Where had he gone wrong? Years ago, Hikigaya Hachiman would've been proud of his ability to deal with most situations by himself. He could say, without a hint of doubt, that he was ready to take on the problems that life might throw his way with little more than his wits and a little foresight. That, no matter how big the task or annoying the journey, he'd always depend on himself and himself only.

And yet, here he was. Being dragged across the city by an idol that cared a little too much about her fellow stars' private lives for Hachiman's liking. Being trailed by one of the aforementioned fellow stars, who had no intention of letting anyone forget how little she liked this idea.

That the first thought he had while following the girl, was that Ebina and Zaimokuza would probably never believe him, only helped reinforce the notion that something had gone very wrong in his life at some point. That he didn't really understand how things escalated to the point that he could, knowingly and willingly, recall people that weren't involved in the current situation just because they had things in common with it. It was the sort of camaraderie that was utterly alien to Hachiman just a few years back, and one that his high school self would've probably scoffed at.

Not like he was complaining, not at all. Having people that he could truly consider on his side was, if nothing else, a form of peace that he hadn't known for the longest of times. He welcomed it, no matter how annoying the people involved were. Which, coincidentally, brought him back to the thing he'd been internally complaining thus far.

"Shijo, let me go."

"Shijo Arisa." The green-haired idol in disguise complained without missing a beat, still leading the way without looking at Hachiman's expression. "Remember this was your idea."

"There's no way that's the case, no matter what you're talking about." Hachiman replied immediately.

"You're the one that refuses to call me by my name." The girl insisted, making Hachiman's eyebrow twitch.

"And that's a problem because…?"

"C'mon, Hikigaya Hachiman. I'm not going to explain every single little thing that you can't comprehend. Please take the hint. And take it fast, because you have an important appointment soon." Shijo stopped pulling him from the arm and crossed her arms. "Which reminds me, I sure hope you brought deodorant at least. And what's with your outfit?"

Hachiman wore a simple shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

"What's wrong with it?"

"You're so… Plain."

"Thanks, this is how I look." Hachiman replied without much emotion.

"Tsk."

"Don't click your tongue at me, I wasn't expecting an… Appointment. I just came to pick up my sister."

"You have to be ready at all time." Shijo shook her head. "Don't you know every day can be white day if you're smart enough?"

"Please refrain from talking nonsense. Has your brain fried due to all the lights and colors during your concerts?"

"Probably. At least, my vision got worse since I joined." Shijo furrowed her brows, focusing her sight a little before grabbing Hachiman's sleeve again. "But I still have a good eye for things that matter. So you should listen to me."

"And you don't find that alarming?" Hachiman deadpanned. Also not finding it that alarming.

"It's not that bad, I've been at this for years and my eyes are fine." Nino chimed in, checking on Shijo with some curiosity. But nothing beyond a quick glance before moving on to just following around. "You get used to the light show."

"Well, maybe. But, Fuyu-chan, my eyesight was already bad before joining the team." Shijo pointed out and let the idiot idol process her words, not pressuring or trying to hurry her up in any way.

Hachiman just stared, judging. But otherwise silent.

"…Ah."

"Did you get checked?" Instead of commenting on Nino's slow mental prowess, Hachiman decided to address what should be more pressing.

"Yes, it was a matter of changing my contacts. I underestimated how… Specific, I guess, specifications to take care of your eyes are."

"I see…" Hachiman sighed, nodding to himself like he wasn't being pulled by a smaller girl toward a meeting with another girl. "Well, anyway. Can you release me now?"

"No." Shijo replied sharply. "I have the feeling that you'll fumble this if I don't help you, so I will."

"There's really no need for this." Hachiman protested while Nino said something along the lines of 'you got this wrong'.

"Really? Then tell me, what's your plan for meeting 'her'?" Shijo asked like Hachiman was about to enter a wild animal's cage which, all things considered, wasn't too far off from how his heart felt about all of this.

He opened his mouth, about to tell Shijo that he'd just ask his questions and deal with Hoshino's mood along the way. That it was what he did back at Hiratsuka's house, what he planned to keep on doing.

He didn't say any of that, for it wasn't his call to make. If Hoshino told her, then that'd be it. But Hachiman wouldn't breach Hoshino's trust needlessly. He had enough trouble trying to breach it for her own good as-is.

