Hikigaya Hachiman's Path to Reformation

Yuigahama Yui's Heart is Tested

I have never been to a Community Centre this large before. The sheer number of people is amazing. If I need to compare it with something, it's probably one of those venues where the Comiket is held. I've heard Hina and Hikki talk about it from time to time, the former really wants to go but Hikki feels reluctant because places with huge crowds make him uncomfortable. Kinda like Yukinon I guess.

The entrance was a bit too crowded earlier, with lots of people of all ages. To prevent us from getting separated, I had hesitantly put my arm around his. He was surprised by the sudden contact but didn't shake me off, much to my relief. We stayed like that, walking around with my arm around him until we reached the area assigned to his class.

I untangled myself from him when we met the rest of his class. From my earlier observations, he's treated the same way our classmates treat him at school. After I excused myself and started walking to where I am right now, he was immediately hounded by the boys and some of the girls… I bet I know what they're talking about…

It's also a good thing that the air conditioning works. I'm wearing a red knife-pleated skirt today that ended below my knees, and a thin white long-sleeved blouse that showed a bit of my shoulders. Nothing too showy, I really wanted to look pretty for him today so I went with this. I thought that we would be doing some walking so I opted to wear sneakers too. Hikki usually walks really fast, and I sometimes have a hard time in keeping up with him. When that happens, he turns and patiently waits for me to catch up and I remind him to not hurry with a pout. He'll just give out a light chuckle and pat my head.

When we were walking to this venue earlier, he stayed close to me and put himself nearest to the edge. It was his way of keeping me safe from harm.

It might not seem much, but it's a really cute gesture that makes my heart skip a beat just by thinking about it.

He was a huge flirt this morning too… He greeted me by saying that I look as pretty as ever, which instantly caused me to blush from the sudden compliment. He'd even throw in sweet-nothings like "I love how you did your hair." or "Your perfume is really nice." or "You look really cute in this skirt." and other things that turned me into a steaming mess. When we were at the train, I stood up and decided to sit across from him because he kept teasing me.

Instead of stopping, he crossed his legs and rested his elbow that supported his chin and just stared at me with a smirk.

That was so embarrassing, so many people were silently eyeing us with odd gazes…

What's gotten into him today? I know that I asked him out and this is a date and all, but still… He's having too much fun… Or maybe I'm the weird one looking too deeply into things. He's just a bit of a tease more than usual.

I was startled and brought back from my internal monologue when I heard the loud bass effects from one of the stalls and booths nearby. I'm seated at the area where the companions of the contestants and individuals associated with the booth stay. Most of the people here were family and friends. Some children walk past me, dragging their parents and their older sibling and pointing to one of the large Martial Arts booths that were stationed in this part of the community Centre. I could barely hear their voices of the sounds of music, computer-generated special effects, games, booming voices being amplified by megaphones and not to mention the sounds of something being hit and the occasional grunts being let out.

Hikki was there at the elevated pedestal together with some of his classmates, they were exhibiting their speciality for the onlookers to see. Even with that baggy and somewhat heavy white uniform, he is still moving quite fast and precise. In a way, he looks really elegant with his unchanging facial expression of calmness. He was just finished sparring with his partner, using his forearms and hands to block and counter.

His instructor raises one of those black leather things that they hit. Hikki lightly raises his hands, as well as his leg until it reached his chest. He was perfectly balanced and didn't waver. At the signal, he jumps upward with one foot, spins once in the air while stretching out his foot that was retracted earlier, and then hit his target with a resounding impact.

*BAM!*

It was one of those amazing high kicks that you see in action films. I saw him do it once when he brought me along for a personal request from one of the Club Presidents. Isshiki Iroha tagged along, she's a really cute and nice girl. Just a bit clingy to Hikki, and he was really fond of her too.

He lands with one foot once more, his body automatically going into his stance before doing the demo. Then, he pulls his hands close to his body and bows in front of the small crowd, causing sounds of amazement from the children. Hikki speaks to his instructor, a tall and pretty woman named Yuuka Tatsumi, and then excuses himself after switching with another classmate. He scans the sidelines, looking for me, and I raise my hand.

