Hikigaya Hachiman's Path to Reformation

An Unexpected Membership

The Staff Room was a place that I have grown quite familiar with for the past year. I have been here innumerable times on errands for the Teachers as a Class Rep, carrying papers that need to be photocopied, projects, books etc. Not to mention going here to have some letter signed or seeking approval for an event or some other trivial thing for the Council. Sometimes I would seek out some of my teachers here with a question about a topic discussed in class. Hiro-sensei would always be delighted whenever I dropped by, it was also here that I befriended the darling of the entire department, Tania-chan, but that's a story for some other time.

But today was a different matter. Hiratsuka-sensei sat on her chair as she massaged her temples while reading a piece of paper that she held with her other hand. She looked quite stressed and irritated at the situation right now. Her brows furrowed together in concentration as she bit her bottom lip as if looking for the right words to say. Her makeup today was light, but it still quite accentuated her facial features.

"Hikigaya…" She finally started.

"Yes?"

"Do you know why I called you here?" She asked.

"I have no idea. Was it because I sneakily ate an onigiri this morning?"

"No that's no- wait, you what now?" She cocked her brow and crossed her arms across her chest.

"E-Err…" Oh, looks like I got caught. How stupid of me. She brushed the topic aside and gestured to the piece of paper that she put on her desk. Now that I take another look at it, it looks like my essay that the class submitted for her subject.

"I'll let that pass for now. Here, read this." She handed me the said paper and it was indeed mine. After feeling unsure on how to proceed, I scratched my cheek and followed her command. After finishing, I gave the paper back to her.

"You certainly made some valid points, but you completely missed the essence of what you were writing halfway through. The second half was more on personal ramblings from a particularly annoyed teenager that expressed his frustration based on his surroundings. I daresay it was like I was reading a diary of an angsty teen." She said and her words went right through me like a bolt of lightning.

"Especially this one; "Those who enjoy their youth are blind and fail to see the real world outside the confines of their feeble and mundane cliques. They partake in useless social activities and gatherings that only drain their wallets and cause financial strain to their parents. If it comes to worse, they will fall to delinquency, drugs, early pregnancy, alcohol, and in time, they will be the reason for the increase in crime rate shortly. To remedy that, I believe swift and decisive action is a must since prevention is always better than a direct cure. Actions such as that are unacceptable, and such individuals must be taken and heavily indoctrinated to correct their mindset, or if all else fails, cast them out of society as a whole." You are saying that those that do not strictly conform to the norms of society should be removed from it."

Oof ouch, that hurt. Sensei's words were a critical hit to my HP, a little more and I would have died on the spot. I'm not a cringy edgy angsty teen. I consider myself as a very matu-

"I'm sorry Sensei, you're right, I must have gone off-topic a bit," I say and bow, she made a sound and was quite caught off-guard by my act. My dignity and pride are the least of my concerns right now, and I would much rather avoid trouble with this pretty single Sensei of mine.

"Hmph, you might say that but I have the right to believe that my woman's intuition is telling me that this is how you truly feel. You're not the most talkative person, heck you barely talk in class, unless being directly asked by your classmates or teachers. You don't talk about yourself so that leaves a lot about you unknown; your views on certain topics, opinions on important matters that need to have a consensus in the class and basic information about you in general. The year that I spent as your class adviser was a good one, your class had the highest scores in the Year and there were no troublemakers.

Everyone around you grew as a person. Forming little circles of friends, helping each other out, teamwork, camaraderie, etc. What every kid your age does. Except you. Your classmates were more than welcome to accept you into their group, I wager, but you didn't. You strictly kept to yourself, yet you still maintained a high level of mutual respect and understanding with them, you are always courteous and helpful, and they highly admire that from you. It's like you were friends with everybody, but at the same time, you weren't. You put up this…field, around yourself or something. I think that if you decided to join them halfway into the year, they'd gladly take you in with open arms."