"See? My point exactly." Shijo clicked her tongue, heedless of Hachiman's worries.

"Even if you had a point, I don't see why you should get involved." Hachiman frowned (more), clearing his thoughts to tackle the problem of this particular meddlesome idol. "Do you think… Ai-san will just be okay with two girls snooping around… Our matters?"

"Aww…" Shijo smiled at him.

"He's just showing the minimum empathy possible." Nino growled to one side.

Again, Hachiman was inclined to agree with her. Who'd have known? What a strange day.

"You have to believe… Both of you." Shijo shook her head. "Either way, just be presentable. I don't know if you were going to say no because we're here, or because you're seeing someone afterward. But now, this is happening. Adapt, Hikigaya Hachiman."

The ex-loner looked at the girl clad in black quizzically.

"You're not going to get in the way, are you?"

"Of course not. Why would I?" Shijo furrowed her brows.

"My main concern is, and has always been, her safety." Hachiman stated, staring right into Shijo's eyes to get the point across. Not accusing her of anything, but making sure to let her know that he wasn't going to let even the smallest offense slide. "I won't let you hurt her. I don't care if you're coworkers, friends, or whatever. She trusts me in a way that I cannot hope to keep up with, but I'll certainly do my best."

"You do realize that she can snap you out of existence with a call?" Nino looked at Hachiman like he was insane.

"…What?"

"Let him be, he was trying to look cool." Shijo scoffed. "But… I get it. I'm not trying to mess with Ai, or you for that matter. I'm just seeing an obvious shared desire, but no action to getting there."

"Right." Hachiman wasn't fully convinced. Rich woman wanting to be entertained at the cost of someone wasn't something new to Hachiman. And, although he ended up agreeing to see Hoshino because Nino reminded him of that, he still wanted to make sure that Shijo wasn't like that.

Not just for Hoshino's sake, that'd be a lie. But because, even now, he was still scared of Yukinoshita Haruno.

"You're giving him too much credit." Nino didn't sound too pleased but her protests were weak at best; just annoyed comments at worst. "And a bigger chance than he deserves."

"Eh." Shijo shrugged.

"Not that I disagree…" Hachiman sighed, moving to the side when an old woman seemed to be approaching too close for his comfort. "But I think you are misunderstanding something too."

"No. No, I'm not." Nino didn't even bother looking at him. "It'd be weird if you didn't have feelings for Ai-chan. Everyone does."

"I am not everyone."

"So you're just toying with her heart?" Shijo interrupted.

"No!"

"Then you do have feelings for her."

"Why does it have to be one or the other?" Hachiman resumed walking. Briskly making some distance so that the girls couldn't see his face heat up. "Relationships aren't so simple as to be a single thing."

"While I see where you're coming from…" Shijo power walked and caught up without strain. Even talking even though she was petite enough that it should've been hard for her. Guess he couldn't compete with someone used to singing, dancing, jumping, and stuff without outright running. "Sooner or later, you'll come to realize that relationships are also way simpler than you think!"

"That doesn't mean I want to seduce Ai-san or anything!"

"Of course not, but so what? There's no shame in having the hots for someone!" Shijo insisted while her fellow idol caught up by running up to them, dragging the suitcases that Hachiman had forgotten.

He slowed down and took them from her, pulling them by himself once more.

"Thinking that someone is attractive isn't a good reason to try to approach them." Hachiman added, voice weak and filled with resignation. "It's selfish, vain."

Shijo raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you, like, take a knife for her?"

"So?" Hachiman mirrored her annoyed and confused look. He had no delusions of grandeur, nor was he a dumb teenager who didn't know how the world worked. He had grown up, he'd become wiser. And knew, better than anyone, that doing everything for someone did not mean that they'd get strong feelings for him.

Society was built on kindness, mutual understanding. In the idea that, by helping each other, the group raised their chances at survival and comfort. Helping was to be expected, and a desirable trait among peers. Even with the current world twisting and tainting the idea of selflessness; that was still no reason to think too deeply about it. In fact, a point could be made that it was for that exact reason that people should strive to be better.

Just as he had been taught. Just as he had learnt to live.

