Chapter Five: From This Moment On, Their Youth Will Never Be Separated Again / Chapter Six: His and Her Youth Continues as Always

Thinking about how the life he had lived up to now was entirely thanks to those two, Hachiman closed his eyes in pain.

He rubbed his brows, feeling slightly tired.

At that moment, Komachi walked behind Hachiman, placed her soft hands near his temples, and began gently massaging them. "Onii-chan, it's okay. Even if you don't have any friends, you still have me, your little sister, right? I'll always stay by your side."

Then let it be. My current life isn't bad either. There's no need to expose anything else and give myself more headaches.

As he breathed in his sister's scent and enjoyed the massage, Hachiman decided to leave the past behind.

Because of last night's diarrhea, Hachiman still looked pale today.

This made the air of rejection surrounding him, which already made him seem lonely, even more intense.

Hachiman was carrying his schoolbag toward the Service Club when, after turning the corner by the stairs, he witnessed a truly miraculous sight.

Two lively young girls were sticking out their pert bottoms at the classroom door, making their already alluring bare legs even more conspicuous.

The uniforms at Sobu High School were hardly what one would call long. Yukino and Yui's movements had pulled their skirts up even farther. Hachiman could vaguely see the edge of Yukino's white cotton underwear, while because of the angle, all he could see of Yui were her two pale thighs.

Stunned by the scene before him, Hachiman quickly recovered. He walked over and instinctively gave Yukino's pert bottom a light pat. "What are you two doing here? Why aren't you going inside?"

"Ah!" The two girls had been peeking into the room and hadn't noticed anyone behind them. Hachiman's sudden voice startled them into letting out soft cries.

Yukino covered her bottom, a strange flush on her face, and glared at Hachiman. "Go and see for yourself. Why did you suddenly come out and scare us?"

Unlike her usual cool voice, Yukino sounded like a young girl whose boyfriend had inexplicably taken advantage of her.

Yui patted her chest, making it tremble. The two people beside her couldn't help glancing over.

"Hikki, honestly! You almost scared me to death."

Looking at the person who had indirectly caused his high school life to remain exactly as it had always been, Hachiman saw her gentle expression and heard the tone that contained not the slightest trace of complaint, but instead sounded almost coquettish. He quietly hid his emotions.

"What are you two looking at?"

"There's someone really weird inside. You'll know once you take a look, Hikki."

As she spoke, Yui pulled Yukino aside so Hachiman could enter the room directly.

Hachiman glanced at the two girls pretending to act strangely, then pushed open the door that had been left ajar. The scene inside appeared before his eyes.

Since Sobu High School was located by the sea, opening the windows always let a sea breeze blow in. What Hachiman saw was a man who was wearing a coat and fingerless gloves despite it being early summer—and who was already sweating profusely.

"Ah, Hachiman, my friend! Who would have thought we would meet again here? This is surely the result of wondrous fate."

With the white-haired fat man's words, a thick aura of adolescent delusion filled the room. Hearing them, Hachiman immediately felt that his own presence had become incredibly awkward.

So this is Hikigaya's friend? He has about the same style as him. Just as disgusting.

Yukino followed them inside and looked at the two with undisguised disgust.

Yukino's blunt words seemed to wound someone. The seasoned delusional patient clutched his chest and put on an expression of deep suffering.

"Heh." Hachiman looked at the clown before him. "Excuse me, who were you again?"

"After such a short time, you've already forgotten the days when we fought side by side?"

"No. We were merely in the same group during physical education. Please don't describe it as though it were some tragic epic."

"Then allow me to once again introduce myself to Hachiman, with whom I share a master-and-servant relationship."

"Who would have a master-and-servant relationship with a delusional idiot like you, damn it?"

"I am none other than the legendary General Swordsman, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza, who once fought the rebel army for several hours before finally dying of exhaustion!"

"Is your friend's head all right?" Yukino tilted her head and spoke to me. "Even if I'm as lonely as can be, I still wouldn't want a friend like this."

Also, why is Yukino so cute when she tilts her head like that?

"So what exactly did you come here for?" Hachiman forcibly turned his head away so he wouldn't lose himself in Yukino's inadvertent cuteness.

"Following Teacher Hiratsuka's guidance, this must be the Service Club capable of granting my wish. Hachiman, my friend, lend me your strength! Let us work together once more and bring the world under our control!"

Someone please save me and take this delusional general away.

That was what Hachiman Hikigaya thought.

Chapter Five: From This Moment On, His and Her Youth Will Never Be Separated

"Genius, so your request is for us to give our impressions of the light novel you wrote?" Yukino asked softly, holding a stack of papers titled The Saint Swordsman Academy Series One: The Phantom Void of the Flashing White Blade—The Black Oak Arc, while facing the white-haired fat man standing there.