Once he sees me, he begins jogging only to be stopped by a girl and boy duo wearing the same uniform as him. They talk for a bit, and he gestures towards me. The boy playfully nudges his arm with his elbow, and the girl laughs and stands on her tiptoes to whisper something into his ear, to which he just rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

He smiles when he comes nearer, and I stand up with his towel and water on-hand.

"Good work Hikki! You looked really cool!" I say while wiping the sweat that had formed on his brow, as well as handing him his water bottle. He leans down a bit when I start patting the sides of his face and his chin as well. He suddenly realizes that my chest was right before his face, so he closes his eyes and turns in the other direction.

Jeez, he's always so prim and proper when it comes to stuff like this. It's one of the things that I find charming about him, in all honesty. I don't really mind if he sneaks a peek, that just means that he likes my outfit.

"Sorry about this Yui…" He says in an apologetic way and gives me a slight bow when patted him dry. I tilt my head to the side from mild confusion at his words.

"Huh? What do you mean, Hikki?"

He scratches his head and gestures around. "I bet you're feeling disappointed… You know, that you're just sitting around here while I'm doing my rounds. You can check out the different booths you know?" Hikki puts his hand on my shoulder and starts pointing in different directions. His Gi isn't really wet so it's fine if your shoulders or arms are touched.

"The Akido and Kendo section is over there if you're interested. I saw a Kimono and Yukata booth that displays some cool designs submitted by different schools, they even have a ceremonial armour that you can put on. That part over there has a reptile exhibit, and I want to go there later. There's even a booth where you can try out the latest Virtual Reality games with a headset." He says helpfully and let's go.

I smile and wave my hand. "No, it's alright! I'll just wait for you so we can go together! That's why I'm here, after all. It would be pointless if I start checking things out without you!" I say.

Hikki pouts, unsatisfied at my answer and says some more things to try and change my mind.

I know that he's being considerate as always, but sometimes he takes it too far and doesn't think about himself. When I called him a few days ago to say that I wanted to hang out, he suggested that I go with him to this event. This is apparently a big deal since lots of different organizations are here too.

I pull at his arm so we can sit together on the seat that I saved for him and move his sports bag to the ground. We met at the train station nearest to our houses before coming here together this morning. Mama asked where I was going and I told her that I was meeting up with Hikki. She laughed and asked if this was a date, to which I just hurried out of the house without replying to her.

And now that I think about it, I guess this qualifies as a date, I guess? Hmm, and I was the one who asked him out too… But we're just hanging out… But I do think that this is a date though... This is really confusing.

Hikki touches my hand when I was spacing out for too long. "Yui…?"

"I-It's fine. I'm having fun watching you and your class do your cool tricks!" I say too fast, which causes him to arch a brow at me.

He stays quiet, then furrows his brows and narrows his eyes at me. "Are you feeling hungry? Did you have breakfast before coming here? Didn't I ask you to eat first?" He asks and leans in while scanning my eyes and body language. His gaze was too intense and I had to look away.

"Y-Yes I did! Stop being such a worrywart! Hikki, you sound like a grandma!" I say and playfully slap his arm.

He gives me an amused smile while shaking his head. It looks like he's decided to drop the subject for now. "That' just me I guess. And about your previous statement, you make us sound like a bunch of magicians in-training or something."

We share a laugh before I continue the conversation. "Oh yeah, those two earlier. Who were they?" I ask, recalling the duo that spoke to him for a bit before coming to me.

"Ah," He says and turns to the direction where he came from. The two of them were sparring while some children watched excitedly. The girl strikes at his head with her leg, but he blocks with his forearm and locks her into a hold, causing them to tumble to the ground. After some squirming and writhing, she manages to reverse and outmanoeuvre him.

"Those are my classmates. The baldy is Isshin Kuro. The scary-looking girl with the short hime cut hair is Shinna Kuro, they're cousins."

"Oooohhhh… What did they ask you?" He must have misheard me a bit from the background noise since he asks again and scoots closer to me.

He lets go of the water bottle that he just drank from and puts it beside him. "Nothing much. They thought that you were my girlfriend." He says calmly while taking the towel from my hand and wiping his neck with it.

I blink once.

Then twice and thrice.

"Eh?!" I accidentally let out an embarrassing squeak from his words as I feel my cheeks get warm. I was suddenly aware of how close we were, our shoulders and legs were touching, and I unconsciously scoot away from him.

