I returned home. Komachi asked me where I went. I told her I was out at the park relaxing on a bench. She then asked me what else I did. Well, I did see some kids playing and saw one of my classmates[1] walk by. Komachi then got disinterested. Well, don't ask me if you're going to be like that at the very end or Onii-chan will get very sad, you know.

I ate dinner, and then I went to sleep. As I laid down on my bed, I reminisced about the day or something. What a fulfilling day! I managed to go outside on a weekend for once! Though, I still managed to do nothing.

And they say loners are boring. Tell me, what other kind of people are able to turn something meaningful into something completely meaningless? What was that? Politicians? Businessmen?

END

Footnotes

[1] It was February, but somehow Chiba managed to get a bit of sun. That meant that it was fairly warm today. In fact, it was warm enough to go outside and play on the swings and slides if you were an elementary school kid. If you were a little older, you would be playing soccer in the field nearby the playground. Actually, I, myself, was of that age, but no one invited me to play. N-Not that I would play if asked.

I sat on the bench a fair distance away from the playground. In my hands was not a cup of latté from that Starbucks down the street, but a can of MAX Coffee. Every once in a while, I would bring the rim of the can to my lips and sip just a little bit of it. I've spent the last ten years refining this technique to ensure that I get just enough MAX Coffee down my throat to satisfy a brief moment of thirst while making sure that it lasts as long as possible.

My eyes naturally wandered to take in the sights of the rampaging children, the barking dogs, the grieving mothers, as well as the leafless trees and finely-trimmed hedges.

Loners were excellent observers. It was because that they did not talk to people that they could dump their excess skill points into OBSERVATION. The smallest detail would not escape the well-trained eye of a friendless person. They could even recite to a person something that that person had not noticed before, causing that person to back away from the loner in fear. The skill level of a loner should not be underestimated.

A gentle breeze that was not too cold tickled my ears. I basked in the glow of the sun. Ah, my spirit was being rejuvenated. Maybe that's why some tribes worshipped the sun.

Even though I usually kept to myself at home (out of consideration for others who may find my presence awkward), somehow the rare appearance of a February sun pulled me out of the house. Like seriously, Chiba must have EX Luck to get such great sunlight in winter. I did not really have any plans, so I somehow ended up at the park.

"Ahhh..."

I inhaled deeply. The crisp air and foreign warmth was almost enough to turn me into an outdoors person. Well, maybe if I had enough reason to go outside, I would do so more frequently.

A young girl ran right past me with a highly mortified expression. Chasing after her was a boy brandishing a small branch. I watched the cop-and-robber (or was it escaping-slave-and-master) duo rush right into the playground, where the girl began climbing some metal-grated climbing wall. The branch-boy did climb up after her and merely stood on the ground at the bottom and stared up at her with a defeated expression. The boy tossed aside his branch and sauntered off in search of something or someone else to play with.

Unfortunately, the girl was still clinging onto the gratings of the climbing wall. She looked absolutely petrified. You could even say that she had the status effect of petrification. She did not move a single inch up or down, left or right. Don't tell me she climbed all the way up there with a fear of heights?

"Ugh, uwaaaaa! Somebody, I- I'm scared!" the girl screamed at the top of her longs.

Expanding beads of water formed on her eyes, which eventually leaked tears. Her wailing was so loud that I, who was a good distance away, could hear her as clearly as if I was right beside her.

Not good. I wanted to help, but my eyes would probably just scare her and make the situation worse. I anxiously looked around to see if anyone would rescue this poor child.

It was then that help from above (echelon-wise) descended upon her. A blonde teenage girl with ringlets climbed up the grating and soothed that child with kind and reassuring words (that my own parents seldom gave to me). The child eventually stopped her sobbing, replacing it with profuse sniffling. The teenage girl gave further encouraging words, and miraculously, the child began climbing down all on her own. Eventually, the child reached the ground and that girl hugged her.

Sniff, sniff. S-Stop showing me this beautiful scene. You're making me cry too.

However, I think I recognized that teenage girl. Her gaudy, showy way of dressing; her queen-like composure; her hidden motherly side — she was a girl I was not necessarily acquainted well with, but was a girl I nonetheless encountered with on several important occasions. Undoubtedly, she was Miura Yumiko.

Miura waved goodbye to that girl and headed off, surprisingly, in my direction, by sheer coincidence. Don't recognize me, don't recognize me, don't recognize me, oh she saw me.

"Oh, it's Hikio."

I curtly greeted, "Yo."

I lifelessly raised my right hand to pathetically wave it.

It was all too easy to predict what would happen next. After saying a word of hello to your classmate on the streets or something, you would simply walk past each other without interacting any more. Both of you had places to go to and things to do, after all. If you were to talk, you wouldn't know each other well enough to start any decent conversations. The two of you would just stand there, staring at each other, fiddling with your hands, not knowing what to talk about. Eventually, you would make some dumb excuse and quickly run away. At night, you would roll around in your bed, trying to forget that embarrassing moment during the day. Oh man, I still haven't forgotten about them at all.

Completely against my predictions, however, Miura went ahead and took a seat beside me on the bench. Huh? W-Why is this queen gracing me with her presence?

"Fancy meeting you here. I mean, for a creep like you, I thought you would just laze around at home or something," Miura spoke while staring at the children playing.

"Uh, yeah, I wonder why too," I muttered.

Typically, I wasn't one to indulge myself with something energy-consuming on a whim. Yes, I considered walking outside to be highly energy-consuming. I'd rather be inside eating ice cream. I scream.

