CH. 67 - The School Dance

At school on a different day, the group is back to their normal schedule. Ms. Samuel speaks to the class as she normally does, giving them the rundown for the rest of the school year.

“Okay everyone. With the end of the year coming soon, we are about wrapped up with work. I am impressed with most of your improvements. Some of you still have work to do, but regardless, I look forward to each and every one of you passing this year!” Samuel says happily as the class cheers. “Also, the End of the Year school dance is coming up, but I’m sure none of you care about that, so I’ll just move on..” She says quietly with a smirk as she tucks her face into her binder. The class begins to shout and beg for her to elaborate. She smiles playfully, knowing full well they heard her.

“Alright, alright, you twisted my arm. I’ll tell you about it. It’ll be in June, just around the corner, and now that you’re second years, you can attend. So be sure to have a date ready or you’ll end up like me, single in your late twenties…” She says sadly before moving on. “Anyway, tickets are available today, so go get yours later before they run out. Okay, next announcement…” She trails off as Haru leans over to Sugawara. 

“We are so going!.” he whispers. Sugawara nods excitedly as Lucy calls to Ryuji quietly.

“Are we going to that?.” Lucy asks. Ryuji nods calmly as Lucy sighs with a smile. “Should’ve known you’d be so excited. It is our first dance together after all.” She says cooly as Ryuji blushes gently. Touma sits in the back and blushes as he looks at Chizuru.

‘I… I must ask her to that dance..! I must!’ he thinks with a determined blush. Mormo pokes his head out of Suiyoubi’s bag and looks at her.

“Hey, I don’t want to go to no stinkin’ dance, but I think it’ll be good for you. So I taken the liberty of texting that hero girl to go with you.” He says as he lifts up her phone to show her. The text reads: “Hey Alice or whatever, I think you’re really cool. Let’s go to that dumb dance together, yeah?” Suiyoubi instantly freaks out and grabs her phone.

“Mormo! Why would you do that? She would never-” As she types out an apology message, she gets a rather clear response outside of the phone.

“OMC YES! We are so going to that dance!” Alice shouts out loud happily while standing up. The class looks at her for a moment before continuing, not paying her any mind. Suiyoubi is surprised but smiles softly to herself. Chizuru then looks at Shiori.

“Do you think Tsuki is gonna ask you to that dance?” Chizuru asks.

“There’s no way. I made it very clear how I feel about him. Besides, he’s a first year. He can’t even go.” Shiori says casually. Chizuru giggles as Tsuki sits outside their classroom door with intense eyes.

‘I have to ask her to that dance! It’s my last hope!’ He thinks. Suddenly, Milo is right behind him. 

“Hey, whatcha doin’?” She asks. Tsuki is startled and needs to compose himself again.

“You have to stop sneaking up on me!” Tsuki says, a bit annoyed.

“You’re thinking about sneaking into the dance, aren’t you?” Milo asks with a smug look.

“Yeah, I have to- Wait. How did you know that?” Tsuki asks, confused by how she knows his intentions. Milo gets a smug look.

“Oh, you know, the normal stuff. It’s only natural after all. You have a thing for that short, weird girl, for some reason, and I have a thing for Hikigaya. With that being said, I think if we both go, we can both get what we want, don’t you agree?” Milo offers. Tsuki looks at her surprised for a moment before smirking.

“Sounds perfect to me. Can you get us in?” Tsuki asks.

“No problemo.” Milo says with a smile.

Later, at the ticket booth. Milo and Tsuki approach, but Milo stops him.

“Wait right here. I’ll be back in a second.”

Tsuki stares confused but listens. He watches as Milo approaches the attendant at the booth and speaks. She then turns and points at Tsuki before the attendant gives a smile and a thumbs up and hands her the two tickets. Milo then turns and shouts at Tsuki.

“It’s all good! We got tickets, we can go now!” She shouts. Tsuki’s jaw drops as Milo skips to him. “See? No problemo.” She says happily.

