If I could just see it all
Just like a fly on the wall
Would I be able to accept what I can't control?
And would I share what I saw?
Or just sit back and ignore
Like nothing never happened
Haven't seen you before?


Willful ignorance.

More often than not, the problems that Hachiman had encountered throughout his life had to do with people ignoring certain things that were too uncomfortable to bear. Thinking "it's okay if I avert my eyes here" or "it's such a small thing, better just ignore it" every time the truth is in front of their eyes, people build complacency. They would end up fixed in place as they desperately try to avoid the uncomfortable truth, thinking that it'd be better if "someone else" dealt with it. If they weren't the ones stuck in that situation.

Call them out, and the annoyance and negativity will turn to the person doing so. Even now, with people busy running around to prepare the set and the girls that would be exposed to the camera, the little annoyances made it so the mood was uncomfortable at best. Making Hachiman stick close to the women that he'd come with.

"Why is she here?" Komachi hissed under her breath, leaning close to avoid clueing the Hikigaya matriarch that something was amiss. It made Hachiman a bit more stressed; because he knew exactly what Komachi was referring to. And so, he glared at the people on the farther wall of the room. Locking eyes with the girl that should not be there for any reason.

The stupid brunette idol that attacked Komachi stared back at him. She didn't look ready to change out of her civilian clothes, nor did she make any attempt to follow the instructions of the people talking to the other models. She just… Stared. Sitting on one of the folding chairs and looking like she'd gone through another round of battle with Komachi.

They hadn't, for the record. That was just hyperbole on Hachiman's part.

"Don't worry." Hachiman hissed back, touching the side of Komachi's head with his own. "I'll protect you with my life."

"Awwww~ onii-chan!"

"What are you two muttering about?" The Hikigaya matriarch fixed her square glasses, looking at her children with a frown like she'd just noticed that they weren't taking things seriously. "Shouldn't Komachi be going to change now?"

"It's fine, it'll take a bit more time." Komachi gave their mom a thumbs up, looking alright enough to avoid any suspicion. But Hachiman didn't have the same amount of control over his features, so he could only avoid looking in Nino's general direction.

"I just hope they don't leave her for last." Hachiman muttered with the bitterness he was collecting for the brunette idol.

"We should probably ask, now that you mention it." His mom tilted her head a bit, seriously considering the possibility. "Ideally, we would get out of here early enough to avoid needing to eat out."

"Eh~? We're not celebrating my first gig once we're done?!" Komachi pushed the topic further away from the idol, physically moving to block the direct line of sight of their mom. Using her youngest child card to keep the woman's attention squarely on her.

"…I didn't say that." It was super effective! Even mama Hikigaya can't do anything against Komachi's look of disappointment!

"Eh~?"

"C'mon, Komachi. Don't be like that." Their mother sighed, letting out more tiredness than she appeared to hold within. "This is a serious, big step. Let's approach this with a cold head."

"That's why we should celebrate it!" Komachi puffed her chest with pride. "Mom, I'll be famous!"

"…Of course." The woman gave Hachiman a worried glance, probably looking out for some support on this.

Hachiman sighed.

"That just sounds like a bad idea."

"Onii-chan!"

"And it might not happen." Their mother looked a bit more relieved. Whether it was because Hachiman had redirected Komachi's strongest attack (?) to himself or because she shared the sentiment, he didn't know. But at least the mood was slightly less tense now. "Let's keep a cold head for this."

"You're not fun!" Komachi pouted and huffed in faux frustration, giving both her mom and brother a dirty look before defaulting to the cold shoulder. The two older Hikigaya sort of stared at each other without knowing what to do next; so they just stood there. Awkwardly seeing the younger Hikigaya wait for them to apologize or do something else.

It spoke a lot about the situation that their mom hadn't given in after that. Even if the topic was supposed to be just food. In reality, no one was thinking about that. And instead, were counting the minutes until Komachi "debuted" as a model. Even though she hadn't even changed out of the cute clothes she'd arrived with.

"Oh, good. You're already arguing with someone. Terrific." Saitou (Ichigo) arrived with one of the B-Komachi idols in tow, fixing his sunglasses while regarding the Hikigaya matriarch with more seriousness than when he looked at Hachiman. "Thanks for coming, ma'am."

"Thanks for having us." The woman fixed her own glasses with deference, scanning Strawberry Pro's CEO with her lips pursed into a thin line.

