Hikigaya Hachiman's Path to Reformation

The Summer Camp Part 5:

Tsurumi Rumi's First Friend

Hikio turns to me with his heavy half-lidded eyes. "What do you think of…Hayama?"

It took me three seconds before I could register his words.

Even though it was a bit predictable, I dodged his question and fired back my own. "H-Huh? What's with the sudden question Hikio?"

He shrugs while having no expression whatsoever on his face, taking a sip from his energy drink. "No reason really. I just suddenly thought about it." He casually crossed his legs and started humming a tune, l blankly looking in front of him. He's really good at hiding his emotions and his agendas so he must be thinking about something.

"Really Hikio, what's all this about?" I ask and tug his shirt. He made no reaction at first but opened his mouth to speak after a moment.

"Hmm… Ah, please forget that I mentioned it." He bowed which surprised me. "It's something between the two of us."

The two of them? Why would they have an interest in me? What could they possibly be thinking and talking about which forced him to make that slip up just now?

He caught my curiosity and I scooted closer to him until my bare shoulder was against him. He had no reaction when our skin made contact.

"What's it about~? Is it a secret with the boys~? Does Totsuka and Tobe know?" I nudged myself against him, trying to get any kind of reaction aside from the blank face that he has right now. When that failed, I grabbed his shoulders and made him face me.

"I don't know what you're talking about Yumiko." He said as his gaze slowly looked to the side.

I narrowed my eyes at him and started playfully hitting his arm. "Heeeh~? Come on Hikio, tell good 'ol Yumiko what it is!" I tried to get him to look back at me but he still refused to meet my eyes.

Hikio is really strange, in a not offensive kind of way. He's usually extremely good at hiding stuff, but sometimes he deliberately lets some things slip from his mouth. Like this time for example.

"Ne ne ne~, Hikioooo…"

"..."

"Hikki~…?"

"..."

"Hachiman~!"

"..."

"Hachi…-kun~?"

He stiffened and finally turned to me.

There! Aha! I knew that it'd catch his attention since that's what his Mother called him earlier!

He wordlessly took my hand and placed them back on my lap. "Yumiko. Please don't call me that. It's embarrassing." He says in a slightly pleading voice.

"Hehehehe. Hikio, your Mother is really pretty isn't she?"

"Of course she is. Where do you think I got my genetically superior and gorgeous good looks from?" He dramatically turned to the side, his bangs swinging from the movement, not to mention that he somehow made his eyes sparkle like those in Shojou manga.

Shojou Manga Hikio looks so weird…

I giggled and playfully hit his arm. "Okay I have to admit that you do look a lot like her." I agreed. He got his most of his facial features from her, made a bit masculine because he's a guy and all. If he were a girl, he'd be really pretty too, if a bit intimidating because of his sharp eyes.

"You should have introduced us to her."

"Ah, my Mother is a busy woman. As we speak she's probably on her way to work right now. My Father also."

I nodded and thought back to the company visit at his Father's place. "Yeah, I got that sort of vibe from him as well. We already talked earlier about how my parents are busy due to work too. Still Hikio…" I smirked and hit his rib with my elbow. "You're secretly the Son of a big shot huh? You should have told me sooner, it was super embarrassing when I found out. After that company visit, I didn't really know how to act around you." I say jokingly and grinned with amusement when he turned to me with slightly wide eyes.

"Really?"

"Yup. I even thought of just calling you back to Hikigaya-kun. Just kidding ahahahaha."

"Yumiko… Stop it really. You know I don't like talking about this sort of stuff." He sighed and shook his head.

"It's exactly why I talk about it since it makes you feel embarrassed!" I giggled and he said nothing as he continued taking sips from his energy drink. He has a faraway-look in his eyes, and I couldn't really tell what he was thinking. I stared at his hand from the corner of my eyes while pretending to browse something in my phone.

"..." After nearly a minute of quietly sneaking him glances, it happened.

…I knew it.

I felt it when I held is hand earlier.

He arched a brow at me when I deliberately made myself get caught in the act. "Hmm? Yumiko? What is it?"

"You should really stop that you know." I say in a serious voice.

He blinked and then tilted his head with confusion. "What…?"

"That." I say and pointed at the drink in his hand.

He looked at it strangely, and then checked something on the labels and such. "Well it's not expired…"

I shook my head with mild annoyance since he still doesn't get what I mean. "You know, I noticed something about you these past few weeks." I say and turn to him. From the tone of my voice, he immediately gave me his full and undivided attention and faced me.

"And that is…?"

I wordlessly held out my palm. "Give me your hand." He didn't protest and wordlessly followed me. I touched his fingers and felt his hand, we didn't do anything for several heartbeats but then it came.

His hand and fingers involuntarily twitched.

I frowned and looked up at him. "See? This is what I mean. Didn't I talk to you about this before? How you're overdosing on this kind of stuff? How much did you drink before you arrived here with your Mother?" I look at the thing that he held in his other hand, as if it were something absolutely disgusting.

Something passed over his dark eyes and his face betrayed no emotion reflected on them. "And?"

I felt my own frown intensify and I got slightly irritated at how he was taking me lightly. "Hikio, your hands twitch and move on their own, you're clearly overdosing. Seriously, classes are over, why are you still drinking this stuff? You think I haven't noticed the crazy amount of drinks you intake in a single day at school?" I wait for him to make a retort, or any kind of reaction but it never came.

"I don't know if the others have noticed this but I sure have. Are you addicted to this kind of stuff Hikio? This isn't healthy anymore and I am genuinely worried about you. When I opened that little fridge earlier, I knew there was something off. I even talked about this with Hayato but he just shrugged me off and said that you're fine." I say and got the can from him. He didn't resist me and placed his now empty hand back on his lap.

I may be overreacting but this is something that I really want to make him understand. I'm just doing this out of concern for him. He still hasn't said nor made any kind of reaction to me, he just continued to stare at me.

And it was a bit unnerving. I have never seen him make this look before.

With how close we are, I can see the dark and heavy bags under his eyes. "Hikio, what's happening with you? You always looks exhausted, are you overworking yourself again? Are you getting enough sleep? You didn't have to come if you didn't feel like it you know. I'm sure Hiratsuka-sensei would have been fine with the idea."

He took a moment to silently observe me and he sighed after taking his hand from me. "Yumiko, as what I've told you before. This isn't a big deal. Come on, we should go bac-" He stood up but I interrupted him before he could make a step.

"Hikio, is this your coping mechanism?"

He stopped and stood still for several moments. Unfortunately, I can't see what sort of face he's making so I have no idea how he reacted to my words.

Just when I thought of reaching out to him, he turned to me with his usual blank face on. "Careful now Yumiko. You might say something that you shouldn't… I highly advice against doing that." His eyes were hollow when he said those words, I couldn't see a single light of life in them.

Even though he didn't sound hostile, the warning undertone in his voice still sent a chill up my spine, and I was at a loss of words for several seconds. The tiny hairs on my arms and on the back of my neck stood up by themselves. I have known him for more than a year but I have never heard him say something that way before. He completely took me aback. It was like the person in front of me wasn't him. Even the aura that he exuded felt…like a stranger's.

"A-Ah…" I croak out and forced my eyes away from him. Instead, I look down to avoid his intense gaze.

His finger twitched again, and he put his right hand in his pocket.

His form remained unmoving, and I can tell that he's boring his eyes into me, eyeing my every move.

After what felt like an eternity, I hear him sigh and his shoulders and arms relaxed when I slowly raised my head to look at him again. When we made eye contact, the unknown…thing that hid behind his eyes earlier were gone. All I see are the sharp, yet familiar eyes that I have grown to admire after all this time.

But I think it was still there. Hiding somewhere.

"Yumiko…" He started and scratched his head. "I appreciate your concern, really. Thank you, but I'm fine. You don't need to go out of your way to do that for me." He reached out with his hand and patted my head, ruffling my hair and getting it messy in the process. Uwaah, and here I spent so much time this morning styling it…

This guy-! T-Treating me like some sort of pet or toy!

*rub*

*rub*

*pat*

*pat*

A-Although it does kind of feel nice…

I shake off his hand from my head before the nice feeling gets to my head. "Y-You can't fool me Hikio! I know that you're trying to change the subject!" I exclaim and puff out my cheeks in frustration. It only produced an amused smirk from him, much to my disappointment. To my surprise, his lips turned into a mischievous grin and I felt a bad feeling from the pit of my stomach.

"Of course I am because this is the end of this discussion." Without warning, he leaned forward and put his arm around my waist, pulling me up and slightly dragging me towards the door. He pressed me against him and I blushed at how close we were. I felt helpless and surprised against his sudden assertiveness. "Now come on, we still need to help those kids cook and I'm really looking forward to Yui's cooking."

"H-Hey! Don't just suddenly touch me like that! I'm a girl too you k-know! Y-You perv!" I say and squirmed from his hold, but he just pulled me closer to him, much to my embarrassment as I felt my cheeks start to warm up..

