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

Previously on Match Point: After deciding the boys who tried to rob Hiratsuka were loose ends, Hikigaya tracked the three would-be-criminals down to a warehouse. Before getting the chance to execute them he was ambushed by two of Haruno's men. One being Rorona and the other being his partner. Hikigaya made short work of them, using his MAX Coffee as a distraction then shooting Rorona in the leg and killing the other operative.

The ambush allowed the boys to escape and go to the police, where they ended up confessing. At this point Hikigaya decided killing them would be redundant as they'd done all the damage they could by speaking to the media. Of course at the time Haruno was still trying to track Hachiman down which led to her tipping the police off about his involvement. After this, a detective visited Shizuka explaining how serious the case has become, whilst not giving her any explicit details.

In more recent events: Yukinoshita and Hikigaya have now met and engaged in a short fight, though their true identities remain a mystery to one another, but for how long? Find out!


Monday – Second Period – 10:22

Hikigaya looks down at his language work, then towards the clock. He goes on to repeat this exercise several times before yawning.

'This is a tremendous waste of time…' He thinks to himself as he silently curses Hiratsuka for giving his class this worksheet.

As if they have a telepathic link, she shoots him a dirty look from her desk. The assassin sees this and sighs at her before pointing at his textbook. She widens her eyes, as if to say "Do it or else!" Hikigaya's response is less emotive and he simply gives the older woman a dead stare. The teacher shakes her head disapprovingly at him.

Recently they've been having a conflict. Hachiman says that language work is pointless if you already speak the language, but Shizuka believes that each and every word a person says carries deep meaning and learning the nuances is as important as basic communication.

Hikigaya lethargically finishes the last few questions before looking at the clock again. Luckily the bell rings soon enough, and he - as well as the rest of the students - start packing up their things, ready to go and eat. The young brown-haired girl sitting on the other side of the classroom wastes no time and quickly slots her books into her bag, then pulls out her lunchbox. Shizuka also packs up her things as the classroom becomes emptier. When she is the last one left, she gets up and goes to lock the door.

Outside the classroom Hachiman starts his walk down the hall. He doesn't get very far before Yui runs up behind him and taps his shoulder.

"Hi Hikki!"

"Don't call me that." He says sternly as he turns around to look at the girl.

"Do you want to walk together?"

"Walk together where?"

"To classroom 6-E! Me, you, Yukinon and Hiratsuka-sensei agreed to meet at lunch today so we could discuss our stall at the Christmas Festival."

The assassin sighs and looks at the roof with a defeated expression on his face. The fatigue of school is starting to get the best of him.

"If we don't hurry, we might not have enough time to prepare!" She yells out.

He nods at the girl, and they start walking together to the classroom. When they are about halfway there, Yuigahama notices something that causes her to jump up in shock.

"You have a big cut on your cheek!"

Hikigaya looks at her.

"I know."

"What happened?"

"I fell."

"Did you fall onto a knife or something?!"

"No. I fell onto the pavement. I tripped on a pipe that had fallen off a drain."

Yuigahama looks down with a worried expression, feeling as if though that's a fake answer. A few moments later they arrive at their destination. Yui opens the door and sees Yukino sitting in her usual spot.

"Hello Yuk- Oh no!" She cuts off her greeting as her jaw drops. "What's that!?"

She points at Yukinoshita's face, which has a dark-blue bruise right under the eye.

"It's quite alright Yui. I slipped in the shower and hit my face against the tiles. It'll be fine."

Yuigahama gives her friend a big hug.

"First Hikki and now you! I feel like I'm giving everyone bad luck..."

The wealthy-girl looks over Yui's shoulder and sees the cut on Hachiman's cheek. She suspiciously raises an eyebrow. He feels similar level of suspicion when looking at her bruise. Just then, Hiratsuka walks in, shutting the door loudly behind her.

"How is everyone doing?" She asks breaking the slwoly rising tension.


