Chapter 4

Enter, Kawasaki Saki

He glared.

Even as laughter sounded around him, he only crossed his arms and glared.

Some might call him petulant, or even childish because of his actions.

Frankly though, he believed he was justified.

Surely, anyone would get pissed off if someone invaded the sanctuary that was your home, right?

"And we took this one when Komachi was admitted in Sobu too. Such a joyful day...!"

"Komachi-chan sure looks cute with our uniform. Can't believe I haven't had the chance to talk to her yet. Don't worry, Obaa-san. I'll make sure no one picks on Komachi-chan while I'm there."

"Thank you dear, knowing someone capable is looking out for my dear Komachi does help this poor woman's heart."

Because that what this was, in his eyes.

An invasion.

And what did she mean by someone capable? He went to that same school; he could look out for Komachi just fine!

Sure, she wasn't talking to him right now and hadn't even tried to approach him during school hours as of late, but...

He stopped those thoughts, and just went back to glaring. It was better for his soul.

"Would you stop that already, Hachiman?" It seemed his stance though, was not of his mother's liking. "Yumiko-chan took the time to pay us a visit and you haven't said anything yet!"

There was nothing that he wanted to say that wouldn't probably piss them off anyway.

"It's fine, Obaa-san." Miura's smile and kind tone only made him bite the inside of his cheek in order to keep himself together. "I don't mind Hikio being shy. It has been so long since I came here, after all."

He was not being shy, thank you very much.

"You're lucky to have such a kind friend like Yumiko-chan, Hachiman." A sigh left her lips as she talked, but this time her words were enough to get a reaction out of him.

"We are not friends-" But because he could continue, he was stopped by the sound of what he recognized as his mother's phone.

"One second." She said as she moved to leave, his own eyes trailing her until she finally left towards the kitchen, with her phone in her ear.

Not even a second later, his glare was set onto Miura, who even had the gall to keep that same, overly-kind and most definitely fake smile plastered on her lips.

"What are you doing in my house?" He hissed at her, finally breaking her visage, but the eyeroll that he got was not exactly pleasant either.

"I hadn't seen Obaa-san in almost a decade. Excuse me for wanting to catch up with her!" She spoke with a huff, only making his annoyance even greater.

What hadn't helped either was his mother seemingly recognizing Miura too, so whatever speck of hope that he had of this just being a massive hoax made by a clinically insane Miura with too much free time on her hands seemed to be off the table now.

And he had pinched himself enough on the last few days to know this wasn't a nightmare.

"How did you even know where I lived?" Of all things though, her knowing his adress and suddenly reaching his home before him, wasn't that just weird as hell?

She gave him an unimpressed look though, almost as if she thought he was being stupid, which coming from Miura of all people almost made his eye twitch.

"I used to come here all the time, remember?" No, he did not in fact remember that, or any of the thing she kept saying he should be remembering, for that matter. "You used to swing by my house all the time too. Mom and dad asked me about you yesterday, by the way, so you should swing by one of these days."

There were so many things wrong with that Miura had just said that he didn't even know where to start. He could feel the headache coming from a mile away though, so that was neat.

"You can't just come to my house unannounced like this, Miura." He voiced out in frustration, for the last thing he wanted was for there to be the chance that Miura would suddenly start popping in his house of all places whenever she felt like it.

He didn't even invite Yuigahama and Yukinoshita and those two he actually gave a damn about.

Hell, he was even engaged to one of them!

...And now his headache was getting worse with that last mental picture.

"So, you're going to invite me next time then?" She said, and he could have sworn she looked giddy as she spoke, while he could only muster a perplexed look at her.

How did she get that conclusion in the first place?!

"Are you going to be staying up for dinner, Yumiko-chan?" His mother's sudden question as she re-entered the room was enough to almost make him choke on air alone, not only because having Miura stay for dinner sounded...not good, to say the least, but also because he himself wasn't even going to stay over.

And if he was forced to explain that he wasn't going to stay to have dinner while having a guest, something was telling him that it wouldn't end well.

"I'm actually already leaving, Obaa-san." It seemed he was actually lucky for once though, given Miura's words that were followed by her standing from her seat. "Sorry I can't stay longer."

