A/N: Hey you may or may not have noticed that I decided to chop off the summary of 'Growth' because honestly that's a waste of chapter. The summary is actually available in chapter 13 of 'Growth' itself, so if anyone new wants to read the summary of the prequel before getting into this, that's where you'll find it.
Also if anyone's interested in what I've been up to, why it took me over 2 years to come up with the promised sequel, and all that good stuff, just shoot me a DM and we can talk there.
Chapter 1- The Ghost Of His Laziness
When a story ends on a positive note, a reader could often decide to add in a 'and they lived happily ever after' for personal satisfaction and reassurance. In life, when a chapter ends positively, one simply can't do the same thing just for personal satisfaction and reassurance. You must have a lot of confidence to just say "And I'll live happily ever after". Call me pessimistic but I cannot accept it when someone can confidently say that their lives are destined to be positive at any point, be it when they're 8, or 88... or 888... like Hiratsuka-sensei. No one heard me say this.
Anyways, the point I'm trying to make here is that the chapter in my life that has just transpired, was undoubtedly my happiest one. I got my second most preferred job(after the house-husband one of course...), three of my closest 'friends' are living a happy life(I'd expect), and best of all, my family is happy! Now when I say 'family', I don't mean wife and kids, I mean sibling and parents. I know I'm 25 but still, for some reason the whole 'get married and start your own family' thing still seems ages away. It may sound obvious to say that the age of 25 is way too early for marriage and kids but clearly the modern society disagrees. For example, one of my neighbouring families is such that the parents are just about 30 years old and their son is already 7! In other words, by the time the father was my age, he was doing "Aahleleleeee who's a good boy, huh? Who's the good boy who will eat this piece of bread that is slowly flying away vrrrrrrrroooooooommmmmmmm" NO! I'm sorry but NO! If I'm going to have to spend half my life trying to get a piece of bread into my baby's mouth, forever single is fine by me.
Now I know that parenting is something one can criticise all their life until they've experienced it first-hand themselves. However, that doesn't tempt me to sugarcoat my opinions about it that I have as of now. If my opinion is to change imminently, I'll cross that bridge once I get there.
Anyways, going back to the original point of this monologue, even though I've had such a happy past few months, I'm hesitant to make a statement that the future would be too similar. You know in a horror movie when everything gets a bit too quiet, implying an imminent jump-scare? That's what my life feels like right now. It just seems that someday life will hit me.
It just seems... that one fine morning... the cruel reality of life will hit me.
*TTTRRRRRIIIINNNNNGGGGG* *TTTRRRRRIIIINNNNNGGGGG*
The thunderous noise of the alarm clock, hit me this fine morning. Rubbing my eyes intensively, I fetched my phone to see the time. 6:30, eh? So I've been asleep for seven hours but it feels as if I've only slept for seven minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... the cruel reality of life.
It's a habit of mine to have some sort of deep monologue whenever I'm half-awake and can't seem to actually fall asleep, if that at all classifies as a decent enough excuse for me to have these random thoughts, which often remind me of my far less mature 17 year-old self.
Meanwhile, I dragged my body to the washroom, where I began to prepare myself for another day of work. Punctuality has never been a strength of mine, and it still isn't. But the way I see it, if I still have my job, it's not too bad. And it's not as if Yukino can fire me. Actually no, she can. She isn't the type of person who'd have a bias towards me just because I'm her friend. If I should be fired, I will be fired. There's no doubt about that. And yes, we're on first name basis. Thankfully she calls me 'Hachiman' instead of 'Hachi-kun', otherwise I'd regret our friendship on numerous levels. Whilst we're at our workplace however, it's still 'Hikigaya-kun' and 'Yukinoshita-san' because of professional reasons. More importantly, I must address her leadership skills since I did criticise them in the not too distant past. She's doing much better than I expected her to, though I wouldn't exactly call it 'ideal' for a leader. Not yet at least.
