Prologue

Childhood….Something

"E-Excuse me!"

That voice stopped him dead on his track, a slight frown settling on his face as he turned, not having expected anyone to call him out out of nowhere.

Maybe they had made a mistake? He doubted it though, given how the hall was pretty much empty except for him and… the blonde girl that was standing a few meters away from him.

She was from his class, right? Not like he knew her personally or anything, but not like there were that many blondes around so she stood out enough.

"Y-You're Hikigaya Hachiman, right?" She asked, her tone anxious for some reason. Was she scared or something? Did his eyes make him look that much of a thug or what?

"Yes?" At least she knew his name, he supposed. He didn't think anyone would remember it with how lackluster his self-introduction had been.

Having to do it a week after everyone else had done so due to the accident hadn't helped either.

"Then…!" She then walked closer, a hopeful look on her face that had him even more confused than before. "Do you remember me? From nine years ago? We used to play together all the time."

Remember her? What was she talking about? Was she confused or something? Because he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Sorry, I think you're confusing me with someone else." That or this was some weird prank that he wasn't getting, nor wanted to in the first place.

"Wait!" But when he tried to leave, she surprised him by suddenly grabbing him by his arm.

"This! Do you remember this?!" But before he could wonder just what the hell was wrong with this girl, she suddenly raised her other arm, putting her hand right in front of his face.

Of course, that wasn't what got his attention, but rather the black bracelet that she was wearing proudly on her wrist.

He was already looking at her rather desperate face as if she was crazy, but seeing that thing on her made him blink in confusion, right before he slowly raised his free arm, allowing him to display a bracelet of his own, which seemed to match perfectly with hers save for the color, as his was green.

Same color as her eyes, now that he had a look good at her face.

But why…?

"It is you…!" He didn't have much time to ponder on that though, as the next thing he knew he had a crying blonde suddenly hugging the life out of him.

Suffice to say, his brain sort of went into overdrive at that.

"I'm back, Hikio!"

"…Sensei?"

"Yes?"

"May I ask, where are you taking me?"

"To a correction facility, that's where."

"…I feel like this is an overreaction."

"That was a foul essay you wrote, young man."

"You asked us to write about youth, and I just wrote that childhood promises were dumb as—"

The next thing he knew, he had a fist just inches away from his face.

"Choose your words carefully, Hikigaya." He would have felt more threatened by her if that pose of hers, with her fist extended, didn't make her look like someone still caught in the eight grade. "I won't have you disrespecting the sanctity of childhood promises in my face. They are one of the most popular tropes in fiction, you know?"

If only they were just fiction.

"Besides, this shows an obvious lack of commitment from you." He was pretty sure that that was not true at all. "So, as your teacher, I have no choice but to make sure this matter is corrected before it is too late."

"…I can just rewrite the essay if it bothers you that much—"

"We're here!"

And here was seemingly some random classroom in a part of the school he had never gone to.

"Now c'mon, I need to introduce you."

Introduce him to whom, exactly?

"Before I answer that question, we would need to define what a 'friend' is…"

Oh god, this girl was worse than him.

Like, the fact that she had somehow said that with a straight face was enough to make him wonder if he was the less socially inept of the two, which said a lot more about her than about him.

"You could have just said none." He said after she finished her speech, receiving an immediate glare in response, one so cold that he no longer wondered why someone like Yukinoshita Yukino had no friends.

"You speak as if you were an expert on the matter, Hikigaya-kun." Her tone told him exactly what she thought about him having more knowledge about friendship than she did.

"I mean, I have a few." He shrugged, not really wanting to turn this into a measuring contest. It wasn't like he was super popular or anything like that, but he did have a friend group.

Kind off.

More like, friends of a friend, in his opinion.

Not something he would say out loud though, not because of Yukinoshita, but because with his luck certain someone would somehow listen in and then they would have another argument about semantics.

"Do you, now?" His eye did twitch at the unconvinced tone she spoke with. "And yet here you are spending your time after class by yourself."

"Not my fault Hiratsuka-sensei has too much free time on her hands." Because certainly whatever she was trying to accomplish here was way above her pay grade. "Also, you're doing the same."

"These are club hours and this is my club, have you forgotten that already? Seems your brain, just as your eyes, are that of a fish."

"Can a club even function with just one person? Honest question because I'm pretty sure you can't."

"Are you threatening my club, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Whatever I have to do so I can go home before—"

"Alright, that's enough you two!"

Because of course, Sensei had been spying on them.

Seriously, was she getting paid that much for this?

"Now, as you can see, Hikigaya here has an attitude problem—"

"I do not—"

"—and a lack of commitment and desire to hold up to his words—"

"It was a one thousand-word essay, how did you get that from that?"

"—and since you do need more than one person for a club to be properly recognized and functional—"

"See? Told you."

