f"25 . . . 12 . . . 16 . . ." Those numbers again.

"Good morning, Mr. Hikigaya. How are you feeling?" An exceptionally cheery voice called out to him in the darkness.

". . . what did you do to me?"

"Don't worry about all that, now. How are you feeling?"

". . . Hungry . . . why is everything dark?"

"You've seemed to burn your eyes out of their sockets. Don't worry, we'll fix that soon enough, but in the meantime, do you remember how the tests went?"

". . . burning . . . everything was . . . burning . . ."

"Perhaps you should ask him after his vocal cords have healed, Dr. Bright." A second voice. This one was . . . scared. No, just nervous, he thought.

"Nonsense, no time like the present after all. Say, remind me again how he did in the test with 049?"

"The doctor's anomalous properties did not affect him. It's been extremely hostile ever since it 'failed to cure a patient.'"

"I see, I see. Hey, why don't we toss him in that cell with 072 and see what happens?"

"Dr. Bright-"

"I know, I know. The goddamned ethics committee." He sounded annoyed.

"However, we have been cleared to introduce him to 999."

"Awww, but that's so boring!"

". . . where . . . why am I . . . AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Oh, shit, he's done it again. OI, CAMPBELL, GET THE EXTINGUISHER! Campbell? Oh, shit, should've told you to back up. Whoops."

Hachiman opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, drenched in sweat and breathing hard. What the hell kind of a dream was that? Why was he sweating so much? Why did his head hurt so much?

He shakily sat up, his stomach feeling weak and his head was light. Was he sick? He covered up last night, so he shouldn't be. Maybe he should just get some food, he was feeling hungry. Unreasonably hungry. He took off his sweat-soaked shirt and made his way to the closet, taking out a fresh shirt. He didn't put it on yet, first, he would freshen up in the bathroom. On his way, he grabbed a set of bandages, although why they were in his room he had no idea. As soon as he stepped in the bathroom, he looked in the mirror, and . . .

"Were my eyes always like that?" He wondered out loud. He stared at himself for a while, before shaking it off and getting to cleaning himself up.

The cool water felt amazing on his face. He scrubbed away all the sweat off his body. Now, the moment of truth. He slowly unwrapped all the bandages from his body, not paying too much attention to the brown color they advertised. As they fell, more and more of his scars showed themselves.

. . .

His body was fucking horrifying.

Burns covered most of his upper body, and through those burns, you could see scars from cuts of various sizes. It was like someone took scissors to a painting canvas and then covered it in a light brown film. His arms didn't have too much burn scarring, but he must have cut himself tons of times with all the cuts that were over them, some of them still scabbed over. He was lucky he had stayed away from his face.

He chuckled to himself.

Lucky? Yeah, right. Look at this. What the hell was wrong with me?

That's when it truly started sinking in. How messed up he was. He grabbed the sink in an attempt to steady himself as his breath grew out of control. He was supposed to be dead, but some stretch of luck he wasn't. Or maybe it was misfortune. He hadn't quite decided which yet. How much of his life did he lose? It was more than 5 months, that was for damn sure. His sister, his life, what else?

He took in a breath and started to re-wrap himself. Maybe it would be better if he just kept wearing these bandages. Scars never healed, right? He didn't want anyone seeing this part of him. This broken part . . . this dead part. Because that's what it was, truly. Whatever person he had been, was all but dead.

He had convinced himself that there was no fate worse than becoming a corporate slave. He laughed at himself. Even when he was more mature than he should have been at that age, he was so naive. He would take being a corporate slave over being trapped in his delusional mind any day. Even if he didn't remember it, just the idea of it was enough to horrify him. Then again, anyone could grow complacent if all they thought about was how much worse everyone else had.

You might be a corporate slave, but at least you weren't being chopped up alive and served in a fucking stew.

. . . Where the hell did that come from?

When he was finished he threw out the bandages and went downstairs, running on autopilot. He wanted something to eat but didn't see anyone downstairs, so breakfast wasn't prepared. That was fine.

As he moved around, he started thinking about what was going to happen today. He wanted to just lay around and be left alone, but . . . that felt wrong now, for some reason. He had a sister than he needed to get to know, after all. His desire for normalcy outweighed his laziness at the moment. He sighed inwardly.

Geez, this whole thing is a mess. He thought as he took a bite of his omelet. How am I-

Wait, omelet?

