Notes: Thanks to Jiraphie for giving this an early read.
oOo
Yukinoshita Haruno smiled, showing teeth.
"Well, well, this is quite the surprise! I certainly didn't expect to find my cute little sister in the company of Hikigaya-kun again! I had assumed that you were busy preparing for the student council elections, Yukino-chan! And yet here you are, having a secret lover's tryst! And you picked today of all days, right before the gala! How shameless!"
"Your initial estimations were more in line with reality, Nee-san." Yukinoshita spoke up, but somehow, with her sister, her words didn't carry the same sort of weight that he had come to expect from her.
"Hmm? My initial estimations? You have such a funny way of saying things, Yukino-chan! And besides, I was spying on you a little bit before I pulled up!"
Haruno flashed a grin and made circles with her hands, placing them in front of her eyes as if mimicking binoculars.
"You two certainly looked pretty close to me. All that clinging on to each other was really cute, you know?"
Even in the fading light of the evening, it wasn't hard to catch the swirl of color that appeared on Yukinoshita's cheeks.
"Was there something you wanted, Yukinoshita-san?" He stepped forward, facing her head on. It was time to end this farce.
"Hmmm?" Haruno turned to face him instead, tapping her lips with a finger, an inquisitive look on her face that he was sure was faked. Just another mask, another face that she wore.
"Something that I wanted? From you?"
She gave a little laugh.
"I'm afraid that you're a little late in asking that question, Hikigaya-kun."
"...A little late in asking that question?"
"But of course, Hikigaya-kun. There's absolutely nothing that I could want from you anymore. That ship has long sailed."
There was a long silence. Even Yukinoshita didn't interrupt; she didn't say a word. Hachiman was sure that she had a lot to say, but it seemed as though she knew that the only one who could break this silence was him.
He felt guilty. There was no way around that fact. To avoid it would be like living in denial. But at the same time, there was a spark of anger. A spark of frustration. When the whole Saize episode had happened, he didn't really know better. He had still been in junior high, after all. Couldn't she have just looked past that one incident? It wasn't as though he'd never tried to find her. To apologize. He'd tried again and again, for a long time afterwards.
"... Bitter much?" He finally asked, refusing to back down for the first time in his life.
For an immeasurably long amount of time, they simply stared at each other. Neither of them moved nor blinked. It was as if the world had frozen between them once more, except this time… this time there would be no kiss to be had.
Then, Haruno laughed. It was high and clear and beautiful, just as he remembered it to be. He was sure that if any passerby had been watching them at that particular moment in time, they would have thought that he'd just made the funniest joke in the world. But he knew better.
Haruno wasn't laughing. It wasn't a real laugh. There was no mirth, no joy to that laugh. It sounded different, very different from the way she used to laugh at him when she'd announce her arrival by surprising him with a strangling hug or a cold can of MAX coffee pressed to the back of his neck. The way she used to giggle as he squealed like a pig at the sudden sensory stimulation.
"Bitter? Mou, Hikigaya-kun, surely you don't think that your Onee-san would still be holding a candle for you after over a year?! Sorry, but I'm simply wayyyy too gorgeous and talented to be pining for anyone for a year. Even someone as cute as you! Alas, don't know if you've heard, but I have a boyfriend now, and we're probably going to get engaged, so I'm really sorry, but I can't date you! It seems as though we've clandestinely missed each other."
"Of course not, Yukinoshita-san. I would never have assumed that an individual such as yourself would hold a candle for anyone. But Yukinoshita-san, you do seem to be taking an unhealthy amount of interest in my relationship with your little sister. I'm curious: what exactly do you want from us?"
He winced internally. He hadn't wanted to drag Yukinoshita into all of this. This was his problem with Haruno. And it had been clear that the Yukinoshita sisters weren't exactly the closest of siblings.
"Us? You really are an item, huh?" Haruno giggled as if such an idea was so absurd as to render it comedic.
"Nee-san you've got it wr-" Yukinoshita tried to cut in, but her voice was swiftly drowned out.
"Hikigaya-kun, I was simply watching out for my little sister! You do understand my concern, surely. I'm simply trying to protect her! I've learned from experience that liaising with certain individuals carries a high risk of disappointment and perhaps even heartbreak. And I wouldn't want my poor little sister to experience that sort of pain! I wouldn't want to see Yukino-chan cry!."