"Hikigaya here will be joining the Service Club from this day onward!" She finally declared, making not only him pause, but also Yukinoshita.

"I'm what now?"

"Absolutely not." Yukinoshita declared so vehemently that, even though he had no interest in this club, he still felt offended at such a harsh rejection. "The club does not need any new members, let alone someone who might try to take advantage of the situation."

And with the way she covered her chest, he knew exactly what she was referring to.

Rather than being upset though, he simply scoffed before rolling his eyes. As if he needed to be throwing looks at random girls, especially when said girl had nothing for him to see in the first place.

"See? He's detestable." And perhaps he hadn't been subtle enough, or maybe she had read his mind, but the glare she was sending his way now sure was a fierce one.

"Relax, Yukinoshita. He's pretty inoffensive." He did not consent to the way she ruffled his hair after saying that, as if he was some sort of dog. "And you do need more people here if you want this to be an actual club. And you, Hikigaya, you have nothing to do after school hours, correct? There shouldn't be any issues then—"

"That's not true." He interrupted her as he raised a hand. "I do have a life, you know? I don't know what kind of impression you have of me, Hiratsuka-sensei, but I do stuff after school is over."

"…Being part of the go-home club isn't a valid excuse."

"I mean besides that." Seriously, did he look that much like a lazy loner? Because, if he was being honest here, he actually couldn't remember the last time he actually had free time!

"Oh yeah, like what?" And why was Sensei challenging him like that? Wasn't she supposed to be the adult here?

"Probably something indecent, maybe even illegal." Oh yeah, he definitely couldn't wait to spend his afternoon alone with Yukinoshita and her honeyed words.

He sighed, knowing there was only one answer considering how his day-to-day usually went.

"I usually just spend time with my girlfriend."

Alright, he would admit, seeing the incredulous expression on their faces was both funny and sad.

Although the fact he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket as soon as he said made him well aware he was already late for his daily routine.

"You don't have to lie, you know? Trying to save face only makes you look even more pathetic."

"And does this… girlfriend of yours go to a different school? Or like, Hokkaido or something? Or maybe she's in this very same room with us right now?"

How did this turn into an intervention out of nowhere? Was it that hard to believe that someone like him has a girlfriend?

Sure, the relationship made no sense to him, which was saying a lot since he had been with her for months now, and she was probably, definitely, legally insane so he doubted she could consent to anything in the eyes of the law but…

Wait, where was he going with this?

"Excuse me!"

A voice came from outside the room that stopped both Sensei and Yukinoshita from destroying whatever little pride he still had. It was a voice he recognized quite well, which not only made him sigh slightly as he knew what was about to go down now, but it also made him wonder how she had found this place when he hadn't even told her where he was.

A second later and the door slid open, just as a mop of blonde hair framing some green emerald eyes peeked through the door.

"Sorry, but I'm looking for my-Hikio?!"

Of course, the way her gaze lit up the moment it landed on him was a foreshadowing of what was about to happen.

As in, just a couple of seconds later he had a grinning blonde hugging his arm to her chest so tightly that he had to wonder if she was trying to cut off the limb's blood circulation.

"We were supposed to be on a date by now!" And now she was pouting at him as if he had chosen to get kidnapped by Hiratsuka-sensei today of all days.

"Yeah, well." He gestured towards the flabbergasted Hiratsuka-sensei and Yukinoshita. "You'll have to take that with Sensei here, not me."

She blinked confusedly, before turning her gaze to the front, almost as if she had only now realized they weren't alone in the room.

Which might have been what actually happened now that he thought about it.

"You are…" Hiratsuka-sensei started, her tone telling she was having a hard time processing what she was seeing, which was of course doing wonderful things to his self-esteem.

"Right uh, she goes to a different class so maybe you forgot about her?" He clarified before pointing at her. "She's Miura Yumiko, from class 2-D and she's—"

"I'm his girlfriend!" Of course, he was interrupted by her interjecting her proud declaration. Too proud, if anyone asked him, as in there wasn't a need to smirk in victory as if she had won some sort of challenge whenever she announced that they were together.

Which she did a lot, by the way.

"But what happened? Did Hikio do something?" Hey, why was it assumed that it was his fault? "If so then he can't help it, he's just silly like that, always has been since we were kids."

"…She's actually real." No, but seriously, his pride…

Suddenly he felt Yumiko's hold on him become even fiercer, and when he looked at her, he realized her previous apologetic stare had turned into a glare.

One that she was aiming at Yukinoshita for some reason.

And with the way she was looking up and down at Yukinoshita, he started figuring out the reason why…

And going by Yukinoshita's incredulous look becoming a confused stare, before it slowly turned into an offended one, he wasn't the only one that realized what was happening here.

"Absolutely not." Yukinoshita suddenly declared with all the warmness of an igloo.

