Night was approaching.
The orange glow of the setting sun gradually faded, leaving only scattered rays filtering through the bamboo leaves and falling across the Bamboo Grove path.
A mountain breeze swept down from Arashiyama, making the bamboo leaves rustle and sending mottled patterns of light swaying across the ground.
Hikigaya's confession had only just ended, yet the people who witnessed it nearby were already whispering among themselves.
Baseless speculation began spreading like a virus.
"Hehe. That certainly was an unusual confession."
Haruno glanced toward her sister.
Only after seeing Yukino's expression remain calm did she quietly relax.
As expected, Yukino really did need to meet more boys.
Otherwise, she might end up fixating on a single person and refusing to look anywhere else.
If Saku hadn't appeared, Yukino might have taken Hikigaya's actions as a betrayal and fallen back into the closed-off state she'd once been trapped in.
Thankfully, her sister had avoided that outcome.
Even so, Hikigaya's behavior tonight still irritated Haruno immensely.
Hikigaya had no obligation to accommodate Yukino's feelings.
But Yukino was Haruno's little sister.
And Haruno had always been the type to side with family over reason.
Right and wrong could wait.
As a result, the look she gave Hikigaya carried considerably more displeasure than before.
"Haah..."
Yukino wasn't paying attention to her sister.
She merely sighed.
"So it still came to this in the end."
She couldn't help feeling that fate really was difficult to change.
She and Yui had tried their best to stop this from happening.
Yet the final result remained the same.
The only comforting part was that the ticking time bomb had finally exploded.
At least they no longer had to wait nervously for it to go off.
Now it was time to properly deal with Hikigaya's twisted habits.
First...
He needed to suffer the consequences for once.
Yukino's only concern was that Yui might soften, sympathize with Hikigaya, and end up reinforcing his self-destructive behavior again.
And sure enough...
The moment Yukino glanced sideways, she saw pity written all over Yui's face.
"Yui."
Yukino's voice became firm.
"Do what I said. Don't go soft on him."
"He needs to suffer properly before he'll understand how foolish this was."
"Okay..."
Yui hesitated.
"But Yukino-chan, isn't that a little cruel?"
Meanwhile, Saku had already taken out his phone.
「News travels ridiculously fast. Sure enough, everyone loves gossip, boys and girls alike.」
「And Hikigaya's reputation is terrible as usual. Give it a little time and somehow every version of the story turns him into the one carrying all the blame.」
His thumb stopped.
「Pfft! This one's amazing: 'Hikigaya steals his friend's crush and gets brutally rejected!' I'm dying!」
Saku wasn't even watching the scene anymore.
He was browsing the school forum.
Barely any time had passed since Hikigaya confessed to Ebina, yet the story had already spread everywhere.
And after being embellished again and again, the rumors were becoming increasingly absurd.
Some claimed Hikigaya had secretly been in love with Ebina for ages.
Others said he'd betrayed Tobe and stolen his chance to confess.
There were countless variations.
Someone even dug up old incidents and started accusing Hikigaya of tormenting girls during the school festival.
The posts were written so convincingly that Hikigaya had somehow become a bitter villain who destroyed anything he couldn't have.
And now, according to them, his claws had finally reached Ebina.
Everyone was sympathizing with Ebina.
Everyone was pitying Tobe.
And every spear was pointed directly at the self-destruct truck known as Hikigaya Hachiman.
How should Saku put it?
In a sense...
Hikigaya had brought this on himself.
「The rumors are ridiculous, sure. But Hikigaya has spent more than half a year constantly trashing his own reputation.」
「Every day he looks for ways to make himself miserable and volunteers to take the blame for things.」
「So when something happens, he really can't complain that everyone's first thought is him.」
「Cause and effect. Ask for it, get it.」
「You chose this yourself, Hikigaya.」
[Precise roast detected. Roast Points +200. Current total: 595.]
Saku acknowledged Hikigaya's good intentions.
But he genuinely didn't feel sorry for him.
Yukino and Yui both heard his inner voice and immediately pulled out their phones.
Sure enough, exactly as Saku had said, the rumors had already spread everywhere.
