"Hello there, young man. What brings you in to our humble abode?" The middle aged patriarch of the Yukinoshita household asked to the dead eyed teen. The man then sat down the couch across the teen.
"Uhhh…" The said dead eyed teen was finding it hard to speak. "Your daughter brought me here." He finally managed to utter after what felt like forever to him. "Haruno-san and I met at the firework festival. She wanted me to accompany her to here." Explained the teen as he looked away from the intimidating father.
"That's good to know!" The man clapped his hands at the teen's response. "But word of advice, young man. Learn to look in the eyes of the one you're talking to." This prompted Hachiman to look towards the man's eyes.
Now it was the man's turn to be intimidated. "I wasn't expecting such… dangerous eyes. Should I be worried about my daughter's safety?" Asked the man with hints of teasing on his voice. "What am I doing, engaging in a friendly banter when I haven't even gotten your name yet. So, what's your name, young man?"
"Hikigaya Hachiman, Sir." Replied the fish eyed teen as he observed the reaction of the man, who looked like he was thinking about something.
"So, you're the one that beat my Yukino! That's why your name is familiar." Exclaimed the man as he lightly laughed. "My name is Yukinoshita Yamato, pleased to meet you, Hikigaya-kun." Introduced the man to the teen. Yamato then poured himself some whiskey, then offered Hachiman. "You want some? This whiskey is from Kentucky." When the fish eyed teen shook his head to reject the offer, the man then remarked. "Well, more for me then." As he took a sip.
'So even the rich folks drink alcohol after work. Must be effective for making them relax and forget the day's troubles.' Thought Hachiman as he observed Fuyume's husband drink some more.
After downing the contents of the glass, Yamato then let out a sigh of relief. "Ahh, the Statesmen really know their whiskey." Commented the man as he looked to the teen across him. "What's your relation with my daughters?" Questioned the middle-aged man, lightly glaring at the teen to intimidate him once again.
'And again, this proves to me that every dad has their "dad mode" or whatever you wanted to call the overprotectiveness of a father.' A thought flashed inside the dead eyed teen's head. 'And this one's much worse, considering his children are all women. That light glare I'm getting is like my dad's full on glare, whenever I lecture Komachi.' Hachiman then answered the man's question. "Your eldest thinks I'm interesting. Treating me like a specimen or a lab creature." He paused to breathe before speaking about the younger Yukinoshita. "And I think your eldest has some animosity towards me. She's quick to point out every single thing I do that irritates her." Finished the teen.
Chuckling at the remark of the young man across him, the Yukinoshita patriarch le out words of his own. "Ahh yes, I'm sure that Yukino got that from her mother. As she grows she's becoming more and more like her mother, which is not a bad thing since my wife is an amazing woman." The middle aged man then pours himself a shot of whiskey once again.
'Your wife apparently is not amazing enough for you to stay faithful.' Thought the teen as he observed the man drink.
"How is Yukino doing in school? I heard from Haruno that you're on the same club." Asked Yamato towards the fish eyed teen. "What's the club about, in the first place?"
"We're not on the same class, so I can't say that much about her class performance." The teen started speaking. "And because she's the president of the club, she's basically in charge of every request we get from the students."
"And what is the name of the club?"
"The Service Club."
"That sounds confusing." Pointed out the middle-aged man. "Even "The Breakfast Club" sounds less confusing." Yamato then let out a laugh after uttering the statement.
"Yeah, that's what I said to her on my first day on the club." Hachiman replied. "The Service Club is a club dedicated on helping other students. The students can approach the club to request for help, then we'll try our best to help them." He paused, seeing the amusement on the Yukinoshita patriarch's eyes. "As your daughter said to me: "We do not bring the water to the horse. Rather the horse to the water."
"Clearly, that sounds like my daughter alright." The man laughed as he remembers the idealistic nature of his daughter. "Yukino have always been more idealistic than her sister. I think she got it from me, before I became a diet member." Sighing, Yamato then speaks about his work. "It's hard to bring ideals of change into fruition, especially when the system itself doesn't want to change." The middle aged man then downs the remaining whiskey on his glass. "Do yourself a favor, young man, stay away from politics if you're not prepared to give your life for your cause." Solemnly spoke the man.
Silence enveloped the large living room. The older of the two was looking at his phone, while the younger was darting his eyes around the spacious room once more.
