Wow holy damn. Last chapter got a lot of reviews, and most of them were pretty positive. I felt giddy reading them all, and it really psyched me up as an author. I'm glad you guys like my story.

I want to especially thank sapphiqu3 and anonymous for highlighting some points of what I could do to improve, and weewah for helping me with the direction of the story. Tomoko is going to take a back seat for a couple of chapters, it's gonna be about the service club for a bit. I'm also gonna try and make it lighthearted...for now.

(Hachiman)

After a long day, I'm finally home.

"I'm home!" I call out.

Komachi flies out of the kitchen and swings her body on the side of the doorframe. Oi, this house isn't a jungle gym.

"Onii-chan, how was your date!?" She spouts with far more anticipation than I can handle at the moment.

Have some self-control will you? I raised you better than this.

"I'll tell you after I shower and we eat dinner." I try to shrug her off.

"Mm, mm!" She grunts while enthusiastically nodding her head.

So I have a shower, and while I'm in there I think about what I'm going to tell Komachi. Can I really tell her that Isshiki blew me off to hang out with her old crush, and I ran away with another girl? Of course not. There's no telling how she'd react to that.

Maybe if I avoid the topic long enough, she might forget about it for tonight. It's doubtful, Komachi is oddly persistent when it comes to my love life.

I finish my shower, and take a seat at the table. Komachi has already finished cooking dinner, and is about to serve up. Wow, I have good timing. Or is it her that has good timing? Regardless, it's to my benefit.

"Here, Onii-chan! Dinner is served." Komachi beams happily.

"Thanks for the food." I dryly recite the usual customary pre-meal phrase.

I dig in. Whoa! It's amazing!

"Wow, Komachi. It's even better than usual!"

She makes a sly grin. "Nehehe, Onii-chan deserves it for going on a date with a girl!"

Urk! I choke on my food a little bit.

When I regain my composure, I look at Komachi. Her face is twisted into something perverted, and she's breathing heavily through her nose, leaning over the table and almost invading my personal space.

Even though she's my adorable little sister, I instinctively lean back in disgust a little. Please don't make faces like that while I'm eating.

I stuff my mouth to avoid answering her. "Mm. It's really good, Komachi."

She grins like a maniac. "Onii-chan. I want details. Now."

Wow, calm down Komachi. And sit back in your chair. It's disrespectful to lean over the table when people are eating.

"Can I at least finish my dinner first?"

Komachi says "No." But it wasn't an ordinary 'no'. It was the most menacing and threatening 'no' I've ever heard in my life.

Feeling intimidated, I put my eating utensil down and sigh.

"Alright. What do you want to know?"

After I ask her that, her face lights up and she goes off. "What's her name? How old is she? What's she like? Is she pretty? Where did you guys go? Did you kiss? Do you think you'll be going on a second date!?" She barrages me with all these invasive questions at once.

What a pain. "Well, her name is Isshiki. She's a little younger than me. She's sly and manipulative. She's not as cute as you. We went to a bowling alley. No, and definitely no."

The sparkles in her face die at the answer to her last question.

"Why not?" She asks, sounding concerned.

Great. How am I going to explain this? "Well, for starters, the entire date was actually a request to the service club. It wasn't a conventional date. Or it was, but it didn't mean the same thing."

Komachi perks up. "Ah, but even if it was a request, she asked you specifically, right?"

"Well, yes, bu-"

"Then it was a date! She was just being shy by making it a request, I'm sure of it!" She beams.

"Well, even if that were true, our date was immediately cancelled when we spotted Hayama." I rebuke. I realize it's something of a misleading statement and it probably makes Isshiki look bad, but I could play it off like this and Komachi might stop badgering me.

Her pep quickly fades yet again. "Hayama? Is that the handsome senpai who keeps trying to steal Yukino-chan?"

Wait, is that how she sees it? "I think you got the right guy, but I don't think he's after Yukinoshita. Probably."

"What a bitch!" Komachi shouts. Whoa, there. Don't swear, Komachi. It's unlike you, not to mention extremely inappropriate.

"Calm down. And don't swear."

"But Onii-chan, how can you not be mad? She left you for another guy during your date just because he's more handsome than you." She sounds almost pleading when she says this.

I sigh again. "Look, it's a lot more complicated than that. I don't blame her at all, okay? In the first place, I wasn't even into her." I try to justify the situation without revealing specifics. It's a rather delicate situation after all.

