"But if they do that, where will they get the rest of the money? The budget is already stretched thin."

{I was thinking we could raise prices for all services and goods.}

"How much are you planning on raising prices?"

{I was thinking fifty percent minimum.}

"Fifty percent?! How much does this new addition cost?"

{More than our budget can afford.}

Honestly, how could they allow this to pass through, and so close to the deadline.

"Hachiman, how could you allow them to pass such a provision?"

{It's not like I didn't object to it. You should have seen how the girls looked at me when I tried to argue against it.}

"What kind of dolt do they have in charge of this event?"

{Orimoto-san and unlucky for me, she was chosen to be project leader.}

This isn't the first time this girl's name has been brought up. She seems to have a penchant for pushing all her work on him. It's nothing new for people to take advantage of Hachiman like this, but for some reason: hearing her name continue to pop up like this irks me to no end.

{Well, since we've reached a bit of an impasse, why don't we take this opportunity to take a break.}

"Hikigaya wants to be a hikikomori. What a fitting name."

A simple jab, but an effective one.

{Hey, don't make it sound like I'm just giving up! We've been working through this for two hours. I don't think it's unreasonable for us to stand up and stretch a bit.}

"But it's only been two hours?"

In all honesty I could use a break as well, but I feel like bantering with him just a wee bit more.

{Please have some sympathy for us mere mortals. Not all of us can parse through this much information without losing steam. Also, my cup of coffee is finished.}

"Ah so there is your true intention: an addict desperate to get his next fix."

{Just because I drink it every day, does not mean I am addicted. I can stop drinking coffee whenever I want.}

"That is exactly what an addict would say. It is still morning here, and I am drinking tea, meanwhile here you are drinking coffee in the afternoon."

I check the pot of tea I have next to me and see that it is nearly empty. So is my cup.

"Though perhaps you have a point. A small break would be beneficial at this point. Why don't we both take this opportunity to get more refreshments."

{Agreed.}

Since Fall of last year, I have been attending school abroad. This is my second academic year and will be staying here for one more. Though it may be lonely staying so far from home, the phone calls with Hachiman made it bearable. While I do appreciate that Nee-san made that possible, she can be quite an annoyance at times.

However, Hachiman had recently acquired a phone of his own so Nee-san is no longer required, though that doesn't stop her from joining in from time to time. Time zones are still a nuisance, but we have been able to work around them.

Which leads us to now. Hachiman unwillingly found himself trying to salvage this winter event and sought out my help with this conundrum.

I get up from my desk and make my way to the kitchen to make more tea. From the rustling I hear over the phone, I suspect he is doing the same. Along the way I hear Komachi's voice over the phone, though I can't make out what she is saying; from the sound of it seems like she's lecturing him?

The noise from my phone quiets down a bit, and I hear Hachiman clear his throat.

{So how is the weather over there?}

Did he really ask such a mundane question to start a conversation? You sound like those boys in my class who are vying for my attention.

{Okay. Okay. I can feel the disappointment in your silence.}

I would hope so.

{Ow! Komachi! Stop hitting me! That is very low in Komachi points!}

"Good job, Komachi-san. Make sure to beat that behavior out of him."

{God really does give his toughest battle to his strongest soldiers.}

"If you are considered our 'strongest soldier' then I fear what will become of humanity."

I chuckled a bit at my last retort. Though it is sad we are not in the same room, it does make me appreciate these simple moments.

{Sorry. I misspoke earlier. What I wanted to ask was: Do you have any plans for when you come back to Japan for winter break?}

"Are you planning to invite me out somewhere, Hachiman?"

If we were talking in person, I am sure he would be more embarrassed to speak after seeing the huge grin plastered on my face.

{Well, we didn't really have too much of an opportunity to see each in person when you came in the summer and Komachi - and me too – wanted to properly spend time together this time around; not to mention your birthday is coming up. So, we were planning on inviting you to Destinyland or something like that.}

"There is an event I have to attend in the new year, but beyond that my schedule is open. Just notify me when we will be going."