I was starting to get slightly annoyed with how the conversation was going, I didn't come here to get skinned, roasted, simmered in a pan and then served on a plate. Yukinoshita's words whenever we traded verbal blows must have gotten into Sensei's head. Grrr damn you Ice Queen, I'll get you for this somehow…!

"Sensei, I fail to see how all of this is essential and related to my essay. Please, let me just revise it once more and I promise you won't be disappointed." I say.

"Tsk, if I told you that, you would only be putting in words that you don't mean, influenced by yours truly. Man, I don't know how you came up with this nonsense…" She said and held her temple as if this conversation was giving her a migraine. But I couldn't dismiss her advice, now that I think about it, some parts there were legit cringy. I must have dozed off and written whatever gibberish my head came up with. Or maybe my middle-school self sometimes awakes when I'm unaware. The latter is a terrifying thought.

She opened her eyes as if having an idea of some sort and wordlessly got up and beckoned me to follow. Shrugging to myself, I follow her and we entered the part of the building that hosted the clubrooms and some for storing equipment. As I recall, I went here with Chisako-senpai a few months ago where she questioned a club president about where their funds were being allocated to.

I believe the name of the club was…

Far Eastern Nap Society of Summer...

Chisako-senpai said that she would handle it, I have no idea as to what befell them.

"Well, here we are." She stopped in front of a room and slid the door open and I followed her inside. The room was barren, quite a few chairs were stacked at the back of the room and it had nothing worth mentioning. The windows were open, and the curtains would occasionally get swayed from the wind from time to time. It looked like a storage room of some sort at first glance.

At the centre of the room was a rectangular table, and on the far side of it, seated on a chair reading a book, was-

"Yukinoshita, I'm coming in." Hiratsuka-sensei declared as the girl in question raised her eye from the book that she was reading to see us.

"Sensei, you should have knocked…" She muttered and her eyes fell on me. I noticed the left part of her lips curl slightly upwards.

"Ara Sensei, there seems to be some sort of unknown creature that followed you here, please get away from it while I look for something to chase it away." She said with a small conceding cocky smirk.

My eye twitched. "Sensei, I see that you led me to where you spoke of a delinquent that needs to be taught manners. Though I am quite disappointed, to think that you would stoop so low…" I retort and gave her my smug trashy grin.

She made an expression of mock surprise as she put a hand over her chest and looked around, dumbfounded. "My my, I don't see any delinquent here. Have you had your eyes checked recently, Hikigerma-kun?" She said the last part was dangerously sweet that from another person's view, she wasn't doing it ironically.

"Your words hurt me, Yukihime-sama. You should know that there is nothing wrong with my vision."

"Stop twisting my name to suit your fetishes."

"Stop twisting my name to-…uhhhh…" Damnit my mind went blank, I can't come up with something decent…

"Okay break it up." Hiratsuka-sensei's voice cut me off before I can finish. Hey! That was rude! I was in the middle of my epic comeback! With Sensei's attention on me, she covered her mouth with her hand and silently giggled.

"It's always like this with you two. Are you playing some secret game that only you two know about or something? To see which one breaks first? Honestly…" Once again, Hiratsuka-sensei rubbed her forehead and sat on the edge of the teacher's table at the forefront of the room.

With composure, Yukinoshita cleared her throat and finally spoke. "So, Sensei, what brings you here?"

Hiratsuka-sensei then explained our conversation earlier, saying that I need to have my mindset "reworked" or something. As for me, I just went to the back of the room to get a chair and placed it on the opposite end of the centre table. I plopped my head on the table and just listened to them.

"Hmm, I can see what you are getting at Sensei. Why, last Valentine's Day he confided to me about his plan to become Prime Minister and remove all traces of the tradition held on that day since, and I quote, "It is a foul tactic employed by Japanese companies imitating western countries by taking advantage of it and using its influence here through the use of social media, marketing and advertising. It has no place here." His words, by the way."

"Oi, you added some things." I lifted my head and objected but my words were ignored by the two. The older one held her chin deep in thought and nodded to herself after muttering something.

