My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. IF ~Yukinoshita Asks One More Time~ - And then, Yukinoshita vanished.

July 15th. The day before the culture festival. The sky, still not fully clear of the rainy season, had been covered in a gray veil since morning. Humid heat clung to the skin. Around the gymnasium of Sobu High School, culture festival executive committee members and students from each class had been bustling about since early morning. Some carried cardboard boxes, some painted signs, some ran power cords. It was a damp, restless atmosphere, as if everyone was praying the rain would hold off. Hikigaya Hachiman was behind the gymnasium, assembling a stand for a target-shooting game. He leaned the wooden frame at an angle and turned the screws. After finishing preparations for his own class's exhibit, he had been shuffled around to various understaffed locations at the request of the culture festival executive committee. It was his role as a member of the Service Club. No—it was supposed to be his role as a member of the Service Club. "……Hah." A sigh escaped him. He tightened his grip on the screwdriver handle. (*Why am I out here in this heat, wrestling with scraps of wood?*) He knew the answer. Because it had been written on the request form. A request from the culture festival executive committee—"Assistance with each class's exhibit planning, as well as confirmation of plan documents and identification of issues." Ever since that day, he and Yukinoshita had been made to help with the culture festival preparations like this. It was supposed to be document checking at first, but before he knew it, physical labor had been pushed onto them as well. It was on the level of a black company. On the opposite side of the gymnasium, Yukinoshita Yukino was wiping down the reception counter. Her white blouse sleeves were rolled up, and she moved the rag with a serious expression. Her long black hair was as lustrous as ever today, though it seemed slightly heavier than usual, perhaps due to the humidity. The air around her alone felt several degrees cooler. It was the usual sharp atmosphere, as if touching it would cut you. Yukinoshita had continued preparing for the culture festival for two months since that rainy day encounter, all while carrying something inside her. On the surface, her work was as flawless as always. But she had developed a habit of occasionally stopping her hands and gazing into the distance. "Hikigaya-kun, your hands have stopped. There's no time to rest." When he looked up, Yukinoshita was looking at him. Her blue eyes pierced straight through him. "……I'm not resting. Though I'd love to." He retightened the screws on the wooden frame. Bluntly, but inwardly, he felt a little relieved. At least Yukinoshita still had enough composure left to fire back at him with light banter. Outside the gymnasium, a bright voice that seemed to belong to Yuigahama Yui rang out. "Over here, over here! Help me carry these desks!" He glanced over. Yui was in her jersey, leading her classmates as they carried long desks. She was smiling. Her big, round eyes shone even under the overcast sky. She was, as always, moving more than anyone, smiling more than anyone. But to his eyes, the shadow that surfaced behind that smile seemed to grow darker day by day. (*She's not bottling things up alone again, is she?*) His chest stirred uneasily. But he still didn't have the courage to call out to her, nor the words to say. Pitter-patter, Yui came running over. "Hikki! Do you need more people over there? My class is almost done with prep, so we can come help!" Yui stood at the back entrance of the gymnasium, waving brightly. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead with sweat. Her smile looked more strained than at any moment up until yesterday. Her muscles couldn't keep up with the act of smiling. "……No, we're fine. All that's left is here and decorating that pillar." "I see. Then, should I help Yukinon?" Yui's gaze shifted to Yukinoshita in the center of the gymnasium. Yukinoshita, wringing out the rag, looked toward Yui. Their gazes crossed in midair. For just an instant, Yukinoshita's blue eyes seemed to waver. "……Wouldn't it be better for Yuigahama-san to focus on your own class's work?" Yukinoshita's voice was calm to the point of coldness. But that way of calling her "Yuigahama-san" remained as stiffly formal as ever. She still hadn't permitted herself to call her by name—not enough to call her by name, after those days the three of them had spent together. Yui's smile stiffened for a moment. "Ah, yeah. You're right! My class might still have a bit left to do! Well then, see you later!" With that, Yui scampered off. He watched her back until it disappeared through the gymnasium entrance. Yukinoshita said nothing and resumed wiping the counter. ……The three of them were still, as ever, passing each other by. Since the culture festival preparations had begun, the distance between the three of them hadn't shrunk in the slightest. No—if anything, the more they shared a common goal, the more clearly the "unfillable thing" between them became visible. ----------------- It was around three in the afternoon when the clamor suddenly shifted, as if the very air of the place had been turned inside out. The area near the gymnasium entrance suddenly buzzed. Hands stopped working. Hushed voices, yet charged with unmistakable heat, began leaking from here and there. "Wow, senpai, it's been so long! Did you come to see the culture festival?" "It's Yukinoshita-senpai, right!? It's been forever! You're as beautiful as ever!" Hachiman was near the outdoor entrance of the gymnasium, working on stretching cloth over a wooden frame. Without stopping his hands from turning the screws, he turned only his face toward the center of the commotion. ……A familiar, perfect silhouette. Black hair cut neatly to just below the shoulders. A shade slightly lighter than Yukinoshita Yukino's. Sharp, narrow eyes surveying every person in this noisy gymnasium. Yukinoshita Haruno. Yukinoshita Yukino's older sister. She had appeared in the gymnasium during culture festival setup. "Ahaha, everyone's working so hard~. Even after graduating, I've come back to see the culture festival every year. Seeing the faces of my kouhai gives me energy, you know?" Haruno waved amiably at the executive committee students as she slowly walked forward. The air around her alone rose several degrees. The surrounding students naturally broke into smiles. She was that kind of presence. He had seen the beauty of that perfect smile with his own eyes many times. And he had been made acutely aware of the coldness behind that smile once, up close. (*……Trouble has arrived.