"Thank you for the ride, Haruno-san." I say as I step outside the vehicle. The air was cold, but not too cold that I would need a jacket. It's quite a relief that the grocery was still open, and I could see several patrons inside the store.

"No problem, Hikigaya-kun!" For some reason, she got outside of the car and stood in front of me. She wore plain jeans and a black blouse with frilly girly designs, but she still looked nice.

"Now, stay still." She said. I was confused, and more so when she suddenly held my upper arm.

She had an analyzing look while she patted me down, and she also began feeling my forearm. After that she let go and and walked around me with a hand under her chin. I stayed quiet, still confused but I was afraid what she will do if I disturbed her.

She finally stood in front of me and stared at me in the eye and I unblinkingly returned her stare.

"You've grown." She finally said.

"How so?" I ask.

"Well, you got taller since I last met you."

Hmm, she's right. We're at eye-level now. She did wear high-heels back then but I'm sure there's a noticeable difference from another viewing perspective. But I don't feel like I've grown. In all honesty, I still feel like the wimpy loser that I was from Middle-school. The only difference is I'm not doing anything cringe-worthy anymore.

Well, as far as I can tell anyway.

"Ah, it looks like I have." I replied cooly.

"Now don't get cheeky here, Hi-ki-ga-ya-kun, I'm still your Onee-san, you hear?" She grinned and pinched my cheek. Ouch.

"Yes yes. My cheek hurts." I say as I rubbed it after she let go. I'm jokingly exaggerating of course.

"Well, would you like Onee-san to kiss the spot to make the pain go away?" She said in a flirty and suggestive manner. The way she said it made my heart skip a beat and become delusional. She batted her eyelashes at me while I was caught off guard by how luscious here lips looked-

WOAH THERE! I nearly for that trap! If I did, I would have probably be on the floor licking her shoes right now. Or confessed to her on the spot. Whichever comes first.

"Thank you for the offer but I'm not the unfaithful type." I say in a neutral tone with the underlying meaning in my words. She's not the only one that can be such a cheeky tease.

"Eh?" She broke character as her eyes widened in surprise. Oh, her face is so priceless. If I could take a photo of it, I'd make it as my phone wallpaper.

I just lightly smirked at her as she anticipated my reply.

"..."

"..."

"It was a joke."

"Damn you." She grinned and lightly hit my arm.

"Well," I point to the grocery store behind me with my thumb. "I have to go. Thanks again and tell Yukinoshita I said goodbye."

"Ara, what a gentleman you are, Hikigaya-kun." She put her right hand near her cheek in a mocking Ojou-sama image. That said, I can sense Yukinoshita's gaze from the inside of the car, even with their windows tinted black.

I roll my eyes at her. "That's just called being courteous." I turn around and didn't look back as I entered the building behind me.

Waking up is a chore.

Getting up from your bed is annoying.

I love sleep. It's peaceful trance as the hours go by can never be compared to anything in the material world. That's why I sleep as much as I can wherever I can, even at school and at the train. I sleep during breaks, even though Yukinoshita would give me a disapproving look, and also sleep at the library if I have extra time. The librarian there already knows me, and doesn't mind me resting there. A teacher caught me sleeping once, but he sighed and gave me an understanding look with a pinch of pity on top.

Great, now my teachers are feeling pity for me. And getting pity from someone is the last thing I want.

But sleeping and waking up in your own bed at home is an entirely different matter altogether.

Some wake up alone in their room, some wake up with their cat sleeping next them and some wake up with their partner beside their bed. But today, I woke up with someone beside my bed.

"..."

When I fully registered the situation, I gave her a deadpan look while she have me a sleepy cheeky grin. Her hair was obviously messy but she still looked cute as heck.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. She pouted and buried her face into my neck, humming in a satisfied tone to herself. I sighed in exasperation and glanced down and noticed that she was wearing one of my sweatshirts. Doesn't she know that a girl wearing a guy's shirt is equivalent to a castle raising the flag of it's conqueror?

I didn't protest as she wrapped her hands around me and locked them together behind my back, effectively immobilizing me. Even through the fabric of my t-shirt, I felt her cold hands as she pressed herself as much as she can to get as much warmth from me as possible.

Poor thing, she must be freezing.

Even though I didn't mind the physical contact, someone downstairs might be stimulated too much. It is morning after all. And as a male, there are some bodily functions which I have no control on, in other words, a natural reaction. With that said, plus the one unknowingly (or knowingly) stimulating me was a female, makes this situation all the more harder to bear.

