Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.

Previously on Match Point: The package Hikigaya was sent to collect is revealed to be highly sought after by several other parties, while in the present Yukinoshita takes a leap of faith with Yuigahama. What will happen next? Find out!


Tuesday - Kiroku Mall – 17:01

The red light on the camera stops blinking, and Yukino hurries towards the entrance to the store.

"Keep watch. If anyone comes, tell me."

Yuigahama nods and begins to look around. Despite being a bit naïve in some social situations she is more than aware of the risk currently being taken.

'Friendship is all about taking big jumps, so if this is what Yukinoshita needs me to do… I guess I'll do it!' Her thoughts are contradicted by her fast heart rate.

Yukinoshita reaches into her pocket and pulls out her retractable knife. She then reaches behind her head and pulls out a small pin from her hair. The wealthy-girl kneels down by the padlock on the metal gate and bends the bobby pin over the blade. She then inserts it into the lock before taking out another pin and sliding it over the previous one.

"So… Have you done this before?" Yuigahama asks attempting to make some conversation, while her peer fiddles with the lock.

"Yes."

"W-When?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not…"

"Just keep watch."

Yui nods her head, paying attention to their surroundings.

CLINK

"The first lock is done." Yukino confirms as she raises the metal shutters.

"There's more than one?"

"Yes. The first is the padlock on the shutters. The next lock will be for the door to the store."

"Are you going to pick it as well?"

Yukino backs up slightly, before kicking the glass door as hard as she can. It shatters, leaving shards all over the floor.

"Not every lock can be picked, unfortunately. Breaking and entering is hardly ever so eloquent."

She reaches her hand through the glass and turns a knob on the other side of the door, unlocking it.

"What about the alarm?"

"I disabled it along with the camera. This is a small-time store, they weren't expecting anyone to go through such trouble so they cheaped out on cyber-security."

Yukino sheathes the blade and returns it to her skirt pocket, along with the pins.

"It's open, we need to hurry."

Yuigahama walks towards the door before slowly stopping.

"A-Are you sure we won't be caught?" She asks nervously.

"If you want to be certain you won't get in trouble for something, then you shouldn't do it in the first place. It is very possible we could get caught, but I've done all in my power to avoid that."

The brown-haired girl takes a deep breathe trying to collect her thoughts and prepare herself for the task at hand.

'I know what Yukinoshita is doing. She's testing me! To see if I can be trusted and be her friend but… Isn't this too much?'

Seeing how the Yui is acting, Yukino attempts to interrupt her potential thought process.

"I know how you're feeling right now, Yuigahama: You don't know what to do. There's someone in front of you asking you to do something completely out of your comfort zone, and there are compelling reasons to do it and to not do it. So you're rightfully conflicted. I feel that conflict every single time you ask me to be your friend. Trust is a two-way street, so let's go down that street together."

As she finishes her speech, Yukino offers smile to Yuigahama.


2 Months Earlier

As the distance between them comes to a close, Hachiman throws his fist towards the bald-headed man. The operative catches it and attempts to kick Hikigaya, but his foot is grabbed and his ankle is twisted. The man falls down onto his back but quickly rolls back up as Hachiman fails to kick his head in.

"Holy shit calm down dudes!" One of the men in first-class yells as he watches the two assassins brawl.

PAH

The force of a punch to Hachimans face causes him to fall backwards, but he grabs one of the seats just in time, pulling himself back up. He wipes his nose before looking at his hand, which now has some blood on it. Standing two metres away from each other the man reaches behind his back.

'A gun? No, he wouldn't be able to just carry one on him. A knife then? They'd have taken any weapons from him before allowing him on the train… What could it be!?" Hikigaya runs through a ton of possibilities in a matter of seconds.

SNIP

SNIP

The mans arm returns to his side and he reveals none other than a pair of scissors. He squeezes them twice, almost taunting his combatant. Hikigaya smiles widely as he sees the weapon.

'I'm a sucker for creativity.'

The moment is soon over as the man jumps at Hachiman and tries to drive the scissors right into his neck.

"Oh god, you guys are mad!"

The two civilians back up in their seat doing their best not to get caught up in the crossfire. Rie Takahashi remains unconscious and the old man up front appears to still be sleeping.

