Notes: A chunk of this chapter references Kreisler's Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen arrangement, of which Love's Sorrow and Love's Joy are probably the most well-renowned, at least within the animanga community. They're featured rather heavily in Your Lie in April, although they are fairly well-known as musical arrangements in their own right.

oOo

Akari owned a fairly spacious studio in the wealthier section of Chiba. She'd given him the address right before he'd said his goodbyes at the cafe, that Saturday when the middle-aged man came back to visit his old sweetheart. They'd arranged to meet up the next week, on Friday when Akari didn't have a shift at the cafe.

The train station was very conveniently located only a couple blocks away from her home. He was quite thankful for this, since it meant that he could spend as little time as possible in the summer heat. Temperatures were approaching record highs and Komachi had given him a very surprised look that morning when he'd announced that he'd be headed out.

"Are you alright, Onii-chan? Do you have a fever?" she'd asked, poking her head out from the living room as she watched him slipping on his shoes.

"I'm fine, why?"

"You're going outside, in 38 degree weather no less, and I didn't even have to ask you to? Who are you and what have you done to my Onii-chan?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Prior commitments, Komachi."

"Ah, I understand now," Komachi nodded sagely. "Have fun with Yukino-san, Onii-chan!"

"Yukinoshita? What about her?"

"I mean… she's like the only one that can drag you out during the summer by sheer force of will, right? I'm proud of you, Onii-chan! It looks like Komachi doesn't have to worry about your future for very much longer."

"Somehow, I feel like I'm misunderstanding something important here."

Komachi brushed him off, pushing him out the door.

"Go on, get out of here! Don't keep her waiting."

"It's not even Yukinoshita that I'm meeting up with," he replied, but the door had already slammed shut in his face.

Oh well. It wasn't as if who he was meeting up with really mattered at the end of the day. As long as Komachi was satisfied with his outdoor activities then he was happy too.

Despite the relatively short distance from the station to Akari's studio, he was still sweating by the time he arrived in the lobby of her building. He took a couple minutes to cool off in the lobby of the well air-conditioned building before heading up to the third floor. He didn't want to arrive looking like a drowned rat or something like that.

He rang the bell to her place. Akari answered only a few short moments later. She wore a nervous look on her face but managed a small smile and invited him in. Before long he found himself stepping into the home of someone outside of his family for the very first time. And a girl's no less. That fact was very much at the forefront of his mind.

"Sorry for intruding," he mumbled as he crossed the threshold.

Akari was dressed quite casually. It was a little strange; he was used to seeing her in the uniform for the cafe which consisted of a crisp black shirt with long sleeves and black trousers, with an apron over the top. It all looked very official, very stereotypically barista garb that wouldn't look entirely out of place at a higher end cafe. So seeing Akari in a colorful T-shirt and shorts was certainly unexpected. Of course, it wasn't as though he wore anything different during the summer at home. But the difference was jarring nonetheless.

The studio itself was quite spacious, likely a byproduct of being located in a wealthier area. He'd heard stories from his parents, after all, of their college days, squeezed into a two hundred square feet room. Akari's place was quite a bit bigger; there were actual sections of the room dedicated for sleeping, eating, and all the other essentials. It also had enough room to house what was obviously Akari's pride and joy. A grand piano which took pride of place in the center of the studio.

He circled the instrument, admiring its majestic appearance silently. The beautiful ivory keys, the opened top which revealed the strings for each individual key, and the music desk where a couple pages of sheet music currently rested. It was clear that Akari had been practicing quite a bit.

"Have you ever played any piano before?" Akari asked, coming up behind him and offering him a bottle of oolong tea. "Sorry I don't have any coffee, by the way."

"No problem." he said, accepting the drink. "And to answer your question, no. I don't think I've ever even gotten this close to a piano. I just see them sometimes, in the window of the music shop."

Akari lightly brushed her fingers across the keys.

"Well, do you want to give it a try?"

"Me? I thought I was here to listen to you play."

"Don't worry. We'll get there, but if you want, I could teach you some basics."

He considered her offer for a moment.

"Maybe after you. I really wanna hear you play."

Akari sighed and slid into the seat. "You're really insistent on that, you know? Why do you want to hear me play so badly anyways?"

"What do you mean? What kind of question is that? You're a nationally recognized talent, Akari. Who wouldn't want to hear you play?"

"Nationally recognized? I didn't even win that tournament!" she protested. "And besides, it's been years since that happened. I'm not even close to being as good as I was back then."

"So? I never said that you had to play like that version of Akari, did I? I just said I wanted to hear you play."

"So it's not like you're gonna get some amazing performance or anything like that. I don't want you to get your expectations up or something. And… well… to be honest, I was always wondering, if you're not here for the quality of the performance, then why do you want to hear me play at all?"

