Notes: Don't watch 1982 anime adaptations. You have been warned.
oOo
First day self-introductions were always something he dreaded. He'd always felt that there was some sort of secret method of self-introduction that the world knew and he did not, because he always flubbed his introductions. They weren't easy! What was he supposed to mention as his hobbies? Cosplay? Even the thought of his middle school life choices made him wince in embarrassment.
This time around it was twice as bad as junior high had been; having spent the first three weeks in the hospital, his entire class was naturally curious as to every little detail of his accident. He'd just finished awkwardly explaining that his hobby was literature and writing when someone was cracking a joke about how he must've been really invested in a book to get run over by a car on the first day of school.
It was supposed to be funny, just a harmless joke by a boy he'd never met, and yet years of far more malicious comments meant that he took things way too seriously and launched into an explanation about how he was trying to save somebody's dog.
That got him a few weird looks and by the first break he was already ready to run home, dive into his bed, and never come out until the sun went out. It was that embarrassing.
Things didn't get much better after that first break either. But really, that wasn't his fault. It just sort of happened, during their Modern Japanese class.
He'd been a big fan of their first novel of study No Longer Human1; it was a novel that he'd finished before he had even entered Soubu. This was great, because it meant that he didn't even need to do any extra work to catch up.
The problem came when the discussion eventually came around to the main character Oba's self-destructive behavior within the novel. He got picked to speak, because he'd just had to go ahead and mention literature as one of his hobbies during his self-introduction. Cursing his luck, he'd stumbled his way through an argument that Oba's behavior was only an extension of his circumstances. Hachiman believed that Oba had already attempted to conform to societal standards in the earlier parts of the book, but that had not led him to the happiness that he'd sought. So, in a way, Oba's self-destructive behavior was simply another attempt at finding the happiness he had been searching for his entire life.
Was that such a terrible thing? He'd argued that it wasn't, that it didn't make Oba any less human.
It was a pretty good argument. He was proud of it and he'd only just allowed that satisfaction to flow through him after sitting back down when an icy voice cut through the classroom, colder and sharper than the winds that blew through Hokkaido in the winter.
"I believe that you are mistaken, Hikigaya-kun. You are attempting to justify behavior that is inexcusable. Oba may be a pitiable character, but that does not excuse him from the standards that we must all hold ourselves to. Surely it is impossible to see Oba as 'human', after he convinces Tsuneko to die with him, only to be saved in the end."
In some ways, Yukinoshita Yukino really did take after sister. They were both quite capable of capturing the undivided attention of the room effortlessly. Every single eye had turned to the girl sitting in the back of the room, who was holding her copy of the novel as if it were a weapon for war.
It didn't take long before he also learned that both Yukinoshita sisters were also quite good at dismantling his every argument; his every defense. She spent the next twenty minutes of the class period offering counters to every single argument he had made. Even the teacher had been casually brushed aside when she had attempted to step in to divert the conversation.
Scary.
Was this some form of revenge? Had he really made her so angry with him during those brief moments they'd spent together in the hospital?
And…how exactly was he supposed to just… invite her to dinner after all of that?!
oOo
He was still contemplating the issue of inviting Yukinoshita Yukino to dinner when lunch finally rolled around. It wasn't something that he could just casually walk up to her and ask. He wasn't some riajuu that could just saunter up to a girl and invite her over. No, it'd have to be in some form of private setting. But how exactly was he supposed to get Yukinoshita alone? There were always other students around.
He'd have to ask her to meet him somewhere private. But how was he supposed to accomplish that? He wanted to give up before he even spoke a single word to her.
Still, a promise to his sister was a promise to his sister. So he screwed up his courage and decided to just go for it. To just ask her without beating around the bush.
Never let it be said that Hikigaya Hachiman didn't give it his all for the cutest imouto in the world.
Yukinoshita, it appeared, was the type to bring her own bento box to school. He himself didn't always have that luxury, but today, Komachi had gone ahead and prepared something nice for him.
"It's your first day of high school and you've just recovered from a serious injury! I wanted to show how much I care about you, so I made you this. Kyaa, that's worth so many Komachi points!"
Since there was no need to head to the cafeteria to buy bread, he decided that it'd be easiest to just approach Yukinoshita first. There were less people around due to the rush of students that had left for the cafeteria. It'd make things easier, he hoped.
