Oregairu 2.13

The finale opens with awkwardness in the club room for the third time, but the flavor is different. The prior two times have been Hachiman acting like his earlier solipsist self, alienating his friends. Now there's a measure of trust and connection between the three, but they don't quite know how to manage friendships which, from Yui and Yukino's perspective, have begun to catch fire. 

And into this relatively normal situation comes the worst possible thing: that's right, Haruno's last scene. She is literally Satan here, combining her own ignorance, the truth, and outright lies to make her younger sister confused, unsure, and afraid. Maybe she's just testing her, but there are ways of testing that will help (see: Hiratsuka-sensei and everything she does and says); the only interpretation that comes to mind is that Haruno wants to be entertained by watching her younger sister work her way out of this test and perform something interesting to watch. This woman is an absolute monster. No, Yukino most definitely has a self, and she's rapidly becoming her own person vis a vis her mother and sister; yes she is definitely changing, and yes of course she has no idea how to act upon realizing she's in love with a friend, especially when acting on that love would almost infallibly hurt - and hurt deeply - another friend; but because Haruno is right about that, it makes it seem to Yukino as if she's right about the rest, too, all of which makes her more prone to being frozen in stasis, not less. Where is Sensei when you need her?

That scene is probably the ugliest in the entire series, and leaves a filthy taste in the mouth. Thankfully, there is Yui to the rescue, and they all go to her house, where we get one of the most beautiful glimpses at family done right: Yui and her mom. Given how Yukinoshita-san and Haruno are, it's hard to imagine how anyone, let alone Yukino, could maintain a healthy relationship with them, Hachiman muses (thank God the show explicitly recognizes that!), and Yuigahama-san illustrates the difference clearly, despite only being in frame for about ten seconds or less. In large measure, Yui is who she is - friendly, pure of heart, and excitable - because of her family, particularly her mother. I wish we saw more of her, but even what we get is enough to see how close Yui is with an adult (role models, sans Hiratsuka-sensei, are completely absent in this series) and how it's made her such a beautifully-souled, healthy human being, capable of deep love and enduring friendship. It is a deeply desirable thing, and Yukino hungers for it at once. Being a stranger in your own family is a terrible thing. She had nobody until Hachiman, Yui, and Hiratsuka-sensei came along, and Haruno is trying her best to destroy even that.

The last half of the final episode is difficult to understand. Yui asks Yukino to go out the next day, and calls Hachiman to ask the same thing - so both Hachiman and Yukino think they'll be alone with Yui, who claims she wants the three of them to enjoy a day together, but also tells Hachiman that she's not the nice girl he thinks she is (consciously or unconsciously echoing Hayama's words). And in truth, though the banter of the three is normal and enjoyable, there's a smoldering tension that makes these scenes hard to enjoy, like waiting for the other shoe to drop or expecting a crash. We don't have long to wait, because there's an adorable sign depicting the behavior of monogamous penguins. According to Yui, if each of the three realizes and articulates the way each feels, they won't be able to stay the same. So her final request is for each to "fix their problems," i.e. find a way to stay together throughout all that, even granting one or two of the three will be hurt by the outcome. 

Part of the reason Hachiman keeps quiet about all of this is because he can't see an outcome except where everything falls apart and he's left with nothing (and I can't either), but in the end he puts his foot down and insists they struggle, writhe, and look for something genuine as friends. And in that moment, threatened as they are by division (all I can see in their future is the ending of White Album 2), they are reunited, together again; the communion between the three of them is palpable. It's a mark how much each of them has grown; Yukino is freely vulnerable before her friends, Hachiman is genuine about what he wants, and Yui asserts her longings at the risk of fracturing communion. None of this would have been possible when they first met, and each of them, through Hiratsuka-sensei and each other, have accomplished a more than minor miracle. Perhaps that's enough to give hope that they'll be able to stay together in the future. 

Oregairu 2.12

The penultimate episode opens with a meeting between Haruno and Hachiman: she wants to "compare notes" about Yukino's future plans. This would be a perfect time for Hachiman to turn her own speech against herself: "Stand on your own two feet." That Haruno doesn't even know what her little sister plans to study in college speaks eloquently about the state of their relationship, and after all this time learning about her, there is no way anyone would believe she'd use that information for Yukino's good. Haruno is simply an antagonist at this point, with nothing positive to recommend for her - the closest to a villain Oregairu has to offer. 

