Author's Note: Hello. It's been a while since I've updated this fic. Mostly because work is kinda sorta leaving me pretty drained. A lot of my evenings are spent playing DMC 5 and Monster Prom. Good times, good times. But, we were in the middle of a story, and the story should be told, so here we are! With an update! A brand new chapter!

I don't want to answer all the questions in the comments, mainly because I want to leave some mystery in the story, but here is what I'll say.

So far, it's been mostly smooth sailing. What you are experiencing now is how good Yukino and Hachiman are together. This is the part where they realize they want to be each other. The setup, if you will, of a happy life with each other. This chapter is meant to be the conclusion to that setup.

Once the setup is complete, well, this is a Yandere story. That's when things might go dark.

You've been warned. But in the meantime, here is some sugary sweetness to make the lives of all of you (hopefully) a little better.

Happiness Found

Yukino's POV:

Hachiman awoke next to me. His eyes were so calm. Peaceful. These were the eyes of someone who had no enemies on this Earth. As if, in his perfect innocence, he couldn't conceive the thought of anyone or anything trying to hurt him. I realized I had never seen him like this. Not even when he had been high on the painkiller. Quickly, however, as the haze of sleepiness vanished, his expression changed. As if many memories had come rushing back to him. As if he had regained his alertness. Near instantly, the shadows I had grown familiar with returned under his eyes, but in contrast to his wariness, he was breathing fast, looking around.

Symptoms of anxiety.

I recognized them quickly.

Right away, I put a hand on his chest.

"Hikigaya kun."

He turned to look at me, surprised, shocked even, before relaxing, as the events of yesterday probably came to him again.

"It's all right," I said softly, smiling. "You're at home. I'm here. You're safe."

His breathing evened out, and his expression softened as he calmed down. Both those reactions came after I reiterated that I was here.

I see now. Despite the front he puts up, he is lonely. Uncertain, anxious. He's probably been like this for a long time, living in isolation. I recognize that, because that's how I lived as well. But no longer. I wasn't alone anymore, and neither was he. And he never would be, ever again.

"Yukinoshita," he murmured. "Did you-?"

"I spent the night here," I said. "Don't worry. Nothing happened. You slept the whole time. I decided to make us some breakfast."

"I see.

Did he seem relieved that nothing had happened, or disappointed?

It was hard to tell. I suppose he wasn't the type I could read just from body language. That only made him more interesting. What is a man if he cannot hold at least a few mysteries?

"Sorry," he said. "I caused you quite a bit of trouble, didn't I?"

"Not at all," I replied, allowing a slight smirk to show on my face. Pushing my luck, I touched him lightly on the nose. "I don't mind. I thought I made that perfectly clear yesterday."

His face was blank for a while as he tried to remember, and then, his mouth dropped open. I am guessing this is the part where he remembered that we had kissed.

"Yukinoshita…"

"Yeees?" I asked, drawing out the word, attempting to be teasing, as I'd seen so many girls do in television dramas I had seen in passing.

"Hngg…"

He fell back on the bed, clutching his chest.

"Hikigaya kun!"

I immediately checked his heart, worried that the painkiller had had some effect on his cardiac health.

"I'm all right," he murmured. "It's just that my nineteen years as a virgin are catching up to me."

"We can fix that," I said before I could stop myself. "We can fix that right away."

My eyes wandered down his body. It appeared that rumours of morning wood were true, and I was delighted to see that Hikigaya kun was carrying a sizable amount of timber where it counted.

He noticed where I was looking, and now his face was glowing red.

It was actually adorable how embarrassed he was. I had to do everything I could to keep myself from taking him right then and there.

Apparently, this feeling was mutual. Almost unconsciously, it seemed, he sat up in bed, so that his face was mere inches from mine.

Yes. That's it. Come and give yourself to me.

Right when our lips were about to touch, however, he turned away.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest, a physical manifestation of the hurt I was feeling inside.

This did not go unnoticed by him.

"That's not what I meant!" he exclaimed, louder than I had expected.

I looked at him, waiting to hear what he was going to say.
"It's just… I've never done this before. And… even if this sounds weak, I want to… I want to do it right."

His wording was poor, but his message was abundantly clear, his eyes expressing what his speech could not.

I want a real relationship.

I want something genuine.

My heart warmed.

Even at a time like this, he refused to rush into it, on the risk that this would be something we would regret. He wanted to take his time, so that we could get to know each other.

And build something stronger than animal lust.

"I see," I answered. "Well then, we should start in the here and the now, Hikigaya kun. Stealing a maiden's first kiss isn't something to take lightly, you know."

