Author's note: Reposting this more for my own sake than anything. Call it a record of my work, if you will. Might update past what I've already written, might not.

Chapter 1: Own Free Will

Perspective is an amazing thing. You'd be surprised how the actual external circumstances of many lives are not so different from each other. A simple change in point of view, a different way of looking at those same circumstances, that's all it takes to change everything.

Now you're probably wondering why I'm mentioning that. Well, perspective played a big role in my choice to apply to Soubu High. From my point of view, it seemed like the perfect place to study. And no, it wasn't because I was a high achieving student (I'm average at most subjects, awful at math, and decent at Japanese and history). No, the fact was, school was boring.

There were really no two ways to put it. School in general was mind-bogglingly slow, repetitive, uninteresting, and just plain annoying. A lot of things were responsible for this. The curriculum, the way it was taught, etc etc. But aside from all that, school meant being forced to share the same space with a bunch of other kids for six to eight hours every day.

Now, I cannot emphasize this strongly enough.

Teenagers in general, are as basic an organism as any in existence. Heck, I'm sure some of the older readers among you are probably thinking I'm pretty basic too. And you're right.

We tend to think we're the only ones who exist; that our problems are on some kind of grand, planet wide scale. Most obnoxious of all, there are actually those of us who believe the world owes us its attention.

I think you understand what I'm getting at here.

If I was going to school, I'd be trapped in there with a bunch of assholes for six hours everyday.

I might as well make sure the assholes were at least smart and cultured. Being in a so-called reputable school didn't guarantee either, but a slight chance was better than none.

And so I applied to Soubu, and made it in.

Would you believe it, I saw a tragedy in the making on my way there. Very first day, I'm cycling to school. I'm a little early, you see. Getting there early means I can relax and read some good old Boku no Hero Academia while enjoying the morning breeze. Anyway, so I'm on my way there, and I see this girl.

Now I know what you're thinking.

But I honestly wasn't staring because she was cute. No, really.

Actually, she was out walking her dog. Energetic little guy. Now, the thing about walking an energetic dog on a public street, is that it's a good idea to keep a tight hold on the leash. I'm not a big fan of leashes, but if they keep a dog from getting run over, then it's a good idea to use them. Now, this girl was holding a leash all right. But not very tight. And she was texting while walking.

You already know what's next.

I certainly did.

This kind of carelessness just wasn't cool.

"Oi, Strawberry! Get it together! Your leash is slipping."

This I shouted out to her.

She was pretty startled by my voice, but tightened her grip on instinct. It was fortunate that she did. As she tried to wrap her fingers around it, it began to slip. In desperation, she ended up dropping her phone in order to grab it with her other hand as well. And in doing so, she was able to regain control and rein in her dog… just as a black sedan zoomed by, passing right through the space the afore-mentioned dog had occupied just a moment ago.

"Waaaaaaaaa!"

The girl screamed out loud in shock. Thankfully, she held on though, preventing the likewise surprised dog from running away wildly. The sedan came to a halt a short distance away, the wheels making a slight screeching sound on the gravel as the brakes were hit. A front door and a back door opened almost at the same time, and an individual came running out of each.

One of them was obviously the chauffeur, recognizable immediately by his uniform, while the other was a young girl who looked around my age, and was dressed in the garb meant for Soubu High's female students.

They came right up to the strawberry-haired master of the would-be victim dog.

"Are you all right?" asked the sedan's passenger. She had long black hair, and moved rather gracefully. She sounded quite agitated as well. "I'm sorry. Your dog moved forward quite suddenly, so Suzuki san wasn't able to brake on time."

"Ah, no, no," replied the other. "It was my fault. I should have been more careful. In fact, things would have gone horribly wrong just now if it hadn't been for-"

She turned around, presumably looking for me, to point out I had warned her barely in time. But I had started moving as soon as the sedan had passed the dog harmlessly, so I was already several yards away, and neither of the two girls could see me.

Good.

One of my rules to having a fun life: if you want to avoid an uncomfortable situation, just walk away. You save yourselves many minutes of valuable time which can be spent reading manga or playing games.

Come to think of it, I never really got a proper look at either of those girls.

All I knew was that one of them had strawberry-blonde hair, and the other's was raven black. I also caught some of their speech and inflections, but I wasn't really paying any attention to that.

