Author's note: Don't worry. This story is far from over, and I very much plan to continue it. This chapter is a little short, but please bear with me. Interesting stuff is coming soon. Without further ado, here it is: the beginning of Part 2!

Part 2, Chapter 1: Welcome the Guest

Attention is a funny thing. Some people seek it their entire lives, and die without ever having gotten much of it. Others try desperately to avoid it, but just can't seem to do so. Now those examples are interestingly appropriate, since attention seems, in general, to follow an inverse rule. The less you want it, the more you get it. Source: me.

Ah, I know what you're thinking. How can a loner such as myself claim to know anything about attention? After all, it's not like I've ever received it, unless I count that which I got from my family (and by that, I mostly mean Komachi). And you would be justified in asking that question! Up until quite recently, I was pretty much a nobody. Everything changed when I met her.

Yukinoshita Yukino.

Elite level smarts and skiledl in everything she does. Unearthly beauty that would honestly put every girl band in Japan out of business if she chose to become an idol. A real life Ice Princess who seems like she stepped out of a story. And… my girlfriend.

We've been together for a month now. But it didn't take that long for people to notice. No, the thing is, folks have a tendency to observe all the things they don't need to, so the fact that we were together became known from the very first day. Of course, it's not as if she did anything to hide it. And neither did I. I didn't really see the point of pretending to be something I'm not. So we behaved normally with each other in college. The consequence being that everyone noticed right away, that the mysterious beauty from Economics (First Year), and the weird loner from Japanese Literature (First Year), were spending a lot of time together, and were seen almost exclusively in each other's company, when not in class. And, of course, being as fond of scandal and gossip as everyone is, they jumped right to a conclusion (which was in this case the right one), that being that we were together.

And being who we were, we studiously gave a certain number of fucks. I'll give you a hint: it's exactly one less than one.

But all of this is really exposition. Almost as if it were a clumsy attempt by a writer at bringing the readers up to speed on a story that hasn't updated in a while.

No, what really mattered, was that we were here, we were together. And that is where this tale picks up again.

For the first time in… ever, I was really, truly happy.

She lit up my world in more ways than I can say, and I was glad for every moment I spent with her.

"Hachiman, you're monologuing again."

I looked up the girl sitting sitting across from me at the cafeteria table. Her night black hair hung in curtains on both sides of her face, and ice blue eyes looked into my own.

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Guess old habits die hard."

"Hmm. Perhaps I can help with that."

Getting up from her seat, she walked around the table, moving one of the chairs, and sat down right next to me, pulling her cup of tea over as well. From this close, I could feel her body heat, and her shoulder was brushing mine. I felt lighter, almost melting into this contradictory warmth created by the Ice Queen. My face was red, and I struggled to make eye contact. Despite having been together for a month, we were taking things slow, so touching was still a new thing to me, especially in public. Judging by the light blush on her face, she was in the process of getting used to it as well. However, she had a hint of a teasing smile on her face.

"This is unfair," I said. "I can't fight back against this kind of firepower."

"But of course, Hiki-unarmed kun. You lack the defences to take on a superior force such as myself."

A smile that was at once angelic and victorious made it on to her lips, and I could feel defeat closing in on me.

Of course, I am not the type to expend energy on going against the flow.

"Forgive me," I said. "I will accept my loss here then."

I reached out an arm, wrapping it around her far shoulder and pulling her closer, so that were both almost on the same chair now, without an inch of distance between us.

Her face was as red as mine now, as she tried to stammer out a response.

"H-Hachiman! That's too sudden!"

Aha. As in martial arts, use the opponent's momentum against them.

Complete victory, snatched from the jaws of defeat.

For a while, we just sat there like that, finishing our morning tea. It was nowhere near as good as what she brewed, but it wasn't half bad.

"I don't have work today," I said. I'd taken the day off, my first leave in quite a while.

"I only have morning classes today," she replied.

"Then do you want to…?"

"But of course."

