Crushing

Later, the group is getting ready to leave for the day when Shiori gets up. She lets them know she's going to the restroom and they nod. As she heads out, she is followed by a group of girls from down the hall. They appear to be at least 2 years above Shiori. After finishing up and washing her hands in the sink, she notices the three girls step behind her. Shiori stops and sighs. She turns around and leans against the sink.

Shiori "Let me guess. I beat up somebody in middle school that was important to you and now you're here to strike vengeance."

Amy "What? You don't remember me?"

Shiori "Don't take it personally. I don't remember most people I meet."

Amy "Well I'm sure you'll come to remember my name eventually. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me."

Shiori "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you will."

Shiori waves her hand dismissively and steps towards the door.

Amy "I bet you think those other "friends" of yours actually care about you. I bet you think you matter in any way to them, don't you?"

Shiori stops but doesn't turn to them.

Amy "They don't care about you. They're just stuck with you. You will never actually mean anything to them no matter how hard you try. You will always be alone."

Shiori stands in silence for a moment before turning her head just a bit at them.

Shiori "It's like you said. I'm stuck with them. It doesn't matter if they like me or not. I don't care."

She continues walking through the door as the girls smirk.

Amy "We'll break her eventually."

Shiori walks down the hall pissed about what just happened.

Shiori "I guess being the best school in the District doesn't change the fact that people will always be evil."

She says to herself. She squints her eye a bit as her pace slows down.

Shiori is sitting in the flat white desert again, this time the rain has lightened up.

Shiori 'I know they're only here because Hikigaya is stuck with me. I know I shouldn't care because they're probably like everyone else.. I know that… So why?..'

The rain begins to get heavier on her. In the hall, her eye gets glossy like tears are ready to form as she stops and leans against the wall, looking down.

Shiori 'Why does it hurt when they say it?..'

She whimpers quietly to herself for a moment before she hears fast footsteps coming her way. She wipes the tears from her eye quickly and looks up, surprised to see Hikigaya jogging towards her. He stops in front of her.

Shiori "What are you doing here?"

She says angrily. Hikigaya picks up on her tone.

Hikigaya "Ms. Samuel reminded me that we need to stick together just after you left so I went and followed. Are you okay?"

Shiori "Just peachy."

She tries to walk past him but Hikigaya stops and grabs her hand. She turns suddenly, shocked by the action.

Hikigaya "Whatever happened, it's okay to let yourself feel."

He smiles a bit at her. The rain in her soul begins to lift again. She calms down and slowly removes her hand from his. She scratches the back of her head.

Shiori "Yeah, I guess you're right. How did you know I was mad anyway?"

Hikigaya "Well you're not exactly a closed book with your emotions."

Shiori gets embarrassed and blushes a bit.

Shiori "Sorry…"

Hikigaya "Oh? Is that an apology I hear?"

She gets irritated and punches him in the stomach. He hunches over a bit, getting the wind knocked out of him.

Shiori "Maybe next time I just won't apologize then!"

Hikigaya "No… Apology is fine…"

He says clenching his stomach. She sighs at him then slowly lifts her hand up and puts it on his shoulder. He looks surprised.

Shiori "Sorry and… thank you..."

He smiles softly at her and stands up straight.

Hikigaya "Hey, don't sweat it. That's what friends are for. Now come on. Let's get back before the others abandon us."

They head back to the class together.

After school at Shiori's house, she walks through the door and takes her shoes off. As she gets to the living room, a crosshair is placed over the side of her head. Riku is laying in a pile of blankets and pillows at the end of the hallway with a marshmallow gun pointed at her.

Riku "Target spotted…"

He giggles to himself and goes to aim his gun but when he looks back through the scope she is nowhere to be seen.

Riku "Huh? Where did she go?"

Suddenly, a shadow is over Riku and he begins to sweat. He yelps and dives out of the blankets trying to escape but she grabs him by his hood and picks him up.

Shiori "What do we have here? An assassination attempt I see. Well that is a punishable offense."

Riku "Noooo, please! I'll never try it again! Just let me go!"

Takanou then comes through the door not long after. He has his blazer and briefcase in his hand as he takes off his shoes. He hears Riku calling out and walks into the livingroom to see Shiori holding Riku in her lap pinching his cheek as he squirms trying to get away.

Riku "Papa, help! She's trying to pull my face off!"

