Yuigahama walked towards the department store, swinging her purse back and forth, humming her signature tune.

Today she was going to buy some new glasses, and if she saw something cute at the store, that too. It was right after school on what shouldhave been the calm sort of Thursday afternoons that leaves students snoring on their desks.

But instead of peaceful complaints and grumbles, there was a sense of tension in the air today. Ebina went on a full-fledged Yaoi rampagemode where she insisted all the boys hold hands and was specifically interested in Hachiman and Hayama getting closer. While that was in noway out of character for her, it felt forced and overdone, even for Ebina.

Yumiko felt like a dog with her haunches raised, snapping at all who dare approach her and shadowing the members of her group, particularly Yuigahama.

Hachiman and Hayama were the only ones that stayed exactly the same today, and it a relief have some sense of normalcy.

Hayama was still Hayama, unfettered, undisturbed by the storm starting around him. He wore the same smile, used the same phrases, anddid the same things that he always had done and probably always will do. He held himself to the standard of perfection in all things, his sociallife included, so something so seemingly little had no chance of affecting him.

Hachiman was the flip side of the coin. He had so little impact on the class, (Sorry Hikki..) that any possible difference would have goneunnoticed. Instead of holding himself to the highest standard, he had absolutely no standard and no expectations placed on him.

Huh, now that Yuigahama considered it, that freedom must be kinda nice.

She had always thought that the way Hikki lived his school life was sorta sad, and he must be pretty lonely with nobody to talk to. And he probably was, but sometimes Yuigahama was envious of him not having to conform to anything and being able to do whatever he even though Hikki was still the same as ever in class today, she had the distinct sense he was trying to avoid her. Or rather, he was trying to avoid being associated with her.

Which kinda hurt.

But Yuigahama wasn't stupid either. Well, most of the time anyway. She had known Hikki long enough to get a sense for who he was and what his patterns were. His solutions had a particular messy quality inherent to them, as if as a baker Hachiman needed to break a great amount of eggs in order to make his solution omelets.

She had the faint sense that Hikki had a hand in whatever was happening now, and he had a plan of some sort prepared.

Eghh, just thinking about all the potential plotting made her head hurt.

She just hoped he wouldn't go to the desperate length of self-sacrifice this time, like he had done all those times before. There wasn't any need for that sort of thing anyway, right?

Yuigahama smiled to herself, mood slightly improved and sauntered towards the glass doors of the optometrists.

*Brding*

Yuigahama took her phone out with a fluid grace that only comes through constant repetition, and checked her text messages

..:*Komachi: Heyy Yuighama-san!. I got a question for yoouu~.

*Yui*:Ehh..? what is it?

..:*Komachi: it's about my Onni-chan. he's not telling me something

*Yui*: Hikki?

.?.:*?Komachi: Yep yep?. Did you guys go out last Monday?

Yuigahama's cheeks flushed red, and she paused in momentary confusion. Monday was when... Oh, I guess that's what she thinks.

Should she even tell Komachi about it?

*Yui*: It wasn't like that (/w\).. Hikki's just nice, that's all

Somewhere, far far away(Hikigaya residency)-

Komachi was collapsed in her futon,limbs splayed and blanket-half covered because for her it had been a lazy Thursday afternoon.

She felt like it would have been bad taste to ask Yuigahama about their date immediately after, so she had held off until today to get all the juicy details.

Normally she would've grilled Onni-chan immediately after but he was being curiously quiet about the entire thing.

.?.:*?Komachi:"hmmm...I didn't even ask if you were going out,you guys could've gone somewhere as friends. Suspicious!"

*Yui*: we just spent a small part of the afternoon together..

.?.:*?Komachi:So how was it? Did anything special happen? Any developments I should know about, maybe~~."

Yuigahama flushed, and considered exactly how much she wanted to confide in Komachi-chan.

*Yui*:"No. Though.. we sorta hugged..."

.?.:*?Komachi:"Ehhh! You sure this my brother? Did you get the wrong Hachiman?"

*Yui*: "Your brother's weird sometimes, but he...

(*Yui* is typing)

(...)

(*Yui*is typing)

helped me with something really important that day. He's really dependable.. and brave. Can you thank him for me?"

