Making up for lost time
- Chapter 1 -
~The Beginning of the New Service Club~

~ Interlude ~

I returned home after a long day and took my shoes off. I had just spent a couple hours after school continuing the post-prom work alone with Hachiman.

"I'm home."

I called out to the rest of the house, but there was no immediate answer. This was a normal everyday occurrence. I would return home, but there would rarely be anyone to greet me. My mother would occasionally be present, and father was always at work. I can't really remember a time when this was any different.

I went to my room and began to settle myself in. After I got dressed in my casual clothes, I went downstairs to make myself some tea so I could relax. But as I was in the kitchen, a voice called out to me from behind.

"Yukino, welcome home." I turned around to see my mother giving me a bigger than usual smile. I haven't seen her smile like that in a long time; she has to be planning something. But before I make that conclusion, she must have something she wants to talk about. Though, it's probably something I won't want to hear.

"Do you need something, mother?"

"I have been thinking about something." Of course, there it was. Now what is she going to ask me?

"That is?"

"That Hikigaya boy, do you like him?"

"Wha-? What do you mean...?" What is she thinking!? I had yet to tell her anything about Hachiman, but here she is asking whether or not I like him… Did she already see through me? Actually, before that, why exactly is she bringing this subject up with me?

"I am actually quite curious. He looked to me like he was interested in you, and he caught my attention with his antics. What do you think about him?"

"What do I think about him?" My mother was sticking her nose into my business again, but this time I really wanted to avoid talking about this until I was ready. I knew I was going to have to tell her and father about it someday, but to tell her now…. what should I do?

"Well, he's…"

I don't want to lie, and at the same time I can't really lie about this. I've had issues in the past talking about what I want to do in the future and about myself to my parents, but this one was really important. After all, this was about the boy I liked. If there was ever going to be a time when I make the first step to talk to my parents about myself, that time has to be now, I'm sure of it. I have no other choice but to tell her the truth.

"He's… like my partner—I guess…" I meekly answered her question. I chose to use the word "partner" again. I was never able to confirm what our relationship was, so whenever I was asked, that was the best I could come up with.

I failed to keep eye contact; there was no way I could look directly at my mother with this face. My heart was pounding as I told her about my relationship with Hachiman. It was completely embarrassing.

"Hmm… I see. So, you two are already going out then?"

I nodded. Even doing that simple action made my heart pound. I was acknowledging my attraction towards Hachiman in front of my mother. This was out of my comfort zone.

"What are his grades like? Is he planning to go to a university?" She asked an unexpected question.

I didn't think she would ask about his academic record directly after confirming our relationship; however, it was definitely something she would ask about.

"His grades aren't really a problem… So far we plan to attend the same university."

"Oh my, that's interesting. So, he's doing well for himself?"

"In a sense, but he's quite troublesome. I'll worry if he pushes himself too hard…"

"Well then, you will just have to stay by his side to make sure he makes it through."

"Eh...? W-well, yeah… That goes without saying…"

She gently smiled. "Yukino, one other thing. This was actually why I was bringing this up with you. The fact that you two are dating makes this easier for me. I'd like you to invite Hikigaya-kun over for dinner this Thursday."

"Huh?" I raised my head to look at my mother. "Invite Hikigaya-kun... over?" Invite Hachiman? I don't think I could do that! Not because I'm embarrassed to ask, but because I'm worried about the outcome of such a situation. But I would enjoy it if he did come over… I can't argue with that.

"Yes, that is what I said. You can do that right?"

"But why?"

My mother smiled and brought her hand to her cheek. "Well, a boy like that was confident enough to get involved with a girl like you, so I would like to officially meet him. Besides, he's the boyfriend of my youngest daughter, so I'd like to get to know him better~." She is showing even more interest in Hachiman…

"Well, he's pretty stubborn. He might even make excuses to not come..." Now I'm the one trying to make excuses for him…

"Hm, I see. Well, I'm pretty sure you can pull it off. I expect to see him soon, Yukino." Her smile remained on her face as she walked out of the kitchen. She wasn't giving me any room to refuse. Now that I know she's taken an interest in him, I'm starting to worry for Hachiman.

