Seeing Isshiki so lost, so hurt, made Hachiman feel like a complete piece of shit. It was one thing to try to soften the mood with his usual antics, but the line was clearly drawn the moment that his trashy kouhai stopped playing along and teasing him, and turned into yet another girl that he had hurt.

In his youth, he'd had never imagined that hurting someone would be something to worry about. Maybe in his darkest fantasies he'd put someone "in their place" and make them feel like shit, delivering a speech that would be talked about at school and slowly turn his popularity around. With random students coming to respect him, or at least stop calling him names behind his back.

No such luck. Not only because the only time that it happened, back in high school, the obvious result came to be and made him more hated; but because people weren't so easily categorized in convenient slots like right and wrong.

Everyone lived their lives in the way they could. Struggling against the limitations imposed by their social status, their peers, by society itself. Everyone was out for themselves, and Hachiman would be way too hypocritical if he went around ignoring such an obvious fact and doing whatever he wanted.

When he'd been called creepy for not talking and standing around alone, no one stopped to think why he was so bad at conveying his feelings. When his classmates saw others trying to avoid working with him, no one stopped to think whether he'd actually make for a good teammate or not. When the special disk he dedicated to a special someone got leaked for the entire school to hear, no one asked themselves why something so personal had been given to that club to broadcast.

Perhas all of those things were a form of preemptive redemption. A way for the world to tell him how much he sucked, how much that fact was inherent of him. That he'd never be able to shake it off. Maybe he was simply destined for failure, to uselessly struggle without managing to achieve anything. Perhaps the only thing he could do was to hurt the people that he'd come to care about.

What would Yukino have thought about all of this? Seeing Hachiman clumsily try to reassure Isshiki after telling her what had happened back at Hoshino's apartment.

"It's fine. Look: Did you even notice anything wrong while we were shopping?" Hachiman stretched his arms, making small movements to try and show Isshiki that he had his full range of movement. "I made a full recovery, and it won't happen again."

"Oh, jee! I sure hope that's the case!" Isshiki shot her face up, clumsily trying to clean her face with just her hands. "I never know with you. What if you randomly choose to keep playing the hero and try to jump in traffic next?!"

Hachiman looked away.

"Oh, right. That's how you made Yui-san. Huh!" Isshiki jabbed a finger at him, her mug twisted into an ugly expression. "You're the worst. The literal worst! I thought you needed time and space, I thought you'd be honest with me and just say it. Whatever you needed! I should've listened to Miura-san, I shouldn't have taken your words at face value!"

"I'm not a child, Isshiki." Hachiman growled. He didn't have it in him to push back against Isshiki's anger, but he still felt the need to clarify that. "Remember I'm older than you."

"Then act the part! What's up with that?! What's up with any of this?!" Isshiki stretched her arms, forsaking keeping her voice down in favor of getting her point across. "Why am I the last one to know?! Why are you so okay with this?! Are you stupid?! Why should I be the one to be calm, when you're just telling me you could've just been gone forever?!"

"No, Isshiki. That's not the case." There was a risk, of course. But, unless he had been stabbed, the likelihood of dying from his injuries was… Still a realistic outcome. But, if a little kid could stop him from bleeding out for just enough time to get an ambulance, then Hachiman wanted to believe that the actual likelihood if his death was dim at best. "And it's not my fault. It was necessary."

"Wha…!" Isshiki looked like he had attempted to hit her. Her surprise was so palpable that Hachiman was able to see the white in her eyes with clearness… But instead, her eyes were getting red from the tears doing their thing. "Necessary. Necessary! In what world is throwing hands with a psycho necessary?!"

"Isshiki, I'm trying to give you context here. This is really not what it looks like." He had gone through this with Yui and Hiratsuka. But it felt like Isshiki was having an even worse reaction than them. Probably because they weren't alone back then, and Isshiki had come expecting something different altogether when she talked about catching up.

He couldn't fault her, but he still needed her to be a bit more understanding.

"I… I know!" Isshiki slammed her elbows on the table and caressed her eyes with her hands. "I know that! But… Even so…! It's just too much. And you look so okay with all of this…"

"I've had a few months to make peace with my situation." Mostly. There was no time to wonder, to think about how narrowly he'd actually come to dying. There were things to do, puzzles to solve, people whose lives he could see changed.