"Komachi, let go. I have to get up." I say though my voice was a bit muffled because her hair somehow found its way near my mouth.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to crawl into my bed?" I added and made a slight movement, which caused her to make a whimpering sound. I made a mental note to request Dad to put an additional lock in my door.

"Noooo~~" She replied as she pulled herself closer to me while her right leg intertwined with mine.

Oi this is going a bit too far. Even though you are my silly Imotou, there are still some limitations you know. I tried getting up but she whimpered again and her grip tightened. I have to use my secret weapon then!

I slowly moved my hands to her sides, nothing near anything provocative of course. Komachi has always been a ticklish girl, and as her big brother, I know all of my little sister's weak spots.

Wait, that sounded wrong.

I tickled her sides with my magic hands and her reaction was immediate. She squealed in surprise and she grabbed my arms in an attempt to stop me. Resistance is futile, little one.

"AH! NO! STOP AHAHAHA!" she pleaded me while the corners of her eyes already had a trace of tears. My inner sadist awoke when I saw her vulnerable and pleading face, and I intensified my assault. I grabbed both of her wrists with my left hand and pinned them above her head, neutralizing any resistance she might give and effectively making her even more vulnerable than before.

"I'm going to mess you up and leave you senseless." I declare before resuming my attacks.

The cheeky little brat that was stubborn a few minutes ago was replaced by a drooling and mentally broken shell of a human being who can't even utter a single word.

Status of Komachi: Mind Broken and Defeated.

"I'm going downstairs and making breakfast." I say as I walked towards the door, but not before covering her with my thick blanket and rolling her limp body into a sushi. Satisfied with my work and turning up the heater in my room, I open the door to go downstairs.

I don't feel really cold. I mean do feel that it's cold but not enough for me to start shivering or cover myself with a double layer of shirts at home. Maybe my jogs in the early morning amidst the cold morning air gave me a resistance against the cold?

I peek in my parent's room and I see Mom alone sprawled on the bed. Dad is busy at work and wasn't able to come home recently. He mentioned that the construction of the ship was behind schedule due increment weather impeding the progress construction. I haven't seen him in about two weeks, but he makes his presence known through other means.

Wait, I'm making it sound like he passed away...

Whenever he goes to a new place, he always sends us a package filled with food ingredients from that area. He went to Hokkaido and sent us some authentic noodles for ramen the other week. I frequently hear that ramen chefs there are unparalleled. I tried cooking the first batch, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped. Maybe I shouldn't have added too much spring onions, or my chicken stock that I added later lacked flavour. I took a mental note of my cooking so I can make it tastier next time.

Kamakura greeted me by meowing and brushing himself against my leg. He purred as I scratched the area behind his ear as he licked my hand.

I took out some eggs, olive oil, pepper, salt, garlic, onions and of course, the frying pan. Alongside the miso soup and grilled smoked salmon from last night. I was quite getting good in cooking fried rice, so I decided to make that with thinly sliced pieces of garlic. I experimented by adding small pieces of leftover fried fish, pork, chicken, beef and even scrambled eggs, the results were great.

I happened to bump into Shiromeguri-senpai yesterday and ended up leaving the classroom to eat with her in the Student Council room. After telling her that I usually cook my own lunches, she asked if she could have a taste of my lunch, to which I replied yes since I cooked too much. Her eyes had hearts when she tasted a spoonful of my lunch filled with blood, sweat and tears. Figuratively speaking, of course.

Anyway, she said it tasted great and it made me feel really happy. It was the first time that someone outside my family tasted my cooking, and said that it was great on the first taste to boot. I am not a perfect cook by any means. I made numerous mistakes and experiments that ended with failure. But I was quick to learn from them and became extra careful not to repeat the same mistake twice.

Since I was already in a hurry, I opted to just buy whatever food that was available in the cafeteria instead of cooking my own lunch. What a shame, I had no time to eat a proper breakfast, but at least Mom and Komachi won't have to worry about food for this morning.

I went back up to my room to see that Komachi was still sleeping, same with Mom. I showered quickly and changed into my school uniform after drying myself. The new black jacket that Mom bought me the other day fitted me nicely and I loosely put my red scarf around my neck. My bag was already on the sofa, ready to be taken at a moment's notice.

Just as I was about to pick up my bag and put on my shoes, the doorbell rang.