Hikki looks at me as if I had done something weird. "Yui…?" Then, he sighs and shakes his head.

"Oh come on, you're embarrassed because of such a tiny thing? Any onlookers would assume as such, it's perfectly natural and understandable. I mean," He grins mischievously and scoots closer as I felt him puts his arm around my shoulder, lightly pulling me to him and furthering the blush on my face.

"Look around you, Yui… Most of the benches here are occupied by the significant others of my classmates…" He whispers and I gulp while looking to my left and right.

What he said is true. Most of them were girls.

I see girls sometimes wave at, what I assume to be, their boyfriends from afar. The girls kept an eye on their belongings while their boyfriends did their rounds and roles in the exhibit. One of the boys came back, and his girlfriend went stood up and wiped his face from the sweat. They smiled at each other and shared a laugh.

J-Just like what I did with Hikki…

"Yui, over there…" He says and gestures with a nod to our right. "That girl in the black skirt, she's watching us with a blush on her face." I see the girl that he was talking about several meters away. She was pretending to read a small pocketbook while sneaking glances at us.

"She must think that we're a couple right now and that I'm a touchy-type as well..." He chuckles when he made eye contact with the girl. Her blush deepens and looks away from us.

"H-Hikki… Stop teasing me… You bully…" I shyly mumble out and fidget at how close he was. He lets go with a grin, much to my relief. If that went on for a second longer then I'm sure that I would have fainted on the spot.

He affectionately ruffles my hair, getting it slightly messy in the process. "Well, my point is that you shouldn't get easily embarrassed by stuff like this. Learn to take it in stride like Yumiko and Hina for example. And the people around us are just strangers anyway, it wouldn't make much difference even if we tell them right?" He shakes his head while closing his eyes.

"I mean, if they think of us like that then it's no harm going with the flow. I hold hands with Komachi whenever we go out together. We even pretended to be a couple once so we can get a discount! Ah! If I could take Komachi for myself-! Komachi's body only belongs to me!" He says the last parts proudly and starts holding his sides, squirming and twitching with delight at whatever lewd things he was thinking about.

He's always so casual with things like these, he doesn't realize that I'm a girl too...

Siscon! That's because she's your Sister that you can casually do stuff like that. Not to mention that you're a huge Siscon! Are all older brothers like this to their younger sisters?!

I pout and think on his words a bit. "Well, I guess…" I look to the side, as well as around us and see the occasional couple walking together holding hands. Hikki notices it immediately when my gaze lingers on them for too long.

"You know them?"

"A-Ah, no. I was just thinking about what you said…"

He eyes me curiously, and then he looks like he came to a conclusion in his head. "Oh, is that it? You want to hold hands?" He asks from out of the blue after snapping his finger while I was busy thinking.

Without waiting for my reaction, nor for my answer, he takes my hand in his.

I feel the rosiness on my cheeks intensify from his touch. "Hikki...?"

"Yui, how does my hand feel?" He asks. His voice is calm and composed as ever, his expression similarly so. It makes me gulp and unconsciously follow his current demeanour. I hesitantly caress his palm with my fingers and softly poke his digits as well. He stays silent while patiently waiting.

I slowly put my palm on his. It's honestly a bit embarrassing, given how we look like. My hands feel so small now that I see them like this. Papa's hand is big too, but there's something about Hikki's that makes it really nice for some reason… Maybe that's what he means?

I touch and hold him for a little while longer before finally deciding that it was time to tell him my answer. "Your hand…it's really soft," I say and look up to him. He gives me a satisfied smile and pats my head with his other hand.

"Good girl, I knew that you'd notice." I smile shyly when I feel some people eyeing us as he gently takes back his hand and holds it out.

I hope we're not too touchy and affectionate from everyone else's viewpoint… I mean, some of my habits must have rubbed off on him since he doesn't shy away from nor get startled by my touch as easily as before. He freely puts his hands on my shoulders, and it made me happy at how he was being so warm to me. Tobe, Yumiko and I are the only ones that he does it. He treats Hina and Yumiko differently and I only realized recently that he's extra special with me. Yumiko yelps every time he jokingly puts his arm around her waist when we go out as a group, particularly because Hina and he love teasing her for her cute reactions. As for Hina, he's not really as touchy but she likes teasing him too from time to time.

