Chapter 3: Then, He decides not to give up.

A/N: Welcome to another chapter of this prequel! The ship is starting to sail if you ask me.

Chapter Start!

(Miura Yumiko's Diary, 7th Edition, page 91)

Diary-chan,

Out of impulsiveness, I invited Hikio for dinner here at our house. It's not like I had a choice, if we went out to Saize, he would just pay for it again.

He and Yuna-chan seems closer, I wish Hayato-kun and her would be too. I should be thanking Hikio for helping my little sister. Looks like I'm in debt again.

That's all Diary-chan, I'm sleepy.

(Wednesday Afternoon, Soubu High Grounds, Hachiman's POV)

This day was very tiring. The hassle of the day combined with Yukinoshita's insults and the grunt work Isshiki subjects me to is the very probable reason for my tiredness. Good thing Yukinoshita didn't said I could leave after finishing Isshiki's request.

My wandering thoughts led me to think about Miura. Honestly, her presence is very annoying, but she's a very interesting person. More interesting than the two dimensional person she likes. Past weeks have been spent with Miura interacting with me, or going out with her to somewhere. Why does it feel like we're dating? Miura obviously hates my guts, and I want to avoid people like her as much as possible. Why romcom gods!? Gods obviously wanted to see me suffer, so they sent Miura just to bombard my life.

But to be honest, it is a welcome change. Her presence is unwanted, but certainly not unwelcome.

Where am I again? Oh yes, I'm walking. My autopilot mode is always reliable, I'll have to give it a raise if it existed. Anyway, I hope my walk towards home is peaceful.

*Buzz*

And I guess not. Pulling out my phone, I saw my dear imouto's name as the sender.

Sender: Komachi

Subject: Strawberry Drink

Hey Onii-chan! Can you please buy me a strawberry frappe? My classmates told me it was delicious, so I wanted to try it for myself! Would my Onii-chan be a gentleman and buy his beloved Komachi a strawberry drink? Thanks in advance!

So even Komachi falls to peer pressure. I wanted to save money so I can buy more novels to read, but who am I to say to the world's cutest? And no, it's not you Theresa.(1)

Looking for the nearest cafe is quite easy. Food business always tend to flock the nearest schools which is their main source of income. So cafes and restaurants are easy to spot when you're looking for one.

Except it's not. I have walked quite a bit, and no sign of a cafe is in sight. Should I just go home and see Komachi's face marred with sadness? I can't let that happen, not with Komachi. So I walked faster, scanning the surroundings to look for a sign of a cafe. My scanning came to a halt when I bumped into something, rather someone.

"Oww. Sorry about that." I said with politeness.

"I'm sor-Hikio!?" Seriously? How many times would I meet this person? I see her everyday in class, now you rom com god's wanted me to meet her outside classes too? You gods suck choosing a protagonist. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Fancy meeting you here too. I'm kind of lost, looking for a cafe." Observing her, she looks like she's holding back a huge laughter, threatening to spill anytime soon.

"I never thought I'll see the day Hikio would hang out in such a riajuu place." Yeah, laugh it off, it doesn't matter if it pleases my dear Komachi. And did she finally admit she's a riajuu?

"Komachi wanted a frappe." Why are you looking at me like I did something wrong Miura? I'm just doing my job being a good Onii-chan.

Naturally, this is the part where we split ways, but since we're dealing with Miura, things are not like that.

"Oh I know, how about I help you? I know a cafe near here, let's go!" She never really asks about permission, more like she does what she wants to. Look at her casually dragging my arm. We look like a couple from another perspective.

This is very reminiscent of an old married couple going out for a walk. And couples tend to do couple stuffs, mainly eating somewhere, cinemas, or just hang out. And I'm doing this with Miura. How in the hell is this happening right now!?

"Hey Hikio." Her voice called me back to reality, making me scan the surroundings. We're not there yet, we're on a narrow street.

"We're not there yet, am I right?" Because there's no way in hell a cafe exists in this narrow street, unless this is some kind of a movie. Sadly, my life is so lame compared to the movies, so no secret cafe on a narrow street will exist.

"Well..." She trailed off, mumbling so incoherently and silently that I can't seem to hear her.

"Can you speak up? I can't hear you at all."

"Well... Can we go somewhere else before buying your little sister a drink? The place I want to go is near the cafe..." She then mumbles the last part.

"Sure, as long as I buy Komachi a frappe, it's okay." I swear I saw her face already fair face glowed.

