Chapter 7: We should be studying.
A/N: Through a helpful review, my stupid ass realized that they're still second years on the second season. Anyway, thanks for the reminder and it's adjusted accordingly.
Chapter Start!
(Tuesday, Soubu High Rooftop, Lunch Time, Hikigaya Hachiman's POV)
"So, Hikio, do you have any books in mind for Hiratsuka-sensei's project?" I heard Miura ask. I got a few ideas running in my head.
"I don't have one, why don't you pick?" I feigned ignorance. Mainly because I don't have a specific book in my mind. "Why not pick one of those romance novels you girls like? Like Titanic?"
"That's a movie! Honestly, haven't you seen that movie?" I heard her say. I'm not just a fan of romance movies in general. Mainly because I personally think that it's a waste of time to watch those.
But Hachiman, didn't you watch and cried at those movies?
She doesn't have to know that! She need not to know that I bawled along with Komachi when Rose had to let go of Jack! Or when they could easily fit in that door Rose was in but he chose not to! "I haven't." I lied. Miura made an amusing pout before shouting at me.
"Let's go watch it later!" What?
"What?"
"I said let's go watch it! Let's rent a copy of the movie then let's watch it together! Oh, we need to fetch Yuna before we go though!" Miura panicked. Wait, shouldn't her schedule be occupied since she will be hanging out with her friends?
"What about the-" I haven't had the chance to complete that sentence, since Miura cut me off.
"If you're thinking about my schedule, I already talked to Hayato and Yui that I'm going to finish the project Hiratsuka-sensei gave us." Esper! How can women do that? Is there anything with what women eat that makes them espers?!
"I wasn't talking about that." Yep, totally wasn't. The wind blows on us harshly, since there's still remnants of the winter snow on the place. The chilly feeling it brought made me clutch my blazer. Even wearing the blazer, I can still feel the crippling cold of the wind. Then it made me look at Miura.
She's wearing a skirt, isn't that a death sentence? The squirming she's making is all the answer I need. I quickly removed my blazer, making me deal with the cold full force. "Here." That caught her attention, making her look at me like I lost my mind.
"Hah!? What is that for!?" Don't try to act tough on me now Miura, I can see you squirm when the wind blows.
"Use this to combat the cold. I can see you squirm uncomfortably when the wind blows." That revelation made her look away from me. Is she embarrassed? I can't tell with her facing away from me, but if my one of my 108 skills named [OBSERVATION] is to be consulted, then I can safely assume she's embarrassed at the moment.
"T-Thanks."
"Don't mention it." I replied, to which she just hummed in acknowledgement. Serene times are one of the best times man can get. Sadly, not all of them last long.
The bell signifies the end of such serene moments.
"Crap! Lunch is over! I'm going first, don't you dare follow me Hikio!" Sometimes, I wonder what kind of relationship is this. Sometimes caring, sometimes hateful. Am I going to experience Fifty Shades of Miura?(1)
Might as well go back and get the afternoon session over with.
"So, why do you have someone's blazer with you, Yumiko?" I heard someone question as I approached our classroom. Judging by the voice, I guess it's Yuigahama.
"It's complicated to explain... Look, can we drop this subject?" Was Miura's answer as I opened the door, seeing her wearing my blazer comfortably. Should I get my blazer or let her give it back when she wanted? I guess I'll let her have it for today.
"Hikki, why are you not wearing a blazer? Don't tell me..." Yuigahama said as she looked at her friend. It's also not helping that the attention we got when she said that is not helping at all.
Come on Miura, think! Don't just stand there and blush in embarrassment! I guess I'll have to wing it to save our asses. "I forgot my blazer at Hiratsuka-sensei's." I replied. This seems to be a valid excuse, since no one knows where I was, except the blonde who's silent right now.
"Sensei's house!? What are you doing there?" Leave it to Yuigahama to misunderstand the words I've said. I can only sigh in defeat.
"I left it at Hiratsuka-sensei's office." The more I talk to Yuigahama, the more brain cells I will lose. And the attention we had is still not helping. Yuigahama made a surprised face, before smiling sheepishly.