Yuigahama, being Yuigahama, constantly forgot to thank Hikki for saving her that day, even though Hikki was the only thing on her mind as of late.

.?.:*?Komachi:"Does that "something" have anything to do with how he came home looking like he was run over by a train?"

*Yui*:"It was just a .. small accident. He fell to save me from tripping and bruised himself."

In Yuigahama's defense, being a good liar isn't really a skill that you should be proud of having. She didn't really have practice with that sort of thing.

.?.:*?Komachi:"that doesn't really explain the bruises he had on his face. Did he faceplant somehow? And why did he look so tired?

(*Yui*is typing)

Komachi heard her brother clanking downstairs, presumably to search the fridge for his ambrosia, the legendary "MAX COFFEE."

Given the amount of the sugary concoction he drank, she wouldn't be surprised if his blood was colored brown.

[Komachi is calling]

*brding*

"Komachi? I told you he was just looking out for.."

"Forget about that for now. You wanted to thank my brother? Here you go~~"

"KOMACHI? komachi? Mou.."

Komachi bounded towards her brother, pried his hands apart before he could react, and thrust the phone into his palms. Hachiman, clearly half awake, stared at her groggily.

She leaned towards him,whispered

"It's from a special someooneee.."

and winked. Hachiman, still in his sleep-haze, brought the phone up to his ear and made a shooing motion towards Komachi with the other hand.

"Yeah,yeah. You're the cutest in the world."

Yuigahama, in the middle of looking at a pair of half-circled purple reading glasses, squealed and drew some curious looks from the other customers. Her hands flew up to her face and she dropped slowly to her knees,unable to remain standing.

"Hikki? Wha...? uhmm.."

If there was a sound that sounded like blushing, it was this sound. You could almost feel the flush of her face in the excited squeaks she made.

Hachiman was now fully awake, startled into clarity by his slip-up.

"Wai-wait it's not.."

"Tthanks Hikki. You know, you're kind of cute someti-"

"I said, it's not like that. I kinda.. meant to say it to my sister."

"Huh? wait. Really?"

Yugiahama paused for a moment, realizing her own slip-up.

"BAKA HIKKI! SISCON! PERVERT!"

"It-it was just a joke, honest. It's not what it sounds like."

"AHO!(I believe this is a standard insult in Japanese.) ECHII!

"Hey Yui,isn't that a little too far? Can't a brother thnk his sister is cute?"

"SUPER SISCON! LOLICON! Geez, Hikki. You can't lead people on like that..."

Hachiman made a "lead what on? what is she talking about?" face, and monotoned

"I didn't eveen know that this was you on the phone. Yui, why did Komachi want me to talk to you?"

She seemed angry, and for the life of him, Hachiman couldn't figure out why.

"Hmph. It's complicated now...I was going to say something but I got made me forget, Hikki!"

Hachiman's expression transformed, now a "made you forget? how on earth can you blame this on me" face, which was oddly similar to his "lead what on? what is she talking about" face.

Komachi squealed a little bit at their nicknames for each other. It was cute, in a way, how they flirted around each other, both uncertain at what song they were dancing to, or if they were dancing at all.

From afar, her brother doesn't seem like much of a or otherwise. He scowls at happy couples. He rants about modern promiscuity. His back is slumped and he moves with all the grace of a stumbling awkward highschool student.

But Komachi knew quite a bit about her brother. She sat with him as he grew, from hopeful, to forlorn, to bitter. She read the descriptions of the light romantic novels he used to be fond of and witnessed his clumsy poetry in pursuit of some poor maiden.

He would never admit it in a million years,but she knew her brother was a hopeless romantic at heart. The hard shell of caustic indifference that Hikagaya used in place of armor betrayed a soft interior core.

And buried deep beneath the protection he built for himself were the dance classes he took, his hopeless dreaming for a happy ending.

She remembered the excitement as he demonstrated the waltz with an imaginary partner in the living room.

Black eyes were lit up daydreaming about his unfortunate target as his mind played through imaginary scenarios, where he could be the prince charming that leaps in for a dance and sweeps the princess off her feet. He wanted to be the hero he saw in western films, proper, kind, charismatic and commanding.