With me, he's really doting and always watches out for me and…careful, I guess? That's the closest thing that I could describe how he treats me.

But now, he's being extra caring, and even a bit l-loving and tender… N-Not that I dislike it, of course… It does feel nice that I have all of his attention, though…

"These hands of mine are strange. We always use our hands, feet and legs in Taekwondo. I've been a student for more than a year now, but no matter how much we train and practice, my hands are always soft. Unlike the calloused hands of my classmates." Hikki says in a curious tone while looking at his hand.

I take it again and was surprised at how I didn't realize it sooner. "Woah! You're right! It's like that of a girl's! Your nails are well-maintained too!"

He laughs awkwardly and blushes. "A-Ahahaha… Komachi and Mother do this for me from time to time…"

I smile and giggle at his words as he puts his hands back on his lap. "Hehehehehe, you're really close with them, huh. Do you want to come over to my house and apply some nail polisher on them? I could even put some makeup on your face if you want, hehehehe~!"

A wry grin forms on his face as he reaches up and pulls on my cheek. Now that I realize it, his fingers really do feel soft and gentle. "If you cook me up a nice dinner or lunch, then I guess it's worth the humiliation on my part."

My eyes light up, and I tap on his leg excitedly which causes him to smile in turn. We're always together at school, even and the Club but we rarely get to spend time with just the two of us. "Oh! Let's go then! I'll show you how much I've improved! I think that I can even beat yo-"

I stop when the warm smile on his face falters a bit. "I'd love to Yui, but maybe some other time." Before I could show my obvious disappointment, I feel him start ruffling my hair again. J-Jeez, what's with him and ruffling girl's hairs? He's treating me like a little kid or sister or something…

"Plus, if I go with you when we're hanging out for the rest of the day after this, it would really tire me out. Just an hour or two before my duty period ends and then we'd do some exploring after we eat lunch."

He starts patting my head after I give him a silent nod. "Wonderful, I'll treat you to some yakisoba, meat buns, desserts and whatever you like okay?"

He's treating me like a kid?! Why is he treating me like a kid?!

I blushed profusely when some people who walked past us gave us looks of curiosity. Hikki eyes them from the corner of his eyes and lets go when my pink cheeks had grown in colour enough. He raises his hands and starts apologizing.

"Ah, did I make you uncomfortable, Yui?"

Now it was my turn to frantically wave my hands. "No! I-I mean, a was just caught off guard that's all. I'm fine with whatever you do… Anyway!" I exclaim, which lightly startles him as I take out the guide for the venue from my bag. It was only a few pages worth, but the text and details were small to fit everything inside.

"I got this earlier when you weren't looking. Instead of just walking around later, we can read through this so we don't have to waste too much time!" I say.

"Oh, that's a good idea. Okay, let's see…" He scoots closer to me as we start reading together. We spent several silent moments reading through the pages and then talking when we're finished to exchange ideas. To our surprise, there are really a lot of places to go here. Aside from the reptile exhibit, they are also showcasing a bird one which showcases Owls. There are even small stalls and booths outside too that sold merchandise and souvenirs, the money that they acquired today would be donated to charitable institutions.

"This reminds me of something Hina mentioned before…" I say while scrunching up my face as I try to recall the memory.

"About what?"

"Hm… You know those maid cafes, right?" I ask and he nods.

"Yup but I've never been to one. It's embarrassing to go when you're by yourself." He says awkwardly and scratches his cheek. I give him a knowing look, and he blushes and looks away. In truth, I caught him reading one of those Light Novel things with lewd cover art of a maid. I had made a fuss at the club when it was just the two of us since I was convinced that it was a lewd book. It was just cover art.

"Okay, but the one that Hina said was a cafe that had Owls in it. It was really popular too! I've watched some videos online where foreigners would come here just to visit one! Aside from the Owls, the food is great too!"

Because we were so close together, I lean away a bit when he turns to me with a questioning look. "Owls…? R-Really…?"

"Umu, Owls! Those birds that have big eyes!"

He thinks for a bit before suddenly having a horrified expression on his face. His eyes went wide as if he had just come to a terrifying revelation. Hikki clutches my hand, startling me and causing a small noise of surprise from me.

