Hello!

It has been a while! I didn't mean for it to take this long for a new chapter. Many things came up between the last chapter and this one. I'm actually on vacation right now! On top of that, writing a future chapter in the middle of the story was harder than I expected. I ended up restarting a few times.

Anyways, I apologize for the delay. Please let me know what you think about this one. Your thoughts will truly help me write a better story and help me improve as well.

Anyways, thank you for waiting!

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Morning

Chapter 8

Regaining consciousness, my eyes started to flicker awake. A gentle hand was running itself through my hair, skillfully avoiding any knots. The last thing I remember was Yui telling me to go to sleep, so it must still be her. I could still feel her soft lap under my head. The first thing I noticed was the room dyed in a deep orange. When we got home, the sun was already starting to fall, so I must have napped for an hour or two at the most. It was quiet, but I could hear Yukino talking from the dining room.

"Are you awake now? You've already slept for so long."

"Hmm…" I turned my head and stared up at the face of the voice from just now. I must still be sleeping. I can say with 100% certainty that it wasn't Yui. With short, raven-black hair and purple highlights, Haruno is the first person I see after my short nap. As usual, she had her phone in her hand. One hand was running through my hair and the other was scrolling through her phone.

Wait… isn't that my phone… "Oi… Isn't that my phone? What are you doing?" I didn't care so much that she had my phone, but I was curious about what she was doing.

"Well, I would be using mine but Yukino-chan took it away."

"Took it away? Why? Wait, when did you even get here?"

"Hmmm… Close to midnight I think."

"Midnight?! What time is it?!" I started to get up to look for a clock, but Haruno's hand forced me to lay back down. A slight pain ran through my back, reminding me of yesterday's events.

"Relax, just lay down… and relax. It's only the next morning. Are you hungry? I don't think you've eaten, right?"

"Well, no… Yui said she'd wake me when the food was ready. So… I slept through the night, huh?" I was going to struggle a little more but the pain from my burn was holding me back. The more I struggle, the more I aggravate the wound. It was draining enough to not yell out in pain.

"Like a baby! You wouldn't wake up no matter what we tried."

"Sorry, I was completely drained after yesterday. So, what are you doing on my phone?"

"Hmm… looking through your texts with Miss Megu-Meguri-chan. Very interesting conversations you're having here."

Dammit… "Well I have been helping her out, so we've been talking a lot. She's busy with administrative stuff and all that."

"Right, right… So what's with [I need to recharge my Megu-Megu bar. I'm running out of energy. Let's get some coffee tomorrow!] [Haha! Some coffee would be great! 😊 Can you bring it to the office? I'm really busy right now with the start of the year.] Don't you think you're being a little too flirty there?" The hand that was smoothly going through my hair before suddenly started pulling on the knots in my hair.

"… I don't know what you're talking about… I'm just trying to be helpful… Anyways, who's Yukino talking to? She doesn't sound too happy." Gotta change the subject before she digs too deep…

"Haa… Whatever, I'll get it out of you later. Yukino-chan's on the phone with the university. That Akui girl called that same day to report to the university that you had assaulted that soccer guy over a minor disagreement."

"What?" Since Haruno was here, that meant that the girls must have told her what happened. "Is she an idiot? Did she not see all the people in the area?"

"My guess is that she thought that if she could complain first, the school would take her side. Yukino-chan is trying to correct the school and set up a hearing. She wants that girl and guy expelled."

"Oh wow… she must be really mad. It seems like too much trouble for a couple of idiots. Who was she anyway? Yukino seemed to know her."

"Hmm… she's one of the girls from Yukino's elementary years. They are in the same courses right now. She tried to get Yukino's attention like in the past, but Yukino ignored her. That must have annoyed that girl, and, just like the past, she wanted to forcefully make her acknowledge her. Or at least that's what Yukino says." I started to furrow my brow, wondering why Yukino never mentioned anything to me, but Haruno quickly shut that thought down. "Don't make that face." She started to massage the area in between my brows with her finger. "She never told you anything because it truly didn't matter to her anymore. Only the present does."

"Yeah… I guess you're right. So, why did she take your phone away?"

"Oh… Well, when I heard what happened I came over to find out the exact details and see the injury myself. I wanted to call our company's lawyers to ruin their lives, but Yukino-chan stopped me. She wanted to handle it herself since she says she was the direct cause of the incident." It was then that she looked down at me. With fury in her eyes, and a terrifying, yet mesmerizing smile, it was clear that if given the chance she really would do just that.

What the hell?! How can she say something so scary with such a beautiful smile?! "T-Then I'll just leave it to her. So, is there food from last night? I'm kind of hungry."

"I think so…" She stretched her body over to the other side of the couch. Curious, I tilted my head back to see what she was doing. On the armchair next to the sofa, Saki was curled up like a cat, sleeping. Haruno lightly poked her head and she immediately shot up.

She looked around until her eyes eventually met mine. "Hachiman! How are you feeling? Does it still hurt? Do you want something for the pain? Are you hungry?"

Whenever something like this has happened, Saki is the first to go into 'kaa-san' mode. Her natural instincts take over. I've learned that the best way to get her to calm down is to answer all her questions.

"I feel fine, though my skin is still irritated. I guess it still does hurt though. Some meds wouldn't hurt, but some anti-burn cream might be better. And, yeah, I am kind of hungry."

"Slow down Saki-chan. One question at a time." I could tell that she was about to fire off more questions, but Haruno stopped her with a finger on her mouth. When she did, Saki's tense shoulders slowly softened and she let out a deep breath. I don't know when it happened, but Haruno has become a sort of big sister for everyone. Yui, Saki, and sometimes even Iroha will go to her for support or advice. Though Yukino and Miyu try to avoid her when they have problems because Haruno likes to tease them the most.