Unfortunately, Hachiman of course is not that brazen, so Haruno goes unreprimanded. Infuriatingly, she somehow knows about Hachiman's desire for genuine relationships, and weaves truth with lies in order to paralyze everything he's been working for - honest, real friendship. Yukino trusts Hachiman quite a bit, according to Haruno - but wait no, it's not trust, but something far more sinister. She's picked up that Yukino is in love with her friend, and claims "she hasn't changed a bit." But how on earth would Haruno know that? Yukino has changed, and we through Hachiman have seen her lower her walls and be vulnerable before others. The stoic, ice queen of perfection is no more. Haruno naturally can't see that, because Haruno refuses to enflesh it. "Is anything really genuine?" she muses. Of course, her answer is probably 'no,' and not without reason. It's not something you can calculate or deductively reason out; it's not something you can prove. True friendship, like true love, requires belief in another person, analogous to the faith a believer has in his God. Given the indefinite ways we can deceive ourselves or manipulate others or drive them away (Hachiman, Iroha, and Yukino, for example), you can never be sure either you or the other is being real. But for a true friend, as for a true lover or a true believer, that is almost irrelevant. 

Part of the reason I hate Haruno so much is because she exercises such influence in this series, and because someone like that would attract me as well, if only on the superficial level. I like to think I'd cut all ties with her, but Hachiman can't resist the attentions of a smart, vivacious, intuitive, and extremely attractive girl, so he keeps talking to her - and I'd probably be no different, even though I know the flirty behavior is just a wall. Things and actions have meaning, and power, even if you know they're lies. Because she's older and furiously smart, she occupies a place of power with respect to the trio. And because all three of them are so new at this true friendship thing, they can't just shrug off her paralyzing interventions; because they've only just taken the first step, they're extremely vulnerable to exploitation, and exploitation defines Haruno.

Sensei, of course, is the precise opposite. She has never been this warm or encouraging with Hachiman before, and it's perfectly clear how proud she is of him, Yukino, and Yui. She really, really cares about them, and she's the only adult figure we've seen who does (Haruno, for obvious reasons, does not qualify). We've never seen her this gentle. Happy. Pleased. "People's perception of others gets clearer by the day. If you continue to spend time and grow with someone, you'll gradually understand them." And in response to his feeling that he and his friends haven't really grown, she hits the home run: "People don't usually look back to see how far they've come while they're still walking." She's seen their growth, recognizes it, and wants to make sure he knows she knows it. What she sees is real, and we know, because we have seen it too. With only one bizaare teacher as a guide, the three of them have discovered the joys of friendship. Parents or other authority figures have been no help, but Sensei has been there from the beginning, and guided the three of them with a steady hand. She is amazing. 

As if to emphasize the contrast, Haruno appears, and in a sneering monologue, yet again combines truth with lies, and proves yet again that she holds a disproportionate amount of influence with the three. If they were wiser, Hachiman, Yukino, and Yui would have remembered Sensei and her warm, hopeful encouragement, and then they'd be able to dismiss and forget Haruno's deceiving speech. Sure, in a sense, the older sister is right: the three of them are not being straightforward, because the girls are in love with Hachiman, and Hachiman is in love with Yukino, even though he barely recognizes, much less accepts, that himself. Haruno prefers the old Yukino, who'd speak her mind without reservation. And? So what, Haruno? That old Yukino drove everyone around her away with her practice of cruelty by means of truth, and was naturally always alone. Is choosing not to vent your passions as you experience them necessarily disingenuous? I don't think so. Moreover, that old Yukino would have never dreamed about revealing her vulnerabilities before others, let alone reach out to them for help, whereas now she does both. 

Haruno could be seen as trying to help these kids, but true help looks like Sensei: spend time with each other, and you will better understand one another. You don't need to be mocked belittled as fake and boring in order for that kind of growth to happen: the kind of friendship Sensei is pushing the three to have is self-correcting. Haruno's is self-centered, even Haruno-centered, because it would more fun for her to watch. The worst part about it all is how effective it is. It wrecks all of them. If it weren't clear before, what the three have been doing is clear to all of them now. They would have dealt with it themselves in due time, but Haruno pushed them too early, which made them paralyzed; unlike Hiratsuka-sensei, whose pushes were at the proper time, and lead to growth and good change. Now they're anxious and afraid, more ready to raise the walls again. Worse than harmful, Haruno's interventions are unnecessary in the extreme. She ought to be hated by all. 

Enter the last person we want to see, Yukino's mother. "I want you to live freely and stay true to yourself, but I'm worried you'll go down the wrong path." Pretentious vomit. She wants to control her daughter and make her a replacement Haruno. In this vision, Yukino simply has to do what's expected of her. By choosing liberal arts, she's disappointed her family (presumably Haruno chose the sciences), so she's got some explaining to do. 