"Heyo, Hikigayas~" The idol waved energetically, somehow including their mom in that greeting without sounding disrespectful.

"Kyun-san. You're here today as well?" Komachi sounded positively surprised, which helped Hachiman calm his own nerves a bit more. Feeling safe in his sister initiating the reglementary casual talk for him.

"Yeah, Ichigo-san is giving us stuff to do while we're on downtime. Y'know, keeping relevancy and all that." The girl pointed at her boss with her thumb, but quickly leaned closer while covering one side of her mouth. "He's getting so considerate nowadays, maybe you joined at the best of times."

"Working with me has always been a net gain." The man complained, placing his hands on his hips with disappointment in his whole-body language. "It's just, y'know, there was stuff in the way so far. But we're getting there. You girls will enjoy all the benefits of this company."

"Right, right." Kyun shook her head while releasing some air through her nose, looking very smug about this whole thing.

"I sure hope nothing of the sort will happen now." The Hikigaya matriarch narrowed her eyes; not quite glaring at Saitou but making sure that her hangups were evident all the same.

"No, ma'am. We're doing our best to give our talents all the opportunities they need." Saitou nodded to himself, keeping some form of professionalism in spite of the idol's amused expression. "Even Komachi-chan here. So, for that purpose, shall I walk you through how these things go?"

"Is it that complex?"

"Not at all. We already went through it with your children, but it won't hurt to have it in mind. Right?" Eh… For all the things he'd done, it seemed like Saitou was indeed a competent person. His whole vibe had changed, and it almost made Hachiman forget how far things had gone because this same man hadn't done his job properly before.

He still eyed the idol on the farther wall, making sure that she was indeed still there.

"We mostly have to wait around, keep an eye on Komachi." Hachiman added, looking at his mom first and to Saitou second for a confirmatory nod. "And we're doing that already. I don't think they'll let us go into the changing room with her."

"No, of course not." His mom scoffed while crossing her arms. Did she perhaps think that'd be an option? "I get that much."

Did she?

"This really isn't as exciting as it might seem at first." Kyun added, shrugging while looking at some of the staff members still hard at work. "The actual photoshoot is way shorter than all the preparations and stuff."

"Shouldn't Komachi be getting caked in makeup right now, then?" Hachiman couldn't help asking. It might've been his nerves, but the idol's words only reinforced the idea that the production was neglecting Komachi a bit.

"Eh, I dunno. Probably?" Kyun tilted her head, which made Hachiman have to hold back a biting retort. Because she hadn't done anything but explain things.

Saitou, on the other hand.

"Busy schedule, not enough hands." Saitou shook his head. "As soon as someone finishes, it'll be Komachi-chan's turn. I was checking that before."

"I see…"

"Don't give me that face. It's not like we make clothes, shoes, or anything like that. We can only bargain with people in need of our talents. Actively finding work for them places the ability to choose on the lap of brands, executives, and owners of the products being advertised." Saitou crossed his arms while huffing in annoyance. "If we're approached first, sure. We can get picky. But this is not the case."

Hachiman sighed, hating that he couldn't come up with something smart to say.

"Right, that kind of makes sense." He stole another glance at the idol on the farther wall, wanting to ask about her the more he locked eyes with her.

Wait, no. Nino wasn't looking at him. She was glaring at Komachi instead. And Komachi had her eyes locked on her as well.

"Something wrong?" Their mom snapped Komachi out of her staring contest, earning her a stare from both her and Saitou while Hachiman himself tried to pretend that he wasn't aware of what Komachi was doing.

"I'm kinda nervous." Komachi rolled her shoulders back, tilter her head and pursing her lips with some stress. She didn't look cute while doing it, which worried Hachiman a bit. It seemed like the situation was way more important than it appeared at first glance.

"Don't worry! You'll be fine." Kyun nodded to herself, smacking the side of Komachi's shoulder slightly. "You know what'll help? A snack."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Saitou interjected, furrowing his brows.

"Fine. Gum?" The idol pivoted and checked her pocket, frowning as she realized she had nothing on her person. "Ah… Maybe I can get some somewhere."

"It's okay…" Komachi huffed, waving her hands up and down to hype herself up. "Got any tips?"

"Eh, well… If the photographer isn't a complete hack, they'll lead you." Kyun rolled her eyes. "They should go easy on you, there's a lot of newbies here. And try to see what the good points of whatever you're wearing are. Otherwise… I would start looking at the mirror right now."

