Hikigaya Hachiman is still in the dark

After graduation, you can no longer meet frequently, nor can you meet every day to satisfy yourself like you did when you had a crush on someone in school. And most importantly, if you are rejected, you will not meet again in the future, and there will be no embarrassment, so graduation season is also a season for confession.

What a naive idea! I once thought that I would never encounter loss again, but the reality often makes people feel helpless, so I have to be careful every time I confess. Of course, it is best not to confess.

"Well, I like you, please go out with me." In the corridor, another boy confessed to another girl. They were surrounded by a group of people who should be classmates, who were declaring that they were together.

Such people are very disgusting. If a girl says that, won't she feel a lot of pressure? It's not right to agree, nor is it right to refuse. I didn't plan to watch this boring farce. As soon as I took a step, Yuigahama pulled me back. When I turned around, I found that Yuigahama was looking at this confession with shining eyes, and she looked very interested.

"This is super interesting." Yuigahama said excitedly.

It seems like I can't leave for the time being. This idiot gets so excited whenever love is mentioned.

The girl hesitated for a few minutes, then she bowed to the boy and said, "I'm sorry." It seemed that she was rejected. Well, that's a very normal thing.

The boy smiled bitterly, then bowed to the girl: "I'm sorry to bother you." Although it is graduation season, not all confessions will be successful.

The crowd dispersed, and only a few people who looked like friends came forward to comfort the two.

"Hey, let's go." I whispered to Yuigahama, who was almost stunned and seemed to be thinking about something. After hearing my voice, she shook her head as if she came to her senses.

"Hey, are you leaving?" So, how focused were you just now?

"If you don't leave now, Yukinoshita will probably complain again." I reminded her that Yukinoshita is not a person who likes to wait. No wonder, after all, she is very punctual, so she certainly doesn't want others to be too slow.

"Xiao Qi, what do you think of the confession just now?" After a long silence, Yuigahama suddenly asked me this when we walked to the stairs leading to the club room.

"It's just ordinary self-satisfaction. I probably just felt that we wouldn't see each other again after graduation. Such a sudden confession will definitely make many people distressed." I said seriously. After all, I had a lot of painful memories because of the confession.

Why did he confess? He is really young and ignorant. Damn it!

"Haha, that really sounds like Xiaoqi's answer, but, but..." Yuigahama's voice, who was walking behind me, gradually became inaudible. Since she was behind me, I couldn't see her expression. The sunlight shone through the window into the stairs, changing its appearance in patches on the stairs. The noise of the crowd saying goodbye outside the playground clearly entered my ears. The blooming cherry blossoms looked the same as the clouds in the sky, a look that made people feel at ease.

"Even so, there is definitely a feeling that I want to convey to someone, even if it means failure." I don't know when Yuigahama grabbed the corner of my clothes tightly, and her voice gradually became louder with determination.

"Xiao Qi, I..."

"Eh? Hello, Yui-senpai. Also, I'll say hello to you as well."

What do you mean by saying hello? I am your senior. Turning back, I saw the familiar flaxen hair and Isshiki Iroha with her signature smile.

"Senior, what are you doing?" Isshiki asked curiously. After hearing this, Yuigahama's face immediately turned red with embarrassment. She hurriedly let go of the hand that was holding the corner of my clothes, and shook it irregularly.

"Nothing, Iroha-chan, we were just going to the club room normally," Yuigahama explained a little anxiously.

"Wow." Isshiki looked at Yuigahama meaningfully, and then she looked at me with disgust. So, did I do something wrong? Why are you looking at me like this?

"Then, let's go together." Isshiki said happily and ran over, holding Yuigahama's hand. Yuigahama looked troubled. If you feel troubled, can you please also consider Yukinoshita's feelings...

I naturally walked behind them, and looking at the two people in front of me who were intimate, I suddenly felt happy and relaxed.

Perhaps, in this school, my home is in that small office.