Like a kid given a candy.

"Let's go!" Miura happily dragged me, and all I did was watch, I guess we'll just wait where she takes me.

"So... Why an arcade?" This is unbelievable, she just brought me to an arcade center. I wanted to know why. Maybe she never came here before only had the time to go right now?

"Well... It's my first time going here. Hayato-kun and the others said that we'll go here tomorrow, so I wanted to visit it first and then try to impress him by doing great at something. I guess that's the reason to we're here now." The lengths people go just to impress the person they love doesn't have a limit really. If Miura, a socialite who never the one who bends to others came here just to do something that makes her love interest impressed, then I fear what I would do for someone I love. Luckily, being a loner eliminates the possibility.

"I guess that's a plausible explanation. Let's head inside, the games will not play themselves." I replied while walking to enter. Miura then followed suit.

"Hikio! What is that machine!?" Miura looked like she found a goldmine, and is drooling herself to the machines here. She's looking at a pinball machine, painted with a Dinosaur pink mecha anime girl(2) in it's sides.

"That's a pinball machine." Our knowledge about arcades are vastly different. She looks like she doesn't know a thing about arcades. I on the other hand, was raised with the frustration of not getting a prize, and losing to a better kid at fighting games with stupidly large input lag. Yes, I'm talking about Brawler on the Street(3). "Your goal is to score as high as possible with the balls you got."

"Like a Pachinko machine?(4)" So she knows Pachinko. Well to be fair, even my grandmother is a hardcore Pachinko player back in her glory days, and everyone in Japan loves Pachinko.

"Yes, just like Pachinko, but horizontal. So you want to play pinball?"

"Well... It looks hard so... I guess not." And so we moved on from the pinball machine. We continued to walk for a bit, and I continued to examine some of the machines.

"Hikio! Do you know where the basketballs are?" Miura asked. As expected of a tennis athlete, she wanted to play with something that is very taxing.

"They're at the back." Miura then rushed to the said location. She's very excited to play, I guess she wants to sweat. Seeing no point in examining the machines, I followed Miura.

"157 points! Congratulations!" A mechanical voice announced her score. So a tennis player's grace transfers to here also? She looked so graceful shooting. Her form has no holes, her release is consistent, and the backspin is the same. Maybe she's a basketball prodigy? I swear, if you said to me that Miura is a graceful person before, I wouldn't believe you. But now, after seeing her beat my highest without looking very tired, I can say that I'll believe this time.

"Yeah! High score! I bet I've beaten yours!" Yeah yeah, no need to gloat for it.

"Yeah yeah, you did." Honestly, it's such a book my pride that I wanted to challenge her to another game. But what should we play?

"Oh look, a Brawler on the Street game!" Miura exclaimed. "Let's play! I can't wait to wipe you on the floor.

And the answer to my question just presented itself. "Sure."

"Hikio you cheater! Stop hitting me with combos!" Look who's laughing now Miura! Years of frustration because of me getting beaten by other kids led me to study the game for what it's worth. Now you're feeling my frustrations. "Seriously, stop!" The game ended with me wiping her to the floor, a clean sweep. "I beat Yuna everytime, why can't I beat you too?" It's rare to see a sad Miura but, as they always say...

"There's always a bigger fish Miura." My statement, along with my smugness, made her angry?

"Hmph, whatever." She proceeds to walk away. I looked around to see if I could get something, and I saw a stuff toy that Komachi would like.

Should I get it? It looks very easy, but Crane games are one hell of a game. Some are designed to take an approximate amount of tokens before finally getting the prize. Me only having three tokens left, I don't want to waste it feeling brokenhearted. So I walked away in shame.

"So you're not going to get that?" I heard a voice behind me. Looking back, it was Miura who is surprisingly not angry at all.

"The game's rigged, I'll waste my last three tokens feeling brokenhearted after failing to get it."

"Come on Hikio! Don't you like the feeling of excitement when playing crane games? The unsettling feeling of not knowing if you'll get it or not?" Why is she talking like an anime protagonist? It is surprisingly motivational, if you ask me.

"That feeling is not good for my heart."

"Well at least try! You won't know if you won't try, what if you get it? I know you will." Her speech made me motivated.

"Alright, I think I'll give it a try." So I inserted a token. That cute bunny is something Komachi would like, so I lined up the crane. "Is it perfectly lined up?" I asked Miura, who nodded yes. So without hesitation, I pressed the button.