Takanou "Okay you two, knock it off."

Takanou throws his jacket at Shiori's face.

Shiori "Oof!"

She lets go of Riku who gets up and rubs his cheek. She giggles a bit as Takanou comes and rubs her head a bit.

Takanou "How was your day sweetie?"

Shiori "It was good."

Takanou "Oh?"

Shiori "What?"

She turns to him and looks confused. Her dad is in the fridge getting a snack.

Takanou "Well, for the past few years, every time your mom or I would ask how your day was you'd always respond with "It was fine." Not, "It was good.""

She blushes a bit looking away. He laughs just a bit.

Takanou "I'm glad you're having such a good time."

Shiori "Yeah."

She looks down smiling a bit. Later that night, she's in her room at her desk writing. She's not wearing her eyepatch but her bangs cover her eye. She thinks to herself.

Shiori 'What am I doing? I'm getting way too attached. I only have to be with Hikigaya because I was told to. I have to slow down and step back. None of them know me. None of them even want to be my friend really. They just have to be because of Hikigaya…'

Her face gets more upset when she thinks this. She stops writing and just looks at her desk. She clenches her fist.

Shiori 'They were right…'

She suddenly turns her head around looking at her window. She stares at it for a moment before squinting a bit. Outside on their patio, an arm reaches over the ledge and a person climbs onto the patio. Right as they land the door from the living room is swung open hard. Shiori stands over them wearing her eyepatch again.

Shiori "What the hell do you-"

She stops when she realizes it's Ryuji. She blushes and calms. Ryuji turns and looks at her with an almost confused face.

Ryuji "Shiori… You're living with Hikigaya now?.."

She immediately stops blushing and her eyes go blank.

Shiori 'Of course it has to do with him…' *sigh* You got the wrong number. He's right there."

She disappointedly points to the patio on her right.

Ryuji "Ah, thanks."

He stands up and dusts himself off. He turns to face Hikigaya's patio and takes a couple steps before stopping. He turns and faces her.

Ryuji "You and him are close?"

Shiori "Oh, definitely not. We barely met like a couple weeks ago."

Ryuji "Huh. You could've fooled me."

She shrugs.

Ryuji "He may not be the softest or the smartest guy even but give him a chance. I haven't seen him warm up to anyone the way he has with you."

Shiori "I doubt he even thinks of me as a real friend.."

Ryuji pauses and looks up for a moment like he's thinking. He looks back at her.

Ryuji "Well, the others and I do. I'm sure he does too."

Shiori "You do?"

Her eye brightens a bit. He looks at her and smiles before hopping over onto the other patio. She stands there for a moment before going inside. She closes the sliding glass door and leans against it before sliding down and sighing.

Shiori 'They actually like me?.. Maybe… I should give them a chance…'

The next morning Shiori steps out of her house and locks the door. She takes a couple steps before stopping and then leaning against the rail of their floor. Hikigaya comes out.

Hikigaya "Should I expect this to be a regular thing?"

He says playfully. She rolls her eyes.

Shiori "Principal Ai said we need to stick together."

He laughs a bit and they head off to school together.

Hikigaya "Do you enjoy walking to school?"

Shiori "Yeah, most of the time. But when it starts cooling down is when I get really miserable…"

Hikigaya "Not a big fan of cold weather I see."

Shiori "Not walking in it, that's for sure."

Hikigaya "Yeah. I used to not care for winter much either. With all the cloudy skies and such. But then somebody told me they liked the clouds and why they did. I don't remember who it was but I just remember it was really cute and somehow powerful. So I enjoy them much more now!"

He gives a big smile as he raises his hands to the sky. She looks at him and her eye brightens a bit. They eventually make it to school and all the kids are coming in. Lucy, Chizuru and Ryuji are waiting at their spot by the entrance. As Shiori and Hikigaya walk up, Hikigaya's eyes widen for a moment before he ducks forward as Haru dives at him trying to give him a big hug from behind. Haru goes tumbling on the ground as Sugawara watches and sweats in embarrassment from behind.

Haru "Come on man, why you gotta dodge me like that?"

He says after turning around, still sitting on the ground.

Hikigaya "I've told you time and time again to not do that."

Haru "I'm just trying to express my love for my best mate. Why won't you let me be who I am?"

He covers his mouth and looks away from him while tears roll down his face. Hikigaya rolls his eyes as Lucy comes over to Shiori.