"Heartbreak and disappointment? Surely you're exaggerating."
She sighed theatrically. "It's true. Perhaps I am the one exaggerating. But on the bright side, at least I learned that it's never a good thing to expect too much out of others."
Ouch. Those words took the wind out of his sails. What little anger and frustration he'd mustered up dissipated like smoke. If she'd been expecting him to help her, to save her… he could imagine how disappointed she must have felt. After all, he'd once placed the burden of expectation on someone else as well. And when that whole affair had ended, he'd never spoken to Orimoto Kaori ever again.
"I understand." He said, for lack of anything else to say. "Congratulations, I wish you nothing but happiness."
She simply smiled at him. It looked perfect; the type of perfect smile that even some models envied. But there was something undeniably wrong about that smile.
It was fake. So fake that it only made him uncomfortable. It felt like the type of smile that was given out in horror movies, right before the villain's true colors were revealed. He wanted nothing to do with that smile.
And so he turned away, choosing instead to face her younger sister. After all, at least with Yukinoshita, her smiles, rare as they might be, could never ever be faked. At least with Yukinoshita, there weren't any masks that he had to figure out.
The girl in question looked distressed, her eyes flickering back and forth between him and her sister. She opened her mouth to speak, but just like her sister, he didn't give her the chance.
"Sorry about this, Yukinoshita. I won't… I won't take up too much more of your time, since you've got your event to go to and everything. But… you know… if you wanted to talk about it or… I mean- I'll see you at school tomorrow, alright?"
Yukinoshita opened and closed her mouth, before finally looking down at her feet and mumbling a reply.
"Okay. Until tomorrow then, Hikigaya-kun. Farewell."
He mounted his bike and made to ride away into the fading twilight. Maybe he really was just a coward. But all he wanted to do in that moment was to run away, yet again.
He wanted to ride away from that car as soon as possible. He wanted to put the whole Haruno Yukinoshita affair as far behind him as possible.
But of course, things could never be that easy.
She would never let his life be that easy.
"Aww, you're not even gonna say goodbye to little old me? As an old… friend of yours, Hikigaya-kun, I'm quite hurt. Don't I deserve that much at least?"
He paused, placing his feet back onto the ground and kicking the bike stand out, but he didn't turn around.
"You do," he said simply. "You deserved better, and I'm sorry for it, Haruno-san. Honest. I wish that there was something that I could do to make up for my mistake. But you and I both know… you and I both know that it's impossible to change the past. So there's nothing I can do about what's already happened. However… if… in the future, there's something you want from me, anything at all… I'll do my very best to make it a reality."
She was silent behind him, and he couldn't see her expression, turned away as he was. A part of him was tempted to turn back around and face her. To see what emotions were flickering across her face. The optimistic part of him wondered if maybe there could be reconciliation. Or at the very least, some closure to this part of his past.
But the other part of him was too afraid. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he turned back and saw only anger or rejection on her face. Or perhaps, worst of all, he'd turn around to find that she'd perfected her mask after all this time and there would still be nothing except that fake smile on her face that made his skin crawl.
The seconds slowly ticked by; each moment an eternity. When it became clear that she wasn't going to respond, he returned the bike stand to its horizontal position and rode off into the evening gloom.
She never called out to him. And so he never looked back.
oOo
Yukinoshita looked terrible the next day. Well… relatively speaking, of course. Of course, Yukinoshita's standards for her own appearance were so high that looking "terrible" by her standards probably was something akin to looking normal by everyone else's standards. Not a single one of their classmates noticed or commented on how different she looked.
But to him, it was obvious. Yukinoshita's hair, normally carefully braided with red ribbons intricately tied in above both of her shoulders, was noticeably disheveled, as if she hadn't had the time to carefully manage it that morning. Those trademark red ribbons were also noticeably absent.
And her bright blue eyes, the ones that, at the right angle and under the right lighting, could outshine even the stars, were noticeably dull. It looked as though she'd barely gotten any sleep at all.
What on Earth had happened at that gala?
That thought distracted him throughout the entirety of classes, which pretty much spelled the death of his physics grade. He nearly had a panic attack after the exam was finished when he realized that he'd been using his left hand instead of his right to solve all the electric field questions. Hopefully the teacher would be kind enough to not be too harsh on him, but he'd probably gotten the sign of every single one of his answers wrong.
