Prologue: Sobu High School Reunion

April 2023, Sobu High School

Hikigaya Hachiman stepped out of the taxi.

It had been 10 years since he last saw this building. In his mind, he tried to navigate through the various rooms the school had to offer. While his memory had not dulled, he still had difficulty imagining the exact paths. The first room that came to mind was the unmarked room that had housed the former Service Club. He wondered if the stickers were still there on the doorplate. Yui considered those to be like a badge of honour, a sign of how much they had worked for the school and its people. He mentally smirked at that. He didn't want to dive too much into nostalgia, so he moved on to class 2-F. The first place where he had made what he could genuinely call friends. Some of them not anymore, but times change and so do circumstances; he mused. He never met some of them after graduation and it was not for a lack of closeness; he simply felt no need to. He had his own life and they had theirs. People meet, they come together and they go their own way; such was life. Best not to dwell too much on people; they have a nasty habit of leaving you at bad times. Not again, he spoke out aloud to no one in particular. Best abandon this train of thought. He decided to move ahead.

The reunion was in the auditorium, and Hachiman did not have particularly fond memories of the place. This one was apparently coordinated by Hayama and a few others with some agency he probably had in his back pocket, now that he was a multimillionaire. He hated the 'nice guy with good looks and a boatload of money' trope since he himself was nothing like that; this furthered his contempt for the man. He was jerked from this thought by the ringtone on his iPhone. He glanced at the screen to a familiar name and picked up the call.

"Yuigah-Yui."

"Yahallo, Hikki! Where are you? We've already started here."

"Yeah, sorry. I'm already in the school, so give me a minute."

"Come soon. We're all waiting."

He put the phone back in his pocket and walked on.

"Now, please enjoy yourself and welcome to the reunion." As Sagami exited the stage, he saw the big banner behind her that loudly proclaimed "Welcome! Sobu High School 55th batch reunion" and mentally made a note. Sagami seems to have improved, he thought. That was actually a pretty decent speech, all things considered. Had just the right amount of nostalgia and banal humor in it.

"My partner!"

Hachiman scowled at the voice he instantly recognized. Yoshiteru Zaimokuza was there, with a wary waiter standing behind him who quickly moved off. He looked like he had been thrown forward 10 years in time, if not for the beard that had nicely cropped up. If anything, it made him even more of an eyesore.

"Zaimokuza. How have you bee-" He choked out as he was crushed under the massive bear-hug that he was sure could kill an actual bear.

"Hachiman! It's been so long since we met."

"Y-Yeah." He took a cursory glance at Zaimokuza's jacket which had a weird logo embossed on it.

"You work at a game company?"

"Huh? No, no. I just write scenarios for their otome games. This jacket was more like a token of appreciation."

"And?"

"And, I write light novels occasionally."

The man did not look like he was putting enough work hours in the otaku industry. Well, some people were really suited to this after all.

"By the way, have you seen Yukinoshita-san?"

Hachiman visibly froze.

"I met Yuigah-er, Miyamura-san earlier and she didn't tell me anything either. I wanted to thank her too. Well, I'm sure Yukinonshita-san will turn up sooner or later."

"Y-Yeah."

"Well, see you later, Hachiman. It was nice seeing you. I have some yakisoba to attack." Zaimokuza moved out, probably to harass another waiter.

Hachiman let a genuine smile creep up to his lips.

"Nice seeing you too, Zaimokuza."

He moved around and saw what could only be a horrifying sight. There was someone who he recognized... and did not, too. He was lanky, clearly the result of an athletic body and almost as tall as Hayama, maybe even taller. The person turned around.

"Oh! If it isn't Hachiman!" Saika Totsuka's hand almost felt like a vice. The person before him looked like he ate Totsukas for breakfast. Well, now I don't have to remind myself about his gender anymore. My innocent heart has been scarred for life. My chances of conversion to the dark side have been completely and utterly crushed.

"Totsuka." was all he could manage in a squeaky voice.

"Well, seems like you haven't changed at all, Hachiman." Talk about yourself. You look like a role model for teenage growth spurts.

"Look at you, you look like a completely different being now."

"Ah, this is partially the result of my training regimen. I hope to make it into the Japan Open someday."

Tennis, huh. Well, Totsuka already had plans for his life and seems well-set to achieve them. Unlike a certain loner Hachiman knew.

"Well, good luck to you."

"Thanks. By the way, where are you working now?"

"Nowhere, unfortunately. I was fired from my last job." Of course, he had another venture he was working on, but he didn't see the need to reveal that to Totsuka.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, anyway. Well, I still have to see Yui, so I'll meet you later."

"And say hi to Yukinoshita-san for me."

For the second time today, Hachiman froze. He turned around and saw Totsuka busy with his Tennis club friends. Hachiman moved on.

Then the rumors started.

An hour and a half after the party had started, the distinct lack of Yukinoshita Yukino's presence had been clearly noted. Considering she had graduated top of the batch, it was not unnatural. And people being people, clearly loved to speculate on things. Then it began.