With this kind of life, as today's club work is over, that club room will no longer have the aroma of the delicious black tea brewed by Yukinoshita. Thinking of this, I put my hand on the door handle and slowly walked into the club room.

The office was still the same as I remembered, with just the right amount of sunlight to cover the entire floor, and there were still messy tables and chairs placed in the back of the office; probably because the windows were open, there was a constant playful wind and curtains playing around there.

At the largest table in the room, closest to the window, Yukinoshita was reading the paperback book against the sunlight as usual. Suddenly, I felt that the only things in the world were the faint scent of cherry blossoms that drifted into the club room at some point in time, the sunlight that shone into the club room, the cool breeze that blew into the club room, and finally, the girl who seemed to remain calm even at the end of the world.

"Hello, Yukino-chan."

"Good afternoon, Yukinoshita-senpai."

After the two of them greeted each other, Yuigahama walked to her original seat and sat down, leaning towards Yukinoshita. This time, Yukinoshita just smiled bitterly and did not refuse like usual. Maybe it was because she had graduated, so Yukinoshita was reluctant to leave Yuigahama and wanted to stay with her for a while longer. After all, Yuigahama was Yukinoshita's first good friend in high school, and it seemed that she was also her only friend...

At the same time, Isshiki behaved differently from usual. I remembered that this guy used to sit opposite me with Yukinoshita's girl group, but today he took a bench and sat next to me naturally.

Don't sit next to me so naturally. Is it that my Hachiman aura didn't work today?

Noticing my unnatural expression, Isse pouted slightly and said angrily, "Senior, are you dissatisfied with the cute junior sitting next to you?"

"I'm not dissatisfied at all..."

Isshiki suddenly grabbed my hand. Eh? Usually, he grabs the edge of my clothes? Why did he grab my hand today? The unique touch of a girl's skin and the slightly cold feeling made my palms sweat. Let go quickly. I'm so shy.

Isshiki's eyes became more moist than before, and her whole body seemed to be shaking with sadness. Because I was closer than usual, I could clearly see her lips with lipstick on, glowing in the sun with a heart-moving color. There was also a girl's unique fragrance mixed with the faint fragrance of cherry blossoms drifting into my nose. What is this? Do all girls smell so good? It turns out that girls are made up of sugar, spices and some beautiful things.

"Senior." Isshiki's voice was as bright and cheerful as usual, but this time she cried, "Are you disgusted with me? Don't you want me to be with you?"

There seems to be something wrong with the wording, it sounds like you like me. There should be a limit to pranks. If it were me in junior high school, I might have fallen in love with you because of this.

"Well." I found it difficult to speak. To be honest, I really mind it, but the touch from my hand makes me reluctant to let go. What is this? Adam's apple temptation, you have to resist the temptation, Hikigaya Hachiman.

"Aya, what are you doing? Xiaoqi will be troubled, please let go!" Yuigahama ran over. She pushed away the hand that was held by Isshiki and me, and explained with a blushing face: "Aya, you can't do this. Although Xiaoqi is useless, you can't do this." After saying that, Yuigahama secretly glanced at me, as if confirming something.

I'm really sorry that I'm useless.

"You are really a complete loser. It would be great if you could exchange your life with Sakura." Yukinoshita was also looking at me coldly. Although she was smiling, it looked so scary.

Isshiki stuck out his tongue slyly, and then as if he remembered something, he showed his signature devilish smile and looked at Yuigahama: "It's just a normal junior playing a prank on a senior! It's the same as Yui-senpai's previous normal visit to the club room, it's the same."

Why do you say "same" twice? And you add a weird modifier at the end...

However, Yuigahama suddenly became flustered like a hamster that was found to have had its chestnuts stolen. Her face became much redder than before, and her hands were waving in such a way that afterimages could be seen.

"Well, well, well, it's just that some strange things happened when Xiaoqi and I went to the club room. It's nothing. Nothing happened between Xiaoqi and me, really!"

So what exactly do you want to say? I can't understand you at all.

