt my relationship with Yukinoshita then say it to my face.
"Same here, seriously." I said.
After we kept our bookmarks in our shirt pocket and took our leave for a while, Isshiki leered her eyes at Hachiju's.
"What's written in there, Hikigaya-kun?" asked Yukinoshita.
I said nothing and handed her my bookmark, in which Hachiju did the same action with Isshiki.
After Yukinoshita read mine out loud, she handed it back to me as well as averted her face from me.
As for Isshiki, her impression turned complex and she trembled after she read Hachiju's bookmark out loud.
It seems she's still alive as you suspected her to be after all.
"Senpai, who's this 'she'?" asked Isshiki with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"My first love who was supposed to die long ago, Kazami Kazuki." replied Hachiju.
Isshiki pouted upon hearing that and her eyes seemed to want to beg for him to at least sugarcoat it for her.
You're not forgotten about the fact that she's your girlfriend, right?
"Just so you know that it was a one-sided feeling of mine that I arbitrarily gave up without ever confessing to her even once and moved on." said Hachiju.
Isshiki's pouting was replaced by her confusion that Yuigahama and Yuigahama also acted the same way.
"Even I was surprised when I first heard that. It seems like the fact that both Hachiju and Hassen left me during our childhood doesn't allow their romance to bloom if it has the possibility to ruin the sibling relationship their love interests have with theirs. Not to mention that both of them fell in love with the brocons so that's that." I explained.
From their expressions, they probably have a thought like 'They could fall in love?', 'They thought their romance could possibly bloom?' or 'What a dumb reason to give up.' crossed their minds.
What basis are you all using to conclude that they couldn't fall in love? I know that the three of us looked like people who weren't properly programmed but we're not that malfunction.
"However, you have told me that she's dead, what makes you suspect that she's still alive, Hachiju?" I asked.
"Although her death was announced to be certain by the media, I found out that something was strange. Considering the accident that caused her death, it might not be strange that her corpse would be in a scattered state, however, for some reason, her head was not found while others' were." said Hachiju.
"Just because of that is enough to make you suspicious of her death?" I asked.
"If the one we're talking about isn't her then I won't be suspicious. Kazami Kazuki I knew is too dexterous to let herself die easily through such incidents. Even if others who are with her in that incident are dead, I believe she's still alive, not to mention that if there's ten or more corpses, she can fake her death by creating an additional corpse through corpse scattering. However, whether she's alive or dead, it makes no difference to our connection at all since I already decided to give up on her anyway." said Hachiju.
"Is that your way of comforting your cute girlfriend, senpai?" asked Isshiki with a hint of slightly cheerfulness in her voice.
"Rather than comforting, I just have to make it clear to you and now I'm going to have you make it clear to me too." replied Hachiju.
Isshiki tilted her head upon that.
"After what I have told you, which one do you think I take you to be, my girlfriend or Kazami Kazuki's replacement?" asked Hachiju.
Oh right. It's inevitable to not assume that Hachiju might still have a feeling for his first love since it couldn't be assured by his words alone.
Isshiki quieted for a moment and stared right at Hachiju's eyes.
"And what kind of person is Kazami-san anyway?" asked Isshiki.
"She has long, white hair, red eyes and a fragile-looking diminutive body. She usually had on a rather sleepy expression in contrast to her sharp attitude and keen intellect. She was a genius whose intelligence surpassed almost everybody she had been in contact with. Due to this, she is capable of being a leader during dire times, keeping her calm and level-headed composure in many situations. For those whom she did not care for, she is seen as a pragmatic, sharp and blunt individual, and she used those traits to her end by smoothly manipulating people around her, bending them to her will. But for ones she does really care about, she is shown to be a bit feminine, like blushing and acting a bit high-strung sometimes. She also said she did not want to be a "know-it-all" genius, sometimes she just wanted to be a normal girl like anyone else, mostly for her little brother's sake. There might be more details about her but even I don't know it thoroughly since she's in the club while I'm in a go-home club." said Hachiju with a stoic face.
So detailed to the point that the girls expressed their disgust toward him but he doesn't seem to even give them a damn.