Ebina would've said that those things were a signal, that Hachiman should think about continuing onward. Continue doing the things he wanted to do.

Saika would've said the same, but on the logic that doing what he wanted was a form of showing gratefulness. Proving that his continued existence mattered.

Hoshino… Hoshino had seemingly doubled her efforts, had run for objectives even faster. And Hachiman was none of them, he couldn't really do as they said so easily; so readily. He was walking, moved by his newfound goals, but he was still dumb and immature.

He had been in a hurry to dispel his worries, his questions. Whether Yukino would've been in that building or not, it probably didn't matter as much as finally getting rid of the what if. Because reality cares not for people's feelings, so Hachiman thought he'd be able to accept it no matter what.

Now he knew better. He knew that letting his feelings get the best of him would destroy him. He had to keep moving, yes. But being too reckless resulted in this: The unavoidable moment where he hurt those he cared about.

"I-I guess that makes sense…" Isshiki growled, looking away from him with a serious pout. It wasn't cute, she looked too distressed for it, but Hachiman felt like it was a step in the right direction. "Still! You should've told me when you were at the hospital! I'd have—!"

Isshiki's words were cut short as her eyes focused on something above Hachiman, making him confused for a moment.

"Gah!" A pair of hands attempted to touch his face, closing in from each side of his field of vision. Startling him into trying to get off his seat, standing up immediately as a result.

"Oof?!" Someone's jaw was smashed shut when his head shot up, with the person behind him biting themselves and stepping back while Hachiman almost climbed onto the table. Turning around with his heart in his throat and his hand on the top of his head while he growled from the pain.

Hachiman glared at the one responsible for this, feeling his emotions crashing very acutely after having them yanked so violently from the spook.

His heart dropped when he saw the girl cradling her chin return the stare.

Ai was almost on the floor for the second time in the day, but it wasn't funny or heartwarming now. Her tongue hurt, her eyes were watering, and she was pretty sure that anyone else would feel very humiliated now. After she went out of her way to take a moment to think how to approach the situation, try to play it cool, and fail miserably at it.

"Does your tongue taste good?" Kyun asked while pushing Ai forward a bit, making sure that she wouldn't fall on her butt from being headbutted.

"Hey!" Ari admonished her, giving Ai enough time to correct her posture without acknowledging the comment.

"Sorry, I just said it without thinking. Are you alright?" Kyun quickly switched her attention to Ai, and she was forced to silently nod while moving her jaw from side to side.

Her eyes were locked on Hikigaya's, taking in his outraged expression slowly turning into that confusion and finally realization.

"You." He didn't sound happy to see her, but Ai wasn't sure she was happy to see him either. So it evened out.

"Hey~" She replied with a low tone, still moving her mouth. "Did you miss me?"

He didn't answer immediately, but Ai didn't pressure him into doing it. She wanted to see, wanted to know how he'd react. So she waited. She had time, she could take a minute.

…

But, if he could hurry up, that'd be pretty good too.

"…Didn't you?"

"Eh?"

"Did you miss me?"

"Ah…" Hikigaya looked away, hiding his lower face like he'd been the one to hit his jaw.

"She's so in..." Kyun murmured behind Ai.

"Shut it!" Ari did the same, trying to keep her voice in check. "Look around you."

Oh, right. They were in public. This… This wasn't optimal at all.

"Hey, Hikki-kun~" Kyun cut through the stalling conversation, taking Ai by the arm and waving nonchalantly. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced. Saw you fumbling the bag, and we can't have that! Is it cool if we sit here?"

"What." Hikigaya's emotions halted, blanking out due to Kyun's nonsense that even Ai could tell that he didn't understand what was going on.

Still, Ai followed Kyun when the older girl patted her arm, letting herself on the seat to Hikigaya's right. Ari took his left, and Kyun took Ai's right. Leaving the ginger girl between herself and Ari, forcing her to try to clean off her face even faster than while Ai and Hikigaya tried to communicate.

The guy had no other choice but to sit down or continue making a scene.

Serves him right.

