"You say you never been caught? Boy you must be lucky
But don't go barkin' bout my ties, you better hush puppy"
-Chingo Bling, 2007
Hachiman groaned as he felt something press into his back, turning over in bed. Whatever it was, it now jabbed into his front, even more aggressively. He scowled, opening his eyes.
"I'm up, I'm up."
Komachi jabbed him with her finger again.
"No, gomii-chan, you're awake. You're not up. The bus is gonna be here in a couple minutes, you gotta get ready!"
Hachiman sighed, rolling out of bed and hunching over lazily. They stood there for a few seconds before he cleared his throat, indicating for her to leave. She gave him a dubious look, sighing as she walked out.
"You're never gonna make it in the real world, gomii-chan."
He ignored her, closing the door and rifling through his dresser. It was a strange thought that he didn't have a uniform anymore. He could wear what he wanted. That freedom was a bit suffocating, though. With a uniform, the playing field was level. Money and fashion sense made no impact unless you felt like getting in trouble. Perfect for containing the flashy normies and bitches. Yup, uniforms were definitely superior. He clicked his teeth in disdain, sliding on a pair of pants and a t-shirt as he rushed out the door to catch the bus, arriving at the stop just as it pulled up. A number of other teenagers were standing around, jostling a bit to get to the front. The dirty yellow bus doors slowly creaked open, teenagers filing in one by one in a rush to grab a seat. By the time Hachiman got on, almost every seat was filled up. He kept walking along, hoping to find somewhere to sit, only to be greeted by people shaking their heads, or putting bags down anywhere he might go. Eventually, he reached the back.
Contrary to the rest of the bus, which was totally packed, there were a few empty rows. 6 or 7 teens sat at the very back, sporting gold chains and clearly new, expensive clothes. They were all wearing green baseball caps, green shirts and bandanas… What, was it cool to color coordinate now? Hachiman sighed as he sat down in an empty seat. He would never understand normies. The second he sat down, however, the conversation said normies were having in the back came to a stop. He could feel them staring at him even as he ignored them and put on some headphones, turning his music way up to drown out the sounds of the bus. For a few seconds, he thought that was that, but when he felt a ball of paper hit the back of his head he knew he'd be in for a rough ride.
For a bit longer, he tried sticking to his favorite strategy- ignoring it. Suddenly, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He slowly looked up to see a tall hispanic guy shaking his head, with a grin on his face as if to say 'you fucked up'. The guy pointed to his ear, indicating for Hachiman to take his earbud out, which he immediately did.
"You fucked up, homeboy."
Right. This guy clearly wasted no time. Hachiman decided he wouldn't either. He raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
The guy chuckled, not removing his hand from Hachi's shoulder.
"You ain't from around here, huh? This is our part of the bus."
Hachiman's expression remained unchanged as he stared up at the guy.
"So? There weren't any other spots."
His grin immediately evaporated, replaced with a harsh scowl, as his grip tightened.
"Then sit on the fuckin' FLOOR, STUPID!"
He threw Hachiman on the ground, Hachi's head hitting the seat next to them as he hit the 'ground'. In that moment, Hachiman's instincts made a decision that would change the rest of his young life. He'd heard of a fight or flight response before in textbooks, but never thought he'd actually be in a situation that involved it in real life. Before he even knew what was happening, his fist was planted firmly in the latino's jaw. He fell back against the row of seats, his green hat falling as his expression went from shocked to pissed. The would-be bully bared his teeth in anger, throwing a hard right hook at Hachi's gut and knocking the wind out of him. He threw another punch that Hachiman miraculously avoided before Hachi grabbed his gold chain, pulling him down and making them both fall as the bus came to a hard stop.
By this point most of the kids on the bus were watching the fight, phones out recording them as they scrambled around trying (and mostly failing) to land blows on each other. It was clear that, for all the posturing of the tall guy, he didn't actually know how to fight. Not that Hachiman knew, either, aside from some karate classes he'd taken as a kid. Just as Hachi's elbow managed to connect with his foe's nose, he heard the bus honk loudly a few times.
"KNOCK IT OFF BACK THERE!"
Just as the bus driver shouted out, one of the guys from the back of the bus grabbed the latino's arms, holding him back even as he struggled to get free and start fighting again. He strained to stop him from breaking free.
"Ayo CC, chill, chill! He ain't worth it bro! Chill!"
Hachiman just stood there, giving him a dead stare that didn't reveal how fast his heart was beating as "CC" calmed down.
"I'm cool, I'm cool."
He turned to Hachi, glaring at him as a thin streak of blood slowly went from his nose to his chin. If he noticed, it didn't bother him. He looked like a rabid dog after mauling some little fuzzy creature.
"You're gonna fuckin' DIE, foo."
Hachiman's expression remained unchanged. He didn't think he could change it if he wanted to, anyway. It was frozen onto his face. He felt the bus come to a stop, and heard the creaky doors slide open. He seriously didn't want to turn around and open himself up to an attack from behind, but he had to leave eventually. Without a word, he turned and silently walked off the bus. Somehow, he made it off without losing his life. Giving a silent prayer to the gods, Hachiman made a beeline to the school building, before CC could change his mind.