"Haaah? Do I look like I care? If you're getting jittery and skittish, just shrug me off then." He says and continues pulling me forward with his arm around my waist like it was nothing.

"Hnnng…"

I can always step away from him and put some space between us. I really think that it'll make the rapid beating of my heart calm down and tone down the blush on my face…

But I decided against it.

Even if we have to separate at the door, even if I know that he's just using this as an excuse to drop the conversation, I don't really mind this moment that we have. If he says that he's fine, then just bugging him about it will just make me an annoyance. Maybe he's hiding something too personal for even someone like me to know, something that he'd never let anyone know about. Or maybe I'm not as close to him as I first thought…

"…"

I shake my head to make those kinds of things go away. Honestly, I really hope he's not just downplaying himself or my concern for him…

I guess all I can do now is take his word for it and believe in him.

"G-Geez… Fine you win..." I sigh and give up when he flashed me his usual cocky smirk.

Seriously, sometimes I feel like he's just playing with me around his fingers…

On the other hand, after I saw that side of him, I realized something.

I guess I don't know everything about the boy named Hikigaya Hachiman after all.

From the corner of my eye, woman bowed several times while talking to someone on the phone. She was a distance away to avoid me from overhearing. Since we were at the dining hall at this time of the day, it was empty except for the two of us. It's plain to see that she is thanking or apologizing to someone, but if I close my eyes and focus on the tone of her voice, it is a mix of the two. If a non-Japanese were to see this, it would be strange. But here it is perfectly normal.

I sigh and cross my legs, hoping for her to quickly finish up her conversation. I instinctively look to my left wrist but my watch was not there, much to my annoyance. I think I left it in my bag again, I've been feeling forgetful as of late, sometimes I can't remember where I put my things. I really hope this goes away soon.

The others must be at that stream where Hina and I went to last night. After I went back to our cabin to change my wet shirt, thanks to Hina playing around earlier, I made my way to the main building where I am right now to set things in motion. Haruno and Yoshiteru's assistance were vital to what I had in mind, it's thanks to them that I made it this far. I'll treat Yoshiteru to lunch or something before I go, as for Haruno…

Well, something like that would never satisfy her.

I have to do more.

Finally, the woman stood straight and removed the phone from her ear and then turned around and started walking back towards me. She fixed her skirt before sitting across me and put the phone on the table.

In front of me was Rika Kushino-san, Head of the Elementary department of her school and also a longtime friend of my Father from their college days together. A very serious-looking woman that exuded an aura of professionalism. Her hair was in a tight bun and I could see her contact lenses on her dark eyes. She has very sharp facial features especially her eyes that befitted her personality, yet she was still attractive. It honestly came a surprise to me when I found out that she was still single and unmarried. I guess she does come off as too strong even when my Father introduced me to her a few months ago at a government sponsored orientation or seminar thing... It was during the school break, those few weeks that I tagged along with him during work.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Hachiman-kun. I was about to address this with the rest of the teachers on a latter date, but this is fine as well." She started after several moments of silence. Their conversation lasted roughly around half an hour.

"Hmm. What did he say?" I ask, honestly curious at the outcome.

She pursed her lips before nodding. "It will still pull through, he gave me his promise and support in the future. It pains me to say that we need it at the moment. Of course, I will do my end of the bargain as well…" She sighed and shook her head. "Honestly, to have things reach this point is rather shameful…"

I made no comment on her words but decided to open another topic. "What of the girls?"

Her hand turned into a fist and she frowned, but she was not directing her hostility towards me. "I will personally talk to the parties and involve their parents as well. Indirectly if I may add since if I act too much it will make things worse. I will make the scale larger and use it as an excuse to raise awareness if it comes to that."

I put a hand under my chin and nodded. "Yes… Yes that is a good idea. If you do proceed with that course of action then I would not mind filling in for him or for my Mother as well if they are unavailable due to their rather busy schedule. Of course, I'm just a representative so please don't expect much from me… Perhaps on the first week when classes resume for the children? That would be a good way to start the new semester, I think." I suggested and she took out her phone to check something. Several moments of scrolling later, she stopped and nodded after having thought of it to herself.

"Hmm, yes it does sound feasible. I will start the preparations right away." She says, her voice resolute and firm.

"Are you sure? I think it is still a bit too early to start, no?"

She shook her head. "Hachiman-kun, when it comes to things such as these, it's better to draw the initial phases at the earliest time. You will understand when you get older." She says and gives me knowing smile, to which I returned one in kind. I was about to argue but I decided against it when I made sense of her words. Being an adult, she obviously knows more than me so I shouldn't act like a cocky know-it-all too much.

"I see… Well I'll leave it to you then." I say and give her a bow, much to her surprise. "I'm sorry for asking such an unreasonable favour Kushino-san. When I noticed the circumstances, I just couldn't sit still. It was pure good fortune to see you here as well and I knew that you were the right person to approach."

"Ah, the Chiba Municipal Government already had a plan like this for the schools in the area. This is just speeding up things up if you look at it from a certain perspective. Honestly, I've been too busy and I admit that I have overlooked and delegated some crucial positions to the wrong people." She says and shakes her head.

When she remembered that I was in front of her, she cleared her throat and composed herself more formally. "In any case, you remind me so much of your parents, your Father in particular."

I got curious, since even with how close I am with my Father, I only know very few stories from him before I was born. "How so?" I ask.

"Something like this happened before during our internship together. Long story short, he was the first one to notice something wrong and immediately directed his concerns to our superiors. You could say that it was a very bold move on his part but he just couldn't get his mind off of it until the matter was settled." She said and smiled, the nostalgia from the time reliving memories from the past.

"I think you should get going and leave the rest to the adults. You are here to have fun with your friends after all. There's a test of courage thing later this evening so make sure to do the necessary preparations, Hachiman-kun." Her eyes said that they were expecting much from me, of course I wouldn't let her down or at least fail disastrously. "Komachi-chan must be missing her dear older brother already. Wait… I think she already forgot about me…" She says and she scrunched up her face in thought.

I nod and bowed to her. "Don't worry Kushino-san, you'll see Komachi for yourself tonight. I'll talk to the others as well as Hiratsuka-sensei. Thank you again Kushino-san."

She waved off my words and laughed. "Oh please Hachiman-kun. You don't have to be so formal with me, your Father and I go way back. Just call me Rika-san!"

I was about to go but I was drawn to her eyes. There's something about them that bothers me, something that I only recalled once I saw her again after a few months… I can't explain why, but...

She blinked several times and looked confused. "Hachiman-kun? Is there something wrong…?"

I shake my head and give an apologetic bow. "A-Ah, sorry Rika-san. Please pardon my rudeness. I just spaced out all of a sudden."

"I see… No harm done." She says and motions for me to raise my head.

"I'll give my parents your regards when I see them."

"Be sure to give the kids a good scare! Oh and can you be a dear and ask your Mother when she's free? I haven't seen her in a while and I'd like to have dinner or lunch with her sometime." She smiled after I gave her one last low bow and excused myself.

I couldn't stop thinking about her eyes.

Seriously…

TCH!

How do they find this fun… This is so ridiculous and childish… Playing and splashing around in ANKLE-DEEP water, good grief! If it was at least waist-deep, then this would not be a WAIST of time since I'd take a dip in the water too!

"H-Hachiman…"

I turn to the white-haired boy with very feminine-looks beside me who was also sitting under the shade of the tree. He decided to join me here when he had his fun. "Hmm? What is it Saika?"

He forced a smile with a strange expression on his face and leaned into my ear to whisper to me. "Tone down that killing glare that you're giving to Hayama-san and Tobe-san, they're not even on the water with them… I can literally feel you drain the life of the plants nearby because of your killing intent… You don't have to act too overprotective over Hina you know?"

I look at him, wide-eyed from his words before looking around to make sure that no one else can hear us. "I was looking out for Komachi. Did I really look like that?" I ask in turn and he nodded with a small knowing grin.

I return my gaze to the girls playing a distance away from us. Of course, my main concern was Komachi since I don't like the idea of her being around other males aside from myself and our Father. That's why I'm keeping an EXTRA watchful eye on her. She was playing with Hina, accompanied by the YuYu/YuMi pair. Despite the initial awkwardness, she seems to have warmed up to the two of them. Since she didn't bring her own swimsuit, Saki opted to just sit with us in our little area under the shade of a tree where we made light conversation about a wide array of topics. She got up a little while ago to call her Mother about something. Thankfully, Saki and Saika were getting along fine.

As for Tobe and Hayama, they were poking and looking into the bushes further out but still in the same direction as the girls. I wonder what they're doing, maybe they found a dead animal. Poking a dead animal with a stick is definitely something a boy would do.

"I don't think they're that kind of guys Hachiman…" He says and put his hand on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring pat. "Unlike that one time where we went out and Hina got hit on by some shady guys."