"Is that really bothering you? Can't I just want to hear a friend play some music?" He asked.

"It's not that it bothers me, Hikigaya-kun. I just… this whole thing has been unexpected, you know?"

"This whole…thing?"

"Y,know," she gestured between them. "I'm not used to having customers turn into friends. So I was wondering what you could possibly have seen in me. Because if it's for piano… well, there are definitely way better performers out there."

"So what? I don't know any of them, so I'm not gonna just ask them to play piano for me. I don't want to hear just any pianist off the street playing. I want to hear you play."

Akari was silent for a moment, before sighing and shaking her head.

"Honestly… how did I ever meet a kid who argues like you?"

"Oi! I'm not a kid, I'm sixteen now," he complained, acting very much as if his statement was simply a bald-faced lie.

"Exactly. A kid, and a kid with the most stubborn logic I've ever seen." she shot back, a teasing note in her voice.

"I like the sound of that. The Stubborn Monster of Logic. That's me."

"You're ridiculous," she laughed.

"And you're a pianist! So what are you gonna play?"

With a sigh and a show of reluctance, Akari turned towards the piano and flipped through some of her sheet music.

"Well, I've practiced quite a few from my old competition repertoires. What kind of piece did you want to hear?"

"Whichever piece is your favorite."

She paused, "Eh? My favorite?"

"Yeah. Don't you have a favorite piece?"

She tapped a finger on her chin, her brow furrowed in thought.

"I've never really thought about it. I was playing for my brother, and because my parents wanted to show off my talent."

"Well, what about now? You said that you weren't sure how you felt about the piano, right? Have you found a piece you really liked playing in the past few weeks?"

Akari rifled through some more of the sheet music. "Well, in that case, I guess… let's do these. The Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen. Kreisler. It's a set of three short pieces."

He spread his hands as if to say by all means and took a seat on a nearby chair.

Akari took a deep breath, rolling her shoulder blades as if she were preparing for something long and arduous. She gently placed her fingers onto the keys, her form elegant and smooth.

And then with another short breath, her fingers blurred and music filled the air.

oOo

Hikigaya Hachiman had certainly never attended a proper classical music concert before. Growing up, there had been quite a few of his classmates that had taken up an instrument as an extracurricular activity, although classical instruments such as the violin were generally less popular than their more modern variants. Of course, it wasn't as though he interacted very much with his classmates at all, so even if every single one of them had been pianists, he likely would have still never heard a pianist perform in person.

He really didn't know what to expect when Akari had first started playing. But as she played and played, only pausing in-between pieces for the three piece set, he found himself mesmerized. It wasn't just the way that Akari's fingers flew across the keys, although the degree of difficulty of the three pieces certainly was enough to make his jaw drop. It was also the music itself. He could feel the music and the story that each of the three pieces held.

The first piece brought him mixed emotions. The music flowed and bounced, a free flowing melody that should have sounded carefree and innocent; the blissful joy of childhood. And yet, somehow, it felt as though there was a second layer of emotion that existed underneath the surface. There was this sense of guilt within the music; a lugubrious, almost mournful tinge to the playing that didn't seem to belong in the otherwise innocent joy that defined the work.

The second piece was even darker, with melancholic undertones that reminded him more of junior high; of a time when he was a little older. The music was still filled with love, but it was tinged with regrets. He remembered an Italian restaurant, and a kiss that should've been the start and not the end of a story. But most of all, he remembered that feeling of loss, and that feeling that, should he have done things a little differently, perhaps he would be happier. By the piece's end, he was blinking back tears.

There was no time to recover, however, because Akari was launching straight into the third piece. It was a return to the upbeat music that was supposed to define the first piece. This time, the music flowed faster and faster, and the notes were filled with passion. It was like a race, or perhaps a rush towards a climactic moment. However, there was also a sense of finality to the work. It was as if, while speeding towards that coveted climax, the music also recognized that it would be the end.

And then, suddenly, it was over. With a final flourish, the last chords of the music rang out in the otherwise silent room, before fading away into nothingness. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. They each simply caught their breaths.

"Wow," he breathed out, raising his hands and clapping. "That was… I don't even know how to describe it. That was amazing."

Akari laughed. "Was it? I thought it was average at best."

"What are you talking about? I mean, I couldn't even comprehend the technical skill that you'd need to play those pieces. Like, I couldn't figure out how you were hitting all of the right keys. But like, the music itself was beautiful. Every single emotion: joy, sorrow, triumph, regret, they all came across so well. You… how do you convey those emotions through the music so well?"

