As Expected He Was More Warped Than Most
Studying was important. Through studying one could obtain knowledge that would later be used in life to achieve things... That's what most teachers tended to preach at least. To certain extent that was true. But, what they don't say is that the majority of it isn't going to be useful unless 'one' worked in a specific field that required that specific knowledge. Otherwise it just stays in the brain as junk info. Almost never to be used again. Eventually those information would begin to get buried away deeper within the mind, with only bits and pieces to be remembered whenever 'one' would try really hard to remember them. Yet still the educational system around the world insisted, if not downright forced, institutions to teach children borderline useless things.
Four stacks of books rested on her desk. Towering over the rest of the objects that littered across it, menacingly. Out of four, only two were books related to college subjects. The other two were related to corporate matters that one would need to know in order to run said corporation. Loads of interesting stuff... Okay, that was a lie. The sound of two whirling fans could be heard. One was on the ceiling and the other was inside a relatively rectangular machine many know as a computer. Among the things on the desk that were on the desk alongside the stacks of books was a person. A young woman of twenty years of age. With her head resting on the desk atop her arms which were atop a book which was atop a keyboard, she slept soundly. Her back rose and fell with each inhale and exhale. Her face, though looking 'worse' than she normally did due to her disheveled hair, held a semblance of serenity.
Minutes rolled by. The sun rose in the horizon. It's presence allowed streaks of sunlight to enter her room through the curtains. The streaks of light hit the floor behind her, she slept in relative peace. More minutes rolled by. The clock on the wall hit Six AM.
RingRing*RingRing*
"Gahuh?!" Startled by the sudden sound, Yukinoshita Haruno woke up frightened. "What? Where?" Through blurry vision and addled mind she recognized that sound as the one of an incoming call from her phone. An annoyed groan escaped her lips as she rubbed her forehead with both hands. The abrupt awakening had left her with a massive headache. "What time is it?" she groaned out. There was no one to answer her of course. Which was a good thing because she never had a visitor in her apartment before. Not to her knowledge at least.
The clock mounted on the wall read 6:10 AM. "Another all nighter." She muttered. The recent days had not been kind on her. With the year ending soon and winter on the horizon, it was one test after another in the college she attended. If not a test that would determine a small chunk of her final grade, a small chunk that still demanded hours of grueling studying, then a surprise test from the professors to keep them 'on their guards' for said tests. If each and every actions she made in public didn't affect her family's image then she would... Never mind.
Those thoughts didn't matter. They never had.
The ringing on her cell stopped. She figured she would take a look at it after freshening up. She stretched her arms up. She winced. Her arms came back down, the right palm gently brushes over her shoulder. More specifically, the back side of her left shoulder. The area where she had been stabbed not too long ago. The wound had healed and a scar was all that remained of it. Yet the phantom pain still came and went from time to time. She was no stranger to physical pain though. Having learned martial arts to a certain degree she was more than familiar with it. However, the pain of a knife embedding into flesh was far different from something like overextending a limb. The difference was inexplicable but important nonetheless.
"Well. Since I'm already awake." she muttered with a yawn before standing up and heading for the restroom. If she went back to sleep now, who knows what kind of sleeping habit she would end up picking up.
-Somewhere Else-
Kotomine Hachiman looked at his phone with a raised eyebrow- "Hmm." – before shrugging and putting it back into his pants pocket. He had no special reason to call Haruno this early in the morning. For as long as he could remember he hadn't called anyone without a 'proper' reason behind it. It was always with the intention of asking for something. It had always been like that. Perhaps since the day Orimoto Kaori helped him buy it even. And for that reason his call log still showed calls sent from almost three years ago. Heck, even calls received showed calls from last year. Now that he had friends, with whom he should attempt to talk with as much as possible apparently, he thought he should change that. The result was somewhat disappointing but a little bit expected. After all it was six in the morning. People usually didn't like to wake up this early, not unless they really needed to anyway. In fact, even he was intending to sleep in. But unfortunately it was a weekday and his internal clock simply didn't let him sleep longer than what he was used to so suddenly. And before he knew it, he was wide awake.
So, as per usual, he headed to the kitchen and put on an apron and got started on making breakfast. For him and Hiratsuka who was sleeping in her room. Carrying the woman to her bed last night was no small task. Especially since he was already plenty tired from work. But it had to be done, when she would inevitably wake up and instantly vomit, she would do it in her room. A place he was no longer allowed to enter after she caught him picking up her underwear for laundry. Therefore, she would have to clean it up herself. She wouldn't remember that is was he who took her there because of her unconscious state.
Long story short, Hachiman just didn't want to be the one to clean her half digested muck.
He got a pot. It was big. Big enough for a toddler to hide in it. He put it under the kitchen sink tap and began filling it with water. While the pot was filling up, he turned on the stove. When the pot filled up he put it on one of the burners. With that done, he finally started to prepare breakfast. Several more minutes went by. The sound of tableware clinking and vegetables being chopped could be heard.
"Ngaaaahaaah!" a tired groan reached his ears. And just as he expected: "BLERGHG!" At least this time none of his shirts were ruined. A small smirk appeared on his lips. "Just as planned." He grabbed a zucchini. The door to her room opened. "Mop and Bucket are outside the bathroom."
With her sleep deprived eyes she glared at him with as much ferocity as she could muster. But of course, he remained unfazed. A small perk of being the way he was. Her glare softened. "What time is it?" she asked him.
"Seven twenty in the morning." he lied. His answer made her eyes bulge open wide. Whatever sleep was still in her left out the window in a hurry.