"Ah, that time…" I say as I started recalling that particular day.

We were doing the usual thing, hanging around and going to some arcades. (The ones where I didn't have my privilege as a child of one of the longtime investors, I was still a bit embarrassed to show it to them and the only people who know about it are Haruno and Shiromeguri-senpai.)

Anyway, us boys went to the restroom together while Hina waited on a vacant table. When we came back, two college students most likely, had sat on the table, clearly making Hina uncomfortable as she politely denied their advances as much as she could without offending them. Hina sprung from her seat and immediately latched onto my arm when I was close enough, saying that she was mine. The two guys backed off when I gave them a warning-look, while they also felt the disapproving glares of onlookers nearby especially from the security guard of the restaurant who already had his eyes on them.

After that incident, she decided to cling to me closer to send out a message and to ward off any who would try bothering her again. I didn't complain, it really felt nice being held like that and I can tell that she liked it too.

"No, as I said, I'm just looking out for them. Another snake might appear in the water or something." He didn't look convinced and continued giving me a sly grin.

"Okaay, if that's what you say then. Anyway, I read the groupchat last night. I missed so much stuff, Yoshiteru is really reliable huh. So did you pull it off?"

"More or less." I say and we returned our gaze to the scene before us. "I'll ask for your help when the time comes."

"Okay, I'll just help out however I can. Still that was really amazing, what you did I mean."

I shook my head, still not believing how easy it was. "No, I barely did anything. It's all thanks to the crazy coincidence that I personally know their Head, and that she's an friend of my parents. Not to mention that she's really kind."

"Do you plan to tell the others about it?"

"No, except for Hiratsuka-sensei of course." I saw something move from the corner of my eye and I instinctively turned my head. "Oh look, there she is now." I mutter once I recognized the tall woman wearing a sun hat walking towards us. She was greeted by the girls and they immediately went to take a closer look at her. The YuYu pair were still holding their hands together, much to my amusement.

Komachi, Yui and Yumiko wore similar swimsuits, Hina had her one piece and Yukinoshita hid her own swimsuit under a thin and stylish cloth that women usually wear at the beach before they take it off to swim. I'm really curious how she looks under them.

I would never say this to her face, but she kind of reminds me of those suits that old ladies wear. Wait, maybe I should tell her to piss her off hehehehe…

Anyway, all of the girls are pretty in their own right of course, be that as it may, I am an older brother to one of the girls, therefore I must still say that Komachi still stands at the top of them. I'm honestly a bit disappointed that Saki wasn't wearing one. I really wanted to see her, and I'm sure she has an amazing figure and assets that would rival the others in a certain department. We did do something in my room after all…and I had felt them on my hand as well as her slender waist and stomach…

A-Ah… I shouldn't be thinking about that… I still feel bad about it…

But even I have to say that I am weak to the charms of older women.

Sensei took their compliments in a very unlady-like fashion by putting her hands on her hips and giving out a rather boisterous laugh, making her chest lightly jiggle in the process. I thought that it was very cute, the laugh, not the jiggle part I mean, and it really added to her appeal and made me like her even more. The way she smiled and grinned pulled at my heartstrings and made my heart skip a beat. I found myself unable to look away from her, no matter how I tried. I suddenly developed tunnel vision, I filtered out everything in my view until she was all that remained. I was transfixed on her, so much that I thought that I was under some sort of spell. All I could do was stare at her figure like a lovestruck maiden.

That's it.

I'm gonna marry her and make her my wife! I don't care if she's older than me! I'm going to take my inheritance and run away with her! I'm gonna make an entire football team with her!

I was startled when I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and I turned to Saika whose existence I had temporarily forgotten about.

"Hachiman are you okay? Your breathing is erratic and heavy, and your face is flushed and red…" He asks with a concerned expression.

I realize how unbecoming I must have looked, and compose myself more formally after clearing my throat and straightening my back. "O-Oh, I must be t-thirsty or maybe it's because of the weather or something." I say.

He looked resolute and his hands turned into fists. "Hina would get sad if I let you pass out again like that one time in gym class. I'll go get something for us!" Before I could say that he didn't need to do it, he stood up and jogged towards our cabins. Wow he's already quite a distance away, I guess when the Service Club helped him out, it really improved his legwork huh.

He's still not as fast as me though. No one can run faster than me, not even Tobe and Hayama who are part of the football club. No one from class and no one from the other classes either. I'm fast as f*ck boi. I'm Hikigaya Hachiman and I'm the fastest man alive. One of these days, I'm seriously going to quit the Service Club and join the Japanese Archery Club or Football Club, since I have an interest in the former and a knack for the latter… Hmm, but I can't just leave my daughter Yui alone with Yukinoshita, who knows what the Ice Queen what might turn my precious cinnamon roll into… Wait, maybe I can convince Shiromeguri-senpai to change some of the Club Policies for the next semester so that I can join more.

Holy shit I'm so smart and cunning that I scare myself sometimes…

Just as I was about to start formulating my master plan, the girls, together with Hiratsuka-sensei, start walking towards me. Damn! I wanted some alone time to think about my plan.

I sigh and raise my hand to greet them. Yumiko looked like she wanted to play around at the water but decided to come along when she remembered that she has to stick with her girlfriend(AKA Yukinoshita Yukino) for today.

"Hel-aaaaaaaooohhhh…" I say but got interrupted by a yawn that came out of nowhere. Because of that, I got laughed at by them and I had no choice but to just bear with it.

"Hikigaya," Sensei says to get my attention. "why are you meditating here under a tree? Why aren't you joining the others?" Since I was sitting down on the ground, I had no choice but to look up at her, and there were two large milk jugs partially blocking my view. Okay maybe they weren't that big but my thoughts from earlier were still in my head causing me to hallucinate and see things that aren't exactly visually accurate to reality.

"Well Sensei, I don't like playing around in ankle-deep water since it's childish and looks stupid." I say, causing a glares and pouts from girls which I ignored. "Add that to the fact that I do not have a change of clothes and I forgot my sunscreen, going under the direct heat of the Sun will damage my pale and delicate skin. And I do not want to look more haggard than I already am so that's that. It is suicide and I would literally die within five seconds."

"I have sunscreen if you want." Yukinoshita and Yui raised their hands but I shook my head.

Sensei scratched her head and before rolling her eyes at my words with an amused-look. "What are you, a vampire…?"

"No Sensei, Onii-chan is definitely a zombie." Komachi quipped as they all started having thinking expression on their faces.

"No maybe a Ghoul? What's a Ghoul anyway, I heard Hikki and his strange friend talk about it once."

"Hmm, from how deathly pale he is, I do believe Sensei is right. And Vampires are typically physically superior to those two." Yukinoshita said, which honestly surprised me. I didn't know that she knows this sort of stuff.

"What about, like, a Zombie Ghoul Vampire?"

"No no no all three of them are undead so I think it cancels out. Don't mind Hachiman, sometimes his chunni comes out all of a sudden." Hina winked at me when I narrowed my eyes at her.

Their conversation had taken a strange turn and then they started walking away, leaving me and Sensei alone by ourselves. Sensei suddenly crouched next to me after fixing the long piece of cloth that she turned into a skirt that covered her legs, almost giving me a heart attack by close we were. I quickly turn my head to the opposite direction before I start ogling her like a disgusting pervert.

"What is it, Hikigaya? Something you wanted to say to the girls?" She asks, obviously confused at my strange action.

"A-Ah, no Sensei. I'm just a bit worried for Komachi after all…" I say and face her.

She lightly punched my arm and she started chuckling. "Always the overprotective older brother huh. Lighten up, she has four people with her. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"I guess so. By the way Sensei, do you know what are the kids doing today?"

"Hmm, I think they're free today and can do whatever or go wherever they want. There's a test of courage thing happening tonight, you better think of something good!" She says and grinned. It was contagious and I couldn't help but make one myself.

"Ah, I'll leave that to Hayama. When it comes to things like these, he's way better than me." I say and we both turn our heads to his general direction. Him and Tobe were still looking for something until the latter stopped and picked up something on the ground. Shortly afterwards, they ran further ahead and turned deeper into the forest, with Tobe slightly lagging behind due to his foot. That idiot might hurt himself again sheesh. What are they doing anyway, are they chasing something? Is it a rabbit? I heard that rabbit meat tastes good. Ah now I'm curious…

"You know, I honestly didn't think that you two would find common ground. Knowing you, I thought that you'd immediately come into conflict with him."

I shrug and think about her words for a moment. "He is annoying cringe Riajuu sometimes, but there's no reason for me to be so hostile with him. And we have some common friends so that's that." I say.

Sensei gave me a knowing-look and arched her brow. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"And that would be…?"

"You know, avoiding coming into conflict with anyone, since it may jeopardize your position in the StuCO and also on your reputation as a whole?" She says while nudging my shoulder to poke reactions out of me.

