It's only been... what was the count again?
Oh yeah, it's only been a few days since I had barely spoken to anyone. Do I care for it? Why would I care for it, if they can't even bare a single second of thinking about me.
If they really cared that much, they would've came in my apartment by now. And then what would they do? Try to use words to make me feel better?
The only words I choose to listen are from my superior upper rank class. Anyone above a rank of Sergeant, gets a salute from me. They put more service, they have more leadership and have more responsibilities than me. They are the true heroes.
Once I had finally realize.
Days of staying inside my apartment, weeks of living in Chiba, and years of service.
What was it that I was fighting for? To protect lives? To save lives? I already failed that task.
So why am I still here?
I should've been the one to die instead of my fellow marines. I don't deserve the medals I supposedly earned.
Knock!
Knock!
Who could it be at that front door that would want to talk to me? Aren't they scared?
[ Yukino's POV ]
Things have been chaotic, for the most time being.
It was definitely super awkward when we were all inside Yui's house.
One of the rarest moments were Hikigaya-kun was truly angry. The way Komachi-san spoke towards him, and even cried from being yelled at for the first time by her older brother.
And then he brought up my sibling problem with Nee-san, something he would never do.
And where did this all started from?
The fact Komachi-san has a boyfriend, and Hikigaya-kun was overly protective when it comes to boyfriend. Would it be extremely rude for me to wish Komachi-san never had a boyfriend, so Hikigaya-kun wouldn't have been like this? That would cost her happiness, for return, Hikigaya-kun's normal attitude.
Or would it be more rude to Komachi-san to achieve happiness, in return, Hikigaya-kun would be put in a furious mood and cause some embarrassing and awkward moments.
The answer is yet to be chosen.
But for now, it is best for someone who is in rage right now, to be left alone. I don't know how long because the level of anger can be random.
By random, I mean he could still be extremely angry till this day, or he has already calmed down and is waiting for someone to talk to him.
And after weeks of interacting with him.
He's changed.
Not his personality or appearance.
He seems to be in a... common mood.
There is something affecting his mental health, his life, his relationships with other people.
I couldn't get the name.
But I sure hope I am able to find out before it is too late.
For now, I had to attend somewhere.
It wasn't my mother who asked me to attend, it was my own father. His 3rd election speech will be Chiba, his hometown.
For the first time, I don't have to wear an expensive fancy dress that reveals most of my body than regular clothes. You could imagine how many looks I get as a matured and beautiful woman.
But I don't care how many times they call me beautiful or stunning. Only 1 person I care about, can judge me from my appearance. And I shall not name him or her.
Since it wasn't my mother who would be giving me a dress that reveals too much of my skin, I decided to go for something of my taste, that doesn't involve showing all my skin.
After a few minutes of deciding and trying out multiple dresses, I went for a white dress. I did not care for makeup or my hairstyle because I think it looks better that way.
The way my long hair flowed and showed it's beauty. And how I don't need makeup to force beauty onto my face. I think I did alright.
Ring! Ring!
My phone begun to ring.
I looked at the contact information and see 'Mother'.
"Hello, mother. I had just gotten finished with dressing. I will arrive at father's election speech T-45 minutes."
"That is splendid, dear. Your sister, Haruno, will be arriving as well. Father kindly and politely asked us to attend and we must pay our respects by following his orders."
She makes it sound like we are following orders from our boss.
"Very well. I hope to see Nee-san there."
"Your father also wishes for you to bring someone special to the election speech. You could choose your friend that you always hang out with."
"Tell father that I would like to thank him. Goodbye."
I ended the call, then tried to decide who to take.
Hikigaya-kun?
There is no way I'm going to ask him. It would be too awkward even to knock on his door. I know he's in his apartment room. Sometimes when I sleep on my bed, I could barely hear his computer speakers. But I know those sounds produced by the speakers, were from guns.
I guess it would be best to choose Yui. It's the most logical choice because mother and father don't know anything about Hikigaya-kun, hence why it is another decision to bring him.
I don't know about father's feelings about him but I'm confident to say that mother has a massive dislike for guys like Hikigaya-kun.
I even know the words she thought of when she first met him.
'Horrible looking'
'Weird eyes'
'Trash personality'
'Possibly a Siscon'
I added the last one in the list but you know the drill.
I grabbed my phone again and called Yui.
"Yahallo, Yukinon! What do you need?"
"Yui, I believe I owe you for all the restaurants and places you took me."
"Wh-What? What is going on? Yukinon, are you okay? You paid for all my meals so you don't have to owe me."
"Being nice to you is hard enough. Listen, my father has kindly offered you to attend his election speech in front of hundreds of people. Would you like to come or are you busy tonight?"
"I'm free whenever you want me to! I would love to come! I get to spend time with you and be on TV!"
Since she is becoming an actor in a few years, I guess she wants to take some minor practice in front of a large audience and a television channel.
"That's great to hear. I'll be picking you up in 30 minutes."
"30 minutes?! Eek! I gotta get ready fast!"
Clumsy Yui, of course. 30 minutes is a long time, unless you take your time to put on makeup, I don't know what would be so dramatic about having 30 minutes of time to get ready.
[ 30 Minutes ]
"Don't leave me, Yukinon!"
"I'm not going to leave you. I'm merely making you take extra steps to get to my car."
After a few struggles and steps, she finally got into the shotgun seat of my car.
"I just notice you have a new car. Why do you have a new car? Wasn't the old one more expensive?"
"It was too loud."
"Loud cars always means it's fast and cool!"
"I have different opinions about that."
To tell you the truth, I sold the old one because of Hikigaya-kun. I noticed he picked up traits after his military service. I didn't want to annoy him with loud sounds that might affect his mental health.