Chiba Police Precinct – 10:56

The sound of people speaking and phones ringing echo through out the large police building. Officers hurry around each other holding boxes of reports as civilians and criminals alike wait hours for service. In one corner of this precinct a detective sits looking through a file for a case he is working on. The detective in question is a man named Reo Touma. He's forty-five years old, divorced with two kids and has a strong sense of justice.

During his time on the force, he has made countless arrests. From bringing down gangs and drug cartels to solving the kidnapping of a senator's son despite being told by the Public Security Intelligence Agency to leave it to them. By now it would be safe to assume that Detective Touma would've easily made Police Captain, however despite his experience and contentiousness this position has been tacitly denied to him.

He knows why this is and so do the upper-brass. For all of his career the detective has been openly gay, and due to Tokyo's lack of discrimination laws against sexual orientation there is very little he can do to move up from his current rank. This doesn't bother him too much though, as being a detective has allowed him to catch hundreds of criminals, undoubtedly making Japan a better place.

"Hey Touma, what you working on?"

A lady in her mid-thirties walks up to the older man as she loudly eats an apple. He looks up from his desk and smiles cordially at her. She has short brown hair and is wearing a black jacket over a white blouse.

"Same case we were speaking about last week. A woman named Shizuka Hiratsuka. The one who might have come into contact with a high-profile assassin."

"Yeah I remember. You went to visit her right?" She asks with her mouthful of food.

"Correct. Told her she may be in some trouble, but right now I'm focusing on this hitman. Apparently, his DNA has been found at several crime scenes all over Japan. This guy's the real-deal."

Touma speaks with a deep, tired voice.

"You think you can catch this guy?"

He chuckles, before coughing slightly.

"I'm definitely going to try, Karen."

"I believe in you, old man!" She says with a wink as she walks off to go do her work.

The detective also has work to do and promptly stands up, then grabs the keys for his car. As he walks to the exit of the station he sees some uniformed officers bring in three men dressed in bandannas and white vests. Despite being in handcuffs all of them are using a crutches to stand up straight. This catches Touma's attention and he makes a quick detour towards them.

"What's up with these guys?" He asks one of the officers.

The man looks up from the report he's writing and chuckles.

"It's actually kind of funny. These guys are arms dealers."

The officer points at the men with crutches.

"Two nights ago they were robbed and had all their guns stolen by two guys. These two guys went non-lethal for some reason and capped them in the legs. They just got out of the hospital and I'm charging them now."

Reo nods and thanks the police man before heading to his car and making a mental note to check out this case later.


Sobu Highschool – 10:34

"Why do we even have to have a festival? The school is just trying to use us to make money and look better than other schools. We get nothing out of it." Hikigaya says with a yawn.

Hiratsuka points directly at him.

"You're only saying that because you were home-schooled your whole life and have never been to a proper school festival."

The assassin rolls his eyes as he slouches down into his chair.

"A festival is a wonderful place! People's lives are changed forever there. Imagine a scene where two best friends are sitting alone together. It's cold so they have to share a scarf." The teacher puts her left hand against her heart. "They both notice the combined warmth of their bodies and look into each other's eyes. At that moment they realize they are meant to be together and share a romantic kiss!"

"It sounds like you think about this a lot, Hiratsuka." Yukinoshita says with a slight grin.

The older woman scratches the back of her head with an embarrassed expression on her face.

"It's not like that… I just… Uh…"

"She just ripped a scene off verbatim from a light novel." Hikigaya says interrupting her attempts at making an excuse.

She stops blushing and smiles at him. Seeing Shizuka's shame wane Yukino chimes in again.

"I'd say that's even more embarrassing for you Hiratsuka."

The blush returns and the teacher attempts to change the subject.

"A-Anyway, we already have a list of items to bring for the festival, but we'll still need to build the decorations from scratch. You said you'd handle the expenses, right Yukino?"

"No! We agreed that we'd all put some money in!" Yuigahama interjects, not wanting to see her friend get exploited.

