The power Yukino Yukinoshita had gained might instead have magnified the "aloof" and "unwilling to rely on others" sides of her personality.
But as Kazuma Sato had said, relying on others was not wrong.
Especially someone like Hachiman Hikigaya, who had long seen through the layers of disguise concealing her true self and accepted all of her in his own way.
Confiding in him about her confusion after gaining power, her helplessness over her own changes, and her doubts about the road ahead was not weakness. It was genuine trust.
And while Hachiman Hikigaya could not give Yukino Yukinoshita the right answer, he could certainly give her support.
That support might have been exactly what Yukino Yukinoshita, troubled by the heavy burden and sense of isolation brought by her power, needed most right now.
She had always pursued "the genuine," yearning for real relationships.
Then at a time when she herself had undergone such a drastic change, showing her truest confusion and vulnerability to the person most likely to understand her—was that not a step toward "the genuine"?
The world of Oregairu, Sobu High School, after classes ended.
In the Service Club's activity room, Yukino Yukinoshita sat quietly in the chair by the window. Rather than reading as usual, she merely gazed at the sky outside, as though waiting for something.
"Click."
The door was gently pushed open.
Hachiman Hikigaya strolled in slowly with a shoulder bag slung across him, wearing that dead-fish-eyed expression of someone who seemed unable to muster enthusiasm for anything.
"Yo, Yukinoshita, you're pretty—"
His voice abruptly cut off.
Because the instant he stepped into the classroom, Yukino Yukinoshita had already turned toward him and stared at him unblinkingly with those clear eyes.
Yet her gaze was neither the scrutinizing or indifferent look from before, nor