After taking a shower, I approached my wardrobe from where I got myself a clean white shirt, necessary underwear, a navy blue tie, along with a plain black suit. I dressed myself in said items and headed for the kitchen. After removing my blazer and placing it on a sofa, 8man chef mode had been activated.
*Cooking...*
*Some more cooking...*
*Oh yeah...*
And we ended up with...
... a bowl of cereal. Yayyyy
Placing the bowl on the table, I brought my laptop and settled it nearby. As I feasted, I browsed through the internet to see what reviews the book 'A guide to your freedom' got. After all, I was the one who edited certain bits of it. As it turns out, it has been deemed as one of the most inspirational books in all of Japan by none other than my proud mother who probably read about four pages of it.
Once my stomach was done trying to satisfy itself, I quickly washed the plates and the glass before making my final preparations. I fixed my tie, put my blazer on, grabbed my phone, grabbed my wallet, wore a watch on my left wrist, closed the laptop and put it inside my bag which included more work and journey related items, and finally... grabbed a fresh can of MAX COFFEE. Now... I was ready to leave. Oh wait... my keys...
Ahem... after grabbing my keys, NOW... I was ready to leave.
Having locked my apartment and entered my car, the journey began. Since all this had become so repetitive, I can now give my statement on how life is in general. To put it in the simplest of languages, it's good. Just put yourself in my shoes... you're only 25 and you live all by yourself in a nice apartment with two bedrooms, you work for a prestigious company, you own a car, your friends and family are all safe, and you're not getting maltreated in any way... what more could you ask for?
Anything? No? Anything apart from 'getting a girlfriend', you desperate people? Exactly...
"It will be arriving here in about three weeks so before that I want at least 11 of the 15 projects completed." Yukino was always a confident speaker, there's no doubt about that. That's one of the main reasons why her leadership skills are so commendable. I say 'commendable' and nothing more because there are certain aspects where she loses her claim to becoming a 'great' leader. For example, although the people working here are reasonably intelligent, some of them are complete donuts compared to Yukino, which shouldn't really come as a surprise of course. However, the problem that these people cause is that Yukino isn't very comfortable working with them. As long as everyone understands what she's saying, it's all good. But whenever one of the donuts gets confused, that extra effort that leaders sometimes have to take in order help them, is what lacks in Yukino. To put it in a more negative way on Yukino's part, her expectations are too high for certain people. But I'm sure she can overcome-
"Hikigaya-kun... you seem to be feeling very sleepy there..." Hah?
"Sorry about that Yukinoshita-san, I promise it won't happen again."
"I don't think I need to remind you of my expectations, do I?" Is she tryna pick on me now?
"I agree with you."
"It was a rhetorical question, I don't need you to agree with me."
"So you're saying that I didn't have an option where I can actually ask you to remind me of your expectations?"
"If you require that option then you might as well go back to high school and obtain some key learning skills that you seem to have missed out on."
"If me having that option produces a scenario that extreme, why bring it up in the first place?"
"To insult your existence of course." she said with a wink. Cuteness isn't going to win you this argument, woman.
"Doesn't that make you unprofessional... using petty insults against your co-workers?"
"I'm fairly sure our level of friendship allows such insults and conversations. Besides, do you think you're in a position to tell me what's professional and what's not? After all... I wonder who nearly fell asleep in a PROFESSIONAL workplace..."
"There are differences between the levels of expectation that we have. I'm no vice-chairwoman."
"Well-"
"Umm... Yukinoshita-san..." interrupted one of the irrelevants. "Deadline for this book is in six days and it's nearly complete. Shall I claim a new project already?"
"If that's the case then I'll have to check your progress before I can assign you the next project. I believe it's already shared with me so I'll check that now whilst you can go to the office down the corridor and discuss the delivery statuses of the next set of books."
"Will do, ma'am."
Ahem... this brings me to Yukino's next weakness. Her obsession with arguing with me. Now I won't lie, I share that weakness too. But hey, if we are to talk about my weaknesses, we can do this all day. Anyways, as the situation is sorted out, Yukino returns to her spot.
