The story we started

[“Welcome back… Zaimokuza-san.”]

　[Her embrace and the gentle tone in her voice that had never appeared in front of anyone before made Zaimokuza seem to see his deceased mother in a trance. It was so gentle and beautiful.]

【After that, Zaimokuza hugged Yukinoshita Yukino and cried. It was the first time he cried so loudly. The other party only used one sentence and a hug to remove the strength he had forced himself to hold in front of outsiders, making him cry like a child who had been lost for a long time and finally returned home. 】

【Zaimokuza once thought he had no home, but he found out he was wrong.】

[His other "family members" have actually been waiting for him to come back with another person for a long time. ]

[On that day, there were three people who signed in for the service club's activity, and one person was absent. ]

[Zaimokuza once lost everything, even himself, but eventually found everything with the help of his friends and teachers. 】

【With that day as the dividing line, the time that had been stopped in the tragedy began to move again, driving Zaimokuza towards the future.】

[——However, the time of another person has always remained on that day and has never come out. ]

[That person is Hikigaya Hachiman, the last and irreplaceable member of the Service Club. ]

[Although both of them suffered the tragedy of losing their loved ones, in contrast to Zaimokuza's autism, Hikigaya has been going to school normally since that day, showing no signs of abnormality, and seems unusually normal.]

【But this normality is actually the biggest abnormality. 】

[Because it is impossible for a normal person to look normal after losing a loved one. The evidence is that his parents have been crying all the time and have not yet recovered from the pain of losing their beloved daughter.]

[As the sole breadwinner of the family, his father took a month-long leave from work and stayed at home drinking to drown his sorrows. His mother also hid in her room crying the whole time, but he seemed to have no problems at all. Every time Shizuka Hiratsuka came to visit, Hachiman Hikigaya greeted her calmly, and his words and actions did not show any grief.]

[If there is one thing that is different, it is that he never laughs again. ]

[The death of his sister seemed to have taken away the ability to smile in his personality. Now Hikigaya's face is like a frozen mask, always keeping an expressionless face.]

[People who are familiar with him now have a feeling after seeing Hikigaya, that is, the temperament surrounding him seems to have changed overnight, and he has become a stranger who also has the name Hikigaya Hachiman, but no one knows him. ]

[But the biggest change is not his temperament, but his appearance, which is completely different from the past.]

[The pair of dead fish eyes that had always been on his face disappeared. Now his calm eyes looked like two black pools, so deep that they could swallow up all the light that shone into his eyes. He also wore a pair of glasses.]

[It was only a change in a pair of eyes and temperament, but it completely transformed Hikigaya. With the temperament brought by these eyes, his already good foundation, his appearance has now surpassed that of Hayato Hayama, who is recognized by all students as the most handsome man in Sobu High School, and he has become the top male star in Sobu High School. ]

[Thanks to this, Hikigaya, who was originally disliked by almost all girls, has become quite popular in Sobu High School in just one month due to his current appearance. Many girls even confessed their love to him.]

[But Hikigaya completely ignored the various advances from these girls. The treatment he enjoyed now was enough to make him shed tears of jealousy in the past, but now he looked at these things as if they were gravel on the side of the road, not paying any attention to them at all.]

[Originally good at liberal arts, he found Shizuka Hiratsuka eight days after his sister died in a car accident, changed his major to science, and then plunged into the vast sea of ​​scientific knowledge, isolating himself from the world in a different way from Zaimokuza's original method.]

[Not to mention going back to the Service Club, he didn't even say hello to Yukinoshita and Yuigahama when he saw them in school many times afterwards. It was like he was seeing two strangers. He turned his back to them, shouted at them but couldn't say anything, and walked away from his sight.]

【After Zaimokuza came out of the lowest point in his life and learned about Hikigaya Hachiman's current situation from Hiratsuka Shizuka, he also hoped that his best friend could get out of the shadow of his loved one's death like himself and return to the Service Club.】

[With this thought in mind, Zaimokuza found Hikigaya Hachiman, who was walking towards the library with a pile of science books. ]

[It had only been a few months since they last met, but when they stood in front of each other again, Zaimokuza felt as if an epoch had passed since they last met.]

[He looked at Hachiman Hikigaya walking towards him with the sunlight reflected by his glasses, and reached out to say hello.]

[“Hachiman——”]

[A black figure passed by him without stopping. Zaimokuza opened his eyes slightly, turned his head and stared blankly at Hikigaya Hachiman who was walking behind him.]

[There was no expression on his face, and at the moment he passed through, Zaimokuza saw Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes hidden behind his glasses.]

[Those eyes were deep and calm, reflecting my face like a mirror, but they were fleeting, like a roadside scenery that you can see at any time, and once you pass by, you will never notice it again.]

[He can no longer see anyone. Everything in this world has lost its meaning to Hikigaya.]

[Even if they are friends from the past, there is no difference. 】

……

【Since that day, Zaimokuza has been persistently looking for Hikigaya, trying to restore their relationship. 】

[But the result was nothing but failure again and again. Basically, every time I was rejected by the other party without even meeting him, or after meeting him, he would just walk past me as if he didn't exist without even saying a word.]