"What?!" she bought his lie without question. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" she ran into the bathroom. Hachiman didn't spare her a single glance. Breakfast required more attention at the moment.
The oil in the pan sizzled, he placed the chopped zuchinni pieces into the oil, leaving it to cook for a bit he pulled out three containers of seasonings from the cupboard to his right.
"Oi." he heard his roommate call to him. He looked towards the direction of the bathroom to see said roommate's head poking out of the door. Her eyes were a little less tired and she had a toothbrush in her mouth. "Thought I'd prepare a bath while I clean that up. The water's cold though. Is the water heater not working or something?" It didn't take a genius to figure out she wanted to bathe in warm water. Not that he could blame her, the pre-winter atmosphere was nothing to scoff at.
"It's not." he replied honestly. "I talked to the landlord while taking out the trash earlier. He called a guy to come and repair it but it's gonna take a while for them to get here." Understandable, it was still six thirty in the morning. A lot of people didn't want to do anything this early.
She groaned. "Great..." he caught onto the sarcasm in her tone.
"Don't worry." he told her. "I have a substitute for you." he lightly tapped the steadily warming pot next to the frying pan.
Her brows furrowed as she eyed the large pot, trying to figure out what he meant. 'He's gonna mix that hot water with the cold one in the tub.' Credit should go where it was due. "...That's... actually pretty smart. A little dangerous though."
"My old apartment didn't have a heater for warm water so I had to improvise." he told her.
She nodded before going back in to finish brushing her teeth. When she came out she had a bucket of water and a mop in her hand. "Gotta finish this quick." she muttered.
-With Haruno-
Yukinoshita Haruno got out of her bathroom. Instead of just splashing her face with water she ended up finishing her entire morning routine. Currently she was wearing only a towel and was sitting in front of her dresser and finished drying her hair. She ran her fingers through her hair once again to check for any lingering moisture.
There were none.
Satisfied with her hair she opened one of the drawers to get cloths to wear.
Now that she was dressed, Haruno picked up her phone and finally checked who the jerk- caller from before was. Her brows rose, more from being surprised than anything else. It was Hachiman that called her. Something he never did before. Even before they had become real... friends...
Even after all those weeks, for Yukinoshita Haruno to call someone a real friend felt too weird. Almost alien even. She dialed his number and headed for the kitchen. There was some leftovers from last night's dinner in the fridge. It was far from the five star meal most common folk would expect someone of her background to eat three times a day. It was a simple egg dish along with pickled vegetables. She'd have to cook new rice though. Re-heated rice just didn't taste as good. She prepped the rice cooker and started the machine for it to do it's work. Her call went through just as she opened the fridge. "Good morning Hachi-kun. You called?" she answered nonchalantly despite her interest in his reasoning behind this sudden call.
"Yes"
"Oh~" opening the fridge she smirked even though he wasn't there to see it. Her hand grasped the plate of Tamagoyaki before she noticed something else just sitting right next to it. "Missing me already?"
"Yes. Something like that. How are you?"
And as always, his blunt method of speaking left much room for misinterpretation. Had she been anyone else, she would have certainly thought it to be a pass at her. She spoke. "The same as I was yesterday. Getting breakfast right now. You?" She grabbed the plate next to the egg dish and pulled it out. It had been lying there for a few days, it would be best if she ate it while it was still edible.
"Cooking Breakfast."
"Ah." she closed the fridge. "When are you going to head out for the Kyoto trip?" Taking off the sheet of plastic from the paper she put the plate in the microwave.
"I'm no... Haruno... I sense a disturbance in the universe."
His sudden shift of tone and choice of words shocked her a little. He sounded like he was speaking of something that held great importantc-
"Someone is reheating mapo without a stove..."
Haruno blinked before looking at her microwave, true to what Hachiman said, someone indeed was reheating 'mapo' in a microwave. And that someone was her. 'How did he?...' She kept silent for a couple of seconds. "Y-you're probably just imagining things.
"Hmm" he sounded uncertain through the phone. "You're right. Everyone that eats mapo knows it doesn't taste the same unless it's heated on a stove. I'll be right back. Need to go to prepare a bath for Shizuka real quick."
*BringBring* she hit a button on the machine to make it stop beeping. A brief sigh escaped her lips. At least he wasn't on the line to hear it. She knew the lecture that would have followed if he realized what she had done would have been a long one. "Close call." Hachiman had given her this last week because she had requested it. When she got wind of her sister fainting in school due to eating something strange, she found herself very interested in what had caused such a thing. Even more so after getting an actual doctor to diagnose Yukino for any illnesses or drugs being used in that food she ate, only to be told that there was nothing in her system resembling such a thing. It intrigued her to no end, what could possibly cause someone to faint from one bite and didn't have any form of drugs or poison in it? The answer was...
"Mapo Tofu, It's a chinese dish."
... the monstrosity that was now in her hands.
In all fairness, she should have known better to underestimate something that could basically 'One Hit KO' a person. Unfortunately the Haruno of that time didn't expect better... Long story short, one moment she was eating and the next moment it was morning, enough said. So the big question was, why did she keep it? And why was she going to eat it again? The answer was simple yet complex at the same time...
Truthfully? She didn't know. Maybe because it was made by Hachiman. Maybe because she felt the 'chinese dish' to be challenging her. Or maybe she just didn't want to waste food. Who's to say? So here she was, placing the plate on the dinner table and going back into the kitchen to check on the rice.
"As I was saying." Hachiman' voice registered in her brain, bringing her out of her thoughts. "I'm not going to the field trip."
"Oh?" Genuinely curious, she asked. "How come?"