Hachiman looked down in front of him to find there was indeed a freshly made omelet in front of him. Sitting at a fully set dining table, with a total of four freshly made omelets. He blinked. He did remember making them (that was a good sign), but it was scary that he did all that on auto-pilot.

Note to self: Never use Auto-Pilot again. He thought. When did he even learn to use Auto-Pilot? He decided that it didn't matter.

Oh, well, the food was made, and he wasn't about to let it go to waste.

As he ate, he heard the rushing of footsteps come down the stairs. He stopped eating as he saw his little sister burst into view, on the verge of hyperventilating. She had this terrified look on her face as she stared at him.

". . . Morning." Hachiman said awkwardly.

"You . . . weren't in your room." She said, visibly trying to calm herself down. Of course, the first thing she would have done is to check on me. Huh, guess she really is my sister . . . okay, that was kind of a dick thing to think.

"Yeah, I, uh, got hungry so I made some breakfast." He said, gesturing to the set table. Komachi looked back and forth between her brother and the table.

"It looks good." She said hesitantly, sitting down on the opposite end of him. She was eyeing the food around her and eyeing him as he was eating. He couldn't blame her for being hesitant, he had just been insane not a month ago. Still, though, give him the benefit of the doubt. She took a hesitant bite, and after the first, she must have concluded it was safe because she started eating herself.

A tense silence fell over them as they sat there. Hachiman had no idea what to say to this . . . he didn't want to use the word stranger, but that was what she was to him, all in all. He knew nothing about her, and he felt guilty for that. It wasn't like it was his fault, but still.

"I had no idea you could cook anything besides curry and rice." She said, taking a stab at a joking tone. Even if it fell through, the attempt was enough to get Hachiman to smirk.

"You wound me. I'm not so useless as to only know one dish." She rolled her eyes at that playfully.

"My onii-chan has always been useless." She said although he could tell she was joking. Maybe.

"That was so low in points." He mumbled, stuffing another piece of omelet into his mouth. Using chopsticks felt weird to him for some reason, but he just assumed it was from the time he hadn't used it. After seeing himself in the mirror, he would have guessed they would've banned him from any kind of utensil. When his comment was met with silence, he looked up to see his sister looking at him strangely. "What?"

She gave him a soft smile, slightly tearing up.

"Nothing, onii-chan," She said, starting to eat again. He looked at her weirdly before shrugging it off and starting to eat again.

"Where are we going?" Hachiman asked. His parents had dragged him out of the house not 3 hours after breakfast. He was currently sitting in the back of his parent's car with Komachi, being taken against his will to an unknown location. Send in a strike team to help me, please!

"The mall." His mother answered from the passenger seat. He raised an eyebrow.

"Did I use to go there a lot?"

"Not really," Komachi answered for her, "but I had a bunch of onii-chan's friends go over there. I thought it would be good for you to meet them . . . again. Just to get your spirits up, ya know?"

"My friends?" He had friends? No, that couldn't be right. Friends were something he was strictly against. Or was he? How the hell was he supposed to know?! THIS SUCKS!

"Yeah, I called Yui-chan and told her to get everyone down here! Think of it as a big welcome home party!" She smiled sweetly at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"That's nice and all, but . . ." He trailed off, not knowing how to phrase it exactly. Luckily his sister seemed to read his mind.

"I already told her of your . . . condition. They understand what might happen. And hey, even if you don't remember some of them, you can just make new memories, right?"

". . . Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am."

"Don't get cocky." He said tonelessly, causing Komachi to giggle at him.

"In any case, you should be happy to see them even if they don't remember. Exams are coming up for them, so they're super-stressed."

"Exams?"

"Yeah. They're getting to the end of their first year, so they're studying really hard for exams, but they took a break just to see you."

"Huh. That's . . . nice." He said. He didn't know how to feel about that. Even if he did have friends, it couldn't be that many people. He wasn't one of those Riajuus after all. He knew Yui (He guessed because Komachi just said her name) Kawa . . . something. For one of his friends, he sure had a hard time remembering her name. And of course, Totsuka.

Wait, why was he blushing now?

"Yeah. And, Hachiman?" He looked at her. "While it might be a little weird at first, they do care about you, even if . . . some of them have a strange way of showing it."

Oh, so his "friends" were weirdos. That makes a lot more sense.

"It'll be fine. They were my friends for a reason, right?" He said. She smiled at him.

"Yep. Oh, we're here!"

What the hell! Why are there so many girls?!

