The day was nice, the sky almost cloudless, the humidity low, and the temperature pleasant, it was like the weather was matching my mood. I knew that the world didn't revolve around me, but sometimes it did feel like it.

I opened the door and stepped through with a flourish, expecting to be greeted by some degree of disarray. Instead, Hikigaya stood up and slipped through the array of quietly whispering groups. "Haruno." He greeted me. Though the undertone was there 'what do you want?' He was asking.

He's just so much fun, I'm glad that I made time for this. "As a former alumnus, president, and chairwoman of the festival, I've come to offer assistance." I smile, painting myself as an innocent flower child who couldn't hurt a fly. Also, a nice little put-down of Meguri while I'm at it. I did both and handled them with ease.

He doesn't buy it, not for one second. "Hard pass." Excuse me what? What the hell? Even I didn't see this coming, and for the first time in years, I think that I may be legitimately offended.

The conversations around us came to a stop, I changed my expression to one of friendly confusion. "I-I'm sorry." Throw in a little stutter to express my vulnerability at such a cruel rejection. "What do you mean by hard pass?"

His expression was as humorless as ever. "It means what it sounds like. Hard Pass. If you want to volunteer to help on the day of or want to perform using one of the concert slots, that's fine, go talk to external contracting." He began to turn around again, asking a question to a shell-shocked Yukino and then repeating it when she didn't respond.

I laugh again though this time it truly is strained. "Hikigaya, I understand that you want to be independent, but I can offer valuable insight from my experience. Don't let your desire for independence limit your ability to succeed." If possible the room would get quieter.

My offense has been totally replaced by amusement, he put me on the back foot, then really made me think of a response. I was pushed farther and had a chance to grow, even slipping in a dig at Yukino. He brought out this potential in me that I didn't know I had.

He might be my favorite person I've ever met.

I wonder if he feels the same?

~/~

"Don't let your desire for independence limit your ability to succeed," Haruno said to me. Most likely an insult aimed at both me and her little sister. I knew that day two had been going far too well for it to last. At least the committee excuse allowed me to avoid dealing with my parents.

The room was watching this confrontation, which wasn't necessarily something that I wanted. I faced them and several pairs of eyes that had been observing the disagreement were suddenly very interested in the papers on their desks. "Hey everyone, take five! I need the room." I gestured for them to clear out; they did, albeit reluctantly. They shuffled out, curious still but resolved to have their unspoken questions go unanswered.

"Except you, Yui." I gestured for her to stay and her smile lit the room. I wanted to make sure that she felt included, after asking only Yukinoshita to be my co-executive. I assume that she was offended because she kept on looking at me like she had something to say but couldn't. She had asked to speak to me after the last meeting but had then said it was nothing.

Allowing her to be privy to this discussion along with another task I'd thought up, was a way to make sure my friend felt valued. She practically skipped back to her seat and failed to keep a smile off of her face. Once the room was sealed and empty except for the people who had to be there, we began.

Yukinoshita stood behind me, and we faced Haruno. Hiratsuka sat at the desk, her feet propped up, and Yui sat facing her, both observing us.

"Look, Haruno, on behalf of the committee, I thank you for your interest in assisting with the administrative aspects of the task, however, the unfortunate reality is that our system works better with fewer parts. Additionally having someone so capable on staff." I gestured to her, nothing wrong with a little flattery. "Would limit the ability of the students to grow in ability." I bowed to finish off my corporate-lingo-loaded message to her of 'go the hell home.'

Her eyes narrowed but stayed playful, like a chess player facing a particularly difficult problem, and relishing in the challenge. "But having someone so strong as me could set a good example for those trying to learn."

Well, forget being nice and saving her the embarrassment, Yukinoshita's sister or not, no way in hell am I going to tolerate her buzzing around my project. Time to escalate.

"Haruno, I fear that you may perpetuate a certain way of thinking, a stagnant administrative philosophy. Looking at the initial reports from your year, you were more price efficient than other years; sure. But several key logistical errors detracted from the festival's successes, it doesn't matter if the performance scheduling rocked if the bathrooms were unusable. Who cares how good the exhibit is in this hallway when it's so hot and stuffy that you can barely breathe? This speaks either to negligence or error on your part neither of which I want to be brought into my operation." I concluded nodding respectfully despite the buzzword-filled bitchslap that I had just delivered.

Behind me someone chuckled, Haruno's face was paler than I had ever seen it before. Yukinoshita's laugh came as a stifled rumbling then broke into full-on snorts as Haruno gathered herself and began to leave.

And then, maybe she didn't even understand what she was really doing. Maybe she did, but either way, it was awesome. Yui, in an act of absolute social evisceration, called after Haruno. "Would you still like to book a performance slot? And if you buy tickets for events now you can get them at a discount."