"I had already promised to do something else for a senior at work."
"Can't you postpone it?" she asked. "Wouldn't going to the trip be more beneficial for you?"
"It would." he admitted. "However, As I said, I had already promised. We should always keep our promises."
"Ah." a dry chuckle came from her lips. "Of course. I should have expected that." His attempts at emulating normal people behavior had always fascinated her. It was actually the reason she stuck with him for so long, curious to know what he wanted to achieve from it. Had she known back then that she would end up falling for him, maybe she wouldn't have spent all that time with him.
-With Hachiman-
He and Haruno conversed for a several more minutes. His roommate on the other hand, was still taking a bath.
"Hah." he heard Haruno sigh. Despite how cheerful she was at the beginning of their conversation, right now she sounded much more exhausted. "A-Alright, Hachi-kun. I...I need to go now. Need to... Need to think... I'-Ill talk to you later, okay?" Odd, what could she possibly have to do at this hour? Didn't she say she didn't have classes at college before 2 PM today? "Remember. Do not tell anyone about... that. Alright? No one. Not even your friends."
"I won't." he wasn't stupid. The only reason he told her was because she was his friend. And friends told their secrets and burdens, right? He hung up first and put his phone back in his pocket. He looked towards the bathroom from which Hiratsuka had yet to come out of. 'Did she fall asleep in the tub?' She did look rather tired back there.
Breakfast was ready. All that was left to be done was to set up the table. But that didn't take too long. She had yet to exit bathroom. He began to think that letting her bathe in cold water would have been better. He walked towards the bathroom and knocked on the door.
There was no response.
He knocked again, this time harder and spoke. "Did you fall asleep? Breakfast is ready." This time there was a response.
"Gahh!" the sound of someone waking up, startled. Then a pained groan. "I'm awake! I'm awake."
"Hurry up, or you'll be late." The train was supposed to leave at 8:30 or so but she needed to be there by 7:40 with the rest of the school staff in order to do some 'important stuff'. But even then she still had plenty time left, as it was barely 6:50. He just lied so that she would pace herself correctly.
"Yeah yeah. Just a few more minutes." he heard her say. He didn't understand why women took so long bathing. Sure, properly washing hair took time but. 'Spending half an hour to just bathe is just such a waste of time.' Wouldn't be simpler just to cut hair short?
Hachiman and Hiratsuka ate their breakfast. If one were to look closely, one could see that there was a tension in the air between them. The cause of this air was lost to Hachiman.
"I pity your future children." Hiratsuka commented.
"Children?" Hachiman was lost. What did children have to do with anything right now? Least of all his 'future' children.
She sighed, knowing she'd have to explain further to get her point across. "You didn't have to lie to me to wake me up. You have any idea how fast I had to bathe and get dressed?"
Hachiman deadpanned. "And yet it still took you half an hour."
Hiratsuka almost choked on her food, flushing pink in embarrassment. "T-that's not the point here. The point is that you shouldn't have lied to me."
"And risk you waking up late and leaving without breakfast? Not likely." he replied after swallowing. His reply was without doubt. He did not question his action, that much she was certain of. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gotten drunk last night."
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "So you're really not going huh?"
"I cannot. You already know this." he told her.
"Are you really sure you can't?" she pressed harder. She was sure that both Yukinoshita and Yuigahama would miss him. Not to mention she herself would have loved to have someone to keep her company should she manage to sneak off at night for that amazing Kyoto ramen she heard about. She kept quiet for a few moments. "You know, being here by yourself might be dangerous." Hachiman quirked a brow at her. "This apartment is haunted you know... Twenty years ago a couple committed double suicide here."
"Is that supposed to scare me?" there was no hesitation in his voice. "Also you've lived here longer than I have, if the ghosts of those couple could have done something to anyone. They'd have done something by now." he stood up and headed towards the kitchen sink with some empty plates and his rice bowl.
"Geez, I was jokin-"
"Besides, they're not here anymore."
"What?" Hiratsuka blinked at him.
"Nothing." Hachiman didn't look at her when he said that.
She narrowed her eyes at him before shaking her head. "So what're your plans for today?" Finally done with her breakfast, she picked up the remaining plates and went to Hachiman.
"Before work? Same things I do on weekends. Sleep and eat. Maybe wash my bicycle. Haven't done that in a while." Hachiman replied with a shrug. Getting days like this, outside of Summer or Winter vacation was rare for him. And it wasn't like there were an overabundance of part time jobs he could take during the day that required him to work for just a single day. Within his range of 'skills' at least.
"Alright then. In that case, I got an errand for you." The woman began. "Think of it as your punishment for making me panic earlier."
Hachiman opened his lips to protest. But figured that would just be a pointless endeavor. He closed his mouth and nodded. 'Not like I have anything else to do.' Besides, at worst she would just have him-
"I need you to go to the bank and pay this month's bills." Okay, her errand was much worse than he expected it to be.
"The bank?..." Hachiman questioned. The short pause he took afterwards was not missed. "Alright then. Anything else?"
"..." She didn't expect him to say yes. "Come with me to Kyoto?" His deadpanned expression was the reply she got. "Eh, a girl had to try." Almost all the dishes were cleaned.
"Aren't you a little to old to call yourself 'girl'?"
She turned to him slowly. "Be glad that I'm trying to get over my violent habits." Her tone was unsurprisingly cold.
Hachiman, as usual, remained impassive. "Did you pack your bags correctly?"
"Yup." she responded before heading into her room. Hachiman finished up the rest of the dishes by the time she came out with her bags. He followed her to the door to their apartment. "The bills and the money for them are in the envelope I put on the table. Make sure to get it done on time."
