Chapter 6 – Chiba Part 1
"Hikigaya-kun. Get up."
I let out a long groan in response and I twisted on my stomach to hide my face deeper in the pillow. A loner like me needs his beauty sleep, how else am I going to keep my perfect face and keep my energy up? Yukinoshita, however, seemed to pause for a moment before I felt her palm slap my exposed back with the raw fury of God.
"AHHH!" I yell loudly as I roll around in agony, while casting my rage filled glare at Yukinoshita. Most people are terrified by my glare, most likely due to my eyes, but Yukinoshita took it in stride and looked on with an amused expression.
"I will not tolerate you sleeping in, no matter how little sleep you have gotten. I am going to see to it that you finally learn to sleep like a proper adult." Glancing at the clock, I see that it's only 8 in the morning. Getting up out of bed, she hands me my shirt which seemed to be neatly folded by her.
"I suggest that you get dressed. We will have a long day ahead of us." She says walking out of the room, to which I follow.
"Are you seriously planning on going to Chiba so soon? I want time to rest, god damn it." She gives a dainty little chuckle as I put my shirt on and the smell of bacon and eggs fills my nose and I involuntarily begin to have my mouth water. She looks at me with a small smirk, before taking a plate for herself and loading it with the various foods she decided to make. There are eggs and bacon, obviously, but also fresh made biscuits and a small pitcher of coffee with a warm brew greeting my nose pleasantly. I find myself smirking.
"Very English; did you study abroad?"
I say grabbing a plate from the opened cabinet and begin to help myself to a plate.
"I did not. It is merely a consequence of being a responsible adult, unlike you."
"Huh? I am a responsible adult; I can hunt for my own food and live off the land." She gives me an intrigued look but continues.
"It is entirely understandable that a beast like you be able to survive all of the germs prevalent in nature, but that is hardly a metric for being a responsible adult. Like any beast, you would be swept away by pest control and perhaps released back into the wild if they happen to overlook your Hikigerms, which could be a source of a new pandemic." She spoke swiftly and maintained her delighted smirk, much to my exasperation.
"You frigid bitch, you wouldn't be able to survive a day out in the wild. You suck from the teet of the industrial world, and when that crumbles, you will be hopeless and forced to learn from me. But I am tempted to deny you, so that I may be free of your cold." She scoffs
"As always, not only are you a pervert, but you are unrealistic. If the world were to follow in your way, which is that of a beast, we would be reduced back to barbarism and tribalism. That also presumes that the world could survive the outbreak of Hikigerms you would surely introduce, which would doom most species to extinction." She finishes smugly and proceeds to dig into her food.
I sigh and sit back down, letting a slight smile creep onto my face. It seems that she's noticed it, because she's adopted one as well. We settle in and eat in silence. The food, as expected of a Yukinoshita, was stellar. The bacon was crisp and lacked any noticeable taste of burnt meat. The eggs, being as they were sunny side up, were rich and creamy. However, unlike the way that I used to drink coffee, I had decided to forgo any sugar or creamer and decided to drink it black.
"I'm surprised that you'd chose to forgo any sugar in your drink, Hikigaya-kun. What was that saying of yours again? Something about life being bitter and that coffee should be sweet?" She looked at me with a bemused expression.
"Well, when I was deployed, you kind of had to learn that the coffee there wasn't there to taste good. All of it was awful, and there's a reason for that. As beautiful as the national treasure of MAX coffee was, coffee is supposed to be bitter so it wakes you up."
"I presume that is because of the little amount of sleep you claimed to have been getting?" She asked
"Yeah, I had been travelling all across the South East Asian region and throughout the Indian ocean during my deployment, and with shipping routes strained by the pirates, coffee, even if it tasted like the most bitter coal dust, was worth its weight in gold. I am certain that I wouldn't have made it through all the shit I did if I didn't stockpile coffee."
