Summary: In which Hikigaya Komachi is killed and Hikigaya Hachiman does his dutiful job as an older brother. Inspired by Zetsuen no Tempest. Slight use of characters / character mentions from Kaguya-sama: Love is War.

Rating: T

Tags: seinen, drama, adventure, emotional turmoil

Disclaimer: Characters are property of Watari Wataru, ponkan8, Akasaka Aka.

Hikigaya Komachi was dead. Hikigaya Komachi was dead. HIKIGAYA KOMACHI WAS DEAD. That truth rang harshly in his ears. It was hard to let that sink in, but it was real. Very much real. When he discovered the body, he screamed. When he saw her face, he wept.

Hikigaya Hachiman felt a portion of his soul die that day.

And so did one other person. Me. After all, she had been my girlfriend. And I loved her. Even when I had to pretend I barely recognized her as a woman; even when I had to go out of my way just to say "Hello" to her in private, to hear her laugh in her room, to keep the rest of my friends and family in the dark as to whom my girlfriend was.

All the conditions she set upon me didn't matter; Komachi was just that special a girl.

But she wasn't here with me anymore. She wasn't smiling, laughing, running, jumping, hugging, teasing, joking, studying, talking, loving; she wasn't doing any of that anymore. Because some sick individual decided that she needed to die.

Hikigaya Hachiman had been missing for three months; in a week, it was going to be four. And yet the world seemed wholly unconcerned. Entirely so. His parents said nothing but they kept a shrine for their daughter in the house. There was no trace, however, of their heir and son.

So then it became my duty to mourn two people. After all, seeking revenge was to dig two graves; no stranger could have wrested hurt from me but the loss of my best friend on top of losing my girlfriend was a painful thought.

Until I ran into him again.

I thought I had been imagining things but those eyes were unmistakable. Sitting atop the roof was Hikigaya Hachiman in his raw glory. Somehow, his gaze had become even nastier. Before, his eyes were aloof and unpleasant. Now, they leaked malice. And yet his face still possessed that same magnetic draw; one of gritty, distasteful charisma. "Yo."

"Hachiman," I greeted back.

"How have you been?"

I paused and wondered how to answer that. My heart was hurting and he just waltzed in like nothing had happened; so very much like him, easily ignorant of the feelings of others for the sake of his own. I almost smiled at the thought. As to answering his question, I settled on the truth. "I miss you. And Komachi."

"I'm surprised. When I asked around, I heard from the locals that a young boy kept putting fresh flowers on her grave every week." His cheek was bruised, but only the barest remains of what must've been a blue spot were visible. He was nursing it tenderly.

"That's because she must be feeling lonely; her older brother left her to chase a villain. She likes when he plays hero, but she likes it best when he's with her, right?" I had no shame in attacking his weak points; after all, he possessed the same faults as myself. Then I smiled like I always did. "Besides, how was I to know that grave wasn't going to be yours? I kept it neat and tidy for the two of you."

Hachiman laughed. "You're a weird one, but I like you. I guess that's why we're friends, aren't we?"

It was hard to contain the anger. He was gone for so long and this was all he had to say. But, I reasoned, he must have had his own reasons and methods to cope. I stared off into the distance as I remembered his younger sister. The Hachiman I was accustomed to seeing laughed a lot, and I did miss him. And yet, this image of him was marred by an undercurrent of mixed emotions.

His laughter was genuine, but so was his grief. Almost as though it was hurting him just to be here. Probably because Komachi would have attended this high school soon enough.

I sighed and brushed some locks behind an ear. He probably wasn't going to talk much for a while. My next words were spoken knowing that he valued that he could let himself at ease by my side. "You know, Komachi often said I wasn't good enough for you. That stung quite a bit. After all, I've known you since I could walk. I don't think I'm too weird, though. I think everyone else is much odder than we are."

He let silence sit between us for some time. The reds of the sky had begun to meld with the oranges and the yellows and a thin veneer of pink lilted its way about the clouds. The sun was a soft, warm feeling. And then he snapped that calmness in two.

"I'm going to find Komachi's killer." It was said with the same conviction as months prior. "I have allies now. You might not like it. But it's what I'm willing to do if it takes me through the thorny path. Have you heard of the Yukinoshita?"

I felt my brows raise. They were new money; almost new blood entirely. Whispers rang amok when a relatively unknown man seemed to float his way into a position of power within Chiba prefecture's government. Everyone held suspicions about them, Nevertheless, I saw his point. Their reputation didn't matter; their power did. Still, I had to ask. "You know they're dangerous, right? And that they're almost certainly guaranteed to turn on you once your use to them is up?"

He laughed again. "I know. But I don't care. To me, there is nothing more important than Hikigaya Komachi and her death; to me, there is no greater sin upon this world, no greater blight." Then he leaned forward and his eyes glinted with madness. His expression shifted into a sneer as he spoke bitterly, his voice raw with emotion. "What does it matter that I turn Chiba upside down to find out the truth of a matter that means more than the entire world?"

Hachiman was desperate. He was angry. He was hurting. But he wasn't mad. Not really. Everything he did made sense. Hikigaya Komachi held a place of idolatry in Hikigaya Hachiman's heart; nothing was ever going to overwrite that fact. And to settle his heart, he was willing to take as many steps as he needed to let Komachi's death be resolved in a manner of justice.

"Justice is beauty; and beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder."

I closed my eyes. "I agree."

"So then, will you help me?"

I thought back to my idyllic life. My friends. My family. My hobbies and habits and all the places and things I saw and did with Hikigaya Komachi, remembered how brilliant her eyes sparkled or the way she shushed me when she was flustered, recalled how brilliantly wistful she sounded when she said she wished that we didn't have to hide in front of her brother because she loved us both so damn much.

"Yes."

It wasn't easy, but I had to integrate myself with the Yukinoshita, too. And according to my best friend, the simplest way to do so was to remain in school and get in contact with the second daughter.

"Greetings, Yukinoshita-san." I smiled at her as I sat down at the other end of the table, a book in my hand. "Any requests so far today?"

"None whatsoever." Her voice didn't waver, nor did it complain. It amazed me that a girl with such shaky confidence could admit things like this with ease.

"Shame." I thanked her for the warm tea and The Tempest to my favorite scene. "That's a new one, Yukinoshita-san. Did you not like The Prince?"

"No. I simply finished it. The Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis were suggested to me by a… common acquaintance of ours." She whispered the last bit with a hint of a flush. She held her cheek with one hand as she pretended to get lost in her book.

I had to bite back a smile. Ah, Hachiman. Always attracting stragglers wherever he went. I decided to twist the knife a little. "He does have a certain taste to him, doesn't he?" Her face reddened even further. "Don't worry. I doubt you're the type he'd take with him on his adventures; you're a princess but he's not a dark knight. Besides, I think you're a bit young for him."

She blinked; her visage morphed into a scowl and a blizzard tempered its way into the room. It was fun teasing such a cute girl; perhaps it was wrong, but I hadn't had this much fun since I was able to talk to Komachi. It was at this point that I felt like smiling was the right thing to do; I tilted my head just a bit and grinned. "I think Haruno-nee-san is much more his cup of tea, no?"

"You are… truly a devil. After all, devils are just cruel angels. How is this even possible?" She sighed. Then muttered, "One of you looks like a demon and acts like a saint, the other looks so serenely angelic but acts like an imp."

That was cute; in fact, it was exactly how Komachi explained us. I lifted a brow. "You think I'm angelic?"

Yukinoshita waved a hand dismissively. "Everyone thinks you look like an angel."

Ah. I grinned again. "Of course, no one actually thinks I'm one, though."

"Quite. And while I know you are just teasing, your words do carry a particular sting to them."

I shrugged. "My girlfriend never complains."

Yukinoshita's head snapped toward me. In the month that I had known her, I had never once told her I had a partner. "Oh? Someone like you is able to keep one? That's surprising… Like I said, you have the face of an angel but the persona of a demon. Whoever puts up with you must be a superwoman of some sort. At any rate, I figured that Hikigaya-kun would have told me such a detail about you; after all, to get involved with my family is less than savoury. You'd be best to keep her safe."

"Oh, she'll never get caught up in this. As to how I know she's safe; even Hachiman doesn't know who she is and he's my best friend." My smile never wavered. "She's fine with this because she knows that helping my best friend is just something I have to do."