"Are you sure you have everything you need." he asked her once again as she put on her shoes.
"Yeah yeah." she stood at full height and grabbed her bags with one hand. He cleaned his wet hands with the apron he had been wearing this entire time.
"Have a safe trip." he watched her open the door and -
"I'll give you a call when we get there." -exit the building.
The door closed and Hachiman turned around. It was almost half passed seven so there was plenty of time before work to go to the bank. Maybe he should go and wash his bicycle? He just had breakfast, so maybe in a bit.
'Hmm.' he wondered. Maybe there's something on TV. Even now, the amount of time he spent watching television was pretty low compared to an average high school student. Then again, compared to the average high school student he didn't really have much free time to watch television. But still, why didn't he watch much television again? He sat down on the couch and picked up the remote.
*Click*
"Aaand here we have a broom that also doubles as-"
'Telemarketing at this hour?' It was just about the time parents would send their children to school. So he supposed without distractions housewives/husbands would be able to watch with undivided attention and make reckless purchases.
*Click*
"It has been a month since the murder on-"
'They are still on that?' At least they were devoted to their work. For that they should be praised at least.
*Click*
"The mantis shrimp can-" Documentaries were one of the best ways waste time. Also one of the best ways to fall asleep. Those were the wise words he had received from Yoshiteru. The term 'wise' might have been a stretch though.
*Click*
"Just add a tablespoon of salt and a sprinkle of powdered pepper-" A cooking show? Hachiman looked at the time. 'Wonder if it airs on weekends...'
*Click*
"But why, Musashi?! My beloved, why did you kill our son?!" an unnecessarily dramatic screech.
'... Yoshiteru has a better shot than I thought.' Now he remembered why he didn't watch much television. None of them really caught his interest. Then again, few things ever did.
*Click*
There was no voice nor music greeting his entry to this channel. On the screen were two men, dressed in black and blue and wearing protective gear all over their bodies, including their heads and faces. The sound of two hardened objects clashing against another repeatedly could be heard. Hachiman raised an eyebrow at the scene
It was a... he had no idea what it was called. It was a western sport, that he was sure of. Much like Kendo in fact, yet very different at the same time. In all fairness, Hachiman wasn't expecting to see a western sport being aired on Japanese television. He stayed on the channel a little longer, more out of curiosity than anything else.
Two men, both dressed in white, wielding thin rapier like blades charged at each other.
*Whistle* *Ting* *Ting* *Thoohk* *Cheering and Applause*
One of the combatants scored a point. At least that's what it looked like. The two 'reset' their positions and assumed the very same stance from before their previous bout. "Odd." Hachiman considered that stance be more awkward than anything else. He was no expert in swordplay but to him that stance left many holes in their guards. Had those blades been meant to cut or kill and had they not been wearing protective gear then there would have been blood pooling beneath their feet already. 'Very different from Kendo.' The man in Hachiman' left shifted his stance a little. Just about enough for a larger opening to be exposed. 'Looks like he's losing the next bout.
*Whistle* *Ting* *Swiiing* *Thoohk* *Cheers* *Applause*
'What?' Hachiman' eyes widened. He was wrong. The man who had left a bigger opening in his guard was the one to score a point. 'Was that... intentional?' A bait and switch tactic? An intentional opening in the guard for the enemy to attack and exploit. Only to have that attack get parried and viciously countered. '... Cunning.' He stayed on the channel a tad bit longer.
'Fencing' was what the sport was called. Hachiman ended up watching the entire match. It was surprisingly short.
He checked the clock. 'Just 15 minutes?' That was short. He knew some games tended to last for hours. Nothing else in the match had got his curiosity. But that 'Bait and Switch' tactic was employed multiple times, by both combatants. Hachiman was initially surprised but he understood. As underhanded as it appeared, it was a useful trick to use in a fight. Who's to say it wasn't uncommon to use in fencing? In Kendo though, such a tactic would be looked down upon greatly.
"Hmm." Currently it was eight AM. Might as well go clean that bicycle of his.
He grabbed a bucket and a washcloth. Before exiting the apartment room he checked his pants for the keys. It was there.
"Ara? Good morning Kotomine-kun." a womanly voice called out.
Kotomine Hachiman turned his head just as the door to his apartment locked with a click. And slightly bowed with his head. "Good morning Komi-san." Unlike his previous apartment where his neighbors didn't interact with him, here things were the complete opposite. Komi Shuuko was a very beautiful woman in her early to mid twenties. Her beauty put the likes of all the Yukinoshita women to shame. A woman like her would be exactly his 'type' as one could put it. If not for-
"Are you taking a day off from work? You should have told me sooner. I'm sure Masayoshi-kun would have been able to get a day off and the two of you could have bonded over-"
'That...' a part of him wanted to see how long she could keep this up and another told him that it would go on forever if he let it, unfortunately he had things to do today. "Komi-san. You shouldn't be standing for so long or else it might hurt the baby." he glanced at the visible lump in her stomach.
"That won't hurt either of us Kotomine-kun. We're stronger than I look." she winked at him. Despite her appearance she acted a lot like a teenager. "Is Shizuka-chan home? I was wondering if I could get her advice on something."
"You just missed her." He shook his head. Even if she was home, he would lie about it. Because Hiratsuka Shizuka was not a fan of Komi Shuuko. Simply because Komi Shuuko was three things Hiratsuka Shizuka wasn't but desperately wanted to be. Younger, Married and soon to be a mother. "She'll be back in a couple of days though. If you want, I can send her a message for you."
