Yumiko laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling with a small frown on her face as her blonde hair was splayed out on her pillow. Despite it being the afternoon, she couldn't find it in herself to do anything she usually did on weekend's like these.

How much longer would she think about this, about him?

Hachiman seemed to live in her head rent-free lately, as if she didn't have more important things to think about (she didn't, but she'd pretend that she did.)

He wouldn't tell the loner this, but she was much more grateful to him than she expressed. Before he'd shown up in her life, she thought something was wrong with her, that she was a bad person for feeling the way that she did. Thankfully Hachiman didn't mind stepping in and telling her just how much she was overthinking the problem.

Despite his personality and demeanor, he was surprisingly reliable. Though she supposed that his personality was half of why she'd begun to have these feelings. His nonchalant expressions, monotone voice, and the way he seemingly didn't care about anything but for some reason still helped others struck a chord within her.

Not even a month ago, she would've probably agreed with the way most people perceived him; creepy, quiet, strange. That is, if he was perceived at all by those around him. Before, she could only remember a handful of interactions with the fish-eyed boy but now her memories with him were among the most fun in recent memory. She'd forgotten how fun it was to just enjoy someone's company, not caring what was done as long as it was with them. Much too often had she felt overwhelmed by their more-than-occasional group hangouts. There were too many people, too much talking, and conversations they'd had more than a dozen times before. It felt as if she was just fulfilling a role.

Which was why a conversation with him felt like a breath of fresh air, something Hayama hadn't made her feel in awhile. A part of her had begun to accept the fact that what she felt for him was nothing but an infatuation. She liked the idea of Hayama, but she'd grown to realize that he was superficial, caring too much of what others thought of him and only feeding into the expectations of his personality set by others.

It was ironic, because while she did care about what other people thought of her to an extent, she had no problem being herself and doing what she wanted. Hayama, however, was the opposite. It felt as if there was no substance to his personality, nothing to learn more about, nothing that he would open up to others about. He'd always kept some distance between him and the clique, and it'd taken her a bit to realize that.

Hachiman was the opposite. He didn't care what anyone thought, he rarely cared about how anyone felt, and he had no problem showing who he really was. If anything, all someone had to do was have a conversation with him and they'd be able to tell that he was unashamedly himself.

She admired that he was a good person (despite his warped sense of logic), even when no one paid attention to him. She knew what she was beginning to feel for the cynic loner, yet she wasn't sure if she could accept it.

This was primarily due to two reasons. The first one being her uncertainty of whether or not Hachiman was even interested in relationships. She could imagine his response as clear as day.

"Romantic relationships between teens are nothing but superficial lies of youth, while genuine relationships consist of blah blah blah." She imitated him, kicking her legs and giggling as she did so. He was sure to give a response like that. That was, if she even dared to ask for his opinion. For all she knew, it could cause him to become suspicious of her.

Still, there was a small part of her that thought, 'what if he wasn't opposed to the idea?'. He wasn't the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, so it's not like she'd have any way to tell other than asking- which was something she didn't really want to do.

"But if I put him in a situation where he was forced to confirm or deny it, it wouldn't link back to me..." She muttered to herself, formatting a plan in her mind.

Yumiko realized that the two opposites had never really revealed their friendship- or even talked in public. They were aware of their roles in the hierarchy of their school. Yumiko was the beautiful Fire Queen, close to Hayama and not caring about any other guy in their school. While Hachiman...well Hachiman wasn't really known at all. And to the people that did know him, he was known as a creepy loner not capable of social interaction.

And to an extent, Yumiko could see why they'd think that. His logic and views left something to be desired and Hachiman never really cared to repair his reputation, if it wasn't beyond repairing by now. There was only so much a person could see without getting close.

Regardless, Yumiko planned on revealing their friendship to the rest of the students. She wouldn't do anything excessive like boldly announce it in class, but she would talk to him unashamedly and as if they'd been friends for months already. It wasn't much, but he knew the class would be sure to notice it. And if Hachiman questioned it, she'd just feign innocence. She knew he wasn't dumb enough to think she didn't know what she was doing, but Yumiko would cross that bridge when she got to it.

