⧉ The Reciprocity Between Hikigaya and Yukinon Over Time. ⧉
I never really truly paid a lot of attention to this - but Yukinon and Hikigaya actually showed so much affection to each over the time of both the anime and manga adaptations. Here is a bit of a fragmented timeline as to what was given, and what was kept, and how it was used later on (if they were physical gifts) or just key bonding moments. The following are paraphrased and in-depth analyses of key moments that happened throughout the anime and each season.
⧉ VOLUME 3/CHAPTER 4: After the falling out with Yui, Yukinon and Hikigaya go out on a 'mock date' and Hikigaya is able to get a stuffed Pan-san from the crane machine in an underhanded way. Yukinon keeps this in her room as confirmed by SEASON 3, EPISODE 2.
⧉ SEASON 2/EPISODE 9: During the DestinyLand school trip, Yukinon and Hikigaya unknowingly get separated from their usual cohort of friends and then find each other again. They end up going on this ride named similarly to Splash Mountain. Moments before even entering the ride, Hikigaya notices the hesitation and nervousness in Yukinon's eyes and insists they should just leave. Looking out for Yukinon in this instance, knowing how far they are into the line already, Yukinon responds that they should just do it. Hikigaya feels a bit uncomfortable for her sake, as the ride has barely started, and Yukinon grasps the ride bar so early. Hikigaya had noticed this and points it out, she gets embarrassed. Yukinon recalled to the Hikigaya, that her older sister would always do mean things like this to her - like bring her on rides she knew she could not handle. When the ride reaches the moment before the drop. Yukinon grabs part of Hikigaya's sleeve, asks if he could: "save her", one day. Which makes a deep implication about acting on their existing relationship and feelings towards one another as a whole. From this point, it felt like Yukinon really trusted and believed in Hikigaya with her whole heart - but only chose to act on this when no one else could acknowledge it. In SEASON 3, EPISODE 2, it is fully confirmed, hidden behind one of her Pan-san plushies placed in the middle of her bed, that she bought the very photo of this moment - showing that it was a truly special moment to her.
⧉ SEASON 2/EPISODE 10: Hikigaya willingly purchases special computer glasses (PC Glasses) for Yukinon, knowing that she uses her laptop so frequently. It has been implied that once these were given to her, and then Yukinon willingly wears them in front of Isshki, Yui, and Hikigaya - she was hesitant and waited for a compliment for a Hikigaya. Noticeable in many EPs, including moving forward in Season 2, and a lot in Season 3, Yukinon utilizes these whenever she can. Noted, especially in Hikigaya's presence.
⧉ SEASON 2/EPISODE 11: Following the proceedings of the triathlon event, Hikigaya injures himself from trying too hard and exerting too much pressure, resulting in him badly bruising his knee. Hikigaya finds Yukinon resting in the infirmary too because she was disqualified because she got too tired already. Hikigaya gets up and attempts to retrieve medical supplies himself to treat the wound, but Yukinon denies this and says she will do it for him. In the middle of treating his wound, they have a heartfelt conversation, asking about whether or not he was able to get more information on what classes Hayama was planning to attend. When Yukinon finishes, she barely realized how close their faces are to each other - and both of them blush very hard. Hikigaya thanks Yukinon, and then Yukinon graciously responds by saying that she will be able to see Yui and Hikigaya more by staying in similar classes.
⧉ SEASON 3/EPISODE 7: Hikigaya plans to take a break by walking to the plaza of the school and then notices Yukinon going by one of the vending machines and getting something. Hikigaya then acknowledges Yukinon sitting on one of the benches, and notices it is the exact same "Maxis Coffee" he buys. Hikigaya addresses this coincidence, then Yukinon becomes greatly flustered, and then lightly says that it has the 'perfect amount of sweetness'. Yukinon offers the Maxis Coffee to Hikigaya, and is surprised by such a gesture, especially from her. She says that she still has a bit of her break remaining and can just get herself something later. Feeling bad, Hikigaya goes to that same vending machine to get her something - Yukinon attempts to avoid this offer by comparing it to how people need to pay ambulances when they have health insurance. Hikigaya insists, you really do not have to pay for something you are technically guaranteed to be insured by. They sat down, both with the exact same "Maxis Coffee" drink, which is really adorable. After that somewhat embarrassing exchange, they both wonder and willingly check up on one another to each other's surprise. In spite of the bitter separation, they always cared about one another and wanted to know how each of them were. In hindsight, I feel like Yukinon purchased that because she missed being around Hikigaya. Like it was a symbol of him, knowing it was something he got.