{Ah, of course.}

In the background I can hear Komachi celebrating in the background. I imagine it was her and Nee-san who pushed him to ask for this outing. The two of them enjoy meddling in both our lives far too much, and I'm sure they will be joining us at Destinyland to meddle some more.

Despite that, I have never been more excited to return home than I am now.


"Let's give it up for Totsuka! And the tennis club!"

"Yay!", the four of us shouted in unison.

We are currently at Saize celebrating Totsuka for the game she played yesterday. It is kind of awkward because he didn't win his match, though the angel she is, he said she was happy to have seen so much improvement in his abilities.

"Thank you for inviting me out to celebrate! I may not have won, but I could feel that I was playing on a higher level! It's all thanks to you guys of course!"

"You totally were! You were hitting back all the balls he was hitting at you!"

"You just described a normal game of tennis."

"Oh, you get what I mean!"

She sticks out her tongue at me.

"I am happy to hear such praise. The Service Club is happy that we could have been of help. If you stick to your regimen, I am sure you will continue to see success in the future."

"Right!"

Look at Totsuka. So full of determination! I should really be more like her. Oh, what if I joined the tennis club? I'm sure Yukino wouldn't mind.

"Is the Service Club currently working on any request?"

"Besides a few small requests in our digital club inbox, nothing much. Some are requests for academic advice, though a majority are of a romantic nature."

It really was a good thing Yui joined the club because reading half of them made me want to unalive myself in a video game. By the end of the first wave, a bit of my soul died. Half these requests could easily be fixed with a bit of communication with the other person, but such is the life of the youth.

"The club will likely not see an uptick in work until after summer break. No, that is actually not correct. This upcoming summer, we will be volunteering at a summer camp."

"We are?", Yuigahama and I asked in unison.

"We are."

I guess we are.

"Yukino-san!"

Huh? Komachi is here?

Why did you call out to her and not your beloved brother?

I look toward her voice and spot her, and my sorrow turns to anger when I see a guy standing next to her. Hey who do you think you are, standing so close to her!

"Greetings Komachi-san. It is good to see you. Who is the gentlemen with you?"

"Oh, this is my friend from class. He wanted to talk to me about a problem."

"Well, come and have a seat, perhaps we could be of some help."

The two of them made their way to our table and we rearranged ourselves so that the three girls sat on one side, and me, Komachi, and what's-his-name sat on the other.

"It's nice to meet you two! I'm Hikigaya Komachi! Thank you for taking care of my brother!"

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Totsuka Saika, a classmate of his."

"Oh, wow you're such a cute girl! Right, Onii-chan?"

We really are brother and sister! This is proof of our bond.

"Yeah, but he's a guy."

"Stop joking around!"

If only I was.

"Wait, you're being serious?"

"Nice to meet you again. I'm Yuigahama Yui, I'm Hikki's classmate and I'm also in the same club as him too!"

"Oh, hello! Nice to meet you… again?"

Komachi tilts her head to the side and ponders in confusion.

"She's the owner of the dog I saved last year."

"Oh, you're that girl!"

"Yea, I'm that girl."

Yui gives an awkward laugh. She must be embarrassed to speak about it, though if anyone should feel embarrassed it should be Komachi for forgetting to tell me about your visit or not sharing those candies with me.

"My name is Yukinoshita Yukino. I am an old friend of her brother and by extension Komachi. If her brother would introduce himself."

She gestures for me to do just that.

"I'm Hikigaya Hachiman. If you do anything to my sister, I'll crush you."

Yukino gives me a stern glare, but it's important that he knows what I'll do to him if he gets any funny ideas.

"That's a funny joke."

It's not a joke.

"Ummm… I'm Kawasaki Taishi. It's nice to meet you all."

"So, what are you doing with Komachi?"

Depending on your answer, you will disappear within the next 24 hours.

"I go to the same prep school as Hikigaya-san, and I called out to her to ask for advice about what to do about my older sister's recent behavior."