"My, what an… admirable partner you have there. She's fine with you risking your life so carelessly for a best friend she's never met and for his dead sister, all while spending time with a beautiful young woman such as myself? Wouldn't she be scared that after so much time you would be drawn away from her?"

I suppose that her snark and pride never laid low for long; however, her counterattack was weak. "Of course," I admitted. "She knows that she's not the best looking girl in the world; I don't have to tell her that. So I don't. But I do tell her that I love her. Even if I have to tell her a thousand times, which I do, that she's the one for me. You might be more beautiful, but you're not her. She doesn't mind me being on this chase because she knows I think it's the right thing to do; what right does she have to stop me?"

The girl across from me shut her jaw with an audible click as she flushed a vibrant red. She turned away, unable to look me in the face as she rubbed her forehead. "You and Hikigaya-kun… are certainly not the definition of normal. What is wrong with you two?"

The laugh that came out of my stomach was light and joyful. "Who knows? If there is a God, then maybe him; if there are gods, then maybe all of them, some of them, or none of them. But as far as I can see, he and I are the normal ones here."

"Ara, ara, aren't you cute today?" Yukinoshita Haruno was a woman of many whims. She was happy-go-lucky and luxuriously generous; she was a wonderful person capable of many good things, in spite of the rumors. She was also Hachiman's newest lover and most certainly not his only one; but, she was the most useful because she gave him the power he needed, the power he craved.

And she knew it. She adored the way he had to crawl before her, prostrated himself without protest or hesitation when she jokingly mentioned she might help him out. Ever since then, she had attached herself to his side with a smile on her face. A beautiful one; one that showed she was entirely enamored with him.

I smiled back at her. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you? Rather, should I be calling you beautiful instead? Which do you think is more appropriate, Haruno-nee-san?"

"Oho, do you hear that, Hachiman, Yukino-chan?"

"That's utterly despicable," Yukinoshita the younger harrumphed, "what kind of boyfriend are you? This level of flirting shouldn't be tolerated."

Hachiman laughed. Of course he was amused; I was, too. "I don't think his girlfriend minds at all, right?"

"Of course not," I said easily and immediately. "If she didn't have faith in me, how could I have faith in her, too? I already told you before, Yukinoshita-san. After all, Haruno-nee-san is most definitely cute and beautiful, more so than she is, but she's not the one I love. And isn't that what's most important?"

My friend slapped my back. "Quite. You say things well. Very well."

A silence of comfort began to settle; a silence so comfortable that it became unbearable. I cleared my throat and moved on before we let things lie in complacency. It was time to regroup. "So," I said, "what else have you found so far?"

Suddenly, the hand on my shoulder stiffened and in opposition to the cold that Yukinoshita members seemed to emit, it felt like an inferno fizzled, bubbled its way to a boil, suffocating us in its ashes and embers. Hachiman always did have a strong grip.

"There are several candidates." His voice dropped to a hoarse quality. "Some of them, many of them, have connections within your high school, believe it or not."

My neck stood ramrod straight and I felt myself jolt off of the sofa "What."

Hachiman would never joke about something like this; suddenly, a raw, gnawing sensation crawled out of the pit of my stomach. Hikigaya Komachi - my Komachi! - was perhaps killed by someone who I knew? Who I might have shared a meal with? Joked with? Laughed with?

"Shocking, isn't it," Haruno added drily.

"How certain are you?"

"Not very. But some lead is better than none."

That was something I was not okay with. Not one bit. I glanced around the room but everyone seemed content to smile and sip their tea. Truly, the Yukinoshita were as fearsome as Hachiman himself.

"Not if you're throwing innocents under the bus," I snapped. "Justice is justice, and it is beauty. But if you're wrong and we hurt someone else, then what―"

"I don't care," Hachiman cut in. "I said it before, and I'll say it again. I. Don't. Care. If I have to turn Chiba, Japan, or the whole world upside down, I will. I will find Komachi's killer, and then I'll kill him. Or her. And there's no fence sitting about this. You're either on my team or off it."

"I'm all for your team, Hachiman. Never, ever imply that I don't care about this as much as you do; you're my best friend." Perhaps it was a mistake to let loose so much, but I was shaken. "I don't know if there's a right thing or a wrong thing, but if we go about this without care, we're not any better than her murderer."

"No," he shook his head, his eyes furious as he looked at me. "We always will be. Because above all, Hikigaya Komachi was the game's most valuable player and the only one who mattered."

I looked around me. Both sisters looked at Hachiman in awe; one with reverence and the other with envy. It was truly amazing to me that no matter how he looked on the outside, he always knew how to draw others to him. It was like moths to a flame. People gravitated towards him without him even trying but when he wanted them to, they were incapable of setting him on any plane less than the stars.

Even I was a victim to this power. I closed my eyes briefly and hoped that Komachi was watching over us.

"So tell me, then, who are your suspects?"

It was a shame that I wasn't more popular; it would have helped tremendously. Oh, I knew a lot of people, but there were definitely a fair number of others that didn't like me. Among my classmates, however, I was most involved with the girls, for better or for worse.

Kawasaki Saki and Miura Yumiko both could not stand me for whatever reason, but I supposed for the former it was because we were once friends. She didn't quite like the fact I began to monopolize Hachiman around the fourth grade. Nor did she enjoy the fact that I had beaten her in every martial arts competition in spite of my lean and short stature. As for Miura, she was merely distant and just uninterested in me; perfectly fine, after all. You don't become friends with all of your classmates.

However, speaking of friends, I did get on with theirs. Ebina Hina had always been nothing but soft-spoken and kind to me. Yuigahama Yui, too. They treated me with warmth and welcome and always opened their arms for a hug. In truth, I think it's because Yui has the slightest bit of a crush on me and because Ebina has a thing for pretty boys.

Guys like Tobe Kakeru and Hayama Hayato did not avoid me but they did not approach me either. In fact, the only one who did have conversation with me regularly was this boy by the name of Zaimoukuza. A strange kid, but a pure, innocent one.

And any one of them might have been the thread that would take us to Komachi's killer.

"Sai-chan, are you okay?" Yuigahama looked at me, concerned. I smiled back at her and nodded and she flushed as she always did, adorably and vibrantly. "If you have anything troubling you, you can always share with me, you know?"

"Of course, Yui-chan. Don't forget, the same applies to you as well." I felt someone tackle me from behind. Hina was sneaky like that. "I didn't forget you either, Hina-san."

Why were they both so easy to excite? Both so easy to like? It was hard separating myself from them but I had to do it. Ebina and Yui bounded off to greet Miura and the rest of their clique and I let myself wander out of the classroom and up to the roof.

I sighed as I stood near the edge, gripping the metal lattice softly. It was beautiful, this sight. The grasses were carefully kept, the trees and brushes groomed, the athletic fields and such were the embodiment of a normal, colorful life.

"How have you been?" The voice was neither cutting nor rough but it was halfway between a hesitant question and a grunt. I almost laughed. This was the first thing she had said to me since the funeral.

I didn't bother to turn around. "Not bad, Saki. As for Hachiman, well, he's been off on his own. You know how he is." And she did. Kawasaki Saki was the last in our trio from primary school but the first to depart from it. "How's Taishi taking it?"

Her younger brother was Komachi's best friend; I had no doubts that he was struggling to make it through the day. Last I heard, he was screaming and sobbing and locked himself in his room. Poor kid; worse, he even had a crush on her all the while he knew she had a boyfriend. I pitied him.

"He's… not well. But he will make it. He will." Saki needed more conviction if she wanted to convince herself of that. "He's still mourning."

"So what made you decide to talk to me now of all times? Hachiman hasn't been here for a while and you hate me. You hate the fact that we were always closer; after all, you hate the fact that he loved me, loves me, more than you. That he didn't see your small childhood crush." It didn't take a genius to literally feel her wincing.

She let out a heavy breath. "Can't say that's undeserved. I just…. I've been doing a lot of thinking. And I want to apologize. Not start over, but apologize; I know that I was silly, stupid really, and I know there's not really a time or place to make up for it. But I just want to say I'm sorry and if you ever need a shoulder, you should find help. I don't think I'm that person, but given what's been happening to Taishi, I think you should seek help."

Saki hesitated for a bit, biting her lip as she always did when she was nervous. "After all, weren't you and Komachi dating?"