Ever since that night, Haruno has changed a lot, and for the better. She has become a pillar of support for all of us. I, and everyone else, have already accepted her. She doesn't live with us though. If Haruno moved in with us, we figured it would draw too much attention. Though we probably draw a lot of attention already. Though, it was for that reason that she decided that it would be best for her to live separately.

"Saki-chan, why don't you heat up the food, while I help him with everything else."

"… Ok… but you can't…"

"Hai, hai…" Haruno cut her off before she could continue. "Even I know the time and place. Now clearly isn't the time… though, the place is…" Haruno provocatively licked her lips.

"I'm gonna tell Yukino…"

"Alright, alright. I get it. You can leave it to me."

"Right… go to my room. I bought some Aloe Vera cream last night. It's on my nightstand."

Once in Saki and Miyu's room, I immediately went towards Miyu's bed and fell on top of the neatly made sheets, her faint scent still on the bed.

"Do you know where Miyu is? Haven't seen her yet." Iroha was at my house. Yukino was talking on the phone and I was just talking with Saki. When I passed by the Yuri-twin's room, I saw Yui sitting at her desk, her head resting on the table. She was likely sleeping. Not wanting to wake her, I gently closed the door and moved on.

"She went to your house a few hours ago. Iroha-chan somehow found out where that girl lived and was going to go do something, not sure what though. Yumiko-chan went to stop her before she did something dumb. Oh, and your sister has been calling your phone for a while, too."

She held out my phone. The screen showed 17 missed calls, all from Komachi.

"Damn… You should have told me sooner. She's gonna be mad at me again." Komachi is one of the few people who know about my relationship with everyone, the whole truth. She, like always, helped me through a lot of tough decisions in the past, and, while hard for her to accept, she is happy for me and everyone else.

I dial her number and she answered before the first ring even ended.

"[Onii-chan! Are you ok! What happened?! Why are you ignoring my calls?! You promised that you would call when something like this happens! I've been worried this whole time! Do you know how hard it was to keep Iroha-chan from leaving?! Even Yumiko-nee-chan showed up to keep her here! Kaa-chan and tou-san are starting to think something bad is going on!]"

"Ok, ok… I'm sorry. I was super exhausted yesterday and ended up sleeping through the night. I just woke up not too long ago. I'm fine… I promise. Just tell kaa-san and tou-san that nothing is wrong. I'll give them a call later."

"[… Are you sure you're ok? Nothing is wrong…?]"

"Other than the burns, I'm ok. Trust me… Can you give the phone to Iroha?"

"[… Ok then…]" She sounded unconvinced, but that was the best I could do for now. Though, as soon as Komachi passed off the phone, I got blasted with more questions. "[Senpai! How big is the burn?! How much does it hurt?! That b***h is gonna get it even worse!]"

"Iroha… stop. I'm fine. Seriously, it's not that bad. You should know… I've had it worse. This is nothing."

"[But…]"

"Please… Why don't you come and check for yourself? Besides, Yukino is gonna handle her. You know how she gets."

"[… Fine. We're already heading over anyway. Komachi-chan's here too.]"

"What about school? She can't skip just because of this."

"[Not debatable. Bye.]" Before I could get another word in, Komachi responded for Iroha and hung up the call. Not much I can do there… It's gonna be hard to explain this one to mom and dad…

"Well, at least she didn't sound mad."

"She didn't sound it, but definitely was. Haa… Did you find the cream?" I decided that it would be best to just deal with it when they got here.

"Yup!" I sat on the edge of the bed and moved to take off my shirt. Since the burn was on the back of my neck and upper back, taking off my shirt was obvious. As the shirt rubbed itself on the burn area, I sucked in a breath of air to hold back the rush of pain I felt.

Just as the shirt was coming off, I felt a pair of cold hands push against my chest. Off guard, I fell back, the shirt over my face, a small grunt of pain feeling a weight straddle itself over me, I rushed to pull the shirt off me. Ignoring the pain, I ripped the shirt off and looked up. Haruno had already unbuttoned her shirt and half unzipped her skirt. Her lingerie was a deep black, perfectly complementing her raven hair and business attire. Her arms, placed firmly on my chest, were keeping me down. She slowly started to extend her fingertips back and forth, the gentle sensation giving me goosebumps all over my body.

"If Yukino catches you, she might even change the locks as punishment." Saki was right to be skeptical about her doing this.

"Ehh~? But, it's not fair~! They get you every day, while I'm all alone. Is it wrong to want to be a little selfish~?" Her soft and cottony voice sent shivers down my spine. She slowly lowered her body down. Her soft belly made contact with my abdomen, then her voluptuous breasts, barely being contained by her bra, gracefully landed on my chest. Her hands had already traced my arms until they met my hands and she interlocked our fingers. Her lips slowly approached mine and when they were just millimeters away, she whispered to me.

"Should I stop~…"

Damn her… She's worse than Iroha… That was the last straw. I moved my head up just slightly as my lips and tongue channeled my response to her provocation. Thinking about it, I could see why she felt the way she did. It was her last year at university and she was also working at her father's company. She was always busy nowadays, so I did feel a little guilty…

Right… right… She must feel lonely not being able to come over as frequently as she would like. It wouldn't be too bad to indulge her for a bit.

"Yes, hello. I would like to put in an order to have the locks changed to my apartment. Why? A thief seems to have made their way inside. No, nothing was stolen because I'll be taking it back." Hearing Yukino's voice, we broke our interlock and resigned ourselves to our fate.

