Hiya.
Disclaimer: The following passage is fan-made, non-profit work of fiction. All rights and ownership belong to Wataru Watari, Ponkan8, Gagaga Bunko, Brain Base, and Studio Feel. Please support the official release
*Beep* *Beep* Beep*
A hand shuffles from out of the covers as it gently swipes to the right of his phone, promptly turning off his automated alarm.
"That time already, huh? What a pain…" The figure grumbles out, obvious not happy with his current circumstances.
As he turns over and flips the covers off of his head, a young man is shown; he seemed to be in his early twenties, messy black hair from just waking, along with a set of very thin eyes that seemed to make him scowl constantly. As the covers slide off from his frame he walks to his bathroom shirtless, starting his morning routine. His figure was one of someone who was slim and probably ate a very delicate diet of fatty proteins and high sodium. He inspects himself in the mirror and just sighs, he was never one to really care about superficial things such as looks, but the words of his senior keep ringing through his head.
"Say, Hikigaya-kun, you do a lot of cardio from biking everywhere right? Why don't you ever come to the gym with me sometime! You'd be a real hit with the ladies!"
A hit with the ladies, he repeats in his head with the memory, yeah, right.
Finishing up, he gets dressed in a simple knit sweater with a finely pressed dress shirt underneath accompanied by a tie and slim fit dress pants, finishing off with a leather belt and matching leather dress shoes.
If only they could see me now, how shocked they'd all be.
The man silently reminisces to himself back to a simpler, yet complicated, time of his life. Images of a raven-haired girl flashes through his mind, swiftly walking off; followed by another set of images flashing through his mind, this time of a girl with brightly colored hair and eyes, a jovial expression never leaving her face.
I hope they're doing well, wherever they are.
He does a once-over of himself in a nearby mirror, before nodding slightly to himself. As he steps out the door, he slides his fob over his door handle electronically locking it. It lets a small mechanical whirr before the sound of a deadbolt locking in place follows suit. Again, he nods to himself slightly, testing the handle to make sure it's locked. Satisfied, he continues towards the apartment complex's stairwell before suddenly another door opens down the hall, a girl stepping out.
"Oh! Hikigaya-kun is it?" The girl thinks aloud to herself, "off to college already?"
Said girl was a bit shorter than Hikigaya, and she regarded him in a devilish grin, "yes, was just on my way, Anayoung, off to work?" The man doesn't react in the slightest, answering back in a monotonous tone.
The girl in question gives a childish pout, her cheeks pressing together to make her lips look like a fish, "yes! Off to deal with that asshole general manager!"
This elicits a small smile within the man, though not outwardly showing it, "sounds like you have it rough, well, I'll see you around Nee-san." He gives a slight bow to his elder before heading off.
However as he passes by her, she grabs his arm and links her arms into his, "aww, going just like that? You never want to drink with me anymore!" The elder girl pouts.
Isn't she the elder here? Why does it feel like I'm always looking after her and not the other way around?
Hikigaya simply walks with her in tow, used to her antics by now, "maybe some other time."
This again, elicits a small pout.
As Hikigaya bikes through the busy streets towards his campus, he thinks back to his neighbor. Anayoung, Ahn, age 26. She was one of the first neighbors he had ever met when moving into his new apartment, he had made a fuss along with the moving company and had disturbed her sleep when she had a work day the next morning, as an apology they had gotten a drink together the following day when Hikiagaya and her were free for the night. Ever since then, she was the closest(and only) thing to a friend he had since moving.
As he arrives at his destination, he leaves his bike on a nearby bike rack and adjusts himself, tidying up before running a hand through his messy black hair. He thought about trying to go for a more 'professional' haircut, but he could never work up the courage. Something in the back of his mind prevented him from doing so, his rationale being that people would instantly make fun of him for being a 'poser', whatever that meant to him. It was probably due to his highschool trauma of being an 'outer' instead of an 'inner'.
As Hikigaya came to grow more mature(in his eyes), he became more acutely aware of the way the world worked. He concluded that everyone was split into two groups, an 'inner', and an 'outer'. 'Inner's would be those who found themselves enjoying their youth, a social individual who fit into today's standard of society; they would often be the ones invited to parties around campus or just had other friends to hangout with. Then there were the 'outer's which were the ones who found themselves rarely invited to get togethers, were usually the ones who struggled finding groups in classes, and in general kept to themselves around campus, they were the side characters, people who faded into the background.
