"Hold ya horses, these is choices in the presence of a playa
Buckle up the belt through the southern Himalayas"
-Lil Keke, 1997
Hachiman managed to make it to his first class without any further incidents, though it took some time before his heartbeat fully settled. The school itself was enormous and had a somewhat confusing layout, but that just meant there were a lot of hidden nooks and crannies to take refuge in during lunch. What really weirded him out were the metal detectors near the entrances. Were things really that bad here? Eventually, he made it to his homeroom, the bell ringing just as he took his seat. A few seconds later, the teacher walked in- a heavyset black woman, probably in her 50's, with a thick grey sweater, black trousers, and a tired expression.
"Good morning class, as of today we have a new student. He moved here from Japan."
She said it like it was the name of some far-off, exotic land. Which he supposed was accurate from their perspective.
"Do you go by 'Hachiman'?"
The next question was directed at him. He shook his head.
"Hikigaya is fine."
The teacher wrote something down on her clipboard.
"Allllright, Hikigaya it is. Okay class, today we're gonna be talking about Newton's laws of thermodynamics."
With that, the topic had already shifted. A couple people glanced over at him, curious about the new student, but that interest quickly seemed to fade as he sat back in his chair, waiting for the time to move forward. He could've sworn a skinny black girl near the window was staring at him, but every time he glanced over to confirm it, her head was turned to the teacher attentively. The teacher called on her, and she nervously gave an answer, fidgeting a bit in her seat. It turned out to be correct. Soon enough, the bell rang, and everybody quickly filtered out of the classroom, but just as Hachiman got to the door, he heard a voice call out.
"Hey."
He turned around. It was the girl near the window. Hachiman slung his backpack over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.
"What? My next class starts in a couple minutes."
She rolled her eyes, putting a hand on her hip.
"No shit. All our classes start at the same time. Doesn't matter though."
She crossed her arms, looking up at him in an almost scolding manner. Where was all this gusto earlier in class?
"You know you almost broke his nose, right? The guy on the bus."
Hachiman sighed. He knew what happened earlier would get brought up at some point.
"He started it in the first place. Besides, why do you care? He's an asshole."
She gave him an incredulous look.
"Are you retarded? I'm…"
She sighed, pinching her brow in frustration before looking back up at him, her eyes a bit softer.
"Look, I'm just tryna warn you, okay? That guy might be an asshole, but he runs with a whole GANG of assholes. They're gonna try and beat your ass at some point."
Hachiman nodded slowly, absorbing her words.
"Uh… okay. Thanks."
He started to turn to leave again, only for her to stop him.
"Wait. They're probably gonna be lookin for you on lunch break. What I'm tryna say is… there's a place people like us go for lunch they don't know about."
Hachiman raised an eyebrow.
"People like us?"
She nodded once.
"People those fuckers have beef with. You won't make it here without a group, that's for SHIT sho. What's your next class? I can show you where we meet up."
The two of them exchanged a bit of info before heading out. Her name was Alexandra, but she insisted he call her 'Alex'. It felt uncomfortable using a nickname for somebody he barely knew, but apparently that was the custom in the United States. She said she'd be waiting for him once his class was over, which was a pain. He'd much rather stick it out on his own and risk getting a beating than having to be a part of some misfits club. However, the more logical side of him knew that if he got caught by himself by CC and his friends, they wouldn't just give him a wedgie and take his lunch money like in the movies. Seeing as how he was rather fond of his limbs, it was obvious that sticking with Alexandria was definitely his best option, at least until things died down. If that ever happened. He shuddered at the thought of having to hide in fear for the entire rest of his time here. How long would that be, anyway?
Hachiman was occupied by his thoughts, paying no attention whatsoever to the lecture his teacher was giving the class about mitochondria or whatever. He didn't even hear the bell- he only realized once everybody started filing out that class had ended. Stepping outside the room, he saw Alexandra, sorry, Alex waiting for him impatiently. She perked up when she spotted him before quickly putting on a faux-cool expression. So obvious. It reminded Hachi of Yuigahama for a second, and he felt a little pang of homesickness.
"C'mon, let's go."
Alex wasted no time, turning around and walking off without even checking to see if Hachiman was following. He jogged for a second to catch up to her fast stride, the two of them weaving through numerous corridors and hallways to a part of school that seemed almost empty. Before long, she opened a door to a classroom that looked like it was from the '30s. The weird linoleum floors, popcorn ceiling and striped baseboards gave off an abandoned feel. How had this part of the school escaped renovation? A handful of teenagers sat around scrolling through their phones or talking to each other while they ate. Alex cleared her throat to get everybody's attention as they all turned to look at him.
"Hey y'all, this is Hachiman. He just got here today."
A white girl with glasses perked up, her expression clearly interested.
"Ooh, only been here a day and already pissed off the Greenies? What'd you do, what'd you do?"
Hachiman rubbed the back of his neck somewhat sheepishly. It was kind of dumb for him to already have problems with what appeared to be the school bully group.
"I… got in a fight with one of them when he tried making me move my seat on the bus. He started it though."
He added the last bit somewhat defensively, but the damage was already done. A hispanic girl in the back he hadn't even noticed chimed in softly.
"Y-yeah, I saw it on instagram… you totally beat him up…"
Hachi sighed, hoping to avoid the reputation of being a violent firebrand.
"Thanks. But I really just want to have a peaceful high school life, and not get in any more fights."
A chubby white guy with a Houston Astros hoodie chuckled.
"Good luck with that, bro. You know they're gonna try and get you back, right?"
Alex stepped in.
"WHICH, is why I invited him here. They'll probably forget about him soon enough, outta sight outta mind as they say. Anyway, Hachiman, this is the group."
She pointed to the glasses girl.
"That's Amanda."
Amanda smiled and gave a playful salute as Alex pointed to the hispanic girl.
"That's Sofia."
Sofia gave what could generously be described as a wave, looking away a bit as Alex pointed to the white guy.
"And that's Paul."
Paul nodded.
"And you know dis!"
He offered a fist for Hachiman to bump, which he did reluctantly. Suddenly, the door swung open. A short black girl sauntered in wearing what Hachiman assumed was a fashionable combination of leggings and a tight top with some words he couldn't quite make out on the… ample, bust. Her words took him out of his not-at-all-a-trance as she smiled confidently, a hand on her hip.
"And I'm Diamond. I saw your fight with Carlos, you whooped his ASS, boy!"
Hachiman nodded blankly.
"Uh, thanks. I'm Hachiman."
She crossed her arms, looking up at him with an eyebrow raised and a smile on her lips.
"So I've heard."
He felt a bead of sweat start to form on his forehead, a flashback to Isshiki playing in his head. This girl was dangerous.