"Package for the Hikigaya household!" A person's voice called out from outside.

Interesting, what could this be?

I opened the door and saw the delivery guy-I mean girl, I think she was about Haruno-san's age. A sudden cold breeze and then a few snowflakes getting into my eye. At her foot was a box around 3 feet by 1 foot in size. This must be from Dad.

"Good morning!" She said in greeting, no doubt being courteous to customers and the like is important in a job like her's. Customer satisfaction through quality customer service. If the customer is impressed by the service given or is just a generous and kind soul, he will give a tip to the employee. Unfortunately, many culture's view of tips differ, it is either looked down upon and seen as insulting or demeaning to the employee or either one that is done without question like an unspoken rule of sorts. I read that in Dad's old college books by the way.

"Likewise." I replied. She produced a small wooden clipboard from her bag, some paperwork for me to sign, no doubt.

"Please sign here and your full name please." She pointed and I filled them out. After taking it back and checking, she gave a satisfied nod. I leaned down to pick-up the box, it was heavier than it looked.

"Thank you for your hard work." I thank her as she went back to the small truck that was parked in front of our house. Now that is an upstanding productive member of society that every child should grow up to become. I went back in and put the box on the couch. After getting my bag and putting on my shoes, I went outside and locked the door behind me.

I didn't want to ride a bike since the road might be slippery, biking in cold weather, even with the absence of snow can be dangerous. A small amount of frost might have formed on the road in the early hours of the morning, and I'm not taking any chances.

The walk to school was uneventful, though I had to slow my pace a bit because I might slip and fall and break my neck and die. But that's just me over-thinking things as usual. I craned my neck up to look at the sky. Snowflakes were slowly falling to their inevitable death when they reached the ground, a few crows cawing from the top of electric poles, two cats huddling close to each other for warmth, some cars here and there and the occasional fellow student walking to school.

There was a convenience store nearby, so I decided to make a detour to get something light to eat. Fainting half-way through the morning because of an empty stomach is not part of today's plans. Though that does not mean that I am a fragile weakling per say. This is just a necessary countermeasure, needed to preserve my dignity and to prevent my social status from plummeting even further.

I was startled by how cold the handle of the door was since I was not wearing gloves. As I pushed the door open, I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt the heaters inside. There were several patrons inside, the usual corporate slave and my fellow students. I bought milk in a carton and two melonpans. After paying for my items, I briskly walked outside so I can arrive in class on time. My plan was to eat while on my way there, but I didn't feel like it so put it in my bag.

When I turned at the corner that lead to the classroom, I bumped into Hiratsuka-sensei that was also going in that direction.

"Good morning Sensei."

"Good morning, I was just about to look for you." Hiratsuka-sensei said when she turned and met my eyes.

"What is it?"

Instead of reprimanding me for my somewhat rude reply, she narrowed her eyes and gave me a searching look. Do I have something on my face? Or is it my grotesque physical form that abhors you?

"You look…pale. Have you eaten your breakfast yet?" She asked.

"I woke up late and skipped breakfast." I shrugged my shoulders. Thanks to a certain someone, I am not in my current predicament. If that certain someone had woken me up instead of crawling into my bed and making me her personal heater, I could have avoided this.

"Do I look noticeably pale though?" Komachi, Mom, Sensei and even Tatsumi-san would frequently comment on this whenever I skipped eating.

"Yes you do."

"Ah." I got one melonpan from my bag and showed it to Sensei. "I have this though." I added.

"I'll give you five minutes to finish that. There's a pile of papers with a note "1st Years". Go to the other classes and distribute them. You can do it during lunch time." Sensei turned, her hair swaying at the motion and started walking away to our classroom ahead.

Woah, that looked cool.

Sensei's eyes scanned the room. Sharp as a hawk and piercing as a…spear…?

Anyway, he was looking for a poor soul to answer the question. It was a simple question really, stating the taxonomic ranks in order. But I'm not so sure if my classmates find it simple. I don't know about them but I have already read this topic over the weekend because I had nothing much to do since Taekwondo lessons over and would resume next year and as one who frequently watches nature documentaries, this was, as riajuus say, "A slice of cake."

*Hikigaya, I think you mean "A piece of cake."*

Ah.

Since I already know this lesson, I rested my chin on my right arm and lightly closed my eyes, only opening them if Sensei ever looked in my direction. I'm not really feeling sleepy, but for some reason my eyes felt really dry. Maybe it's from the cold wind outside.