Hikigaya thought of himself as an 'outer', though, for a time in his life, he could've been happily called an 'inner', but those days were gone; he didn't care much for it, he was fine with being alone. Especially now with those two gone.
Walking through campus, Hikigaya takes his most memorized route to his first class. His mind wanders a bit before he checks his phone, a few unread messages being notified to him. He taps on his messenger app and opens the new messages. The first thread was labeled 'Imouto'.
As he clicks on the thread, a conversation with various chat bubbles fill his smartphone, the most recent being the opposite member of the conversation, the bubble filled with a light blue backdrop as opposed to a white one.
"Heya! Onii! How're you holding up without your cutest sister ever? Are you lonely without me? Make sure you're eating more than just your stupid instant ramen and beef sticks!"
The recipient just smiles internally, as his expression remained as blank as ever. Even if she was much older, Hikigaya laments on how his younger sister still held onto that child-like energy she always had a kid. Never showing it outwardly, he was glad that she still did it between them two.
"Would you stop being so annoying? Of course I'm not," he lies, "what about you? How's highschool been treating you?"
As he hits send, some would think he always came off as indifferent or even cold, but his sister knew better than that. They continue the customary conversation for a few more minutes before Hikigaya arrives to his first class.
Hikigaya's mind wanders as he half-heartedly takes down notes in his lecture hall. As he pauses he stretches a bit, taking a look around him. Nobody, even himself, would have ever thought he'd be in a place like this. He was always one to speak about how useless youth was, and gave off an impression of how he never wanted to work a day in his life. However, as he matured he came to understand the importance of the path he was on, he couldn't live at home forever, and the chances of him being married into a rich family as a house-husband were looking slimmer and slimmer as the years went on.
Spending his final year in highschool relatively alone, Hikigaya had gone through an epiphany, with the help of a certain teacher and alumni, he was set on the course to his Major in language arts. His understanding of Japanese literature and understanding of the language always impressed his mentor, and with the tutoring of a certain alumni, his english had greatly improved. Turns out there was a large market for english-speakers in Japan, whether it be tutors, translators, or just to have in one's wheelhouse for foreign departments.
"Ami-san, could you help me with our current thesis? In Candide ou l'Optimisme, Candide has…" The professor goes into the current thesis at hand, a satirical French novel about the age of Enlightenment around Europe and the many things wrong with popular philosophies at time.
The student in question, a quiet girl near the corner of the 2nd row of the lecture hall gets instantly red, "Oh… well of course, he-"
"Ah! In english please, as much as you could." The professor challenges.
"Uh, ah… Candide is, no, was of… the… birth house… and… fun of made, Voltaire made fun of!..." The girl in question was trying her absolutely hardest with the many eyes on her, most of her peers looked on sympathetically, as something stirred within Hikigaya, something about seeing a girl almost break down in front of him in face of pressure sparked something within him that he had long thought was gone.
Without even raising his hand, Hikigaya speaks out in english, "Voltaire was a French novelist during the period, or is the word age? Anyways, of Enlightenment, and sought to write a piece which heavily included clisheey…?"
"Cliche" The professor corrects, before nodding with a full blown smirk, "please, continue."
"Right, cliche, and tropes where he purposefully made fun of them, the whole piece was a… uh… Shatyre?"
"Satire, Hikigaya-san."
"Right, satire,..." his explanation continues as most heads turn towards him, with equal parts confusion and awe, while the girl in question sighs in relief obviously struggling with her english. She looks back up to the speaker and the both of them make brief eye-contact and she mouths a small 'thank you' in english. Hikigaya sees this, however quickly averts his eyes and continues on as if nothing happened.
As the lecture ends, Hikigaya deliberately puts his things away as slowly as he could, he always felt more comfortable being the last one out of the room, it always made it easier for him to stay in the background. However, as he was putting his things away he couldn't help but pick up on a few stray conversations around the room.
"Hey, did you see that one kid? With the black hair, his english is pretty good don't you think?" One student remarks as he gets up to exit the lecture hall.
"Whatever man, he's just a freaking show-off, I mean who does he think he is?" Another one vents.
"He probably thinks he's so smart just butting in like that, I mean, he totally cut that girl off! And she was trying so hard too!" A third.
"H-hey, maybe he was just trying to help?" A fourth.
The first three look to the fourth skeptically, "Or he's probably just trying to get a few extra participation points, who knows. I hate teacher's pets."
