Chapter 2: Yui Yuigahama
"Hikki…I love you. Please go out with me."
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
'Ugh' That dream again, huh. Although it's been a long time since then, it's been resurfacing lately.
As the Wikipedia states, dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions and sensations that occur during certain stages of sleep. For me, this was certainly a case of emotions. After all, what peaks when you get confessed to? Your adrenaline levels rise, you feel light headed, your chest tightens, she reaches for your hands, gently clasping them, with a begging look in her eyes. You'd be a monster to turn the poor lady down. Yeah, that's right. I'm talking about you, main continuity me. I'd guess I'd rather go for World 1's Yuigahama than World 11296094's though. (1)
I glanced over at my clock, the damn thing having finally stopped making the dreadful call of its people. 9:30, huh. Pretty early. Hmm, I didn't have to go for any classes today. I yawned, and sat on the edge of my bed. My door was slightly ajar. That explained why Kamakura was beside me, then. He looked up to me, and seemed to say, Ne, Master, there's something going on down there. Ah, it seems that my [Animal Whisperer] skill has leveled up overnight. Putting on some Pan-san slippers, I walked down to the living room.
The smell of pancakes wafted through the air. The sizzling of the pan, the humming. Pretty picturesque for a morning, eh. And in the kitchen, was Ms 'Nice Girl' Yuigahama herself, wearing nothing but an apron- Oh wait nevermind she had an oversized t-shirt, mine, over her. With an apron! Is that a new trend? Sure feels like it. Coming up behind her, Stealth Hikki Mode fully maxed, I gave her a hug.
"Ah-ah! Hikki! What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Can't I give my Juliet a rose?"
Her face flushed considerably, cheeks as scarlet as her hair.
"That-that's a terrible description Hikki! Even I think that you could have come up with something better!"
"Ah, it's morning anyway. I can't think straight."
"Hehe~ ah well, take a seat by the table first. Komachi has already eaten her breakfast and taken Sablé for a walk."
"Hmm? Ok then."
I gave her a peck on her neck, to which she reacted very cutely, neck moving away while attempting to use her arms to push me away. Futile!
"H-Hikki! Stop that! I'm ticklish! At this rate, the pancakes are gonna burn!"
Eh, guess I should stop. I relented and walked over to the table. There were a few leftover pancakes. I took a plate and scooped them over. Yuigahama has certainly improved in her cooking. If she had made the pancakes a few years earlier, they would've been darker than my heart then.
"Oh yeah, Hikki! Let's go shopping later!"
Yuigahama said that as she placed some more pancakes on my plate. Sadly, there wasn't any whip cream or maple syrup. I sincerely apologise to all Canadians. But, they'd probably apologise back, eh? (2)
"Later? Alright, but for what reason?"
"Hehe! That's a secret!"
I pondered over what she said. Secret, huh. Welp, it's going to be revealed later, so I might as well.
Around noon, we set off for the Aeon Mall. (3) It was quite far from where we were, so we rode my bicycle over to the train station. We alighted at the Kaihin-Makuhari station, and slowly walked there. The entire time, we were ironically acting like a riajuu couple. Fingers interlocked, Yuigahama's head on my shoulder, and an overall pretty lovey-dovey mood around us. I glanced over at the pinkhead on my shoulder. She was wearing some standard summer clothing. It's always either very hot or frigid cold in Chiba. She was wearing a white one piece dress that was rather baggy, which was a good thing. I don't want to have to fight off other guys. Yuigahama's Yuis were not for any other bastard to see. Not that I owned Yuigahama. She was a completely separate entity from me, obviously. After all, she was going to Heaven, and I was going to Hell. Yet, she's the one clinging onto the sinner. A terrible choice right there, Miss. Please open your eyes and see how much of a rotten human being I am, thank you very much. The spell cast on her by the Gods of Romantic Comedy was far too strong for me to break, however. Thus, I was stuck with a loving, albeit naive spouse. Ah, this seems like a good time to tease her.
"Yui."
"H-hai, Hachiman?"
"Don't you think...that what you're wearing is a little bit, uh, revealing?"
"E-eh?! B-but…"
"After all, a lot of your back is shown. Plus, the skirt part is pretty short. If the wind blows your pantsu (4) might be shown to everyone. Or do you want that to happen?"
"Hikki! That's mean! You know I'm wearing this to impress you!"
"Oh? No wonder you've been making passes at me and trying so hard at night lately~"
"Ah! Don't say that out loud! Argh… I hate you!"
The glare she shot at me came off as being very harmless, nothing more than a pout. She started punching my arm, to which I playfully winced along.
