Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu


"Sensei is it true you have a date tonight!?"

"Who is it with? Is it one of the teachers?"

"Is he handsome?"

"Are you going to marry him!?"

Hiratsuka is bombarded with questions about her date. Apparently one of the girls in her class heard her mention it to another teacher and word spread throughout the school fast.

"Go back to your desks and do you work! My date is none of your business."

The girls surrounding Shizuka sigh.

"But yes, he is very handsome."

The students shriek in excitement and opt to leave her alone before they get in any real trouble.

Throughout the day all Hiratsuka hears are conversations about her date, some whispered and some very loud. She may love the attention, but privacy would also be nice.

'I already have Hikigaya stalking me! I don't need to deal with everyone else minding my business as well.'

She sips her coffee. It's not her drink of choice but she'd settle for it.

"You may not bring alcohol on the school premises!"

Shizuka recalls the scolding she got from the principal just for asking him to consider it.

'It's not like I'd go around taking shots with students. It'd be mine and only mine!'

She pictures herself gulping down some whiskey after a hard day's work.

'Hikigaya might see me do it since he spends a lot of afternoons in my office. He'd probably end up reporting me so that I'd get fired and couldn't pester him anymore.'

Hiratsuka slouches slightly in her chair. She's currently sitting in a class full of kids who are a doing test. The only sound to be heard is a ticking clock on the wall.

'Maybe I could give him some of my whiskey? That'll loosen him up.'

The teacher considers her words for a second and deducts the principal may have been right after all.

Looking over at the clock she slouches down further.

Tick

Tick

Tick

Shizuka inhales and looks away. Time seems to be moving slower for her today.

'I wonder what Hikigaya is doing.'

Despite having a date with an adult, it's a child that's taking up most of her thoughts. Perhaps it's all the time they've spent together this week or perhaps it's the fun moments they share in that time, Hiratsuka doesn't know and she doesn't really want to.

'Maybe Shuu has responded.'

She takes her phone out of her pocket and opens up his chat.

"You're not standing me up again are you? :D" - sent Friday 13:27

Even though the message wasn't serious Hiratsuka is starting to get worried.

'What if he is standing me up? Does that make my text look desperate?' Internally she begins to panic and shuts off her phone before she can cause any more problems for herself.

Tick

Tick

Tick

For the next 30 minutes Shizuka sits and does nothing, having the worry of being stood up in the back of her mind and a certain student in the front.

Eventually all the kids hand in their tests and the bell for the next lesson rings. Hiratsuka packs up her stuff and heads over to the next class she'll be monitoring: 2F.

'Hikigayas class.'


2 Years Earlier

The room is dark. The floor is made of concrete and feels ice cold. Some boys are huddled together while others lay by themselves shivering. The guards outside the dorm have 5-minute rotations. When one arrives at their door he'll open a hatch, look into the room with a flashlight, then move on. 5 minutes later a second guard will do the same.

Hikigayas target is sleeping about 2 metres away from him, completely unaware that he wouldn't be waking up in the morning.

Feeling the heat of a flashlight on his face the assassin braces himself. Once the guard walks away he has five minutes to take out the target and plant the evidence on another inmate.

Hikigaya believed he could do both in under 2 minutes but also wanted to make use of the time.

As the hatch closes the 12-year-old takes his shot.

Since a few hours earlier Thando (an inmate who tried to pick a fight with Hachiman) ended up injuring his hand, he's had a pillowcase wrapped around his forearm and wrist. At some point after he fell asleep the pillowcase slid off and was right next to Thando free for the taking.

Hikigaya gets up and moves silently over to Thando. Shifting his weight from foot-to-foot the assassin is as silent as a feather hitting the ground.

Now crouched down next to the boy, Hachiman reaches for the pillowcase and pulls it up over his shoulder.

He then pulls out the bolt he got from the cafeteria and wraps the pillowcase around it. Once again, and as silent as physically possible Hikigaya heads towards his target.

'3 minutes.'

Seth is sleeping on his side with his back to the assassin.

"I don't know the details, but you can imagine what happened. I guess my library card fell out of his pocket, the girl found it and went to the police and now I'm locked in here for two days until I have to go to real prison."

The targets words echo through Hachiman's head.

'Surely he can't be innocent. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't need to.'