"Err, Yukinoshita?" He spoke softly, trying his best to appear casual.
Naturally, it got the attention of nearly everyone left in the room.
Yukinoshita glanced at him, but didn't respond.
He felt the back of his neck heat up with embarrassment. There was nothing he wanted more in that moment than to slink back to his desk with his tail between his legs. But against his better judgment, he tried one more time.
"Yo, Yukinoshita. I wanted to ask you something."
Yukinoshita set down her chopsticks with a small sigh.
"What is it, Hikigaya-kun?"
"Can I have a couple minutes of your time after school today?"
"What for?"
He could feel the eyes staring at them.
"I…-My sister wanted to ask you something."
"Komachi-san?" Yukinoshita frowned before she glared at him suspiciously. "Why are you lying to me, Hikigaya-kun?"
"Wha-...lying? What do you mean? I'm not lying!"
Yukinoshita slipped her phone out of her pocket and quickly tapped a few buttons, before holding the device up for him to see.
"Your sister has my LINE information. Why would she use you as a communication medium if she is able to reach me directly? What are you trying to hide from me, Hikicreepy-kun?"
He swore under his breath. If Komachi had Yukinoshita's LINE ID, she could've just invited her over to their place via LINE. It was as if his little sister was hell-bent on having him interact with Yukinoshita in any way she could. He was so going to take Komachi points away from her for that. Interacting with Yukinoshita was costing him years off his lifespan.
"Look, she wanted to invite you over for dinner, alright? Don't know why or how, but she asked me to ask you so I'm asking for her. If you don't want to come then you can just say no."
He didn't even wait for her response; he simply turned on his heel and walked back to his desk. Rummaging around in his backpack, he found Komachi's bento box, pulled it out, and began to eat his lunch, doing his best to ignore the stares and whispers.
Yukinoshita, for her part, never gave him her answer either. He didn't turn around to ask for one either. In fact, he actively avoided looking in even her general direction.
The rest of the class came flooding back from the cafeteria into the classroom shortly thereafter, which helped distract people from what had happened.
The rest of lunch passed without incident.
oOo
When classes finally ended, he was the first one out of the classroom. A loyal veteran member of the going-home club; he knew from experience that if he dawdled for too long, there he'd have to wheel his bike along behind hundreds of other students slowly meandering their way off of the school grounds, which would waste the precious time he'd get to spend with Vita-chan at home. This was especially true on this day, because he'd have to sacrifice some of that time by taking a detour to the cafe, since he still needed to pick up Komachi's cake.
He walked as quickly as he could through the hallways and slipped out to the bike rack in record time. He was slinging his bag into his bike's basket when he thought he heard someone calling his name from a distance.
But that was impossible. It was his first day at Soubu and, as expected, he'd made absolutely zero friends. Why would anyone be calling his name? In fact, why would anyone even know who he was?
Deciding that he had to be hallucinating, he wheeled his bike out from amongst the group and was just mounting the bike when he heard the voice call out his name again. This time it was unmistakably clear.
"Hikigaya! Hikigaya Hachiman!"
The voice was quite familiar, and it did not sound particularly happy with him. He didn't need to look to know who it belonged to.
There, standing on the front steps to the school was Yukinoshita Yukino, glaring coldly at him while the rest of the flow of students gave her as wide of a berth as possible.
"Ah shit," he muttered to himself. "What'd I do this time?"
With not an insignificant amount of trepidation, he slowly approached the girl, who'd folded her arms beneath her chest and was tapping her foot impatiently.
"..."
"..."
"Yo?"
"Really Hikigaya-kun? That's all you have to say for yourself?"
"Oh c'mon, what grave sin did I commit this time, Yukinoshita-sama?"
"To think that you lack such basic social etiquette, Hikigaya-kun. You invited me over, and now you're going to cancel without even providing me with any notice?"
"Ah-I…er…huh?" He sputtered.
"I knew that you were a social outcast, but I did not expect you to be incapable of forming coherent speech. This is a new low, Hikigaya-kun."
"Y-y-you didn't say anything earlier! I thought you didn't want to come."
Yukinoshita pinched her nose as if she were dealing with a particularly painful headache.