The claw started to go down, it feels so slow as if time itself slowed down. Is this the feeling of animes? And when it came to the point where the claw would grab the bunny, I think my heart stopped beating.

I closed my eyes because I don't want to see it, and I waited for the beep sound to know that the claw has stopped moving and reached it's end.

*Beep*

I hastily reached the bottom corner of the machine where the prize is dropped.

No prize in sight.

I sighed in frustration, this is very taxing to do. I looked beside me to see what Miura looked like, and she looks like she's giving me strength to try again.

Okay, let's do it again. This time I feel that I'm getting the bunny plush toy. Lining up the claw to where the previous bunny fell, I hastily pressed the button. "Come on you plush toy."

The claw grabbed it, the claw held it, but before it reached the corner, the bunny decided to jump from the grasp of the claw, falling beside another plush. "Shit." I cursed in frustration. I guess I won't get that plush.

"You can do it, Hikio! I believe in you." Miura completely sounds like a protagonist cheering someone up.

Okay, one last time. I inserted the token, positioned the claw to where the bunny is. But I'm hesitating, because the other bunny might affect the claw when I press.

"Go, Hikio!" Then I pressed it. The claw went down, each second passed became slower and slower. I looked at horror when the other bunny was grabbed first, thinking to myself that it won't get the prized bunny.

Rom com gods on the other hand, had different plans. For some magical and illogical reason, the claw grabbed the bunnies.

Yes, bunnies. It grabbed two. The claw lifted, slowly but surely it did. Just a little more to the corner.

*Beep*

Have I just done it? I checked the corner, but to my surprise...

There's no prize. No stuff toys, no bunnies, nothing. I was a fool for thinking I did it. So as I stood up, my head is hung low in shame.

"Good job Hikio!" I heard Miura say. To which I replied with: "But I didn't-" I stopped after seeing the plushies in her arms. She's smiling like a little kid.

So Miura took advantage of my mental struggles, and pulled a fast one. I swear I'll get Miura back next time.

I didn't know I'm holding back a breath until I breathed out.

"You look like you're constipated Hikio!" Miura is still laughing. Let her have her fun, she'll stop soon.

"Here, have this plushie. Thanks for the motivation." Miura then stopped laughing, and her face turned red.

"T-thanks..." She trailed off. "So what game is next? Air hockey? Crisis in Time(5)? Bayshore Noon(6)?"

"I think I've had enough, the crane game got my nerves on edge." I said to Miura, which she said that it's what I deserve for drinking too much coffee.

"So Hikio, where do you want to go now? I guess to a cafe right? Your little sister must be worried."

"You got that right, she's probably worried sick." So Miura led me to a cafe.

"Thanks for helping me Miura, I appreciate it." Miura's assistance is very helpful today.

"Don't mind it, Thanks for the plushie." We walked a bit more before reaching the crossroads. "You know Hikio, you're not a bad guy at all, how come you're a loner?" She asked.

"It's not by choice. I just learned to accept that people will always be scared or put off to my eyes. Don't worry, I'm used to it." It's my genetics that put me into this position, and I can't blame it for this.

Miura moves closer to examine my eyes. "I think it's not scary, but it's certainly unsettling but..."

"It's nice, makes you look like a very serious person." Woah, did she just compliment me? That's the second compliment that came from her. If she does it the third time, I guess I'm strike out.

"You're a nice person too Miura..." She is delighted by what I'm saying. "Just remove that bitchy attitude of yours and we're good." And that turned her face to a bit angry.

"You're just mad for me laughing earlier, aren't you?" To which I just laughed. Looks like that someday was today. "I'll get you back Hikio!" Then she joined my laughter. "I guess this is where we part ways, bye Hikio!"

"Bye. See you tomorrow." Miura and I walked separate ways. The walk towards home was uneventful. But I was glad that I reached home quite fast.

"Here's your strawberry frappe, Komachi." I gave Komachi her drink, to which she replied with thanks.

"Onii-chan, you smell like a woman." What? Is Komachi developing her own 108 skills too?

"Well I'm surrounded by Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, and Isshiki almost everyday."

"But Onii-chan, it's not them... Yukino-senpai smells like a rich lavender, Yui-senpai smells like peaches. Maybe it's Isshiki-senpai? I haven't encountered her that much." The mysteries of women, are unknown to lowly men like me. "I bet you're thinking along the lines of women are mysterious and I am a man aren't you? Stupid gomi-chan. But thanks again for the frappe." Komachi just smiles and heads upstairs.