My heart dropped and I turned to her. She wasn't surprised that the snarl had broken out from under my skin. "Did she tell you?" I knew she didn't. But I had to know how Saki knew. My eyes never left hers.

She shook her head and clutched an elbow. "No. It was just coincidence; I caught the two of you out one time. And I hadn't thought much of it, really. You were always around her anyway. In fact, it was only something I realized the other day. And it wasn't even like I really thought about it. It just occurred to me."

The fact that she hadn't told anyone was amazing. It also told me that she understood what it meant that Hikigaya Komachi was my girlfriend. And given how no one knew so far, it meant that I was in the clear and that she wasn't going to tell anyone. Not even Hachiman himself. A rush of gratitude and relief filled me. But it was too much; I cracked. I laughed, and fell.

"I don't need help, Saki. But thanks for asking, anyway. You know, you're the only one."

"But why though?"

"What could I have said to him: 'Oh hey, Hachiman, you know that sister you said is too good for anyone in the world? Yeah, I'm actually dating her.' Yeah, no. He'd kill me if he knew." I laughed some more as I wiped my eyes.

It was a testament to how much Saki understood that she actually nodded along. Hikigaya Hachiman was not someone who abided by social laws; he truly was a sociopath. When something crossed his boundaries, they crossed them for good and he made good on his end of his deals. That was part of the reason people were so drawn to him; the reason why Saki and I were swept up in his gravitas.

We stood in peace for some time and it made me sad that we hadn't done so in quite a while. Eventually, she spoke up, breath heavy. "I know I said we're not starting over, because we can't; the slate is never wiped clean, no matter how hard you try. No matter what you do. But if you ever need me, I'm here."

She was really trying. And I couldn't hate her for that; I never did. But I never was sure where she was, though it seemed like she had grown into her own shoes recently. In a sad way, maybe Komachi's death had some good to it. Even if it was hard to find and I had to squint just to see a glimpse of that good. I told her, "Taishi sure is lucky to have an older sister like you. If you ever need someone too, don't be afraid."

Saki disappeared into the distance as she walked back downstairs. I stayed on the rooftop and disregarded the melancholy of the school bell.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Totsuka, that you have to start coming to class and staying there?"

"As many times as you feel like you want or need; but I have better things to be doing, Sensei."

"What happened to that cute kid who used to follow me around and give me all that respect?"

"That kid is still here, still respects you, still likes you, but is a healthy, normal teenage boy with a lot of time on his hands, some friends, and a girlfriend he loves very much." I knew the last line was a heavy-hitter and that Hiratsuka suffered from a large pang of self-doubt when it came to her ability to secure a partner. Not that she really should have been worried; she was beautiful, smart, independent, and… extremely violent. Oh well.

She sniffled. I laughed. "Don't worry, Sensei. The Yukinoshita take care of one of their own. Who knows, maybe Yukino-san and Haruno-san have a beautiful black haired prince of a cousin that you can snag for yourself. Otherwise you'll probably have to settle for Hachiman whenever he and Haruno-san decide to part ways."

"Ew. You're basically saying I'm second place and that I'm only good enough for used goods. Also, while I'm Yukinoshita in service, I hold no desire to be Yukinoshita in name. Being around them is scary enough; being married to them? I don't know if I'd survive that."

I shrugged. "Well, you're not Hachiman's first and would never have been; if he's yours, then that says something about you more than it does him. Oh, and he's not 'used goods.' He's experienced. Don't make him sound damaged."

"Hah. You think he's not? That kid's crazier than half the clan put together. Hell, half the reason Haruno likes him so much and that Yukino is in a tizzy whenever he's around is because he makes them all hot and bothered because he's a loony."

"Oh, I didn't say he wasn't. It's just that he's not completely banged up." I laughed at my terrible joke; Sensei glared. "And I don't think he's entirely clean or sane but Sensei, the way you called him 'damaged…'" my voice trailed off as I turned to look her directly in the eye. "It's not something I appreciate."

She shivered, recoiled, and took a moment to eye me up and down as though she was seeing me for the first time. "Good grief, you're a terrible child, don't you know? However did your parents get around to raising you?"

"That's easy," I admitted, "they didn't."

"Aah." The teacher in her was undoubtedly thinking about the effects of having or not having 'suitable' parental or adult figures in a child's early life. Her case studies: many of her students, me and Hachiman in particular. But probably not just us alone.

"So, is this just a courtesy call or is there any reason that we haven't met up with Yukinoshita-san yet? After all, time is of the essence."

"What, you too busy to contribute because you have a date or something?"

"Yeah, or something, I guess. Along those lines. But if it concerns Hachiman and Komachi, I'll always have time."

Hiratsuka had a look on her face that told me she was stuck between throttling me or resigning herself to my ways. The latter won out; we were still in school and walking around where the public could eye us. Violent as she was, she wasn't careless. Most of the time.

We found Yukinoshita in her abandoned classroom as per usual. She had, with the help of her sister and some other family, narrowed down the suspects to several persons and their relations: Yuigahama Yui, Hayama Hayato, and Kawasaki Saki.

And then I laughed and told them it wasn't the last one. When Yukinoshita hesitated, I put my foot down. I asked if she'd already told Hachiman what she considered and she shook her head. "Good. Because if you'd have told Hachiman, he might have actually slapped you." Both Sensei's and Yukinoshita's eyes widened. "Saki is a friend of ours from childhood; oh, there's certainly enough reasons for her to consider it; but she would never have done that to her younger brother. Who was Hikigaya Komachi's best friend, by the way."

They eyed me warily. There was no way they couldn't have known. Not a chance in hell. Hachiman would have admitted that easily, however strongly he disliked the boy. Taishi was an insect but he wasn't a monster, he always said. And it was true. By extension, they should have understood that Kawasaki Saki was no threat. Enamored with Hachiman, true; someone who could, would, inflict pain on him? Never.

This whole search began to reek of suspicion to me and I knew I had to get Hachiman alone. Because a feeling in my gut told me that the Yukinoshita agreed to help because the Yukinoshita knew if they could lead the blind, then the blind wolf would cull another shepherd's sheep.

It didn't help that Yukinoshita was always nervous to see me. For a spare, she was much less well-prepared than she should have been. That, or she was an excellent actor. Neither of which were favorably toward me.

"As for Yuigahama Yui or Hayama Hayato… that's interesting. Is it because you think that Yuigahama is interested in something about Hachiman or was in any way involved with your family's main branch, the Shinomiya?" If my words didn't startle them, my eyes-closed-smile should have. That secret was well-kept and I doubted even Hachiman knew of it. "Oh, sorry; not supposed to say that, right? She seems like such a nice girl; I heard, though, that she's related to an ally of the Shinomiya, the Fujiwara."

Her voice was hoarse, gritty, and fearful. Her three shades paler than normal, her words barely above whispers. "H-how..?"

I shrugged and gave the two a lazy, cursory glance as I stifled a yawn. "I have sources. But anyway, neither of you addressed the issue: is this just a family ploy? After all, I know that the Hayama have been in talks with several members of the Yukinoshita. And if I'm not mistaken, he was once your fiancé. Or rather, he might still be."

A fist attempted to smash my head into the wall; I ducked and rolled and kicked as I saw another coming for me, hissing as my legs felt like they hit a sack of bricks. Sensei recoiled and I took my chances. I jumped out the window and into the nearest tree, unable to contain my excitement or my laughter.

The chase was on as I ran through Chiba, aware that every other person watching could have been, might have been, a vassal or member to the prefecture's most dangerous family. God, it was hard to keep track of all these things. But I wasn't going to die here. No; I wasn't going to die until this matter was settled, finished in full.

And that end seemed many kilometres away now but it was a dream that I could almost taste; one that seemed tangible if given enough time.

We had been getting closer. Unfortunately, that distance only seemed to grow in spite of our progress; clearly there was something about this family, this clan, that had to be brought to light. Though, to be fair, that was my main concern. Hachiman's was, undoubtedly, still the same. All he wanted was revenge and justice. No matter who got in his way.

"Totsuka-kun, it's been a while."

Yukinoshita Yukino was quite a bit calmer than I remember her. And quite a bit prettier too. The flush that adorned her cheeks may have come from the summer heat, but a small part of me wished that it was because of yours truly.

The curvature of her hips was no better than before, her slenderness remained, her figure slim, undetermined, and pitiful compared to many, and yet, still there was a beauty to her eyes, her hair, the length of her legs and the small quirks of her lips. An ethereal thing she was, this little fairy.

