Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.
Previously on Match Point: After completing the decorations Yuigahama, Yukinoshita and Hikigaya agree to stay over and have dinner with Hiratsuka. Detective Touma finds himself at the house of Kyle Smith, Rorona's now deceased partner. Unknown to the detective, the woman who greeted him is not Kyle's wife but rather Haruno Yukinoshita, who has Akane Smith tied up in a bathtub. What will happen next? Find out!
Friday - Hiratsuka's Apartment – 17:32
The older woman walks over to her stove and turns the dial. She then grabs a pot and fills it with water. Next to her is Yukinoshita who is chopping up vegetables. After some discussion they decided the meal they would cook together is nabemono, which is essentially a stock pot filled with various different food items that get cooked together. Once it is ready, diners take vegetables from the pot and add them to their plate.
The kitchen isn't too large, but they can walk around without bumping into each other. To the left of the oven is a door that leads into the living room, with a fridge to the right and several cupboards on the beige walls. The floor is tiled and has several visible cracks.
"So, how have you been lately?" Hiratsuka asks as she adds six cups of dashi into the pot.
"I've been fine, and you?"
Yukinoshita lays out a handful of mushrooms in front of her and begins chopping them in half.
"I've been good."
She looks away from the mushrooms and at her teacher.
"Are you sure?"
Hiratsuka thinks about the detective and the zoo before answering.
"Yeah, I'm sure..."
There is a momentary silence.
"Have you heard anything about your uncle?"
Yukino tenses up slightly as she hands Shizuka a cup of soy sauce.
"I don't know if it would be wise to speak about it."
Her teacher nods while taking a tablespoon of salt and adding it to the broth.
"I understand. To be honest I'm surprised you even told me as much as you did."
"After what happened last year, it wouldn't be right to not follow up on my uncle's murder."
"I mean you're kind of not following up right now." Hiratsuka says half-jokingly, while lowering the heat on the stove.
Yukinoshita thinks about it while she cuts up the Napa cabbage.
"I suppose you're right."
Hiratsuka smiles and begins adding the ingredients to the pot.
"Last week I met the assassin…"
The teacher's smile disappears and her eyes widen in shock.
"You did what?!"
Yukinoshita walks over to the fridge and pulls out some tofu.
"Don't be so loud Hiratsuka. I met him on Friday, and he gave me the name of the man who arranged the hit on my uncle."
She leaves out the part where her and the assassin had a quick fight before being interrupted by Haruno.
"I-It's just… Like I said I don't want you getting hurt, Yukino."
"Well like I said: I am fine."
They continue to cut vegetables and stir the items inside the pot for some time, before Hiratsuka speaks again.
"So, now that you have his name what are you going to do?"
Yukinoshita considers her answer but comes up short.
"I don't know. I haven't decided."
"And what about this assassin?"
She unconsciously shifts her gaze to the kitchen door.
"I don't know what to do about him either."
They add the last few items into the pot and turn off the stove.
"Well I hope you figure it out, Yukino."
"Thank you, Hiratsuka."
Suburban House – 17:26
"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."
The tied-up woman stops kicking and lies still in the bathtub as tears run down her face.
"Good choice." Haruno says with a grin, as she returns the gun to her back.
She then looks in the mirror and turns on the tap. After splashing some water in her eyes and making it look like she was crying, Haruno exits the bathroom and walks down the stairs. Instead of finding the detective sitting at the table, she sees him examining some family photos placed on a mantel.
"Are you okay?" He asks as he takes a sip from his tea.
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine… It's just a lot to process right now..."
There is a short awkward silence.
"A-Anyway, what can I do to help?"
Touma walks over to her and hands Haruno a framed photo. The picture inside is of Kyle Smith and Rorona giving a thumbs up to the camera while dressed in camo and holding rifles.
"Do you know who that man is?" He asks as he hovers his finger over the photo.
She fakes a warm smile.
"That's Rorona Kobayashi, they were in the Marine Corps together. When Kyle moved to Japan with me, he convinced Rorona to come along as well."
Before hiring Rorona and Kyle as mercenaries to capture Hikigaya, she did a background check on them. This means Haruno has more than enough information to impersonate the man's wife.
"I see, and do you know where this Rorona person is now?"
"Yeah I have his home address in my cell."
Haruno takes out her iPhone X and reads the detective an apartment number and street while he writes it down in his notepad. After that, Touma continues to look around the house as he sips his tea.