"Yes, why should they be happy?! Stupid couples acting all lovey-dovey in public! Disgustang! Damn couples shoving their affection on your face! Couple discounts at restaurants and bars…heart-shaped balloons in malls…overpriced chocolate…public display of affection…BLEH! Don't worry Hikigaya, if you plan to pursue that road, I'll fully support you!" Hiratsuka-sensei got up suddenly with her fist pumped and looked at me with her determined sharp eyes.

Uhh, is she still salty about being single…and Valentine's Day reminds her of that? Wow, that's pretty cringe, not gonna lie. I kinda feel sorry for her. I swear, if no decent man out there does it one of these days, I'll just take her for myself then! Fine! I'll do it myself! Just you wait till I reach marriageable age Sensei! I will never make you feel lonely anymore!

*Achievement Unlocked: "Hots For The Teacher!"-Sensei Route can now be pursued*

"Thanks, I guess…?" I say with uncertainty.

"Anyway, I think that it will take some time, but I believe I'm up to the task," Yukinoshita said with confidence that it made me raise a brow at her.

"Yosh! I'll excuse myself then. Be a good boy now Hikigaya, and Yukinoshita, please welcome your new clubmate. I think he'll be a great asset, no?" Sensei said as she got up and left the room while sliding the door closed behind her. "Wait, what?" I stood up and attempted to go to her but she had already closed the door. This is going too fast, it's only been a few days since classes started and now I'm forced into a club?

Yukinoshita returned to her chair at the far end of the table and resumed reading her book. Except for some random noise from outside that I heard from the window, the room was completely silent.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Oi, aren't you going to brief me or something? I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here."

She closed her book and turned to me with a disappointed expression. "Goodness, did the school break dull your wit, Hikigaya-kun? Why don't you use that head of yours and take a guess?"

"Fine," I say and started thinking about the things that I have observed in this room so far. This might be a club, maybe. But there doesn't seem to be an indicator of it being one, not even a poster on the door or some things lying around. I also haven't seen the list for the newly registered clubs at the office too…

"This is a club…" I say.

"Yes."

"The inventory maintenance club…?" I say as a wild guess.

"No, you are completely off the mark."

"Is this the Doki Doki Literature Club?"

She blinked twice at my reply and tilted her head to the side. "Doki Doki Literature Club…?"

"Nevermind. Well, there seems to be a lack of materials around for this to be an arts and crafts club, and you never mentioned that you had an interest in such things anyway. I was going to say a Book Club, but I don't see any novels here. That's it, I don't know." I raised my arms in defeat and awaited her answer.

She seemed to accept my answer and stood up.

"There are two types of people in this world, Hikigaya-kun. Those that have been blessed with talent at birth, and those that don't. Great and talented people have always held the spotlight in the world. But that doesn't mean that it is based on the skills that you were born with. Take Jeanne D'Arc of France, for example. She was not a noble, but a commoner, a simple town girl from Orleans. No one expected her to do much. But she made her mark in history by accomplishing all that she was known for. Her charisma, unyielding faith and conviction in what she was doing was what made people flock and follow her.

Those with talent have a duty and an obligation to share to those that have none, to teach them, guide them, and to help them discover their true potential, for each person is his self and has strengths and weaknesses unique only to himself. Thus, it is only natural and expected that a person such as myself take the initiative. As there were many people around me that I felt needed assistance, it was only a matter of time before I started acting on my own. I have thought about this for a while, and I decided to create this club to help others who are in dire need of it. I seek to save everyone."

"So…this is a volunteer club." I deadpanned.

"The Service Club, as I would like to call it." She said.

"Okay, so…Sensei came to you and left you in charge of "changing" me, correct?"

She looked pleased with my reply and nodded. "Sensei came to me with a request, and I intend to fulfil it."

I turned to her while I rested my head on my hand. "Hoooh, and what exactly is this…request?"

"To improve or outright change your mindset to the correct one." She flatly said.

"Ok, assuming I go along with this little experiment of yours, how do you plan on going about it?" I asked.