Lucy "Regret your choice of friends yet?"

She laughs as Shiori smiles and shakes her head. Sugawara joins the little huddle as Haru stands up and dusts himself off.

Later that day during lunch time, the group decides to eat in the class today. The others are all talking to each other while Shiori writes in her notebook. Hikigaya sits back into his chair with his arms folded behind his head.

Shiori "So Ryuji came over last night."

Hikigaya "Oh yeah haha he told me about it. Hope he didn't scare you too much."

Shiori "It takes more than some cute boy to scare me."

Hikigaya "Oh? That's funny because he's staring at you right now."

He points his thumb over his shoulder.

Shiori "What?!"

She turns her head sharply only to find him spun around, invested in his conversation with Sugawara and Haru. Shiori slouches in her chair, sighing in relief. She punches Hikigaya in the arm.

Shiori "Shut up you jerk! What did he even come over for?"

She blushes in embarrassment and tries to change the subject.

Hikigaya "Ow! Haha nothing. He just dropped something off I've been asking for, for months."

Shiori "And it couldn't wait until morning?"

Hikigaya "I mean yeah, it probably could have but where's the fun in that? It's so much more fun doing things at night. Being all sneaky and such. Wouldn't you agree?"

She looks at him for a moment before facing back to her notebook and continuing writing.

Shiori "I suppose so."

Hikigaya "See? That's the spirit! Really enjoying the little things!"

He pats her on the back continuously while she tries to write. After a few slaps she breaks her pencil in frustration and knocks him on the head hard.

Shiori "Stop hitting me!"

Eventually, the day comes to an end and the group part ways as usual. Hikigaya walks with Shiori to their homes and they wave goodbye before entering their homes. Shiori takes her eyepatch off as soon as she enters the house today. She stands staring at the floor for just a moment before going into her room and closing the door.

Shiori's buzzing alarm goes off as she sleepily rolls over and hits the button on her phone. The phone reads that it's eight o'clock in the morning. She rolls onto her back and pushes the blankets mostly off of her upper body. She inhales and exhales softly a deep breath.

Shiori 'Saturday.'

She leaves her house and locks up the door. She is dressed in a black tank top and pink striped sweatpants. Her eyepatch on and her hair pulled into more of a ponytail than usual. She goes out running around the block. She sweats and pants as she runs down the street until eventually she comes across her neighborhood playground and the small field connected to it. She is used to this scenery as she does this most weekend mornings but today something caught her eye and she slowed down to a stop beside the entrance. She stares at a young man who is doing a handstand in a white tank top and blue sweatpants. He is shaking very little but is sweating quite a bit showing that he has been in the handstand for a good bit. Shiori slowly catches her breath as she observes the boy who looks vaguely familiar but she can't quite place her thumb on who he is. Suddenly the boy throws himself up just a bit so he can get his two fingers from both hands under himself. He stays upright for a moment before something happens and some blood spills onto the floor. This causes the boy to wince in pain and lose balance, falling over. Shiori rushes into the playground to aid the boy.

Shiori "Hey, are you alright?"

She crouches down next to him with her hand hovering over his back. The boy then turns to face Shiori revealing it to be Hikigaya with his hair tied up. Shiori gets a stunned look on her face when she realizes his bigger frame wasn't just from height. That Hikigaya is actually quite toned.

Hikigaya "Shiori? What are you doing here?"

He has his left eye closed as a little blood drips down his face. Shiori quickly gains her focus again.

Shiori "What are you doing? You're bleeding."

Hikigaya "Yeah, I think I've noticed that, heh. It ain't nothing a little time won't fix."

He stands up and wipes the blood off with his shirt. It still bleeds but noticeably less. Shiori looks at him for a moment before remembering the events of some days ago. When he was stuck on the left side of his head by the bat.

Shiori 'I guess it did have an effect after all.' "That's from when the man hit you right?"

Hikigaya looks away for a moment trying to think of a way to deny it but can't. He sighs in defeat.

Hikigaya "Yeah… I guess it didn't quite heal as well as I thought it would, haha…"

Shiori looks at him for a moment before turning and beginning to walk away.

Shiori "Come on. Let's go get you patched up."

Hikigaya looks at her surprised. She turns her head to look at him.

Shiori "We don't want your mom to see you coming home bloody, do we?"

He smiles a bit and follows.