"THEY EAT OWLS?!" He cries out, which causes some passerby to look in our direction.

I put my hand over my mouth as I start giggling. Hikki's look of horror turns into confusion when he sees my unexpected reaction.

"Hehehehehehe! H-Hikki! You idiot!" I continue laughing as he silently looks on at me as if I had gone crazy. I honestly didn't know that he wasn't aware of these kinds of cafes. He's not really outgoing so it isn't surprising that he doesn't know stuff like these.

I take out my phone while I was laughing, searching it up for him to read and understand it for himself. Once I found a satisfying result, I hand it to him and he reluctantly receives it.

His frown soon subsided, and then he had a look of understanding on his face while nodding and putting his hand under his chin. "Oooohh… So this is what you mean…" He mutters to himself as he continues reading and scrolling down. Since he suddenly got curious about the subject, I put my cheek against his shoulder as I resumed reading the pamphlet while waiting for him to finish.

"Oh Hikki! There's a bunch of foreign food stands here!"

"Hmm…"

"Hikki, this 'burrito', 'shawarma', 'halo-halo' and 'chebureki' sounds good! I have no idea what they are though, hehehehehe…"

"Hmm…"

"They have a special bonsai exhibit and display area too! Hikki, let's check it out later!"

"Hmm…"

"Oh here it is! The Kimono and Yukata booth that you mentioned earlier! It's a lot closer than I thought!"

"Hmm…"

I suddenly realize that I was more or less talking with myself since Hikki was just giving out small responses. He seemed to be preoccupied with something on my phone and I raise my head a bit to see what has his attention. He was at the map app and checking out the locations of Owl Cafes here in Chiba and in Tokyo. He finally notices me and angles the screen towards me.

"I looked up some places. I just got curious that's all." He says and hands the phone back to me. I start piecing things together in my mind, and I look up at him.

"You want to try going to one…?"

He makes a funny expression and scratches. "Well, I am very fond of all kinds of pets, including birds. I have bird friends at school too. This is the first time that I've heard of this sort of thing so I guess I'm curious…"

I smile and giggle at how he was being bashful about his desires and playfully touch his arm. "Sure! We can have dinner thereafter we check out all the interesting things here in the Community Centre!"

He gives out a sigh of relief and smiles. "Thank you, Yui. I'm glad you're here with me." He says in a very soft tone while his warm eyes looked deep into mine. I gulp as I start to feel a blush coming.

"N-No problem! I always wanted to try going to one myself as well!"

We soon go back to reading the pamphlet, while talking and planning our route later. Occasionally laughing and giggling when he makes a lighthearted joke or comment. Unfortunately, break time was over, and it was time for him to go back and switch places with one of his classmates. Only an hour left and we can have lunch. He stands up and excuses himself, but I hold his sleeve when I thought of something strange that he said earlier.

He arches a brow at me. "Yui?"

"Hikki, what did you mean when you said that you had 'bird friends', at school? Like, is that a secret club or organization or something…? It really sounds shady…" I ask.

With his right hand, he clutches the side of his Gi which exposed his inner shirt and did a funny pose. "No, but I, Hikigaya Hachiman, have a dream. I wish to become a Gang-STAR."

I have no idea what he means, but I still giggle anyway. "Hehehehehe, that's funny Hikki. But seriously, what are those 'bird friends'?"

He starts chuckling and then patted my head with his other hand. I smile and raise my head to feel his warm touch. His hand is really soft, at this point, I'm not even feeling embarrassed anymore. It just makes me happy from how he is treating me heartily, as well as how he's acting freely without being constrained at school. We smile at each other at the same time, and I blush at how he was being so nice and warm to me.

I wish I can see this part of him more often.

"I mean exactly that. When school resumes, I'll introduce you to them."

Hikki was finally done for the day, and after changing into more comfortable clothes, we go to his Sensei so we can excuse ourselves. She's tall, half a head taller than Hikki…and really pretty too. Her black hair was cut short because it might get in the way. She's probably lean and toned under the Gi that she wore. I've seen Hikki without a shirt once or twice, he's really lean. And her eyes were like that of a snake's, no offence. That said, her cold and sharp eyes remind of Hikki's, and that girl earlier that he spoke with too…

Wait, maybe this Sensei only accepts students with sharp eyes? Yukinon, Kawasaki-san and Yumiko would definitely be accepted here!