"I already have something I thought of. Perhaps speaking with me daily will cause your brain to subconsciously imitate me, therefore applying the same ethics that I have?" She said and put a pen on her lips.

I cringed and my skin crawled at the thought. "Ugh, are you going to indoctrinate me- no, this is worse, are you trying to mould me like yourself? No thank you. I'm fine as I am right now. I am who I am, I am my self's person. If I copy you, the Hikigaya Hachiman that I originally was, will cease to be. I don't need your philosophy, thank you."

"Hmm, then have you reflected on what I said? About why I founded this club?" She asked.

Without a second thought, I replied. "To put it on simple terms, you are an idealist, while I am a realist."

She frowned at my reply "You are not making any sense, please expound further so I may know what you truly mean." I sensed an urgency in her words.

"No," I held out my hand and shook my head, "it's too early for me to jump to conclusions, and I haven't exactly seen the process on how you evaluate and act upon requests submitted to this club." Her frown deepened at my reply, but she seemed to sense the logic behind my words.

"Yo! I'm coming in!" Hiratsuka-sensei's voice reached our ears and the door slid open once more.

""Sensei, you should knock."" We both say in unison while she watched us with an amused expression.

"So, how's it coming, Yukinoshita?" She said.

"Hmm, I already have a grasp of his personality and it should make things easier, but paradoxically, it didn't." She looked at me from the corner of her eyes and sighed.

Oi, stop looking at me like that…

"So you're giving up then?"

"Not in the slightest. This will be a worthy challenge and a test if the club is to succeed. You are the first subject of the first request submitted after all." She said and turned to me.

"Wait, this is the first request?" I ask and she nodded.

"Rejoice, Hikigaya-kun. For the cutest, girl in all of the 2nd Years will personally oversee this request." She said, her words dripping with confidence enough to melt the floor beneath us.

"Moron, of course you are. You are the only member of this club." I deadpanned and saw her eye twitch. With a sugar-sweet smile, she held up the book that she was holding for me to see. "My dear Hikigaya-kun, would you like me to hit you with this book?"

"You would be surprised at my reflexes. Being hit with a book by the self-proclaimed "cutest girl in all of the 2nd Years" will surely make me a masochist. It might be a reward in its way." I say with a straight face.

Her reaction was immediate. She looked horrified and dropped the book and inched herself farther away from me. Hiratsuka-sensei on the other hand was roaring with laughter(in an unladylike manner, if I may add) and clutching her stomach.

"Sensei, I revoke my earlier statement. I feel a certain danger when this boy's eyes land on me. I feel his gaze on me is akin to a predator, and he is undressing me with his eyes." She quickly covered herself with her bag, making sure that no skin of hers is uncovered as much as possible.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Drama queen."

"Ok that's enough you two…hehehe…masochist…" Sensei said in-between giggles and we turned our attention to her. After regaining her composure, she started. "I can see that the two of you have opposite philosophies. Yukinoshita is an idealist while Hikigaya is a realist blah blah blah blah. (Hol up, did she just say "blah blah blah?")

Hikigaya, as punishment for that written terribly essay I am officially adding you as a member of the club. Students with requests now have two options; whether to go to you or Yukinoshita. As is customary in the countless Shonen anime I have watched, I will invoke an ancient rite practised since time immemorial. I will make this a contest of some sort. Whoever finishes the most requests following their methods gets to make the loser do whatever the winner wants."

"I object. This pervert will most likely make me do something perverted that will satisfy his perverted fantasies." Yukinoshita immediately declared and looked at me with wary eyes. Tch this is just playing dirty! Always using that stereotypical card! Fine! Two can play at that game!

"Same here Sensei, I fear she will jump and ravage me one of these days. Who knows what she'll do if her composure breaks…" I retort and she visibly stiffened at my reply. To add effect, I stepped away from her and hid behind Hiratsuka-sensei while clutching her lab coat.