I guess me referring to the requester as one of the 'irrelevants' is enough to imply that my social life hasn't improved drastically since high school. Well of course there's no bullying or harassment over here. This is a professional workplace where everyone is at least mature enough to not harass others. However, the closest I've come to expanding my social circle is by exchanging few work-related words with the people who I run into. That doesn't mean I have absolutely zero acquaintances, I still have Takahiro of course. The more I got to know him, the more interesting I found him to be. You see... people should take note of this. Not all loners are dull and boring. Some of them can actually be very interesting people. So allow me to create another social classification...
The Interesting Loners... I hereby name them 'Ioners'... 'I' from 'Interesting' of course.
And the Boring Loners... who I hereby name...
...
...
... actually nevermind.
"Hachiman..." I heard a soft whisper. Right before I announced my death by the hands of ghosts, I saw Yukino leaning close to me. Thankfully, she wasn't wearing glasses as her face was unreasonably close to my eyes. And to refresh any lost memories, I seem to find it impossible to speak when I see her wearing glasses. I hate to admit how much of a divine sight it is.
"Y-Yes?"
"In the evening after everyone is gone, I need you to wait for me, okay?"
"O-Okay..." I don't know what I was thinking...
Under normal circumstances, I leave the place by 7, and reach home around 7:45. Pretty standard. But hard-working Ms Yukinoshita Yukino stays until 9. As a result, I only drive myself home, and she has appointed herself a chauffeur. But today... bollocks. Now I still haven't figured out why she wanted me to wait for her, but it's already 8:45 so I'll find out pretty soon. As I stay seated in silence, reading a book, Yukino on the other hand is still working very hard. With the room being as empty as it is, I can actually pay close attention to how she works without having someone interrupt me(or judge me for being creepy). This is when her glasses are on hence why it's a good thing that I'm not obliged to speak or anything.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that a few guys have tried casually flirting with her. But it's not a problem since either Yukino or I are able to deal with it efficiently. Now don't get your hopes up. I don't help her out because I get jealous or anything. I help her out because I feel sorry for her. She already has a lot of work on her head, add to that the donuts we have... the last thing she'd want is to have one of these donuts trying to hit on her. That's just cruel to witness right in front of my eyes. If I get indications that she's even slightly interested in the guy, then fair enough I'll leave her to it. But until then, I plan to stick to my methods. In that case, anyone who thought to themselves "Aww... my HachiYuki ship has sailed! God bless them and their future kids!", firstly, no... we're still friends. And secondly, again... why 'ship'? If you so desperately intend on using a mode of transport, why not 'plane'? Surely the better the mode of transport, the better the relationship, right? In that case why don't you say something like "I hope my HachiYuki plane takes off!" if you think it's a good relationship, and say "I hope the horse of my HachiYuki chariot runs off a cliff!" if you think the relationship isn't that good. Remember kids... if your society is a better place to live in, I taught it. Totally.
As we edge even closer towards 9, I feel like I should take this opportunity to discuss the changes in my relationships with the people around me. For starters, I've already mentioned that Takahiro has become a good acquaintance of mine. On the other hand, the relationship I have with Yui hasn't changed a lot. I do call her by her given name but we haven't really interacted a lot in person. We do text each other on that 'srvic club' group chat where she texts while Yukino and I try to decipher her messages. Here's a part of the algorithm we have come up with...
'suitvation' is 'situation'
'billryant' is 'brilliant'
'lieing' is 'lying'
And any word that she types correctly, is most probably a typo.
Career-wise, Yui is doing billryantly... I mean 'brilliantly'. Damn this shit is contagious. Her music video has a couple of million views, which is great for a debut single of a Japanese artist. And regarding the costume designer of that video, Kawasaki Saki in other words, she is supposedly at Chiba in her house for which the address I was never meant to know. I say 'supposedly' because I actually don't know for sure. She hasn't tried to contact me, I haven't tried to contact her. But I sincerely hope her career takes off from there. After all, she has put herself in a really good suitvation by being part of Yui's music video production.