"You find your sister's behavior concerning, how so?", Yukino chimed in.

"You see, before she used to be a model student; she was even able to get into Sobu like you all. But recently she's been getting home really late, and I don't know where she goes. She's feeling more and more like a delinquent."

"How late is she coming home?"

"A bit past five in the morning?"

"Eh?! That's basically the morning! What is she doing so late at night?", Yui screamed out.

"That's what I want to know. I would bring this up to my parents but they're both so busy with work and taking care of my younger brother and sister, so I don't want to worry them more. I tried asking her directly, but she just dodges the question and ignores me."

"You said she attended Sobu, correct?"

"Yes. She's actually in the same year as you all. Her name is Kawasaki Saki."

Saki? The same one I know?

"Oh Kawasaki-san? I've talked to her a bit, but not much. She kind of has a scary aura around her, so it's kind of hard to approach her, you know."

Scary aura? That definitely sounds like her. So, Taishi is her younger brother.

"I can agree that Saki definitely has a scary aura around her, but she definitely isn't a delinquent."


How did he just refer to the sister? I must have misheard or perhaps he just misspoke. Yes, that must be it. He must have confused Saki with Kawasaki. A simple mistake for a simple mind to make.

"Taishi, you said Saki's change in behavior was recent, but when exactly did this happen?"

Ah. There it is again. Silly Hachiman, making the same mistake two times in a row.

Looking at Kawasaki-kun's reaction, or lack thereof, it seems like he has also been thrown off by Hachiman's mistake. It takes a second for Taishi-kun to respond to the question.

"Huh? Oh, ummm I guess since the start of the new school year."

Hachiman enters a pensive state. It seems he understands the situation Kawasaki-san is in. How odd for him to have such a thing about a stranger he only just learned about. Actually, did he not speak about her character earlier as well?

"Okay, I have an idea on what's going on with Saki. Though I'd like to confirm it with the source itself, I don't know how she would respond if I messaged her out of the blue about her nightly activities. In person would probably be best, but she usually leaves right after school ends."

Who is this Kawasaki-san and why does Hachiman appear to have a close relationship with this woman?

Depending on his answer, I will make him disappear.

"Ummm Hikki."

I look toward Yuigahama, who has a very nervous look on her face. She is twiddling her thumbs while avoiding eye contact with Hachiman.

"You seem to know a bit about Kawasaki-san. Are you two close or something?"

Yes! Good job Yuigahama! I would also like to know the nature of their relationship!

"Not particularly. Recently, Saki and I have been helping each other with homework. From this conversation, I now get why she would sometimes message me so early in the morning. Since we're both older siblings, I can empathize with the situation she is in."

Maybe Kawasaki-san is the problem.

"Whoa! I didn't realize Nee-san had made such a close friend! Thank you for helping her, Onii-chan!"

Or maybe it is the entire Kawasaki bloodline.

"Hey! Who do you think you're calling 'onii-chan'? The only person who can call me that is Komachi!"

He looked toward Komachi for reassurance but all he found was rejection. Good job, Komachi! Both of us being younger sisters, you must have sensed my pain.

That being said, I should focus on the matter at hand and put my feelings aside. It seems like Hachiman has an idea about what is going on with Kawasaki-san. The issue now is confirming his hypothesis, and how to go about it.

Hachiman mentioned earlier that the two of them being older siblings is what allowed him to empathize with her situation, so her change in behavior likely has to do with Kawasaki-kun and his siblings. Assuming she is simply not a delinquent, her behavior could be attributed to a late-night job; the consistency in which she leaves school and returns home gives the impression of a person with work hours. Hachiman reached his conclusion after hearing Kawasaki-kun's response, so going along that same line of thinking she's taken on a job with the express purpose of generating money for her sibling's academics. Two parent household - both working - with three children to worry about… this hypothesis seems feasible.

This is likely the same conclusion Hachiman reached, a good hypothesis but meaningless without confirmation. How to go about it? According to the two brothers, she is academically inclined: perhaps if she was invited to a study session hosted by the top student in the school she would come? Perhaps she would come if her close friend, Hachiman, invited her to it…

In any case, I should convey this plan to Hachiman.