Isshiki, after putting off her disgust toward Hachiju's description, smiled brightly despite her obvious foul mood and angry marks.
"No wonder why you fell for her, with all that being said, there's no way someone like me, who has nothing other than gender alike, could become a replacement for a person of such caliber. And even if anyone is fine to be her replacement, you wouldn't even hate the idea of having Shiromeguri-senpai as your fiance, right? Also, I highly doubt that Senpai even wanted her replacement in the first place." said Isshiki as her angry marks multiplied despite having her smile intacted.
"But who cares about that? I'm not going to guess if I'm a girlfriend to Senpai or not at this point because today is the day that I'm going to know everything about Senpai, not to mention that I also get to know how to be with him from his father so why do I even have a need to know the answer of that stupid question especially when knowing it doesn't change what I'm going to do anyway." said Isshiki.
However, all those angry marks vanished immediately the moment she got her head pat by Hachiju.
Isshiki puffed out her cheeks and quietly averted her reddened face away from him.
"Well said, Iroha." said Hachiju.
Did he just call her by her first name?
Well, it's not like that was a big deal for him to begin with.
"Ehhh- huh?" said Isshiki as she turned her face back to Hachiju just to have her face meet one of the books we got from father.
"I'm not going to force you to change into someone that you aren't if you don't want to but make sure you don't screw up when making the decision." said Hachiju as he handed her the book that he almost shoved at her face earlier.
"My parents approved of you, you also have learned enough about me today, all that is left to be done is me learning enough about you and getting your parents' approval, that if you want us to be a couple." said Hachiju.
"And here I thought I had cleared all the conditions, new ones just came one after another." muttered Isshiki as she obediently accepted the books.
"Just so you know that I'm not a fan of 'Secrets make women women' quote, not to mention that you already learned mine so it would be fair if I learned yours as well. Also, the approval from your parents isn't my condition, it's theirs, and it's undoubtedly necessary to get it if you want our relationship to be an official one." said Hachiju.
Isshiki was about to say, or complain about something but decided not to and simply nodded to end their conversation.
There's no need to expect him to act like some kind of ideal boyfriend that he's not good at, especially after he read that book.
By the way, Isshiki surprisingly goes along with the flow even though she could have said something like there's someone that could be a better boyfriend than him such as Hayama as payback, but that also indicates that she only has her eyes for Hachiju.
If it weren't for Isshiki's actions, who would have thought they were a couple, even the majority residents of Sobu High don't even know they're dating.
All of sudden, a sound of some kind of metal hitting the ground repeatedly reached my ears.
Then, something tiny yet shiny flew in the direction of my face.
After that, Hassen put down the trolley bag he held and rushed to me.
He caught something that was about to hit my eyes.
"A ring?" said Hassen.
The shiny thing appeared to be a ring.
Hachiju took a look and touched it a few times.
"Probably an engagement ring. Who would be clumsy enough to drop such a high value item like this?" said Hachiju.
As if to answer his question, someone ran into our direction.
"Where is it? My ring? My precious engagement ring Nii-san gave me?" said that person.
That person is an attractive and cute girl with neck-length light brown hair and blue eyes, wearing casual clothes with a medium-length skirt.
With tears streaming down from her eyes, she desperately searched for the ring as if she was a mother searching for her lost baby.
"Just how many coincidences are going to parade today?" muttered Hassen.
Although there's annoyances in his voice, for some reason I felt like he welcomed the situation.
What do you mean by that?
Then, Hassen, with his hand holding onto the ring tightly, walked toward the girl.
The girl who was still trapped in desperation, bumped into Hassen, but before she could fall on the ground, Hassen held her hand and pulled her up.
"I-I'm sorry!" said the girl.
"It's fine. By the way, is this what you're looking for?" asked Hassen as he handed her the ring.
"Yes, yes! That's my ring. Thank you very much! Thank you very much!" said the girl as she took it in her hands and held it tightly.
Hassen also expressed his smile back at her, and it's not the one with wicked intentions, it's a pure, genuine one.
What's going on here? And I think everyone here thought the same, save for Hachiju, Hassen and the girl.