And finally, the only remaining 'friend'... Yukinoshita Yukino. We have created a bond which is stronger than any bond we've ever had over the course of our relationship. Although our normal interactions haven't really changed that much, other things have, such as trust. She has my substitute apartment keys. Obviously I didn't give them to her just like that. I put up some rules. She isn't to give it to anyone apart from myself, Yui, Kawasaki, or my family. Not to mention that they must have a good reason for asking for the key in the first place.
"Are you alive?" Hah?! What was that voice?
"Hah... uhh... yeah... I think I nearly dozed off..." As it turns out, Yukino was ready to leave whilst the added hours to my working day made me feel sleepy... again. I'm in desperate need of some MAX right now.
"Oh..." she said with a dull tone.
"You seem very disappointed at the fact that I'm alive."
"Who wouldn't be?" Can you at least try not to insult me after asking me for a favour? "Anyways... let's go."
"Can I get an explanation first?" I asked.
"What explanation?"
"Why am I driving you home?"
"Oh I'll explain it once we get there. Let's go. You don't want to be locked up in here."
I silently followed her as she made her way out of the vacant building and into the parking lot, then straight towards my car.
"You seem to be very familiar with my car." I said.
"And does that come as a surprise?"
"No... not really. For a person who can identify over a hundred different types of Pan-san dolls, NOTHING is surprising."
"Incorrect."
"Am I now?"
"There are actually only 34 different types of Pan-san dolls." I give up...
Instead of wasting more energy, we were on our way. The roads were nice and empty, making the drive peaceful, and relaxing. Yukino had become so familiar with my car, that she became the car DJ. That would've been a good thing if she played songs outside of OST from Pan-san movies.
"Ah... welcome, Hikki, Yukinon!" Yui greeted as we entered the house. So she was expecting me to come. And in case you need reminding, although I call her 'Yui' now, she still calls me 'Hikki'. It's always 'Hikki'. If reincarnation is a thing then in her next life she'll call me 'Hikki' as well. It has come to the point that if she calls me anything apart from 'Hikki'... it's weird.
The house looked way too clean. I know that you'd expect Yukino's house to be clean but seriously, with her being out for majority of the day, surely something is going on here.
"Yui... since Yukino hasn't told me why I'm here... you might as well say it."
"Ah... Hayato-kun and others are coming here!" Wait what...
"Haya-what?"
"Haya-to!"
"Haya-no."
"We've already invited him. There's no going back."
"But there's me going back home to take a rest."
A voice from the kitchen replied. Never have I liked that voice when it's that cold...
"Since you slept half of the time at work, I'd say there's no need for any rest."
"You stand in no position to dictate my rest schedule."
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* Shit...
As Yui proceeded to attend the knock, I rushed over to Yukino to say my departing words.
"Listen... I'm gonna hide under a bed, and then I'll jump out of a window once I get the opportunity. Sounds good?"
"Sounds great but unfortunately I need you to attend to our guests tonight. Besides, you were talking rather loudly right before they knocked, so they probably know of a male presence in here."
"Tell them Yui had a celebrity boyfriend come over or something."
"No celebrity boyfriend sounds like a dead zombie from the 19th century. Besides, it's also highly disrespectful to Yui-san." Is 'dead zombie' a thing or is she just trying to be spontaneously clever with her insults? At this point I could hear emerging voices as the guests entered the house.
"But-"
"Stop! You're being way too stubborn. Is that how you'd treat your wife if you ever get one?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Damn, she sure knows how to catch me off-guard.
"Hikigaya, Yukinoshita-san... nice to see you two again." Hayama Hayato. The same combination of blond hair, pretty face, and a smile plastered onto his soul. As I shook his hand, I gave a firm response.
"I know."
