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

Previously on Match Point: Hiratsuka, Yukinoshita, Yuigahama and Hikigaya agree to meet up on Friday to build the decorations for their stall at the festival, while a Chiba Detective looks for leads on the assassin's whereabouts.


Friday – Chiba Streets – 15:20

Yukinoshita walks down the sidewalk holding a large bag full of crafts materials. Next to her is Yuigahama holding a similarly sized bag. Several cars drive past them as they make their way to Hiratsuka's apartment. Currently Yukino is wearing a light grey dress that goes to a little below her knees, along with black leggings. Yui is wearing jeans and a wool sweater. The two of them just got out of school and changed from their uniform in the locker rooms.

"You're really strong Yukinon!" The brown-haired girl says she lets out a sigh.

Her friend looks at her before speaking.

"I go to the gym occasionally."

Yuigahama uses both her hands to keep her bag suspended over the ground, clearly struggling with its weight.

"I'm surprised you don't have massive muscles bulging out everywhere!"

"I already told you I can carry both of the bags." Yukinoshita responds with a warm smile.

"No! I need to do this myself."

"Why?"

"I don't know… I feel good when I accomplish things that are hard…" She answers, unable to find the words she's looking for.

"I understand what you mean. It feels good to work for something and get satisfying results."

"You're so smart! I wish I could speak like you!"

"Well you shouldn't. You already told me you want to be yourself more, but you've also said you want to be just like me. You'll have to pick one eventually."

"I guess your right…"

"Personally, I would rather have Yui Yuigahama than another version of myself."

Yuigahama feels reassured and they walk in silence for a bit, listening to cars engines passing them by. Eventually she breaks the silence.

"This walk feels like it's going on forever…"

"Don't worry, Hiratsuka's apartment isn't much further. We'll be there in no time."

"I'm so excited to see what her home is like. I wonder if she has a coffee machine!"

Yukino raises an eyebrow and looks ahead.

"Why?"

"Because that's what every real adult has! 'It all starts with a Nescafé.' That's what the TV ads say."

"I suppose that's true. Personally, I don't care for it. Tea is my beverage of choice, and you?"

"Hot chocolate!"

The wealthy-girl chuckles at the response, expecting no less from Yui.

"How is Rockstar Pan-san by the way?"

"He's fine. I put him with the rest of my collection."

"I still can't believe what we did… It was scariest and most exhilarating thing ever! I felt like I was in a movie!"

"Don't speak too loud." Yukino replies half-jokingly. "We could still go to jail if we're find out."

"Yeah but that's what makes it so crazy. I would never be able to just do something like that… But you're so brave, just like Hikki."

Yukinoshita frowns at the mention of his name.

"I don't know why you don't like him! You have a lot in common." Yuigahama says, noticing the reaction.

"He bothers me. I'm not entirely sure why either."

"Maybe one day we could all be friends."

Yukino thinks about a her answer for a few seconds.

"Perhaps."

The answer is intentionally vague, as she doesn't really believe it could ever happen.

After a about ten more minutes of walking, the two girls arrive at Hiratsuka's apartment building. Yukinoshita leads Yuigahama to the elevator and they take it up to the teacher's floor.

KNOCK

KNOCK

From the hallway they hear Hiratsuka standing up and knocking things over as she hurries towards the door. They then hear the key turn and see the handle pulled down. Shizuka pulls it open and greets them. Yui looks over her shoulder and sees Hachiman sitting on her couch eating a bag of chips.


Ichiraku Ramen – 15:47

Detective Touma opens up the glass doors and heads down the aisles of the restaurant to a specific booth by the far right corner. This seat in particular gives him an excellent view of the streets outside. One of his favourite pass times is simply watching people go about their day. As he sits down a young waitress walks up to his table holding a clipboard and a pen.

"Hi Detective Touma." She says smiling. "You want the usual?"

"Yes please, thank you." He confirms.

The lady walks off and he takes out his notebook along with a file from his suitcase. Inside the file is everything about the assassin he's found since he was given this case. He begins to flip through his notepad looking for a specific page. Once he finds it Reo grabs the file and pulls out some documents and photographs. The first photo is a blurry image of a boy holding his hand over his face. Despite the blurriness, seats can easily be seen in the background along with the bright white light from the camera's flash.