"Oh, that's too bad. It's important so I'd prefer to talk to her about it personally, Kotomine-kun." she declined.
"As you wish." he nodded. "At least let me take that off your hands. You shouldn't strain yourself if you don't need to." He looked at the trash bag in her hands. He had already taken out his own earlier.
"Can't say no if you insist like that Kotomine-kun. Thank you." The woman handed him the plastic bag of waste. "You said Shizuka-chan won't be back for a couple of days right? Would you like to have dinner with us tonight?"
"I'm afraid I have to decline I already agreed to have dinner with a Senpai from work tonight. Thank you for offering though." Hachiman had to decline.
"Maybe some other time then." disappointed but not deterred, the older woman returned to her apartment room.
Why she was so insistent on having him and her husband to 'bond', Hachiman may never know. Shaking his head silently he turned around and headed for the stairs. He got rid of the trash bag first of course. The knot it had on it took care of the smell but that didn't mean he wanted to keep holding on it. On his way to the spot he parked his bicycle Hachiman passed his new landlord and another man. The second man was carrying a toolbox. He didn't stop to talk to neither of them. Right now his only job was to wash his bicycle and then going to the bank.
The bicycle rack was within visual range. He got closer.
"Nyaaa."
He paused. That sound. He recognized it. Looking closer at the bicycle rack, his normally stoic expression changed to one of cautiousness. There, sitting right under his bicycle... was a cat.
His eyes narrowed. 'Not good.' He was hoping this thing to have left by the time he got here. This particular cat tended to come to the bicycle rack of this apartment complex to sleep every now and then. The residents of this apartment complex even fed it from time to time. It was moderately sized for a cat. And the last time he had crossed it, Hachiman gotten a glimpse of it's groin. It was male. Now under normal circumstances such a thing wouldn't be a bother...
Leaving the bucket and washcloth on the ground he edged closer to the rack. Using skills obtained from years of repetition. And his key. He silently unlocked his bicycle from the rack.
The lock opened without making any noises, allowing Hachiman to take it and then lock it on the bicycle's body. He internally sighed in relief, the hard part was done. The cat was still asleep. It's torso rising and falling along with each breath taken. Using both hands, he lifted his ride off the ground and slowly moved away from the cat. He placed it down next to the bucket and washcloth to catch a quick breather. He would have simply pulled it away from the Cat's hearing range but the pedals and the chain would make enough noise to wake it. Preparing himself to once again pick it up, Hachiman froze.
"Pss. Pss. Pss. Pss."
Hachiman was not a superstitious person. But at that moment, he was sure that if Luck was a skill then he would have had the lowest rank imaginable.
"Nyaaaaaaaa!" a feral hiss that suited a larger feline more than a small cat came from behind him. He turned around just in time to see the cat, awake and glaring at him with intensity beyond comprehension. He didn't back down, knowing such an action would only make it give chase. The can lowered its stance. Hachiman' eyes widened for a brief moment. It leaped up just as Hachiman began moving his torso.
It's target was his face, but Hachiman had already moved. His change in position made the cat completely miss. But Hachiman wasn't done yet. Before the animal could land Hachiman grabbed it by the back of it's neck.
"Khssss!" it hissed at him, reaching for his face but failing to do so because of him keeping it away.
Hachiman looked at the landlord, the one who had awoken it, then back at the cat.
"Lucky you." He muttered. Once again, due to having people around, Hachiman couldn't employ a more permanent solution to this reoccurring problem of his.
"Now now. Play nice Kotomine-kun." the landlord chided.
Hachiman stared at the man with his blank expression. 'Did he not just see this thing try at my life?' He wasn't mad nor upset, just a little confused. Why was he the one scolded for the cat's actions?
"Sorry." he apologized nonetheless. He handed the angry feline over to the man. But right after that his legs wobbled and his torso followed suite. He grabbed the side of his head, allowing the headache to pass.
"It's odd." the man commented, he pat the cat and earned a satisfied purr. "He's usually so sweet around people. He just gets mad every time he sees you."
Once again, it was he who was the problem. "That's alright." He said. "Domestic animals are usually weary around me." It was an unfortunate bit of information that he learned a long time ago. It was why he steered clear of non contained animals whenever he could. "Although, this one seems to be more vicious than most of the ones I've encountered so far."
"Ah." the man sighed, petting the cat in his arms. "Probably the season or something... You're going to wash that?" the man looked at Hachiman' bicycle. Hachiman nodded. "Well if you need more water there's a tap right around that corner. I'll go and get the hose for you."
"Thank you, sir"
Hachiman rode through the streets on his fleshly washed bicycle. The envelope with the bills and money were in the inner pocket of his shirt. It's presence being constantly reminded to him every time the envelope brushed against his chest. The day was still young, only Ten in the morning. He should have plenty of time left before the bank employees left for lunch. He was in no rush. Hiratsuka had yet to call him, then again the a trip to Kyoto from Chiba took almost four hours, even by train so that was to be expected.
"Hmm." he thought for a little bit. Paying the bills shouldn't take long. He should be able to get back home before one PM. Giving him roughly a little over two hours to do whatever he wanted before needing to go to work. Playing a video game was an option. But an afternoon nap was also an option. But today was a weekday and he normally didn't sleep on weekdays.
The bank was within visual distance, he stopped pedaling and squeezed lightly on the breaks.
It took a few minutes to find a space to park his bicycle. 'If only this would take just as long'
-One hour later-
Kotomine Hachiman exited the building. Pleasantly surprised that the little errand he was doing on behalf of his roommate only took half as long as he had expected it to.
Maybe he would get to have that nap after all.
