Chapter 1

The Fiancée

His day started like any other regular school day.

He woke up.

He went to the bathroom to freshen himself.

He dressed up in his regular school uniform.

He petted Kamakura for good luck.

And now he was going to eat breakfast.

All in all, a pretty standard morning, one that he had repeated countless times by now. Monotonous? Maybe, but right now, it was that sense of familiarity what he was yearning for.

It filled him peace, enough that he ended up closing his eyes for just a second, just taking on the present, for right now it was the closest thing he would ever have to Nirvana…

"Hachiman, don't forget to treat Yukino-chan properly, alright? I'll know if you disrespect her in any way, so you better behave!"

But of course, it all came crashing down once the voice of his mother reached his ears, making him open his eyes slowly, just to throw a glare at the woman that had thrown him to the figurative wolf just the day prior.

"What's with that look? You better not greet Yukino-chan with those eyes, young man." Her nonchalantly rebuke only made his right eye twitch. Was she really going to act as if yesterday had been an everyday occurrence, instead of what he would describe as sacrificing your first born to a demon?

"Sure, you two might be engaged already, but that's no reason to slack off, you hear me? So you better treat her right."

His own body shivered as soon as the word 'engaged' left his mother's lips. The whole weight of everything that had been decided yesterday came down on his shoulders, to the point he almost felt like slamming his head on the table just to see if he would wake up out of this nightmare.

In fact...

"You do that again and you're going to pay for a new table." His mom warned him.

It seemed plan A had failed.

"How can you act like that?" He finally asked, once more with a glare on his face. "Don't you realize what happened yesterday? Why are we following a dumb promise made by old people that aren't even here anymore!?"

He watched as his mom sighed before making a show of cleaning up her glasses, right before giving him a pointed look that usually meant that he, in her opinion, was acting like a brat.

"Tell me, Hachiman. Do you hate Yukino-chan?"

"W-well…no…?" He answered lamely, knowing that as annoying as he found her sometimes, there was no way he could say he actually hated her.

"Good. I won't bother asking you if you find her attractive or not since I think the answer to that one is obvious." Her declaration was only met with a grunt rom himself, after all, Yukinoshita might be many things, but unappealing was certainly not one of them.

Not that he would say that to her face out of fear of her ego growing even bigger somehow.

"And last time I checked, you wanted to be a househusband of all things." He felt like an arrow pierced his chest at the way she said that. "And I'm sure Yukino-chan will be able to provide if you do decide to follow that path."

He had to admit, had he been any lesser man, he would have probably been convinced by now, but this was not something he was just going to give up so easily, especially given the absurdity of the situation.

Was it even legal in the first place? Because he doubted-

His phone just decided to buzz right at that time, and while that by itself wouldn't have been much of an issue usually, right now it was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

He had an inkling as to who had just texted him, after all, given what had been decided yesterday, and if he happened to be correct…

"Well? Aren't you going to check on that?" Giving the stink eye to his mom once more, he slowly took out his phone out of his pocket, his definitely not nervous eyes looking now at the screen.

It only made his eye twitch even more so.

From: Honorable Mother-in-Law

'Good morning, Hachiman-kun. I hope you have a pleasant day ahead of you. I already sent Yukino to pick you up, she should be arriving at any moment now.'

Truly, if he thought his own mother's reaction to this whole ordeal was troublingly accepting to the point he almost considered it neglecting, then Yukinoshita's mom's was far, far worse.

The woman seemed just so…giddy on the prospect of marrying off her daughter, to someone like him no less, that at one point he had honestly thought he was being pranked.

He wasn't though, unless this was some sort of rich people prank that he wasn't getting.

"You should probably get moving. You wouldn't want to make the missus wait." What he did know though, was that his mom was enjoying this way, way too much.

Where was the whole 'mother lion protecting her cubs' stuff?!

Re-reading the contents of the message though, brought forth a new worry to his mind. It was one of the many things that had been decides yesterday, most of them without his consent mind you, but among everything it seemed too small to fret over, at least compared to everything else.

He was now fretting over it.

"Mother." He spoke, with as much firmness as he could muster in his tone. "I will just walk to school today."

"Good morning, Hikigaya-kun."

"…good morning, Yukinoshita."

"I'm aware that you might not be used to such method of transportation, but we don't usually jump headfirst into limousines, Hikigaya-kun."

