With the meeting over and the fun coming to an end, people either went their separate ways or stayed behind to finish their tasks. The atmosphere within the executive committee remained warm and lively.
During the preparations for the cultural festival, many girls had gotten along well with Yuigahama Yui, forming friendships and further expanding her already wide social circle.
Some even teased her playfully, saying, "So, how are things going between you two?"
"It's not like that at all!" The bun-haired girl's cheeks instantly turned red as she hurriedly tried to explain. "I'm heading out first! You guys stay and get your work done!"
With that, she quickly slung her bag over her shoulder and rushed out of the classroom.
At the same time, another presence in the room—one that had barely been noticed until now—also stood up. Hands stuffed in his pockets and grinding his teeth slightly, he strode out just as quickly.
Not everyone was interested in gossiping about other people's relationships. Hiratsuka Shizuka felt completely out of place in the atmosphere of the cultural festival's executive committee.
Time to go.
As they watched Hiratsuka Shizuka leave, her furrowed brows twitching, the others finally realized—there was more than one source of amusement in this room.
After leaving the meeting room, Yuigahama Yui glanced around before finally spotting a familiar figure heading downstairs in the hallway.
She quickly chased after him. "Hikki! Wait for me!"
Hearing the call from behind, Hikigaya Hachiman stopped and turned around. "What is it? Not going home?"
"Well… isn't it a little too early to head home? Even the school's club activities haven't ended yet." Yuigahama Yui clasped her hands behind her back as she spoke.
"I don't want to take work home either, but you saw what that meeting room was like. How could anyone stand being in that atmosphere?" He shrugged helplessly.
"Isn't there still a place at school where people can work in peace?" Yuigahama Yui lowered her head slightly and murmured softly.
"…Ah." Hikigaya Hachiman opened his mouth, but the words of refusal that had reached his lips were swallowed back down.
To be honest, he was also a little curious about what had happened during the days he was absent.
"Let's go, then."
The dead-eyed boy stepped back from the stairs, turned around, and headed toward the fourth floor.
"Yeah!"
A spark of light flashed in Yuigahama Yui's eyes. She nodded firmly and followed behind him.
The two of them arrived at the Service Club's door. Even though they hadn't been here for nearly three weeks, standing in front of the activity room without a club sign still felt completely natural.
Hiratsuka Shizuka had tossed the Service Club's key to Hikigaya Hachiman a while ago, and he had kept it buried at the very bottom of his bag without ever touching it.
He took out the key, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. The familiar sight greeted them as if nothing had changed.
A long bench, a desk, four chairs—the golden glow of the setting sun streamed through the windows, with tiny dust particles floating in the light. On the desk, the tea set that Yukinoshita Yukino had brought was still there.
After weeks of absence, a thin layer of dust had settled on the table and chairs. The two of them spent a few minutes giving everything a quick wipe and opened the window to let the evening breeze in.
Hikigaya Hachiman sat in his usual spot on the left side of the table, pulled out the remaining documents, and started flipping through them, his mind already organizing the tasks ahead.
Time was a bit tight, and there probably weren't enough people…
Just then, a faint scent of cherry blossoms drifted into his nose. Noticing that the pink-haired girl had moved closer to his side, he turned his head slightly—only to meet a pair of big, bright eyes staring right at him.
"Ahem… What's up?" Hikigaya Hachiman shifted uncomfortably and muttered, "By the way… you're really close…"
Yuigahama Yui ignored his quiet complaint. Her eyes curved into a crescent shape as she smiled. "So, what were you doing during those three days you took off?"
Of course, this question was bound to come up.
He let out a small sigh in his heart and quickly started thinking of a believable excuse.
But before he could say anything, the girl beside him continued talking on her own, as if she hadn't really expected an answer.
"You know, these three days were really tough for me. Out of nowhere, the responsibility of organizing the meetings fell on me, and I had to handle scheduling and all that stuff. I have no idea how to do any of that!"
She counted on her fingers, listing off all the things she had taken care of in his absence.
"I didn't understand a lot of things, so I had to ask others for help. I even crammed at home to learn about it. I also asked Yukino for advice… somehow, we managed to keep the cultural festival on track."
Wait, isn't this exactly what I was doing before?
Hikigaya Hachiman silently complained in his mind but didn't interrupt. He simply listened quietly to Yuigahama's grievances while continuing his work, occasionally nodding along.
"And then there's our class. They're putting on a play! Hina wrote a script based on *The Little Prince*, and the lead roles are Hayama and Iroha…"
She kept talking enthusiastically while the dead-eyed boy just listened in silence.
It almost felt like the usual days at the Service Club—like nothing had changed. Even though an important person was missing, the atmosphere remained the same.
Time passed peacefully, and soon, the only sound in the clubroom was the ticking of the clock's second hand.
"All done. Time to go."
After a long while, Hikigaya Hachiman finally sat up from the desk. He instinctively stretched, only to wince as he tugged at his not-yet-healed wound, his face twisting in pain.
"…Yeah."
Yuigahama Yui's gaze softened, and she nodded gently.
The two of them left the clubroom. After Hikigaya Hachiman locked the door and turned around, he noticed the pink-haired girl standing by the hallway window, staring outside in a daze.
He had seen this exact scene earlier today.
The first time, it was Hiratsuka-sensei.
Now, it was Yuigahama.
But somehow, he felt like the emotions in their hearts were not the same.
His heartbeat suddenly sped up, and a bad feeling crept into his mind.
"This is where it happened last time, right?"
Out of nowhere, Yuigahama Yui said those words.
"Huh?" Hikigaya Hachiman was caught off guard.
"The place where Hikki fell."
The girl's gaze shifted from the window to him, catching the fading sunlight and reflecting a faint glow.
"Yuigahama, you..." Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes slowly widened, and his mouth suddenly felt dry.
"Back when we cleaned the Service Club together after summer break, I got scared by a little spider. I don't think I'm that afraid of bugs... but after that, broken memories started coming back to me."
"Ooka turned into a monster here too, right? Yukinon was the one fighting him." Yuigahama Yui's eyes shimmered with tears. "Yukinon became an exchange student because she had to fight those monsters, didn't she?"
"Hikki took three days off... but that was for something similar, wasn't it?"
Faced with Yuigahama Yui's questions, Hikigaya Hachiman had no idea how to respond.
What do I do…? I'm really bad at handling this kind of thing!
He would rather jump back into that barrier and fight the gargoyle for three hundred rounds than deal with this situation alone.
Seeing his silence, tears finally spilled from Yuigahama Yui's eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
"Hey, Hikki... would it be better if I didn't remember?"
…
…
(End of Chapter)
---
You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu