Chapter 2: Second – Start.

Tokyo Railway Station.

Hachiman exited the train with his luggage and took stock of the crowd. The sheer number of people, bustling, teeming, like a swarm of bees in an invisible beehive, working for an unnamed queen. It suddenly struck him that he had left his home. Tokyo was not Chiba. He had been preparing for this for some time. He knew he had to move, so he moved out early. His little sister, Komachi, helped him pack. His mother prepared him a lunch box and his father let him have the remote on the living room and didn't mutter a single complain as he switched the channel. It was a normal farewell.

And now here he was.

Back to square one.

Alone.

"You know I had that same look when I moved to Tokyo. But I gotta say, that look works better for me than you, Hikigaya. I mean, even if someone felt sorry for you, you can't legally go out for drinks with random strangers. Not because of your rotten eyes or anything. It's just you looked spaced out, like you are on drugs and people keep away from that. Or worse call security. But when I space out, people come and talk to me and ask me out for drinks. He-he! I love it here. I guess, my date-ability went up since I moved to Tokyo."

Hachiman blinked. The white labcoat was eerily missing from her entire ensemble and for some reason he missed her old look. But still he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. Hiratsuka Shizuka, his old homeroom teacher had transferred to Tokyo during the beginning of their third year. Despite what he thought, somehow, they were able to keep in touch. After all, she did once say, that he was one of her favourite students. And though, Hachiman would never say it out loud, his third year felt a little empty without her presence.

Damn, Hachiman really missed her.

"Good to see you sensei. Did you come alone or did you bring your boyfriend with you?"

Hachiman thought he was being polite. When someone, especially a lady in her-as quoted by Hiratsuka Shizuka herself after a well deserved punch to his gut- late mid twenties, tells you she loves Tokyo and her so called date-ability has gone up and that people come and asks her out for drinks, then it was clearly nice to ask about her love life.

Wait, wait, wait a second. Hiratsuka-sensei never mentioned a guy. She said people come and talk to me and ask me out for drinks.

Oh crap!

"…You know, Hikigaya. With all this crowd, people bump into one another all the time. You better be careful. Or else someone might, bump you off the platform and a train might run you over. Of course, I only mean this as a warning, I mean an advice from your old- I mean, former, former, homeroom teacher. Get it, get it. Do you get it, Hikigaya?"

Hachiman, indeed, got it. You couldn't meet up with Hiratsuka Shizuka without getting a death threat. Granted, it was more or less his fault. He had no business asking about her love life. Really, her one year of absence had put him out of practice. He didn't know the danger sign when he should see them, bright red and in his face.

Hachiman would strive to do better.

"I think this is the first time I have seen you in a skirt."

"…Oh, yeah. I guess you kinda did. I wear them sometimes, you know, during spring and summer.

"Yeah, I guess it's kinda hot."

"What? Hikigaya-"

"I meant the weather. The weather! It's summer, after all sensei."

Wonderful. Both of them were blushing and he could blame no one but himself. Hachiman felt like an idiot. It's been a year since he last saw her and now, she strolls back in to his life, no labcoat, no tie, or the usual black waistcoat and white shirt. No, none of that.

Instead, Hiratsuka Shizuka wears a midi skirt, light brown. I guess, the correct term would be nude, damn you people in the fashion industry. Nude is not a name of a colour you should use to describe a piece of clothing. The skirt fit tightly around her slim waist, there was the old belt she wore at school. Some resemblance to what he knew. Good, good, it was good. But then the skirt, again drew his attention, rotten dead fish eyes, taking note of how it flowed looser around the hips and legs, while still making the outfit fit snugly, so that her natural shape was made visible and striking.

There was no worldly explanation as to how or why Hiratsuka Shizuka still stayed single.

The crop top didn't help matters. Hachiman didn't know where to look. It felt like his old self, fumbling, unsure, coming off as a sorta horny teenage pervert, when he was just a little too taken aback with a woman's sheer presence and not sure how to proceed.

Hachiman had done the basic thing, tried to compliment her outfit and that lead to this awkward atmosphere. He really felt like he was back to square one. It was like the service club and him, gathering the courage to ask Yukinoshita to be her friend, for the first time, right after he was forcefully made a member of the club. She rejected his offer of friendship even before he got the words out. It would take a lot and by a lot he really meant a lot of time, for him to become friends with them. He finally managed it during the later months of their second year.

But now this was not high school. There was no service club. Yukinoshita was out of the country. Yuigahama had stayed back in Chiba. Isshiki was still in school and why the hell was he thinking of other girls at a time like this? Was it because, he didn't know how to proceed, with Hiratsuka Shizuka, his former home room teacher. Wait, by former, it meant they no longer had the old, tried and tested out relationship of a teacher and student.

This would be a fresh start for both of them in Tokyo and he had surely messed it up.

Now what?

"You were right Haruno-senpai. Hikigaya-kun, my most dependable kohai did become a sort of flirt, in the years that I was gone. And he surely is good at it. My, my, would you just look at the blush on poor Shizuka-chan's face."

"You're telling me Meguri. I had to put up with this new and improved Hikigaya Hachiman 2.0 a lot more than you and you went to school with him. I should be the one complaining."

Hachiman could have thanked them for improving the awkward situation, but he was more surprised to see them here in the first place. The two of them weren't supposed to be in Tokyo. Surely, there was a mistake. He was just seeing things.

"…Um, Shiromeguri-senpai."

"Ah, so you remember me. You have been an awful kohai, Hikigaya-kun. When I graduated, I at least expected a small visit from you, maybe a phone call. But you did neither. Is that the proper way to treat your senpai?"

Hachiman tried to ignore her for now. But looking at the other person was not the way to go. Still his eyes found the glimmer of her purple ones. She was smiling and it didn't seem like a fake one. It was like she was really glad to see him. But that shouldn't be the case right? Clearly, he was tired from the trip.

"…Haruno-san?"

"Welcome to Tokyo, Hikigaya-kun."

Some welcome, he thought ruefully.

But truth be told he was a little happy.

At least he wouldn't be as alone as he had previously thought.

-/-/-

A/N: So, sorry for not updating this sooner, but I was trying to figure out a few of the chapters before I got back to it. And also sorry for making this seem like a Shizuka x Hachiman story. I'm really sorry, but I kinda went with the flow and it's been a while since I wrote Shizuka and I couldn't help it. I really like Shizuka….as a character I mean.

But, I digress. This is still a Haruno x Hachiman story. From the next chapter, you will have your HaruHachi moments. Here are the options:

Option 1: A Welcome Party.

Option 2: A Shopping Trip.

Please, pick any of the above.

Till then, hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.