"Right, jump…" He decided, for the sake of his own sanity and whatever pride he had left, to just forget about the last five minutes of his life. "That is definitely what happened…"

It was a minute later that he found himself now sitting properly, his body pressed to the left side of the limousine, his gaze glued to the passing scenery going behind the window of the car, with his whole body as tense as it could be.

Surely, that wasn't a strange reaction, right? It might sound immature, but he truly didn't know how to interact with Yukinoshita now. He wasn't, couldn't just pretend that things hadn't changed, whether he liked it or not, which was one of the reasons for why he didn't want to face her first thing in the morning.

The unflinching stare he could feel coming from her was not helping a bit either, nor was the simple fact that he didn't even know what she thought of this entire mess.

Sure, her mom was obviously more than accepting of the thing, but Yukinoshita had been so meek and silent yesterday, probably a result of her mother's presence and the insanity of what had been decided, that he still didn't know how she was feeling about being…engaged to him of all things.

Once more, another shiver went down his spine.

If he had to be honest, he kind of expected her to be angry, or at the very least displeased by such outcome. Not only because it was, in his quite honest opinion, the sanest response anyone could have to being told you had to marry someone without your input on the matter, but also because he couldn't imagine her being happy with her family forcing her to do, well, honestly anything at all, let alone this.

"Hikigaya-kun…" So when she finally called out to him, he admittedly jumped a bit more than what was acceptable, and when he moved his gaze towards her, he expected to see annoyance, anger or disapproval in her eyes.

If he was lucky, maybe all three!

What he did not expect though, was to see Yukinoshita with her face flushed pink and her trying, and failing amazingly, at matching his own gaze.

"I've- I mean, mother…" He saw her take a slow breath, her eyes still darting everywhere except at him. "Decided that spending more time by ourselves would help our future t-together…"

He saw her cheeks flare up even more at that part, something that he couldn't judge her for, giving how he was sure he looked pretty much the same right now.

"S-so…" She continued, her blue eyes finally meeting his, and one of her fingers playing with her hair in a way he almost described as adorable. "I hope you don't mind if I come pick you up every morning from now on…"

No, seriously, who was this girl and what did she do with Yukinoshita Yukino?

He had believed that her behavior from yesterday had to do with her mother's presence, which was something he would understand.

So why was she still acting as if she wasn't bothered by this insane situation?!

"Yukinoshita." He spoke slowly while trying to sort his own conflicting emotions. "Doesn't it bother you? This whole arranged marriage crap, don't you think it's just…wrong?" Surely someone as smart as Yukinoshita realized just how bat-shit insane this whole mess was.

The answer he got though, was her simply blinking at him, almost as if she hadn't understood what he had just said. His frown remained steady though, even as Yukinoshita finally broke their staring by sighing softly and moving her attention to her hands that were resting on her lap.

"Hikigaya-kun." She started, her tone low and calm, but with an undertone of something that sounded like…sadness? "I wouldn't expect you to understand this, but… for most of my life, this is something I had accepted would happen sooner or later."

He couldn't hold the shocked expression from marring his face, even as Yukinoshita continued.

"So when mother finally told me the news…I wasn't happy, but I had made my peace with such arrangement a long time ago." Her words brought up a sudden feeling of frustration inside of him that he hadn't expected. To hear Yukinoshita sound so defeated, he had to admit, it brought a bitter taste to his mouth.

"So you were just going to accept this no matter what?" He shot back, with admittedly more heat than what he had wanted.

Said heat though, was immediately cooled down by the sharp look that Yukinoshita gave him as soon as he finished his sentence, and while a part of him was happy to see that fire back in Yukinoshita's eyes, having it aimed at him was not a pretty feeling.

"Of course not!" Even her voice sounded as If he had honestly offended her. "If it had been with anyone else, I would have fought it! Because of Yuigahama-san and you, I wouldn't have let mother to control my life like that, not anymore!"

By the end, Yukinoshita's breathing was ragged, her eyes once more locked on his own, not letting him tear up his gaze from her even for a second.

"B-but when mother told me it would be with Hikigaya-kun…" Her voice was back to a soft melody, with her face growing redder seemingly at the same rate his own was. "I thought…I just thought…it wouldn't be so bad…"

Oh…

Oh…

It was only now, as her words pierced his chest and their meaning racked his brain, that he realized Yukinoshita had scooped closer to him the more she had talked, although he wasn't sure If she had done so on purpose or not.