[Time passed in the struggle between the two sides. Zaimokuza tried every possible way to bring Hikigaya back to the Service Club, the club that had brought them together and made them friends, but all ended in failure.]

[During this process, Hachiman Hikigaya, who transferred to the science department, actually achieved amazing results in this area, shocking many people who originally thought that he had given up on himself and degraded himself only because of his sister's death.]

[He made a name for himself in the scientific community with a self-written paper on physics. This paper was so outstanding that it even attracted the attention of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which was far away on the other side of the ocean. They learned about his existence.]

[On the first day of his senior year, a black car knocked on the gate of Sobu High School. In front of countless students who were about to leave after the opening ceremony, an old professor with gray hair extended an olive branch from MIT, the world's number one university, to Hikigaya Hachiman.]

[Hikigaya calmly agreed to the invitation of the professor who later became his mentor. Under the gaze of the dull-faced students, he was invited by the cheerful old professor to sit in the car. When the black car drove away at the school gate, no one could recover from the scene that shattered their worldview just now.]

[A week later, a piece of news spread throughout Sobu High School—Hikigaya Hachiman performed extremely well in MIT’s special admissions exam, and it was confirmed that after graduating from high school, he would go to MIT in North America as a special admissions student.]

[Since then, Hikigaya Hachiman has become an immortal legend in the history of Sobu High School in the past ten years, like a meteor passing through the sky, short-lived but so dazzling that people can't look directly at it. The achievements he has made before he officially graduated have made all the students on this campus bow down to his second-hand black Nike shoes.]

[On that day, the members of the Service Club also mixed in with the students who were watching, staring blankly at Hikigaya walking past them without any regrets towards the tenured professor who opened the door, and walked into another world that was different from the one they were living in.]

[Until that moment, Zaimokuza truly understood a fact for the first time—Hikigaya Hachiman was really going to leave them. ]

[While they were still worried about their future in this green campus in a remote corner of the world, their best friends had already figured out their own path and were heading towards the future they had chosen.]

[As a rising star in the scientific community, Hikigaya's future will be bright and glorious, with power, prestige and money within easy reach. However, his life has just begun, but his future is so far away that they cannot even see it.]

【A sense of urgency emerged in Zaimokuza's heart from then on, and an idea also came into his mind.】

[——He wanted to fulfill their previous agreement during the time when Hikigaya Hachiman could still stay in Sobu High School, that is, to write a story that Hikigaya would approve of.]

[This is not for anything else, Zaimokuza just wants to fulfill the promise he made to his best friend, even if the other party no longer cares about their past. 】

[If there is only one selfish motive, it might be the tiny hope he holds in his heart. ]

[He hoped that after reading that story, Hikigaya would change his mind and return to the Service Club and to their side...even though Zaimokuza knew that this was just his fantasy.]

【Zaimokuza therefore began to write. In the busy study life of the third year of high school, he studied while trying to conceive the story he wanted to write in his mind, and constantly revised it in his spare time outside of studying, no longer writing whatever he thought of as he did in the past.】

[This process also made Zaimokuza realize once again how promising his talent in writing is, but he never gave up and kept on writing the original story.]

[When the third year of high school was halfway through, Zaimokuza finally finished this story, and with an uneasy mood, he asked Yukinoshita Yukino for a review. ]

[And when he got the first recognition from her, who had always been strict, for this work that he had spent countless efforts on, he was as happy as a child who had just learned to ride a bicycle.]

【At that time, Hikigaya Hachiman, who had been abroad to exchange science with geniuses of the same age, happened to return to Japan. It was as if God was creating opportunities for him. 】

[He did it as soon as he thought of it. On the second day after Hikigaya returned to his country, Zaimokuza rang the doorbell of his house on a rainy night with the story he wrote.]

[Of course, no one responded the first time. ]

[In the midst of the heavy rain, Zaimokuza held the book wrapped in an insulating plastic bag tightly in his arms, stood outside the door of Hikigaya's house in the heavy rain, and continued to ring the doorbell. ]

[He didn't know how long he had been ringing the doorbell, nor how long he had been in the rain. He only remembered that all his clothes had been soaked by the rain, and the extreme coldness seemed to corrode his bones, making him shiver, and even his consciousness began to gradually blur.]

[But Zaimokuza still held the book tightly in his arms, standing stubbornly in the rain and refusing to leave, as if he would not give up until the other party came out.]

[Finally, when Zaimokuza was about to lose consciousness in the rain, the door that had been tightly closed was gently opened from the inside, and the warm yellow light shone out from the room, casting a shadow on his confused face.]

[Hikigaya Hachiman stood with his back to the light, quietly watching him from the open doorway. His black eyes hidden behind his glasses did not show any ripples at all because of Zaimokuza's embarrassed appearance.]

【But his sealed lips opened and he spoke to Zaimokuza:】

【“…Come in.”】

[This is the first sentence Hikigaya has spoken to Zaimokuza in over a year.]