It wasn't until after classes ended that he finally got a chance to talk to Yukinoshita. He found her in their usual spot in the library, except she wasn't sitting upright and typing away at her computer. Instead, she had her head buried in her hands, her raven hair fanned out around her in a halo.
He slid into his seat across from her, tossing his bag into an empty seat next to him and grabbing his laptop from his bag. Yukinoshita barely twitched in response. He glanced across the table and waited thirty seconds, wondering if Yukinoshita would acknowledge his presence. But it seemed that she preferred being best friends with the library tabletop instead.
"Yo… you alright?" He asked carefully.
Yukinoshita mumbled something indistinctly, her voice muffled by the table.
"I can't hear you. You're acting really strange, you know? Did the event not go well last night or something?"
Yukinoshita finally raised her head and looked him in the eye. "Not go well? It went terribly, Hikigaya-kun. I believe I mentioned this in our conversation yesterday, but I really dislike these events."
"What do you usually do there? You know, outside of the whole…politically connecting with people."
"That's all it is, Hikigaya-kun. Three hours of following Mother and Father around, of being introduced to every single one of their 'friends', and suffering through all the impertinent questions and comments about every aspect of my life."
"Sounds terribly bothersome. Can't you, like, skip or something?"
"I do my best to avoid most of these events, but there are only so many excuses that can be made."
"Err… that sucks, I guess? But at least it'll be a while before the next one?"
She sighed. "And how would you be so sure of that? If my parents insisted that I accompany them on a trip to Tokyo tomorrow, for example, I don't believe that I would be able to refuse."
"Tokyo? You attend events in Tokyo on weeknights?" He asked rather dumbly.
Yukinoshita's head returned to the table with a soft thump.
"Why do I even bother?" she asked. At least this time, he could make out the words.
"Uh- sorry?"
"You should be. I still can't fully comprehend the nature of your relationship with Nee-san, but she was… quite agitated after your little discussion. It made the evening quite a bit more uncomfortable than it already was."
"Agitated?"
"She picked a very public fight with her boyfriend. Or I suppose you would call him her 'political connection' that Mother had insisted on. Naturally, that soured the entire event, even after Father had Nee-san and Shimada-kun escorted from the party. It thrust our entire family straight into the spotlight and doing damage control became quite exhausting. So I hope you're happy with yourself."
"I-uh… I mean I didn't say much to her. I just apologized for… well… I made a mistake before."
Yukinoshita was quiet for a few moments.
"What kind of mistake?"
And then it was his turn to hesitate. Yukinoshita looked up when he failed to answer after a few seconds.
"Is it really such an important secret, Hikigaya-kun? From what I've gathered, it seemed as though the whole situation was a simple misunderstanding, was it not? You had differing opinions on what your relationship status was, and that led to the dissolution of said relationship."
He sighed.
"It's not that big of a secret. I just don't really like talking about it, that's all."
Yukinoshita waited, but when it became clear that he wasn't about to be particularly forthcoming, she pressed onwards.
"Is it… is it information you'd be willing to divulge to me?"
He wasn't really sure how to respond to that question. To him, it sounded a lot as though she were asking him a different question.
Do you trust me?
The answer to that question, of course, was yes. But that didn't make it any easier for him to answer her question.
"… Well, it wasn't some big misunderstanding that ended things between us. It was more that… your sister asked me for help. I didn't realize how important it was, at the time. How much she really needed my help. So I… I kind of didn't do much for her. And well, by the time I figured it out… she'd already given up on me. You heard her yesterday. She'd already moved on."
"Were you ever… romantically involved?"
He sucked in a breath before letting it out slowly.
"If you want my point of view? No. We were never more than friends."
They both fell silent. He wondered if maybe he'd said the wrong thing; if maybe Haruno had told her little sister something different. But he knew that he was right. They were just good friends. And they never had a chance to be something more.
"Thank you for telling me that, Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita finally broke the silence, the sincerity in her voice bleeding through.
"But Hikigaya-kun… sometimes I have to wonder if you're simply being deliberately dense. For someone as observant as you are, it's quite inexplicable to me how you can't see what's staring you right in the face."
"Staring me right in the face?"