They had yet to notice him yet as he and his family were walking up, but he went immediately to work observing them. The one with pink hair was talking excitedly to a long, blue-haired one, who looked a tad uncomfortable. To her side, a short blonde was talking with almost as much enthusiasm. He could get a pretty good read on them, the middle one was a loner, and the two others were popular nice girls.

To the side, the only guy in the group was this weirdo in an overcoat moving way too excitedly, talking to a girl who looked like she was trying her best to hold the conversation but still majorly uncomfortable. Hachiman tried to get a read on them but was immediately distracted by the white-haired angel that was trying her best to stay interested in the conversation.

She's so cute! No one has a right being that cute! What the hell!

He had to look away before he got caught staring. The last thing he needed was his . . . friends, calling him a perv. He then turned his eyes to the fountain, where two girls stood silently. One seemed a bit older and looked a lot like the one pinkie and blondie were talking to. He could tell with a glance that she was hiding something. The mask she was wearing right now was so convincing even he almost missed it, but he knew fake when he saw it. She was watching the group interact with a sweet smile. Almost everyone had some kind of mask on, save the white-haired girl in the back and the gift from god currently distracted by what was no doubt an otaku.

Well, Komachi did warn me they were weirdos, so . . .

The other one looked as if she didn't want to be there at all. A loner like him, no doubt. He could see how they would be friends if they ever actually managed to get on a speaking level before.

"Hikki!" The pink one suddenly yelled when she noticed him. The sheer volume that she managed to reach caused him to slightly flinch. The whole group of them turned as one to look at the loner currently making his way towards them. With the weight of 7 pairs of eyes on him, he started to feel a little uncomfortable.

I have no idea who any of these people are. He thought to himself. In an awkward attempt to greet them, he raised a hand to wave hello.

"Y-Yo." He said uncomfortably. Damn it, that was such a lame greeting!

He was surprised to see that almost all of them immediately looked relieved and started rushing to meet him.

Oi, too fast, give me some time to process here! He thought as the wave of words came crashing on him. They were all talking at once, so he couldn't make out even a complete sentence. The chorus of voices overwhelmed him and drowned out any intelligent thoughts he could have made. He looked between the faces that crowded around him as he tried to form some kind of coherent phrase.

"Uh . . . I . . ." Even as he tried to say something, they didn't let up. Couldn't they see he was freaking out right now?

"H-Hey, everyone!" The white-haired angel screamed out, effectively shutting up everyone else. "I think we might be coming on too strong here. H-He looks uncomfortable."

Thank you, my heavenly savior! The group looked at Hachiman for a second, some tried to play it off awkwardly while others straight up looked guilty. Wait, why does the older one look like she's having fun? She's gonna be a problem, isn't she?

"S-Sorry, Hachiman. You must be overwhelmed right now." She said, tentatively fixing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Stop being so cute, dammit.

"I-It's no problem, uh . . ." Think, man, dammit. She must be somewhat familiar, how could you forget a beauty like this?! Think! Oh well, let's just give it a shot in the dark. Hopefully, his luck wasn't too rotten at the moment. ". . . Totsuka?"

She looked at him wide-eyed before her face morphed into the most breath-catching smile he had ever seen. At that moment, he swore on his life that he would do everything in his power to protect that smile.

"You remembered me! I'm so happy!" I could die a happy man right now.

Suddenly he felt guilty, looking over at his sister. Fortunately, she didn't show any sign of being hurt that he remembered a school friend more than he did her, although he felt awful about it. Instead, she was smiling at him.

"Well, that makes sense. Totsuka-kun is your closest guy friend, Hikki!" Someone said, too chipper for the horrible news they had just delivered.

. . . Huh?

Hachiman looked closer at the angel smiling at him. There was no way . . . was there? No, it wasn't possible. A guy wouldn't possibly be this cute. It wasn't scientifically possible.

"Senpai, you're staring." Someone said. Hachiman looked over to see the blonde girl pouting angrily at him.

"Senpai?" He asked questioningly. The pout was immediately washed from her face. There was a split-second of . . . something, he didn't know what, before an awkward smile took over her features.

"Y-Yeah. You're my Senpai, Hikigaya-kun," she said nervously. "Do you remember me?"

He looked at her harder. He tried, he really did, but nothing about her stirred up anything in his mind. He tried for a little while longer before he could tell that his gaze started to make her uncomfortable. Giving up, he simply bored.

"I'm sorry, I don't." He said simply. Geez, he felt like shit right now.

