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[-Continuation-]
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[-Hachiman's POV-]
"Yes, well, now you are informed."
Was it just me, or did Yukino's chair just shift a few inches closer to my side?
For a moment, I stared at the space between us, half-expecting to see the floor move again.
Nah... it must be my imagination.
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling.
I mean, I remember doing something like that back in the early days of the Service Club, slowly inching closer as time passed, until there was less distance between us each day.
It felt like so long ago, but in reality, it had only been a few months.
But, coming back, Yukino was going all out, wasn't she?
When she said. 'Now you are informed' her words carried an unmistakable finality in them.
She wasn't angry, not exactly, but there was a steel in her voice that made it clear - Orimoto's earlier remarks - with their implied dismissal of me and, by extension, her judgement hadn't gone unnoticed or forgiven.
Orimoto, visibly thrown off balance, attempted to regain her footing with a nervous laugh that sounded more like a hiccup.
"Yeah, I had no idea... You really surprised me, Hikigaya."
Before I could even think of how to respond, Haruno swooped in, her voice dripping with honeyed venom, sweet yet unmistakably dangerous.
"Oh, I am sure Hachiman surprises a lot of people." She tilted her head, glancing between me and Yukinoshita. "But aren't they just the most adorable pair? Yukino's truly fortunate to have someone like Hachiman by her side."
The way Haruno said it made my skin crawl, like a subtle twist of a knife in a wound that hadn't even been opened yet.
Fortunate? Who exactly was fortunate to have who here?
Not that I really cared how people saw it, or even if either side of the statement had some truth to it.
But still, her timing felt way off.
Not because she was incapable of reading a room, she could do that better than most, but because she didn't have all the facts.
If she knew, she might have approached it differently.
Because, well, wouldn't it be beyond awkward if the 'girl' I once asked out was standing right there, Orimoto, only to be told to her face that someone else was 'fortunate' to have me, the very person she had flat-out rejected?
The thought crossed my mind, and I couldn't help but cringe inwardly.
Yeah, thanks, Haruno. Really great timing on that one.
Yukinoshita, to her credit, didn't so much as flinch at Haruno's comment.
Her posture remained flawless, chin tilted at just the right angle to convey both grace and defiance. She exuded the quiet confidence of a queen, unbothered by a jester's antics.
"Indeed, I am."
She replied, her voice like ice, yet refined, locking eyes with her sister in a silent challenge.
Haruno's smile widened at Yukinoshita's response, but there was a flash of something in her eyes, like a hunter deciding whether to go in for the kill or let its prey go.
The tension in the air thickened, nearly palpable.
I shifted my attention to Orimoto, and, as expected, her smile had turned awkward, forced. Her earlier casualness had evaporated entirely, replaced by uneasiness.
Yep. She definitely didn't expect this strong of an acceptance from Yukino.
While her friend shifted uncomfortably, clearly sensing they had stumbled into a familial minefield.
Suddenly, Haruno's voice cut through the silence, sickeningly sweet.
"Come ladies, for how long are you going to stand there?" She cooed, her tone laced with an unsettling friendliness that was clearly false. "Come on, come on, sit here, beside this big sis..."
Her fingers, perfectly manicured and painted in a color too pristine to be casual, tapped rhythmically on the seat beside her. There was something almost hypnotic in the gesture, a deliberate cadence that seemed to beckon them into her web.
?!Orimoto stiffened, her discomfort plain as day.
"N-no..." She muttered, barely audible, her eyes darting for an escape route.
"Hah, you don't want to?" Haruno's voice dripped with mock hurt.
She pouted theatrically, eyes twinkling with amusement as though she were a cat toying with a cornered mouse.
"It's not like that." Orimoto stammered.
"Y-yeh, we are sorry for interrupting you guys anymore." Her friend joined.
Haruno waved off the apology with a laugh that sounded as genuine as a politician's promise. "There's no need to worry about that. Come on now, take a seat."
She continued. "You are Hachiman's friends from middle school. That must have been quite the experience. I am sure there must be something juicy. Oh, I know! What about love stories? Big sis is dying to hear about Hachiman's romantic exploits!"
I felt my stomach drop, a sense of impending doom settling over me like a heavy shroud.
I wanted to melt into the pavement, to disappear into thin air, anything to escape what I knew was coming.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
Orimoto's eyes lit up at the invitation, her earlier discomfort seemingly forgotten.
She stretched out an 'eeeh' that seemed to last an eternity, her gaze turning inward as she rifled through her memories.
"..." - "..." Orimoto and her friend exchanged a quick, reluctantly taking their seats beside Haruno as if they decided to latch onto the lifeline like a drowning sailor.
For a fleeting moment, I saw a chance flicker in her eyes - an opportunity to regain her footing in this unexpected situation.
It was an almost unconscious action, born from the discomfort of being shocked not once, but twice in such a short span of time.
….
The first shock had come when Hachiman snapped at her earlier, the boy Orimoto remembered as meek and forgettable that truly surprised her to her core.
Her eyes blink rapidly, her perpetual smile faltering for a split second before she managed to paste it back on.
But she recovered from that relatively quickly…
...only to find herself startled for the second time.
That was also the reason she had brought up the 'girlfriend' topic out of nowhere.
It was one of her desperate attempts to regain control of the situation.
Yet soon, she found another reason to bolster her confidence - the people surrounding Hachiman.
Initially, upon seeing the group he was with, Orimoto had made a series of rapid assumptions.
Her eyes had darted from Yukino to Haruno, then to Ryota, clearly assessing the social dynamics at play.
She had guessed that these people were way out of my league, like the difference between heaven and earth.
This was the 'popular' group, the social elite, and in her mind, Hachiman was the black sheep - the odd one out, the anomaly that didn't fit.
Her lips curled into a small, satisfied smile as she quickly concluded that Hikigaya Hachiman, was just an errand boy for the group.
Yeah, the one to do all the odd jobs just to be allowed to stay in their presence.
That was the conclusion she chose to make her standing clear again.
She had been all but ready to express something along the lines of, 'Ah, what? That's just gross, he's not my boyfriend.'
But to her immense surprise, that scenario never materialized.
Instead, the elegant beauty beside me, with her porcelain skin and eyes that could freeze flame, didn't just claim to be his girlfriend - she owned the title.
The pride in Yukino's voice, the possessive glint in her eye as she regarded Hachiman, was...
Breathtaking and Mesmerizing.
Utterly and completely Unexpected.
Orimoto felt a twinge in her chest, a mixture of awe and something else she couldn't quite name.
This time it was pretty hard for her to regain her confidence back - this was also when she began to realise that the current Hachiman might not be the same one she knew back then.
But to her surprise, an unexpected 'opportunity' soon found her….
In the form of Haruno.
This realisation again gave her the confidence to regain her footing.
If she was being entirely honest with herself, Orimoto was awestruck.
The way Yukino had declared her relationship with Hachiman - the elegant certainty with which she had staked her claim.
It was majestic to behold, even from the sidelines.
It was the kind of scene you would expect in a movie, not in real life, and certainly not involving the Hikigaya Hachiman she thought she knew.
So…. Now, this out of the world beauty, something she seems to cherish and value more than anything, was once rejected by her.
That itself gave her the confidence of a mountain.
….
Orimoto, caught up in the moment and seemingly oblivious to the minefield she was tap-dancing through, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and let out an embarrassed laugh.
"Aah, that reminds me." She said, her voice light and carefree, utterly at odds with the bomb she was about to drop.
"Hikigaya confessed to me once!"
??!!
….
.
[To be continued…]
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