"That's all for today, Hikigaya. Your shift is over and you're free to go home or check the other booths and stalls out." She puts her hands on her hips and nods, then eyes me from top to bottom. I fidget under her gaze and absentmindedly rub my arm with my other hand.

She looks to Hikki beside me, who stiffened and straightened up like a soldier. "You never mentioned that you had such a cute friend with you, Hikigaya. If you told me, then I could have exempted you from today's activities so you could spend more time with her." She says with a warm smile. Her words made me want to hide my face from the embarrassment.

Hikki starts talking just as I feel a blush creep up my cheeks before I could stutter out a reply.

"Ahahaha. Well, you're right about the cute part Sensei." He laughs and then bows. I am probably red and steaming right now, so I opted to look to and hide my face. I'm not sure what sort of expression she has on her face right now. All I know is that I hear a lighthearted laugh from her. "We're going on ahead, Sensei. Goodbye."

She nods and smiles at both of us. "See you Hikigaya. Keep your anaemia in mind! Don't overwork and stress out your body too much! Have fun with your date!" I give out a hasty bow as well, and we turn around and start walking away. When we were far enough and entered the main walkway bordered by the food stands and the like, I hold his arm close to me and pinch his side. He must have expected it since he just laughs when I did it.

"H-Hikki-! What was that about?!" I whisper hotly at him, but he continues laughing. "Y-You should have cleared it up! I-I'm not your…girlfriend…" The last of my words trailed off on their own. The misunderstanding is really embarrassing, but for some reason, I had a strange feeling within me when I said the last part. Something that I haven't felt before.

He turns to me with an annoying smirk and shakes his head. "You're wrong Yui, there is nothing for me to clear up. Tatsumi-sensei is right."

I stop and feel my face start to heat up once more.

"..."

"..."

"HUH-?!" I couldn't help but exclaim loudly since my mind is still a mess from still trying to process and understand his words. I mean, I do think that I was standing too close to him, as well as our initial meeting this morning… We did get a bit too affectionate with each other at the benches earlier, I-I think… Damnit! Hikki is right! I shouldn't get easily worked up and flustered like this!

He did say that he did it once with Komachi-chan…

A-And I think that he wouldn't mind it if we pretended to be a c-couple for today. Maybe that's what he meant to say earlier… I m-mean, there's no harm in it since we're just pretending…

The smirk on his face turns into a cheeky grin as he watches me squirm and stutter under his gaze.

"Yui…" Hikki says in a low tone that was somehow clear to my ears as if the noisy background noise didn't exist at all.

"YES?!"

"Think about what Tatsumi-sensei said…"

I look to the side so he wouldn't see the redness on my face. "S-She said that I was your…" I mumble out loud enough for him to hear. J-Jeez, making me say it out loud…

"You're wrong, Yui." He says and I turn to face him as we started to walk slower and slower until we reached the rightmost side where people who aren't in a hurry to walk to their destination. "Tatsumi-sensei said that you were my cute friend. Are you cute?"

I pull and pinch his arm to get back at him while pouting. "H-Hikki, asking me that kind of question is a bit…"

The corners of his lips curve upwards until it became a full-blown grin that showed off his pearly whites. "To me, you're super cute, and that's all that matters." He says in an upbeat tone suddenly pinches the soft skin on my tummy which instantly makes me yelp and cringe away from him.

"Kyah!"

UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO HIM?! IS HE HITTING ON ME?! WHY IS HIKKI ACTING SO WEIRD TODAY?! DID HE EAT A SUSHI THAT HAD GONE BAD LAST NIGHT?! WHY IS HE SAYING STUFF LIKE THIS?! IS HE HITTING ON ME?! DID HE WATCH A CHEESY MOVIE AND IT GOT TO HIS HEAD?! IS HE HITTING ON ME?! IS HE HITTING ON ME?! DID HE HIT HIS HEAD ON A STREETLAMP BEFORE MEETING UP WITH ME THIS MORNING?!

"…" With a shaky and sweaty hand, I slowly take my pink cotton bucket hat from my bag and cover my face with it while looking down. The white heavy steam is probably going out of my ears and from the small holes in my hat. I already feel like crying, not to mention the hotness all over my body and the funny feeling within me. He moves his hands a bit, causing me to feel even more self-conscious. The noise around gets a bit loud, and he pulls me closer to him for me to hear his words.

