Eventually, Shiori makes it to the main entrance of her complex where Hikigaya puts his stuff in the back of a minivan with Asami in the side door. She peaks around the corner at them before she hides again and takes a deep breath, calming her excitement. She steps out from around the corner and he notices her.
"Glad you could make it."
"Shut up, it's too early to hear your voice."
She says as calmly as ever despite her feelings of excitement. He smirks back at her despite her sharp words and her walking past him. He follows as they walk up to the van and Asami is fixing up the back seat. She turns around and smiles a big smile at her.
"Hey Shiori! Sorry for the mess. I toootally forgot to clean up yesterday."
"It's okay Ms. Oshiro. I really don't mind."
She says politely. She puts her bags in the car and soon, they're off to the same supermarket that Haru and Hikigaya went to before.
As they park, Shiori and Hikigaya get out. Asami decides to stay in the car.
"Listen here. I don't want you guys overspending and flooding the car with snacks so try and be rational."
She smiles at them with a raised eyebrow as she hands them her card. They nod happily and leave the car. They walk around the store with a basket in Hikigaya's hand, looking for snacks they and their friends might want. As they do, Shiori decides to watch Hikigaya subtly for a moment, noting his remarkable resemblance to his mother.
"You really do look like your mom."
She points out, still staring at him. He sweats a bit and smiles awkwardly.
"Thanks? I am her son after all. Ooh, what about these?"
He gets distracted and grabs some fig nutrition bars off the shelf, jokingly.
"Do you think Lucy would like these?"
"No, definitely not."
Shiori answers back seriously. Hikigaya smirks mischievously as he tosses a couple into the basket. They wander around a bit more but not wanting to leave his mom waiting, they finish shopping for snacks and head back to the van swiftly. They toss the bags in the back and hop in.
"Alllllright, so now we go pick up Lucy and Ryuji then off to Chizuru's house, right?"
Asami double checks as Hikigaya nods.
They soon get to Lucy's house finding Lucy and Ryuji waiting outside and picking them both up. Shiori is in the middle of the middle seats when Lucy and Ryuji decide sit on both sides of her, not giving her a chance to move over. Shiori blushes a bit out of embarrassment of having two people squeeze so close to her. She looks at Lucy who is casually enjoying the ride then back at Ryuji. She then blushes even harder realizing how close she is to him.
'I'm sitting so close to Ryuji! He smells so good and looks so pretty in normal clothes. I bet I'm really underwhelming in comparison…'
Ryuji notices her looking and softly smiles at her. She blushes harder and looks away, embarrassed.
They finally arrive at Chizuru's house and see her standing outside, smiling. As they get out of the van, they collect their stuff, giving Asami a chance to say her goodbyes.
"Now remember, be safe, don't do anything stupid and if you do, be smart about it. Okay, I love you my babies, have fun!"
She blows kisses to them before driving off leaving the group standing before the large house in front of them. Shiori is the most shocked out of all of them.
"What do her parents do for a living?.."
Hikigaya laughs a bit as they head inside. There they find Haru and Sugawara sitting on the couch.
"I see you guys made it here on time."
"What can I say? Sugawara's timing is incredible!"
Haru responds with a big smile as Sugawara blushes at the compliment and giggles embarrassedly.
"Okay! Welcome, welcome! Now that everyone's here, we can take the snacks to the kitchen while the rest of you guys head to the party room!"
Chizuru says happily as Shiori droops a little.
"There's even a party room..?"
They head upstairs as Hikigaya and Chizuru go to the kitchen, snacks in hand. As they're putting the snacks on the counter, going through the bags, Chizuru slows down until she stops and looks down with a slightly concerned look. Hikigaya notices and looks at her.
"Do you think this is okay?"
Chizuru asks softly, not lifting her gaze to match Hikigaya's. He just looks at her confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I feel like we may be pushing this onto them, Shiori and Sugawara… Maybe it's all a little too fast for them. Do you think it's alright? Are we going too fast?"
She looks at him with a worried look, tears even starting to form. Hikigaya's look softens as he almost admires her compassion.
"I just… I don't want to end up pushing them away because I'm trying too hard."
"You worry too much."
She looks at him shocked by his response. He just smiles as he continues to sort the stuff.
"It's just a sleepover, Chizu. It'll be okay. From what I can tell, I think they really like us, so try not to worry about it, alright?"
She sniffles a bit and smiles, comforted by his words.
"Okay."