"How complicated can it be? If she can't make up her mind, she shouldn't be asking you out." She glares, almost as if it were me she was angry at.

Instead of indulging her, I try to deflect her anger. "Look. It's hard to explain, but the short answer is that she's in a difficult place right now."

Komachi huffs. "Whatever. What happened after that?"

Seems like it worked. "Well, when we found Hayama's clique, we joined up with them and went to karaoke."

Komachi raises her eyebrows and makes a tired expression as if she heard a bad joke. "You? Karaoke?"

Hey! I could do it if I really wanted to. Wait, no I couldn't. Karaoke is for the deluded liars.

"I wasn't going to go, but Kuroki was there and I wanted to see her sing."

As soon as those words leave my mouth, I realize how stupid I was to say that. I shut my eyes in disappointment at myself.

As expected, she jumps to the furthest possible conclusion. "A girl? Who's Kuroki? Is she the one you're really into!?" Once again she perks up. Are you bipolar or something? Pick a mood and stick to it for at least one conversation.

"No. She's a new student with social anxiety. I thought it'd be funny to watch her sing." I reply monotonously.

"Uh-huh, and how did that go?"

"It didn't happen. She was too nervous to sing, so I had to get her out of there." Dammit. Again with the misleading answers. Think before you speak, Hachiman.

"Guha! That's so romantic!" Komachi squeals.

"No, it's not. I felt bad for her, so I bailed her out and that's all." I said with attempted finality. This conversation is quickly wearing out my patience.

"Yeah, yeah. Then what?" She shrugs off my stern tone as if I weren't worth taking seriously at all.

"Nothing. We went home."

"Did you walk her home?"

"Nope." I decide to finally fix my clumsy storytelling and stop giving her the answers she wants. Hopefully that'll end the conversation quicker.

She smirks at me. "You did." She says with confidence.

"I didn't." How does she know?

"You did. When you lie, your eyes flick to the side." She says slyly.

What the hell? I didn't know that! Are you bluffing or something?

"That's so not true."

"Whatever. So are you gonna see her again?"

Ah screw it. I can never control the conversation when she gets like this. "Probably. Look, it's really not like that."

"Onii-chan, if you saw how you interact with girls through my eyes, you'd realize it's actually you who doesn't see how it is."

Hold on. You just careened this topic in a totally different direction. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Komachi sighs. "Nevermind, Onii-chan."

"Are you satisfied?" I ask, wanting to get back to my dinner.

"For now. But make no mistake, I expect an update the minute something juicy happens!"

"Yeah yeah." I get back to my dinner.

The next day, school goes by like nothing. I feel like I've already become far too resigned to the drawling routine of school life. Is this the mindset of the working man? Don't give up, Hachiman! Your dreams aren't dead yet!

Lunch with Kuroki was as it usually is. We sat and talked about meaningless things, making bad jokes and social commentary like we've been doing every day this week.

She seemed a little distracted, occasionally staring off into the distance and muttering to herself. I'm assuming she still had yesterday on her mind. Well, it's her problem. I've never had social anxiety, or at least not to the extremes that she has, so it wouldn't be fair for me to tell her how to handle it.

When lunch ends, Kuroki remarks that we won't see each other again until Monday, and asks for my number. After some consideration, I give it to her with a warning not to blow up my phone, since I'm not big on texting or having long phone calls. She says she probably won't text me anyway, but wanted it just in case.

Finally, it's time again to return to work- I mean, the club.

"Hikki!" Yuigahama chirps in the way that I've become all too familiar with.

"Yo."

"Are you ready?" She asks. The question itself is nothing but a courtesy. She knows I have no reason to wait around class besides her.

I don't really mind, though. "Yeah, let's go."

When we get to the club, things progress as they always have. Yukinoshita is already there, and when we arrive Yuigahama recites her usual unfashionable greeting. We settle in, Yukinoshita prepares tea, and we each occupy our time with our own vices.

"So, Hikki. How did it go?" Yuigahama asks out of the blue.

Unfortunately, I have no answer for either of them, because I have no idea what she is referring to. "How did what go?"

"Your date yesterday, silly. What else?"

Wait a minute. I thought Isshiki would have filled you in by now. In fact, you should have at least heard from Hayama's clique.

