Romeo And Juliet

[Hikigaya Hachiman's POV]

Time is divided by three. Past, present, and future. Fearing of what will happen next is future. Enjoying the moment we are having is present. Regretting the thing that has happened is past.

I am a realist. I live in the present. I think things through, but still enjoy the moment. Never have I ever been anxious of the future.

Whenever regret starts budding, I quickly stomp it down. Because, I don't live in the past. Therefore, I am quick to accept my fault.

Or so I thought.

Looking at the girl in front of me, the mistakes I have accepted not long ago starts haunting me once again.

It's instinctual, but I am sure there is something off with her. My subconscious is already screaming the haste conclusion it made out. However, I am not an emotional person.

Therefore, I have never jumped to a conclusion so quick. There are steps in proving something. Forgoing those steps just because of a guts feeling is a very dumb decision one can ever make.

No matter how much I can see 'her' in this girl, the possibility of it being a coincidence is very high. Therefore, I decided to do the most rational thing.

That is, to ask the girl her name.

I extend my hand, and smile professionally. "Hikigaya Hachiman. A pleasure to meet you." The girl smiles, then eagerly grabs my hand. "Hello, Hachiman-san. I am Yukinoshita Yukino."

I quirk my eyebrow in slight surprise. I have just met my fellow main character. Damn my mind! I am embarrassed I have ever thought of that stupid thing!

Yukino grabs my hand tighter, then smiles mischievously. "You can call me Christine too." She winks her eyes right after.

I stop breathing for a second. Yes, just a second. But, hey. A second is a normal time gap, whenever you breathe.

I am not surprised. Coincidence is crazy, after all. Therefore, I am sure it must be her pen name or something.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Chris!"

Hmm... This girl is good. She can identify my pen name in glance. Fumu, fumu, fumu. This girl is worthy of my respect.

Respect my head! Who the fuck is this girl?! A stalker from my past life?!

"Hachiman?"

I turn my head to my sweet gorilla, upon hearing her call. She is currently looking at me in curiosity.

I sigh faintly and let go of Yukino's hand.

"Do you find her familiar?" I asked. "No." Shizuka shakes her head.

Gesturing my hand at Yukino, I say, "This is the woman in white we saw at the school festival. The one who asked me for a couple of photos."

Yukino smiles, and laughs faintly, as if proving I'm right.

"Oh..." Shizuka replied mildly.

Just by hearing her tone, I can conclude she is not that pleased. But, she is an adult. Therefore, she does a good job to hide her faint dissatisfaction.

"Oh, you have known each other?" Haruno chimed in.

I frown lightly. This busybody really likes to dip her nose in everything.

"We have met before, but we know of each other's name just now." I smile professionally, before entangling my hand with Shizuka's.

Shizuka is a little bit nervous, and I somehow know of the reason.

Haruno is here.

Judging by how often Haruno will come to the school in the future, my relationship with Shizuka will be in risk.

Well, that's what Shizuka must be thinking. I don't care. Who can stop me anyway?

"Why are you here, Haruno?" Shizuka asked.

"Oh? You didn't know?" Haruno smiles playfully.

Shizuka quirks her eyebrow. "What do I not know?"

"Today's reunion is organized by my family."

"Your family? How?"

Haruno hums. "You don't really know, do you?"

"I wouldn't ask if I know." Shizuka replied sarcastically.

Yes! That's it my girl!

Haruno clears her throat. "A few weeks prior, your ex-classmate hired an event organizer from our company. Knowing it is the reunion of the people from the same school as me, I just decided to help." Haruno shrugs.

Shizuka scratches her head nervously. "O-oh. So, that's the case."

I know Shizuka is already cursing in her mind. She must be regretting the decision she made to bring me with her.

It's funny, actually. Despite having two middle fingers, she has never used them even once.

A smile slowly creeps on my face. I will teach her slowly how to not give a fuck to people.

"Well, why don't we take a seat, so we can talk more comfortably?" Yukino suggested. "Oh, that's a good idea, Yukino-chan!" At Haruno's reply, Yukino merely smiled faintly.