It honestly made her a bit sad, to see that eagerness be stomped out.

But it was alright now! He had two-maybe even three, the way he was talking about the new student council president- great potential candidates.

It looked like the pink one, Yuigahama, was making the first move. And Komachi was happy for her. Lord knows that her Onni-chan would have never done anything, and the sophisticated one seemed to be of a similar mindset.

And although Hachiman hates girls like Yui as a matter of principle, it's only just that. A matter of principle. Yuigahama was obviously into her daft brother, and even though he refuses to show any amount of affection to anyone besides Komachi, she could tell he had a soft spot for both of his club-mates.

Maybe spring maiden Hachiman would leap out of his cocoon and embrace his true feelings.

Yeah, and maybe his English teacher gets married.

Hachiman strolled back to Komachi with her phone in hand. He was clearly wrapping up some sort of secret conversation, speaking in a hushed, urgent tone.

"So try not to.. mention.."

"It's alright.. it'll be.."

"Ok, Ok. I got school work to do.

From where she stood, Komachi could faintly hear Yui's voice from the buzz in the speaker.

"Mou Hikki. I don't think you even do homework. You're probably going to play videogames, or whatever boys do."

"Whatever boys do? Don't lump me in with the riajjus. I don't participate in the hobbies of those... things."

"Seriously gross ."

"Goodbye."

Hachiman let out a long sigh and handed the phone off to Komachi. As Komachi reached to take it, there was what sounded like a sudden intake of breath from the other end.

*Mwha*

The strange sound, suspiciously similar to the sound of a pair of lips coming into contact with the receiver, hung in the air. Hachiman let go of her phone like it was on fire and jerked back, glancing nervously towards Komachi.

Komachi raised her head and there, plastered on her face, was the biggest and smuggest grin he had ever seen.

"She's never going to let me live this down."

School was terrible. Has always been terrible. Probably will always be terrible.

But today it was worse than usual. As I feared, Fujio-san and Gako-san were begining to stir up some trouble. You'd think that after losing so convincingly, they would play it safe,be at least a little bit abashed and regretful, but nope.

They had to get revenge or they couldn't call themselves men anymore.

It's weird, how the people that have the least tend to value pride the most. Maybe it's how things worked, the small victories become more important when you have no large ones to act as backdrop.

They jeered, they glared, when they were unable to do either they growled and flipped me off.

To a weathered loner veteran like me, their attacks were dust on the wind. I was most worried about after they got bored of me and started to look for another victim.

The two man wrecking squad first started trying to spread rumors about me. They went up to some of the slightly more popular kids and said, "Hey did you hear about how Hikagaya.." And every single time,without fail, they got the answer "Who's that?"

It would have been funny if it wasn't also a little depressing. Fujio-san was undaunted and pressed on, as his brother was semi-popular and had connections.

Gako-san came up with stories designed to stain my reputation and ostracize me, and Fujio-san delivered them to his brother and the few people in the class who were willing to listen. They planned to ruin my social life.

Let me say that again. Ruin. My. Social. Life.

Now that was funny. It was so funny, in fact, I almost burst out laughing when I realized what they were doing. Sensei thought I was hyperventilating and wanted to send me to the nurse, but I recovered and managed to keep my face straight for the rest of the class.

Unsurprisingly nothing they did had any affect on me. It's hard to kill that which has no life. (1)

But the hamsters in their heads were starting to run faster. The wheels were starting to turn. After a solid week of futile attempts, they were beginning to think "Hmm..., Maybe we should switch targets?"

And this was bad news. Really bad news. Because the only other target of their revenge was Yuigahama, and she wasn't really equipped to defend herself.

Normally, for the other popular students like Ebina or Yumiko, this wouldn't be much of a problem. Ferocity and position were written into Yumiko, part of her deserved royal inheritance as Queen.

Ebina was so unabshedly Ebina that nothing could touch her, and any attempts at insults would be brushed off with a "that's just how she is" or "everybody has their quirks."

Yuigahama was different. All people, to some extent, play a character that's built on other's expectations of them. And instead of the character flowing to fit you, you change and bend to fit their perceptions.