"Eh… There's a reason for that? I thought that doing that was some sort of vanity thing." Hachiman interjected, trying to soften the mood a bit.

"Ha-ha. Well, our perspective of ourselves doesn't always help. There's a bias, and the mirror is slightly distorted compared to a camera's lenses…" Kyun pursed her lips while looking at the floor, focusing on something she was thinking. "Eh… I don't exactly remember how, sorry. It's just something I heard somewhere. It's better for her to get used to the camera and focus on her good points."

"My good points… I'm pretty cute." Komachi nodded to herself sagely.

"She means your most notable traits." Saitou clarified. "Like, your nose from one angle or another, your smile, your ears…"

"That's kind of specific."

"You have to look good in the clothes you're given." Saitou spoke seriously, like he was giving out a lesson. "Scratch that, you have to look good enough in the clothes that it'll make people think they'll look good in them too."

"That's…"

"Sounds difficult? It's fine. As Kyun said, the camera crew should be able to lead you." Saitou scoffed, looking down on Komachi a bit while he spoke. "Just remember: You have to know what the goal with each shot is. There's no slacking in that department."

"That's not very encouraging." Komachi deadpanned.

The man scoffed.

"What's the point of winter clothes?"

"To be warm and cozy?"

"And a summer dress?"

"To not be too warm, and to be comfortable."

"There you go." Saitou nodded. "Just, y'know, look for ways to convey that in a picture."

"Ah, got it." Komachi nodded, even though she didn't look fully convinced.

"Relax, you'll figure out the ins and outs pretty easily." Saitou stopped for a moment, regarding the Hikigaya matriarch before continuing. "…If you decide to keep going, that is."

"Right." Komachi replied in the same way she had before.

"For sure." Her mom nodded along, being content to let things happen without interference. For now.

"Being on set is one of the least demanding parts of the job, honest." Kyun scoffed, looking away like she wanted to look smug but remembered something bad midway. "Keeping up with social media, fishing for jobs, and overall, everything but modelling itself is what's difficult."

"And you don't even manage most of those things." Saitou glared at the girl for a moment.

"I do! Partially!"

"You manage her social media?" Komachi sounded a bit spooked, but still kept the question somewhat civil.

Hachiman's mom glared a bit as well.

"Not me directly, no. But we do have full access to our talents' accounts. Managing that part is basically yet another full-time job." Saitou explained, sounding oddly calm about the whole affair. "The owner manages the account, mostly. But we do get the last say in what can be uploaded and shared, and what can't. There's a whole bunch of people scouring the internet to know what's knew, what might come as insensitive, and another whole lot of baggage that each talent simply can't prioritize because they have to do their job."

"So you do control that aspect as well." Hachiman's mom interjected.

"Eh, 'control' is a strong word. But, in short: Yes." Saitou nodded. "When a famous person does an oopsie on social media, it's very common for someone to get fired because it slipped their notice. Instead of being attributed to the talent themselves within the business. Again, it's a full-time job. Glorified babysitting it might be, but talent groups don't always enjoy the benefit of working with smart individuals."

"Too much." Kyun furrowed her brows. "You said too much."

"Well, it's the truth." Saitou huffed. "And recent events prove it."

"That's… You're being a real ass right now." The idol insisted.

Hachiman scoffed.

"Leave it to a businessman to put the blame of everything on the people working below him."

"Oh, you'd have experience with that?" Saitou didn't look ashamed at all.

Hmmm, so he was only weak to Hoshino's jabs? Good to know.

"No need to be so defensive." Hachiman scoffed. "We're 'joking'. In 'good faith'. Right?"

"Right, right." The idol nodded vigorously.

"That's…"

"Furthermore, shouldn't you check if the makeup team has a spot for Komachi now?" Hachiman interrupted the man, feeling a little better with himself with this small victory. "Go on, show that you're legit."

"…" Saitou glared at him through the sunglasses, but a defeat sigh made Hachiman smirk weirdly even more. "Sure. Komachi-chan? Let's go."

"That's…"

"Let's go." The Hikigaya matriarch placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, reassuring her in the way only a mother's presence could.

Hachiman looked around, being reminded of another person he'd recently found out to have such a role. He shouldn't, but he didn't even notice when the three people left him behind with the idol.

"She's probably with Nino-chan." Kyun spoke up after a prolonged silence, watching Hachiman look around the set.

He snapped his gaze toward the idiot idol. She wasn't there.

"Where is she?"

"Probably getting ready." Kyun placed a finger on her chin. "The only one skipping the waiting line is Ai-chan. But, like Ichigo-san said… Recent events show why that's the case."

That's…

"Weren't you telling him he was out of line just now?" After all, he insulted them. If only indirectly. It counted; it definitely did.

"Yeah. But that's one thing, Ai-chan's life is another." Kyun replied. "You should know better than anyone."

"…"

"Besides. This much change feels completely different. It's not ideal, but it seriously feels different." Kyun crossed her arms and nodded her head. "Won't change the level of fame we get compared to Ai-chan anytime soon. But… At least working together doesn't feel as off anymore."

Hachiman gave the short girl a good look, studying her face.

A younger version of him would've criticized how she was holding back her opinion. How her "it feels different" didn't sound like it was enough for her, like it wasn't as good as she made it out to be. He would've pointed out the hypocrisy, and how she was trying to move the topic away from Nino. Perhaps from a misguided sense of comradery borne from being put on the same basket against Hoshino.

He didn't. This whole business was larger than him, way too deep for him to give his opinion and expect to be somewhat sure that he was right. It'd be like trying to argue against a specialist. Even if he wished for nothing to be heard, reality showed that things were far more complex than necessary.

"Is that so…" Hachiman could guess why Nino would be around, then. Saitou (Miyako) had mentioned that their focus was on running damage control, keep the public from making too many waves. It made sense, then, that they'd keep the girl around. If only to fool people into thinking that she was still active.

It wasn't like this job would pay a whole lot, at least not compared to what she could make as an idol. So…

"E-Even if you hate me, at least try to dissimulate that we haven't met before." Nino appeared from behind Hachiman, startling the hell out of him even though her face was downcast and self-pitying.

She'd have looked pathetic if Hachiman couldn't remember his own youth. Which made him even angrier, because it felt like she was trying to sell a sob story instead of showing remorse for attacking his cute little sister.

"Then don't come here yourself." Hachiman growled, glaring even harder at the girl now that they were at arms' length. "Don't be stupid at least once."

"You're in the way." She hissed, motioning to the grey and black dress she now wore. "I have to go there and do something important. Not like you, just standing around being…"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Kyun placed herself between the two young adults. Pushing them apart with her hands to make sure that they couldn't claw at each other. "Time out, time out! Why don't you listen to yourselves and just don't cause a scene?"

Hachiman obeyed and let himself be pushed back, Nino didn't.

"Nino-chan?" The girl asked, looking at her co-star with a serious expression. "C'mon, girl. Work with me here."

"You should just go." Hachiman added, trying to sound calm.

Nino looked away, resentment growing by the second until something caught her eyes. Making her whole expression change.

Hachiman had rarely seen such an extreme change. He'd seen people with crushes, rivalries, and even apathy. But he couldn't quite put his finger on what this girl was feeling. Her feelings were too raw, too mixed, too genuine. It felt like Hachiman's own mind cut the flow of information to protect him, left a hole where he couldn't perceive and read between the lines that well.

He chanced a look, seeing Hoshino lead his little sister by pushing her further onto the set. Seemingly ignoring the way, the little Hikigaya held her arms close to her chest, apprehension written all over her face.

Hachiman moved forward.

"Well, that's new." Kyun's voice didn't stop him, but her small hand did. Somehow weighing on him more than if she'd tried to stop him with more force. "Hold on, I wanna see where this is going."

"That's my sister." Hachiman hissed, unable to tear his eyes away from the girls getting closer to the cameras.

"And that's our Ai-chan." Kyun spoke back, also not looking away from those two. "Even though this is the last thing I'd think she'd do."

"Push someone against their will?"

"Let herself be close enough to touch them."

It did look kind of strange. Although Hoshino projected a cheery and friendly persona, Hachiman would be hard-pressed to say he'd ever seen her close to anyone. Be it in presentations, pictures, or videos. If the group wasn't paying lip service to the fans, Hoshino didn't approach the other girls the same way they did with each other.

One might say that he was reading too much into it, that he was overanalyzing things over the internet. And, thus, was really making something bigger out of nothing. But, well, he couldn't not try to scrape for every bit of information he could. Hoshino hadn't stopped being a really freaking weird person, no matter how many revelations they'd gone through. It felt like she always had a deeper layer to her, and if it had driven Hachiman a bit mad at first, now it felt like he lacked oxygen and couldn't surface while diving.

He needed to breathe, to know he was safe. That he wouldn't drown in whatever darkness Hoshino hid. Even if nothing she had told him thus far winded up being true. As long as he figured things out, it'd be okay. As long as he unraveled what her small stature and cheeky expression hid, he wouldn't regret it. Even if he never again touched her lips, he would—

"Hikigaya?" Kyun's voice and hand made him crash back into reality, had his gaze re-focus on what he was supposed to be looking at.

"…Eh?"

"Oh, you're here-here." The girl scoffed. "I thought you'd topple forward and fall for a moment."

"I'm here." He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his face become hot. "I'm just holding myself back. First, she insulted Yui-san. And now, she bullies my little sister?"

Honestly, what a troublesome woman. Always doing whatever she wanted, paying no mind to what others thought about it, always with that attitude that fooled people into thinking everything was fine…

And who was the mother of twins, with an unknown man vaguely in the picture.

"Why is it her?" Nino's mumbling reached his ears, but Hachiman didn't really register them fully. Instead, he kept his focus trained on what Hoshino was doing.

Slowly, she got the attention of the crew moving around the lights. She signaled them and made them change the setting a bit, hushing Komachi to get into position while she looked around. Trying to see Komachi's position from different angles.

"That's probably gonna get Ichigo-san in trouble." Kyun murmured more as a matter of fact than to show worry.

She worked meticulously, ordering the people around before her last command had been fully heeded. And only when she was satisfied, did she signal Komachi to make the first pose.

Komachi was wearing some sort of trendy dress that looked too formal for casual wear, but too casual for formal occasions. It was one of those pieces advertised in magazines as extra illustrations in the girls' section, alongside a personality quiz or something related to teenage advice. Still, she looked out of her depth enough that the first camera flash didn't capture her in any position but that awkward semi-hunched stance that Hachiman attributed to nervousness.

Hoshino lifted her hand, beckoning Komachi to look at her. And positioned herself like the camera was trained on her.

The other models glared at Hoshino as she waved her hand for the camera man, saying something that Hachiman still couldn't hear. But which made the shooting still for a moment, giving Komachi time to mimic Hoshino as much as she could.

Hachiman could do nothing but see at Hoshino's work, slowly bringing Komachi into proper modeling stances by showing her how she should stand, and motioning with her hands for the young Hikigaya to make small corrections to her face and expression. Slowly bringing out Komachi's charm by way of helping her feel comfortable with what she was doing.

"Wait, did she get her makeup done so soon?" Hachiman murmured, earning himself a puzzled look from Kyun.

"No? No way they did it so fast. She's probably…" The idol frowned, narrowing her eyes at the scene. "She's not wearing makeup, is she? Ai-chan probably moved the lighting to cover for that."

"You can do that?"

"She's always involved in this part of production too." Saitou arrived with Hachiman's mother in tow, eyes fixed on his daughter while crossing his arms. "Since the beginning, she's been like this. It's not going to be perfect, but digital editing can do the rest."

"Is she gonna get in trouble?" Kyun asked, nodding at Saitou's words like they made perfect sense.

"Depends on how badly the production team yells at me."

"Why not stop her, then?" Hachiman couldn't help asking. Still engrossed in seeing his little sister start blossoming in front of the camera by virtue of being led by a national-level idol.

"This is the one thing she knows how to do." Saitou replied. "All the backstage planning, the process of putting everything together… It's all Ai knows. If nothing else, I'd like to think she can take the reins of projects when our dream comes to an end."

"Nepotism…"

"If she was any worse at it, I'd be glad to admit it." Saitou shrugged. "But, well, look at her."

Hachiman didn't reply, he couldn't reply. His senses didn't fully belong to him at the moment; and the mixture of anxiety, proudness, and the vortex that Hoshino had carved into his mind kept Hachiman in place. Kept him trying to take in as much of her as he could with every sense at his disposal.

He could almost taste her now, but he didn't have enough presence of mind to wonder where that sensation was coming from. He could only lick his lips absentmindedly, keep taking in what was happening on the set.

"She's pretty good." Kyun broke the silence, seeing Hoshino motion for Komachi to get off the set. Cheering when they were done.

"…She got used to the camera really fast." Nino commented with a dry voice. Still looking like a kicked puppy.

"Told you." Saitou turned away from the girls, regarding the Hikigaya matriarch. "I have a good eye for these things."