Yukino hung up her fake call and walked into the room. Staring daggers at Haruno and me, she extended her hand out. Understanding her gesture, Haruno handed her the cream meant for my burn but didn't let it go.

Communicating with their eyes, they stared at each other until Haruno let out a satisfied huff. She let go of the tube of cream and I thought she would move to get off, but didn't. My eyes followed her as she moved to sit to my left. Confused, I looked to Yukino for an answer, but quickly understood what was going on.

Yukino, who was also wearing business-like attire, unbuttoned her shirt and partially unzipped her skirt, then sat to my right. With alluring smiles, both girls crept closer. It was obvious what was going to happen next. Unfortunately, my burn was keeping me from fully enjoying the sight before me. The closer they leaned in the more weight pressed on me, further irritating my burn area, but for their sakes, I soldiered on.

Before they could proceed any further, though, two hands, in the form of karate chops, accurately landed on top of both girl's heads. Judging by the way the sisters flinched, it must have hurt.

"You know, there is usually a time and place for this, but this isn't the right time or the right place." Haruno and Yukino both let themselves fall to the side while holding their heads. Miyu stood with arms crossed with an annoyed expression. "I'm not surprised about Haruno, but you should know better, Yukino."

"Yes, I know. Forgive me, I just got carried away by nee-san's provocation..." Yukino started to button up her shirt and straighten out her clothes.

"I was only trying to bond with my cute sister. It's been too long since we've been able to do something together." Haruno was rubbing her head and also started to adjust her clothes.

"Well, do it later and not in my bed. Button up before Iroha or Komachi see you. And you..." She then looked at me with disapproving eyes. "You should also know better. You're in no position to be fooling around."

"Haha… Sorry, I did get a bit carried away… Wait, how did you get here so fast? I just hung up." I was confused about how fast they made it here. Even the bullet train wouldn't have gotten them here this quickly.

"Haa… it was supposed to be a surprise. Yukino helped me get my license. I took your car over to your house, by the way."

"Oh, well that's awesome! Congrats! We should go out and celebrate, though maybe after I'm a little better. I thought you two were spending more time together than usual… So, where are Iroha and Komachi?"

"Yea, but we should wait until you are better. I told them to help Saki serve breakfast before coming. It should help them calm down a bit. We didn't eat much last night, so there are a lot of leftovers. The food should be just about ready. I'm guessing we're all a little hungry, right." She looked at Yukino and Haruno, who both nodded.

"Can I get some of that on me before, though? This burn still hurts a bit."

"Yea… Yukino, give me that. I think you can agree you lost your chance. Besides, it's my bed."

"Yes, just be gentle. You can be rough at times." Yukino handed Miyu the cream while also exaggeratingly rubbing the top of her head, making her point. It looked like Miyu was going to retort, but decided not to in the end.

Haruno had quietly moved deeper into Miyu's bed and sat with her legs straight out. She tapped her thighs, inviting me to lay down. Taking her up on her offer, I laid down on my belly and my cheek on her lap. She started to gently run her hand through my hair like she had when I first woke up.

Miyu looked like she wanted to complain, but didn't in the end. Looks like she's holding back for my sake. Yukino still sat on the side of the bed. Miyu sat on her knees next to me. I counted down the seconds until sweet, sweet relief would arrive, but at the last second, there was another interruption.

"Senpai!" "Onii-chan!"

Both Iroha and Komachi barged into the room at the same time. Komachi had tears in the corners of her eyes and Iroha had a worried expression on her face. Before they could throw themselves on me, Yukino stopped them. Calming down slightly, Iroha and Komachi slowly approached the bed to see while Miyu moved slightly to give them some room. The burn was over the back of my neck and on my right shoulder. Luckily enough, the burn was contained in a small area, while the rest was only light red. There were only a few small blisters.

Since it was cooled off relatively quickly, the burn isn't as bad as it should be. Seeing the affected area, Komachi covered her mouth and Iroha showed an angry expression.

"I knew I should have gone to that b***h's house…" Iroha whispered something I wasn't able to hear, but considering her personality, it wasn't hard to guess what she had said.

"Hikki is fine you two. He would tell us if something was wrong. He slept like a baby most of last night. You should have seen his face!" Yui suddenly walked in while rubbing her eyes.

"Yea, even after I switched with Haruno, he didn't make a single sound. After he woke up, the only complaint I heard came from his stomach. He's fine." Saki walked in right after Yui.

With everyone now in the same room, it soon became noisy with the girls who were here last night talking about the different ways they tried to wake me up to eat or my different sleeping faces with each new lap I laid on.

While they talked, I was relishing the sweet, sweet relief the cream was giving me. While usually rough-handed due to her personality, Miyu can be gentle when she needs to be. Her fingers gracefully caressed the burn area with the soothing cream.

Once she was done, I got up and she loosely wrapped the area with some cling wrap to protect it.

After that, we all made our way to the large dining table to finally eat.

Chiba University Parking Lot

1:45 PM

"So what are the chances I get expelled instead of the two idiots?"

"Zero. The only possibility that could happen is if the administrative staff are blind, deaf, or paid off. At that point, we are better off leaving the school voluntarily."

"Good point. Well, with all the witnesses and evidence we have, there's no way this could go wrong."

After eating breakfast, Yukino and I put together our case against the idiots. She had already contacted a few witnesses yesterday and a few this morning. Adding on Miyu's video evidence, there is no way we could lose, but Miyu's video is only a last resort if everything goes wrong. She was now giving me a few tips to keep in mind during the hearing.

"Remember to only speak out when spoken. Akui will most likely get emotional at some point and try to provoke you or even me. Ignore her and move on, no matter what."