The silence was halted when Yamato's daughter came out the kitchen. "Hachiman! Here's the coffee I promised!" Haruno set the coffee down the table, then she sat down beside the dead eyed teen. "Oh, I see you've met my father, Hachiman!" Exclaimed the woman. "Tell me father, did Hachiman ask for my hand in marriage?"
Yamato's eyes darted quickly towards the fish eyed teen. The man then glared at the teen. "I wasn't informed that you're my daughter's boyfriend, punk." Said Yamato, crossing his arms as if demanding for answer.
It was the dead eyed teen's turn to glare. It was directed at the daughter. "I'm blaming you for creating this atmosphere, woman."
"Your words hurt me, dear."
"Answers, now." Demanded the middle-aged man, whose eyes never left the teen.
"My words earlier are true, Yamato-san." Hachiman started speaking. "Your daughter is just joking. She loves making people uncomfortable, especially me." Explained the teen. "Besides, I don't think I'm your daughter's type, to be honest."
"But that's where you're wrong, Hachiman." Haruno then clamped down on his left arm. "You are very much my type." Giving the dead eyed teen a dangerous smile to accompany the statement.
"This is making me uncomfortable right now." Said the teen as he thought of ways to escape his predicament. 'If this continues, I'm sure that I'll be going to get grilled by her father.' Seeing the pack of treats Komachi ordered him gave the fish eyed teen an idea.
The glaring father spoke too. "It's not just you that's uncomfortable, kid." Yamato then continued speaking. "It's unnerving to see your daughter cling to someone else." The man continued the glare he was giving.
That glare turned into a questioning glance once he saw the teen across him stand up.
"I'm sorry, but I think it's time for me to go." Hachiman bowed after speaking. "Thank you for your hospitality, but I must go." Grabbing the pack of food that he bought earlier, the teen then walked towards the exit.
"You lack guts." Said Yamato as he observed the teen walk out, though failing to see the teen's knuckles turning white.
Stopping one last time to speak, the dead eyed teen didn't bother to look at the man before speaking. "Guts are needed for things that have worth. This one's not." The teen then continued his walk towards the main door.
"I'm going to see him out, father." Haruno quickly stated as she followed the fish eyed teen. Once she caught up, they were in front of the large main doors of the Yukinoshita manor. Deciding to engage him in a conversation, the woman then spoke to him. "Backing out from a challenge, are you?" Putting on her disappointed face, the woman then started speaking once again. "That was disappointing, you know. How will you ask for Yukino-chan's hand in marriage in the future?"
"Don't talk to me, woman." Replied Hachiman, who was having none of it.
"Kaa-san would be disappointed; you know?" Was Haruno's last ditch effort to try and make the teen talk.
"Your mother would be much more disappointed on you than me." Was his reply. "Thank you for giving me a chance to see the place you grew up, Haruno-san. I hope I won't come back." Not even bothering to look back the woman, Hachiman left the Yukinoshita manor tired and angry.
"Didn't the committee start their meeting at lunch? Why the hell are you here, Hikigaya?" Asked Hiratsuka as the smoke from her cigarette wafted on the office of the guidance counselor. Sat in front of her was Hachiman, who is looking at the smoking teacher with a stink eye. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Asked the smoking woman.
"Why was I elected as one of the committee representatives?" Inquired the teen.
"It's your punishment for sleeping in the homeroom session." Replied the woman as she put her cigarette in the ashtray. "Why are you sleeping? Rough night last night?"
Finishing the pork bun that he was eating, the dead eyed teen answered the question. "You can blame Orimura-sensei for that." Explained the teen as he remembered last night's events. "She went out drinking last night. Then she woke me up to take care of her. I even changed her clothes and put her to bed."
"That doesn't answer my question though." Pointed out the teacher as she smoked once again. "Shouldn't you be thankful because you've put a hot woman in bed?"
"Why would I be? It was no different than putting my little sister to bed. Even if that was you, it would still be the same." Rebuffed the teen. "Orimura-sensei then tasked me to iron her clothes. She came home exactly at midnight." The teen sighed. "It's still a mystery to me how is she able to function like a normal person today. It's as if nothing happened last night."
"It is what it is Hikigaya. You'll understand it when you grow up." Said Hiratsuka as she smugly smiled at the remark.
"That's the kind of answer I hate hearing the most." Complained the fish eyed teen. "It sounds like I'm still a kid, when I'm trying my best to be a better person."
"There's nothing wrong in admitting your shortcomings." The teacher replied. "Besides, our age gap is ten years, that will always make me feel older than you."
