The wind was turbulent today. It made the poles sway and leaves flew across the empty streets. A wind this strong was unusual for Chiba in April. The streets were nearly empty except for one boy named Hachiman strolling along the sidewalk. A leaf blew right into his face with a loud smack and he frowned in pain. It was a reminder for him that school was starting soon. He felt a premonition of terrible luck coming. After graduating middle school, the break flew by too quickly. At the very least he was leaving his life from middle school behind.

He arrived at the front door of the household. To the left of the door written in kanji was a plaque saying Hikigaya. He gave the door 3 loud knocks before it opened.

"Welcome home, Onii-chan," spoke a girl in an apron.

She was Hachiman's little sister Komachi. His sister welcoming him home removed his bleak expression instantly. He felt prepared for the upcoming day of school tomorrow. After all, he should be ready since he bought all the necessary school supplies. The textbooks, the binders, and the stationary made him feel ready for any challenge. If a teacher asked him to read a passage, he would not be caught without a textbook. Of course he could ask someone to share, but he would not be able to do that forever. He will eventually need to get his own textbook. It was best to be prepared in advance. But the real reason he had to get the materials ready and double check everything was because he did not want to deal with anything predictable.

During his middle school years, a certain event caused him to be ostracized by his classmates. After, months of not talking to others beside his family, he was too scared to have to talk to anyone. This fear continued till today, right before the first day of high school.

A waft of a delicious scent came to his nose. Komachi had cooked a grand dinner as a celebration that school was starting soon. From now on, he will need to wake up early and a great meal would make a nice transition from the break where he was so used to slacking off. There was sushi, sashimi, and tempura, and miso soup out on the table. There was the right balance of hot and cold in dinner. He stared at the sushi with anticipation before getting noticed by Komachi.

"It is amazing isn't it?" Komachi said. "No need to stare. That just earned me a ton of Komachi points didn't it?"

"Yeah," Hachiman said. Only his sister can make such an amazing meal at her age.

"Though you need to be careful not to look at a girl like that," She said. "She might get the wrong idea ~tee hee."

"I take back my points," Hachiman said as he took a large bite onto a piece of tempura.

After dinner, he thanked Komachi for the meal before heading up straight to his bedroom. His bedroom was full of dirty clothes from the break. It was extremely easy to slack off when there was no school. He picked up all the clothes off the floor and threw them into the laundry basket. He picked up anything else that remained from his break such as some empty snack bags he ate while watching relaxing during the break.

Then, he decided it was time to prepare for school. He checked what his classes were for tomorrow on the school site. He packed his bag with all the textbooks he needed as well as some stationary and notebooks. He wondered if he was packing too much for the first day of school. Were all those items really necessary given that the first day would likely be only introductions? Still, he thought it was better to be prepared for the worst case scenario. He did not want to be embarrassed, especially on the first day. A great first impression was a way he could jumpstart his high school social life. Conversely, stumbling on the first day could seriously jeopardize his chances of amounting to anything.

He placed his backpack right by his bed and walked to the washroom. After a long hot shower, he decided he would sleep early to be well rested for the next day.

Habits were not easy to change. Hachiman might have realized it a little too late when he woke up with 15 minutes to spare before classes started. Weeks of sleeping in late had not prepared him to be awake early in the morning. He leaped out of his bed and quickly changed to his school uniform. Luckily enough, his hair was naturally not messy. He appreciated this quality of himself and rushed out the door.

Today's weather, in contrast to Hachiman feeling rushed, was quite calm in comparison. There was almost no wind. Also, the sun's rays shone at an angle such that it was relaxing rather than scorching hot. Really, it was a perfect day to go out for a walk. And people were walking, tons of people around him. The people who worked nearby who usually drove still walked. Hachiman, being the only one sprinting, stood out like a wolf in a herd of sheep.

Hachiman did not have much stamina. After running for what seemed like an eternity, he caught sight of the school. It was great news, it did not seem like he would be late. In fact, he still had 5 minutes to spare and he could already see the school door. In big characters, there was a sign that said Sobu High. He checked with himself to make sure that it was the right school. After realizing it was, he signed in relief. It would be ridiculous if he arrived at the wrong school now that he was out of breath from running. He knew that if he had bad luck, a god playing jokes on him did not exist. He could still make still make a great first impression.