“Wow. You are something else.” Tsuki says, admiring her a bit. Milo blushes slightly at his words but smiles widely.

“Thanks!”

Later, after the school day has ended, Shiori and Hikigaya are walking home. Shiori blushes a bit as she looks at Hikigaya, obviously hesitant about something on her mind.

“So, about that dance…” Shiori says softly, trying to spark the conversation. Hikigaya looks at her softly.

“What about it?” He asks. She looks forward and down, obviously nervous.

“What do you think about it?” She asks. He looks at her, confused a bit, but then looks ahead.

“I don’t know. Dances have never really been my thing. They’re boring, I guess? I’m not sure how to say it.” Hikigaya answers plainly. Shiori looks a little disappointed by his words.

“Oh… I see.” She says softly. Hikigaya then laughs a little as he remembers something.

“I remember Amber’s third end of the year dance though! She went with her boyfriend at the time. Everything was going great but then she kicked him in the balls and stormed off, haha! I can’t even remember what he said, but she sure didn’t like it!” He laughs at the memory of his sister for a moment before stopping with a happy sigh. Shiori smiles softly and giggles lightly.

“So you have been to one before?” She asks.

“No no, that’s just the story she told us.” He says back. Shiori pauses for a moment, anxious but works up the courage to ask.

“Would you ever go to one?..” she asks gently. Hikigaya thinks for a second.

“Hm. Maybe with the group. They seem to enjoy them, but they all have partners now, so I feel like it’d be weird. Even Touma is going to ask Chizuru to the dance. I wonder how that’s gonna go. She’s turned down all other advances as long as I can remember, haha! So probably not, if I’m being honest.” Hikigaya answers plainly and obliviously. Shiori lowers her head a bit.

“Right.” She says softly with a disappointed look. ‘Why couldn’t we go together..?’ she thinks to herself as they continue on home.  

Another day, Shiori sits at her desk writing in her notebook. She eventually pauses and grips her pencil harder in frustration. She gets a frustrated and distracted look as she stops writing. 

‘Why can’t I stop thinking about it? It really isn’t a big deal.’ She thinks to herself. She thinks about Hikigaya so blatantly saying that he won’t go to the dance. ‘So what if he doesn’t want to go? It’s not like it affects me. I can just go by myself!’ She lifts her hand up with a triumphant look on her face for a moment before drooping back down in her chair. ‘No… I can’t do that. Not only have I never gone to a dance before, everyone else is going with a partner. I’d be all alone…’ She gets a sad look as she lowers her head.‘It’s okay if he doesn’t want to go, but… what if I want to go?..’

Suddenly, her phone starts ringing. She picks it up to an unknown contact calling her. She gets a confused look before answering cautiously.

“Hello?”

“H-hi. Shiori?” The slightly familiar voice speaks. Shiori gets a surprised then upset look.

“Tsuki? How did you get my number?”

“I uh… got it from Haru…” He admits over the phone. Shiori droops a bit hearing this.

‘Of course he did…’ She envisions Haru giving her a thumbs up as she sighs with a disappointed look on her face. “Whatever. I’m gonna hang up now.” Shiori says plainly.

“Wait! Wait, Shiori, please!” He says desperately. Surprised by his desperation, she stops and listens to what he has to say reluctantly. “I didn’t know how else to get a hold of you… but I really wanted to ask you something…” he says nervously. Shiori sits there with a neutral look, not very interested in what he has to say. Tsuki pauses and gets a nervous look but takes a deep breath in to ask her. “I was wondering if… maybe you wanted to… come to the end of the year dance with me?..”

Shiori is surprised by his question and even blushes a bit. She doesn’t respond as she thinks about what he just asked.

‘Did he really just… ask me that?.. Me?’ she thinks, expecting the question yet feeling different when she’s actually asked. Tsuki gets nervous as she doesn’t respond right away.

“I-I know you already told me how you feel, and I don’t expect this to change anything, but if I could have just one dance… that would be enough for me…” he says nervously. Shiori blushes a bit before composing herself. She thinks for a moment more before finally coming to a decision.

