Edited: 01/01/17

Since yesterday, I was being tormented by three specific words: past, lies and memories. I spent all night thinking about the real meaning behind these words, but I ended up feeling like I was trapped in a paradox and I couldn't find a logic explanation to what was happening in my life.

The reason for this was simple, yesterday I confirmed that my life was a lie and I had no memories regarding my past. Such an ironic situation, I had run away from home to live a peaceful life, but it seemed that I was bound to attract misfortune, just like a magnet. I started to think that I never had a peaceful life.

I finally understood what people meant by saying that memories could warm you up from the inside or completely tear you apart. It was true that I wanted to learn more about myself, but as soon as I remembered that, I started regretting my stupid curiosity - that disturbing memory and that blinding light didn't let me rest all night, I was simply too afraid.

Using Haruka's words, I was also feeling lost and confused. Apparently, the current 'Hachiman' was nothing but an illusion created to protect myself from the trauma that I went through. I had no idea of what to do now.

I wanted to remember the good things about my past, but it looked like I was only allowed to relive the worst moments, over and over again. I was able to confirm that life was indeed cruel, because the good memories were all gone and the old scars were once again open.

Even if part of me still denied everything that the twins told me yesterday, I also knew that the inconsistencies about myself were finally beginning to make sense and this made me understand that the present 'me' was truly a fake, a façade.

I always wondered why I had chosen to play the role of a delinquent, instead of simply ignoring everyone and live a peaceful life as a disgusting loner. I thought that I wanted to avoid attention and keep everyone away, but my actions only helped me become the target of everyone's attention and that was perhaps what I truly wanted – considering that I was a riajuu in the past. I probably never had the intention of living peacefully as a loner, instead it seemed like I was searching for an exciting life that could satisfy my huge ego.

To be honest with myself, I had never noticed that I was such an arrogant person, but thinking back on my previous interactions with many of my schoolmates, it was clear that I wasn't acting cold or intimidating, but instead I was being very confrontational and assertive, showing that I was a confident and proud bastard – I had been acting like a total jerk, exactly like those 'cool' guys that I hated so much.

My head was a mess and I still couldn't believe that I was a whore that acted like a delinquent to get attention. What the twins had said was right, subconsciously I had become the Drama Queen of this school with my stupid façade. Now that I realized what I had been doing with my life, I started to feel bad for myself, I was truly pitiful and disgusting.

There was something that Haruka had said to me last night that was stuck in my mind: 'Master, I know that you are really confused, but it's okay, just live one day at time. You know, the old Master was exactly like that, you were a person who always did what he wanted. Just follow your heart, Master.'

What the hell is that supposed to mean? That was really irrational and I couldn't see me acting like that, but once again I was forgetting that I was probably a positive thinker in the past - at least from what I heard, I had the essential traits of a go-getter.

...

Is it really okay for me to do what I want?

Heck, I wasn't even sure of what I wanted. However, I knew that there were still some loose ends that I had to fix. I needed to talk and apologize with Hiratsuka and I had to confront Yumiko Miura and my dear sister, in order to clear some doubts about my past.

In the end, I decided that I should talk with Komachi later, mainly because I didn't want to ruin our good mood again and if I started talking about this certain topic, I would have to tell her that I had no clue of who I was and I didn't want to worry my sister.

Following the illogical advice of Haruka, I decided to do what I wanted, or at least what I thought that was best for me and so, I skipped Hiratsuka's morning class and went to do some shopping.

No, despite everything that had happened to me, I was still somewhat sane and I wasn't doing this just because I wanted to start acting like the popular guy that I once was. In the heat of the moment, I ended up concluding that it would be far wiser if I tried to win back Hiratsuka's motherly side by doing something sweet.

Although this was a huge gamble, I was sure that it would be better to avoid her first, in order to gain her attention, which would eventually lead to my embarrassing apology scene. This was a typical move that many of the girls from the novels used to get the protagonist's attention and this clearly meant that I was playing the female role.