They finish up and head upstairs to meet with the others who are sitting in the party room chatting.
"Alright so my parents are gone for the weekend which means we can basically do whatever we want! What do you guys wanna do?"
Chizuru asks with a big smile. They all look at each other for a moment before Lucy, Hikigaya and Haru smirk.
"Videogames!"
They all shout in unison with a cheer. They begin having fun playing games then watching movies. Talking and being teenagers. The day goes on and they ordered pizza for dinner. As the sun begins to set, so does their energy. Starting the day off crazy and being loud, they have now settled to a pretty tame energy level as they continue a tv series they decided to start binging. The group is sprawled out all over the room. Haru sits between Sugawara and Chizuru. Ryuji and Lucy are still talking and playfully hitting each other while Shiori watches them all with Hikigaya next to her. She stares at the group intently, paying more attention to them than the show before shifting her gaze to Hikigaya from the corner of her eye. He smiles happily as she looks at the tv, deciding to talk.
"How long have you known them?"
Hikigaya is a little surprised by her question but doesn't hesitate to answer.
"Well, I only met Sugawara, like, a few weeks ago.."
Shiori gives him an irritated look as he giggles a bit.
"Alright, I know, I know. I've been friends with them for a good while now. I met them in my 5th year of elementary school. Ryuji and Lucy have been friends for way longer, but the five of us have been together ever since."
She hears his words and just looks around at everyone enjoying themselves but can't help but feel a bit weird. She lowers her head a bit while lifting her gaze ever so slightly at Hikigaya which slightly peaks the feeling.
'What is this..? Is it… jealousy?'
Hikigaya looks at her from the side.
"You okay?"
She quickly looks away embarrassed, realizing she was staring a bit too much.
"Yeah, sorry."
They sit in silence for a moment as Shiori breaths out, calming herself a bit. She once again stares at the group, not really interacting with anyone or anything, awkwardly keeping to herself. Her eyes droop just a bit as a sinking feeling wells in her chest.
"You know, Hikigaya..."
She says softly, now staring blankly at the tv screen, not watching it, only lost in thought. He looks at her as she speaks.
"When I first met you I thought for sure you were gonna be just like me. No friends, angry. Just… alone."
Her words trail off to almost a whisper as she speaks. Hikigaya perks up hearing her, listening intently.
"But now I see that you and I are nothing alike. You're happy, you get along with people. You have friends, passions. Things I always thought were pointless because, in the end, people will always betray you. And those bonds, those memories you made will all be for nothing."
She says with a blank tone. Not one filled with anger or frustration but one with almost a hint of regret. Then she lifts her eyes a bit, realizing what she was saying and looks at Hikigaya who looks at her closely, listening. Her face turns red as she gets embarrassed, looking away.
'What am I doing? Just spilling all of my inner thoughts to this guy I met a few weeks ago? What's wrong with me??'
"You might not know me as well as you think you do."
He says with a calm tone, looking away from her. She looks at him surprised by his words.
"Besides, even if everyone in your life decides to leave you at some point, aren't the memories you made along the way what makes you.. you?"
He asks with a soft, kind look as he turns his head back to her. Shiori stares at him for a moment, taking in the words as she looks down with a contemplating look.
"I guess… But it doesn't change how much they hurt you when they go."
She says back with a softer tone. Hikigaya hums a bit as he thinks of a response.
"Hm... I suppose that's one way to look at it, but we all survive and become stronger for it, right? Until the day we finally meet the people who will stay no matter what."
Shiori's eye widens at the thought.
"I got a feeling that you've.. been abandoned before. I can't speak on what's happened to you but,"
She looks at him a bit as he speaks softly to her.
"I've known my friends a long time. They're not going anywhere."
He smiles at her warmly making her blush a bit. She looks away as her thoughts begin to race.
'Is this okay? Am I allowed to let them in? Should I? What if… they hurt me?.. I don't want to go through that again…'
She calms herself down, taking control of her emotions, and looks forward again. Hikigaya notices the slight shift in her demeanor and sweats a bit, trying to rack his brain into finding a solution.
'She really does have a hard time letting people in..'
He thinks as he sits there for a moment before getting an idea. He stands up with his hands on his hips.
"Come on guys."
They all look at him confused.
"What's going on?" Haru asks.
"We're gonna go on a little adventure." He says with a smirk.
The time is now very late, well into the early hours of the next day but still dark out. The group heads out of the house and into a nearby forest area that is not too far from Chizuru's house. They sneak through a park and onto a hiking trail through the slightly mountainous forest.