His phone rang at that moment, he pulled it out and checked the ID. It was from Hiratsuka. He accepted the call and pressed the device against his ear. "Hello."
"Yo." As far as greetings went, that wasn't exactly 'good'. "We just got here. How're things on your end?"
"Just finished paying the bills." he replied while walking to the direction he parked his bicycle. "Outside the bank right now."
"That was fast." she commented. "So... anything happen while I was away?"
"Hmm. I was almost killed today."
"Wait, what?!"
"I keep telling you that we should put that thing down." he told her that once and he would do so as many times as he needed to.
"... You're talking about the cat aren't you?" she sounded like she was about to laugh. "Sure. We'll see. If that's all then I'm hanging up."
"One more thing." he mentioned. "Komi-san said she wanted to talk to you about something. Didn't tell me what, just that it's important."
"... A-ahuh." she didn't sound too thrilled. Truly, the jealousy of a woman had it's own brand of intensity... Or maybe that was just a normal person thing. Hachiman just found it petty. He was jealous of many as well, but he didn't see it necessary to go and blame others for what he lacked. "Tell her I'll talk to her when I get back then."
"Alright." he hung up first.
-Later-
In all fairness-
*Clink*
- when he first-
*clink Clink*
-realized that he had more free time today-
*Clink Clink*
-he didn't think he'd end up cutting his nails to pass some of that time. But he did suppose that today was as a good a day as any to cut them. Though, had he noticed his nails had gotten so long he'd have cut them before a bath. 'Couldn't be helped.' Cutting nails simply felt so insignificant that he just tended to forget about it most of the times. Like cleaning earwax. When he got home from the bank, he went straight to bed for a nap. By the time he woke up it was already noon. So he decided to eat lunch and do this. He didn't get to play any games unfortunately. But he was alright with that. Those RPGames required more than an hour a session to actually get anything done. It was cruel actually. How was he supposed to properly enjoy a game if he couldn't even play it long enough to make a decent amount of progress?
"..." Hachiman checked his nails. He wasn't hung up on it though. For that was just how things were. Not much he could do about it now could he? He checked the time. He still had some time but it wasn't enough to do anything meaningful. 'Might as well get going."
He hit the roads on his bicycle once more, this time for a different reason. Well, nothing out of the ordinary though. The pedals, being pushed by his feet, fueled his momentum. There was no rush. If he wanted, he could even take a detour, as long as it didn't take too long of course.
"...?" he was confused, though he did entertain the thought of taking a detour, he didn't take one. Then- "How did I end up here?" the road felt vaguely familiar even though he couldn't remember when he was last here. But he wasn't too concerned. The streets of Chiba weren't that hard to navigate through and even then there were plenty of people around to ask directions from. So all he needed to do was to keep going until he came across another per-
He squeezed the breaks. Hard.
Kotomine Hachiman' brain stopped working for several seconds. And when it did, he looked back. He understood why this neighborhood felt familiar now. He had come here once before. With a certain younger girl whose smiles were nice.
"..." his brain stopped working again. His body moved on it's own as he got down from his ride and slowly walked towards the front gates of a certain two storey building. Upon standing outside the outer gates, his brain started working again. He looked at the house with a blank expression for several minutes. The building still gave him that same feeling it did months ago. His heart pounded in his chest. His mind screamed at him to leave.
'He said she was sick.' Hachiman thought back to Kawasaki Taishi' words from yesterday. 'Checking up on her is the right thing to do... correct?' He parked his bicycle and walked up to the outer gates. Hesitantly his right arm rose up to the doorbell. His fingers touched the smooth surface of the button. Yet he couldn't muster up the courage to actually push it. Seconds rolled by when suddenly-
"..?!" his keen ears let him listen to the sound coming from inside the house. He quickly turned around and got on his bicycle. By the time he started pedaling, a woman wearing glasses and sporting a bob cut hair opened the door. And by the time she was outside, no one was there to be seen.
-With Hachiman-
His arrival at work was as uneventful as usual. He went to the locker room to changed and came out a few minutes later.
"You're a little early." that was Tobe Kyo. Tobe Kakeru' father. "I wasn't expecting to see you today at all actually."
"I've ran out of sick days this year.." Hachiman answered. "You need me to do anything?"
"Uh yeah. Could you-"
The hours went by as Hachiman continued working. His face didn't show it but his mind was somewhere else. 'What happened back there?' he asked himself for the thirty seventh time today. Why did he go to that neighborhood? Why did he hesitate to ring that doorbell? And...
'Why did I run away?'
"Something on your mind, kid?"
Placing the box of tiles on a shelf for later shipment, Hachiman turned around to come face to face with Takeshi.
The man eyed Hachiman in concern. "You got that look on your face again."
"Look? Again? I don't understand." now he was just confused.
"You've been randomly spacing out these past few weeks." the older man explained. "Started since... August? Or Was it September? Meh, something like that."
Hachiman blinked. "I see. I'm terribly sorry. It won't happen again."
"Don't worry about it. Happens to all of us some time or another. Going back to my previous question. Something on your mind today?"
"... Yes." Hachiman averted his eyes from the man.
"Well? Let's hear it. Not sure if I can actually help but getting a second opinion never hurts." Hachiman never had a reason to distrust the tanned man. So he told the man his latest conundrum. The man listened just as he said he would.
"So you can't figure out why you ran away right?" Takeshi questioned to which Hachiman nodded. "I'll be honest with you, kid... I got nothing." To Takeshi' surprise Hachiman actually looked like he was dejected. "You're certain of don't have a crush on this girl right? But you like it when she smiles?" Hachiman wasn't sure if 'like' was the proper term to be used but still nodded. Her smiles were nice, that he would never deny. "As far as I can guess. You were too nervous to go inside. And panicked when someone was coming out. But that's about it."