⧉ Yukinoshita Family Negotiation:
The air seems dry, on one couch, Yukinon's mother and sister sit, as opposed to Yukinon, Hikigaya, and Shizuka on the other side. Yukinon's mother first brings up that there is no reason to hold this sort of negotiation because she sees no value in going through with something like this concerning how much risk there is. Hikigaya responds that the family's involvement is not concerning because he did not come to negotiate with the PTO directly to begin with, he only came to give a simple explanation. Yukinon attempts to question Hikigaya's intentions but then gets ignored, as he believes there is a valid reason to hold an actual joint prom during this time. He states that apparently people were pretty dissatisfied with the last one. In a monologue, Hikigaya expresses that he has been dancing to Haruna's intentions or 'tune' the entire time, and expects Haruna to at least keep pace with what he has to say by the end. Haruna (Yukinon's older sister) then additionally states that everyone, including Yukinon, who ran the last prom said they were happy with everything.
In an air of silence, then Hikigaya blankly states he was dissatisfied. Everyone looks at him, in shock, and then Yukinon's mother asks why. Hikigaya responds by saying that no matter how ridiculous or outlandish their plans may seem, he can come up with something to outclass them. He says that if he had the capability of doing such a plan, he deserves the resources to make such a thing happen. Everyone then sighs or gasps in response. Hikigaya says that he should at the very least see it through the end so then all the efforts and emotions he puts through will not smolder out for no reason.
Haruna then quickly laughs at this ideal, that putting up an entire prom just to potentially confess feelings to someone is something only an idiot would do. Sarcastically, Hikigaya says it is absolutely fine if he only does this for his personal reasons so he already does not expect anybody to support him in any way. Luckily, since no Student Council Body is involved, therefore rendering it a volunteer-event only. Haruna says that will not work out either because their mock prom (from EP8/EP9) that was shut down previously was by their family and the PTO. Which directly means they have some sort of weight in it even if something like that goes through no matter whose involved. Haruna then additionally says it was something Yukinon decided to do on her own and worked tirelessly for it. Yukinon begins to look ashamed after doing such a thing. Yukinon's mother had even acknowledged this.
Haruna then asks upfront about what it means for Hikigaya to be directly involved with Yukinon's family and the stakes attached to them. Hikigaya responds by saying, he completely understands this, and if he has to take responsibility for such actions with Yukinon's family, he intends to do so fully. This shocks Yukinon because she never knew that he would go this far for her. Haruna then straight up admits how much of an idiot Hikigaya truly is for stating something like that upfront. Yukinon's mother politely suggests that if he plans to do that he should have thought to make himself look better when being involved with their family. Then she asks if he could really possibly pull something off like that.
Yukinon quickly states that school's current budget is drained due to the last event, and as the Student Council has no direct stakes, he cannot be compensated in any way. Additionally, the window of time is too small and renders such an event completely impossible to pull off. Yukinon's mother then asks again, since Yukinon had already stated the status of the finances. Hikigaya answers back by saying, that, sure, it is impossible to do it alone but he confidently knows someone who could pull it off even in those circumstances - and it was Yukinon. Absolutely surprised to be called out - Yukinon stands up at Hikigaya for this. He then asks back, if they believe she would not be capable of pulling it off again; as there were technically no problems with the last prom, which they previously stated at the beginning of the debate.
Yukinon's mother replies saying that no matter what they come up with, Hikigaya will have the same conclusion. She appreciates his thorough explanation and then claims since it is fully volunteer-ran, the PTO will barely have any grasp on it. Haruna asks Yukinon's mother if she approves of it, just as a mother, and not as a PTO member. She says she definitely does not approve as a mother. It was conceived to fail from the start, especially from all the current conditions of the resources Yukinon had pointed out. Yukinon feels pressured, and then sits down again. Yukinon's mother then asks Yukinon directly that she should decide since she is in charge.