"W-What?! You are insane if you think that-!" Her comeback was too hasty and unprepared, it lacked its usual punch because of the slight blush on her pale cheeks. Haha, take that Ice Queen!

"What do you say, Hikigaya?" Sensei looked behind and I let go of her coat. Hmm, we don't have any events coming up for the next few weeks and it's not like I'm against joining a club, seeing that it's my first time joining one and all…and she's here too, we're not exactly strangers to each other anyway.

Who knows, I might get something useful out of this?

I nodded at Sensei. "Ok, what about you, Yukinoshita?" We turned our attention to the girl in question and she still looked quite conflicted.

*Stare~*

"..."

*Stare~~*

"..."

*Stare~~~*

"Fine…" she said reluctantly and sighed in defeat.

"Great! That settles it!" Sensei declared and put her hands on her hips. "The contest starts tomorrow! I'll be referring students who need help here, so prepare yourselves!" She then laughed like a villain watching the main protagonist fight against his henchmen.

Seriously, Sensei should stop making these shonen anime references…maybe that's the reason why she's still sing-

I felt something jab at my rib and a hand twist my ear. "Oi Hikigaya, my woman's intuition sensed that you were thinking something bad about me."

"N-No Sensei, why would I do that? Hahahaha…" I lied.

"Good I look forward to seeing you two work together then~~."

It feels weird going to a room other than the StuCo after class. It feels like I'm cheating on StuCo-room-chan. I had informed Shiromeguri-senpai of my somewhat forced membership, and she was delighted saying that "I was starting to have an interest in new things.", looks like my Mother has a rival in my school of all places…

I knocked twice, and after hearing a girl's voice from the inside say "Come in.", I slid the door to the side and entered my new clubroom. As expected, she was there at her usual seat reading the same book that she threatened to throw at me yesterday. The windows were open, and it was as if I was repeating the day before. "Good Afternoon." I gave her an upward nod and made my way to the other side of the table.

"Oh, Hikigaya-kun, you're deciding to actively participate in this club? Instead of running away, you are coming here?"

"I can't beat you in this stupid contest if I can't come."

"Hoh, then you may come as many times as you like..." She said simply and returned her attention to the book in her hand.

"So, no requests yet?" I ask after getting and moving one of the chairs. Truthfully speaking, I'm feeling quite calm, and I'm looking forward to see one of these requests.

"My, an excited one are we?" She said and flashed me a small amused smirk.

"You can say that…" I say and opened my phone and put on my earphones to play my usual gacha game." I barely went past the loading screen when I heard a muffled knock on the door. "You may enter." I heard Yukinoshita's voice and I took off my earphones and hid them in my bag.

The door opened and a girl with Peach-coloured hair entered the room quite timidly, her head going in first to survey her new surroundings. "Excuse me? Is this the Service Clu- Woah! Hikki!?" Yuigahama lit up when she saw me and straight away went inside the room.

Yukinoshita looked confused at the sudden change in demeanour from our newcomer, but she still managed to greet Yuigahama properly. "Yes, this is the Service Club. How may we help you?"

"Oh! Uh, I was referred here by Hiratsuka-sensei since I told her about my request." She turned her attention to Yukinoshita., though her body still faced my general direction.

"I see. Hikigaya-kun, if you will." I rolled my eyes, got up and moved my chair to the centre and offered it to Yuigahama.

"Thanks, Hikki." She said as she sat down.

"Hmm." I got a new one from one of the chairs in the back and sat down. Yukinoshita silently watched our exchange with an unreadable expression. Eyeing the newcomer with suspicious studying eyes. Its effect was profound on Yuigahama, she fidgeted under Yukinoshita's gaze and the poor thing looked to me for help.

"Your name is…?" Yukinoshita asked as she seemed to put once more put on the air of a professional.

"Yuigahama Yui, from class 2F. I'm a classmate of Hikki's."

"I am Yukinoshita Yukino, the President of this club. And you seem to be already familiar with Hikigaya-kun." She said, though I barely heard the next part since she said it under her breath.