"Stockpile coffee?" She looked confused
"Yes, while coffee is relatively cheap here because Japan can avoid the pirates, in the south east, trade has been severely dampened. I've seen price hikes for basic commodities like toilet paper skyrocket over 10 times in price. So, whenever we had the chance to resupply out an outpost or a town, I'd buy as much coffee beans as I could and spend my nights grinding the beans while I watched for ambushes."
"That is very interesting. But I really think that you need to temper your addictions. Your coffee obsession naturally made you develop a far more deadly habit." She looks at me sternly, but I wave her off.
"Addictions are addictions. If I want to shake them off, I'll put the effort in but not now. I am still young and wish to enjoy a little bit of irresponsibility. However, if it makes you feel better, I'll switch to those vape things that seemed to be popular for a while, I think they're better for me anyway." I said that, but I would be damned if I would go a month without a cigar. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. She sighs in exasperation before asking:
"How did you even get into smoking anyway? I thought you detested it given how much you bothered that one sensei of ours over it."
"Hmm, first off I don't remember telling anyone to stop smoking. I think you might be getting me mixed up with someone else (1). But, it was sort of something that I picked up while out in Laos. In order to gain the trust of a particular village, we had helped in tobacco farming for like a month and we processed tobacco which they let us keep. Drying tobacco leaves is painful and backbreaking work, so my heart still goes out to them."
POV Switch: Yukinoshita
We settle back into a comfortable silence, and I give myself more time to really ponder the nature of Hikigaya-kun and how it compares to his past-self. Hikigaya-kun, though always having a predisposition towards laziness, was always a hard worker. I think the nature of all he did with the cultural festival and the nature of his work was a good indicator of that. However, it seems that this Hikigaya-kun had become less morally disciplined with time and he carried himself with a nonchalance towards his vices. I would have found it unthinkable that Hikigaya-kun would have started smoking, yet I found him casually smoking on the balcony in the middle of the night. I wanted to know if he had gotten himself into any other drugs, but that was a personal question I wasn't comfortable with asking.
As for his physical appearance, he seemed to have increased in height since we were younger. The beard and mustache on his face were also a notable change which made me think I had let a dirty hobo into my home. He was also much more physically fit, though that was expected with his line of work. I somewhat fear that his lazy nature would turn him into skin in bones again, but I was determined to not let that happen as strange as that desire was. Though, unlike in the past, the mop of hair that he used to have with that ahoge on the top of his head is no longer present. His hair was cut short and it was laid flat, more than likely due to his wearing a helmet for so long.
Another noticeable change I had found in him was that he was far more talkative than he used to be. And, unlike in the past, he would generally meet the eyes of whoever he was speaking. He'd frequently avert his eyes during our conversations, which I found somewhat annoying at the time, but his stare is even more intense that it was in the past. Though I suppose that was not a bad thing, given he was able to tell off Father like that. I was surprised at that, but it also made me develop a keen sense of respect for him.
The most notable curiosity about him, however, was his interest in Communism. Hikigaya-kun never struck me as someone who would care about society, as he always frequently used to say, so it was a great shock when he called himself a Communist. Yet, in doing so, I could see a great pain in his eyes. That book was the one thing that he refused to divulge anything concrete about and his comment of it being a "testament to his cowardice" struck me. He had used the same idea to describe our relationship, so I began to think of the possible relations between them. Did he view himself as being a coward for not fighting for it and fulfilling the will of a power that he would likely deem to be evil? From what I have read online, it was this mode of thought that dominated Communist perspectives on the nature of the 'Imperialist" countries like America and our own Japan. The man before me, who ate his pancakes with a satisfied smirk, had the answers but I knew now was not the time to ask. We had a day ahead of us.
I stood up from my city and began to clean my plate as I felt his eyes linger on my back. I turned to him, giving him a small smile, and continued on with my duties before he had also stood up and came behind me. His form towered over me as indicated as indicated by my being enveloped by a shadow. I turned to him again to find him curiously staring at me.
"Why aren't you eating more? I think it'd help your nonexistent chest gr-"
I had delivered a swift punch to his stomach, causing him to fall over and my hand to hurt.
That was another thing that was different about him, he seemed to be much more crude and insensitive.
"I think I somewhat deserved that…" He said groaning from the ground, and I gave him a hand up though I struggled with his weight.
"You really have neither tact or sense, do you?" I asked with exasperation which earned a slight chuckle from him.
"I suppose I do not, given how I've decided to stay with a woman that can punch almost as hard as Hiratsuka-sensei." I somewhat smile at the fond memories of him getting punched for his antics and I suppress a small chuckle from my lips.
"As though I would let a pervert like yourself stay in my home where you could use your superior strength to violate my chastity. No, this won't do. When we return from Chiba, our first order of business will be finding you a reasonable apartment to live in."
I say as I walk back into the living room and retrieve one of the white fur coats I had on the hanger, as well as my purse which sat nearby.
"Really? We're leaving right now? I wasn't finished eating damnit."
"Quit your whining and go get ready. A driver will be here to pick us up in an hour. Komachi-san is very eager to see you again." I watched his face contort into one of nervous excitement and I felt myself smirking again. Once a siscon always a siscon.
"You already texted her that we were coming?" He asked, somewhat nervously.
"Yes, and she says that she's very angry with you and if you don't come see her today it was "Negative 1 billion Komachi points for you" or whatever that means."
I then watch the man, of whom I said I viewed with respect, grasp his heart with dramaticism and fall limply to the ground. Seriously? This was the fool that was able to become a "Spartan", and yet he behaves as though he's a child in a drama play. Good grief.
It took 30 minutes for him to get a shower and dress in his same clothes. Part of me wants to scold him for that, but in fairness he doesn't exactly have another set of clothes so his military uniform was something that we were going to have to make due with. However, as we left, he had pulled out a gun holster from his bag and loaded a large pistol in it.
"For protection." He said.
POV Switch: Hikigaya Hachiman
Yukinoshita was at first surprised and outraged by my having a gun, but after a while of convincing her it was perfectly legal for me to own it, she eventually dropped the matter and we were escorted into a black Tesla Model Y, because of course the Yukinoshitas own Teslas. Our driver was the same driver who had hit me with the limousine back in High School, and when we met each other, he stared at me with mixed feelings despite his stoic and polite mannerism. He even allowed me to fiddle with the car's features and explained them to me, much to Yukinoshita's annoyance but also to her slight amusement. I probably looked like a little kid with my fascination. The drive took us a little over an hour due to traffic, but we had made it to what was apparently Komachi's apartment near Chiba university.
Stepping out of the car, I felt that familiar sea side Chiba breeze that felt as though I hadn't been breathing real air in years. Even after all of these years, Chiba's atmosphere maintains its quality atmosphere. The morning sun shown brightly overhead, and the cool air brought with it a chill to the bones. The street which Komachi's apartment was littered with a variety of small shops, though most of them look abandoned due to the economic strain that Japan was currently facing. Yet, despite this, I didn't feel an overwhelming sense of worry over the safety of the area due to the lack of suspicious persons lurking around and the relative cleanness of the streets.
Her apartment looked more like town houses than an apartment complex, and the street was littered with many cars probably from the residents occupying them. I wondered whether Komachi had a car or not. Two cars in particular caught my eye, one was a pink Honda Civic with a curious amount of cute memorabilia adorning the dashboard and a green Jeep Cherokee which was also littered with similar cute memorabilia. Marching up the stairs, we had found her room number of 224.
"Are you ready?" Yukinoshita asked me. She had remained tight lipped on how Komachi was feeling about everything, saying that those were words for Komachi to say.
I took a deep breathe and knocked 3 times. Before I could even react, however, the door flung open and out came a blur of black hair as it jumped into my body, nearly knocking me off balance. Komachi had wrapped me in a bear hug with her legs straddling my upright body as she cried silently into my shoulder. Yukinoshita looked on at the whole affair with a warm smile, but it was replaced with shock when another figure came out of the room.