This was the first thing Miura had said the entire week that he wasn't feeling upset about. Better late than never, he supposed.

"That's a shame." No, it was not, mother. Please stop talking. "Just remember you're always welcomed here, alright?"

She was most definitely not welcome here, he'll have you know!

"Hachiman will walk you out then, he can do that much at least."

"I will?"

Why was she deciding that for him?!

"You will!"

And why was Miura the one answering first?!

"Did you really tell your goons to keep an eye on me the entire day, Miura?" He asked as they walked, deciding that cutting straight to the chase was his best option here.

"Are you calling Hina and Yui my 'goons' now? Shame on you, Hikio." She threw back immediately, to which he could only roll his eyes.

"You know what I meant, Tobe isn't exactly a subtle guy, and...uhh..."

"Yamato and Ooka."

"Right, those two, they were giving me weird looks too." He continued, his eyes narrowing at her. "I don't know what you're trying to do here, but I want you to stop."

He decided to skip the bit in which Yuigahama had actually told him about it. No reason to make troubles for her if he could avoid it.

"I refuse." He got shutdown immediately though, just as she glared heatedly at him. "You should be happy to have such a considerate friend like me willing to help, Hikio, rather than whining like a baby."

First, he would be far happier if she just didn't do a damn thing.

Second, he was not whining like a baby.

And third, what the hell did she meant by helping him?

"I can go by myself now." But before he was able to ask her, she had decided to cut their walk short as soon as they had reached the corner of the street. "See you tomorrow, Hikio."

When she made to leave, he raised his hand to stop her, with the intent of truly getting some answers from her.

When he realized that would involve having to spend even more time with Miura though, his hand faltered for just a second. Was his desire for an answer worth that hassle?

"I almost forgot..." It seemed Miura answered for him though, given how she suddenly stopped on her tracks, just to then turn around, her phone suddenly in her hand as her fingers moved swiftly through the screen.

And for some reason, her actions filled him with an unexpected amount of dread.

The fact that his phone suddenly made a noise as soon as she seemed to finish only made said feeling of dread even fiercer.

The expectant look she gave him did not help either.

Almost as if in a trance, he took the phone out of his pocket while only breaking eye contact with Miura once he brought it out.

And what he saw made an honest to god shiver run down his spine.

From: XXXXXXXXX

'Save my number, Hikio :)'

"How did you get my number?" He asked, although it sounded more like a hiss. His already sour mood was becoming somehow worse, and Miura's little smirk was not doing him any favors.

"Obaa-san gave it to me." Her cheerfulness was not exactly contagious given the situation. "You better save me with a cute name, I'll know if you don't!"

"I am not-hey!"

Did she just steal the phone out of his hand? Who the hell did she think she was?!

"There you go." He had to catch it back barely a second later though, while Miura proudly held her hands on her hips. "You're welcome, by the way."

Morbid curiosity made him look at his phone immediately, a look of utter disbelief flashing across his eyes right before he set them once more on a proud-looking Miura.

"I am not keeping it like that." He would have preferred not keeping it at all, but there was no way he was going to do it with that name in the first place.

Seriously, how did she not get embarrassed by typing that out in the first place? Was it a Ryaju thing?

"You will." She declared with a huff and a glare. "And so help me god if I find out you changed it!"

He was going to change it as soon as he could...

...not in front of her of course, but most definitely as soon as he could.

He checked his phone once more, making sure that he was arriving at the correct time. Kawasaki had told him the time, so he knew he wasn't arriving late, but even so a slight wave of nervousness was hitting him as he walked closer.

Suffice to say, a loner like him wasn't exactly used to meeting his classmate's parents. The closest thing to that was Yukinoshita's mom, and that encounter had been far from normal, to say the least.

The fact that he was meeting them for dinner because they felt gratitude towards him was also making him feel more than a bit self-conscious. Surely, they wouldn't make that big of a deal about it, right? Kawasaki never told him exactly what Keika had told their parents anyway, so maybe it hadn't been that bad?

He could only hope. It had worked before since his mom had to return to work for some emergency...something, so he hadn't had to explain he was having dinner at a classmate' house to her. He would have told Komachi, but she was staying over a friend's house herself, so he had been by himself until now.