We smiled, plan made to spend the evening at my apartment together. We had done this a few times since the time she had stayed over after the accident, but she had always gone home before it got too dark. I sorely wished she didn't have to, but we both knew it would be bad if my landlord somehow found out. I sometimes wondered if it was troublesome for her that everyone in college basically knew. Would word get around to her family? What was her family even like? She never spoke of them, and I never asked. But she always assured me that she didn't care if the world knew. That was enough for me. I'm not a brave person by nature, but for her… I felt like being brave.

I looked at the time on my phone. It was around 9:50, which meant we should really both be on our way to class.

"I'll see you later then… Yukino?"

She nodded, and we both headed to class.

It was when I arrived in the usual room for Modern Lit that I discovered that things were going to be a little different today.

The professor was already there, and most of the students were in their seats. I wasn't late, but there was a sense of anticipation and energy in the air. In addition to the people I already knew, there were several whom I had never seen before.I quietly made my way to one of the seats at the back, my preferred haunt, while I waited for class to begin. Five minutes later, the bell rang, signalling the start.

"All right, seems everyone is here," said Professor Okada, looking around once at us all. "We'll get right to it then. We have some guests here with us today. They're here from Chiba. I've mentioned in the past that our University recently partnered up with several other schools and colleges across the country. For the next few weeks, we will be having Open Classes, and they will be joining us for them! Why don't you all introduce yourselves?"

One by one, they all came forward and did so. I idly noted their names, mind occupied with the idea of these Open Classes. They'd just be sitting in with us? That was a curious program. Wonder what this collaboration was all about. Obviously, there'd be extra credits involved for these students who'd come over from their own institutes. Maybe this was some kind of exchange learning program? Did that mean we'd be going over to their colleges too? But then what about the schools the prof mentioned? Was this designed to be a sort of introduction to college level content for them? Was it to encourage more people to apply to Tokyo U?

I speculated for a while on possible causes, then ultimately decided to drop it for the moment. Everyone was done greeting the class, and all the guests were now moving up the dais, taking seats. I mostly ignored this, since it had nothing to do with me… until I became aware of a presence next to me. Turning, I saw a person standing, looking at me expectantly. It took a moment to register that she wanted me to give her some space so that she would step past and take the seat next to me.

Did I mention that attention comes to the unwilling?

Yeah, company and proximity also follow the same rule a lot of the time.

Still, it would have been rude to refuse, so I backed up a bit, and she passed by and sat down.

"Thank you," she said lightly.

"You're welcome," I muttered.

She seemed a little younger than me. Probably one of the high schoolers. Short auburn hair, brown eyes, and an energetic face with an expression that was far too angelic to be genuine. In fact, her entire demeanour was one I had seen countless times before.

This person was… an absolute fake. And a smart one. Probably a good manipulator, using cuteness as her tool. I'd seen quite a few girls like her at work in Sobu High, and a few in college as well. Fortunately, I had observed from a distance, and never gotten involved. Boy was that a smart decision.

Unfortunately, it seemed I had been staring too long.

She noticed, and turned her gaze onto me.

Her eyes remained neutral, but a thousand watts artificial smile lit up her face.

Slightly uncomfortable, I turned away and focused on my book, turning to the chapter we had stopped at last time.

The professor picked up where we left off, reading the text aloud, and stopping after significant lines to analyse and comment on what was happening in the book. I had a notebook out, and was jotting down the important bits as usual. This continued for a while.

"Mou, I don't get it!"

This, in a half-muttered, whining tone.

I turned to see the girl next to me looking frustratedly at the text. She had a notebook open as well, and I could see that she'd written down some of the stuff Prof. Okada had said, but it was clear most of this was going over her head.

Well, that wasn't surprising. There was quite a jump in the level from high school to college when it came to the texts we studied, and the way we analysed them. A student of literature really had to be a student of many things. History, culture, societal trends and norms, some amount of political science, and much more. That wasn't even counting awareness of various schools of thought and philosophy, which were used as tools to aid in analysis.

But of course, as far as my immediate situation went, I had already made an error.

I had reacted.

The simple act of turning and looking at her had given her the opening she wanted. In hindsight, that might have been what she was after to begin with.