Shizuka clicks her tongue discreetly, before cursing under her breath. "Shit!"

I rub her hand with my thumb to comfort her. "Don't worry, no one will get in our way."

Shizuka widens her eyes. "H-how did you—"

A knowing stare is enough to silence her entirely. She nods her head dumbly, then we head to the vacant table. Along the way, we receive many curious stare from Shizuka's ex-classmates.

Upon sitting ourselves, Haruno quickly summons the standing by server. He comes over, asks us what we need, goes to take what we need, and delivers them to our table. Delicacies fill our table, and the talk begins.

"So, Hikigaya-kun. How long have you been dating with Shizuka?"

I turn my eyes from Shizuka to Haruno. "It's around two months already."

"Oh, it is not that long ago!"

Paying Haruno no attention, I start a small talk with Shizuka, who is still worrying over Haruno's presence, again. Haruno noticed my lack of interest, and decided to do something else. She tastes the delicacies, before opening her mouth once again.

"I wonder how the two of you met, Shizuka-chan."

"Eh? How did we meet?" Shizuka glances at me, then looks at Haruno awkwardly. "W-well... That is a little long story."

Haruno is about to open her mouth, but I beat her to it. "You might not gonna believe it. But, our encounter wasn't romantic at all." Haruno looks at me in curiosity, and I continue, "She ran over me around 8 months ago."

Silence descended upon the table. Well, not for long. Haruno lost it, and laughs as loud as her persona lets her. When she calms down, she demands us for detail, and I let Shizuka answer her.

Mission 1: success. Haruno and Shizuka are completely distracted.

It's time to accomplish Mission 2.

I turn my head to the other person in the table. She keeps staring at me since then, while smiling all the way. It kind of creeps me off, to be honest. Especially, after seeing her fiddling with the knife!

I click my tongue, and decided to settle the matter once and for all. Inserting my hand to my pocket discreetly, I do something with my phone.

Vibrate!

Yes, it is a fake call! The best feature ever created in a phone. It really saves many people who need an excuse. Like me, for example.

I stand up from my seat, gathering the attention of Shizuka and Haruno. "I'm sorry, I gotta go." I gesture to my phone. "A fellow shareholder is calling me." Both of the girls nod their head, and I leave the vicinity.

I get out of the room, and wait in the corridor. It doesn't take long, until another person comes out.

She smiles at me, and points her chin towards my phone. "You really like doing that thing, huh?"

Alright, it's time to not beating around the bush! I will confront this motherfu—

"I miss you."

Huh? How did she hug me so fast?!

"I didn't know you could miss a stranger you met a few months ago." I frown. I'm serious this time.

"Hmm... I had seen your birth, and I had been together with you since childhood. So, you are not a stranger to me." She looks up to me, and says, "Chris."

Well, it's the moment of truth. It's time to prove the authenticity of this bitch.

I look into her eyes stoically. "How many moles do I have on my body?"

Yukino hums to herself, before answering, "I don't know how many you have now, but I know how many you had in the past." She smiles mischievously. "You had two on your left buttcheek, and one near your navel."

Well, she got it right. Chris indeed had moles on that spots she mentioned. But, there is still something wrong.

"How did you know, I had moles on my buttcheek?"

Yukino, or rather Christine, smiles at me. "You never know how many times I had stripped you off silly. Fu-fu-fu."

Don't laugh, woman! Where was my privacy?!

Oh, wait.

She had seen pretty much every part of my body. So, it's nothing to sweat over. We were family after all. Now, let's ask her about how does she get here.

But, firstly.

"I am sorry, I should've been more stubborn on you."

I have to apologize, hug her, and weep like a sorry ass, so she will forgive me. Trust me, it works.

Christine rubs my back without saying anything. When I let go of my hug, she wipes the tears of my eyes tenderly. She still has that kind smile on her face.

Then, she does something that managed to catch me off guard.

"First of all, I want to apologize." She bows to me like a proper Japanese. When she raises her body up, she looks at me straight in the eyes. "What you had seen in your past life, my death, is a lie. I didn't die until you die."

I blink, and answer intelligently. "Huh?"

Christine smiles, and the storytelling begins.