We got out of her car and headed to the conference room. I was surprised that the school approved having a hearing so soon. Since the burn was in a limited area, we didn't go to the hospital. Yukino also called her family doctor to confirm. We decided that having the hearing soon would be better, and the school accepted, as long as I could attend.

Just as we got close to the door, I could see coffee girl and guard dog. Coffee girl had a deep frown on her face along with a few visible Band-Aids on her elbow. Guard dog had a sling carrying his right arm, but nothing else was noticeable.

Noticing us, coffee girl's frown grew deeper but soon relaxed and was replaced with a mocking grin.

"I don't know what you think is going to happen today, but you're both in real 'hot water'."

"Sorry, but your sense of humor is a little 'flat'. Why don't you ask your little guard dog for some tips on what not to do? I could always provide another demonstration." Hearing my empty threat, guard dog took a step back and slightly raised his good arm in front of him. Coffee girl only scoffed and rolled her eyes. Yukino gave me a look and pinched my side.

"I find it idiotic that you would even attempt to contest our claims. With the number of witnesses to the event, there is no way we could lose. Say goodbye to your time at this school. It was most definitely not a pleasant time." Yukino 'professionally' responded to the girl.

"You know, your cocky attitude is why you have no friends and could only land a dead-eyed boyfriend."

"Well, this dead-eyed boyfriend flattened your soccer-club guard dog in 2 seconds flat."

"Whatever. Doesn't change the fact that you'll lose today." Looks like she doesn't like my jokes.

"Haa… You haven't changed after all this time… Then, we shall see…" Yukino pushed the doors open and confidently walked into the room.

"Please, Akui-san. Since you filed the complaint, please explain the situation." A middle-aged man with greying hair sat at the center of a table with people to his left and right. To his left were other school staff and, luckily, on the right were members of the school's student administrative council. Meguri was the vice president. As soon as I saw her, I couldn't help but lightly smile. After introductions, she was the one who spoke to coffee girl.

"Yes. After we had ordered coffee from the coffee shop, we started to search for a place to sit down. One of the larger tables was empty so we headed in that direction. Yukinoshita's group had gotten to the table right before we could. We asked if we could take the table since we had more people in our group, but Yukinoshita quite rudely refused and instead started berating me for being selfish and personally attacked my character. Frustrated, I decided that I would give up and look elsewhere. I started to bring my coffee up to my mouth to drink, but that was when he came out of nowhere and suddenly pushed me, making me lose my balance and the grip on my cup. As a result, the hot coffee spilled all over him. Afterward, Shimizu-kun tried to stop him from leaving and asked him to apologize, but, for whatever reason, he threatened Shimizu-kun with violence, and in the end, did get violent. Shimizu has a fractured bone in his arm."

"Thank you for sharing your story. Yukino-chan, will you please explain what happened yesterday?"

"Yes, thank you. My friends and I sat down at a table to wait for the rest of our group that was let out late from class. We had already been there for a few minutes when Akui demanded we vacate the table for her group. I simply refused her, but she continued to harass my friends and pressure them to leave. I got up from the table to talk to her, but she continued to demand we leave. Before I knew it, I had a coat over me and Hachiman was covered in hot coffee. As I tried to help Hachiman, Shimizu grabbed Hachiman by the shirt, to which he responded by asking him to not touch him again. Shimizu grabbed his shoulder in response and Hachiman acted in self-defense."

"Thank you for presenting your side of the event. Sir?" Meguri looked towards the man in the center. He had his eyes closed the whole time with a serious expression. With Meguri's prompting, he finally opened them and looked towards coffee girl and then Yukino.

"It seems both of you have similar renditions of the same event with slight differences. Akui-san has the more confrontational and aggressive side and Yukino-san has a more reactionary and passive side. It is obvious that without any proof, deciding on who is telling the truth would be difficult, so would you both show me something of substance to prove your truth."

Akui responds first, and a guy soon walks into the room. Remembering correctly, he should be someone from the same group as yesterday, probably also from the soccer club.

After giving another rendition of the play coffee girl gave, he mockingly gave Yukino and me a look. I could see Yukino out of the corner of my eyes, hand massaging her temple.

"May I ask two questions, just for clarification?" Yukino looked towards the old guy, who gave her a nod.

"One, are you a member of the soccer club?"

"Uh… yea. Why does that matter?"

"Two, were you a part of Akui's group that confronted us originally?"

"N-no, I happened to be in the area when I saw what happened."

"Right. Thank you for your time."

After that, coffee girl brought in another person. This was a regular guy, probably another first year. He looked a little intimidated and refused to look at us or coffee girl.

Timidly, he gave a vague description of what happened, but still aligned with coffee girl's view. If I had to guess, he was probably pressured by the group of guys from yesterday. After him, 2 other soccer club guys also came, only to give the same story the other one had. It was obvious that they were biased in their testimony.

Looking unimpressed and slightly annoyed, the old man just looked over to Meguri to continue. I thought I would see coffee girl panic a little and the old man's obvious annoyance, but, even though her attempt to prove her side was severely lacking, she still seemed calm.

"Yukino-chan, could you please present your evidence."

"Yes." To my surprise, Tobe was the one who walked in first. I was confused because Tobe wasn't there for the original confrontation, only coming in at the end.

"Tobe, just for confirmation, you did not see the whole event yesterday, right?"

"Yea… I only saw the end, where Hikitani threw Shimizu-kun onto the ground."

"Good. Now, do you remember your final statement to Hachiman before we left?"

"Hmm… Oh! Yea, I said I would call the coach to tell him what had happened."

"And why was that?"

