She likes exchanging messages.

It was half past five in the morning and I was fiddling with my phone. The sweet scent of sauteed onions coming from the pan filled my nose and made my stomach growl.

Good morning.

Naturally the one I'm sending a text so early was Yukinoshita.

[Good morning to you as well, Hikigaya-kun.]

[Why are you up so early?]

Now that we are going out, I was finally able to obtain her contact number. I don't know how a relationship naturally progress aside from that it will undoubtly end up in either break up or marriage, but it seems that she and I finally arrived at the stage where it was necessary to exchange messages every day.

What once started as a way to greet each other has now turned into something that requires attention every hour.

I'm making breakfast. How about you?

This time it took her a few minutes to reply to my message.

[I have just finished taking a shower.]

The mug that I was holding shook in my hand. Did this girl really need to inform me of that? She's taking this whole thing way too seriously!

You didn't need to tell me that!

[Oh? Did I perhaps make you think of something inappropriate, Hikipervert?]

Ugh. You're not cute at all.

[Send me a picture of your breakfast.]

If you ask me, I'd say that we're totally skipping some steps in this relationship. Couples are supposed to only use messaging service to know where to meet up on their date, not tease and demand anything from their partner.

The picture I sent her contained what I was having, an omelet, some slices of bread and a mug of hot coffee.

[That looks surprisingly delicious. But maybe replace the coffee with milk?]

This girl is totally out to get me.

Since I was too lazy to bother typing a lengthy rant about how coffee is important in various ways to aid the body, I instead took a picture of my napping cat and sent it to her. That's right Kamakura, serve as a distraction.

Picture sent!

[Kamakura-san is totally adorable.]

Cats sure have it easy; they'd get praised from sleeping.

[Hikigaya-kun, send me a picture of yourself.]

Kamakura you damn traitor! You were supposed to distract Yukinoshita so that she won't be so annoying so early in the morning! How did it end up with her wanting another picture of me?!

Don't want to. It's too early so I look terrible.

[You always look terrible no matter what the time.]

Totally uncute.

[Your picture Hikiugly-kun. I'm waiting.]

[Oh, also please do not wash your face. I want to see Hikigaya-kun in his natural state.]

I sighed in defeat and opened the front camera of my phone. As expected, it was not a picture worthy. My hair was a mess and my eyes look as rotten as ever. I took a reluctant shot and sent it quickly before I could change my mind.

Another minute passed before I received her reply.

[Somehow it's even worse than I expected.]

This damn devil woman!

[Ah but how should I say this? It's totally you.]

I don't even know what she's trying to say. I grumbled complaints under my breath and opted to finish my breakfast. My phone lit up as another message was received. I hesitated whether it was another absurd demand.

[Now that I've had my share of fun, I guess it's only fair if I sent a picture of me.]

Picture message received!

What Yukinoshita sent me was a picture of herself sitting on her sofa and the first thing that I noticed was her still wet hair clinging onto her face and was in perfect contrast with her clear cerulean eyes. A charming smile was on her lips making her even prettier than usual and my cheeks heat up at her sight.

No matter how you put it, this girl is totally cheating.

…

He's clueless that he's a well known person.

The bell of the school rang, signaling the start of lunch break.

Despite the reputation of my class, it really isn't that different from any other sections in the school. My class has the same people that exist in any other. The only difference is that we went overseas to get education and excel in our grades. It was because of this that my class is often put in a pedestal, separating it from others and becoming distant.

That and the attitude of some people here may need some correcting.

But the action of the few does not equate to the majority.

Unfortunately, the stigma won't be that easily removed.

I grabbed my belongings and organized them in practiced manner. Doing so, I removed my phone from the confines of my bag and pressed the power button. The home screen showed without any new notifications.

Ah maybe he was still annoyed from earlier.

I pressed the message icon and took a quick look at the attachments that I received earlier.

There was the homely breakfast, a cute cat, and then a picture of his face.

My lips curled upwards at the last one. He looked like a certain grumpy cat famous in the internet. How cute.

Yes, I am sure he still has a grudge from this.

I opened the message function as my fingers danced on the screen.

Hikigaya-kun, pick me up from my class room.

I didn't even need to wait half a minute before I received a reply.

[OK wait for me outside.]

Ah might he be on the process of texting me when I sent my message? I turned off my phone and placed it inside my bag. I then stood up from my seat and with my bag in hands; I went outside of my classroom. Our room is located at the farthest end of the school building, making it not a popular spot to meet up.

Maybe I should change the location?

Tomorrow then. I have no doubt that he is already on his way.