"Hikigaya-san"

He seems to stiffen up and his eyes widen while looking in my direction. His face becomes visibly paler. The two to my right and Kawasaki-kun appear to have also frozen in their tracks.

Oops. Perhaps I didn't hide my resentment well enough.


So, this is where Yukinoshita-san lives, huh.

For the daughter of a politician, this is about what I expected. A big apartment, on the top floor of a high-rise building, with all the amenities she'll ever want or need. On top of that, she has this all to herself. With such a great view of the city below, the monthly rent is probably more than what my parents pay for the monthly mortgage. Honestly, it's strange that someone like me is sitting here. I only just met the home resident for the first time, a second ago.

Normally Saturday is the day of the week I reserve for myself to catch up on all the schoolwork and study time that's piled up throughout the week. But earlier in the week, Hachiman invited me to a study session that his club's president was having. I was initially hesitant to go, but Hachiman kept reassuring me that Yukinoshita-san was an honest, good person. Though that wasn't the reason I came.

Recently Taishi has been asking about where I've been so late at night. I've told him not to worry about it, but he and the rest know that something is wrong. Even the other day, Keika asked if I was alone at school and when I told her that I keep to myself, she said I could share some of her friends if I didn't have any. Hearing her say that really did sting.

Which brings me to why I am here. I really don't want to make them worry, but I won't give up my job. I still need more money if I want to pay the tuition for the cram school I'm trying to get into, and summer is fast approaching. I'm hoping that I can convince Keika that I really am doing okay; I told her I was heading out to a study session with some friends from school. Which is partially true, I'm pretty sure Hachiman and I are friends. Keika was overjoyed to hear that I wasn't alone, but she asked me to bring back a photo of me with my friends. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

In order to get here, I met up with Hachiman earlier at the train station before he led the two of us to Yukinoshita's place. When we reached her front door, she invited us in and led us to the living room where she left us and Yuigahama-san while she went to get refreshments.

"Yahallo! Kawasaki-san, it's nice to see you here!"

"Huh? Oh, uh hi Yuigahama-san. So I guess you're a part of the Service Club."

"Yup! I've been a member for a whole month now."

"Well, that's good for you.", I guess. When is the study session going to start?

"Uh… Saki…"

Hachiman begins to speak, but he seems nervous. Why is he nervous? If anyone should be nervous, it should be me. He cleared his throat again, before trying again.

"Saki, did you finish translating the English homework you were working on?"

"I got through most of it, but I had some concerns about some of the phrases."

"Can you show them to me?"

I pull out my notebooks, and writing martials while I'm at it, and find the assignment I was looking for.

"Well, for starters this one here. I think I translated it right, but it doesn't make sense."

"No, you translated that right. It's just that the phrase is an old-timey English idiom."

"Oh, I see. Then what about these other two."

"This one is right, but this other one isn't. The verb and subject don't match correctly."

"I see. Then, the correct translation should be written something like this?"

"More or less."

"It seems as though the study session has already begun without me."

Out from the kitchen came Yukinoshita-san with a tray of snacks. She lays the tray at the center of the living room table and sits down opposite of me.

"Since you are already discussing it, let us start with English."


What followed were four hours of studying under a person who was, in many ways, stricter than any teacher I ever had. Not that I minded it. Maybe it was because she only just met me, but I felt like she was more lenient with me than she was with the other two. For the first half, she spent the most time with Yui, answering her questions, which left me and Hachiman working together most of the time.

Every now and then, Yukinoshita or Hachiman would throw insults at each other, but it felt more like flirting than anything else, if that makes sense. She would come to us less often, but she was a big help whenever she did. I knew class 2-J was ahead of ours, but actually seeing the difference is eye-opening.

We spent the second half studying mathematics, and Yukinoshita found herself helping our side a bit more. Hachiman was fairly proficient when it came to the English problems, but when it came to mathematics he seemed to fall apart. This time around he was relying on me to work through these problems.

