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

1-4
~ Hachiman stays the night ~

"Come this way." Yukino grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the dining area and into the living room. She was now showing me around the house at her mother's request.

"Why did you go along with their scheme? I'm surprised you would go along with it just like that."

"It was Haruno's plan, but it's not like it's all bad—right?" She turned around and looked at me with her adorable and gentle face.

"Ah—well…. I'm not mad or anything. I'm surprised you're okay with this…"

"You know, I am doing this for your sake. Since you want to spend so much time together." She leaned in closer to me and wrapped an arm around me. "But, I'm also—"

"H-Hey, what if one of them walk in on us?!" I quietly shouted and attempted to back away, but she lightly pinched my side as if she was unsatisfied with something.

"What was that for?"

"You are a complete idiot sometimes. Come on, let me show you where the shower is so we can go to bed."

"Ah, alright…" Yukino let go of me and I followed her up the stairs to the second floor.

"Here's the shower, and my room is right over there." She points to a door on the other end of the hallway. "When you're done in here just go ahead and wait in my room. I'll take one right after you." I nodded, and then she continued. "You'll probably want to use a shampoo so—feel free to use this." She hands me a bottle of shampoo off of a shelf. The words "Tea Tree" were written across it. Huh, what kind of shampoo is this?

"I see, thanks. I'll use this then."

"Here's your towel too. I'll go ahead and leave you to it now."

"Thanks."

After she left, I went ahead and took my shower. Unfortunately, I didn't have a change of clothes with me since I was not expecting this kind of event to happen…. Oh well, I'll just have to deal with it. I used the shampoo Yukino gave me which upon giving it a whiff, had an interesting smell. It was like a minty scent, but it smelled a little sweet too. I don't think I've ever smelled this before, this is quite nice. But it's making me want to eat some sweets now….

~ x ~

My shower didn't take long, I was done in about 10 minutes. I walked into Yukino's room; she was there laying a futon on the floor.

"I'm done with the shower. You can go ahead now."

She turned around after rolling the futon out. "Alright. Just sit here, I'll be right back."

Yukino left the room for the shower and left me here all alone. But then a thought hit me right after she was gone. I was inside Yukinoshita Yukino's room. There was only one thing to do, and that was to investigate!

Right from the start, it was already obvious there was a big difference between her room and Yui's. When I looked around it was neat and organized, without any real evidence that a teenage girl was living in it except for the various Pan-san plushies laid out on her bed. I continued my examination of the room and did not find anything out of the ordinary, as expected for someone like Yukino. I eventually made my way over to her desk, and that was when something caught my eye.

There were several picture frames standing on the back left-side corner of the desk. The first one on the left side, a picture I didn't even know existed, but filled me with a sense of nostalgia when my eyes fell onto it. It was from the time we rode that water ride together at Disneyland. After we got off the ride, we split up. I went to get refreshments for the two of us since Yukino wasn't feeling well. So that's what she had with her that night… I didn't even realize it. So even back then…

The second photo in the middle was the picture we took together at the beach. Hah, this one is kinda nostalgic too. Alongside that one was also the picture from the café we recently visited. Geez, I didn't realize Yukino cherished these so much. So the cool and stern Yukino has a side like this. She's so cute, it's making me blush.

Hm? What's this? I noticed that there was a picture frame sticking out from under a book. Why was this covered? I pulled the frame out and quickly placed it back under the book once I got a good look. It was of just me, taken while I was doing work for the prom. Wait, when was this taken?! I'm getting embarrassed that this picture exists in the first place. I already knew she took pictures of me since she was busted with the café photos, but was she always looking at me like this whenever I wasn't looking?

~ x ~

I sat down next to the futon and put my back against her bed. Fifteen minutes have passed and Yukino is still in the shower. She's really taking her sweet time, huh? Does she normally take showers this long or is something going on?

"Uh, Hachiman….?"

Just as I began to worry about her, a voice came through the door. It seems she's finished her shower, but I don't understand why she hasn't entered yet…

"Hm? Yukino? What are you doing?"

"Ah—um… I finished my shower…"

"That's what I thought, but why are you not coming in?" There was a short pause before she answered, like she couldn't answer it right away.

"…I forgot my clothes inside my room."

"Huh!?" I couldn't help but raise my voice out of shock.

"Shut up, stop being so loud!"

"Ah, I can leave the room while you change. Just—"

"N-No, you don't have to do that. You can just… turn around."

"Wha—?"

"I'm coming in so turn around."

"Hey, wait—" She gave me no time to react, the door was already opening. Yukino was determined to follow through after all. I quickly turned around and faced her bed.

"I'm not going to be too long."