Akari rubbed the back of her neck. "It honestly wasn't that good, Hikigaya-kun, but I appreciate the compliment. And as for emotions, I find it easier to play songs that I can relate to. I think that most artists would say the same; it's easier to convey emotions that they understand rather than emotions that are foreign to them. And well, I can say with certainty that I'm familiar with what I believe Kreisler intended with this work."

"You said this err- set… was it?"

"Yeah. A set of three pieces."

"You said that this set was your favorite?"

"One of my favorites, I guess. I've played it quite a lot since I started playing again."

"What do they mean to you? The individual songs?"

"They're… I guess they represent the duality of the relationship I had with my brother. Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen is split into three pieces as you know. The first piece is known as Liebesfreud, or Love's Joy. To me, that represented how I felt about my brother growing up. He was the lone bright spot in my otherwise lonely childhood."

"So the first piece was meant to be a happy one, huh? I kind of… I kind of felt that there was a layer of sadness to it all."

Akari tilted her head at his comment. "Really? I tried my very best to channel happy memories though."

He shook his head. "Sorry… I don't know any music theory or anything like that. So maybe I was just mistaken. I'm only telling you how it felt to me. I guess… it felt like there was sadness lurking beneath the surface? Almost like… almost like the music was only pretending to be happy."

"I…I see." Akari was staring down at her hands, examining them as if they held the answers to the questions that she struggled with.

"Are you alright?"

She shook off his concerns. "I'm fine. I just… I suppose I still haven't mastered how to isolate emotions from each other when playing yet. The sadness that you're mentioning…maybe it's because I look back on all those childhood memories with some lingering regrets after all. "

"Well, it was still beautiful to listen to, really! So don't go back to all that 'I'm not good enough bullshit, okay? It was still really amazing." He hurried to reassure her.

"Thanks, Hikigaya-kun. I still think that I need more work, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Anyways, let's talk about the second piece. Liebeslied. Love's Sorrow. You already know this story, but it's how I felt about my brother after I learned that he would be going abroad for university. And it also represents my guilt, in a way, for everything that happened afterwards."

He nodded. "That one was amazing. Probably my favorite. I could feel everything you just described. It was almost like your emotions were tangibly being transmitted through the music. I don't know if you noticed, and it honestly embarrasses me a little, but I was holding back tears."

She smiled wanly, "You're honestly overpraising it. I bet that there are hundreds of pianists that could play these arrangements better than I ever could."

"I really dislike that, you know?" he said. "You need to stop being so hard on yourself, Akari."

"Wha-"

"I get that in order to be the best, you have to work hard and strive to be better every single day. I know that's the tried and true method to greatness. But the thing is Akari, just because you're striving to be better doesn't mean that you can't appreciate your own skill and how far you've come. You should recognize that your playing is still absurdly beautiful, even after years without consistent practice. Stop tearing yourself down all the time and be proud of what you've accomplished. Seriously. It bothers me when you dismiss yourself like that."

She looked shocked. Her mouth was half-open and her eyes wide. He took that to be a good thing. Maybe he got through to her.

Before he could say anything else though, she suddenly turned away from him, hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. Her voice came out small, almost a whisper.

"You're really not fair, you know that Hikigaya-kun. I've said this before, but... I'm supposed to be your senpai and it just feels like you're always the one helping me. Teaching me things."

"I just hate that you're always so pessimistic about yourself. And you're talking like you've never changed my view of the world before, which is just not true."

Akari sighed again, this time rather theatrically.

"I suppose I should thank you for the encouragement."

I waved her off. "Don't thank me. Just keep playing. I'll take these private performances over anything else, to be honest."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself there, mister," she shot back. "I've still got other obligations to meet before piano."

"Aw but…" I put on my best puppy-dog look.

"Ugh. Whatever. Maybe in the winter. Anyways, the last part of the three pieces. Schön Rosmarin. Lovely Rosemary. This is the piece in the set that probably has the widest range of interpretations. Some people say that it's a love letter; a work meant to be almost a confession for 'Rosemary'. Still others say that it's a work of remembrance; that Kreisler wrote it to remember someone that he loved very much. My own interpretation is, of course, a little closer to the latter than the former. The song is a way for me to remember all the wonderful times I got to spend with my brother. But it's also a way to remind myself that I shouldn't ever take things for granted."

"...I feel like I should clap again if I'm being honest, because it was really beautiful to listen to Akari. I felt a lot of the emotions that you mentioned. And to be honest? Even in the first part, I thought it was beautiful. Even if the song was meant to be joyful, hearing that hint of sadness and regret lurking below the surface wasn't a bad thing at all. I… I really loved it."

"It was the least I could do to thank you for everything that you've done."

