Immediately after I entered my apartment, I collapsed on my bed due to exhaustion. Having spent nearly the entirety of the past week attending functions as a representative of the Yukinoshita family, I believed that I earned a well deserved break. Maybe it was due to my exhaustion and drowsiness, but unbeknownst to me, there was another person who entered my room shortly after.
I was enjoying my dreams in which I was watching the new Pan-san movie with Yuigahama-san, but I was disturbed by a poking motion near my cheek. At first I was just irritated that someone would ruin such a splendid dream, but then I quickly realized that something was amiss, there was someone else in my room! I quickly jumped out of my bed and entered a martial arts stance where I was ready for anything, but I quickly retracted once I saw who it was.
"...Jeez, is that any way to greet your loving sister Yukino-chan? Oh wait, maybe you just wanted to have a quick play fight with your sister, if so I am completely up for it! This will definitely score me a whole lot of Haruno points!"
I sighed, this was not the way I planned to start my break. Dealing with my sister could be such a pain. In fact, I didn't even know how she had so much energy, she attended more functions than me, but she was just as lively as ever. "Nee-san! What on earth are you doing in my room?" After fully waking up, I scanned my surroundings and saw a sleeping bag and suitcase. "Wait a minute, did you spend the entire night here without even telling me?!"
"Yes I did Yukino-chan, you weren't a very good host by the way. I had to bring my own sleeping supplies and you were already asleep by the time I got here." She started a fake pout.
"Nee-san, be serious. Why exactly are you here and how did you even get inside?"
"Oh come on Yukino-chan, even you must have realized by now that mother would have taken some precautions when you decided to live here by yourself. She gave me a key to your apartment so that I can check up on you anytime I want! I followed you after our last function yesterday so that we could hang out and have some sisterly bonding time. Unfortunately for me, you were already fast asleep by the time I got here and I didn't have the heart to wake you up. You look so cute when you sleep! But you still lose a lot of Yukino points for sleeping before I could even arrive!"
Of course, I should have expected that there would be some strings attached with the apartment I had received. But I still didn't understand why nee-san was here, she wasn't the type of person to visit me out of the blue. She definitely has an underlying reason and I was determined to find out what it was. "What are these points you keep blabbering about?"
"And here I thought that you were close to Hikigaya-kun and his little sister. They have a really cool points system they set up and I thought we could implement a similar one ourselves!"
Hang on, my sister was talking privately to Hikigaya-kun and Komachi-san? This was not good, whatever she was planning, I could not see it end well. My fears must have been clearly visible on my face since my sister continued by saying "Oh stop that Yukino-chan, I am not nearly as bad as you make me out to be. I just have chats from time to time with Hikigaya-kun's little sister. I am very interested in Hikigaya-kun and his sister is very interested in you." I did not know whether to take that as a complement or be a little creeped out. "Exchanging information benefits us both. On that note, I have another reason for coming. I just wanted to let you know that Hikigaya-kun's birthday is coming up, it's on August 8th if you hadn't realized. You should definitely get him a gift Yukino-chan... I don't want you to be the one that isn't chosen again."
Leave it to nee-san to find out something that I possibly couldn't. Having not seen Hikigaya-kun that often due to it being the Summer and also due to his lack of social media accounts, it was nearly impossible for me to have known his birthday. But trivial matters like these wouldn't stop nee-san from finding out whatever she wanted to. "I don't need you to worry about my life nee-san...but thank you for letting me know."
"Well as long as you understand it's fine. Anyways, I must get going soon. Unlike you, I don't get many breaks from my responsibilities as a Yukinoshita." She packed her belongings, gave me a wave and departed, but not before saying, "Make sure my future brother in law likes his gift."
She could be so irritating at times, but I did appreciate the fact that she told me about Hikigaya-kun's birthday. He had gotten both me and Yuigahama-san gifts at some point...even if he was forced to by someone else. So I definitely would return the favour to my fellow...acquaintance? club mate? Whatever the case, I was going to get Hikigaya-kun a present that he would like.
Getting a gift for someone may not seem like a difficult task, especially when you are a member of a prestigious family with virtually unlimited finances, however I quickly realized that I didn't know that much about Hikigaya-kun. I considered cooking him something, but that just didn't sit right with me. He would definitely be happy with free food, but I wanted to give him a permanent gift that wouldn't be used up in a single day or so. After trying to come up with several ideas, but to no avail, I decided to ask Yuigahama-san about it the next day when we met for lunch.
"Yahallo Yukinon! I kind of forgot to bring money today, I was wondering if you could pay the bill? Please!"
I sighed and chastised her even though I had already planned to pay for both of us. "Did anything happen yesterday, I know you are often forgetful of various things, but even you usually have the social etiquette to bring your own money."
"Yukinon that's so mean! I am not that forgetful you know!"
I let out a little giggle, but continued by saying, "I am still curious as to why you forgot."
"Well that's actually something I wanted to talk to you about. I got a call from Komachi yesterday and she told me Hikki's birthday is coming up. Let me check again when it is...oh my, it's tomorrow! Fortunately for me, I got him a present before meeting up with you, but that also led me to forgot to bring extra money for our lunch... hehe."
Typical Yuigahama-san, she always puts the utmost effort into the task at hand and seems to space out about everything else. But it was good that she had already bought a gift, hopefully it would give me some type of idea. "What exactly did you get him Yuigahama-san?"
"It was really difficult for me to think about what to get him, but I decided to go with a game for his PSP. It was some anime game, dragon something...I kind of forget, but I am sure he will like it! When Komachi invited me to their house once, all he did was play on that damn PSP the entire day."
I had to give Yuigahama-san some credit, she was actually a lot more perceptive than people realized. "Yuigahama-san, I am not sure it was a wise idea to give Hikigaya-kun more access to these types of games. Who knows how they could influence him...but I must admit it was very thoughtful of you."