"Oh yeah, that's right I must have forgot!"

The brown-haired girl shakes her head disapprovingly at the teacher.

"We have to build the decorations somewhere, and the school isn't open long enough after 15:00 for us to do it here." Hachiman says while opening up a small book to read.

"They be can be made at my apartment, it's not far from here. Yukino and Hikigaya have already been there before."

The wealthy-girl looks intently at her teacher and then at the boy sitting at the end of the table.

"Hikigaya has been in your apartment?" She asks - not at all hiding her annoyance - as she stares at the cut on his cheek.

"Yeah, he helped me with something a while back."

The assassin looks over at Yukinoshita as well.

"You seem awful concerned about me going to Hiratsuka-sensei's apartment."

She scoffs.

"It's not like you're an upstanding citizen. Who knows what goes on in that wretched brain of yours or if it's even safe to let you be alone with a woman?"

"So suddenly you care about other people?"

"I care about Hiratsuka, so naturally I want to protect her."

"Well you haven't been doing a very good job."

"What did you say to me?"

Yukinoshita clenches her fists and looks at him furiously. Hikigaya notices this and a small worry he had earlier begins to grow slightly.

"You said you got that bruise on your face when you slipped in the shower right?" He asks, looking back at his book.

"Correct. Try not to imagine it. Your gross eyes already make me feel uncomfortable enough."

Yuigahama and Hiratsuka turn their heads back and forth as the exchange continues.

"My eyes are my most attractive feature, so I won't hold it against you for noticing them."

Yukino scoffs again.

"Don't fight guys!" Yui says raising her palms, trying to calm down the situation.

"Oh Please, this isn't a fight." She responds with an eye-roll.

"That's right, because if it was then I'd win."

"As if. Are you really such a brute that you'd hit a respectable young lady?"

"I probably wouldn't hit a respectable woman, so it's good you don't fall into that category."

She scowls at him angrily.


Empty Warehouse – 11:05

Touma reaches down and grabs the yellow tape walling off a crime scene. He pulls it up and kneels, walking below the tape and into the warehouse. He looks around, and sees a bunch of little white cards marking different pieces of evidence. Currently he has black pants on, along with a large beige trench coat.

This is his first time being here. The original detectives investigating this case dealt with things like armed robbery, but it was soon handed off to him (a homicide detective) after an anonymous tip came through linking a shooting at this warehouse to a string of assassinations over Japan and potentially the rest of the world.

After a quick scan the first thing he focuses on are the two bullet holes close to the entrance, then the small pile of burnt sticks in the middle of the building.

'The guys who worked this case said that the students who tried to rob Shizuka Hiratsuka were camping out here for some time. That was probably their fire.'

He writes something down in his notepad, then walks over to another marker. Each marker is numbered and corresponds to a point in the file. This marker is placed next to a stain on the floor, which was identified by forensics as coffee.

'A coffee stain... The boys said they had no food or drinks. So where'd it come from?'

Touma continues to look around, eventually finding two dried up pools of blood on either side of the warehouse.

'Let's say the assassin really was involved. For whatever reason, he comes to finish off the boys but something stops him. Perhaps he's standing at the entrance and someone shoots at him, causing him to run for cover and leaving two bullet holes in the ground. That gives the boys a chance to escape.'

He sighs and continues to analyses the area, before raising his hand and pointing at a large machine.

'If he was standing at the entrance and someone shot at his feet from behind, the quickest way to get to cover would be to hide behind there. That still doesn't explain the coffee stain, the two pools of blood or why they're so far apart.'

The detective who wrote the original report was very thorough so Reo already knows about all the different pieces of evidence. He is just here to see it in person. After looking around a bit longer, he takes out his phone and dials a number. It rings for a few moments before the person on the other end answers.

"Hello?"

This person speaks with a slight Indian accent.

"Hi, it's Touma from homicide. I was wondering if the Detective Asahi sent you any blood samples recently."