It was someone familiar, someone that I honestly thought that I wouldn't see again given how Yukinoshita said there was a falling out between them.
"Hikki… Yukinon…"
It was none other than Yuigahama Yui, the other member of the service club, and she didn't look like she had aged a day. Though, that being said, I had noticed her… assets… had become bigger. I honestly felt ashamed that was the first thing I noticed about her, other than how her hair was no longer its dyed orange colour and was instead a brown chestnut colour. Yet it was unmistakably her.
Yukinoshita, on the other hand, looked at Yuigahama with a number of mixed feelings. There was a desperation in her eyes, and I saw that her hands were somewhat shaking. I could see that obvious care that Yukinoshita had for her, but I could also see anger lurking in her eyes. Yuigahama had much of the same sort of reaction to us both, but, being the socialite she was, seemed to be masking it by her smile.
Her presence here was more than likely Komachi's own doing, and I felt somewhat annoyed that she was trying to meddle in our affairs. But, then again, I was the cause of the whole mess in the first place. As they say in France, when shit hits the fan start to dance. Or maybe that was just an imagination of my mind? It was ultimately a pointless thought.
Komachi finally decided to let go of me before smiling at me once more, before going over to Yukinoshita and wrapping her in her arms. Though not as intensely as she had for my case.
"Gomichan, don't be a fool and go greet Yui too." She said to me with her back turned much to by annoyance. However, as I turned to her, Yuigahama had already closed the difference and wrapped me into an embrace. She felt tender and warm, and I could see Yukinoshita watching with a mix of emotion in her eyes.
"I missed you, Hikki." She said simply and that triggered my Oni-chan instincts somehow, which caused me to pat her head much to her embarrassment, though she took it in stride.
"Come on, you two. We have tea ready in the room." Komachi finally said motioning us into her apartment.
Taking a good look at it, it was small. A small tan leather couch sat in the middle of the living room with a flat screen, with a bar seat wall leading into the small kitchen with a single fridge and stove. The place was also very clean too, not a single dirty article of clothing was found lying around and the place had a nice shine to it. I was thoroughly impressed with my sister's commitment to keeping a good home. She also had a number of pictures of oddly enough various pictures of me, Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, and even Isshiki. But the most striking was the picture of Komachi in a wedding gown in the arms of a man who looked vaguely familiar from the past. It was the brother of that one chick Kawasomething.
Sure enough, as she got Yuigahama and Yukinoshita settled down on the couch I noticed the flashing of a golden ring on her finger. I was completely floored, and I couldn't help but ask.
"Komachi, you're married?" I say somewhat dejectedly
"Yep. Taishi and I'm also pregnant which is partially the reason why I called you all over here." We all looked at her in complete shock, with our mouths figuratively hitting the floor.
Looking at Komachi, she had grown somewhat taller and had definitely developed a more womanly physique. Her also now touched her shoulders, but she maintained the signature Hikigaya ahoge on the top of her head.
"I've missed so much… I couldn't didn't even have the chance to stop that little bug…" I muttered to myself, which caused Komachi's face to turn into a scowl.
"As happy as I am to see you, Oni-chan, that was the cost for being a stupid gomichan and going over there to get yourself killed." She walked over to me and slapped me across the face while the others sat their silently watching.
"I'm mad at you, more than you could possibly know, but I still love you and I want you in my life." She said as you walked over to where they were sitting and turned off the TV.
"Gomichan, I'm going to say this very frankly but I have a feeling that you already know. You've fucked up and you've cut out precious people from your life. Which is why, whether you like it or not…" She said also looking at them, "you're going to explain yourself and tell me what made you think joining the military was a good idea."
I stood there for a moment and I reached for the rolled cigar that was in my pocket, before I proceeded to light it. Komachi and Yui's faces both lit up in anger, but before they began, I raised a hand.