Having in mind that, in my opinion, this teacher was still a kid in a woman's body, I decided to go buy some special gifts that should help me gain some Hiratsuka points. Hopefully a box of chocolate and some shonen manga would be enough to justify my morning absence and calm her hellish rage.

Sometime later and just before the end of Hiratsuka's class, I went to the staff room to left the said gifts in her small desk. Thankfully, the teachers that were in the small room seemed to accept my excuse, after all I was just a student who was delivering some items that Hiratsuka had confiscated from me during her class, nothing more.

Even if it was a dumb mistake, it actually worked perfectly because I ended up leaving in her desk the Weekly Shonen Jump, where I had hidden a small letter and, to conclude my smooth move, I offered her a box of chocolates. If everything went according to my plan, this would make her somewhat happier and after reading my letter, she would probably accept to talk with me privately.

I waited for the annoying sound of the bell to enter my classroom. It was the lunch break and the small room packed with desks and chairs was a lot quieter than usual.

Looking around I noticed that most of the members from Hayama's clique weren't present, but my eyes and curiosity made me look in the direction of a certain blonde girl, the Queen Bee and also my acquaintance from middle school.

She noticed my staring and she returned my gaze with an intense scowl, which made me ignore her and keep moving towards my seat. It was unbelievable that the two of us were friends in the past, because it really looked like she hated me.

Trying to relax my body against the hard and uncomfortable chair, I tried to ignore the venomous glares and words from my idiotic classmates. Today I was so disheartened that I didn't even wanted to scare them with my usual bully tactics. Say whatever you want, idiots.

"He's the idiot that went with Hayato on the Workplace tour."

"Hayato is really a nice guy! Who would want to pair with such a creepy person?"

"I know, right? I heard that his family are all gangsters."

"Shhh! Don't speak so loudly, he might hear us."

The last bitch who spoke was right, I heard everything, but I couldn't care less. Today I was just acting on autopilot, simply wishing that I would be able to sort out my thoughts.

I was so distracted and immersed in my own world that I didn't even noticed that an angel was standing in front of me with a pleasant smile, "Hachiman, good morning!"

"Oh, what's up, Totsuka?" I answered with a really bored tone.

She sat in front of me and looked at me with a serious expression, "Is something wrong, Hachiman? Did something happen with you?"

I looked at her weirdly and answered, "What do you mean? I'm just fine, better than ever." I didn't mean to be sarcastic or cold towards her, but the fact that she could always notice my mood swings was getting annoying.

"H-Hachiman, I'm very worried, you know? Yesterday you didn't come back with us, you skipped Hiratsuka's class and she was very angry all morning… Something happened and I want to help you, I want you to trust me and depend on me. I know that you probably think that I'm very annoying and if you want I can stop bothering you."

The sensible and docile girl was now being very direct and rather aggressive, exposing her true intentions so openly. "I'm sorry, I was being an idiot." I knew that I had hurt her feelings, I could see it in her face. "Look, Hiratsuka and I had a fight, but hopefully everything will be solved. Sorry if I made you worry."

Totsuka was now pouting and looking away, "It's okay, I'm not that angry, I just don't like the way you act... You are never honest with yourself and you always push everyone away. If you need someone to talk you know that you can rely on me, right?"

I gave her a weak smile, "…I know, you're a very reliable and determined girl... T-Thank you." Being honest and showing true gratitude was really difficult.

Totsuka was surprised by my streak of honesty and she simply smiled at me happily. Thankfully she didn't try to pressure the issue and I took this opportunity to change the subject, "Aren't you going to train today?"

I knew that she usually trained during lunch break and noticing that she was wearing her green sporty outfit, I was curious. She looked at me with a disappointed face and said quietly, "I-I, yes, I was about to go train... But it's really sad that the other members still don't share a bit of my determination. It's better than before, but usually just a couple of people appear for this extra sessions and they end up not practicing seriously."

That story again, well I was sure that nothing would change in such a short period of time, but it was still disappointing to see her like this. Her club mates clearly didn't share her love for tennis, "Yeah, it's a pain, but everyone is lazy by nature and no one will be serious about their club activities unless they do it for personal enjoyment."