I roll my eyes at her words and smiled. Since Sense was the one who caught me, I might as well admit with dignity. "Sensei, I can't hide anything from you, can I? Ah…"

"Of course you can't, it's my job as a teacher to keep an eye on my students who need the most help after all." She says, grinning all the while.

"And here I was thinking that you already forgot about me…"

She had an expression of mock hurt on her face and put a hand over her chest. "What? You're my favourite student, as well as the most interesting one after all, so I always have my eye on you."

Wha-…

I wanted to badly to hide my blush, or to stand up and run away but I decided against it. Sensei looks like she's having fun at my expense. Not that mind it, she could use a hearty laugh every now and then. She looks prettier with it and we haven't talked just by ourselves in a while too. That is reason enough not to end her fun.

"I wonder what the you from one year ago would think when he sees you now?" She says and nudges me with her elbow.

I shrug at her words. It's honestly something that I think of from time to time. Especially when I'm alone or am about to fall asleep. "I don't know he'll probably cringe at me or something. Maybe even call me a gross normie Riajuu…"

A Faker…

I don't know what kind of expression I made on my face, but it caused her to raise her hand and rub and pat my head. "It's part of growing up as a person Hikigaya, character development, personal development through interacting with and befriending different kinds of people and all that. And as your Sensei, you've come a long way and I'm so very proud of you." Her hand went lower until she held my cheek with a small warm smile.

"...Really Sensei, you're embarrassing me… I'm gonna tear up, I look absolutely terrible when I cry you know?" I shake my head with a small sigh after she laughed from my words. Well, receiving headpats from Sensei is extremely rare so I might as well enjoy it while I still can. "I have to admit Sensei, you sounded really cool."

"Of course I'm cool! I'm young, beautiful and YOUNG so that automatically makes me cool and LIT af fam!" She exclaims with YOUTHful energy, pumping her hands in the air as her eyes sparkled with approval from my words. She really sounded like an Auntie trying to learn the latest trends and I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Sensei, you said 'YOUNG' two times."

She chuckled at the face I was making and put her hand around my shoulder, and then coiled it around my neck. My blush deepened when I felt her skin against mine. "Hoooh? What's this? Hikigaya Hachiman is embarrassed~? That's rare! Come here you-!" She pulled my head to her chest and started violently scraping her fist against the top of my head.

It hurt, but at least I got to feel her warm, firm yet ever so supple soft breasts. Ah, I want to smother my face against them… She smells so nice too.

They feel so soft, its softness is so unreal and out of this world… The mature appeal that older women have TRULY are the best…!

OLDER WOMEN ARE THE GREATEST IN THE WORLD!

Even though I felt their heavenly softness, it did not make the pain that I felt from her knuckles go away.

"O-Ow! Sensei it hurts!" I squirmed from her grasp. I legitimately wanted to get away from her because she REALLY wasn't holding back, but all it did was tighten her hold around my neck and push me even more against her warm and soft chest. All the stimulation was too much for me to handle, if she keeps this up, then I'm seriously going to confess to her here and now. I'll make her take responsibility for making me feel this way, this is all her fault!

She laughed at my cries of pain and pressed and rubbed her knuckle even stronger than before. "S-Sensei! It hurts!"

I swear if she keeps on teasing me like this, then I might as well go with the Sensei Route! No, even worse, this might turn me into an M! Although I wouldn't mind it if Sensei was the one doing it to me…

I heard a small cute sound from Sensei when I tried to untangle her arm around my neck and she reluctantly let go of me after being still for a second. I non-threateningly narrowed me eyes at her and pouted, something which I rarely do. She grinned awkwardly and softly patted the area where she rubbed her knuckle against.

"Ah, looks like I went overboard a bit… Sorry about that." She muttered when I continued giving her a light glare.

With her other hand, she made a peace sign and stuck out her tongue, making a cutesy pose. "Tehee~!"

WHA-?!

My mouth, which was currently straight as a line turned into a crooked smile upon seeing her do that. She broke my absolute defense with a single pose, Sensei truly is strong! Shit that was too cute… Stop messing with my heart like this, Sensei…!

"Sensei, w-where did you copy that adorable pose?" I ask with a shaky voice.

She grinned and crossed her arms around her chest, making them seem bigger in the process. "Umu, I saw this in social media last night! Apparently it's trending right now. Don't you think it's cute? It's cute right? Right? RIGHT? RIGHT? RIGHT?" She says, saying the word more intensely every time it's repeated and does the pose again.

"Tehee~!"

HNG-!

ACK-!

The alarms inside my head rang deafeningly loud, and I saw the crew of the advanced Stealth Submarine The Hachiman running around frantically while smashing buttons on their consoles left and right

"Magnetic Homing Type-003-SAS Cutesy Pose Torpedo narrowly missed our starboard side! Enemy signature readings say that it's a Recon and Anti-Submarine plane sent from the Super Heavy Battlecruiser Shizuka! She's readying another pass! Commander, we need to DIVE!"

"Sensei…" I say while clutching my chest from the intense pain that she had unknowingly given me. She tilted her head to the side at how I was acting, furthering the damage that I'm sustaining. "please don't show that to anyone except to myself..."

"Umm… Why?" She asks with bewilderment in her voice.

"Because…" Every word that I spoke took a great strain upon my body, and I found myself pausing "you're so cute and cringe at the same time." I say while covering my mouth, summoning every ounce of my will not to cough up blood.

Sensei lightly jumped at being called "cute", and a light blush grew on her cheeks. She blinked several times and then looked to the side. Sneaking me glances as she started twirling the ends of her hair with her finger.

"I-I'm…cute?" She asks as if she had misheard me.

"Yes." I say with utmost seriousness, as if my very life depended on it.

"R-Really?"

I nod. "Absolutely. You're very attractive Sensei, you should have more self-esteem and confidence in yourself."

Once again, my words caught her off-guard and she laughed it off awkwardly. She must have not expected that I'll turn the conversation in this direction. "Y-Yeah! I'm really pretty, aren't I?"

"That you are Sensei, and you're really YOUNG too!" I raise the pitch in my voice, trying to sound upbeat so I can hype her up to make her believe me. "Any guy out there would be lucky to be with you!"

"!" She was about to smile but stopped and had a sudden downcast expression on her face. "But…all the guys that I dated eventually broke up with me… My longest relationship was six months…" She muttered in a barely audible voice as her form seemed to grow smaller and smaller with each passing moment.

I had unconsciously gulped at the new information since it was rather very personal. I honestly would have preferred not hearing it in the first place. I quickly started thinking of a way to pull Sensei from falling into the depths of despair and hopelessness.

"T-That's because they don't know a great woman when they see one!" I blurt out without thinking.

Sensei started steaming and her cheeks turned bright red from my words. I can tell that I got red too, if not more so than her. I pursed my lips together before my stupid mouth starts speaking by itself again.

"E-E-Eh?! W-What do you mean by that, Hikigaya?!" She exclaimed through stutters and a madly blushing face.

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT ME AND MY STUPID MOUTH! CURSE ME FOR PLAYING TOO MANY DATING SIMS AND REMEMBERING THEIR CHEESY AND CRINGY LINES!

"I-I-It's exactly what I mean Sensei!" I say while desperately thinking of something to salvage the situation, trying not to get tongue-tied or stutter as I waved my hands around. "T-They're obviously fools! H-How could they just give up on you like that? They should know that women like you are worth waiting every second for in the end! If it was me, then I'd never let you go!"

Her eyes went wide, and her mouth closed and opened several times but were unable to bring out words.

A-Ah… I worded it wrong.

That legitimately sounded like a confession…

After several seconds, she seems to have gotten her wits back since she laughed awkwardly and straightened her back. "A-Ahahaha! N-Nice one Hikigaya, almost got me there…! You're a funny guy…! " She exclaims and slaps my shoulder several times. I keep my mouth shut before I could say something that would make the already awkward situation even more awkward. She's just forcing those words…

We both blushed when we made eye contact and I immediately looked away. She stopped hitting my shoulder and started getting up. "A-Anyway, keep an eye on the girls f-for me, will you? I remembered that I have something to do…" She smoothed the creases on her skirt and stood up while looking in the girl's direction.

"S-Sensei…" I say, but she already turned away form me and started walking away. I dramatically crawled on all fours while reaching out to her with my hand, whether or not she heard me, she continued walking away as I watched her retreating form go further and further.

"Sensei… Nooooooo…" I summoned every ounce of my will not to break down and cry.

A-Ah… Looks like I got rejected again…

This is the second time after she-who-must-not-be-named…

Wait, I wasn't even confessing in the first place. That wasn't my intention so this doesn't count.

As I lay on all fours, I heard light footsteps from behind the bushes, where it stopped when the owner must have seen my pathetic form.

"Oh," it was a little girl's voice. "Hachiman."

I looked to the source of the voice and I saw Tsurumi Rumi standing beside the tree.