"O-Oh, it's fine, Senpai." The tone of voice suggested that it was not fine. "You don't have to apologize."

He stood up and saw that everyone was suddenly thousand times more uncomfortable. He shifted from foot to foot, looking between everyone.

"U-Um, my name's Isshiki Iroha." She said, bowing. "It's nice to meet you."

. . . well, at least it didn't make this any more awkward.

"N-nice to meet you, too." He said. Geez, this was gonna be painful, wasn't it? Troublesome. "I hope we can become good friends."

"Of course." She straightened and smiled at him.

He looked around the group. Suddenly not everyone was so keen to interact with him. Not that he particularly blamed them. He looked to the loner in the back. She made eye contact with him, attempting to appear uninterested unconvincingly. Wait, that stirred something. Black Lace? What, why did that pop-up? Wait, I know it. Her name was the other one I remembered.

"Kawa . . ." He started. She perked up immediately, full attention on him. "Kawa . . . Damn it, I remember, I do." He tried massaging his temple to quell the migraine that was coming up. "Kawa . . . something, what was it?"

"Stop." Her voice interrupted his brain-storming session. "D-Don't stress yourself." She wasn't making eye contact anymore, looking away embarrassed. "Kawasaki Saki."

". . . right. Sorry." He said. Everyone else around them seemed somehow even more depressed, either looking away sadly or giving him looks of pity.

Stop looking so sad, wasn't this supposed to be a reunion?

"M-My names Yuighama Yui." The one with pink hair said. She bowed to him. "It's nice to meet you." He blinked, looking over at the peppy girl.

"You may call me Zaimokuza Yoshiteru." The weirdo in the overcoat said, striking a pose.

"My name is Yukino Yukinoshita." The first loner he noticed said.

"I'm her big sister, Haruno." The older one smiled. Ah, yes. The problem one. I should keep an eye on her.

"It's nice to meet you all." He said.

The earlier tension was gone, replaced by relieved looks and, dare he say, even genuine happiness on his part. He never did have friends before, at least that he remembered. Except for that one in middle school . . .

Of course, out of everything in my life I remember that. He thought, somewhat less happy now. Still, this had gone a lot better than he expected.

"Thank you all for coming," his sister said from behind him. "We'll leave him in your care for now."

"Huh?" He said, turning to his sister. However, before he could further question her, he felt someone grab his arm. He turned back around to see Totsuka had gotten ahold of him.

"Let's go, Hachiman!" He said excitedly, smiling at the confused teen. God is laughing at me right now.

He let himself be dragged into the small crowd, his friends that were strangers chatting away excitedly around him. He could tell that tonight, while it might be good for everyone, was going to be extremely annoying to say the very least. He didn't care as long as Totsuka didn't let go-

Boy, Hachiman! He's a boy! Get it together!

"Itadakimasu!" A chorus of teens said around them as they dug into the newly arrived food. The first stop in this place was some kind of restaurant. Hachiman thought the smell was familiar, but that was about it. They dragged him to a large booth, sticking him between the Yuighama and Yukino. While he didn't necessarily mind, he sensed a tension between the two of them as soon as they sat down. It was so awkward that he could barely enjoy the food he was eating.

Did I drag them out in the middle of a fight or something? They couldn't have a problem with me, right? Wait, maybe they could. But what did I do?

"So, Hachiman," the problem one spoke up, "how's your food?" Out of the corner of his eye, Yukinoshita glared at her sister, but he decided to ignore that for now. It must be a family problem, and he was not about to get involved in that.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's good. The pasta could use a little more salt, though." He said, looking down at his plate. While it was true the pasta was kind of dry, he wanted the whole tension in the air to stop.

Why can't you just separate these two? Seriously, does no else see how awkward this is?! I can't be the only one, someone please help me! Totsuka, you calmed down everyone before! Weird guy, do something to distract them!

"Hachiman!" Someone yelled.

"Huh?" He whipped his head up and saw that everyone was staring at him with faces full of worry.

"Are you okay, Hachiman? You went kind of silent there," his angel asked. He tried to keep the blush from his face.

"O-Oh? Sorry, I guess I was just spacing out." He laughed trying to play it off, but it seemed now everyone was just as awkward as him. You guys act weird too easily!

"You sure you're all right?" The blond one, Isshiki, asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just kind of . . . awkward right now, ya know?" He said. Damn it, you moron, why'd you say that?

