He stares at her as she sits there, now without her eyepatch, with her eyes closed. She hesitates for a moment but makes the courage to open her eyes, revealing two different colored eyes. Her right eye, the normal dark honey color we have come to recognize but now her left eye… a bright silver that shines in the light of the room. Hikigaya stares at her as he blushes, her big round eyes staring back, embarrassed.
"You're so… beautiful…"
Shiori gets super blushy and surprised at his words. He quickly realizes what he said and shakes his head, blushing, trying to justify his actions.
"I mean, the color and stuff. Your eyes are beautiful. Ah! I mean… I'm sorry…"
He says, defeated and flustered. She is blushing hard and looks away.
"It's okay…" She says in almost a whisper. "...do you really mean it?.."
She looks at him, trying to compose herself from the rush of emotions. He nods as he calms down.
"You don't think I'm weird or a freak because of my eyes..?"
"No way. It looks really amazing. I don't think you should ever wear the eyepatch again."
She smiles at him softly as he smiles back.
"I make no promises but… I'll try…"
"That's good enough for me. Why haven't you shown this to me before?"
He asks casually. She looks up at him gently before tilting her head a bit.
"I thought you'd be like everyone else…"
She grabs her arm a bit, staying reserved about how she feels about her eye. Hikigaya gives her a sympathetic look.
"Growing up, my eye always got me weird looks and mean insults. None of the other kids ever liked the fact that my eyes were two different colors so I just learned to hide it. I couldn't handle constantly getting pushed around and called names anymore…"
Shiori thinks back on the bullies and kids who called her names as Hikigaya looks at her, saddened by her truth.
"I'm sorry that happened to you… but if it means anything, I think you you look cute."
He says softly. She looks at him surprised.
"It's possible our classmates could be super assholes, but now you're strong enough to not have to do what they say. And if all else fails, you still have us."
He gives her a soft but reassuring smile. She blushes and smiles in return. They sit in silence for a moment before awkwardly laughing.
"Haha, well, I guess I'm gonna go to my room!"
"Oh, yeah, okay, haha!"
He laughs back as Shiori stands up.
"Let me know if you need anything, Hikigaya."
"I will."
She gives him a warm smile as she walks out, eyepatch in hand. He smiles to himself for a moment before getting a look as if remembering something.
At Ryuji's house, he is writing in his notebook at the table while his parents sit together, watching a show. His phone begins to ring. He looks at it to see Hikigaya calling him so he answers.
"Hey."
"Hey. Do you remember that person I told you I was looking for, for the longest time?"
"You mean the only friend you had in elementary school before you changed to our school, and wouldn't stop talking about all throughout middle school?" Ryuji says plainly.
"Yeah that one, do you remember anything of how I described them?" Hikigaya asks, oblivious to his previously silly act.
"Other than the fact that they were bullied a lot, not really. Why do you ask?" He asks, leaning back a bit.
"Uh, no reason. Okay, just curious."
He says, slightly upset by Ryuji's answer. They say goodbye before hanging up. Ryuji sits back in his chair.
"So he does remember cloud girl." He says out loud, softly.
"Who was that?"
Fuyuko asks, sweetly and curiously.
"Just Hikigaya."
His mom smiles, content with his answer. Ryuji smiles a bit and goes back to his phone.
"I should tell Lucy about this."
He goes to click on her name in his phone but stops just above it. He stares at her name for a moment before remembering back when she yelled at Chizuru about how she feels about him. He then slowly pulls back and puts his phone down, hanging his head low a bit.
A few days pass and the first day of school arrives. Shiori buttons up her shirt and clips her skirt. She steps to the door of her room but stops and looks at her eyepatch on her desk. She hesitates for a moment but grabs it and puts it in her bag. She steps down the stairs but stops for a moment when she sees Asami talking to Hikigaya.
"I love you."
She kisses him on the forehead as he says it back before giving her a hug. Shiori can see tears form in Asami's eyes a bit. After she lets him go, Shiori continues down the stairs. Asami clears her throat and calms herself.
"You two have a good first day of second year!"
She says as Takanou looks over from the kitchen and gets a surprised look.
"Shiori, your eyepatch?"