So the final obstacles to friendship are enumerated: Yukino's awful family and a love triangle that somehow avoids most cliches - like the medieval stories where two knight-brothers both fall in love with the same girl. Sticking the landing will be hard.

Oregairu 2.11

Two firsts in this final arc: a Hayama-centric episode, and seeing him angry for the first time. Someone saw him and Yukino together at her birthday party, and started a rumor that they are dating. That's the camel's straw, and Hayama reacts with a death glare. Normally the spirit of sunshine (is it a carefully constructed front, like Iroha's cute and clumsy act?), it's refreshing to see he's capable of fury. 

Yukino reacts precisely the way we'd expect ("Just like human trash to have their minds in the gutter"), but that's nothing new. Rather, it's another confirmation that there's a lot more to Hayato than meets the eye. Yumiko, for example, seems nothing more than a fairly superficial girl whose most attractive quality is that she's in love with a good guy, and that makes her a bit more likable. But we don't know Hayato hardly at all, and only know Yukino as well as Hachiman does. We don't know her poisonous family, for instance, and we never get inside her head the way we do Hachiman's. It is why the different characters, beloved protagonist aside, are so difficult to read: because we read them through Hachiman, and only through his experience. That is why it's much easier to understand the interactions of others than it is to understand your own. That's why we can only really guess at what Hayama's relationship with Yukino is or was like, since the latter refuses to discuss it. 

Back at summer camp, Hayato let slip he was into a girl with the initial Y, which could either be Haruno or Yukino. Uncharacteristically, he does not date and hasn't his entire time in highschool. "It just seemed like Hayato belonged to everyone," quips Iroha. But his family is close to the Yukino family, they've known each other for ages, and it's hard to imagine upper-class families like Hayato and Yukinoshita not considering that their daughter and son would make a good match. So there was probably something like grade-school crushes that went on. Normal and unremarkable. 

As the series has emphasized time and again, the trio and Hayama's clique are practically the same. Yumiko is trying desperately to keep her friendships from deteriorating after graduation, and the same desire animates Yukino, Yui, and Hachiman. How their friendship is expressed of course changes and will change constantly, but they want that friendship to stay the same, even (especially) Hachiman. Social sadists like Haruno don't help of course (she's dropped the nice act and is simply demeaning and belittling her sister now. It's ugly to watch. If someone I knew treated me like that I would cut them off completely - never meet or speak to them again. I don't know how much lower my opinion of her can get), but nobody wants what's beautiful to end. 

Because we never get inside anybody except Hachiman, we have to play his game of reading between the lines to understand other people. He notes (correctly, I'd argue) that Yumiko made other girls keep their distance from Hayama, so she was useful to him. Normal popular highschool boys would pursue relationships, so the reason Hayama isn't points in one direction: Yukino and Hachiman, whom Hayato claims to see as a hateful superior. In a roundabout way, he also tells Hachiman Yukino's in love with him (does he really not know yet? It's stamped all over her face, especially when they're alone together), and chooses the same college field as her. For her part, Yukino is courteous and polite to Hayama, the very model of what her parents drilled her to be, but is entirely genuine. Even so, there is no hint she feels for him anywhere near what she's feeling for Hachiman, and Hayama, who's probably in love with her, easily intuits this. Hence his statement that he does not intend to lose to Hachiman. 

On the other hand, all that could be entirely wrong and I'm completely missing the mark. It could be as simple as Hayama wanting to live up to his own expectations instead of his family's, just like Yukino, or some combination of the two. But there is no way to tell for sure. Other people are and remain a mystery. Hachiman is one of the most well-written characters I've encountered, and even he's a mystery, given his talent for self-sabotage and self-deception. How much more then, are characters (like Yukino) who are mediated through their interactions with Hachiman. It's the opposite tack Monogatari takes, where several arcs (Sodachi, Hanekawa, and Sengoku, for instance) get you into the very souls of the respective characters, yet it works perfectly to help us understand ourselves and others.

Oregairu 2.10

Despite Iroha being one of the most false-seeming of all characters, second only to Haruno, Hachiman is able to have extremely fun conversations with her, able to dissect her elaborate social constructions. He observes that she was trying to make herself look like a love-struck fool in order to win over Hayama (no good: shot down at once), and wonders aloud why she bothered: "You knew it wouldn't work." Clever camera angles emphasize that their two trains of thought are parallel without ever meeting, because what got her excited, worked up, and caught up in the moment was not a romantic time with the most popular boy in school, but overhearing Hachiman's plea to Yui and Yukino. In a rare second of openness, she reveals that "I'm starting to want the real thing too." And just like that, becomes a little less hateful. 

Of course, there's still plenty of facades left, and Hayama, whose intuitive intelligence continues to impress, had already picked up on that, claiming Iroha isn't really interested in him at all, right before moving into a entree-size compliment for Hachiman being able to change people around him, giving us a clue to his unstated opinion. Whether or not he's right, Iroha promptly tries to hide behind her own cynical, manipulative calculations - after all, it's familiar territory. At least some miniscule progress has been (maybe? Hopefully?) made, but odds are it's infinitesimal.

As if to emphasize that the whole Iroha Christmas party request was simply the stage to explore the trio's relationships, Yukino solves the dilemma in one sledgehammer dialogue, banters comfortably with her friend afterwards (who gives as good as he gets, Iroha being only a third wheel), and the event proceeds as a fait accompli. More important is the aftermath, where in the clubroom Yukino reaffirms her intent to fulfill Hachiman's request - something genuine. That room, bathed in rich evening light, is now the site of deep and comfortable communion between the three, which Yui intuits with a warm smile and Hachiman is just barely beginning to realize. Yukino has also realized it, and she is radiant in these scenes. It's like a long-lasting sigh of relief. The tension is (for now) out of the air. What's more, the chemistry between Hachiman and Yukino is incredible, and watching them together is matched only by Komachi and her brother, who have a small moment illustrating family at its best. 

Family at its worst is reintroduced by Haruno & Family. Seriously this woman is evil. Black heart incarnate. She manipulates Yukino by using her feelings for Hachiman to arrange an embarrassing meeting for her younger sister, culminating in Haruno getting her way and Yukino looking small and petulant by comparison. Her mother makes an appearance, and it is clear that Haruno exceeds expectations, whereas Yukino fails to meet them in her mother's eyes. 

Three episodes till the season (and probably series) finale, and the real work to be done is still relationality. Whereas the first season and a half focused on friendship, the rest seems destined to look at slow-burning love in the context of poisonous family - i.e. Yukino, Hachiman, and that domestic mess. The last two arcs demonstrated how easily bonds can be frayed and broken, and this last arc will be the biggest test yet. The three have moved beyond fear and insecurity with each other, and are growing in true freedom - but Haruno in particular is a paralyzing agent, easily capable (I hate that she's furiously smart and intuitive! I wouldn't hate her so much if she were dumb!) of ruining all the good progress that's been made.

Oregairu 2.9

If the tension had been slowly building over the past five episodes to Eight's climax, episode nine is a twenty-minute sigh of relief, concluding the conflict left over from the Tobe request and pointing towards the last material of this season: the relationship between Hachiman, Yui, and Yukino, particularly after their newly discovered watershed. 

Since the walls have come down, it's as if the three relationships have become new; there is a shy, slightly embarrassed awkwardness now, as if Yukino and Hachiman have entered unfamiliar territory. Naturally this does not apply to Yui, who is over the moon, letting us see what Yuigahama Unleashed is really like. She's everywhere, on cloud nine; effusively, honestly, purely happy. Even Hiratsuka-sensei is happier than we've ever seen her, and rewards her successful charges with a trip to a theme park; ostensibly to give them ideas for the winter festival from hell, but really just to give the three a chance to be together and have fun. 

And it's there that Yukino definitively declares she no longer intends to simply be a clone for her sister, but become someone different than Haruno, someone different from Hachiman. Hachiman finds this extremely attractive, and it's no surprise that the two have hit it off again, or rather that they've passed through a step-function, like when Hachiman told Yukino the truth about her sister in the first season. And in the most beautiful frame we've seen of her yet, she reaches out to her friend and asks, "Save me someday." What that means is unclear to anyone except Yukino, but even saying that, holding the conversation about her own weaknesses, would have been unimaginable just a moment ago. Her relationship with Hachiman is no longer defined by fear or insecurity, and vice versa (or close to it). These two make the perfect couple; they are fully themselves and compelling in their own right, but when they're together they come alive. Chemistry like this is rare. 

Not even Iroha is likely to throw a wrench into these works. Both Yukino and Yui notice her foxy behavior immediately, of course, and pick up that she's amusing herself by being flirty, pretending to be interested in Hachiman, but that will probably go nowhere. Hayama, the boy at whom highschool girls love to throw themselves, rejects her serious advances (if she's capable of taking anything seriously), and I doubt Hachiman has lost enough cynicism to be taken in by second-serving attentions. 

Oregairu 2.8

There have been a lot of beautiful, clever opening shots in Oregairu (Yui seated helplessly midframe between the Dolorous Duo comes to mind), but this one is currently #1: Hachiman sitting alone on a bench, allegedly in his element ("I'm a lone wolf!") but anxiously, desperately miserable. He's looking for a miracle, so of course who should show up but .... Hiratsuka-sensei. This is no teacher, she is guardian angel. She is ready to teach, and for the first time in his life, he is ready to learn. 

She asks him a leading question and gets an earful about the incompetence of the planning committee, but artfully steers it towards the heart of the matter: he, Yui, and Yukino. Hachiman has  a keen ability to know what people think, but "You don't understand how they feel. People's thoughts don't always mirror how they feel. That's why they sometimes make decisions that seem nonsensical. And that's why Yukino, Yui, and you jump to the wrong conclusions." In a way, almost identical to what Komachi told him earlier when they reconciled. This woman is incredible, but she's not finished yet. The problem in both circumstances (Christmas party and the two slugs) is the same: the human heart. Hachiman pleads ignorance before impenetrable mystery: "That's not something you can understand by thinking about it." He's promptly cut down to size: "Baka! If feelings could be processed like that, they'd be digitized long ago." He already knows the answer, and she helps him see that: "The last remaining answer, the one you can't calculate - that's human emotion." In a word, that is how you find a decision of the heart. 

Sensei is like a Yoda of the heart. It makes sense, according to her, that you try to avoid hurting someone by pushing them away - exactly what Hachiman and Yukino do to each other - though Yukino is better at it by far (probably because Hachiman has Komachi, who genuinely loves him). Not the pushing away, but the why of the pushing is what's important; because you care about the other. The alienation is simply from fear. Gently, forcefully, persistently, she works on persuading Hachiman to be genuine, and hence be vulnerable before the other. The vote count is in. Hiratsuka-sensei is best girl.

This is why Haruno and Sensei, who might at first glance seem similar - harsh, abrasive, interfering - are total, absolute opposites. Haruno's interventions are paralyzing. They cause friction, anger, resentment, and help make people - Yukino especially - worse. They do not help. Sensei on the other hand, is magic: everything she does and has done results almost infallibly in positive, stretching growth for her charges. Proof: she just did in five minutes what Evangelion spends its entire run working out - the pitfalls of human interaction and closeness with others, and why genuine friendship is still worth pursuing. This works in Oregairu because Eva takes place in a loveless, bleak world. There is no warmth, no gentleness, no connection there. Small wonder Shinji is so tempted by Instrumentality. Things are not quite so bad in Oregairu, and though it takes a sleepless night to ponder what he wants, Hachiman is able, thanks to Komachi and Sensei, to make a choice.

Everything about the Hachiman-Yui-Yukino confrontation is perfect. The writing, the direction, the framing, the acting, everything. Hands down it makes one of the most beautiful scenes in anime, in close contention with Re:Zero 18 and Clannad 2.18. And all of it appears to be for nothing. For the second time in his life (the first was for Komachi) Hachiman apologizes: he's acted like a solipsist, as if nobody else existed, so that the solution can be found with the minimum of pain. His friends (I'm looking at you, Yukino) are too blockheaded to articulately call him out on it, so the cycle continues. Yui knows exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, but is unable to take the first step. After Hachiman apologizes, she's riveted in shock, still looking for Yukino to take the initiative.

Until Yukino shuts him down. Hard. Only then does Yui act. Hachiman probably played the rejection tape a thousand times before entering that classroom, so Yukino's refusal barely surprised him at all. He would have left immediately, and the anime would end right there, if it weren't for Yui, who with Hiratsuka-sensei is the hero of this series. Hachiman is unable to reach Yukino, but Yui sure is, attacking her for not being fair. It is the first time Yui has ever eloquently, passionately disagreed with someone, and it is beautiful. 

Hachiman tries to defuse the disagreement, but the girls totally ignore him. Yukino is bothered by Hachiman's method on every single level, not least because it works better than her own. He solved the hate-mail dilemma, he solved the Sagami problem, and he solved the Tobe disaster. Even from the beginning, when Yui couldn't bake a sheet of cookies without burning them and Yukino despaired of teaching, Hachiman provided the solution then too. She knows his way of doing this is wrong (and she's right about this) but his success makes her look inadequate. Her only statement that gets through to Yui is that she Yui, tried to act as if nothing was wrong in the hopes that things would fix themselves. "So I thought that if that was what both of you wanted..." she trails off. 

