Author's Note: Pre-emptive apologies to QS, I had this idea before you said not to, and it was too interesting to leave unpublished.

Day 1

Elopement.

It was the last resort, yet somehow we knew it would always come down to this.

The values we held and the values held by Yukino's parents were too different and incompatible. Even as the words "Do you not care about your daughter's happiness at all?" were leaving my mouth, I had already somewhat predicted the answer.

"What about it? As a member of the Yukinoshitas, it is her privilege and duty to prioritize the needs of the clan over the needs of an individual."

What I had not predicted was the objections from my own parents.

"Hachiman, you're still in high school, you shouldn't rush into things at such an early age."

"Your mother is right. Haven't you heard the saying 'Haste makes waste'? By rushing things, you could endanger yourself and everyone around you. Don't you understand? Your hasty decisions could cause the entire human race to be destroyed!"

It was as if they were unable to understand the importance of getting Yukino away from that toxic family as soon as possible. At one point my father even blurted out:

"Son, marriage is the graveyard of life! Why are you foolishly rushing towards it?"

Just what kind of crazy thing was he saying right next to his wife? Or so I was thinking when my mother followed up with:

"I couldn't agree more with your father. How about just waiting a few more years? Say... when you are 21? When you are 21 we will fully support your relationship with that Yukino girl okay?"

At the time, I couldn't understand it at all.

In hindsight, it was obvious. I had always known my two parents were mere corporate slaves. Easily replacable employees who had to work themselves to the bone in order to avoid getting fired. I didn't know what their jobs actually were or what companies they worked at, but it wasn't hard to imagine that if the Yukinoshitas decided to put pressure on their companies, my parents would immediately become unemployed. Thus it was only natural for them to oppose my relationship with Yukino.

Or rather, that was precisely why we had to elope. If we stayed here, it was only a matter of time before the Hikigayas were crushed by the might of the Yukinoshitas. But if we disappeared, there would no longer be a reason to put pressure on my parents.

That was a week ago.

Frankly we were already supposed to be in our new home by now, yet...

"Damn! How the heck do they keep on finding us? This is the 7th time we have had to take a detour to throw them off our trail."

I groaned and muttered under my breath. We had already gotten rid of everything that could be used to track us. Cellphones, electronics, credit cards... we had even bought new clothes and ditched the ones we left our homes in, just in case they had been bugged. Yet everywhere we went seemed flooded with people who seemed to be looking for us.

Perhaps I was merely being paranoid. Even though we were now on the North American continent, a place with a very low percentage of Japanese residents, that didn't mean that every Japanese person we saw was after us. Yet whenever I saw one, whenever we made eye contact, whenever they started walking towards us, those actions would seem full of intent and my instincts would scream out to flee.

Each time that happened, we would escape in a direction orthogonal to our destination, and then hitchhike randomly for a few hours while calculating a new route to our new home.

I sighed.

The two of us were now heading in the correct direction via bus, an expense once again singlehandedly paid for by the money Yukino had saved from her exorbitant allowance. Whenever I thought of that I would feel incredibly guilty.

Was this truly the right choice? Could I really give her happiness this way?

I sighed again, and immediately found a finger pressed against my lips. The culprit smiled and winked.

"H-kun, you are currently on a honey moon trip with a girl of unparalleled beauty. Shouldn't you be more happy? With those dead eyes of yours, something like this would never happen again you know?"

I smiled back at her. Whenever she did something like this, she would be the splitting image of her elder sister. Yet their intentions were clearly different. Unlike the malicious, superficial playfulness of her sister that instilled nothing but terror, I could only feel genuine, loving playfulness from my wife-to-be.

Towards those pure-hearted actions, I chose to return them in kind. Her finger, so carelessly placed in such a dangerous location, was quickly and gently enveloped by my mouth.

"Ow!"

The extremely pleasant sensation on my tongue suddenly disappeared, as Yukino yanked back her finger on reflex.

"Sorry! Did I accidentally bite you?"

I don't think I had put that much force in it...

Seeing my guilty, concerned expression, Yukino hurriedly explained while showing me her finger. "Ah! No, that's not it Hachiman. I just cut my finger on something earlier and forgot about it, so when you touched the wound it just stung a little. It wasn't your fault."