'According to witnesses on the train, this guy strangled another passenger then tied everybody up.'

The other photo is of a building that was blown up in New York. The detective only has a photo due to the city being significantly out of the Japanese Police's jurisdiction but none the less, he suspects the involvement of the assassin.

'Those three boys threatened Shizuka Hiratsukas life, so he tried to kill them… But why would an assassin be protecting a Judge's daughter?'

He leans back.

'So many questions and so little evidence to find the answers…'

A few minutes later the waitress returns holding a tray with a hot bowl of ramen on top. She places it down on the table along with two chopsticks and napkins.

"Thanks, Sumire."

He pulls the chopsticks apart, before pushing them into the noodles and pulling the food up into his mouth. Some of the juices get onto his facial hair, and he promptly wipes it off. Just then his phone starts vibrating in his pocket. Reo pulls out the device and answers.

"Hello?"

"Hi Detective Touma, it's me Lee from the lab. You told me you wanted to know if we got any leads from the blood forensics found?"

"That's correct yes."

"Well I got a match on one of the samples to a man named Kyle Smith. He's an American guy who moved to Japan a couple of months ago. Apparently he's been arrested before for a possible assault and battery but the charges were dropped, that's how his name got into our system."

"Do you have an address?"

Touma writes down the location as the man on the other end of the phone reads it out to him.

"Thanks Lee."

"You owe me a coffee Touma!" The man says trying to get one last word in as the call ends.

The detective finishes his meal and goes over the file a couple more times before standing up and heading to his car.

'Kyle Smith… Let's see what you know.'


Hiratsuka's Apartment – 15:51

Yukinoshita walks in and gently places her bag down on the floor. Yuigahama does the same albeit less eloquently.

"How long has he been here?" The dark-haired girl asks, not wanting to acknowledge Hikigaya directly.

"I drove him here with me straight after school... So almost an hour." Shizuka answers as she locks the door behind the two girls.

"Hey Hikki!" Yui greets with a wide smile on her face.

He turns his head to her.

"Hi."

She smiles even wider, happy to get any attention from Hachiman.

"What's he doing? We're supposed to be working on our stall for the festival." Yukino says, annoyed that they seem to be lazing around.

Hiratsuka walks over to the couch and sits next to Hikigaya. She then pats down the space beside her, indicating she wants them to join her. Without hesitating Yuigahama jogs towards the couch and takes a seat next to the teacher. Yukinoshita reluctantly follows suit.

"We were going to start the decorations... But the new Fairy Tail episode is about to air, and I can't miss it!"

"I love Fairy Tail!" Yuigahama replies looking wide-eyed at Hiratsuka and then the television screen.

"I've never seen it." The assassin states as he takes a potato chip and eats it.

"We don't have time for television. We need to star-"

"Calm down Yukino." Hiratsuka interrupts as she reaches into Hikigaya's bag of chips and pulls out a handful. "We can spend twenty minutes watching one episode."

The wealthy-girl is annoyed by the trio's lack of work ethic and crosses her arms. On her left side is Yuigahama who seems to not care at all. To Yui's left is Shizuka. The older woman is wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Hachiman is dressed similar, wearing a light green golf shirt with denims.

"It's starting!" The teacher presses a button on the television remote and turns up the volume.

The four of them watch as the new episode begins to play, introducing the different characters one by one.

"Who's that?" Hikigaya asks pointing at the screen.

"That's Lucy. She starts off in the series very weak but by the end is one of most valuable members of her team."

Yuigahama smiles at the description of Lucy, feeling it does justice to her favourite character.

"The pink and black-haired guys over there are Natsu and Gray. At the beginning they are rivals and constantly fight, but eventually become the closest of friends."

Yukinoshita rolls her eyes before giving her input.

"It doesn't sound very realistic, Hiratsuka. If two people really dislike each other, I doubt anything would change that."

"I agree." Hikigaya says as he rests his chin on his hand.

"My favourite character out of everyone is Erza, the red-haired woman. From start to end she is strong, independent and rarely lets her conviction waver."

"You sound almost jealous Hiratsuka-sensei."

The teacher grins.

"Of course, I'm jealous. Who wouldn't be?"

They continue watching for a bit before Yukino gives her opinion once again.

"The main character seems a bit... Overpowered, don't you think?"