“Sure.” she says plainly. Tsuki is surprised.

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah. Why not?” She says casually. Tsuki smiles widely.

“Oh, yeah! Okay, then I’ll meet you there?” he asks excitedly.

“Mhm.” Shiori hums.

“Great! I promise, I won’t make it weird or anything!”

“Goodbye, Tsuki.” She says in a softly happy tone before hanging up. Tsuki stares at his phone for a moment before doing a little happy dance on his bed in his room. Shiori puts her phone down and lets out an anxious sigh. “This is okay. It’ll be okay.” Shiori gets up and leaves her room, prepared to go out. Hikigaya bumps into her in the hallway with a confused look. 

“You going out?” he asks.

“Yep.” She says without looking at him and beginning to walk past him.

“Where?” he asks, curiously staring at her.

“To go find a dress for the dance.” She answers casually. He gets a surprised look again.

“You’re going alone?” he asks. Shiori stops right at the top of the stairs and looks at him for a moment before answering.

“Nope.” She says before walking down the stairs, not giving him a chance to say anything else. Hikigaya gets an even more surprised but now slightly jealous look.

He goes into his room and sits at his desk, not doing anything for a moment. He picks up a pencil and points it at his paper with a character roughly sketched on it. He taps it for a second while bouncing his leg, obviously not thinking about art.

“She’s going with someone else?”

He sits for another second before suddenly getting back up and scrambling downstairs to the door after her. He gets to the front door and grabs the handle, quickly opening the door only to be met by Milo standing in front of him. He is shocked for a moment as she smiles at him.

“Hey Hiki! Nice new house. It was kinda hard to find since you didn’t tell me the address, but it’s okay cause I’m here now! Also, I just saw that shorty leave. Was she hanging out with you? Alone maybe?” Milo asks with her twitching eye, obviously irritated. Hikigaya looks concerned with something else, looking past her but still answering.

“Right… Look, I gotta go.” He says with an upset look while squeezing past her. She is surprised for a moment and pouts before grabbing his wrist.

“Wait! Hiki, I gotta ask you something.” Milo says. He stops and looks at her as she blushes and has a softer look than usual.

“I know you don’t like me… Like, very much at all… I’m sorry I’m always annoying you and stuff, but I just can’t help myself around you. I just like, super duper like you, and if you’d give me a chance, I was hoping maybe we could go to the dance together?” She asks softly. She gives him a timid look as he relaxes a bit. He pauses, looking back onto the empty sidewalk, and contemplates before looking down a bit and answering.

“Sure.” he says, still not looking at her. Milo instantly perks up.

“You really mean it?!” she asks excitedly. Hikigaya looks back at her with a soft smile.

“You have certainly been determined. I owe you a dance at least.” Hikigaya says. Milo’s eyes start to tear up a bit as she smiles widely. 

“Yay! I’m so excited! Okay, I’m gonna go and make sure I have everything I need! I’ll see you at the dance, Hiki!” She runs off as she waves at him. He gives her a soft smile before it fades away. He looks at the ground for a moment with a concerned look.

“Was that a good idea?..” he asks softly before going back inside with an anxious look, not knowing the answer.

Eventually, despite lingering anxieties and uncertain thoughts, the night of the school dance comes. Shiori comes to the school, specifically right outside the gym, at night. She is dressed nicely in a dark dress that goes just above her knees with a red trim at the bottom along with a pink cropped cardigan. She looks nervous as she takes a deep breath before being met by Chizuru, Touma, Lucy and Ryuji, who are also dressed up nicely. Chizuru waves to her and calls her name loudly.

“Shiori~ You actually came! I’m surprised you were able to convince Hiki. He never comes to these things.” Chizuru says with a smile as they approach. Shiori gets an awkwardly nervous look.

“Oh, actually I’m not here with Hikigaya.” She says softly. Chizuru gets confused.

“Oh? Then are you here by yourself?” Chizuru asks plainly.