"I see a lot of pictures of Kyle, but none of you." He remarks candidly.
"Uhh… Yeah I don't like to have my picture taken. I'm kind of shy."
This isn't true, in reality all the pictures of Kyle's wife were hastily shoved into drawer before the detective arrived.
Suddenly - from another room - they both hear a baby start crying. Haruno stands patiently, as if waiting for it to just stop.
"Are you not going to…" Touma's sentence trails off at the end as if what he is thinking is too obvious to even ask.
"Oh right." Haruno says as she rushes off to the downstairs bedroom to aid the small child.
She walks in and kneels down by the baby. The room is small, and packed to the brim with toys like rattles and blocks. Reo places his cup down and follows her in, watching as she picks the baby up from his crib and begins to rock him. Despite her efforts the infant continues to cry and push away from her. She quickly puts him back in the crib and looks at the man standing in the doorway.
"Kids are so strange, one minute they're like this and the next they're fine." She says with a smile. "He probably misses his father."
Touma nods and writes something down in his notepad. The baby's crying eventually begins to wind down.
"Well, I'll go speak to this Rorona Kobayashi person and see if he knows anything about your husband's disappearance."
The detective reaches into his pocket to grab his car keys as he walks to the front door. Upon putting his hand on the knob he begins to feel light-headed. Haruno walks up behind him and watches as he begins to stumble backwards and then fall down onto the ground. Reo attempts to move his arms and legs but it's to avail.
She grins nefariously as she sees him struggling on the floor.
Hiratsuka's Apartment – 17:27
Yuigahama sits staring at Hikigaya from across the couch. He sees her doing this from corner of his eye and turns his head towards her. She continues staring.
"What are you looking at?" He asks apprehensively.
"Nothing." She answers with a smile.
The assassin turns his head back towards the television, which has a subtitled version of Avengers: Infinity War playing. They sit in silence for a few more minutes before he sees her take out her phone.
He turns his head again and is greeted with a flashing light and the sound of a photo snapping. Hikigaya wipes his eyes before shooting the brown-haired girl a confused look. Yuigahama giggles as she taps the screen, then extends her arm out indicating she wants him to take the phone from her. It has a bright pink cover and bunny ears, with the remnants of torn off stickers on its back.
After taking the device, he looks at the screen. There is a photo of him facing the camera, but with a dogs nose and ears superimposed over his face.
"What's this?"
"It's an Instagram filter! It makes people look extra cute."
"That's not really an interest of mine, Yuigahama." He says unenthusiastically.
She crawls from her side of the couch over to him.
"Since we're friends now we can follow each other. Then take photos together!"
"I don't have an Instagram account and we're not really friends."
"Yukinon said the same, and now look at us!"
He stares at the paint marks on her face.
"I'm not really looking for friends."
Hachiman turns his head back to the television, as Yui pouts.
"But why? Hiratsuka-sensei is your friend, right?"
"Hiratsuka-sensei is my language teacher."
"You can be friends with teachers too! When I was seven-years-old I wanted to spend every single moment with my maths teacher, but then my parents moved to a new part of town and I changed schools. I'll never forgot her though!"
Hikigaya thinks back to when he was seven-years-old and remembers a teacher he had a fondness for. Unfortunately, he ended up executing said teacher. It's not a good memory and he puts it in the back of his mind, choosing to focus on the conversation at hand.
"I'm not seven-years-old and I'm also not you."
"So you don't like Sensei at all?"
He considers it for a moment.
"She's a fine teacher, I guess."
Yuigahama smiles and moves back over to her side of the couch. A few moments later Yukinoshita walks out and tells them the food is ready.
Suburban House – 17:34
Reo feels himself getting dragged to a wall and sat up, while still unable to move his body.
"So Detective Touma, you're probably panicking really hard right now… Of course you can't show it physically because I spiked your drink with ketamine rendering you in your current state."
Haruno puts her hands on her hips as she looks down at him.
"Wh-What are you doing?" He asks, struggling to speak.
"Good question. One that has a very long answer. I will tell you that I'm not really Kyle's wife, she's upstairs in the tub."
"S-Stop this…" The older man says, while shaking his head.
She smiles widely and licks her lips.
"Don't worry I'm not going to kill her, or you for that matter. Offing a detective is serious business and A LOT of work. Believe me, I know. I'm simply here to layout the law to you, so-to-speak."