"You haven't talked to Isshiki?" I ask, confusion apparent by my tone.

"Well, it's weird. I messaged her, but no response. She didn't come to school today either." Yui remarks, as if pondering a mystery.

Oh no. I had considered the possibility, but I thought Isshiki would have been fine in Hayama's company yesterday. If my suspicions are correct, then Isshiki probably saw my little stunt yesterday as a betrayal, or perhaps me choosing Kuroki over her. I should have taken her problem more seriously. Seems like I was being too optimistic. In fact, I've been getting carried away with myself lately, in a lot of ways. I seriously need to dial it back a little.

"I see. I'll have to talk to her when I get the chance."

I've been a fool. Isshiki was in a delicate spot, and instead of helping her work through her distressing and complicated feelings, I left her to fend for herself against the source of her confusion. Or was I the source? Only time will tell.

Yuigahama presses the topic, and of course she would. "Did the date go bad?"

I almost forgot that Yuigahama was able to immediately understand the spirit of Isshiki's request. Perhaps, Yuigahama, if you had enlightened me from the start, things might have gone more smoothly. Or better yet, I could have solved the problem without the whole song and dance in the first place!

Since Yuigahama was able to understand Isshiki's problem from the start, I should be able to discuss the details with her in confidence. As for Yukinoshita, though she's been antagonizing the request from the start, I think I could trust her too. Well, not that I would even consider excluding her for anything club-related.

"Well, the date itself was going okay, I suppose. Until we spotted Hayama and his crew."

Yuigahama makes a surprised face. "Eh!? You did?"

"Yeah." I pause for a moment, and briefly review my decision to confide in these two this sensitive information.

"And then I realized the spirit of her request."

It was as if my words were the match that lit a fuse. Because three to five seconds after I said that, Yuigahama exploded.

"Eeh!?" Yuigahama props herself out of her seat using the table. "So you know, Hikki!?"

"Calm down." I warn her. Overreactions are nothing but a headache for everyone else involved in the conversation.

She quickly recomposes herself. "Oh. Uh, sorry. Anyway, so you know?"

"About Isshiki's feelings, yes." I try to sound as detatched and monotonous as possible, but I'm not sure how successful I am.

"...So then, what did you tell her?"

Ugh. How am I going to explain this? It's not that the situation was particularly difficult to comprehend, it's just that it's going to be a pain to put it into words.

"Well... she got distracted by Hayama, and I didn't bring it up after that."

Yuigahama makes a confused face. "Huh? Wait, so you actually went and spoke to Hayato-kun?"

It's then that I start to get suspicious. "Yeah. We ended up cancelling the date and going to karaoke with their entire clique."

"What? How come I never heard of this?" Yuigahama's tone has the slightest hint of outrage.

That is rather suspicious, actually. Yuigahama spends the better part of her day blabbing away with her clique. There's no way the topic just wouldn't come up, which means they intentionally withheld the details of yesterday's events. But why? What do they stand to gain from doing something like that?

So then what did they expect of me? Putting most of them aside, at least Hayama has the brains to deduce that I'd recount yesterday's experiences with them, and without any reason not to. Knowing this, why wouldn't he at least send someone to tell me to keep my mouth shut? If they wanted my co-operation in this little scheme, they should have run it by me earlier, because I just told Yuigahama.

"I don't know why they wouldn't tell you. You'll have to ask them yourself."

"...Yeah." Her answer is somewhat absent-minded. "Anyway, so what happened with Iroha-chan?"

"Well..." I sigh. "I subtly let her know that I knew, because she was looking pretty distressed. But after we joined up with Hayama she was back to her old self so I thought it'd be fine to let her sort her own feelings out."

"What do you mean 'sort her feelings out'? She's kind of past that point already, Hikki."

"She's kind of not." I retort. "She still has feelings for Hayama too and it's distressing for her."

Yuigahama makes a shocked face as if she really didn't know. Crap, could I have miscalculated? Did Yuigahama actually not really know anything at all? I should have tested her beforehand on her knowledge in the subject matter. That's the last time I trust your comprehension abilities, Yuigahama!

"Just to be sure, what did you think the spirit of her request was?" I ask cautiously.

"Um... that she likes you, Hikki? Is that not right?" Expressing your answer as a question is a dead giveaway that you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

"That's all you got?"

