My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected isn't my personal property. All rights reserved to the respective author Wataru Watari and Illustration to Ponkan8
Middle School.
Here I am, in the back of the school building responding to a certain request of my friend.
Hikigaya Hachiman, that's his name.
Hikigaya Hachiman, 2nd year of the same middle school as I am, me, Orimoto Kaori, which makes me a second year too.
He's in contact with me in the same educational institution, so at least I had called out to him a few times for group work or something like that.
Not that I am that close to him but at least he's one of my classmate.
I can't remember doing anything special in a good way of a bad way, I'm quite positive of it.
But here I am facing my friend face to face without knowing the cause of it.
As I look at my friend face to face, I see that he has no a shred of embarassment, fear or anything that could be in my imagination as far as my imagination goes.
"Hikigaya, you're here before I was. I'm quite impressed."
I said so as I started a communication between us.
"Of course, because I was the one who invited you here."
He responded to me with a straight face quite unlike those boys in the same situation as he is now.
"So, why did you call me here?"
"..."
"..."
We stay silent, making me raise my nerve somehow.
"I like you."
"...!"
...
Eh!
EEEH!?
WHAT!?
Did I hear that right?
He just confessed to me.
HIKIGAYA DID?!
"...I-I'm sorry, what did you say just now?"
"..."
He keeps silent, not saying a word, not batting an eye, not even a slight change since he said those words.
I dare even say since he came here he didn't change his expression at all.
Seeing such situation I take his words as a serious confession.
Then I begin to think hard about all this time we were together in class, PE, group gathering and stuff.
I keep thinking and thinking then take a look at his face one more time.
...
...
I can't find anything special between us.
I didn't find anything romantic enough to actually make him say those words.
"..."
"..."
Then I open my mouth.
...
...
A few days later.
"Did you hear that?"
"Did you?"
"Eh? You too?"
"I think almost everyone knows about it."
It's morning and yet, this commotion, not that much of a ruckus but still everyone is talking about something.
It could be the same topic on each one of them.
"Good morning."
I greet everyone in the room, making myself the center of attention.
...
They all stopped on their own tracks, shifting their face to me.
"What?"
"..."
"What is it? Y-You're scaring me, guys."
Tap-tap-tap-tap-
They're walking fast towards me with bangs covering their eyes.
"Orimoto-san!" "Orimoto!" "Kaori!" "Kaori-chan!"
"W-what is it?"
I asked them as they really curious about something of me, I wonder what.
"Is it true that-"
Someone started to ask me something, but got cut off by the sound of the sliding door behind me.
Kreen
"..."
Someone casually get in the classroom without any care to his surrounding.
Well that's because he has his earphone on both of his ears.
His expression is as always, looking bored in the morning.
Seeing that face of his, I remember his confession a few days back.
That moment kind of raising the temperature of my body especially my face.
What is this? I never know something like this.
I keep staring at his face, making him realized his presence being the focus of the morning.
"...What?"
He enquired.
...
A few days after that morning, people's treatment to Hikigaya getting worse.
Everyone talking about him on his back in the way... that I can't say that it's a positive words.
He's slowly breaking off his communication with everyone, even more than how it used to be.
Almost no one talk about him.
I even hear that he's getting bullied especially physically, like today.
"...!"
Kreeeen.
He close the door, walk to his own seat.
I don't know what to say to him. But still I go to him.
As I arrive in front of him which make him meet me in the eye.
"...?"
He tilt his head in response of my action. I didn't believe what I'm seeing.
"...What happened to you?"
"...Hm?"
He still doesn't get it?
Seriously?!
"I asked you 'WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU'!?"
I asked him with a higher octave and volume of my voice.
Now there's no way no body doesn't hear me, but...
"..."
"..."
He said nothing and open his book and started to read it.
He's...
He's really.
This guy really GOT ON MY NERVES.
BAAM
The sound of my palm hitting his desk as hard as I could, which stopped everything in our small world of classroom.
But he didn't react.
Now I'm getting extremely heated.
Then I really leave his desk to go to my own.
All of my thoughts and feelings show up on my face.
Everyone is getting away from us.
Me being mad and Hikigaya being in his own world.
"..."
Silence still enveloping our surroundings until the morning bell ringing.
And that's how the morning event come to and end.
...
In the next few days.
Morning Home Room schedule on going.
"Hikigaya Hachiman!"
Our teacher calling out to his name in the presence check of the day.
...
No body responds to the name.
"Hikigaya Hachiman!"
She called out to that name once again.
"He is not here, Sensei."
Someone finally answered.
"He is not here? Is he unwell?"
She enquire the class about his condition.
"We don't know, Sensei."
No body knows what happen to him.
"Sigh, I have no choice then. He's absent."
As she said he got his absence written on the book.
At the time we don't know yet, that our classmate is going through an unexpected development.
...
Passing the next days.
The same thing happened on those times.
Hikigaya Hachiman was not in his seat.
His seat is empty.
Our teacher who just entered the classroom take a look at his seat, as she guessed.
'It's empty, again.'
Sigh.
She let out a tired voice out of her mouth.
She does the routine of the morning, presence checking and home room class.
Then...
BEEEEP.
"Hmmm?"
A school bell rings which makes us paid attention to the loud speaker.
"2nd Year A Class home room teacher, T*****-sensei please come to staff room."
"Oh, it's me. Just the time to end the homeroom class. Wait for the next class' teacher, students."
"Yes, Ma'am."
We responded positively.
...
Since then we went through all the classes without Hikigaya Hachiman like it has been recently.
Now, it's a home room class before the end of the day.
Kreeen.
Someone opened the sliding door and entered the classroom then close it again
...
It's Hikigaya Hachiman. He made an appearance after the last few weeks without showing himself in the school.
"..."
No body makes a sound.
And he takes his seat like he's supposed to be, which normally happens in the morning, it's different this time though.
We still had our eyes on him after a few moments.
Then Someone else enters the classroom, this time our homeroom teacher does.
She has a complicated face somehow, she stands in front of us like a teacher usually does.
"..."
She puts her fingers on her chin, putting a thinking pose for a while.
...
Another silent moment. Then,
"Everyone, we have an announcement for you."
She said trying to say something.
"Announcement?"
"What is it, Sensei?"
Everyone is asking the obvious thing.
"... Hikigaya, come forward."
She said which making us putting our attention on the standing boy who then walking to the front of the class.
...
No body says anything to him or about him.
"Hikigaya will be transferring school abroad."
"""""EH!?"""""
...
That very moment we had our heats stopped like a sudden heart attack. We couldn't respond in any other way.
"Abroad?"
"That Hikigaya is?"
"Seriously?"
"I must be dreaming."
"What is going on?"
Then the home room teacher claps her hands to make them focus on her again.
"Okay, everyone must be confused, like I do."
She said, letting us know that she can't exactly receive the news so well.
"The circumstance is that Hikigaya getting an invitation as an exchange student abroad. He got it a month ago as far as they told me."
A month ago...
That's approximately the time he confessed his feelings to me.
"Since then he took a break and completed all the prerequisites and yesterday he had his educational fate determined."
This news can't be seem to be real.
"And finally tomorrow he will took off."
"""""!"""""
...
"So, that's how it is."
"..."
No body knows what to say about this.
"Hikigaya, what do you want to say, this might be your last day here."
Hikigaya stay still for a few moments.
"..."
He just looked at us like he has always been doing, like those days when we were still average classmates.
"Just like Jack Kevork*an said it himself..."
He started to say something.
"I have no regrets."
He finished his line of the day.
Since that very moment we never see him the same way again, for the second time.