Nonetheless, today was Sunday, and Miura didn't have much to do. Hayama sent her a message inviting her to hang with the rest of the group, but she left him on delivered. She'd been avoiding her clique a lot more recently, especially outside of school. Sighing, Miura whipped out her phone and promptly began texting, although it wasn't Hayama.

[16:32] Yumiko: U busy?

[16:32] Hikio: Yes

[16:33] Yumiko: Liar, if you were busy you wouldn't have responded so quickly.

[16:39] Yumiko: Don't stall now.

[16:40] Hikio: What do you want

[16:41] Yumiko: Let's play a game

After they played video games together one day, Hikigaya suggested some for her to buy and play on her computer, and while she did have fun playing them, it would've been more fun if she were playing with Hikigaya.

[16:43] Hikio: Which ones do you have?

[16:45] Yumiko: Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Guilty Gear, Mortal Kombat, and Rainbow Six Siege

[16:49] Hikio: We'll play Rainbow Six then.

Yumiko smiled. She absolutely sucked at Rainbow Six but she knew she'd have fun as long as Hikigaya was playing with her.

The day was as normal as any other for Hikigaya Hachiman. He had his head down once again, paying no one any mind while they all waited for the next teacher to arrive. Their first class had just ended, so Hachiman was spending this time to catch up on some sleep he missed. He unexpectedly got caught up in a gaming session yesterday and didn't end up sleeping until the middle of the night. He closed his eyes and laid his head in his arms, enjoying the short break.

Only, the short break seemed to become even shorter as he felt a pair of hands slam down on his desk, startling a few people nearby, including Hachiman. Usually he was able to detect anyone walking in his direction via one of his 108 skills, so someone who could slip by his detection had to be skilled. He looked up at the perpetrator to see one Miura Yumiko, sporting a glare that could almost beam a hole through him.

"What do you want?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, his tone seemingly conveying how uncaring he was. Though Yumiko knew that wasn't the case.

'Oi Oi Oi! That reputation you care so much about is gonna crumble the longer you stick around me!' The loner thought.

"Next time I throw a smoke grenade," Yumiko leaned in a bit, making sure she met his dead eyes with her olive ones. "plant. the. defuser." She gritted out. Hachiman could only sigh as they'd had this conversation a few times last night.

"I told you before, they had a Warden that could see through smoke."

"That doesn't matter! I was holding the angle for you! It's like you don't trust my aim or something!" Yumiko leaned her head back and crossed her arms.

"I recall you having 2 kills and 7 deaths that match." Yumiko blushed in embarrassment at this.

"I-I had 5 assists!"

"Assists that came from my kills." Hachiman smirked, causing Yumiko to get angry again. This conversation was so sudden that the two didn't even notice the rest of the class talking about the two of them. Hushed whispers were beginning to flow throughout the classroom.

"Miura-chan's friends with him?"

"Since when did they know each other?"

"Are they dating or something?"

All the while, Yui watched them with the rest of her clique, eyes wide. The two defining emotions circulating through her were confusion and jealousy. When did they get so close? How could she speak so casually with him? Did this have to do with her request?

She was right to be more threatened by Yumiko than Yukino. In less than two weeks, Miura had caught up to both of them, and was going to overtake them before long.

'Why him? Why does everyone like him so much?'

She knew the answer to that, because she had feelings for him, but Yui couldn't help but think that for someone who apparently didn't have friends and was antisocial, he had an affinity for attracting all kinds of people, especially girls. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to have time to build her relationship with him, but now it felt like her time was running out, and that she'd have to make a move sooner than she wanted to.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Yumiko's voice. "I'll have you know-!" She was abruptly cut-off by the door opening and their next teacher walking in.

