Author's note: So some of you would have immediately recognised the title of this fic. I like to think it's the first fic I ever posted on this site that truly managed to connect with people. It's also one of my fics that got the most hate. Eventually, I took it down and chose to focus on other projects. For whatever reason, I figured it was time to post this again, but rewritten, better than before. If you didn't read the original version of this fic, then everything here will be new to you. If you did read the original version, you'll see a bunch of the same things happening, but also a lot of things that didn't happen the first time around.

Also, don't be one of those people who comment here asking me where my other stories went. If I deleted them, it's because I'm not interested in writing them anymore. That's just how it is.

And finally, I don't really have overly high expectations for how this story will be received. But it is a story that means quite a great deal to me, so I guess I wanted to do it properly. This might end up being the last Oregairu fic I write. Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell. I don't know if any of my old, old readers will be following this. I certainly hope they will. And if they are, well, we'll try to make this one a spectacular ride, for old times' sake. If not, oh well. Can't win them all.

Anyway, that's enough rambling. Let's get this show on the road.

Prologue- Requiem for a Demon

Hikigaya looked up at the entity floating above him. It was humanoid, at least so far as its physical shape went. That was about the extent of its humanity: skin-deep, just a matter of appearance. Hikigaya strongly suspected that that was all the humanity it had ever possessed. It smirked at him, lips curling upwards in a cruel approximation of what would have been a smile on a human face. The source of its amusement was clear to see all around. Chunks of concrete and steel rose into the sky, breaking free of the ground below. Gravity had ceased working a while back: indeed, the laws of the universe itself had been broken, like a code that had been irreparably corrupted. And thus, reality was eroding.

Cars, buildings and entire sections of the streets that had once made up Chiba were being ripped free of the ground, and they weren't all: everywhere, the planet itself was falling apart, fragmenting, its pieces being pulled towards a singular point. Set within a hole in the chest of the entity was a pulsating sphere, glowing brightly. Hikigaya knew what that thing was.

Reality Engine.

The very thing that entity had used to become whatever the hell it was right now.

The thing it was using to pull the very fabric of space into itself, so that it could rewrite it all, recreate it in its own image.

Hikigaya himself would have been pulled into that singularity long ago had it not been for his own energy field. Holding firm, it encased him, resisting the force that tried to draw him in.

"I give you credit, Flawed," said the creature. "Futile though your efforts be, you resist the will of a god."

"You're no god," shot back Hikigaya. "Just a delusional fool who never grew up."

The smirk disappeared from the entity's face.

Hikigaya realised that his jab had succeeded: the thing was well and truly angry.

He glanced downward.

Encased in a sphere of energy similar to the one surrounding him was a group of people. They were too far below to be able to see him, but he could see them, his eyes able to make out every minute detail. The fear on their faces, mingled with the tiniest bit of hope. His sister, a temperamental fire queen, an ice-cold kuudere, a delinquent with a surprisingly warm heart, a girl who was resolutely nice, the one teacher who never seemed to get off his case, and even for some reason that one would-be elder sister who always had that fake smile on her face.

He almost laughed.

He was going to die protecting the single most infuriating group in the history of humanity. And the biggest joke here was that none of them would ever know it.

"Oh well." He shrugged and smiled slightly. "At least I'm going out on my own terms."

"Your own terms?" said the entity. "You gravely overestimate the extent of your free will."

It snapped its fingers, and several entire skyscrapers that had been rising upwards changed direction, shooting straight towards the teen.

Hikigaya took a deep breath, pulling the air all the way to his core. He had no idea how he was even still breathing, or whether what he was breathing was indeed air, but it didn't matter. He widened his stance. Barely visible platforms of tightly condensed bio-energy under his feet supported him: he was literally standing firm in mid-air. Raising both hands high in front of him, he focused.

When the nearest building was in range, he twisted his hips, moving from the leg and driving his shoulder and arm forward, a movement embedded so deeply into him, it was first nature to him.

His fist collided with the skyscraper. Hairline fractures ran down concrete, glass and steel alike in a fraction of a second. Another fraction of a second later, the building shattered into bits, reduced to dust.

Hikigaya took another quick breath, resetting his posture.

More buildings hurtled towards him, and he met each of them. Kicks, punches, elbow and knee strikes connected, reducing them to smithereens with a single hit each.

"Not bad."

The entity snapped its fingers once more.

At first, nothing happened.

Then Hikigaya heard the rumbling.

