Hikigaya Hachiman Comes to A Realization That He Might Be Popular (End)

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[Yukinoshita Yukino's POV]

Today, I made a bold decision. I came to school wearing Hikigaya-kun's sweater. It was a bit too baggy, but I looked up on the internet that it was normal for girls to wear baggy clothes. It was one of the fashion trends. Of course, I didn't care about those. Unfortunately, I caught a cold. My nose was stuffy and my body would shiver even at the slightest movement of the wind. I shouldn't have come but I didn't want to hamper the committee's progress. To avoid infecting others, I also wore a mask.

Classes passed quickly and I barely registered what the teachers were talking about. I felt quite light-headed but thankfully still could function normally. No one mentioned anything about my oversized sweater. They were curious but soon shrugged it off as it was not out of the norm for a sick person to wear such clothes.

I stood up and slowly made my way to the meeting room. I felt uncharacteristically slow and it bugged me greatly. Sighing when I stood before the meeting room, I was about to open the door when I heard some muffled voices behind the door. I was surprised that everyone was already there. After what Hikigaya-kun had done the day before, I had expected to find most of the members absent as they protested to Hiratsuka-sensei about him.

I slid the door open and everyone's eyes immediately landed on me. They greeted me awkwardly as they looked at my state and then resumed their discussion with Hikigaya-kun whom they surrounded. I had expected them to hate him for what he had done the day before, so it was another surprise. Shaking my head to lessen my lightheadedness, I walked to my seat and sat down.

Some people immediately made their way to me. However, they stopped in their tracks when Hikigaya-kun stood up and walked to me.

"I told you to rest properly, didn't I?" he asked with an amused smile. "Look at you. You are so out of it that I bet you won't function well."

"That is very assumptive of you. I can function just as—"

My slightly muffled voice stopped when Hikigaya-kun's hand touched my forehead. His comfortingly cold hand eased my headache slightly and I found myself leaning toward it.

"Yup. That's cold, all right," he concluded, taking away his hand, much to my disappointment. "Go home and take a rest."

"No," I said defiantly.

"All right. Just rest here. Meguri-senpai will come to help us today, so you can take it easy."

I wanted to say something, but only air was coming out of my mouth. I opted to keep quiet and watched as he made his way back to the students. A lot of the students' eyes brightened upon his arrival, but the females' shone the brightest. I was familiar with that look. It was not that surprising considering how popular Hayama-kun was even with that bland personality. Hikigaya-kun was very attractive and given his considerate nature, it was not surprising that he was sought after by females.

I felt slightly uncomfortable as I looked at the scene but immediately discarded the feeling. Even if he had become popular, Hikigaya-kun was still the same. He wasn't interested in shallow relationships. Then, it made me wonder if he considered our relationship shallow. He called me his friend, so it shouldn't be the case, right?

I cursed my cold for getting me these thoughts. My intelligence always dropped by twenty percent whenever I was having a cold. I felt so stupid at the moment as I wanted to run up to him and ask him what he thought about our relationship. It was embarrassing how eager I was to do just that.

Thud!

The door slid open and Hiratsuka-sensei entered. "Oy, Yukinoshita. You haven't submitted your third year's courses." Then, she turned to Hikigaya-kun who now had her eyes on her. "You haven't submitted yours too, after deciding to modify them. Have you made up your mind, Hikigaya?"

"Eh, I will think about it," he answered nonchalantly.

"Why is he so cocky these days? Has he finally got laid? Gah! So annoying!" Hiratsuka-sensei muttered before lamenting why she remained single. "Kuhum! Anyway, Yukinoshita. When are you going to submit yours?"

"I am having quite a difficulty to decide, but I will submit it soon." I want to know what Hikigaya-kun chose for his third year's courses.

"All right, then. Good luck all of you. Also, you can just go home if you are sick."

"I am fine."

With a shrug, Hiratsuka-sensei left the room. I sighed and leaned on my chair. Not long after, Shiromeguri-senpai came into the room. Now that I thought about it, Hikigaya-kun referred to her by her first name. I wondered when they got close. Should I ask him to call me Yukino too? Another thought popped up. I immediately imagined Hikigaya-kun calling my name in his husky voice and my face immediately became hotter.

