Chapter 10: Their relationship was sketchy

"Oi, Komachi! I'm home." I yell as I enter the threshold of my house.

The sun has dipped quite low now but slivers of afternoon sunlight are still visibly poking in from the windows. It gave our living room a mellow, lazy vibe. The orange glow bounced all over the room. Komachi where are you? I can't believe you aren't welcoming your lovely brother home.

It took me a while to notice but the living room and kitchen lights weren't on yet. Komachi has a habit of flicking on all the light switches of all the rooms when she gets back home, because she says it's scary to be in a dark house. This means that if Komachi was home, the house should be basking in the light of Incandescent light bulbs. Yet, here I am standing in a room merely illuminated by the sun.

I need to look for Komachi. I took out my phone and checked for any notifications from her.

[No New Messages]

I stare at the screen as I begin to think. She must be at home. If she wasn't she would have told me otherwise. Crap, what if she got into trouble or got into some sort of accident? Suddenly the memory of me jumping in front of a car to save a dog flashes through my mind. No. Komachi isn't brave enough to do that. She would never jump in front of a vehicle to save a mutt, or a feline, or any living thing for that matter. She shouldn't have to. Could she have? I need to stop thinking about this and start searching for her. Maybe she was tired from school and just decided to snooze in her room. Yeah, that's probably it. I'll check her room right now.

Returning my phone to my pants pocket, I head towards the stairs and start ascending. As I ascend the stairs, the wooden steps creak, making a haunting, echoing sound. Wait, why did I describe it as haunting? This is just the paranoid, delusional Hachiman thinking. Relax, don't be pessimistic, nothing bad happened to your sister. God, you really shouldn't pick on cute little girls like Komachi, if you want to cause someone harm and problems, I would gladly take her place, though I'm not sure if I actually believe in you enough to think that you actually exist and could do harm. Whatever, I'll believe you exist. After all, Pascal's Wager makes a lot of sense to me.

As I reach the landing of the second floor, I encounter a familiar redhead standing in the hallway. Shiori. What the hell is she doing here? Did she force her way into my house!?

"Hikigaya." She says softly as she steps towards me.

I thought you said our relationship has reset? What are you doing in my house, you frickin' stalker!? Or did you come here to kill me now? Is that it, you wanted me to think I was safe from harm and that we were all good? That is one big horror movie cliché right there! Tch.

"What are you doing here?"

"Komachi has a fever."

What?

"Hikigaya, follow me." She says as she walks away towards Komachi's room.

What. This feels like a nurse bringing me to a dying patient's room. Just feels like it, not that it is. It'd be stupid if it were.

I slowly follow Shiori as she opens the door of Komachi's room and enters. I head inside as well and I find myself in Komachi's room. My gaze automatically lands on the human figure laying on the bed with blankets covering it. That's Komachi for sure. Although I'm a bit far from her I can tell she's sleeping. She has a small towel on her head, which I assume is wet. It's probably for the fever, then. Damn it, Komachi. This is what you get when you do sleepovers. You stay up late and your body's immune system gets compromised!

Shiori walks towards her bed and sits down beside Komachi's sleeping figure. "I guess I should explain how we met." She says as she adjusts Komachi's blankets.

"Yeah I think you probably should." I say as I also approach Komachi and sit on her bed.

Why am I letting this girl sit so near Komachi? I should probably tell her to stay further away. After all, she's a stranger to Komachi, and frankly, to me as well. Then again, it looks like she brought Komachi here safely, so I guess I'll give her a pass for now.

"I saw her by the school entrance struggling to walk home." Shiori says as she begins to check Komachi's temperature using a thermometer.

You saw her at school. How? You weren't transferring in until tomorrow. What was your business at the school today? Are you stalking my family? If you are, I advise you to stop, although it may have done some good this time, it's still really creepy. Woah, Hachiman. Calm down. Don't jump into conclusions. Let the girl speak.

The beep of the thermometer goes off and she casually examines the reading.