Then again, something told him Komachi would have cared little given her current animosity towards him.

He still needed to fix that one, but it was easier said than done.

He was already standing on front of Kawasaki's house, however, so he knew now wasn't the time to dwell on such thoughts.

He gave himself a last glance over before one last sigh left his lips. At the very least, knowing Kawasaki would probably go back to normal after this made it worth it, he supposed.

The food would probably be good, so that was also a plus.

So, without further ado, he raised his hand to ring the doorbell in order to announce his presence.

"Haa-chan!"

His finger hadn't even reached said doorbell before the door had opened out of nowhere, with a silver missile colliding with him once more with enough force to make him wince.

Keika's complete invasion of his personal space wasn't his focus at the moment, however, but rather the trio of silver-haired individuals that were standing now in front of them, all with smiles on their faces.

Would it be rude to find such visage a little off-putting?

"Hey there, Hikigaya." The first one to greet him was Kawasaki...wait, they were all Kawasaki...

This was going to be confusing for his brain.

"Kawasaki." He returned Kawasaki's...Saki's greeting with a nod of his own.

"Yo, Nii-san!" Second one to greet him was the bug-Saki's brother, to which he returned a curt nod on his own.

And who the hell was he calling brother!?

"Good evening, Hikigaya-san." Finally, it was the eldest in the group that greeted him, with her being more than obvious the Kawasaki matriarch. "My daughters have told me a lot about you, and even my son has nothing but good things to say, so I'm happy I can finally put a face to such well-regarded young man!"

He had to admit he was more than a bit flabbergasted at such reception.

He had not expected such praise, and he hadn't even entered the house yet!

"Haa-chan's the best!"

And as adorable as Keika was, maybe now wasn't the time for that, really...

"Do you have a girlfriend, Hikigaya-san?"

The suddenness of the question was enough to make him pause, his eyes moving to his left, at the head of the table, as he looked at the one that had voiced out such question.

Saki's mom was smiling at him. It was a kind one, with even her eyes closed and a slight tilt of her head. It was a stereotypical 'kind mother' type of smile, if he had to describe it any way.

So why was he feeling a sudden pressure as soon as her question left her lips.

Even ignoring the nature of the question itself, why was the hairs at the back of his head suddenly standing up in attention?

It didn't help that he could feel everyone's eyes on him. Saki to his right, the bug in front of him and even little Keika to the bug's left were all giving him such focused looks that he almost thought they were going to drive a hole through him.

Why did this suddenly feel like a family-organized interrogation? She had asked other stuff before already, but it had all seemed like attempts at small talk and had not gotten such reactions from the rest of the table.

Except Saki though, who had looked at him intently with each question her mom had asked him, just to then nod as soon as he answered said questions. Surely, him telling her what his favorite color was wasn't that interesting, right?

Back at the question at hand though...

It wouldn't be a lie to say that it was a tricky one...

"I do not have one, no." He answered, while deciding to shield his consciousness behind the technicality of it all.

He didn't have a girlfriend, after all. He had a...fiancée.

But obviously he couldn't tell them that.

The collective sigh that all present members of the Kawasaki family released as soon as he answered though, was enough to have him blinking in confusion.

"Did you know, Hikigaya-san, that Saki helped me with the dinner? She's so talented when it comes to cooking, truly!" Seemingly wanting to move on, her words didn't really surprise him that much. The food was delicious, after all, so he wasn't surprised to know Saki had been involved.

"Nee-san helps us all the time too!" This time it was the bug that decided to meddle in out of nowhere. "With homework and with life advice too! She's super kind and patient, Nii-san!"

...Why was he talking like that? And did he think he didn't see his eyes shifting from him to Saki at his side?

"Saa-chan would be a great wife!" It seemed it was now Keika's turn to...praise Saki? "Haa-chan thinks so too, right?!"

That was hard to answer, to say the least. Not only because of the expectant look he was getting from Keika, but also because said look was somehow being mirrored by both the bug and the Kawasaki matriarch.

Seriously, what did they expect him to answer here? There was pretty much only one answer that could work, and wasn't saying something like that a bit too embarrassing?