In another monologue, Hikigaya believes Yukinon already had an answer from the start, and he was confident that no matter who asked or how it was phrased she would give her same answer. After contemplating for a moment, Yukinon states that the answer has been obvious from the start. Hikigaya continues by saying that there was only one strategy worth using as the only person he was debating was actually just Yukinon herself.
In actuality, Hikigaya makes a claim that it is impossible to pull off something like this considering the conditions and timing of everything. Then politely asks, that she should save him. He says that she should not force herself, it being pretty much obvious bait. Yukinon then remarks that he is clearly baiting her. He teases her by saying she should take this bait and save him in response. Yukinon gladly replies by saying she will take this bait as she always hates losing, no matter the situation.
Yukinon then fully states, that as the person in charge, she will get a handle on the situation on her own. Yukino's mother then accepts this, and gives her a cold stare, saying she should see everything through knowing how much their family is involved. Hikigaya gets scared by this look. Yukinon responds by saying she should not have to be told this. With the debate finally coming to a close, Hikigaya smiles at Yukinon following her confident response.
Following the events of the negotiation with Yukinon's parents for an 'actual' prom still under Yukinon's direction thanks to Hikigaya's convincing. Yukinon and Hikigaya go through a heartfelt, emotional conversation on the bridge. This begins with Yukinon in denial of Hikigaya's means of going through such a situation with her parents. Yukinon expresses that the cold stare she gave her, was the same she gave her sister - implying that she 'has given up on her', putting up a smile. Hikigaya said he never meant for it to seem like that.
Yukinon then proceeds to further question Hikigaya's true intentions behind this. Hikigaya then fully admits it was the only true way to remain in contact with her - as the Service Club was quickly dissipating. Shocked by this, as Hikigaya moves slightly away on the bridge, she can not believe this was the reason why - as she wanted Yui's promise/wish fulfilled. Hikigaya says this was part of it in order to still have their afternoons filled with nothing. Not comfortable by what was admitted, Yukinon begins to quickly walk away from Hikigaya as she says can still work on relationships by herself. Hikigaya says he has no ability to maintain relationships and neither can Yukinon. As she walks further and further away, Hikigaya says neither of them are good enough at communicating, regardless, this will only cause them to drift further and further apart. Not wanting to ever lose sight of her again, he begins to walk faster and eventually begins to run and then grabs her hand.
He remarks: "If I let go of you now, I can't grab hold of you again." then willingly admits he wants to give every single part of his life to her. Saying that he wants to remain fully involved with her, not because he has any obligation attached, because he has a desire to always be with her. Not being able to express the term "love" fully or in such a simple way to Yukinon, Hikigaya's phrasing goes by: "distorting" her life, wanting to remain in her life and helping her, even though he has no real influence or power to be extremely life-changing, more like, just be there for her. Hikigaya says that even though he can be no real impact to her, he confesses that 'distorting' her is the only way to compensate for any way he has been in her life. Yukinon smiles as to what he finally meant, but then becomes upset by the imbalance of only Hikigaya becoming an anchor to her.
Admittingly still flustered, she thinks Hikigaya should present himself a bit better because she knows full well that he is worth much more than what he says. Yukinon knows Hikigaya has been dancing around the word "love" as it should be "something else" he should be saying but cannot come up with correct or right words for it. Hikigaya then fully admits to this. Hikigaya replies, saying it will be okay because he will just become so useless, and then they will both be ultimately useless so it will not matter at all. Yukinon begins to admit a list of flaws - to which Hikigaya responds in kind, saying he is so used to all these things and remains unphased by them. Along the lines of "I think you're so flawed - but that's even a good thing." Overwhelmed by such heartwarming responses, Yukinon softly jabs at Hikigaya's response for him just taking so much responsibility for her and her still not feeling useful at all. Yukinon then drops her hand, then Hikigaya picks up her hand and puts it on his heart, Yukinon becomes completely flustered and surprised by this. Hikigaya says that regardless of what happens, he will be there for her. Yukinon with her eyes glistening begins to lean on Hikigaya and grabs part part of his blazer, saying that she graciously accepts his life. Funnily enough, Yukinon has no clear way of admitting these feelings either. Then they lovingly embrace fully on the bridge as the episode ends.