Hikigaya exhales silently.

'It doesn't matter whether he is innocent or guilty. It doesn't matter whether or not he's a good person. Morality is too subjective to mean anything. He is my target and I have a mission. 2 minutes left.'

As Hikigaya completes his objective, the target takes his last breath.

He's not here for justice or to make decisions. Hachiman is here to complete a task, nothing more and nothing less and absolutely nothing could stop him from completing the mission. No matter what the mission was.

'1 minute, 30 seconds.'

After Hikigaya plants the bloody bolt and pillowcase on Thando, he heads over to his original corner and lays down quietly. The guards would discover the body very soon, the patsy would be hauled off and tomorrow Sensei Ryuzaki will have him taken out of the Juvenile Prisons custody.

The hatch on the door opens.

"Hey, what's going on in here!?"

Another guard rushes over.

"I think that's blood!"

The two officer bust in, yelling and hitting their batons against the walls.

One of them attempts to aid the bloody inmate but is unsuccessful.

"WHO DID THIS!?" The other guard yells.

The inmates look around at each other, but the lights are still off. The only things keeping the room from being pitch black are the guards' torches.

"Look here!" One of the guards discovers the bolt by Thando.

"It was him!?"

Thando is taken by surprise and starts yelling curses at the men.

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

Hits from a baton against his back and legs are enough to stop Thando from protesting. Another guard hears the commotion and arrives at the dorm to see what's going on. Once it's clear what happened he pulls out his radio.

"Call in a doctor and turn on the lights… One of the inmates has been murdered."

Two of the officers forcefully escort Thando out the dorm, leaving only one to watch the body.

Most of the boys have figured out what happened and one even throws up.

The guard is sweating and has a panicked look on his face.

Hikigayas expression is cold and emotionless as ever.


Present Day

'Does this woman really believe I have not noticed her look up at me from her desk 10 times within the last 5 minutes?'

'Hikigaya better ace this test or I'm going to be furious!'

'She probably expects me to ace this test, but how could someone even pass while getting glared at by a teacher!'

'I wonder if he's seen me. If he has it should motivate him to do his best, knowing I'm watching.'

Hiratsuka and Hachiman continue their silent mental battle from across the room for another five minutes before their eyes lock.

Tick

Tick

Tick

The teacher motions her head downwards attempting to tell her student to focus on his test.

'What is she trying to tell me?'

He starts to shake his head to the side trying to convey he wants her to stop watching him.

'Is he saying he wants to leave with me? Pervert!'

She subtly shakes her fist at him and scowls.

Tick

Tick

Tick

Hikigaya finishes the test and puts down his pen, he then looks up at Hiratsuka with a "are you happy?" face.

She puts the sides of her hands together and looks into her palms trying to tell him to go through his answers.

'Is this woman hungry?'

He begins to make gestures as if he is eating food.

'No you may not in eat in my class how dare you even bring it up!'

Hiratsuka vigorously shakes her head.

'If she isn't hungry then what does she want?'

At some point, one of the students notices them.

'Are they communicating?' The light brown-haired girl asks herself as she watches.

'Is sensei giving… that boy… the answers? If she is why does he look like he's pretending to eat food? Is food related to the test?'

The girl begins to panic and flips through the pages looking at all the questions.

'Food… food… food… Nothing!?'

Now very confused she continues to watch the student and the teacher, hoping to understand what's happening, however their silent discussion is soon over.

Shizuka stands up and tells the class their time to finish is up and that that the bell would be ringing any second.

"Everyone who is done must put their test on the right side of my desk and everyone who isn't done must put it on the left side, if I am feeling nice on Monday maybe I'll let you finish then."

RING RING RING

"Once you've put your test down on my desk you're free to leave."

This was the last lesson of the day and Hiratsuka was eager to get home. She had to clean up her apartment for when Shuu arrives, then she'd have to shower and pick an outfit.

Thinking about it made the single woman even more excited and she was on the verge of sprinting out the classroom.

After everyone is out and Shizuka has locked the door, she notices Hikigaya waiting for her.

"Is something wrong?" the teacher says as she puts the keys in her bag.

"Let me carry that for you sensei."

Hachiman extends his arm.

"Being nice to me won't score you extra points on the test Hikigaya."

She gives him her bag.

"I know, I just wanted to help you."