1-3
~ Hachiman's house visit ~

It was already the fated time. Yes, I couldn't avoid this no matter how hard I tried. Just like when light clashed with darkness, this would be an epic battle to decide the fate of the world. Okay well, just my world.

I'm on my way to visit Yukinoshita's house, where she and her mother reside. I felt an oncoming sense of danger. I can handle Yukinoshita, but with my interactions with her mother so far, I felt she would be trouble. Trouble, just like another Yukinoshita I know. Just how alike are they really? I will probably find out for myself by the end of the night.

I texted Yukinoshita earlier through LINE that I was on my way. She responded rather quickly with, "Alright, I'll see you soon then." I reflexively smiled at the screen.

Texting her was always a joy, no matter how mundane our conversations were. Despite my dread of meeting her mother, I quickened my pace so I could get to my beloved Yukinoshita Yukino.

I eventually came upon the front entrance to her house. I didn't have to bother texting her that I arrived. There, standing before the gate was Yukinoshita Yukino, patiently awaiting my arrival. When I looked at her, her beautiful dark hair was flowing through the calm evening breeze. She was looking down at the ground and ran her fingers through her hair as it flowed through the wind. She happened to look over and saw me standing there looking at her.

"Oh, you've arrived." Her face glowed with happiness as she spoke to me. She was pure and simply amazing. The fact that her face lit up like that when she saw me, it made my heart leap. Honestly, I could watch her like this forever without ever getting tired of looking at her. Yukinoshita was stunning as always, even in her casual wear as she stood outside her house.

"Hikigaya-kun, are you going to stand there and stare forever?"

Oh crap, I forgot what I was doing. I ended up staring at her for such a long time. But I couldn't really help it.

"No, I just got distracted is all."

"Distracted?"

"I was surprised to see you standing out here. Were you waiting out here for me this whole time?"

"Eh? No, not at all… well—not the whole time…" She looked away and pouted her lips.

"I see." I couldn't help but smile. She ended up admitting it anyway.

I looked from her to her house. It was just as I expected. It was a fairly big house, compared to mine you could call it a mansion. It definitely gave off a rich vibe. I'm reminded again the kind of family I'm getting myself involved with.

"You have a really nice house."

"Thank you, but why don't we head inside now?"

"Please, show me the way, Miss Yukinoshita." I acted as if she were some princess of a castle. She furrowed her brow and stabbed at me with her eyes. "Please stop that."

Well excuse me, princess. I shrugged off my small joke and followed behind her.

"My mother is inside, she's probably right at the entrance. She was pretty excited about your visit."

"That so? I'm honored. Though, I don't know if that's a good thing to look forward to or something I should be afraid of…"

Of course, like I was thinking earlier, I have no idea how her mother will act around me. Does she have no interest in me at all? Given our past interactions it's possible she might not be very accepting of me. However, given what Yukinoshita has told me so far it seems she's not opposed to me just yet. Actually, she makes it sound like I caught her attention. But that didn't give me anything in the way of hope.

"I think… It'll be fine. Yeah." She said, but with a hint of doubt in her voice. Could you not fuel my anxiety? Please and thank you. But she continued.

"Don't worry. I'll be by your side in case anything happens." She suddenly said something really cool.

"Thanks, I'll probably be needing your protection."

"Protection?" She softly laughed. "It's not like this is the mafia!"

"Well, given your dad's profession, it's not too far off."

"You're such an idiot…"

We finished joking with each other and reached the front door. When we entered, her mother was there to greet us. I expected a stiff greeting, but was surprised by her demeanor.

"Welcome, Hikigaya-kun." She gave me a bow and a warm smile which I wasn't used to seeing. It threw me off, but I quickly scrambled to respond in kind.

"Thank you for allowing me to come over, Mrs. Yukinoshita."