Shijo's expression became unreadable. And, although Nino's was no better, at least he noticed how she looked away from him as soon as their gazes met. Was that regret?

"You're pulling my leg." Shijo muttered after another moment in silence.

"You simply don't joke about these things." Hachiman's steps now resumed at a normal pace.

Shijo turned to look at Nino for a moment. The idiot brunette didn't seem to know why, so she moved her chin up. Wordlessly asking what was up.

Shijo turned to face Hachiman again.

"I apologize."

Hachiman furrowed his brows.

"What for?"

"For underestimating you." Shijo took the lead, speaking without turning to Hachiman. Her voice filled with conviction. "I don't know if you're corny, an idiot, selfless, or outright suicidal. But anyone that can say all that nonsense, and look so sure about it, clearly knows more about seducing girls than I do."

"…" Hachiman's face burned for the rest of the trip.

The worst part of it wasn't the embarrassing things that he was told. But, rather, that Shijo didn't even look smug or happy about his reaction at all.

When the girls dropped him off in one of the private booths of the café, Hachiman didn't bother asking where they'd be going. Seeing as they snatched their luggage from him and told him to wait, or Shijo did at least, Hachiman suspected that they'd be hiding somewhere. Perhaps in their own booth or something.

That was fine. He had feared that Shijo would stick around until Hoshino arrived. At which point all hell would break loose. Because of course it would, when were things ever simple in Hachiman's life?

Regardless, Hachiman's mood didn't improve at all. Now that he was alone with his thought again, the worries and questions that he wanted to avoid returned tenfold. Almost complaining about being forgotten, however momentary, and hidden away.

What was he going to say? Regardless of what Shijo and Nino thought, Hachiman wasn't here to flirt or even apologize for not picking Hoshino up from the airport. Again, they didn't have that kind of relationship. Even if Hoshino had… Taken quite a few steps in that direction. Hachiman still… Well, he wasn't sure about his feelings. And he doubted that they mattered in the here and now.

The confusion that Hoshino's advances filled him with did not help the confusion that her circumstances caused. Pain and worry mixed in with selfish desire and attraction was not a combination that would be conductive here.

She needed more out of Hachiman than just another horny guy without feminine affection. She deserved better than that. Wasn't mixing in his own desires also a form of hurting her? In her particular case, for someone that was only ever seen as an object. As a product.

She needed closer ties. And, as far as Hachiman was concerned, she would only get them with time and effort. Things that she wouldn't have if people became complacent and another psychopath got to her.

…

Hachiman had to steel his heart. Not out of a sense of sacrifice, but because doing otherwise meant risking someone's life. Misunderstandings could be cleared up, apologies could be made, and amends could take as long as they needed. But there was no coming back from death. Investigating the potential of an afterlife was… Pretty permanent.

It was a kind of regret that Hachiman couldn't inflict on himself, on the Saitou, on the twins.

He needed to be better than this.

"Hey!" Shijo's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he barely had any time to realize that she had changed clothes to something more idol-like, albeit discrete.

"Jeez…"

"Give me your number." Shijo took out her phone. "Quick!"

"Eh? Ah… Sure." Hachiman did as he was instructed; riding the wave that Shijo came with. For no other reason than the fact that he wasn't fully conscious while at it. "Why do you need my…?"

Shijo bailed once they exchanged numbers, moving so fast that Hachiman realized that she probably would've won in a short race against him. Even if his longer legs would give him an advantage eventually.

Jeez… These girls were something else. Hachiman now started worrying about Hoshino's stamina. She'd probably be─

Hachiman slapped himself before his brain could finish that sentence.

"Come on!" He hissed to himself and tried to focus on the menu. Just to distract himself. Cradling his face while dealing with an even sourer mood than before.

Waiting, as it turned out, remained his worst enemy. Who'd have thought?

His phone vibrated, which was odd. It made him a little nervous, so he checked the message that he got. Just in case it was Komachi, or Hoshino, or his mom.

[Greetings, Hachiman-san. Just in case something happened and you didn't actually keep my number, willingly or unwillingly, it's me. Shijo Arisa. Although it might be sudden, please feel free to message me whenever you need or feel like it. Right now, I am two booths to your right, with Fuyuko-san. Should something happen, and let's hope that's not the case, call me. I'll assume you need a way to get out of here, and will try to create an appropriate distraction. I'm rooting for you.]

