Much to the Distaste of Many, She Tries Again

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When school ended, Yui came up to me and asked me to go to the clubroom together. Saki bade me a farewell from afar, leaving for her training with Meme-san. I stood up and walked to the clubroom with Yui. She told me a lot of mundane things on our way, but I only responded with an acknowledging grunt. I would have responded to her better if she had talked more about herself than her cliques.

You know what? I'll tell her that. "You know, Yui; next time, tell me about yourself instead of someone else. They are not the ones whom I am interested in."

"O-Oh… I see. Hikki is interested in me, huh?" she murmured, face flushing. "Then, what do you want to know about me?" she asked brightly.

"Likes and dislikes or whatever comes to your mind."

"Oh, I hate studying!"

"Figured."

"Why do you sound so judging!?"

I smirked, causing Yui to huff. She then hit my arm lightly, muttering about how mean I was.

"By the way, why do you still call me, Hikki? Even Yukino has stopped calling me names. Do you have a grudge against me?"

"I prefer calling you Hikki 'cause it sounds special. Isn't it too boring calling you Hachiman?"

"Are you saying that my name is boring, wench?"

"What? No! You know what I mean. Don't deliberately misinterpret it!"

I chuckled, prompting Yui to fume even more. I patted her head to calm her down and it worked. My sister was an airhead, so I was experienced in dealing with one. She had been ready to kill me before and now she was leaning on me like a kitten begging for a belly scratch. I used to freak out at her touchy-feely behavior, but now, I was used to it.

Before long, we arrived at the clubroom. Yui left my side as soon as she entered the room, so she could glomp on the apprehensive Yukino. I merely watched from the side, letting the scene fulfill my daily dose of Yurigahama. When Yui let go of Yukino, Yukino immediately made us tea. Due to Shinobu's urging, she had bought a set of teacups for all of us. She could have used the club's budget but used her money instead.

As the tea was served, I busied myself with my laptop. I had promised Sae-chan to help her, so I worked whenever I had the time. A monthly performance evaluation was coming up soon, so we had a lot of work. I missed the days when I could spend my free time reading books, but I didn't regret working. I had the rest of my eternal life to catch up on all the books I missed.

Knock. Knock.

"Excuse me!"

"You may enter."

The door slid open and Meguri-san came in. Her smile brightened when she saw me and I immediately sensed work coming. Still, I returned her smile and greeted her. She greeted the girls before sitting across from us. She talked about the upcoming sports festival and she wanted to make it different. Unlike the cultural festival, we could be involved in the event as a club.

"Therefore, I want Hachiman-san to be the chairman of the committee!"

Or not.

"Why does it have to be me?" I asked gloomily.

"I asked the council about it and they nominated you. You performed splendidly in the cultural festival," Meguri-san explained brightly.

"Yukino was the chairman of the committee, though."

"No offense to Yukinoshita-san, but everyone knows who organized most of the divisions and came up with solutions to every problem. Everyone even believes that you are secretly a professional manager."

I am, though. How are those bastards so perceptive? I cringed inwardly at that tidbit of information. Turning to Yukino, I was greeted with a small smile. I instantly knew she would outrightly reject Meguri-san's offer if I nominated her name. Turning to Yui, I immediately shook my head. The silly smile on her face was enough indication that she wouldn't be fit for the job.

Racking my brain, I thought about the people whom I could use as a scapegoat. It was much to my embarrassment that I didn't know many people. I had been getting greetings from various students ever since the end of the cultural festival but didn't know most of them. I couldn't just come up to them and tell them to become the chairman of the sports festival committee. I hummed in contemplation until a certain faker came up.

"I nominate Sagami Minami for the job," I said, much to my clubmates' shock.

Meguri-san looked at me awkwardly. "I don't think she is suited for the job, but I want to hear your reasoning."

"She has been bitching about how I didn't give her much chance, still oblivious to her incompetence. It's getting on my nerves, so I want to slap her with reality."

"That is quite petty of you, Hachiman-kun," Yukino chided. "You are endangering the success of the sports festival."