"...Hikki…huh…" I felt Yukinoshita's gaze at me from the corner of her eyes. Seriously, what's her problem this morning? Did she eat something bad? Is she still sour about yesterday? Maybe it's that time of the month…?

"What can we help you with, Yuigahama?" I start and forced her attention on me.

"I didn't know that you were part of a club, Hikky! Y'know you disappear quickly when the bell rings like you teleport and stuff. Even at lunchtime, you always find some lame excuse to turn us down, or you walk too fast out of the room!" She said and bombarded me with her words. Good grief, my question was wholly ignored…

"Y-Yes, so what brings you here then?" I say and insisted. That seemed to get to finally get to her, as she composed herself more formally, well, as formal as she could, I guess.

"Mm! So like, Hiratsuka-sensei made me come her after I told her that I needed help with something. She said something like, "The club will grant your request!" or something."

"Correction, we only accept requests within the realm of possibility, those that are impossible to do due to certain restrictions or either too personal for the club to intervene are off-limits," Yukinoshita said too strongly, that it both caught us off-guard.

"Umm…" Yuigahama looked confused and turned to me for help.

"She means that we will help you as much as we can. So what's your request?" I say.

"Uh, well you see, my request is a little embarrassing…hehehe." She laughed awkwardly and started playing with the hem of her uniform.

I raised a questioning brow at her, but Yukinoshita was quick to formulate a follow-up. "We cannot help you if you don't tell us about the nature of your request…"

"R-Right, ok. So I wanted to learn how to bake cookies…hehehe…" She answered and waited for our reaction.

"Why don't you just ask your friends?" I say. The other members of her clique in class, namely Hayato, Miura and Ebina, could certainly help her if they wanted to. Well, assuming that at least one of them knows how to bake at least…

"I'd like to learn how to do it by myself first…"

"Hmm, I have previous experience in cookies, very well. We accept." Yukinoshita nodded and stood up. Isn't she going about this too fast? Maybe she's excited about this.

"To the Home Economics Room then, Hikigaya-kun, you can use your position in the Council to make things easier." They both turned to me with expectant eyes, eager to see my reaction. I nodded and bade them follow me. After telling them to wait outside the faculty room while I ask permission from one of the teachers, I met them with the key in hand.

"Wow, being a member of the StuCo has its perks huh, Hikky?" Yuigahama marvelled at how I managed to speed things up a bit. It would have been difficult for a regular student to get permission, I wager. I nod at her. The three of us walked to the room, Yuigahama at my side while Yukinoshita was behind us. Once we found it, I unlocked the door and Yukinoshita went straight away to prepare the ingredients. Since she was taking the initiative, I told Yuigahama to just follow her around.

Because she was of shorter stature, I had to lean down to her when she signalled me to lend her my ear so she can whisper to it. Yukinoshita was faced away from us, so she couldn't see what we were doing. With how close she was, I couldn't help but feel suddenly self-conscious. She smelled nice, the perfume that she had was very fragrant. "Hikki," her breath was warm and moist, and goosebumps formed on the back of my neck. "is she always like that?"

Now it was my turn to whisper, and she moved some strands on her hair near her ear.

"Not really, she's just uptight right now. That's all." It had a similar effect on her since I noticed she slightly shivered as I whispered it to her.

Yukinoshita soon finished gathering the ingredients and other needed utensils. I just watched from the sidelines, watching their every move the whole time and imprinting the process into my memory. Yukinoshita was the one who baked first, and Yuigahama watched and would occasionally throw a question or two. It was faster than expected, and after a while, she finished her first batch and proudly presented it before us still warm from the oven.

Without a word, Yukinoshita took one of the cookies and thrust them to my face. "Your role, Hikigaya-kun, would be to evaluate the quality of the cookies for now."

I gave her a deadpan look and took it from her hand. "A taste tester then. Stop trying to make things sound so complex." I say and bit into it.

"Mmm, they look so good! How are they, Hikky?" Yuigahama asked excitedly.

