Chapter 10: And Thus, Miura Yumiko is Honest About Her Feelings

Third year was a time for students to buckle down and prepare for the college entrance exams. For the Service Club, whose official membership consisted of three third years and two first years, this meant they are unable to fulfill the usual number of requests. Many of Sobu's juniors understood the kind of pressure that had been placed on the senior members of the Service Club and opted out of making requests. For us seniors, we were effectively defunct.

It was a quiet Friday for the senior members of the Service Club. The two first years who joined, my younger sister Komachi and her friend, Kawasomethingsaki's younger brother, embarked to fulfill an underclassman's request in our stead. As for the three senior members, Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuigahama Yui and I formed a makeshift study group in the clubroom.

It was a rare sight these days for the three of us to be together. Yukinoshita had been cramming her studies in order to graduate early to study abroad. As a result, she often took her studies elsewhere. As she was unable to fulfill her duties as Service Club president, she decided to elect Yuigahama and I co-presidents of the Service Club.

Our titles were now just formality. We never really did much.

There was a small degree of tension in the atmosphere. It was understandable seeing as both Yuigahama and Yukinoshita had both confessed to me prior to our third year.

Well, you already know the end result.

Still, out of loyalty and respect for one another, we pushed aside those uncomfortable feelings we kept inside in order to maintain the integrity of the Service Club.

The entrance of the Service Club slid open and a frantic and exasperated Tobe came rushing inside. What the hell is wrong with this guy today?

"You guys! I like, really, really, need some help right now!"

"Tobecchi, What's wrong?" Yuigahama asked.

"Tobe-san, please calm down. Explain your problem to us clearly." Yukinoshita added.

Tobe took a few deep breaths before easing himself into a seat across from us.

"Well, my family runs a noodle restaurant near Chiba U, but my dad got into an accident earlier today and he is unable to work right now. We're short-staffed and we really need some extra help right now. Can you guys please help me out?"

"Wouldn't it be easier to put an ad on the student bulletin board?" Yukinoshita suggested.

Good idea Yukinoshita. For a moment Tobe had this look on his face that basically said "Why didn't I think of that?" Tobe, you really should've put a little more thought before wasting your breath over here. Scram!

"Yeah, but like we really, really, REALLY, need some help right now! Like immediately!"

"Did you ask Ooka and Yamato?" Yuigahama asked

"Yeah but they said they're busy! They got club duties on top of preparing for the exams! I can't convince them to help me out!"

"Oi. Oi. We got club duties too." I added.

"But you guys are the Service Club! You're supposed to help guys like me out!"

Hmm. Touché Tobe. You got me there.

"Ehhh, what about Yumiko?" Yuigahama suggested another option.

"Nah dude! I can't ask her! She's way too scary man! Way too scary!"

'Yeah. Can't argue with that. Miura is totally scary…'

"What the hell Hikio? I am NOT scary!"

"I'm in the middle of telling my story. Don't interrupt."

"Besides, she already has a part-time job!"

"Oh yeah huh...Well...what about...H-Hina?" Yuigahama asked sheepishly as if she was trying to avoid stepping on a mine.

"I...uh...er…I-I-I can't ask her! Not her! Especially not her! Nuh-uh man! No way!" Poor bastard turned red at the thought of Ebina-san. I guess despite what had transpired in Kyoto, Tobe still had a thing for her.

"Uhh...Hayato?" By now, I'm sure Yuigahama ran out of ideas.

"Nah, I already tried! He said he'd love to help but he just can't right now! I'm out of options! That's why I'm asking you guys! Please? Pretty please?"

"My apologies Tobe-san but I am unable to help you out. I'll leave this matter to Yuigahama-san and Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita replied.

"Yui! Help me out please? Pretty please?" Tobe was getting pretty desperate now.

"I...I'm kinda busy today Tobecchi! Yeah! I...I-I-I gotta take my dog to the vet! Ehehe..."

Come on Yuigahama! That is a piss-poor excuse! Surely you can do better than that! Seeing as I'm the only one left...

All three turned towards me.

Yukinoshita gave me a look that basically said "Please take care of this matter yourself, Hikigaya-kun."

Meanwhile Yuigahama looked at me as if she wanted to say "Hikki! We're counting on you!"

As for Tobe...Well...He went on all fours and began to grovel.

"Hikitani-kun! Please! You're my last hope!"

Come on man...If you gotta grovel, please at least get my name right!

I guess Tobe is a nice guy and all...but come on, why the hell would I want to help Tobe? Yuigahama and Yukinoshita intensified their gazes as if they were sending silent daggers straight towards my soul.

