"OW! Mom, it hurts! Be careful!"

"Stop squirming and stay still Haa-chan!"

I felt Mom pinch and twist my ear.

"OW!"

"I said stop moving! Your hair is already hard to work with!"

I felt the comb rake through my messy hair, a few strands were forcefully removed to the roots.

Needless to say, a tear began to form on the corner of my eye.

Being at the mercy of my Mother as she tried her best to comb and smoothen my hair into a slicked-back style, this was not one of the things that I expected to happen this morning.

After I ate my breakfast and took a bath, Mom forcefully dragged me into the living room and began to work on my hair. Komachi was lazily lounging on the sofa, observing us with a bored expression.

"You have to look nice, today is the first day of classes after all!"

My looks are not my top priority, but I at least want to look presentable though…

"Finally, there we go! Komachi, how does your brother look?"

We both looked to Komachi and she gave me a pondering look, her eyes looking at me from top to bottom.

Hey now, if you look at me like that I'll get self-conscious.

"Hmm, Onii-chan looks like a stereotypical good-looking villain, with his cold, calculative and menacing eyes and all. If he wore a suit, then it would complete the look! Haha!" she exclaimed.

I'm not so sure if that was a compliment or an insult…

"Ok, you're good to go!" Mom said.

After looking at the mirror and checking my uniform one last time, as well as my belongings, Komachi and I bade farewell to our Mother and went outside where Dad was waiting for us with the new car.

He actually bought two, one for himself and one for family-use.

"I bought two because I was getting a bit out of place during company meetings and conferences where I was the only one who didn't own a car. So, for the past week, I was looking for a pretty badass car that could make my colleagues go, "Wow! That's Hikigaya-shachou for you!". And I picked a Toyota sports car, and also a large SUV for your mother so she can transport supplies and equipment to her café & bar!" Those were his exact words.

He's been looking pretty excited recently, and when I asked him about it, he would say "I'm working on something big!". Please no more surprises Dad, this is bad for my heart.

The ride to Komachi's middle school was uneventful, and the sidewalk as we drew nearer was becoming more crowded with students from her school.

"After I drop you off, I'm going to go back home and get my car to work." Dad said as Komachi exited from the vehicle and we watched her disappear behind the entrance gate.

"Hmm."

"Hachiman," Oh no, he was using that voice. He only uses that voice when he's talking about something serious.

"Hmm?"

"I know you've been busy lately, with your work at Tatsumi-san's store and your lessons every weekend at the studio. Try not to overexert yourself, ok? Also, I trust you, so I'll leave the scheduling of your work to you. Just come back home before 9:00pm. If something come's up, and I'm not around, call your mother and she'll pick you up as soon as she can. Oh, I have a better idea, you can just hang out at your mother's café so the both of you can go home together."

As I contemplated my Father's words, a thought came to my mind.

"But that would leave Komachi all alone at home…"

Because I was seated beside the driver's seat, I can see Dad's expression. My words most likely caught him off guard.

"Ah, you're right. Well then, if that's the case you can just go home as soon as possible, or you can shorten your working ours during the weekdays and do some extra time during weekends."

"Ok, I'll see what I can do."

"Have you been reading my college books lately?" Dad asked.

"Ah, yes. I bring some to the store and read it whenever I can. Sorry if I forgot to ask your permission."

"It's no big deal. What's mine is yours."

Waah, that sounded really cool. If I was a girl, I would have squealed right now. You just scored a bunch of points there Dad!

"Dad, is there something that I should know that happened recently?" I ask.

"H-Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about." Then he started whistling and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

He's a terrible liar, as always.

We were only a few minutes away from my school, but as we thought the road was clear, a small dog suddenly came running out from nowhere and was running towards the middle of the road.

"Dad watch out!" I yelled out in alarm.

"What the he-!" Dad exclaimed as he pushed his feet on the brakes and aggressively moved the steering wheel to avoid hitting the animal.

The car swerved violently to the left and I heard our tires screech from the friction and the sudden change in acceleration and direction. We were only a foot away from hitting the streetlight when our vehicle finally came to a violent halt.