"Yuigahama, did anything happen on your way here?"

"Ah, it's nothing, Yukino, don't worry about it!" Yuigahama explained to Yukinoshita in panic: "Xiaoqi, please tell me something." Yuigahama looked at me anxiously, with tearful eyes, hoping that I would help her explain.

"Hmm?" I supported my chin with my hand, looking thoughtful: "Something like a confession."

Then, the whole club room suddenly fell into a strange silence. Eh? Did I use some kind of big move like time freeze? After a long while, Yuigahama finally reacted and screamed "Ah", and then her face turned red as if she had a fever, and white smoke was still coming out of her head. This reaction was too exaggerated, this was not some weird light novel.

"Xiaoqi, Xiaoqi, Xiaoqi, if you know it, don't say it out loud. It's embarrassing!" Yuigahama looked away, but her eyes were still secretly glancing at me from time to time. When she realized that I was looking at her, she uttered "Ah" and looked away.

"It's obviously just a senior, but he made the discovery unexpectedly." Isshiki seemed to be gritting his teeth unwillingly, his voice did not have any of his usual cheerfulness, but was filled with a strong chill.

Chapter 23 What's going on

What is going on? Did I say something that can be compared to the unspeakable quotes of Hikigaya Hachiman, such as "Hiratsuka-sensei can't get married", "Yukinoshita's breasts won't get bigger", "Yuigahama won't get smarter", "Isshiki can't be that cute"?

I carefully considered what I said, and there was nothing wrong. By the way, what was Yukinoshita's reaction? I focused my eyes on Yukinoshita, and what I couldn't believe was that Yukinoshita was completely dazed, with a blank look in her eyes that didn't belong to her, as if she was in a trance. I don't know if it was an illusion, but Yukinoshita's face seemed to be a little paler than usual. Her hands were tightly holding the glasses I gave her, as if she was enduring something. Yukinoshita's mouth made a sound that was too soft to hear clearly.

"I see, Yuigahama... As expected, I am still not capable of this?" Her voice was vague, and because it was not too loud, it seemed that only the air gave her a vague response. The next second later, she lowered her head again, which made it impossible for me to guess her expression.

Eh? What's going on? Yuigahama and Isshiki are fine, but what's going on with Yukinoshita?

"So, why do you have such a big reaction when you see someone confessing?" Should you be so shocked when you see someone confessing? Isn't this very normal? Confessions at graduation are also common in junior high school, right?

"Hey, Xiaoqi, what are you talking about? Someone else's confession?" Yuigahama turned her face and looked at me, a little surprised.

"Isn't it? On the way back, didn't we see someone else's confession? You even asked me to stop." I tried hard to sort out my memory. There shouldn't be any discrepancies.

Then, Isshiki and Yuigahama looked at me as if I were a monster. Even Yukinoshita raised her head and looked down on me as if I were non-recyclable garbage. The temperature in the club room suddenly returned to the midwinter of a few months ago.

Yuigahama sat back in her seat angrily, and propped up her puffy cheeks with her hands: "I am looking forward to Xiaoqi like an idiot."

"Senior, you really should die once." Isse looked at me with a smile. Although her voice was as light and graceful as usual, the words she said were really incompatible with her current smiling expression.

"Hello, is this a policeman? Yes, there is a large amount of garbage here that needs to be recycled..." Yukinoshita took out her cell phone.

Eh? Just call the police? Also, why do you have to call the police when you recycle? Don't you have any common sense?

"So, why did you guys react so strongly? Are you surprised because someone confessed to you?" I tried to defend myself.

"What's more surprising is your slowness, senior." Isshiki rubbed his temple and looked at me with disgust.

If you dislike me, just stay away from me and don't sit so close to me.

"Well, it's a small company after all. It's better to say it is indeed a small company." Yuigahama smiled helplessly at first, but finally looked at me coldly.