"Tatsumi-sensei said that you were my cute friend. You are cute and you are my friend. I don't really need to correct anything else, do I?" Hikki adds, and even though I can't see what kind of expression he's making, I'm sure that he's grinning right now.

Which is the same with me, although I feel very giddy. A-And really happy too…

He gently untangles his arm from me and puts it on my waist, sending a shiver go through my body as I suddenly feel sensitive from his touch. To get my attention, he pokes me on my rib, causing me to yelp from his touch. The fabric of my blouse is kind of thin and airy, so I literally felt every single movement from his soft and gentle fingers.

"We're on a date Yui... You should lighten up. Isn't that what you always tell me at school?"

"Mouu...H-Hikki you bully…" I mumble and bump my head against his shoulder several times. "Using my own words against me…" He guides me as we continue walking. I could always uncover my face, but I'm still too embarrassed to do it. I squirm and shiver when he squeezes my sides with his fingers.

He suddenly stops as if noticing something, then slowly squeezes my skin once more.

O-OOOH NOOOOOOOO! HE MUST HAVE NOTICED THE FLAB ON MY SIDES! I SHOULD REALLY STOP ASKING FOR HIS FOOD DURING LUNCH AND HOME ECONOMICS CLASS!

Wait, it's partly his fault since he sometimes buys us food on a whim…

I've never seen Hikki act like this before, but then again, it's the first time that we went out with just the two of us. I mean, he was always so warm and kind to me…and treats me more affectionately than Yumiko or Hina. He doesn't mind it when I partner up with him at Home Economics Class, it was thanks to him that I learned how to cook after all. He always patiently waits for me at the door so we can go to Club together on the times when he doesn't have to go to the StuCo. He'd tell me about what he did and would sometimes ask me for my input from my perspective with his arm over my shoulder. He only does it when we're alone though… When that happens, I do my best to give him a satisfying answer

He's always such a sweetheart to me… He's so kind and warm to me to the point where even I get embarrassed…

So it doesn't come as surprising that…

…

…

W-Well…

If h-he's really hitting on me… Then that means that's he wants me, r-r-right…?

He mentioned earlier that he jokingly pretended to be Komachi-chan's boyfriend once. Whether or not it was a joke isn't really the point. And since we're here anyway, it would be difficult to hold me back. I'd just ruin our date and make him feel awkward…

Then…what I'm about to do, should be fine…

I scoot closer to him and slowly lower my hat to see him. He lets go of my waist and grins when I do so, almost making me want to cover my face again. After breathing deeply several times to prepare myself, I must all the courage that I could have and reach out to his right hand.

His hand was soft and warm, unlike my own sweaty and jittery ones because of the nervousness. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would burst from my chest. I had only planned to just hold them, but I had unconsciously interlocked our fingers together. He lightly blushes as a small smile forms on his pale and handsome face. He doesn't try to untangle nor separate our hands, instead, he laughs and rubs his thumb on my hand.

"Yui, you don't mind, right? If we're seen like this, I mean."

I slowly shake my head as I face forward, trying my best to somehow tone down the redness on my cheeks. "I-If it's you, then I don't mind..."

From the corner of my eyes, I see him smile and give my smaller hand a gentle squeeze. "Me too."

Those were the most heartfelt and sincere words that I have ever heard in my life.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" I shriek with terror as I see a mutilated corpse suddenly move and leap at me. I instinctively raise my arms to protect myself, and before it could kill me, my vision went black then I feel something being taken from my head.

I was back at the community centre with some people around, looking at me with amused expressions while a large monitor was behind me. Hikki is to my left, and I immediately latch onto his arm tightly. My hands were still shaking and my heart beating so fast. On his left hand was the virtual reality headset that he made me try out.

The staff lady has an apologetic expression when Hikki returns the headset, apologizing on my behalf as well.

"I'm sorry. She easily gets scared." He says. The staff lady asks if he wants to try playing again, to which he politely turns her down. He guides me to one of the available benches nearby after making sure that my seat was clean.

He starts softly patting my head, his touch immediately calms me down.