"What are you doing here?" Hikigaya kept cradling his head, but now it looked like the pain turned into a normal headache. Rather than the hurt from hitting Ai.

"Eh? Yui-Yui is worried about you! And you know how it is: We in Strawberry Pro are a family. Of course we wanted to help her look out for her meddlesome male-friend!"

"Huh?" The girl reacted to Kyun's words by stopping and eyeing everyone properly. Her eyes were still red, but she looked so in control that Ai would've doubted if she was told that the girl had been crying moments ago. If she wasn't looking, that is. "What did you say?"

"Eh~? He didn't tell you?" Kyun winked at her, making her voice smaller. "Don't tell me you don't recognize us?"

The girl looked at Ari and Kyun for a moment.

Ai would've sworn that a cheeky smirk had appeared in that fast for the briefest of instants.

"Eh~ I don't know. Have we met before?" The girl made a point of looking pensive, scratching her head and all. "Sorry, you don't ring a bell."

"Oh, bratty behavior." Ari gritted her teeth while her right eye twitched. "My favorite."

"Sowwy, I meet a lot of people cuz I'm a tiny bit famous~ It's really hard sometimes, y'know~" The girl placed her hands on her forehead and showed them her tongue, making Kyun chuckle awkwardly when her attempt at seizing the conversation didn't work.

Hikigaya and Ari, however, had the same reaction: They looked like they wanted to groan, but instead of looking annoyed they looked smug themselves. Like they were looking down on the girl in their own way.

Hmmm…

"Right! Wouldn't know." Kyun nodded, still not giving up. "We get briefed on the people we meet by our manager, so can't really relate. Right?"

Ai took a moment to realize she was being talked to, given that her name didn't' come up.

"That's kind of unfair, though. The big man is our direct manager, even small celebrities probably don't get this much attention." That was probably the smartest course of action. But she still innocently let that factoid slip, just like Kyun had done moments before.

She might not know many things about social interactions, but Ai could totally smell a challenge a thousand miles away.

"Ah… Hahaha, sounds rough!" The girl's smile broke a little, signaling the huge damage dealt by Ai's comment. "How come I still dunno who you might be? As I understand, Strawberry Productions has a multitude of famous people under their wing, right? So you'll have to be a little more specific…"

"You okay there?" Ari murmured to Hikigaya while the ginger-ish girl talked. "It looked kind of rough."

"I… Yes. It'd be weird if she wasn't shocked by the injuries." Hikigaya held back his tongue, still looking a little mad but trying to mirror Ari's tone. Like they had agreed to a truce.

"Oh, it's about that. Yeah. Bad choice of place to tell her, though."

"It's okay, I was ready to take whatever happened here."

"Are you a masochist? Like, don't get me wrong. It's your choice, but you're really asking to be burned doing this." Ari deadpanned. It was kind of amazing how much they could mirror each other's tone. So much so that Ai tried to recall her conversations with Ari, or whatever pieces of conversation she could remember, just to put some perspective into this.

"Hey, I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Oh, excuse me. I forgot guys hate when common sense talks to them." Ari rolled her eyes, returning her gaze toward Kyun and the girl.

"Oh, yeah? But at least I've written lyrics before." Kyun was showing her teeth to the girl, now. No longer smiling or smirking. Just… Showing her teeth, unwilling to give in. "I don't just take and post original art as my own."

"Covers are their own form of art. It's not something just anyone can do, given that you have to hit the right beat and tone. While also giving it your own spin." The girl's eyebrows twitched, just as mad as Kyun was. "And my fans love it. I don't have to go around giving lip service for cookie points like someone that's here!"

"That's still intellectual property you're stealing. You only skirt the legal implications because donations do not count as direct earnings from singing and posting." Kyun made a symbol with her hand that Ai did not recognize. "You're just a meddlesome cat taking stuff that isn't yours."

"Food tastes the best when it belongs to someone else." The girl assured Kyun with enough confidence that Ai almost forgot they were in a contest of who can look cooler in front of the other.

"Okay, stop." Hikigaya clapped his hands once. Annoyed but in control of his emotions, or at least enough to actually intervene. "Isshiki, you really don't want to mess with that idiot."