There was indeed a cut on it. But it was starting to bleed again. I guess it had scraped against my teeth and reopened when she forcefully pulled it back. Yet this foolish girl had extended her finger towards me again.

Hmm? Wasn't she the smartest student in our grade? Why did she not learn from her mistake?

Also, in her panic, she had mistakenly used my name instead of an initial or a pseudonym, even though the two of us were supposed to be in disguise. Didn't this call for some punishment?

While thinking that, I gave her finger a lick, and quickly got a smack on the head from her other hand.

"Ow! What? I was just treating your wound by licking it!" I protested. Honest! It wasn't as though I couldn't get enough of how good her finger tasted or anything...

"Ecchiman... I do hope you haven't been using that misconception to go around licking random girls to satisfy your endless lust. Licking wounds is actually an ill-advised medical procedure that can introduce the germs in your mouth directly into someone's bloodstream. Exactly how many other females you have infected with that twisted mentality of yours, I wonder?"

Under a stare that could put a yandere to shame, I quickly responded truthfully, "None! None! You're the only one I would do something like that to, Y-san!"

Or rather, did she really think anyone else would let me? It wasn't like finishing puberty had made me into a handsome or popular adult. I still had the same dead eyes as always, scaring away all boys and girls alike. Even Komachi would be creeped out if I was that physically intimate with her...

...N-not that I had tried you hear?!

"I-Is that so." A faint blush had formed over Yukino's face. Apparently I had said something good for once.

"Alas, woe is me. To be forced to endure all of H-kun's insatiable sexual desires. To think that I will have to live out the rest of my days married to such an incurable pervert, I fear that it will not be long before I am defiled. But even so I shall endure and stay strong! Even as his twisted germs spread throughout my body and desecrate my purity, I will not give up. For if I don't entertain his foul whims, poor H-kun would be forced by his bestial instincts to unleash his criminal lust upon innocent ladies. Truly, for the sake of humanity, I have no choice but to deny myself and live to satisfy his monstrous wishes- mMPH!"

A flustered Yukino was cute too; I never got tired of hearing those long passages she used to hide her embarrassment. But we were currently on a bus full of other passengers, not in the peaceful isolation of the Service Club. Her frantic explanation was starting to bother the people around us, so I cleverly sealed her lips with a kiss.

A few hours later, the two of us were collapsed on a bench in a deserted park, in a city I didn't even know the name of.

"Haa... haa... this is... too much."

That was the 8th time we had been found.

Yukino grunted in agreement, too tired to even speak coherently. We had sent most of our luggage ahead of us, on a different route, so as to reduce the amount of stuff we had to carry. But as expected, all of this running around in this hot summer weather was starting to take its toll.

Personally, I was still doing well. A little out of breath maybe, but I always recovered quickly. It wasn't enough to beat Hayama in any kind of race, but I had some confidence in my stamina. In contrast, Yukino never had much physical stamina to begin with so she was in far worse shape than I was. It really looked like she would drop dead at any moment.

I have to take better care of her.

When she finally stopped panting, I made a suggestion. "Yukino, let's take our time and choose a slower route. If we keep rushing like this, our bodies will break before we arrive."

"Hachiman... that won't do... our luggage is probably already there... we have to get going..." she replied while wobbling and lifting herself off the bench.

As always, Yukino was right. Due to all the detours we had taken, all the boxes were probably already stacked up outside our door.

The first step of our elopement plan was to move to a small, rural village in the middle of nowhere and lay low for a few months. We would only return to civilization after the Yukinoshitas gave up on their searches, or at least reduced their efforts on them. Even without Yukino, they still had the capable Haruno Yukinoshita as an heir, so they probably wouldn't be so desperate as to keep up a full-scale search for years.

However, in such a desolate area, there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't steal our unprotected possessions. We wouldn't even be able to call the police for help since that would draw attention to us. Plus, even if they weren't stolen, every moment that they sat out there in plain sight was another moment someone could see them and realize there were people moving into that house.

But seeing her make those unsteady motions was seriously worrying. Hurriedly, I jumped up from the bench and supported her, as the two of us made our way to the next bus terminal.

Author's Note: After "End of the Affair" and "End of the Road" comes "End of the World"!

So yeah, one chapter of fluff... and then... *points to the tragedy tag.* This will not end well for anyone. Be warned because things will start turning darker and darker, starting from the very next chapter.