Chapter 80 – Hayama Hayato Visits the Service Club!
Day by day passed quietly, and the peace that blanketed Sobu High still hadn’t been disturbed.
The first sester was nearing its end.
Unlike most countries, Japan’s school year was divided into three sesters: the first from April to July, the second from September to December, and the third from January to March, with sumr, winter, and spring breaks in between.
Now, it was late June—aning the first term was about to close.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Students poured out of the classrooms, chatting and laughing as they made their way ho.
Inside the Service Club room, the four mbers were already gathered.
"Ahhh, I’m dood... Exams are right around the corner, and I haven’t studied at all! This ti, I’m seriously done for..."
Yuigahama Yui groaned dramatically, slumping over the desk with the energy of soone whose soul had just left her body.
The other three could only stare at her with the collective expression of "we told you so."
"I’ve told you countless tis to study earlier," Yukinoshita Akira said, sipping his tea calmly—the black tea brewed, of course, by Yukinoshita Yukino herself. "Now that finals are practically here, you finally start panicking. You spend your days goofing around, and then wonder why you’re suffering."
"Akki-kun! That’s not fair! I wasn’t just goofing off, okay? I was just... busy!"
"Busy?" Akira raised an eyebrow. "You call hanging out with Miura Yumiko and the others, drinking afternoon tea, watching movies, and singing karaoke till midnight ’busy’?"
"W-well... that’s..."
Caught red-handed, Yui’s cheeks flushed red. She couldn’t deny that, lately, she’d been a bit too focused on enjoying life.
"Forget it. I’ll help you review," Yukinoshita Yukino said, breaking the silence with her usual cool tone. "Which subjects are giving you trouble?"
Yui’s face imdiately lit up. "Yukinon, you’re the best~! Thank you so much!"
"Don’t suddenly hug like that. It’s sumr."
"But Yukinon’s body feels so cool... it’s refreshing~"
"Stop moving around."
The two girls practically wrapped around each other—Yui rubbing her cheek playfully against Yukino’s shoulder while Yukino tried (and failed) to push her away.
It was a scene bathed in a warm, sunset-orange atmosphere, one that left both Akira and Hikigaya Hachiman speechless.
"...If only Saika were here right now..."
Hachiman muttered under his breath. Watching two beautiful girls embracing freely in front of him was like being forced to sit through soone else’s romance drama—live, unfiltered, and excruciatingly close.
anwhile, Akira couldn’t help but smile faintly at the sight.
Ever since Yukino began training in Water Breathing, her personality had started to shift. She was no longer isolated; people who cared about her began to gather naturally around her.
The once cold, distant snow maiden was slowly becoming as gentle as spring rain.
And Yuigahama Yui was the one responsible for lting that frost. With her warmth and sincerity, she’d gradually thawed the layers of ice surrounding Yukino’s heart.
Knock, knock.
Suddenly, a series of knocks echoed against the clubroom door.
In an instant, the cheerful mood froze.
For several reasons, the Service Club no longer received as many requests as before. Many events that once defined their story had never happened in this version of reality.
"Please, co in," Yukino said politely after a mont.
She quickly disentangled herself from Yui’s grip, straightened her uniform, and turned toward the door.
The handle turned. The wooden door creaked open.
And standing in the doorway... was a young man with short, golden-blonde hair.
Hayama Hayato.
Ever since the day he lost to Yukinoshita Akira, Hayama had avoided him whenever possible—lowering his head, changing his route, doing anything to keep distance.
Yet now, inexplicably, he had co here on his own.
The mont Yukino saw him, her expression shifted ever so slightly. She’d never had fond mories of Hayama Hayato.
The incident from their elentary school days still lingered in her mind. She didn’t openly bla him, but from that day on, her view of him as a person had completely crumbled.
Hayama noticed her expression and gave a small, bitter smile.
He understood now—when he chose silence back then, when he turned away instead of speaking up, that was the mont he severed the last remaining thread connecting him to Yukino’s older sister, Yukinoshita Haruno.
If there had been even a sliver of hope between them, that mont had erased it completely.
He regretted it deeply. But ti couldn’t be rewound.
And when his eyes landed on the figure by the window—on Akira—a flicker of fear surfaced within them.
In all of Japan, the na Yukinoshita Akira was now synonymous with power.
The youngest swordsman ever recognized by the Busujima Clan’s head himself—Busujima Munemasa—a prodigy unmatched by his peers.
And the fear Akira had instilled in him during their last confrontation hadn’t faded. Even a brief eting of their eyes was enough to make that trauma resurface.
"Hayama-kun," Yuigahama Yui called out, breaking the silence, "what brings you to the Service Club? Did you co here for help with sothing?"
Her bright tone cut through the tension like sunlight through fog.
Yui was, after all, part of the sa circle of "popular students" as Hayama. That group still existed—held together largely by Hayama’s charm and diplomacy.
Even Miura Yumiko, who once resented him for using her as a social shield, had eventually forgiven him.
"I... heard from Hiratsuka-sensei that this club helps people solve their problems," Hayama said quietly, his tone laced with discomfort. He clearly hadn’t expected Akira to be here.
"I see," Yukino replied coolly. "Then you must have a request. What kind of problem are you here to discuss?"
Yui leaned forward eagerly. "Yeah! Tell us what’s wrong, Hayato-kun!"
Hachiman sighed inwardly. Please, just read the atmosphere for once...
Even without words, the tension was obvious. Hayama’s posture had stiffened the mont he stepped inside, his usual polished composure replaced with visible unease.
Hachiman’s eyes flicked toward Akira.
That man radiated quiet dominance—so much so that even without speaking, he made the once-proud Hayama seem like a small, trembling bird.
This was what real "social hierarchy" looked like.
Once upon a ti, Hayama had been the one standing above him. Now, the roles had reversed completely.
"Ah... well, it’s not really a big deal..." Hayama said with an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his head.
But among the three people in the room—excluding Yui—not a single one was fooled by his act.
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