It was after school and Hikigaya Hachiman entered the service club room as he always does. Waiting for him, however, was just 1 other club member, Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Oh, there you are. Yui was wondering where you were and thought that you might've gotten here without her. I must say I was surprised, after all it's not common to hear that somebody was actively wondering about your whereabouts, especially coming from a female. Must be a good day for you, huh?" Yukino remarked with a slight smirk on her face.

"That's funny, because as I was getting here, I got a text from Yui saying that you apparently kept asking her if I was coming or not. Speaking of Yui, where is she?" Hikigaya retorted back immediately.

"Idiot, don't get the wrong idea. I didn't ask because I was wondering if you were here or not, I asked so if she said you weren't coming, then I wouldn't have to deal with you. And she left early to go shopping with Yumiko." Yukino, looking flustered, began recomposing herself.

"Oh. I see."

" Anyways, mind explaining why you're late?"

"From what it looks like to me, nobody came in and asked for our help. The way I see it I didn't do anything wrong. And besides, if you think about it, nothing regarding justice appears ahead of time. Detectives always show up after a case has happened, police show up at the aftermath of a crime. So technically speaking, lateness is justice." Hikigaya justified, in partial sarcasm.

"And you're implying that you're one of those so called 'heroes of justice'? I always imagined you as the villain figure, after all you have the dead eyes of one." Yukino reminded.

"Right right, I forgot that I don't meet your 'perfect standards'."

The two of them began their normal routine of sitting at the complete opposite ends of the table and reading their respective books with the window open. A gentle, crisp breeze entered the room and Hikigaya couldn't help but notice how perfectly Yukino's silky hair flowed with the wind. She almost looked angelic. After all, she is known for her resounding beauty. But he knew that staring would give her the wrong idea and he would be labeled as a creep so he quickly resumed back to reading his book. Some time had passed and Yukinoshita broke the silence.

"Hey...do you mind if I ask you a question?" Yukino asked, modestly.

"Sure go ahead." replied Hikigaya, not really caring too much.

"Do you believe in the idea of finding your true ideal love partner", Yukino asked with a light shade of pink on her face.

D-did I just hear her correctly, Hikigaya thought, in disbelief. Did Yukino Yukinoshita just ask about love?

"Huh? You're asking me, the guy who's gotten rejected his life, if he believes in love? What brought this on anyways?" said Hikigaya, as nonchalantly as possible.

"It's just a question that I've been having recently. I guess I never really believed in finding a person that could understand and cherish a person so well but I've seen so many people who've supposedly found someone perfect for them. I've never really had any friends growing up, especially any male friends that I could actually call friends. Seeing as how our pasts reflect some similarity, do you believe in finding anyone that can understand and accept you for who you are?"

"What does it matter? We're all born into this world for a pointless task. Nothing we do has any true meaning to it so in the end, whether we find love or not, it won't matter. And besides, there's no such thing as a perfect balance between people. In every group, people always try to split the work required evenly but there will always be one person who gets stuck with doing the unwanted work. While doing so, they proceed to trick that one person into believing that what he's doing is enjoyable. People are all manipulative who, in the long run, only think for themselves and use whomever necessary to attain their own selfish goals."

"But even so, don't you believe in the fact that one person out there will love you for who you are? Don't you want to hope that someone will love you? That, one day, you will be able to look at the cherry blossoms and realize that...that the one you love may love you back?"

This is getting weird, Hikigaya thought. Yukino is the last person who I thought that I would be having this conversation with. She's always put logic ahead of her emotions, never did I think that I'd be seeing this side of her. And what's with that hesitant look on her face? It's almost as if she can't look at me without feeling pressured, and the way she said that last part, is she trying to imply something? Could it be possible that...that she's talking about me? No, no way. That's impossible. I must be missing something important, a deeper meaning that's hidden from me.

Right?