He waved her off with a laugh. "I already told you! What are you thanking me for? I should be the thankful one; I got to hear a world-class performance from a world-class artist after all. And I didn't even have to pay a single yen for it!"

Akari shook her head.

"No, honestly. Thank you. If it hadn't been for you, I don't think I would've rediscovered what it felt like to play the piano. To practice for hours on end until your fingers are sore and your eyes are exhausted from reading all the sheet music. To hone in on only a few measures and play them thousands of times to master it. The last time that I practiced with this much effort and focus, I was practically your age. So really, thank you. You've done so much more for me than you realize, and you really didn't have a reason to."

oOo

Summer break ended without much fanfare. He visited the cafe once more, although it was a short visit because Akari didn't have a shift and had also had Komachi with him. He met up with Yukinoshita a couple of times as well to rehearse their presentation, but otherwise just lazed about at home. There were a couple of seasonal anime that he was enjoying, and of course he made sure that Vita-chan wasn't feeling lonely. Towards the end of the summer, he even acquiesced to Komachi's demands and let her drag him out to the fireworks festival. Of course, Komachi had also invited her friends since, unlike him, she was cute and popular. It made the whole experience a little awkward for him; no high schooler wanted to be caught dead chaperoning their junior high sister and her friends. But of course, it wasn't like he had much of a social group at school that would rib him for what he was doing. In the end, he'd enjoyed some fairly decent festival food and spent some quality time with the greatest little sister in the world. There were worse ways to spend a summer evening.

And thus, he felt a little sad when he woke up on the first morning of the new semester. Another summer of his youth had come and gone. At least this one had wound up being far more fun and entertaining than all of his previous ones. He'd formed social relationships, with girls no less, while also keeping up with all of his favorite otaku media content. Normally, he was ambivalent about school starting up again since summers had always felt so empty to him. But this time, he couldn't help but wish that summer could go on for a little while longer.

Being back at school meant responsibilities. It meant handling school and homework. He hadn't minded it nearly as much in previous years. But now it was eating into free time that he no longer had an excessive amount of.

Speaking of schoolwork, the Miyazawa presentations were scheduled for the first week of school. Sensei slated him and Yukinoshita as the second group. Yukinoshita had volunteered to be first, but some other group had apparently already claimed the right to be the first presenter, which left them to go second. Normally, he preferred going last, or at least closer to the end than the beginning. Yukinoshita was not pleased about this.

"You don't understand, Hikigaya-kun, the importance of being the first to present. If we are the first to present, our argument will seem fresh; it will grab everyone's attention because they will have never heard it before. But the later we present, the likelier the scenario arises where some other group will make the exact same argument that we made. And in that situation, our entire presentation may just be ruined, because nobody would pay attention to an argument that has already been made!"

He couldn't really argue that point. His reasoning for wanting to go last was a far more selfish reason, after all. He just wanted to put off presenting for as long as possible. But Yukinoshita's argument, as always, had no holes in it, which meant that he was forced to agree with her. And that was how they found themselves standing before the entire class, the second day back from break, presenting their arguments as if they were making some sort of formal argument to the class.

For all her prickliness and tsundere tendencies, he thought to himself, when the moment finally came for them to present, Yukinoshita was an ideal partner. She had prepared and reviewed the material for this presentation, even the parts that he had created, so well that she was prepared for all outcomes. She was there to cover for him when he inevitably slipped up. After all, he was never really comfortable with public speaking. So when his mind went blank under the stares of his classmates as he attempted to discuss the impact of the death of Miyazawa's sister on his writing, he thought that he was just about to produce yet another one of those embarrassing "scream into his pillow at night" type moments that he'd tried his best to forget about during junior high. But even as he was blanking and no words were coming out of his mouth, Yukinoshita smoothly took over his part of the work, relating the argument that he had been attempting to make clearly and concisely. She even tacked on a couple of interesting facts which hadn't originally been a part of the presentation.

When they were finally finished, there was, to his genuine surprise, murmurs of appreciation and even some applause from the class. As he had never received any sort of positive feedback from his classmates in the past ten years or so, he was quite shocked. Yukinoshita had to subtly tug on his arm to pull him out of his trance in time to hurry back to his seat without looking too much like an idiot, standing up at the front with what he could only assume was a terribly embarrassing expression on his face.

A week later, when grades were released, it seemed that Sensei also very much approved of their project. They wound up receiving the highest scores in their class, which meant that he got to keep his Modern Japanese class rank. And the whispered 'good job' that passed by his desk in a whirl of raven waist-length hair and jasmine-scented shampoo was certainly a nice bonus.

Maybe, just maybe, working with Yukinoshita Yukino had turned out to be a good decision after all.

oOo

"I've been thinking of running for student council, Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita said.