I leaned closer to him, and whispered in his ear.

"I'll have you take responsibility properly."

He almost jumped slightly. But despite how nervous he must have been feeling, he smiled, making my heart beat faster.

"Heh. Well, if you're okay with me… then we could… you know, be together."

"That is the least I expect, after what happened. You have a tendency to put yourself at risk for my sake, Hiki-callous kun. I'll have to look after you, and make sure you don't hurt yourself. Perhaps I should lock you up inside this house, and keep you from exposing yourself to the dangers outside."

His eyes widened momentarily, and he spoke, as if he was in a trance.

"Make me miso soup every morning."

"Hikigaya kun?"

His words had, regrettably, gone over my head this time.

"Nothing. I momentarily saw a vision of an angel suggesting I become a househusband. If that offer is open, I'll eagerly acce-"

"Impossible," I said quickly, shutting him down. While the idea of having him safe inside a house was certainly appealing, it would not do to keep him from experiencing a proper, fulfilling life, and that meant studying, working, and being able to do the things he wanted, which in turn would mean going outside.

"Damn it," he said. "Ah well, it was worth a try."

We stared at each other for a moment, and I blinked a few times, before we both burst into laughter.

I could not remember the last time I had laughed like that: freely, without inhibition, without trying to put on a show. I could not remember the last time I had felt truly happy like I was at the moment… not until the time I had met him.

We locked eyes again, and found ourselves drawing closer again. This time, neither of us backed away.

His face was close enough to mine that I could smell him. There was a hint of that musky smell that men possess. It certainly wasn't unpleasant in the least. His normally guarded eyes had a shine to them. I realized this was him being as open as he could at the moment, and the fact that he trusted me enough to choose to do so for me… meant a lot.

I closed the distance between us, and for the second time, my lips touched his. But this time, I didn't draw away after just a moment. The contact lasted, lingering, as we both softly pressed against each other. My heart sped up as he leaned in, deepening the contact, taking my upper lip with both his own. In response, I tugged at his, nibbling lightly.

It was certainly not as chaste as what we had shared the previous night. Perhaps loneliness is a more powerful aphrodisiac than people give it credit for.

But it wasn't blind lust either. There was genuine passion in it, and I could feel in his touch everything he hadn't learnt to put into words.

We pulled apart, and I smiled at him, which he returned. His cheeks were slightly red, but he seemed happy, and that made me happy.

"College isn't for another hour. Get freshened up, and then come have breakfast," I said.

I got off the bed and decided to give him the room to himself while I laid out the plates. Unsurprisingly, Hachiman's apartment had some stock of the basic necessities when it came to food, so I was able to make a satisfactory meal, if nothing else.

Fifteen minutes or so later, Hachiman emerged from his room. The wet sheen to his hair announced that he had taken a shower, and he was dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a full-sleeved navy blue t-shirt. Ah yes: the basics, when executed properly, are more than enough.

I had already taken the liberty of showering earlier. I didn't have any fresh clothes to change into, so I simply put on the garments I had been wearing at the time of the incident the previous day. It wasn't what I'd prefer, but I was feeling at least a little fresher after cleaning myself up.

Hachiman joined me at the table.

"Itadakimasu."

His eyes lit up as he looked at the food, and with visible enthusiasm, he took a bite of the ham sandwich I had made.

One of the consequences of having spent some time abroad was that I had adopted a few eating habits from the West, with the result that a lot of the meals I made myself were either Western, or a mix between Japanese and Wester cuisine, which is what I preferred. I could do a traditional meal in either style if I wanted (and my family would probably have a seizure if they knew I didn't), but I liked doing things my own way.

"This is… really good. Like… are sandwiches even supposed to taste this good?" Hachiman said through a mouthful of food.

This response was so pleasing, I didn't even bother pointing out that he should chew first, talk later.

"They can, if you know how to make them right," I replied.

He tried some of the stuffed omelette, and turned to me with a serious expression on his face.

"This is illegal. How am I supposed to go back to the stuff I make after eating this?"

"You could always let me move in, in which case I could cook for you everyday," I said quickly in a small voice, more as a joke than anything. Although it was something I'd love to do, I could think of a billion reasons why such a move might make life difficult for both of us, and most of them had to do with what other people might think, say or do.

I looked up at him, expecting him to look flustered, which was the natural response considering we were both very new to this, but to my surprise, there was a light dusting of red on his cheeks, and his eyes, though wide, looked at me intensely.

"Is that…" he began… "there's… I mean…"

He was stumbling over his words.