Hikigaya just sighs internally, he knew he should've kept his mouth shut, it's almost like he was trying to have another repeat of his first year of highschool.
'What happened to just keeping to yourself? I'm such an idiot…' He internally laments to himself. Regardless he sees that most of his peers had filtered out of the room and he begins to leave his seat, but something, rather someone, blocks his path. It was the girl from before.
"Uh, ah… Sank yu! You, uh, very helpful! Uhm…" The girl tries her english once again, but with the sudden attention put on her and rather intimidating presences she felt from her classmate, her english was more jumbled than usual.
Hikigaya just glances lazily towards the girl, answering in Japanese, "class is over, no need to speak in english anymore." The girl flinches a bit from his tone and rather bored look.
"And what're you talking about? I just answered sensei's question; you should probably work on your english a bit more before answering out loud."
And with that Hikigaya brushes past the girl without another glance. Looking back to the girl in question she just lowers her head a bit and quickly tidies up her books before exiting as well. She was almost certain that he answered in her defense, but that thought quickly died as soon as it sprung after that conversation; maybe she got the wrong impression?
'I'm such a dork, he probably thinks I'm a weirdo or something.' The girl internally laments.
As Hikigaya finally comes to his lunch break, he stretches a bit his arms going over his shoulder as he rotates them in a circular motion, letting loose a small yawn. In all honesty, he was glad he could finally get something to eat, he was starving. Checking on his bike once more, he sees it still neatly parked in the bike rack as he walks towards the campus' food court. On his walk he once again takes out his phone, checking for any new messages. Of course, the thread with his sister was the most recent and active at the moment. He continues where their conversation had left off and was enveloped in a temporary flash of loneliness, he really did miss his sister; not to mention his parents too. But alas, as with the real world, his wishes fell upon deaf ears.
Hikigaya had just started his fall semester in his first year of college, in all respects he was technically a freshman, however due to his academic excellence and slew of respectable recommendations, he was allowed to take classes pertaining to his major one year above him, in essence he was taking 2nd year language arts classes, but had to still take 1st year elective classes. As his mind wanders about what the future had entailed for him, his phone vibrates with a new message, a new thread taking its spot on the top, labeled: "Meddler"
"Heyy~ how's my favorite freshmen doing? Are you free right now? Hahaha, don't even answer, I already know, I'll see you soon :p"
Once again, Hikigaya internally sighs, he second guesses himself about going to the food court, maybe he can just grab a snack from a vending machine and call it a day? However, once again, his phone buzzes to life.
"And don't even think about bailing! You don't want me to tell your sister that you're skipping meals, do you? :)"
This time, Hikigaya outwardly groans, as a few of his peers look at him weirdly giving him a wide berth.
'Why can't she just leave me alone?'
Once Hikigaya had gotten his food, he tried to make himself discreet and shuffles his way towards the exit, keeping his head low. However, out of the corner of his eye he could see a certain someone wave gently to him from a table outside, a small smile placed on her lips with her eyes closed.
Begrudgingly, Hikigaya makes his way over to said figure, his form sinking even lower than it usually is. As he sits down across from his alumni, he instinctively gives a scowl.
"Aww, am I really such a sight for sore eyes? You're going to hurt my feelings if you keep that up." A smooth and childish voice rings out into Hikigaya's ear, an all too familiar voice if he was being completely honest.
"Did you need something, Haruno?" He tones out blankly.
"Do I ever need a reason to come see you?" She winks playfully.
"Look, class is gonna start soon, so if you have nothing to say, I'll take my leave." And with that, Hikigaya starts to stand up from his chair, before his companion holds onto his sleeve to stop him.
Haruno loses her playful nature and looks him in the eye, "how're you doing? Actually?"
Slowly, Hikigaya sighs out and sits once again, taking out his food, taking small bites of it, as Haruno just sips on a straw from a plastic to-go cup.
"Why do you even care?" He comments off to the side, looking down at his food.
Haruno still holds onto his sleeve, "it's been over a year, Hikigaya-kun-"
"Don't call me that." He abruptly cuts her off, a full on glare directed towards her.
'They really are sisters.'
"Hikigaya." She corrects, "I know the relationship between me and my sister is complicated, but, you helped her through a lot of things; it isn't my place to butt in between you two, I know, but Hiratsuka and I still want to know if you're okay."
Hikigaya just rolls his eyes, "I'm fine, it's only been like a month since I got here, what did you expect?"