Letting out his usual 'I like to sound sexy 24/7' chuckle, he continued. "It seems you haven't changed that much." Why is he making judgements within ten seconds? Accompanying him were, as expected, Tobe, Ebina, and Miura. Fascinating, really. I'd love to know what sorts of adventures they've been through in order to hold on to this friendship for so many years.
Nevertheless, they were our dinner guests, and I had to treat them accordingly. But that does get me wondering... why are they invited?
One part of growth I certainly dislike, apart from the shitty writing of course, is the fact that a grown man has way more expectations placed on him in comparison to a teenager. I was complaining a lot about the expectations when I was 17, imagine my brain now. Anyways, why is that relevant? Because I'm expected to treat Hayama like a beloved guest, and if I was 17, I had the cloak of 'he is only 17, he says things like this' to hide under if I was to try and avoid him or something. Yes, my tolerance around him has improved, but that doesn't answer the question of why they are invited, that too on a weekday...
"Please take a seat..." Yui kindly offered them some seats on the sofa whilst Yukino continued cooking. Okay this is good... as long as Yui is here... I just have to watch them talk and give the occasional nod to indicate that I'm still alive.
And boy, can they talk...
In their defence, they did have way too much to talk about, careers especially. As one would expect, a lot of the attention was on Yui. It would be a lie to say that there wasn't a nice feeling to this conversation. To see Yui being a leader in their interactions was a significant contrast to how things were back in high school. I am nowhere near surprised, but at least I found a reason to be remotely invested towards my surroundings.
"So, Hikigaya-kun, how's work man?" asked Tobe. Oh look he's getting my name right.
"Not bad at all, partly thanks to that woman over there." I pointed at Yukino. "Her presence has somewhat added another positive aspect to the time I spend at work." My words were met with a few very curious and possibly surprised eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"N-Nothing." responded Yui. "It's just that... Hikki doesn't compliment Yukinon like that frequently." Hmm she's right. But give me a break! I can't be that consistent when I'm so tired!
But there was someone else whose response would be more worrying.
"Indeed." said Yukino. "Hence why I see this as a mere attempt to use flattery and sweet words in order to achieve the goal of me being sympathetic towards his lazy and often apathetic working attitude. Rest assured that that won't happen."
"Rest assured I don't want that to happen. What's good about being the one who can argue with the boss, if you're not being the one who argues with the boss?"
"Wahhh Yukinon! These look delicious!" You'd think Yui would grow accustomed enough to Yukino's cooking by now to not be so obnoxious about it.
She wasn't wrong, however. The food looked incredible. A neatly presented and pleasant sight, accompanying an aromatic smell of fresh herbs and well cooked meat. Maybe it was worth sticking around up until now. Maybe.
"Ehh... Hikki?" Eh?
"Huh?"
"You look like... totally weird... just staring at the food like that." Yui answered. EHH?!
"Ah..." I stuttered, as I felt a soft giggle behind my back. Soft, yet sinister and fatal. "Leave me alone, Yukino."
"Pffft." she continued. "Maybe I should invite you over more frequently." No thanks. But... if it means I get to hear her giggle more frequently then...
There was a blank stare from Hayama which caught my eye. Predictably enough, that turned into a chuckle once he realised he was being looked at.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Ahh... nothing. Nothing at all." he replied.
Soon we found ourselves at the dinner table, patiently waiting for what looked like a divine feast. The silence was enough to imply a sense of focus that everyone had developed towards the food, which was surprising considering how Hayama's wealth must allow them to go out and eat at all sorts of expensive restaurants. That is, of course, if Miura herself isn't a great chef. I'm not being misogynistic here, just making a legitimate point, given how determined Miura can get even with things like cooking, as long as it involves her lord and saviour Hayama. Flashback to her making handmade chocolate back in high school.
The one to break the silence, rather predictably, was Tobe. "Ooohhh this rice is fantastic!" he said. Everyone else took that as an initiative to make their own comments on the food.
"I know, right?!"