Hachiman frowned slightly. Guessing wasn't something he preferred to rely on. But it was the only explanation he had at the moment.
"Sorry I couldn't be much help." Takeshi scratched the back of his neck, chuckling nervously. "And after that cool line I said about second opinions and all that."
"Thank you for trying, sir." it was more than most did for him. For that he was grateful.
"By the way, Satoshi's been looking for you. You should go see what it's about."
"I will."
-After work-
It had been months since Kotomine Hachiman made the discovery that changed his life forever. His life changed so much because of it that now he couldn't even imagine how thing would have been if he didn't now. A discovery so grand that he would sometimes berate himself for taking so long to have discovered. Yet somehow he knew that if it were t disappear from his life he wouldn't be upset over it.
*TingTingT-T-T* The sound of steel falling on steel filled the air. He reached inside and pulled out the what he had discovered months ago and had formed a mild addiction to since then.
"Why do I feel like you're needlessly making this dramatic?"
Hachiman turned around and stared at Satoshi. "I am?"
Satoshi deadpanned, "You were staring at that vending machine for a full minute there. And the way you're looking at that can is giving me flashbacks of Takeshi' sorry attempts at flirting back when we were teenagers. Trust me, they were weird."
The two males were walking on the sidewalk, with Hachiman pulling his bike along with his hands till he noticed a vending machine. When they were close enough to it Hachiman requested his senior to wait a couple of minutes while he got a can of MAX
"Ah. Sorry." Hachiman apologized. "I am..." he paused to find the correct world quite fond of this drink."
The slight pause made Satoshi raise a brow. "What is it anyway? Must be a heck of a drink if you of all people are 'fond' of it."
"It's MAXX COFFEE." Hachiman gave the unopened drink to Satoshi for him to examine it. They resumed their walk to Satoshi' home.
Psssht* Satoshi opened the drink and took a sip. Hachiman' brows twitched a bit at seeing his MAX being drunk by someone else. But whatever complaints he had were gone when Satoshi eyed the can with a with a look of disgust.
"How do you stomach this thing? It tastes like a bucket full of sugar crammed in with carbonated water." Satoshi handed the MAX COFFEE can to it's rightful owner.
"I am quite fond of the taste." Hachiman said, accepting the canned drink and taking a large sip from it.
"Bleh." Satoshi shuddered. "How many of these do you drink?"
"Two."
"A week right?"
"..."
"...A week... right?"
"... A day."
"How the heck aren't you fat yet?!" Satoshi exclaimed. "Moreover, why am I 'training' you when you're just gonna load up on fat like an Bear prepping for hibernation everyday?!"
Hachiman felt like the situation was being blown out of proportion. Was there a reason why everyone around him were like that? "I don't see the problem. I haven't gained any weight since I started drinking it."
"Of course not you're young. You've got a faster metabolism and you basically slave away 15 hours almost everyday." Satoshi groaned. "I should have looked into your eating habits first. Listen, if you keep drinking this everyday then you'll end up like a Sumo Wrestler by the time you hit Forty. "
Wait, did that mean? "Does... Does this mean I can't drink this anymore?" His entire world shook as if it was hit by an earthquake of level eight magnitude.
The older man was taken aback by the sheer emotion behind Hachiman' emotionless question. How did that even work?! He almost looked like he was depressed even. "W-Well not completely. Maybe to two-three a week instead of a day, alright?"
Hachiman still looked like he was about to give up on life.
"Oh look, we're almost at my place." Satoshi quickly changed the subject and pushed Hachiman forward a little.
Hachiman sighed, the thought of having to forsake his 'love' for MAX COFFEE so Komachi and his friends wouldn't have to feel bad for him in case he ever got hurt again was a surprisingly hard decision to make. He was doing the extra effort to actually learn to become more powerful yet if he was stunting his own progress then what was the point? It was either Komachi or MAX COFFEE. He needed to make a choice. 'This is going to keep me up at night for a while, isn't it?' As if he didn't have enough on his mind already with the Hikigaya residence and everything.
"Alrighty, this is it." stated Satoshi after stopping in front of a house. It wasn't anything amazing. Single floored building. Had a small backyard as well. The place even held an aura of simplicity to it. The cool night breeze reminded Hachiman that winter was closing in on them while Satoshi fished out the keys to his home from his pocket and inserted a key to the lock.
"I'm home." Satoshi announced loudly before entering. "Come in with your ride. Can't have it getting stolen again."
"Dear, you're home early!" a womanly voice came from inside followed by the sound of footsteps.
"Sorry for intruding." Hachiman said, entering right after his senior. Satoshi closed the door just as Hachiman' bicycle was inside and headed in to take off his shoes. Hachiman however didn't follow, instead he reached inside the pocket of the jacket he was wearing, it was bought with some other clothes with Komachi during summer vacation, and grabbed the box of chocolates he had brought. It wasn't much but common courtesy wise it should have been enough.
The sound of footsteps got louder till they stopped. "You even brought your fri-... Hikigaya-san is that you?"
His hands stopped moving in the middle of pulling out the box of chocolates as he froze. The very next second he unfroze, his eyes widened and his head slowly moved towards the honey blond haired woman that had called him 'Hikigaya' instead of 'Kotomine'.
His problem of choosing between MAX and Komachi seemed a lot more easier now.
