Today is Monday, and the lunch bell for the day rang and everyone began unpacking their things.

Usually, I would be eating outside with Isshiki, but I told her I wanted to eat alone for today. With her and Sudo on my mind, I might as well get rid of one of them so I can stop worrying about it. I finished that thought, then made my way out of my classroom and across the hall where Sudo should be at. Upon entry, as usual, I received a few stares after entering the room, but I didn't let it bother me and I made my way to where Sudo was sitting at.

"Yo,"

The two girls he was sitting with were just as surprised as everyone else, while Sudo welcomed me with open arms.

"Yo, how's it going Hikigaya. Did you need something?"

He gave me a devious smile, which was an indicator that he knew exactly why I was here for.

"Yeah. Uh, you busy right now?"

"No, not at all," He stood up. "We can eat together tomorrow girls, please excuse me."

After he said that, the two of us began walking out of the classroom, making our way to my lunch spot.

"So, you've made your decision, then."

"That's right."

He smiled as the two of continued to walk to the gate near the tennis courts. Just as we arrived outside, the two of us sat down on the steps.

"Why did you injure that rugby player last year? That's my question."

"My answer will please you, so please listen carefully."

He then took a moment to himself and he started to collect his thoughts. "To begin, I was acquainted with Yukinoshita Yukino when we were first years."

…

He continued. "Normally, I wouldn't bother wasting my time on a girl who's as cold and abrasive as she is, but I kept persisting and eventually she gave in, so she stopped treating me like a dog after that point. She was a haughty and strong-willed woman that I was undeniably attracted to, but soon her buddy Hayama started to come into the mix."

I guess I can see that happening. From what I've observed from Sudo so far, he seems like the only person who has the mental fortitude to deal with Yukinoshita. But then we got the thing with Hayama.

"Hayama, huh?"

"I can tell he loves her, but Yukinoshita acts indifferent towards him for some reason. With me in the way, he threatened me at one point to stay away from her. I didn't listen, and one day he took me by surprise and beat me down completely. It was after that point that I began to turn into a delinquent, and I also started training so that one day I can get revenge on him. Yukinoshita then founded the Service Club in our second year. And she would occasionally comment on your character, saying how you were a threat to society and shit like that."

"Sounds like Yukinoshita all right."

"Naturally, I wanted to meet you to see what kind of person you were. But then suddenly the club disbanded, and Yukinoshita wouldn't say a thing about why it happened. After that point, I wanted to seek you out to find out why, but I fell into a small problem on the way. Since I was a delinquent, I fucked with a lot of students, and one day when I was walking home, I was confronted by a big ass rugby player and another male student that I extorted money from. He brought that rugby player to teach me a lesson, but things didn't work out in their favor."

"Then you beat him up, huh?"

"More than that. I let my strength get to my head, and I injured him pretty badly, more than I wanted to. I got suspended for a week, and Yukinoshita was appalled by my behavior when she heard what happened. She told me not to talk to her again unless I changed, and well… it's been over a year and I'm still trying to do that."

"I see…"

"I thought I was changing, but then I saw an opportunity with Iroha, and I took it. If you haven't been there that day, chances are I would still be going on a power trip. I'm sure I would've come to my senses eventually, but we're talking like this because of you. So, in a way… you saved us both."

"I see, so that's how it is."

He smiled. "My turn now. Why did you leave the Service Club?"

"Ha... so you chose to ask me that, huh?"

He didn't say anything, instead he just kept a smile on his face. Yeah, this is something I have kept to myself, but in this situation it's only fair for me to share my experience with Sudo.

"I was getting verbally abused by those bitches, so I left the club without filling out a resignation sheet, so Yukinoshita confronted me on that. Then the two of us got into a heated argument which turned personal."

Even though I left the club bypassing formalities, which isn't even that big of a deal because employees do it all the time, I was still in the wrong. But even so, she called me out on it and just went to town with the jabs. They weren't her usual jabs; they were personal attacks which only prompted me to defend myself from her. After a while, I just gave up and left and never looked back at that place.

"Is that so? Hmm, I see."