"Sorry!"
"Okay class, sit down and let's start the lesson." The whole class scrambled to their seats as our teacher came in.
"Hikio! Wait for me!" I heard Miura as she ran towards me. "Why are you on a rush? Are going to ditch me?" Look, I may look like a creep, but I still honor what I say. I don't go back on my word, believe it!(2)
"I'm not, I just want to get home earlier."
"*Sigh* Alright, just don't leave me again. Let's go and fetch Yuna!" She then took my hand then ran. Making our travel time towards her little sister's school less.
Reaching Yuna's school, we stopped by the gates, Miura gasped for air, which I also did. Long distance runs are something I'm not fond of. Fortunately for us, Yuna is waiting for us, by the gates.
"Yumi-nee, Hachi-nii-san!" Yuna waved at us. "Let's go home!" She said so excitedly that my loner senses is praising her want to go home.
"We need to stop by somewhere."
"Where to, Yumi-nee?" Yuna asked curiously.
"Movie rentals!"
"Yay! Movies! Let's go, Hachi-nii-san, Yumi-nee!" Little Miura then dragged the both of us towards the nearest movie rental outlet. Like elder sister, like younger.
Since Yuna's school is near the shopping district, we didn't walk that long.
"Hikio." I heard Miura say. Turning around, I was greeted by my blazer hitting my face. "Here's your blazer. T-Thanks for letting me use it. You better not smell it like a creep!" Seriously woman, stop treating me like a creep.
"I won't do that, thank you very much." I said as I put my blazer back on, my body getting embraced by the warmth it radiates. It feels like getting embraced... By Miura.
"I'm going in Yumi-nee!" Yuna said as she ran, leaving us outside. Miura did what her little sister did and went inside. With no other choice, I also went in.
Inside, the store looks like a library, but with CDs and DVDs rather than books. DVDs sorted and shelved according to what their content is. Music are in the front, followed by the movies. For documentaries, they go after the movie shelves.
And of course, adult stuff have their separate room, with a guard on duty to watch some people who wants to go in, but are not of age. Better stay away from it if I don't want trouble.
"Hikio, why are you looking at the adult section so intently? Are you going to get some porn?" Miura asked, I guess I should humor her.
"Yep, I'm thinking about grabbing some stuff." I said with a poker face, to show that I'm serious. Miura though, looked disgusted, like I'm a nasty person.
"Ew gross! Get the hell away from me, Hikio." And that I did. I left Miura to her devices, and scoured the place for something to buy for Komachi to watch. Since Komachi likes action movies, I'm thinking of getting her one.
Proceeding to go to the action section, I picked up a random DVD. Reading the details on the back, I can say that she'll like this. It's a story about an impending doom heading towards Earth, and they sent astronauts to stop it. Flipping it, the word "Armageddon" is on the center, which makes me certain that it's the title.
I don't know why, but Komachi loves movies about outer space. So I think this one is good enough to buy. Taking the DVD with me, I paid for it and then waited for the two to finish, And wait I did. They took so long that the my legs feel like they have weights in them. When they finally finished, they approached me.
"Let's go home!" Yuna enthusiastically said. Miura on the other hand, looked at me like I'm a creep.
"So you bought some porn. You better stay away from me."
"Hachi-nii-san, what did you buy?" The younger Miura asked.
"It's a movie for Komachi." I answered.
"So you didn't buy porn." She seems relieved? And why is she comfortable to talk about porn? Isn't her little sister here?
"Whatever." We continued to walk.
"Hikio, come! The movie's about to start!"
"Alright." I answered and then went to their sofa. I was welcomed by Miura and Yuna, and was made to sit in the middle, between the sisters. The movie the started, making all of us pay attention.
"Yeah, flix and chill!(3)" Yuna energetically announced.
"Are you enjoying the movie, Hikio?" The movie just started!
"It's fine."