"I was at school to pick up my uniform, if that's what you're wondering. It was purely coincidental that your sister and I met."

Do you have ESP? I haven't even opened my mouth yet.

Shiori stands up, places the thermometer on the table and looks out the window. "Though it was a coincidence we met, it was not a coincidence that I drove her home."

You drove her home!? Komachi, what were you thinking, letting strangers take you places? You should have went to the school faculty!

"She refused at first. So she and I went to the faculty room to verify my identity and to ask permission to take her home." She says as she continues to look outside, which was growing darker and darker by the minute.

The faculty let you take my sister home? Though that was pretty good shouldn't Komachi just have stayed at the school clinic and waited for me to finish club?

Shiori turns around, leans on Komachi's table, crosses her arms and continues explaining. "Then a teacher called Hiratsuka told me that her brother, you, would be in club until later in the afternoon. The rest of the faculty suggested that Komachi should stay at the clinic and wait for you to finish or to excuse you from club to take her home."

Yet they didn't do either of those things?

"At the time Hikigaya-san was burning up, and she was whining about wanting to go home. Hiratsuka-sensei said it would be hard to transport her to her house if you were with her because you had a bike. So she asked if I could take her home."

Tch. I hate to say this, but she's right. Bringing Komachi home at the state she was in would have been troublesome if not hard. But why you? Sensei has a car, a sports car. Why couldn't she, or anyone from the faculty take her home?

"Apparently, her car was under maintenance at the automobile shop so she couldn't bring you sister home, even though she wanted to. So requested me to escort her home. Once she declared that she'd be coming as well to bring Hikigaya-san home, the other faculty members complied with the request."

This is getting really unsettling. Well, it's been unsettling for a while now. I'm here, merely thinking of these questions but there she is answering them. I'm not even opening my mouth to speak! Then again, she seems smart, maybe she anticipated what I would ask beforehand.

"So, yeah. My driver was there, and I was willing. We brought your sister to your house, and Hiratsuka-sensei and I took care of her. That's basically what happened." She finishes.

Those were some pretty logical answers. Not to mention it saved me and Komachi a lot of trouble. The situation was justified, plus an adult from the school also took care of my sister. This is actually turned out pretty well. Hang on…

"Where's Hiratsuka-sensei?"

"My driver brought her back to the school. She had some paperwork she had to complete. At least that's what she said."

"At least that's what she said? What's that supposed to mean?" I ask as I squint at her.

Shiori gets up and sits down beside me on Komachi's bed. You're pretty assertive, sitting only a foot away from me. Then again, my encounter with you yesterday was the same.

"She also told me to stay behind so that I could tell you the story when you get back. She seemed to also have other reasons for leaving. It show in her face. Slightly." She reasons casually.

I think this girl can be good for you.

I remember Hiratsuka-sensei saying that to me a couple hours ago. Is that why you left early, sensei? So I could have some private time with this girl? I don't need you help with a love life, if that's what you're thinking. Besides, if you have enough time to do this for me, why don't you use that time to do something for yourself instead? Seriously, sensei. For some reason I keep having the image of sensei sitting on her rotating chair, smoking a cigarette, then winking at me and giving me a sly smile. Sensei, you really shouldn't be playing cupid for others when you can't even get yourself a partner.

"Your sister, Komachi's her name right?" Shiori asks as she looks behind her at Komachi's sleeping figure.

"Yeah." I nod as I glance at Komachi.

I can't believe I forgot about Komachi! All this crazy talk diverted my attention from my sister in pain! Wah- She's not in pain. Hell, she's even snoring! Oi! Stop snoring so loudly! Whatever. At least snoring means she's not bothered by her fever too much. I'm glad she seems alright now.

"For some reason I seem to forget her name all the time. I must be bad with names, huh…" Shiori says as she begins to caress Komachi's hair with the back of her hand.

I twitch slightly as I watch her touching my sister. It's creepy. My mother does the same thing to Komachi. Shiori even has the same loving expression. This is too creepy.

Shiori notices this from the corner of her eye and she smiles at me slyly.