"But Ari's not the one mixed up in this?" Kyun tilted her head with confusion.

"You really just say whatever you want with no shame, huh." Ari gave her an ugly look. Like, she was just missing making the horizontal line near her neck with her thumb to look like she was trying to be intimidating. That sort of ugly look.

"Ummmm, I am an idol? There's very little to be embarrassed of after you've mastered the 'moe-moe kyyuuun~' mystical hand signs to shower your fans with lots of love." Kyun looked away with a scoff, reclining on her seat like she owned the whole mall.

"Makes sense." The girl nodded sagely, only to still give them an annoyed look. "With that said, can you, like, leave? We were having a moment here."

"Oh, yeah. Where did the crocodile tears go, homewrecking cat?" Kyun chuckled smugly. "You look perfectly fine to me."

"Aren't you a little too old to be picking fights with a 21 years old?" Ari looked a little disgusted, but in an exaggerated way.

Eh? This girl was older than Ai? Well, that dress did exude some maturity. But the difference wasn't that big…

"Hey! You don't reveal that sorta thing!" The girl hit the table several times, like a judge in a tribunal. "Privacy! This is a violation of privacy!"

"You do realize your info was submitted to us, right?" Ari asked with a tired tone.

"Oh, so you did come because of that." The girl corrected her posture while talking. "I still don't know how you found me, though."

Ari and Kyun turned to face Ai.

Okay, this was her chance to get everything right…

"Just to be clear, you do know who we are. Right?" …Is what Ai wanted to think, but she was still being left behind in the conversation. So she had to make sure she had the right idea.

"Uh, yeah. I recognized Ari-chan when you sat down." The girl looked a bit taken aback, looking a bit bashful even though she'd been so shameless moments ago. That required skill.

"Ari, huh." Ai looked at the girl in question, still having a similarly troubled look as Hikigaya's own. "Interesting."

"Ah, don't get me wrong! I'm a big fan! Of course I knew who you were right away!" The girl became shameless again, almost unprompted.

Ai didn't pay much attention, so she wouldn't know. But, if the girl thought that such swings in character were cute, then she was completely and utterly wrong. Being cute was a skill too, after all. And Ai was a master of it!

Plus, Hikigaya's reaction told Ai enough. He didn't believe her, or at least the roll of his eyes told her that much. So this girl was just playing along as many people had done before.

Okay, Ai knew this game. This wasn't so bad.

"I see, I'm glad." Ai gave her a demure smile, reaching out to try and grab the girl's hands.

The table was big enough that the girl would have to actively let Ai do this, would force her to comply or let Ai rest on top of the table dumbly, reaching out like a toddler to her mom.

The girl gave Ai her hands.

Good girl.

"It means a lot, it really does. Let's get along, okay?" Ai spoke sweetly, without making her voice high-pitched.

"R-Right." It took the girl a bit by surprise, and Ai could tell the small tremor that indicated that she wanted to pull away but had stopped herself.

Ai released her. There was no further need to assert her dominance.

"And you." She turned to look at Hikigaya, putting up some airs of being faux-annoyed at him. Puffing her cheeks and all. "You could've told me you were meeting someone. I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to look out for you!"

"I told you I was busy." Hikigaya narrowed his eyes, speaking slowly. Like he was choosing his words carefully.

He better not let Ai catch him lying! She was an expert; she'd know for sure.

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me how or why. So I took it upon myself to get you a nice surprise." Ai lifted her chin. "Y'know, since it's been a while."

"That's…" Hikigaya shook his head. "Okay, but how did you find me?"

Ai joined her hands and extended her fingers, moving them like wings soaring through the sky.

"Oh…" The tone sounded like he was disappointed. Or perhaps he'd come to terms with the fact that the birds were around, somewhere.

"I just wanted to test it out. You really have no idea why it's happening?"

"No, no I don't." Hikigaya sighed.

"That's kind of dangerous, isn't it?" Ari chimed in before Ai could come up with something else to say.

"It is, yeah." Hikigaya caressed his hands together.

Ai wanted to do the same, but doing that in public would be problematic. The injuries had persisted, so Ai could glimpse back at the concert when she thought about it. Could remember vividly the way he'd bore his injuries for her sake.