The result though? Her face was close, like really close.

Close enough that he could even see the tip of her ears burning red too, although whether it was because of their proximity to one another, or her rather sudden…confession, he wasn't sure.

Probably both, he decided.

Same as him in that regard.

It seemed he wasn't the only one that realized their sudden closeness though, given the way her eyes suddenly widened before she turned to look down, her body now inching a bit further away from him.

That still let them far closer than before though, and the silence that followed Yukinoshita's action was a welcomed one, to say the least, given that Yukinoshita's words had been the equivalent of someone hitting him with a bat straight to his head.

"So don't t-think…" Yukinoshita though, seemed to still have one last thing to say. "I would have accepted a-anyone else…"

Did he say bat? More like a sledgehammer actually.

He groaned as silently as he could, his head resting on his left hand, while he drummed the fingers of his right one over his desk, his eyes glued to his schoolbook, but to say he was actually reading it like the teacher wanted to would be a lie.

It's not like he didn't want to pay attention in class or anything, but there were too many things in his head right now for that, too many things that he needed start considering right now.

And that was ignoring the fact that he was currently being watched.

So yeah, even thinking about his situation with Yukinoshita proved difficult when he had not one, but two pair of eyes watching him as I he was the most interesting person in the room.

At least one pair of eyes weren't trying to incinerate him with just looks alone though, so that had to account for something, right?

He raised his gaze slightly, his eyes meeting blue as they matched with Kawasaki's eyes.

Her reaction? She stealthily waved at him with her free hand.

An action that he was forced to reciprocate, albeit with a far stiffer wave, which fortunately was enough to make her nod and return her attention to her own book.

Now If that had been it, then it wouldn't have weirded him out much if he was being honest.

But this was like the fourth time they had repeated this song and dance during this class alone!

In a few minutes she would just start looking at him again and she would not stop until she returned the look at the very least.

Definitely not good for his increasingly growing headache, but at the very least her eyes weren't hostile towards him, and maybe he could justify it as her trying to be nice after his help yesterday?

At the very least, it was far better than having someone trying to kill you with just her eyes.

He slowly moved his gaze to his left now, until they finally met a pair of emerald eyes that were displaying nothing but contempt at him.

Oh yeah, Miura Yumiko was still pissed as all hell, and she had seemingly decided that he was responsible for her current mood.

And Hayama was still no way in sight to cheer her up it seemed…

He saw her huff in apparent indignation before turning her head around, which prompted a sigh out of his lips, wondering for just how long she would be acting up like that.

The only consolation prize that he had right now was the fact that he had been able to convince Yukinoshita of dropping him a couple of blocks before they had reached Sobu, although it hadn't been easy.

Sure, he didn't care about his reputation in Sobu. Never had and never would, but he did care about Yukinoshita's, even if she had told him it didn't matter to her either.

There were still too many things between him and Yukinoshita that he had to consider, especially after what she had told him in her limo, and he didn't need any stupid rumor mill suddenly turning things harder for her now of all things.

Not that he would be able to figure things out peacefully right now though, given how he could feel Miura's eyes once more making a whole at the side of his head, which only made him sigh once more.

What was the point of his stealth ability if it didn't work when he needed it?

"Ah, Hikigaya, thank you for offering to solve this problem. C'mon, get to the board."

Today was just not his day.

Could a relationship born out of obligation, out of someone else's decision, be a genuine one?

That was the conundrum that had him deep in thought for a while now, and it was because that reason that he found himself simply looking up at the clouds, even as he should be using this time to eat the bread he had bought for lunch.

It was also a problem that he had never considered, for obvious reasons.

It wasn't like he had ever expected to just wake up one day and be told he would be marrying anyone, let alone Yukinoshita.

Even now just that thought was enough to make him pull on the collar of his uniform out of sheer embarrassment.

Could someone blame him though? It wasn't like he had ever actually thought about marriage; he was still in high school!

And with someone like Yukinoshita, with whom his own feelings towards were…complicated, to say the least?

The fact that Yukinoshita herself had already told him she didn't mind this arrangement though, made his already complicated emotions even harder to sort out. He knew it came down to one question though.

Did he like Yukinoshita Yukino?

Sadly, he didn't know how to answer that.

But even if he did, and even if the answer was a positive one, did that change his initial issue? The fact that had been decided by someone else…He just couldn't agree with it.