"Shit!" Dad cursed from his seat. Thankfully, the both of us were unscathed and we were wearing our seatbelts.

"Bloody arse…" I couldn't help but curse on my own. Even life-threatening scenarios would make me lose my cool.

I wordlessly hopped out of the vehicle to see what became of the dog. I could see the black marks on the road that our tires made, the nearest one was still smoking. After quickly walking around the car and checking for damages, I gave Dad a thumbs up and I saw him give a sigh of relief. I heard the soft patting sounds and spotted the small dog running towards me.

Wait, that dog looks familiar.

Expertly, I managed to get my hands around it's small body and lift it up in front of me.

Hmm…

This was the dog from the other day…

Its brown eyes looked at me curiously, and it tried to lick my face when I got too near. Its tail was wagging wildly, if it got too fast, this little dog might fly away.

"Sable…?" I say.

When I said its name, its ears perked up and barked at me. If Sable is here, then that means…

"OH MY GOSH ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" girl screamed behind me.

When I turned to look, the girl was running towards me.

Hmm, she looks familiar, have I seen her before…?

The imaginary lightbulb at the top of my head beside my ahoge lit up when I saw the color of her hair.

Hmm, peach…

Peachy…

Ah, it was Peachy…

She had a look of relief and fear on her face, and when she recognized who I am, it was as if she saw a ghost.

"IT'S YOU FROM THE OTHER DAY! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" She screamed, this time, closer as she was moving her hands all over my body, eager to see if I was ok.

I know that you're worried and all but can you at least hold back a little bit…? I feel like I'm being molested in public.

When she saw that I was not hurt, she gave a sigh of relief.

...

...

...

And thrust her arms around my neck and put me in a bone crushing hug.

"WAAAHH I'M SO SORRY I KNOW YOU TOLD ME TO BE CAREFUL THE OTHER DAY BUT I FORGOT TO LISTEN TO YOU!" she cried while I was fixated on the spot.

Oi, she's crying for real!

Aside from that, I felt her assets pressing themselves into my chest and I was cringing my body away from her. If anyone saw the scene, it would have been very funny to look at.

"I'M SO SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!" she repeated those words and stopped when I put a hand on her head.

"There there, at least no one was hurt." I say as I pat and rub her head. She stiffened at the sudden contact at first, but then she calmed down a bit.

I used this trick a lot on Komachi when she cried, and I read that this is an effective means of comforting a crying girl.

When she let go of me, her face was a mess. Her eyes were already red while fresh tears were running down her cheeks. Her nose was also puffed and red.

Phew, it's good that she let go of me, I was starting to get uncomfortable with the prolonged physical contact.

I remembered that I had a handkerchief with me, so I grabbed it from my pocket and gave it to her.

"Here you go." I said.

"A-Ah, I couldn't possibly accept that. I already caused you so much trouble…" she replied while looking away.

"Nonsense, a handkerchief not used to wipe a person's tears, especially that of a woman's, is a waste." I say without thinking.

Shit, now I regret it saying it. S-H-I-T!

It was a line from one of my Light Novels.

Waahh, that was super cringey.

The Cringe level is over 9000!

Ok that was so embarrassing I want to die…

Instead of punching me, she sported a small blush and reluctantly accepted my handkerchief.

"T-Thank you…?" She said as she batted her eyelashes at me while she looked at me with curious eyes and a small blush.

If you're gonna look at me like that, then I'll DEFINITELY fall for you. So please stop before I kneel down and ask for your hand in marriage. I steeled myself and wiped all unnecessary thoughts in my head.

"Hikigaya Hachiman." I said and did a small bow

"Hikigaya…?" she immitated my action but looked like she was deep in thought.

"Yes, and you are?"

"A-Ah! My name is Yuigahama Yui!"

I heard the door to our car open and I turned to see Dad step out of the vehicle. When he saw me, he began walking towards us.

"H-Hikigaya-kun, is that your Dad?" Peachy asked.

"Yes. Don't worry, I'm sure that he'll brush this off." I replied coolly.

I didn't notice that Peachy hid behind me when Dad was already near. Hey, Dad's not scary y'know? Yeah, he does look scary with his eyes but he's a pretty chill guy ok?