Weaving through the dense crowd of students, he made his way through the courtyard. He lightly bumped in to someone. He ignored the cold glare that followed. He would not let such a small event change his frame of mind. He needed to live the middle school life his missed.

Suddenly, a dog popped in front of his field of view. It did not have a leash and was running.

"Sable where are you?" said a voice in the distance.

Hachiman did not know what a sable was. He wondered if it was a place in the high school. He never really paid attention to his surroundings when he was looking for his uniform so it wouldn't be surprising. The voice spoke up again. Hachiman looked over in the direction of the sound and saw an anxious looking girl with bleached brown hair. She was carrying a leash with nothing on it. He almost started laughing at his own stupidity. Of course, Sable was the dog she was looking for. He looked over towards the dog and saw it running towards the road. Before he could think, he chased the dog with all his might. His body just took control of itself. The dog was in danger. It was now in the middle of the road. When he finally caught the dog he was relieved. That relief quickly turned into panic when he looked to his right. A car was coming towards him, specifically a black limo. In a rush, he set the dog on the sidewalk by the road so that it would be safe but he could not get out of harm's way.

He wondered if it was the end of him. Not only would he not live the high school life he wanted, he might not even survive. Black enveloped his vision and he lost all his senses.

The girl's name was Yuigahama Yui. After seeing that the dog survived she was briefly happy until he say what happened to Hachiman. He was laying limp on the ground. She called the ambulance. It was sad that few others seemed to notice the incident. The limo quickly drove away. It evidently belonged to someone with status. It was cold for them to ignore the situation but it seemed like they did not want to deal with it. Sirens wailed in the distance and became louder and louder a large ambulance came by with tires screeching down to a halt. The doors quickly swung open and they brought a long white stretcher out. The picked up the limp body and before placed it on the stretcher.

By now, people have noticed the situation. Unfortunately, now the limo was gone and people only saw a large white ambulance. Only Yui noticed the black limo but she was too shocked to write down the license plate. It was all too much for her being the first day of school. He wiped her wet face full of tears before running to get the dog. She went to the school and although she had her school supplies prepared, she was not ready to learn.

Out of the darkness, a blurry white outline came up. Slowly, Hachiman realized he was on a bed. It was not his bed. He looked forward and saw his leg in a cast. He grimaced as he recalled what happened before. He had ruined his reputation. Being missing the first day of school was not a good sign.

He started to think about what happened back in middle school. There was a classmate he has a crush on. She was one of the few people treated him kindly.

"I hate nice girls," Hachiman murmured as he recalled.

If she had not been so nice, Hachiman would not have got the wrong idea and asked her out. Her rejection caused major social backlash. Everyone else in the class started making fun of him. He went through so much suffering in middle school. Now, that he had a chance to get away from everyone and start a new life, he had thrown away his opportunity.

Through the month that he stayed in the hospital, only his family members visited him. The next day, he was released. He leg has healed and he was now preparing to go to school tomorrow.

Yui's first day of school was average. Although she was not in the best mood, she decided to go on and hope for the best. He hoped the boy who saved her dog was doing fine. There was a missing classmate by the name of Hikitani Hachiman. After a month went by, a new person with a dead look in his eyes came at the start of first period. Being nervous only negatively impacted his appearance more.

"The name is Hikigaya Hachiman, hope we can all get along," said the boy in the front of the class.

The teacher Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly realized she got his name wrong. The class started gossiping.

"This new guy is definitely a delinquent," said a boy with blond hair.

"Agreed, who shows up to school a month late? Did he get in a fight?"

A week later, Hachiman was still sitting by himself with no one to talk to. Yui after a careful look realized who he was. She felt guilty because of the incident. Would it have been different if she did not bring her dog that day?

"Hi Hikigaya, it is so nice to meet you. My name is Yuigahama Yui," said Yuigahama after a week of contemplation.

Although she still felt guilty, that was not the reason why she talked to him. Out of all those people walking outside on that day, he was the only one who stepped up and saved her dog. The others did not even spare a second glance until the ambulance came. She wanted to know him more.

"Hi," said Hikigaya. He thought his high school life was done for, but it now looked like there was hope.

Author's Note

Hi there.

This is my first time writing fanfiction and my first time writing fiction in a long time. Please leave a comment as I would love advice on how to improve my writing. I'm starting off with a short completed fic. Writing takes a lot of effort and I figured I should build up my skills before attempting something longer.

Also thanks for reading!