Hello! It's been a while since the last time I posted a fanfic, huh? Am I missed? *wink wonk* Guess not
Anyway, I think I might get killed for posting another new story after so many fanfics being abandoned but I just have to write something for this ship. I shipped ChibaHaya back in March and now I'm back again to the ship because I just learned that our Sniper Duo are starting a business together. Holy shit I gotta write something for this, I thought. And after an encouragement by a fellow ChibaHaya shipper (he wrote an Indonesian ChibaHaya fanfic titled Mr & Mrs Sniper Love Story GO CHECK IT OUT IF YOU HAVEN'T), I finally made the decision to write this piece. I think it's gonna be about 5 chapters long but let's just see. Usually I always drag things and then abandon it in the end. Slap me please.
Anyway, have a good read!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANSATSU KYOUSHITSU
Humans—despite being globally proclaimed the most advanced beings on Earth, are far from perfect. In fact, they are so full of imperfections and weaknesses that stray dogs might as well be better beings, life perfection-wise.
In the past, Koro-sensei had onced told all the E Class students that they must wield two blades. The first blade is his/her own natural skill and ability that only required a little tweak left and right to bloom to perfection. However, as perfect as your skill could be, it still has weaknesses—holes that became apparent the more perfect the first blade is. That is the reason why one must have a second blade; to make up for the first blade's weaknesses, burying the holes.
Just like soulmates, magnet, or even simply a water bottle and its cap, first and second blades complement each other and step closer to perfection.
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"Yes."
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A deep, manly voice rang in the dead quiet office. Outside was dark and undeniably cold during mid-autumn that one might simply think it could snow anytime. At this time of the night, outdoor activities ceased as more and more stores closed to finally take their rest after running their business all day.
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"Yes, definitely."
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A long-haired woman stepped closer to the window and peeked through the blinders only to find cars occasionally passing by. It was already really dark, almost the time for the last train. She checked her watch and learned that it was nearly midnight. Not that she minded, really. She could just take a taxi home if it was really the last thing she must do.
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"Thank you very much, Kawasaki-san!"
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At that cheerful tone, Hayami Rinka snapped her fingers away from the blinders and turned to face her old friend, her current boss and employer, Chiba Ryuunosuke. As she trotted to approach the dark-haired man, her low ponytail swayed gracefully with every step.
"How was it?" she asked, albeit knowing roughly what the news would be.
"Kawasaki-san is extremely satisfied with our work! We did it, Hayami!" Chiba exclaimed excitedly as he eagerly got up from his leather seat and finally stretched his all-day tensed body.
Hayami's lips formed into a relieved smile. As much as she didn't show it, she was as nervous as Chiba all day. It was their first finished project and they managed to pull it off in the end. Staying late in the office nearly every day was worth it.
"Hayami," Chiba called and Hayami looked up at the much taller man. He was holding his fist in the air, his lower arm diagonal.
Chuckling, Hayami did the same as they bumped their lower arms like the old days—their kind of fistbump.
"Hayami, let's go to a French restaurant or something to celebrate this. My treat." His bangs hid his eyes well, but his tone couldn't betray his feelings. Hayami could tell that he was really excited.
—too excited to remember that no French restaurant was open late at this hour.
"Let's just go to the usual bar. Just some alcohol would be enough."
"Are you sure though? We could go somewhere more… I don't know, different?"
"Which aren't open at 1 a.m. Alright, how about we go somewhere different this weekend instead?"
"Right. Good idea."
"It's decided, then." Hayami smiled.
Chiba knew that during high school and university, Hayami had developed communication skills in order to chase her dream of being a journalist. During their first reunion after graduating middle school, he was shocked to see how different she approached people. But it was only the beginning. The more time he spent without her, the more surprised he was when he saw her again. It was almost like she became a different person.
Although, she was still unusually expressionless and talk less when there was only the two of them, especially during high school. Come to think of it, his memories of his first year of high school was quite blurry. But he was sure that she was a bit cold to him during those years. He wondered if it was her way of being considerate of his lack of communication skills or if she simply found no topic to talk with him. They started hanging out constantly again when their universities happened to be located close to each others'.
In the end, most of their conversations had always been about work anyway. It had been that way even back in middle school.
"So… how's Nagisa's project going?"
See? He couldn't start a conversation without relating it to work.
"He seems to love the living room. Ah, but he said he wants to change the baby room to be yellow in the end. Because, you know, Koro-sensei."
"Nagisa's always been all about him, huh. He never changed." Chiba chuckled.
"Poor Kayano. She almost had her baby room full of Koro-sensei's expressions but in the end they settled with only the color." Hayami chuckled quietly, holding her hand in front of her mouth in a feminine gesture that made Chiba smile.