"Good." Then Yumiko nodded, and he already knew he would have to talk to her about whatever made-up scenario she had already created in her head.

…Again.

"Can we talk outside for a bit, Hikigaya?" It seemed that Hiratsuka had finally gotten out of her shock, a sigh leaving her lips as she started massaging her forehead.

"Sure."

But when he moved to follow her, he received an even stare, a result of Yumiko still being latched onto his arm if he had to assume, as she looked more than ready to follow them both even though sensei hadn't even invited her.

"…You know what? Whatever, let's just go." She seemed to just resign when she shrugged at her. Good luck trying to prey Yumiko away from him when she was like this.

Which was all the time, mind you.

But such was just another part of being in a relationship with Miura Yumiko.

"We're back." Sensei announced once they stepped back into the room, much to Yukinoshita's not hidden at all displeasure.

She probably thought they wouldn't be coming back by now, didn't she?

She was going to have a field trip with what she was about to hear.

"I believe the misunderstanding has been solved by now, correct?" Yukinoshita didn't waste any time before speaking while closing the book on her lap. "In that case, I hope you all have a good—"

"Hikigaya is joining the club."

"—I beg your pardon?" Yukinoshita's mood did a full turn the moment sensei announced the news, and he would have snickered at seeing her face if he wasn't so busy trying, and failing, to get Yumiko to ease up on his arm for a bit.

Yukinoshita wasn't the only one who wasn't happy with what had been decided, to say the least.

"As the club founder and leader, I must object—"

"Without more members, this club will be closed, Yukinoshita. Don't forget that."

"I understand that, but…" She seemed to be struggling with figuring out some way of getting rid of him. "I believe he doesn't want to be a member, as such—"

"Hiratsuka-sensei convinced me already so I don't mind." He explained, making Yukinoshita visibly deflate in defeat while also sending a sharp glare at him as if this was his fault.

And by the way, Yumiko's grip on him became tighter, she obviously wasn't the only one upset at the decision.

Well, technically speaking he supposed it was his fault.

After all, sensei didn't actually have to do that much to convince him anyway.

He liked Yumiko.

He truly did, there was no denying that by now.

He wouldn't have lasted half a year in a relationship if he didn't like her, contrary to popular belief.

But that didn't mean everything was rainbows and sunshine. No relationship was perfect, after all, and even with his limited experience when it came to dating, he knew that much.

And even though he would fully admit he was far from a perfect boyfriend, well…

"C'mon Hikio, we already lost enough time as it is!"

Dating Miura Yumiko wasn't easy.

"You don't have to pull me like that."

If he had to use one word to describe her, it would be high-maintenance.

"But now that club of yours is going ruin our daily dates so we need to make up for that!"

He was pretty sure most couples didn't go on dates every day.

Which is just one of the reasons he had accepted Hiratsuka-sensei's proposal.

Not because he cared about whatever lessons she was trying to teach him, because he certainly didn't.

But because being in that club gave him the perfect excuse to just… have some time for himself.

Because he truly liked Yumiko, but even he could only keep up with so much.

He didn't like that it sounded as if he was taking her for granted or that he found her annoying but, it could be a draining ordeal to keep up with Yumiko's… love.

Because she had left it abundantly clear about how she felt by now.

"Maybe I should drop by just in case. I don't trust that prissy girl."

He sighed, now thinking about how to convince her to not do that. Yukinoshita was already hostile enough, he didn't need Yumiko making it worse.

He was already preparing himself mentally for how fun being in the same club as someone like Yukinoshita was going to be, but that just spoke of how much he needed the breathing room that he was willing to go through that just for some time with himself.

"Hey…" her voice lowered to a whisper, making him turn his gaze down to her, letting him see how the tips of her ears had gone red. "My parents aren't going to be around until later… D-Do you want to drop by after we're done?"

"…Sure." He was definitely at fault here too for being unable to just say no most of the time. He had probably spoiled her too much by now.

"Love you, Hikio." She murmured, barely high enough for him to hear, before she buried her face in his arm out of sheer embarrassment, he supposed. Not that he was any better though, since his face still flushed whenever she just straight-up said stuff like that.

But it was moments like this that made it all worth it.

Which is why even though she was high-maintenance, overbearing, jealous, and someone who held a childhood crush for almost a decade which was most definitely not healthy, well…

He still wouldn't trade her for the world.

Just a side project that I decided to start to test the waters and have fun.

If you have read my first Oregairu fic, then this is me grabbing one of the plotlines from that one and running it through in a different way, with the theme with this one being the childhood friend heroine

If you haven't read that other fic then I hope this is good enough on its own. It's going to be mostly fluff that I can't really write on that other fic because plot.

Thank you all for having read this far!

Next Chaptet: Childhood Promises