As he looked on, an entire section of the city began to rise, tens of miles in radius. Slowly at first, but picking up velocity with every moment. Within seconds, it was higher up than Hikigaya himself, floating among the clouds like some kind of absurd island. Not only the buildings, streets and every last manmade object, but a whole chunk of the Earth's crust itself had been carved out merely to support everything else atop it… and it was all poised above him in mid-air.

The youth narrowed his eyes, drawing his breath again, even as he prepared himself, coiling low, muscles tensed. With strength alone, he estimated he could lift that weight under normal circumstances. But these weren't normal circumstances. There was no telling to what extent the city block had been Enhanced in its toughness and mass, or how hard it would be thrown.

Again, avoiding an attack as predictable as that would be child's play.

But dodging wasn't an option.

Once more, he glanced at the group below. If he moved out of the way, then they would be crushed under the weight of a quarter of Chiba.

Clenching his teeth, he lowered his hips, centering himself, and fixed his eyes upon the target.

And then, the island-projectile was launched at him.

As he drove his arm forward, the strength of his entire body behind it, he focused his energy, accelerating every particle of himself until it was just outside the current plane of existence. The exact mechanics of how this worked were unknown to him, but the result was intangibility. Hiratsuka had called this the Void.

However, that wasn't all. Along with that intangibility also came a limited ability to move outside time. It wasn't true light speed movement. At his maximum, he could go to only just under that speed. But it was enough.

When he had accelerated enough, he released the energy, phasing back into the dimension once more.

Even as he did so, he focused every last bit of that energy to his fist. This was another technique Hiratsuka had taught him. She called it Heart, the pouring of one's ki into every single attack.

Void, or nothingness. And Heart, that filled that nothingness. These were the basis of all martial arts, Hiratsuka had said.

Hikigaya had never really understood the philosophy behind all of that.

But he had learnt how to combine the two on his own.

The result was this technique.

Hikigaya's body, which had accelerated to just under light speed, had gained a substantial boost in relativistic mass. The additional power from that was bolstered further by his own bio-energy, which concentrated entirely at the exact point of impact.

This was Hikigaya's trump card, the False Infinite Mass Punch.

As his fist connected with the target, the energy released from the impact was so bright, it was as if a second sun had lit up.

Hikigaya was forced to close his own eyes.

When he opened them, the city block that had been in front of him was no longer there, blotted out of existence. Even the entity temporarily seemed at a loss for words, eyes widening for a moment.

"Physical strength several billion times that of the strongest human. A body so stable that even the eroding of reality hasn't been able to alter your molecular structure. A dense bio-energy field capable of rivalling the effects of True Magic. You've surpassed all expectations. No, even beyond that, you are an outstanding warrior. I would go so far as to call you a one-in-trillions anomaly in this universe."

Hikigaya stood up to his full height, glaring daggers at the entity.

"You don't feel even a little uncomfortable buttering someone up right to their face, huh?"

"Not at all. I am merely acknowledging the adversary I must put down. You are the anomaly, wielding the true power of the Demon. As such, you are the biggest obstacle to my goals."

Hikigaya all but scoffed.

True power of the Demon? What a joke.

Hiratsuka had talked about that. Had even said that he had the potential to achieve it. But he had never been able to do so. All he had been able to do was reach the pinnacle of what was humanly possible. From human to superhuman… but unable to cross the barrier and go even further beyond that.

And thus, the incomparable power of the god of fighting was beyond him.

Hikigaya had painstakingly learned to replicate several of the abilities the Demon was said to possess.

But in the end, that was all he had.

A cheap imitation, nothing more.

But the would-be god in front of him did not know any of that. And so, it continued to speak.

"In fact, I see the truth now. It's like the legends say: the Demon cannot be defeated in a fight. To try would be foolish. Therefore, my task becomes simple: to destroy you in another way."

"Another way?"

Belatedly, Hikigaya realised what the creature meant.

"No!"

He was already moving even before the creature raised its hand to aim its power. Desperation gave him speed unlike anything he had known, and he shot towards the ground, where a sphere of his very own energy was protecting a certain group of people. But even that incredible speed wasn't enough.

Even as he raced downwards as quickly as he could, a beam of the creature's True Magic overtook him. As he looked on, it sped towards that group of infuriating people.

He was already at his limit.

No. I can go beyond this.

I must.

Hiratsuka's words echoed in his head.

"You won't lose, ever. I know this… because the Demon never loses."

And so, knowing it would end him, Hikigaya Hachiman pushed his body even further beyond. His natural bio-energetic field continued to accelerate him, more and more, and more, until he felt himself slip beyond our dimension. Yet, he could not enter the Void. He couldn't be intangible. Now, more than ever, he needed to be in the world, able to interact with it. And thus, his being was divided: existing in our dimension, yet not quite in it; existing beyond the physical plane, but still able to touch it.

Freed from the limitations of the flesh, Hikigaya finally surpassed light speed, stepping into the realm of gods.

One could not possibly be in two places at once, but the loner had crossed the bounds of logic.

The beam of True Magic was swatted aside with one hand.

At the exact same time, the creature felt multiple of its organs shatter and rupture.

Brain, eyes, nose, ears, throat, heart, liver, spinal cord.

As if that wasn't enough, its knee, elbow and shoulder joints were destroyed as well.

And all the while, Hikigaya had seemingly not moved. More accurately, no eyes were capable of seeing his movements.

A true god speed attack that had not only deflected the entity's attempt to kill those precious to him, but had also simultaneously struck the creature's own vitals, and even destroyed its limbs to seal off any possibility of movement.

Had the Reality Engine not been embedded in its chest, that would have been the end.

Even with True Magic sustaining its life and mind, the creature knew pain like it had never felt before. Unable to physically speak, it resorted to telepathy.

"I… lost? How can this be… how could a human, a mere Flawed of all things defeat me…"

Hikigaya breathed heavily. Blood poured from his own nose and ears, every muscle in his body screamed in agony. It was everything he could do to remain standing upright. For less than an instant, he had stepped into the realm of gods, and his body was paying the price. He chuckled.

That's what I get for getting ahead of myself.

He looked at the "corpse" of the creature. It was hard to call it anything but a corpse. There was no possible way the body was still alive. But the creature's mind was still somehow intact, as evident from its telepathic contact. Thanks to the Reality Engine, he was stuck in a pseudo-life: not dead, but not truly alive. Arguably a fate worse than death.

"I know now… the Demon does not lose."

"That same tired line," Hikigaya muttered.

There was only one thing that remained to be done: if he removed the Reality Engine from its chest, this whole nightmare would be over. The world would go back to normal. With this in mind, Hikigaya approached the entity. Up close, the features that were so similar to his not-rival were even more evident: the handsome face, the light blonde hair. He shook his head. It didn't matter. Hayama was long dead. His father would follow him soon enough. He reached out his hand to pull the sphere out of the corpse. The moment his fingers touched the Reality Engine, however, a shock ran through his body.

Once more, the telepathic presence of the one formerly known as Hayama Hanzo touched his mind.

"The Demon does not lose… however, at the very least, I will make sure he does not win. Not now… not ever."

Hikigaya's eyes widened.

"What the hell are you doing…"

All around, the world itself began to collapse. What had looked like the sky and clouds began to shatter and fall like so many shards of glass, revealing only a swirling black nothingness behind them.

The fabric of space and time was falling apart.

In his last moments, Hayama Hanzo had used the Reality Engine to wish for the death of the universe.

"Damn it!"

Hikigaya forced his own mind onto the Engine. According to Hiratsuka, whoever touched the Engine could control it with their thoughts… so long as they were strong enough. However, the destruction all around continued.

"It's useless: even if you take control of the Engine now, you cannot undo what has already been done."

Laughter echoed in his head.

"You've failed, Demon. Remember this for eternity: even with all your strength, you could not protect what was most important to you."

Hikigaya looked down.

In front of his eyes, Komachi, Yukinoshita, Miura, Kawasaki, Hiratsuka, Yuigahama, and Haruno all began to turn to dust. Even as their body's crumbled, their very existence fading, he could see the look of confusion and horror on their faces.

Turning back to the Reality Engine, he dug both hands into it, reaching for its core with every fibre of his mind, heart and soul.

If you can't stop this world from being destroyed, then recreate it. Remake it again from scratch, exactly as it was.

"Pointless!" shouted Hayama. "Even if you create the world again, you cannot change the flow of time. What has happened will happen again!"

Hikigaya ignored him. All around, the last remains of the universe faded away, and he was surrounded at last by the cold dark of absolute nothingness. He focused his mind.

Make it all. All over again!

And all around, new pieces were created, joining together, to make the world once more.

"It's useless! Destiny cannot be changed, Hikigaya. Not even True Magic can do such a thing."

"That's a good thing," muttered the teen. "Because I was born without a single shred of Magic."