"Hachi-nii-san, please pass me the popcorn." Yuna requested. I hastily gave her the bowl of popcorn, as she happily indulged in the salted buttery goodness of the fresh and hot popcorn. Did you know that scientists consider popcorn as the healthiest food?
"Hikio, give me the nachos." If Yuna requests, then Miura commands. I gave her a pack of Doritos for her to enjoy. I'm not hungry, so I just continued to stare at the screen.
As the credits roll, I observed the two girls. It looks like they didn't even last an hour, as they are comfortably sleeping and leaning on me.
And they're the ones who wanted to watch a movie.
I should wake them up, before anything else happens. But looking at the peaceful faces of them, I decided against it. I carefully removed myself from their clutches, as I don't want to get numb. After successfully removing myself from the said entanglement, I decided to cook dinner for them.
Inspecting their fridge, I saw some ingredients that could be transformed to a wonderful curry dish. Using my skill [COOKING, I cooked the said dish, it's smell permeated the house. Leaving the curry to simmer, I proceeded to cook the rice. After all the preparation was done and the curry cooked, I then set up the table.
"Yumi-nee, what are you cooking? It smells so good." I heard Yuna say as she's waking up. "Yumi-nee? If you're sleeping, then who is cooking?" She asked.
"Kaa-san, that smells good."
"Yumi-nee, I don't think it's Kaa-san." Yuna informed her sister.
"Hikio!?" Miura called.
"Come on, eat before the dinner gets cold." I said to the both of them. They both hurried to sit down the dinner table.
"Let's eat." All of us said.
"Hachi-nii-san, this is so good! You can be a chef if you wanted to!" Yuna praised. Of course it's that good.
"Cooking is a vital skill of a househusband, so if I can't do it correctly, then how am I going to comfort my future wife after she comes home from work?" I explained. This made Yuna laugh at the top of her lungs.
"Hikio... You didn't have to do this." Miura said.
"Nonsense, this is nothing but a token of gratitude for letting me in here." I replied. Miura then thinks for a bit and then speaks again.
"Seriously, if your curry is this good, then I'd like to eat your curry everyday.(4)" Woah, what are you trying to convey Miura? I just ignored what the implications of what she said, and rules it to be because of she's still sleepy.
"So... Did you enjoy the movie?" I asked Miura. She just blushed in embarrassment.
"I... Should be the one asking you that." She uttered quietly.
"It's ok. I've already watched that movie." The look of Miura as she realized that she got played was something.
"You jerk! You said you haven't watched it before! Why did you lie?!" Miura then stood up and walked towards her room. But before she completely disappeared, she spoke again. "Yuna, show Hikio the way out."
"Yumi-nee, wait!" Yuna tried to say, but with Miura long gone, all she could do was sigh. "Hachi-nii-san you idiot."
"What did I do?" I asked even though I already know. She's hurt because I lied to her.
"It's because you lied to her Hachi-nii-san, Yumi-nee doesn't like liars, even if it's about a little thing." She sighed again. "I don't know when will she talk to you Onii-chan, she might even ignore you for the rest of the week." Now we can't have that, we have a project due and that doesn't really help.
"And we got a project to do." Now it's my turn to sigh. After washing the dishes, I bid farewell to the Miuras, even though one of them was not present to see me off.
How would we finish our project!? I guess tomorrow's problems are for tomorrow's me. I'm just going to go home and sleep through the night.
(Wednesday Afternoon)
Since the classes are over, I can now go to the service club. Walking towards the clubroom, my thoughts revolved around a certain fire queen.
And how she continued to ignore me.
I kind of expected it to happen, since her little sister gave me a heads up, but to this extent? Hell hath really no fury than a woman scorned.
Opening the clubroom door, I was greeted by Yukinoshita, who is brewing tea. "Fancy seeing you here, Hikigaya-kun, good afternoon." She said.
"Yo." I said before moving to my spot. Yukinoshita though, was not having it.
"Can't you greet nicely, even for once Hikigaya-kun, or is it because you fish brain forgets every manners you've been taught?" The temperature of the room dropped ten degrees lower after she spoke. Her chilling effect is really effective.