"I would rather have died than accepted such an invitation from the likes of you. But I would never turn down an invitation from Komachi-san."
"How very tsundere of you," he snarked.
"Sorry, I don't speak the language of animals."
"..."
"Stop flirting and kiss already!"
The rather loud voice came from the crowd, quickly reminding them that they were, in fact, being watched by quite a few people.
He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. Yukinoshita too was flushed red; her eyes darted towards him as if asking him what to do.
Wasn't it obvious?
They beat a hasty retreat from the wolf-whistles and catcalls.
oOo
"This is your residence?" Yukinoshita eyed the corner alley with more than a little suspicion.
"Of course not," he scoffed. "I don't even think there are any houses down this way."
Yukinoshita's suspicious glare did not lessen. If anything, she took a couple steps away from him and wrapped her arms around herself as if she were trying to protect herself.
He really shouldn't ask her. He knew that she was just waiting for him to ask.
"What?! Why are you looking at me like that?!"
Sometimes, Hikigaya Hachiman simply couldn't help himself.
"I think it's only natural that I should fear for my safety when a strange man tries to lead me down a corner alleyway," Yukinoshita replied, edging further away from him.
He groaned.
"You really need to work on your persecution complex. I'm not-"
Hachiman hesitated. He was going to say that he wasn't interested in her, but… that wouldn't have been entirely truthful.
"I'm not going to do anything to you. Who do you take me for?"
"A lowlife with few, if any, moral standards," came her swift response.
"You can wait here then. I won't be long," he threw over his shoulder as he locked the rear wheel to the bike.
After he pulled on the bike a couple times to ensure that it was locked properly, he set off down the alley towards the cafe, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder as he went. He was rewarded for his restraint when the soft pitter-patter of hurried footsteps told him that Yukinoshita had fallen into step beside him.
He couldn't help the satisfied smile that slowly spread on his face as they walked towards the cafe. It didn't matter if Yukinoshita was ignoring his very existence. He'd scored his first win.
oOo
Clang-dong!
Yukinoshita let out a squeak of surprise at the loud doorbell that always rang through the shop when someone entered.
"Welcome!" Someone called from within the kitchen. There seemed to be nobody at the register, so he took the opportunity to needle Yukinoshita further.
"Are you alright?"
Unfortunately, he couldn't quite keep his amusement from leaking out into his voice, so the only response he received was a harsh glare.
"Where have you taken me, Hikigaya-kun? Why are we in this cafe?"
Somehow, it wasn't until this moment that it hit him; it might've been a really bad idea to bring Yukinoshita here. What if her sister had mentioned something to her?
"This place? Why this is the ti- err, I mean, this is the pastry cafe that Komachi ordered a cake from. I've just got to pick it up."
"This place?" Yukinoshita gave him a skeptical glance, casting a look around the room. Her gaze lingered on the woman sitting in that seat, and his heart skipped a beat, but she didn't comment.
It seemed as though Haruno-san had not told her about the time-traveling cafe. That would make things easier for him.
"Yeah. They make a great chocolate mousse cake, apparently."
"Apparently?"
"Komachi wanted it. I've never had it."
"Do you really just follow your sister's every directive?"
"Of course! Anything for the greatest little sister in the world."
"That's disgusting. Why are you proud of your siscon tendencies?"
"Just because you don't have a great relationship with your…-"
He cut himself off again, but it was a little too late. Yukinoshita wouldn't miss something like that.
"So you and Nee-san did have a fight, huh?"
"I…uh-"
"She kept going on and on about her mysterious boyfriend and then one day she just… stopped and started going out with Shimada-kun. Her boyfriend… that was you, wasn't it?"
His heart clenched. That was… his fault, right? He still didn't like thinking too much about everything that had happened during that fateful Saize encounter. He'd always found it easier to simply avoid thinking about unpleasant events from the past.
But now all he felt was guilt.
"Yukinoshita I-
"Ah, welcome back, Hikigaya-kun." A new voice cut in from behind the counter. "Are you here to pick up your cake?"
It was Akari, giving him an awkward smile as she dried her hands on her apron while glancing curiously at Yukinoshita.
"Oh, ah yeah. Sorry I wasn't back yesterday, couldn't make the time to come out here and pick it up."
She waved off his apologies.