"..."

"..."

She broke eye contact with me and briefly turned to Sensei's direction. "I never expected you to be a two-timing scoundrel. To even have your eyes on your own Teacher… Don't you already have Hina-onee-chan?"

I narrow my eyes at her, get up and sit down on the other side of the tree with my elbows resting on my knees. "Leave me alone brat." Instead of replying, she went over to me and unceremoniously made herself comfortable on the space between my legs, almost hitting me head on the process.

"...Oi girlie, what are you up to?" I look down on the little girl, who was fiddling around with her camera as if what she just did wasn't a big deal.

"Wait, I'm trying to show you something." She says and continued pressing buttons, completely ignoring me until she stopped and turned while showing my the camera's display. "This part here, how do you change the resolution? It's too narrow, I don't want a portrait, I want a landscape."

I sigh and shake my head. "Fine, give it here."

Thankfully, her camera wasn't those expensive DSLR ones. Their quality is topnotch but I prefer slim and simple ones like these because the latter is sometimes too complicated and confusing for me. As I was still making sense and familiarizing myself with the device's User Interface, Rumi decided that my chest was probably comfortable and just leaned on me.

"Rumi, what are you doing?" I say and raise the camera over her while focusing on my task.

She looks up at me with a bored expression with my chin almost hitting her head. Her eyes reminded me of my own. "I'm using you as support. Is there a problem?" She says with a very laid back and uncaring tone. Tch, if this brat keeps this kind of attitude when she grows up… "Plus, you don't seem to mind stuff like this since you did it with Hina-onee-chan last night."

Thank goodness that she's still a child since it really sounds suggestive…

I lightly chopped her head. "That's because we have a thing going on so it's fine. And keep it a secret." She continued having that bored expression and just nestled herself on my chest after silently nodding.

Now I'm not unfamiliar with things like these, I've volunteered at a daycare and nursery before, as well as occasionally playing with Kei-chan and Tania-chan when the latter is at the Faculty Room with Ino and Hiro-sensei (Tania-chan is getting heavier every time I hold her! And she's growing teeth now too!). Still, this position has problems. If someone sees me like this, (Yumiko, Hina or Yoshiteru or instance) I'd get called as a Lolicon NEET Pedophile.

When I tried to move away, she gripped me leg and made a grunt of displeasure, so I had no choice but to continue working on her camera to fulfill her request. After doing a bit of tweaking here and there, I managed to do it and returned it to her.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

Instead of getting up, she just stayed and stared at her camera, occasionally looking to the voices of the other girls. I sighed and softly patted her head, she didn't jerk nor move away from my touch.

"You want to play with them…?" I ask.

She meekly shakes her head and look down, clutching the camera closer to her small frame. "No, I'm fine. I'd just make them uncomfortable."

It's no use in asking her where her other classmates are. Since I already have an idea on what the answer is. Asking it is just redundant and might make her feel bad.

"What about you? Why aren't you with Hina-nee-san or your other friends?"

I shrug and look to the girls in the distance where they were playing and chatting amongst themselves. "Eh, same reason with you I guess and I didn't bring an extra change of clothes. Plus, I'm the only guy. I'd definitely get self-conscious you know?"

She gave my words some thought and nodded. "Hmm, I guess you're right. Say…" She says and turns to the YuYu/YuMi pair in the distance. "Why are those two holding hands…?" They were both playing or something similar to that. Yumiko was fine but her girlfriend's movements were clumsy, awkward and low-key cringy to watch. She's obviously not used to that sort of thing.

"That's their punishment for something bad that they did."

"Oh. Which one started it? I'm guessing it's the black haired one. She looks like type to start that kind of stuff. I already forgot her name…" She says and points at Yukinoshita with her finger.

I pulled at her soft left cheek, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Rumi, pointing at people is rude. Also, it doesn't matter anymore. They're both at fault." I let go and she turned and leered at me.

"...Okay sorry." She says before pouting and looking down.

"It's fine. No need to worry. What do you plan to do today? You're free right?"

She unconsciously played with the camera's buttons while trying to come up with an answer and avoided my eyes. "Umm… I-"

"Do you want to hang around with me for today? I don't mind."

She turns around looks up at me with her eye lighting up, surprised at my words. She was about to speak but stopped and mumbled to herself in a low voice. "No… It's fine. You should have fun with your other friends too. I don't need a babysitter."

I chuckled and rubbed the top of her head. She looked annoyed but didn't do anything to shake my hand off. "Who said anything about babysitting you? Didn't I say last night that I'll help you out? So hanging out with you definitely counts."

A light blush grew on her cheeks when I gave her a small grin, and she looked to the side to hide it. "A-Ah… Well, since you put it that way…" She cleared her throat before continuing. "I-I'll be in your care then…"

"Yup, glad to have you." I say and pat her head several times while pulling at her cheek with my other hand, causing her blush to deepen. Uwaah, she reminds me so much of Komachi when she was little… "Anyway, what do you want to do? Do you want to play? Are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink? My friend is on his way to get something right now so just tell me if you want one. Oh, and about this evening's activity, I added a little twist and I want you to hear me out-"

Before I could finish and unfold my master plan, the girls were making their way towards us with Yui and Hina jogging ahead from them. A certain something attached to her bounced up and down and I instinctively turned my gaze to Hina before I could get teased and called as a lech. Also, if I get caught then I have a feeling that Hina might get jealous and pull a prank on me again or something as revenge…

Better safe than sorry I guess.

The cheeky Fujoshi grinned when she got near and gave me a look that said "Uwaah Hachi-kun, you're going after lolis now? Wasn't I enough…?"

"Hachiman, your friends are coming."

"Thank you Captain Obvious."

Once she was near enough, Yui raised her hand and greeted us. "Hikki! Rumi-chan! Yahallo!"

The little girl turned to me with a questioning-look after pulling at my shirt. "Yahallo…? Is that a dialect or something…?" She whispers and I whisper back. "Ah, it's just her way of greeting. You know, peculiar normie Riajuu-talk and all."

Rumi arches her brow at me, as if I had said something strange. "But aren't you a normie Riajuu…?"

A nerve ticked on my forehead and I pinched and pulled on her cheek, much to her dismay. "Oi, take that back."

"O-Okay okay sowwy I take it back… Ow…" She mutters while getting her cheek pulled, and I immediately let go.

"Rumi-chan what are you doing here with Hikky?" Yui eyed the girl in question, where she looked up to the older girl who addressed her.

"Hachiman looked lonely so I decided to hang around with him for today." She says in a dull and bored tone before looking down and fiddling with her camera again.

"Yeah it's what she says so be good to her." I say and from the corner of my eye, Yukinoshita eyed Rumi with an unreadable expression.

They soon started introducing themselves to Rumi, who was a bit overwhelmed by the attention but went with it regardless. Komachi and Yui stuck up a conversation with her after I stood up to give them some space. She's surprisingly easy to talk to once she's comfortable with the person that she's having the conversation with. Saika and Saki finally came back bringing drinks for everyone, good thing that they brought enough since Hayama and Tobe returned at the same time, shortly followed by Hiratsuka-sensei.

I was just standing around leaning on a tree when our eyes met and we looked away at the same time. Even with this distance, I vaguely saw the light blush on her cheeks.

It didn't come unnoticed by the girl beside me who had sought me out for some reason. Geez, and I wanted some alone time too… "Hmm? Hikio? What's wrong?" Yumiko asks after taking a sip from her drink.

"Nothing. Are you and your girlfriend getting along?"

Yukinoshita, who was to her right immediately turned to me with a leer in her eyes. "Hikigaya-kun, please stop spreading nonsense." She says and puts a hand on her hip. "I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop referring to me as Miura-san's 'girlfriend'." Her girlfriend looked amused and turned to me to see my reaction.

You know, now that these two beauties are side-by-side, Yukinoshita's painfully obvious inferior trait really shines. Yumiko is obviously superior than her girlfriend.

"How about no." I say coolly, causing her to sigh in exasperation. "Yumiko, keep your girlfriend under control. She really doesn't know how to take jokes."

She laughed and turned to her girlfriend who was still giving me a light glare. "Now now Yukinoshita-san, Hikio is just kidding as usual. No need to take him seriously." Her words calmed the Ice Queen down after a few moments. Amazing… To see the Fire Queen calm down the Ice Queen like this…I never would have thought that I'd witness this firsthand. "I like this side of him more since he's so uptight at school. Him saying things like these would definitely strange if others heard him." Yumiko says.

Suddenly, Yukinoshita protectively puts her arm around her chest and turns away, causing Yumiko and I to give her a questioning-look. "H-Hikigaya-kun… I would appreciate it if you would stop staring too much… It's embarrassing, so please…" She says with a small voice and steps away from me.

"Hah? I'm not even looking at you, nitwit." I scoff out and Yumiko turns to me with a hand over her mouth.