"Of course. Please, come inside and make yourself at home."

I was getting slightly uncomfortable by her mother's kindness and friendly smile. It made me feel like she was plotting something... Fortunately for me Yukinoshita grabbed my sleeve and gave me an out.

"Hikigaya-kun, let's go prepare dinner."

"Yeah, sure."

Putting her mother aside for a moment, it was now time to tackle the challenge I was tasked with earlier today by Yukinoshita at the request of Komachi. She was going to make me help her with dinner tonight so I could learn a thing or two about cooking. Komachi, how could you throw me under the bus like this? Your big brother doesn't want to suffer... Ah, but the idea of being taught how to cook by Yukinoshita did brighten my mood a little. Is this the power of love? Or... no I don't think I'm some sort of masochist. No way. That's definitely not the case, it's definitely love.

Before we could get out of the foyer, Mrs. Yukinoshita stopped us. It seems she wasn't done just yet.

"Oh, Yukino, Hikigaya-kun. Why don't we all go to the living room and talk for a little bit? We can start dinner later." Yukinoshita's mother was trying to pull me away from Yukinoshita and dinner preparation for some reason. But Yukinoshita was not having it.

"Mother, it's already dinnertime. We can talk during dinner."

"Aw, alright. Fine then. Please be careful in the kitchen."

What was that? Her mother wanted something but was easily shot down and accepted defeat like it was nothing. She's acting different from what I pictured in my head. Normally you would think she'd be very cautious of someone like me, but she's acting like I'm already engaged to Yukinoshita. I figure that confirms Mrs. Yukinoshita has some kind of interest in me after all—why exactly, I have no idea. I'll just ignore it for now and cross that bridge when I get there.

Yukinoshita guided me to the kitchen.

"Here, wear this." She handed me a black apron with a cat design similar to the one she always wears.

"Thanks—oh."

"Hm?"

"A cat, huh? That's so like you. Is this one of your backup aprons?"

"Oh, no. That's yours actually. I bought it for you."

"O-Oh…. I see, thanks. Matching aprons huh?"

"That's not a problem, is it?" She had a look of dismay. I liked that she went out of her way to get it for me, so I have to make sure that she doesn't think I hate it. I don't want her to start getting upset over a misunderstanding.

"No, it's not a problem. I think it looks just fine." I put the apron on and showed it off. "Do I look good?"

She laughed softly, "Yes, indeed. I think it suits you." Her warm smile was showing itself once again. She bought me a similar apron for when we cook together; goodness she's so sweet sometimes. Crap, I really want to tell her I love her right now.

"Alright, let's begin cooking. We'll be making a breaded chicken dish tonight with other side dishes. Since I figure you have never cooked this before, I'll help you step by step. It wouldn't hurt to also help you with the basics of using a knife as well."

"I'll do my best Yukinoshita-sensei!"

"Of course. Please pay attention and try not to forget any of this after today, okay?"

"Sure thing."

We started preparing the ingredients, like the seasoning and the breading for the chicken. The breading was especially enjoyable, the satisfaction of breaking pretzels into pieces was oddly pleasing. The soup wasn't hard to make, I had plenty of experience with that. At some point though, she pulled me over to the cutting board.

"Here, let's try cutting the onions. Take this and show me how you would normally cut it."

Compared to me, Yukinoshita was on another level, like those professional chefs. I figured there's some proper technique to using knives, but I really had no idea. I just make it happen. I once watched a video online about a British chef who was famous for doing TV shows and cooking competitions. Actually, watching only one video ended up turning into watching hundreds. My entire recommendations ended up being filled with clips from his shows, and I couldn't stop making jokes about raw food and dry water for weeks. I recall there was a video on some technique to cutting properly to avoid cutting yourself, but I couldn't really remember. I went ahead and simply grabbed the onion and started cutting.

"Stop. You shouldn't cut it like that; let me show you a proper way to cut."

She got behind me and held both of my hands. Her sudden contact with my hands made me stiffen a bit.

