….
[-Continuation-]
.
[-Hachiman's POV-]
"Hikigaya, I have always wanted to ask you something." He started, voice quieter, almost hesitant.
"What would you have done if Yukinoshita said no that day…"
Huh? Just out of the blue?
"..."
I blinked, trying to process.
"I…"
My words hang incomplete, creating a ripple of thought I can't ignore.
What if she had said no?
...this guy, again, trying to find answers through me, like I am some kind of how-to manual for life's complications.
I can see right through him - searching for a blueprint in my experience, hoping he can somehow apply my solution to his own tangled mess.
As if relationships work that way, as if what worked for me could just be copied and pasted into his life.
But aside from all this… the question he had asked... it stuck with me, echoing louder than I wanted it to.
What would I have done?
…if things hadn't gone the way they did?
Not gonna lie, the thought had crossed my mind a few times before…
It had haunted me in those moments, before I spoke those words to her, before I took that leap and confessed.
But I never let it take root, never gave it enough space to grow into something real.
Maybe because it was easier to shove it aside and keep that 'what if' buried somewhere deep.
Like maybe... I didn't want to know the answer at all.
"I…"
…
.
[-Third Person View-]
Meanwhile, on the other side of the park, under the pale glow of a street lamp, Yukino stood a few paces away from where Yui and Isshiki sat on a bench.
She had her arms crossed, her gaze fixed on the path where she had last seen Hachiman's silhouette as he had left, claiming he was just going for a 'walk.'
It had been a few minutes since then, and though Yukino was present there, her thoughts drifted elsewhere.
Isshiki, for her part, seemed to have regained her composure after confessing to Hayama and being gently turned down.
She seemed more settled, but Yukino knew the sting of rejection would likely linger.
But it wasn't just Isshiki's confession on her mind.
Hikigaya had shared something else with her, a detail about Hayama that, even now, hung in her mind with a surprising weight - Hayama's feelings for her sister, Haruno.
The news was unexpected, and it left a strange echo inside her.
As Yukino mulled over these thoughts, Isshiki's voice broke through her reverie.
"Senior Yukino?"
Startled, Yukino turns, her mask of composure firmly in place. "Yes?"
Isshiki glanced between Yukino and Yui, hesitating a moment before asking a question that sent a ripple of shock through both of them.
"What would you have done... if, you know, you and Senior Hikigaya weren't together?"
Yukino's expression faltered for a brief moment.
The question caught her off guard, a concept she had never allowed herself to consider.
What would I have done if Hikigaya had never confessed his feelings? Or if he never had those feelings at all?
She felt her chest tighten, realizing that she didn't have an answer.
It was ironic, almost painfully so, that while she stood here grappling with this unexpected question, somewhere out there, Hachiman himself was pondering something eerily similar.
Though they didn't know it, both were faced with the same unsettling scenario - facing the same shadowy what-if that neither wants to fully acknowledge.
What would my life have been like if we hadn't met each other the way we did?
Yukino lowered her gaze, caught in the unexpected quiet that followed Isshiki's question, feeling her usual composure falter. Finally, she managed a quiet response.
"I don't know…"
The words float away on the evening breeze, carrying with them the unspoken fear of a reality neither she nor Hachiman want to imagine.
….
.
"I…"
"I don't know…"
The same words came from Hachiman, leaving a strange taste on his tongue, like admitting a weakness he would rather keep hidden.
Especially to Hayama, of all people.
But it was the truth nonetheless.
"But one thing's for sure - I would have been a complete mess." A wry smile tugs at his lips, hollow as an empty promise.
The thought felt a little too real, too close to some version of himself he didn't want to picture.
Hayama's gaze was steady, in a way Hakigaya wasn't expecting.
"Yeah." His voice is quiet, thoughtful. "I can see that." A hint of mischief creeps into his expression. "You would have been one hell of a mess to deal with, for sure."
Hachiman rolls his eyes, but can't deny the ring of truth in those words. "Well, lucky for you, that's not the case." His tone stays light, though something more genuine lurks beneath the surface.
"Guess, in a way, Yukinoshita saved a lot of trouble for the rest of us." Hayama's voice held a hint of something wry, almost reflective.
"Yeah." Hachiman murmured, glancing off in the distance. "Guess she did."
"But just now, aren't your choice of words a bit... old-fashioned?" Hayama asked, raising an eyebrow with a slight smirk.
"I grew up in an old-fashioned house." Hachiman responds flatly, indifferent as a stone. "It's not exactly easy to shake off a habit like that."
His eyes slide to Hayama. "...Got any problem with it?"
Hayama shrugged. "Nope. None... Never."
"Hikigaya, I think I will try too…" Hayama said out of nowhere.
"What…?" He asked, confused.
"To not be a 'mess' by missing out on someone important in my life." He replied, his tone more serious than usual.
Hachiman rubbed the back of his neck, an exhausted sigh escaping his lips. "For once, can't you just say it clearly without all the cryptic nonsense?"
Hayama smiled, though there was a strange edge to it. "I mean, I will try again… or more like, I will try for the first time at something I gave up on before even giving it a real shot."
Hachiman's eyes narrow as he processes the words. Still cryptic, still Hayama-style complicated, but he gets it.
He is just too tired to argue.
"Do whatever you want, dude." He muttered, walking a few steps ahead.
….
.
[-Back To Yukino-]
"I don't know…?"
Yukino's voice wavers, unusual for someone normally so certain.
She lifted her gaze, her eyes drifting to the horizon, as if somehow the distant view might offer an answer she hadn't been able to find within herself.
Unknowingly, the answer that surfaced in her mind was remarkably similar to what Hachiman had said to Hayama - I would have been a complete mess.
But as always, Yukino's ever precise articulation was uniquely hers.
"...I suppose I would have been... rather... lost."
Her words, though softer and more restrained, carried a resonance.
The thought of her life without him, without the connection they shared, felt almost like a phantom ache, an idea she couldn't bring herself to fully embrace.
It left her feeling hollow, incomplete.
Meanwhile, Yukino's reply kind of startled both girls.
They knew about the feelings between Hikigaya and Yukino, but this... this runs deeper than they imagined.
"I don't know how else to explain it." Yukino adds softly, her usual barriers lowered just enough to let genuine emotion show through
Isshiki tilts her head, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "Huh... so that's how it is, huh?"
Her voice carries a playful note, but there's something tender underneath.
"I mean, I knew you two liked each other, but I didn't think it went this deep. You sound... kind of lost without him."
Her smirk is gentle and understanding.
Yui nodded slowly, her usual brightness softened.
"Yeah… I think I get it, Yukinon." She said, her voice quieter than usual. "You both really… mean something to each other."
.
….
[To be continued…]
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