"Uwaaah, Hikio… Stop it, like, seriously. Ugh." Yumiko's face had a look of slight disgust on them and she stepped away and covered herself as well. "I know you're a guy and all but still… Have some restraint…"

I arch a brow and was about to defend myself when I saw Yukinoshita snickering behind her hand. She moved it to the side and mouthed. "P-a-y-b-a-c-k."

THIS-!

SLY-!

LITTLE-!

Fine! I'll fight fire with fire!

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?" I say and went into the male counterpart of a gyaru gal gal, basically Riajuu-mode Hikigaya Hachiman. It's something that I picked up from Yumiko when I copy her during our harmless little banters. "That's, like, stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupid. Why would I even look at those GREAT PLAINS that you have when there's a MOUNTAIN RANGE right beside you?" I say and put my hands on my pockets and slouch, like a stereotypical delinquent. "Are you, like, stupid, or something?"

It took several seconds, but when she finally registered my words, her cheeks burst with crimson and she turned away from me to hide them.

"H-Huh?! Y-You lech! Perv! Hikiecchi-kun! Predator of women! Stalker! V-Verbal molester! Creep!" She says through stutters and points an accusing finger at me.

"Shut up you walking ironing board! Don't make me tie you up and bring you home to use you as my new personal mousepad!" I retort and she grew even more aggravated at my words.

"I-I-I'm not an ironing board! And not a mousepad EITHER!"

"Yeah but from the looks of things you DO need a PAD!" I turn to Yumiko. "Oi! Your girlfriend is getting rowdy again! French kiss her to make her shut up or something I don't care!"

"H-Hikigaya-kun! Miura-san and I are not l-like that!"

Sparks flew as we glared at each other. On the other hand, Yumiko was still thinking and looked down in thought with a hand under her chin. "Hmm…? Great Plains…? Mountain Range…? Ironing board…?" After several seconds of thinking, it looked like something clicked inside her since she made a surprised sound.

She took a peek at Yukinoshita and to me, and had an awkward expression on her face. "H-Hikio… You s-shouldn't really point out that kind of stuff… Ahahahaha… It's fine if it's me but if others heard you, well..."

Yukinoshita was quick to nod and back up her girlfriend. "I-I agree with Miura-san, Hikiecchi-kun. Someone of your background doing this sort of thing is very unbecoming. What would Uncle say?" Heh, what a cheap blow. My Father would just laugh this off.

I sigh and raise my hands. "Yeah sorry." Of course, I wasn't going to back down so easily. "If I say it directly, a certain someone would get even more self-conscious and embarrassed. Aww but I have to admit that that certain someone's face gets really cute when she's flustered… I just can't resist teasing her I guess." I said the second part as an afterthought and shrugged without a care in the world.

Their reactions were completely different. Yumiko's giggles turned into full-blown laughter and started slapping my arm as it racked her body. Ugh! She's like my Mother when she gets into a fit of hysterical laughter! It got so bad that she had to lean herself on me to prevent her legs from giving in. The steaming Yukinoshita on the other hand, well, she just couldn't speak anymore as her face grew incredibly red like a Sun becoming a Red Giant.

Yui suddenly calls out to us, saying that we're going to have a group photo with Rumi's camera. I took Yumiko's wrist and lead the two of them back to the group. She still can't stop laughing, and touching Yukinoshita was out of the question since she might literally melt or turn to steam and disappear.

The boys, with Rumi at the center, crouched in front while the girls stood at the back. Rumi, Hina and I exchanged looks when the makeshift platform that we used for the camera was the large rock that we sat on last night. We took several photos together as a group, as well as several more after that.

I couldn't take my eyes off Rumi's smile. She looks so happy, and her smile is so real and pure. I was momentarily filled with melancholy and sadness from my childhood memories.

I never smiled like that outside of my home.

Not once.

Ever.

Hmm… The girls should be here any minute now. I already know everyone else's places. Together with Rumi, we came here earlier and did some scouting as I explained what I proposed. They looked disgruntled by what kinds of things are going to happen, but no one openly went against me, added to the fact that Hayama threw in some reassuring words here and there.

Yukinoshita fidgeted beside me, she wore a getup suited for the Yōkai "Yuki onna" in folklore. Quite poetic, given her personality and the meaning of her name.

"Stop moving, are you really that uncomfortable without Yumiko's hand? Do you want me to hold your hand and pretend that I'm her?" I say and she made a sound of displeasure and pinched my side.

I couldn't quite see her because of what little light the Moon provided right now, but I can tell that she made an equally displeased expression. "It is quite difficult to move around like this. I should not have worn this ridiculous thing."

I shake my head without turning to her, still keeping an eye out for the girls that are going to come this way. "Nah, it looks really good on you. Reminds me of that costume you wore during last year's event. You know, the Miko one."

I felt her grip on my sleeve slightly tighten. "O-Oh… Thank you Hikigaya-kun." From the corner of my eye, I saw her take some strands of her hair and put them behind her ear. "You looked rather dashing as well."

"Ah, is that so…? I didn't really feel like it back then. I literally came up with it on the night before the event." I mutter, only half-listening to her. That suit plus mask was absolute cringe, I'd rather not wear that getup again. What's taking them so long? They should have arrived by now.

"If I may, is the Student Council planning another event like that this year?" She asks inquisitively and I feel her inch closer to me.

I shook my head. It's something that we had a meeting about a few weeks ago. "I honestly don't see it happening. Too many unnecessary expenses were incurred last year. If we keep it up then the next administration will have some financial troubles. If by some miracle that it somehow passes through the first stages, then I will personally block and prevent it from happening." I say.

She giggled, a pleasant sound that reminded me much of her older sister.

"I can see that happening."

After several moments, we heard voices to our left. The girls have finally arrived, carrying torches that shone here and there. Yukinoshita and I crouched even lower to prevent being seen by them. Rumi wasn't with them as planned. She either lagged behind even further or hid and separated from them along the way.

Yukinoshita was too close, I can literally catch the scent of her hair. I immediately and slowly sat up when the girls had turned their backs to us, she did so as well. When they walked further ahead, they came across Hayato, Yumiko and Tobe who were going to play the part as villains for their test of courage. After some laughter and exchanges of words, they got quiet when they slowly started feeling fear. I can't really blame them, those three are really getting into character.

They soon started muttering amongst themselves after some words from Hayama and Yumiko. It turned into a squabble, then an argument as they started pointing fingers and blaming each other. I turned to Yukinoshita beside me who couldn't get her eyes off the scene.

"Ugly, isn't it? Look how they quickly turn on each other in desperation, like sharks cannibalizing their own kin out of hunger. And how harsh, they didn't even bother waiting for Rumi."

"..." She said nothing and pursed her lips.

"It's ironic. Children can be the nicest or the most evil things to ever exist depending on their upbringing. Do you know about child sociopaths and psychopaths? Either is fine but I mean more about the latter. They feel no empathy even as they grow older. They cannot comprehend it. Scientists say that it is caused by a particular part in the brain that lacked development either while they were still in the womb or in their early infancy. Adults who show these symptoms are terrifyingly good at hiding their emotions and true intentions, as well as faking and putting on mask after mask to show to the world. I once read a similar essay and research paper submitted by one the clubs for me to review. It was disturbingly fascinating, for me at least. When I read their biographies, as well as the heinous crimes that they have committed. Normal people cannot understand them at all. It is impossible to really get an accurate analysis on them." I say.

Yukinoshita briefly turns to me. "I did not know that you knew such topics Hikigaya-kun. What piqued your interest about them?"

I shake my head and shrug. "Nothing much. When you have no one to talk to, all you can do is read whatever kinds of books are lying around in your house. Unfortunately, books can't talk. So all you can do it keep it all inside, like a bottle. You get small pieces of paper and write 'happy thoughts' in each bottle within the depths of your mind. You put them in shelf after shelf until all you see when you close your eyes is an endless and dark hallway filled with an infinite number of it."

From the corner of my eye, she tilted her head to the side and frowned with mild confusion. "I… I don't understand. What do you mean by that…?" She tugged at my sleeve to get an answer from me.

I put a finger to my lips and pointed forward. "Enough of that. It's almost time. I suggest you prepare." She looked like she was about to argue but nodded in affirmation to me.

One of the girls started looking down and wiping the corners of her eyes, followed by another. They were the ones who were chosen by the majority as a "sacrifice". I saw different expressions on them, anger, regret, betrayal, sadness and many other things. Hayama's torch that he secretly carried flashed at our direction, and I poked Yukinoshita's side, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"That's the signal." I say.

She turns to me and pouts. "…I'll see you later then, Hikiecchi-kun." She says and gives me a tiny grin before preparing herself.

Out of nowhere, a girl's loud voice from a megaphone started laughing and several moments later, Saika, Yukinoshita and Yui jumped from the bushes and startling the girls in the process. They went to where the girls were and giving them friendly teases. Once they understood that it was all an act, they wiped away their tears and awkwardly laughed it off.