"Yeah, it's tense, you knoooow." She said, dragging out the last word. Hachiman blinked in confusion.

"I'm not gonna respond to you talking like that." He said. I can put up with a lot of things, but not that. My pride won't allow it.

"Senpai, that's mean." She pouted angrily.

"Do you usually pout that much?" He thought out loud. She huffed and crossed her arms, looking away.

"If you think pointing out my cute behavior is gonna get you on my good side, you're sorely mistaken."

"Okay, now I know you're messing with me." He dead-panned. She turned back to him and stuck her tongue out with a smile and a wink. "How old are you, twelve?"

All of a sudden, Yukino started chuckling next to him. He turned to her.

"What's so funny?" He asked. She waved him off.

"Nothing." She said, all tenseness gone.

". . . Riiiiight."

"Now you're copying me? Geez, Senpai."

"Don't insult me like that." He said, turning to her. She laughed, and he blinked in confusion. Suddenly, everyone sitting around him started chuckling, save Kawasaki.

"You never do change, you know that?" The problem one said. He deadpanned at her.

These people are weird. He thought as he reached over to grab the salt shaker. Shaking some on his pasta, it seemed that whatever weirdness was there before was gone, and everyone was now talking or cracking jokes, save the weird guy that was ignored by almost everyone. Not that it seemed to have any effect on him. He did notice that almost everyone kept stealing glances at him. He figured that everyone wanted to say something to him, but didn't want to do it in front of the group. Of course, they would, although he wasn't looking forward to that.

He wasn't quite ready for what was no doubt going to be an overly-emotional talk.

"Is everyone finished?" Isshiki asked. He blinked and looked down at the half plate of food still in front of him.

"Actually, I'm still-" He started.

"I think we're all good," The problem one said, "Let's do some window shopping!"

"That sounds great! What do you guys think?"

"Huh?" Yuighama said, surprised. "O-Oh, that sounds cool."

"Yes, I require new garments," Zaimokuza said, standing up. Everyone else followed suit.

. . . Okay, I guess, that's fine. He got up and left his food there. It's not like I was hungry or anything, ya know?

"I-I'll be there in a second," Kawasaki said, not moving.

"Okay, we'll be outside. Come on, Hikki!" Yuighama said, dragging him out of his booth.

They stood outside for a minute, waiting for her. Hachiman stood awkwardly as Zaimokuza attempted to talk with him, although he couldn't even begin to keep up with him, what with all his movements and weird phrases. Geez, this guy just didn't chill at all, did he?

"I'm ready." He turned and saw Kawasaki walking to them with a bag in her hand.

"Okay, let's go!" Isshiki said, effectively dragging the group along.

Kawasaki ended up right next to him, as opposed to her past spot on the outside. He looked down at the bag.

"Leftovers?"

"Yeah. For my siblings."

"That's cool."

And that was the end of that conversation.

They dragged him around different stores and such. He found no pleasure in window shopping, but even he had to admit it was nice to be surrounded by people who seemed to like him. Although he didn't know yet what they were really like behind whatever masks they had up right now. It seemed almost everyone had some kind of persona on right now, save for Kawasaki, Zaimokuza, and of course Totsuka.

"Hachiman! Let's go over there!" Totsuka said, grabbing onto his arm and pointing to some kind of clothing store. It mostly had hoodies and shirts from what he could see, but who was he to say no when Totsuka asked so nicely?

"S-Sure, let's go," he said. Totsuka started to pull him away, the group following close behind.

"25 . . . 12 . . . 16 . . ."

He ignored it this time. He wasn't hearing things. He wasn't.

The group took this time to play "dress-up Hachiman," picking out different shirts, jackets, and hats they thought would look good on him. Unfortunately, they all seemed to be too small for him, which was weird. He was . . . Well, before all this at least, he was around average height and super skinny. Looking at himself, he noticed he was a lot more muscular than what he used to be, although he couldn't imagine for the life of him why. Maybe the "crazy Hachiman" just liked working out. Of course, he wasn't the only one to notice.

"You got taller, Hikigaya-san," Yukinoshita said.

"Oh, she's right! You two used to be at eye-level!" Yui said, way too interested in the new subject. Hachiman was at least half a foot over her now.

"Well, I guess I just grew." He shrugged off their comments. While it was a difference, it wasn't something to make a big deal out of.

"Hachiman, try this on!" Totsuka said, showing him a sports jersey. Hachiman took it without hesitation.