"Senpai, help me!" she half pleaded, half commanded.

A curious mix of older brother and good samaritan instincts were invoked, sealing my fate.

Shit.

Even as I mentally cursed, I slid my notebook a few inches to the right, so that she could read what I had written. Prof. Okada did not take kindly to people talking during his class, so explaining aloud to her was out of the question. But I tended to write down additional comments of my own while taking notes, in order to provide context and make things easier to understand for myself. Since one might be out of touch with a book before end of term tests, having notes that basically provided a summarized and explained version of the text paid off.

It would be difficult for her to understand all of it, but she was better off than before, and seemed to be following along to an extent now as we proceeded.

Two hours later, the lesson ended, and we all breathed a sigh of relief. I put away my books, and prepared to leave.

"Senpai! Thanks, you really saved me there!"

I looked at her.

She had that manufactured, cutesy look on her face. To be fair, despite being fake, she still looked adorable, and might possibly have caused quite a few responses in me, if she'd met me a month ago. But now I had the double protection of being a cautious type, and already being committed to a girl.

In other words, everything in my system was telling me it would be best to interact as little as possible with her.

"Don't mention it," I said, and got up. As I was walking away, I heard hurried footsteps behind me.

"Senpai! Wait up!"

Shit.

I pretended not to hear her, but she caught up to me.

"Geez, slow down a little! I didn't even get your name. I'm Isshiki Iroha, by the way."

"Hikigaya Hachiman," I replied.

"You really know your stuff, huh? I couldn't understand a word of what was happening till I saw your notes."

"They're just college level notes. Anyone in this class could share theirs with you. So if you're having trouble, just ask someone-"

"Then you'll help me out from now?"

Shit! I said "anyone", and you pick me?

"I'm not the top student here. I'm pretty sure you'd benefit a lot from talking to-"

"Eh, Senpai, I'm not looking to ace this class, just understand it. I'd rather take your help. Unless… you don't want to offer it?"

She deliberately used a certain tone, and I knew she was exaggerating her need and vulnerability to play on my weakness.

Still, a lifetime's worth of being a doting brother doesn't go away easily.

"Sigh. Okay, fine. I'll help. Just refer to my notes during class, and study at home. You should be fine. Don't copy them though. Duplicate answers will get you failed."

"Get us both failed, you mean."

"Nope," I said, unable to keep the smugness out of my grin. "Between me and you, it's obvious who is copying whom. So the only one who's going to be worse off is you."

She then said a word that rhymed uncannily with "duck,", but I pretended not to hear it.

"I see. Well, then, I look forward to your help, Senpai!"

She had reverted to her bright persona after her momentary lapse.

I had another class to attend before I could call it a day, and it appeared the guests would be sitting in on this one too. Since I was headed there anyway, Isshiki decided to go with me.

I found it curious that she wasn't with the other Open Class students. She couldn't be the only one here from her school.

The next class was Classical Literature, and here, even more than before, Isshiki would have been at sea without something to guide her. It was honestly kind of sad to see: she seemed smart enough, it was just that she was unprepared for the jump in level. To be expected when school students are thrown into a college environment, extra credit class or no. Once more, I shared my notes with her.

This time, however, as I did so, I noticed the reactions of several of the other guests. In general, many of them kept shooting her annoyed glances. It took only a moment for me to put two and two together.

This girl isn't very popular, is she?

Most of the people throwing her the dirty looks were other girls. Her charms seemed powerful enough, so I was sure she had plenty of boys wrapped around her fingers. Which might explain precisely why the girls didn't seem to like her one bit.

The Classical Literature Teacher, Professor Goto, was more easygoing than Professor Okada, at least when it came to people talking in his class, so I was able to whisper to Isshiki.

"I never got around to asking. What institute are you from, Isshiki?"

"Eh? I'm from Sobu High School, in Chiba."

My eyes widened in surprise.

Sobu High?

And she's probably a senior there. Which means… she would have been there when I was a student at Sobu too! A year younger than me.

Well, that at least explains why I don't remember her face. I didn't really pay much attention to anyone not in my class.