"As expected, Hikigaya-kun, your existence is harmful to this world and has no benefit at all. Isn't it time for you to find a place to end your life?" Yukinoshita finished me off with a bloody knife, and her tone was even colder than usual.

Is this considered bullying? Insulting words are echoing in this room!

"What do you care? It's obviously just a misunderstanding between you two. Why are you taking your anger out on me?" I looked at Yukinoshita and expressed my protest against their mistakes. It was obvious that I was not wrong. Why should I be unreasonably blamed?

"Ah." Isshiki made a sound with some sadness, and then she looked at me with a disgusted expression: "Senior, if you don't understand, can you shut up? The current seniors' scores are super low. I really want to remove the seniors from the world."

This guy has undisguised malice. I helped her deal with student union affairs during her senior year of high school, risking failing the exam. Now she disowns me?

Speaking of which, most students quit their clubs in their senior year. They probably valued their future universities more, so they all studied hard. Well, although we were all freshmen, the Service Club did not suspend club activities in our senior year. How should I put it? My grades and Yukinoshita's were relatively stable at the top, and science was automatically ignored because it was not considered. As for Yuigahama... So, in the end, it almost became a cram school for Yuigahama. But probably considering that we were freshmen, the strange Chiba trouble consultation was cancelled. There were almost no students who came to ask us for help. In the end, it seemed that only Isshiki and Komachi came. Isshiki came every time either to eat and drink for free or to ask us for help with student union matters. This guy wouldn't think that the Service Club was a subordinate organization of the student union... Komachi hasn't come yet today. Something must have happened. Otherwise, she should have greeted me with "Hi" as usual and sat next to me naturally.

Thinking of this, I looked at Isshiki beside me. Isshiki was bored and took out his mobile phone to play while watching Yukinoshita making tea. It seemed that this guy and Komachi didn't have a very good relationship. When they met, they just said hello and didn't say anything else. I seemed to have asked Komachi before, and Komachi said something meaningless like overlapping attributes, and said to me seriously that she absolutely didn't want a sister like that. But considering the blood relationship, she would never become that sister. I had no idea what Komachi was thinking.

While I was thinking this, Yukinoshita had already brewed the black tea, and poured it into the mugs except for mine and Komachi's. By the way, since Isshiki and Komachi came too frequently, two more mugs were prepared in the club room. Isshiki's mug was a mug of a girl with a very cute style. Originally, Komachi also brought a mug similar to Isshiki's, but after she saw Isshiki's mug, she immediately went to buy another mug with a completely different style from the previous one, with scenery depicted on it. This guy, what a weird sense of confrontation.

No, it’s understandable that Komachi didn’t pour tea for Yukinoshita when she wasn’t there, but why didn’t she pour tea for me?

As if she noticed my confusion about "why didn't you pour me some tea", Yukinoshita smiled at me and said, "Do you think there is no punishment for doing that kind of thing?" She responded to me with a cold look.

This guy is still angry. Anyway, why is she angry? This is totally incomprehensible.

Isshiki happily took the teacup that Yukinoshita handed to her, and blew a few breaths into the mug. After feeling that the temperature was suitable, Isshiki drank the tea in small sips. Because it was not very cold, the old heater was not turned on. Then, the temperature in the room was still a little cold. The hot steam from the tea met the colder air in the room and liquefied into mist, making Isshiki look like an angel in the mist. This guy, has he become cute again?

Thinking of this, I observed Isshiki more carefully. Probably because of the past year, her height has increased, and with a year of work in the student union, she looks more capable and mature than before. However, her occasional small movements show her childishness. The two contradictory temperaments are mixed together in her body... As expected, Isshiki Caiyu has grown into an excellent woman, a bit like a father watching his daughter grow up.

Maybe she noticed my gaze, Isshiki looked at me quietly, then winked at me as if secretly, and then she pretended to drink her tea seriously before Yuigahama and Yukinoshita looked at her.

What does this guy want to say by blinking? Is he saying that he likes Ye Shan or something? Or is he asking me to help the student union later? If that's the case, I definitely won't go! Who would do that kind of unpaid voluntary labor after graduation?