This time, Haruno just sighs as she lets go of his sleeve, "I just…" She struggles to put her feelings into words, "look, if you ever are feeling the way you do, don't hesitate to contact me or Hiratsuka, okay? We dug you out of one hole, we're not letting you fall into another."
For the umpteenth time that day, Hikigaya sighs out once again, but this one wasn't of malcontent, he actually softened a bit from her words, "thanks…" He finally answers after a few moments of silence, but instantly picks up his defenses once again.
"Look, I'm just trying to go about my business like any other student, alright? I appreciate where you guys are coming from, but just let me be. I'm not a damn pity case; I can take care of myself." And with that Hikigaya collects his trash from his meal, promptly stands up and gives a respectful bow to his senior, "I'll be taking my leave now."
A look of hurt flashes across Haruno's face before it's masked by a bright smile, "sure thing, maybe we should go on a date sometime! That ought to get your mind off things right?"
Hikigaya doesn't even spare her a second glance, used to her antics by now, and just gives a lazy wave over his shoulder.
After Hikigaya finished all his classes for the day, he lazily made his way towards his bike, the sun was beginning to set and more than anything, Hikigaya felt… bored - empty. Even if his life was never one to be that exciting or social, he still missed the sense of normalcy he used to have with his club, at least back then he always had someone to talk to, whether it be new clients, his clubmates, or anyone in between. Now, just like in his highschool youth, he found himself relatively alone with most people avoiding him like the plague; he wasn't dense, he knew most of it was due to his demeanor and overall way he talked to his peers, but he just didn't really see the point anymore.
It's not like anyone will stick around anyways; those who I thought closest to me have even abandoned me. Might as well just get my degree and leave as fast I can.
He grabs his bike from the bike rack and continues to tread his way home. As he was about to mount, his phone buzzes in his pocket once more, expecting it to be his favorite(and only) sister, he was surprised that it wasn't. This thread read 'Anayoung-neesan'.
"Hiya, neighbor! I'm getting off work early today, General Manager-san was a total dick today as usual! So I left him with the mess he made. Want to grab a drink? Please? *-*(puppydog emoji)"
Hikigaya takes a moment to think to himself, he wasn't one for really drinking, but if socially obliged he thought he could handle himself pretty well.
'I mean she has helped me a bunch with moving in… maybe it's time I repay her? Not like I have anything better to do.'
He quickly types a response with one hand, "Sure."
And with that, he finally mounts onto his bike and pedals his way back to his apartment complex.
"Pwah!" A red-headed girl pants out as she takes a large swig from a freshly cracked beer can, a face of delight following soon after, "that really hits the spot!"
Hikigaya just blankly sips on his beer, drinking straight from the can as well, albeit a bit more refined than his counterpart.
Currently both young-adults were sitting on the floor of Anayoung small apartment, though all the suites of this complex were nearly identical, with an electronic door accessed through a fob, which led straight into a narrow hallway that was considered the kitchen with a fridge, sink, stove, and microwave crammed into each side of the wall. A few feet ahead a bathroom was on the immediate right, that then opened into a wider area that was the bedroom and further a balcony entrance.
Hikigaya's mind wanders blankly taking in the room around him, before finally settling on his counterpart who sat above him on the bed, while he opted to sit on the floor on top of the soft rug. Said girl was definitely attractive, still in her work attire of an office skirt, a tucked in form-fitting dress shirt and blazer on top, however the blazer was now removed. She looked extremely young for her age, but her facial expressions and mannerisms were very boyish which detracted from that statement somewhat. She had red, shoulder-length hair that was slightly wavy, becoming serpentine-like towards the tips of her hair.
Hikigaya was aware that she was talking and venting about her work day, but he didn't really know what specific words were coming out her mouth, he just nodded every now and then, focusing on his beer and how bitter it tasted, was this what older people did for fun? He couldn't relate.
"Oiya, oiya? Are you even listening to me Hikigaya?!" Suddenly his counterpart shouts to him, interrupting his serenity.
"W-what? Yeah, of course I am, the General Manager was being a pain in the ass again, right?" He guessed.
Unsatisfied the elder girl just squints her eyes towards him, "right, so what exactly did I say about him?"
'Shit.'
"Uh… He never listens to what you have to say, and should just figure out his problems on his own; basically." He guesses again.
"Ugh, you think you're so smart, huh?!" She scowls, pointing her finger at him accusatively.
"Was I wrong…?" He silently wonders aloud.