"Hachiman? Who is that girl behind you…?"

I quickly sidestepped, which made Peachy visible to my Dad.

"M-My name is Yuigahama Yui, I'm the owner of the dog from earlier…" she said with her voice barely audible.

"Oh! Is the dog ok?"

"H-Huh?"

"I'm asking if the dog is oka-" Before Dad could finish his sentence, Sable came from behind and started barking and running around him.

"There he is! What a tiny bundle of energy." Dad reached down and patted Sable's head. "It's good to see that he's alright. There's no need to apologize by the way, no one was hurt and it wasn't anyone's fault. Just an unfortunate series of coincidental events."

Hooh, Dad's so cool, he even made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

He straightened up and said, "I am Hikigaya Joushirou, and this is my son, Hachiman."

"Thank you Mr. Hikigaya, my name is Yuigahama Yui." Peachy said with a small smile.

Dad nodded when Peachy said that, and then gave me a look a that said, "Lets get going before you're late."

"Hachiman, it's time to go. I don't want you to be late for school." He turned to me after looking at his wristwatch.

The ceremony doesn't start for an hour and a half though…

"Hikigaya-kun…your uniform, are you a student from Sobou too?" Peachy asked curiously.

Wait, too?

"Mm."

When I replied, her eyes started to shine bright.

"Really?! I'm a freshman too! The ceremony is still an hour or something from starting, why are you going to school so early?" she tilted her head cutely to the side.

Even with my supreme intellect, I had not prepared a back-up plan for that question.

"O-Oh, I just wanted to get to school early, t-that's all." I say as I started whistling and avoiding her gaze.

Her mouth formed into an "O" and nodded in understanding.

Dad gave me look that said, "Hurry up!".

"Well, Peach- I mean, Yuigahama-san, I'll see you at school." I say in a rushed tone, hoping that she would sense the urgency in my voice. Thankfully, she did.

"Mm! Let's go Sable!" With that she started jogging to the direction where she came from.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, is that the guy who perfected the entrance exams?"

"The scrawny guy with black hair and has lifeless eyes? Yeah, that's him."

"That's insane, hard to believe that there's a guy like him at our school."

"He looks really average-looking though, I expected someone different."

"Look at his eyes though, he looks like a villain."

"Yeah, like a typical Bond villain."

"He looks scary, is he a delinquent?"

"The girl who got the 2nd highest is pretty cute. I heard that she's from a rich family."

"The blonde guy who got third looks handsome. Someone said that the three of them all come from rich families."

"I know, the name Hikigaya rings a bell. I think his father is an entrepreneur or a businessman of some sort."

"Tch, typical, I bet they bribed the school or something..."

Good grief…how annoying…

Those were the words that I heard when the three us walked through the path led to the stage. But I didn't really care what they were saying.

Thankfully, the sounds that the students were causing was at a tolerable level.

The third guy, some blonde fuccboi whose name I couldn't bother remembering, Sigh-chan and myself, walked in that order towards the stage.

Sigh-chan was awfully quiet, she hasn't even spoken a word to me. Is she mad at me or something...?

Why am I even expecting her to talk to me, she's not even my friend anyway.

I saw familiar faces in the crowd.

Kawasaki waved at me from the lines of students. The last time that she came over, we both agreed that we would drop the honourifics when addressing each other.

Peachy arrived late, and was surprised that I was part of the top three.

I saw a blonde bimbo narrowing her eyes at me, and I returned her stare with a bored look. She did a "Tch", and looked away.

For some reason, Onee-sama was there too. She was standing nearest to the stage, and was one of the loudest of them all.

"Hachiman! Hachiman! I'm so proud of you!"

Teasing me this early in the morning, good grief...

She even screamed my first name, I thought of some things that would make her scream my name, but I pushed those thoughts from my head before I get flustered.

If I did, then that would mean that she won!

I don't want to succumb!

I REFUSE!

DAGA KOTOWARU!

I was so nervous earlier that I thought I was gonna faint. Thankfully, Shiromeguri-senpai was there to help me calm down with her STAND [FLUFFY HARMONY], and helped me calm my nerves. She also came to deliver a message from Onee-sama.