"That's right."

Zaimokuza stared at Hachiman with intense confidence radiating from every inch of him.

"She's the one talking to you. Why are you staring at me?" Hachiman felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end beneath Zaimokuza's gaze and weakly complained.

"It's very rude to stare at someone else while another person is speaking to you. Did no one ever teach you that?" Yukino's cool voice rang out beside him.

Zaimokuza instantly straightened his body, then turned his head away.

Simply making eye contact with Yukino seemed to have exhausted all his courage.

After only a few seconds, cold sweat began pouring from his forehead.

"Well, if that's all you're asking, I'll accept."

Yukino casually tossed the manuscript in her hand to Hachiman, then turned to Zaimokuza. "Come here at this time tomorrow."

"The three of us will tell you our opinions on this novel."

"Eh, me too?" Yui, who had been doing nothing but tagging along until now, was surprised when Yukino suddenly mentioned her.

Hachiman looked at the manuscript in his hands. "To think I'd have to see this kind of thing a second time. What a nightmare," he muttered softly.

Yukino, standing not far away, seemed to have heard him. The cowlick on her head trembled mysteriously, much like the one passed down through the Hikigaya family.

"If there's nothing else, you may leave." After bluntly dismissing Zaimokuza, Yukino turned around and walked toward her seat. "Hikigaya-kun."

Since club activities had ended, Hachiman was hurrying home so he could play with his adorable little sister when a cool voice called out to him.

"Ah, Yukino. What is it?"

When he turned and saw who it was, even Hachiman's Dead Fish Eyes softened in an instant.

"During club activities, I heard you say that you had seen this manuscript a second time, so I wanted to ask you about it."

Biting her soft pink lip as though she had finally made up her mind, Yukino said, "According to what I learned from Zaimokuza, this manuscript was only written recently. He hasn't shown it to anyone else."

"Why is that important? Maybe you heard him wrong." Hachiman waved his hand indifferently.

"No, it is important. Because I have also seen this manuscript."

As Yukino spoke those words, her entire body relaxed.

"I have seen this manuscript too—in a dream."

"Wh-what? You too?" Hachiman's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Then does that mean Hikigaya-kun is the same as me?"

"I kept having that dream throughout the week before the entrance ceremony."

"So you're the same as me, Yukino? You dreamed about what happened after our second year of high school?" Hachiman had kept this matter buried in his heart. Now that he had suddenly learned another person involved had experienced the same thing, even he—who had remained calm while facing Shizuka Hiratsuka's punches—couldn't suppress his expression.

"It seems there's no mistake, Hikigaya-kun. I can't remember some of the details, but I could never forget how real it felt."

Yukino gently exhaled, her voice carrying a tenderness she herself failed to notice.

"That also includes the final—"

Before he could finish speaking, the girl standing across from him covered his mouth. He felt the warm, soft touch against his lips and caught Yukino's unique fragrance.

Hachiman once again recalled the scene that might have been a dream—or a genuine glimpse of the future. The girl before him had been wearing a white kimono and was beautiful beyond compare.

Her face had held a coolness different from when they had first met, along with a faint blush. Her eyes had revealed a tenderness she had never shown anyone else.

The shadow in his memories gradually overlapped with the lovely girl before him. Hachiman unconsciously reached out, wanting to touch Yukino's cheek.

Unexpectedly, Yukino, as serene as a flower blooming in a secluded valley, neither dodged nor slapped his hand away. She simply allowed him to touch her flawless cheek.

The moment Hachiman's hand touched Yukino's cheek, it seemed as if everything in the world stopped. Even the somewhat boisterous early-summer breeze seemed unwilling to disturb the pair, ceasing its caress of the leaves.

Several minutes passed before Yukino recovered from the familiar sensation. In an instant, all the blood in her body seemed to rush to her fair face. She took several small steps back, then delivered a swift roundhouse kick to Hachiman, who had yet to regain his senses.

The last thing Hachiman saw before losing consciousness was white cotton underwear. That makes twice today, doesn't it? That was what Hachiman Hikigaya thought.

"Mm." Hachiman rubbed his swollen, aching cheek and opened his eyes.

A familiar ceiling.

He slowly sat up and picked up the ice pack that had fallen beside the bed when he got up. "This seems to be Yukino's bed." Looking at the familiar Mr. Pan plush toys on the bed, Hachiman spoke aloud.

"Ghk." Speaking tugged at his wound, making Hachiman suck in a sharp breath. He hurriedly pressed the ice pack back against it.