As the world began to form once more, Hikigaya thought quickly. If he placed himself outside the flow of time, then he would be able to influence all of history.

No, that won't work.

The Butterfly Effect was a terrifying thing. He might inadvertently do more harm than good. No, in order for this to work, his involvement must be minimal. Should he then only play the role of an observer? He could hide in the shadows, and not intervene until the timeline reached the point where Hayama got involved in his life. But if he were to do that, then the one saving the world would be an entity that should not exist: a Hikigaya Hachiman who had stepped outside the flow of time. Hiratsuka had warned him about that, indirectly. True Magic was the domain of gods, and there was a reason gods did not interfere in the affairs of mortals anymore.

The only solution then was to place himself back inside the flow of time.

To re-do his life all over again.

Yes, that was the only way.

After all, everything went wrong in his final year of high school.

If he could undo the mistakes he made then, he could prevent all of this from happening.

With that in mind, he made his final wish to the Reality Engine.

Just one more chance. Let me do this all over again, that's all I ask for.

He felt time began to flow in reverse.

The injuries his body had taken were healed in mere seconds, but it didn't stop there. He could feel himself getting smaller, younger. The dense muscle and superhuman strength he had gained through eight years of unceasing effort were reverted: all the changes his body had undergone were undone. The skills he had obtained, embedded into himself, were lost. The fighting power he had thus built up was gone, but the memory of it did not truly fade. Somewhere deep inside, he felt it still: there within him, just out of reach. The memories of the life he had lived, of the people he had met also began to grow faint. It was as if they were being buried under layers and layers of consciousness, until he could no longer access them. Indeed, as Hikigaya was placed back inside the flow of time in the reborn world, he felt his consciousness fade away.

The last thing he thought before it vanished entirely…

This time… I will save you all.

Chapter 1- Re:START

"... Onii chan. Wake up already!"

"Ouch!"

Hikigaya Hachiman rubbed his head, even as he slowly opened his eyes, trying to filter the all too bright sunlight streaming in from the window.

"Komachi… did you just hit me with an alarm clock?"

"Eh, I don't know what you're talking about, Onii chan," replied Hikigaya Komachi, younger sister by two years of the previously mentioned boy. As she said so, she surreptitiously hid the alarm clock in question behind her back. While the two were not twins, they looked nearly similar enough to be. The difference lay in the eyes. Most people who met Komachi concluded that she was "far too cute". Cheerful and optimistic, she had the bright eyes to match. On the other hand, most who met Hikigaya the elder, otherwise known as Hachiman, immediately decided their was something "wrong about his eyes". Over the years, he had been called a creep, a weirdo, and many other, less flattering things. Despite this contrast between their social statuses, the two siblings got along fairly well.

"Anyway, you should get up. You don't want to be late on your first day, do you?"

Hikigaya somehow managed to yawn and grumble incoherently at the same time in response. Nevertheless, he got off the bed. She did have a point: being late was an outcome best avoided. While he grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom, Komachi looked around his room.

"Onii chan. I know this is sort of what you do, but have you realised you have more training equipment than furniture in your room?"

This was true. While there was a bed, a cabinet for clothes, a shelf for books and a study table that also housed an Augmented computer. However, Hikigaya's room was actually quite large. The reason for this was that it occupied the entirety of the basement. While the afore-mentioned items occupied the perimeter of the room, the centre was taken up by a wide variety of traditional training equipment. Metal barbells and dumbbells, weight plates, chains, a squat rack and bench, pull up and dip bars, a hanging heavy bag and several life-sized training dummies.

Hikigaya took a moment to glance at it all.

"Actually, I was thinking of getting some more weights. I can't keep asking Dad to Enhance the ones we have."

Komachi looked her elder brother up and down.

"Maaaybe you're strong enough as you are?" she tried.

He scoffed.

"Heh. Yeah, right. I wish."

"Onii chan, you realise the stuff down here is heavy enough that none of us can move it anymore, right?"

"It better be," he replied. "I'd be a little disappointed if I were doing this for eight years and hadn't even gotten that far."

"Onii chan…"

Her voice trailed off. There was more she wanted to say, but at the same time, she knew that it wasn't her place to do so. After all, she had no idea what it was to be born in his shoes.

To explain why that was, it is necessary for us to go back several thousand years, to a time before civilization was established. At the time, humanity was still struggling for survival in a harsh world. However, the occurrence of a spontaneous genetic mutation greatly pushed the odds in mankind's favour. It was only a few individuals who underwent this change at first. As for the change itself, it bestowed upon them a new ability to sense, produce and control arcane energy. This power was given a name.