He turned his gaze to his right, hoping to get some sort of support from his fellow loner.

"Go ahead, you can answer her." Instead, what he got was a sharp look aimed squarely at him, which didn't exactly go along with the pink he could see on her cheeks. "I don't mind, so answer honestly, Hikigaya."

Even if she told him that, there was no way he could just pretty much said to her face that she would, in fact, be a good wife.

Why couldn't she see that he was trying to save both of their dignities?

"I hope I'm not interrupting." A sudden new voice, however, was the only thing that saved him from having to answer the question, with everyone's attention, including him, going towards the newcomer.

"Darling, welcome home."

"Papa!"

"Welcome back, dad!"

"Old man..."

It seemed Saki's father had arrived.

"I hope you don't mind humoring me for a bit, Hikigaya." The man, Saki's dad, spoke in what he could only describe as a smooth tone of voice, with the man now sitting opposite of him in what he now knew was their living room, a small smile present on his lips. "It isn't everyday Saki-chan brings a friend, a boy no less, so surely you understand, right?"

"...right." He decided to not correct him about them being friends. Acquaintances? Sure, but outright friends was a different matter.

Not that he had anything against Kawasaki of course, but being someone that he could honestly consider a friend was a different matter altogether.

He didn't say anything like that though, since he was too busy doing his best to stop the uncomfortable grimace that wanted to form in his face.

After all, to say Saki's dad presence was intimidating would be the understatement of the century. He didn't know what it was in particular, if the extremely expensive suit he was wearing, the slight smile he had, or maybe the outright dangerous glint he could see in his eyes, or maybe it was a combination of everything.

It was similar yet so different to how he had felt in front of Yukinoshita's mom, which of course meant his instinct were telling him to leave the premise as soon as possible.

Of course, he couldn't just do that.

And now this man wanted to do a 'stern dad' talk to him?

Was he going to die today?

"You can relax, Hikigaya." It seemed his inner thoughts were read however, given the chuckle that left him. "I trust my daughter's judgement completely, so I'm not going to grill you out or anything. My wife would have killed you already if you were problematic anyway, ha!"

Was that a joke? Because he laughed, so he supposed it was a joke, but for some reason it felt nothing like a joke at all.

It felt more like he had escaped a bullet somehow.

"Do you mind if I turn on the T.V, Hikigaya?" He nodded slightly at that question, not expecting but certainly glad for the small reprieve. "Thank you. I would have hated missing the news."

And that's what showed off as soon as the man turned on his T.V, although it seemed to just be more details about that Yakuza stuff he vaguely remembered seeing yesterday.

They even showed the face of the man this time-

His eyed widened, his gaze moving slowly from the T.V to the now grinning form of Kawasaki's dad.

"Now that we have reached an understanding, I am going to say a few things, and then I hope you can answer one request of mine. Is that alright with you, Hikigaya?"

He was actually going to die today, wasn't he?

"I'll take your silence as an agreement, then." He continued just as he leaned back on his seat, the man's grin turning into what, in a normal situation, he would have considered an easy-going smile.

This was not a normal situation, to say the least.

"Saki-chan, Keika-chan, and even Taishi, all have told me plenty about you." The Kawasaki pathriach started, his eyes firmly locked against his own. "From what I've gathered, you are an inteligent young man with a good head on your shoulders. Kind enough too to meddle into other's affairs, even when they don't want you there."

"My kids are my treasure." He continued. "And Saki-chan is my firstborn. I love her to bits, I truly do, but I also know she can be stubborn, she can be headstrong, she can even be scary and has enough strenght to actually carry out any decision she decides to follow, and because of this, she needs someone that can balance her out."

"You already helped my daughters once, Hikigaya." If he was feeling nervous before, then he was now pretty close to be sweating out of the sheet intensity of the man's eyes. "And for that you have my eternal gratitude. But now, as a father, there's something I must request of you."

Was this the part where he told him to never interact with Kawasaki ever again? Because that was going to be hard given that she was now sitting right beside him in school.

This was the first time he ever heard the angry father rant though, so he excused with not knowing how to react, right? Especially when said man was apparently a damn mob boss.

For heaven's sake he wasn't even that close with Kawasaki for this-

"Would you please marry my daughter?"