"It's not a big deal. I'll go grab it and get it packaged up for you."
She disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone again, but the moment had been broken. He didn't really want to talk about Haruno-san anymore; it simply felt wrong to talk about her, especially here.
Yukinoshita too seemed to prefer to avoid speaking further on the topic.
"It appears you're a regular patron of this cafe, Hikigaya-kun."
"What? I barely come here."
"Well, you must at least come often enough to have the staff recognize you."
"Oh! Akari's just a… friend."
Yukinoshita's eyebrows rose so high that they nearly disappeared into her hairline.
"Oh c'mon. It's not that surprising that I could have friends."
"I beg to differ, Hikigaya-kun."
"Well, whatever. Believe it or not. Doesn't matter to me."
"You're acting quite defensive. Have I touched a nerve?"
"Nope. Besides, it's kinda rich coming from you, looking down on me for supposedly not having friends."
"What exactly are you insinuating, Hikigaya-kun?"
"Only that you're not exactly a social butterfly, Yukinoshita. Do you even have any friends yourself?"
A cough broke up their verbal sparring match and they both jumped, before turning to find Akari grinning at them. She held up the box with the cake before setting it down carefully on the counter.
"Ah, thanks," he said, moving towards the counter.
"Be careful with how you handle it," Akari warned him as he picked up the cake. "It's a mousse cake, so it won't hold its shape very well if you handle it too roughly."
"Gotcha. I'll be careful," he said, taking far more care of the box. "Let's go, Yukinoshita. Komachi's probably waiting at home."
"Uhm-" Akari's hesitant voice made him pause and he glanced back at her.
"Oh, was there anything else I needed to know?"
Akari fiddled with her apron for a bit, glanced at Yukinoshita a couple of times, before she shook her head.
"Never mind. Enjoy your date."
"It's not a date!" he sputtered in protest.
"I would prefer it if there were no further misunderstandings about any sort of relationship with this creature." Yukinoshita nodded in agreement.
"Oi!"
They continued to bicker as they left the store, the loud clang-dong of the doorbell which marked their departure startling the both of them, almost as if it were trying its best to kick them out.
It wasn't until much later that he started to wonder why Akari had spoken up at all.
oOo
"I'm home!" He called out as he kicked his shoes off by the door. Yukinoshita followed him inside, although she removed her footwear with far more grace.
"You're late, Onii-chan!"
"Yeah well, I had to pick up your cake on the way home."
"Kyaa! The cake! I totally forgot!"
"Yeah well, that's not the only thing that held me up today."
Komachi poked her head out of the kitchen.
"Huh, what do you me- kyaa! Yukino-san! Welcome!"
"Ah. Hello, Komachi-san. Thank you for your hospitality; I'll be in your care tonight."
"You don't have to be so formal, Yukino-san! And besides, this is nothing compared to everything you did for Onii-chan when he was in the hospital. Isn't that right, Onii-chan?"
"I don't think-"
"Isn't that right, Onii-chan?" Komachi asked again, a sweet smile blooming on her face.
"Yeah, of course." He coughed once and then said, "Thanks, Yukinoshita."
"Pfft." Yukinoshita's shoulders were shaking with silent laughter as she watched their back and forth.
"What?" he asked. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry sorry. It's nothing, don't worry about it."
He glanced at Komachi; she was always the more socially adept one of the two of them so maybe she could explain to him exactly what was-
"Anyways, I wasn't expecting you to come over today, Yukino-san!" Komachi had already latched onto Yukinoshita's arm. 'I didn't prepare anything special, so I hope you're okay with curry!"
"Ah, curry is perfectly fine. I did not realize that the invitation was not meant for today; your brother simply invited me over without explaining much."
"Guh. And I even told him to ask you properly. But at least you're here! Komachi is extremely happy that you're here. Thank you for the snacks that you gave me last time, by the way! They were suuuuuuuper tasty!"
"Ah you're welcome Komachi…" Their voices faded away as they disappeared further into the kitchen, leaving him staring at the spot where they had been.
O' Komachi, he thought. How could she betray him like this? How could she side with Yukinoshita of all people?
It had been a truly terrible day.
oOo
"...-I thought that you had been informed. It wasn't my intention to create more trouble for you, Komachi-san."