He had been packing up his belongings on this sunny Wednesday afternoon when Yukinoshita approached him. Classes for the day had just finished, and he was just about ready to head home. He was looking forward to the ride home on his bike, for although summer was not quite over, autumn was certainly on its way. It was easy to notice; the temperature was no longer unbearably hot and sports teams had started using the outdoor practice facilities for regular practices. There were even a few trees whose leaves had started to change color. This made his bike route home all the more pleasant, especially since he didn't have to deal with torrid temperatures that reached the high thirties.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, unsure if he'd heard Yukinoshita correctly.

"I'd like to run for the position of student council president." She said, a slight hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Uhh, good luck?" He replied, confused as to why she was announcing this information to him.

"I'd like your assistance for my campaign," Yukinoshita continued, completely unfazed by his unenthusiastic response.

"My… assistance?" He really dreaded what was coming.

"Yes. I would like to request your support for my campaign, Hikigaya-kun."

"I mean… I'll vote for you I guess?" He responded, knowing full well that he was only delaying the inevitable by playing dumb.

"As frustrating as your intentional obtuseness might be, I will not rescind my request, Hikigaya-kun. Will you assist me in my goal of becoming the leader for this school next year?"

"Yukinoshita… why do you want me to help you with your campaign? You should ask someone more popular. For the most part, these elections are a popularity contest anyways. And I'd hate to break it to you, but I'm not exactly an iconic figure within the collective consciousness of our school. I doubt I'd be able to help you much at all."

The girl in question sighed heavily. "An important skill of all great leaders is to assemble a team of supporters that hold qualities of both loyalty and competency, Hikigaya-kun. As you are no doubt aware, requesting support from people whom I am wholly unfamiliar with would only make my life more difficult; I would have quite a few doubts on both their competency in the tasks that I assigned them as well as whether or not they would really support my campaign over another prospective candidate's."

"I don't think you'd really have to worry about multiple campaigns. Most years, the StuCo is elected unopposed. And even when they're not, there's usually only two candidates in the running."

"The point still stands, Hikigaya-kun. I'll ask again, would you lend me your support for my campaign? I would very much welcome and appreciate your cooperation. But please do not feel pressured to agree; I will not be upset if you refuse."

Yeah right. Yukinoshita didn't strike him as the type to make this sort of request very often, or at least not with this level of sincerity. He'd be willing to bet money that if he turned her down now she was going to remember it, one way or another.

"Well, I guess I could help."

His answer drew a rare smile from the girl opposite him. And even though it was just a smile, in the moment it made him think that helping her out was the best decision he'd made in a long time.

"What did you even want me to do? There's no chance that you're going to convince me to speak with the student populace and persuade them to vote for you, by the way."

Yukinoshita flipped her hair over her shoulder as she responded.

"Rest assured, Hikigaya-kun. I will certainly not be asking that of you. I would rather prefer to win this election rather than be barred for a lifetime from running for public office."

Well. So much for this being a good decision. Although he supposed that he probably deserved that one. And he would never admit it, of course, but maybe a part of him was relieved at the barb. It had been quite a long time since Yukinoshita had delivered a good zinger straight to his ego. He'd been getting rather worried. Although, knowing what he knew from the future… maybe she'd just started seeing him a little differently? He destroyed that dangerous thought immediately.

"Well, then what did you want me to do?"

"I'd like you to take care of the marketing side of things. I don't need you to be on the front lines speaking with the student populace. But I would like to ask you to find ways to express the ideas and plans that I would like to implement as President in a concise and appealing manner. Things like slogans, campaign posters, and perhaps even a website. I'd like for you to handle all of the PR-related activities, in essence."

He scratched his head. That didn't sound too bad. So long as he didn't have to run around the school talking with people, he was fine with it. And it even sounded like most of the work that she'd wanted from him could be done at home. He didn't even have to temporarily suspend his membership in the going home club.

"I… guess I can do all the behind-the-scenes PR stuff for you." He said, wondering if he hadn't just signed away his soul for the next three months until the general election.

oOo

Yukinoshita's ideas were absolutely radical. He stared down at the list of proposed changes that she'd given him.

"Reallocate funding for clubs. 50% of a club's budget to be determined by membership. The other 50% to be allocated by performance. The clubs with the best performance in their chosen field shall receive the most 'performance-related' funding in the following fiscal year." he read under his breath.

Did she want to make an enemy of perhaps half the student population whose club funding would inevitably be cut if this policy were implemented?!

He moved further down on the list.

"School uniform regulations," he muttered under his breath. "Skirt length must meet standard requirements of knee-length or lower. Makeup and accessories must not be overly gaudy or intrusive to learning."