He could only sigh once more, for apparently he was the only one with a problem with it.

"You look like someone kicked your dog."

"I have a cat, actually." He answered without thinking, just to then blink and turn his head to look at the newcomer. "Kawasaki?"

"Hikigaya." She greeted him with a nod, right before plopping down to his right. "So this is where you go and hide during lunch?"

"Sometimes…" He answered, still surprised by her sudden appearance. "Depends on the weather and if no one else is around…"

"Fair enough." She answered while her eyes darted around for a bit, before landing on himself again. "I still prefer the roof though."

"You say that until you find a couple making out while you're trying to eat lunch." He grumbled, to which he heard her snort in response before nodding. It seemed he wasn't the only one that had enjoyed that particular experience.

A silence followed his words, one that he didn't know with what to fill in. This was unexpected, for he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten lunch in Kawasaki's presence.

It happened when the two people involved were loners, he supposed.

"Here." It was her the one that broke the silence though, by suddenly pushing what looked like a wrapped up box into his hands. "For you."

Now it didn't take a genius to figure out what Kawasaki had just given to him, but that didn't stop the surprise expression from appearing on his face, which he followed by giving her a raised eyebrow.

"Told you I would pay you back." She answered his silent question.

"You didn't have to…" He whispered, now looking at the bento once more.

"Well I did." Her comeback was followed by her scratching her head. "I'm no chef but it's definitely better than some bread, so..."

He could tell she was growing a bit anxious, which was something he understood. It probably wasn't easy, to give someone a bento, especially for people like them, but she still had gone out of her way to do this for him.

Some people might think of him as insensitive, but even he knew better than to reject such an honest gift given the circumstances, even if the food ended up being mid.

"Thank you, Kawasaki." He didn't have to worry though, as the bento ended up being just as delicious as it looked.

"Any time, Hikigaya."

"Ara? So you remembered this place exist? I thought your brain had done as your eyes and become like that of a fish."

Now that came out of nowhere, to the point he found himself stopping on his tracks after closing the door behind him, his confused expression aimed squarely at Yukinoshita, who was sitting at her usual place in the clubroom.

Of course, he was more than used to their mutual banter, it was simply something that he had grown to expect, and although he would never tell her straight to her face, he even found them entertaining enough from time to time.

But this one felt different, as in, he could actually tell Yukinoshita had spoken out of actual annoyance more than anything else.

Even he could tell that much by now, and considering the way she simply ignored him right after saying that, even as he sat himself into his usual spot, she was obviously upset about something.

It was quite the contrast with how…bashful, she had been just this morning.

Then again, maybe that was the issue? She hadn't been happy when he had told her to drop him before reaching Sobu, so maybe she was still hung up about that?

"Is everything alright, Yukinoshita?" He asked carefully, to which he simply got a side-glance from her, right before she went back to look at her phone.

"Of course it is, Hikigaya-kun." Suffice to say, her tone did not match her words. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Yes, she was definitely still hung up about that, to say the least. He knew she could hold a pretty nasty grudge, but he had hoped her new softer disposition might have helped to mitigate her anger.

He had been wrong in that regard, to say the least.

Which was a problem, considering he wanted to ask her a particular question regarding their newfound…relationship.

Or rather, the piece of paper that was enforcing said relationship.

Because if there was one thing Yukinoshita's mother had left clear, is that there was an actual, physical contract on play here, one that the woman had opted not to show him for some reason.

He hadn't say anything at the time, since she hadn't given him the chance, but to say he would at the very least like to read the thing would be an understatement.

Maybe there was a way of canceling the contract too? Like a loophole? He still thought forcing such a relationship to be…wrong, even if Yukinoshita seemed to have accepted the idea already, so knowing everything he could about his current predicament was something he considered of deep importance.

He could always just ask the Yukinoshita matriarch directly, but even that idea by itself was enough to-

"Hikigaya-kun." The suddenness of Yukinoshita's voice was enough to take him out of his thoughts before they took a rather uncomfortable turn. He was only now realizing Yukinoshita was standing beside his own seat, with her left hand grabbing on her right arm.

"I was…made aware that perhaps I wasn't clear enough with what I meant when I said I've-I mean, that mother recommended for us to spend more time together." As fun as it was to see Yukinoshita stumbling over her words, it was still a weird as hell sight. His eyes did travel to her right hand though, which was currently holding her phone.