"Ora Ora Ora Ora ORA! (5) Take that, you meanie!"
"Oh dear. It seems I'll need to summon my stand as well! Go! 8Man!"
Unleashing my Ultimate Attack, I leaned in and gave Yuigahama a kiss in her cheek. Very OOC for me. My high-school me would never have even dreamed about being able to do this to anything, let alone a girl. Hmm, I wonder where has all my [Cynicism] gone to? At least most of my 108 Loner Skills™ are still with me.
The blushing mess that was Yuigahama and I soon arrived at Aeon. The place was huge! And incredibly modern.
Skipping ahead of some {Shopping} cutscenes, we eventually stopped at a Saizeriya. Oh? My favourite restaurant? I wonder what's the occasion today.
"Table for two?"
A perky waitress asked. She had a pretty face and a body sought after by both men and women alike. Such tactic much effectiveness. Well, I guess Saize, or any other business, wasn't run by idiots. *Cough* Trump Organisation *Cough*.
"Uh, Ye-"
"Actually, we have a reservation."
Hm? Wait, we have a reservation? Yuigahama has planned something? Explains her behaviour before leaving our house.
"Oh! I see. Are you Miss..Hikigaya?"
"Yes."
I glanced at Yuigahama. She looked back at me, beaming. Her eyes were obviously saying 'its a surprise!'. Hoh, with all this foxyness, you must've been taking lessons from Isshiki, haven't you?
And speak of the devil herself. There she was, in all her glory, The Uncute Komachi. And Komachi herself. And...Yukinoshita? And Sensei?! And Totsuka?! What was the occasion? Have I finally reached the ending? I haven't even caught all the legendaries yet! (6) Oh yeah Zaimokuza was there. So was Kawa...Black Lace. And the *hiss* Insect. And *hiss* Hayama Hayato himself. And the elder Yukinoshita. Actually, the main characters were all here! Wh-whaaat? No seriously, what's happening?
"Happy birthday!"
*Pop* *Pop*
Streamers? That's a nice touch. Ah, so it's my birthday today. Right.
I looked at the party and was surprised. Everybody seemed to be in a joyous mood. They all had a big smile plastered on their faces. Even the counterfeit smiles of Hayama and Haruno had been replaced with something resembling genuineness. Oh man, if I was just a bit younger, I would've gone all cynical and said something along the lines of 'Hell has frozen over'. But, I had already resolved to look over such pettiness. If people were making an effort to accommodate for you, so be it. If this occasion was meant to be a celebration, just go with the flow. Oh man, that sounded really, riajuu-ish. The Great 8Man has truly fallen. At least, I can't say I'm unhappy with the way things are though.
"Senpaiiiii."
Eeugh.
"Wh-what?"
"Shishishi, take a seat!"
"Ah, yes, Birthday-gaya. Do not stand on ceremony after we have painstakingly detailed a plan to get you to come here. It's suspiciously successful. (7)"
"Right! Hikki! Come here!"
I couldn't even respond as Isshiki grabbed my shoulders and pushed me over to a seat in the middle. Directly across me was Totsuka. Ah! So he's my birthday present? Well I'm not gonna stand on ceremony then. Oh wait nevermind I'm hitched to Yuigahama. I wouldn't mind Totsuka as my concubine, though~
"Hikigaya. Would you mind wiping that disgusting grin off of your face and blow the candles already?"
"Yeah, Hikki, blow the candles!"
The people around me started chanting the No.1 most overrated song of all time. Hey, don't you guys know that some church copyrighted it or something?
"Omae-ra…" (8)
Ilooked around. Everyone...was looking at me without any glares or looks of disgust. They all seemed...genuine. Was this what I wanted all along? Loners shouldn't be getting the good end! We're side characters! Maybe it's just a birthday event. Gotta get those Love Gems. (9) I looked over at the cake. It was simple. Just a coffee flavoured one with some love letters garnishing it. A single candle stood in the middle. It looked good, but I could tell it was hand-made.
"Yui. Did you bake this cake?"
"Ah? You knew? Well, I baked it with Yukinon! So, it shouldn't be too bad, right? Anyway! Blow the candle already so we can eat it!"
I glanced over at Yukinoshita. The Ice Queen looked somewhat content. The other members of the table were also anticipating me to blow the candle. I took one last look at the cake, and blew the candle. They all then applauded, but Yui suddenly exclaimed.
"Oh no! Hikki! Did you make a wish first?"
"Hmm? Ah, I'll make it now then. What I wish for is…"
"Don't say it out loud! The wish won't come true!"
