The final bell of the last period rang out across the campus like a horn of liberation.
Hikigaya Hachiman was slowly packing up his bag, preparing to slip off to the Service Club in his usual inconspicuous manner and begin his peaceful club activity time.
However, before his plan could even be put into motion, an energetic voice cut him off.
“Hikki!
Wait for me!” Yuigahama practically dashed to his desk the instant the bell sounded, a bright smile on her face.
“Let’s go together!
To the Service Club!”
Hikigaya looked at Yuigahama’s expression—so matter-of-fact, as if the three of them walking together had already become the norm—and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
He tried to construct a reason to refuse in his mind, something like “I’d prefer to walk there quietly by myself,” or “This is way too conspicuous.” But seeing those anticipation-filled eyes of Yuigahama’s, practically sparkling with little stars, all those excuses seemed pale and powerless.
In the end, he simply nodded as if resigning himself to fate and squeezed out a single syllable from his throat.
“…Mm.”
“Yay!” Yuigahama immediately beamed, as if she’d just been granted some amazing permission.
And so, Hikigaya Hachiman was forcibly made to walk side by side with Yuigahama Yui, becoming a somewhat conspicuous pair in the after-school stream of students—or at least, that was how it felt to him.
Yuigahama seemed entirely oblivious to his subtle discomfort, or perhaps she noticed but simply didn’t mind, still chattering away like a happy little bird beside him.
“Hikki, do you think Yukinon will have black tea prepared again today?”
“I don’t know.”
“Will the Service Club get any requests today?
I’m kind of looking forward to it!”
“Probably not.”
“Ah!
Oh, right, Yumiko and the others invited me to that new dessert shop today.
I’m still hesitating about whether to go…”
“Oh.”
Most of the time, Hikigaya responded only with curt words, but inwardly he was complaining at full throttle.
‘Why do I have to stand here listening to her riaju troubles?!
And what’s with this walking side by side as if we’re on really good terms?!
My lone-wolf image is crumbling, damn it!’
When they reached the corridor connecting the main school building to the special-purpose building, Yuigahama suddenly seemed to remember something.
She turned her head and looked at Hikigaya with a slightly teasing grin.
“Oh, right, Hikki—lunch with Yukinon today.
Did you enjoy it?”
Hikigaya’s heart lurched.
He knew this was coming.
Expressionlessly, he answered, “…It was just an ordinary lunch.”
“Ehhh—reeaally?” Yuigahama deliberately stretched out her words, her eyes full of probing curiosity.
“But Yukinon’s cooking must’ve been really delicious, right?
Unlike mine, which is just barely ‘edible.'” As she spoke, she gave a deliberate, playful blink.
Hikigaya caught the tiny hint of jealousy and comparison in her words—something perhaps even she wasn’t fully conscious of.
He couldn’t help reflexively firing off a snide remark.
“Yuigahama, your self-awareness is surprisingly accurate.”
This line was like lighting a fuse.
The smile on Yuigahama’s face instantly froze.
Then she puffed out her cheeks like an inflating pufferfish, her face flushing bright red.
“Hikki!
You jerk!” She stamped her foot angrily and glared at Hikigaya with reproachful eyes.
“I’m not talking to you anymore!
I’m going ahead!”
With that, she quickened her pace as promised, practically jogging toward the special-purpose building.
Her bun bounced along with her movements, and she soon vanished around the corner at the end of the hallway.
Hikigaya watched her retreating figure and tugged at the corner of his mouth.
For some reason, he found it both a little amusing and a little exasperating.
‘Honestly…
like a little kid.’ He didn’t chase after her.
Instead, he slowed his pace, savoring this brief, restored moment of solitary quiet.
He strolled along unhurriedly, enjoying the warmth of the setting sun spilling through the windows onto his body, and the temporary absence of chatter in his ears.
By the time he finally dragged himself to the Service Club door, he was met with a somewhat odd sight.
The clubroom door was slightly ajar—not fully closed.
And Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui, the two who should have been inside the room, were currently standing side by side at the door.
Their bodies were tilted forward slightly, as if they were on tiptoe, stealthily peering inside through the window.
Yuigahama occasionally turned back to make a “shh” gesture toward Yukinoshita, her expression a mix of nervousness and curiosity.
Due to their tiptoeing postures, and the way their uniform skirts naturally rode up from the motion…
Hikigaya’s gaze, entirely without warning or preparation, inadvertently swept across a certain angle.
His brain instantly received two crystal-clear visual signals.
On the left, Yuigahama Yui—white, with an adorable little bear pattern.