Without much to do, I stood silently at the side of the hallway, nodding at the classmates who greeted me on their way out.

"Hello, Yukinoshita-san do you want to join us for lunch?"

A female classmate approached me along with her two friends. I was not particularly close to them, but I am not that unfamiliar with them either. I remember joining their group during the Kyoto trip.

"My apologies, but I am waiting for someone."

My answer seems to have made the three girls curious. Although not my intention, I am aware that I came as a very aloof person in my class. The one who greeted me hit her palm as her eyes lit up.

"Oh, is Yukinoshita-san perhaps waiting for Hikigaya-san?"

My eyes widened slightly at her accurate guess. I was unaware that she knew Hikigaya-kun, and he has certainly has no idea of her.

Perhaps encouraged by my reaction, she followed through.

"Hey, hey Yukinoshita-san is it true that the two of you are dating?"

Her question made me pause. Although I was not keeping out relation a secret, I was not proclaiming it to everyone aside from those that we know. Are we that obvious to others, or is this girl simply that perceptive?

"Oi don't just ask that question out of nowhere!"

"You really have no tact."

The other two ladies behind voiced their complaints.

"E-eh? Sorry Yukinoshita-san, that was rude of me!"

Her eyes widened from panic. From the expression that she was making, it's clear that she wasn't planning anything and that she was just a straightforward person who needs to think more before speaking.

Just like a certain someone.

I repressed a sigh. I do not want her to feel bad. And in the first place, I wasn't planning to hide my relation with him anyway.

"It's fine, and to answer your question. Yes, I am going out with him."

My face turned a little hot from the admission while the faces of the three in front of me brightened. It seems that they were all equally curious about that certain topic. The girl facing me turned to her friends after receiving my answer.

"See! I told you so!"

As she continued to rant, I became curious and asked her in how she knew of Hikigaya-kun.

"Well, isn't he always involved when there's something happening in the school?" "My friend at the student council says that he's always helping them." "Just recently during the event with Kaihin, he was also one of the organizers right?" "Yukinoshita-san couldn't take her eyes off of him when he was dancing with Hiratsuka-sensei too." "He seems like a capable person." "Right." "Totally."

One by one, the three of them recounted how Hikigaya-kun left an impression on them. The man himself believes that he was something that the student body has no recollection of, but the existence of these three proved that he does not have a zero presence, and that his actions are remembered by people.

In addition, it appears by associating with me, people naturally became curious to the existence of that man.

By the time the three of them left, I was musing at how silly it was for him and for me to believe that everyone would just ignore what's happening around them.

I spotted him making his way towards me.

Smiling slightly, I moved to meet him halfway.

As I'll always.

…

She likes stealing my food.

After picking up Yukinoshita, we went at my usual spot near the tennis club courts. The weather was fine with the clouds blocking the sun and bringing a cool breeze. Since I didn't want her to sit just anywhere, I chose the wooden bench underneath the tree as our lunch location.

These lunch dates as Komachi would call them, happens at least twice a week. Whenever she wasn't with me, she would be spending lunch with the new service club. On the other hand, I would be eating alone or would get dragged by either Zaimokuza or Hayama.

As we sat on the bench, I took out a simple wooden box covered by a cloth with cat designs. It was obvious who got this for me. The box contained nothing special and only things that anyone would pack for a school lunch, the common rice, meat and eggs.

Even so, she seems especially interested in the contents of my lunch.

Her lunch consisted of a smaller portion of rice along with steamed fish, vegetables and fruits. Although they looked appetizing, I still prefer my own.

"Hikigaya-kun, are you the one who prepared this?"

"Hm? Well yeah."

She hummed in response and without any notice, moved her chopsticks from her lunch box into mine, grabbing a piece of meat covered in sauce. She smelled the piece of food before placing it inside her mouth, chewing it with effort.

"Don't just grab my food woman."

"…It's a little tough, did you not boil it?"

Now she's complaining about how I cook?!

"I like meat a little tough."

"Is that so? I shall remember that."

Saying so, she once again placed her chopsticks in my lunchbox, taking another piece of meat for herself. Lady, keep your hands to your own food. Seeing that she already started eating, I also did the same.

Although this has become rather normal, I still find myself being self conscious whenever other students would pass and send a curious glance at our position. As expected, I was still a loner at heart. I just can't get suddenly used to not being alone at lunch. On the other hand, this issue wasn't even noticed by her.

"…As I said, don't just casually finish my food."

Before I noticed, my portion was significantly smaller than before. This girl simply refused to leave my food alone and have even ignored her meticulously prepared meal.