First, it started off innocuously. Things like "Seems like Yukinoshita-san's not here." or "Anyone seen Yukinoshita-san?"

Then it grew worse. "Why would the Ice Queen mingle with commoners? She's royalty, after all." "Screw that bitch. Always looked down on us." "Maybe she's settled in a corner, crying over her cheating husband or something." "She's more likely to sue him to bankruptcy than cry over him." "Haha, true that."

The final nail in the coffin hit as he was moving around.

"Hey, my friend just saw her in the Diet office last year or so. Wonder who she's screwing now to get to the top."

Hachiman considered himself a fair him, and yet he knew it was going too far. A mix of tears and sadness welled up in him as he made a decision, something that would put the spotlight right back on him. He hated himself for this, but it was Yukinoshita. If it was for her, he could bear it, he would bear it.

He walked towards the podium, where a person was holding a mike. Probably a technician. Hachiman quickly strode up the steps as he was accosted.

"Excuse me sir, you can't go-"

"Move out of the way. NOW. And give me the mike." Hachiman's voice had so much venom the guy backed off.

"Y-Yes, Sir." He managed to blurt out as the mike was roughly torn from his hands.

Hachiman went up to the centre and stood animatedly, his left hand balled up and clawing into his own palms. The pain helped in keeping him centred. This was all he had left, the pain from the various times he had suffered. Without it, he was nothing. He had been nothing. At times, he had rued his past self for being so on edge, willing to lash out at anyone if they so much as poked a needle. He once believed he had stood back up from the quagmire life had thrown him into, but then life pushed him in a second time. And this time, he has no strength to pull himself up. He would forever be alone, if that was what it took. But he would never allow them to drag her though the mud.

He fiddled with the mike, seeing it was on. "Hey! Why isn't this thing on- Oh." If his previous antics had not grabbed their attention, the staccato burst of static from the mike certainly did.

"Ahem. Um, as some of you know, I am Hikigaya Hachiman, formerly of class 3-G. I couldn't help but notice the hot topic of today is Yukinoshita. So hopefully, I can help clear the vile garbage some of you idiots have filled your heads with in regards to her."

Hachiman hardened himself. Even if she was not here, he felt like he was shouldering her burden. He had to appear as the bad guy, which wouldn't work with the tears.

"So to help you brainless monkeys understand, I am going to keep this short and simple."

Hachiman looked down, lest he reveal his near-breakdown to the crowd. He took three deep breaths, cleared his throat and spoke to the pin-drop silent crowd again.

"Yukinoshita Yukino..."

His voice trailed off as he tried to compose himself.

He saw sudden shuffling in the crowd, as the ones who approached him were not the ones he wanted to see right now.

In the lead was Hayama Hayato, followed by Hayama Yumiko, Miyamura Yui and Tobe with Hina, whose joint surname Hachiman couldn't seem to recall at the moment.

"Back off, Hayama!" Hachiman's voice gave off an eerie mix of coldness and desperation, with an eye glare that could only be described as 'soul-piercing'. Hayato had only seen it once in his life, and he had regretted intervening back then. He certainly couldn't risk it now. In some ways, he was weaker now.

"Hikki..." was all Yui could muster in a low voice.

"Ah, so where was I..."

Hachiman took a deep breath. He wasn't sure if they realized that his legs were shaking.

"Yukinoshita Yukino... is dead."

A cold wind descended through. Which felt more like a blast. It felt like the former Ice Queen herself had descended from Heaven to bless this as her closed space. Back in the corner of the room, Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed as she drew another cigarette and put it to her lips. She knew her former student had a flair for the dramatic, but she never imagined that he would pull off something like this. Both of them were too old for her to do anything now, she mused. But it was clear that Hikigaya needed her help again. Probably not her help, but he needed something to anchor him down. Right now, he was drifting through life, eating hit after hit after hit, with no way or intention to counter.

Her time would come. Right now, she simply watched him as he walked off the stage and rebuffed any attempt to approach him from Yui. Hikigaya was gone. And just like that, he walked away from everything he had once held dear in high school. And Hiratsuka did nothing to stop him. Because she had already made up her mind. She had abandoned him once. She would not abandon him again. Not after he had come this far in life. Former may be, but he was her student.

And what teacher could call themselves a good one if they didn't help a student in need?

Hachiman lay down on the bed, thinking about the events of day. His only regret was not getting to see Hiratsuka-sensei; the woman clearly deserved more than a thank you for all the things she had done for him. Well, he could always call her; and after today's events, he had no doubt that he would be receiving a call from her anyway. If she had been present.

Hachiman was jerked back as an email notification popped up. It looked like he had been called for another interview. Which made it 4 interviews for tomorrow. It was going to be a busy day, he thought as he came back to the dreaded realization he had denied himself for too long.

Yukinoshita Yukino, the love of his life, was dead, and there was not a damn thing in the whole world he could have done to save her.