"Tch...fine..." I said rather dejectedly. I resigned myself to my fate. I'd rather not incur the wrath of a demon super-woman and her lackey.

"Really?! That's awesome! Thanks Hikitani-kun!" You're the best man!" Tobe rose off the floor and pulled me off the chair and into a tight hug. Too close dude!

"Hikitani-kun, you're a true bro of bros! I owe ya one!"

"Uhh...no problem. Can you please let go of me already?"

The Tobe Noodle House was somewhat close to Chiba University, where I was planning to attend after I finally graduate from Sobu. It was situated in a three-story building with the restaurant floor at the bottom. I assume the two floors above were living areas. The restaurant area was rather small. At it's maximum, it looked like the place could accommodate around fifty people. As Tobe and I entered, I noticed that there was a small bar to my left with a well-built man with light brown hair and a rugged looking goatee sipping whiskey in one of the barstools. There was a plaster cast that completely encompassed his right arm.

"Hey Kakeru, is this the help you were talking about?" The man asked.

"Totally Pops!" Tobe exclaimed as he energetically patted my shoulder. "This guy over here is Hikitani-kun."

Hey! Don't introduce me with the wrong name!

"Haha!" The man laughed rather jovially. "Well Hikitani-kun, I'm Nobuo. I'm the owner of this establish and the main chef around here but as you can see..." Nobuo raised his plastered arm. "...I'm a little shorthanded. My wife is cooking in my stead."

"Ah...Uhh...My name is Hikigaya Hachiman actually. I'll be in your care, Nobuo-san." I awkwardly said with a bow.

"Well then. I'm glad to have you on board, Hachi-kun." The man rose from his stool to give me a thunderous pat on my back.

Ouch.

"You don't mind if I call you Hachi-kun right?"

"I don't mind."

"Good. This is a family restaurant and I like to treat each and every one of my workers as one of my own. Anyways, let me show you around the place. I want to introduce you to my wife and daughter. You will be working with them today."

In the kitchen, there was an older woman with shoulder-length black hair and a slender build doing the cooking. She had a well-mannered yet humble air to her. In many ways, she was the ideal Japanese woman. I assume this is Nobuo-san's wife since he mentioned his wife is doing the cooking in his stead.

There was a young girl roughly Komachi's age preparing the drinks for customers. She had a bit of a gyaru look to with her dyed light brown hair. Upon closer inspection, I realized that this was one of my sister's friends who occasionally hung out at the Service Club.

"Woah. It's Komachi-chan's older bro!"

"You know Hachi-kun, Aya-chan?" Nobuo-san asked.

"Yeah. He is the older brother of a friend of mine." The girl, who I now know as Aya, replied.

"Well then, I see you're already somewhat familiar with my daughter, Hachi-kun. Regardless, I'd like to formally introduce you to her. Hachi-kun, this is my daughter, Aya. Aya, this is Hikigaya Hachiman."

"Hey Hachi-kun"

"Yo." I replied simply.

"Good, good. Now that that's done, Honey come here! I'd like to introduce you to today's temporary help! Come say hi to Hachi-kun!" Nobuo-san gestured his wife to stop what she is doing to come over and introduce her self.

"Good afternoon, Hachi-kun. I'm Mikako, Nobuo's wife." She greeted with a bow.

"Ah. Nice to meet you Mikako-san." I replied as I mimicked her polite gesture.

"Excellent. Come on, let's get you started. Aya-chan will show you the ropes." Nobuo-san said.

I never worked so damn hard in my life. It boggles my mind that there are people who can remember a constant stream of orders. I felt stupid asking customers to repeat their order. My brain hurts just thinking about it. At least we're closed now.

"It gets easier over time, Hachi-kun." Aya had told me earlier today.

Yeah. Whatever.

To work is to lose. I should've known better.

"Not bad Hachi-kun. You did pretty well for yourself today. I'm impressed." Nobuo-san commented and handed me a small envelope of today's pay.

"...Thanks."

"Look. I know you're in your third year of high school and all, so I know you're getting ready for college. It'd be too much on your plate now. But if you ever need a job Hachi-kun, ask me or Kakeru and I'll be glad to hire you."

"Thanks Nobuo-san...but why?"

"Haha!" The man bellowed and gave me a rather painful pat on the back. "We may have just met, but I like you son! Look...it ain't all that apparent to most people...but you got this vibe to you that a man gotta respect. I can tell."

"Thanks."

"Hey, don't mention it! By the way Hachi-kun..." Nobuo-san removed the wedding band from his finger.

"...Yeah?"

"Wanna marry my daughter?"

"Here are your orders, Hachi-kun; Yumi-chan." Mikako-san placed two bowls in front of us, and gave a respectful bow.