…

These girls simply kept getting more ridiculous the more he got to know them, huh.

What was up with this one anyway? Shijo Arisa was all over the place. It felt like Ari the idol, Shijo Arisa the girl, and this online version of her were all three separate beings… Then again, Hoshino texted more carelessly than she spoke. And, when her emotions got the best of her, she seemed to just blurt out things without filter. Talking more… Carnally, if that word could be used without implying sensuality.

It was curious. People often expressed themselves differently depending on the medium, but these girls seemed to markedly be more extreme in this particular aspect.

Hachiman wondered how Nino would text while cradling the cheek that he himself hit.

[You just reminded me that you use too many words to say what you want. Seems like it happens in text too.]

There. Maybe she'd behave more after a quick jab. Sometimes, it felt like the people in his life were begging to be talked down on. Like, the number of close ties that he had that required him to banter was surprising. Not a bad thing, all things considered, but it still felt strange that he was forced to use harsh worse kind of often.

[While I will concede that there is a need for finesse while talking, I find the comment on my writing needlessly cruel. I didn't even ask you to answer to my previous statement, so I don't see why you'd bring that up. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that you're going out of your way to pick a fight with me. In reading, you get to decide the tempo and cadence, you don't have to be overwhelmed by information because you can stop whenever you want or need. It is, precisely because of this, that I feel like texting lets me express myself more fully. Though, admittedly, I know there are people who think that a simple "ok" is enough answer to a well-thought and coherent message. Like Hana-san.]

Hachiman stared at the block of text for a moment, forgetting the pain on his cheek, and quickly went to his contact list and changed Shijo Arisa's contact name.

[Oh, single-word responses really are annoying. What's your opinion on stickers?]

She was, henceforth, "Green Girl". For green is the color of yapping.

"Heh…" Was this normal? Not really, no. Not to Hachiman, at least. But compared to everything else relating to these girls, to these public figures, it felt like something small. Something that would happen at some point, no matter who it was.

Hachiman simply got to know another person with enough personality to bother. That was the feeling that he got. So, spending some time bickering through text, felt natural enough and separated enough from his thoughts that he didn't really fight it.

"Ahem." That is, until the woman of the day appeared and brought Hachiman crashing back to reality. "Hey~"

Hoshino wore a flat cap that hid most of her hair away, except for one strand framing each side of her face. Donning some sort of mini dress over a pair of jeans that made the outfit look casual but still conveyed the "dressed up for the occasion" feeling well enough.

"H-Hey…" Hachiman parroted the word that she chose when Hachiman finally noticed. Seeing her slowly enter the booth and make way to his left, sitting a comfortable distance from him on the circular couch. But still close enough that he could've touched her if he wanted.

…

Err… Still close enough that she could've touched him if she wanted…

Ugh…

"Did you wait for long?" Hoshino's voice wasn't timid, Hachiman wasn't sure she was able to purposely call such a tone, but she still spoke in an oddly small volume. Even more than being in public would probably require, or that the private 'room' would need to avoid having her voice leak out. "You looked busy."

How long had she stood there? Not too much, because Hachiman had checked from time to time. But, if she had waited a full minute looking at him, Hachiman wouldn't be surprised.

"No." Hachiman used the experience he had with Isshiki as easily as he breathed. Answering in a manner similar to moving his arm: One doesn't think about it, but simply do it. "I just got here."

"The waiter said otherwise." Hoshino looked away. Again, she didn't look mad. But her usual cheerfulness was oddly subdued here.

Hachiman wondered for a moment if she had been told that he arrived with company, in spite of Shijo being careful to very pointedly ignore him upon entry and asking for a space for two people. It sounded like the kind of nonsense that they'd be subjected to, simply because Hachiman had that kind of luck.

What to do? Play it suave? No. Hachiman couldn't do that on command!

"I just couldn't help it."

"…Oh. Is that so?" Hoshino's smile became stronger. "Well, you should've told me. I'd have hurried, y'know."

Hachiman shook his head slowly.

"You don't have to go that far for me."