"Y-Yui…are you okay? I warned you that it was scary…you didn't have to do it." He comforts me as we both watch another pair try out the headset, and were led to the racing corner where they had those seated platform things like in arcades, but with Virtual Reality headsets on.

Once my heartbeat had gone at its normal speed, I sit up and loosen my hold on his arm. "Y-Yeah, thanks Hikki. Just startled that's all..."

The Virtual Reality attraction is the first one on our list. Since I don't know these kinds of things, I let Hikki try it first. He played a racing game, and then a horror game. He really had fun during the first but laughed really loudly at the horror one. So I thought that it must be really fun, even though it looked terrifying at the monitor that makes us see what the player sees.

But I was wrong.

It was scary!

TOO SCARY!

He starts chuckling, which causes me to pout. "Hikki you're such a weirdo. I thought that the horror game would be fun since you were laughing…" I say, and his lips turn into an amused grin.

"Yeah, it was fun. As an avid fan of the genre, it entertains me when I see a very predictable about to happen. When I am genuinely startled, I can't help but laugh at myself." Hikki starts going on about the game, giving his opinion about the user interface, field of view, sound effects, environment design and a bunch of other things that I have no clue about. Just seeing him talk about something with so much enthusiasm is fun in its own way.

"-and the models too. It looks too clunky for me. Oh! And the sound is too loud when there's a jumpscare!" He says and snaps his fingers.

"Hehehehe! The racing game was good too! I even titled my body and almost fell off my seat when I tried it!" I say and giggle at how funny I must have looked.

"Hmm, that goes the same for me. I screamed when there was a sharp turn. I was never good at racing games… Oh, but I liked how-!"

Before he could go another hour of talking, our tummies grumble at the same time, and we both laugh at the coincidence.

I nod when he asks me if I'm hungry, and I take out the pamphlet that I had in my bag.

"What do you want Yui?"

"I'm fine with whatever you pick Hikki. Pick one of those foreign foods that I mentioned earlier. Leave me your bag, I'll stay here so our seat won't be taken. I'm fine with any drink too! Hurry before the line gets too long!" After telling me that he'll be back as soon as he can, he stands up and briskly starts walking to get us some lunch.

To pass the time, I check my phone, going through the photos that I had saved quite recently. I smile when saw the ones that we took at the Summer Camp. I already miss Rumi-chan, I hope I can meet her again one day! When Hikki is in the frame, her eyes are always on him. And since Hikki is fond of children, he didn't mind her at all. I'm pretty sure she has a crush on him, hehehehe~! She even sneaked a kiss from him too~! They look so cute together~!

Then I went through the ones that I took earlier, most of them were taken when Hikki wasn't aware of it while he was sparring and displaying himself at their promotional program. He looked really cool, there's one image of him looking to the side with his bangs heavy with sweat. I secretly took it when he was spacing out. He was fanning himself and slightly opened his Gi to let the air in. The phone had automatically focused on him and blurred out his surroundings. The result was a very charming and good-looking accidental photo.

I bet that if he'll make this as his profile photo, he'd get a lot of likes for sure!

Oh but wait, Hikki doesn't have a single social media account. We only communicate with him through LINE and cellphone numbers. Still, it's weird that he doesn't have one. I would have expected him to at least have a private account or something like that.

I asked him about it once, and all he said was "I don't want to expose myself too much."

When the day comes that he finally makes an account, I'll send him this one so he can make it as his profile picture!

Until then...I'll just use this as my secondary phone wallpaper...hehehehehehehehe

*growl*

Uwaah, I hope Hikki is already on his way...

Merry Christmas to everyone around the world! A few hours late but it can't be helped!

I decided to give Yui some screentime(?) with since she really deserves it. Yui is an important person to Hachiman too! He owes her many things that helped him grow as a person ever since starting his 2nd Year in Sobu! Still, why was he extra doting and affectionate to Yui on their date together?

And where is the older of the Yukinoshita Sisters? Is she watching from the shadows? Is she provoking her little sister to finally act on her own?

Who knows?

That's enough of me teasing you lot for now hehehehehehehe...

As always, follow, favourite or leave a review! I'd love to read what your feelings on this chapter are!

I'll be posting the sequel in a few days so please look forward to it! I've also recently updated my other fics, check them out if you want!

See you next time and have a Merry Christmas!