Now I was struggling to hold in my laughs, Haruno turned back from the door; a paper-thin smile on her pretty face, that threatened to rip if she was pushed an iota further. "I'll think about it." She left, her footsteps retreating down the hall.

I cackled into the air as Yukinoshita chuckled and Yui looked between the two of us, her visage fondly amused. Hiratsuka muttered something about 'weird kids' and 'needing a smoke'.

We laughed in the room for a minute before a tentative knock on the door reminded us that we needed to let the other students back in. We each took a moment to order ourselves once more, Yukinoshita's cheeks were flushed pink from the laughing and the laughing of mine had left me wheezing. Fortunately, my ribs had healed enough that they could take a little bit of laughter.

The rest of the meeting went about as we expected though we did make good headway on the QR codes on flyers and posters proposal. Along with who would design the website that it would lead to.

When it was over we all bid each other goodbye, except for Yui who hung back by the farthest wall watching me and waiting for privacy. I met her eyes and gestured with my head taking us both to an abandoned hallway. I expected a confrontation, not a proposition.

"Hikki, we need to talk, I know a really nice little cafe nearby. Do you want to go there right now? I'll pay." I checked the time on my phone and nodded, I could always arrange to have food dropped off at home for Komachi, and I sent her a message explaining why I would be late. What to order for her? Maybe something traditional? Or fusion? Decisions, decisions.

I agreed to her request, she no longer seemed nervous about asking these things of me. I suppose we had reached a stage where asking was considered appropriate and a rejection just meant that the other party was busy at the moment. "I would be happy to join you." In many ways I found it touching that she wanted to pay for it as friends do, but no way in hell was that going to happen.

She was a friend and money meant basically nothing to me anymore, especially since once Ganan Shinomiya died I would come into more wealth than most people could ever dream of. Shinomiya would be quite possibly the richest person alive, and I wouldn't be too poor myself.

I omitted that from my reply and walked with her. I was unsure of how to start the conversation and for once Yui wasn't interested in carrying it. What perturbed me more was that she wasn't humming or doing any of those stupid mannerisms that usually drive me crazy. I just didn't know what to do.

Something was weird between us and I wondered if she too was spooked after almost getting roofied. (I didn't know the exact mix of drugs so I used 'roofied' as a general expression).

Mercifully the cafe was only a few minutes away, I could hardly stand how Yui took glances at me every few seconds from the corner of her eye. It was like the first time I met Iino and she was too scared to talk to me.

We reached the cafe and were greeted by a thin middle-aged woman who smiled at seeing Yui. "Oh, Yui, my dear, how are you? How's your mother? Have you lost weight? You're so skinny. Come in and eat something." She bombarded a dazed Yui with questions and pulled her into a hug, which coincidentally prevented her from answering.

She then looked over Yui's shoulder and zeroed in on me. "Oh my god; Yui, is this your boyfriend? This is so exciting." She shuttled over to me, now inspecting me, before yelling into the kitchen, and attracting many diners' eyes. "Takami, get out here."

A thin man with a five o'clock shadow and a buzz cut came out. He wiped his brow on a hand towel, smiling good-naturedly at his wife's (I assume by the matching rings) enthusiasm. "Yes, Mika, what is it?" He brightened up more when he saw Yui.

"Yui!" He said, smiling and giving her a short hug. He looked me over with a twinkle in his eyes. "I assume that you're the reason that my Sue chefs are having to scramble right now."

I nodded, meeting his gaze. He seemed friendly and I did trust Yui as a judge of character (for the most part). "Yeah, but Yui and I aren't dating, we are friends though." I grinned at her and she smirked back, amused and annoyed about something.

"Yui, we're so worried for you, you need to find someone, man or woman, it doesn't matter but you shouldn't live your life alone." He said, tone caring. He and his wife's hands found each other's and grasped, almost unconsciously it seemed.

"I will, I will." She promised, placatingly. Returning hugs before asking to be seated. With a conspicuously conspiratorial wink to both of us, Mika seated us at a private booth. "I'll leave you lovebirds alone." She giggled, ignoring Yui's protest.

"How do you know them so well? Are you related, or are they like old friends of your Mom's?" I asked while browsing the menu options, subtly impressed by the selection and food description.

"You could say that." Yui tried, her expression awkward. I made to tell her that I didn't need to pry but she shushed me and soldiered onwards. "After my mom had me, she was out of a home, with little money or support. She was in and out of shelters for a bit, any money that she could earn being used to feed me. This was all told to me later, I was too young at the time to remember, probably for the best anyway. Even my mom said that the first few years of my life weren't worth remembering."

I agreed shelters were never pretty. My respect for Akari again increased, I had no idea how much she must have been through.