Oh yeah. I'm supposed to make meaningful observations about life.

I guess what I learnt from that little encounter was that you wouldn't always be recognized or remembered for your efforts to help others. In fact, there were times when you didn't want to be recognized or remembered.

But anyway, I don't want to get too caught up in flash backs.

Belated summary: I managed to get into Soubu High, somewhat averted an accident on the way to my first day at school. Following this, I did exactly what I wanted, which was to study enough that my grades stayed decent, while using every moment of free time I could to do the things that I wanted to. Of course, none of these things involved getting to know or spend time with anyone else.

Thus, the class pretty much ignored me, and I very much ignored them in return.

A year passed by, mostly uneventfully.

Mostly.

There were a few minor incidents here and there, but nothing worth mentioning. At least not yet. See, reader, that's called a narrative trick. This way, I get to introduce a "new" character, who has history with me, and then we can build a storyline off of that history. Sort of like I did with those two girls and the dog and the sedan.

But returning to what I was saying, things really started to get interesting in my second year of high school.

So you remember that teacher I told you about? The one who tried punching me in the gut (lol)?

Yeah, so the day after that failed attempt to discipline me, my essay was returned to me, with a big red "A" on the top right corner of the first page.

"Naicu, naicu, verry naicu, Shizuka chan", I whispered, so that I wouldn't be overheard.

God, I love it when I can make a reference no one saw coming.

The class went by pretty normally, but at the end of it, Hiratsuka Shizuka told me to come see her after the other classes were done.

I sighed and nodded. The rest of the time passed with me taking notes where necessary, and drawing fanart the rest of the time. Of course, being a true man of culture, the appropriate amount of thicc was present in all my art. Dare I say it, our lady and saviour Bayonetta looked pretty good when I made her.

I looked at the rendering of her, and at this point, a genius, galaxy brain level thought occurred to me.

Come to think of it. That Sensei is kind of hot too. Let's see: tall, curvy, long dark hair, likes punching things. Yep. She's an Umbra Witch. This is now my headcanon, and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise.

But wait, hold on. I'm supposed to go see her later today.

Hmm. Maybe this essay wasn't a total waste of time after all.

Quickly enough, the time passed, and I found myself making my way over to the staff room. Inside, I found her waiting for me.

Now, I'll be clear. I'm aware of the difference between being called for a disciplinary hearing, and being called to be "disciplined".

But, I also think one should take every chance life gives one to act like one is on stage.

So, I put on my best swag walk, knowing the only audience that found it entertaining was myself.

"You asked to see me, Sensei."

"Hikigaya. Do you know how long I've been a teacher?"

It sounded like a serious question.

That leads me to hedonist tip #3: it's cool to entertain yourself, but don't do it at the expense of someone who's being sincere.

I looked at her. Sensei was quite youthful, and got along well with almost everyone.

"Not for very long, I imagine. You're far too young to have been doing this for more than three years."

Right away, I got the feeling I said something I shouldn't have.

Sensei was blushing profusely and stuttering as she tried to speak.

"W-w-w-what do you mean by t-that? I'm still older than you, Hikigaya! In all my years as a teacher, I've never been this humiliated!"

That surprised me.

I mean, considering her rather unorthodox method of trying to get me to fix the essay, I'd thought she wouldn't have any problems with how I dealt with the situation.

"I wasn't trying to insult you or anything. I just didn't want to redo that essay. Or get punched. But mostly redo that essay."

"That's not what I'm talking about! Although that was a problem too. You can't blackmail a teacher, Hikigaya."

"But that teacher tried to punch me. With proper Karate technique. You know how lucky you are it was me back then? You could've hurt someone pretty bad."

"...!"

Her eyes widened as she glared in silent anger and guilt. She knew what I was saying was true. She still wasn't happy about it.

Surprisingly, I couldn't be mad at her. Despite her attempt to kinda sorta force me into something, she didn't really come across as malicious.

If anything, she felt like she was genuinely trying to help me.

"Why did you call me here, Sensei?"

She was massaging her temples slightly as she replied.

"The way you think… you're not stupid, Hikigaya. Your grades tell me that much, though honestly your math needs a lot of work. But overall, nothing wrong at all. You're decent at everything else too. Still, it's like you're not really trying. Like you're not taking anything or anyone here seriously. And then you go writing an essay where you basically proclaim that the most important thing in life for you is having fun. That everything else is secondary. That's…. not a healthy way to think, Hikigaya."