She was made aware? That sounded dangerous considering the select people that might have said a thing in the first place…

"As such…" Yukinoshita continued before seemingly taken a deep breath. "I think it would be best for us I we started to-"

"Yahallo!" Whatever Yukinoshita was about to say though, was lost the moment the third member of the club made her presence known in the loudest way possible.

His eyes were immediately drawn towards Yuigahama, just as he made the wise decision of ignoring Yukinoshita's slight frown. It was Yuigahama's turn to deal with a moody Yukinoshita now and he was not going to deprive her from such joys.

"Yahallo, everyone." It was the second greeting though, the one that got his attention the most, even as Yuigahama moved to pretty much glomp Yukinoshita, his own eyes remained firmly planted on the girl that had been standing behind Yuigahama just a moment prior.

And in response, Ebina Hina simply smiled.

"Must we really go to the rooftop just for this?" He complained to the girl to his side, even as he kept moving up the stairs.

"Well…" In response though, Ebina simply kept smiling at him. "It's a bit embarrassing since anyone could pop up if we do it in a classroom… and the rooftop has a much prettier backdrop, don't you think?"

He could only offer a shrug to her, not really having an opinion on the matter, and mostly just wanting to finish the request as soon as possible.

Why couldn't Ebina just ask some of the guys in her friend group to help her with this, he didn't know. Sure, he had told him and Yukinoshita the reason, something about her friends not having the correct body type or something, but even that had sounded like an excuse not only in his, but also in Yukinoshita's ears.

In the end, it had only been because of Yuigahama's insistence that he was now here, walking up to the rooftop of Sobu after class to be used as a model for some drawing Ebina wanted to make.

Sure, this was far from the first time such a menial request had been given to the Service Club, but since it came from one Ebina Hina, he still wasn't able to stop a bit of trepidation to sip into himself.

After all, even if Ebina herself had assured them that the drawing wouldn't involve anything related to her…specific tastes, he still wasn't sure he believed her completely given her almost obsession with such genre.

"Can I ask you something, Hikigaya-kun?" It was Ebina who broke the silence between them, to which he simply shrugged before nodding slightly. As long as it wasn't anything weird…

"What kind of girls do you like?"

"What kind of question is that?" He shot back almost immediately, his weirded out expression seemingly being funny enough to make Ebina giggle in response.

"Sorry sorry." She threw back with a wave of her hand and a small wink. "Saki-chan just kept asking me about it and I didn't know what to tell her."

Now that was enough to almost make him miss the next step, but he was luckily able to avoid such accident, his frozen body now looking at the door that lead to the rooftop, while his mind was still trying to comprehend what Ebina had just said.

It also brought him back to the day prior, to the last interaction he had with Kawasaki herself.

Had she…had she been serious at that time?

"It's too cruel when you think about it." Ebina continued, her smile turning almost sad if he had to describe. "Saki-chan finally finds someone she likes, but Hikigaya-kun has already been claimed…"

His look turned into a sharp one the more Ebina talked, and while he knew there was a lot to unpack there, it was that last bit which made alarms go wild in his mind.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing…" Her tone made it clear that it was not, in fact, nothing. "But you better tell me the juicy details later, ok?"

And before he was able to question her further, Ebina Hina simply…pushed him.

Pushed him straight through the door of the rooftop, the surprise of her action forcing him to focus into not losing his footing and meeting the floor face first.

Seriously, what was whit women lately pushing him around?!

Whatever complain he was about to voice out though, died on his lips right after because of two reasons.

First, was the fact that the door of the rooftop was promptly shut close, obviously by Ebina.

Second, was the fact that he wasn't alone in the rooftop, with his eyed widening as he locked gazes with the other person.

Miura Yumiko was standing opposite of him, and she did not look happy.

2nd chapter down. Not much happened here I'll admit, just a bit with Yukino, Saki and the big setup or Yumiko next chapter. Some of you might have guessed already what her "plot" is, so you'll have confirmation on that in next chapter.

Interest on the first chapter was way beyond what I thought it would get, so I'm glad people seem to be enjoying it! Thank you all for reading so far, hope you have enjoyed this one too

Next Chapter: Enter, Miura Yumiko.

Plots so far:

1) Yukinoshita Yukino: "Because of my grandfather, my high-class Club President suddenly became my fiancée."