They weren't a group anymore.

All of them clung to anyone but their so-called "friends". Their friendship was broken, and I don't know if they'll be able to mend it together anytime soon. Maybe not ever.

Hmph. Not like I care. They could fight each other and I'd just watch from here or sneakily walk away.

If they as a group were being a bother to Rumi, perhaps scattering them and preventing any chance of them reconciling will somehow ease the bullying that Rumi experiences at school. This was just a short-term solution to a long-term problem. I have already taken measures for the latter. They started walking away together with my accomplices until their flashlights disappeared in the trees further ahead.

I sent a text message to Hina and I received a reply not ten seconds later.

A little while after that, two figures appeared on the path where the girls came from. Hina was walking towards me with Rumi's small hand being held by her own.

"Hi hi Hachi-kun~." Hina cooed when she got close and took my arm closer to herself. She wore a magical girl outfit that she didn't take off for some reason.

"Why are you still wearing that? Isn't that uncomfortable to walk around in?" I say and look down on her dress. She even has the wand strapped to her hip.

She pouts and pokes my cheek. "Because you didn't even compliment me earlier~..." She says and changes the tone of her voice to indicate sadness. I roll my eyes as Rumi look between the two of us with a bored expression. "Yes yes you are the cutest in the world..." I say and she giggles before coming to an abrupt halt. Her voice was low and serious when she spoke next.

"Is it done~?" She says it in sing-song way, but she looked quite the opposite.

"Yeah. They went on ahead as planned. What about Saki?"

"She and I split up when she said that she's going to go to Komachi… So how was it?" Hina's eyes looked void behind her glasses, which is similar to the unnerving smile that she has right now. Rumi looked up to me and silently waited for my reply.

I sigh and shrug, looking in the distance where it happened. "Well, it went as I expected it to be. Everyone's acting was so convincing. I should recommend them to the Drama and Theatre Club." I say, causing Hina to giggle. Rumi looks like she wants to say something and I nod at her to speak.

"Hachiman… Things aren't going to be the same anymore, won't it?"

Instead of replying immediately, I go to eye-level with her and pat her head. "Things like these aren't easily solved Rumi… This is only a temporary thing."

She avoided my gaze and looked down. "They didn't even look for me when I hid. They really didn't care about me… What if I got lost and they left me all by myself…?" She says in a depressed and betrayed voice that caused Hina to squeeze my shoulder. Even though I expected it, hearing it from her was still painful. I felt like a sharp serrated shard of ice stabbed my heart and twisted it around. "How can they hate me like that so much…? I never did anything to them… Why are they like that…?" She continues and mutters under her breathe as her voice is about to break.

For a fraction of a second, I saw a younger version of myself right beside her. I saw him being treated badly by his classmates, just for the sole reason of him existing. My eye and fingers twitched on their own and my heart started palpitating. I had barely contained the momentary spike in my anger and I forcibly calmed myself down with a deep and shaky breath.

"People are like that Rumi-chan. There's good ones and bad ones." Hina says while I was getting a grip on myself and crouches down as well. "Before I met your Hachi-onii-chan, I ran into some bad people and I had major trust issues for a long time. But thanks to him, I'm starting to believe in others again!" She says in a cheerful manner and puts her head on the side of my shoulder which seems to have uplifted Rumi a bit.

"Do you think that if I saved them…or something like that, would they have changed their attitude towards me?" She asks in a hopeful tone. What I came up with wasn't exactly good, even a little girl like Rumi could understand. It was horrible but I don't feel guilty nor regret doing it. I am accountable for everything, and there was no other way. If something went wrong, then it was up to me to shoulder the blame. I had already informed Kushino-san a vague idea of my plan, and she told me to go ahead.

I close my eyes and shake my head. "I don't know. I've seen things like this before, and it doesn't go away so easily." After giving my words a bit of thought, she slowly nodded and I got up after gently holding her small hand.

"Come on, let's go."

"We'll only be with you until the point where we agreed to earlier, Rumi-chan. But don't worry, we'll slowly follow you until you make your way back. You have to show them that you're perfectly capable in taking care of yourself after all!" Hina adds before getting up as well.

"Okay…"

What no one else noticed yet was in this way, the other girls would get punished by their teachers for not looking out for Rumi. That and their friendships now have cracks… Well that's not my problem anymore.

The less things she has to deal with, the better.

Hina takes my arm closer to her, deliberately making me feel the side of her chest and whispers to my ear. "Ne ne, Hachi-kun. I feel like we're a family right now~."

I rolled my eyes as a small smile graced my lips. "It's too early to think about that kind of stuff, we're not even a couple."

She leans away from me and winks. "Not yet~." Needlessly to say, I couldn't help a chuckle. Rumi's eye twitches and looks like she's finally had it and pulls on our hands and starts walking away with her in the middle between Hina and I.

I take a glance at the two of them and I do feel like I have a family of my own, embarrassing the thought may be.

I hope I get a good ending like this one day.

I really don't like looking at bonfires. It reminds me of unpleasant and embarrassing memories. I don't understand the reason for it being made either. It's a complete waste of resources and it adds to air pollution. The kids don't seem to mind it though. It's a perfect full Moon too, the Moon was large and high in the sky and lit up the surroundings with its light.

Still, I can't deny that small handheld fireworks are fun, typically the temochi, susuki and senko. Sensei had bought some for us, most of them were huddled together and playing. As for me, I sat on a rock away from them. I haven't seen Rumi after we separated earlier, since she didn't come and seek me out, I think she's fine.

"Hikigaya, you're spacing out." Sensei says from beside me, who also had her own firework with her. She seems to have disregarded our earlier…conversation and is keeping up the face of a reliable Sensei. "You've been pulling some strings from behind the scenes huh. And here I was wondering why you didn't arrive with the others earlier."

"Yup. Anyway, did it cause trouble for you Sensei?" I ask after nodding.

She shakes her head and takes a sip from the soda that she carried with her. "None. That was really sneaky for you to do."

I shrug with a smug grin that I did not bother hiding from Sensei. "I guess it's a win for me then."

"You really call that a win? Messing with those girl's heads like that?" She asks in an even tone. She wasn't praising nor reprimanding me. She was merely asking me a straight up question with no repercussions.

"Of course. As long as I win in the end, no matter how dirty or low I go about it, nothing else matters." I say in a neutral voice. Sensei made no reaction to my words and remained still looking in front, yet I felt the air around her change.

After several moments of silence, she finally spoke. "That sounded rather heartless, don't you think?."

"Yes it was." To my surprise, Sensei gives out a light chuckle. "You really are a bag full of surprises, aren't you Hikigaya?"

"I take that as a compliment thank you."

She grins and shakes her head after giving me a pat on the shoulder. "I knew you were my favourite student for a reason, you're really interesting. That mind of yours I mean." I felt her soft hand on my cheek and gave me a light pinch and pull. "But be careful Hikigaya. If you keep up with that kind of mindset, it's going to come back and haunt you in the future. There are other alternatives aside from doing things these way."

"The circumstances were different Sensei. There was no other choice."

She grimaced at my words seeing that I was right. "Well, you're correct about that at least. Just because you're correct doesn't mean that you're right. But my point still stands." She says and sighs. "In any case, I have one last meet-up with the teachers from the other school. So round up the others when you feel like it's time to sleep."

I nod at her order and she stands up and walk away, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

Shortly after she left, Hayama came jogging towards me asking me for some spare fireworks that I still have.

"Thank you for your hard work." I say dully as I handed them to him.

He gives me an awkward smile and scratches his head while looking to Sensei's direction. "Y-Yeah…"

I eyed him carefully and watched his body movements. "Did it leave a bad taste in your mouth?" I ask and he visibly flinched. He looks down and stares at the things that I have given him.

"A bit to be honest, I'm just not used to something like that I guess."

I shrug and light up another one as it burns its life out. "That's understandable. What you did wasn't exactly good. You should go, Tobe is waving at you to hurry up." He looks behind him and we saw Saika join in.

He was going start walking when he stopped and turned to me. "You're not gonna join us?"

"In a bit."

He looked like he was about to convince me but sighed in the end. "Okay then, by the way Hikigaya. I don't think any less of you for what you did. I'm sure the others feel the same way." He says and gives me a reassuring smile.

"That's a comforting thought." I mutter to myself as Hayama starts walking away. I took out my phone and answered several text messages that my Mother and Father sent me, as well as ones from Shiromeguri-senpai and Isshiki who asked me if I was having fun. After promising the last two that I'd send photos to them, I called my Father and told him how things went, then my Mother to tell her Kushino-san's regards. I was finally about to get up and join the others when I heard quiet footsteps emerge from my left.

"Hachiman…"

"Oh, Rumi." I say and walk up to her. "Did you have dinner already?"

"Yeah."

"Did they leave you alone…?" I ask.

