They make their way back to Shiori’s house. Her parents and brother are still asleep since it’s only about nine o’clock in the morning on a weekend. They go into the bathroom together and close the door behind them.

“Sit on the edge of the bathtub.”

Shiori tells Hikigaya. He does as he’s told while Shiori goes into one of the drawers of her counter and pulls out a first aid kit. She goes to Hikigaya and begins to clean up his cut. Focused on the task at hand, she hadn’t realized how close to Hikigaya’s face she had gotten. Hikigaya didn’t notice at first either but as soon as he did he began to blush and look away the best he can. Shiori grabs him by the chin and readjusts him to stay looking straight at her with a frustrated huff. He gets embarrassed but stays put as she keeps patching him up. She notices his look and is confused for a moment before realizing it too. She quickly finishes cleaning it and pulls out a bandage. As she’s opening it and getting ready to apply it she makes sure to keep herself a bit farther from him than before. Hikigaya tries to fill the awkward silence with chatter.

“You seem to be used to this. Have you done this before?”

“A little but not anymore, I used to.”

She responds plainly. Hikigaya gets interested in her words.

“Oh? On someone else or..?”

Shiori doesn’t answer and lowers her head a bit as she finishes putting on the bandage. The question obviously upset her a bit.

‘Maybe too personal?..’

He thought. He gets up and she steps back to put the first aid kit away. Hikigaya stands there awkwardly trying to figure out a way to make her feel better.

“Uh.. Thank you, Shiori… For helping me.”

He says softly. She turns to face him and nods a bit. She then turns to grab the doorknob to the bathroom but before she can, it begins to open on its own. The both of them get looks of terror as Riku opens the door, rubbing his eyes as it seems he just woke up. He stands in the doorway and looks at the two of them groggily. He just stares for a moment before his eyes begin to open wide and his mouth drops. He begins to call out but before he can, Shiori grabs him and covers his mouth.

“Don’t!.. Please Riku, don’t say anything!..”

She whispers at him. He struggles to be released but Shiori is too strong so he resorts to drastic measures. He begins licking the inside of her hand. She lets go immediately.

“Ew! Gross!”

Riku begins wiping his mouth, grossed out too.

“Ewww, you’re all sweaty!”

He sticks his tongue out at her and then bolts to his parents’ room. Shiori fails to catch him so she starts pushing Hikigaya away towards the door. 

“Go! Go! I don’t want them knowing you were here!”

Hikigaya, confused by the turn of events, gets overwhelmed and doesn’t quite understand what to do immediately. Unfortunately, Takanou comes out of his room, awoken by Riku who follows behind him. 

“Shiori? What’s going on here?”

Shiori stops pushing Hikigaya and slowly turns around with a dreadful look.

“No-nothing?”

Takanou assesses the situation with his dad eyes.

‘My lovely daughter with a boy she just met? Trying to sneak around the house together?! Unacceptable!’ 

Takanou puts his fist in the air with one finger pointed out and takes a deep breath in, about to scold them when Hamasaki comes out, still a little sleepy. She throws herself onto Takanou’s back which interrupts him.

“Hikigaya dear, why were you alone with Shiori in the bathroom?”

Her eyes are closed and a smile on her mouth but there is still a sense of intensity in her words. Hikigaya tries to calm himself, nervous to make a bad impression.

“Well you see, I hurt myself earlier so Shiori offered to patch me up. That is all I promise!”

He points at his bandage for a moment before putting his hands up in defense and sweating nervously. Hamasaki looks at him for a moment before relaxing.

“Okay, I believe you.”

She says with a soft tone. Shiori and Takanou both get shocked looks on their faces.

“Honey, are you sure? You’re gonna trust this boy we barely just met with our daughter like that? Shouldn’t we at least set some ground rules or something..?”

Takanou asks, unsure of what to say to his wife. Hamasaki smiles at him and turns her head to look back at Shiori and Hikigaya.

“Hm, well if Shiori trusts him then I do.”

She says with a warm look.

“Woah, woah. I do not trust him. I tolerate him at best.”

She says defensively, putting one hand on her hip and the other flipped to the side with her eye closed. Hikigaya is obviously offended by the comment.

“Mhm.”

Hamasaki hums as she smiles at them and goes back into her room. Riku goes into the bathroom as he originally intended, sticking his tongue out at them one last time. Shiori sighs in relief that it didn’t turn into a bigger deal like she had originally thought, until Takanou walks up to Hikigaya.

