Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.
Previously on Match Point: Hikigaya, Ryuzaki and Black Tiger get captured by the Americans, while in the present Yukino tells Hiratsuka all about her uncles death. Hikigaya makes contact with the mysterious person on the other end of the phone, and tells them not to interfere in his life. The night now draws to a close, how will 8man deal with the injured mercenary? Find out!
"So Rorona, what should I do with you?"
The two look at each other intently. The man truly has no idea what to say, fearing he might upset the assassin, however he is also aware that the bullet wound in his leg could kill him if he doesn't do something.
In the distance sounds of sirens begin to fade in, getting louder and louder.
"Looks like your times up."
1 Week Later – Monday – 15:37
Hikigaya, sits opposite from Hiratsuka, sipping his coffee in her office. In between her work, she glances up at him, then towards the small bin right next to his chair. There are a few crumbled up papers and used cigarettes inside, however the item she's taken an interest in are the MAX Coffee cans that seem to be piling up.
Her eyes shift from the bin to him.
'I know I said we should sit in silence while he does his homework, but he could at least TRY to make the smallest bit of conversation instead of just sipping that coffee all day. I mean when people say they want silence, they aren't being serious, they're practically begging you for some entertainment! Taking a student under my wing is far harder than I thought… Especially when they're socially retarded.'
CLANK
Another empty can enters the pile, not a moment later Hikigaya reaches into his bag pulling out a brand-new coffee.
"If you keep drinking those you will die, that's a medical fact you know?"
Hachiman looks up from his workbook at his teacher and raises an eyebrow.
"I doubt that, Hiratsuka-sensei."
She shakes her head disapprovingly, before comically over-acting.
"Oh, how could I have done this to an innocent young man, I have gotten him addicted to something, his life is ruined and I'm to blame."
"I forgive you." He says, putting his focus back on his work and coffee.
"No! You're supposed to say 'Oh, Shizuka Hiratsuka, how could you have done this to me, I hate you forever, it'll never be the same after this!' and then you start crying."
Hachiman doesn't respond.
'Jeez, even speaking to Yukino is easier than speaking to a dimwit like this. He doesn't even pretend to care about what I say. He's a terrible student.'
The mention of Yukino slowly brings Shizukas fairly positive mood down slightly.
'A lots happening in that girls family, and it seems I'm the only person she can speak to. Even then, she ran straight for the door the moment I even tried giving her advice… Teaching is really hard, and it seems I can't do anything right.'
Hikigaya senses the pit of depression his teacher is silently falling into, though he doesn't say anything about it. Her mood does appear to be ever changing.
In attempt to ignore her worries Hiratsuka checks the time on her PC.
'15:48'
The two of them have been meeting in her office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, keeping a soft-unofficial schedule. Occasionally he'll have lunch in her office, however it's not too common as the teachers have meetings during that time.
Despite it being over a month since school started, Hachiman hasn't made any friends, and Hiratsuka is well aware of it. There were quite a few points in her schooling when she had no friends, so she finds it quite difficult to watch it happening to a student who appears to be a decent person overall.
'Even if he doesn't care whether or not he's alone doesn't mean I shouldn't, but it's difficult to help someone who barely speaks to you.'
As the clock hits 16:00, Hikigaya starts to pack up his things, still not saying a word. His teacher simply watches him with an annoyed look in her eyes and a smirk on her mouth.
'He better at least say goodbye…'
Once all his books are in his bag, Hikigaya gets up and leaves Shizukas office, seemingly in a hurry. No 'goodbyes' were said.
Now alone the older woman simply sits arms crossed, staring at the door her student just walked out of.
'You really never know what he's thinking.'
3 Months Earlier
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Pain. Unimaginable. Indescribable. Real? These words echo throughout Hachimans head as he gets tortured by his captors.
Arms and legs bound by ropes to a chair in the middle of an abandoned underground parking garage. His clothes have been stripped off of him, leaving his naked skin to feel every second of the cold Afghanistan air. Distant screams can also be heard, albeit faintly.
After their capture, the Americans took them to a half-destroyed mall as it was in a zone that'd been long forgotten about by the terrorists. In other words there is absolutely no third-party to hear their wales.
"People like you always think that you're all that. You think you're the best and that you're untouchable just because you leave a trail of bodies everywhere you go, but in reality, you aren't shit."
The American sits on a chair in front of the assassin, watching as he shivers.
"I've done a couple of these 'Black Operations' before. Be it knocking off a world leader so that someone better can take their seat or maybe getting rid of some politicians pregnant mistress. The messed-up shit you know? Doesn't really bother me. This time however I was like, HEY, how about instead of sending American soldiers into some shithole building to rescue some asshole who got himself captured, why not outsource?"
The man laughs a bit to himself, before continuing to monologue.
"Outsource! Like outsourcing to India or something. Except instead of having some random idiot answering the tech support line of Google, I thought how about we find an organization that supplies professional assassins. It sounded ridiculous, and when I brought it up to my commanding officer he laughed, like I was telling a joke. He told me if I could find these so-called organizations that supply assassins like they're donuts, then he'd put them on this mission. Well I found two. The one you came out of and the one your partner came out of."
His tone gets serious.
"And those same people I suggested to my commanding officer, ended up shooting him in the head. So you can imagine how I feel right? I'm clearly the good guy here. You can't just go murdering patriots like that and also expect to get away with it."
No response.
"Enjoy rotting here, I'm going to go say hi to the old man, then to your friend, perhaps they haven't froze to death, but really who even knows?"
