Note: This is not a romance fic. Hachiman is too mature and experienced in life to ever form that type of relationship with immature and inexperienced schoolgirls. How would they relate? I was aiming at Hachiman being akin to a big brother. Any attraction would be one-sided.

oOo

Youth is a lie. It is evil.

Those who claim to enjoy it are deluding themselves and others. They fit the events and environment around them to the youth mold as self-confirmation - [Error]

[Interject] If youth is a lie, as it should be, what else isn't? Are religions lies? [ERROR] Are ideals lies? But these lies are there so that humans can survive. Minds are built on the foundation of faith; mental algorithms, metabolic pathways, and other processes function to ease the stress of calculations that the brain makes - It is unhealthy to suspend this; but when one does - they can see the truth of the world outside of their pre-conceived notions. [ERROR][ERROR] What is the line between subjective and objective reality? [ERROR] As humans we are arrogant to even declare what that is. And only the root of this world would know. The one source that Deists would call GOD. The one that wears all men and beings as masks. The flesh of men is but the garments of the gods {lowercase}.

Numen. Hyle. Energia [ERROR]

Yechidah. [ERROR] Guph. Nephesh. Ruach Elohim. [ERROR][ERROR][ERROR] Cheled. Access control. [ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR] Convergence of Hydrogen. Breathe deeply...thump...thump...thumpthumpthumpthumpthump

[ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR][ERROR] - *Thud* "Hikki!"

oOo

A boy looked at the ceiling confused. Where was he? He was in a hospital - he knew that. It felt really familiar like he had been here before. Who was he? H I K I. H I K I. No. Hikigaya Hachiman. It suddenly came to him. Hikigaya looked at the ceiling. He was confused. And he was in a hospital. The boy earlier was now gone. The sage stared out of Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes.

"He's awake!" Somebody shouted. He was greeted by the sight of two girls - one with vibrant pink hair and gave of a bubbly feel; the other with an air of cold intelligence. At the corner, a women with a white lab coat leaned on the wall.

"We were really scared you know - you suddenly fainted when you and Yukinoshita were having your fun. You suddenly got all blank-eyed and then fainted." Spoke the bubbly one.

The other girl looked exasperated at the pink one's explanation, but a look of worry - was that guilt? - was intermixed with it.

The woman spoke up "Yuigahama. I think he can't make sense of what you are saying - he just woke up."

Hachiman cleared his throat. Six pair of eyes focused on him. "I'm sorry, but who are you all?"

oOo

He was shocked to learn their names. Yuigahama Yui had been his friend earlier in her life - she had died one day; no one could find her body. They had cried and every once in a while, they would look at that empty seat.

Yukino Yukinoshita was also a close friend. But towards the end of high school; she had a distant far-away look in her eyes. She was bound to be married to the son of a business tycoon to secure the relationship of the two wealthy families. Hachiman later found out the there was a scandal and an affair and a divorce. It had been on the news for weeks at the time. By then, they had lost contact, but Hachiman did send his condolences to his old friend, though he never knew if she had received it.

In his depression - friendless and lonely, he had decided to spend his meager savings working away as a drone to travel the world and die. He hitchhiked across countries. Spoke in foreign tongues. Loved exotic women. Saw the great pyramids. Escaped the war in the middle east. Been to the great art museums and monuments. Slept in alleyways, rich mansions, and palaces. And one day, he woke up and cried. For the universe had chosen him. He had cried and laughed at how foolish that he had been, how restless he had been, running away from who he was. The mark of the sage was burned forever on his soul. And that sage was named Hikigaya Hachiman. But, why was he back. Here and now?