Was Yukinoshita serious? With these policies, no matter how much he bullshitted and dressed up these policies with honeyed words and appealing adjectives, Yukinoshita wouldn't have even a snowball's chance in hell at winning over the general student body.

"Uh Yukinoshita?"

The girl in question looked up from her laptop. They were in the library. Yukinoshita had printed out her list of policy changes and handed them over to him at the start of the session before she proceeded to begin working on her campaign speech. Knowing Yukinoshita, she'd probably be done with it within the hour, but then spend the next month or so until the speeches editing it.

He had no doubt that it would turn out to be a memorable speech. But a memorable speech would be useless if her policies were more likely to set off a rebellion than rousing support for her campaign.

"Can we talk for a moment about your policies?"

"What of them, Hikigaya-kun? Are they too lackadaisical for your liking?"

"Lackadaisical?! Do you really think that they're… lackadaisical?"

"Well, I initially intended for performance metrics to be the only measurement of success for a club, which thereby would determine funding. But I figured that would be far too radical of an idea to implement. At least in my first year on the council."

"First year on the-...?! Actually never mind. Yukinoshita… I won't lie to you, I don't think there's any possible way for me to market this to the student population. I mean, skirt length requirements? In this day and age? Your voter demographic is about to become nonexistent you go through with that."

"Hmph. The regulations are for their own good. Do they not understand that wearing skimpy clothing could result in quite a significant amount of unwanted attention from the male populace?"

"I think you're projecting a bit there, Yukinoshita," he coughed into the sleeve of his shirt.

Unfortunately, Yukinoshita heard him. The resulting argument that followed was lengthy, even by their standards. They didn't wind up leaving the library until the sun was setting. But he did, at the very least, convince Yukinoshita that perhaps alienating the entire female population at the school wasn't exactly a brilliant campaign decision. They agreed to meet up again the following day to finalize the campaign posters.

oOo

Hikigaya Hachiman yawned as Sensei finally dismissed them from class. He hadn't managed to get many hours of sleep the previous night. While he and Yukinoshita had pretty much finished deciding, or compromising, on her campaign ideas, there was the issue of how the ideas were to be presented to the student population. And since he was the PR guy, this job fell to him. He'd debated the merits of physical posters that could be hung up around the school versus having a campaign website and setting up ways to advertise the website itself to students. The website would make it far easier for Yukinoshita to express all of her goals and achievements due to the removal of the need to be brief, whereas a poster would be far more snappy and short, and also accessible to students, since they would be surrounded by them during the school day.

The choice was made easy. Catching and holding the attention of a teenager for longer than a few seconds was an impossible task, after all.

Guess I'll have to learn how to make a poster, he thought to himself. Although making a website and directing interested students there from the posters wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Of course, he was no artist; he'd never had much talent for any of the artistic disciplines. But making a visually appealing poster was certainly far easier than any actual artwork. He wound up looking up campaign poster examples online and selecting the ones that he felt caught his attention the most. He then proceeded to take inspiration from the group of posters that he'd found interesting and, after quite a few hours of hard work, he'd produced something that he felt Yukinoshita wouldn't be completely disappointed with. And anything that wasn't a total failure in Yukinoshita's eyes was probably actually a success by normal human metrics.

The down side to all of his hard work was that he'd found himself nodding off quite a bit during the day's classes. Twice, Yukinoshita had been forced to poke him awake after a class, and he got quite a scolding from the math teacher when he'd been randomly called to the board to answer a question, but didn't hear his name being called on account of falling asleep again on his textbook. Still, at least the earful he received from the math teacher combined with the embarrassment that he'd felt at being lectured in front of the entire class was enough to keep him awake for the rest of the day. Or maybe it was the three extra strong espresso shots he'd picked up from the vending machine during lunch break.

He slowly packed away his things; the drowsiness was really starting to hit him hard. He was probably crashing from all the caffeine. Just as he was sliding the last of his school materials into his bag, the scent of a familiar, flowery perfume filled his nostrils. He didn't even have to look up.

"Yo."

"Good afternoon, Hikigaya-kun. I would inquire further about your health, but judging from your academic performance today I suspect that I am already aware of what your answer will be."

He yawned again. "Yeah well, I'm dead tired. Was up until three last night making your campaign poster."

Yukinoshita was quiet. He finished packing up and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"We're going to the library, right?"

That seemed to spur Yukinoshita into action.

"Ah yeah-yes. And, uhm… t-thank you, Hikigaya-kun. I didn't…- You didn't have to stay up late for me."

"Huh? Didn't I agree to take care of all the PR stuff?"

"Yes, but… I didn't expect you to sacrifice your health for it. So thank you."

He shrugged. "Figured it'd be easiest just to finish the whole thing in one go. Plus, it's not like this is the first late night I've pulled."