It's easy to find flaws in her character, like I have. The "nice","ditsy","kind" girl. There's no such thing. Some people don't know this and should, some people do and don't care,

and most people do and are still slightly offended when they realize that everyone is given the same treatment.

Mild offense ferments quickly into anger, trust me. I would know.

That, combined with the fact that people simply aren't scared of Yuigahama like they are of Yumiko, makes her a vulnerable target.

Vulnerable and ignorant. A dangerous combination.

I'm here though, so things should be all right. Nobody else needs to hurt. It should be a simple job, to remove the will or the ability to fight from these guys.

Classes ended, the bell rang, and I headed off towards the clubroom.

Yuigahama took my spot, AGAIN. She held her bag in front of her patiently, a new set of orange half-circle glasses over her eyes. They suited her.

"Yahallo, Hikki!"

Women, it's been the fifth time this week! And it's friday! You've stolen my spot from me. I know I didn't write my name on it, but you could at least ask me for ownership. I don't see a lease in your hand. I never signed away my rights.

What is this flagrant breach of the contract?

Didn't you have things to do? Wait, actually..

"Yo, Yui. You waited for me again this time..."

"Mhm! You never really wait for me anyway."

She nodded her head in aparrent self-satisfaction.

"But I used to use that exact spot to wait until you were ready."

IT"S MY SPOT LADY. Give it back, it's all I have in the world besides my precious little sister.

"Yeah, and now it's me waiting for you! Role swap!"

Yuigahama raised her index fingers and did a twisting motion.

"Still though, what about the people you talked to before? Don't you need to go socialize?"

Huh, me lecturing people about socializing. It's like a tow truck that' broken down or can of diet MAX COFFEE. Ironic and pointless.

"We don't really talk about important stuff anyway.. I'd rather get to club early with you."

Yuigahama gave a cheeky smile and motioned for me to follow her. She lead the way towards the club, shuffling her feet quick so I was stuck lagging behind her.

It's alright. I'm used to people not wanting to stand with me. You'll probably catch a new strain of hiki-cooties.

She turned around to face me once we were right outside of the classroom. The sun that shined through the fall leaves blazed a crisp red light onto her.

"I mean, Yukino was really mad about us being later earlier in the week right? We both have to make it on time, for the club."

Good to see I wasn't the only one embarrassed at that abrupt turn of phrase.

Seriously, If I was any other guy I would have misunderstood. Heck, I would have misunderstood the second you met me and asked for baking advice.

Thank god I see the world clearly now.

The old me would've immediately assumed Yuigahama, bouncy energetic and friendly, liked a guy like me.

The old me would've assumed that Yukinoshita, all cold edges and fumbling, liked a guy like me.

It was all complete rubbish. Thinking like that is complete rubbish. But somehow, I've grown close to these people.

Remember back when all of this just started?

I had heard of Yukino Yukinoshita before, of course. Who hadn't?

The untouchable ice queen that rises above it all, a subject of legend. Before I met her, I thought that her tale was overblown. People like that don't really exist, they only belong to stories as examples.

Imagine my surprise when she appears right in front of me and conscripts me into this bogus new club.

And eventually we all grew closer, all three of us. I gained a better understanding of our fearless leader. She was deeply flawed, immensley capable, no longer the beauty of a clear sheet of ice, but rather the breathtaking fragility of cracked frost right before it snaps.

"The club, r-right."

Why was I hesitating? And why did my heart twinge when thinking about our other club member?

A/N: Who's gonna win the mc bowl? Yui or Yukino?

{who do you want to win the mc bowl?)

dun DUN DUNNNNN

finally finished this chapter. Sorry, sorry, past me thought this would be a piece of cake.

Yeah I've been busy writing essays and stuff so this chapter might have a been a little weird, style-wise.

Do you think there's too much introspective stuff? I really appreciate critisiscm, cause I need to get better to improve my application.

This chapter is pretty long(to me) for the ones who wanted longer chapters.

smash that review button.

EDIT: In an effort to fit this fic more to the region of japan, where it belongs, I have edited previous chapter slightly to cut down on western references.

sugoi