"Hello, Yui-senpai, Yukinoshita-senpai, oh, and President Isshiki." A spirited voice suddenly filled the club room. I turned around excitedly after hearing this familiar voice. She has the same ahoge and hair color as me, a bright smile that makes people unable to open their eyes, and her little tiger teeth make her somewhat loli face even more loli. My sister is always so cute!

But why didn't she call Isshiki-senpai? It seemed like she had never called him that before.

"Hello, Komachi." Yuigahama also greeted in the same strange way.

"Good afternoon, Komachi." Yukinoshita responded to Komachi with a smile.

"Ah, hello, Komachi-senpai." Isshiki emphasized the word "senior" very much, as if he wanted to emphasize something. Then, I heard the sound of Komachi gritting his teeth.

So, where does this sense of confrontation come from?

Naturally, Komachi sat on the other side of me. When she sat down, she looked at Isshiki next to me as if she was unhappy. Then she stood up and ran to Yukinoshita's side, took out my and her mugs and poured black tea into them. Then, she took a few of my favorite cookies and her own favorite food and came back.

"My own sister is still the best." I sighed while blowing the black tea. Because Komachi and I both have cat tongues, we blew the black tea almost synchronously.

"Looking at it this way, they are indeed brother and sister?" Yuigahama sighed.

"Although our personalities and characters are quite different." Yukinoshita continued to criticize me coldly.

"But even so, I have always been protecting Komachi's healthy growth. Ah, Hachiman scored very high just now." I touched Komachi's head proudly.

"Brother, don't touch my head, as it will spill the tea." However, Komachi did not respond to my expectations, but said with a bit of disgust.

This guy really becomes more dishonest as he gets older, hahahaha.

Having said that, I still let go of Komachi's hand, and then I guess the tea was a little cold, so Komachi and I took a sip at the same time, and then said "hot" in unison and put the tea down. Komachi and I smiled at each other.

This is what it feels like to be a brother and sister, even though they are not twins.

"By the way, Onii-chan." Komachi said as she moved her face closer to mine. She gave me a big smile, and before I could react, she reached out and pulled off the top button of my uniform.

"I did accept the button as promised." Komachi held my button very carefully. Come to think of it, Komachi did tell me yesterday that I should leave a button for her. But why did you hold the button in front of Isshiki? What's there to show off?

Chapter 24 I Still Want It

This time it was Isshiki who gritted her teeth. Then she imitated Komachi before and put her head close to my chest. Then she raised her head and looked at me with a pitiful smile: "Senior, can I have a button?" As she said this, Isshiki reached out to take the button off my uniform without waiting for my consent.

"No." Komachi suddenly stretched out her hand and stopped Isshiki's hand: "This button is for Yui-senpai or Yukinoshita-senpai." Komachi said firmly.

"Eh? Senior, can't you give it to me?" Isshiki's voice was even more pitiful this time, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Her hand gently pulled the corner of my clothes and kept swinging it.

"This." Frankly speaking, I don't mind it very much. I don't think this kind of thing has any special meaning. It's just a game that I came up with when I was bored.

"Do you want it?" I asked Yuigahama and Yukinoshita in a low voice.

However, when the two heard my question, they looked away at the same time.

"As for Xiaoqi, I still want it a little bit."

"Forget what I said..."

"No, Sister Yukino, taking buttons is a custom in RB, and it's helpful not only in love, but also in other things." Komachi interrupted Yukinoshita and spoke quickly.

"Is that so? If it's a custom then there's nothing I can do about it." Yukinoshita said a little helplessly, and then she and Yuigahama secretly glanced at me almost at the same time.

Do you want them all? What a headache, the uniform only has two buttons, how can I solve this problem?

"Brother, please make a good choice." Komachi came close to my ear and whispered softly.

"Even if you say so..." I smiled bitterly. How should I solve this situation?