"Hikigaya-kun, if you feel nervous, just think about the fact that you beat all of them and deserve that position! Think of them as mongrels and lower life-forms!"

The fact that it sounded so wrong and egoistic distracted my head for a while. Which made me temporarily calm down.

She even said it with her usual smile on her face…

As I looked at the microphone in front of me, I looked to the other two.

Sigh-chan had a determined look in her eyes. She gave me a cold look that said, "Don't screw this up...".

Good grief...how cold...

The blond fuccboi gave me a refreshing smile. Don't look at me like that, what if there's some fujoshis in the crowd that's gonna make a yaoi fanfiction about the both of us?

I made a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for this bothersome activitily.

"The seasons of our world are ever changing. Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter. The melting of winter's ice sustains the seeds of spring. Each season ending and starts anew. We have graduated middle school, and now the next obstacle is three years of High school. All of us are fresh seeds waiting to grow to our full potential, but that potential is entirely up to you to uncover and exploit. As time passes, you will discover your strengths and weaknesses that defines who you are. You may not be confident in your public speaking skills, but you have the skill to craft inspiring and insightful speeches. You may be excellent in doing activities alone, but you discover that you are terrible when it comes to teamwork. You might have the highest score in Humanities, but your grades falter in the Sciences. Honing your strengths and analyzing your weaknesses will be crucial in the years to come. Some of you have already found out what they want in life, while others are still trying to figure out their path. You might have been inspired by your parents, your older brother, or maybe a celebrity or an athlete. In the end, you chose someone to be your role model, unknowingly or not. No matter what background we have, we are all equals while we stand on the grounds of this institution. Whether you come from a rich, poor or middle-class family, it matters not. You may have heard of this school in the news, on the Internet or even from a recommendation from someone you know. From the moment that you decided to enroll here, you have made a commitment to yourself. A commitment that you should keep until you graduate here."

I paused and cleared my throat. But that was just an excuse, in reality, I was starting to talk to fast and my voice was quivering. Some of the students noticed, and they were whispering amongst each other.

That was a close call, it would have been bad if I had caused a blunder.

My eyes wandered to the front of the crowd nearest to the stage. Among the teachers, I saw Hiratsuka-sensei, Shiromeguri-senpai and Haruno-san among them. Hiratsuka-sensei gave me a worried look, while Shiromeguri-senpai and Haruno-san looked determined. The later, giving me a thumbs up and a grin.

The sight helped alleviate my nervousness, and I nodded in acknowledgement at them

"You have accomplished many things that have led to this day. Sleepless nights studying for the entrance exams, time spent reviewing instead of spending time with friends and family. We have all made sacrifices, no matter how small they were. But your sacrifices have earned you the fruits of your labor. Your middle school days are over, and a new page is your life is flipped. The next three years here will be difficult, and obstacles will be constantly thrown at you. But with sufficient effort and sacrifice, you will surely succeed. No man is an island, no man stands alone. Never forget the bonds of friendship that you forged in your middle-school days, but don't hesitate to have some new friends now. Many of you might be strangers to each other now but in the near future, you will call each other as friends. In time, you will learn to support each other in times of great need."

I had to stop and cough for a second there.

The last part about the friends tasted so bad in my mouth that I hope that I didn't make a strange face when I said it. It sounded so wrong coming from a guy like me, ugh, cringe material right there…

I have…to…finish this…only…a few…sentences…left…!

I activate my STAND, [108 LONER SKILLS]!

PLUS ULTRAAAAAA!

"Disregard the past and look to the future with your head held high! If you had any regrets back then, then I implore you to not repeat your past mistakes! This is your chance to show the best of your ability! Sobou has high expectations of you, and it is your job to meet those expectations! This is the freshman representative, Hikigaya Hachiman, and I welcome all of you to Sobou High!"

My throat was dry after saying my piece, and I think I did well. But I think I sounded too aggressive at the last part. Well, at least I didn't stutter or my voice cracked.