Hachiman's mom didn't reply. Instead, she kept her eyes on her daughter, following her until she reached their position and crashed between the woman's waiting arms.

"Whaaaaa~! That was scary~!"

"You did absolutely fantastic." The woman's voice was sweet while petting her daughter's head. Smiling like she was enjoying the young woman's antics.

"Don't get that dress dirty. They'll charge you for it." Saitou cleared his throat, cutting the emotional moment short. "I'll… I'll go see if Ai didn't piss off someone important now. Talk to you later."

That's right, run away. See what happens when you mess around with Komachi's need for emotional support.

"Ah, Hikigaya." Saitou turned around, seemingly having remembered something.

"Hmm?" Hachiman was still not wholly present. He felt warm in his chest, yes. And he wanted to go give Komachi a hug himself too. But… Well, his body felt cold when literally nothing else happened. Like it had prepared for something else, for someone else, to appear and take part of his attention.

Saitou was looking at the set, where Hoshino finished wrapping up before disappearing between the small group of models.

"Nothing. She has us covered." Saitou stared at the idols and clapped twice, changing mental gears as he did. "Come on, girls. Get ready."

"Yes~" Kyun looked satisfied, and so she snapped her fingers on her left hand and drew a semicircle above her head. Almost like she could project a rainbow as a farewell.

"R-Right."

Hachiman glared at Nino for a moment before Saitou got in his field of vision.

"Listen, let me give her something to do. Do you know how much we'd be leaving her to her fate if we just cut her off entirely?"

Hachiman looked away.

"Not like I actually thought you'd keep your promise."

"Ugh, this guy…" Saitou followed Hachiman's line of sight before turning to see if his idols were actually gone. "She's not coming here, y'know."

"Don't change the subject." Hachiman growled, glaring at Saitou from the corner of his eyes.

"She's a pro, after all."

"As I said…"

"Right." Saitou seemingly gave up on his endeavor, and sighed before giving Hachiman a stern look. "I think there's something wrong going on."

"Uh-huh."

"Not like you should care, but Miyako felt something off when she dropped Nino at home so…" Saitou shrugged. "I don't want to just release her into the wild. I gotta take responsibility, y'know."

Responsibility, was it?

"You're playing with fire and I really doubt you're smart enough to pull it off." Hachiman looked back at his family, seeing Komachi start rambling about these handful of minutes away from them while their mother listened intently. "I told you I wanted her gone."

"From B-Komachi."

"Saitou…"

"I'm sorry, but I can't yield in this." The man lowered his head a bit. As much a bow as he could manage in public. "It's not right."

Hachiman's thoughts wandered back to the day he was told about Hoshino's children.

"Home problems, huh."

"Is it that rare?"

"It's convenient."

"Please don't be like that." Saitou scoffed. "I got your sister the best opportunity here, that's why you two met today. It won't happen again."

"Of course not, because Komachi's not continuing." Hachiman smiled at the man with some pity.

"That's for her to decide." He pointed out.

"Of course."

"You really don't have any faith in your sister?"

"I don't have faith in you." Hachiman sighed. "You haven't given me a single reason to."

"Your friend?"

Hachiman scoffed.

"We'll see when it's payday."

"Right, right." Saitou shook his head. "Trust the process, Hikigaya. Things will change. I'll make sure of it."

Hachiman ignored Saitou now, having said his piece without starting another argument.

She was really not coming? That was…

"Onii-chan!" Komachi threw herself at Hachiman, making him groan in surprise. But his instinct had him catch her all the same. "Did you see me? Did it look cool?"

Hachiman smiled.

"You were perfect." She had imitated Hoshino really well indeed, made the best of the situation in spite of her spike of nervousness. "Did you like it?"

"It was absolutely terrible! Everyone was moving so fast! And the guy hadn't even begun cleaning off my face when someone came around and told me to change! And then…!" Komachi hid her face on Hachiman's collarbone, her voice muffled a bit since she hadn't stopped talking. "And then they told be to be ready in a minute! What's with that?! I had to get the makeup after changing?! But somehow the dress had to be perfectly clean! Who does that?!"

"Eh… It really sucked, huh."

"It did!"

Hachiman placed his hand on top of Komachi's head, letting her vent a little more while he stole a glance back to the set.

She didn't come, indeed. And Hachiman didn't know what to do with pit that formed in the place where her head had rested when they last met.