"for Yui, and everyone here, to find their genuine happiness."
The table became silent. Weird, considering how many people there were and the amount of noise they were making. It was obvious that it was a very out of character thing for me to say. Miura broke the silence.
"Nn, Hikio! What did you say? Did you wish for our happiness? Wow, you really have changed since high-school."
She gave me a condescending look, however it was more of an approval than a snobbish one. I surprised myself too. What did I wish for? Genuine happiness? The past me would have told you it didn't exist, but now, I can somewhat grasp its existence.
The rest of the party flew by rather quickly. By the time it ended, it was close to ten. Yuigahama and I were the second to leave. Kawa? Was the first to go. Something about needing to take care of "Kei-cha-I mean Keika." That family con.
Yuigahama and I were pretty silent throughout our return trip. We did make some small talk about what had just happened, but nothing much. We were just enjoying each other's company. Not needing to explicitly state what we wanted. We soon found ourselves at our doorstep.
"Komachi-chan won't be coming back today, so we have the rest of the night to ourselves."
"Hmm. What's that girl planning?"
"Ehe, it's nothing! Anyway, let's go inside."
Unlocking the door, we were greeted by the brown ball of energy that was Sablé. The little guy probably missed us. I could hear Kamakura meowing from the living room. That lazy little guy. Yuigahama and I decided to turn in early, so after changing, we hopped onto our bed together. Yuigahama was obviously planning to say something to me. She had been fidgeting and blushing the whole time we were home. Now that we were in bed together (not that way you perv), I decided to ask her about it.
"Hey, Yui. What's wrong?"
"Eh eh? N-nothing's wrong!"
"It doesn't take a detective to know that you have something to say to me. So what's bugging you?"
"No, it's just that I've been reflecting a lot on our relationship."
"I see. So?"
"W-well…"
She turned to me. Lips pursed. Eyes moist. Hair fully down. This was the woman I had pledged to spend the rest of my life with.
"Wh-what if I told you...it won't be just the two of us anymore?"
Hah?
"Hah? Y-Yui...don't tell me…"
She leaned over and clasped my hand with both of hers. She really was small compared to me. But nothing felt smaller than my heart at that point.
"Hachiman. I have a baby."
Her face was glossy with sweat. The air was thick with tension. She was waiting for my reaction. But how could I deliver appropriately? I've just been told that my wife is pregnant. On my birthday, no less. I started thinking about my relationship with Yuigahama, no, Yui.
After I accepted her confession, it was tough. Both of us were new to dating. How were we to know how to act? To add on to the difficulty, I had wanted to keep our status a secret. I didn't want her friendship with Hayama's clique to strain, and neither did I want to strain the Service Club's relationship, too. The truth leaked out eventually, however. Indeed, relationships were strained. Yukino took it the hardest. I was aware she had feelings for me, but didn't think much of it. I didn't want to. Of the two, I loved Yui more. I did love Yukino, but only as a friend. Best friend, hell. I enjoyed our banters, but that didn't make me love her. Yui, however, did. She showered me with her genuineness. She loved me, and wasn't shy of it. I didn't realise my own feelings until her confession. I wasn't sure what to do. But purely out of instinct, I said "Yes." That was my answer. That was my heart's answer. My own true, personal feelings.
And now, those same exact feelings are flooding back. Yui's eyes had begun to tear up. She was anxiously waiting for my answer. The déjà vû was coming back.
"Yui."
I wrapped my arms around her frame, and kissed her forehead.
"Thank you for everything. Thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for staying with me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you, for giving me,"
I felt my chest becoming wetter. Soft sobbing came from under hands that covered a beautiful face. I took those hands, and made her look up to my own face. My eyes, which I could feel slowly becoming rounder and less sharp, pierced her own pink orbs. She stared at mine, lips pursing clumsily.
"for giving me, a chance to love you. And, our baby. Together."
My speech seemed to release the flood gates that were already leaking. She cried out seemingly without a care for the world. I cradled her, and I could feel my own face becoming wet.
They say change is difficult. 'They' also tell you to change just as easily. Whoever 'they' are, they're full of it. They obviously haven't done anything positive with their lives. Why should 'they' be given the right to tell us to amend ours? I hate hypocrisy. That's why I hate myself. I called Yuigahama a 'nice girl'. She is, technically. Just not by my definition. I hated the judging stares that used to pierce me. I could walk buy a playground and have parents shield their children. I could go to a shop and have the owner eye me suspiciously, when all I wanted was but a can of coffee. I could walk behind a slow moving group of girls and instantly make them pick up their pace. Why? It was because I had been deemed as dubious person. The type you're supposed to stay away from. Have I done anything wrong? No, not to those people at least. Yet, as a precaution, dubious people are to be given a wide berth.