"Alright, that's enough commotion. Be seated and get ready for the history test." The teacher said, making his way to the front of the class while everyone else made their way to their seats and sat down, some students groaning at the prospect of having a test.

For some reason, Yui found herself grateful that the teacher showed up when he did.

Their next few classes ended without a hitch, and the students left today as they would any other day. This time though, they had something new to talk about; Miura Yumiko and Hikigaya Hachiman.

Hachiman was making his way out of class, standing outside it and waiting for Yumiko. Their interaction earlier had bugged him a bit, and he wondered why she suddenly had no problems being seen with him.

Soon enough, Yumiko walked out of the classroom with her phone in hand and began walking down the hall.

"Miura." Hachiman's voice got her attention, and she turned around to see him walking toward her with his bag slung over his shoulder. "What're you planning?" He asked, deciding to get right to the point.

"Hah? What do you mean?" Yumiko asked, putting on an arrogant expression. It was a facade, of course. She hadn't been arrogant or haughty toward him since he accepted her request. Hachiman seemed unfazed by her tone.

"You never talk to me at school, why the sudden change?" Yumiko only shrugged her shoulder as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Because we're friends, aren't we?" The blonde asked, looking back down at her phone.

"I-I guess," That word made him feel weird. He never really acknowledged people as his friend, so it wasn't something he could agree to so naturally. "but what about my reputation?"

"I don't see what's wrong with it." Yumiko immediately responded, not looking up from her phone as she maintained her uncaring persona. Hachiman stared at her for a few moments.

"Tch, whatever." He turned around and began to walk in the other direction, a small smile on his face as he made his way to the clubroom.

After watching him walk away, Yumiko dropped her expression and sighed, hoping she was convincing enough. If she was being honest, she was nervous the entire time she talked to him in the classroom, but it felt good to speak to him without caring about what others said or thought. It felt refreshing and natural, unlike the usual conversations with her clique.

It felt genuine. And Yumiko had a feeling Hachiman felt that way as well.

Hachiman opened the door to the clubroom, being greeted by one Yukinoshita Yukino, sipping tea with an open book on her lap.

"I must say, I was expecting a frightened Fire Queen to enter, asking for help on rejecting a deluded, fish-eyed loner." She said, not looking up from her book.

"Oi, what is that supposed to mean?!" No one could irritate him more than this prideful girl. Yukinoshita Yukin- no, both of the Yukinoshita sister's were the banes of his existence.

"There's only one thing it can mean when you take a girl out to dinner." Hachiman sighed, what did he expect? Of course Haruno would run her mouth.

"I have no idea what you're implying. Anyway, where's Yuigahama? She's usually here before me."

"If you must know, she left early, saying she had plans with Miura-san." Hachiman couldn't help but get a bad feeling after hearing that, but figured it was only withdrawal from not having his daily MAXX COFFEE.

Sighing, He sat down and pulled a light-novel out of his bag. He had a feeling today would be a long day.

Yumiko had just made her way to the entrance of the school and was about to begin making her way home when a voice once again caught her attention.

"Yumiko-chan!" She turned around to see none other than Yuigahama Yui currently running toward her. "Ya...hallo.." She said in between pants.

"Y-Yahallo."She hated saying that. "What's up, Yui? Don't you have club?" Yuigahama looked sheepish and scratched behind her head.

"W-Well, I was wondering if we could go somewhere today..I'd like to ask for your advice on something..." Yumiko was curious, albeit a bit confused. Yui rarely asked her for advice, especially not one on one. While she didn't like the state of their clique at the moment, she still cared about all of them.

"I have time, let's go." She nodded and sported a smile.

"Really? Thanks, Yumiko-chan."

Although Yumiko was curious as to what Yui had to say, part of her felt like she wasn't going to like it.

A/N: I'm back! I know I've been away for a very long time, and I apologize for leaving you all waiting for so long. Thank you for being so patient. The next chapter will come sooner than this one did. Please review if you have any questions or if you liked this chapter!