Early, near the Service Club door, Hikigaya waits for Yukinon, and attempts to forcefully open the door without a key. Yukinon then eventually notices him there and asks him to open the door for both of them, and smiles warmly.
Hikigaya and Yukinon then begin to actually plan the prom together, first, they realize they required someone "nice" enough to gather more help. After that faint realization, Hikigaya admits that they should not be putting so much work on Yui even if they do need the help. Yukinon says she shall willingly take responsibility for this, and knows she would be upset if nobody ever reached out to her. Hikigaya says he will do all he can on his side to gather help.
Both of them begin to overlook the possibilities of prom locations. Hikigaya mentions a sort of "beach" location that he actually wrote that Yukinon points out. As they need information, Yukinon puts on those very PC glasses that Hachiman gave to her as they both start to look at the places online. Hikigaya points out that the layout of one of the parks sounds fun. Yukinon says that they could probably do a 'garden party' of sorts, making these observations they unknowingly turn to each other with their faces surprisingly close to one another and both get very red. Turning opposite directions of another, embarrassed, they admit they can not say much until they actually see the place with their own eyes. Hikigaya suggests the idea that both of them should go see the place tomorrow since it is relatively close by and they have tomorrow off. Both of them, somewhat embarrassed to hang out together, though with a purpose, agree to survey the area, not as a "date" the next day.
Arriving relatively early in the morning, Yukinon and Hikigaya go to the park located at the coastline to scout the location for the prom. Hikigaya notices how nervous Yukinon is as her vocabulary plummets to being the same adjectives being repeated. Hikigaya then notices and makes a comment on Yukinon's cute hairdo which seems to parallel a similar hairdo she did when they when on their 'mock date' back all the way in Season 1 and 2. With the exception that they are pigtails rather than twintails. Hikigaya asks if she usually does something so nice like this on her days off. She then replies then she does not do this on her days off or for school - implying that she did this especially for Hikigaya on this day. When I saw this my heart was melting ;w; it was really adorable for her to admit she put in that much effort just for Hikigaya. Hikigaya then finds the best way to compliment her, by saying that her new look has some perks, even though he feels more secure by her usual look - she blushes bright red and covers herself with her hat.
The scene then transitions to Hikigaya and Yukinon sitting on a bench near the coastline enjoying boba. Yukinon is shown drinking and enjoying hers already. Hikigaya goes into a monologue and has a moment to take a picture of it, claiming it is 'insta-worthy'. Yukinon catches Hikigaya and then sighs as she already drank from hers. Hikigaya then kindly offers his drink as he has not drank from it yet. To Hikigaya's surprise she pulls out her phone camera and then grabs him by the shoulder as he holds the drink and absolutely catches him by surprise. In the picture, Yukinon is smiling brightly and Hikigaya's reactionary blushing is caught in the moment. Yukinon asks how the photo is and shows Hikigaya, embarrassed, like usual, Hikigaya puts his hand on his face, red, suggesting to take it again because he looks 'too dead in the eyes'. Instead Hikigaya takes the photo with his phone - which I think is really cute because they both take photos on their own phones to save the moment. During this time, as Hikigaya holds up the phone to capture the moment, Yukinon gets flushed and makes sure she looks as nice as possible by fixing her hair and then he snaps the picture. Hikigaya then shows the new photo to Yukinon and she smiles in glee and begins to laugh and says: "Your eyes look the same, they are perfectly rotten." Hikigaya responds saying they can just use touch-ups by the power of modern science.