"Hehe, thanks Yukinon! I just hope Hikki likes it. Also, Komachi said something about you already knowing his birthday through other means and that she didn't want you to be the only one with an unfair advantage. Do you have any idea what she is talking about?"
It seems like Komachi-san was nearly as bad as my sister with the way she meddled in Hikigaya-kun's affairs. "Hmm let's just say that my sister has ways to get any information she wants. Anyhow, I must be heading off soon. I still haven't bought a gift for Hikigaya-kun myself."
"Alright, see ya later Yukinon! Thanks for paying again!"
I continued to think about what Hikigaya-kun enjoys as hobbies other than his video game addiction that Yuigahama-san took advantage off. Then it hit me, usually in the service club he is reading those atrocious books that he refers to as literature. I could definitely give him a quality novel that I myself recommend...but I doubt that he would even open a page if I gave him the types of books I usually read.
If my memory serves me correctly, he usually reads what people call light novels. I didn't want to, but I had no choice but to go to the light novel section in the bookstore. I decided to get him a light novel, but I would make sure it's not the typical trash he usually reads. I would find a light novel that I approve of as my gift.
For a while, I thought that the bookstore would close before I was able to pick a suitable gift for Hikigaya-kun. Fortunately, I came upon a masterpiece in the nick of time. Even I had to admit that this light novel was exceptional.
After a long day I decided to head back to my apartment and recuperate my strength from the stress of having to find a gift. After having a good rest with dreams about visiting the Pan-san theme park, I woke up the next day only to find multiple texts from my sister who was reminding me about Hikigaya-kun's birthday. I admired her persistence, but she should already know that I wouldn't forget about something as important as this.
Hikigaya-kun may have many irredeemable qualities such as his dead fish eyes, poor attitude and self-deprecating tactics (I could go on, but this fanfic would take forever), but even I have to admit that Hikigaya has done a lot for the service club and even for me personally. If it weren't for his speech about wanting a genuine relationship, I don't think the service club would have ever recovered and he also promised to save me one day and I believe that he meant it. I wanted to give him a gift that he would truly cherish and I also wanted it to be something that would be indicative of the relationship we fostered throughout the past year.
After a few hours, I decided that it was finally time for me to go to Hikigaya-kun's house, thankfully my sister sent his address in one of her texts, but I did not want to think about how she managed to get her hands on that sort of information.
I finally arrived and rang the doorbell, I was expecting Hikigaya-kun to answer, but to my surprise I saw his little sister Komachi-san.
"Ahh Yukino-san, I have been expecting you. Yui-san came just a short while before, I guess she beat you, but don't give up! You definitely still have a chance if you give him an amazing gift!"
I was not going to pretend like I did not understand her motives, but she was a bit too similar to my own sister for my tastes. "Komachi-san...where is Hikigaya-kun by the way?"
"Ahh of course, he is upstairs in his room. You can go there and give him your present! Good luck Yukino-san!" I was not sure how Hikigaya-kun would feel about his little sister advocating for other people to come to his room, but I wasn't going to pass up on the opportunity in this situation. Of course, I displayed my social etiquette and knocked before entering.
"Yukinoshita? First Yuigahama and now you, I knew my little sister was up to no good."
"Nice to see that you continue to keep up your negative attitude even on your birthday. But I still would like to wish you a happy birthday and give you this gift as a token of my appreciation." I handed it over to him as quickly as I could, my palms were sweaty and I could feel myself burning up. Hopefully he didn't notice. Why did giving a gift to someone have to be so hard?
"Ahh...thank you. I now have two more gifts than last year thanks to you and Yuigahama." I was not surprised at that comment. "Yukinoshita are you okay? You actually bought me a light novel!?"
I did not feel okay during this instance, but I would not show it. "I am more than fine Hikigaya-kun...I hope you enjoy my gift."
"I will especially since I was looking for something to read anyways. But I am still surprised you got me a light novel, knowing you I figured you would give me one of those English books you normally read if anything."
"Trust me, I was definitely considering it, but knowing you I doubt you would ever take the time to fully enjoy it."
"Thank goodness for that, it would have been awkward just to accept it and never plan to read it." Again, I was not surprised at his comment. "But this does not seem like a typical light novel I would usually read. It looks like something that I could imagine even you reading."
"Indeed, I might have decided to give you a light novel, but I would never give you something that I myself regard as inferior literature."
"Well in any case, I truly do appreciate the gift." At that moment, Hikigaya-kun did something that surprised me. He gave me a smile which I would often find creepy in any other situation, but this was a genuine smile. I then did something that surprised myself, I returned his gesture with a genuine smile of my own.
"Thank you Hikigaya-kun, I shall take my leave now and I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday." I could have ended it there, but I continued by saying something that would embarrass me for the rest of my life. "I also want to mention that this light novel reminds me of what our own lives were like last year. It may give you an idea of the genuine relationship that you are currently seeking. I hope that you remember this when reading my gift, the light novel: My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected." Hikigaya-kun stared at me in awe, I could feel my whole face turn red. At that moment, I did the only possible thing I could do and ran out. Getting Hikigaya-kun a gift was definitely not an easy task, but I think I did the best job I could and I have a feeling that Hikigaya-kun would truly enjoy this light novel.
Hey everyone, this was my first fanfiction that I have written and I would appreciate any constructive feedback. I mainly decided to do this so that I could improve my writing skills and I thought this would be a fun way of accomplishing my goal. I realize that in certain parts I may not capture Yukino's character perfectly, but I tried to do so to the best of my abilities. I will most likely be writing another one-shot after this and then I'll move on to a longer story afterwards, so your feedback will definitely help me improve!