Sensei finally called the name of his victim, the female student stuttered her answers out, which earned some restrained giggles here and there. I caught Yukinoshita lightly glaring at the ones who did, but I doubt the others here noticed it.

Ha! Nothing can escape my [Emperor's Eye]!

Our biology class continued, though I had already read this lesson in advance, I was still intrigued by Sensei's additional information that wasn't found in the textbook. After Biology came Japanese History, Algebra and Japanese Arts and Literature, and then finally, it was lunch time.

I immediately stood up and went about to begin my task in which Hiratsuka-sensei charged me with. Because I was a frequent visitor of the faculty office due to my student council duties and as on of the class representatives of our class, most of the teachers have grown accustomed to seeing me there and some of them even gives me friendly greetings. A few of the teachers started following Hiratsuka-sensei in which they would always pick me for errands. I'm not the only class rep you know!

After my internal rants and complaints, I dutifully did what was commanded like stupid blind obedient dog of the government, now where did I put my State Alchemist pocket watch…? A State Alchemist without the symbol of his rank is a disgrace after all.

I went to the different classes as instructed and left the papers to their class representatives, or in their absence, to ones who were still inside their classrooms. It was lunchtime after all, and I won't blame them if they were buying food. I met, what was his name again…Hayato Hayama, by coincidence when I went to his class to give him the papers. His beta-male man-slaves, who follow him like a desperate young girl eager to make her crush fall in love with her, were absent. Hmm, maybe they are secretly gay…?

"Yo Hikigaya-kun."

"Mm, here's the papers." I held the pile closer to him, which he immediately accepted.

I was about to walk away and spend the remaining time of my precious lunch break at the classroom, but prince charming behind me was still eager to continue the conversation.

"Have you had lunch yet?"

"No."

"Wanna go to the cafeteria? I'll treat you."

An internal alarm sounded in my consciousness, a certain statement that would cause my senses to go berserk, as if I was hit by [Golden Experience]. Only an idiot would refuse food freely offered to him. But this time, the circumstances where vastly different. To accept the offer of a riajuu would be tantamount to betraying my true self, and admitting defeat to his dreaded kind. In essence, should I accept, I would not only be bringing shame upon myself, but to every loner around the world who continue to writhe and struggle in their secret wars against our one true enemy.

"Thank you but I'll pass." I held up both of my hands as a gesture.

"Oh, did you have plans or something?" He further asked.

"You can say that." I say, though I pulled that one straight out of my ass since I would be taking a quick nap and eat at the classroom. I turned around and bade him farewell, but not before he opened his mouth to speak once more.

I arrived at the classroom and slumped back into my chair, I looked around and saw a few other students eating their meals. Yukinoshita was eating with some girls, they formed their chairs into a circle and were chatting away. She looked overwhelmed by the group, even though she wasn't taking part in their conversations. I did see her make an effort to speak up and add her voice her to whatever her companions were talking about, but she lost heart and opted to stay quiet and listen to them.

It was cringy and painful just looking at them, so I did my best in trying to ignore them. I got the melonpan that I bought earlier and started quietly eating away while the voices from the group of girls filled my ears.

It was none of my business after all.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as an Elf!

Being a Mercenary in a Different World is such a pain!

I'm Living With My Gender-Bent Version of Myself?!

A Stupid Truck Driver Hit Me! Now I'm the Dragon of Good Fortune!

Taking Care of The King's Children as The Head Maid sure is Tiring!

The Demon Lord is now my Wife?!

Attending an All-Girls School while Crossdressing as a Girl Because I Lost a bet against my Girlfriend is Harder Than Expected!

My Landlady is a Loli?!

What the…

What is this?

These titles literally want to make me vomit. After classes ended, I went straight to this place so I can look for some Light Novels or Manga, but seeing these disgusting book titles in front of me make me want to reverse time so I never had to come here in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I still believe the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover.", but these titles are just over-the-top and are just plain ridiculous.

I refuse to use my Christmas bonus from Tatsumi-san in buying these abominations!

I quickly turned away from the sight and traveled to another corner of the Light Novels section. This place was near the mall where Tatsumi-san's bookstore was located, and Mom's place was only thirty minutes away by walking. The ramen house where I would sometimes have my lunch during my working hours was near too, the old man and lady there were good folks, they would deliberately put more into my dish whenever I ate there.