I beg your pardon?

"Old man, what the hell did I tell you about saying weird crap?!" Suddenly though, the more than tense atmosphere that had surrounded them completely disappeared the moment Saki not only made her surprise appearance, but it was one that was accompanied by her actually hitting the back of her dad's head with what looked like a rolled-up magazine.

"Saki-chan, is that the way to treat your loving-ugh." And she hit him again.

"C'mon, Hikigaya. Leave the old man to his ramblins." And with those words, she prety much dragged him by the hand, away from the living room. At any other time, he would have complained about being handled like that, but right now?

He just wanted not to die today, thank you very much.

He didn't know what to say.

Usually, walking in silence was something that didn't bother him, he even enjoyed it as a matter of fact.

Even akward silences he could tolerate, for some times actually trying to break said silence would only make things worse somehow.

But right now, he was feeling as if Kawasaki wanted him to say something. What, he didn't know, but considering what he now knew of her family, he had a slight idea about it...

He was only glad to finally be out of that house. Sure, the rest of her family was nice enough, ignoring the bug of course, but the last thing he thought he would ever have to deal with was an actual Yakuza.

A prety scary one too!

And to think he had almost told Keika that he would gladly come back when able. Damn his big brother instinct!

If only Kawasaki hadn't insisted on walking him to the end of the street. He was starting to come to the conclusion that such walks were just traps waiting to happen.

"You can ask, you know?" It seemed Kawasaki was done waiting for him to speak first, however. "About my old man, I mean. You probably have a few questions about him..."

He didn't know if that was the right way of putting it. Honestly, if he had to choose, he would have probably just prefered to ignore the last bit of the visit and call it a day.

"Your dad..." But even so, he also knew this was Kawasaki's ways of trying to explain herself, so he could offer her that much. "Is he really a..."

He didn't want to outright say it, if he was honest.

"Criminal? Yeah prety much." Kawasaki's blunt confirmation though, almost made him faulter in his step. "Prety big one too, or at least that's what people kept teling me all the time."

Considering he was big enough to appear on the news, he was inclined to believe that.

"That's why we don't use his last name." She continued while bringing up a point that he actually hadn't thought about. "So people don't pester us about it. Same reason we live here in Chiba, actually."

Well...that made sense, he supposed. At the very least, it explained why he was only now learning about this. After all, if anyone at Sobu had known about it, it would have been hard not to hear about it through the rumor mill.

Sure, Kawasaki had the reputation of a delinquent, but that had more to do with her attitude and overall demeanor rather than being related to some Yakuza bigshot.

"Does it...bother you?" Her next words, however, came in a far softer tone than what he expected. Then again, considering the question itself, he understood why, and if he was being honest, the answer was an obvious one, wasn't?

"You aren't your dad." He replied with a shrug. "So I can't really blame you for what he does..."

After all, who was he to judge someone else for something out of their control?

"...Thank you, Hikigaya." His rewards for his words was a smile, one that told him how relieved she was feeling because of what he said. He had to wonder though, was he the only one that knew? He knew Kawasaki was a loner like him, so perhaps, he was the first one that had learned about this side of her family?

Suddenly, that made him feel more self-consious than before.

"And about what he said." Her tone was now layered with nothing but annoyance. "Just forget about it, ok? He likes to say weird shit like that sometimes."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what part of the conversation she was refering too, to which he could only nod while releasing a small sigh. He supposed he could just write it off as a dad trying to tease the guy that his daughter brought over for dinner? Specially if he had known that Kawasaki had been listening to their conversation in the first place, so he supposed it made sense-

"We should go on a few dates first before thinking about marriage anyway."

Excuse me?

He stopped dead on his tracks, with Kawasaki's words making an echoe on his brain just as a bewildered expression set itself on his face.

Had he heard wrong?

"Guess that could have come out better..." A sigh of her own left Kawasaki's lips just as she crossed her arms under her chest. "Sorry, subtetly isn't really my thing and everyone insisted a direct aproach would be better."

Direct aproach? That...this wasn't what he thought it was, right?

"Guess I'll just say it then, before I chicken out or something." She continued before taking a deep breath, with every action she took making his heart beat faster by the second.

