I know I shouldn't be here, I should be working on my other fic, Yada yada. Don't tell me twice, my mind's already torturing me over it. I blame the ceiling of my room, and all the things that pass through it.

It's plain white ceiling without any patterns on it.

"Hey, Shizuka-chan~"

"What is it? And call me sensei."

"What is your favorite flower?"

Shizuka carefully observed the girl sitting in front of her. The girl was one of her students, one of many that she failed to save, one of few that managed to get back to her feet even after the devastating calamity that Shizuka did nothing to prevent nor mitigate. She was the symbol of Shizuka's failure, one that makes sure she would remember until the end of her time, constantly reminding her what she could do better, what she could do differently, of people she failed and disappointed, of the people she could have saved but didn't, for reason nothing but her own incompetence.

"Why'd you ask, Haruno?"

"Because I wanted to buy you some, of course."

"First a rendezvous, and then flowers? What, are you going to give me a diamond ring and marriage form next?"

"Well, I mean, if you really want it..." Shizuka sighed.

"Can I leave now?" A third voice interjected, coming from a certain male students in Sobu high's eleventh grade.

"Eh, but our date was just started... I mean, it's not every day you could go to a date with two beautiful women, Hikigaya-kun."

"No, considering the club that I placed him in, his daily activities included spending time with two beautiful girls-hey, Hikigaya-kun, why do I feel betrayed here? How come your luck in romance is so much better than me even though you have zero social skills?!"

"How should I know? You're the one who forced that club to me, and my relationship with them could hardly considered as romance."

"Now now, both of you, it's rude to talk about another girl in front of your date, you know?"

"...I don't even know how to react to that."

"...Especially when she's the one who set up a date with two girls and a boy."

"Your thoughts are completely in sync!"

"And yours is completely nonexistent!" Shizuka pointed her fingers at Haruno "What is the purpose of this date anyway? Why should I tag along with the two of you? What, are you trying to rub salt in my wound, Haruno?!"

"Hmm, but you're so excited when I said I'll set you up with my acquaintance..."

"Technically you're not lying, tch. I should've forced you to at least give me the age."

"And you, Hikigaya-kun, you're so excited when I told you a beautiful woman is interested in you."

"First, you said nothing like that. Second, you threatened to incite a rumor about me in the school. I mightn't be the best student around but I don't want to be expelled, thank you very much."

"Blackmailing a highschool student, huh. It's a new low for you, Haruno."

"All's well that ends well, no? I mean, the two of you are clearly enjoying yourselves."

"Well I certainly don't hate him..."

"Your fist speaks louder than your words, sensei."

"Now, see, Hikigaya-kun, Shizuka-chan here is a tsundere. You must tolerate her violence now and then to get into her good ending."

"I don't really want to get into her route in the first place."

"Have the two of you finished slandering me yet?"

"Honestly, the two of you are so dense. There's a limit to my patience, you know?"

"Then maybe you shouldn't be with us here if you hated us so much."

"Tsk, that won't do, Hikigaya-kun. I still haven't fulfilled my own reason."

"Then hurry up."

"Oh? You sure you want me to rush things?"

"Beat it, Haruno. It's not like this date could be any worse anyway."

"I don't know, this date is going pretty good considering my body hasn't been subjected to violence the whole time."

"Really, how long would it take for you to realize, Shizuka-chan. The choice to hasten or prolong this date is in your hand."

"What do you mean?"

"Well when someone ask someone else out there could be only one conclusion, right?"

"Unless that person is you, that is." Hachiman gulped his cold coffee. "Can't we get to the final scene already?"

"Well this is the final choice, Shizuka-chan. Between me and Hikigaya-kun, which one do you love most?"

"...this is not what you told me would happen."

"Although to be fair I never told you anything."

"Wait, if you're going to confess to her, you could just do it yourself. I have nothing to do with this." Hachiman tried to leave, but Haruno's cold gaze affixed him in his seat.

"You still have a role to play, Hikigaya-kun."

"Namely?"

"Documenting the moment that Shizuka-chan here admits her love to me~"

"...I would sooner be his girlfriend than to spend another minutes with you."

"It's decided then. Congratulations, the two of you are officially couple."

"Wait a second, don't I have a say in it? Besides, she only said that she prefers me over you, not that she actually likes me."

"Really, both of you are so dense."

"As if you have the right to say that." Hachiman mumbled. "Why would you play matchmaker between me and Hiratsuka-sensei anyway?"

"I didn't. I really am in love with her, with you, Shizuka-chan."

"You, but, wha-"

"Don't you think it's strange? My time in high school is one thing, but I always cling on you even until now. I know I shouldn't, especially when you have enough problems as you are, but I found myself unable to look at anyone else even remotely like I look at you. At some point, I realized that even behind my hollow facade, you always have a special place within my heart, you are the only one that I could fall in love with."

"And now..."

"And now that I have been properly rejected, I could properly break and mend my heart. I could finally place a rest to my what ifs. I could finally put a big bold 'The End' to my love story that never was. Good bye, Hiratsuka-sensei."

The girl with short dark hair walked away, leaving Hachiman and Shizuka dumbfounded by the progression of the event.

"Won't you chase her, sensei?"

"I... I don't know. I never knew, I never thought..."

"Is that really important right now? What truly matters is how you feel right now, what do you think is right-"

"And what about you? What gives you right to lecture me? Moreover, how do you feel right now?"

"Why would that matter? It has nothing to do with-"

"It has everything to do with what happened just now. Tell me, Hikigaya. Could you, we, us..."

Hiratsuka Shizuka's PoV

I failed her yet again, breaking another piece of her already shattered heart. For that I would be eternally guilty, from that I would never move on, all those what ifs that she finally able to let go is now weighing my heart.

But both of us act according to what we believe, and she believe it's finally time for her to move on, while I believe it's finally time for me to end my journey.

I mustn't waste what gift she had left for me, so that her pain and sacrifice finally hold any meaning.

I grasped the male highschooler's hands.

"Could the two of us continue the path that Haruno had given up pursuing?"

I did think that this story hasn't enough narrative in it, instead relying heavily in direct speech, but eh…

Critics and Reviews are always welcomed. riyangendut out.