She looks at him and gives him a soft smile. He gets a look as if understanding and gives her a proud smile.
"Go get 'em."
He says with a warm tone. Hikigaya and Shiori wave goodbye as they head out to school.
On their walk there, Shiori's expression is a worried one. Hikigaya notices her stressing out.
"You nervous we won't be in the same class?" He asks gently.
"Yeah… It was hard enough the first time. Without you guys, I don't know if I can meet a whole new class. I don't want to be all alone again…" She admits with a quiet voice, her body tensing up.
"Don't worry about it. Even if we're not together, we're still your friends. It'll be alright."
He gives her a slight smile trying to cheer her up but knowing that he can't guarantee anything. She smiles back a bit but continues to worry.
They step into the front gates of their familiar school and stop. The entrance is crowded with many new students and returning students all over the place trying to find their friends and the classes they're in. Shiori begins to shake a little before exhaling and calming down.
"You ready?"
Hikigaya asks, knowing her feelings. She nods as she follows him in. She keeps her head slightly lowered as she looks around. Of course, as they walk through the crowd, people start to notice and stare. She notices the looks she's getting and people being surprised by her eyes. She lowers her head even more so her bangs cover her eyes.
'I don't know if I can do this… I can't-'
Before she even finish her thought, it's interrupted by a voice.
"Hey Shiori." Lucy says.
"Hikigaya!"
Chizuru calls out. Shiori looks up to see the others all waiting by the large wall with the classes and students' names on many posters. As soon as she looks at them, they immediately notice. Chizuru and Haru begin blushing as their eyes light up. Ryuji smiles as Sugawara and Lucy are surprised.
"Shiori! Your eyes! They're different colors!"
Haru points out blatantly. Shiori gets a bit reserved by his words before Chizuru speaks up.
"That's so cool!"
"I always thought you had been in some horrible accident." Sugawara says.
"That's what I assumed."
Lucy adds. Shiori gets very embarrassed and blushes.
"You guys don't think it's weird..?" She asks softly.
"Well yeah, it is!"
She looks up confused and a little hurt by Haru's words.
"But I mean look at us! Look at this guy." He wraps his arm around Hikigaya. "Take a look at his eyes. All hollow and lifeless. Unlike Chizuru or even Ryuji."
"Okay, I think she gets the point."
Hikigaya says as he ducks out from Haru's hold.
"What he means to say is that you fit right in. It doesn't matter what you look like. You're our friend and your eyes won't change that." Lucy says directly and happily.
"Yeah but they're definitely super cool to look at!"
Chizuru says as she gets close to Shiori's face. Shiori blushes and stands awkwardly as Chizuru examines her. Hikigaya looks at the others.
"Did you guys find out what classes you have?"
"No, we wanted to wait for you guys so we can find out together." Sugawara says.
"What the little guy said."
Lucy points her thumb at him as he blushes a bit. Hikigaya smiles and turns towards the board.
"Well, I guess we better do it now."
He calls to the others and they stop examining Shiori to check out the board.
"Oh right, our classes."
Chizuru says calmly. Shiori gets a bit sad and worried but reluctantly approaches the board. She looks for her name and when she gets right about it, she closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath before looking at her class. When she reads it, her eyes grow wide.
In the classroom, Shiori walks in and looks for an empty desk. They are not labeled like before so she decides to pick a seat a row from the front and with desks on both sides. She sits down and puts her bag on the side of the desk. Her bangs cover her eyes as she hangs her head low before she folds her arms on her desk and puts her head down on them. She sits in silence for a moment before someone speaks.
"Well, maybe it's because they don't trust you." Lucy says.
"It's not me they should be worrying about. Without us, who'd make you actually do your work?" Hikigaya responds.
"Hey I do my work just fine." Lucy says back casually.
"Yeah right."
He says as Lucy punches him playfully on the arm before they go their ways to sit in the same seats they did the year prior. Hikigaya to Shiori's left and Lucy right behind her.
"I can't believe we got the same class together!" Chizuru says excitedly.
"There is no way this was by chance." Ryuji says plainly.
"Well, whatever it was, I'm happy. I'd be pretty bummed without my guys. Especially this one."