"You grab the onion like this with your left hand. You bend your fingers like this, almost like a cat's paw. Then you take the knife like this and guide it with your knuckles."

"A cat's paw? Even when cooking you find a way to involve cats." She pinched the back of my hand and bumped her head into my shoulder.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. And don't pinch my hand with the knife, I could have hurt myself!"

"Don't be silly."

I was following along with her instructions, but this situation was making it hard for me. Her hands were on top of mine, and she was pushing her chest against me from behind. This was making my heart beat more and more.

I finished cutting the onions, but Yukinoshita was still clinging to my back. I'm not really against the current situation, but if her mom or someone else were to walk in, that would be pretty embarrassing...

"Hey, we're done here so…."

"Just a moment…" Her arms were reaching around from behind, and now she squeezed me tighter than before. "I want to stay like this a little longer… This is fine, right?" Her soft voice was the most delicate thing I've ever heard. A voice of an angel.

"O-Of course…" I felt a sudden urge to take this one step further. I didn't want to just be on the receiving end, I wanted to hold her in my arms too. Throwing away my worry of being caught by her mother, I turned around and wrapped my arms around her. She was surprised from my sudden movement but didn't give any resistance. We were now embracing each other in the middle of the kitchen. At the same time, I felt a tugging inside my chest. I was compelled to hold her even tighter.

"Hikigaya-kun…."

"Yes…?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

"…What is it?"

"Could you… tonight and from now on…. call me Yukino?"

It was at that moment that it dawned on me. Right now, the two of us, we were finally on equal footing. There was no reason to keep any walls between us like formality, because that was something that was only creating distance. And distance was the last thing we wanted right now.

"If I do that… would you call me Hachiman?"

She placed her head on my shoulder.

"Mm. I will… So why don't we try it out?"

There was a short pause—then I called her name.

"…Yukino."

She squeezed me tighter once again upon hearing her name. She mustered up enough willpower to eke out a response. The sound of her voice was like she was on the verge of tearing up.

"Hachiman…"

Her passionate voice made my heart race. As we held each other even tighter, our heads were so close our cheeks were now touching. It felt like her face was on fire. It was an odd moment holding each other in the kitchen like this, but it was a very special moment for us. We were making up for the time we didn't get to spend together, the time we avoided each other, and the time obstacles stood in our way. Small moments like this were important. Together, we wanted to feel each other's warmth no matter where we were or what time it was. There was one thing that I wanted to say to her—a set of words that I wanted to make commonplace between the two of us.

"Since this is the first time we've used each other's first names, might as well try this out now."

"What's that?" She quietly asked, and because of where she rested her chin, it was practically a mumble that reverberated through me.

Without any hesitation, I told her how I felt.

"I love you, Yukino."

She made the tiniest gasp I ever heard. She let out a deep breath, and then answered back.

"I love you too, Hachiman."

We stood there just like that in each other's arms for a minute or two before we eventually, but reluctantly, let go of each other and returned to cooking dinner.

~ Intermission ~

I did it, and here we are. I'm holding Hachiman so close to the point he can hear the beating of my heart and feel the burning warmth of my face. Once I had him in my arms, I didn't want to stop holding him. This was another attempt of mine to get even closer to him—to fulfill his wish. Even if he hadn't wished it, I would have tried my hardest to do so. For so long, I have wanted to close this distance; I once dreamed of it. Here I am now, finally achieving that dream.

I was able to ask him to call me by my name. Not only that, but we exchanged the words "I love you" once again. As I held him tightly, my chest was tightening and tightening so much that I ended up holding him as hard as I could. The feelings that were coming from my heart were enough to make tears come welling up in my eyes. I did it, I finally did it.

That moment soon had to end, and we reluctantly let go of each other and went back to cooking. I was grateful however, that my mother was not present to interrupt us. That could have gone terribly wrong in many ways…

While we were cooking, I heard the front door open. Who could that be? As far as I knew, only mother was going to be here for dinner. It couldn't be father, could it? I dreaded to think of the possibilities.

"Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to check who's at the front door."

"Sure, what about the food?"

"Don't worry, the chicken still has another 10 minutes in the oven. Just make sure to keep an eye on the pot and stir it occasionally."

"Got it."

Although I really didn't want to, I left Hachiman to his own devices. I need to find out who's at the front door. It didn't take long for me to find out. Bending over to take her shoe off in the foyer was my older sister, Haruno.

"Nee-san…. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Yukino-chan. I'm home∼."

"I can see that, but why?" She was the last person I wanted to be here. She will no doubt do something to get between me and Hachiman. She might even say something to mother that might get me into some kind of trouble.

"I heard from mother that you were bringing a special guest over for dinner. Hikigaya-kun's here isn't he?"

I held onto my left arm out of a mixture of nervousness and annoyance. So, she is here because of that, and mother even told her about it….

"Why did mother tell you about that?"

"Why not? This is the first time you've brought a boy home, of course I'd want to be at home for such an occasion!"

"Of course you would…."

"Come on! Don't be like that Yukino-chan. You're my little sister so I want to support you!"

"Is that what you call it?"

"Ehh, you're so mean. You know what, how about you tell me what's going on between you two recently. Any problems or developments?"

"If there were, why would I tell you?"

"Yukino-chan, do you really distrust me that much?" She pouted her lips.

"You haven't done much in the way of help, so it's a probability." There was no reason for me not to be skeptical. She noticed that but continued anyway after a sigh.

"Fine, I'll promise you this. I won't get in the way of you and Hikigaya-kun anymore. In fact, I'll do what I can to help you two out. Besides, it's not like I want to do anything of that sort anyway. I'm already pleased with the outcome."

I did not want to play along with her schemes and riddles anymore, but if she's finally pleased and will stop getting in the way of us, then I guess I won't put up much of a fight. We would be better off anyway if she were on our side and not the other way around.

"You promise that?"

"Mhm, I promise. Here, we can even pinkie swear."

"Geez, you can be so childish sometimes…." I made the promise with her and even went along with her pinkie promise too.

"If you do anything that will anger me, I won't forgive you, Nee-san."

"No worries∼" She put on a big smile.

"Now, what's been going on between you two?"

"Hiki- Hachiman and I have been trying to spend more time together…"

"Hmm… spend more time together…. I see, I see." She put her finger on her chin and pondered.

"Oh, aha! I just thought of something. I think it might just work!"

"What's that?"

"It all depends on mother's opinion."

"Mother? What are you planning?"

"Yep! Here, I'll tell you."

She came closer and whispered into my ear like a playful child. When I heard what she had to say, I couldn't help but blush and turn away. That is definitely a reckless plan…

"Nee-san, what are you thinking. There's no way that would happen."

"But you want to do it too, don't you?"

"That's…"

"Come on, you're gonna have to do it at some point, right?" Her smug face only grew more powerful. She was attaining levels of smugness never before seen. "Why don't you start tonight? The two of you'll get closer just like you both wanted. Practice for the future, right?"

"…Geez, what are you saying, Nee-san…"

She laughed at my expense and patted me on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go talk to mother about it right away. We need to get her on our side." I sighed and the two of us went to speak with our mother.

~ x ~

Eight minutes had passed since Yukino went to the front door to check out who was visiting. I had a sneaking suspicion as to who it was, but it was only making me worried about how this night would turn out, so I tried to not think about it. I'll deal with it when the time comes. Yukino walked back into the kitchen as I was thinking.

"Oh, there you are. Welcome back. Find out who it was?"

She let out a short exhale and then answered. "Yes, it was Haruno."

"Eh? Haruno-san's here?"

"Yes, I know what you are thinking. But don't worry, I don't think she'll be too much of a problem."

"She won't? What's up with that?"

"I had a talk with her. She won't be as much of a nuisance when it comes to the both of us. But I don't expect that to stop her from messing with us…"

"Yeah, of course…." I made a sad chuckle. "I don't think she'll ever stop that…"

"So, how's the food so far?"