I was going to buy an English vocabulary and dictionary book to practice on my reading comprehension on the language, but I decided against it. Even though I have very few English books, there were some words that left me completely dumbfounded so I had to buy a dictionary as a guide. Because of that, it took me more than a month to completely finish one book. After finishing my first English book, I became interested and began to read more, though it took quite a long while for my reading comprehension to improve. Watching documentaries in English with Japanese subtitles helped a lot, you can get and understand some words just by listening. Even now, I still consider myself as a beginner, regardless of my high performance in our basic English classes.

But after my current disappointment at the Light Novels that I saw, maybe I'll change my mind.

With a heavy heart, I moved to the different isles and picked up whatever books that caught my eye.

Lewd Illustration.

Lewd Illustration.

Lewd Illustration.

Lewd- Oh wait…Oh it's still a Lewd Illustration. But this time some guy had his hand on another guy in an indecent position. The first guy had teasing look while the second guy was blushing and seemed to be biting his lip to prevent himself from falling into the forbidden pleasure.

Ok that was too detailed for my liking.

Great, now I'm in the Yaoi section that's the territory of Fujoshis. It would be really bad if someone at my school saw me here, even worse if a blabber mouth Fujoshi sees me here and start a new rumour that I secretly like BL. Its not that new rumours about me would be bothersome, I'm already used to that. Its just that I would like my already low reputation not to get any lower.

I saw some people sitting on the ground reading when I entered since it was normal to do that here. I myself would do that at times, though not in this particular store, however. Most of the ones I saw were Middle-School boys, most likely attracted by the lewd illustrations on the covers of the Light Novels. I couldn't blame them, every guy has a phase similar to that whether they admit it or not.

I turned to the next corner that led to the shojou manga section to see if any manga that's catered towards the female audience would pique my interest. I saw some girls here and there, there was even one lady that looked around 30-years old browsing through the titles.

However, one female that was most likely reading the synopsis of the manga caught my eye, and not in a perverted way.

The one thing that I concurred upon spotting her was that she was a fellow student of Sobu High, and of course, I knew who she was, even with the black beanie that she wore over her head that nearly covered her eyes and the face mask she wore . Her red half-rimmed glasses and shoulder-length hair was a dead giveaway. Though I won't initiate a conversation, of course. That would be very out of character for me. I shrugged and walked past her, still looking for an interesting manga on the shelves.

As I got closer, I saw that the manga that she picked up had some very…graphic and intimate scenes between men, I stopped for a second behind her to make sure that I was not seeing things. Wait, is she drooling and breathing heavily? So she's a Fujoshi after all…

I shook my head and went back to looking at the shelves.

One caught my attention only a few feet away from her, A Courtesan's Wish, it was the story about a young but very talented courtesan who's reputation and beauty was known far and wide. Many men have sought after her hand, but she refused them all. She was gifted lands, money, jewels and even a seat as the paramour of a powerful Lord and a fleet of ships. But she refused them all.

Her last suitor was the Crowned Prince himself, when he asked what exactly she was looking for in a man, she shook her head and had a sad smile adorned on her immaculate face.

"My dear honoured Prince, mayhaps I will accept your offer, if you would relinquish your crown and show me the world. And maybe, just maybe, I will learn to truly love you." She said in a joking and teasing manner, one that she would always say to all over her suitors, but Prince thought otherwise.

In a swift motion, he brought forth his dagger and drew blood from his left hand.

"I swear upon The Almighty and all of my ancestors." The Prince said with conviction.

The Lady was shocked, for he had sworn upon the sacred oath, and no power in the world can undo it. They were now bound to each other whether they liked it or not.

And so began their great journey around the world, and adventure filled with friendship, trickery, laughter, pain and what it truly means to love and be loved.

Hmm, this is interesting, I'll get this one. I have a feeling that this is not your usual romantic shojou manga.

"You're gonna get that one?" A muffled female voice from behind me asked.

"Yup." I had already anticipated that she would soon approach me first because I used too much time reading and analyzing the synopsis of the manga that I'm reading.

"Fancy seeing you here, Hinata-san." I crane my head towards her.

"You too, Hikigaya-kun." She replied and lowered her face mask showing her lips forming into a small smile.

Girls at school were required to wear thermal leggings for winter and they were also allowed to wear an extra cardigan or jacket over their school uniform. Hinata-san wore a black cardigan over her blazer and a brown scarf around her neck.