"Hikigayaaa… how much farther? I wasn't expecting a whole expedition…"
Lucy whines as she lugs herself along. None of the others seem to be bothered by it.
"Yeah, where are we going?"
Chizuru asks, more curious than worn out.
"You'll see."
He smiles. As they go along the trail, Hikigaya eventually comes to a stop. They all look confused, Lucy relieved. He turns to them and then pushes some bushes on his right to the side revealing a hidden trail. Haru and Chizuru look excited, the others are just intrigued.
"Go ahead. You'll know when you see it."
He says as the group heads in one by one. This trail isn't as well kept and is much thinner. As they go, Chizuru leads the way. They eventually stop and get shocked looks on their faces. They have come to an area of the small forest that has been cleared out and had long benches built around a platform that overlooks the edge of the hill. It looks like a stage with audience seats that have been abandoned. The trees surround it in all directions except the entrance and right behind the stage giving a clear view of the city, hills and sky. The whole group is quite impressed and interested in the area and starts exploring. Shiori steps onto the stage, her eye shining as she stares into the bright night sky. Hikigaya steps next to her.
"How did you find this place?.."
"I sneak out every now and then. One night I went on a walk and came here. Pretty cool right? An old abandoned place all to ourselves. It's like a secret hideout."
He says with a smirk, bumping his elbow into Shiori playfully but she pays him little mind.
"It's… beautiful…"
She says softly as she gazes off into the distance. Hikigaya smiles at her for a moment, watching her, before turning his head and doing the same.
"Yeah, I was planning to keep it secret for some hypothetical crush one day but,"
She looks at him and he smiles at her.
"I figured now was as good a time as any."
He says warmly. There is one post in particular in the guard rail along the backside of the stage that is bigger than the rest since it's the only one not broken. Hikigaya pulls out a little knife and flips it open.
"Come here guys. Let's carve our names onto this post and claim this place as our own!"
The group collects themselves and all come together on the stage. Hikigaya turns to Shiori and hands her the knife first.
"Care to do the honors?"
She stares at it for a moment, blushing and unsure what to do. She nods softly and takes the knife, carving her name into the post. After her, Hikigaya does it, then the rest follow. They each put their names along the post. He puts the knife away and steps back, proud of their work. Shiori stands there staring at it, completely in shock by the events that she has never experienced before.
"You see, Shiori?"
She looks up at him as he stands next to the post, turning his back to the edge and facing her.
"There are some people in this world worth caring about. Just like you."
As he says this, the sun begins to rise right behind him. Shiori's eye glistens, her emotions well inside of her as she stares at Hikigaya smiling at her and the light shining around him. In her soul, the white desert, she stands looking towards the sky that is still covered in clouds. As it drizzles ever so slightly.
'The rain… is stopping?..'
She just smiles at Hikigaya warmly.
"Right.."
She says in almost a whisper. The rest of the group watches, smiling as Haru notices Sugawara's eyes also glistening, taking Hikigaya's words to heart as well. Haru smiles a bit before it slowly fades into an almost upset look. After that the group heads back home only to fall asleep exhausted.
The next morning comes. The group is sleeping in much later than most of them normally sleep. Lucy is the first to wake up. Or so she thinks. She sits up with her hair a mess. She rubs her eyes and looks around. They were all more or less sprawled out on the floor of the living room. She carefully gets up and walks to the kitchen. Lucy is not a morning person very much so she is groggy and still very sleepy. She comes to the kitchen to get a glass of water only to find Ryuji there also drinking some water. He notices her and stops.
"Good morning Lucy."
"Mornin'."
She says as she takes a drink of her water. As she drinks, Ryuji lifts a small sweet bread in a plastic wrapper towards her. She looks surprised for a moment before taking it.
"They're your favorite. I made sure to tell Hikigaya to get you some. Sorry I forgot until now."
He says plainly while staring at her.
"Oh you, so forgetful."
She smiles at him, poking his arm.
"Thanks Ryuji."
Ryuji nods at her and leans against the counter while she starts snacking on the bread.
"Lucy. Do you remember what Hikigaya told us throughout middle school?"
He asks, a plain look on his face as he now stares at the floor, obviously in thought.
"Hm? You mean about the clouds thing?"
He nods.
"What about it?"
He pauses for a moment.
"Hmm… Nevermind actually."