"Don't worry about it! I always make extra curry cuz it's really easy to store, so there's more than enough! I don't know how spicy you like your keema curry1 though, Yukino-san; I put a lot of red pepper and cumin inside, so give it a taste. I can always get you a couple of soft-boiled eggs to tone down the heat if necessary."
Yukinoshita accepted her portion with a smile and thanks. "It'll be alright, Komachi-san. Thank you for your consideration.
"Aww, what did I say about formality? You can just call me Komachi!"
"Ahh… then thank you, Komachi."
His sister beamed as she set down a separate plate of curry in front of him.
"Itadakimasu," he muttered, before diving straight into the food. Komachi's cooking was as stellar as always. Perhaps the point penalty that he was planning on levying against Komachi could be reduced.
There was a cough from the other side of the table. He looked up to find Yukinoshita's cheeks turning red as she gingerly blew on her food.
"Are you alright, Yukino-san?"
"I…I-I'm fine. But I must admit that, despite your warnings, I did not expect it to be this spicy."
"Are you sure? I can always get out the eggs for you."
Yukinoshita waved her off, taking another big bite. "I'll be- urk (cough) (cough) al-alright."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"It's not a big deal if you can't handle the spice, Yukinoshita."
"I-hah- I can assure you- hah- that I'll be- hah- just fine." Yukinoshita glared at him, although the effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that she kept sucking in air
He shook his head at how silly the whole affair was and went back to his meal.
"Suit yourself."
And even when Komachi wordlessly rose from the table a few minutes later and retrieved the eggs from the fridge, he didn't make a single comment.
He was pretty proud of himself for that one.
oOo
Once he'd finished helping Komachi clean up after dinner, he flopped down onto the couch with a sigh of relief and grabbed his bag. He was pretty much all caught up on schoolwork, so he decided that it'd probably be a good idea to get an early start on the reading for the next unit of their Modern Japanese course. They'd be studying the works of Kenji Miyazawa.
He'd already read Night on the Galactic Railroad while he was growing up, because who hadn't? It was Miyazawa's most famous work by far, and he'd thought it profound when he'd first read it. But despite being enamored with the author, he had yet to read anything else Miyazawa had written. This was a perfect opportunity.
As he flipped past the Night on the Galactic Railroad, he wondered if he should reread the work anyways. He'd likely need to have the story fresh on his mind if he wanted to survive any argument with Yukinoshita in his class.
He felt the couch sag slightly, and looked up to find that Yukinoshita had settled on the far side of the couch.
"I didn't take you for someone who would read in advance for class, Hikigaya-kun."
"Well, I quite like Miyazawa's works, so it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned. It's something decent to read and I'm also getting ahead with my reading so that I don't have to do it later."
"You have read Miyazawa? What was your favorite of his works?"
"Err-" he rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment. "Actually, I've only really read Night on the Galactic Railroad."
"Of course," Yukinoshita nodded. "His most famous work. Did you enjoy it?"
"It's one of my favorite works."
"Oh? I suppose that it stands to reason a children's story managed to garner your admiration, Hikigaya-kun."
"...Are you saying that you disliked it, Yukinoshita?"
"...That doesn't matter. What did you like about the story?"
"Well, the overall theme of the story really resonated with me. Campanella's self-sacrificing nature and the way that he cares about everyone in the story, no matter who they are, is something that everyone should strive for. I admire his willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of others. As long as he's doing a good thing, as long as the people around him are alive and well, then his actions are justified. He's happy to accept any consequences if it can help others."
"I…I see," she paused as if to gather her thoughts. I leaned forward on the couch, curious to hear her refutation.
"While I think that Campanella certainly could have been smarter with his methods, I nonetheless must agree that his desire to help others is a noble ideal."
"Whoa. Aren't you supposed to disagree with me instead?"
"What?"
"I just figured that you preferred to exist in direct conflict with me on everything."
"Have you ever considered that you're in direct conflict with the world, and not just myself? If you were as wonderful as your sister, I suspect that we would have very little differences in opinion."
"There's the Yukinoshita that I know! I was wondering what had happened to you."
"Do you enjoy being insulted? Are you a masochist?"
