Summary: It wasn't anything serious - it was just a game. We didn't run in the same circles in the beginning - we met by chance - but our parents accepted, and so we walked.

Characters: Hikigaya Hachiman, Hayama Hayato, Hikigaya Komachi, Orimoto Kaori

Rating: T

Tags: slice of life, drama, sibling relationships, friendships, maturing, school life/student life

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている," commonly referred to as "Oregairu" - characters are property of Watari Wataru and ponkan8. I don't own the character that plays a cameo from Fruits Basket either - Takaya Natsuki does.

Hikigaya Hachiman wore his glasses religiously. There was, after all, a defect with his eyes. He hated to obscure his vision; he wouldn't allow it. But he could obscure others' vision of him. (So he did.)

It was a practice that seemed constant, like humans who looked at the sun as everlasting (even if it would eventually burn out). It was as consistent as an archer's arrows hitting true.

Which was why I decided that Hikigaya Hachiman warranted a change.

It was a fallacy of youth. This change, I mean. Something done without much regard or thought. Something that was of consequence, if consequence, in context, was anything noteworthy regarding normal teenage tunnel vision (I sincerely doubted that my decision to change my aesthetics had lasting repercussions).

Nonetheless, I pursued my desires and stepped forward, a rush of hormones, excitement, and curiosity released as I mumbled a tired "Hah."

Starting today, I was going to be a middle school student. It was no longer a time of indulging in guilty pleasures of Saturday anime, or for skiving homework (though I had always been forced to do it in the end). At least I had my beloved literature to keep me company.

After ensuring that my tie looked like it wasn't run over, I stepped downstairs and walked into the arms of an empty household. There were no parents to dote on me (not that they would have), and no sister to greet. Oh well. To the new world, then.

The fifteen minutes it took to reach Makuhari were filled with my beloved Chiba: people walking around pretending like I didn't exist if they bumped into me, cars that made both an unpleasant sound and smell, and the sounds of laughter that didn't dare lessen their distance from me.

Hm. Too many students bundled up at the front of the school; bulletin boards shouldn't have been crowded spaces! Be still, my nerves. Fortunately, I had received a letter about attending a special class (no waiting for me!): 1-A, for the twenty students with the best marks. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Huh. Not so bad. Eleven of us here. Twelve, I corrected (as somewhat of a loner, I tended to exclude myself, but I made an exception in this case). Now all I had to do was not mess this up.

"Uh… Hi." Aaaand, there went all hope of a confident middle school start. I coughed. "I'm Hikigaya Hachiman. Nice to meet you all." Ah. Only four of them seemed to even notice me. I guess I hadn't changed that much.

"Hello there!" The greeting from behind me made me tense; goodness gracious, I almost jumped. Or yelped. Instead, I managed to turn around and… oh. Oh. It was a cute girl with straight dark hair (though the coloring of the Japanese people was a naturally, mostly, homogenous dark brown so I shouldn't have expected anything different). "Nice to meet you, Hikigaya-kun. I'm Orimoto Kaori."

I blinked. Was this for real? A girl talked to me and didn't stare from a distance? Interesting (she must have been crazy). Time to turn on the patented smile for max effect: "Good to know, Orimoto-san. Hope we get along." Getting along with all my classmates was going to be a disaster (i.e. it would never happen), but I had been nursing a small hope that I could find at least one friend.

And that none of my class would never come to blows. Not physically, at least. But emotionally speaking (though, if anyone knew of my skills, they would have known that my defense mechanisms were unparalleled beneath the heavens, for emotional distance and a mental wall of China granted me immunity from typical social connections) it was going to be terrifying if people fought (Makuhari's special class stayed together for all three years, except for one condition: the bottom five of the class were rotated out every year for the top five of the non-special class members).

Orimoto-san blinked. I thought I was going to start sweating under her half a minute scrutiny. Then she burst out laughing and slapped my back. "Hilarious, Hikigaya-kun! I think we're going to get along wonderfully."

I twitched, confused. This girl made no sense. What did I say that was so funny? Was I wrong; sweating already? Don't panic, I reminded myself. You're not twelve anymore (thirteen was a big step up!). "So then, where do you want to sit - the back of the room?"

"Sure."

We sat, just the two of us, and we exchanged the basic courtesy of discussing our expectations for our Makuhari experience. I.e.: very little.

Not long after, the bell rang and the rest of our class poured in. Sensei looked like a man in his early thirties. Unless he aged extremely well (I wished that I could do that, but my genetics spelled trouble in that regard). His gaze was stern as he announced, "In half an hour, we're going to line up and have the welcoming ceremony. In the meantime, I'll introduce myself. My name is Souma Kyou. I'll be teaching you mathematics and sciences - and yes, I'm qualified to do both, you'll find. Oh, and homeroom. As long as you guys aren't a pain, I won't be one to you. Any questions? Ah, yeah, you, with the notebook."

"How often are our rankings going to be posted on the wall?" His voice was nervous, but it betrayed an underlying confidence (How obvious; this guy just wanted us to feel the pressure of dropping down to a 'regular student.' What a jerk!).