Well, I better go upstairs and sleep, I'm early tomorrow and I don't want to get gut-punched again.

(The Next Day, Service Club Clubroom, Hachiman's POV)

"Hikigaya-kun, what are your plans for the spring vacation?" The infamous question every student gets asked once. Well I honestly don't have a plan yet.

"I don't know, maybe I'll doze off? I've already completed the assignments so I have a lot of free time." My reply sparked Yuigahama's ire.

"Mou Hikki, live a little! Oh I know! Maybe we should go to the Sakura Festival that will happen on the last day of our vacation? What do you guys think?" Yuigahama's suggestion is not bad, but with me not having the will to go and Yukinoshita maybe having something do, I guess it's a bit imposing.

"Well, I'm sorry Yuigahama-san, but I'm going abroad for the entire break." And that seals the fate of that plan. Yuigahama is now pouting, like a child who didn't get what she wanted.

"We'll still be going! Hikki and I will take a lot of pictures together!"

"Woman, don't get ahead of yourself."

"Make sure you capture a lot of good photos with Hikigaya-kun, Yuigahama-san. And Hikigaya-kun, as the president of this club, I require you to accompany Yuigahama-san." Oh great, my spring break plans are screwed. Well not really, it's just a single day right?

(OMAKE: SECRET CAFE)

There's no way in hell there's a secret cafe in a narrow street. So I asked Miura. "We're not there yet right?"

"Oh, we're here already!" Miura replied. Seriously!? There's a secret cafe in this narrow street? Miura pressed something on the wall, and a section on the wall opened! What is this, Zelda?!

"Welcome Ms. Miura, how can I help you today?" A suited up man asked her, in perfect english. Miura just smiled and replied: "Nothing much, just wanted to take my friend to a cafe." Also in perfect english. I don't know what surprised me more, the secret cafe or Miura speaking english fluently.

"Ms. Miura, how many times I told you that this is not a cafe, but a secret base for MI6?"

Hold on, did he say MI6? As in the secret service of her Majesty, the queen of United Kingdom? This is some next level stuff.

"Well that's that, but you brew good coffees and drinks." Miura just shrugged off the butler looking man. "You can create a frappe right?"

"A frappe? That is something I can do even while blinded."

"Mr. Pemberton, this is Hikio by the way, his sister wanted the frappe. Hikio this is Mr. Pemberton." Thank heavens I understand english. Mr. Pemberton shook my hand before saying that I can call him "Mr. P".

"Please wait for a while for your frappe dear sir." Mr. P said before going to work. But before all this, let's address the elephant in the room.

Miura and MI6. How in the hell she knows all this!?

"I know you have a lot of questions, like how do I know this, and what's my connection with the queen." Miura pulled out a knife, then juggled it with ease. "Well for starters, the queen is my relative, she's my grandma." So her blonde locks are legit? I thought she dyed her hair. "And second, I'm serving grandma by keeping up tabs here for her." So she's a spy for her grandmother, that's unexpected. "Now then..." Miura comes closer and then...

Points the knife she's holding to my throat. "You shouldn't tell a soul about this, understand?" With a knife pointed to my throat? All I could do is nod. Her face then 180s into a cheerful one. "Good! By the way, here's your little sister's frappe!" Miura then leaves me alone.

Just what the hell did I stumbled through!?

1. The world's cutest, Theresa Apocalypse. (She's from Honkai Impact 3rd(if you play the game, I hope Ai-chan blesses your next gacha pull))

2. Zero Two from Darling in the franxx

3. Fighting Game with high input lag? You know that's Street Fighter.

4. Pachinko is... (I can't explain what a Pachinko is so just Google it.)

5. Discount Time Crisis

6. And discount Wangan Midnight. (I love the games)

A/N: Hello! Thanks for reading the latest chapter! I had fun writing the various arcade machines as I love going to the arcade.

The crane games/claw machines are my favorite machine to waste money on. So I guess that's why it's the focus of the chapter. Let's admit it, that double prize only happens in Toy Story where Sid gets Buzz and Woody. But well, plot!

Well I hope the chapter is to your satisfaction don't be afraid to review, it is always appreciated.

School's over, I can write more freely? I dunno, I have org duties so I guess I'll be busy.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

-Jasserru out!