"You said that you were friends with my sister, did you not? I wonder how you ever managed to come to such an understanding with her when it seems as though you take everything that comes out of her mouth to be the absolute truth. Did it not simply occur to you that she was lying yesterday? That something about her past with you was still bothering her, even a year and change later?"
He sighed.
"Do you think that I believed what she said? Of course not. Why do you think I apologized? Because I knew that there were still bitter feelings left behind. But Yukinoshita, there's not much more that I can do. Actually… perhaps that's not true. Maybe it'd be more correct to say that I don't want to do anything more than just apologize to her."
"...Is that true, Hikigaya-kun? I seem to recall you promising that you would aid her in any way that you could. Were you perhaps lying?"
"That wasn't a lie, Yukinoshita. But I don't think that your sister will ever cash in on that promise."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because i's not like this is the first time I tried to fix things with her. I tried searching for her after our… misunderstanding. Went around to all the old places that we used to hang out at. I even checked out Soubu before I took the entrance exams here because I knew that she went to school here back then. I don't know how she managed it, but I could never find her anywhere. And so I figured that she just wanted to move on. That's why I don't think she'll ever ask me for anything."
He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling.
"To her, I'm just a footnote in history. And if that's what she prefers, then I'll respect her decision. I won't go bothering her anymore."
oOo
They didn't wind up getting much work done for Yukinoshita's campaign after that. He'd originally planned to start working on designing her campaign website, but Yukinoshita seemed quite subdued after their conversation. He wasn't entirely sure if that was due to their conversation's subject matter or just general fatigue from her private circumstances, but she was surprisingly unproductive for all of an hour before excusing herself early, promising that they'd properly get down to business the next day.
Huh. It seemed that even someone like Yukinoshita had days where she didn't want to be productive.
Figuring that there was little point in staying by himself after Yukinoshita's departure, he packed his bags and headed home. He'd been slacking quite heavily in his duties as a Going Home club member recently. And he couldn't even pin the blame on Yukinoshita's campaign-related duties, because the girl had never asked him to complete his work at school. And yet, every day after classes ended, he'd found his feet taking him directly to their little table in the library without even a conscious thought in the matter.
Yeah, he'd really been quite derelict with club activities. Maybe his membership had already been revoked.
It felt odd to be going home with the sun still high up in the sky. He knew that Komachi wouldn't be home for a while; she had her own clubs and friends to attend to. And while the old Hikigaya Hachiman would've been quite happy to spend a couple of hours at home alone, somehow, the thought in the moment was rather unappealing. And so he turned his bike away from the route home.
It had been a while since he had visited Akari at the cafe, due to all his newfound obligations with Yukinoshita. Their schoolwork had been picking up quite a bit after summer break as well. He locked his bike against the now-familiar lamppost by the entry to the little alley and headed for the entrance to the cafe, already debating the merits of the coffee cake versus the chocolate mousse in his head.
His thoughts were put on hold, however, when he arrived at the entrance to the cafe. Because for once the area wasn't completely deserted. This came as a rather big surprise to him; sure he knew that the cafe had a fair amount of regulars that came by for coffee and pastries, and there was obviously the occasional customer looking to partake in some of the cafe's more supernatural offerings, but for the most part the cafe was not a very busy place. He'd once asked Akari about how the owners had managed to keep the cafe open for all this time. She'd mentioned that apparently they were wealthy off of other investments and that they kept the cafe operational more as a curiosity due to its unique feature.
So it was a little surprising when he arrived at the entrance to the cafe, only to find a hooded individual already standing by the entrance. But what really gave him pause was that the individual hadn't simply stopped by the door to read the sign outside listing the cafe's operating hours or anything that would resemble normal behavior.
Instead, the hooded individual was peering through the door grilles as if attempting to see inside the cafe without actually entering it. It was a sight so strange that he paused, unsure of what to do. Was this person trying to steal something? Theft and general petty criminal behavior was so uncommon that actually seeing it in person stopped him in his tracks.
Was he supposed to confront the thief in this situation? What if the confrontation turned violent? He was most definitely not a particularly strong individual. He didn't fancy his chances in a real fight.
Maybe calling the police was a better idea. He could just quietly make his way back to his bike and call the police. He wouldn't even have to mention a robbery or anything like that; simply stating that he'd found a suspicious individual outside of the cafe that made him nervous would probably be enough.