"Sure, one sec." He shed his outer jacket, leaving only his short-sleeve short. He slipped on the jersey. It was nice and baggy on him, which he liked, even if he wasn't much of a sports guy. He looked at Totsuka.

"Well?" The angel wasn't making eye contact, instead opting to look at the ground.

"I-It looks good, Hachiman," He said timidly.

That would have excited him if Totsuka didn't look so sad. They all looked uncharacteristically sad again, not looking at him. He looked down at himself, did it look that bad-

Shit.

He forgot about the bandages.

The jacket was the only thing covering the bandages on his arms, and the short-sleeve shirt did nothing to hide the injuries on them. Looking back up at them, he must have figured they knew why they were there. Stop making things so weird, it's not like I'm still crazy!

"I think I'll get it," Hachiman said, slipping it off and putting his jacket back on. Even if I don't like sports, Totsuka picked it out for me, how can I say no?

"Y-You don't have to," Totsuka said, looking up timidly at him. I'm starting not to care whether you're a guy or not, Totsuka. Get it together, Hachiman, don't let yourself go to the dark side!

"Nah, I like it." He said, smiling. He reached in his pocket for his wallet-

Oh, right, no money. Well, this is awkward. I can't put it back now, but I can't ask one of them to buy it for me. Think, Hachiman.

"You probably don't have any money with you, right?" Isshiki piped up from the back. He looked over at her with almost a glare. "Don't worry, I'll get it for you, Senpai."

"You sure?" He asked hesitantly.

"Of course. Buuuut," of course, "you'll owe me a favor."

"That's awfully sly of you, ya know." He said tonelessly. She giggled.

"I knooooow," she grabbed it from him and skipped off to the cashier. He blinked, feeling the glares from most of the girls there. What the hell did I do?

He looked down at Totsuka, who was shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. Yui was pretending to look at some shirts while simultaneously glancing at Hachiman. Yukino and Kawasaki were just glaring in different directions, Haruno seemed to be having the time of her life, and Zaimokuza seemed completely unaware of the situation, looking at a jacket in the back whispering about some kind of "demon eye." Hachiman didn't even want to know what that was about.

"You guys . . . good?" He asked. No one seemed to respond except Totsuka.

"O-Oh, we're fine, Hachiman. No need to worry," He said, waving his arms. You're too kind for your own good, ya know?

"Indeed, Hachiman," Zaimokuza said, returning wearing the jacket he was eyeing, which was like the one he had just had but black. "However, the wind howls tonight with something evil. I can feel a battle brewing in the underworld, it grieves my arm. . . I mean, hand." He said, posing dramatically. Don't try to play it off, dumbass.

". . . right." Chuunibyuo. At least that should distract them all-

He shifted to see them and nothing had changed.

What the hell?! What's their problem?

"Here you go, Senpai," Isshiki returned, giving him the shirt in a plastic bag.

"Do you have a receipt?" He asked. She blinked in confusion.

"Why? You're not gonna just turn around and return a gift, are you? That's low, Senpai."

"Of course not, Totsuka picked this out for me," He said, not noticing the blush on said boy's face, "I just didn't like the way you said 'favor.' You sounded like it would be something shady, so I'd rather just pay you back." She backed up in mock horror.

"I'm offended, Senpai. Do you think so little of me?" He rolled his eyes and looked behind her.

"Oi, how much did she pay for this?!" He yelled to the cashier.

"About 1300!" He yelled back.

"Thanks!" Hachiman, satisfied, turned back to the clothes.

"H-Hey!" Isshiki protested behind him, although he ignored it. He didn't appreciate her trying to take over Totsuka's gift, even if it really wasn't a gift. As he thought that, something caught his eye.

"Hey, Totsuka, come here." He said. The white-haired boy appeared next to him.

"Yeah?" Hachiman turned, with a medium-sized hoodie in his hands.

"Try this one on."

"Huh? O-Okay, if you think I should," he said, timidly taking it from Hachiman.

As he put it on, Hachiman noticed that he didn't fill it up quite all the way. Must be small. Seriously, with how petite and cute he was, no wonder Hachiman thought he was a girl. If he was, at this point Hachiman probably would have confessed and gotten rejected immediately. Still, it looked good on him, an almost pearl white jacket with the small emblem of a silver rabbit on the left side of the chest. The image does fit him.

"Let me get you a smaller one," he said, about to turn.

