With each brisk step, the pink-haired girl's signature twin buns both atop her head and on her chest - bounced in perfect rhythm, exuding their undeniable presence.
"Yahallo!" Yui chirped as she jogged over, a bit out of breath. "What a coincidence, Yukinon, Hikki! I didn't think I'd bump into you two here!"
"Good morning, Yuigahama-san. I only just ran into him as well. So yes, I suppose it really is a coincidence," Yukino replied with a composed smile. Not a trace of deception touched her face.
At that moment, Yui caught sight of Hachiman's twitching eye.
"Whoa, Hikki, you actually look kinda cool today."
"H-huh?" It was the first time a girl had complimented him, and Hachiman couldn't help but scratch his cheek in mild embarrassment.
"Hehehe... Seriously, those glasses make a huge difference. You look way better than usual. Your dead-fish eyes always kinda ruin your whole vibe."
"Haah... So how long are you two planning to stand here chatting? If we don't head in soon, we'll really be late," Yukino said, stifling a small yawn.
"Right, let's go. If we're late, Hiratsuka-sensei's gonna murder us," Hachiman said as he turned toward the school building.
Yui followed behind, tilting her head slightly. "You guys look super tired today. Didn't sleep well last night?"
"We were up late giving Zaimokuza feedback on his light novel," Hachiman replied, rubbing his eyes. "You look way too energized... Don't tell me you didn't even read it."
"Wha- of course I read it!" Yui said, flustered, waving her hand like it could fan away the guilt. Her mind flashed to the untouched manuscript she brought home and never opened.
"Well, that's good. He's dropping by this afternoon, so just tell him what you thought. Don't worry about hurting his feelings or whatever. Just be honest."
After parting ways with Yukino at the stairs, Hachiman reached the classroom door. He took off his glasses and carefully placed them in their case before entering with Yui.
As usual, no one paid much attention when he walked in. Hachiman headed straight to his seat, put his bag down, and prepared for another ordinary day of class.
During lunch break, he made his usual trek to the vending machines to grab a can of MAX Coffee only to find someone already standing there.
Yukino stood silently in front of the machine, arms crossed, staring at it like it had personally offended her.
It wasn't until Hachiman tapped her on the shoulder that she turned around, visibly relaxing when she saw it was him.
"How do you use this thing?" Yukino asked seriously, pointing at the machine as if it were some complex foreign device.
Hachiman didn't say a word. He stepped forward, pressed the buttons, and bought a can of coffee for himself and a bottle of sweet milk for her.
"Here. Why are you buying food today? Didn't pack lunch?"
He cracked open his coffee as he asked.
"Thanks to someone I know," she said coolly, "I didn't have time to make a bento this morning."
"Well, then... this one's on me. Consider it an apology."
He handed her the yakisoba bread he had just picked up from the cafeteria.
"What about you?" Yukino asked as she accepted it.
"I'll go buy another one. Wait for me on the rooftop."
Waving behind him, Hachiman turned and headed back toward the cafeteria.
By the time he arrived at the rooftop, Yukino was already there, sitting with her legs crossed and delicately nibbling at the bread.
Hachiman wordlessly took the seat beside her.
"So?" Yukino turned to face him. Her deep navy eyes were free of the usual coldness in their place was something softer, something carefully concealed yet unmistakably there. Affection. Dependence.
Hachiman stared into her eyes as if he could read the truth behind them.
"You've changed a lot lately, Yukinoshita. I don't think you've even noticed it yourself."
He chose his words carefully.
"I get what you're trying to say." Yukino smiled faintly, her eyes narrowing in amusement. "You're thinking that dream made me fall for you, aren't you?"
In that moment, she looked like a high mountain bloom in full flower ethereal, elegant, untouched by worldly dust, her beauty even more striking against the cold wind that blew across the rooftop.
"Maybe." Hachiman didn't deny it.
"Do you know how much those dreams affected me, Hachiman-kun? Ever since I was a child, I tried to follow in my sister's footsteps. I wanted to become... perfect."
She extended her pale hand into the sunlight.
Bathed in light, it looked like flawless white porcelain. Faint blue veins traced beneath the surface. Her fingers were long, slender, shaped with impossible precision elegant in both form and proportion. Even her neatly trimmed nails felt perfectly placed.
She gazed at her hand as though examining a work of art once a symbol of her perfection.
"I chased that image. That ideal. But in those dreams, everything I believed in... it all unraveled. The values I was raised with, my purpose, the self I had spent years shaping all dismissed as meaningless."
"I've thought a lot about it since," she continued softly. "If I hadn't had those dreams, if I hadn't met you and Yui, maybe I really would've become another version of my sister. Just her shadow."
"And not Yukino Yukinoshita."
"I'm... glad. Because the two of you gave me a reason to exist as myself. I'm no longer trying to surpass someone. I'm not living to fix the world."
"I used to believe helping others meant changing their weakness. But now I see, I couldn't even face my own."
Yukino's voice was calm, but her words carried weight.
"So, from this moment on, the always-right Yukino Yukinoshita is gone. I'm human. I make mistakes. I have weaknesses."
"My sister's strength, my mother's strength they have nothing to do with me. From today forward, I'll stumble. I'll fall."
Hachiman listened quietly. The expression on her face grew softer, more natural. Not the brittle mask of strength she used to wear just Yukino, unguarded.
"Hachiman-kun," she said gently, "remember this. The beautiful girl standing before you her name is Yukino Yukinoshita."
Suddenly, she stood and pulled Hachiman up with her. She held his hand tightly, then let go and stepped back.
"Hachiman Hikigaya, my name is Yukino Yukinoshita. It's nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you."
With that, she bowed low before him, a full ninety degrees. Her voice, filled with joy, came from her bent frame like a warm breeze on a cold day.
Then she straightened up, cheeks flushed, and smiled a smile so sincere, it could melt the winter off Mount Fuji.
"Mmm-hmm-hmm... So this is why Yukino's personality changed. Now she and Hikki can start flirting for real!"