'Gosh! Some kind of drinking partner he is! He's not even paying attention to me half the time!' Anayoung vents to herself internally, 'maybe I should mess with him a bit? He always carries this mightier than thou energy and it's starting to piss me off!'
Maybe it was the alcohol, but for some reason Anayoung was feeling a bit more bold and annoyed than usual.
"Hah…" she sighs out loud, rather obnoxiously, Hikigaya in turns just gives her skeptical glance as he takes another swig of his beer.
'Got'cha!'
"Isn't it getting a little hot in here?" Anayoung laments aloud, fanning herself.
"What? It's like 72 degrees in here." Hikigaya comments blankly.
'What an asshole!' She internally screams.
"Well… I'm getting a bit hot." She fans herself even more, before unbuttoning her collar and top button, letting the dress shirt become a bit lax, as her breasts start to become a bit more accentuated.
Internally, Hikigaya's eyes go wide, 'what the hell does she think she's doing?!' But outwardly, remains stoic as ever. "Maybe you should take a shower then?..."
She finally gets up from the bed and heads towards Hikigaya with an obvious intent, "oh really?" She softly says, "you're not feeling hot at all?"
At this point she was practically invading Hikigaya's personal bubble, as she rests on her knees, crawling towards Hikigaya.
'This will definitely get a reaction! He can't remain this stoic forever!' She playfully thinks to herself.
Internally Hikigaya's mind was racing, 'she's not being serious is she?!'
"Not particularly, no." He answers back monotonously.
At this point Anayoung was practically breathing next to his ear, "that's a shame, I was feeling rather hot." She whispers, before quickly removing herself from him, "Sheesh kid, nothing affects you, does it?" She finishes with a laugh.
Hikigaya just shrugs his shoulders, "you get used to it."
"Hoh~?" Anayoung wonders aloud, "you got a girlfriend I don't know about? What a naughty boy! I'm almost jealous." She laughs once again, kicking back on her bed.
"No, not a girlfriend," Hikigaya grunts out, thinking back to a certain alumni, "more like a meddler."
"Oh, really?" Anayoung finally finishes her beer and lays on her stomach, kicking her legs in the air as she faces towards Hikigaya, "say, you never talk about yourself, tell me about her - or him."
Hikigaya just shakes his head a bit, "it's getting a little late, I should probably call it a night, I have class in the morning."
This elicits a childish pout once again from the elder girl, her cheeks pressing together to make her lips look like a fish, "well you're no fun! No fun at all!"
This finally elicits a small laugh from Hikigaya, something Anayoung had never heard from him before.
'She really does act like Komachi.' Hikigaya internally laughs once again thinking back to his sister.
However, seeing Hikigaya finally smile, albeit off-handedly, Anayoung seemed to be pleased about how everything turned out today, "do you want me to walk you home?"
Hikigaya just rolls his eyes, "what am I? A toddler? I live like 4 doors down, I'll be fine."
"Okay okay, sheesh, just get outta here would ya? I'll lock the door on your way out."
As Hikigaya says his goodbyes followed by a bow, Anayoung locks her door electronically. She thinks to the enigma that is her neighbor. When she first met him, he actually scared her quite a bit, she never really felt safe around him for some reason, maybe it was because of his eyes? Regardless the first time they drank together, she seemed to have pushed a few of his buttons and she had gotten a small glimpse into his psyche. She didn't know what his past was, or what it entailed, but one thing was certain; for a man that young, the spark of youth was missing in his eyes. He seemed more akin to the mindless drones she found around her job that just wanted to get through the day and had zero ambition.
She thought that maybe he was just a lost college student unsure of his future, but the more they interacted, the more they talked, she could tell something was wrong with him. He held a certain sadness within him that was eating away at him, she didn't know what, but she made it her mission to find out; for better or for worse.
Hello,
I have decided that all my stories are going to be on an indefinite Hiatus mostly because I feel my writing skills are lacking to really finish them in the way they deserve, so in the mean I'm gonna try my shot at a new story that I can let my muse run rampant and get into the mindset of a writer again, sorry. I don't plan on it to be long, but who knows
I have not watched any episodes of season 3, so I don't know what happens, I'd appreciate not seeing any spoilers either. I don't think I'll ever watch s3 until my stories are done, as they will either affect my muse, or just kill in completely since the story is finished, at least I'm assuming its finished on s3.
Thanks you for all the love and support throughout the years, you guys are awesome.
Until next time,
-Ausko