The conversation came to a halt after he said that.

"Satisfied?

"Mostly, yes. Thank you for the information, though. Now I understand that girl a bit better than before."

"I see,"

When I said that, he got up and called out to me.

"Come on, let's go back inside."

I followed him back inside. The two of us walked in silence with subtle noise coming from the students in their classrooms, then Sudo suddenly broke that silence between us.

"Let's walk home after school together."

"You're seriously annoying."

"Cmon, there's still more I need to talk to you about, interested?"

I sighed deeply. "Before, no. Now, well... I guess I'll see what you have to say."

"Great! I'll meet you by your classroom."

As soon as the final bell for the day rang, everyone began packing their things quickly.

I took my time putting my things away so I can meet Sudo as soon as I leave my classroom. After most of the students left the classroom, I got up from my seat and made my way outside the room. Immediately, I saw Sudo from the corner of my right eye.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The two of us walked casually down the hallway for less than a minute before the loudspeaker caught my attention. Surprisingly enough, I was needed in the teacher's room.

"Saved by the bell, eh?"

"It seems like it."

"Well, go take care of your business. I'll be waiting for you outside."

He left without batting an eye and I began walking in the opposite direction of him where the teachers room was. After less than a minute of walking, I entered the room, and immediately a teacher flagged me down from across the room. It was the same teacher from before, just what would he want from me? I excused myself and began to walk over to him.

As soon as I walked over to his workspace, he faced me. "Hikigaya."

"Sensei."

With pleasantries out of the way, he continued. "I called you here to talk about your grades. Unfortunately, you do not have enough marks in Mathematics to apply to almost any university in the prefecture. But I'm sure you're aware of that, right?"

"I guess, yeah."

"Again, it's my job to make sure the students here graduate with a promising future, or with at least a future. I've been informed that Tokyo University and Chiba University have guaranteed you admission into their schools, but you will need to work part-time on campus to make up for your grades."

I see, so that's how it is. Initially, I was going to choose any school that would accept me, but it seems my options are low for that. But Tokyo university, eh? It does sound promising, and I think it'll be nice to enjoy Tokyo University for a while before I have to subject myself to the working world. Even though I'll be working on campus for the duration of my stay there.

"They really offered that?"

"We're a college prep school, so we're able to make deals like this that other schools can't. It's a fairly good deal, I must say. But you still have to pass the entrance exams, though."

"Yeah. Am I able to accept that offer right now?"

"Of course. But this is going to be your future for the next few years, are you fine with that? You still have about a month until entrance exams, so you got time to make a decision."

"No, I'll accept right now."

I answered him immediately. This was a no brainer for me. I think with this in mind, it'll motivate me to start studying more. And I think it would be good for me to get accustomed to studying every day, since I'll probably be doing a lot of it in university.

Somewhat surprised, he answered. "I see. You made a good decision, Hikigaya. Tokyo University is a great school, and I'm sure it'll treat you well while you're over there."

"…"

I didn't say anything at all. My silence pretty much told him, "Are you done yet? I want to go home now."

He smiled. "Well, you're free to go. But make sure to do well on your entrance exams, alright? You still need to pass them to get into Tokyo."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you, sensei."

I left the teachers room and made my way to the main exit of the school where Sudo was waiting for me at.

So, that's my future huh? I get to spend the next few years on a beautiful campus, with decent food, and with a lot of people, but alone regardless. Slowly but surely, I'm inching closer to the working world where my mother and father reside in. They work long work weeks, even working on the weekends to get a head start on their work for the week. Soon that will be me. As I think about the inevitable future, a certain person invaded my thoughts.

Ah, Senpai.

I shook my head to get rid of that thought. Why was she the first person to come to mind? I opened the door outside, and two people leaning against a pillar nearby jogged over to me. Why was Isshiki waiting for me, too? I told her that I had business with Sudo.

"Finally, you're out."

"Yeah. Why were you waiting for me anyway? I told you I had business with Sudo."

"Umm…"

As she struggled to find her words, Sudo came to her aid. "You don't have to answer that, Iroha. Come on, let's get a move on."