I hated my cold for making me this way.

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[Hikigaya Hachiman's POV]

The preparation of the cultural festival was smooth sailing. We would encounter some problems here and there, but it was not something that we couldn't handle. Today, everyone was busy preparing the stage for the festival. My help was not needed, so I spent my time helping my class with our project.

"Well, the costume fits me, but I think it is a bit small. Thanks for your hard work, though, Saki, Miura."

Standing before a mirror, I observed how I looked in my pilot costume. I looked like a pilot from the American air force. It would have been perfect if the costume didn't accentuate my figure. I felt naked wearing it. Of course, I couldn't complain.

"You have the build to be a soldier, so you should wear an outfit befitting one," Miura said. "Also, how can you call Saki by her name but still call me Miura?"

I scoffed. "Tell me that when you call my name properly."

Miura was about to say something when Ebina called me. It was time to practice in our costume. I took in Shinobu's appearance and admired how radiant she was. Her white dress showed off some of her skin, enough to showcase its fairness but not make her look sensual. She appeared to be innocent, pure, and untainted by the world's corruption. It suited her very well and I found myself entranced.

"Do you like how I look?"

"Absolutely stunning."

Shinobu smiled, bringing one to my face. Then, we began our practice. Our play was renamed La Petite Princesse which was the French for The Little Princess. It was mostly similar to the original Le Petit Prince but had some tweaks courtesy of Shinobu and Ebina. They worked on the script together, producing a more somber and bittersweet gender-bent version of Le Petit Prince. It was worthy of play, so I found myself enjoying it.

Maybe, we enjoyed ourselves too much. Everyone had stopped whatever they were and now were watching us as we practiced. The room was only filled with our voices and the other casts' who were also into the play. Before long, the door to our class was opened and students from different classes watched us perform. The gazes on us would have been intimidating if I wasn't already used to people staring at me.

"I have always run away from my heart, afraid that it may bring me sorrow like it did the last time. However, now that I think about it, I don't want to part with it. Somewhere up there, my heart exists. I wonder if the petty person called Thief whom you mention has snatched it," the little princess said.

"You are now far away from your home, trapped in this place called Earth. My plane is still broken, so I can't yet take you there," the pilot said.

"Worry not, Mr. Pilot. I have found a way to get back. The snake will take me there."

"So, you are leaving in the end."

The little princess smiled softly at the pilot. "I have made my peace and so should you." The pilot appeared hesitant as he approached the little princess. "What is there for you to get for getting back to your heart?" The little princess replied, "That even if I am hurt, I will still be with something that makes me…me. So long, Mr. Pilot, this is time for us to part."

The pilot watched as the little princess' back got further. The snake was a liar, he knew it. There was more than one way to get her back. He was a liar too. He had fixed his plane. He could take her back but didn't want to. Her company comforted him so much that thinking about her absence made him want to smash his plane to pieces. It hurt him not to be with her, yet knowing she might never reunite with her heart was even more painful.

"I will take you there." Even if his plane broke down before he got back home, he would reunite her with her heart. "It will only cause you pain, taking me there, Mr. Pilot. My heart is quite mean, so it might even hurt you," the little princess warned. Even so, the pilot insisted. They flew away and journeyed the galaxy until they found the little princess' heart.

"It is radiant. It's beautiful," the pilot murmured. The little princess ran to her heart and embraced it. It shone brighter than any gold could. The pure little princess looked untouchable with her heart. "I guess this is it for me. My plane is broken once again and I have not the power to return," the pilot sighed as he leaned down on a tree. He was pained, yet a smile still decorated his face. He didn't make the wrong choice.

With that, our practice was done. We looked around and properly noted how many people were watching. They were silent for a couple of seconds before one of them clapped. It caused a chain reaction and the room was soon filled with a series of applauses. When it died down, girls whose faces I didn't recognize swarmed me. They praised me for my acting and asked me about a lot of mundane things.

I didn't know what happened, but I had suddenly become popular!

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Honorary Mention:

Venerable Immortal Bowzer

Venerable Immortal Drowz

Venerable Immortal Orion

Venerable Immortal P. Felipe

Venerable Immortal W. M. Jones

Venerable Immortal x_iLaggedOut_x