She just does her awkward forced laugh.

I sigh. I really overestimated you, didn't I?

"Oi, Yukinoshita. What about you? Do you know the answer? I know you've been following our conversation over there."

"Ara? What could you possibly be referring to, Hikidelusion-kun? I've merely been engrossed in my novel, minding my own business like respectful humans do. Not that you would know anything about that."

"Tch. Nevermind, then." I brush her off. I'm not in the mood to go head to head with Yukinoshita. I'd rather get to the bottom of the issue at hand.

"Yuigahama is half right. What she didn't realize, was that Isshiki is also still in love with Hayama, and the conflicting emotions have been tearing her up from the inside out."

Yukinoshita acts like she's not listening. Yuigahama makes an 'Oh' face, but I'm not sure if she really gets it.

I decide to continue, with or without them following along. "Anyway, I thought the best thing to do would be to put her in an environment where it wasn't such a big decision. So I decided to join them."

"And did it work?"

I scoff. "Maybe it would have worked if I hadn't run out right before it was my turn to sing."

"Seriously? Even for you Hikki, that's way too antisocial and... weird."

Even for me? Woman, I have a better grip on how to handle myself than you think.

"It's not that simple. I had a reason, okay? There was someone else who needed my help."

"Eh? Who?"

I stop myself. It occurs to me that I went the entire week without even once mentioning Kuroki to my clubmates. Explaining how I helped Kuroki would require I explain who she actually is, and why she needed my help. I'd also have to explain that I ditched Isshiki for the sake of helping with Kuroki's social anxieties. It's far too much of a bother to prattle on about all that, so I decide to brush it aside for now.

It's just because it's a bother, that's all.

"Not important. It was something only I could do, so I did it." I answer vaguely.

Yuigahama digests my answer. Then, she almost seems to get mad.

"Hikki. You're not..."

Her voice is laced with distress. What's wrong with you?

"You're not...going back to your old self, are you?" She sounds almost pleading.

Is that how she interpreted it? Seems like she's jumping to conclusions already. I don't blame her, though. My past self was like a wild ball of social destruction, sabotaging any and every relationship it encountered. It's understandable that she would be anxious of the possibility that I could be reverting to my old self. Understandable, but entirely wrong.

"No. In fact, I'd say it's the opposite. I feel like I've been changing a lot lately. Maybe."

I don't get any immediate response, and it's then that I realize I might have said something awkward again. Dammit! Stop being such a weirdo!

Yuigahama doesn't seem to buy my answer at first. She stares me down with a look of accusation. It's the kind of look that people use for interrogation. It's a way of saying 'I think you're lying to me and I want to hear you say it.' For that reason, when you are on the receiving end of this expression on false grounds, the only way to combat it is to return it. Maintain eye contact and don't show weakness.

I do exactly that. After a moment, Yuigahama relents.

"Okay. I believe you, Hikki." She smiles. Whether it's a smile of satisfaction or resignation, I'm not sure.

Glancing over, I'm pretty sure I see the tells of a smile behind Yukinoshita's book, which she's holding up to her face. You know, if I'm forced to embarrass myself time and again for the sake of maintaining this club, I'd like to see a little more personal input from you, too.

And with that, we drop the topic and return to what we were doing. Which is, killing time. It's actually kind of weird if I think about it. When we don't have requests, and Isshiki's not bothering us, we spend an awful lot of time doing nothing in particular. Looking at it like that, it seems kind of silly to endear such a boring relationship.

But then again, precious things are never properly defined by words. The things we want most can often be the hardest things to explain. I envy the simple people with simple goals. Their lives are straightforward, whether difficult or not. They don't have to waste time and effort trying to understand what they want. All they have to do is make an effort to achieve it.

I used to be like that. I was unhappy, but at least I understood myself and what I wanted. Or at least I think I did. Actually, I wonder. Did I always want to have... this? Was my past self secretly yearning for the trust and understanding of another human being? Or was he truly satisfied with his loner lifestyle? I don't know. Maybe I never will. But I don't regret who I used to be, even if I could never be the same way again. It's who I was, and it's still a part of who I am. Maybe it always will be.

Wow, that was corny. I'm glad these monologues of mine are all internal. Yukinoshita would have a field day if she ever got a hold of my inttermost thoughts.

I'm broken out of my musings by Yuigahama.