It hurt, looking at her. Because in spite of being beautiful, she did nothing but bring me back to the thought of my beloved. She even had a cuteness about her insecurity, converse to my lover, but I adored it like so. Perhaps because she complemented Komachi. Looking at her always left this twist in my gut. And I hated it. Hated the fact that she drew me in.

I smiled at her. "So it has. Are you aware that I am aware of those watching us? We do not deal in the darkness. I know you have a few people watching us. Honestly, if it's going to be like this, I prefer not to meet at all. But then again, I'm not sure what you people can't trace."

She maintained her silence. How annoying, I thought.

I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair."At any rate, what compels someone like you, a creature of logic, to search for a person your parents have deemed 'off limits?' You certainly seemed to have swallowed a lemon or two last I saw you."

Hesitation crept through her and she sat even more upright. She averted her gaze as she took a breath and steeled herself. "I need your help."

"Ah, but what could I do for a girl like yourself?"

"I think I'm in love with Hikigaya Hachiman."

Ah, what a shame. She really set her sights on the untouchable. But I wasn't going to let her know that. I liked that she was straight to the point this time; much less work wasted. Though, I had already guessed why I had been called here. I smiled at her; was this all she had for me? No, I told myself. She wouldn't have arranged all this just to tell me something I already knew. However, while she was direct, Yukinoshita still didn't seem too confident. "I've heard that phrase a number of times, you know?"

"I'm serious."

"That follow-up is only a fifty percent mark, and you're not anywhere near the first to have said that to me."

She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes, displeased by the playfulness of my words. No wonder her parents kept her in the dark so often; for someone who strove to abide by logic, she sure didn't really understand it. If she wanted to employ my services against the likes of Hikigaya Hachiman and Yukinoshita Haruno, there was a level of expectation that had to be met and she was far from it.

Attracted to her I was, but I wasn't head over heels. And this was one of the many reasons why. There was always something off about her. Ironically, it made her even more appealing to me. Imperfection was a sign of humanity and it was something I had long ago realized I admired. Perfection was the scoundrel that stole away all hope but mistakes were the notches of love that carved their way through the thick of said, there was still a measure of respect I had to have for someone before they held any true sway over me and Yukinoshita Yukino had yet to earn it.

Logic was a human construct; it only made sense that humans should know how to wield it or understand it. I didn't understand how or why she struggled with it so much. Even Hachiman, someone whose entire existence was predicated on things that made sense, was able to see things.

Still, in spite of all her flaws Yukinoshita was a powerful young woman. I just wondered how much girl was left in her. "So, what are you on about? What could you actually use me for?" The question seemed obvious but I needed her to say it. She needed to come to terms with her inner struggles and to face her fears. I kept my eyes trained on hers and waited.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Do I, Yukino-chan?" I asked mockingly; she was startled to see such an expression on my face. "Surprised, are you? But why? After all, I get on so well with Hachiman; I'm his best friend. And well, despite the fact that we seem to be at odds, Haruno-san is not so bad at all. She has a fun role to play; she enjoys it, I can tell. At least a lot of the time. But what about you?"

Her scowl was as vicious as it was adorable. Sort of. She hadn't swallowed any lemons but the tang of a sour, bitter flavor flushed itself into her huffed cheeks. Resignation didn't suit princesses. She was boring, I decided. And that wasn't very attractive whatsoever. But oh well, I thought, humming to myself. I had no pity to spare on her. Not any more.

I stood to leave until she spoke again. "I want Hikigaya Hachiman." The conviction was firm, even if her words were slow. "And I need your help."

"The only way you could win him from your succubus of a sibling is to present him with something infinitely more valuable."

"And I have that."

Oh? Intrigued, I turned myself around and sat back down. "Explain. Because you've already taken up too much of my time and you're risking the both of us right now. And as cute as you are, I don't think I have it in me to take a bullet for you anytime soon."

"Stop that! Jeez, really; how did a guy like you end up with a girlfriend…" Yukinoshita coughed as she covered her face with the back of her hand. That vibrant red still caught my eye as I hummed at her knowingly. Her glower did nothing to me. In fact, it made me even more curious about her; how isolated was this girl? This wasn't even all that much.

She must have owned at least one mirror; there was no reasonable manner in which she could have told herself she was not attractive. And yet, as much as she was attracted to Hachiman, it seemed that my flirting was still a new concept to her. Not that I was too surprised; living in Yukinoshita Haruno's shadow was a hard task. It was odd to think about but I might have been the first boy to see her even when the two sisters were in the same room. However, instead of questioning her, I simply responded, "The world is a cruel and unfair place."

The truth of that statement made her flinch; my glare was unrelenting. She sighed. "It's always so strange to me how well you seem to fit in with the monsters of the world but appear so much Man. At any rate, I suppose I should be getting to the point. I think I have a clue as to whom it might be. But," she paused, "I cannot go any further. The only thing I've found of note is that there is a potential contact for you. All I ask is that you don't let my name slip."

Yukinoshita was trembling; this was genuine fear. And yet she was willing to leap forward for a chance to be with Hachiman. To fight. Her hiding was not cowardice; it was a calculated gamble. And it worked. At least, its current phase. She had me. Love was truly a crazy thing. What could I have said in the face of that other than this: "I promise."

The contact provided was of immense help, though she apologized that she couldn't spare any more effort. Too much attention and even someone like her would have been caught, she said. I had told her I understood and walked away from our exchange with care. Saize was a risky place to meet at, but hiding in plain sight for the first meet and greet was the best thing we had agreed upon. Especially since I had become mostly unrecognisable in comparison to the boy I was before.

It had been six weeks since my meeting with Yukinoshita and in that time I had gone to great lengths to change my appearance. Gone were the comfortable locks of hair, replaced by styled spikes; at least for now. My hair color changed every other week, or whenever the style change was too drastic. There were some days where a more feiminine approach was taken, but I had switched the way my hair looked with practiced ease. Komachi always loved to play with it and I had grown it out for her in the past. And if I ever felt the need for something extra, my closet had enough sets of clothing to switch Totsuka Saika out for anyone in the world. I even wore colored contacts half the time and glasses, too.

The means to do such were provided, courtesy of one Yukinoshita Yukino. Victory, this victory, was something she was willing to do anything for, even if it ended up pyrrhic. And I agreed. It took me a while to recognize why she was so devoted, and it wasn't just her desire for Hachiman.

It was because she was like me. The story struck a chord in her and her sense of justice and logic dominated her emotionally confused mind. At this point, Yukinoshita had to know. She had to figure it out. If not for Hachiman, for the pursuit of truth. Even if it meant undoing herself.

In a way, considering how well Hachiman and I got along, she seemed like, on the surface, a fairly good candidate to be his partner given out similarities. It was true that he was a wild child and needed someone to rein him in, but no one could reign over a king. And he was a one man kingdom whose wild personality was a tempest. A blast of a tempest, one might say.

But while opposites attracted, they also didn't always pan out when the sparks grew into flames. I had a sinking suspicion that Hachiman also purposely was guiding her to me because he knew that she wasn't the one for him. Plus, he knew I wasn't also going to mistreat Yukinoshita nor try to date her because he knew I loved my girlfriend.

The contact and I met up again after another three weeks of torturous elusion. The information she provided was invaluable but was an arduous puzzle to piece together. She admitted that doing any more would have compromised her; I held up a hand and let her know that any progress was okay. Science, the greatest of mankind's achievements, was a process; it was, and hopefully never would be, finished. And it was a long-con, a few centuries of waiting just to get to where we were now, I told her. As long as she did what she could, that was enough.

She flushed and beamed, though not in the way Yukinoshita did around me. This girl was one who was accustomed to praise though not the spotlight. This one was also a sly, cunning little devil who knew the use of all feminine wiles. But in the end, what I knew was that she was a cute, sweet girl, almost as sweet as Yui. She was a nice girl.

"Are you sure you're safe," I heard myself ask. Man, I had too much of a soft spot for girls like this. "If you really need anything, don't be afraid to let me know."

She shook her head and said she was okay. Which she was, until next we met.

When I saw her again, she was huffing harder than a marathoner and weak. Her hair was a mess, her clothes still intact, but not a smudge of dirt on anything other than her trainers. My brows rose. This girl was energetic but she had always been, at the very least, presentable and aware of how she carried her looks. For her to have been so rushed was unsettling.