As he said that, we began to walk without any specific area in mind. While we were walking, Sudo broke the ice. "I'm actually glad that the two of you are here because I need both of your guys' help."

"Huh? No way. Why should we even help you?"

"At least hear me out first. Hikigaya, you'll listen to me, right?"

They both looked at me as he said that. "I'll listen to what you have to say, but that doesn't guarantee anything."

He smiled, then Isshiki sighed. "Great! But before that, do you guys wanna hit an arcade really quick?"

"Huh, why would we do that?"

I'm actually not opposed to doing that and having a little fun. I don't think I've been to an arcade in over a year.

"It's the one like 4 blocks away from here, right? If it's that one, I don't mind."

Sudo was pleased with my answer, while my kouhai was visibly disappointed with me. I looked at her and then she sighed at me.

"You're not a pushover, are you Senpai?"

"Nah, I just want to go to an arcade."

She sighed again. "Fine, whatever. It's not like I have anything planned to do anyway."

Does she have a bad experience with arcades or something? If we had to choose between karaoke and the arcade, then I could see her being disappointed if we chose to go to the arcade rather than karaoke, especially if she really wanted to sing. But oh well.

And after she said, the three of us began walking to the arcade which is most likely going to be packed with students since it's the nearest one from the school.

Upon entering the arcade, we were greeted with an abundance of voices that came from all directions.

There were people shouting and running around the building, and it's just a chaotic mess. But usually when you don't have highly profitable arcades, like the ones in the shopping malls, then they can be quite hectic.

The three of us went to buy our arcade tokens at the machine which only accepted cash.

"I'll pay for you guys, don't worry."

"I'm pretty sure you're just using my money, Sudo-senpai..."

He smiled. "Haha, well... Yeah."

Isshiki sighed, while Sudo retrieved handfuls of gold tokens from the machine. He split them up between all of us, which should give about 15 minutes or so to play.

"Alright, let's go!"

Sudo was ecstatic as he went to an apocalypse-like shooter. I hate these types of games. Because they never fail to ask you to insert more tokens halfway through your gameplay. And if you don't give the machine the tokens, then you can't proceed with the level which is bull shit.

"Fuck!"

He was clearly enjoying himself as he killed the hordes of zombies on the screen. And as I watched him play, I felt Isshiki tug on my cuff.

"Let's race, Senpai."

"Sure."

The racing games are surprisingly fun, but I feel like they're always better to play with friends rather than on your own. Zaimokuza and I used to come to the arcade a lot when we were second years, but after a while, I stopped showing up. And I stopped really giving a shit about practically everything about my life up until the incident in the alley with these two.

Finishing that thought, the two of us seated ourselves in the seats and inserted our coins. And as usual, we have to select our vehicle. I just chose a random one because it's not like it'll make a big difference or anything, right? Only try-hards actually try to win at these games, everyone else just plays for fun.

When we selected the map for the racecourse, we were given a 10 second countdown on the screen.

"Hehe, I hope you're ready to lose!"

"I don't think that's going to happen, Irohasu."

"Ugh, you're still calling me that. Why can't you take a step forward and call me by my first name, maybe then we'll—oh crap!"

The timer was set at one, and then we were given the green light to smash the gas pedal. Quickly, I found myself in last place. When you play these types of games, it's imperative that you make sure you turn your corners perfectly. I think if you do, you'll be able to catch up to the other computers, which may be how these games are designed.

I began to pass up each of the computer racers one by one as I found myself in the zone of things. But then my car suddenly took a bump and skidded to the left, dropping me down a spot.

"I told you that I'm going to win!"

I ignored her and kept driving. While my corner driving was not perfect, it was good enough to keep me ahead of all the computers. But Isshiki is ahead of me for some reason. Damn it. As we were on the final lap, we went over a ramp that landed by a steep corner. I managed to maneuver it without issue, while Isshiki was hugging the wall.

"Oh, come on!"

With that, I took first place, and it was smooth sailing for me. There was no one behind me and all that was left was me and the finish line. I casually drove the rest of the way until I my screen congratulated me for my victory. Isshiki sighed and got up from the seat, as did I.

