Hey everyone, hope you're doing great today.
I'll as always thank all of you who read this story of mine, I'm really hoping you have a good time.
I'll take some space here to answer a few reviews sometimes, so here goes:
BlackPsych : Your review really made my day when I read it. I was so happy, you have no idea! I really love family-friendly content related to Komachi and Hachiman, and I find them so cute simply as they are. As siblings. Their relationship is beautiful, and may them be blessed, as fictional as they are! Thank you very much for your kind words BlackPsych and please look forward to the rest of the story.
jminator : Sorry to break your hopes about Komachi and Hachiman having romantic interest for each other! It won't be happening here. I thank you for your kindness, jminator.
Anonymous (Omg why doe) : You will know, in due time. Thanks for reading my fiction!
Are you familiar with the fear of heights? It's something called acrophobia and it's etched so deep within, you can't fight it on your own. You can link it to a primal, instinctive fear that stops you from taking one step closer to the edge, as if you would really fall because of this one supplementary step. When it happens, you also feel a knot in your stomach, to the point of physical pain.
I'm standing in front of the Service Club's door, and I, Hikigaya Hachiman, feel like I'm on the edge of a cliff. I know this is kind of stupid for me to be feeling that way, my reasoning keeps telling me why I shouldn't, and yet I still do.
Steeling my resolve, I open the door without knocking and enter the classroom.
The same year old scenery, of Yukinoshita reading her book with Yuigahama happily chatting with her, greets me. A view which makes me both anxious and scared, a result of my inaptitude to stand up for what I think, in hindsight, was a mistake. Yuigahama's wish for stillness can only bring us to an inevitable and endless search for something we may never get a hold of.
And I, powerless from my position, can't seem to find a solution which could turn things around.
"Yo."
Yukinoshita lightly smiles at me, while Yuigahama's closer to a full-on beaming smile.
"Hikki! You didn't skip today!"
"Of course not. Who do you take me for? If I said I had a reason yesterday, I truly had one."
Yukinoshita smirks at my answer, ready to deliver one of her classic retorts.
"I see that even a man like Hikigaya-kun has some sense of duty. This is a pleasant surprise, the key word being surprise."
"I could say the same about you actually complimenting me. Are we inhabitants of planet Earth facing some impending doom?"
I notice Yuigahama frowning as I reply to the Ice Queen.
"You're so mean! Yukinon is a really nice girl, you're just too dense to see it!"
"Why would you be more qualified to see me as I truly am, Yuigahama-san?"
Ouch. The burn is real with this one, Yukinoshita. Even I will start to feel sorry for Yuigahama. Please apologize to her this instant, she'll cry.
"Eeeeeh?! But I'm like totally closer to you than he is…! And we're best friends, right?! Right?!"
Smiling at the same antics I'm used to see from the both of them… makes me feel uneasy. This is like some kind of manufactured artificial happiness, far from the ideal of the genuine thing I'm looking for.
And yet here I am, unable to put an end to this.
"I suppose Yuigahama already told you about our absence for next week."
Yukinoshita is still trying to stop Yuigahama from getting any closer to her but throws a sideway glance at me after I'm finished talking.
"She did yesterday. Don't worry about it, I'm more than enough to take care of things here. Just focus on your trip and enjoy your stay there."
...
This is the same.
"Onii-chan, you're making this harder by involving yourself with me. I'll be okay, really… Just don't have anything to do with me, please. Focus on your coming trip, and have a good time."
The tone shift, the way she avoids my eyes like she doesn't want to speak these words, everything is just the same as what Komachi tried to do with me.
...
I hate this.
"I'll miss you so much Yukinon! But I promise I'll text you and I'll definitely bring back souvenirs!"
Yuigahama enthusiastically claims so, before turning around to face me.
"And Hikki too! Right?"
Gulp.
What's up with this gaze, Yuigahama-san? Are you sure you don't want to skewer me with your look?
"Yeah. I won't text you but I can at least buy a souvenir, um… if that's ok with you."
The slender black haired girl in front of me seems embarrassed for a second, a light blush rising on her fair cheeks. With a soft cough, she regains her composure before answering.
"I shall accept your gesture, Hikigaya-kun. I guess it won't hurt me, unless you decide to get a cursed item destined to bring misfortune upon my person. I'll count on you, Yuigahama-san. Make sure he doesn't, would you?"
Yuigahama clenches her fists and rises them up in the air.
"Leave it to me, Yukinon! Nothing ill-natured should get past my vigilance!"
My eyes widen as I witness Yuigahama Yui pronounce words way past her usual register. It doesn't go unnoticed, as I receive a sharp glare from my classmate.
"You thought of something really rude about me, didn't you Hikki?"
"I-I don't see what you mean by that, Yuigahama-san."