"Well, it wasn't the first time Shimizu has… uh… has caused trouble. Coach, since both of us were freshmen, asked me to keep an eye on him when I could."

"What kind of trouble has he caused before?"

"Oh… um… well, he's harassed a few of the other freshmen on the team before and generally has a short temper. Though he seems to have reeled it in a bit since the coach reprimanded him."

"I see… Thank you." He looked a little guilty but smiled when I met his eyes. It must have been conflicting for him to go against a clubmate, but he did anyway. I felt guilty for lying to him about everything. Looks like I'm gonna have to explain a few things to him after this…

"Shimizu is not a patient or passive person and seems to resort to threats and violence before thinking. I am sure this is not the first case involving Shimizu, is it?" She turned to look at guard dog and then the old man. Coffee girl was still strangely calm.

Yukino wasted no time in bringing other people who were there. Each time, she asked for their major or clubs, probably to show that we had no obvious connection to them, unlike coffee girl, who only brought people from the soccer club and the one timid freshman. I'm not the judge, but it looked like we had the advantage in this fight.

… Still, why is she so calm? Does she still have some B.S. move to play? I was confused because coffee girl's expression didn't change in the slightest.

Towards the end, Yukino also gave the old man photographs of the extent of the burn. She had taken a few when we were at the clinic yesterday. She even had some from when Miyu was putting on the cream this morning. I hadn't even noticed. The old man, after seeing everything Yukino presented, was nodding.

"I can see why you are first in your year and major, even though the year started not too long ago. I truly am impressed. I think it is obvious at a glance the truth of the matter." Looking at the people to his left and then to the right, everyone was nodding their heads. "After reviewing with the disciplinary committee, we will notify you with the result. You are diss…"

"Wait, there's one last thing I want to show you before you make your decision. Proof that Hikigaya threatened Shimizu with violence. It should be more than enough to prove that they have been hiding the truth…"

Confused, both Yukino and I looked at each other. We both knew that there was no way she could have anything of the sort because I never threatened the guy. I only warned him to back off.

She pulled out her phone, placed it down on the table in front of the old man, and pressed play.

Hearing the recording, my blood ran cold and shivers ran down my back.

[Doesn't matter how many of you there are, a bunch of amateurs really aren't any threat. Come on, I don't care if I get hurt, but make one move against them, and it will matter. You will be the one getting hurt.]

"Where the hell did you…?!" I half stood up from my chair and slammed my palms onto the table, but stopped myself before I continued that sentence, remembering where we were. The voice on the recording was clearly mine, except that there was a heavy, threatening tone behind it, while also sounding tired and haggard. Hearing it brought back memories I would much rather forget.

The room fell silent and all eyes landed on me, but I was still more concerned about the recording. That recording shouldn't even exist, much less be in her hands. The only, obvious, answer is that he is involved. But why now? How?

With questions swirling around in my head, I looked to coffee girl for answers, but only received a derisive smile and contempt from her eyes, but she wasn't looking at me, but at Yukino.

The old man had a frown on his face. Meguri was shocked by my outburst, but more confused at my reaction. She does know something happened in the past, but not the full extent of the ordeal. Judging by her startled expression, she must be connecting the dots. Even Yukino was taken aback by my reaction.

Dammit… I'm in trouble now…

Putting two and two together, it wouldn't take long for Yukino to understand the reason, too. While I have told her and the others everything that happened, it was more of a vague recounting than a detailed experience. I hoped to never have to fully tell them everything. I didn't want them to worry. Now, something that shouldn't exist, exists. Yukino and, by extension, the others are gonna have questions.

"Is there something I should know, Hikigaya-san? I should warn you, that while this hearing will play a large role in deciding the outcome, we are also conducting our own investigation. If there is something else I should know, now is the time."

"No… uh… there's no-…"

Suddenly, Yukino pulled on my blazer, pulling me down to my seat. Without any strength left to resist her pull, I collapsed back into my chair.

"Please forgive Hachiman for his rude interruption. He was only surprised that Akui would be daring enough to bring in false evidence."

"False?! That is clearly him in the recording, is it not?!"

"Hard to say… Without an image to place the voice, I can't say for sure." Someone unfamiliar with Yukino might not be able to tell, but I could hear her shaking voice. She wasn't happy. "Please, take a look at this, Director."

She pulled out a flash drive from her pocket and plugged it into her laptop. Walking over to the old man's table, she placed the laptop in front of the people at the table. It was the video Miyu took with her phone. It clearly showed the event that Yukino had described. The witnesses that coffee girl brought in were clearly in one group, and not the innocent bystanders she made them out to be. From the second I started to run over, to when she clearly threw the coffee, and the confrontation and conversation I had with guard dog. Clear as day for everyone to see and hear.

"When did you even-?!"

"Forgive me for not showing this sooner. I didn't believe it would be necessary."

"Haa… This would have saved all of us a lot of time, you know…" The old man sighed and massaged his temple in minor frustration. "Please make sure to submit this to me as soon as possible. Expect the results later today. Akui-san, Shimizu-san, I believe you understand the consequences, yes?"

"Tch…"

"Yes… sir…"

"You may leave."

Coffee girl wasted no time in gathering her things and heading for the exit. Seeing her rush off, I wanted to go after her but didn't want to leave Yukino behind. Considering what she just heard, she's bound to have questions, but before I could even ask, Yukino gave me a look.

"Go find out what you can, though I expect that it won't be much. We'll talk at home."

Without another word, I rushed off to catch up to coffee girl. I call out to her as soon as I catch up.

"Coff-… Akui… Wait." She stopped in her tracks and only slightly turned her head towards me. "Why do you have that and how are you connected to him?"