"Oh, were you watching Sudo-senpai?"

I turned and saw Sudo waiting for us to finish our game. "Something like that. Irohasu, huh? That's a cute name."

"I just mock her with it."

"I see. Perhaps I should call you Irohasu as well, Iroha."

"No! Whatever. We still have some tokens left, what do you guys wanna do next?"

We scanned the area for a moment before I came across a Mario Kart game.

"Mario Kart?"

"Oh, yeah! Let's go."

The two of us followed Isshiki to the game after she dashed on ahead. For someone that didn't want to come to the arcade, she seems to be enjoying herself a bit.

After securing the game, the three of us seated ourselves inside the enclosed space, and put our tokens in.

"I'm definitely beating you now, Senpai."

"I don't think so, Irohasu."

"No, I wasn't talking to you."

A lighthearted atmosphere filled the space between us as we selected our characters. I went with Toad, Isshiki chose Luigi, and Sudo chose Peach.

After the game gave us a quick countdown, we were off. Unlike in the previous game, you can't sit back in first place thinking you'll be able to win. You have to watch out for blue shells, red shells, and even green shells.

As we were racing, I tossed a banana peel and staggered a computer racer and overtook him bringing me to 5th place. Isshiki was in 3rd place, and Sudo was in 2nd place.

We then got another round of items, and I was granted a red shell, while one of the computers had a blue shell. I kept the shell behind me just in case, because it never fails when I fire it at someone, I get immediately sniped from behind.

As the game was reaching its climax, I was in 3rd place, Isshiki was in 2nd, and Sudo was in 1st. I boosted myself to bump Isshiki out of 2nd place, but we still had a few more rounds of items on our way.

"Ugh…"

Isshiki groaned after being dropped down to 3rd place. Then moments later, we received our items. I had a green shell and Isshiki had a banana peel, while the computer in 10th place received a blue shell.

"Okay, you guys better watch yourselves."

I know what he's going to do. As the blue shell went flying across the map, Sudo reversed back into us which quickly prompted us to do the same. His efforts were for nothing as he was completely staggered, which allowed me and Isshiki to pass him up. I tried to pull a quick one on Isshiki, but I missed my shot and then she dropped her peal behind her, which almost got me.

Unfortunately, the game ended with me in second place and Sudo in fourth place.

"DAMN IT." Oh, he was upset. But he quickly collected himself. "That was fun."

"Right... Umm, so what now? We don't have that many tokens left."

"Let's combine them and play for a while longer, yeah?"

We agreed and combined our tokens together, which should give us another two games or so before we have to leave.

"Ah, that was fun!"

Sudo was the first one to speak between us as soon as left the arcade.

"Okay, so what do you want to talk to us about?"

"Oh, right. Well, let's take that bench over there and I'll cue you two in on the details."

As he said that, we took a nearby bench that was away from the busy road. Isshiki and Sudo sat while I stood and patiently waited for Sudo to brief us about his situation, or dilemma, or whatever he wants from us. He took a deep breath in and started speaking.

"I want to confess to Yukinoshita."

While I wasn't surprised by his words, Isshiki was. "Y-You're kidding, right? No way, this must be a joke."

"Oh, right. I guess I should tell her, it's not like she'll tell anyone either way."

As he said that, Sudo began telling Isshiki everything he told me earlier today. After two minutes, Sudo was done explaining to Isshiki the current situation.

"I guess it makes sense why you want to confess to her now. But how are you going to do that?"

He took a second to answer Isshiki. "It involves your Drama Club. Hayama plans to star in a play with Yukinoshita so he can confess to her on stage. And I've been helping him."

"Wait, I don't understand what's going on."

"As I told you, Hayama beat my ass because of Yukinoshita. From that point on, I've been helping him set the stage to confess or else he would hurt me again. So, I figured his impulsive behavior due to his infatuation with Yukinoshita would be his downfall, so I created blackmail on myself and sent it to Hayama through a burner account. We've made considerable progress and now the stage is set for me to make my move come the cultural festival. If he was smart, he would've expelled me."