A hard drive was pressed into my hand. She told me she hadn't had time to analyze all the data, but was sure that it was either a journal, visual-audio recording, or both. A sinking feeling clenched my gut at her admission and I knew that it was something bad.

I laid her down on the couch and draped a blanket over her. It was the least I could have offered her. She hadn't taken well to any touching so I limited myself; I didn't pry, I didn't comment. She just requested a shower and some food before she had curled up and almost instantly passed out.

My hideaway didn't have much, but this was one of the apartments my parents happened to not care about. Plus, if this was compromised, the box unit two blocks down was more than enough to compensate for time to figure out what was going on.

What I found, however, drove me mad. Insanity and rage weren't two sides to the same coin but they came together often enough that no one was surprised by their affairs. In the case of my own, it felt impossibly hard to keep the trembling down to a minimum.

Like I had told Yukinoshita, life was cruel and it was unfair. And I had always thought to myself I knew the accuracy of that statement. Now, after having seen what I did, I wasn't quite sure. What I was certain of both before and after seeing this was that Hikigaya Komachi did not deserve that lot in her life; how she might have been avenged or why so, I didn't know.

I wasn't detached from this; Komachi was my girlfriend. She was my friend. My best friend's sister. A human to whom I had grown attached and developed a large, complex amount of emotion for. So there definitely were biases taken into account given my relationship with her. But as a human, I knew that what was done to her wasn't quite okay.

And suddenly, I realized this: thank God, or gods, I wasn't Hikigaya Hachiman. Because if he were me, or if he were the one seeing this, the world would have been turned asunder.

Something in me snapped at the thought. The cruelty of life, the unfairness of fate, wasn't a revelation but it became a mantra. But what was revealed was horrifying and I knew I was even more committed than before. I wasn't going to go for the throat like Hachiman; I was going to aim for the limbs. Death was a sweet penalty and one of release. Mine was one of remorse and refinement, an aging wine that would only grow richer over time.

I glanced back at the sleeping girl whose actions cause a cataclysm. I envied that restful sleep of hers. There hadn't been a good night of sleep since the day before my girlfriend died. And now, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to rest. But I knew I had to lay her to it.

And so I got to planning.

"So it was you all along, Meguri." There was no accusation in her voice nor resignation nor surprise. It made me wonder how long she knew, or at least how long she suspected. Her eyes moved like a hawk circling its prey but to me it looked like said prey wasn't willing nor ready to surrender its life.

She shrugged. "I'm not sorry, Haruno-nee."

Shiromeguri Meguri was a girl who I still did not understand, in spite of having spent the better part of four months on the run with her and several more before that in rather discreet meetings. She was a lovely girl most of the time, truly, but situations like this, I had learned, was when she shone.

Her eyes were not those of a hawk, her demure nature not an act. And yet there was undoubtedly some deep ferocity that emanated from her. A rather well-kept tool, to be frank. More than a pawn, less than a queen; not quite a bishop, not quite a rook. Her loss as a cause to the Yukinoshita was a hard one, I was sure.

Unfortunately, people like them didn't take losses too well and preferred confrontation and compensation over it. And that demand led us to where we were - quite a bit away from everyone else in a small corner of town, littered with buildings meant for condemnation.

"Why did you turn on us? Nothing in our records indicate any relation to Totsuka Saika whatsoever. What hold does he have over you?" Why did you turn on me, she didn't say. Haruno, I'd reasoned, could not give any less about Shiromeguri's relation to the Yukinoshita. But she was curious because this was her protégé. And no one touched what was hers.

"I'd like to not be ignored," I added drily. "You could always ask me, you know, Haruno-nee-san. After all, neither one of us is more likely to lie to you than the other."

That made her giggle. "You two are so cute. Tell me, is this your secret girlfriend, Totsuka-kun?"

I shook my head. "No. Not at all. My relation to her is special because it isn't. And you're just going to have to live with not knowing the exact specifics. However," I paused, "I can throw you a bone. Remember who the Yukinoshita crossed in order to gain power; you are a branch family, after all."

It amazed me that Yukinoshita Haruno embodied the blizzard; cold, tempestuous, and enduring. Unrelenting. Undaunted. Her mask did not crack, her smile did not waver. The dots clicked in her head faster than I finished my speech, and all she had to show for it was that devious twinkle in her eye."Ah."

Shiromeguri Meguri had never been Yukinoshita because she had always been Yukinoshita. She was a cousin several times removed from that branch family line and would never inherit, no matter how many people died or were disowned. But Shiromeguri Meguri was a smart girl; why take over the Yukinoshita when it would do her nothing? Why pretend to be more than she was for no gain?

The answer: because to gain is to lose; to work is to toil. Shiromeguri had been promised something and that something was worth the weight of treason against one of the most powerful families in the entire prefecture with ties to the most powerful family in current Japan.

And as for myself? I was the intermediary between Shiromeguri and that other group.

Yukinoshita Yukino had thought she was sending me a missive, throwing me her spare change. She sought to use me as much as I did her; however, she kept her eyes trained on the wrong person. She ignored those beneath her, a mistake that someone as seasoned as Haruno would never have made. It was obvious to me that, while she knew Shiromeguri Meguri was an acquaintance and useful member to her family, Yukino did not understand the value of such a tool. Rather than give me a butcher's blade, she gave me a Swiss Army knife. It was clear to me that Yukino had no idea that her meeting with me in regards to giving me help had been carefully planned by Shiromeguri.

Our truce was one that crept on eggshells and tightropes, with trades that threatened to tip the scales. And she had fallen short. In the end, an alliance was meant to benefit some more than others. After all, equality in an exchange is never fair. And in an exchange like this, the one who won was the one who planned but also the one who acted. That player was most certainly not Yukinoshita the younger.

"Shame; you're so good at what you do, Meguri." A genuine underlayment of remorse tinged Haruno's velvet voice. It yearned for and coaxed a reaction from the girl.

Which she got; more laughter. "I agree; it is a shame," she nodded. "I really like you, Haruno-nee. And when I moved through the ranks, I hadn't really thought about anything else but that promise; it was only after I got to know you that I felt the regret. After all, you can't regret doing bad things if you don't think they're mean beforehand."

I wasn't quite sure which one of them was going to make the first move but it didn't seem like it was going to be any time soon, which was troublesome. Actually, all the answers to this were troublesome and too problematic. But the stalemate was getting old. Pretty soon, one party was going to have to make its move. I glanced over to the side, where our audience seemed half-bored, half-confused. Hiratsuka Shizuka, Yukinoshita Yukino, Hayama Hayato, Yuigahama Yui, and Hikigaya Hachiman. All the central players. Sort of. I sighed as I reviewed my options and picked, most likely, the worst one. My next words drew everyone's attention.

"Tell me, Hachiman, did you know that you were related to Hayama over there?" All conversation stopped short and most people, even Shiromeguri, looked at me, surprised. The only people unfazed were Haruno and Hayama.

"Haah?"His look of disinterest was untouched but I knew that I had drawn him in. While he wasn't always in the mood to listen, he knew me well enough to know I only interjected when there was a point to be made. It was easy for me to guess that he was reviewing why Hayama seemed to watch him all the time, why the other boy seemed so carefully distant but always kept Hachiman in his view.

"Your great grandfather father was cast out of the family for something I'm not sure of, but basically, you guys are pretty closely related." I stepped closer toward Hachiman. "Haven't you wondered why the pursuit against you wasn't as heavy? Or as to how you went 'unseen' in certain places? I'm not sure how you escaped, but you were definitely given help by golden-boy over there.

"Now, I'd like to ask this: for what reason could the Hayama have to invest stock into a family that has been cast out of its branch? Think carefully for a moment, but I'll give you a hint: you are a boy." Komachi was a girl; the gears in his head started turning. I glanced at Yukinoshita Haruno, but he still didn't understand. I sighed. For all that he was smart, he sure was dull sometimes, that best friend of mine.

"You're a variable that they can control because you're eligible for integration into other families, in spite of coming from a disowned line. You'd be sent off to a branch, but you'd definitely have enough clout as a piece to them. And although you'd be marrying into those families, given who you are, I have no doubt that the Hayama realized you would usurp control of whatever group you were given to. In fact, it's almost a guarantee."