"The egg tastes too strong; just how much seasoning did you add?"

"Can you like, stop complaining?"

Meeting my eyes for a moment, she smiled and took a portion of (my) rice into her mouth. What are you, a cat?!

I give up.

"Here, you can eat my portion in exchange."

She scooted closer until our shoulders were touching and without any warning, proceeded to deposit half of her meal in mine. Left without any choice, I quietly tasted her work.

It was delicious as usual.

But even so, I still want to eat more meat.

…

He's easily flustered.

After saying my goodbyes to the new service club, I made my way out of the main building. By that time, the sky was already dyed in orange.

As I walked along with other students, I spotted him standing just beyond the gate. Different from the rest of the mingling students, he stood alone apart from any of them. Hands placed in his pockets, he was staring listlessly into space. This aloof person was certainly not hard to spot in the masses.

What a lonely looking person. At the same time, his figure made quite a sight.

I resisted the urge to take a photo and instead quickened my pace.

He was so focused on his thoughts that he did not notice me approaching him. Feeling a little playful and perhaps a little daring as well, I sneaked behind him and placed both of my hands on his face, covering both of his eyes.

The action made his back stiffen in my chest before he slumped.

I noticed that my action attracted quite the amount of attention from our fellow students, some staring in blatant shock at my daring display of familiarity.

The person I'm holding just sighed as he probably figured the reason for the sudden silence around us.

Oops?

I released him from my hold and he turned to me with a red face that even the orange sky cannot quite conceal.

Coughing into his hand, he addressed me.

"I didn't notice you."

"Obviously, you were too distracted by your nonsensical and erotic thoughts."

"They're not erotic damn it!"

"So they're nonsensical?"

Our exchange of words made me completely forgot that I just practically declared our relation to the student body. The two of us walked side by side away from the school, there was almost no space between our arms and I find myself not minding it.

"So where to?"

Today was a little different from the others.

Normally, the two of us would immediately go towards the station and say our goodbyes. But today, I specifically told him that we were going to make a little detour before going home.

"There's a café nearby that Komachi-san recommended."

"What's so special about it?"

"She said that they serve cat shaped pancakes."

"Figures… and where is Komachi now?"

"She's already on her way home. It seems that she did not want to intrude on our date."

"I see… wait, we're on a date?"

He turned in surprise, making me sigh. It seems that this person is more clueless than me in these matters. I grabbed my phone and opened a digital map, at the same time, my other hand found his arm easily and clasped it.

I could feel the muscles beneath his blazer tense and my eyes left the screen of my phone momentarily to take a look at his face. He was blushing.

I smiled to myself and we continued on our way.

The establishment itself was not very fancy. Painted with plain colors and with white wooden fence surrounding it, it didn't fit the modern setting that Chiba had. The two of us made way inside where we chose a table facing the wall where a painting of daisies hanged.

I see, so the cat pancakes are not the main sellers…

I made our order and let my eyes roam around the place. In our hurry I failed to notice that there were other students here from our school, most of them were girls and thankfully, none of them were from my class. Sitting beside me, Hikigaya-kun had his eyes closed and tapping the wooden table with his fingers following a rhythm.

Grabbing my phone, I opened the camera and discreetly took a picture of him. Maybe it was because of what happened early this morning, but I had a sudden desire of having more photos of him in my phone. I checked the recent photo comparing it to his earlier picture. Both were the same person, but different from his grumpy morning self, the recent picture showed a more relaxed Hikigaya-kun… it looks quite cool.

Maybe I'll set it as my homescreen image…

Our order arrived rousing him from his trance.

Komachi-san said that they served pancakes in the likeness of cats, however, seeing the actual thing made me somewhat disappointed. Although, the food looked appetizing, I was expecting something cuter.

Hikigaya-kun noticed this.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing. I may have expected something else."

"I see. I'll send pictures of Kamakura later then."

"Truly? Then you have my thanks."

Just when he was about to start cutting his own pancake, my hands reached out to stop him. He stared at me for a moment, and then to the phone in my other hand.

"You're getting awfully familiar with that."

His eyes met mine.

"Geez, alright fine…"

Smiling at him, I brought my phone in front of us, making sure to focus on the person beside me rather the food. Hikigaya-kun was resting his face on his hand, staring at the camera with an almost bored look. That won't do.

So in a tone that only he can hear…

"Hikigaya-kun, I love you."

The result was immediate; his eyes grew wide and his lips drew together in a cute way to express surprise all the while his face turned red.

SNAP!

Sometimes, this person is even cuter than cats.

…

The last volume was not what I expected. But hey they were cute.