-Chapter End-
This chapter was entirely written on the fanfiction app on my phone due to my new schedule of working 81 hours a week. Frankly as disappointing as this chapter is I'm just glad I managed to write something.
Ah, can't believe it's been an entire year since I started writing this. Can't believe I thought I'd be done with this months ago and moved on to something(a potential sequel, one that would have been in the crossover section with nasuverse characters getting actual, meaningful dialogues rather than a cameo here and there). So here you go, Hachiman finally got an honest to goodness lead towards his true identity. Disappointing? Yes. Was there a better way to do it? Probably, I just wasn't smart enough to figure it out. The Shuuko Komi is from "Komo-san can't communicate". She's the mother of the Main heroine. Honestly I have no idea why I added her and her husband in here. Kinda thought it'd be funny at the moment. Didn't turn out as well as I had imagined it.
P.S: I can't believe not a single one of you commented on how my Hachiman murdered "Yahallo" last chapter. I know this isn't a Yuigahama fanfic and her 'supporters' are few but still, kinda makes me feel sad for her.
Bonus Scene(Title: Mortal Enemies)
Hachiman stared at it. It stared back at him. Their gazes were unwavering. Seconds rolled by but neither backed down even an inch. It blinked.
"Hmmp." he held back a smirk. It took offense to that and jumped at him. He was caught off guard by its sudden action.
A whirlwind of Tiny claws swiped at him. Most of the swipes landed on his clothes so he remained relatively unharmed, though the same couldn't be said for his clothes. He grabbed it by its neck. It's grip tightened on his clothes. But that didn't seem to bother him as he simply pulled harder. His shirt was torn a little but that was a sacrifice he had to make.
"Hssss!" the cat hissed, trying to reach him even though such a thing was no longer possible.
He eyed it with his emotionless expression. The cat hissed even louder.
'Animals don't particularly like me.' he thought to himself. That was not new. 'But this thing just downright loathes me.' Did he wrong this thing somehow? He couldn't remember anything might have been the cause for this reaction. The fury of this furry creature seemed to know no bounds.
He looked around for a place to put it. A place it couldn't reach him from. Nothing came to view. Except a wall.
He threw the beast to the other side, hoping that with him no longer in it's visual range it would calm down and leave.
"What's going on here?" that was his new landlord.
"Oh Nothi-"
"Nyaaaaaaaa."
It didn't leave, did it?
Omake(Sort of?)(Title: Playdate)
He sat across the older man. Both stared at each other without blinking. It was weird to him honestly, this man was a lot like him as far as outer expressions went. But he couldn't tell if the man's stoicism was born from a lack of passion in everything or just because he was serious. Komi Masayoshi was an odd man. One that Kotomine Hachiman found himself respecting despite knowing absolutely nothing about him.
"He's going to win." he heard his roommate mutter from the kitchen of their neighbors apartment room. It wasn't much different from their own.
"Nonono. My Masayoshi is an expert at this. Trust me, he'll win." The dutiful wife of Komi Masayoshi stated with pride.
"Oh nonono. You haven't seen my Hachiman in action yet." Where the 'my' came from in that sentence he did not know. Seconds went by,
Masayoshi blinked.
"Hah! Told ya." his roommate was smug about something she had no right to be. Actually, was this even something even worth being smug about?
"It's a pleasure to meet you Kotomine-san." Masayoshi offered a hand for him to shake-
-which he accepted. "Likewise Komi-san."
"See, I told you this playdate was a good idea for them." the married woman appeared to be proud of herself. Her comment made both made turn to her. But neither said anything.
Bonus Scene 2(Warning: Contains 'magic' sort of. Title: Curiosity kills Cat, Cat kills Fish, Fish kills-?)
"So what have you been up to lately? Anything new? Anything interesting?" She asked.
"Interesting how exactly?"
"You know. Like things you saw. Things you did. It's been pretty boring for me lately. Just studying for something or another." she explained, her rice was close to being done.
"I see... I suppose I did do something new recently. Or maybe it's not recent since it's been a few weeks. So you might not want to know."
"Did you tell me about it yet?" her curiosity rose.
"No."
"Then I want to know." Her curiosity was still there.
"I killed three people."
She blinked, her curiosity died. "W-What?" She must have misheard.
"I killed three people."
No. She didn't mishear. Her eyes widened as her legs felt like they were carrying a different burden. It was hard to think straight. *BeepBeepBeep* Her rice was done cooking. But his words kept repeating in her thoughts. 'Three men? A few weeks ago?' It couldn't have been, right?...
"Hello? Are you there? There's something beeping."
"Y-Yea." She hit a button on the rice cooker even though her appetite was rapidly fading. "Just a sec." She went back to her dining table and sat down. She took a deep breath. "Why did you kill those people?" Years of practice allowed her to speak with an even voice even though her thoughts were far from calm.
"They were planning to hurt me. If I got hurt you three would be sad. I couldn't let that happen." he explained as if it was a matter of course. There was no doubt in his voice. "It's only logical for me to prevent that the best way I was able to at the time." Not even a lick of hesitation. His choice of wording left her believing that he might have taken a different method if he had it but still regretted nothing. Her elbows landed on her desk softly, one arm holding her cell while the other hid her terrified expression from view. Her hair help in her other arm.
"Ahahaha." her laugh couldn't be any drier. "You really are... A true monster of logic aren't you..." That was not a question. But a statement. 'It's too early but I wonder if I have any beer left.'
"I should take that as a compliment?" his tone shifted to confusion.
'No... You really shouldn't. Not in this case.' Perhaps in a world where murder was not an option. A world where romance and petty grudges mattered more than common sense. But not here.