“No, I’m-” Before Shiori can explain, Tsuki’s voice calls out.

“Shiori! There you are! I’m so glad you made it!” he says happily while approaching them. The others look at him confused as he takes her hand. “Tonight is going to be so fun!” Tsuki says happily. Shiori smiles a bit, but still with an awkward look. The others stare for a moment in shock before someone else calls to them.

“I see everyone made it out tonight! This is going to be amazing! Right, my date?” Milo says playfully while pulling Hikigaya forward by his hand. He laughs a bit awkwardly before stopping and looking at Shiori. He blushes at her sight as she notices him too. Shiori looks away awkwardly.

“Hey Hikigaya…”

“H-hi.” He says back. They stand there awkwardly for a moment before Tsuki and Milo wink at each other.

“Come on, Shiori! Let’s go inside!” Tsuki says.

“Yeah, us too, Hikigaya!” Milo says too as they tug them along. Lucy is in shock with her mouth wide open as Chizuru has a worried look on her face. Even Ryuji and Touma could tell how awkward things were between them right now. 

“How could this have happened??” Lucy asks with a wild mix of shock, frustration and anger across her face.

“Hey guys! Looking good!” Haru calls out to them. Lucy gets an irritated look.

“Haru…” Lucy growls. She turns around and pulls his ear. “What did you do?!” she shouts.

“Ow ow ow! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Haru yells back in pain.

“Why are Tsuki and Shiori on a date tonight? How did he even ask her?!” Lucy asks aggressively.

“How should I know?! It’s not like you have proof I gave him her number!” Haru shouts. Sugawara winces as Ryuji shakes his head, realizing he just gave her his answer.

“You did what?!!” Lucy punches the top of his head angrily. Haru squats, holding his head as it aches and swells. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t think she would actually say yes…” Haru groans. Lucy lets out a sigh before looking at the gym.

“Let’s hope the damage isn’t that bad.”

In the gym, there are many students dancing as music plays loudly. Tsuki walks in with Shiori as she looks unsure of how to go about it.

‘What am I supposed to do? I’ve never been to a dance before…’ She thinks to herself as Tsuki looks at her. He notices how nervous she is but isn't sure how to help exactly. He looks over at the concessions table and gets an idea, so he speaks to Shiori.

“Why don’t we get some drinks to start? One of my friends said the punch is super yummy tonight!” Tsuki offers.

Shiori smiles softly and nods. She follows closely behind him with a nervous look as they get their drinks and sit down on the benches on the side of the gym. The music plays loud as laughter and colorful lights fill the senses. Tsuki drinks his fruit punch casually, letting out a satisfied sigh, as Shiori holds her drink in her hands, staring into it with a conflicted look. Tsuki gets a concerned look, picking up on her uncomfortable vibes.

“You okay? You know you don’t have to stay here with me if you don’t want to.” He says softly. Shiori looks at him surprised, pulled from her thoughts, before smiling nervously.

“No, no. I’m okay. I just…” She looks up at the entrance, seeing her friends enter with big smiles and wide eyes filled with joy before seeing Milo pulling Hikigaya along by his hand, smiling too. She gets a sad look seeing this. “It’s okay.” She almost whispers before smiling at him. "I'm just kinda new to all this." Shiori says. Tsuki smiles back awkwardly.

"Oh, well, don't worry! I've gone to a few dances myself, so just follow my lead and you'll do just fine! Haha!" Tsuki laughs clumsily over his words as Shiori smiles back. Tsuki smiles weirdly as he looks down before shifting his gaze to the dance floor. He looks at the other students dancing and having fun, including Haru having a blast and Touma nervously trying his best to dance as Chizuru encourages him. He smiles and looks at Shiori. “Why don’t we dance instead?” Tsuki offers. Shiori blushes and gets an embarrassed look, waving her hand gently at him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I have no idea how to dance.” Shiori says. Tsuki stands up, encouraging her.

“Oh, come on! Everyone can dance! Let’s go!” He grabs her wrist and pulls her into the crowd as she puts down her cup before they go.