"Come to think of it, Senpai looks kind of familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"

"Nope. I just have one of those faces."

"Uh, no you don't, Senpai."

I wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.

"Right."

Still, the not-so-warm attitude of the others towards her explained why she chose to sit next to me of all people, instead of with any of the others who had come here from Sobu. Thinking of that, I honestly felt bad for her for a moment.

I realized sometime during my time in Sobu, that high schoolers are extremely self-absorbed. They exist in a sort of bubble, believing that their troubles and their actions affect the entire world, that they are massive in their scope and consequences.

While it is true that even a high schooler's actions can have massive consequences, for the most part, they are small events. A lot of the times, the mistakes teens make aren't really that big of a deal.

Not true in all cases, but a lot of the times.

What I'm getting at, is that from what little I had seen of Isshiki, she was a spoiled, manipulative brat. But nothing worse than that. She was still young, and there was plenty of time to change, if she was inclined to do so. Come to think of it, the whole reason she was like this might be because of how she was treated in the first place. Source: A certain middle schooler who was pretty much treated like garbage after a failed confession.

Maybe that's why, I felt a little protective.

I didn't really want to get involved any further with her, but just leaving things as they were would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Still, lecturing her directly wouldn't make a difference. Heck, it might even make her do the exact opposite of whatever I said. I know I wouldn't have enjoyed being told what to do by some person I'd never met before.

With all this in mind, I spoke.

"Isshiki… what do you think of college so far?"

She seemed slightly taken aback by the question.

"Eh? That's kind of sudden… it's not bad, I guess? The atmosphere is different from school. Less…"

"Restricting?" I suggested.

She nodded.

"Exactly! It's like no one's really telling you to do anything. Like you're free to decide, on your own. Come to think of it, people seem more open too?"

Ah, good. She was quite perceptive. That would make my job easier.

"I agree," I said. "College is a good chance to start over, with a clean slate. One could be anything one wanted. Pretty cool, huh?"

She blinked twice.

"Where did that come from?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"Forget about it. Call it the rambling of someone who thinks too much."

With that, I returned my attention to what Professor Goto was saying. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I caught sight of Isshiki's face, and she looked deep in thought.

I couldn't quite keep a little smile from making its way onto my face, though I made sure she didn't see that.

Soon afterwards, the class ended, and I packed up my books and stationery, and began to make my way out of the room. Isshiki hurriedly gathered up her things, and followed.

"Senpai, thanks for today."

I nodded.

"No problem. Make sure you put in some work at home. You seem like a smart girl. I think you could do pretty well."

She made a show of backing away with an exaggerated gesture, hands held up defensively.

"Senpai… did you just try to hit on me? I'm sorry. I appreciate you helping me, but playing the cool older student card won't work on me. Please try again harder-"

"I'm not hitting on you," I replied patiently.

It was very clear that she knew this, but still chose to say it.

"Eh? It's all right, Senpai. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You-"

At that point, I tuned her out.

We were near the main gates now, and I had caught sight of a certain someone I was supposed to meet here.

Yukino waved at me, and I returned the gesture.

Now, I'm not the vindictive type, but I can't deny that it did me all kinds of good when I saw Isshiki's jaw drop out of the corner of my eye.

Speeding up a little, I walked over to her.

"Yo."

"Hachiman, while I like the idiosyncracies in your speech, I do think you could do with offering a proper greeting."

"I could," I replied. "But then I wouldn't be me."

We stared at each other for a while, before we both laughed.

These "verbal spars" were becoming more frequent, and more enjoyable. It was just another way in which we enjoyed each other's company.

It was around this time that I became aware that Isshiki was still around.

I was about to introduce the two of them to each other, when I noticed the look on Yukino's face,

So you know that feeling that writers keep mentioning? The one where your blood seems to freeze in your veins?

Yeah, I got a first-hand taste of that.

It'd been a while since I'd seen this face.

The same one she'd shown in the Literary Analysis classroom, when we'd spoken after I saw her being bullied.

And those eyes were staring right at Isshiki.