On the right, Yukinoshita Yukino—also white, but printed with that adorably goofy panda plushie he had become increasingly familiar with lately.
Pan-san.
Time seemed to freeze for one second.
The very next moment, Hikigaya Hachiman spun around as if struck by an electric current, practically using the fastest speed he had ever mustered in his life!
His cheeks, his ears, even his neck—all exploded into crimson in an instant, the heat astonishing.
He felt all the blood in his body rushing to his head, his heart about to leap straight out of his chest.
With his back to the door, his voice came out distorted from the extreme embarrassment and panic, practically a shout.
“Wh-What are you two doing?!”
This abrupt question clearly startled the two who had been absorbed in their “reconnaissance.”
Yukinoshita turned around first.
Her ice-blue eyes still carried a trace of displeasure and puzzlement at being interrupted.
She had just been about to explain, ‘We were observing a suspicious person inside.’
But her sharp gaze caught Hikigaya’s extremely unnatural posture—back turned to them, body rigid—and the exceptionally obvious flush spreading from the tips of his ears down to his neck.
Almost instantly, Yukinoshita realized the “visual blind spot” issue that their postures just now might have created.
On her fair cheeks, two clouds of red also surfaced with a whoosh, spreading all the way behind her ears.
An emotion of shame and indignation flared in her eyes like icy flame.
“Hi-Hikigaya-kun!” Her voice had lost its usual composure, carrying a faint, barely perceptible tremor and a forced calm—but more than that, a cold mortification.
“Did you…
did you just now see something discourteous?!
And furthermore, suddenly shouting from behind is an extremely rude thing to do!”
At this point, Yuigahama had caught on too.
First, she looked blankly at the bright-red Hikigaya, then at Yukinoshita, whose cheeks were equally flushed and whose eyes were icy.
After a few seconds of delay, she finally put two and two together and realized what might have just happened.
“Eek—!” She let out a short shriek, her hands instinctively flying to cover the back of her skirt.
Her entire face instantly turned even redder than Hikigaya’s—like a thoroughly ripe tomato.
Equal parts mortified and furious, she pointed at Hikigaya, her voice carrying a tearful, accusatory tone.
“Hi-Hi-Hikki!
Pervert!
H-entai!
Peeping tom!
You…
you saw, didn’t you?!”
“No!
I’m not!
I didn’t!” Hikigaya still didn’t dare turn around.
He could only offer futile denials to the wall, his voice muffled.
“It was you two…
standing there…
in that kind of posture…”
“You’re still talking about it!” Yuigahama stamped her foot in fury.
“Hikigaya-kun, please cease your pointless imaginings and sophistry.” Yukinoshita’s voice was like a Siberian wind, trying to cover her own embarrassment with iciness.
“This is entirely your one-sided, discourteous deed!”
After a chaotic flurry—primarily consisting of Yuigahama’s accusations, Hikigaya’s feeble defenses, and Yukinoshita’s frosty finishing blows—the atmosphere finally settled somewhat.
Though the awkwardness and mortification still lingered thick in the air.
Hikigaya finally managed to calm his pounding heart somewhat, but he still didn’t dare look directly at them.
He could only stand at an angle, trying to steer the topic back on track in order to escape this suffocating situation.
“…So,” he cleared his throat, trying hard to make his voice sound normal, “what exactly…
were you two doing at the door just now?”
Yukinoshita drew a deep breath, as if also making an effort to cast aside the earlier mishap—though her still-reddened earlobes betrayed her.
She recovered a measure of her composure and explained in a tone that still carried residual indignation.
“There is a…
inexplicable person inside the clubroom.
When we returned, we found him already seated inside.
His behavior was somewhat peculiar, so we were first observing from the doorway.”
Yuigahama nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Yeah, yeah!
Some guy we’ve never seen before—chubby, with long white hair!
He looked super weird!”
Hearing this, Hikigaya’s brow furrowed.
Puzzled, he turned his head and peered through the gap in the door into the clubroom.
Inside the Service Club room, a boy with a heavyset build, strikingly long white hair, and wearing the Sobu High uniform—though his aura was utterly mismatched with it—was seated with his back to the door.
He was sitting in an extremely exaggerated pose, as if playing some kind of role, muttering something under his breath.
Seeing that familiar back and that signature long white hair, the expression on Hikigaya’s face instantly turned somewhat strange.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, and in a tone that mixed exasperation, knowing recognition, and a distinct “of course it’s you” feeling, he murmured a name under his breath.
“Zaimokuza…?”
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