"Eh? What do you mean, 'nevermind'? Tell me! You said you wouldn't keep secrets from me, remember?"
She gets up in his face a bit, pouting. He leans back slightly.
"Well, it's just that…"
He explains what he was thinking to Lucy as Chizuru sits up in the room over. She rubs her eyes a bit and looks around, stopping when she notices something. Back in the kitchen.
"I see. You may be right. But we shouldn't push too much until we know for sure."
Lucy says, now leaning against a different counter.
"How do we find the truth?"
Lucy shrugs her shoulders.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see."
She smiles at him a bit before Chizuru comes in, in a hurry, a big smile on her face.
"You guys have to come see this!"
She brings Lucy and Ryuji back to the room where Shiori, Hikigaya, Sugawara and Haru are still sleeping. Once they come in, Lucy covers her mouth quickly trying to hold in a laugh as Ryuji smiles a bit. Hikigaya and Shiori are snuggling, facing each other very closely, sharing a blanket.
"It's so cute, isn't it?"
She asks with an excited whisper while she takes a quick picture. Lucy giggles to herself. As they do this, Hikigaya and Shiori begin to wake up. They slowly open their eyes and stare for a moment, centimeters away from each other. After that moment, they both shoot up blushing hard. They look away from each other while Lucy laughs at them. Hikigaya notices them and gets an embarrassed, upset look.
"Guys?! What are you doing?!"
"I'm sorry! I can't hold it in anymore!"
Lucy says and falls on her back laughing while Ryuji shakes his head.
"I'm sorry guys but you were just so cute. I couldn't help myself…"
Chizuru smiles innocently at them while Shiori gets up.
"I-I'm going to the bathroom."
She walks away embarrassed while Chizuru tries to apologize for disturbing them. Hikigaya sits there still blushing a bit thinking about it. Suddenly, Haru sits up incredibly fast, yelling.
"NO MAN YOU CAN'T BRING BROCCOLI TO A PARTY THAT'S WEIRD!!"
He screams. This scares everyone in the room but surprisingly, Sugawara is still laying on the ground adjacent to him, not reacting. They just look at him very confused as Haru is still processing the fact that he's awake now. As he sweats, a foot rises up and starts pushing his face.
"You're being too loud…"
Sugawara groans.
"Ah… Sorry guys…"
He laughs embarrassed. They spend the rest of the day relaxing and lazing about until the afternoon. They help clean up the mess they made then Chizuru says her goodbyes as Asami picks up and drops off the same kids as before. Eventually, they make it back home. Asami heads inside as Shiori and Hikigaya collects their bags and follows inside too. As Shiori walks up the stairs, Hikigaya follows behind her with a nervous look.
"I'm sorry for waking up so close to you this morning. I didn't mean to."
He says softly. Shiori is slightly surprised by his words as she looks over her shoulder at him before turning forward again.
"Hikigaya, you were asleep. Of course you didn't mean to."
"Yeah, but I should still apologize.."
They walk in silence for a moment, only the sounds of their feet hitting the floor with every step. Shiori says nothing but he thoughts are so loud it's like you can almost here them until she eventually decides to speak.
"Why are you being so nice to me? I haven't done anything to earn it. In fact I've only been mean to you since we met."
She says without turning to look at Hikigaya. He looks at her for a moment before lowering his head with a smile.
"Well, I can't sit by and watch such a socially inept person struggle, can I?"
She gets noticeably angry at his response as he laughs.
"Seriously though. I don't need a reason to treat someone else kindly. Besides, you're much nicer than you give yourself credit for."
Shiori stops by her door first as Hikigaya approaches his, turning to her as she speaks.
"Yeah? What makes you say that? Cause our definitions of 'kind' must be very different."
He thinks for a moment, flashing the time she bandaged up the cut on his head, blushing a little from the thought as he smirks.
"Oh, just a hunch."
He then puts his finger to his lips in a shushing motion.
"But don't worry, I won't tell the others your secret. Your hard, unloving persona still holds strong!"
He giggles at her and she rolls her eye before heading inside. She puts her bag down with a sigh as her mom turns to her from the living room.
"How was it sweetie?"
"It was... a lot of fun."
She says, thinking about the events of the night. Her mom smiles warmly.
"I'm so glad to hear it."
Shiori smiles back before heading to her room. She flops down on her bed, letting go of the dragging bags behind her. She lays on her back for a moment, staring at the ceiling.
'Uncaring persona...'
She thinks with an almost hurt look on her face.