It was just past two in the afternoon when Yukinoshita thought we should take a proper break. Though I wasn't quite satisfied enough to stop working just yet. It felt like I was close to understanding this section, and I didn't want to interrupt my progress.

"Hikigaya-kun. Yuigahama-san. If it is okay with you two, can you two get lunch for the four of us? I'll stay here with Kawasaki-san and help her with the rest of her work."

"Of course! But Yukinon, where are we going to buy food from?"

"There's a small restaurant not too far from here. Hikigaya-kun should know where it is."

"He does… I see…"

"That place is really good. The amount of food you can get for just 2000 yen is amazing! The food to money ratio isn't as good as Saize, but it makes up for it with the number of sides they give you!"

Yukinoshita-san seems to sigh at his little outburst. I understand why: Hachiman seems to be overly passionate about the most random things. Though I have to agree with what he is saying about Saize. After finishing my shift, I sometimes pass by there to get a quick breakfast.

"If you say so. Just make sure to get enough food for all of us and save the receipt. I will reimburse you for the cost of the meal."

She probably will reject it, but I will try to pay her for my portion.

The two put away their work materials and headed out to get us lunch. Hopefully they don't take too long. I'm starting to get hungry. Yukinoshita-san sits across from me, and sips tea while she watches me work.

It took almost twenty minutes, but I finally finished this section and I finally feel like I have a good grasp of the concepts. A lot of that was because of Yukinoshita-san, of course. I really do appreciate that she didn't helicopter me; most of the time she would just watch me work and would only interfere when I was struggling too much.

Of course, now that I've finished my work, I don't know what to do now. It's just us two alone in her apartment. The only sound being made is us sipping from our cups. I'm contemplating, maybe starting a conversation with her, but what would we even talk about. Maybe silence would be better.

"So, I hear from Hikigaya-kun, that you and he have been helping each other out with homework, and whatnot."

Thank God, she broke the ice first. I didn't expect her to want to get personal with me, but I'll just roll with it for now.

"We have. We've been helping each other out for about two weeks or so."

She seems to nod her head in affirmation.

"I took notice that you two refer to each other by your given names. With the way you refer to one another, one might think you two were exceptionally close."

Hmmm. Did I step onto some kind of landmine? Is she like his girlfriend or something? He never referred to her as his girlfriend, so maybe it's a one-sided crush. I should clear things up. I don't want to be a part of some love triangle.

"Yukinoshita-san, do you have a crush on Hachiman?"

"I beg your pardon. What makes you say such a thing?"

She looked a bit away from me and a blush could be seen on her face. Bullseye, huh?

"Never mind. I said something weird. I'm sorry."

"No, I should apologize. I said something weird to begin with."

"If you're curious why we call each other by our first names, it's not a big deal. It's just something that sort of happened."

"Would you like to know something humorous about that outcome? When Hikigaya asked you for your name, he wasn't referring to your given name."

"What?"

"He was asking for your family name. He didn't know what your name was at the time."

"Oh, that's why he asked that. Oh wow, I guess I just assumed he already knew my name."

"There was your first mistake: Thinking he would be familiar with his classmates, let alone know their names."

What now? Do we keep referring to each other by our first names or do we switch to our family names. Would it be weird if I just switched which name I called him by? It'd also be weird if I asked him about this too. Well, he called me by my first name earlier, so I guess I'll continue to do the same.

"Thanks for letting me know."

"Of course. It was a surprise to hear him refer to someone else in such a close manner, and humorous when he finally realized his blunder."

"Is that so? How did it come up?"

At my words, the smile that was on her face slowly faded. It was replaced with a more serious look. The room got eerily silent. Did I step on another landmine? Should I take back what I said? Wait, what did I even do wrong?

"The topic came to light when your younger brother ran into me and my friends. He was accompanied by a classmate of his, Hikigaya's younger sister. She was accompanying him to give advice because he was worried about why his older sister was coming home so late."