"Hm. I dunno." Souma-sensei was scratching his chin. "Kinda changes depending on the year; sometimes we give too many projects and too few exams and the grading time doesn't overlap well. I'll talk to the rest of your teachers and have an answer for you by the end of the week."

I bit back a laugh. Sensei wasn't an idiot, then. What a simple, but effective, diffusion tactic. I made sure to keep a ghost of my smile on my face as I asked, "So, do we get warnings or what? What if you take too long and we're not sure where we stand - let's say student A is barely passing, but you've been in the middle of grading an assignment for student A which would put him or her in the red?"

Everyone else's face went white, except for Orimoto (she giggled so softly I almost missed it). Huh. That confident, eh? Nice to know that my new acquaintance wasn't an idiot.

Sensei didn't seem to find my jab too funny, but he took it in stride as he shrugged again. "Well, yeah we're going to tell you. You're our kids. Even if you miss some marks, you guys have to realize that life isn't about perfection. You're going to stumble. Heck, I almost failed a class or two in university, and at that point you're on your own."

He raised a brow as he addressed the class, "You guys might be in the special class now, but seriously, that's not the be-all-end-all. Anyway, let's get onto important things, like you guys introducing yourselves. We've got a good ten minutes before we have to go."

Honestly speaking, too many of my classmates were dull (no, it wasn't because I chose to embrace my position as an outlier! I promise). In the end, the only person I remembered was Orimoto-san.

"So, are you thinking of joining any clubs, Orimoto-san?"

"Hm? Well, I've been interested in managing the football club or the basketball team. But if neither of those are good, I guess I'd like to take up something like the astronomy club. What about you?"

"I'm a firm believer in being a part of the go-home club, but I was informed that I needed to take part in at least one activity," my exasperation couldn't have presented itself any stronger, "and recommended that I take part in two. I'm avoiding authoritative positions like student government, but I've considered joining the tennis team. I'm not bad at singles, but doubles is overrated and too much work. Might give the track and field team a spin. Astronomy sounds interesting though, so I'll check that out, I guess?"

"Oh? The sports you like tend to put you in a one-on-one position; do you dislike people that much?"

"N-no. I'm just…" I paused, trying to figure out how to say it without sounding like a loser. I couldn't. "I'm just bad with people," I finished lamely, scratching the back of my head as I flushed.

"But you've been so friendly with me even though we just met," she pouted. Orimoto-san finished with a wink, "Am I special to you already? Are you playing with my heart?"

Gah. What a power play; I should have expected this level of skill at the very minimum. Oh wait. I did. This girl was much too cute to be playing around with someone like me. Shyly, I let out, "Playing with your heart would mean that I've had it in my hands this whole time. So unless you're willing to admit that, then no; I'm not."

Both of us pinked, but we laughed. Maybe junior high wasn't going to be so bad after all?

The auditorium was full of murmurs as we filed in. The principal gave a speech about the school's ethics and standards and how proud they were to host us (more like how happy they were to take our money). What a joke. But hey, even if equivalent exchange wasn't going to happen, maybe our returns weren't terribly out of favor.

I zoned out until she announced that the student with the highest exam scores was going to give the freshmen address. I actually almost missed it; my head was starting to sink before a loud call prevented it. I wasn't sure if I heard correctly, but lo and behold, who could it have been.

The girl by my side hummed a jaunty tune as she stepped up onto the stage, waving at everyone as she did so. She made a cheery face and adjusted the mic. "Hello~ My name is Orimoto Kaori, and I'm your freshmen rep. Well, so much as the rep means being the one who scored the highest on the exams." She gave a laugh but no room for people to do anything aside from blink at her introduction.

Orimoto-san coughed into a hand as she took a deep breath and began. "Now, given that I scored the top, I'm guessing you all think I'm a nerd. Well, you're right. I like a lot of things to do with school. But I also like a lot of things outside of school stuff. I can't really help the things I like, and I don't want to be someone I'm not. So let's all remember that school isn't life and just be who we want to be. Anyway, I'll probably see a lot of you here and there. Remember to enjoy yourselves and just do what you like! Thanks."

The staff looked rightly flummoxed as the girl hopped off the stage, still humming. On the other hand, I couldn't help but burst out laughing with glee (my full smile was tantamount to a standing ovation and raucous applause, of that you can be assured).

Orimoto Kaori made being Hikigaya Hachiman much more interesting.

Notes:

Souma Kyou is an easter egg - I just wanted to celebrate the return of Fruits Basket to the screen, and Kyou was one of my favorite characters (I've always had a bias for Ayame, Shigure, and Hattori above him though; sadly, none of them seemed to fit, so I settled for Kyou).

At this point, we can assume Hikigaya Hachiman has suffered a lot of neglect, socially speaking, but hasn't embraced his role as a complete cynic. Keep in mind he's not as smart as he likes to think - he's thirteen - but he does feel like he's as smart as he thinks. Part of this character's personality is to reflect the fallacy of youth; after all, youth is but a lie.