She walked over to her dresser, and that's when I could hear it. She slipped off the towel that was around her, probably leaving her completely uncovered behind my back...! What is this situation!? Then came the sounds of her putting her clothes on, but the sound of her movements were slow as if she was in no rush at all. Some part of me wanted to turn around, but I figured she would be watching me this entire time. I wouldn't want to take the chance of her getting mad if I did, so I just kept looking at the bed while she finished getting dressed.

"I'm all done, you can stop looking away." I took a deep breath the second the coast was clear. She sat down next to me with her back against the bed. When I laid my eyes on her I could see what she changed into, a pair of white pajamas with cats scattered all over.

"I've never seen you with pajamas on before, this is a new sight. They even have cats on them, why am I not surprised?"

"Of course, isn't it great? This is my favorite pair."

"Yeah, it looks good on you."

"Ah—thanks…"

Yukino ran her fingers through her hair, which caught my attention. Her freshly washed hair was a beautiful black, and because it was washed it had a different look than what I'm used to. I was getting the urge to touch it, and before I even knew it, I had gently grabbed a part of her long hair.

"Hm?" Yukino turned her head to see what I was doing.

"Ah, sorry. I just wanted to touch your hair." I was beginning to pull back my hand, but Yukino stopped me.

"You can touch it all you want, it's fine with me…"

"Ah, really?"

"Mm." She nodded. Well, then I guess I'll take her up on her offer. I still had a portion of her hair in my right hand, so I gently combed my fingers through her awesomely long hair. As I was doing that, I happened to get a whiff of her hair. It was minty and refreshing.

"Hmm?" Did I just smell...? I brought her hair closer to my face, putting my nose right up to it. Ah—this is the same shampoo that she gave me.

"Eh, uhm... Hachiman...?" Yukino's face was flushed.

"So, we used the same shampoo, huh?"

She lowered her head slightly. "...you noticed..." I continued to play with her hair as her eyes were roaming around the room. She must be enjoying this, and her face is cute too. Ahh~

"At this point there was no way I was not going to notice. I guess we smell the same now. Was this a part of your plan too?"

"Ah-well-no... maybe..." I couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. She was completely flustered. This was a new kind of Yukino that I've rarely seen. I eventually pulled my hand away from her hair; I got my fill after touching it for almost two minutes straight. The entire time we didn't say much, we simply enjoyed each other's presence. But that had to stop at some point, I don't think we could do that all night.

"So, what are we going to do now?" I asked her, seeing that there really wasn't anything for us to do now except go to bed. Yukino recovered from me playing with her hair and was back to her normal self now.

"Well, I've been wondering about Fujiwara-san's request."

"Club work… Have you thought of anything?"

"Well, I thought that maybe… we could use the knowledge we've gained over the past month…"

"O-Oh you mean...?"

"Like how we hold hands… and stuff... Remember that request...? It was quite effective…" She grasped my hand with hers just like we did back in the club room that day. Yeah, this was really effective. Actually, too effective, I let go of her hand before it could escalate any further.

"We'll probably have to talk to this Akiyama guy."

"Well, If it's you, I think he would beat you up if you started asking about his girlfriend."

"Hey!" I gave her a sharp look, but she just laughed at me.

"Then again, Akiyama-kun may have some issues as well. I'll ask Isshiki-san if she knows anything."

We finished our brief discussion, and now there really wasn't anything left to do. This entire situation was really a spur of the moment thing, I hadn't made any plans for this to happen.

"Well, time to sleep." I walked over to the futon she laid out for me—is what I planned; however, Yukino grabbed my left hand to stop me before I could get up off the floor.

"Wait. Why don't we just sit like this for a while...?" She had the most adorable face; I can't argue with her when she looks at me like that! I guess it wouldn't hurt to be a little selfish.

"...I see no problem with that." I went back to relaxing how I was before. I gently squeezed and used my thumb to caress the back of her hand that had also grabbed mine. Touching her hand which was as soft as ever, it was the best feeling in the world. She even returned my grip, which was such a nice feeling I could barely contain myself, and my body was overwhelmed with a familiar warmth. I felt like I had to say it again, the emotions inside me were welling up until I couldn't take it anymore. This girl and her magic ways are too much.

"Yukino."

"Hm? What is it?"

"... I love you." I mumbled under my breath.

She giggled, and then rested her head against my shoulder.

"At least you're not an idiot at the end of the day."

"Huh?! What's up with that?"

"Hahah, nothing~" She closed her eyes and refused to explain what she meant. Goodness, I really don't know anything about girls. Especially Yukinoshita Yukino.

The night continued after that. Even though Yukino went to the trouble of getting out a futon for me, it was never used. We fell asleep leaning against each other, still holding each other's warm hands.