"It's…good," I say dully, and the maker of the cookies arched a brow at me. It was good, but honestly nothing special.

"You don't sound like it."

"Haaah? Are you expecting me to shower you with praises about how great you are? What are you, my spoiled bratty young daughter?" I reply and I expected a snarky retort from her. But she seemed to let it pass for now and turned to Yuigahama who watched our exchange with an expression akin to amusement while nibbling on her second cookie.

"Yuigahama-san, now that I have shown you the basics, it is your turn to try."

"Ok! Leave it to me!" She said and raised her fist, her voice filled with determination.

*Twenty minutes later*

"These are-" Yukinoshita finally said after analyzing the horrendous monstrosities presented before us.

"Fucked up beyond all recognition." I finished, and she hit me with her elbow after berating me for my use of profanities. Yuigahama, even after seeing the results, was still hopeful and reluctantly picked up one of the charred remains. "Y-You never know! Here Hikky, have a bite!" I shrugged and took it from her hand, Yukinoshita looked at me with a pitiful look and looked away, as if I was literally going to die.

It was rock hard, but I still managed to get a bit off of it.

Wait, if Ebina heard that…it would definitely activate her Fujoshi tendencies…

It tastes as I expected it to be, with no need for flowery words. "Yup, it's inedible," I say and put the rest of it down. At my comment, Yuigahama made an Uwaaah sound and looked crestfallen. She leaned on the table for support, as if the weight of my words were enough to make her feel faint and collapse. "M-Maybe cooking isn't for me. You saw it for yourself back then, remember Hikki? I'm not talented like the both of you…"

At that moment, Yukinoshita stepped forward, her face stone-faced and cold. "What a lousy excuse, fitting for lazy and soft people. Those that do not strive at what they are doing, to stretch and test the very limits of their abilities have no right to use an excuse such as that. To say that is an insult to those that have reached their goals with their ability alone, they who have writhed and endured hardships to reach their destination. Also, your desire to learn how to bake cookies fueled by your want to "fit in" is very off-putting. If you are going to make excuses, make something more fitting to what you are right now. At least make a notable effort before spouting nonsense such as that."

I was completely taken aback by her words, it was just overkill. I looked at Yuigahama to see her reaction.

She was looking down, her hands, still covered in mittens were formed into fists and shaking. I was about to grab Yukinoshita's arm, pull her to the side and talk to her for her poor choice of words, but Yuigahama looked up at us. Instead of seeing teary eyes, or a furious expression, I saw stars in her eyes and a grin on her face.

"That was…so cool!" She exclaimed and I couldn't help but step away from her. Is she crazy or something? Yukinoshita looked at me and was likewise confused.

"W-What? I believe my words were a tad bit harsh…" She said.

"Tad, is an understatement, don't you think?" I added and she gave me an annoyed look.

"You don't mince words at all! That's like, really brave and cool and stuff! They were a bit harsh, yeah, but it felt as though you meant it with no bad vibes!" Yuigahama continued and all of the words that she said went through my head. I couldn't wrap my head around what she's saying right now honestly.

"O-Ok, well. It doesn't hurt to try again, right? Yukinoshita, make sure you guide her this time." I say and the both of them nodded.

Unfortunately, even with Yukinoshita's guidance, the results of Yuigahama's cooking were still the same. Yukinoshita placed her head on the table looking defeated, while Yuigahama was still convinced that it was salvageable.

"Yuigahama, are you cursed or something," I say as I inspected the black charred remains. Ah, still inedible. What a shame…

"Hikki you're so mean!" She started hitting my shoulder with a pouting expression.

An idea sparked inside my head, and I decided to act quickly before its too late. "I bet I can make a batch that will blow your minds." Yukinoshita's ears perked at my words, and she lifted her head from the table.

"Hoh?"

"Yes, now please vacate the premises and give me ten minutes. I promise that it will exceed your expectations."

"Hmph." Yukinoshita put her arms around her chest and walked outside without a word. Yuigahama on the other hand…

"Eh?! Hey, I want to watch and see too~!" She pleaded as I pushed her back while her shoes were sliding on the floor.