But just as he was settling on this particular course of action, the hooded individual question let out a sigh. And here, he realized that he'd made a couple of mistakes.
First and foremost, he was close. Way too close. So close, in fact, that he'd be instantly spotted if the individual in question simply turned around.
But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, he'd misjudged something. He'd assumed, perhaps unfairly, that the potential thief was male. It had been difficult from his angle to determine the gender of the person in question, with the baggy hoodie and all.
The sigh though, made everything clear. The individual in question was a girl, or perhaps it was a woman that stood in front of him.
"Um… excuse me." He announced his presence then. It was probably sexist of him to assume that the individual in question was no longer potentially dangerous because their gender had been revealed. But he certainly felt a lot more comfortable than he had been only a few moments ago.
"Are you… looking for something in particular?"
The girl in front of him froze up. There was a very long and very pregnant pause. It carried on for so long that he wondered if he'd misjudged the situation yet again. Maybe this girl was dangerous after all. Would he be regretting not leaving at the first opportunity that he had?
Then, she turned around. And even though she was wearing a hoodie as well as a mask to cover her features, it was obvious to him who the mysterious girl was. He'd recognize those violet eyes anywhere.
"Y-Yukinoshita…san? What are you… doing here?"
Then there came what sounded like a strangled laugh from behind the mask. Or at least he hoped it was a laugh.
"Of course! How ironic. It's as if someone, somewhere, is mocking me. Of course you'd be here, Hikigaya-kun. How very nice to see you!"
The blatant hostility shocked him. It was so… so very strange. So very different from the Haruno that he knew. The Haruno from his memories rarely, if ever, let her mask slip. The Haruno that he knew would never be so outwardly hostile. If she hated someone, she'd let them know of course, but it would never be so direct.
Ordinarily, he'd probably have apologized and left quietly. Something acquiescent that wouldn't make the situation worse. He'd learned that was usually the optimal course of action with angry people a long time ago. And yet, perhaps because this was Haruno and she was acting so strange, but the thought of leaving didn't even cross his mind. Instead, he was only focused on one thing. What on Earth had happened that would cause her to lose control like this?
"Are you alright? Why are you… well-" he gestured helplessly, words failing him as he struggled to find the right way to phrase his question.
"What? Why am I what? Just say it. It'll make things easier, right? Tell me directly. We both know that subtlety tends to fly straight over your head anyways."
"Why do you look like you're trying to run away, Haruno-san?" He asked, his eyes never leaving hers.
"And why are you, of all people, asking this question to me? Shouldn't you be 'helping' with my sister's student council campaign right now?"
"Yukinoshita went home early. Something about yesterday's event not going exactly as planned."
"She told you?" Haruno threw her head back and laughed. It was a maniacal laugh, the kind of laugh that only those pushed to the very edge of the cliff would make.
"Well then, you know now, don't you? You know everything. So go on then… laugh at me. Pity me. Isn't that what you're good at? Always watching from the sidelines, but never willing to commit yourself."
"Uhm…- Haruno-san? Yukinoshita didn't really mention any specifics of what happened yesterday. So I… pretty much know nothing other than the fact that it sounded like you got into a… disagreement."
He held his hands up as he slowly approached her.
"If you want to… talk about it, I'm all ears. I meant what I said yesterday, you know? I'll try to help in any way that I can."
"And I already told you this yesterday, Hikigaya-kun. It's too late. You missed your chance. You only get one chance to save someone, you know that? Nobody can be a damsel in distress forever."
Clang-dong!
He pulled open the door to the cafe.
"You know," he said, holding open the door and gesturing for her to enter. "I agree with you. Nobody can be a damsel in distress forever. And saving someone else? Don't make me laugh. The only person that can save you is yourself."
He paused since she wasn't moving. So he leveled his best attempt at a stern gaze towards her and pointed to the inside of the cafe.
"But I think that, at the very least, I can hear you out and see if there's any way for me to help you. Right here. Right now. I'm not talking about what I should have or could have done in the past. Or what I might have the chance to do in the future. I just want to talk about this moment, standing outside this cafe. Because despite what you might think, I do want to fix things between us. I do want to try to make up for my inaction, that day at Saize. So I guess the real question here is… are you willing to give me that chance?"
oOo
The unnatural chill that permeated the cafe year-round was felt much more prominently now than it had been all summer. The days were getting shorter as winter approached and temperatures had started dropping drastically during late afternoons going into evenings.