In the entrance, Suiyoubi and Alice step inside, both dressed up nicely. Alice’s eyes shine with awe as she is very excited for the dance.

“Check this out! I like what they did with the place, haha! Come on, I wanna dance!” Alice says back to Suiyoubi, who nods softly and smiles as she follows Alice into the crowd. Kitaro and Hisana are by the snacks table as Hisana grabs one too many snacks for herself. She comes and sits next to Kitaro, who sweats a bit at her plate.

“Didn’t you come to dance?” He asks.

“Mhm. But the snacks are just too good!” Hisana says happily.

“Right.” Kitaro says as he leans back, putting his hands behind his head. Hisana looks at him and blushes a bit as she stares at him in his nice shirt and tie. She stops and takes another bite of food before speaking.

“Why don’t you dress like this for me all the time?” Hisana asks.

“Because I don’t dress for you at all, dummy.” Kitaro says back. Hisana giggles as he smiles at her softly.

As the others dance, Shiori awkwardly sways and swings her arms around gently, blushing in embarrassment. 

‘What am I doing?.. I feel so out of place. I wish… I wish Hikigaya was here…’ She thinks with an upset look on her face.

“See? You’re doing great! I had this friend once who said he couldn't dance, but by the end of the night, he was the center of attention! Haha!” Tsuki says, trying to be supportive. Shiori smiles awkwardly as he laughs. Her smile fades as thoughts rush her mind.

‘I would actually hate that…' Shiori thinks with a sweat.

She continues to sway a bit as she looks around for assurance. Chizuru then bumps her butt against her a few times before laughing out loud and spinning around. Shiori smiles as she turns and looks at Tsuki. He smiles at her before someone else bumps into him. They turn to face each other, smiling, before they start kicking their feet together, dancing happily. Shiori watches for a moment more as she starts to slow down before lowering her head.

'I think… I think this was a mistake. I need to find Hikigaya and apologize. I don’t think I can do this without him.’ She thinks. She stops and steps back a bit. Tsuki stops and looks at her, confused.

“Where are you going?” Tsuki asks gently.

“I think I’m done dancing for now. I’m gonna go-” Shiori says softly. Before he can say anything back, she smiles a bit at him and turns, looking around only to suddenly stop. Her eyes widen as she stares in Hikigaya’s direction. She watches Hikigaya and Milo close together on the bench, side by side, kissing plain as day. The sight before her makes her heart sink, and everything around her fall away for mere moments that felt like hours.

A few minutes prior…

Milo leads Hikigaya to the benches on the side of the gym, where they both sit next to each other. 

“Dude, I love dances! They’re always so fun, but this just isn’t my song yet. Gotta wait for the right song before hopping onto the dance floor, am I right?" Milo says happily. Hikigaya gives her a soft smile and nod before looking away. Milo notices and pauses for a moment before speaking. “Hikigaya, I know you don’t want to be here with me.” She says plainly. He looks at her, surprised.

“What? No, it’s all good! I just got a lot on my mind, that’s all!” He laughs awkwardly as she puts her finger on his mouth, shushing him.

“You don’t have to pretend, Hiki… I’ve known you for a long time. I can always tell when you’re lying cause you suck at it.” She gives him a soft smile. He looks sad but assuring that she is right. She looks away with a soft smile on her face. “You’ve been very clear about how you feel about me from the moment we met. I’m not gonna force you to try and like me anymore.” She says softly. Hikigaya struggles to hear her words over the loud music.

“What?” he calls out. She turns with a soft look and puts her hand on his cheek gently before pulling him in close to speak to him, their mouths extremely close side by side.

“Thank you for letting me like you for so long, but I think it’s time I let you go." Milo says as Hikigaya's eyes widen. "I don’t want to be a burden on you anymore. I only asked you out tonight so I can finally say I had the courage to ask you out to a dance at least once.” Milo says, her words being heard clear as day despite all the noise around them, making Hikigaya’s eyes grow wide.