Hearing the question, she turned her body to face me, and, as if thinking over the question, she tilted her head up and hummed. "Hmm… Obviously, I got it yesterday… And if by 'connected' you mean I know 'him', I don't. Though a good reason was all I needed to accept his gift."

"Yea… and what was the reason?"

"… You know, winning this hearing was never my priority… All I really wanted was to see her a little flustered, maybe even panicked. All I can ever remember was her annoying, expressionless face. No matter what we did… her face… never changed… Like she thought she was better than us or that we weren't worth her attention. But when I got that recording and his note, he assured me that I would get what I wanted. He was right… I was seeing the problem all wrong this whole time. I was too focused on her. Seeing you in panic sent her into a panic. Ahh… you should have seen her face! The tremble in her voice! It took all I had to not burst out laughing!" She started to slightly laugh while holding her sides as if she was a low-budget anime villain. "Haa… anyways… He gave me a choice to give this to you or not. . I wasn't planning to, but I don't care too much anymore, here." She had a flash drive in her hands and threw it over to me. Catching it in the air, I immediately put it in my pocket.

I couldn't be sure, but I was certain that she was only a pawn used to get some kind of reaction out of us. These little pranks of his are getting annoying.

Thinking we were done, I turned around to go find Yukino, but she had also caught up by now. She seemed to want to say something but only said that we should talk at home. Knowing it was best to allow her to sort out her thoughts first, I quietly followed her to the car.

Home

4 PM

Walking in behind Yukino, I was able to see the shocked and worried faces of everyone. Yukino rushed past everyone, went into my room, and closed the door.

"Don't tell me you two lost…?" Saki was the first to speak up, concerned that we might have lost the case.

"There's no way that's possible. I got the whole thing on video. Even if you didn't say a thing and just showed the video, you would have won." Miyu was doubtful.

"No… Yukinon is mad at something else…" Yui turned to look at me. "You did something, didn't you, Hikki?"

"Someone is sleeping on the couch today…" Haruno, with her trademark grin, responded while scrolling on her phone.

"Senpai, it's rare for Yukino-senpai to get like that. What did you do?" Iroha did not doubt that it was my fault… She's not wrong.

"Onii-chan, go apologize right now!" Komachi started pushing me towards my room.

"Oi!… calm down for a sec. She's not mad… more like processing… maybe. Besides, you'll all probably get like her in a second too, to be honest." I said the last part in a whisper, hoping they would and wouldn't hear at the same time. "She'll probably come out in a few minutes, let's just wait in the living room till she does."

"Oh, don't tell me she found out about Megu-Megu-chan?" The second Haruno said that all eyes landed on me. I could feel their piercing gazes all over my body.

"Did you have to bring that up now… No, it is not because of that. I'll explain that later, so…"

As if on cue, Yukino came out with her laptop in hand. Yui got up to see if she was ok and asked if there was something she could do.

"I'm fine, but there's something everyone should hear."

Placing her laptop on the coffee table, she played the part of the hearing where coffee girl played her recording. Complicated expressions dawned on everyone's faces at the same time.

"Well, that's annoying." Miyu couldn't help but voice out her dissatisfaction. Having a more personal connection with him, Miyu couldn't help but feel frustrated at knowing he was somehow messing with us.

"That's not all." Yukino held her hand out to me. Knowing what she wanted, and guessing it was best not to pretend that I didn't know what she wanted, I gave her the flash drive coffee girl gave to me. She plugged it in and opened the drive. On it was a single audio file.

[Hello, Hachiman! I know this way of communicating is kind of cliche for villains, but I kind of like it. As you know, I'm a simple man. I won't take up too much of your time or mine, so I'll get straight to the point. I hope you have a proper explanation to give… otherwise, it won't end well. Too bad I won't get to enjoy the show in person! Later!]

"What the hell does he mean by that!? How did he even make that recording!?" Miyu, clearly angry, voiced out everyone's dissatisfaction.

"Hikki… are you ok?" Yui was sitting next to me on the couch. She slowly reached for my hand that had been clenched so hard, my knuckles had turned white. When I heard her soft and gentle voice, my tense body started to relax. When her warm hand interlocked with mine I noticed how cold mine were. Her warm touch brought me back to my senses. Saki who was on my other side also reached for my hand while also laying her head on my shoulder.

"I'm… fine… I just feel so frustrated when I think back to that day. Maybe if I had…"

"Stop… Remember what sensei said? 'No matter what you try to do, there are some people that can't be saved.' Besides, the fault does not lie only with you. If we had all been more vigilant, we could have prevented that from happening." At Yukino's curt reminder, the mood suddenly got gloomier. Yukino clasped her hands together. Both Yui and Saki tightened their grips. Miyu and Iroha both only looked at the ground helplessly.

"Haa… Well, there's no point in regretting past mistakes." Being the closest involved in that event from the past, Haruno was the last person I thought would speak out right now. Her voice was tinged in bitterness and mockery, only it was aimed at herself. "We probably won't be finding out what he meant until tomorrow. Why don't we get started on dinner? It's rare to have all of us together!" The tone of her voice suddenly changed, cutting through the tension like a knife. Her reminder of food made my stomach suddenly growl in hunger. The loud sound snapped everyone out of their despondency. Soon, soft laughs sprang out around the room until the heavy atmosphere completely disbursed.

"Hmmm… what should we make though? I doubt we could all agree on just one thing."

"Then let's just make anything we want. I'm too exhausted to debate on what we should make. There should be plenty of food and ingredients in the kitchen."

"Komachi wants fried chicken!"

"Why don't we all choose a dish that we want to eat. We can then organize a way to make them all at the same time. Nee-san, can you please write down everyone's suggestion?"