I don't want to burn myself on the sometimes intense and fiery Yuigahama Yui, nope.
Not happening.
"Anyways, you'll get to work on Isshiki-san's request before you leave. This is not negotiable."
Yukinoshita's statement is firm and decisive; she makes it so any kind of contestation is not feasible. I growl a bit at this but concede.
"Sure, I wasn't going to skip on that either."
"Isshiki-san requested more specifically for your help in this matter, yesterday. You'll get the details when she gets there."
Wait… isn't it weird? Why is the client who comes for help, also the one who formulates the plan? We are the ones usually coming up with it.
"It spares me the effort of thinking of a solution, I guess. I'll take it."
We go back to our occupations within the classroom, mainly reading and chatting the time away, as we wait for Isshiki to come to the club. After what feels like an hour or so, I check my phone and see it's about time to actually get back home. I bet that sly fox will storm in the second we get to close the clubroom.
My prediction doesn't come to pass as I get outside the classroom and bid the airhead and club president goodbye. Did something happen to Isshiki? No, she probably just forgot about it. Come on, it's not like that girl actually is troubled over the confession of some random guy. She may just come tomorrow and say "Oh, forget about the request, I dealt with it already, teehee!" while smiling. And I couldn't be any happier if it actually happens.
But as always, reality just has to kick my nuts every time. Looking up to the iron portal by the entrance of our school, I see Isshiki standing next to it. Her mischievous grin lets me in on the fact that she is as excited as ever.
"Senpai! You're sooooo laaaaate! I was just about to leave!"
Yeah, right. You were totally not lying in wait for me here.
"That's my line, Isshiki. We were waiting for you at the club, that's why we closed as late as we possibly could. I should be the one complaining here."
She adopts a smug look on her face, a playful glint appearing in her eyes.
"It is my privilege as their superior to keep the masses waiting."
Ugh. A light novel reference now...
"Please spare me your snarky comments. The others shoul-… Oi!"
Isshiki just grabs my wrist and pulls me along as she exits the school grounds.
"We don't need the others, you just need to come with me Senpai!"
By everything that is holy and sacred… so mainly Komachi and Totsuka, what does this girl plan to do with me again?!
Let me fill you in about this situation right now. I'm at a family restaurant, sitting on a couch with a girl on my right side, and facing a boy across the table. We all ordered a drink a while ago so the waitress is back with our glasses which are given to us this very moment.
Oh I forgot one little thing.
No, one could describe that thing as the biggest event of my life so far.
Hikigaya Hachiman, the pessimistic loner probably holding a world record when it comes to how bad he is in his social skills with girls, has now a kouhai as his girlfriend.
How is that?! Nobody saw that one coming, uh?
Take that, Hikigaya haters!
…
What the fuck does this idiot think she's doing?
"Yes, as I was saying since it looks like you didn't understand, this is Hikigaya Hachiman. He's my current boyfriend. We love each other very much, right Hachi'?"
Isshiki is sticking to me like glue, her head resting on my right shoulder. I'm doing my very best not to push her away with everything I have. This is imposed to me without prior notice, and I know I can't screw up now or it'll never end. This girl had everything planned in her head before she even came to the club for her request! She knew that by forcing this situation on me, I wouldn't be able to get out of it. If Isshiki talked to me about it beforehand, I would have definitely backed out and found out another solution.
"No way… No freakin' way, Iroha-chan! T-T-…THIS?!"
Oi. Do you know the concept of respecting your senpai, impertinent brat? I'm going to punch you, you hear me?
Well, no he doesn't.
The boy's name is Kimura Souji. He's Isshiki's classmate, the one who confessed to her. If I have to physically describe him, I can only think of one thing: Little Hayama. He's his spitting image even though his personality is nowhere near the original. From what I've heard, courtesy of Yukinoshita, he's a self-absorbed prick with an ego inflated to new levels that had yet to be transcended.
"W-wait a minute! I'm way better than Hikichiya-senpai, I'm athletic and good looking! I have good fashion sense too!"
Who the hell is Hikichiya?! Don't you go full Tobe on me, kid.
"Oi, there's a limit to how impertinent you can get, kouhai-kun."
I put the palm of my hand on the table. Speaking with a harsh tone, I also stress the last word and now am trying to look as intimidating as I can, with one of my 108 skills you already got introduced to, and used by my dear sister. It is the Hikigaya Death Glare. This is an ability that comes with a condition and a price.
After all, you have to possess the legendary dead fish eyes trait. If you couple that with the best scowl you can perform, and a life of bitter loneliness you experienced for years to make it feel real…
The result is flawless.
The kid is scared shitless.
"I-I didn't know you were into… the delinquent type, Iroha-chan…"
She just beams a smile at him, fully enjoying the role-play.