Magic.

As time went by, natural selection did its job. While few enough had possessed Magic in the beginning, the advantage it gave them over their peers was tremendous. In addition, the gene responsible for it was dominant. As such, with each successive generation, the proportion of Mages in the human population grew.

At the time of Hikigaya's story, nearly every single person in the world possessed Magic.

As a matter of fact, the world of humans itself was dependent on it. Industry, technology, military, societal hierarchies: all were built upon it.

It was a world where miracles could be achieved with a thought. A world where everyone was special.

Komachi, of course, had inherited the Magic that both the Hikigaya parents possessed.

On the other hand, Hachiman had been born without a single shred of Magic whatsoever.

This was a specific genetic condition which was caused by the absence of the gene necessary for arcane power.

Those who had that condition had been given a name that society saw fit for them.

Flawed.

Perhaps it was out of a sense of self-preservation, or maybe it was just because he didn't want to feel weak, but all of a sudden one day, Hachiman had decided he would train. His parents had never questioned that decision, nor had Komachi, though she had no idea how lifting weights was supposed to make someone stronger. In a world where Mages could just use Enhancement Skills to improve their physical performance, things like resistance training had been ignored more and more over the generations. Now, barely anyone even remembered that these methods existed. Ironically, those who did were fervent practitioners of it, and had even made their knowledge available for free on the internet. And so, Hikigaya had found those sites, and begun using those obscure techniques. Much to Komachi's surprise, they actually worked. And so, he never stopped using them.

It was part of who he was now.

It was a little scary for Komachi sometimes. Having been born a Mage, the idea of the flesh being that strong without any Magic scared her. On the other hand, she was thankful for it too. Learning that he could be strong even when he had been born Flawed had brought life to her brother's eyes. Sometimes, she thought it was the only thing that kept him alive.

She looked around at the room. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a dojo.

Smiling slightly, she decided to follow her brother upstairs. He'd want breakfast once he was done with his bath.

Fifteen minutes later, Hikigaya stepped into the dining room.

"They designed this uniform to be uncomfortable, didn't they?" he said.

Komachi looked him up and done excitedly, eyes sparkling.

"Oooh! Onii chan! This uniform makes you look nearly human!"

"... That was mean. No Komachi points for you."

"Yeah, yeah. Breakfast's ready. Eat up."

He shook his head, but acquiesced, shovelling down large quantities of eggs and bread. Komachi watched him eat for a while in silence before she spoke.

"Say, Onii chan. Is this really all right? Should you be going to that place?"

"... If you mean Soubu High, you might as well say the name."

"You know exactly what I mean. They're not exactly known for being a good place for…"

She realised the word she had been about to speak, and clapped her hands onto her mouth, stopping herself. A look of guilt came over her eyes. Hikigaya blinked a few times, then reached over and ruffled her hair.

"For Flawed. That's the word you were looking for. Don't be afraid of speaking the truth, Komachi."

"Well… in school, they said we're not supposed to say the F-word."

Hikigaya chuckled lightly.

"You can call it any word you like, but what I am doesn't change. Knowing that, maybe I'd be more offended knowing you're trying to be kind."

"That's more of your weird logic, Onii chan," said Komachi, a deadpan look on her face. But her heart felt a little lighter now. No matter what the rest of the world thought, this would never change. What was between the two of them would always remain the same.

"You never answered my question though," she said.

A thoughtful look came over Hikigaya's face.

"I don't really know," he admitted.

Transferring during the final year of high school was a strange move unless it was necessary for some reason. It wasn't as if the family was moving or anything. In fact, the school he had hitherto been part of, Kaihin Sogo, was closer. The academic standards were more relaxed too, which was a good thing. While Hikigaya was far above average in the humanities, anything to do with mathematics was a weakness for him.

Soubu High, on the other hand, was a school for the elite.

One of the few Magic schools that had followed the ways of the old Magic Academies even in the modern age, it hadn't even allowed Flawed students until recently. A few months ago, when it had announced that Flawed were finally eligible for admission, the news swept through the country. Soubu was one of the most notable schools on the continent. As for Hikigaya, when he had found out, he'd had a strange feeling.

"I feel like I'm supposed to go there," he said. "I had a dream about it."

"A dream," Komachi repeated, sceptically. The thought of her brother, who used his own twisted logic for everything in life, taking a decision based on a dream, of all things, was absurd, to say the least.