"Thanks Mikako-san." We both echoed.

"You're welcome you two."

After our English lecture had finished, Yumiko and I decided to eat at the Tobe Noodle House. The restaurant had just closed down in order to make preparations for the dinner hours.

Since summer vacation is quickly approaching, the school where Yumiko worked at will inevitably close down for the duration of the break. As such, remembering what I had said on our date last night, she wanted to inquire Nobuo-san about a job opportunity over the summer. He hired her on the spot. It was convenient for both parties. Nobuo-san has been meaning to train me in the kitchen.

Now then, sitting in the back corner of the restaurant dining area, what lay in front of us were two bowls of Nobuo-san's specialty: Kuro Tonkatsu Ramen. A potent combination: a pork-based broth mixed with black garlic oil, barbecued pork, steamed mushroom, red ginger, green onion, seasoned egg and finally sesame seeds.

Delicious.

A ramen worthy of Hiratsuka-sensei's praise.

"Wow! This is really good!" Yumiko beamed.

"Haha! I'm glad you like it Yumi-chan!" Nobuo-san shouted from the kitchen. Soon after, he emerged from the kitchen to approach our table.

With a wide grin and an affirming hand on Yumiko's shoulders, he began, "Welcome aboard Yumi-chan. I'm glad to have you with us. Summer is always a crazy time here."

"Ah, Thank you Nobuo-san. I needed the work."

"Hey, don't mention it! I've been meaning to show Hachi-kun the ropes behind the scenes!" Turning towards me, Nobuo-san began, "How do like that soup Hachi-kun?"

"It's good." I replied simply.

"You're damn right it is! I make the best damn soup in all of Chiba! And soon, I'm gonna show you my secrets!" Nobuo-san's initial joviality quickly shifted into something far more serious. "Guard them with your life. I can guarantee you won't live to see the next day if you break that simple promise."

"Uhh..."

"Haha! I'm just kidding!" Nobuo-san bellowed and slapped my back. "You know I trust you Hachi-kun." With that, the man returned to the kitchen.

"So, what's it like working here?" Yumiko asked me before taking a big gulp of her soda.

"It can get pretty hectic at times, but you'll get used to it. It's not bad really."

"Y'know Hikio, it's pretty hard to imagine you putting up a smile. You don't have the look."

I raised a brow at that remark.

"Huh? You got a problem with the way I look?"

"Not at all. You don't look half bad, y'know." Yumiko replied with a small smirk.

"Well, that doesn't exactly sound reassuring."

"H-Hey! Come on Hikio, your looks aren't the reason I fell in love with you, y'know?" Upon the realization of what she just said, Yumiko gasped and shyly looked away. Indeed, Ashi-san truly is a maiden. "...Uh..."

"...I guess there's no need to be shy about this anymore. Yumiko, about that kiss last night-"

"It was the heat of the moment." She cut me off. Yumiko shifted her eyes downwards to take a moment to collect herself. "...I...I was really enjoying myself last night. I guess I didn't want it to end. When I realized the night was about to end, I couldn't help myself."

"..."

Raising her head back up to meet my eyes, Yumiko flashed a brilliant smile. "I...I just want to be more honest about my feelings. That's all. I really do love you, y'know."

"..."

"...Do you feel that same way?"

Without any deliberation, without any holding back, I answered simply and truthfully.

"Yes."

I guess it's official then. Until recently, I had never imagined that I, Hikigaya Hachiman, of all people, would be dating the former Fire Queen of Sobu. To add to that, she's my first ever official girlfriend. What are the odds?

"You know Hikio, you're actually my very first boyfriend."

"Seriously?"

Now that took me by surprise.

"I was in love with Hayato. Remember?"

"You didn't even consider dating anyone in your first year? Middle school?"

"Nah. I wasn't even interested in the other guys."

"That's…kinda surprising." That was my initial thought. After a little bit more consideration, "Actually, I take it back. It isn't."

Of course, this is the Queen of Fire I'm talking about here. This was the woman who lorded over the social hierarchy of Sobu. It was fitting that her standards had to be…exacting. Very few men can claim that they had taken the Queen's heart. There was Hayama Hayato, and apparently, me.

Yumiko shot me a menacing glare that was probably deadly enough to destroy a lesser man.

"Haah? What the hell are you trying to insinuate?"

"You're totally scary. You know that?"

"I totally am not!" She pouted.

The chime of the front door bell rang through my ears and Hayama Hayato made his way onto the restaurant floor. He flashed me a refreshingly pleasant smile when our eyes me but it seemed that neither Yumiko or I was the person he was looking for. I'm assuming he came to visit Tobe since as soon as Hayama entered, Tobe appeared from the kitchen and gave Hayama a tight hug.