"He is." Shizuka confirms."But that's the point. It's fun to have the story revolve around someone who is seemingly unstoppable."

"Wouldn't that make it boring?"

"Only if the story only focuses on him, but because it develops all of it's side characters, then there's always somewhere the plot can go."

As the episode pushes on Hikigaya and Yukinoshita continue to make crude remarks about the characters and writing, but Hiratsuka and Yuigahama defend it right up until the end, explaining why certain characters do this or why some things may not make sense. After the twenty-two minute run-time ends, the four of them get up and begin working on the decorations, using the two bags of craft items the two girls brought as well as what Hiratsuka got at the store yesterday.


Suburban House – 17:10

Touma presses his foot gently against the brakes as he parks his car opposite a medium sized house. The property is situated on a long street ending in a cul-de-sac. Most of the neighbouring houses look exactly the same with a small garden and fence. He exits the vehicle and walks down the road looking for a specific address. After a few minutes he finds the house and goes up to the fence. Reo presses a small button on an intercom. It buzzes and a minute later, a lady opens up her front door and walks out to the gate.

Unknown to him the woman in question is Haruno Yukinoshita, albeit dressed a little more homely than usual.

"I'm Detective Reo Touma." He states as he raises I.D to her. "Are you Mrs. Akane Smith?"

"Yes, that's me." Haruno answers with a fake worried look on her face.

"Do you mind if I come in? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Not at all." She says, walking over to the door and leading him inside.

The walls of the house are white. To the left is a kitchen and to the right is a fireplace. Straight ahead is living room along with a staircase leading upstairs. The home is neat and there are several framed photos placed about.

"Is your husband Kyle Smith home?"

"No… Actually I haven't seen him for a while. Would you like tea or something?"

"Yes that would be lovely." The detective says as he sits down on a chair in the kitchen.

Haruno walks over to the kettle and turns it on. While the water boils she opens a few draws looking for the tea bags. Touma raises an eyebrow as he takes out his notepad.

"You haven't seen your husband in a while?"

"That's right, one day he just left and never came back..."

"Why haven't you called the police?"

"Well I mean I didn't want to assume the worst. Sometimes he goes on long business trips, I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Reo nods as Haruno fakes a hopeful smile.

"What exactly does your husband do Mrs. Smith?"

"He works in private security."

The kettle makes a clicking noise and the water begins to simmer down.

"Do you know if he's ever taken any jobs that involve criminal activities?"

Haruno turns around and looks anxiously at the detective as she pours some milk out of a carton.

"I assure you my husband would never do such things. He was in the United States Military for almost ten years before moving with me to Japan. He values upholding the law above all else."

"I'm sure that's true ma'am, but unfortu-" He is cut off when they both hear a bump coming from upstairs.

There is an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"Just doves in the roof, you know how they are." Haruno says as she places the cup of tea on the table.

"Well as I was saying: Unfortunately your husbands blood - along with someone else's - was found at a crime scene in an unoccupied warehouse. We have reason to believe he may have been killed by a professional hitman."

Haruno places her hand against her chest and looks at the ground sadly.

"K-Killed?"

She pretends to be shocked by the news.

"I'm sorry. The man who we believe to have killed him is still on the loose and we want to find the culprit as soon as possible to stop this from happening again. Do you know anyone or anything that could tell us why your husband was at a warehouse?"

Another bump comes from upstairs, causing the detective to look up.

"You just told me my husband might be dead might be dead... S-Sorry I just need a minute…" Haruno says as with a frightened expression.

"Of course." He responds respectfully, as he looks back at her.

Haruno walks out the kitchen and heads towards the stairs.

"I'm going to the bathroom real quick, is that okay?"

The detective nods and she begins to climb the staircase. After a quick walk down a hall, Haruno reaches for the handle on the bathroom door, then pulls it open and walks in. To her left is a sink and a mirror and to her right is a woman tied up and gagged, lying in a bathtub kicking a wall.

"Now what did I say Akane? You need to be quiet."

Haruno smiles as she shuts the bathroom door. She then reaches behind her sweater and pulls out a gun. The real Akane Smith sees this and begins shaking her head vigorously, with an intense look of fear in her eyes.

"I'm trying to have a conversation with a nice man downstairs, and if you keep bumping the wall: Then I'm going to have a little fun with your infant in the other room. Let me tell you, I've never been good with kids."