"I-I'm not that small," Totsuka protested, pouting. "I like this one just fine!"

"Oh? That's cool, then." He said.

"Hikki!" Someone said. He turned to see Yuighama had put on a jacket of her own. "W-What about me?"

"Hmm . . . it looks good, but . . ." He turned to look back at the wall. Ah, there. He grabbed one and approached her. A pink sporty jacket that was covered in bows. It had a nice mix of "pretty girl" with "sporty girl." He didn't think it matched her personality, but it surely complemented the outfit she had on.

"I think this one would really look nice on you." He said, holding it out to her. She grimaced at his words.

"That's kind of a creepy thing to say, Hikki."

. . . what?

Weren't you the one who wanted my opinion? What the hell kind of comment was that?

"Uh . . . sorry," he said, backing down. He put the jacket back and walked away, pretending to look at other clothes. What the hell was her problem? He guessed they just weren't that good of friends. He stealthily stole a glance behind him, seeing that she looked just as shocked as she felt. Good, feel bad! I didn't do shit wrong!

He took off a shirt from the rack, looking at it. He wasn't about to offer it to anyone else, given the reaction he just got. Seriously, if she thought he was creepy, why'd she even bother to show up?!

"Hikigaya-san." Someone said behind him. He turned to see the long-haired loner.

"Oh, Yukinoshita-san, right?"

"Correct. May I speak with you?"

"Sure."

"In private."

"Uhhh . . . okay?"

She grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him out of the store. He shot confused looks at everyone as he passed them, though no one would make eye contact. He avoided looking at Yuighama after that comment.

She dragged him into the middle of the mall, still within eye-shot of everyone inside but far enough where everyone could hear.

"W-What's up?" He said, a little embarrassed by being asked to speak in private by an admittedly pretty girl, even if she did come off cold. She turned to him with a glare, which he guessed was supposed to intimidate him.

". . . Hikigaya-san, do you truly not remember me?" She asked, looking him dead in the eye.

"N-No, sorry."

". . . I see. I suppose there's no helping it then." She said, then walked back to the store. He blinked in confusion.

"W-Wait, did you bring me out here just to ask me that?" She looked at him behind her back with a smirk, before walking back into the store.

Okay, I think it's time to go home. Wait, I don't have a phone, shit. Uuuuuuuuggggghhhh.

He walked back into the store, catching glances from everyone, save Yukinoshita. What was the point of all that? He looked over at Kawasaki, but she immediately looked away from him, refusing eye contact. Well, that was fine, like this night wasn't shit enough at this point. He would just go talk to Totsuka, that should cheer him up.

"O-Oh, my dad just texted me, I have to go." No, you were literally the only thing keeping me sane at this point! "I'll see you later, Hachiman."

The white-haired angel waved to him, before jogging out the store. Hachiman noticed he carried a plastic bag with him.

"Senpai, let's go somewhere else!" Absolutely not!

"Actually, I'd really rather go home right now." He said, sighing. "I'm kind of tired."

"O-Oh, okay, Senpai," she said, so caught off guard her persona slipped off for a split second.

"See you guys," he said, not bothering to hear any of their goodbyes before walking out the store. He got about 15 steps before stopping and sighing aloud. He walked back into the store. "Can someone call my parents, please?"

"O-Oh, right." Yuighama pulled out her phone and started texting away.

He stood there awkwardly as he waited for her to finish up. He would not be doing this again, that was for damn sure. It was a wonder to him why his family thought this was a good idea. He sighed inwardly. This was going to be troublesome to deal with, wasn't it?

"They said they're just outside," Yuighama said. "We can walk you over there if you want?" She posed it more as a question, looking at him timidly. If he wasn't so exhausted at this point, he would've called that cute.

"Sure, thanks." He walked out of the store, the others following close behind him.

They made their way through the mall in awkward silence, the others dragging their feet behind him as he tried to keep a decent pace. They wanted to spend more time with him, but all he wanted was a break. There was more social interaction in this last hour than he was used to in a week. He couldn't wait to get home and just lie in bed, letting the blanket cover him and block out all the annoying people of the world.

"Hey, Hikki." Yuighama's voice broke him out of his stupor. He looked over at the pinkette.

"yeah?"

"You know I didn't mean it, right? When I said you were being creepy? I was just teasing you, ya know? I didn't think it was actually creepy."

". . . It's fine." He said, looking back upfront. And it was. After all, it wasn't anything he wasn't used to by now.