Once they arrived at the library, he grabbed his laptop and booted it up to print out a copy of the poster. Yukinoshita excused herself, mumbling something about buying drinks and disappeared in the direction of the vending machines.

By the time he returned from the printer, Yukinoshita had returned and was already seemingly immersed in her campaign speech. He slid into his seat across from her and slapped the printed copy of the poster that he'd spent the previous night creating down onto the table. The can of coffee MAX that had appeared by the magical artifact known as Yukinoshita's wallet was then quickly snatched up. Even though it was just a drink, the sweetness of the coffee was certainly very much appreciated. He found that he didn't really regret sacrificing some of his sleep to finish the poster.

"Is this the fruits of your labor?" Yukinoshita asked as he pushed the poster over towards her.

"Yeah," he said, taking another swig of his drink. He could sense some energy returning to his body, simply on account of the sugar content.

Yukinoshita carefully slipped it into her bag. "I'll take a look at it later tonight, then. Thanks for getting this done so quickly."

"Yeah, no worries. If you find anything you want to change, just let me know."

"I-uhm," the girl across from him hesitated.

He glanced over at her, confused. "What? Did you already find something wrong?"

She shook her head. "Well, I was thinking that… that our lines of communication have become increasingly problematic for our current goals."

"Lines of communication? What do you mean?"

"Well… it is quite difficult to get ahold of you. Throughout the summer while working on the Miyazawa presentations, we could only propose changes and discuss the progress of our work at our weekly scheduled meetings. I believe that such limited communication would be detrimental to the success of this campaign so I would like to inquire… to inquire about whether or not you would be willing to establish more instantaneous means for communication between us."

Oh. He was pretty sure he had a good idea of what she wanted now. Although, he had to chuckle a little bit to himself. He didn't know that it was possible to use so many words to ask for something so simple.

"You wanna exchange LINE information, then?"

Yukinoshita looked away from him, hiding her face. "Only if…- only if you desire it."

September 21st. He'd have to remember this day.

Because finally, after all those fruitless efforts during his best left forgotten junior high days, Hikigaya Hachiman could say with pride that his contacts list included that of a girl who was unrelated to him.

oOo

The deadline for submission to announce Yukinoshita's candidacy for the Student Council was approaching rapidly. And so one afternoon after classes, instead of heading off to the library where Yukinoshita would work on campaign related things and he'd do homework unless his input was otherwise requested, she dragged him off to the Student Council office instead.

"Why'd you need me to come along anyways?" he muttered as he waded through the crowd of students and followed Yukinoshita through the hallways. "There's a physics exam tomorrow and I've got no idea how electric fields work."

"I believe I have answered this question at least five times since the first time you asked, Hikigaya-kun. You're listed as my campaign manager on the form, so your presence is required when I submit the form to the current Student Council."

"Couldn't you have listed someone else as your campaign manager? Didn't you say that you'd found someone who would be able to win the students over to you? Wouldn't he be better equipped to be your campaign manager since he'll be in front of everyone all the time?"

Yukinoshita paused so suddenly that he nearly ran into her, only barely managing to stop in time. But being so close, he could see that she'd tensed up, and her hands were curled stiffly by her sides.

"Yukinoshita? Are you alright?"

Was she angry about something?

At his question, it seemed as though she remembered where she was and her body slowly relaxed. She blew out a long sigh, and spoke with a tired voice.

"My apologies. But to answer your question, well, he just wouldn't be the right fit for the job."

She set off again before he could ask any more questions. She moved quickly, setting a pace that was far faster than what they had been walking at before.

oOo

The submission process took longer than he'd expected. They'd been treated to a fifteen minute lecture by the Student Council President on all the logistics of running in the election, from poster requirements to restrictions on soliciting votes, and a whole host of other rules and guidelines. He didn't bother with trying to remember much after the first minute; that was Yukinoshita's job anyways and he still needed to figure out how electric fields worked, damn it.

Right-hand rule… right-hand rule… he raised his hand and tried to emulate what he'd seen in the textbooks on current flow.

"I'm assuming that you don't have any questions then, Hikigaya-kun, Yukinoshita-san?"

The question startled him out of his furious attempts at cramming.

"Ah, sorry, what?"

The President gave him a strange look. Yukinoshita kicked him with the back of her heel surreptitiously.

"Ow," he said dumbly.

"I was asking if you had any questions for me on anything I just mentioned. I thought you were giving me a thumbs up to indicate that there were no questions; did you instead have something in mind you wanted to ask?"

"Oh no no. I'm all good! No questions here!" He winced. That was about as unconvincing of a tone as possible.

Yukinoshita evidently agreed, because she kicked him again.