"No, I don't have to. But I want to. Do you feel me?" Hoshino tilted her face, still smiling in the same way. Which made Hachiman wonder if she was doing that on purpose now.

He scoffed, looking away before picking up his menu. He wasn't in the mood to order anything, but he'd try to. Because, otherwise, it would look weird. And he wanted Hoshino to feel relaxed before he could say his part.

He wasn't, he rationalized, hiding anything from her. He just wanted to set the mood right.

"Well?" Hoshino blinked, gaze still firmly on Hachiman. "Do you understand?"

"I suppose." Hachiman didn't want to talk about it. He was getting nervous again, and Hoshino's line of thought and tone somehow reminded him of the last time they were alone.

Curious. How, at the time, his feelings empowered him enough to make the right call. Or so Hachiman remembered. Memories were flimsy and unreliable like that. But now, having walked here with Nino in tow, Hachiman didn't feel as separated from Hoshino as before. Perhaps because he knew her a little better too. But that didn't change the fact that one massive problem became evident as soon as he realized this.

If Hoshino pushed, would Hachiman be strong enough to deny her desires? He had no illusion that it made sense. He didn't hold himself highly enough to fall for the things that Shijo said, or to fool himself into thinking that someone would fall for his non-existent charms so easily. He knew himself.

But… If, and that was a huge if… If Hoshino came on so strongly at him now… Would he be able to resist her? Those feelings were rather strong, and even less rational than usual. It might not make sense for someone of Hoshino's caliber to notice someone of Hachiman's. But emotions seldom made sense, and Hoshino struck him as the kind of person that simply was and didn't look for the reasoning too much. Instead, she looked for the meaning. Not where those feelings came from, but what they said about the here and now.

Not guided by fear, like Hachiman. But by fleeting fascination, by fancy.

"Were you too bored these past days? What have you been doing?" Hoshino's tone remained sweet. She placed her elbows on the table and joined her hands, touching her cheek while she kept her eyes on Hachiman. Like she had found something funny in his face and she was waiting for him to notice.

"You haven't been gone for three full days, Hoshino." Hachiman chuckled. "Nothing has changed."

"But we didn't see each other three days ago." She pointed out like she had Hachiman in a pickle.

"You're a rather busy woman."

"That, I am." Hoshino sighed, stretching her back by reaching out toward the ceiling with her hands. "But…! You are a… Not that busy man, huh."

"Nope." Hachiman nodded with controlled smugness. Not too much, not too little. He did enjoy having free time, after all. "I just hung out with a couple of friends, once. That's it."

"You don't go out that often, right?"

"No." Hachiman confirmed. "Mostly, I go out to study when doing it alone is too much of a chore."

"I remember you saying something like that." Hoshino nodded.

"What about you?" Hachiman couldn't help the smile that crept on his face, however awkward or uncomfortable it might look. "I heard from Komachi that you had fun."

Hoshino's eyes brightened so much that, if this was an anime, the stars symbolizing her charisma would've blown out of proportion, reaching outside the confines of her irises.

"You have no idea!" Hoshino didn't start big. She didn't open up immediately. She began with a few comments on work, on how she didn't expect getting to hang out so easily with the others. How, although she wasn't complaining, it did baffle her how things happened so easily. That the most difficult part was arranging it so her 'packages' were cared for while she was away.

Hachiman had nodded along, not wanting to interrupt. He knew how frightening it was to open up to people for the first time. How, although even his own friends had considered his hangups about outings and things like that childish, it was a core part of people that hadn't experienced such things before. And were now thrusted into them, too old to figure them out alongside their peers.

They rang the button that was placed to call for a waiter, and ordered things to drink. A couple of sweets, that Kyun had shown Hoshino apparently. He didn't mention anything about the girl's name. He didn't want to sour Hoshino's mood.

Then Hoshino lost herself in a myriad of sensations, feelings, and surprises as she tried to describe the night's outing. How she felt while drinking, what she thought it had been like to be drunk, and the things that the other girls were doing. How they differed from their sober selves. This was when Hoshino started asking things, trying to compare her own experience with Hachiman's.