"It looks good, I don't think I've messed up anything while you were gone. Heck, it was just stirring and waiting for time to pass."

"I see. But anything could have happened so I'm just making sure. You could also be hiding something. For example, you could have dropped the entire salt container into the pot, burned the chicken, or somehow messed up the soup."

"Are you kidding? If any one of those things happened, I'd be over in the corner crying my eyes out. Serving that to your mother would kill me. Also, how could I even burn the chicken?!"

"I don't know, but I've seen it before…"

"Before!? Who could pull that- oh, it was Yuigahama, wasn't it….?"

Yukino simply closed her eyes and smiled. I'm curious as to what they were even cooking that would make Yuigahama mess up like that. Another important thought, when did that exactly happen? But I think that's best left for another time.

"Well, let's just get back to it, yeah?"

~ x ~

We finished preparing everything for dinner and proceeded to serve the food at the dining table. Once everything was laid out, Haruno exploded into praise.

"Wow! Hikigaya-kun, you're really good at this! Yukino-chan sure is a good teacher huh?"

"W-Well, thanks…" I responded.

"Hachiman was already somewhat decent; it didn't take much to raise his cooking skill."

That was actually some pretty high praise coming from her. She would normally find the chance to roast me in some way, but I guess it wouldn't do well to do that in front of her mother. Yukino, thank you for actually thinking about my dignity for once.

"You two are practically married, dontcha think mother?"

I choked on my drink. What?!

"Yes well, seeing how both of you work so well together, it puts my mind at ease that I don't have to worry about you two."

"Ah—mother…. Please don't say something like that so casually…" Yukino sounded like a kid would when they beg their mother to not embarrass them in front of their friends. She's not even my mother but I feel the exact same way right now. Her mother laughed softly despite her normal demeanor.

"That's enough of that. We shouldn't let this food go to waste, let's start dinner before it gets cold."

For the first two minutes, we ate our food in relative silence. I'm not going to be the one to start a conversation here, no way. There's so much pressure on me, I can barely even concentrate on eating the food we made. All I can think about right now is how I should keep my guard up around Mrs. Yukinoshita.

So far based on how she's acted around me, I can say without a doubt she's a loose cannon. I can't tell what she's thinking. Before today she seemed like the stern stoic type, but now she's a doting mother. Was her mom actually capable of channeling Gahamama energy?!

I'm at a loss... I resigned myself to quietly eating the food in front of me. While I was thinking about that, Yukino's mother having returned to her "normal" state, put down her utensils and broke the silence.

"So Hikigaya-kun, how is school going for you? Your grades are decent I hear. Yukino tells me the two of you are planning to go to the same university."

"O-Oh, she said something like that to you?" I looked over to Yukino. Is she spilling everything to her mother when she's at home? How much has she told her mother?

"It's not like it's any big secret... Our desired career paths are pretty similar after all," said Yukino.

"Oho, Yukino-chan~ I bet you don't want Hachiman to leave your sight. He might get snatched up by some other girl." Haruno teased Yukino as she was drinking her wine.

"Nee-san, shut up." She was glaring daggers at Haruno.

"Come on~ I'm just teasing! Of course our little Hikigaya-kun here wouldn't have the guts to go along with something like that."

"Yeah, there's no way I would do that, Yukino's-" I stopped myself, she almost made me say something that would cause something incredibly annoying to happen. I'm not about to play into her hands.

"Hm? Were you saying something?" Haruno asked.

"No, nothing." I should probably try to answer her mother's question so we can move on from this crappy topic. "School's been okay, although we got pulled back into the Service Club by my sister, Komachi."

"I see, is that so?" She looked to Yukino.

"Yes, Komachi-san was looking forward to it. There was no real reason to refuse." After she said that, I felt there was a shift in the atmosphere. For a second my stomach began to hurt.