I lightly swirled the remaining coffee in the can in my hands. Given the freedom of movement, I'd say that I had about a quarter left. This was yet another skill I've developed thanks to the countless years married to MAX Coffee.

With useless thoughts in mind, I brought the can to my lips again. Nothing worthwhile popped into my head. I couldn't start a conversation with Miura at all. We were simply way too different. Anything that I thought was interesting may seem boring and irrelevant to Miura.

Nothing was said between us for a while. This stagnant mood was really making my back incredibly sweaty. Where was Gahama-san when you needed her?

"Hey, Hikio. Thanks again for that thing the other day. You know... with Hayato's career path and all," Miura suddenly spoke up.

Her second word of thanks surprised me. I suppose that it was just that important to her.

"Ah, no, it's nothing to worry about," I hesitantly voiced.

It was all part of the job. It's not like we did anything particularly special. Actually, wasn't the primary activity of the club, answering requests, something that was special? But because we only did that, it became normalized. It was like eating your favourite food everyday and eventually it no longer became something to look forward to. B-But don't worry, MAX Coffee will always be special to me!

Speaking of Hayama Hayato, I wondered how their group fared these days. Through what I could see, they were the same as usual, but given the nature of Miura's request, it was likely that something changed.

"Um, that is, how are you and Hayama these days?" I nervously asked.

"Mmm, Hayato's not really different, but I get the feeling that he's becoming a little more open," said Miura, deep in thought.

I understood perfectly well from first-hand experience. When I was doing Hayama's interview with Isshiki for the newspaper, I caught a glimpse of a sarcastic and joking Hayama that quickly vanished behind his usual refreshing smile the moment the camera lens was focused on him.

Although, whether or not the Hayama Hayato that Miura saw was the same Hayama Hayato that I saw is a question that would receive no answer other than a refreshing smile.

"Well, that's fine," Miura said with a sigh, "Thanks to you, Yui and Yukinoshita-san, we have more time. So, like, we can deal with the annoying stuff. And then, maybe something real big can change."

Miura's face lit up with her final phrase as if trying to keep some flame continuously burning.

I looked up at the sky brightly lit by the sun. This same sun will remain static even as the things below it change. For a human, the sun was one of the very few things that they could count on to not disappear in their lifetime.

There are things that inevitably change. The marching forward of high school, the eventual leap to post-secondary education, such were things that were out of our control. That was why we desired even further changes. If something was inevitable, then why not push it over the edge? In doing so, perhaps we could reach a result that we would be satisfied with.

I gripped the can in my hands. The metal creaked ever so slightly.

What Miura will be forced to face and whether the foundations she has built have been worth anything are questions that apply even to me. I thought about that airheaded, yet kind girl, who glued us together and brought joy to our faces. I now thought about that cheeky kouhai who I had yet to fully take responsibility for. Finally, I thought about the girl who was completely different from me, whose surface self caused me to misunderstand, whose self I foolishly idolized, yet whose grip on my cuffs and whose wish to me I could never forget.

Even I needed time. Even I needed to deal with the annoying stuff. Even I needed something really big.

I forced into my mouth whatever was left of my MAX Coffee.

"Hikio, how are you and Yui?" Miura suddenly inquired.

I almost choked when she said that. Thankfully, my past experiences gave me the skill to downplay any exaggerated reactions.

"D-Didn't I say during the field trip that we weren't dating?"

"Didn't I say on the field trip that that's not what I meant, creep?" Miura said in plain annoyance, "Whatever, at least I can see that it's still the same. A creep like you might be a good fit for that cranky Yukinoshita-san."

"Definitely not. She would be the last person I'd date," I straightly said while shaking my head.

The thought of going out with Yukinoshita scared me. If we met up, she would immediately evaluate my choice of dress and give me a failing grade. If we were to go to the movies, she would have her eye on the Pan-san poster advertising a childish movie that I would be too embarrassed to go to. Her high-class self would drag me to an overly fancy restaurant, and, according to proper etiquette, the man would be forced to foot the expensive bill. When we were all done, she would press her fingers on her temple then dump me immediately. Hang on, why am I dumping myself in my own imagination? Sometimes my own brain surprises myself.

Miura looked away disinterestedly and murmured, "Well, I don't care, but I'm on Yui's side, you know?"

Oh, what a beautiful friend you have, Yuigahama! She would protect you from the slimy fins of this dead fish-eyed boy! I mean, I'm crying right now from this fantastic friendship and not because I'm scared of the overprotective and motherly Miura!

"Well, nice talking to you Hikio," said Miura as she stood up, "Is what I'd like to say, but you really suck at speaking, you know? Totally different than with Hayato."

Huh? Didn't Hiratsuka-sensei say I was pretty good? What's with this difference in opinion?

"See you," Miura waved at me before turning away.

Just before she could leave, I wanted to make one thing clear.

"Miura. My name's Hikigaya Hachiman, you know?" I called out.

"And? Yui's always calling you Hikki, so Hikio is Hikio," said Miura as she turned and looked at me like I was an idiot.

I scratched my head at those incomprehensible words. Maybe not even the Yukipedia could explain this one.

I watched her departing back. As always, she had the style and motions of a model. Her very figure and movements would be enough to charm any young guy. Hayama sure was lucky.

Still, I got the feeling that this queen has become a bit kinder to me. Is this what they call a benevolent monarch? But if she's too nice, her political power would start to decrease and sooner or later, and her kingdom would turn into a constitutional monarchy. Although, I also got the feeling that she wouldn't mind that either nowadays.

I continued sitting on the bench for a little while longer. The crisp air, snuggly warmth, and energetic voices seemed especially pleasant today.