"Ahhh!" The assassin grunts as he holds the scissor away from his throat, cutting his palms in the process. He is proficient in his work, but his opponent is older, stronger and clearly a professional. One wrong move could mean death.

Seeing an opening, Hachiman adjusts his body weight causing the scissor to plunge deeply into the of the seats. As the man attempts to reacquire his weapon, Hikigaya kicks him in the face, causing the operative to fall back onto the ground. Not wasting a second, the younger of the two pins him down and grabs his throat, attempting to suffocate the man. They struggle and struggle and eventually Hachiman is pushed off. The man gets up attempting to breath and turns around to get some distance between them.

Hikigaya quickly grabs him from behind and wraps the operative's tie around his own neck. There is even more struggling than before as the mans face goes blood red, then starts going blue as the fighting subsides. The assassin lets go, and the bald-mans body drops to floor of the train. The two civilians look in horror at Hikigaya as he wipes some sweat off of his forehead.


Present Day - Kiroku Mall – 17:05

The two girls walk into the dark store, using the flashlights on their phones to see where they are going.

"Do you know where to look?" Yui asks, as she feels her way around.

"I've only been to this store a couple of times, but if I was to guess, they'd be at the far-left corner, with the other plush toys."

They make their way through the different aisles and shelves doing their best not to touch anything or leave any DNA evidence they were here.

"You must really love Pan-san to go this far for him, you know?" Yuigahama says half-asking and half-stating what she thinks, followed by a nervous chuckle.

"Like I said, it is just a doll."

"I like dolls too… I have a lot of Adventure Time, Power Puff Girls and Emoji ones."

"I don't watch much television or use emoticons." Yukino responds, moving her flashlight over the various signs and cases.

"My grandparents buy me most of my stuffed dolls. Sometimes my mom will too, but only if it's a special day like Christmas or my birthday. Who buys your toys?"

"No one."

The answer is blunt and throws Yuigahama off.

"O-Oh… So… Did… You steal… All your dolls?"

Yukinoshita stops and gives her peer a disapproving look, before beginning to walk again.

"I bought them myself."

The brown-haired girl giggles.

"Oh. I didn't think of that… So do you have a job?"

"No, I get a large allowance. How many questions are you going to ask me?"

"Sorry, it's just that you don't usually answer me…"

"I'll humour you for now since you're helping get this Rockstar Pan-san."

"Well… I don't get a big allowance… Not that I'm ungrateful or anything! My mom just probably doesn't think I'm ready."

"Do you think you're ready?"

"Well kind of… I mean if I had tons of money I might buy a huge cake that's covered in ice-cream!"

"Maybe your mother is right."

"I'm only joking! I know that would be a waste of money… I'd probably actually give it all to charity or to the homeless. I love helping people."

The dark-haired girl doesn't respond and continues looking around. A few moments later her search comes to an end.

"Found it."

They both stop as a shelf of Pan-sans is illuminated by Yukino's phone light.

"Wow there's only a few left."

"Indeed. If I were to come here tomorrow, all hope would be lost."

Yukinoshita reaches out and grabs the doll, holds it to her chest, then puts it inside her schoolbag.

"So is it the real deal?" Yuigahama asks happily, wanting to get that extra bit of confirmation.

"Absolutely." The wide smile on Yukino's face warms Yui's heart.

"We should get out of here now."

The two of them begin to make their way back to the stores entrance before Yukinoshita stops abruptly.

"Wait."

Yui turns.

"What's the matter?"

"Get something for yourself."

"But why?"

"To make this worth it for you."

"It's already wo-"

"Just get something." Yukino interrupts, letting out a slight chuckle. Clearly, she's in a good mood.

It doesn't take any more convincing, and Yuigahama quickly runs to one side of the store, grabs something, and then returns to Yukino.

"That was fast."

"I've been her before, there was something I've always wanted but could never get."

"It must be expensive."

"Money wasn't the problem…"

"Well I won't pry, you've got it now, that's what matters."

"So we can go now?"

"Sure."


2 Months Earlier

Hachiman runs his fingers through his hair as he considers what to do.

"Oh my god! I think he killed him!" The man says to his friend.

"Shit we have to do something."

The assassin looks at them with a bored expression before walking over to the duffle bag. He takes out some of the clothes and begins pulling them apart, tearing the material into long strips. He then reaches into the bag and pulls out his MAC-11 subcompact machine pistol.