“I’m all for you being stuck with my darling daughter at school but you better be real careful with her, otherwise I will-”

“Ahem.”

Takanou warns, almost threatens Hikigaya before getting interrupted by Hamasaki who comes back out and leans against their door frame with one arm over her head and a tanktop strap falling down her shoulder, a seductive look on her face to her husband.

“Why don’t you leave the poor boy alone and come threaten me like that?”

Shiori and Hikigaya both blush, embarrassed and look away quickly.

“Ew, mama! C’mon!”

They head for the front door as Takanou blushes and gets a nosebleed before clearing his throat. He turns back to Hikigaya one last time before they leave.

“Just be kind to her, got it?”

He commands with a pointed finger. Hikigaya nods and leaves, led by Shiori as Takanou turns back to Hamasaki and walks over to her. He wraps his big arms around her waist and pulls her in tightly as she starts kissing him. They fall into the room and lock the door behind them. Riku then comes out of the bathroom and looks around to the now empty hallway.

“Where did everyone go?”

He looks around confused for a moment before shrugging and going to the living room to watch TV.

Shiori and Hikigaya are now outside of their homes and lean against the railing.

“Why were you so concerned with getting me out of there before they saw us?”

Hikigaya asks with his back to the rail as Shiori leans on it on her elbows.

“Because it’s embarrassing.”

She responds matter-of-factly. Hikigaya looks at her for a moment as she stares at the ground before looking over the rail.

“I suppose but it's not like they haven’t met me already.”

Shiori pauses for a moment before deciding to elaborate.

“Yeah, I know.” She pauses for a moment. “I guess, the real reason has more to do with how protective they are over me.”

She admits softly. Hikigaya looks at her with an interested look but she still looks down, kind of anxious to continue.

“I don’t have a lot of friends because people don’t tend to like me very much so they grill anyone who gets close to me to see if they intend to stick around or not. I guess… I didn’t want that to happen to you.”

Hikigaya stares at her as she blushes in embarrassment before his gaze softens and he looks back over the rail with a warm look.

“Well, I want to be with you.”

He says softly. Shiori turns her head quickly, blushing a bit. Hikigaya looks at her for a moment before he blushes too realizing what it sounded like. He quickly and nervously jumps back a bit, trying to come up with something else to say.

“I-I mean not like that you know? I meant more like hanging out and stuff! Not like be with with you. N-not that you’re not cool, at least I think you are.”

He stumbles over his words hastily as Shiori lowers her head a bit in embarrassment.

“Not that I’m assuming to know you very well, I’m just saying. I think, well, I-” He huffs are calming sigh, still very embarrassed. “...I just think that we could be real friends.”

He says softly as he embarrassedly covers his head with his arms. He blushes and looks away from her with a dumb smile on his face.

“You... think I’m cool?..”

She asks softly, looking up at him with a flustered look. Hikigaya nods as he looks at her. She smiles an awkward smile before standing up from the rail and stepping forward.

“I.. don’t think it’d be a good idea to go back inside for a little while… I was thinking, maybe… I could... hangout with you?”

She asks nervously, blushing, trying not to make eye contact and struggling to get the words out. Hikigaya drops his arms and looks at her with a surprised and excited look, still blushing. He stands as well.

“Y-yeah, totally. Come on, I’ll show you my room.”

He says as she nods in response, following him inside his house. They go straight to his room and hangout for a bit, chatting and watching a movie though neither of them really paid any attention to it, actually talking to each other without the sarcastic remarks or constant frustration. They laugh together and enjoy the company without a care in the world. Some time later, the hangout comes to an end. Shiori says goodbye to Hikigaya and walks out of the home with a smile. Hikigaya stares at the door with a warm smile and a bit of satisfaction on his face.

Shiori comes through the door of her home and immediately notices Riku asleep on the couch with the TV on. She smiles and goes to grab a snack from the fridge. As she’s about to head back into her room, her dad walks down the hall and also goes into the kitchen. He smiles at her as he passes. She stops and turns around to look at him.

“Good to see you home again. How was it?”

“It was cool. We just watched a movie really.”

“Oh that’s nice.” He says, grabbing another applesauce cup. “You better have behaved yourself.”

He gives her a raised eyebrow as she rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

“Nothing happened papa. Like I’d even do anything with him.”