Why did this girl kick so hard? Hachiman was thinking when he heard the door open. He turned his head and saw Yukino wearing pajamas.

"Oh, you're awake. It seems the Hikigaya frog's ability to take a beating is pretty good. I thought you'd remain unconscious until tomorrow." Yukino paused when she entered and saw Hachiman awake before speaking.

"Why did you suddenly kick me?" Hachiman saw the faint smile on Yukino's face and questioned her.

"For someone who suddenly reaches out to attack a girl, no response would be excessive. If not for our classmate relationship, Hikigaya-kun, you would now be spending the rest of your life in prison."

"So you kicked me unconscious and brought me to your house? Can I take that as a female pervert trying to kidnap me?"

"No, this is not kidnapping. I already called Komachi and told her that you would be staying here tonight."

Yukino toyed with Hachiman's phone in her hand. "And Komachi's tone sounded so surprised. It was as though she had woken up one morning to discover that Earth had entered the interstellar age."

"If an older brother who has never had any friends suddenly received a call from a girl saying she wanted him to stay the night, I'd be surprised too."

"Enough nonsense. Hikigaya-kun, I brought you here because I want to discuss that dream and how the two of us should interact from now on."

I had just finished a math exam and then been dragged out to eat by a friend. When I got home, I started writing.

Halfway through, I felt my mind growing sickly sweet from all the sugar, so I wanted to chat with my girlfriend. Then I discovered that, because of the eight-hour time difference, someone was still fast asleep in bed.

My heart really hurt.

In short, this story exists only to satisfy my girlfriend's and my hopes for Hachiman and Yukino's ultimate ending. So there won't be any of the stomach medicine that has recently become popular on Shuke. There will only be some excessively sweet moments, along with bits of my daily life with my girlfriend.

So please feel free to read without worry.

Also~ considering that I'm still writing while preparing for the college entrance examination, could I get some recommendation votes?

Chapter Six: His and Her Youth, As Always

"What's there to say?" Hachiman glanced at the Mr. Pan-decorated clock hanging on the wall. "It's already one-thirty in the morning. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow. I'm going to sleep."

"Sleep? You just woke up. Get up."

Yukino suddenly realized that this was her bed. Hachiman had lain back down in the place where she usually slept, even burying his head in her pillow and breathing in the fragrance her hair had left behind.

Yukino's face instantly flushed red. With lightning speed, she kicked off her slippers and jumped onto the bed.

"This is my bed. If you want to sleep, go to the living room. There's a sofa there."

"Besides, you were the one who brought me here. It's not as if I shamelessly insisted on coming to your house. Why should I sleep on the sofa?"

Hachiman's muffled voice came from inside the pillow, his entire nasal passage filled with its familiar fragrance.

"No. If you sleep here, am I supposed to sleep on the sofa?" Yukino reached out with her porcelain-white hand, trying to push Hachiman off the bed. Although she was skilled in aikido, it sadly did not give the slender girl much extra strength.

Yukino turned around and used her carefully tended bare feet to kick Hachiman, attempting to get him off her bed. Each of her round toes was soft and delicate as a pearl. Yet because of her frail constitution, the blue veins were clearly visible across her startlingly white insteps.

Rather than marring the perfection of her feet, this only made people want to embrace them and cherish them even more.

Hachiman's body seemed nailed to the bed. No matter how hard Yukino pushed, she couldn't move him even an inch.

Exasperated, Yukino simply kicked her foot toward Hachiman's face and gently rubbed it against him. Hachiman suddenly turned his head, however, and hot breath sprayed across the tender sole of her foot. Then, as if deliberately teasing her, he lightly licked it.

Yukino had never experienced such stimulation before. Her body immediately went limp, and she collapsed onto the bed, glaring fiercely at Hachiman. Like a kitten that had lost the ability to resist, she could only puff up her fur to conceal her panic.

Hachiman used the edge of his clothes to wipe his saliva from Yukino's delicate foot, then reached out and shifted her position, placing her less than ten centimeters away from him.

He gently turned her averted face back toward him, making her meet his gaze. "Could you stop looking at me like that? Your Dead Fish Eyes are really disgusting."

As he spoke, he got up.

"Where are you going if you're not sleeping?" Hachiman stared at Yukino in confusion as she left the room.

"I'm going to get something that can improve your Dead Fish Eyes. Wait here."

Yukino looked back and smiled at Hachiman, then opened the door and left the bedroom.

After waiting for a while, Yukino returned carrying a pair of black-framed glasses with plain lenses.

"Here. Try them."

Yukino handed the glasses to Hachiman.