It made her shiver.

It made her feelings bleak, reminded her that she was still taking and giving nothing in return.

"This is the moment where you give me the context, I think." The girl spoke up while looking at Ai with defensive reservation.

Ai gave her an unsmiling look. The girl shrank in her seat a bit.

"You see this?" Hikigaya motioned in Ai's direction, like he was displaying her. So she puffed her chest a bit, rightening her back more. "This is the result of Haruno-san's little stunt. This is the 'why' you were looking for."

The girl looked like she didn't understand for a hot minute, but her expression quickly warped into one of realization. Opening her mouth wide and pointing at Ai with surprise… Only to cradle her head while drowning a pained cry.

"No way! What kind of ridiculous gacha is this?!" …Eh? "That's so not fair. How am I supposed to compete against Ai-chan?! How do you just randomly end up saving a celebrity's life?!"

"By being there when said celebrity is being ridiculously careless." Hikigaya glared at Ai, but she just kept looking at the girl. Because, as long as she didn't acknowledge it, he had no choice but to keep glaring uselessly.

Not that his complaint wasn't valid…

"I'm sorry." Ai looked at her hands.

"I hope you're asking every time someone knocks at your door before opening, now." Hikigaya scoffed.

"No one does that." Ai flexed her fingers, tracing the lines where she'd seen Hikigaya's own carried the vestiges of his injuries. "I don't order anything, I have no one to come. I'm safe."

"That's…" Kyun wanted to speak up, but Ai didn't pay attention to her.

Hikigaya's expression had relaxed, just like whenever Ai allowed him a bit more of her private life. For a moment, a brief one, she wanted to leverage that. Take advantage. But she didn't. It would've made things easier, but she didn't want to feel like someone who took advantage of others like that.

People that did it ruined others' lives. Ai would know.

She moved her leg and pushed her foot on top of his, giving it some pressure through her big toe.

She didn't step on him, but simply made him aware of her. Exchanged that for not being able to take his hand. Given that they were in the open.

The awkwardness was palpable enough that Ai almost chuckled it off, like she would in any other circumstance.

"I said something gloomy, didn't I?" Ai sighed.

"No." Ari stated.

"Yeah." Kyun contradicted her.

"Not ordering food and stuff is a bit much." Hikigaya looked away. "But I understand not having anyone to invite home."

Ari pressed her lips in disappointment.

"Ugh, please don't do that." The girl looked just as annoyed with him. "Can we talk about literally anything else? I hate when he gets like that."

"Does this happen often?" Ai would like to know. Even if she didn't fully understand what 'this' was.

"Give him a reason, and he goes all depressing and stuff." The girl scoffed. "It's like he's looking to ruin the mood."

"Sorry for living a loser's life." Hikigaya frowned… More than usual.

"See?" The girl motioned in his direction, incredulous.

"No, no. I get it." Ari scratched her chin. "Every failboy has to look for his own girlboss. It's just nature doing its thing."

"…Huh?" Hikigaya's expression changed, becoming uglier. Less depressed and more aggressive.

"Oh, it's gone. Just like that." Ari looked away smugly. "Guess the kicked puppy charm isn't as effective here."

Ai pondered whether letting these people keep annoying each other was worthwhile or not, given that they threatened to get other people's attention again if they started yelling.

"Thank you, Ari-sama. Your contributions are appreciated." The girl clapped her hands together, and Ari showed her the back of her hand.

"Don't worry, concerned citizen. I'm here to serve."

"Man, this is so nice. Finally some peace." Kyun nodded to herself. "Know what would make it better? Food. Who's hungry?"

"Are you going to go order something?" The girl turned her attention to Kyun.

"Yeah! You have any recommendations? I haven't been here, like, at all."

"Hmmmm…" The girl gave it some serious thought, only to give Kyun an innocent smile and point with her thumb behind her. "To get yourself another table, for one. Me and Senpai were having a moment here, get out."

Ai looked at the ceiling for a moment before turning to Hikigaya with urgency.

"They'll just keep doing this; ditch them with me."

The only guy in the table exchanged a look with Ai for a moment, not moving even a single millimeter while the strange stare-only communication was established between them for the first time.

They bailed.