The dark-haired man looked at the sky, at the stars and at the much smaller moon. "A lot had happened, huh."
"Yeah."
"All thanks to Koro-sensei, we're able to stand where we are now."
"You're right."
"I wonder if he's watching over us even now."
Hayami laughed softly. There was a slight, slight sadness in her voice. "I can picture that. He's a busybody, after all. I'm sure that even now, he's still occupied with writing another thick-ass manual book for us, saying that we'll absolutely need it."
"And then we'll refuse to bring it because it's just freaking heavy but in the end we'll end up really needing it."
"We'll end up in a trouble and sensei will come to help us."
Chiba sighed. "Good old days."
"You're right." Hayami nodded.
"I wonder how everyone's doing."
Hayami closed her eyes. "I'm sure they're doing fine. And we'll do our best so that we can boast about our life in the next class reunion." And she showed a slightly smug grin.
"You've got that right." Chiba laughed heartily, partly because it's simply funny to hear Hayami talk about boasting because for the love of Koro-sensei, he simply couldn't picture her showing off about anything at all.
The walk was supposed to take about fifteen minutes.
"Oh, we're here."
Distance always felt so short whenever they were talking.
They had arrived to a traditional drink bar. It was a small shop; old and narrow. There were no tables, only the bar and a few bar chairs. And even so, the isle was still to narrow for people to pass leisurely. Lucky for them, nobody was there, which meant they didn't need to squeeze between people.
Before sitting down, Hayami took off her suit and scarf then hung them on the wooden clothes stand, leaving only her white blouse underneath. Meanwhile Chiba tried to not focus on how her bodyline became more obvious now without the suit.
Coming out from the back kitchen, the Master of the shop noticed the two young adults. His skin was wrinkled and full of age spots but his eyes were still shining like a child. He nonchalantly showed the couple a toothy grin one could hardly find at this time of the night.
"Oh, oh, it's the Chiba couple."
"Master, the last time I checked, my last name is still Hayami."
Chiba snorted at her smart retort.
"I can't believe you two are not married yet!" Master threw his arms in the air in childish rage. "What exactly are you two procrastinators waiting for?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows and sticking his lower lip into a pout.
Chiba and Hayami exchanged looks for a few seconds before Hayami took the liberty to answer the old man.
"I'm not sure, maybe we haven't been thinking because we're too hungry. Can we have two glasses of beer and the usual menu?" Hayami finished with a victorious grin. She was standing with a hand on her hip, her head tilted slightly.
Chiba almost couldn't believe it was the same Hayami he knew from middle school. How far had her communication skills developed? It was almost as if she was upgrading steadily like Ritsu. And who could beat Ritsu when it comes to upgrades?
"Blah! How could this old man ever beat the sneaky lady in a conversation?" Master threw his arms into the air for the second time before preparing the order.
"Thank you very much." Hayami smiled and bowed.
"He's not praising you, that's for sure."
"This world is all about what you see, Chiba. Remember that."
"You're lecturing me now?"
"It's a friendly advice." Hayami twirled her index finger in the air. "Isn't it a secretary's job to provide advices?" she asked in rethorically before she chose a seat.
Chiba wordlessly went to sit beside her. Now he missed the old Hayami who didn't talk much. She used to be so obedient and nice and… not tricky.
"Where can I find the old nice Hayami Rinka?" Chiba asked lifelessly.
"She's here, nice as always. Just more open and interactive and outspoken and—"
"Alright, alright, I get it. Enough." Chiba massaged his temple and groaned playfully.
To be honest, it's always nice to talk to her, no matter what her personality is. Unlike other people, Hayami never pressed him for conversations. More often than not, she'd wait patiently until he started a conversation and made sure she didn't pry too deep. What she said was true. She's still the same Hayami who was his shooting partner back in middle school, just more open and interactive and outspoken. It was all the result of her effort in pursuing her dream to be a journalist.
But in the end, he took that dream from her.
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"You just focus on sharpening your first blade. You've always been good at observing the world from behind your bangs anyway. I'll be your second blade."
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Hayami once said that.
That time, he thought it was a golden opportunity. Because, well, the best partner he could ever ask for offered to be his second blade. He couldn't imagine anyone else as his partner especially in building his own company. Hayami had offered her full support in teaching him all he needed to know about starting a business and how to have basic conversations with clients. To be frank, he used to think it would never succeed. Many times he thought about giving up and cutting his bangs so that he could apply to a proper company instead. But in those moments Hayami would tell him this without fail.
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"Yes, you can. I'll cover all the parts you feel unsure about, so just focus on going forward. I'll bury all the holes you leave behind in your trails so never stop or look back. Focus."