"Please, Komachi and Yuigahama, bear with the smell and we'll deal with my smoking habits later. If we're going to do this, I need something that's going to relax me." They nonetheless relented and allowed me to have it. There was another rocking chair sitting beside the couch, probably belonging to that bug Tashi, and I decided to sit myself down there before beginning.
- Flashback to Third Year -
It was an understatement to say that what I was doing was a stupid decision without foresight, but as I sat waiting in a plain office room, I felt a matter of intense desperation within me. I had noticed on my walk during town that, following the beginning of the chaos in South East Asia, that numerous flyers from the JSDF were placed at frequently popular spots among young males. In my case, however, I had stumbled across it while I entered into my favourite bookstore. I studied its design, a prideful caricature of two Japanese men and women carrying rifles in their hands and the imboldened words "See the world, save the world."
My first thought of it was that it was an utterly stupid thing, but I recognised that it would help in my predicament. I had to get out of Chiba somehow and fast. Following the conclusion of our second year, my various acquaintances had started to be at each other's throats. And I knew that I was at the root of it all. Despite how I may have refused it, these girls had feelings for me. I heard it admitted frankly when I was late for club, and Yuigahama and Isshiki seemingly having admitted it to Yukinoshita herself. But the first thing I felt was fear. It made no sense to me, and I couldn't process why Yuigahama was still so insistent on liking me just because I had saved her dog for example. And with Isshiki, it made even less sense given how many times that she had "rejected" me. My thought was that, if I was able to separate myself from them, these feelings of theirs would vanish. But I entered into the room acting as though I heard nothing, even knocking before entering, and we all pretended that everything was fine.
But I failed to recognise my own foolishness. I had stated that I wasn't going to be coming to club every day. They had nonetheless accepted it, but a new atmosphere and dynamic was taking root in the club. A passive aggressive remark here, a harsh remark there, and finally culminating in a large fight between Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, and Isshiki after Yuigahama had managed to confess to me, but I had turned her down.
I began to work out every day, working on cardio and strength tests, and reading every single military strategy book that I could get my hands on. When I was felt I was ready, I had called the JSDF office, asking to be enlisted, and they had eagerly provided me a date and time for an interview after I provided my information. That interview happened a week later, and by that time I was in my final month of High School.
When I finally broke the news on our final day, it was needless to say that chaos ensued. They pleaded with me to not go, that they were sorry, and that they didn't want to see me get thrown into what was turning out to be a vicious and dangerous conflict. Yet, in a daze, I passed them over and left that day without looking back. All with empty promises that I would contact them and that I would be fine. But I knew the former was a lie and that the latter was just a nonsensical hope that was based upon chance. If I was able to separate myself from their lives, I thought that things for them would be returned to normal. I was hoping to become the villain of their stories, thinking that they would get over me and reform their friendships.
- End of Flashback -
- End of Part 1-
Author's Note: Hey y'all, I'm back with a new Chapter. Sorry to leave y'all on a cliff hanger, but I somewhat ran out of ideas with what to write here plus this chapter is already long enough in my book. As for my projects of this month, I've made like 10k so I'm pretty happy but I'm exhausted from it. I'm getting back to more of the character driven part of this story as opposed to the political one, cause I know that y'all like that sort of thing. Nevertheless, I still intend to deal with a political aspect to this story as a means by which conflict can happen between Yukinoshita's parents and Hikigaya. I've been reading a lot of Cicero, Sallust, and various other authors with themes of revolution and changing political circumstances and I see the potential to create a rather good drama from them. Hikigaya being a Communist, I think, allows for him to more concretely clash against Yukinoshita's family and I actually intend to make the political situation have an effect on the stories of these characters. And again, I would like to iterate I'm not trying to convert y'all to Communism with this story. Sorry for the late update again, but I should be back to a regularly scheduled update system in May. Please leave a review and perhaps give me suggestions on where you want to see the story go.