"Heehee. Hachi' can be pretty mean with those who get too close to me, y'know…? That's what I like about him… He's so… intense…"
She stares at me while saying that, with a dreamy smile this time.
This makes me very uncomfortable. She's too good of an actress! Even I start to feel my heart rate rise up like crazy. Heart, calm down, geez.
I know, let's make a chant!
It's all fake, it's all fake, it's all fake, it's all fake…!
"E-Even so…! I don't buy it!"
What are you looking all defiant for, now? You should just let it go and give up, don't waste my time!
He goes on.
"Without proof, I won't believe it. Prove it, Iroha-chan."
That's it. I want to kill him, right here, right now. Please let me do it.
As I'm thinking of a multitude of ways to murder this annoying brat, I feel a soft touch on my right hand, something resembling a feather caressing the surface of my skin. It makes me shudder, to my very core. My arms show signs of having goosebumps all over from this feeling alone. Lowering my slanted eyes to my hand to witness what's the cause of this, I watch as Isshiki's own hand is lightly, slowly overlapping mine. Her light brown eyes mesmerize me, as they seem like an ocean of honey at this moment.
Damn it… I… I can't help it!
My being longs for it. I dive right in, plunging in this depth Isshiki's eyes present to me, losing myself in this time belonging only to the two of us… as if it just suspended.
"S-Senpai…"
Her whisper is just like her soft, smooth hand and…
Wait.
What did she call me…?
"Issh…"
I stop myself from saying it. I have to pursue the mission, with the little logic I have left in me right now.
"Iroha…"
I try to sound as sensual as I can, never departing from her honey eyes, never disengaging the ballad our gazes have been into for the last few seconds, which felt like way, way more than that short span of time. Isshiki's blush intensifies as she hears me say that. I don't even know if I'm not currently blushing myself. This moment, this performance she is making an act of... feels... too genuine. To a point it can be called nothing but a sin.
For making me feel that way, Isshiki Iroha, I condemn you.
She is slowly closing her eyelids, while ever so slightly raising her head and her lips towards mine. My heart is going to stop. It really will...
I'm about to lose control of everything. I can sense it. My reason is at its wits end and something else is about to take over, dangerously crawling, creeping inside.
We are inches apart from each other. I can feel her hot breath on my mouth, her hand faintly shaking before she decides to fully capture mine with it. We're about to close it in, attracted to each other as if an invisible force was at work there. Just before our lips connect, I catch a shining glint: two small tears spring at the corner of her soon to be closed eyes.
My god-knows-what-driven self is instantly disappearing.
I can't... We can't do this. This isn't right.
I wouldn't feel at peace with myself. I don't want Isshiki to feel like that as well.
There's a limit we shouldn't cross, even for the sake of the plan.
"Stop it… I understand."
I was about to put my hands over Isshiki's shoulders to put a halt to our moment but that Kimura brat does it for me.
He sounded very serious, and less rude than before.
"I can't compete with you, Hikichiya-senpai. I... will give up on you, Iroha-chan. It will take time, but I realize now that I will never be able to inspire such an expression on your face. I'm sorry for being so persistent. Excuse me."
He places on the table enough to cover his bill, takes his jacket and bows before quickly leaving.
Well even if Kimura blabs about this happening, he'll speak about the mysterious delinquent called Hikichiya who doesn't exist in Sobu High, or anywhere else to be honest. I watch as the main entrance closes after his disappearance.
Now...
It's just the two of us alone.
I am so embarrassed I wish I could crawl into a hole.
I decide to take the lead though and put an end to this awkward silence by clearing my throat.
"Well I guess it all worked out in the end."
I cast a side glance to my partner in crime whose head is hanging down, face covered by her natural brown hair.
"Senpai…"
I gulp, anxious as all hell.
"Can I ask you to leave…?"
Uh...?
Eh...?
What...?
"Wait but we're far from-…"
...
"SENPAI!"
She just... yelled. Everyone in the restaurant around us turn their heads towards the source of the outburst, whether they be waiters, waitresses or clients.
Yeah this might be bad. I'd better listen to her before we start causing an even bigger commotion.
"I'm sorry, Isshiki. I'll leave. I'll also pay for the both of us so…"
It was the least I could do, since...
Yeah.
Leaving the money on the table, I grab my school bag and coat. Putting it on to protect me from the cold waiting for me outside, I look at Isshiki's crestfallen face one last time for a few seconds before exiting the establishment.
I'd like to correct one thing about beings I used to be speaking of as deities.
The rom-com gods aren't gods.
They are malicious demons.
Aaaand... this happened.
As always, I thank all of you for reading up til now.
Please stay awesome and have a good day/night, wherever you are.