I thought I told him not to worry. Why did he have to get these people involved in my stuff?

"I don't know what he's told you, but nothing's wrong."

"I wonder, would your parents, or perhaps the school feel the same way. You have taken up a late-night job, yes? I don't know what job you have taken up, but with such late hours, I have to imagine you lied about your age to get the job. Perhaps your employer would be interested in this as well."

This bitch. Is this her trying to threaten me!?

"So, what if I am!? That's none of your business!"

"Please calm yourself. I apologize, I did not mean to threaten you, nor do I intend to force you to do something you do not want to. I invited you here because I wanted you and I to reach an understanding."

What? So, she's not going to try and force me to quit my job?

"Are you really not going to rat me out and what's this about understanding?"

"I promise not to. As for understanding, I was hoping that I could convey to you that I understand why you did what you did and why I am choosing not to, in your own words, 'rat on you'."

"If it's all the same with you, I have no interest in getting personal with you. A person born with a silver spoon in their mouth has no way of understanding why I do what I do. We grew up in completely different worlds."

"If you do not want to get 'personal' with me, do you mind if I am with you?"

A rhetorical question. She doesn't even give me time to object.

"When I was younger, I hated my older sister. For reasons I was not aware of at the time, she would always mess with me. She would tease me; she would meddle in my life. No matter how upset I got at her, she would continue to do as she pleased with me."

"What does this have to do with me?"

She seemingly just ignores my question and continues on as if she didn't hear me.

"It was not until later, not until I grew older, that I realized that she did so out of love and resentment. Love because we were family; she meddled in my life so much because she did not want me to go down the wrong path. To not lose people and moments that were precious to me."

She looks up from her cup and stares at me. No, she is staring at something behind me. I turn my head and look above to spot a framed photo of what looks like a younger Hachiman, Yukinoshita-san, and two other girls. One looks older than the rest, the other looks much younger. Snow can be seen in the background, and looking at the bags they are carrying, the photo looks like it was taken at Destinyland.

I turn my head back and face her again. A bit more invested in what she has to say.

"Resentment because I was all too eager to go down the wrong path. You are right that we live in completely different worlds. My sister was set to inherit my father's position when she grew older; her entire life she was molded and controlled for that outcome. She lost so many opportunities to live her own life because of it. Yet, there I was, the fool, trying to follow in her footsteps."

"What's the point of telling me this story?"

I say that, but I got the gist of what she was saying with that story. But I guess I just want to hear her say it.

"Talk to your brother. I understand that it is the mentality of the older sibling to shelter the younger from the harsh realities, but I can speak from experience that we do not enjoy being left in the dark. I do not doubt that your motivations are noble, but from his perspective his older, who he loves very much, is growing more distant. If you tell him about your struggles, I am sure he will be understanding."

I want to tell her to stop talking like she knows anything about my family, but everything she was saying was spot on. I get that Taishi is probably worried, but I didn't want to involve anyone with my problems.

"This late-night job. Initially I assumed you were trying to earn money for your brother's tuition, but that is not the case is it. Is it for your own tuition?"

"Bullseye. How'd you figure that out?"

She even figured out that much. I slump on to the table with my arms crossed, with my head resting on them.

"The way Hikigaya-kun and Taishi-kun spoke about you, the specifics about your behavior, and the time the change occurred brought me to my first conclusion. Seeing your diligence with the way you apply yourself to your studies first hand made me reevaluate who was in the most need for money."

She already has this much figured out might as well tell her the rest. Especially after she told me about her personal life.

"My parents didn't have money to pay the tuition for both me and Taishi. I asked them to pay for Taishi's tuition. I lied and told them that I would be fine without going to a cram school. I didn't want any of them to worry about me."

"Run from it as much as you can, but you eventually end up in the same place."

"You can relate to that too?"

I tilted my head to the side, still slumped on the table, and looked up at her.

"A bit, but I think you could relate to Hikigaya-kun more on that front."

"Is that so?"