"No can do." I have her a gentle push to the door, closed and locked it. After ten minutes, I unlocked the door and bade them come inside. When they reached the table, where I put my cookies, they both had different reactions. Yukinoshita was completely unimpressed, while Yuigahama was holding back her laughter.

"These are your mind-blowing cookies? They look worse than mine!" Yuigahama said and laughed.

"Uwahh? I really put my heart into it y'know. Guess I'll just throw these away then~." I say in a monotone manner and picked up the plate with the intent to throw its contents in the trash bin. "W-Wait! They're not too bad!" Yuigahama was alarmed and quickly took the plate from my hand and immediately took a bite from one of the cookies.

"S-See?! It's good!" She said with watery eyes, she was on her third cookie and I fear that if I don't do something to stop her, she'll finish everything and have a stomachache later.

Time to unravel my plan. "The truth is, those were your cookies, to begin with."

"Eh?"

"What?"

"Your reaction right now proved that no matter the quality of the thing that you intend to give someone, if you express the time and effort that you sacrificed, the receiver will eventually be guilt-ridden enough to wholeheartedly accept them. For example, a girl gives the guy she likes chocolates, but unfortunately, they ended up not tasting quite good. Males, being the simple creatures that they are, will be overjoyed and no doubt accept the cookies as they are, not caring in their taste since they realized the sincerity of her actions. When it comes to things like these, they value sincerity and the sentiment rather than the quality."

Yukinoshita thought hard on my words since her brows were knit together and her eyes having a far-away look to them. "A crude answer, but I see your point. Hmm, yes I see it now." She starts muttering and nodding to herself.

"So I shouldn't worry too much about it…? Is that what you're saying Hikky?" Yuigahama finally said.

"Yes."

"Somehow, I feel that that's the best and worst answer you could give me…" Her shoulders slumped as I shrugged at her.

"But I won't give up yet! I'll try practising at home!" She suddenly declared, her very soul emitting an aura of determination. Yukinoshita had a small amused smile as she started cleaning and putting away the utensils and other kitchen equipment that we used. I just watched them both and after they finished everything, I locked the door and behind us.

"Thanks, a lot for today guys! You were a big help!" We did our farewells and she went on ahead of us towards the exit of the school building. We watched her retreating form until she went past the school gates.

"Do you think she'll improve?" I ask the girl beside me.

"I don't know. But if she tries, she'll figure it out sooner or later. Now come on, let's finish up for today. You still have to return the keys." She said, and without waiting for me, started walking back to the clubroom.

The first request that I managed to witness, was actually interesting.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sorry for the late update, modular exams were a pain in the arse, and I decided to take a week off to relax and rest. Oh yeah, and FGO of course. Farming is mentally and physically exhausting. When there are events in FGO, you can bet your ass that I'm grinding the heck out of it!

You might have noticed some slight differences, but nothing too major that warrants serious concern. The next few chapters will have some twists here and there, and I'm already making a list of possible things to add. I'm still taking notes on the canon ofc, but sometimes it feels like I'm just copying and pasting if I don't add my little scenarios and dialogues. It gets quite boring and takes away the fun in writing to be honest…I'm still balancing "this Hikky" and the "Hikky" in canon, the scales should be perfectly balanced, not one leaning too far towards the other.

In the first draft of the story, Hikigaya immediately smashes Yukino's ideals when she asked him about his "reflection", like complete and utter destruction. He makes her see that reality and people are completely different from the way she imagined it to be. It came to the point where he made her cry and Hiratsuka-sensei had to intervene. It was a mess really, and I'm so glad I removed it phew. I have no idea why I even wrote that, I think it lasted about 2k words.

As always, reviews and PM's are quite welcome! Also, when I see REALLY long reviews, it gives me anxiety and panic attacks hehe...but I honestly don't mind it.

That's it for this time! Thanks for reading and following this story for the past two years!

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!