"If my corporate slave parents taught me some, then it's to be respectful to people."
"Then you're forgetting what they taught already."
"Fine. Good afternoon, Yukinoshita." Yukinoshita's chilly aura seemed to lessen, as she poured tea on two cups. Silence then reigned on the room, with me catching up to the latest chapter of Hero School! Mighty Everything powering through villains with his punch. Seriously, who names themselves as Mighty Everything?(5)
In a world where being a hero is a job, then it's not heroism anymore right? Since you do it not because you genuinely care, but because you want fame or other motives.
Mirror that to our world, we can say that our parents are heroes. Working their butts off to provide to our needs, without asking for anything but love, understanding, and our smiles.
Enough of analysis of such manga, my mind wandered to the events of the classes earlier. "Say Yukinoshita..." Hearing her name being called made her look away from the book she's currently reading. "Do you lie?"
"I don't." Quick answer.
"But why do you think people lie?" I asked again.
"To deceive others." Another quick response.
"What if the deception is for their own safety?" I asked again.
"Then it's stupid. Why would you deceive someone with the intent of protecting them, if you could've told the truth, even if hurtful, in the first place? Telling a hurtful truth hurts, but them knowing it after you've lied hurts more." Yukinoshita answered, this time longer than a sentence. "Why'd you ask? Did you lie to Komachi-san? Poor Komachi-san, getting lied to by her stupid brother." Hey that's out of the line Yukinoshita. And it's not Komachi, because I'd never lie to her.
"No... I was just asking." Even though she doesn't believe it, she decided to not question me further.
Reflecting upon what Yukinoshita said, then I'm really stupid. I lied to Miura simply because I didn't want to answer her question before. I guess I should say sorry to her.
But how? If she won't even talk to me, then how would I do it?
Before I could answer that, the doors of the clubroom opened.
"Yahallo, Yukinon, Hikki!" Yuigahama happily said as she made her way towards the startled Yukinoshita.
"Yo."
"G-Good afternoon, Yuigahama-san." That's unfair, why does she get away with such greeting.
"Oi, you're being unfair here Yukinoshita."
"Her greeting is nicer compared to yours." My argument is squandered as she pointed out Yuigahama's nicer greeting. After Yuigahama calmed down and sat, the turbulence she brought was now gone, replaced by the silence again.
"Is there something wrong, Yuigahama-san?" Yukinoshita asked as she noticed that Yuigahama is being quiet, which is not the usual Yuigahama.
"It's just that, Yumiko seems a bit quieter today, you know? Usually, she's the one who decides what we should do and where we go, but today, she didn't even want to go and hang out, so we all agreed to go home today." The pink haired girl sadly said. It looks like whatever I did, had that much of an effect on her. I better fix it, and find a way to talk to her.
"Where are you going, Hikigaya-kun? Club doesn't end until later. Are you going to skip club?" She noticed me standing up, therefore asking me.
"I'm not feeling well today, so I'm going home early. I might catch a cold if I stayed later."
"So even you gets infected by Hikigerms?" Oi Yukinoshita, don't bring up something that doesn't exist! "Okay. Just text us when you reach your home. Take care, Hikigaya-kun."
"Bye Hikki! See you tomorrow!" They bid me farewell.
With me free, I can now go home and think of plans to talk to Miura as soon as possible.
Let's just hope that it won't hurt our project!
(1) Fifty Shades of Grey.
(2) Funimation English dub of the Naruto series uses this for Naruto's"Dattebayo" verbal tick.
(3) A modified version of the popular term "Netflix and Chill" (although I don't think Yuna knows what it really means, silly her).
(4) This is a modified phrase which comes from "I want you cook me Miso soup everyday, which is an indirect way to propose to someone.
(5) Yup, a shameless copy of My Hero Academia, and a play on All Might.
A/N: Sup guys! School starts next week for me, and I am very excited!
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See you next chapter!
-Jasserru, gets Alt F4'd