Surely, she didn't mean-

"I like you, Hikigaya." And then she said it, before he could even think of saying or doing anything to stop her. "Like, really like you...as in, like a man...shit, this is embarrasing." Honestly, in any other situation he would have found her current display to actually be on the cute side, especially given the reddening of her cheeks, but he was too busy trying to figure out what he was supposed to do now.

This was the first time someone had actually confessed to him, after all, because there was no way of misinterpreting this as anything else but a confession.

Which brought up the question of how to answer her.

A sudden idea, however, made itself present in his mind, one that turned his shocked look into a frown. The whole reason he had come today had been to, with any luck, make Kawasaki feel as if things were finally even between them, and to get rid of whatever feeling of indebtment she still had towards him.

Perhaps, this confesion was born out of that? It wouldn't be the craziest of outcomes, for someone to mix up feelings of gratitude with something else.

It wouldn't be the first time he had to deal with that either.

And if so...

"Kawasaki, if this is about what happened on Monday..." He started, trying to see if he could find a way for Kawasaki to realise that she was letting the wrong sort of emotion to dictate who she seemingly liked.

But before he could continue, he got quite the nasty glare aimed at him, one that had him almost choking on his own words.

"It's not because of that, you moron." She spoke, with the frustation in her tone more than obvious to him. "I'll have you know I liked you way before that!"

Wait, she did? Since fucking when? They barely even interacted for crying out loud!

"I just got tired of waiting, I guess..." Kawasaki was now looking to the side, her glare lessesing into a small frown. "And we're on our last year already so...I didn't want to have any regrets, you know?"

He...understood that much, he supposed.

That didn't make answering Kawasaki's confession any easier though.

In fact, it complicated things, for what was he supposed to say?

He had to reject her, of course.

He didn't have anything against Kawasaki, he truly didn't, but to say he actually had feelings towards her would be an outright lie.

At best, she was an acquaintance to him, more than most of his classmates at Sobu, sure, but still not someone that he would describe as close enough to be friends, let alone a lover of all things.

And that was ignoring the elepanth in the room that was his engagement with Yukinoshita...

So when she finally turned to look at him once more, with obvious nervousness dancing in her eyes, he could only muster a frown in return. It wasn't like he was going to enjoy rejecting her, after all he more than anyone knew the pain that such rejection could cause on someone.

Source: a friend of a friend.

So when he opened his mouth, it was to reject her feelings as gently as he could...

"You don't have to say anything by the way, I know you don't like me like that."

...only to falter inmediately as Kawasaki interrupted him with a shrug.

"It's prety obvious. Annoying as hell too if I'm being honest." Did she really confess knowing that she never stood a chance of getting a positive response?

Was Kawasaki some sort of masochist or something?

"Then...why?" The words had left his lips before he even realised it, with nothing but utter bafflement showing in his tone.

It was at times like this that he realised just how little he knew about Kawasaki Saki.

"I told you already, this is our last year so I didn't want to have any regrets." With that, her lips slowly curved upwards into a small smile. "And now that the cards are on the table, I don't have to hold back anymore, so I can get you to like me way faster now."

Get him like her? Was she really implying that she would-

Then, as if struck by lightning, the words he had heard not that long ago echoed in his head.

"She can be stubborn, she can be headstrong, she can even be scary and has enough strength to actually carry out any decision she decides to follow."

Suddenly, it was as if he could see every action she had done towards him since Monday on a new light, one that went beyond a simple feeling of gratitude.

"Next time I confess, I'm expecting a good response, Hikigaya."

Perhaps, he hadn't been wary of the correct member of the Kawasaki household.

And with that we have Kawasaki Saki, which means next set of plots would be a surprise since this site only lets me put 4 characters in the description. Obvious answer would be one for Yui next, right?

So next one will be Iroha, that will be fun.

I first need to introduce Iroha into the fic though...next chapter it is then.

Next Chapter: Peaceful Days are Over.

Plots so far:

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

2) Miura Yumiko: "I discovered the most popular girl in the school is my old childhood friend and now she won't leave me alone!"

3) Kawasaki Saki: "My mundane high school days are being threatened by the Yakuza Princess' constant flirting!"