They begin to walk down the hall almost touching shoulders.

"Since when do you want to help anyone?"

A few students walk past them.

"I don't want to help anyone sensei, I want to help you."

Another teacher being helped by a student walks past them. Unlike Shizuka and Hachiman, these two are about a metre apart and have said nothing to each other.

"Well… you should try and help other people as well."

After leaving the building Hiratsuka decides to ask Hikigaya about something that's been on her mind for some time.

"How did you first know I'm not married? Is it…" she begins to speak under her breath, "is it that obvious?"

They are almost at her car.

"I knew you weren't married because you didn't have any rings on your fingers."

Shizuka sighs internally. His deduction made a lot of sense and had she looked at herself from a third person point of view, she'd have probably come to the same conclusion but before she can compliment him for being so perceptive, Hikigaya continues to speak.

"Don't get me wrong, it is still very obvious that you aren't married."

They arrive at the car and Hiratsuka shoots him a very dirty look.

"I was about to pay you a compliment for being so perceptive, but then I remembered it's just your weird obsession with me, pervert."

She opens the trunk of her car and he places down the bag before starting to walk off.

"Hikigaya wait."

He stops but doesn't turn around. They are in almost the same situation as this morning.

"Yes, sensei?"

There is a bit of silence.

"I'll... see you on Monday."

There is a bit more silence.

"Have fun on your date sensei, you deserve it."

Hiratsuka watches as Hikigaya walks off towards the exit.

"You deserve it."

She smiles as his words playback in her head.

"Thank you."

Her response isn't loud enough for him to hear, but she is satisfied with the exchange none the less.


2 Years earlier

After the target's body was found, Hikigaya's dorm was flooded with guards and cleaners. Due to overpopulation, the prison couldn't arrange for the boys to be transferred to a different cell and they had to spend the night handcuffed to a railing whilst being questioned by officers.

People dying is always a big deal even in bad prisons. It was treated with the utmost scrutiny and the warden made sure everyone from the secretary to the head officer knew this, however because of the overwhelming evidence and his history of violence, Thando was quickly determined to be the killer, so an investigation was put off.

Hikigayas plan had gone flawlessly and all objectives were done. Sensei Ryuzaki had arranged visitation and prepped false documents to have the Hachiman put into his custody.

Mission Complete.

About an hour afterwards, the assassin and his sensei sat at a restaurant and discussed everything that happened. If it were up to them, they'd be eating a nice hot cup of ramen, unfortunately most South African restaurants don't serve noodles, so they settled for soup.

"I'll contact the client later and tell him everything is done, after that you should receive the other half of your payment."

"Alright." Hikigaya says as he looks around the restaurant at the people going about their day. To the side of him is a couple, they're sitting across from each other and having a conversation. It's clear one of them is less interested in the topic and is only pretending to care as to appease their partner.

On the other side of Hikigaya there is a mother and her two children. One of the kids is playing with a tiny car and the other is eating a burger.

'They seem happy.'

Hachiman smiles. He never knew his mother or his father. The only family he had was Sensei Ryuzaki and his sister Komachi. He's always wondered what it'd be like to have a normal life, one where you don't risk it on a regular basis. He knows it's cliche to have thoughts like that but he can't help but be curious.

"Waaaah!"

In the corner of the restaurant, a baby starts to cry. It's loud and is attracting everyone's attention. The mother picks it up attempting to calm it down but has no luck.

'I wonder if I'll ever have children.'

Hikigaya considers it for a second and concludes that having children is not a possibility. He would need a female to have them with or he'd need to adopt. Neither option sounds like something worth the effort to him.

'No children for me then.'

He frowns and puts some food in his mouth.

"Is something bothering you?"

Even from a young age, Sensei Ryuzaki knew when Hikigaya was feeling down. Apparently he had a "tell" that would reveal when he was genuinely unhappy, however only Ryuzaki knew what the "tell" was and wouldn't reveal it to anyone. They had many debates about how if Hachiman knew what the "tell" was he could stop doing it and possibly lie better during his missions, but the sensei wouldn't budge and maintained the notion that no one else would figure it out.

"No, I'm fine. Just exhausted from the mission."

"Well, you have a lot of time to rest. You did a good job, and you should enjoy your free time. Who knows when the next mission will be."