It made for a funny, personal talk if nothing else. He did most of the chuckling, while Hoshino did most of the asking. Free from the constraints placed on her mind by others. More herself, in a way, in how she just allowed her words to be a stream of consciousness instead of trying to turn her conversations into a bottle neck. Keeping the topic away from bad thoughts.

And he noticed because, although she was probably avoiding it at first, she eventually touched on the bad things that had happened during the day. How she hadn't known how to tackle the topics that Shijo and Nino were avoiding, how she was still at a loss as to how to figure out if she was being the only one kept in the dark, and what had happened with Nino's mother.

"I don't know what to think. It's something ugly enough that I just want to look away, but I'm not supposed to look away. Right? That'd be wrong." Although it sounded like a question at first, Hoshino's tone became result at the end of it. Coming to her own conclusions. "You know, maybe understanding this part of her explains some of her actions."

"I suppose it does." Hachiman looked away from her, as the hopeful expression that she held ran contrary to his own feelings toward the idol. He wasn't ready to forgive her, and hearing a sob story about her gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. Small, all things considered, but wrong all the same.

"Hmmm…" Ah, there it was. Trying to retreat now that Hachiman's unwillingness to follow through showed up. Figuring out that she was trespassing in some way, so she'd just pretend that it didn't happen.

It made Hachiman frown. In his heart, he wanted her to go back to talking. Go back to showing her emotions, the way she saw the world, so vividly.

"Is this what you want your trip to be about?" Hachiman sounded more concerned than he himself expected. It was… Odd. Because there were enough mixed feelings about this to create a maze puzzle out of them. But he still chose to ask her this naturally, without overthinking it.

"Well, it's something big. Y'know? Again, I can't just ignore it." Hoshino looked away, expression surprisingly even. "It's not in me, I know this much."

"Maybe." Hachiman conceded. "But you also shouldn't take more hardship than you can endure. It's not necessary, and anyone that is worth the effort will understand this."

"Wouldn't that just perpetuate the idea that I don't care? Shouldn't I prove that that's wrong?"

"I think you should think about yourself first and foremost." Not only because it was about Nino, but because he knew that Hoshino had it rough enough without someone else's problem. "As for people's vision of you… Well, that's inevitable. We can try, all of our lives, but… Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we just won't find an agreement. We can talk, and talk, and talk; but people sometimes just won't get us. Sometimes we just talk at people instead of with them. No matter how often, how seemingly big the exchange, sometimes it just… Means nothing."

"Like this?" Hoshino's question took him by surprise, and he had to hold back a biting response. Only to realize that he had been offended by the idea of Hoshino finding his company shallow.

"I don't know." He replied, tone still somewhat angry. "Are you finding something meaningful in all of this?"

"Ah… That's not what I meant." Hoshino smiled sheepishly. "I have a hard time discerning people's hearts. I wanted to know if you found my company pointless."

That…

"There's no way that's the case."

"I see." Hoshino moved slightly closer to him, and their elbows bumped when she did.

He noticed her doing that through the conversation, but she moved just slightly enough that he hadn't bothered mentioning. But now, after everything that they had discussed, Hoshino was sitting right beside him. So close that she could lean to the side and rest her head on his shoulder.

And she did.

"It's pretty scary." Hachiman murmured, reading the mood well enough to make his words softer. "Trying to figure out your role in people's lives, I mean. Realizing that you're not…"

"…That important?" Hoshino guessed.

It was telling that Hachiman chose to feign ignorance.

"I was going to say 'capable'." He lied.

"I can see that." Hoshino nodded without separating from him. "So this is a normal struggle?"

Hachiman wasn't sure he'd use the word 'normal' for himself, not in the blanket way that Hoshino did.

"It's pretty common." Hachiman replied evenly, feeling Hoshino's fingers brush against his own.

Nnnggghhh…!

"How common?" Hoshino insisted softly, making Hachiman bring out a few unpleasant memories.

He'd share them, just with her. It sounded like a good way to start a conversation about things that they didn't want to talk about.

"Common enough. I've seen people struggle with relationships that lasted one or two years, I've met people again who I thought I hated and realized that I was giving them too much importance, I've tried to like people that just weren't worth it and…" He didn't want to continue. For a moment, the thought of sharing his own past came to mind. But, all things considered, nothing that he could tell her would compare to her own experiences. His own previous relationship was probably not nearly as disastrous as hero own. "And I ended up liking people that I never thought I would."

