Fresh from the bath, Hachiman chugged a glass of milk, hand on hip.
(No Chiba soul drink here, huh… Could I make it?)
Cooking skills tempted him, but with limited slots, he shelved the idea. Lying down to sleep, he couldn't. People's faces—those left behind and those met here—flashed in his mind.
"Hachiman-kun, still awake?" Asuna's voice broke the silence.
"Can't sleep?"
"Yeah, I was fine earlier, but now… too many thoughts."
Asuna opened up about her real life. Born to a prestigious family, crushed by parental expectations, terrified of failing grades, trapped in a cycle of endless tests. Hachiman couldn't relate. Nobody truly understands another's pain.
(Knew she was high-class, but the opposite of Yukino. More like Haruno.)
"What's your life been like, Hachiman-kun?"
"Not fun. Probably depressing."
"I won't force you, but I want to know why you're so kind."
Hachiman scoffed. "I'm not kind. It's all for me."
"Liar. Abandoning me back there would've been easier."
"That's…"
"I won't hurt you. You're my savior. I'll listen to anything to ease your burden."
Sensing Asuna's sincerity, or maybe caught in the moment, Hachiman began sharing his past—grudgingly, haltingly. Asuna listened silently.
(Worse than I thought… Shouldn't have asked, she thought.)
She couldn't fully grasp his pain, but she understood his kindness wasn't calculated. She wanted to support him.
"You crying?"
Asuna's tears glistened in the moonlight.
"Idiot, I choose to be alone. What's wrong with that? Loners don't burden anyone—ultimate eco-mode. I don't buy that solo fighters are less than team players. I'm self-contained. You don't need to cry for me."
Asuna wiped her tears, chuckling. Hachiman vented his frustrations.
"If relationships hurt, destroy them. Cut the chain of negativity. That's how I've lived. 'Don't run' is just the strong's arrogance. People say change, but changing's just escaping the present. To win without changing, get stronger—not physically, but like me, with a solid self. Loner or not, hold your ground, and nothing's wrong."
"Self… like goals? Beliefs?"
"Goals, convictions, something to protect—whatever keeps you steady."
Asuna listened, her clouded eyes regaining strength.
"I know someone like you, Asuna. Bound by family to always win, hiding weakness behind a mask. But they're crazy about their sister, trying everything—harsh or not—to make her independent, even if it means being hated. That sister's my club president."
"You'd keep going even if someone hates you?"
"If their happiness makes me happy, yeah."
"I get that."
"So I don't matter. Being with me gets you weird looks. If my being hated saves others, it's efficient."
Asuna found Hachiman fragile, imagining his absence pained her. She resolved.
"That's true, but it doesn't justify you getting hurt. I'd miss you, Hachiman-kun. Weird, right? We just met. Maybe it's the suspension bridge effect, but I want to share joys, struggles, everything, and return to reality proud. Let's fight together till the end."
Her words hit like a confession. Post-Christmas event, they sank deep. Since Yukino backed him against Tamanawa, Hachiman knew someone might share his pain. A loner no more, he faced that possibility now in Asuna.
(My heart's small, guarded, but there's room… for two.)
Like snow melting, Hachiman cried like a child. Asuna stroked his head.
"Got a place in the real world?"
"Yeah. I have to go back, confirm what's real. That place—it's cozy, mine. I'll fight to laugh with them again. I was serious before, but this resolve? It's different."
"I'm with you. Am I part of 'them'?"
Caught off guard, Hachiman pictured Asuna with Yukino, Yui, sometimes Iroha. It felt natural.
"I want to return, tell my parents off—not just defy them, but do what I must, find what I want, and make them acknowledge it. Then talk about you with your club."
"I'll introduce you all. You'll get along."
It sounded casual, but Asuna trusted it would happen. She felt Hachiman gave her something precious, worth protecting together.
"Hachiman-kun, if it's okay…"
"Let me say it. I wanna look cool for once. My past's a mess, and I'm no talker. My eyes are rotten, I'm lazy, and, uh, my eyes are rotten."
"You said that twice. Stop it."
"Sorry… So…"
"Let's say it together?"
Hachiman nodded. They spoke in unison:
"Will you be my friend, Asuna?"
"Will you be my friend, Hachiman-kun?"
Hachiman gained his first opposite-sex friend—and was asked to be one, a bonus.
"Keep my crying a secret, please."
Asuna grinned mischievously. "Till I meet your club, sure."
"Seriously…?"
Thus, Yuuki Asuna became the rapier-wielding Asuna. Hachiman, tentatively, shed his loner title.
"Here's to us, Hachiman-kun."
"We'll guard each other's backs and return together."
"I need to get stronger."
"Time to ditch my pathetic old self."
No perfect crystal forms by chance. This miracle stemmed from everything before the Christmas event. Step by step, hand in hand, they'd move forward.