"But," I took a breath and stared at Hayama as I did so, "I'll give you another hint: Shinomiya Kaguya has two older brothers."

The ball rolled quickly from there. It took less than half a minute for the pieces to begin falling in place. He snapped; no roar escaped him but there was palpable, tangible fury that erupted from his body language. That everyone from the Yukinoshita faction flinched was amazing.

"Saika," he said softly. "What you mean to say, then, is that the Yukinoshita had Komachi killed because she could have been used by the Hayama family to pass them over and skip a contract with Yukinoshita Yukino in favor of some unnamed Shinomiya?"

I shook my head. "Perhaps. We'll never know exactly what happened." I would never tell him the truth. "But there is no doubt in my mind that they played a large part in her death. For that matter, it's possible that the Hayama were in on it as well. And for that, I can't forgive them. Well, maybe Yukino-chan, I can forgive. Understudies only shine when the main actor is cast away." It was my way of telling him to spare her; as mad as Hachiman was, he wasn't crazed enough to go for innocents. Vengeance was only vengeance when enacted upon those deserving of it.

He laughed. "God is cruel, Saika. He took my sister away from me and he gave me vengeance in the form of allies, allies, who, in fact, were the very demons who took her away from me, demons whom I gave myself to for the very vengeance they are withholding me from."

Then, he snarled. "Remember this, Yukinoshita Haruno, Hiratsuka Shizuka: you two have taken part in taking away my beloved little sister. And for that, I judge you Enemy. No matter what I have to go through in order to render you and your allies as corpses, I will go through that long and winding road, for the thorniest path leads to Heaven and the clean one departs for Hell."

Hachiman moved to Meguri and me as he made it clear that he no longer had ties with the other side. There was no feasible way for us to outrun them but none of us cared; the chase was going to be on our terms. If they followed, they would get hurt. Badly. That they hesitated spoke volumes of both their fear and respect toward him.

However, not all of them were newborn kittens. Hiratsuka Shizuka was a dragon and a tiger; she lunged for him and I swore as I forced myself to intercept. Hachiman caught her leg and threw her back. That was enough to make Haruno move but before she could, Meguri trapped them in smoke. We ran from there. The support the others had from the outside were watching us and I knew I heard the sound of bullets as I dragged Hachiman away. Shiromeguri had gone her own path and I knew she had gone to the Shinomiya.

The run was exciting and in spite of the mess, I laughed. The footsteps grew louder by the moment and yet the two of us were fleeing not in terror but with vigor. We were getting closer. One step at a time, we were nearing the goal.

We barely caught our breaths as we landed in one of Hachiman's detours. This safehouse was more of a hole in the wall than any of the others he'd ever had and much too barren. I distinctly avoided the bed in fear of what might have occurred on it and refused the couch for equal reason. I did not enjoy the smirk on Hachiman's face as I told him so. If I wasn't mistaken, I had to repress a shudder because Yukinoshita Haruno seemed extremely… enamored by Hachiman's declarations. The entirety of the time we spent fleeing the scene, I repeated: don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it.

The next few months were hard and bitter. The money from Yukinoshita had dried up and all avenues were closed to us. Or at least, that was what it would have been had she not, for some reason, kept the accounts open.

It was strange. I didn't quite understand what exactly she was doing; wasn't this matter because she wanted to know the truth? That she wanted Hachiman? He did not declare her an enemy but she had to have known that he would never love her at this point. Or at least, that the odds were slim to none.

So how could it have been that she was still actively submitting money to our cause? At this point, the best course of action for her was to erase whatever traces there may have been - which, knowing her, weren't many at all - and to move on as a full-fledged member of the Yukinoshita in support of their movement against us.

Though to be fair, I had very little information in regards to the inner politics of the Yukioshita at this point. What I had learned since, through the occasional tidbit from various sources, was that their relations with many of their allies had soured. Particularly with Hayama; in fact, Yukinoshita had actually sent a message some weeks back confirming that she and Hayama Hayato were no longer engaged and that there would not be any chance or discussion to make amends.

I frowned as I checked our financial status again and reviewed the list of items we had with us. We were fortunate, I supposed, that supplies were not low nor was money becoming scarce. Still, we lived frugally and indulged in little except for our own educations. Exceptions were calculated; after the first few impulse purchases had led some of the Yukinoshita and Hayama to us, we had agreed that we were not going to be careless again. Once was chance; twice was unlucky. Three times was deliberation. We were going to have to cut down a bit next month if Hachiman continued his raids; his travel expenses were beginning to pile up and we had to be careful that he wasn't going to get caught again.

Hachiman had run off three days ago and had yet to return. It wasn't unusual for him to take off nor was it unusual for him to have been gone for nearly a week; what was frustrating about this, however, was the lead he had this time seemed quite a bit off. He did not dismiss my concerns but the edges of his eyes tightened and I knew he had to go. Not that it cured my worry for him. He was the closest thing I had to family; he was the only person I could have called kin. But half the time he was kept inside, he was like a caged beast sitting here, frothing at the mouth as he waited for some opportunity. And cornered animals were the most dangerous. It was something we'd have to address; I just wasn't sure when.

Half the day had gone by since I woke and the sun was getting ready to sleep in an hour's time. I yawned and stretched against my futon, rubbing my eyes as I looked to my side. A ping drew my eyes to a message from an unknown number: "Will you meet me?"

My internal debate lasted all of two minutes.

Yukinoshita Yukino was, for the first time, unpleasant to look at. Not because she was marred or any uglier, no. But there was an unpleasantness to her visage; or perhaps, more accurately, lurking right beneath it. It was not her typical coldness or aloofness, nor was it the clutching of my chest as I watched her think about Hachiman. This was an emotion I couldn't quite name that struck caution in me as I approached her.

The park she selected was known for its amazing festivals and abundant crowds. But Yukinoshita stood out easily to me in that beret and scarf. She twirled her hair and scooted over so that I could sit next to her. Without looking at me, she said, "Hello, Totsuka-san."

"Yukinoshita," I greeted back. "What brings you here today? You're looking awfully tired. And don't tell me it's nothing to concern myself about; if you try to brush it off, I'll leave right now. I'm thankful you haven't pulled any of the funding, but I'm not certain what your game is."

She opened her mouth and closed it slowly, chewing her lip as she thought of what to say. She sighed. "Internal politics; after Hikigaya's latest stunt, Mother and Father have taken to aggressively hunting him down. Also, what you did back then is driving them mad. Nee-san is also upset because she's lost her favorite toy and yet, she seems happy that Hikigaya-kun is putting up such a resistance."

"Hachiman had nothing to do with the last hit, but I can see why your parents think so," I shrugged. That wasn't quite true but it was better for her to think it was Shiromeguri, just in case. That girl was a sly one, not quite a tanuki and yet also not a kitsune; I had to keep her in some measure of check. "I suppose it confuses you that Haruno is so strongly in pursuit of Hachiman, but the best thing I can tell you is not to dwell on it."

Her insecurities were beginning to surface again. She opened her mouth but flushed when I pressed a few fingers to her cheek and shut it. Bold it was, but I wasn't finished; she needed to hear what I had to say. "What I think is really going on is that you're finally thinking for yourself and you're realizing you're not sure what you want. You didn't have to be involved with this in the first place. And yet you're still here. Heck, I'm surprised you're still as committed as I am. It's rather risky for you to be here right now."

I stood up and she followed me along; to play the part, I tugged at her sleeve, careful not to misconstrue my intentions; I caught her eye and she nodded. I slipped my hand into hers and threaded our fingers. I continued, "You were just a pawn moved into the ranks and pushed out with none else to back you up. Hiratsuka-sensei acted like a knight that was hanging, and sometimes one that was pinned. You didn't have much room and yet you complied because you felt you had no choice in whether or not you should have met me; you gave into the demands of your family and believed you needed to meet me."

At her downcast look, I took her to a takoyaki stand and bought a few pieces for us to share as we ascended a ferris wheel. She needed time to herself and time to think; she was so pressed from all sides, I realized. Her calling to me was more desperation than anything else. We left the ferris wheel and made our way through the wooded path around the outskirts of the park, lit with strategically placed Kongming lanterns to ensure no one lost their way.