She slowly nods while I was patting her head. "Yeah… They weren't together anymore. They scattered and sat at different tables with other students." She says and I give out a sigh of relief. I took her hand brought her along with the others where she thanked us for our help earlier and joined in lighting the small fireworks. She was reluctant at first but eventually gave in.

When her schoolmates started to return to their cabins for the night, we decided to return to ours as well. As the others went on ahead, I waited for Rumi to say something since she held my sleeve to prevent me from going.

"What do you want to say Rumi-chan? You already said your thanks lots of times earlier." Yui says, and the other girls join in when they saw us.

What's Tobe doing anyway? He looks excited and is showing something to Saika and Hayama on his phone, the three of them are ignoring us! I think it's a game that he got into recently since I noticed that he's always on the phone now. Damn I'm curious. Why are they leaving me to fend for myself surrounded by these Vixens, traitors the lot of them! That bastard Hayama even winked at me before walking away!

Even Saika… I'm gonna tell Hina to change his nickname to a funny-sounding one as punishment!

"She's probably scared by the Ice Queen." I turn to Yumiko and her girlfriend. "Oi, scram." I say and shoo her away with my hand.

Saki stifled a giggle while Yumiko started laughing. "Very funny Hikiecchi-kun. Stop looking at me, I feel like I am being undressed by your eyes." She rolled her eyes with an unimpressed-look and crossed her arms around her chest.

"Shut up you iro-" I was about to roast the absolute living being out of her but Komachi stopped me by hitting my arm.

"Onii-chan stop picking fights with Yukinoshita-san!"

"Ah, no need to worry Komachi-chan. Hachiman loves picking on girls at school." Hina says and Komachi turned to her with wide eyes.

Oi! WORDING, WOMAN!

"What?! Onii-chan fights other people and is a brute who beats up women?!" She says and steps away from me as if I might assault her or something. Seeing my own little sister look at me with fear in her eyes hurt me.

"A-Ah, no I didn't mean that." While Hina was explaining to Komachi, I knelt down on one knee to Rumi.

"What is it Rumi? Did you forget something?" I say and the others got quiet.

Surprisingly, she wasn't overwhelmed at the numerous eyes on her and looked at me directly. "Thank you again everyone, for everything. F-For being nice to me and being my friend too." She says and ends with a slight blush on her cheeks when I ruffled her hair.

"You know, if you keep on thanking me like that, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask a reward." I say cheekily. Rumi was surprised and was at a loss on what to do. I'm joking of course, I'm just teasing her.

The other girls must have thought that I was serious and immediately made sounds of disappointment. They started lightly shoving me like I was a criminal or something. Am I seriously about to get lynched by a mob…?

"Uwaah, Hikki you sounded kinda cool until you said that…"

"Hikio what the heck, and here I thought that you were being a good Samaritan or something."

"You shouldn't ask for things like that at the end Hachiman. What if Keika copies you? You're her role model you know?"

"I am very disappointed in you Hikiecchi-kun. I expected more from a person of your position."

"That was really low on Komachi points Onii-chan…"

"I kind of expected something like this happening. Wait what are Komachi points…?"

While they were talking, Rumi was unable to do anything but squeak out small sounds through stutters. "I-I don't really know what… A-Ah… Umm…"

I chuckle and ruffle her hair. "Hey, that was just a joke. No need to do anything like that. Just your thanks is enough for me." I say, which caused her to pout and lightly hit my chest. Behind me, I heard the others give out a collective sigh of relief. I could never be so low as to ask for a reward for something like this. I think the most that I could ask for is a hug or something wholesome like that.

She suddenly looked like she had an idea, and started fidgeting and playing around with her fingers while a cute blush was growing on her cheeks. "O-Oh, but there is one thing that I can g-give you…"

I tilted my head to the side out of curiosity, and for some reason, the girls behind me started arguing with each other, Yumiko and Saki's voice was louder than the rest. The topic was about those "Komachi points" that Komachi mentioned.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Whatever she had in mind, made her greatly embarrassed since she started avoiding my eyes by looking to the side. "Y-You have to close your eyes first though…"

Seeing that there was no harm in following her wishes, I closed my eyes. She better not pull a prank on me or something...

Just as I was about to open them after nothing happening, I felt small hands on my cheeks, and then a soft and slightly moist sensation on my lips as my nose bumped into something equally soft.

Wha-?

The girls who were busy talking amongst themselves instantly got silent.

The sensation only lasted for a second and a half, and when I opened my eyes, Rumi had separated herself from me and clasped her hands together. Her face was steaming red and she looked like she was getting dizzier by the second. "U-Um… S-So that's your r-reward Hachiman… A-A-Ah… S-See you tomorrow then…! G-Good n-night…!" She gives me a quick hug, bows and then sprints to the direction of her schoolmates where they were being ushered by their teacher.

I watch her run away and slowly touch my lips with my fingers.

T-That cheeky little brat… She went in and stole my first kiss just like that…

The first one to break the silence was Komachi.

"W-Woah! Did you see what Rumi-chan did?!" Komachi says excitedly and almost hops onto my shoulders since I was still kneeling with one leg on the ground. "Onii-chan! You can't get married anymore!" I must have had a blush on my face since Komachi laughed and pointed a finger at me.

"K-Komachi stop jumping around..." I say and stood up and was immediately verbally bombarded by the others.

"Lolicon…"

"Pedophile…"

"Lolicon Pedophile NEET…" Yumiko, Yukinoshita and Hina say in that exact order. Surprisingly, Saki and Yui didn't join in and instead defended me.

Yui's giggles stopped and she turned to the others, not sure if they were teasing me or legitimately serious. "Huh? What's wrong with it? I thought that it was really cute. You know like a Princess thanking her Prince thing."

Saki puts her arm around Komachi to prevent her from moving and she started wiggling around like a worm caught in a bird's beak. "Yeah Rumi-chan is still a kid so it doesn't count. And stop exaggerating, it's normal for kids to do that, Keika does it to Hachiman too."

Though Keika kisses me on the cheeks, not on the lips like what Rumi did…

"Y-Yeah it doesn't count because she's still a little girl." I say but the opposing three gave me looks of disgust as if I were a gross insect on the ground. It also doesn't help that I'm blushing and stuttering. "Y-You wouldn't get it since you three don't have any younger siblings...!"

Yumiko and Yukinoshita narrow their eyes at me, but it was Hina who spoke. "Big words from a Lolicon Pedophile NEET... You're even blushing!" She says while stepping towards me and points a finger on my face which caused my eye to twitch in irritation.

"Of course I'd blush since it was all of a sudden you Fujoshi!" I retort and poke my finger on her forehead. Hina must have remembered her antics this morning and blushed as well.

"S-Shut up!"

Once again, they started arguing about whether or not it "counts". Yui and Saki vs Yumiko, Yukinoshita, Hina and lastly Komachi who for some reason decided to join in on the opposing faction… What a strange topic to argue about… I wish they would just hurry up and stop since it's getting really embarrassing. Tobe, Saika and Hayama really left me with these Vixens…

Even though they were getting a bit rowdy, I didn't stop them. I also couldn't stop a small smile from forming on my lips.

Seriously…

This is the first Summer Camp in my life where I enjoyed myself.

Greetings and salutations friends! Ivanov117 here!

How are you lot doing? Has the quarantine been lifted in your area? Anyhow, I hope all of you are doing fantastic!

Usual excuses for the rather late update: FGO and Azur Lane events and frequent laziness attacks. Those of you who have been following me for a while must already know by now lol.

I hope that you don't have any problems in reading this, there was a bug of some sort in the site and I do believe that it's fine now. It happened to many other authors since I asked around in my FB group for FB authors. If you cringed at Yoshiteru, then than means I successfully wrote him well. I'll leave it to your imagination on how to describe Hachiman and Hina's relationship. Also, Rumi really surprised Hachiman with her "reward" huh. I guess him being too cheeky at times will get him in some awkward situations.

Is this the sign of a HachixRumi fic in the making...?!

I'll just reply to some of the reviews for now.

Majin Othinus: I hope you and your countrymen are doing okay! :)

Arkaiopedys: Ehehehe... We'll see ;)

liculle: Thanks!

sergioqsc: Perhaps...

LLHOTF: Yes it was.

percyjackson1728: Thanks!

s08812578: Thanks! About the Danmachi part, I can't recall much of S1 tbh, and I think there's a already a crossover written and posted by another Author in the site. I mean I am sure that I can write one, but it might be a tad bit redundant.

The ship has sailed. The YuYu/YuMi pair will have their Yuri smut. JK lol. Speaking of smuts, I'm thinking of writing another one, but I can't decide who. Let me know who'd you suggest lol.

And I'm also having the sudden urge to write a crossover, but like the above mentioned, I can't decided yet.

Anyway, that's all for today!

As always, favourite, follow or write a review or send me a PM if you want!

Goodbye and I'll see you in the next chapter!