"Hey, Hikki. Are you excited for tomorrow?"

Hm? Oh, right. We all had something planned for tomorrow, didn't we? I still don't even know what exactly it is we're gonna do. I left the details to Yuigahama.

"Well, 'excited' is maybe an overstatement. I think 'looking forward to it' is more my pace." I reply with minimal enthusiasm.

Yuigahama pouts. "Well we're excited. Right, Yukinon?" Yuigahama turns to Yukinoshita to back her up. But if I know Yukinoshita like I think I do...

"As much as it pains me to admit it, I think I shall have to concur with the talking fish carcass over there."

Yep. I already guessed Yukinoshita would have her reservations about expressing anything resembling 'excitement'. And I also already guessed that she would insult me in every other sentence.

"Yukinon!"

I chuckle condescendingly. "Oi, Yuigahama. Maybe it's just you who's making a big deal out of this?"

"Because it is a big deal!" She exclaims. "Hikki wants to spend time with us! If that's not a big deal, I don't know what is."

"Don't I already spend a lot of time with you guys in the club?"

"Yeah, but that's in the club. Since when do you actually try to socialize with anyone?"

For a split second, I think of Kuroki. For some reason, I'm uncomfortable with the thought. So, like most things I don't like, I avoid it and try to brush is aside.

"I guess..."

Yukinoshita, as always, doesn't contribute to the discussion until she thinks of something insulting to say to me.

"Yes, it's impressive in it's own right. Keep this up, and perhaps eventually you might be able to pass for a human."

Hah? That's funny coming from the coldest outcast in Chiba.

"Now correct me if I'm wrong, but did snow queen, who is completely incapable of saying nice things, just insult me for my antisocial behavior?"

"You must be mistaken. I merely give compliments when appropriate, so as not to denigrate the meaning of them. The reason you've never heard nice things from me is simple because there is nothing nice to say about you, Hikirepulsive-kun."

Hearing that, I get an idea for a funny retort.

"Actually, I think we're both mistaken. You do give compliments, but you're just so awkward that nobody ever knows when you're doing it. Here's what a Yukinoshita compliment sounds like. Ahem!" I clear my throat in preparation for my impending parody.

Raising the back of my straightened hand to the side of my mouth, I adopt a high pitched voice, as though mocking her girlish tone.

"Ara Ara. Before you even consider patting yourself of the back, I'd like to advise you not to get a big head over your recent achievements. It was merely one success in a catacomb of failures, and the last thing you need is an inflated ego. Tsun!"

Yuigahama lets out a hearty laugh, but chokes it back immediately. Seems like she didn't want to play along with anything that insulted her friend, but couldn't resist my outstanding attempt at comedy.

Yukinoshita's face flushes completely pink. Almost red, even. "I-I do not speak in that manner at all! And I have never said 'tsun' either!"

Despite her embarrassment at being mocked, she appears to be in a good mood today. Well, good by her standards, at least.

Yuigahama is happy as well. It doesn't take much to satisfy her, though.

I'm happy, too. So that makes three of us. It's a good day today. I wish it were like this forever.

Then, my mood sours. It won't be. Some day, perhaps some day soon, we're all going to have to re-evaluate our relationship. I've been ignoring some things about the way we feel for a while now. I think they have too. I was afraid that the truth could tear us apart, so I've been hiding from it. But we have to face it eventually. Staying like this would eventually become unhealthy. Too much of anything can be bad for you, even if you feel like that something is what you need.

I decide not to let them notice my internal strife. We'll face that day together, when it comes. For now, it's good enough that they're happy.

This chapter was just to sort of get the mundanities out of the way. I wanted to rush to the service club weekend date, but if I skipped out on things it would have messed with the directive.

Gonna be honest, I was feeling slight writer's block on this one. It's not that the ideas aren't flowing, it's just that not all of them are good for this story. At the very least, I think I've laid out a usable setup for the next chapter. Now I just need to get some ideas that I could apply to it.

Once I get past the meeting of Tomoko and the service club, I think I'll be a lot more inspired for this story. Meanwhile, I'm going to put all my other random ideas to use, by writing a bunch of other stuff.

One last thing. I want to bump up the first encounter (chapter 1) to Monday, which means I made a minor retcon in chapter 1 (originally the encounter was 2 weeks after the first meeting, now it's one week. No big deal.)