"Ehhh? Why do I get the annoying job?"

"Because you are a guest in this house."

"Eh… shouldn't I get the least tedious job, then? Also, Komachi-chan's a guest too…"

"Yes, but Komachi is family."

"What?! I'm family too!"

"Saki, would you like to help?" Yukino ignored Harunos' protests and turned to Saki. All the others had gotten up and moved to the kitchen while Saki and Yui stayed by my side.

"Hmm… I'm gonna re-apply the burn cream on Hachiman, so I'll leave it to all of you. I'm fine with whatever everyone makes."

"Alright. Yui, is there something you would like to eat, specifically?"

"Maybe some kind of dessert for later?"

"Ok then." Yukino then turned to me, but didn't ask me what I wanted, but gave me an understanding smile.

Soon enough, the girls were taking out and preparing ingredients together. The atmosphere of everyone working together made it seem as if the earlier oppressive feeling never existed. Haruno even played along with Yukino's obvious taunts to lighten the mood. Seeing everyone genuinely laughing and smiling together made me forget all about the earlier message.

Saki and Yui both got up from the couch and pulled me towards my room to apply the cream.

No one asked me what I wanted to eat though…

Haruno POV

"Haa… It really is hard to keep up with everyone. I have no idea how Hachiman does it daily…"

I was out on the balcony drinking some wine while leaning on the guard rails. The cool, fresh spring breeze was refreshing compared to the stuffy, warm air in the apartment. Fried chicken, hamburg steak, grilled fish, curry rice, pasta, miso soup, and various side dishes were all on the menu. After all those dishes, Yukino made cookies as a dessert. Having to watch all those dishes was stressful. Yukino was the only real help. Yumiko still gets flustered when too many things are going on at the same time. Iroha was only useful with a knife. She was done with her tasks relatively early. Though, on the bright side, it seems everyone has forgotten about the earlier warning.

"Yo. What are you thinking about?" I heard the sliding door open, followed by Hachiman's familiar voice. He came and leaned on the railing next to me, putting his arm over my shoulder. Leaning into his embrace, I decided to tease him a little.

"Hmm… Probably the same thing you are."

"You mean where you got that wine?" Hachiman forbids wine in the apartment, even though I'm the only one legally able to buy it. Something about it being a big problem and that he avoids trouble. Though if that were true, he wouldn't be living the kind of life he does now, but I digress.

"Nope… I'm thinking about finishing where we left off this morning…" I could tell he was a little confused by what I just said so I decided to give him a little hint. Unhooking one of the buttons on my shirt, I started to flap it up and down provocatively.

"Yeah… as much as I want to, I really can't. I've been holding it the whole day so I wouldn't worry the others, but my skin is still bothering me. Just stretching my arm like this is about all I can handle. Though, this cool air does feel good." He gave me a slight squeeze. "This is more comfortable anyways."

"Oh? Are you saying that it's usually uncomfortable with me?" I couldn't help but tease him a little, though, compared to two years ago, he doesn't get as flustered. Lightly tapping me on the forehead, he smiled at me.

"Well… you are a little crazy."

"Hmph! You're the one who told me to stop pretending in front of you. I'm just listening to what you said!" I let out a playful snort and turned my face away from him.

After that, I only kept on leaning my head on his shoulder, while taking small sips from my wine glass. I closed my eyes and couldn't help but remember that day.

I was alone…

… and in the end…

… after all the effort I went through…

… after everything I did…

… after everyone was happy…

… I wasn't.

I had never felt like that before. I knew they would have been able to figure it out, so I left everything behind. Even so, he found me… they all did. I thought they would hate me for what I did… but that thought never crossed their minds. He showed me the answer I had always been looking for. And so I decided to stop pretending… just like he told me to.

Lost in my thoughts, I was suddenly jolted by Yukino's annoying Pan-san ringtone. Her phone, which was on the granite countertop, echoed loudly in the apartment.

"Hatchi! Can you get that for me?" Yukino called out from the living room. Everyone else was watching a movie and probably didn't want to move from the couch.

"I got it!" Thinking that was enough time outside, I followed after Hachiman. By the time he got to the phone, the call had already ended. Hachiman reached for the phone and I was able to see that it was our mother that had called just now.

"Yukino! It was… your…" Hachiman suddenly stopped mid-sentence. A few messages arrived just as he was calling out to her.

[Call me.]

[Sooner rather than later.]

[Or else your father will have to get involved.]

I was looking over Hachiman's shoulder, curious at the texts Yukino was getting. When I read them, I suddenly got a bad feeling in my stomach. Then, a fourth vibration. It was an attachment. Hachiman hesitated but eventually clicked on it. The attached pictures were enough to stun us for a good minute.

"What's wrong? Who was it?" Yukino suddenly came in, breaking us out of our shock. Seeing the confused look on Yukino's face and Hachiman's silence I decided to take the lead.

"Haa… well it looks like kaa-san found out our little secret." I grabbed the phone out of Hachiman's hands and showed her the pictures. There were only two pictures but each showed more than enough. The first one was of Hachiman and Yukino in a restaurant. They were sharing one of the couple parfaits often seen in anime. The picture showed Yukino leaning over the table and wiping off some cream from his cheek with her finger. On her face, a smile rarely seen by the world. It was obvious by that one picture what kind of relationship they shared.

Just the same, the second picture was of me and Hachiman. We were sitting on a park bench, ice cream in hand. I was feeding some of mine to Hachiman, who had an embarrassed expression. The smile on my face was a real one, unlike my usual fake one. This happened only a few weeks after we started our relationship.