"I love the flavour of this meat."
"Just as expected of Yukinoshita-san."
"Well and truly delicious."
"Thank you, everyone." Yukino responded. Soon her eyes turned to me, along with everyone else's. Oi oi. Fine I understand. I'll compliment something.
"Yeah... this sauce is fantastic." I said with confidence.
"Is that so?" replied Yukino. "You can get yourself this sauce from the convenience store five minutes away from here." Wow. Commenting on food happens to be one of the only things I'm good at, yet I find myself complimenting the only thing she didn't prepare herself. Nice one, Hikki!
"It wouldn't taste so good if it didn't complement this delicious meat though." Let's just pretend as if that was the best save in history.
"Oh... Thank you." What's with the shy voice?
"Thanks a lot for inviting us over." said Miura, standing at the door. "It was great fun catching up with you guys, especially you, Yui." She seems strangely formal. "You should totes invite us to your concert or something." Maybe not.
"Yeah. It's been a great evening." added Hayama. "I'll forward you the e-mail later, Yukinoshita-san." Huh?
Yukino nodded in response. It did make sense in my mind for Hayama to forward some e-mail to Yukino. Why would it not? Their family still have connections after all, and it's not like I can judge their rich people relationships. But...
... I can't help but feel curious.
"I'll be taking my leave as well then." I announced my departure as I joined Hayama and the rest on their way out. They had a car arranged for them, which meant I was not at all obliged to give them a lift. How merciful. It was supposed to be a simple ride home: relatively empty roads, decent weather, and me being completely sober. Normally I'd think about how work went, or how ravishing it would be when I launch myself onto my bed later on. However, the only thing I could think about was...
What the fucking e-mail fucking is Hayama fucking sending to Yukino what the fucking fuck aarghrghrghrghrgh.
Nevertheless, I soon reached home, in my completely calm and collected state of course. All that was left for me to do was dragging my half-dead figure back to my apartment. Sleep... sleep... slee- where the fuck are my keys? Oh there they are. Sleep... sleep... sleep...
Walking into my apartment, I dropped my bag at the entrance itself, as I lacked the patience to do things properly given my physical state. It's not like I ever lacked laziness anyways. In fact, I was too lazy to even turn on a single light. Navigating through the darkness, I could sense the proximity of my bed, after which there was only one thing left to do. 3... 2... 1...
I dived straight into my place of worship as if it was a swimming pool. However, it felt a bit... odd. It felt like... a human body. Wait what?!
"AHHHHH!" I screamed. In response to which, there was another scream, though a feminine one. "GHOST GHOST SOMEONE SAVE MEEE!" I threw my hands all over the place, trying to find the switch to any light, which I managed to do after turning literally everything else on. I simply wasn't prepared for what was in front of me. The familiar sight of her silver hair, albeit in a rather messy state.
"... Ka-Kawasaki?! What are you doing here?!"
A/N:
Oh God. It's been a year and nine months since I last uploaded. It feels so weird, but also kinda sad... given how the oregairu fanfic scene looks to have died down a bit. So yeah finally got to release this chapter. I actually wrote up about 70% of this in October 2016 itself, and somehow in two years I could not find the time to finish the remaining 30%. To be fair, a lot of the recent effort went in making some of the already written stuff seem less cringe-y and forced. Some stuff here and there is probably still kinda cringe-y but hey I didn't wanna redo this entire chapter because of that. Speaking of which, I'm sorry but I have no clue how novel editing works. If anyone here does, I sincerely apologise if I went completely wrong with my representation of it in the chapter.
It feels good to be back, and I'd like to think I'm here to stay for a while, but I do tend to get unmotivated really easily. All I can say is that I'll try my best to complete this fic. And to be honest I don't even know what 'my best' is. But hey we'll see.
Also a big thanks to everyone who left positive reviews on 'Growth', and to those who PM'd me telling me to release this sequel, it did help motivate me a bit.
Anyways...
Thanks for reading \o/