That is when Hachiman admits that he can't trust what anyone says at face value. "I'd fall back into my habit of reading between the lines and thinking they had ulterior motives," he relates in a most honest dialogue. Yukino assumes the most defensive stance possible, hugging herself and trying to keep everything at bay. I'm almost surprised she didn't curl into the fetal position here. But that is not the end: "Even so," he says, and the frame, so closed off before, with none of the three making eye contact with one another, opens up into dialogue, because for the first time in his life, Hachiman is being straightforward. He wants to understand and know others, resting secure in that knowledge; he wants to know others inside-out and no longer be in the dark. He calls this desire egotistic, self-indulgent, and arrogant (probably out of fear), but he wants to share that desire, and have a relationship where you are free to seek that from another and give it to another in your turn (and the camera turns first to Yukino and then to Yui as he says this). He calls this out of his reach (and it is, because it requires the will of another, who can't be controlled), but bursts out that "Even so, I want something genuine!"

Yui wouldn't - and maybe couldn't - articulate it that way, but she intuits exactly what Hachiman means. She's won over immediately, just as we knew she would be. But we also knew that Yukino would be different, and she is. To the shock of both Hachiman and Yui, she too has a quiet outburst. "I don't understand. I'm sorry." And she runs away clutching herself as if she's in pain. Which she probably is. 

That short cut is exactly why the two of them are the way they are. Hachiman was 100% totally authentically real, and he got shut down with barely a word. No wonder people act the way these two do, or the way Haruno and Iroha do; that kind of response feels like treachery, and Hachiman is shell-shocked, immobile, in despair. Somehow, however, Yui is not rendered immobile, and knows exactly what to do (she and Hiratsuka-sensei are the heroes of this arc), and just by being Yui persuades him that it's not over yet, but if he stops, it will be. 

Understanding Yukino is hard, because we only see her from Hachiman's perspective, so she almost always appears perfect (because to his eyes, she is), which is why the frame of her friends approaching, Hachiman in the foreground, Yui ahead, and Yukino in the background, smallest, most diminutive of all, is practically a photographic miracle. Hachiman just had an epiphany, Yui intuits what it means even if she can't explain it, but Yukino feels small, inadequate, and ignorant, because being genuine also means being vulnerable, which she can't abide. She tries to take refuge in words or argument, and Yui, who has no talent whatsoever for that sort of thing, counters by doing the thing women somehow know how to do at exactly the right time: she sees someone in fear and pain, so she simply flings her arms around her suffering friend. That's the camel's straw, and both of them dissolve in tears. One could be forgiven for thinking it's a hallowed moment. 

Oregairu 2.7

Finally, Yukino returns to front and center - at least for the opening. Yui figures out that she really wanted to be student council president (double blast you, Yukino, for being an emotionally repressed, inarticulate ice fiend!), and worries that something is wrong. "The old Yukino" would have eagerly taken on requests like Iroha's, but this new, damaged version just looked pained. She is all about hiding these days. Triple blast you, Yukinoshita!

Hachiman is slowly wearing himself down with all this faking. He criticizes himself for helping Iroha as just "conforming to the ideal self I've created in my mind," and recollects Iroha's sullen manipulation and Yui's forced cheerfulness (I don't care even if it is fake. Yui can do no wrong), but what bothers him the most is "Yukino's resigned smile." It reeks of falsity, just like the more superficial elements of Hayama's clique. He, Yui, and Yukino are in fact not so different from them, a hypocritical fact he is beginning to acknowledge, even as it makes him uncomfortable. That, coupled with the falsities of the  Christmas event, which is increasingly devolving into meetings from hell, headed by people who love to hear others talk about nothing almost as much as they love talking about nothing themselves - this is about to make him explode, in a much more colorful way than during the school festival, when he happens to run into......Yukino! Finally, an unscripted encounter.

It's as if Yukino was pushed to the brink of going beyond herself, and then retreated. She has officially given up, saying almost exactly the same words Hachiman used on Hayama: "If this is all it takes to pull us apart, maybe we weren't all that close to begin with." If this were a lesser anime, I'd assume Yukino is testing him, but there's no doubt. She's given up. Hachiman was clearly not expecting such a response. No banter, no humor, just formal, polite, false pleasantness. Then she walks away. It will take a miracle to fix now.