My logic explanation only made her cute face gain a dejected look and she stood in silence thinking about what I had just said. Seeing her sad was killing me, "...Uh, I can be your sparring partner if you want."

"What!?" Even if I said with in a low and bashful tone, Totsuka had heard me perfectly.

Her excited tone made half of the classroom jump in surprise and once again, I was starting to feel the gazes focusing on me, "Tch, don't be so loud." Yes, I was very embarrassed. "I said that I'll help you train a bit today. If you want to, of course..."

Totsuka's eyes were gleaming with enthusiasm and she immediately answered me, "O-Of course I want your help, Hachiman! B-But is it okay for you to play tennis? What about y-your arm? I don't want to be a nuisance, really!"

Looking at her with attention, I noticed that her mouth was spouting something that contradicted her body language. She was really happy and I felt like she just wanted to make sure that I was being honest, "Don't worry, I think that a little physical activity won't kill me. At least that was what your fath- I mean, the doctor said."

"Yay~ thank you so much, Hachiman! I'm going to get things ready, we'll meet at the court, okay?" She said with a great joy and grabbed my hands, squeezing them tightly, as if she was afraid that I would break this promise.

Sensing once again everyone's attention on me, I nodded weirdly and Totsuka let go of my hands and exited the classroom humming a song with a happy expression. Once again I had followed Haruka's advice, deciding to go with the flow, but I still didn't know if it was okay for me to act like in this carefree manner. This is pretty out of character for someone like me, right? I didn't even know how my character was supposed to be, so maybe it should be fine for me to start acting on instinct, or something like that.

I was moved when I saw Totsuka so sad and I felt like I wanted to help her and that was what I was about to do. Part of me wanted to go back in time and redo this scene, but I wouldn't back down on my word because I truly wanted to help her. I was having a huge conflict of personalities and Rize was slowly devouring my sanity. [1]

As promised, I rose from my seat and made my way towards the tennis court. Just before exiting the classroom, I noticed a certain blonde haired queen glancing in my direction. I felt like she wanted something from me, her scary glare was clearly demanding some attention, but since I was a rebellious brat, I ignored her and prepared myself mentally for some exercise time with a cutie.

Some minutes passed after I started practicing with Totsuka and even if I was a lazy scum, I had to admit that I was actually enjoying this. The other tennis club members kept staring and talking shit about me, but the smile on Totsuka's face was enough to defuse my rage.

Exactly as she said, only a couple of male fags appeared to the training session and I concluded that this little angel was manlier than any of those guys who spent most of their time gossiping about us – they seriously needed some testosterone.

Totsuka wanted to train her footwork and agility and she asked her sparring partner, Hachiman Hikigaya, to make some difficult shots that would make her take things seriously. Her motivation and love for this sport was starting to show as she started to take this hitting session as if it was a real match.

She kept returning every shot that I threw at her with an amazing tenacity and I could actually see how much she had improved since the last time that we played during P.E. She was faster and her shots were much harder to respond – the girly Totsuka was a completely different person when she was playing tennis. Her seriousness was contagious and I was also getting motivated to help her improve.

Just as I started to get serious and tried to use all my strength in every shot, I started to feel a sharp pain on my left arm every time that I had to swing the racket with both hands. Suddenly, Totsuka conceded an easy point and coming closer to the net she said, "Are you okay, Hachiman? You seem really tired and your shots are starting to get weak... Is your arm hurting?"

Her voice and expression was full of concern and once again her attentive and caring personality was seeing through me. "...Er, yeah, I might need to take a small break." I said chuckling at how pathetic I was, "I haven't done any exercise for a while now and I'm really out of it."

"Why didn't you tell me that you were tired? Jeez, you always force yourself so much, Hachiman." Suddenly Totsuka started scolding me with a cute annoyed expression and once again everyone was staring at us.

I sighed and said, "Yeah, yeah, I know that you want me to depend on you, but I've told you that I'm not exactly a normal person... Anyways, I was enjoying playing with you and that's why I didn't want to say anything." That and the fact that I didn't want to look lame in front of a girl.