Instead of letting her keep playing that weird finger game, he made a fist and playfully squished her hand against the couch.

"Oh?" Hoshino left his shoulder, surprised. "Really now?"

"Yes." Hachiman thought back to the way he met Miura and Ebina, he thought about Zaimokuza and Yui. About Hiratsuka and, more recently, about Shijo and Hoshino herself. He was surrounded by people that were a real pain in the ass, but the burden of dealing with them had eventually all but disappeared… Or was on the way of disappearing. "That's most of my ties, by the way."

"Ah…" Hoshino deflated a bit, expression turning into an annoyed one.

It was actually really cute, organic. So to speak.

"Are you surprised? I'm not really what you'd describe as a 'people person'."

"Even if people crowd to you all the─? Oh, never mind." Hoshino looked in front of her, seemingly realizing what she was saying. "Huh."

"Et tu, Hoshino?" Hachiman blew some air through his nose, amused.

"I don't know what that means." She stated with certainty, contrary to the first times that she had. More in control, so to speak. Of letting him know what she didn't know. "I guess we have more in common than expected!"

If she stretched the meaning of "in common", yes. Probably.

"Sure."

"Is that a problem?"

"Sometimes, but you know how people are." Hachiman shrugged while Hoshino tried to wiggle her hand out from his fist. He kept it pinned down to the couch, playfully. She wasn't actually trying that hard, and neither was Hachiman. They were just having 'fun'. Innocent, perhaps a little close, but nothing too damning.

"I meant to say if it's a problem that we have things in common." Hoshino said more seriously than he'd have expected.

"Why would it be?" He let go, because he wasn't able to multitask with his feelings. He couldn't mess around while saying something serious, not when it was actually important.

"I don't know. It just occurred to me that it might be."

Hachiman pondered about her words for a moment.

"From what I've seen, people just can't help being weird around you." Hachiman furrowed his brows. "It's not that difficult to see why. I was told once that, although we grow up, we never really leave high school. And everyone behaves like a hormonal teenager all the time. It's just that people have normalized these sorts of behaviors with social norms and power dynamics."

Hoshino gave him a curious glance, which prompted him to explain.

"People see someone harmless and can't help showing their true colors. Bullies will always exist, no matter when or where. And, conversely, there will always be people with problems. No matter how old, and no matter how well they should be able to deal with their problems in theory." Hachiman sighed. "You probably know this better than I do, but we don't always have the experience or knowledge to deal with problems that other people would scoff at. Like knowing how to ask people to explain themselves, invite them over…"

"How much to reveal about yourself." Hoshino suggested.

Hachiman nodded.

"You're, huh, taking this rather well."

"Am I?" Hoshino blinked; surprise written all over her face. "I don't think you're saying something to be spooked by."

"It might be an unfair comparison, but last time…"

"Ah, well…" Hoshino smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. I was…"

"I know, I understand." Hachiman raised his hand to stop her. "Our emotions can get the better of us, and you're no exception."

"And I have more context now." Hoshino looked away, grabbing his hand to pull it down, hide it with her own under the table. "Sparce, as it might be."

"You learn so fast, though…" Hachiman scoffed awkwardly. "Why, maybe you're actually a genius?"

"I am! Thanks for noticing, I've been working hard to get here." Hoshino looked positively elated by his words. Not as much as when she was talking about her experience on the trip, but still more than pleased of having confirmation that her efforts were paying off.

It felt like her heart was easier to read, too. Perhaps due to the close proximity and the intertwined fingers that were now the only thing separating them from one another.

Looking like this, unburdened by having to show restrain or avoid looking stupid or pathetic, she was so much more beautiful. He had known, of course, that her real self wasn't all doom and gloom. But he was very happy to confirm that. The shine in her eyes was real, just as the darkness had been.

Hoshino Ai was, at the end of the day, just like any other girl out there. Any other person. Just trying to get by in life. And that was fine, and that was perfect. It was reality, after all. Not ugly, simply… Human.

He didn't know how long they locked eyes for, wordlessly staring at each other without even moving. He only knew that, this time, he was the first to lean closer to cover her lips with his own.