"Thank you very much, um. How did you know I was searching for this?" asked the girl.
The better question is how wouldn't he know?
"You're still the same, huh?" muttered Hassen.
Your acquaintance? Wait, could this girl be…
"You said something?" asked the girl.
"Nothing special, at least when compared to what I'm about to say next." said Hassen.
The girl tilted her head in confusion.
"Congratulations on your engagement, Kiryuu Mizuha-san." sincerely said Hassen.
Huh? Wait… Kiryuu Mizuha…? This girl is your first love?!
"W-Wha—? W-Wait? H-How? W-Why?" stuttered Kiryuu-san in further confusion as her pupils spinned.
"Kiryuu-san, you're about to drop your precious ring again." warned Hassen.
"Ah! You're right." said Kiryuu-san as she gripped the ring tighter.
"Also, it would be better if you're not wandering around this late while letting your guard down like this, Kiryuu-san, especially when you're with someone other than your big brother, or should I say your fiancé now." said Hassen.
Kiryuu-san wondered for a moment and looked like she's about to realize the meaning (which even I don't) and her face started reddening.
Before she could say anything, Hassen interrupted.
"Wouldn't it be better for you to hurry up and go back to your brother instead of hanging around with another guy like me? What would he think if he saw us together?" said Hassen.
"Y-You're right. Thanks for the ring, um…" said Kiryuu-san.
*Ring ring ring*
With her phone suddenly ringing, Kiryuu-san left us, probably because her brother called her.
"Hassen, is she really your..." I asked.
"Yeah. My first love." replied Hassen.
"I'm really surprised that she's your type, given how you treated Yuigahama I don't even think someone like her would pique your interest." I said.
Kiryuu-san gave off the airhead atmosphere similar to Yuigahama who Hassen acted hostile towards so I thought that even with her appearance resembling what he had told me wouldn't make me doubt if this girl really was the one Hassen fell for.
"Our origins aren't that much different, not to mention that you also used to be attracted to that type of girl yourself and now you're treating them inconsiderately, save for Komachi." retorted Hassen.
I can't argue with that.
Is it just me or Yukinoshita and Yuigahama just glared at us with sour mood?
"Also, I don't think they're alike, at least Kiryuu-san isn't someone who should be all alone outside of the house." said Hassen.
"Why?" I asked.
"She's an exhibitionist, not to mention that she's probably going full commando earlier too." said Hassen.
The girls screamed 'pervert' at him but he didn't care, however, because he blatantly said that, I had to stop Yukinoshita from making a speed dial to the police.
When I asked him why he knew that, he stated that he heard her brother scolded her for went out of the house without having her panties on through her phone earlier (although it does not sound convincing when we're not paying attention to her conversation ourselves), not to mention that Hassen has always knew that she has been like that.
And how does he know it really…
"I don't know if I'm invisible to her or something that she pulled off her panties after she's ensured no one is around but in fact I'm right next to her when she does that, not to mention that she keeps doing it since then with such an amorous impression on her face. Seriously, she's too defenseless for her own good, and at the same time, it keeps reminding me that my presence has been nothing but an air to her so even if she does not have a brother I wouldn't have a chance to begin with." said Hassen.
"You triplets really love pointing out how transparent your presences were, I see." said Yukinoshita as she acted like she got headaches.
Isshiki and Yuigahama nodded in agreement.
"That must be nice, talking about your own unrequited love and confronting them like it's nothing strange." Yuigahama said to no one.
Yukinoshita and Isshiki looked at her worriedly.
No wonder why. If there's something that my brothers and Yuigahama have in common, it would be that they once fell in love with the person who they had no chance to be together with from the beginning.
"It won't do us any good to keep sulking over such a thing for the rest of our lives after all, not to mention that we don't have a time for that when knowing how much oppression our precious brother has to suffer while we're apart from each other." said Hachiju, in which he was called 'brocon' afterward.
After that, all of us continued walking, but something was not right.
The number of footsteps doesn't match the number of people here.
Yukinoshita isn't here.
Where is that chick going? Did she get lost or something?