"Extracurricular activities are always a good thing, but Yukino." Her mother now had that cold look in her eyes as she fixed her sight on Yukino. "Remember that you said you wanted to do your father's job. Please make sure that you don't waste your time at school and study appropriately." I looked at Yukino, but she was unfazed by her mother's serious tone.

"Of course, it won't be a problem at all."

"Good, then there shouldn't be any problems." The topic was quickly dropped. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the club, but I guess it wasn't too bad, right?

As dinner went on, nothing was too out of the ordinary. Well, whatever ordinary means when dealing with this family. Mrs. Yukinoshita asked me about my home life, hobbies, and other random topics. She wasn't being covert about any of this at all, it was so obvious that she wanted to get as much information out of me as she could. Perhaps that's why she was so friendly to me, that way my guard would be down during dinner. But as time went on, I started to sense that something else was amiss. It wasn't just her mother's friendliness that was weird.

"Oh my, it's rather late, isn't it?"

Just then, Mrs. Yukinoshita spoke and pointed out the time. Time? I looked at the clock on my phone. Holy crap! It was already almost ten o'clock! I just realized we had been sitting at the dining table for several hours. If I leave now, I might be able to catch the bus...!

Before I could excuse myself, Haruno began to speak. "Yeah, it's definitely too late to catch a bus or train at this time, huh?"

"I think I could probably make it if—"

"You're quite right, Haruno. It really is too late now… Hikigaya-kun, why don't you stay the night here?" Mrs. Yukinoshita cut me off. It was like a tag-team attack between mother and daughter.

"Huh? I don't think I could do that… I wouldn't want to bother you any longer…"

"What are you talking about? You aren't at all a bother."

There it is again, that motherly smile that screams, "I definitely don't have ulterior motives, believe me sweetie." I was finding it hard to counter. Although, this was probably the first time I was told, "You're not a bother" by someone. It's quite sad actually, I don't think I've ever heard those words come out of any of my family member's mouths. What? I'm definitely not crying!

"W-Well, maybe not for you but I don't think my parents would be okay with it. I would have to call them first." A lie, my parents actually didn't care that I was out of the house. I told them I would be going to a friend's house, but they shrugged it off. I could have sworn I heard them cheering when I left… But Mrs. Yukinoshita doesn't know that.

"Oh, your parents? I don't think that will be an issue. I already called them and told them you would be staying the night, and they were completely okay with it∼!" Eh?! She really went that far!? Crap, and of course my parents were okay with it, they would be happy for me to not even be home… Dammit...!

Hahh… I was wondering why Mrs. Yukinoshita and Haruno kept trying to talk about random subjects, they were padding for time! Now, they're cutting off every single one of my escape routes, leaving me with no other option but to stay! She even called my parents ahead of time and told them that I would be staying the night. She was completely confident that I wouldn't leave! Ahh, this was truly terrifying. Yukino's mom was still the person I thought her to be.

"Yukino, are you okay with this?" I looked to Yukino who was sitting to my right. She was my last defense, the only person that could get me out of this situation. Yet, when I looked at her, she was just sitting there playing with her hair with a bashful look on her face.

"It's not like staying over is a bad thing…" She was a part of it too...!

I was now surrounded on all sides, completely outnumbered. All three Yukinoshita women were pushing to make me stay the night. I facepalmed and sighed at my defeat. Looks like I won't be leaving here anytime soon...

"I guess I'll stay the night then." Haruno and her mother were pleased to hear that. Their smiles only got bigger. I guess Smuginoshita runs in the family.

"Yukino, why don't you show Hikigaya-kun around the house. Haruno and I will handle the dishes. Oh, and Hikigaya-kun, feel free to take a shower before you go to bed."

"Alright, thanks..."

Yukino timidly grabbed my sleeve. "Let's go." She said with a quiet voice. Ah, cute. A rare Yukino had appeared; her face was as red as a tomato.

"Ahh… fine..." Reluctantly though happy with the sight, I followed her out of the dining room. The night was just beginning.