"Oh… what do we do now?…" Surprisingly, Yukino seemed to be calm and composed.

"The truth. Kaa-san will see through any lies we tell. Besides, we can't hide it forever. We would have to tell her one day anyways." I grabbed her hands with my own and gave her a hard squeeze. "The real problem is going to tou-san. He will probably want to kill Hachiman."

"Huh?"

"Well… I can't blame him. What kind of beast lays his hands on two sisters? I should have listened to my instincts back then when Sensei introduced him and stayed away from him. Now, look at me…"

"I can't tell if this is a serious problem anymore." Now Hachiman was copying Yukino's signature move, hand on temple. "So… how are we going to break it to her?"

"We will talk to kaa-san first. Then, introduce you as our romantic partner. Hmm… this really is a strange situation. Yukino, you will have to take the lead here. You should know why right?"

"Yes, I do. Hachi… are you ready for this? It might be earlier than expected, but the situation is the same."

Hachiman looked Yukino in the eyes and then me. Suddenly he opened his arms and embraced the both of us. It caught me off guard because he doesn't usually do things like this. "Not much of a choice now is there. Yea, I'm ready. It can't be that hard, right?"

"Baka… you're not still underestimating kaa-san, right?" Ever since the high school prom event, Hachiman has been too scared to face our mom. Whenever there is an event and my mom is there, he would do anything possible to not be there. I don't blame him. I'm even intimidated by her.

"Senpai! We have a problem!" Before Hachiman could respond, Iroha called out from the living room in a panic.

She ran into the kitchen holding out her phone. On her screen were three pictures. The first was Iroha piggyback riding on Hachiman. She had her arms around his neck with a joyful smile on her face and an awkward one on Hachiman's face.

The second was of him and Saki. They were sitting on a blanket at the park. Hachiman was laying down on Saki's thighs and Saki's little sister was laying her head on his stomach. It looked like Saki was reading a book to them. They truly looked like a happy little family.

The third was of Yumiko. They were at the mall. Holding bags in one hand and her hand in the other, the obvious guess was that they were on a date. The radiant smile on her face and Hachiman's awkward, red face gave it away.

Seeing the pictures finally made all the pieces connect in my mind. That bad feeling from earlier came back. To think he was lurking in the shadows all this time. This was the trouble he threatened us with, and this should mean that our families all know the current situation or are starting to put the pieces together.

Soon enough everyone was in the kitchen with worried expressions on their faces. All the girls had their phones in their hands with the same three pictures on the screen.

"Haah… He got us good." Hachiman finally spoke up. I could see anxiety in his expression, but also the resolution of the man I chose. "Though I think he's got this wrong. This isn't any trouble. They were going to find out one day anyways. It's just earlier than expected." He set his hand on top of Iroha's head. "Wasn't it just yesterday that you were asking me if we should tell your parents. Well, let's go tomorrow. No more lies."

"Ok…" Surprisingly, Iroha's face reddened at that gesture. She was never one to show her true emotions openly.

"Onii-chan… I think kaa-chan and tou-san know too. They're asking if you can bring me home right now and that they want to talk with you."

Hachiman checked his phone but didn't see any texts from his parents. I could hear him faintly say something like 'Why didn't you call your son if you were worried?!' or something like that.

"Yeah… I think I should tell them first. Get ready to go too, Komachi. I know it's late, but… we should all go, right?"

"Duh… We would have gone even if you didn't ask us to."

"Of course… It is only right that we greet our future parents-in-law…"

"I've been over so many times already, I think they already consider me a daughter."

"Sh-Should we take something over as a gift?"

"Yay! I've been waiting for so long! I can't wait to learn cooking techniques from your kaa-san!"

"Komachi thinks it might be better for Yui-chan to stay home for this one. I still want to live to see onii-chan get married…"

"Hey! I'm getting better! I just need to practice more and learn from different people."

"Hey! Let's get going. It's already late. I have a feeling we are going to be a while. You wanna drive, Miyu?"

Looking at everyone now, it was like the earlier problem never even existed. This was the thing I was searching for. I never thought I could experience it for myself one day, but everyone here showed it to me. I never imagined I would be standing in a situation like this one day. I am with people I genuinely love and care for. Not an artificial love I gave as a consequence of knowing someone, but one that I unconsciously give to those special to me.

"Nee-chan, would you like to drive or should I?"

"You should drive. I found a good parking spot today and I don't want to give it up just yet. I'm staying the night later anyways."

I could tell Yukino didn't like that last part very much, but she decided to leave it at that.

After everyone got in the two cars, we drove over to the Hikigaya house. I could tell Hachiman was a little nervous, though, in contrast, the girls seemed almost excited. Though to be honest, I am pretty sure all of them have dropped some sort of hint about their relationship with Hachiman, so I don't think this will be a big hurdle to jump over, and might end up being the easiest one.

Just as Hachiman was about to open the door, I fixed his jacket to cover the plastic wrap that was over his burn. As I fixed his shirt he turned to look back at me. I gave him a reassuring smile and gestured behind me. Everyone was excited but calm. Seeing that Hachiman had calmed down seeing everyone else, I gently gave him a push forward. Opening the door, he confidently walked through the door.

"I'm home!"

And that's it!

Hope y'all enjoyed it. Don't know if it was what y'all were expecting though. What do you think?

The next chapter will go back to the original story. I don't think I'll do another future chapter for a while if that at all. It was too difficult to write about things I haven't go down in stone yet. Forgive me for those wanting more future chapters.

I have a super long flight tomorrow, so I hope to work on the next chapter during the flight and edit it over the next few days. I have plenty of free time to work on it now. Though, no promises.

Thank you!