I searched for her alone and found that she's neither nearby or far away from me, in other words, she probably didn't move an inch since the last conversation.
What do you think you're doing, Yukinoshita?
As I was about to call out to her, she questioned me with a quite serious yet gloomy expression.
Now what?
"Is it fine to be me, Hikigaya-kun?" asked Yukinoshita.
"Huh?" I voiced my confusion.
You still hung up with that?
"I think I may be a very tiresome person to deal with after all." said Yukinoshita.
"I know that." I replied.
I'm not stupid enough to not know that, woman.
"In any case, I've caused you problems and I will still continue to cause them in the future." continued Yukinoshita.
And who in the world would never cause a problem to others?
"You don't say." I replied.
"I'm stubborn and not very charming, let alone cute." said Yukinoshita.
"Indeed." I said.
As if I would interpret the insult machine and an emotional driven girl who stomped my foot as a cute girl anyway.
Yukinoshita paused longer than usual and she's… pouted?
"I wanted you to deny that part at least." said Yukinoshita.
"That's a tall order." I said.
Do I look like someone who would do that?
"And yet you're fine with someone like me?" asked Yukinoshita
"That question, I will give it back to you as it is as well." I replied.
"That's not how you should answer my question." said Yukinoshita.
"What you need to do now isn't questioning me with that, but to settle things once and for all. After all, we promised your sister that we would by the end of today." I said.
I strongly inhaled and…
"The four major factors that represent the distance between people, instead of measuring our distance using those, tell me honestly how you want our distance to be dealt with first." I asked.
Father's words made her realize how imperfect she was, but then what about it.
Do I have to remind her again that there's at least TWO people who were even worse than her in the matters she had just said yet I got along well with them, and sometimes better than with anyone else despite the fact that they LEFT me and Komachi alone for years?
Also, today I have what it takes to take care of such trivial problems like some shitty insecurity so no need to worry!
After a long pause, Yukinoshita approached me, using my chest to hide her face and gently hugged me with increasing tightness.
Her breath, her heartbeat and mumbling could be felt clearly this way.
I guessed I could take this as her final answer.
Not bad, however….
Heart, please stop beating so violently just her mumbling nothing but my first name to my chest! I beg you!
Anyway, this matter is settled with me stroking her head in return.
I have thought that I won't be having a chance to have a normal life like others.
But my life after this, I don't think I can have a normal life like others even if I want to anymore, not like I still want mine to be that way anyway.
Seriously, my teen romantic comedy is paved with abnormalities as expected.
(Hikigaya Hachiman POV Ended)
(Yuigahama Yui POV)
I have no choice but to leave. I left two of them on my own volition.
It's the right thing to do, right?
If so, why did my heart hurt and my tears stream?
"Ara Yui? It's rare for you to not say 'I'm home' when you are… You're... crying?" asked Mama.
Oh right, my mind is so occupied with these emotions that I forgot to say my usual 'I'm home'.
I told Mama that I happened to experience heartbreak.. no, I happened to have another and final emphasis on my heartbreak today.
"And what's up with that book, Yui?" asked Mama.
"It's a Christmas Present." I replied dumbly.
Actually, I was given one of the books Hikki and his brothers get from their biological father by Sanshin-kun, and it's super heavy.
It was because I started running away with tears in my eyes once Hikki left to seek for Yukinon.
As if he understood what I'm on about, he blocked me with the book that I hold on right now.
He told me to take it and may think of it as an apology Christmas present from him since it would be far more effective than a mere handkerchief to wipe off my tears, that's if I use it correctly.
And if I don't find it useful, he said he can return it back through Hikki.
His wordings are still getting on my nerves despite his intentions no longer being malicious anymore.
Before I wished Hikki could fix something about himself, but once he changed, things became more difficult for me, how annoying I was.
It's not like I can do anything other than crying anyway so at least I'm going to try on this one.
(Yuigahama Yui POV Ended)
A/N: Chapter 28 for you readers, even I don't want to believe that it took me until Valentine's Day to finish this one chapter alone, anyway sorry for the wait and please enjoy the chapter.