Indeed, I had reacted to Yuigahama the same way, all because I expected her to be a 'nice girl'.
'I hate nice girls. Just exchanging greetings with them will get them on your mind. Start texting each other, and your heart will be set a flutter. If they call you, you're done for. Enjoy staring at your logs and grinning like a fool. However, I won't get fooled again. That's what your kind calls kindness. If you're nice to me, you're nice to others. I always end up nearly forgetting that. Reality is cruel, so I'm sure lies are a form of kindness. Thus, I say kindness itself is also a lie. I always ended up with these expectations. And I always ended up with these misunderstandings. And before I knew it, I stopped hoping. A highly trained loner is once bitten, twice shy. As a veteran on this battlefield of life, I've gotten used to losing. That's why I always hate nice girls.'
That was one of my favourite quotes. I used to live by it. I judged Yuigahama by it. She was the girl whose dog I saved? Wow it must be coincidence she decided to befriend me and join a hopeless club which I was in. No. The only logical explanation was that she felt indebted. She wanted to repay me somehow. She wanted to get rid of her guilt. It was all for her selfish gain. The most illogical thing was, that the exact scenario was true. The other ironic thing was that this was the girl that I was hugging as she crashed her head into my chest. And in her belly, was my own offspring. How did I manage to love her? Overcome my definition of her? Why did she love me despite knowing how rotten I was? All these questions have me, the Monster of Logic, stumped. I could easily ask her, but I doubt she could answer. Neither could I. I glanced over to the clock. 1.45 a.m, huh. Ah well. It's no longer my birthday, so I'll stop taking advantage of this special occasion to regain my cynicism, and sleep.
As I shifted my body and turned to face the opposite direction, I could hear Yui softly whisper,
"Hi...kki...otanjoubi….omedetou...aishiteru…" (10)
This silly, nice girl. Half asleep, yet still trying her best. Go to Hell, Gods of Romantic Comedy. You and your magical spells. Seriously, lift this one off of her. I can't love her enough. Thanks for letting me try though. For that I thank you.
Again, another reference to My girlfriend is more wrong than I had expected. Coincidentally, also the first reference again. Pls don't sue me BigKokujin ;-;
s/11296094/1/My-girlfriend-is-more-wrong-than-I-had-expected
(2) An Internet joke where Canadians are all stereotyped as apologising, maple syrup drinking, hockey playing, moose riding Toronto rangers. Below is a link to what I'm talking about. Also, I apologise in case someone actually gets offended.
pin/233202086930472980/
(3) Aeon Mall is a chain of malls all over Japan and Asia. Amazing places in my opinion. I've been in a few. They're all standardised which is cool.
(4) Panties. In Weaboo-language.
(5) Reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
(6) Reference to Pokemon. To fully complete the game, you need to complete the Pokedex and Nationaldex by capturing all the Pokemon, including legendaries.
(7) Reference to another amazing story. s/11275215/1/My-Stay-Over-Plan-was-Suspiciously-Successful by weewah. Shoutout to him, too!
(8) Japanese for "You guys…"
(9) Love Gems are the currency in the Love Live rhythm game. Uh, the title of this fic is in no relation to the series, by the way.
Welp there goes the second chapter. It's just about twice the length of the previous one, huh. Well, I actually wrote this one a few days after chapter 1, but I got stuck after Yui revealed to 8man that she was pregnant. Welp I continued it, very poorly. At least I added some monologue. Still OOC, moreso this time. I tried, okay? Personally I prefer chapter 1. This one doesn't have a very good balance of emotions tbh. Ah well. I'll get to replying to some reviews.
Shidou Shingen:?
abullabul27: same.
And I'll make this clear, yes there will be a one-shot for each of the girls that appear in the story (the main ones). This includes Isshiki, Yumiko, Hina, Kawasaki, Orimoto, Haruno, Shizuka and Meguri. I'll have some spin offs involving Totsuka and Komachi. No, this won't be all in the same continuity. For example, chapter one was Yukinox8man, so it's world number 11770614/1/. The next chapter will be 11770614/2/, which is a parallel universe to the first chapter, where it's Yuix8man instead.
That did not make sense. Whatever, I'm writing this at like 1 am anyway. This won't be a harem story, either. But I have some plans to write a harem story. Lastly, thank you for all the support and compliments. I think you guys should read other, better fics well. I'll be goin' then. Ciao.