She nods her head in affirmation.

"Also, to be clear, I was the one who had Hikigaya invite you over to this study session. I would ask you not to be angry with him for my deception. Despite what his general blasé attitude may suggest, he does think highly of you, and he thought you would be more than happy to study with us. Of course, you are always welcome to reach out to me if you wish to study more together."

What's with that innocent, sincere smile. I'm going to have to take her up on that offer, aren't I?

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

I can't say I ever had any interest in being her friend, or anyone else's for that matter. The only exception was Hachiman, but that was a bit of an anomaly. I was never lonely. I was satisfied with just being by myself. I never felt the need to go out of my way to make friends. I made an exception with Hachiman. I think I'm going to make another with Yukinoshita. I wouldn't mind making more exceptions in the future.

"Kawasaki-san, have you heard of scholarships?"


"Do you think Yukinon will be able to get through to Kawasaki-san?"

When she told us that she wanted to talk to her by herself, she looked so confident, but I'm still worried about her. She can be like Hikki sometimes, but not exactly like Hikki if that makes sense.

I'm really worried about what we will find when we go back. Is Kawaski'san still going to be there when we get back? Will she be angry at us? Or maybe she'll be crying!

For some reason, I can't imagine her crying.

"Well, she was able to piece together the situation by herself, so I'm sure she has a lid on things."

"I guess that's true. The way she figured it out so easily, it was like she was Sherlock!"

When she began explaining her theory, I was so confused! She talked about her like they were already friends or something.

"I figured it out too, you know."

"But you were already friends with her, so it was easier for you to figure that stuff out."

"Well, we aren't exactly friends per say. We're more like… Work colleagues! Work colleagues who were helping each other out."

He nods agreeing with himself. He says that but he called her by her first name earlier. And he came to the apartment with her too. And he spent the entire time talking with her too!

"I don't know about that… you guys do call each other by your first names. And you guys seem super close and stuff…"

"Well, that was a misunderstanding on both our parts."

"The way you explained it, it seemed like it was your fault. Also, you still called her by her first name earlier!"

Hikki can be cool and smart, but then he can be so dumb too! He didn't even realize he was calling her first name after hearing her full name! Yukinon had to point it out, and she was super scary when she did that! I get why Hikki calls her 'Ice Queen', sometimes.

"If I suddenly switched to using her family name, she would think something was weird, or off."

"Well, I guess that's true…"

"Besides, I plan on calling her by her family name after all this."

"What? You can do that!"

"Huh? Why not? Weren't you upset that I was calling her by her first name in the first place?"

"I wasn't that upset…"

The only thing on his face is doubt.

"But that's not the point! The point is that once you get to that stage you can't go back."

"Why not?"

I can't believe how clueless Hikki can be about this stuff. He told me a bit about his life in middle school, so I guess it makes sense he wouldn't know social stuff.

"Because going back would be like saying: 'I don't think we're that close anymore', or 'we weren't that close of friends anyway'. Something like that."

"Would you be hurt, if someone did that to you?"

"Of course! If my Miura started calling me by my family name, I'd think she didn't think we weren't close friends anymore. Using each other's names is how we show the strength of our friendship."

"Yea, I guess you are right about that."

"Hey Yuigahama."

"Hmmm?"

I turn to look at him, and he has such a serious expression on his face.

What's going on? Why does he look so serious? What's he going to tell me?

"If I started referring to her as Yukino, would you find that normal?"


Quick, short chapter. This time around, instead of ambushing her at her job, they meet her at their study session and instead of 8man taking the lead, we have Yukino take charge of the case. With the concepts of younger and older siblings not communicating being such a big part of Kawaski's story, I thought it would be interesting to have Yukino's perspective on the matter; a bit more of their past, as well as an Orimoto shout-out. There was bit of yandere humour with Yukino hearing 8man refer to her as Saki. Of course there's the ending with Yui unknowingly making the case to 8man that he should call Yukino by her first name again. We'll see more of the fallout of how Yui reacts to his question in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.