"Okay." She said quietly, falling back a bit. He just didn't have any other way to respond at the moment.

"25 . . . 12 . . . 16 . . ."

Quiet, you.

"Hikigaya." Someone else said. He turned to see Kawasaki looking at him. In her hand was an outstretched food container.

"Huh?"

"You didn't finish eating, so I grabbed your food." She said. Short and curt, a nice change of pace compared to . . . well, everyone else. He took it from her with a smile.

"Thanks, Kawasaki-san." She nodded in acknowledgment, and that was the end of that interaction. That was a lot better than what he had been held victim to this entire morning, what with the sly Isshiki, the annoying Zaimokuza, and the extremely confusing Totsuka. He stole a look behind him to see most of the girls weren't exactly pleased with that interaction, save Haruno. Of course, they all played it off immediately when they saw him looking at them. Zaimokuza was awkwardly trying to start a conversation with somebody, but no one was responding as he spat out weird fantasies at an impossible rate.

Note to self: Avoid that one like the plague.

They stepped outside, where he saw his sister waiting with his parents. Finally, an escape route.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys around." Or not. Honestly, if I can avoid more weirdness like that, that would be much obliged.

"Hikigaya-san," Yukinoshita said. Just let me leave! He internally pleaded. ". . . do you know when you'll be returning to school?"

"Uh . . . no, I don't." Why are you even asking me that?

"I see. Well, we will be looking forward to your return, whenever that may be." She bowed to him. You're way too formal right now, weirdo!

"Thanks. See you later." He said, turning and walking straight to his parents' car, without waiting for any other weird farewells from these people.

Of course, a loner like me would attract a bunch of weirdos. Well, maybe that's too harsh . . . or not.

"How was it, onii-chan?" His sister asked him as they rode back. He sank back into his seat at the interruption of his silent ride. He replayed the events over and over.

"Strange." He said. "They're all kind acting kind of weird around me, no matter what I tried."

"Oh? Well, I guess I can understand them. I mean, I wouldn't know what to do in that situation."

"Yeah, I guess. Although . . ."

"Hm?"

"It's just, I think it would've been better if I was eased into it, ya know? They were . . . kind of overwhelming." Komachi gave him a supporting smile.

"Oh, is that so? I'm sorry, I just wanted you to be happy again." She said, twiddling her thumbs. He smiled at her.

"It's fine, Komachi. If anything, it was more awkward than anything else." He chuckled, and she brightened immediately.

"Don't worry, onii-chan. I'm sure everything will be back to normal in no time." she gave him a thumbs-up. "I bet that earned me a lot of points, huh?" He chuckled at her.

"Sure, Komachi." He said, before turning to look out the window.

Normal, huh? What's normal supposed to be for me? They're kind of rushing me back into all this, but I don't have any idea what "this" is. They must be desperate to have the old me back, otherwise, they wouldn't be going around like everything's fine. They could at least give me some time to adjust. Kind of like . . . what was his name again . . .

Bursting pain in his head.

He was frozen.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't make a sound.

.

.

.

.

.

"I'm fine."

.

"Do you want to see them all die again? I can make that happen. Over and over."

.

"Are you starting to grasp what's at stake here? What we risk losing, because of your cowardice!"

You again?

"Eh, just kill 'em all already."

.

"###-#, are you ready for the next test?"

.

"You're being put in the field today, kid. Excited?"

Is hell not enough for you?

"Are you willing to sell your soul to save your life? If not, then don't bother me with pointless questions."

You must have it all, then? Your greed truly knows no limits.

"We don't exist out here, kid. Reality doesn't reach our here. We are at the center now."

You must keep spreading, you must keep growing, you must keep consuming everything in yourself. You want to burn. You want to burn everything.

.

"But I won't let you." He whispered.

"Onii-chan!"

He jumped out of his trance, turning back to his sister.

"Y-Yeah?"

"I was calling your name. You were whispering and shaking. It was starting to scare me." She said. He could see now that her whole body was quaking, her eyes watery. She was on the verge of sobbing. He stared at her for a few moments.

"I think . . . I was remembering something." The look on his sister's face turned from sad to hopeful in a split second.

"What was it?"

". . . I'm not sure, but . . . it felt hot." He said.

She flinched at that, and her eyes darted to his stomach before meeting his eyes again. She must be thinking about the time he had apparently set himself on fire.

"It'll be fine, onii-chan," she said, grabbing him in a hug. "It'll be fine."