"But ten years is not that big of a gap." Countered the teen. "Some relationships have bigger age gap than ten. I might even become your husband in the future." He spoke, not noticing that the person he was talking to was becoming red.
"What are you talking about?!" Exclaimed the blushing woman. "Get out of here before I make you taste my fist of destruction." The woman shooed the teen away.
"Heh, you can try. You shounen loving teacher." The teen then stood up and walked. "See you later, Hiratsuka-sensei."
The teen then made the beeline towards the location of the committee meeting. Entering the room, he saw that most of the representatives were already there. Sitting in the back row, the teen then observed that Yukino was among the committee representatives.
The last one to arrive was Hachiman's classmate, the red haired Sagami Minami. She was talking to her friends before entering the meeting room.
"Now that we're complete…" Clapped Shiromeguri, the Student Council President. "Is there anyone here that would volunteer as the committee president?" Smiled the girl as she asked. "Because if not, then we'll just have an election for it!"
'Great, with how she worded that, I'm sure that no one will actually volunteer to take the spot.' Thought the fish eyed teen as he observed the hushed whispers of people telling others to volunteer. When a minute passed without anything else happening, the teen then saw the StuCo. President speak once more.
"Then I guess we'll just have to elect one, do we?" The jolly girl paused. "So, who would you like to nominate?" After the question was asked, the hushed whispers from before became murmurs that made the room feel like a noisy classroom.
Then, a hand shot up.
"Ugh… I'd like to nominate Yuuka-san!" Exclaimed the girl as she sat down as quick as she stood up. Hearing the suggestion, Meguri writes then nominee's name on the whiteboard.
"Great! Now we need two more so we could vote."
Another hand shot up. When called, the boy then stood up and started speaking. "I'd like to nominate Yukinoshita!" His voice got louder the closer he got to the end of his sentence. His nomination caused another round of murmurs, which all talked about how the Yukino would be a great leader, like her sister.
Hachiman then looked at the woman in question, seeing her eyes lit with determination, he then looks back to Meguri once more.
"Great! Now we just need one more." Said the president as she looked at the committee members once again. The said committee members were now whispering to each other once more.
A hand shot up.
Everyone looked at the person who raised their hand. It was Minami, who then stood up after raising her hand. "I would like to nominate myself." She said as she sat back down.
"Okay, that was new." Commented Meguri as she wrote Minami's name on the board. "Now that we have three nominees." The girl then put a dash on every nominee, indicating where the votes would be. "So, who's voting for Yuuka-san?"
Three hands raised. The joyful president then wrote three for Yuuka's votes.
"Okay, now who's for Yukinoshita?" When Meguri asked, multiple hands shot up. Hachiman was one of those hands, confident about Yukino's skills. After the Student Council President counted the hands, she recorded 28 votes.
"Those who didn't vote for Yukinoshita-san or Yuuka-san is automatically voting in favor of Sagami-san." Meguri explained. This meant that the girl got 29 votes, which made her win over Yukino with just a single vote difference.
"With Sagami-san winning the voting, she's going to be the committee president. If you could please come over here, Sagami-san." Doing as she was told, Minami stood next to Meguri. "And to make it easier for us, since Yukinoshita-san got the second most votes, she will be the committee vice president." Getting mentioned, Yukino then walked towards the council president. "Yuuka-san, you'll be the secretary." The said girl squeaked and hurried to where Yukino and Minami is.
"I'll make sure that the cultural festival is a blast! I want to use it as means of growing up. Let's all grow and flourish, everyone!" Exclaimed the red haired teen as everyone around her clapped.
"Hikki!" The fish eyed teen who was putting his indoor shoes to his locker, was approached by the bubbly pink haired teen. "Yukinon's acting different!"
The teen looked at the pink haired girl like she grew another head. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well she said that the club's suspended, but she's taking a request personally! Isn't it unfair for us?"
Hachiman replied with a question. "Can you recall to me what happened earlier in the clubroom?"
"Sagamin came into the club earlier…" Started Yui as she recalled what happened earlier in the club.
"Ne Yukinon, I'd never imagine you'd join the committee!" Exclaimed the pink haired teen as she clung onto Yukino.
"Personally, it was more surprising to see Hikigaya-kun join it." Replied the raven haired girl as she tried her best to focus on the novel she was reading. Though Yui's clinging is not helping her do that.