"And why's that?"

"Because people have responsibilities! You can't just do the things you want. Sometimes, you have to do things you don't like."

"Nope."

She blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Nope," I repeated. "I don't have to do anything. People are free, and don't need to do anything they don't want to. That's called being a slave. I like not depressing myself over grades I might never have. And I like not forcing myself to be part of clubs I find boring. That's just how I am. It's not going to change."e, Sensei."

I noticed that my mention of not going to clubs I didn't want to caused her to jump slightly.

Aha. Bingo.

"Sensei… you wouldn't happen to have been planning to recruit me to some unusual club, would you? This isn't a manga, you know."

"Hrrk!"

Critical hit, it seems.

I sighed.

"And here I was working myself up to take a scolding."

"At least let me tell you what the club is!" exclaimed Sensei.

Despite having been completely taken out of the track she expected this conversation to take, she was valiantly still trying to make her point. And on top of all that, that strange sincerity had not gone away.

I liked that.

There is something oddly endearing about a genuine desire to help others.

"All right, fine. I'll hear you out, Sensei. Tell me about your club."

She looked at me, appearing to be surprised that I was at least willing to learn about this.

"It's called the Service Club," she said. "Its goal is to help all those who come to it with their problems. Specifically, it exists so that students who are facing difficulties have someone to go to."

"Ah. So basically a sort of problem-solving/counselling/guys who'll do any job kind of club. Sounds challenging."

"Exactly," said the teacher. "Look, Hikigaya, I won't even make you redo the essay. And I can't really blame you for what you did. I did try to hit you after all. But the path you're on… Hikigaya, chasing pleasure won't bring you true fulfilment in life. As a teacher, I want to help you see that for yourself. And you're not the only one. There are so many others in this school who have problems, but can't come to a teacher. The Service Club can help them. You're a smart guy, Hikigaya. Why don't you give it a try? I can't force you to change. But you do want to experience new things, right?"

There it was again.

That odd insistence to help me.

Never had I had a teacher this persistent.

She was the Goku of all homeroom teachers. No matter how many times I tried to push her away, she was adamant on trying to help me.

In another world, I might have found that supremely annoying.

But as I've said: I find determination an endearing trait. No true hedonist is weak of will.

Still…

"I'm sorry, Sensei. I can tell you really believe in what you're doing."

I looked out the window, remembering scenes from the life of a lonely middle school boy.

"There are many out there whose lives would be much better if they had a teacher like you."

"Hikigaya?"

She seemed surprised by the change in my tone.

I turned to her.

"But I'm not one of them. There are a lot of things I want to do with my free time, and helping random people out isn't one of them. I'm selfish that way. Hope you understand."

With that, I turned and walked away.

"Hikigaya, wait!"

I turned around to see her forlorn face, but I didn't let it slow me down.

I made my way downstairs, and then towards the cycle stand.

As I walked, I thought about the things I would be doing.

I went to the gym three times a week. I wasn't jacked by any standards, but I prided myself on having a decent amount of muscle mass, low body fat, and good strength. I wasn't someone who worked out to show off. I just liked being fit. This was sort of how my version of hedonism worked. I wasn't especially fond of the gym. It wasn't a fun activity for me. But I did it because the results it brought were fun. More strength and better fitness meant an easier time with day-to-day tasks, and pain-free, healthy life. Also, it helped me with something I did enjoy.

Twice a week, I went to an MMA dojo. Now that was fun. The exhilaration from dodging punches and hitting back, from throwing kicks and elbows, from pulling off a perfect suplex… ah yes. That was legit awesome. Benefits: I can take care of myself, and I get to kick ass and spar with some cool opponents.

There were studies too, and they were another example of something I didn't enjoy, which brought benefits that I did.

Reading manga, playing games. Hella fun. And they inspired me. I'll be honest, I'm pretty sincere about my art. I've been studying theory, learning and practising for a year now. I used to draw even before that, but putting in some focused, smart work brought me all kinds of improvements. Did I want to send in some samples to Shonen Jump? You bet I did. I was training myself. Getting ready. And all the time, churning out images of the characters and worlds I imagined. That was fun. I didn't really care if I got published in Shonen Jump. That's my version of hedonism. I draw for myself. The popularity and money are just bonuses.