"My mom was willing to do anything for work besides being a, you know, lady of the night." I nodded not wanting to interrupt but showing that I understood.

"So she comes stumbling into this diner for a job interview, half-dead from starvation, shivering because the shelter showers had no hot water. They interview my mom and once they realized that she wasn't an addict just frozen they hire her. They then proceeded to feed her and give her a signing bonus of five-thousand yen. Mom was so grateful that she cried and hugged them both. She then used that food to buy me more formula. Mom had been forced to steal some before."

Yui paused when Mika returned, I looked at the generous women with new lenses. We gave her our drink orders, and meal orders, I made a snap decision that Komachi would enjoy diner food and I ordered two more plates of fried rice one with chicken strips for Komachi and one with pork strips for me.

Yui looked at me quizzically and I just played it off as being hungry. I didn't want to sidetrack her from this story. The truth was that I was trying to put more muscle mass on because my malnutrition and being underweight almost killed me before.

Yui continued and thankfully didn't question why a heaping plate of fried rice was needed alongside a small pizza.

"Mom worked very hard for them, and managed to get us moved into a small apartment." They allowed me to wait in the back room while she worked and let my mom eat things off the plates that weren't finished. My mom did online college and got a degree in statistics. She got a more lucrative job when I was about six and then moved us into our current apartment. We still eat her at least once a month, because my mom always says that these people saved her life."

We had another break as our drinks and my small pizza arrived. We received them gratefully but Yui eyes my plate hungrily. I sighed and ordered another one, before pushing the dish to the middle of the table. She gratefully accepted and devoured a third of it by the time I had added an adequate amount of (read: a lot of) cream and sugar to my coffee.

She blushed when I looked up, but we both smiled at each other.

"Your mom is pretty amazing." I complimented, truly impressed by what Akari had lived through.

"Yeah, Mama is super awesome." Yui readily agreed, nibbling on her next piece. After the serious tone of the story, the mood was lighter and I made a joke that came to mind.

"Did it drive Miura crazy that Mika assumed you and Hayama were dating? Did she assume? Or maybe Miura and Tobe? Or you and Tobe?" I asked, hoping that there was a funny story there.

Yui glanced away looking out the window, what she was searching for I had no idea. Her white painted fingernails toyed with the rim of her glass, her expression was on the wrong side of the line between forlorn and melancholic. "I've never brought anyone from the clique here. I didn't want to share that part of my and my Mom's life with them. Things with them are just light and breezy, which is fun but that means that you can never share things like this."

She was no longer looking out the window, but instead looked into her glass, like the bottom of her strawberry lemonade would contain the answers to her problems. I didn't respond because I had no idea what to say. I desperately needed something to change the topic, then I remembered the task that I wanted to give to Yui.

I waited an appropriate period of time, approximately fifteen seconds before broaching the new topic. "Yui, I don't know what to tell you about that. But you're strong and I think you'll find your answer. On a more positive note, I have a special job for you on the committee that only you can do."

She was mature, maybe in ways that I wasn't. Perhaps, I never was that mature, overcoming adversity for me was more of a chore than anything. I could prepare to ace tests in minutes, become a journeyman in skills in an hour, and could basically become an expert in a day. It did still take a lot of work to be at the absolute zenith of my field in every single discipline but moderate mastery of a single aspect wasn't that complicated.

As I said before, yes, Yui was mature, but she could still be childish. When I said that it was a task that only she could do, she began to resemble an excited puppy. "Oh, what is it Hikki? I'm going to do such a good job."

I idly wondered if her dog resembled Yui when he was excited. I watched in almost voyeuristic pleasure at her excitement, for me the phrase 'something only you can do' filled me with dread. That was how about eighty-five percent of the cases I consulted on were pitched to me. As something that 'only your legal expertise can assist on.'

It was said to me so often that I began to wish for the opposite, not being told to take on a near-impossible case just because it was something that only I could do. That sentence was a weight on my shoulders, the pressure crushing me down to a husk of what I used to be. It always created expectations of victory, of things that I couldn't walk away from, no matter how much I wanted to.

Yui handled the burden that I threw onto her with jubilation at the task. Perhaps like Albert Camus suggested she took pleasure in the task itself much like Sisyphus.

"I need you to be my eyes and ears in the committee." I declared, looking her in the eyes. Her face scrunched up in confusion, her cheeks dimpling cutely. "I don't know the general attitude towards me at the moment, I don't want a mutiny in my hands, the only people that I can trust in the committee are Yukinoshita and you. Yukinoshita will absolutely fail in blending in with the general populace and collecting intel. You, on the other hand, are perfect for the role, the friendly beauty can talk to everyone and keep her finger on the pulse." I smiled, pleased with my suggestion, it was a win-win for both of us.