"Totally, Totally!" Said Yui, who continued to hug the arm of her raven haired friend. "But Hikki didn't join the committee voluntarily, he was punished by Hiratsuka-sensei for sleeping on homeroom." Explained the bubbly teen. "But I think he would volunteer if he was awake, seeing that Hikki wants to improve himself."
"Where's Hikigaya-kun, by the way?" Inquired Yukino, who's still reading her novel. "The last time I saw him was at the meeting." The raven haired teen then turned to a new page.
"Orimura-sensei asked for his help." Yui answered. "Ah! Did you know that Orimura-sensei lives with Hikki?" The pink haired girl tried to open up a new topic.
"Who Hikigaya-kun lives with is not my concern." Yukino swiftly shut down Yui's attempts. Once again, the silence returned and enveloped the room.
"The committee needs to meet every day right?" Asked the pinkette. "I think I'll need to help out our class too. Hikki for sure would not go in the club since the committee work will eat your and his time too." Yui frowned after her statement.
"Then I'm going to postpone all club activities until the cultural festival ends." Announced Yukino, surprising the pinkette at her statement.
"Yeah, I think it's a good idea to hold off any activities
It was at this moment that the doors of the club opened. A trio of girls then entered the room. Yui instantly knew who they are, but chose to remain silent.
It was Sagami Minami, Yuuko Hachikawa, and Chisa Hasegawa.
The three were smiling to themselves. After getting settled inside, the red haired girl started to speak. "Hiratsuka-sensei said that I should come here." The girl then looked towards the raven haired club president. "So you're in charge of the Service Club, Yukinoshita-san?"
The girls behind her laughed, making Minami laugh too.
"Do you need anything?" Coldly asked Yukino, which stopped the giggling girls.
Minami looked back to Yuuko, who encouraged here with a nod. "I'm going to be the committee president, but I think I can't do it alone." She paused. "That's why, could you help me?" She said with a smile, in hopes of a warm reply.
"Self-growth." Coldly uttered the raven haired girl. "I believe that this goes against the goal you laid out for yourself."
Minami counters her argument as she speaks. "Well, yes kinda. But slowing others down would be like, the worst. I don't wanna mess up." Arms now in front of her, the red haired girl continues speaking. "And working with others to accomplish a goal is part of growth too!"
Hearing the girl's reasoning, Yukino then asks the girl a question. "So, in short, you want my assistance?"
"Yeah! That's right!" Quickly answered Minami.
"Then I will." Said the raven haired girl, which surprised Yui. "I'm already the vice president of the committee. I'll give you assistance as long as it is within those bounds."
The trio, getting what they wanted, high-fived themselves and quickly left the room.
"Weren't you going to cancel club activities?" Asked the pink haired girl, who is getting annoyed at her friend because she's acting different.
"This is different." Countered Yukino. "I'm taking this request personally. It's none of your concern." The young woman's eyes never left her novel.
"But normally-" Yui wasn't even able to finish her sentence as she was cut off by the raven haired girl.
"This is normal." Interjected the girl. "It's much more efficient this way."
Yui, seeing that her friend won't take no for an answer, decided that the best thing to do was leave.
"And that's what happened!" The pink haired teen finished recollecting the events in the clubroom.
"While what she did was concerning, I'm sure that Yukinoshita has a plan in her mind." Said the dead eyed teen. "Besides, I'm also a member of the committee."
"Just promise me one thing, Hikki." The pinkette then holds the hand of the fish eyed teen. "Make sure to save Yukinon when she's in trouble!" Forgetting the definition of personal space, the pinkette got dangerously close to Hachiman's face.
"I'll try." Replied the teen. "I know that you'll pester me anyway if I don't." Hearing what she wanted, Yui then bid farewell and left the young man on his own. 'I just hope that this festival goes smoothly, or else the festival will become a laughing stock.' Thought Hachiman as he walked towards home.
A/N: Replacement Author here. (I know I shouldn't have posted this without the info but well here we are.
Long story short, Jasserru decided to hand me his account, telling me to update it for him, as he was neck deep in researches. So I've taken the liberty of managing his account for him. He told me to do what I see fit, so I changed up things a little.
This was the last chapter he finished before handing the reigns to me. So in the future chapters, it would probably be me who's going to write about the story. Don't worry, I like where the story is going too, and I think he's done a good job so far. I just wish to live up to you expectations.
I don't know when he's going to come back, but I think I might attached on what I will write and be reluctant on giving it back.
Keep safe guys!
Deceased