"Well then, that's all I've got for ya. It's getting pretty late, and I'm going to go home too, so if you have any questions you can just come ask me tomorrow."

Of course he knew what the president was really trying to say: I'm kicking you out because I want to go home.

Student Council Presidents had nothing on nice girls when it came to hidden meanings and doublespeak.

But it was indeed late, and the school library was closing soon as well, so they returned quickly to collect their things. By the time they'd made their way to the school's parking lot, the sun had already dipped below the horizon, and the streetlights had turned on, casting splotches of light on the otherwise rapidly darkening street. He collected his bike from the bike rack and was just about to swing his leg over the seat when he noticed that Yukinoshita was following him, which was a little unusual. She usually took the train home and the nearest station was in the opposite direction of his home.

"Uh, Yukinoshita? Did you need something? Don't you usually take the train home?"

She shook her head. "Nee-san is coming to pick me up today. We have… there is an event that we both must attend tonight."

"Oh…" he trailed off, his hands tightening on the handlebars. He still remembered the last time that he'd seen Yukinoshita's sister.

"Well, uh- have fun, I guess?" He slung his leg over the seat and was just about ready to ride off when he felt the tug on the back of his shirt.

"It… it won't be fun." Yukinoshita said quietly.

"Ah… really?" he asked awkwardly, wondering to himself exactly what this atmosphere was.

He couldn't see Yukinoshita's expression because she was still standing behind him. A part of him wanted to turn around and see what kind of face she was wearing. The other part of him was afraid of what he might find.

"They're never fun. It's always about connections. About representing the family, about growing Father's business and forging political connections. And this year… I'll be sixteen in a couple months, which adds… a host of complications. Are you aware of what that entails?"

"Happy early Birthday?"

There came a small sigh of disappointment. "It means that I must be thinking of the future. And specifically… the connections that I must forge for the family."

"... Connections?"

"Yes. Political connections. Haven't you already experienced this before?"

"I regret to inform you, Yukinoshita, that I am currently not of age to run for public office."

"I was not referring to a political career, Hikigaya-kun. Rather, a political alliance borne from a marriage of convenience. That kind of political connection."

"I regret to inform you, Yukinoshita, that I am currently single."

He felt her grab a fistful of the back of his shirt, evidently frustrated by his responses.

"Intentional ignorance is not a virtue, Hikigaya-kun, and shall not be tolerated."

"I'm being honest here, Yukinoshita!" He protested. "I've never had anything to do with politics. I don't even think I know much about the government beyond who the Prime Minister is. And I've never had a girlfriend either."

"I was referring to my sister."

Those words crashed down on him. Her sister. Of course. A political connection, was it? That sounded about right. He still remembered the man that had led Haruno-san out of Saize that day. Sometimes, it really felt like an eternity had passed since that day.

"I'm… I don't want that." Her quiet, shaky voice cut through the silence of the night.

The wind blew through the street, a cool breeze sweeping across his face as he remained rooted to the spot.

"Are you… are you going to say something?"

He was still turned away from the girl, so he couldn't see her expression, but there was something in the air. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something indescribable in the air. Something familiar, and yet unfamiliar; an emotion that he couldn't quite understand.

"I-" He wasn't even sure what he was about to say. Was he supposed to comfort her? Tell her that everything would be fine? Offer to help, to save her?

But how was he supposed to do that? What was he supposed to do or say? This was her family. This was their own internal affairs. There was nothing he could do… right?

An old memory tickled the back of his mind. A memory that he'd tried forgetting; tried moving on from. Ah. That day in Saize. The day that he had his first kiss. The memory that…try as he might, he never could quite forget.

He'd felt the same way back then… this same sort of "what do you want me to do?" feeling. Except that was just cowardice. That was just running away. Back then, all he'd had to say was a simple sentence. All he'd had to do was pretend, for just a few moments, for her sake. But he'd run away from that responsibility. And now, all he could do was relive the day that he'd let the most important moment of his life slip through his fingers without realizing it. Of the one decision he regretted the most.

He needed to change things today. He needed to say something. If he couldn't have done anything for the older sibling… then perhaps this was a chance at redemption.

But before he could open his mouth; before he could even figure out what he wanted to say, the brief flash of headlights blinded him. Then came the sound of tires rolling over asphalt. He squinted, trying to identify the car that was pulling up beside them. And once it drew alongside them, he instantly recognized it. The make and model were familiar. It was the very same car that had once carried Yukinoshita away from his home on a chilly spring night. And then the window was rolling down, and a familiar face popped out of the car.

Speak of the Devil, and She shall appear.

"Ara ara, my sincerest apologies! Am I interrupting something, Yukino-chan? Hikigaya-kun?"

oOo