It was at that moment, where I realized that the school ground, that was occupied my more than a hundred people, was deathly quiet. The sea of students in front of me were eerily quiet, yet their eyes were on me.

It started with a lone sound, which I pinpointed to the front of the crowd. Shiromeguri-senpai was slowly clapping her hands while looking at me with a dazed expression. It was followed by Haruno-san, then Hiratsuka-sensei, then all the teachers and school directors joined. A few seconds after that, as if broken from a trance, the lines of students broke into a frenzy of cheers and grand applause.

I turned to the two beside me and they were clapping as well, although Sigh-chan refused to meet my eyes. I was standing on a raised platform on the stage so I had to literally look down on them.

"That was great Hikigaya-san!" The blonde fuccboi said while flashing me a refreshing smile. Oi, I thought I told you to stop giving me that smile? And stop looking at me like that like what the heck.

"I'm just glad that its over…" I say as I begin to step down from the podium to take my place at the center between the two of them.

"Hikigaya-san, are you ok?" Fuccboi asked me as he put a hand on my shoulder, his facial features told me that he was worried.

"Yes, I'm fine."

A gust of wind came at us, and his hair was slightly ruffled by it. A few sakura petals made flew between the two of us and I felt one of them land on the top of my head.

As the crowd began to calm down a bit, a lone girly shriek came from somewhere inside it.

I know that sound.

It's the sound that a fujoshi makes when she sees BL material, followed by excessive giggling and, for some reason, nosebleed. As my eyes scanned the crowd, I saw a girl with black shoulder-length hair with red rimmed glasses, and she had the after effects of a fujoshi after seeing BL material.

She looked familiar, and I think I had met her before…

"Hikigaya-kun, please stop ogling at women in public, it is very unsightly." A cold voice from beside me spoke.

"Yukinoshita-san, please stop lecturing and eyeing my every move. Were you hired by my mother perhaps?" I reply. We were facing forward and not looking at each other but we were having a verbal battle.

"With your eyes, every woman that you look at can be labeled at ogling."

"And with that mouth of yours, every word that comes out of it can be labeled as an insult."

"That's rich, coming from you."

"I only retaliate when I am provoked, thank you." I coolly reply.

"Are you saying that I am the one provoking you?" she said and the air around me turned cold. Unfortunately for her, I have already developed antibodies that are somewhat resistant to her verbal attacks.

"A blind man can see that from a light year away."

"I am simply doing what is expected of me."

"Well, Ojou-sama, is constantly berating me one of the expectations that you imply?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw her slightly blush when I called her Ojou-sama. But it quickly disappeared.

"Telling someone like you would just be a waste of my time."

"Hoh, then maybe someday, you would tell me, Ojou-sama…"

"I highly doubt that. Please stop calling me that, it would be preferable if I'm excluded in your sick fantasies."

"If I had any fantasies, I can assure you that you are definitely not included in them, Ojou-sama."

"Good grief…" she said and put a shoulder on her brow.

"Umm, guys? Have the two of you calmed down yet…?" Fuccboi said and called our attention from my right side.

I said nothing, and simply faced forward with a poker face. I can tell that Sigh-chan did the same from the corner of my eye. Instead of being offended by not being giving any sort of acknowledgement, Fuccboi did a sigh of relief and returned facing forward.

Good heavens, this morning is already draining my health bar…I hope I have some health potions with me…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AAAAAAAAAAAAAnnnnnnnnnndd, we're done!

Hey hey! I'm back from Tokyo bois and grils!

We went to SO many places that I have to ask my foster sister to remind me lol. But the one place that I wanted to visit was Meiji shrine. T'is a shame that we had no time to visit the shrine…

Ok enough of that! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.

How did you think 8man fared in his welcoming speech? I think I'll give him a 7/10 for that.

Aside from a few, EVERYONE that 8man met during the school break was there! But I think he forgot one or two of them though…

I bet some of them think that he's a pretty cool guy, but unfortunately for them, he's not!

Sorry if chapter 8 was a bit rushed. I decided to decrease the length of each chapter because when I reread chapter 7, it was a mess and so many things happened in one chapter alone.

So yeah…

Don't forget to write a review!

Sayonara minna-san!