Away from prying ears, I continued, "In doing that, you met Hikigaya Hachiman who entirely took your breath away. He is a wild spirit, one of both natural guile and unnatural gift. Because he knows people so well, he is so far removed from people himself and that is something you liked. Oh, careful," I stopped her from tripping and held her steady as she mumbled an apology. I went on as though nothing had ever happened, "Of course, now you've taken enough time to reflect on it, the more you've seen of him that is, and I believe that you're unsure as to whether or not he's really worth all this mess."

Yukinoshita pointed towards the end of the trail and we picked up the pace, exiting the forest section of the park and ending up near the amusement center once again. We stopped by a bonfire and threw in some sticks, wishing independently as we did so. After which, Yukinoshita had the idea to visit a shrine for our fortunes; I laughed and acquiesced. It wasn't odd that she didn't respond to what I was saying; she was nervous and trying to break free from her mold. Still, I knew from her nodding that she was definitely listening and thinking.

Her facial expressions, unlike her demeanor, failed to uphold the coldness of her name. It was quite refreshing, and cute, to be frank. But as much as I indulged her, I went on. "However, understanding his position, your sense of logic and justice push you - oh, don't be surprised; I've known you were a goody two-shoes since the moment I first spoke to you - to do what you think is 'right.' Yet, in spite of that push, it conflicts with your desire to appease your family and find acceptance within the Yukinoshita."

We had gotten away from the crowds again and rested ourselves on a hill to watch the fireworks. It wasn't much of a show, but it was one that kept Yukinoshita mesmerized as she sat there. Strangely, she cast me glances every so often which I could not read. There were words on her lips that I also had trouble registering but it didn't seem like a signal though she flushed when she realized I had caught her staring. I shrugged and told her not to worry about it. She had a lot on her mind, after all.

After the show, however, I pressed on. I wasn't a preacher or anything like that, but all the psychoanalysis made me feel like one. I focused back on the reality at hand and asked her, "So the question that remains is this: why are you still supporting us? What do you intend on doing?"

The only answer she had for me was silence. It may have been five minutes, ten, or fifteen before she spoke again, though her eyes were trained on the night sky and what few stars we could catch. "I don't quite have an answer for you. At this point, I'm not sure what I'm looking for. You're very strange, Totsuka-san. But I think I like that about you."

I laughed. She was just a girl in a big, lonely world. Much like Hachiman and myself. None of us knew what we were here for, even if we had reasons to be whom we were. The rest of the night passed in relative silence and it surprised me when she told me what time it was; I hadn't planned on spending nearly the whole night with her. It was only then that I realized she hadn't let my hand go - for how long did she hold onto it, I wondered - until we had left the park.

For a moment I was the one lost in thought, only to have it broken by the sound of her laughter. "Oh, and Totsuka-san?"

"Hm?"

She kissed my cheek and winked before turning to walk away. "You shouldn't be so good to other girls, and don't spoil them on such good dates; your girlfriend will get mad at you."

Huh. I rubbed my cheek where she had left her mark and blinked. Suddenly, pieces began to click in my head as I thought: Oh.

There wasn't so much of a final confrontation so much as it was Hachiman and I running around Japan striking our enemies every now and then. It came all of a sudden when he had a stroke of brilliance - by which I meant he arbitrarily decided that the next few raids were to be carried out in a peculiar string of phases - and ran the numbers by me to see how viable his plan truly was.

It wasn't.

"You know, this is suicide, right?" I reviewed the notebook he had thrown at me, casually turning pages and feeling my brows raise as I continued to read.

"And when has anything during this entire mess been okay? Been safe?"

Eventually, we agreed to it nonetheless; the end never felt any closer and I knew that there was already permanent damage. In the both of us. Being the voice of reason was something even I had grown weary of and I knew that I had agreed just to appease him. However, his destruction was evidenced further. He was breaking; his words didn't have that charisma or that confident charm. Hachiman, the invincible Hachiman, that crazy devil, was cracking. If there wasn't closure any time soon, I knew that Komachi wasn't going to be the only Hikigaya too far gone.

What happened was incredibly fortunate because it cost us almost nothing. Haruno and Hiratsuka made little to no mistakes; they were far and few. One might have assumed that they were given more jurisdiction over our case considering they knew us better than their peers and better than some of the heads of the Yukinoshita.

But they weren't; and that was their downfall. Oh, they were actively involved, but after some time, they were slowly being removed from the equation. Hachiman and I figured it must have looked shameful to such a family that their heiress and her main lieutenant were so occupied by two children who had nothing to them. However, pride goeth before the fall..

It turned out that, while our heads were of enough concern to warrant a reasonable amount of attention and resources, they were not worth the whole of the clan, in spite of said clan's efforts to overthrow or overtake their main branch. Competition was not enough for them; they wanted to be better.

And that was where Hachiman struck gold. He had a contact by the name of Shirogane Miyuki who was, strangely, rather well-connected to the heiress of the Shinomiya themselves. She was rather willing to listen to Shirogane when he mentioned offhandedly, or so he told us, about an insurrection attempt and a blatant abuse of power against the powerless; from a faction of her own household no less.

Shinomiya Kaguya, I had heard, had agreed to meeting us within minutes of Shirogane's explanation.

"So tell me," she said, carefully sipping her cup of tea, smiling at us with the innocence of a child on her features. "What exactly has been going on in Chiba with that upstart branch of my family?"

I held a hand back to Hachiman and glanced at him; Let me explain, I hoped my eyes said. A flicker of displeasure passed through his eyes but I knew that our exchange was in my favor. Verbally, he only grunted but did not move to dissuade me.

"Well, Shinomiya-sama," I began, "I'm not sure how much Shirogane-san has told you, but I am Totsuka Saika and this is Hikigaya Hachiman. His younger sister was killed…"

She listened to our story without interruption, allowing me to pause and expand upon the points that were most confusing and the most convoluted. Her eyes kept on mine the entire time and I thought I was going to die from the stress; she may have looked like a child, but I knew that one slip up here and I was gone. In the end, I was able to tell the tale from start to finish.

"Thank you," she said. "For shining a light on this matter."

Shinomiya said nothing more to us as we were dismissed. Shirogane glanced back at the heiress and her maid before he led us out. He told us that it was very likely we were in good hands now and that the matter was going to be resolved by the end of the year at the very worst. A few months more, if everything went according to plan.

When I asked what plan, he laughed and told us that from the moment I had said that Hikigaya Komachi had been killed for being innocent, Shinomiya Kaguya's expressionless face had flickered. I wisely did not ask how he could have interpreted such; there was not a single speck of difference on that face. The intimacy required was an understanding between two partners, and I hadn't heard of any Shirogane name before.

At any rate, he was right. Not even a month later and results began to show. It seemed that the strong sense of justice in the family was only diluted through the blood of the Yukinoshita because Shinomiya Kaguya was a goddess on warpath.

She tore apart the Yukinoshita; all she required from us was that we struck targets that she had preselected. Neither Hachiman nor I protested; her methods were clean, clear, and powerful. They were efficient to their very core and it occurred to me that Shinomiya Kaguya was the most frightening human I had ever encountered.

What amazed me the most, however, was that she was both gracious in victory and in defeat. During the times when things did not turn in our favor, she accepted her losses with ease and understanding. More so than I had expected from someone at her station; after all, the motto of her family was "Execute perfection; the only one stopping you is yourself."

It was a long and arduous process, her plan, but we had been waiting for years. We caught the upper management of the Yukinoshita faction through a bit of fortune and quite a lot of predicting. One of their pieces had been moving according to our intentions and we were able to secure him as he was entering Chiba.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Fury was the very blood in his veins as Hachiman pinned the man onto the ground. He shook him by the collar next. "What do you have to say? Nothing. That's what. NOTHING! Because that's how much your words mean to me."

I did not calm him down; despite his rage, he wasn't going to do anything more to the defeated man. But we needed the man more alive than dead and we needed him to be able to talk. I pulled my friend off the man. "Get over this, Hachiman. He's not the final target; if you rough him up too much, we won't be able to finish the job."

"I know, Saika. But we're so close. He's right here; he isn't it, but he's with them, I can feel it. He might as well have been it." That fury was burning faster than ever; all I had to do was preserve it, extend it a bit further. I wasn't going to let Hachiman lose his way here.

"But then your vengeance won't be complete. Just a little longer," I said. He glanced up at me, his glare hollow. Even monsters needed to out their demons sometimes, I supposed. I placed a hand on Hachiman. "Just a little longer," I repeated.