"Do you like boys with expensive and loud cars?"
"If I sold my car that is expensive and loud, what do you think?"
She took a moment to think of an answer.
"I'm guessing you like Monster Trucks?"
I mentally facepalmed as I drove off to the building where my father's election speech would be taking place. It was going to rain tonight so I brought an umbrella just incase.
"Your father is attempting to become Prime Minister of Japan, right?"
"Correct. And if it works well, I might have more responsibilities to tend to. I might not even pass law schools with so much going on."
Yui showed a worried expression.
"You can just tell your father that you can't always help them. And if that happens, isn't he Prime Minister? He can just make you instantly pass law school!"
"That's not a genius move, Yui. There are limits to being a Prime Minister. Just like having limits of being the President."
"Really? I thought leaders had all the power and can do whatever they want!"
"That's dictatorship. And frankly, I'm glad we both don't live under that. We wouldn't have met each other or be here if we were under a dictatorship."
"The word 'dictator' reminds me of that mustache guy in WW2!"
"You're talking about Adolf Hitler, a dictator who massacred millions of people."
"Yeah! That was a very evil man! Who else?"
"Japan."
Her expression turned into a surprised shock as her knowledge of history was limited, or rather, unsuccessful at absorbing information.
"Really? My great grandparents used to live under a dictator in Japan?"
"Not precisely I guess. Japan had committed war crimes just as much as the Nazis. Maybe even more. But enough talk about history, we are here now."
"That was super fast!"
She was asleep half the ride....
...
"Wow! So many people! It's like a party and an election speech at the same time."
Yui grew amazed at the amount of people with cameras, microphones and the amount of food. This definitely looked like a party and an election speech at the same time.
I guess this was planned by both my mother and father. She wanted her fellow friends to come watch it while enjoying the party.
I'm glad I wore a better dress, I probably have to be on camera later in a few minutes.
"Yukinon, I gotta go to the bathroom! I forgot to go when I was in a rush. Save a seat for me while you're at it!"
30 minutes was a lot of time. What on earth was she doing at her home?
Following her wishes, I sat on a 2 seated table and saved her a spot.
Am I worried about any random men suddenly appearing and offering me a wine? No I'm not.
I'm more worried if Yui gets lost or not. And how is she going to the bathroom if she doesn't know where it is? I better go check and see-
"Yahallo, Yukino!"
"Hello, Nee-san."
It seems she has finally arrived, now all we need to do is wait for mother and father to greet us and take us somewhere.
"Who did you pick to attend this party? Maybe a boy?"
"That is a foolish assumption. There is only one I am familiar of. And that is-"
"Oh, over here, Hikigaya-kun!"
My body froze.
Did she just said his name and guessed it correctly?
Or maybe he is actually here...
A man a few inches taller than Nee-san appeared.
And it was definitely Hikigaya-kun, no doubt about it.
"Looks like Yukino brought Yui to the party. Now we can have the Service Club reunite like the good old days."
He and I shared a few exchanged glances before looking away.
"Where is the food?"
Of course he is here for the free food.
He hasn't come out of his apartment for ages. I think he is still relying on those frozen foods and ramen cups from a few days back.
"It'll come as soon as father is done with his speech. For now, enjoy the talk with Yukino! It's a good thing father allowed us to bring a friend here! Goodbye, use protection."
I grew resistant to her teasing and embarrassing last sentences. But of course, that resistant was because of the awkwardness between me and Hikigaya-kun.
He dressed extremely nice for a guy like him that doesn't earn much, Nee-san must've forced him into that suit. It looks like it's restricting his blood flow.
"Yo."
"H-Hello. How have you been? You haven't came out of your apartment for a while it seems."
"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm just going through some stuff. It'll be over sooner or later."
I did not know what he meant by that but I hope I wish him the best for whatever he is going through. Maybe he could still be angry and he's trying his best to suppress it the best he can.
"H-How do I look?"
My mouth unintentionally spoke.
"Great as always."
My face begin to heat up a bit. I assumed he would've used this chance to compare me to something like a monkey or a polar bear.
"Have you made up with Komachi-san?"
I decided to instantly go for my motives.
"I see no need of that. Anyway, I'm gonna go outside, take some fresh air from all these people taking all the oxygen."
There was indeed a lot.
But I'm sure Hikigaya-kun is running away again. He's thinking of every way possible to escape, run or even hitch a ride on something. And he's good at it.
"I'm back! I got lost half the way in and out! Wha did I miss?"
"I'm not surprised. You didn't miss anything. It's about to start in a few minutes."
[ Hachiman's POV ]
It was obviously Haruno who knocked on my door and bait me into going into a party or somewhat with Yukinoshita. She probably found out about a few days prior back about my argument with Komachi. And now it separated me, Yukinoshita, and Yuigahama.
I don't care about it, though.
And I showed it by leaving the building as soon as possible. There was no reason for me to be there. It'll add more and more drama.
And I'm completely done with drama. I'm an adult now. Not some teenager that's about to think about future love and junk.
The only drama suitable of my liking is silently smack talking about other military branches. Especially the coast guard.
I left the building and was about to drive into my car.
Then I forgot I drove my car... and Haruno was with me. If I left right now, she may not have a ride back home.
Then I forgot she lured me and baited me into seeing Yukinoshita again. And she can also just go into Yukinoshita's car so I decided to open my car once more.
"ټوپک تیار اوسئ! ( Get the rifles ready! )"
A language I never thought would be heard in a civilized town. A town full of people, innocents and children.
There was a dead end alley way next to the building where everyone including Yukinoshita was in. Using my black suit and the dark night's advantage, I blended in and sneaked up to peer at the men in the alley way.
Only one word came out of my mind as soon as I saw them.
Terrorists.