He sighed and returned to his book. He flipped through Night on the Galactic Railroad quickly and resolved to reread it sometime later. The next short story that was featured in the book was Gauche the Cellist. He'd heard of the tale, a short story about an immature cellist who struggled to understand the music he so desperately wished to master. It wasn't too long; he figured that he'd probably be able to finish it in a couple hours at most.
He was just getting towards the climax of the story when he caught a whiff of flowery perfume. He turned to find Yukinoshita leaning over, trying to catch the title of what he was reading. She quickly scooted away as soon as he turned his attention towards her, her eyes daring him to comment.
Naturally he asked, "Did you need something, Yukinoshita?"
"Unfortunately, I had not brought my own work or entertainment for this evening, as I had been operating under the impression that such activities would be provided by the host."
She sighed in disappointment dramatically, as if she had just watched Best Girl lose. It was a bitter sound, as if all of the light in the world had been extinguished by the whims of some overgrown chuuni with mediocre writing ability.
"You're gonna have to ask Komachi for the TV remote. I don't know where it is; she used it last."
"I'm quite alright, Hikigaya-kun. I don't watch much television, and I have already seen this week's episode of A Cat's-Eye View of Japan."
Was that even a real show? Knowing Yukinoshita, it probably was. He chose not to comment anyways.
"Well then, there's not much I can do for you. I'm assuming you don't particularly want Vita-chan, not that she'd like you either."
"Vita-chan?"
"Yeah. The PlayStation Vita. It's a handheld gaming console."
"I'm disappointed in myself that I felt even the slightest hint of surprise at your anthropomorphization of a gaming device."
"Your denial of Vita-chan's existence is the underlying reason for her everlasting hatred for you, Yukinoshita."
Yukinoshita scooted away from him, a rather disgusted look on her face.
"Can you stop that? It's quite disturbing."
"The only disturbing thing was looking up from my book to find you hovering over me."
"If you weren't such an incompetent host I would have never tried to read Miyazawa along with you. Who taught you that ignoring your surroundings and reading schoolwork was the proper way to treat someone you invited to your home?"
"You could've just asked and I would've let you read it instead!"
"It's simply astonishing that you still fail to see the issue at hand here, Hikigaya-kun. It's not that-"
Mrrrrrow!
Yukinoshita stopped dead in the middle of her sentence, as if she was in fact a video playback and someone had hit the pause button.
"Yukino-san! Sorry to interrupt your conversation with dear Onii-chan here, but I wanted to introduce you to a member of our family! Since Mom and Dad won't make it home until super late today, I can only introduce you to Kamakura!"
Yukinoshita's eyes were transfixed on the family's rather lazy, fat cat, who meowed again and snuggled deeper into Komachi's arms.
"K-K-K-Kamakura?" Yukinoshita asked.
"Yeah. Here I've got you a couple of cat treats as well. He's usually too prideful to interact with strangers, so we tend to keep them around so that he'll at least pay some attention when we have guests over."
She handed Yukinoshita a couple of small square packages.
Yukinoshita carefully unwrapped one of them, taking the utmost care to peel away the plastic packaging as if she were serving food to the Prime Minister himself.
Then, tentatively, she held out her hand towards Kamakura, who meowed again, this time with interest, and perked up a bit in Komachi's arms.
"Nyaa," Yukinoshita whispered softly. "Are you hungry, Kamakura-san? Nyaa?"
Kamakura regarded her some more with his bright yellow eyes. Slowly, he jumped out of Komachi's arms and approached Yukinoshita, who ever so slowly held out the cat treat.
Mrrow!
"Nyaa…"
Mrrow?
"Nya!"
Kamakura lowered his nose into Yukinoshita's hand and tentatively licked the treat, before quickly snatching it up in one bite. It didn't take long before no trace of the treat remained and if not for the look of wonder on Yukinoshita's face, it would have been impossible to tell that the haughty, stranger-averse Kamakura had just eaten out of her hand.
Even the family cat was betraying him today.
In spite of the despair that he was feeling, Kamakura wasn't even the main problem. The main problem was that while he watched Yukinoshita meow softly to his cat, a realization came over him which he wanted nothing more than to deny.
But he couldn't.
For during these rare moments when he wasn't entirely too focused on trading verbal barbs with her on relatively even footing, he had to admit one simple fact of the universe.
Yukinoshita Yukino was simply too cute.
oOo