Hiratsuka's Apartment – 17:21

Hikigaya sits cross-legged on floor, folding different pieces of paper into origami roses. Hiratsuka is in the same position - on the floor facing her student as they make the decorations.

"So…" She says trying to make conversation.

Currently they are alone while Yuigahama and Yukinoshita are in the bathroom painting some posters.

"So?" He asks as he places a paper rose on the pile of decorations.

"The cut on your face has healed up."

"Correct."

"I'm glad. Yukino's bruise has faded too. I don't like seeing my students get hurt."

"You've punched my gut enough times for that statement to be quite hypocritical, Hiratsuka-sensei."

The teacher blushes and grabs a piece of paper.

"I mean… If you tell me to stop I won't do it anymore."

"It's not a big deal."

Despite the statement, she feels toning down the violence on teenagers would probably be best even if she does get provoked sometimes. Suddenly the two of them hear Yukino and Yui's muffled giggles coming from the bathroom.

"They must be having fun."

"I'm sure anything is more interesting than folding paper." He says as he finishes another rose.

"Come on it's not that bad, origami is great! I used to make cranes with my parents all the time."

The mention of Hiratsuka's parents peeks Hikigaya's interest. His mission in essence is to get any damning information about her father, so he decides to push the subject.

"I've never heard you mention your parents before."

"Yeah well I haven't spoken to my dad in ages and my mom died a while ago." She takes a deep breath after speaking the last few words and her heart-rate increases somewhat.

"I never knew my parents."

She looks at him and thinks back to when he enrolled at Sobu High school.

"Yeah I remember your Uncle. He seemed nice."

"He taught me everything I know."

Hikigaya smiles thinking about his past missions.

"That's right, I forgot you were home-schooled. It's impressive he'd take it upon himself to raise and teach a child."

"Yeah, home-schooled..."

The teacher sits up slightly and places her arms behind her back.

"Even when I was a kid I barely saw my dad. He worked constantly. My mom worked a lot too but at least she put in the effort."

"Is there bad blood between you and him?"

"Not really, more like cold-indifference."

"I'm sorry." He says solemnly, imagining how it would feel if he and Ryuzaki's relationship was like that.

"You don't have to worry about it… It's just my personal issues."

"I'm not going to worry about it, but I'm still sorry."

She smiles at him and they continue to make origami roses in silence. A little while later Yukinoshita and Yuigahama come out into the living room. Both of them have small smudges of paint on their hands and faces. The dark-haired girl in particular has a black spot on the tip of her nose.

"That's a good look on you." Hikigaya says as he stands up and stretches his legs.

Yuigahama giggles at the remark, but her friend finds it less than funny.

"The painting is done. It'll be dry in a few hours. I see you two have done the paper flowers, thank you."

Hiratsuka nods and begins to speak.

"Once these are hung up and we have the fridges stocked, our stall will be a force to be reckoned with."

Yukino gently grabs Yui's hand, before to walking to the front door.

"We'll be going now Hiratsuka."

"Why? It's only…" She grabs her phone and checks the time. "It's only 17:40, there's no rush to get home. At least have something to eat."

The wealthy-girl looks at her teacher, then at Yuigahama, and then at Hikigaya who has now sat back down on the couch.

"I suppose it would be rude to refuse, after all you were kind enough to let us use your home to work in."

Yui smiles happily, glad that Yukino is accepting the offer.

"I'll prepare something for you guys! After all, I am a master chef."

"And what about Hikigaya? Will he be staying for dinner as well?" Yukino asks, frowning.

The teacher shoots the girl a "no-duh" look.

"Well I suppose as Japanese citizens it is our duty to help the less fortunate, even if they are intolerable."

The assassin chooses not to respond.

"Then it's decided. Yukino you help me in the kitchen! Yuigahama and Hikigaya: You two just wait here for a meal!"

"Will it be the best meal ever, Hiratsuka-sensei?" Yui asks excitedly.

"Uhh... Well it'll certainly be... A meal."

Yukinoshita sighs and heads to the kitchen.


Authors Notes: The evidence leads Detective Touma to a man named Kyle Smith however he instead finds Haruno impersonating the mans wife! What will happen in the next chapter? Find out next week! Also fun fact Hiratsuka's voice actress and I have the same birthday. Crazy stuff.