"Hayato-kun! It's been a long time man! You should've gave me a call as soon as you came back to town! I totally missed ya!"

"Sorry about that. I had some other business I had to attend to."

"It's cool bro." Tobe replied and glanced at the restaurant clock. "Hey, I gotta finish some of the preparations for when dinnertime comes. It'd probably take me like twenty minutes to finish up. Make yourself at home! Hikitani-kun and Yumiko are over there in the back if you wanna talk to em'."

"That's Hikitani-kun? I was wondering who that guy was."

Hayama approached our table and took a seat from a nearby table and placed it next to us. I wasn't sure if Hayama had caught it, but Yumiko's features shifted to a slightly more defensive expression. Even if he did, Hayama maintained his pleasant expression.

"Hello Yumiko. Hikitani-kun."

"Hi Hayato." Yumiko replied.

"What brings you guys here? I didn't think that you guys knew about this place."

"We work here." I said matter-of-factly.

Adding on to the conversation, Yumiko posed Hayama the same question.

"What brings you here, Hayato?"

"Ah, yes. I came here to hang out with Tobe. I guess he is still finishing up whatever he needs to do. Still, I didn't know that you and Hikitani-kun would be here."

Hayama paused for a moment and glanced at Yumiko and I. "You two are dating right?" He asked. "I mean, I saw you two together when I was with Haruno and Yukino yesterday. That was pretty surprising actually."

"Yeah, we like officially hooked up right before you got here." My now-girlfriend replied.

"...I see..." Interestingly enough, Hayama's expression stiffened slightly. "You two are a surprisingly good match."

I watched as my girlfriend blushed at his statement. "Ah, thanks Hayato."

"Don't mention it, Yumiko." Hayama flashed her a brilliant smile before quickly shifting to a more troubled expression.

Looking away from her, Hayama rubbed his lips in contemplation as if he was trying to find the right words to say.

"I shouldn't keep this hanging over my head." He began. "Yumiko. I should apologize."

"For what?"

"For everything back in high school."

"What do you mean?"

Taking a deep breath, Hayama took this time to collect his thoughts. We all have skeletons in our closets that we wish to clean out.. I suppose he figured that now is the best time to do so.

"I've lead you on for far too long, Yumiko. You missed a lot of great opportunities in high school thanks to me. It made me feel guilty about myself but you were convenient to keep away the other girls. I'm sorry. I never did reciprocate your feelings."

"It's Haruno-san, isn't it?" The question I posed meant that it was time for me to join the conversation.

"...You knew Hikigaya?"

I shrugged. "It was a lucky guess. More or less."

Hayama's features shifted to a melancholic expression.

"Well, you're right. Even now, I guess I still love her. I don't know how to reach her though."

Yumiko expressed a look of motherly concern over her former crush. My girlfriend truly is such a maiden, isn't she?

"...Hayato."

"...Anyways..." He began, his features and his tone taking on a determined expression, "I really just wanted to apologize for everything. Yumiko. I truly am sorry."

Rising up from his chair, Hayama gave my girlfriend a deep bow.

"Will you accept my apology?"

Yumiko flashed him a warm smile. Perhaps she still has a soft spot for him?

"Okay."

"Thank you."

Yumiko gently nudged Hayama.

"Y'know, you really didn't need to apologize. I already moved on."

Hayama gave her a hearty chuckle and a warm smile.

"I know. I know. I can tell. But really, I was doing this for myself. Thank you though."

With that, in what may be the very first time of my life, I bore witness to the genuine smile of Hayama Hayato.

A/N: It feels like it's been such a long time since the last update. I feel like I've gotten a bit rusty!

With the end of this chapter, marks the end of what I intended as the second arc of this fic (1-5 comprise essentially the first arc while 6-10 comprise the second). It's gonna be pretty daunting for me to figure out what direction I'd like to take for the final arc and I only have a vague idea of the next step. Given the pace of the way things are going, and my initial plan for this fic - which was to be 10 to 15 chapters in length - this will probably end within 5 chapters. We're in the final stretch folks!

I had hoped to get this chapter out two weeks earlier; but alas, it was not meant to be. Around two weeks ago, I scrapped the original draft for this chapter but retained some of it's elements. Regardless, I hope the quality of this latest output doesn't (completely) disappoint!

Enjoy guys.

As an aside: I think it's fascinating that 8man's birthday and Yumiko's birthday are 8/8 and 12/12 respectively. Oh yeah, both of them are fire signs too: 8man is a Leo and Yumiko is a Sagittarius. Fun stuff...