He was certainly regretting still wearing the summer uniform to school right about now.
"Welcome!" The call came from behind the counter. Unfortunately, it wasn't the familiar tone of Akari's voice. It seemed as though she didn't have a shift today, for which he was simultaneously regretful and grateful for. Instead, it was an older man behind the counter. He'd folded his arms in front of him and was unabashedly examining them with something akin to suspicion in his eyes. They probably did make for a rather strange pair. A high schooler in uniform walking around with someone dressed very much like a delinquent.
Haruno paid the man behind the counter no mind. She was currently staring up at the chalkboard menu that displayed the store's offerings.
"I'll have a cappuccino please," she said in a clipped tone.
"Two hundred yen."
She handed over a couple of coins. The man grunted and hit the cash register, tossing the coins in before turning to him.
"...I'll have the same." He said, handing over a couple of one hundred yen coins as well.
Somehow, it didn't feel right to order anything sweet.
By unspoken agreement, they headed for a far table in the cafe. He briefly glanced over at the woman in the white dress. She was reading yet another book, but otherwise she remained the same as ever.
They sat in silence while they waited for their drinks. He didn't know what to say and she seemed uninterested in initiating conversation, instead busying herself on her phone.
So when their drinks had finally arrived and the waiter slash barista had returned to his station behind the counter, he finally decided to just rip the band-aid off and start the conversation.
"So what exactly happened yesterday?" He asked without preamble.
Haruno took a sip of her coffee. She seemed to have calmed down somewhat from earlier, when they were outside the cafe. Or at least, the mask was back in place.
"Nothing happened, Hikigaya-kun. I'm afraid I can't read your mind, so I don't know what my dear little sister told you, but I can assure you that everything is quite alright."
"You and I both know that that's not gonna work." He shot back.
"And why shouldn't it? I don't recall ever asking for your help, Hikigaya-kun. You were the one that insisted upon this conversation, but that does not mean that the conversation must be to your liking. I'm telling you, everything is fine."
"I think that a Yukinoshita Haruno that's fine doesn't skulk around back alley cafes in Chiba wearing a hoodie and ratty jeans. A Yukinoshita Haruno that is doing well is teasing, flirty, funny; perfect in every way imaginable. And she most certainly would never lose her temper; would never let slip even for a second how upset she really felt."
He paused. "And because… because I think that I know Yukinoshita Haruno a little better than most people, I'll ask her again. What's wrong?"
"You know nothing, Hikigaya Hachiman," she laughed bitterly. "That line really does sound funny when spoken aloud. But still, the sentiment holds true. Unfortunately for you, Hikigaya-kun, you don't know me. And whatever version of me that you think you know died a long time ago."
He grimaced. "You're right. I certainly don't know the you of today as well as I probably should. On the other hand however, I don't think I'm wrong here. You can pretend to me that things are alright all you want. But it won't be as easy to lie to yourself. And as long as you keep pretending that you're happy with things being the way that they are right now, nobody can help. Are you sure that's what you want? Are you sure that everything is, as you claim, alright?"
At first, there was only silence. She didn't say a word, simply staring down at her cup of coffee as if trying to find a response within the steaming dark liquid. He took a sip from his own cup, grimacing at the bitterness. He'd forgotten to ask for the proper amount of sugar. He hadn't needed to specify in a long time; Akari had, by now, figured out how much sugar he liked in his coffee.
The silence stretched on. He considered asking her again, but figured that it wouldn't do anything. Knowing Haruno, she would talk if she wanted to talk. And only when she was ready to talk would that conversation ever happen.
And right as he was about ready to give up; right when he'd given up this whole conversation as a lost cause and was about to say his farewells, she finally looked up from her cup.
"Do you really want to hear the full story, Hikigaya-kun? It's not a very happy story. You could walk away, right now, and you wouldn't lose anything. You can even continue romancing my cute little sister!"
"I want to know, Haruno." He responded without missing a beat, meeting her gaze steadily. "I wouldn't be here asking if I was afraid of what you'd tell me."
She smiled a small, bitter smile.
"Very well then. I can tell you everything. I'll be honest, brutally so. I won't hide anything anymore. Let's start from the very beginning, shall we? Or rather, let's start from the end. The end of the story of our youth."
oOo