"Really?" She blurted out in surprise and I looked at her in confusion, "Were you really having fun?"

Crap, that slipped out of my mouth and I ended up saying something embarrassing, "Hmm, y-yeah, it wasn't that bad."

Totsuka let out a cute smile and then, she said, "Sometimes you can be really nice and honest, Hachiman. I'm glad that I haven't given up on being your friend. Uh, I'm going to practice my serve just to finish for today, w-will you wait for me?"

I averted her gaze with all my might, feeling my cheeks getting really hot and I ended up nodding affirmatively without even understanding what she had asked. I started to walk towards the nearest bench, trying to stop myself from acting like a maiden in love, but I had to admit that being complimented felt really nice.

As I sat down, I started to wonder if I had been this happy in the past. This little moment of interaction with Totsuka was so enjoyable that I was starting to understand that being treated nicely was way better than being treated like trash. I like this type of life.

Being lost in my thoughts, I only noticed that someone was sitting next to me when the wind blew and I inhaled a really appetizing strawberry scent. Not wanting to be rude, I gazed sideways and imagine my surprise when I saw a familiar blonde girl sitting next to me with an awkward expression on her face.

This girl was none other than the school's Fire Queen and she clearly wanted me to break the silence. This is so awkward! Huh, what the hell is she doing here and why is she so quiet?

Anyways, I had planned to talk with her, but this wasn't the best timing, I mean, this situation was the worst. I was sweaty, very tired and my brain wasn't working properly because Totsuka had made my heart skip a beat.

What should I do? I didn't have a clue how to deal with girls of her type and every line that I came up with in my head didn't fit this type of scenario – two old friends, a boy and a girl meeting again after some years of suffering on their own. This started to look like a romantic encounter and I could see a white flag with a heart appearing over her head. [2] Well, I would try and say something cool, the first thing that I could come up with.

"The sun... is hot." As I said my riajuu phrase, I looked at the sky and realized my stupid mistake, what I had just said wasn't cool at all, because it was just a normal line.

I looked at my old friend and I noticed that she was biting her lip, trying hard to contain a good laugh and that definitely showed that she was not impressed. Crap, I had really messed up and I wasn't feeling embarrassed, no, I simply wanted to die.

Anyways, as a prideful man who apparently cared about his reputation, I had to fix this mess. Calm down and think, Hachiman! I raised my head and looked ahead with a distant look as I started to feel inspiration flowing through my veins.

...

"...The wind is troubled today." As I said that, I adjusted my bangs with my right hand, copying the moves that the western actors did to look appealing. After saying this, I noticed that I ended up making a reference to a series that I really liked and now I was feeling embarrassed.

Stealing a glance at Miura, I noticed that she also had a serious expression on her face, she was playing along. Looking at the distance, she said calmly, "...But this wind is weeping just a little."

Whaaaat!? I raised my hand to cover my mouth, because I really wanted to laugh. This girl... She just answered my reference with the right line. I never knew that the scary and intimidating was also a manga fan, not wanting to mention that I never thought that she would have such a great sense of humor. [3]

She turned her head to the side and she let out a loud laugh as she hugged her sides trying to control her emotions to no avail. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit too, the ice was officially broken and I hated to admit that somehow everything that was happening felt right.

"You've changed, but your sense of humor is still great, Hikio." She said while wiping the tears of her eyes, she clearly was also enjoying this.

I sighed and decided to go straight to the point, "…So, what do you want?"

She looked at the tennis court and said, "I wanted to talk with you about things... I'm tired of running away and I still can't accept that I lost another bet to you."

I chuckled sarcastically and said with an annoyed tone, "Huh, you're still thinking about that? It was only luck, a fluke. Anyways, I don't care about a stupid bet. Oh, but I'm sorry if I made you look bad in front of your crush."

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Her scary gaze and venomous tone was back, this was the Queen Bee that the present Hachiman knew.

"Nothing at all... It's just obvious that you are infatuated with the handsome Hayama." Once again I wasn't being myself and I was starting to act like a jealous guy that got left behind by his friend.