"I didn't expect to see you here. No, scratch that. I did not expect to see anyone from the few people that I know at school here." I raised my eyebrow at her.

"If memory serves right, you stated that anime and manga was ridiculous…Yet, I see you in an establishment that sells them?" I put my hand under my chin and started pretending that I had a beard and that I was a detective. This time, I saw her a trail of sweat fall from her forehead slowly travelling down to her eyebrow.

"A-Ah, but I see you here as well." She finally formed a reply though she was having difficulty in meeting my eyes.

"Ara ara, Hinata-san, you are quite wrong. I remember saying that I find those people who dress up as a fictional character and spout nonsense, in an effort to become as close to the real thing as possible, absolutely cringey and annoying. I said nothing about anime and manga." The final nail to her coffin was hammered and I was the who dealt the final blow.

"A-Ack!" Her retort got caught in her throat and she started clearing her throat.

"Well, you got me there…" She looked away while she mindlessly scratched her cheek.

To her insistence, and also because she bribed me into going along with her by buying me food, I followed her to a nearby cafe where we could sit down and new manga that I bought was in my bag, and I was eager to read it right away. I didn't feel like talking though, it hurts my jaw when I do it for long periods of time. Maybe I can just read while she's talking, making eye-contact from time to time and nodding my head to whatever she was talking about. Muttering things like "Ah.", "I see.", "That's crazy.", "Woah." and "Is that so?".

I did that to Mum once, and she hit in annoyance my head as a result.

The cafe that she chose was smaller compared to my Mother's, but had a nice cozy feel to it. There were many books on their shelves as well, most of them looked rugged which meant that it must seen much use over the years. She picked a table farthest away from the entrance, most likely to avoid being seen by any acquaintances of her's.

That it understandable, if I was in her shoes, I'd definitely avoid being seen with a guy who looks like me.

Wait a second…did I just insult myself?

The waiter came to us and asked us what we would like have. I ordered some black tea with a slice of mocha cake while Hinata-san went for a frapuccino. After the waiter went away, I took out the manga and started reading, but then I was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Ahem…" Hinata-san eyed my book with a slightly menacing look that I did not know she was capable of making.

"..." I sighed wordlessly closed it and put it down.

"Say, Hikigaya-kun…" She started after a moment.

"Yes?"

"Have you…ever been bullied?"

The question caught me off guard but I still managed to keep a calm face. I looked at her, but failed to see her eyes since her hair was in the way. I lost my voice and just refused to make eye-contact with her. Even though I mutter my…unsavory experiences in middle-school with jokes and lightheartedness coupled with my usual self-depreciating jests, it still hurts just remembering it.

"I see. I'll take that a yes then." She said after I didn't reply.

"Back in middle-school, I was a pretty normal student in our class. I had good grades and had friends. Nothing special. But then rumours started to pop-up, about me and the things I like. I dismissed them of course, seeing that most of them were exaggerations and stuff like that would soon fade away into nothing after awhile, and they did. But things were different after that time. My friends started treating me differently from before, and…well…" She stopped talking after that.

I stayed quiet, just listening to her.

Why is she telling me this? We're definitely not close, but we're not strangers to each other too.

"You can probably guess what I'm talking about…" She said with a small grin.

I had already guessed what she was talking about though.

"So…you were ridiculed because of your interests, and you wish to make a fresh start in Sobu High by hiding that fact. Now, things are going smoothly though you can't talk to your current friends about your interests so you might feel frustrated and also because you're afraid of repeating the past again. To remedy that, you might have joined groups in social media who have like-minded members such as yourself. When we first met, you hid your name from me, though I honestly don't know why. Oh, and you're wearing that beanie and face mask to hide your identity and to lower the chance of being recognized in public, nice touch by the way."

Her brown eyes widened in surprise, and then she clapped her hands together with an amused smile.

"Amazing! That's the school's top student and member of the student council for you!"

I gave her a deadpan stare with my tired eyes. "Flattery does not work on me, Hinata-san."

"Oh you can drop that. My real name is Hina Ebina. I just blurted that out since we were basically strangers to each other when we first met, and I didn't like the idea of a total stranger knowing my name."

"Ah, so I've been calling you a variation of your first name then."

"Yup, does that make you feel entitled?" She said teasingly.

"The opposite in fact, I feel absolutely cursed, upon discovering your Fujoshi tendencies and being the first one to actually know it. Strangely, I feel both cursed and honoured." I say with my words dripping with sarcasm.