And it was just a little longer. By the end of the week, Shinomiya Kaguya sent us a missive: "It is done."

We did not question any further, nor did we pry. It didn't hit us until the third day in. When it did, we cried and laughed and hugged each other and laid together on the floor of the apartment. Finally, we said to one another. Finally.

The end of the affair was anticlimactic. There were no sparks, there were no fireworks; there was no grandness or anything of such sort. It was an empty feeling. There was a reason that life was life and films were films; they often did not portray the other. But it was fitting, in a way.

Two weeks after everything had passed, Hachiman and I decided to split ways. He woke up one morning and turned to me as he suggested it.

I had been waiting for a stinging feeling of betrayal, but it never came. The numbness lingered. I let out a heavy breath. "Okay."

"What do you think you're going to be doing from now on?" His voice was soft, softed than I had heard in a long time. It was a happy softness; he was finally free.

"I'm not sure. I really don't know where to go. I can't go home." Neither can I, he didn't say. We both knew that we were alone in the world now. "I don't think I have the energy in me to travel anymore, though. But everything hurts here, so…" my voice trailed off as I shrugged.

"I can't stay here," he said. "Chiba is just too much. I'm going to Tokyo."

"Oh yeah? And what are you looking for over there?"

"I'm not sure myself, but I can't be here. I just can't."

I nodded. Being free did not mean we were uncoiled all at once. The two of us knew what this was going to do to us from the start; the two of us, however, obviously could never have foreseen how we would have changed or how much.

"I can't sit in a classroom ever again. And I don't think I'm cut out for the office life. And I know, that cuts down on so many options, especially in Tokyo, but I'll make it." His smile was crooked, but it was there.

There wasn't much left for me to say. The rest of the morning passed by fairly quick and I found myself hugging him by the end of it.

"Thank you for everything," he said. But he proceeded to stand in the doorway for a full minute, his gaze pensive. As good as he was with words, sometimes, Hschiman was quite dumb. Words were hard after all.

I knew what he wanted to say. What questions he had. I smiled softly at him. "I didn't do this all for you."

His eyes widened slightly. He paused. There was an ease to him then. He laughed. Then he went forward and never looked back.

He understood. He knew. And he hadn't hated me the least bit for it. It was cathartic to finally let it out into the open. And all of a sudden, I felt rather silly for having kept it hidden for so long. Oh well; life was funny like that, I supposed.

I sat around for a few days. Much like Hachiman, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. But unlike him, I wasn't sure where I needed to be or where I felt like going. Chiba felt rotten, dirty. I had lived here all my life and loved the prefecture for all its faults and favors.

I was looking at cat videos on my phone when I received a message from an undisclosed number that read simply: "Thank you."

To which I replied, "You weren't at fault."

The number sent another back: "Just shut up and accept my thanks."

I smirked and sent back a quick "No, I don't think I will."

We exchanged a string of emojis, paragraphs, and pictures well into the night. And all of a sudden, I felt livelier than I had in quite some time. By the end of the night, I knew I had made the right choice in doing what I had, and that the risk was well-deserved.

After our meeting with Shinomiya, I had conferred to her privately only once. She never responded. But after everything that had happened, Shinomiya Kaguya had sent another message for me. One that I didn't let Hachiman see: "She is unharmed."

Her grave was dirty. Not that I expected any differently; I hadn't been here in some time. It was only staring at her name carved into stone that my stomach churned. It hurt. I knelt down and brushed it clean, careful not to leave marks or scratches, and I set down an array of flowers. A faded purple lilac, a small strip of lavender, an acacia, and one almond.

It was hard to believe that it had already been three years.

She would have graduated high school this year; I would have just finished my first in university. The pang in my heart hurt and it made me remember how long ago she had died; that length, however, always felt nonexistent. Until recently.

I had come to terms with the fact that I was not the most sane of persons. The norm was something neither Hachiman nor I seemed to fit, though for differing reasons. Once his vengeance had been quenched, he moved away from Chiba and didn't seem too keen on returning except to meet with me every so often.

But I carried that weight with me every day, even as I lived in fear of it. I accepted reality because it was real; I loathed it because I despised it. And yet, I punished myself in heart, mind, and soul by refusing it. It wasn't so much a rejection of events so much as it was cowardice with the idea that I had to truly let her rest. To let myself live in absolute peace and to have her taken out of my life as nothing more than a memory.

I wondered if Komachi hated me for leaving her for so long. Or if she hated the fact that her brother and I could never get along whenever it came to her; or, if she hated the fact that we never told him. Because I did. It burned to think because regret was a powerful force that drew Man to an early grave and I knew I shouldn't, but I did.

She was undoubtedly still a part of my life - a part of me - to this very day, but I knew that there were signs already. I had been moving on, slowly. It was barely more than a crawl, but it was there. It wasn't that I did not love her, there was always going to be something of me sacrificed to her and I was grateful for that, but it was that she tore me in half.

Guilt was not an easy thing to remedy. To assuage it is to appeal to it; and it wasn't a demon that liked to let things go. I brushed a hand against the now clean stone and traced my fingers against the kanji, listening to her laughter as I closed my eyes and remembered her.

I sat there and thanked her, enjoying myself in the calmness of a cool spring day. A light breeze dusted the cemetery as I stood up and walked around. It was odd to call it nice, but it was. Chiba was awfully humid and the gusts were a heavy feeling, the heatwaves harsh, which made every moment here feel like something. I traced a path around and hummed a small tune as I let my legs carry me.

Birds flew away as I approached, and the cicadas chirped above me as I sat down under a tree for some rest. I squinted into the distance. The sun hadn't begun to set, but it would in an hour. I stopped by Komachi's grave one last time and whispered my love to her.

Unlike Orpheus, I did not look back any further as I walked to the entrance of the cemetery. I stepped into the black limousine that waited for me, exhausted as I pressed my back into the comforts of the seat. The scars had built up over the years; things still hurt and they weren't going to just wash away. I wasn't the same boy as I had been, and I could not have been by any means described as normal. Life was tumultuous and went every which way. I closed my eyes and felt a familiar hand slip into mine as it gave me a small squeeze. But it wasn't bad.

In spite of everything, life was good.

Notes and Acknowledgements:

I was rereading Zetsuen no Tempest, which I haven't done since about 2010 when the series was still actively being published, and it occurred to me that the characters of Oregairu would have been interesting in similar but different situations. Similar but different because I don't want to directly transpose a plot with different characters and simply write an overlay. If you felt that way, I apologize for not doing a great enough job.

This was also another attempt at writing drama in particular - it was not in any way, shape, or form meant to be mystery. The loose ends and oddities are intentional, but the focus of this piece is, as most of the time, my efforts on characters. Plot always seems to escape me and it is a critical flaw that I am working on; criticism there is much appreciated. Also, while there are pairings, I don't really consider this much to do with romance. It is not the driving point of this piece, only an attachment.

My second biggest issue with this work is how I've characterized Totsuka in relation to Yukinoshita (in certain points). His attraction to her is obvious but I think I've betrayed the feelings of loyalty he has to Komachi by writing how often he is attracted to Yukinoshita. What I wanted to portray was that he found himself irrevocably attracted to her but still found himself faithful to Komachi, even though he has no reason to because she's dead.

That is the central conflict of Totsuka's character: can he acknowledge that he is in this adventure for himself as well as for Komachi and Hachiman. He doesn't mind admitting internally that he's attracted to her. He is already moving on as the story goes, but he is unsure of how to perceive relationships moving forward, especially given how he is simply running around Chiba and does not really have a normal life any longer.

As for the people who are thinking why I didn't actually list this as a crossover: I don't actually count very minor uses of other characters as genuine crossovers. The characters from the Kaguya-sama: Love is War manga barely make an appearance and in fact, I literally added them in only yesterday. The section where Totsuka talks about the Yukinoshita, Hayama, and Yuigahama as branch families or subordinate branches to main families was in there simply as an easter egg and allusion to another series I really like but the more I thought about it, I felt like adding in a pinch of those characters was alright. But I did not do anywhere near enough writing about the intersection of both works to qualify this as a crossover.

This piece was fun to write but I don't think I'll be trying to do something quite like this again. It took about ten days to get this down and each day was mostly me trying to tetris this together, going back and adding more context because I felt like I had missed something or been even more vague than normal. If you enjoyed it, I apologize that you probably won't see something like this for a while.

At any rate, thanks for reading.