Pursing her lips in annoyance, she huffed loudly and said, "Even if what you say is true, why do you care?"

I simply shrugged away her irritated comment, because I didn't know what to answer. I had no clue why I was acting like this. However, the blonde was already too angry, "You're talking about me, but you seem to have a weak spot for that little thing over there... You always had a fetish for younger and fragile girls." As she finished her blow, she pointed her finger towards Totsuka, smiling at me smugly.

Now this was getting ridiculous and we were starting to lose control over our emotions. Even I was getting somewhat angry after she mentioned Totsuka. I sighed inwardly and I decided to swallow my pride, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Crossing her arms in annoyance, Miura clicked her tongue as she looked away. Once again we were silent and it seemed like the mood had been reset with our stupid fight.

I wanted to talk with her, but as I thought, this wasn't the right time to do it. I wasn't mentally prepared for this and now I had to break the ice again. I looked at her and a questions popped up in my head, "What's our relationship?" Crap, I ended up blurting that out and the blonde girl had heard me clearly, because she was now glaring at me with hostility.

"W-What? Be careful with what you say, idiot! People might get the wrong idea." After saying this she looked around to make sure that no one was listening. "Hikio, be honest with me, do you remember me?"

After making that question, her expression softened and her eyes were filled with an emotion that was unknown to me, "I-I-No, I don't remember you. I now know that we were friends in the past, but I have amnesia and everything is fuzzy to me."

Miura's eyes widened in surprise and she covered her opened mouth with her hand, while avoiding to look at me, "...I c-can't believe it, you really can't remember me, huh? That explains why you were acting so weird back then... I-I was terrible to you..."

Noticing that she was looking down at her legs with a sad expression, I sensed that she might know something important about what happened to me and for that reason, I tried to pressure the issue, but she nodded negatively. "I-I'm sorry, Hikio, but can we talk about this later? I don't think that I'll be able to lose you again..."

What? I didn't know why, but apparently she still thought of me as her friend and whatever happened between us in the past probably caused her some type of trauma too. "You're free to do what you want. It seems that you went through a lot too and I'm sorry for that... Can you tell me a little bit more about us? As you might have noticed, I forgot everything about my life."

Miura looked at the clear sky with a thoughtful look and this time she spoke calmly, "I'm sorry if I end up hiding stuff from you… I feel like if I told you everything now, I might end up losing the only thing that still connects us and that's scary, so please, just give me some time to think. "

Hearing the mighty blonde Queen speaking with so much emotion, made me feel paralyzed. She was suffering and it seemed like she wanted to meet her friend once again, but I wasn't the same person. "You started acting differently ever since that happened, but I didn't want to believe that you had forgotten everything... Now everything makes sense, but I was too selfish to notice that my precious friend needed my help, you told me to keep living and that was what I did when I moved away."

She made a small pause to think and I thought that it would be better if I didn't interrupt her and she soon continued to talk with a nostalgic smile, "You know, we were really good friends or at least that was how I felt."

"How close were we exactly?" I asked weirdly, because to be honest this version of Hachiman had no experience at friendship and I believed that a man and a woman couldn't be friends without having any ulterior motives.

She looked at me weirdly, her cheeks gaining a little bit of color, "W-What the heck are you saying, idiot? That makes no sense, I just told you that we were friends, d-don't get the wrong idea!"

I was surprised to see that the powerful Fire Queen also had a bashful and cute side. "I mean, I'm sorry, I just can't believe that we were friends... We're so different."

"Well that's because of your amnesia, surely. We weren't that different in the past, you know? In fact, we got along so well, because we were pretty much the same." This time, she spoke with confidence, her well-developed chest swelling with pride.

I had to hold the urge to chuckle, because she was being a little bit childish and now, I couldn't the Queen Bee as an intimidating woman anymore. "What do you mean by that? Tell me more." I was curious and couldn't stop thinking about it and hopefully, the female detective would be able to give me some answers this time. [4]

"...Where should I start?" She wondered out loud and then, she said, "Well, we started off in the wrong foot and I hated you for a long time. One day you appeared in my tennis club, showing your V.P. armband, announcing that you wanted a match with me."