"Holy shit!"

He ignores their reactions and uses the strap attached to the gun to keep it around his side.

"What are you gonna do with that, dude?"

Hikigaya continues to pay no attention to their questions as he grabs one of the mans hands and uses the ripped-up clothing to tie him up. He does the same to the other man. Despite being quite vocal they put up no fight.

Once they're hands are bound, he gags them and ties them to their seats, making sure they can't get up. He does the same to the sleeping old man and the unconscious Rie Takahashi. The two men make a bit of noise but their gags do the trick.

After he is certain everyone is properly restrained Hikigaya goes up to the train carriage door and opens it, he then breaks off the handle on the other side and locks it, meaning no one from the other carriages can get into first-class.

Moments later he walks over to the emergency exit right at the back of the carriage, opens the door and heads out onto the small platform, placing his hands on the railing. He looks down and sees the train tracks. At the speed the train is moving you can barely make out the individual rails. The assassin turns around and feels the wind blow against his face pushing his hair right back. A small ladder leading to the roof of the train catches his attention and he uses it to ascend from the small platform.

Once on the roof, Hikigaya crawls on all fours doing his best to stay balanced against the powerful wind knocking him back. As he crawls he sees two other men on top of the train, dressed in black combat gear and wearing flak jackets. He sighs and gets ready for another fight.


Present Day Kiroku Mall – 17:16

As the two girls exit the store Yukinoshita takes out her purse and leaves a large sum of yen on the counter, more than enough to pay for the Rockstar Pan-san and whatever item Yuigahama picked.

"Hey! What you doing here!?" A man yells out, seeing the broken glass and raised shutters.

The man is wearing a white shirt with black pants. He has a baton on his hip and a cap that reads "Mall Security". Thinking fast Yukino grabs Yui's hand and begins to run away. The overweight security guard attempts to put up a chase but ends up slipping on one of the wet floors and knocks the wind out of himself.

"Officer down! Off-Officer down!" He yells into his radio as he tries to catch his breath. "Hey is this thing working?"

Yuigahama continues to run through the mall as she is led by Yukino. They quickly get to the large revolving doors and are soon out the shopping centre and in the parking lot. So as to not draw any attention, they shift into a fast-walk rather than a run.

"Hey, won't that man call other guards?" Yui asks anxiously.

"No, I disabled their communications link earlier. We're fine."

"You're amazing!"

Yukinoshita releases the young girls hand, and they begin to walk normally. Just then the dark clouds begin to rumble slightly and small amounts of rain start hitting the ground around them. They put their schoolbags over their heads, as the rain pours harder and harder.

"There's McDonalds over there!" Yuigahama says pointing to the fast-food restaurant.

"What did you say?!" Yukino yells back, unable to hear well in the rain.

"LET'S GO OVER THERE!" She shouts and points at the restaurant again.

Yukinoshita nods before the two of them run towards the McDonalds getting soaked along the way.

DING

As the door opens a small bell goes off. The two girls find a booth and sit next to each other on one side, putting their bags on the other. A few more people seeking shelter from the rain enter the restaurant.

Yuigahama begins to giggle, then laugh hard. Yukino sees this and smiles, then begins to laugh herself.

"That was crazy…" Yui says in between giggles.

"I suppose."

They smile at each other, then the brown-haired girl moves close to Yukinoshita, pressing their arms together.

"What are you doing?" She asks slightly concerned.

Yuigahama ignores her and places her head on Yukinos shoulder and closes her eyes. She decides to allow it, given the afternoon they've had.

"So Yukinoshita, are we friends now?" Yui asks, eyes still closed.

The wealthy-girl looks out the window, as the raindrops drip down blurring the carpark outside.

"I'd say we are."

"Can I call you by your first name then?"

"Sure."

They sit in silence for a bit, listening to the various customers placing orders and chatting amongst themselves.

"I'm glad I can trust you, Yukinon."

There is more silence for several seconds.

"I'm glad I can trust you too, Yui."

The moment is nice and savoured, however in the back of Yukino's mind she is praying that she hasn't made a terrible mistake.


Authors Notes: Hope you liked this little arc with Yui and Yukino, it was a ton of fun to write. Hachiman and Shizuka will return in Chapter 19 next week!