……

【"……What's this?"】

[Looking at the brown-covered book that was unwrapped from its plastic bag and placed on the table in front of him, Hikigaya narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke to Zaimokuza, who was shivering on the sofa on the other side with a towel covering his head and holding a cup of hot tea, without any emotion.]

[“A story! The story I wrote…”]

[Zaimokuza, who was almost numb from the cold, felt that his tongue could not move, and explained to Hikigaya incoherently.]

【“Why give me this?”】

[“Promise! The promise we made!”]

【Only this sentence did Zaimokuza speak in an unusually resolute voice. He looked up at Hitotsugu Hachiman with a complex and resolute look in his eyes.】

[“We agreed that when I write a story that is shocking enough, you will be my first reader... Hachiman, have you forgotten?”]

【Zaimokuza looked at Hikigaya with a pleading look on his face, like a child who lent a lollipop to a friend and the friend forgot to return it.】

【“——”】

[Hikigaya tilted his head, looked at the book on the table expressionlessly, then raised his eyes to look at Zaimokuza who was feeling uneasy across from him.]

[“It seems… there was such an agreement.”]

[For some reason, Hikigaya, whose brain is now so flexible that he can calculate the answer to a difficult calculus math problem in the center of his brain within a few seconds, thought for a long time this time, so long that Zaimokuza was fidgeting before he answered.]

[“Since I’ve promised, I’ll take a look.”]

[Hikigaya picked up the book, opened the cover under Zaimokuza's expectant gaze, and flipped through the pages one by one. For a moment, the only sound in the living room was the sound of pages being turned.]

【Taking advantage of this time, in order to relieve his tension, Zaimokuza looked around the house he had entered again after a year, wanting to see if there were any changes here.】

[Because I was in such a hurry when I entered the door before, Zaimokuza realized that compared with the plain but warm decoration in the past, this place is now much more deserted. 】

[Many of the walls that were once hung with handwritten sticky notes and girly cartoon decorations have now been repainted, and for some reason, there are many mirrors hanging in every corner of the living room.]

[These mirrors are scattered in various corners. They seem to be placed in a messy manner, but if you look closely, you can find that they are all facing the direction of the sofa in the middle of the living room. If someone else is sitting where Hikigaya is standing now, they can see their own reflection in the mirrors placed in various positions by just looking up.]

【“…”】

[When his eyes swept across a small and exquisite shrine in the corner of the living room, Zaimokuza's eyes dimmed and he pursed his lips.]

[In the shrine, a photo of a smiling girl is facing the camera. She is holding a messy-haired orange cat in her arms. She is smiling with her white teeth exposed, and a small canine tooth is shining in the light.]

【Komachi...】

【“——I’ve finished reading it.”】

[When Zaimokuza was still feeling sad, Hikigaya's calm voice woke him up. He quickly turned to look at Zaimokuza, who was closing the last page of the book, and asked him nervously.]

[“How is it? Compared to before, is it better or worse?”]

[Because he was too nervous, Zaimokuza accidentally bit his tongue and it hurt so much that he almost cried. 】

【“…”】

[Hikigaya did not answer immediately. He looked at Zaimokuza who seemed to be waiting for the judge's judgment and spoke calmly.]

[“From a normal person’s perspective, this is a pretty good story.”]

【“——!”】

[When Zaimokuza received recognition from his best friend, he almost cried with joy, but before he could ask the other party what he thought, Hikigaya's next words made his smile freeze.]

[“I have finished reading the book. If you are looking for me just for this matter, then go back now.”]

【"……well?"】

[Zaimokuza was unable to react to the sudden order to expel him. He stared blankly at Hikigaya Hachiman's expressionless face and could not help but utter a puzzled sound.]

[“Um—Hachiman, don’t you have anything you want to tell me? Like your thoughts or something?”]

[He was stunned for a while, and after confirming that Hikigaya was not joking, Zaimokuza asked Hikigaya in a weak voice.]

[“Do you need me to give you an umbrella?”]

[“That’s not the question I’m asking!”]

[Faced with Hikigaya's emotionless reply, Zaimokuza, who was agitated for a moment, could not help but raise his voice and spoke. ]

[“I’m asking about your feelings. Hachiman, do you really have no feelings after reading this story? Don’t you feel sad? Or touched? In short, the emotions that can make people’s mood fluctuate, these... don’t you have any of them?”]

[“…What are you talking about?”]

[Hikigaya slowly raised his head, looked calmly at Zaimokuza who stood up, and spoke softly.]

[“How can a fake thing cause emotional fluctuations in people?”]

【“Fake… fake thing???”】

【Zaimokuza, who knew the philosophy that Hikigaya had always upheld, was struck by lightning after hearing this.】

[For Hikigaya Hachiman, when he said this term, it only meant one thing—absolute negation, without the slightest bias or tolerance.]

[“I know what you’re thinking.”]

[Just as Zaimokuza was stunned, Hikigaya stood up with his hands on the sofa, looked at him with emotionless eyes and said.]

[“Your book is indeed well-written by normal people’s standards, but it actually makes no sense at all.”]

[“Because——all stories are nothing but fakes in essence.”]