I quickly tried to analyse what might be going on in his head.

Of course, it's difficult to completely get rid of all one's inhibitions and barriers right away. He trusted me, and he wanted us to be closer, but it would take time for him to open himself up fully. I could sense that he was indeed interested in the idea of us living together. Enough that he was right now seriously considering it. But he was afraid to go through with such a thing, undoubtedly because he had realized the problems we would face if we were to do so.

That was all right. I can be patient. Trying to rush does more harm than good. I'll wait until…

"Do you really mean that?" he said softly, interrupting my thoughts.

This time, it was my turn to be shocked.

I swallowed, and licked my lips, which felt dry.

"Yes," I answered, slightly nervous myself now.

Hachiman closed his eyes, face slightly scrunched up. He seemed to be thinking a lot of things over. I could almost see the gears turning in his head.

"It's not impossible," he muttered, seemingly more to himself than to me. "There's nothing against rooming with someone in the rules here. I've been here a few months. Did I commit any big screw ups? None that I can think of. Maybe, if I tried… I could make it happen…"

He was thinking of the ways in which he could actually make this happen. Probably going over all the ways he could approach his landlord about this.

I smiled slightly. It was endearing how far he was willing to go. But I also knew that he wasn't thinking straight. For all his caution and analytical ability, getting into a relationship had immediately knocked him out of his regular orbit.

That was perfectly okay.

Just as he was willing to look out for me time and again, I was here for him too.

"Hikigaya kun," I said, as gently as I could. "It's all right. I'm not going anywhere. We'll see each other everyday. There's no need for you to potentially turn your landlord against you."

I didn't mention the fact that the apartment where I lived was owned by the Yukinoshita family, and I could bring whoever I wanted back home, without worrying about any landlords.

Unfortunately, the staff there was loyal to my lovely parents, not me. They would hear about it soon enough if I brought a man back to stay the night, and the results would be… inconvenient.

No, to do this right, I'd have to be more cautious.

I smiled at him.

For now, just knowing he felt the same way about me, and being able to see him everyday, being able to touch him, cook for him, make happy, that was enough.

For now.

He calmed down, shooting me a quick smile before returning to his meal.

We finished the rest of breakfast in pleasant silence, and Hachiman insisted on doing the dishes himself, saying I'd already done plenty for him. When he was done, we decided to go to college together.

Hachiman's apartment was fairly close to the campus, so it didn't take us long to walk there. It was a pleasant morning, not very sunny, and there was a slight breeze blowing. We walked mostly in silence. I took that as a good sign. We didn't need to constantly say something just for the sake of saying it. It meant we enjoyed each other's company as we were, without trying to be anything we were not.

When we walked past the gate, we realized we had to part for a while. He and I had classes in different parts of the campus.

He looked reluctant to leave, an expression which I'm sure was mirrored on my face too.

"So… I'll see you at lunch?" he said.

I nodded.

"Yes, you will."

There was another thing I had to do. Well, technically I didn't need to, since I had already gone through his files in the records room. But that wasn't something he needed to know. I had to ask him for this.

"Hikigaya kun… I realize a little late that I don't have your mail id or your phone number."

"A-ah, yes, that's true."

He took out his phone while I pulled out my own, and we exchanged devices, typing in our contact details for each other.

When we were done, we took our respective phones back.

Now, there was a new entry in my contact list.

Hikigaya Hachiman.

I looked up at him, and decided, being bold so far had worked out well. Once more couldn't hurt.

"Well then, I'll see you later, H-Hachiman."

He started slightly, but recovered.

"Sure, Y-Yukino."

My heart skipped a beat as he called me by my first name.

With that, we went to our own classes. The next few hours passed by slowly, seeming to almost be a crawl at times. However, the habits built up over the years meant that I paid attention and took notes where required. I had already covered a good portion of the course myself, so I was familiar with a lot of the material we were studying in class, though there was also quite a lot that was indeed new to me. This was Tokyo University after all, and here, it would be more accurate to call me a high achiever, and not an over achiever.

Eventually, however, classes did come to an end, and I proceeded to the cafeteria.

Here, I looked around a little, and spotted the one I was searching for.

I waved at him and began to walk over.

This action did not go unnoticed.

Hachiman was a loner in his course, and I in mine.

But plenty of people from both Economics and Literature went to the cafeteria for lunch after classes, and many of them noticed that neither of us were loners anymore.

I could hear their whispers, but ignored them. They meant nothing to me.

The only one who meant anything wanted to be with me, and that was all I needed.

Smiling, I made my way over to him.

End of Part 1