"Uhh… Let me check…"

The older man waits patiently.

"No he didn't, but I think he was going to. He filed the appropriate document and then just never got around to it."

"That's probably because the case was transferred to me." Reo says, thinking out loud. "Anyway, I've got two separate blood pools here and I want to know who they spawned from."

"Did forensics already do a sweep?"

"Yeah."

"Alright just give me the case number."

Touma looks at his folder then repeats the number back to the man on the phone.

"Give me one sec…"

There is a short pause.

"Okay! Yeah we've got the blood samples right here. I'll see what I can do with them."

"Thanks Lee, you're the best."

The detective ends the call and puts his phone away. He continues to look around the warehouse hoping to find something of interest.


Sobu Highschool – Hiratsuka's Office – 15:34

"So can you believe it?"

Hikigaya looks up from his work and eyes his teacher.

"Believe what?"

"That Yukino and Yuigahama are friends now! That's crazy."

There is silence in the air for several seconds.

"Why?"

She raises her arms above her head and stretches.

"They're just so different…"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm their teacher! It's my job to care. I've been trying find a suitable friend for Yukino for ages and all of a sudden she's got Yuigahama on her arm. It's like: Why even bother?"

"You're right. It was a waste of your time."

"No Hikigaya! You're supposed to explain how it was me consistently supporting Yukino that allowed her to emotionally mature enough to finally have a proper friend."

He raises an eyebrow.

"Does that sound like something I would say?"

"Well you'd phrase it more depressively."

She winks at him and he let's out a small laugh.

"Anyway, I thought you and Yukino would end up being friends but you're like cats and dogs. You guys have made passive agressive remarks before but suddenly you're at each others throats."

"I couldn't be friends with someone like that. Her big mouth is probably the reason for that bruise on her face."

Hiratsuka shoots him a dirty look.

"I'm still a teacher Hikigaya, and badmouthing your peers is against the rules."

"That's very hypocritical Sensei. After all, just last week you called the vice-principal a cu-"

"Never mind that!" She says cutting him off and quickly changing the subject. "How's your language work going?"

He sighs.

"Like I said: It is a waste of time. I speak Japanese fine."

"You speak Japanese as if the language spat in your cereal. You have no eloquence, unlike me."

The assassin rolls his eyes at her cockiness and places his pen down. He then reaches into his bag and pulls out a MAX Coffee.

"I haven't seen one of those in a while." She says as he opens the can.

"I already told you, I'm trying to cut down."

"Just be glad you don't smoke. I've been trying to quit for the last five years."

"It can't be that difficult."

"You only say that because you've never tried it. Sometimes I just give up and stick the nicotine patch right on my forehead."

"That seems unhealthy."

"Everything in the world is unhealthy!" Shizuka retorts, putting her head on the desk.

"Not really, no."

They sit in silence for a bit as Hikigaya sips on his coffee. He looks around her office. It's the same as last time and the time before. Hiratsuka likes things to stay same.

"By the way, I want you to make a promise to me." She says breaking the silence and looking up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"During lunch today we agreed that you, Yukino and Yuigahama can come to my house this Friday to assemble the decorations, so I want to make sure you don't fight."

"It's not my fault I dislike her."

The older woman sighs.

"It doesn't matter who likes who. This is for the festival and I don't want anything to get in the way of that. So promise me you won't fight with her."

He leans back in his chair.

"Sure, whatever."

"Thank you."

As their session nears its end she eyes the cut on his cheek. They spoke about it this morning before class and he gave her the same excuse he gave Yuigahama. Hiratsuka believes him for the most part, but still feels concerned. A few moments later the clock hits 16:00, giving Hikigaya his cue to leave. She watches him as he stands up and walks to the door.

"Bye Hiratsuka-sensei." He says as he pulls down the handle.

"Bye Hikigaya..."


Authors Notes: Hello party people, looks like we've got a detective investigating 8man as well as he and Yukino butting heads at school. Chapter 23 will be up next week!