*) He retightened the screws. He wanted to avert his gaze as much as possible. But Haruno's gaze had caught him. She looked at him and tilted her head slightly. "Huh? Isn't that Hachiman-kun? Hey there~, long time no see. Helping out with culture festival prep? Your spirit of service is as strong as ever, huh." Haruno came closer and peered into his face. Her black eyes glistened as if wet. "……Should I say something like, 'Thank you for your hard work'?" He bowed his head, lacing it with sarcasm. "Ahaha, you're as funny as ever. I don't dislike that about you." With that, she moved away from him. Her objective wasn't him. Haruno's gaze slowly turned toward the center of the gymnasium—toward Yukinoshita, who was wiping the counter. In that instant, the air changed. The temperature of the room dropped several degrees—no, dozens of degrees. Her gaze pierced into Yukinoshita's back like thin needles of ice. Yukinoshita's hands stopped wringing the rag. Her back arched slightly. And then, Haruno began to walk. Everyone in the gymnasium held their breath, watching her advance. She approached until she was right behind Yukinoshita. "Yukino-chan, long time no see. Have you been well?" Haruno whispered into Yukino's ear. A sweet voice, loud enough for those around to hear. Yukino turned around. Her blue eyes were slightly widened. Her lips were pressed tight. "……Nee-san, why are you here?" Yukino's voice was hoarse. "Why wouldn't I be? Coming to see Yukino-chan's big stage is only natural, right? It's your last culture festival as a third-year, isn't it? Onee-chan has been looking forward to it." Haruno smiled brightly as she took Yukino's hand. "So? Yukino-chan, are you still playing at friendship?" Those words fell into the space like a bomb—quietly, but with absolute certainty. Yukino's shoulders trembled. "……What are you talking about?" "Yukino-chan, even though you can't decide anything for yourself, you're preparing for the culture festival while depending on Hachiman-kun, aren't you? I know everything. The Service Club, was it? You're still doing that, I hear. You can't even tell who you are unless you're clinging to that boy's side. You're as adorable as ever." Haruno's smile never broke. If anything, it deepened. The surrounding students gasped. But no one could interject. Her power completely dominated the space. The color drained from Yukino's face. Her pale neck grew even whiter, and her blue eyes lost their light, as if staring into the depths of water. "……I am not, depending on—" Yukino started to speak. Her voice was thin, on the verge of fading away. "Just kidding, just kidding, it was a joke. But you know, that face of Yukino-chan's—desperately trying to find her own place—onee-chan loves it. That face that looks like it's dying, too, right?" Hachiman had stepped forward. He had to say something. He thought he had to. But Haruno stopped him with her gaze alone. "Oh my, Hachiman-kun was here too. Please take care of Yukino-chan. She really is a handful of a little sister." Haruno said that to him with a perfect smile. Her eyes weren't smiling. His feet wouldn't move. Haruno spun around and left through the gymnasium entrance. As if leaving behind the same bright atmosphere she'd arrived with. No—that was wrong. She had frozen everything solid, just as when she'd arrived, and then left. A deathly silence fell over the area. Yukino stood there for a while, just standing. Her entire existence seemed made of ice sculpture. As if, were you to touch her, she would shatter from that point onward. "……Yukinoshita." He called out to her. Yukino slowly turned toward him. The depths of her blue eyes were hollow. She said nothing. She simply, silently, began walking toward the gymnasium exit. Staggering, yet with her back perfectly straight, she walked out. ----------------- He ran. Bursting out of the gymnasium, Hachiman sprinted at full speed. The air outside under the overcast sky overtook the humid gymnasium air. His lungs burned. His heart pounded in the back of his ears. (*After being told something like that, there's no way she'd just be fine.*) In his head, Yukino's hollow blue eyes replayed over and over. That was dangerous. Genuinely dangerous. He cut across the schoolyard toward the main building. He dashed up past the shoe lockers and ran through the hallway. Students he passed looked at him with puzzled faces. He didn't care. Yukinoshita's classroom, Class 3-D. He opened the door. Inside, students were milling about with culture festival preparations. "Hikigaya? What's wrong, why are you in such a panic?" A classmate called out to him. "……Did Yukinoshita come here?" He asked, out of breath. "Yukinoshita? She just came by to grab her stuff and left right away. She was really pale, though. Did something happen?" Without answering, Hachiman took off running. He knew where to go next. The special building, fourth floor. The Service Club room. ----------------- He ran at full speed through the connecting corridor of the special building. The scenery of the courtyard streamed past at the edge of his vision. The leaves of the trees rustled in the lukewarm wind. He climbed to the fourth floor and stood before the clubroom. *Click.* He turned the doorknob. It wasn't locke

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Episode 5

Name: My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. IF ~Yukinoshita Asks One More Time~
Author: Novelia

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