Haru says as he turns and pokes Sugawara on the nose gently. Sugawara blushes as Haru giggles. They take their seats around her as well. Chizuru then notices Shiori with her head down so she pokes her shoulder.
"Shiori? What's wrong?"
Shiori, with her head on the desk, has tears in her eyes and the biggest look of relief on her face as she speaks softly.
"I'm just so relieved.."
She says as the others look surprised then smile warmly at her. Hikigaya smirks.
"Oh, you big baby. I told you it'd be okay."
She gets angry and shoots her head up to look at him.
"Oh yeah?! Well, how was I supposed to trust the words of a moron!?"
He gets angry back and presses his head onto hers aggressively.
"Moron, huh?! At least I'm not crying on the first day of school!"
They yell and argue for a moment as the others get a little embarrassed. Lucy sighs and shakes her head.
"Well, it's good to see them acting like normal, am I right?"
She says as she turns to Ryuji.
"Yeah."
He answers quickly and turns away from her. She is caught off guard by his answer and gets a little sad about it but doesn't pursue.
As Shiori and Hikigaya growl at each other, the teacher steps into the room. The class begins to settle down, all except for those two. As she steps to her desk, she puts down a large binder gently and looks at them, smiling.
"Already starting off strong I see."
They stop and look to see Ms. Samuel smiling at them. They get embarrassed and sit down.
"Sorry Ms. Samuel…" They say in unison.
"That's better. Don't forget, you're still paired because you are to be on your best behavior and nothing less. You're not off the hook yet."
She wags her finger at them to which Hikigaya looks to the side upset and Shiori sticks her tongue out at him. He gets playfully angry but doesn't blow up.
"First off, congratulations to all of you for making it to second year. As you all should know, that achievement comes with its own perks. A few being you all can now join clubs of your own, you will have new class opportunities and be able to join extracurricular school events. We'll go over those in more detail when the need arises. Any questions so far?"
Samuel asks with a large smile as the entire class livens up with energy and excitement for the year to come.
As lunchtime rolls around, the group sits in their usual formation in class, eating and chatting when a couple people set up lunch next to them.
"Come on guys. It's only been a month and you've already forgotten about us?"
Kitaro asks as he and Hisana give playfully disappointed looks. Haru smiles widely.
"Guys! Welcome back to the mean extreme super team!"
"Oh, you're so silly cute Haru!"
She giggles as Haru smiles back. Sugawara gets cartoonishly angry, pouting behind them.
"Stop flirting." Kitaro says.
"What? Flirting? I would never! Believe it or not, my love still belongs to that manly man over there."
She turns and looks back at the same delinquent punk as last year, eating alone like before. She gives him the same adoring look as Kitaro rolls his eyes.
"So you gonna finally make a move or what?" Kitaro asks, slightly annoyed by her.
"You can't rush romance! I'll make a move when the time is right."
As they speak, some others start talking to themselves behind Hikigaya. He overhears what they're talking about.
"Did you hear about the incident at Fawn Tower last week?"
"Yeah! I heard some girl was pushed off the roof!"
"No no, she definitely jumped off."
Hikigaya hears them talking and lowers his head, his eyes covered in shadows. Shiori turns and notices his reaction then hears what they're talking about. Shiori is about to get up and say something when someone else speaks up.
"She didn't jump off."
The other kids stop talking and turn around to see Touma, the delinquent boy that Hisana is crushing on, stand up. He gets up from his chair and steps towards them. They begin to sweat and get nervous as he steps in front of them.
"Bad people were doing bad things. She was just caught up in it." He says with his deep voice.
"R-right… Sorry, we didn't know."
They then look down at their desks to avoid eye contact. Hikigaya perks his head up at the defense of his sister. Touma then turns to look at Hikigaya.
"Hikigaya Oshiro."
Hikigaya turns to make eye contact. Everyone else in the room is quiet and focusing on the intensity between them now. Shiori and Ryuji tense up as if ready for anything to happen. They stare at each other for a moment before Touma speaks.
"She was your sister, wasn't she?"
His eyes widen as Touma's assumption is correct. After being surprised for a moment, he nods. Touma gets a look of understanding before sitting on his knees and bowing to Hikigaya.
"I am sorry for your loss."