Takanou nods with a proud smile. She shakes her head before she goes off into her room with her sandwich and sits at her desk casually. She takes a bite of her sandwich and looks down at her clothes.

‘Still in my workout clothes... I should probably change.’

She thinks before shrugging it off and turning to face her desk properly. She puts down her sandwich and grabs her pencil, opening her notebook. She stares at the pages for a moment, thinking about what to write down. The notebook has obviously been written in for a while now as the blank page she is starting at is half way through it. She thinks for a moment before getting an idea.

‘Next door neighbors…’

She thinks with an inspired tone. She starts writing away as a small smile comes across her face.  

The next day, we’re at a supermarket with Haru and Hikigaya. They walk along the aisles with a basket in Haru’s hand, shopping.

“Thanks again for coming with me, Hiki. These grocery trips are always so boring alone.”

“Yeah, not like I was busy anyway. Besides, knowing you, you’ll forget something if someone doesn’t remind you.”

“Oh you know me so well.”

He lightly hits Hikigaya’s arm as they laugh. They walk around a bit more, getting what they need before beginning to check out.

“Main, we’re barely a week into highschool and things have already been so crazy!”

Haru says with a big smile as Hikigaya scans some things.

“Yeah I guess so.” He says with a shrug. “Kinda wish things were more normal. I just wanna be a normal teenager for once, hangout with friends, go to school events, have crushes ya know, the normal highschool stuff.”

He says with a slight sigh. Haru stares at him blankly.

“You really thought hard about what highschool was going to be like, huh?”

Hikigaya glares at him as Haru laughs before giving Hikigaya a side eye.

“Haha, ah.. Speaking of crushes...” He says with a mischievous smile. “Tell me what’s going on between you two, huh, huh?”

He asks excitedly. Hikigaya just sighs.

“Nothing’s going on okay? If anything, she’s a big pain in my butt at best.”

Haru looks at him confused.

“Chizuru is… a pain in your butt?”

Haru asks. Hikigaya gets a surprised look and quickly corrects himself.

“What? Oh, no! Of course not! I was just… nevermind.”

He blushes a little, embarrassed. They begin to leave the store and walk down the sidewalk on the bright sunny day.

“Who else would I be talking about? You’ve had a huge crush on Chizuru for like, over a year now, haven’t you?”

Haru asks, intrigued by Hikigaya’s reaction. He just responds blankly.

“Yeah.”

“So what’s happening? Give me the scoop! Have you been texting? Hanging out?”

He asks enthusiastically, moving on from the previous occurrence.

“Yeah we’ve been texting but don’t get your hopes up. I don’t think she likes me like that..”

“Hey, don’t count yourself out yet buddy! There’s still lots of time to tell her how you feel.”

“To be honest, I’m not even sure I like her that way.”

Haru looks shocked.

“No way! Finally, a new arc!”

He teases, sticking his tongue out at Hikigaya. He glares at him.

“Well what about you? You like anyone?”

Hikigaya asks. Haru rubs the back of his head, a little awkwardly.

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe? It’s hard to tell these days.”

“We are in high school now.” Hikigaya says. “Maybe now’s the time to start making moves, if you feel it.”

“Same to you! Hangout with her if you really want her! ... Or not since, well, you know.”

He says awkwardly as Hikigaya just shakes his head. Haru then gets an idea.

“Hey, speaking of hanging out, maybe we should convince the others to do a sleepover! We haven’t had one of those in like a year. And we could invite Sugawara and Shiori!”

He says excitedly. Hikigaya looks actually interested in the idea.

“That actually sounds like a fun idea.”

“Awesome! I’ll get the group chat together. I’ll add Sugawara and you add Shiori, kay?”

“Yeah, I’ll add her later.”

He says before getting a concerned look. Haru smiles at him a big smile with some giggles. They eventually part ways and soon Hikigaya comes back home. His mom is enjoying herself in the living room.

“How was shopping with Haru?”

She asks, acknowledging his presence but not looking away from her show.

“It was good. We’re planning on having a sleepover next weekend.”

“Ooh, that sounds fun! Just let me know, I can give you guys a ride if you need. I can finally put that minivan to good use.”

She says with a thumbs up. He just chuckles a bit and goes to his room. He takes a seat at his desk before pulling out his phone. He scrolls through his small contact list and makes a face.

“Right… I don’t have Shiori’s number…”

He says with a huff as he thinks.