Yui seemed flattered too, given how she blushed and smiled. Looking away shyly. "I would be happy to work with you Hikki, but I want a favor in exchange." I tensed prepared for an exorbitant demand. "I want you to answer my next question honestly. Will you do that?"

That's it, honestly, that's nothing, unless she plans to gyp me; no, Yui isn't like that. "Within reason?" I have to ensure that she doesn't ask about something like sensitive case information.

"Of course within reason," Yui assured me with a wink, which did little to provide reassurance.

We were interrupted once more by Mika, who provided me with my second pizza, my prom fried rice, and a to-go box of chicken fried rice; and provided Yui with her Omurice and a refill of lemonade. "Here you go, dear." She smiled at Yui and gave her a friendly nudge with her hips.

She left soon after, but tossed me a knowing smile.

I turned back to Yui who was digging in and I smiled. "So, food first; conversation second." She nodded with a mouth full of egg and rice.

We ate for about ten minutes, enough time for me to finish the personal pizza and work through a significant portion of pork fried rice. I had about half left when Yui set down her spoon and said, "Alright, now it's time to talk. Hikki, are your parents verbally abusive to you?"

Dead silence. I was well and truly stunned into stillness, not a single thought surfacing from the depths of my mind. I was so shocked that I bit my cheek and then dropped the spoon in my hand from the pain. She noticed and kept on staring at me, probably assuming that it was a ploy to distract her, which reflecting on it would've been a good strategy had I planned it.

If I stormed out I could avoid answering but I was a man of my word. I was scum but when I promised something to someone I followed through, that aspect of me was never in doubt. I could say that it was an unreasonable question but we both knew that would be bullshit.

"I don't know, maybe?" I sighed, rubbing my temples. Yui's frown deepened so I hastily elaborated, determined to show her that I was being genuine in my hesitation of answering.

"Once upon a time they were normal, back when they thought that I was relatively normal. They were both busy, but it happens, no big deal. Then I started law, one of my happiest memories ever, is my mom, who was a junior associate at the time, taking me for ice cream after I'd helped her win a case, I got a one-scoop vanilla cone with sprinkles and she had a scoop of chocolate with raspberries. We sat in the shade of a huge Japanese maple tree." I was rambling but Yui let me. I felt like if I stopped moving that I would break down, maybe I was already breaking down.

"My mom gave me some of her raspberries, and she showed away a wasp that was harassing me. At the time I felt like my mom was some kind of superhero as she hugged me and said that she would protect me, I'd never felt safer. We sat there for forty-four minutes and forty-three seconds. She told me about how when she became a partner all the wonderful things that she wanted to provide for me and Komachi. How despite her deeply sexist boss, she was going to go so far in law." I laughed bitterly.

"And she did. Despite those who say she only became a senior partner because of me, she is a great lawyer. Anyways, pretty soon the praises stopped and I assumed that it was my fault so I worked harder. But no matter how far I climbed or how impressive the accomplishment, the returns were diminishing. Eventually, we stopped talking entirely, when I left her law firm as an independent contractor things between us got worse. She had lost her best resource. My dad, on the other hand, was always a bit uncomfortable around me and the more I did to ease the burden on my parents' shoulders the worse it became. Neither of them has been verbally abusive, neglectful is the more apt term. My dad actually apologized recently for slapping me as I told you earlier, it got awkward so I said that I forgave him so that I could go."

Yui's expression was heartbreaking. My voice and hands were trembling as I finished my story, I felt tears run down my cheeks and realized that I had started crying. I didn't sob but instead cried quietly, like I had learned to do. I didn't want to worry Komachi when I cried so I kept a face in my pillow to muffle my cries.

I suddenly felt a warmth next to me. It seems that while I was suppressing my cries, Yui had repositioned herself next to me. I was pulled into the warmth of a hug. She wrapped me in her arms and held me as I cried.

Dredging up my painful past hurt; it hurt more than it did the first time, but, I did somehow feel better about it now.

(A/N): a little deep dive into the pasts of Yui and 8man. I plan to have two more chapters focusing on the festival, the first will conclude with the beginning of the festival, and the second will feature the conclusion of said festival. I also plan to do a portion of a chapter from 8man's parents' perspective. I don't plan to excuse what happened or justify their behavior, but I would like to explore the cycle of abuse, and the struggles of parenting a once in a generation level genius. I don't plan for there to ever be a true parental loving relationship between the Hikigaya children and their parents, but some more complete, and subsequently complex, peace and understanding will be reached between the four of them. Abuse is a complex multifaceted issue where the abusers were often victims themselves. I intend to humanize the parents beyond 8man's perspective of them. I also want to show the struggles that parents hide from their children and how that can weigh on them.

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