She rolled her eyes and said "Hilarious."

It was at that moment that our orders came. I had almost forgotten about them after we started talking.

We spent the rest of the time just having tiny conversations and enjoying our food and drink. Since I didn't feel hungry anymore, I gave my cake to Hina-oh sorry, Ebina-san, to which she happily obliged.

"Now that you know my secret, can you read this and give me your thoughts? I need someone to go over what I wrote." She said suddenly and handed me her phone. I cocked my head to the side in wonder and shrugged my shoulders as I accepted it from her hand.

His manly hand gently touched my chest while the other forcefully grabbed me face and lifted it upwards. I lost control over my body after he out something in my water bottle. Since we were the only ones in the men's locker room, I was basically at his mercy.

"No need to be afraid, Andou-kun." Kensei-senpai whispered to my ear as I felt goosebumps all over my body. Kensei-senpai was always the leanest one in the football club and there was a rumour that he turned down an offer by a modeling agency. He was the quiet type and only spoke when needed. As expected, he's popular with the girls but I don't know if he has a girlfriend.

"Lets be friends, shall we?~" I felt his hot breath near my ear as he began to gently nibble on my earlobe.

That was all I could take before I stiffly and slowly put the phone down, as if it was a NOVA Bomb from Halo.

If I had one wish, I wanted to erase this particular memory from my brain.

Ebina-san, watching my internal horror and despair began giggling uncontrollably to the point that tears where coming out of her eyes. "Very hilarious, Ebina Hina-san. Very hilarious indeed." I say through my narrowed slits.

After a while, I received a call from Mom, to which I excused myself from the table and asked me where I was. I told her my location so she can pick me up. When I came back, Ebina-san had paid for our orders and was waiting for me to arrive so we can exit together.

"My Mom is going to pick me up."

"Alright, I'm going to take the train home. Oh, before I forget." She stood in front of me and put her fist out.

"Thanks." She said.

"Hmm." I had to internally roll my eyes at this riajuu-like gesture. I gave her a nod and was about to return her fist bump but God deliberately lowered my IQ at that moment. Instead of forming a fist, I opened my palm and ended up holding her fist instead.

"Eh?"

"Oh."

What is this? Janken Pon?

Her face instantly morphed into a laughing one. "You idiot! Hahahaha!" She laughed. I had to look down and cover my face with my left hand with a mixture of embarrassment and self-shame to escape from the cringe. While doing so, I had to suppress a smile and a laugh from escaping by pursing my lips together. Now I'm a puffer-fish.

"This is why I hate hand greetings that require physical contact. Stuff like this always happens." I say while trying not to laugh as I watched Ebina-san finally calm down.

"Lets just bow damnit." To which she nodded in agreement. We bowed together and didn't mess up, thankfully.

"See around at school tomorrow, and don't tell anyone about my secret, ok?" She said and put her finger on her lips with an amused look.

"Yes yes, your little secret is safe with me. Goodbye." I replied and gave her a wave, to which she returned one of her own.

The Fujoshi turned around and disappeared into the crowds behind her, while I waited for my Mother to pick me up in this cold weather.

"Hot pot sounds nice…" I mutter and stared mentally listing down the ingredients needed to make the dish.

Tomorrow is the winter break, only several hours to go and I can finally binge watch all the shows that I have been listing down these past few weeks. The shojou manga that I bought the around two weeks ago was really good and made me more interested in the genre itself. Also, I've been itching to buy a new gunpla model for some reason, so I have to to to Akihabara where there were many shops to choose from.

Everyone in class looked more lively, and by lively I meant more noisier which obviously irked me. As the day went by, I could hear occasional groans as they went through the homework given for us to work on during the winter break. I was not bothered, mind you. I had already made up my mind to finish everything by tomorrow so I can have more time to myself for the next few days or so.

I used to procrastinate frequently back in middle-school, but now I removed that bad habit of mine.

Because it was pretty cold on roof, I had to stay at the cafeteria to eat my lunch which was curry. While I was eating alone on a vacant table, I overheard some chatter from my fellow students at the next table. Mainly about their hang-out plans with their friends and family when we are temporarily set free from our the chains that bind us to this school. I'm guessing that its just me and Komachi at home during the days, assuming that my little sister has no plans with her friends. Mom usually arrives at around 10:00pm and Dad sometime after that, and I'm already asleep by that time anyway.