With a wedding happening nearby at a banquet hall, Yukinon points out they should have their prom there. Unknowingly, Hikigaya thought she was pointing to the wedding area. Flushed out by this statement, Hikigaya says: "I think we're skipping too many steps." Yukinon then barely realizes what he was talking about, and then practically has the same embarrassed response. She resorts to insulting his lack of looks and personality as she has to directly point out all the ambience, like it being near the coastline, has torches, and all necessary facilities in the neighboring banquet hall. After Hikigaya looks at what she points out, he realizes that is what she meant and think it's perfection. They both at smile at one another, and Yukinon confidently says it should fulfill the requirements for the budget they have.
Yukinon and Hikigaya are sitting next to one another like usual, at the Service Club room. Isshki notices their closeness, and only acknowledges it. Eventually everyone gathers - including Yui at the very end.
Undergoing so much stress, Hikigaya decides he wants to go shopping for supplies since some are needed. Yukinon asks Hikigaya if he can pick up something for her to eat as he goes out, but then responds by saying it's too much trouble, that he must completely distress himself using the sauna. Slightly annoyed, but also unconvinced by this, Yukinon eventually agrees by remarking: "Right..."
After exiting the sauna, Hikigaya receives a text from his younger sister saying she is excited about the prom and smiles. He eventually catches up to Yukinon, Isshki, and Yui who are all sitting on a bench. Hikigaya with his usual Maxis coffee, notices Isshki humming to herself, and then Yui and Yukinon leaning and resting on one another. He looks content and smiles as all his close friends are all together. One after the other, each get up, to return back to the school. First Isshki, then Yui. Yukinon sits there content and smiles. Hikigaya then walks up to her and offers his hand, in a heartwarming moment, Yukinon acknowledges she can do it by herself, and he says he knows. He knows that even though she is this way, he will always reach out his hand to help her hand no matter the situation. Genuinely, in many ways, a bit of subtle and quiet expression, this was really romantic of Hikigaya to do ~ this might have been one of his best lines besides the entire Confession At The Bridge in EP11.
⧉ [Late During The Night]:
While the torches are still burning brightly, and all the conclusion of the Prom is upon Hikigaya and the rest of them. The camera pans over to Yukinon sifting through a bunch of managerial papers, sighing as the real challenges begin to pile up as there are so many expenses, things to clean, etc. Hikigaya sees Yukinon in this moment, and congratulates and encourages her, saying: "Good job, you managed to get through all of these challenges." She hurriedly replies, "But the real challenges are starting now" as she shows off the daunting stack of stack of administrative papers to be signed off. Yukinon begins to ask Hikigaya a multitude of favors and he smiles and replies to all of these, by this point you could definitely tell, these two were always meant to be around and help one another out. No matter how much or how little. After asking for another favor, to Hikigaya's stress, she mentions that she has one more very important thing to say and interrupts Hikigaya. She valiantly takes a step forward, clears her throat, grips the stack of papers tightly looks at Hikigaya straight in the eyes and says: "I love you, Hikigaya." no sugarcoating, no calling him a 'friend', she said it and she meant it. I was so glad, it was so worth all of that waiting, its so cute to see Yukinon being the one to say it. As they both react to one another, Yukinon runs off gushing red in embarrassment. Hikigaya cannot believe the genuineness and weight of Yukinon's statement, but then says that 'annoyingness' of her is what always kills him with cuteness.
⧉ [The Next Day/At The Service Club; Following The Prom]:
Hikigaya and Yukinon were sitting together once again, going through more of the usual budget and administrative papers from the Prom that just happened. Yukinon mentions that she wants to invite Hikigaya over for dinner. Nervously, Hikigaya asks if it's possible to decline. Yukinon had mentioned her mother had taken a liking to him. "You think I would do that?" Yukinon had mentioned, she had a smirk on her face, knowing full well he was trying to find some clever way to avoid this get-together. With this in mind, Yukinon began listing a bunch of potential people that might cause Hikigaya to not want to go to this, from Komachi staying after school trying to choose her club, to the audacity of someone like Hayama. Hikigaya, in disgust, says that would 'never happen in a million years'. Yukinon was happy and said, "I'm glad" seeing she had gone through every single possible option he could use as an excuse to not go. I personally thought this was really cute for both of them, because they interact with each other so easily. According to sources, these events; the dinner with Hikigaya and Yukinon; will take place once Oregairu Shin gets animated.