She chuckled a bit to herself and continued, "You see, at that time I used to change schools frequently because of my father's job and I stopped believing in friendship and stuff like that. I was a scary and spoiled girl who treated everyone like trash. The student council kept receiving complains about me, the new tennis ace who was pushing away all her club mates and you were the one with enough balls to confront me."

"Hmm, interesting to know that I would do such a daring thing, I mean, you still are kinda scary." I said jokingly, but she punched me in the arm with a considerable strength without a warning. "Calm down, I'm just joking!"

The Fire Queen was not happy with my last comment, "Don't say stupid stuff, I'm trying to be serious! Anyways, I was expecting you to scold me like the prez did, but you manipulated me, you used my pride to blind me. You made me play a game where the loser had to fulfil the winner's wish and your terms were so ridiculous that I accept the challenge without thinking twice."

"What were the terms?" I asked with a little too much curiosity.

Miura sighed in annoyance and said with an irritated tone, "Can you stop interrupting? You're getting annoying, Hikio."

I simply decided to stay in silence and she continued her story, "Your proposal was just absurd. If you were to win, I was supposed to become your friend and in return I told you to abandon your position in the student council. I was pretty sure that you would back off from this challenge, I was best tennis player of our school after all, but you still accepted it as if you had nothing to lose. Your smile, your attitude, everything about you was pissing me off, because it looked like you were sure that you would win and that made me lose my cool and I ended up messing everything."

"So, considering that we were friends it means that I won, right?" I asked feeling somewhat proud about my past.

She chuckled and answered, "No, the match ended with a tie, just like our last match not so long ago, but I couldn't accept that some carefree jerk had just dominated me in my own game. I really hated you, for humiliating me in front of everyone, but I decided to play the role of your friend so that I could have my payback one day."

"Wow, that's a really dark story. I thought that we were supposed to be friends." I said teasingly with a little bit of sarcasm, but this time Miura simply ignored me.

"Yeah, we didn't start as friends, but I kept pestering you to train with me and slowly we started to become closer and eventually we were inseparable. My hate turned into true friendship and I stopped seeing you as someone that I needed to crush. You taught me that being a bitch all the time wasn't worth it and you've changed my life."

I chuckled ironically, "The way that you're talking about me, makes me look like some kind of savior who showed you the right path."

She laughed in return and said harshly, "No, you were definitely a wolf in a sheep's clothing, but I couldn't complain, I was also a bad person. You were a perfect entertainer, a nice and kind guy that only showed his true colors to the people that he trusted the most."

"Oh, now that's similar to the scumbag Hachiman that I know." I retorted sarcastically.

"Yeah, but I miss that Hachiman and I want to bring him back." She said fiercely, her eyes full of determination.

"Uh, er, what? I told you that I have amnesia, Miura, I've changed... I'm not the same person that was once your friend and I think that you shouldn't waste your time with me… You have a good reputation, friends-"

She extended her arm in front of my face, putting a stop to my rant, "Don't get the wrong idea, idiot, I'm not planning on wasting my hard work, you're not my top priority anymore. I have good friends like Hina, Yui and Hayato and they are special to me... But so were you and I want you to remember who you were. I want to help you this time."

"You don't have to worry, it's not your problem. We're totally different people now and if you start hanging around with me people will throw shit at you." I tried to convince her not to meddle with my problems, we weren't friends anymore and we should just move on.

Straightening her posture and regaining her fierce gaze and after a dark chuckle, she said, "No, I don't want to play friends with you now. Not until you fix your image at school, Hikio. I simply can't understand why you keep acting like a jerk, but if you like this kind of thing... I have my reputation to keep, you know?"

I was now starting to get annoyed, this girl was truly pompous. First she offered me a helping hand and immediately after treats me like trash. What a great friend. "Anyways, firstly, tell me what you want me to do for losing that game." She said with a frustrated face that showed that she was truly trying to suppress her pride.

"I told you that I don't care about that stupid game, Miura-" Suddenly, I was interrupted when I felt a sting of pain in my right foot.