Sometimes, you really had to admire the gossiping ability of high school students.
How long had it even been?
But neither girl felt much sympathy for Hikigaya anymore.
Saku's point was harsh, but it wasn't wrong.
Hikigaya had asked for this.
It was his own choice.
If he didn't care about himself, why should they keep hurting on his behalf?
"What are all of you looking at?"
Haruno noticed the three of them completely ignoring her and immediately became curious.
"If you don't tell Oneesan, I'm going to get angry."
She puffed up slightly and moved beside Saku again, continuing her attempts to tease him.
The calmer Saku remained, the more she wanted to make him lose his composure.
She found the challenge entertaining.
"Just the school forum."
"Let me see too!"
This time, Haruno wasn't joking.
She tugged at Saku's hand until she finally got a clear look at the text on his phone.
"Wow."
"High school students spread gossip this fast now?"
She stared in disbelief.
"This literally happened a few minutes ago."
Haruno had leaned in so close that her face was suddenly right beside Saku's.
Without thinking much about it, Saku reached over and poked her cheek.
"Hm?"
Haruno instantly stiffened.
"What are you doing?"
It was the first time someone had casually touched her face like that.
For once, the ever-aggressive Haruno visibly panicked.
「Huh? Haruno, that reaction...」
「Don't tell me you're another glass cannon?」
That genuinely surprised Saku.
But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
Haruno was almost always the one attacking.
Nobody ever really attacked back.
So there'd never been a chance to see how strong her defenses actually were.
Apparently...
She was another person with overwhelming offense and almost no defense.
All aggression.
Terrible resistance when someone turned the tables.
"Ahem."
Yukino stomped her foot in irritation.
"It's getting late. We should head back."
Then she reached over and pulled Haruno away from Saku.
"Yukino-chan."
Haruno recovered quickly.
"Hikigaya looks rather miserable."
"He was just rejected."
She smiled knowingly.
"Aren't you going to comfort him?"
"No."
Yukino's answer came instantly.
She knew perfectly well that her sister was probing her, half joking and half serious.
Yukino had no intention of indulging her.
"Heh~"
Haruno turned toward Yui.
"Then what about Yui-chan?"
"...I'm not going either."
Yui sounded slightly awkward.
But she still firmly maintained her united front with Yukino.
"That's unexpected."
Haruno's eyes narrowed.
"Could it be..."
Before she could finish testing them, Saku gave her a light push forward.
"Enough with the 'could it be.'"
"Let's go."
"It's getting dark. Do you all want to stay here and feed the mosquitoes?"
"All right, all right."
Haruno smiled.
"I'll listen to my little brother."
"But it's so dark now. Saku-kun should support Oneesan while we walk."
She immediately tried the same trick again.
Yukino didn't give her the chance.
"Don't bother him."
"I'll support you."
Without waiting for Haruno's opinion, Yukino grabbed her and started walking.
Haruno wasn't upset in the slightest.
Instead, she happily linked arms with her sister.
"That works too."
"It's been ages since I've gotten to cuddle with Yukino-chan."
"Come on, let's go."
For a moment, none of the others could tell exactly who Haruno was playing hard to get with.
But one thing was certain.
The four of them didn't stay behind for Hikigaya.
...
After Hikigaya finished working out the aftermath with Tobe and Hayama, he finally turned around, intending to regroup with Yukino and the others.
Only then did he realize...
They were already gone.
"Huh?"
Hikigaya stared at the empty path.
"Wait."
"You guys seriously left without telling me?"
Being rejected hadn't actually hurt him that much.
But being abandoned here like this produced an entirely different feeling.
For some reason, unease suddenly crept into his chest.
He couldn't explain it.
He just felt as though something was beginning to slip out of his control.
"...Forget it."
Hikigaya tried to reassure himself.
"Yukinoshita and the others are probably just angry with me, so they didn't wait."
"I'll apologize when we get back."
"If I explain everything properly..."
He exhaled.
"They'll understand."
Yui was kind.
Yukino was perceptive.
Because of that, Hikigaya still believed the problem wasn't serious.
…