"It's true, though," he said. "A vivid one. Almost too clear. I can remember everything I saw in it too. I've…" he paused, unwilling to say more.

He had been about to let slip that he'd been seeing vivid dreams more and more often. Dreams that were far too clear. It was almost as if they were memories.

But that's not possible.

It couldn't be, because the things he saw in those memories were things that had never happened in his life.

Then why do I keep seeing them?

It was only brief flashes. Seconds at a stretch at most. If the dreams had been longer, less fragmented, then he might be able to gain some clue as to what was happening. But as it stood, he had nothing to go on, only a few faces, and a few words.

Two of those words had been "Soubu High."

"Well," said Komachi, interrupting his thoughts. "At least you're not going there to do something crazy again, like trying to fight Mages."

"Why would I do something like that? It sounds like a hassle."

Komachi didn't reply immediately. There had been that incident in Middle School, after all. She didn't bring it up because there was an unspoken rule between the two of them, an agreement that it wasn't supposed to be mentioned. But it had happened nonetheless.

She looked at him earnestly.

"Onii chan. Don't do anything that'll make me worry, okay?"

His eyes met hers for a second.

Had he truly been thinking about going to Soubu to fight the elite Mages of the country? Just as a means to get back at the world? No, no, he knew now, better than anyone, that such a course of action would be pointless. The world doesn't change. Not by force anyway. It was an attempt doomed to end in entered brawl after brawl, making more and more enemies, until one day you were shanked from behind by some punk without any real skill or courage. It was a pathetic way to die, and he'd be ashamed if Komachi had to attend his funeral for such a reason.

Besides, he was done with all that anyway.

Save the world?

The world isn't worth saving in the first place.

No, he was only going to Soubu to satisfy his own curiosity. Plus, Flawed had a hard time getting jobs. Graduating from Soubu might help with that.

He nodded.

"I'll be on my way now," he said. "Take care, Komachi. Be careful on your way to school."

"All right! Good luck, Onii chan!"

Hikigaya picked up his bag and headed out.

Soubu High was a fair distance from his home. He could bike there, but he decided to take the train. As he stepped outside, his vision flashed for a second, and searing pain shot through his head.

"Wake up."

The voice in his mind was unmistakable: it was his own. But he wasn't the one speaking.

An image flashed in front of his eyes.

The world, breaking into fragments, floating towards a dark figure in the sky. He couldn't make out its face.

He shook his head, snapping out of it. Blinking, he looked around. A few people out on the streets stared at him briefly before moving on.

What the hell was that?

It was the most vivid vision yet. His mind was racing, but now wasn't the time to think about it. He needed to get to school on time. He set off towards the station quickly. Even as he walked, he heard the voice in his head.

"The time's almost here. Make sure you don't screw up."

Arriving at the station, he checked in and boarded the train. The compartment was fairly packed, but not overly uncomfortable. None of the seats were free, so he decided to find a corner. People tended to stare at him wherever he went, and he wasn't in the mood for that right now. Finding some space, he leaned against the wall, and exhaled.

Moments later, he heard rapid footsteps approaching him, along with a panicked voice crying out.

Realising what was happening, he opened his eyes and stepped forward to catch the stumbling person. Said person crashed right into him, her head landing on his chest. Hikigaya barely budged an inch.

"Thanks!" she said. "And s-sorry about that. The train moved a bit suddenly."

She looked up, and a pair of bright green eyes stared right into his own, framed by blonde curls.

Another image flashed, another vision, overlapping perfectly with the one who was right in front of him.

A blonde girl with fiery green eyes. Slightly embarrassed but doing her best to keep up her formidable impression.

Hikigaya's eyes widened.

This girl… I've seen her before.

"Umm… you can let go now."

Hikigaya realised he had been holding onto her arms. He immediately released his grip, bowing slightly.

"Apologies. I spaced out for a second"

She shook her head.

"I-it's okay."

She glanced at his uniform, which matched exactly with the one she was wearing.

"You go to Soubu High too? What a coincidence."

Normally, this would be where Hikigaya answered politely but also making it clear that he wasn't interested in continuing the conversation. But that wasn't the case. He knew this girl, he'd seen her before. But it made no sense: he'd never met her before. He needed to find out who she was. To that end, he couldn't end the conversation here.

Instead, he nodded.

"New transfer. Hikigaya Hachiman. I'll be in your care."

"Hikigaya…" she repeated. "I see. I'm Miura Yumiko. Also a new transfer."