"Thank you sensei."


Present Day

On his way out the parking lot, Hikigaya considers where his relationship with Hiratsuka is going. Whether or not he's moving too slow or too fast is something he has yet to know the answer to. For him, it's the most troubling part of the task.

'If I don't get the information my client wants quick enough, the mission will fail. That wouldn't be very good.'

He looks around, taking in the environment. Most kids are either at their clubs or have already gone home.

'If I move too fast, Hiratsuka may begin to suspect me. Also not very good.'

As Hikigaya arrives at the school gate he sees the same three bullies as usual. This time their victim is not around and they're just speaking amongst themselves.

"I'm telling you man it'll be fine. Who knows what kinda shit she'll have in there!"

One of them is clearly trying to convince the other two of something.

"I don't know, this is risky to even speak about."

"Just trust me, we'll be in and out."

Hikigaya doesn't care much for their conversation, but they're standing right by the gate meaning he'll probably catch a bit of the topic as he passes.

"What if she's home and sees our faces?" One of the boys asks. He looks uncomfortable and has his arms crossed.

"She won't be home she's got a date tonight plus I've got some masks in my bag just in case."

This gets Hachiman's attention.

'Are they referring to Hiratsukas date?'

He begins to walk slightly slower.

"I'm saying we go over to her apartment at about eleven, break the door open, grab all her jewels or whatever then we're gone. It's too easy to pass up." The tallest of the group is practically begging them to join him.

"You sure she won't be home?"

"Yeah, positive."

The other two boys start coming around to the proposal.

'Are they going to attempt to rob Hiratsuka? This could be a problem.'

Hikigaya walks past them doing nothing to indicate he is aware of their plans.

'I should tail them for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe they'll change their minds. Worst case scenario I'll have to intervene.'

After they leave the school he stays about 20 feet behind them, because this is Japan, he blends in perfectly. They walk slowly at first, clearly taking their time. It's Friday so the stress of doing homework is toned down, although these kids probably don't do their homework anyway.

On their walk they crack lots of terrible, unfunny jokes, they bump into random people and throw sticks at passing cars. At no point do they notice someone's following them.

The first place the boys go to is a hardware store. They pool their money together to buy 3 backpacks and a hammer.

The bags are no doubt to store the loot and the hammer is probably to break open the door.

'That's an odd choice.' Hikigaya thinks to himself as they pay for their items.

The next place the high schoolers head to is a convenience store. After failing to convince the guy at the cash register to let them purchase alcohol the boys leave cursing him on their way out.

It's now almost eight o' clock and the sun has set. Whilst Hikigaya follows the possible criminals, Hiratsuka prepares for her date.


'Should I wear this one… or this one?'

With one eyebrow raised the single teacher looks at her options.

'I want to look stylish but not like I'm trying. I also want to look like I can have any guy I see, so my date is lucky to have me. Hmmm.'

On her bed is a green blouse and next to it is a crop top. She's never worn a crop top before and considers her dress style more conservative, but a friend gifted it to her on Shizukas 21st birthday and since it's never been used the teacher thinks it might be a good time to try it out.

After putting it on she quickly changes her mind.

She tries on the other clothing item and twirls in the mirror. Thinking it looks good, her anticipation skyrockets.

'We may tell our kids stories of tonight! Of how romantic our first date was!'

She shrieks. When excitement gets the better of her, Hiratsuka throws all shame and caution out the window.

While she does her hair and make-up she thinks of all the possibilities her future might hold, what her wedding will be like, what she'll name her kids, where she'll live.

Afterwards she goes to lay down on her bed. Thinking too hard about the future can tire anyone out. Hiratsuka opens her phone to see if Shuu has responded yet.

1 new message.

With a big grin on her face, she opens his chat.

"Hey sorry but something came up. Maybe next time k?" – sent 20:08 Friday

Her grin disappears, and a look of disappointment covers her face. She clutches her phone tightly, staring at the message.

"Hey sorry but something came up. Maybe next time k?" – sent 20:08 Friday

As she lays on her bed devastated, a group of boys gets closer to her apartment building.


Authors and their notes am I right?: Looks like Shuu canceled on Shizuka again. What a terrible guy. Guess she'll be spending Friday night alone, but the potential home invaders don't know that. What happens next? Favourite and follow to find out :^)