The soldier walks away, without saying another word, Hikigaya simply sits there, head hanging low.
Present Day – 20:19 - Hiratsukas Apartment
"Gang wars remain at an all-time high, Donald Trump seemingly makes peace with North Korea, and is your child playing too much Fortnite? Find out more after the break."
Hiratsuka pays little attention to the news, simply leaving it on as something to listen to while she marks worksheets and organizes future lessons.
"In one of todays top stories, three boys who came face to face with death share their experience with local Chiba news after disappearing for almost two weeks."
This catches Shizukas attention, and she looks up from her work and at the TV. There is a lady dressed in a red skirt, and black blouse standing next to three high school students.
"What can you tell me about your experience?" The lady says as she holds the microphone out towards them.
"Well… Uh basically… The three of us ran away from home… We were very scared… And then a man wearing a mask found us and aimed a gun at us."
"Was he trying to rob you?"
"No… I, uhhh… I think he was wanted to kill us…" The boys volume decreases as he finishes the sentence. The memories appear to distress him.
Hiratsukas eyes widen and she snaps her fingers at the television.
"That's them! Those are the kids that tried to rob me a few weeks ago!" She yells at the screen, despite knowing it's pointless.
The interview asks a few more questions. Occasionally the other two boys answer, but the leader of the three does most of the speaking.
Once the questions wrap-up the reporter provides more information and context.
"Yes, as you can tell these three very young high school boys have quite a harrowing tale, luckily they did get out alive, but why did they run away from home in the first place? Well an anonymous source has said that they attempted and failed to rob a teacher at Sobu Highschool, Shizuka Hiratsuka. If that name sounds familiar it's likely you've heard of her father, Yuta Hiratsuka, famous Japanese judge. Could the robbery, be connected to her father, we think it's unlikely."
Shizuka sighs at the mention of her father, then turns the TV off.
'Are they even allowed to use my name without permission like that? Some people really have no respect... That lady would probably be at my door right now if she could get my address.'
The teacher puts her head in her hands, then lies down on the couch.
'The police might give me a visit soon, so I can give another statement. What a drag...'
3 Months Earlier
Black Tiger inhales, then exhales. The ropes around her arms keep her strapped to the concrete pillar, but her legs are free. Upon being undressed by the soldier who was tasked with monitoring her, Black Tiger was revealed to be female much to his surprise. She took this opportunity to kick him in the throat then use her legs to snap his neck.
'If I don't find a knife or something sharp enough to cut this rope, I'll freeze to death…"
The ice-cold concrete on her back is numbing, and the shivers are hard to control, regardless she does a fine job of ignoring the pain as she rummages through the soldiers corpse with her feet.
The pouches on the man's flak jacket don't hold anything of interest and the dagger on his leg is just out of reach. Despite years of intense workouts, Black Tiger is simply unable to pull the heavy body towards her using just her feet.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Screams echo through the air. The building she is in appears to be a mall and has been half destroyed, leaving most of the pillars collapsed and the roof almost completely gone. The ransacked clothing and food stores tell a story of their own. Black Tiger pays little attention to this, focusing all her energy into moving the body close enough to reach the knife.
'If I don't get out of this soon, more soldiers will come…'
She strains herself further, face red, sweat dripping down from her forehead. Her leg muscles are basically bulging out as she uses all her might to pull the body even an inch closer.
'Can't scream, have to be silent.'
Blood drips from her lip as she bites it to stop from making any noise.
SKRRR
After all her efforts, the body slides a little towards her, putting the knife in reach. Her legs go limp, and she pants silently. The exertion has caused her to completely forget about the cold.
Black Tiger raises her leg and puts her foot on the knife, using her toes she removes it from the holster and lifts it up to her hand. She's agile, but it still hurts.
Not a moment later, she cuts through the rope, freeing herself.
Present Day – 21:01 - Local Park
Hikigaya sits on a park bench, enjoying a can of MAX Coffee, his last one for today. Most of the grass areas are dark, but pathways and benches are lit up by lamps and torches. Lovers are often seen walking through dimly lit parks at night, finding the atmosphere romantic.
The young assassin is indifferent to these notions. He's read many light novels, some romantic, some not. Romance has never been an itch he's felt the need to scratch. After all he is quite young and other things tend to occupy his thoughts. The future is not one of those things, and as far as he is concerned romance is all about the future. Who your partner will be, when you'll meet them, what you'll wear, what you'll buy them, when to get married etc. No matter how many bridges you cross in a relationship there are more and more, memories eventually get replaced, therefore he doesn't give it much thought.
A man dressed in a cap and a brown coat walks up to Hachimans bench and sits down next to him.
"I have what you asked for." The man says stoically.
"Show it to me."
An envelope is discreetly slid from one side of the bench to the other. Neither of them look at each other throughout this exchange.
After going through the envelope Hachiman puts it into his school backup and gets up.
The man does the same and they turn in opposite directions. Before walking off, Hikigaya says a few more words to this person.
"You've done good, we'll be seeing each other soon."
There is silence.
"And one more thing, don't even entertain the thought of crossing me, or you won't live to regret the decision. Do you understand?"
"I understand." The man responds submissively.
"Great, goodbye for now, Rorona."
With that they walk off in opposite directions, disappearing into the clumps of darkness.
Authors Notes: Woah, Rorona is still alive and seemingly working with Hachiman, crazy stuff right? Probably not. But what's in that envelope? Why is Hiratsuka so disgruntled with her father being mentioned? How will Black Tiger and 8man get out of this situation they are in? Pfff, don't ask me! Chapter 13 will be up next week!