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She sounded so cool that he might just fall for her if he was a girl. She sounded almost as charismatic as Kataoka.
"Here's your beer and the usual." Master finally handed out their order.
"Thank you very much for the food." Hayami clapped her hands together and smiled. In response to that, Master twisted his lips in annoyance.
"The two of you really should think about your future already. Work isn't all there is in this world. You need family to support you and that's when your life is really complete." Master started as he leaned into the counter, eyeing the two young adults.
Chiba was about to shoved a plateful of tempura into his mouth when the Master told them that. Not knowing what to answer, he simply looked at the woman beside him.
Seemingly calm, Hayami took a bite out of her lotus root tempura before saying, "Are we going on with this again?"
Not feeling like it was the right time to eat, Chiba chose to savour his beer first.
"We won't stop until I get a proper answer. Even blind people can see you guys are crazy in love with each other!" Master shouted.
In unison, Chiba and Hayami choked.
A few seconds after that was filled with violent coughs from the two young adults.
"Alright, that's enough, old man." Hayami furiously got up from her seat. Feeling her rage, Chiba got up and tried to calm her down.
"Calm down, Hayami."
"I. Am. Calm." Hayami turned her green eyes, that looked ready to kill, at her old friend's direction.
Chiba jumped and sweated. "Right! You totally are!" he squeaked.
Taking this timing, Master asked, "Are you sure you two have never dated before?"
Chiba was about to deny if not because he saw the slight reaction originating from his old friend. She was hesitating. But why? For as long as he could remember, they never dated. Because who would ever forget ever dating anyone?
"…Hayami?"
"I'm going home."
"…huh?"
Before Chiba could ask it was a joke, Hayami hurriedly grabbed her suit and scarf before storming out of the shop. Confused, Chiba turned to face the Master, who responded to him with an equally confused face.
"What did I say wrong?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"Tsk," Chiba clicked his tongue before storming out to chase his old friend. He could see her face just now but she definitely looked like she was in pain. And more than anything, he wanted to know what caused her to react like that.
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Hayami ran and held the fabric close to her pounding chest.
It hurt, just like back then.
In the end, she was just running away from the whole ordeal. Chiba had told her how much in debt he was with her for helping him all this time. But no, it was all simply backed up by her own selfish reasons. Nearly ten years had passed since what happened back then, but she still couldn't let it go.
She had changed; even Chiba admitted that.
Along with her changes, she was supposed to forget about that too. What was so hard?
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"It's not only you who can see through my lies, you know. I can see yours too. So don't lie to me, Hayami."
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Hayami rushed into her apartment room and slammed the door close before locking it. She felt weak. She fell on her knees and pressed her fists on her ears as tears started flowing out, just like back then.
Hayami Rinka was not a crybaby—it was a fact.
Only a few things could prompt her into crying; and it was when she fail people's expectation. She would cry quietly in her room and curse herself for not doing better. And second, it was Chiba Ryuunosuke.
"Hayami?"
There was a knock on the door. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Are you… crying?"
Crap, he heard.
She ignored him. She was in no mood to talk. Furthermore, it would only sound stupid if she talked in her current state. It was a wiser decision to let her crying subside.
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Chiba stood behind the door where he knew Hayami was crying on the other side. What he felt was confusion and also pain. It was painful to hear her cry and he could've sworn it was his first time seeing—listening to his friend in such sorry state and he didn't even know why.
"Is it… my fault?" he decided to ask. He wanted to make sure.
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"I don't want to see you now. Please go home. Please."
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Hayami's crying voice rang in his mind but he couldn't remember when he heard those words. He could remember something vaguely. A school backyard. A door.
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"Even if you no longer feel the same way, I want you to know that I'll always be here. I'll always be here to support you. That's why, keep chasing your dream and please be happy. Because I love you."
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It was an image of a smiling Hayami in her teens. She was trembling slightly and her lips quivered. The image was so nostalgic yet unfamiliar. Why couldn't he remember anything before now?
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"You might think you're expressionless and unreadable. But look, you're not. I can tell you're lying as easily as flipping a card."
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Chiba groaned as his head began to piece together the jumbled up memories.
He didn't know why these memories come in this timing, but he was sure it would tell him why his partner was acting weird just now. As long as he could find out what really happened, he didn't mind accepting the unusually bitter memories.
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And Chiba finally knew what caused so much pain to his most precious partner.
TO BE CONTINUED
I might continue this depending on the reader's interest. I'm fueled by my reader's motivation (and reviews) so yeahh. You'll understand that one would not write unless they feel it's meaningful to do so.
See you next time!