To pass the time while I was waiting for them to arrive, I would just play on the sofa with Kamakura, or watch something amusing on my phone. When my eyes began to feel too heavy, I would message them in advance that I would be sleeping.

Since I was usually the first one to wake up in the morning, it falls upon my shoulders to prepare the food for everyone in the Hikigaya household.

Once classes ended, my classmates started giving each other goodbyes and agreements to meet in the next few days. As class rep, I had to remind everyone to do their homework over the break, to which they responded "Haaaaaiiiii~". Once that was done, I picked up my bag and started to walk out of the classroom, eager to go home and take nap since it was Komachi's turn to cook tonight. Well, when she cooks, I have to take the reins 80% of the time and even with the remaining 20% I have to watch closely behind her to make sure she's doing fine.

It was as if the cold air greeted me with a kiss to the cheek when I stepped outside and I had to narrow my eyes since the air stung. As I was walking on the pavement slightly covered with snow, I saw a female black cat as I was walking, its shiny black fur was covered in light snow. Oh, a black cat! Lucky lucky! I kneeled down in front of it and stretched out my hand. She gave me a curious look before smelling and rubbing herself into my hand. The little feline gave sounds as I scratched the back of it's ears and below the chin, areas where Kamakura liked to get scratched when he was still a kitten. I gave her one last rub on the head before meowing to her and standing up to continue my walk home.

"Mama, look, Onii-san just meowed at that black cat." Said a little boy accompanied by his mother when they were withing earshot.

"Don't point! That's rude!" The mother gently slapped her son's hand away when she caught him pointing at me. She bowed her head in apology while I just nodded my head when we walked past each other. "Meow meow!" I looked behind and saw the little boy meowing at the cat while his mother just watched from the side.

When I got home, Komachi was already there and changed into warm pants and a white sweater that looked awfully familiar.

"Welcome home Onii-chan!" She then gave a me a mandatory welcome-hug after I took off my jacket. As her arms wrapped around my waist, I used my hand to grab the small portion of the sweater directly behind her neck and twist it so I can see the those little detailed information written that had the size of the shirt and from where it was manufactured.

"Hoh, so this is mine." I say upon confirmation.

"Oi! Pervert!"

After she let go of me, she ran upstairs and quickly came back with a box that was wrapped with Christmasy designs. Wait, is Christmasy even a word…?

"I got this from my friend today!" She proudly exclaimed as she puffed out her chest and put her hands on her waist.

"Ah. Is this supposed to make me feel impressed…? Because its not working." I say as I examined the small box and shaking it to hear it's contents, to which yelped in alarm, saying that whatever inside might be easily broken.

"So, did you get a gift from someone at school?" She asked.

"None." I say not a heartbeat too soon. When I said that, she visibly winced in pain at my words.

I'm not bothered by trivial stuff like that. I have never received a single gift given to me at school in my life after all, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I don't like seeing anyone in pain for my sake, especially if that someone was a family member.

"Good grief I already have my gift."

"Really? Where?"

"I have you, the greatest, cutest and most caring little sister in the world." I say with a small smile.

"Kyaaahhh! Onii-chan you're gonna make Komachi fall for you even harder!" She said as she held her hands to her cheeks and started hopping up and down while having a bright blush on her cheeks and steam going out of her ears.

It was at the moment that I had to give out a laugh, something that I rarely do. When I did so, I felt all of my stress and worries crumble away into nothingness.

Truly, your family is the greatest and most precious gift that you have.

Hi Everyone! Merry Christmas to all of my dear readers around the world!

Ugh...I know I'm late by 2 days so please forgive me...

What nonsense should I utter this time...

Oh yeah, this was supposed to be posted at around the 2nd week of December, the time that I went back to my home country after visiting my relatives in Australia. While I was there I already had a solid story in mind, but as you expected, I deleted everything and restarted from scratch again. This happens about 2 to 3 times in-between chapter releases, by the way. I finally managed to think of the story for this chapter after several days of no inspiration, and I finally had the spark of brilliance just days ago.

Maybe I'll release an extra chapter before the 1st of January if I feel like it, let me know if you want one and I'll see what I can do.

As always, thank you very much for reading HHPTR (Hikigaya Hachiman's Path To Reformation) and stay tuned for the next chapter! Don't forget to drop a review so I can know your thoughts and you can also PM me for suggestions!

Ivanov117 here saying Feliz Navidad(Merry Christmas)!