"Siscon…" She whispers and makes a small smile.

Hah? Don't touch my sister so much, you are a guest of this household! Only those with permission may touch Komachi. Besides, anyone who cares for their siblings would react the same way I did if a stranger started touching them!

Shiori pulls her hand away from Komachi and places it on the bed. She stares up at the ceiling, closes her eyes and makes a soft sigh.

Eyes still closed, she says "I said our relationship would reset, didn't I?"

"Huh? Uh, Yeah."

That sudden subject change. Not to mention that sensitive topic. Where does she plan to go with this conversation?

"I'm sorry. I thought of not accepting sensei's request for the sake of keeping my promise but… I just couldn't leave Komachi like that. I know you were never too fond of Mamoru either but I know you yourself wouldn't leave him if he were to have a fever."

Huh? Have I met Mamoru? She makes it sound like we already met. If that's the case, why was he acting like we never did when he showed up at Soubu?

"I want to fulfill your desires that's why I intend to keep my promise."

Shiori stares at me with resolution and falteringly says "T-tomorrow, we'll be strangers again. T-that's your desire, right?"

Fulfill my desires? What the hell is this girl thinking? Does she want to be my maid or something? This thing with our relationship resetting, it's getting pretty out of hand as well. Maybe resetting relationships don't actually work. Maybe it's just my hopefully cynical mind playing tricks on me. That riajuu could be wrong. What if resets don't even work for me?

Shiori's phone rings for a while, indicating that she either got a missed call or mail. She gently stands and looks at Komachi and then me. She smiles at me in a resigned way.

"My driver's here. I'll take my leave."

"Oh. Yeah. It's dark already. I'll escort you out."

True. It has been a while since the last rays of sunshine dispersed. Chiba is now fully enveloped in the veil of darkness.

"I'd like that, Hikigaya-kun." Shiori says with a more cheerful smile than before.

Together we head down the stairs in silence. The wooden steps make the same creaking echoing sound, yet know it's not haunting anymore. Frankly, it's the only thing breaking the awkward silence between this girl and me.

As we reached the first floor of the house I realized that I didn't turn on the lights before I went upstairs. It's dark. Dark and cold. I have to turn on the lights.

I look at Shiori and say "Shiori, wait here. I'll turn on the lights."

Why was I telling her to wait? Could this just be my onii-chan reflexes kicking in? Do I see her as a little sister that's afraid of the dark? Do I think of myself as someone that will protect her from whatever lurks in the blackness? Hah. No. This is just proper procedure. She is the guest, I am the resident. No big deal.

"Sure. I'm not afraid of the dark, though. If that's what you're thinking."

"Got it. I'll be just a sec." I reply as I walk into the darkness of the living room.

The dark isn't something that scares people. The blackness and the loss of light? No. People are not afraid of the dark because of this. They are afraid of the dark because of the possibility that something unknown lies within it. The fear of the unknown. That's what drives people to fear darkness. Could there be other reasons for someone to fear the darkness? Well… The darkness could feel like nothingness. Maybe if people are afraid of emptiness then they'd probably be afraid of darkness too, right?

I cling to the wall as I make my way through the room. My footsteps go; Tap. Tap. Tap. It's not really that dark though. Once you get used to it you can kinda see the outlines of some objects. Couch. Table. Kitchen counter. That stuff. Damn. Where the hell is this light switch? I've been living in this house for nearly two decades and yet I still have trouble finding the light switch. Now how could that be? Maybe it's because I'm just trying so hard to find it? Does that make sense?

Ah. There we go. Found it.

I feel the plastic casing of the light switch and manage to feel the protruding plastic known as the switch. Heh. I should probably say something cool before I turn on the lights. Let there be light, maybe? Eh, whatever.

Just as I was about to flick the light switch something grabs my hand. It's cold and soft. Though it's dark I can tell it's a hand. I didn't even have time to panic or anything. I felt something cling to me. It was warm and soft. Whatever it was pushed my back to the wall.