The Queen Bee was stepping on it with an angry face. "And I told you that I care! You made me lose face in front of many people and I keep my word."

I sighed in annoyance and shoved away her foot, "Damn, you're really annoying. I don't care about your damned reputation, but you know what? I have a good request for you: help that 'little thing' over there become a better tennis player."

She looked at me with surprise and then she shifted her gaze at Totsuka and chuckled forcibly, "You're kidding me, right?" I nodded negatively and she sighed, "Hmm, you don't remember me, but you already made a good friend, huh? Okay, I can train Totsuka, but I'm not joining this stupid club... Those days are gone."

What the hell is going on with her emotions? Firstly, she was mad, then she was jealous and now her face was full of sadness. God, this was too much for me.

"You don't have to join the club, just help Totsuka becoming a better player. You were the regional champion, hopefully you'll be able to motivate people with your idol status." That was my proposal to her.

"That's more like the old you, the manipulative Demon V.P. that was the school's idol, despite being a jerk. By the way, you should cut your hair and change your attitude. You would be more popular with girls if you stop acting like a ruffian." This time, Miura was the one using a teasing tone while chuckling playfully.

"I could say the same thing about you. The younger 'Mia' with the short blonde hair and that green ribbon on her head was a cutie. I would totally date a girl like that." Just like that, I used the little I knew about her to tease her.

It worked, she immediately looked away with a red face and she punched me in the stomach weakly, saying in frustration, "W-What the hell are you saying, i-idiot? D-Don't act like everything's okay and don't call me that in public!"

An embarrassed Miura was definitely cute and I was enjoying this a little bit too much. As I was about to say something stupid again, another voice interrupted our conversation, "Hikigaya! I need to have a word with you."

Looking at voice's owner, my eyes met the figure of an angry girl who was walking towards this bench. She was none other than black lace, the girl who I called my savior - I totally had to rethink that nickname, because it didn't fit her aura anymore, she was about to kill me.

"You freaking bastard, you fooled me with that stupid card of yours!" She roared angrily and I immediately knew what was going on.

Suddenly, the green eyed girl that was sitting next to me stood up and she shouted back at Kawasaki, "What the hell is your problem? Can't you see that we are busy here, huh?"

Someone save me! This was starting to become a bloody battlefield where black fought against pink, in order to determine which color should be considered the sexiest. Wait, why the hell do I know the color of Miura's underwear? As I had concluded before, I only remember the useless information.

"Piss off pretty girl, I'm talking to him." Kawasaki retorted aggressively, getting really close to Miura.

I had to do something, so I stood up and put myself in front of Miura, acting in a really protective way. "Calm down, girls! I'll talk with you Kawasaki, so let's not make a scene, okay?" I looked around noticing that the three of us were now on the spotlight.

Miura clicked her tongue in annoyance and tried to push me away, "Hey, get outta' my way, Hikio! I'm still talking with her."

"Stop this, Miura!" The blonde flinched after hearing my demanding tone. Once again I was acting in a very bossy and aggressive way, but it was effective in this type of situations. "You said that you didn't want to ruin your reputation, right? Just ignore her and leave." I whispered to her.

She huffed in annoyance, but nodded nevertheless. "I'll talk with you later. Give me your number." She whispered brusquely, still glaring at the blue haired girl with hostility.

"My phone is inside my bag in our classroom." I said that vaguely, which meant that she could get my number herself, if she really wanted it that much. Seeming happy with what I said, Miura left the scene, but not before bumping shoulders with her opponent.

Crap, now I was left alone with another girl, but this time it seemed like I was about to get slaughtered. "Well then, I guess I have some explaining to do." I said awkwardly, letting out a nervous chuckle. Today was definitely a day full of horrible encounters.

[1] – Reference to Tokyo Ghoul.

[2] – Reference to Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara.

[3] – Reference to the cute scenes between Hidenori and Yassan in High school Boy and Literary Girl - Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou.

[4] – The phrase used by Chitanda when she asks Oreki to help her solve some mystery – Hyouka.