Oregairu 1.2

The exposition continues with Hachiman's monologue on human pack behavior, namely by observing popular cliques and the groups of the unpopular. That is where the social power lies, so the popular do whatever they will, and the unpopular suffer what they must in the hopes of becoming popular themselves. There is a lot there worthy of contempt as superficial, and Hachiman sees that. He likens it to a zero-sum game of alphas and non-alphas. It produces the flighty, superficial behavior Yui tried unsuccessfully to defend in the pilot, and Hachiman rejects it as destructive to the individual, save when that individual is the alpha, in which case he can force his opinions and personality on the unpopular.

The alternative to this of course is genuine friendship, and Sensei is clearly trying to cultivate that between him and Yukino by asking him what he thinks of her. It is not a surprise that he is unwilling to be forthright with her, so he claims to hate Yukino. Liar! Sensei ignores this (she's probably smart enough to see through it easily) and makes a surprising observation: both he and Yukino are twisted into their current views, and they're both twisted in similar ways. Everyone is fond of saying that Hachiman is "rotten" or "dead inside," but it is equally true of Yukino, though of course it manifests differently in her. She is actually more venomous, more angry than Hachiman, who is already restraining her outbursts. I don't know whether Sensei means for her explanation of Yukino's behavior is meant to illuminate Hachiman's or not, but it does. Both of them have experienced cruelty, but both probably have immense capacities for others, as Yui  clearly does, for her conformist tendencies seem to come from a desire for others, not something self-centered. The others, by contrast, have largely retreated from this sort of behavior.

Speaking of Yui, she is already in an interesting place, in the process of separating herself from the alpha pack. She does not want to reject it completely and thus sever the accompanying friendships, even if they are (as I'm pretty sure they are) on the superficial side. Her solo attempt to do this is almost entirely unsuccessful, because she is afraid of confrontation and is easily reduced to tears. Yumiko surely knows this, which is probably why she exploits it, claiming to want "straight talking" while bullying Yui into a place of cowed, acquiescent silence. She has to be in control all the time, forcing her opinions on her social subordinates, and when she can't, she becomes flustered and defensive. After Yukino's hilarious intervention, which exemplifies her extremely funny, barbed cruelty, when Yui actually does have a chance to speak frankly, Yumiko can do nothing but pretend indifference and hide behind her phone. But the battle has been won anyway; thanks to Yukino's (and, to a lesser extent, Hachiman's) intervention, the separation is achieved. 

Strangely, it is Hayama, the Popularity King, who keeps the conflict between Yumiko and Yukino from escalating, though of course not resolved. He actually seems like a nice guy, not scum. Mark that cliche averted. 

Yui's explanation of what draws her to Yukino and Hachiman is beautiful. "They say what they mean, they know what people want but don't force themselves to do it." As the pilot hinted, that has made her realize the stupidity of mindless social conformity: put briefly, it's a self-contradictory, incoherent means of communion, for the individual self is lost, and genuine communion can only grow between full, not partial, persons. She will no longer be stunted by the need to run with the pack, and is the quickest of the three to realize the way she needed to change. Neither Hachiman nor Yukino have any inkling they have any need to change, much less concrete ways of changing. Yui is light years ahead of them, even though it was their example that awoke her to it. Granted, her explanation of it to Yumiko is a description only of the best parts of Hachiman and Yukino - she does not mention how they can be totally awful human beings (e,g, the way Hachiman treated her in the pilot, and how Yukino seems to relish social cruelty so long as it is in the service of the truth). Doubtless she knows the ugly sides of the two, but perhaps that is just who Yui is - someone who prefers to see and focus on what is best in people. 

The tone between the three seems to be settling into something stable. Hachiman claims to despise Yukino, and his notebook of Who to Kill is dominated by references to her (and they are hilarious: "Ice Queen. Looked at me as if I were a bug. Called me gross 15 times today"), but the two's mutual insults are rapidly becoming more like intense, enjoyable banter. And now that Yui has had her first experience "saying it straight," it is likely she will the them and be an example of effortless giving the other two sorely need.