It pulls back a bit and I am face to face with Shiori. Her face and her features are softened because of the darkness. Yet in our nearness I can make out her face quite a bit. She stares at me a somber expression. Her small smile that showed sadness. Her eyes, filled with emotions. Yet why couldn't I read those emotions right now?

"W-what?" I stutter as I attempt to slide away from her.

She pushes her hands on my chest with surprising force causing me to get pushed back into the wall. Ow. I think I just hit my head on the wall. Though she kept me pinned, she wasn't hurting me. With her strong yet gentle hands on my chest, I begin to realize the situation I'm in.

Ding ding ding! Am I getting lucky tonight? She seems like an assertive girl. Why is she doing this to me in the dark? What could this mean apart from what I think it means? Thankfully the lights haven't been turned on. The dark will conceal my face which was currently blushing furiously. Why does this girl love getting into such close proximity with me?

Shiori lowers her head enough so that I couldn't see the expression on her face. She closes the gap between us and slowly she rests her head on my chest. I hear her breathing slowly, softly and quietly.

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

I don't reply. Maybe because I'm still in shock that she's hugging me right now. Sure she hugged me before but the feeling then was different. Somehow, this act seemed more intimate.

"Just for a while longer… Please." She whispers again. This time her voice is faltering. It's like she's about to cry.

Uh oh. What should I do? Isn't her driver just outside? What would he do if he found Shiori crying? Ah crap. Uh think, think… Komachi! Head petting! Crap, would that work right now? Should I try it? Is it worth to try?

"You don't have to overthink things, Hikigaya. You don't need to do anything more for me." She says, her face still hidden in my chest.

"Uh… O-okay." I reply awkwardly.

We stay in that position for a while. Her holding on to me while I stand and do nothing. Yep. I could really take advantage of this situation but I'm not. Not because I've done her wrong, though that could be one reason. But because she doesn't deserve that. She doesn't deserve to be taken advantage on. Could it be guilt that's stopping me or is it just the responsible, disciplined gentleman in me? Could it be something else? Something much more?

These thoughts begin to formulate in my head but suddenly Shiori pulls away from me and turns on the light at the same time.

Aaargh! The sudden burst of white light takes my eyes by surprise and I am momentarily blinded. I feel something soft and moist make contact with my cheek. My vision returns and I see Shiori standing in front of me. She wore a calm expression on her face. Did she… Did she just…

"You don't have to escort me outside anymore, Hikigaya. See you at school." Shiori says as she makes her way to the door.

I intended to call out to her but my voice just wouldn't work. My brain function was faltering because of recent events.

I only watch as Shiori exits the door and closes it behind her without taking another look at me. Not long after, I hear the sound of a car rolling away slowly. The sound of the car gradually gets softer and more distant and after a while I don't even hear it anymore.

I slowly slide down the wall and slump down the floor. My brain attempts to continue processing what had just happened. After a while, I whisper and say to no one in particular.

"Did you just kiss me?"

I apologize for the relatively long wait yet short chapter. Fever is an ass, especially when you get it for a while. I'm good now so I'll try to keep to my 5-7 day update time.

This was also meant to be the last Pre-Shiori chapter. Meaning the chapters before she's revealed to the rest of our Soubu High peeps. Even if I wasn't down with the fever, the chapter would still have been this short because I decided to make her Soubu debut a separate chapter.

To anyone who doesn't know, Pascal's Wager is a philosophical idea made by Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher. Basically, Pascal's Wager is about god and whether such a being exists. According to Pascal's Wager, people should believe and live as though god exists, even though he may or may not. That way, if he does, you go to heaven or whatnot, and if he doesn't you don't lose anything. You have nothing to lose from believing in god, and everything to gain if he exists. That's basically the short summary of Pascal's Wager. Oh, if I didn't explain it too well, feel free to write a review explaining it better, or check out Wikipedia.

How do you like Shiori's character so far? I hope she's kinda likeable at least…

Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to read the new chapter! If you guys have time, I would really appreciate a review. :)

This is Veltus, Signing off.