"You are assuming she is going to fail, Yukino. Don't you underestimate her too much?" I pointed out, causing Yukino's eyes to widen. "I understand your concern, though. She will most likely repeat her mistake and fail. However, we will be there. When the situation gets out of hand, we will step in. Everyone will be on our side, so you don't have to worry."

Yukino pondered my words before carefully saying, "That's a cruel plan for punishing someone, Hachiman-kun. You remind me of Nee-san."

"Haruno? She is not scary. She is cute, just like you. Your mother, though, is a different story."

In favor of ignoring my slip of the tongue, I pretended to not notice Yukino blushing. I turned to Meguri-san and told her it was our decision. Yukino didn't say anything—she was probably still caught up in her mind—so I took that as an agreement. Meguri-san nodded her head and then asked us what team we would like to be in. Yui immediately answered Red. Standing up, Meguri-san excitedly exclaimed that we should win the sports festival.

The very next day, Yukino and Yui stopped Sagami as soon as school ended. They brought her to the clubroom to explain what they needed her to do. Despite being the one nominating her, I was not too eager to be involved with her. I kept my distance from her and she also treated me like air. Well, honestly, she seemed to be afraid of me. Our eyes would accidentally meet and she would immediately look away.

I took out my phone and looked at my reflection just in case. To my relief, my eyes were looking normal—sharp but normal. That meant she might be able to sense my dislike. I still didn't get why she had to be afraid, though.

"I don't think I would be fit for the job after what happened, you know." Damn, right! "I don't want to disappoint everyone like the last time."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Sagami-san. Like everyone else, you also deserve a second chance," Yukino said sagely.

"Go for it, Sagamin!" Yui encouraged.

"Eh, I don't know. What if I fail?" Sagami mumbled.

"Then, make sure you don't," I said coldly, making the three girls flinch. "I know you are feeling you haven't proven yourself enough. This is your chance to prove whether it is but a mere delusion or a justified indignation. You can refuse it and it should give you the answer. What is your choice?"

Yukino sighed and Yui looked at me with a wry smile. Sagami was busy with her thoughts. When she had thought enough, she glared at me challengingly. It immediately faltered as soon as I narrowed my eyes, but her determined look remained. She had come to a decision.

"I will take the role."

A moment later, we found ourselves entering the meeting room. Everyone greeted Yukino and me as soon as they saw us, so we returned in kind. Most of them were part of the Cultural Festival Committee The mood immediately dampened when Sagami entered the room. Everyone gazed at her judgingly, making her confident smile falter. It returned full force when she noticed two familiar figures, though. I heard they were called Yukko and Haruka.

"Yo, it's been some time since we last met, Hikigaya. Aren't you a bit busy nowadays?" Hiratsuka-sensei greeted me, doing her best to imitate me, giving me the impression that she was mocking me.

"What do you mean? I just came over last night," I replied innocently.

"Blasphemous! Don't joke with me, brat! You don't even know where I live," Hiratsuka-sensei said frantically, face slightly flushing. "Are you trying to get me fired, bastard? It's not funny!"

"Language," I chided. "Why don't we begin the meeting?" I continued, looking at Sagami.

She nodded slowly and then took the seat beside Hiratsuka-sensei. She stood up when everyone looked at her and then introduced herself. She began the meeting afterward. Hiratsuka-sensei guided her, making her lead the discussion about the sports festival's special events. Everyone came up with their ideas, but she was not included in the discussion. They were looking at me and Yukino for approval.

Although I wanted to teach Sagami a lesson, this was not the way I expected the meeting to go. I was not petty enough to purposely humiliate someone in public—unless they had done something heinous—so I felt quite awkward. I motioned to Sagami, causing everyone who looked at me and Yukino for approval to grimace. I nodded encouragingly and they reluctantly included her in their discussion.

The meeting ended without an agreement, but the dynamic was not that bad. I suggested we invite Zaimokuza and Ebina for some advice and everyone agreed to it.

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Honorary Mention:

Venerable Immortal Bowzr

Venerable Immortal Funéral

Venerable Immortal Keksimus Rex