"Really? Wait, is that why you had me send you the script of our play?"

"Yep. He's under the assumption that I care about getting punished again. Now, since he has the script of your play and most likely a play ready for the cultural festival, I'm going to join the drama club and hijack his confession."

"But won't he just expose you if that's the case?"

"Oh, no. I learned from Hikigaya that recording conversations can prove most useful in these kinds of situations. If he approaches me, I'll just counter back with a recording of my own that will ruin his image."

"I see…"

"So that's how it is! The two of us will join your drama club, switch the play around a bit, so I can confess to her. In return, nobody gets hurt. How does that sound?"

"If I say no, then what?"

"Would you believe me if I said I'll leak the you know what?"

Isshiki clicked her tongue at Sudo's cheeky smile in slight worry. "You wouldn't... but even if you do, then Senpai here would just show the recording to the Student Council."

"So, you're willing to get publicly shamed and made the laughingstock of the school if it means I don't join the Drama Club? And if I don't join, you'll have no leverage on Hayama when he comes, because he's going to come, it's inevitable. He's been planning this for a while now, you know?"

Isshiki was unable to respond to him. I guess things kind of make sense now. When we went to the Student Council, Hayama clearly didn't like Sudo, but I didn't know why. Now I see it's most likely because he had his own plan in place this whole time.

"You're both doing it this way for the best chance of succeeding, right?"

"Yes, exactly. Yukinoshita will turn down a simple confession immediately without even thinking about it. But I think doing it this way will change that, and Hayama probably knows that."

Yukinoshita is someone who regularly receives love letters and confessions, so it makes sense that a simple "I love you" won't work on her. The only thing is how is Hayama going to get his shot to confess to her if Sudo and I are going to be members of the Drama Club?

"Okay, I understand what you're saying. But how would Hayama-senpai put on the play? I mean, it's not like he can come and force the girls to abide to his demands, right?"

"That I don't know. But since he's on the Student Council, he probably has a plan."

"I see... I guess I don't have a choice, huh?"

"Of course, you don't! And it's not like it's the end of the world, right? We'll have the first showing, then you guys can have the remaining shows to put on your play without having to worry about us."

"I see… well, I guess we can go see what Saki-senpai and Maya-chan have to say about this."

"I'm sure they'll try to find a way to deny my offer, but in the end, they'll have to comply." Sudo stood up after he said that. "Let's meet tomorrow in the cafeteria and we'll take it from there. See ya guys later."

With that, the conversation came to an end, and it ultimately left me and Isshiki alone on the bench. Seconds after Sudo left the scene, Isshiki released a small sigh.

"It should be a fun for the rest of the year, right?"

"I guess. Sudo-senpai is going to confess to Yukinoshita-senpai on stage… I can't even wrap my head around that."

"Really, why's that?"

"I guess I think it's unfair for him to put her under all that pressure just for a confession. If it was me, I would just run off stage in embarrassment." She laughed a bit after she said that.

"Well, we'll just have to see what happens. But knowing their history, I think Sudo has a fair shot."

"…I guess people change for the right person, huh?"

She then looked at me with moist eyes, and our prolonged eye contact caused me to look away.

"People make decisions themselves when it's necessary, it's basic psychology."

"Is that so…"

"If you run out of groceries in your house, then the natural decision to make is to go buy more groceries. In Sudo's case, he's decided to confess to Yukinoshita despite the circumstances because this is probably his only chance to do so."

"That definitely makes sense. Are you secretly smart, Senpai?"

"Academically smart? Sure. Everything else? Maybe not."

She smiled, then stood up. "Anyway, we should get going, unless you want to stay and chat with me all night here?"

She gave me a cheeky smile that had no effect on me. "Not really, I'll rather go home."

She pouted. "You could've just gone along with it, you know?"

"I told you that I don't humor that kind of stuff. Let's just get going."

"Fine."

As I said that, the two of us began walking down the sidewalk and on our way back to our homes.

AN:

Please drop your constructive criticism and feedback of any kind for the story. Be as harsh as you want, or as nice as you want. I'll like to hear your opinions regardless so I can improve my writing as much as possible.