And of course, spending time with possibly my favourite person in the world, Komachi. Self-explanatory.

These are the things I did.

And they made me happy.

Was there… something else I wanted to do?

Unbidden, an image appeared in my mind. Of me, surrounded by these things, bathed in their glow of happiness. While in the distance, Sensei stood, alone and cold in the dark, as she tried to help others who simply didn't care.

A feeling of guilt shot through me.

Why does this trouble me?

The world never gave a damn about me. I don't owe it anything. All I have to do… is be happy.

But even as I thought that, the answers came to me.

I wasn't going against my beliefs.

I didn't give two shits about the world.

No, I was feeling guilty because of Sensei.

The world may not have given a damn, but she did. That's why she'd risked suspension and even losing her job, to help me. And I saw the way she put herself out there for all her students.

In this day and age of apathy, that was some Dead Poets Society level of real. She was a true teacher, one who believed in teaching her students how to live above all else.

I found that I had come to a stop, halfway to the cycle stand.

Was this a contradiction of my beliefs, my way of life?

The answer came to me, a vehement "no".

There's something else I want to do. Apart from the weights, the muay thai, the drawing, the SSS rank DMC combos, and pampering Komachi.

Yeah, what is it you want?

I want to help her.

Pfft. This again? How many times have you put yourself out for others in the past? When has it not come to bite you in the ass?

This is different.

Why? Because Sensei is fifteen billion times hotter than Orimoto?

Yes, but also no.

Oh?

Yeah. You see, whenever I helped others in the past, I always did it because I thought it'd get me admiration and affection.

And? What's different this time?

This time… I'm helping just because I want to. Because it'll make me happy. Heh. All right. I can live with that. Let's do it, then.Turning around, I ran back towards the school building. Within moments, I had reached the staff room, but it was already being locked up by one of the school's maintenance guys.

"Hey," I asked him. "There was a teacher in there. Hiratsuka Shizuka."

His eyes instantly lit up in recognition. Honestly, if it had been any other member of the staff, I'd doubt they'd be recognizable to anyone other than co-faculty or students. It spoke volumes about her that everyone at school knew her.

"Ah, she went to the third floor. She's got a new club. Shame it'll shut down though. There's only one student member…"

"What room is it?"

"Eh? Ah, I think it's room 303…"

"Thanks!", I said as I dashed off. On the way, I shouted over my shoulder to him. "Also, there are two members, not one!"

I reached the place within seconds, having sprinted up the stairs. Heart pounding and breathing slightly fast, I walked down the corridor, till I found the room I was looking for.

303 was the only one with a door slightly open.

As I approached, I could hear voices coming from within.

"... I'm sorry, Yukinoshita. I tried. But it'll be impossible to keep a club open with only one member. The school won't allow it."

"I see. I understand, Sensei. Although… I was looking forward to this opportunity."

"It's my fault, I wasn't able to get a second member."

This was my cue to make an entrance.

Sliding the door all the way open, I entered with an exaggerated pose that would make the Joestars themselves proud, and did my best imitation voice.

" I AM HERE!"

Hedonist fantasy #458 unlocked: At least once in your life, be All Might.

The two people in the room stared at me.

The student (who was obviously the first member) was someone I recognized immediately. She was the girl in the sedan that had been in the not-accident, one year ago.

She looked at me, completely baffled.

"What.. are you doing?"

But my attention was focused on the person I'd come here to help.

"Hikigaya… did you just unironically quote All Might?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did."

She looked she was struggling to decide whether to try hitting me again or not, or just fist-bump me as a fellow otaku.

"Ghh… well, what are you here for? Did you have something to say?"

There was a poorly hidden look of hurt on her face that sent a painful twinge of guilt shoot through me.

Now, hear me out, reader.

As a hedonist, there is one thing you have to be sure of.

Live with no regrets.

"Yes. I'm here to say, that if that offer is still open, I'm taking it. I'll join the Service Club, of my own free will."

Hedonist ultra special secret: Getting S-rank combos is cool, and chocolate is kind of nice too, but seeing someone's face light up in genuine, unrestrained, sheer joy because of something you did?

Beyond priceless.