Haruno kneels down to him, putting their eyes on even level.
"Shizuka Hiratsuka is a person of interest in a case you're working. For the past few weeks you've been hunting an assassin after you got an anonymous tip he was involved in a shooting at a warehouse."
"H-How do you know all this?"
"Because I'm the one who gave you and your friends over at the precinct the tip. I don't care if you hunt the assassin as my business with him is over, but Shizuka Hiratsuka is off limits as of now."
"S-Screw you!" He says as some saliva falls out of his mouth.
"You know it's funny Detective Touma. Last night your police Captain said that to me as well. He was pretty adamant that he'd never negotiate with criminal scum like myself, however his mind changed pretty quick when I showed him I had access to his computer. The photos on there…" Haruno widens her eyes comically and blows up her cheeks. "So I know he won't give the case to anyone."
She stands up and raises her arms above her head, then stretches.
"But you're a whole other story. I looked into your record and you're an absolute saint. Truly an inspiration for your hard work and honesty, so I'll be a little honest with you: Kyle Smith was an old employee of mine. He's retired now, in a way, so when I found out that you were visiting his house I rushed over and said hello to ol' Akane upstairs."
"You're insane."
"No… Just efficient. Now listen closely Touma because this is the important part: If you don't remove Shizuka Hiratsuka's name from your physical reports I will kill your ex-husband. If that's not enough, I'll bump off your kids as well. Nod if you understand."
He does so begrudgingly.
"Good! Then we're done here. The ketamine will wear off in a few hours and then you can go back to stopping car thieves and muggers."
Haruno claps her hands and begins to walk to the front door.
"Wait!" He yells out. "How did you know I was coming to this house?"
She grabs the handle and pulls it down.
"I'm good with computers, detective."
A moment later she walks out the door and heads to her car. As she enters the vehicle she dials 119 in her phone. It rings for a moment before a person answers.
"Japanese Emergency services, how may I help you?"
"Uhh… Please send help… I'm tied up in the bathroom and there is a policeman who's been drugged." She says as she pretends to cry and sound nervous.
"What is your location ma'am?"
She puts the keys in the ignition before throwing the phone out the window and driving off.
Hiratsuka's Apartment – 18:03
Shizuka sits herself down at the dinner table along with her three students. They use their utensils to pick out the vegetables from the pot and add them to their respective plates. Once their dishes are full, they pull apart their chopsticks and begin eating.
"How is it?" Hiratsuka asks as she puts a mushroom in her mouth.
"It's yummy!" Yuigahama answers happily.
Hikigaya chooses to stay silent as he eats.
"I'm surprised you even had any food in your fridge, Hiratsuka."
The teacher laughs at Yukinoshita's remark, before responding.
"I always have food, Yukino. The problem is I get hungry and eat it, but since I knew I was having guests, I stocked up!"
"That's so nice of you Hiratsuka-sensei!"
"You guys deserve it. We're pretty much done with decorations. I'll go out and get the food and drinks for the festival soon. We're only working our stall on the second night, which means we'll be able to enjoy the rides and activities on day one."
"I can't wait." The brown-haired girl says in her regular cheerful tone.
"I suppose it will be quite enjoyable, even if Hikigaya is there to drag us down."
Shizuka throws a napkin at Yukino and frowns.
"No insults at my dinner table."
Hachiman leans back and clears his throat.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, I feel having someone like Yukinoshita in your home is insult enough."
She shakes her head disapprovingly, wanting nothing more than for the two them to get along.
After about twenty-minutes of eating and hearing passive-aggressive remarks thrown around, the four of them slowly finish up their meals and prepare to go home, picking up all their stuff as they walk to the door.
"Thank you so much for having us here, sensei." Yui says as she bows respectfully.
"Yes, thank you Hiratsuka."
Hachiman simply nods at her as he puts on his jacket and picks up his backpack. The three students leave the apartment and head down into the lobby together. As they exit the building a silver Toyota Prius pulls up and the window rolls down. A woman with light-brown hair leans out waving at the three of them.
"Mom!" Yui shouts as she runs towards the window and gives the older woman a hug.
She quickly runs back to Yukino and Hachiman and explains how she texted her mother to pick her up.
"Would you guys like a ride too?"
"No thanks." Hikigaya says with a bored expression, whilst noticing how strangely similar the mother and daughter look.
"Likewise. I feel like walking for a bit, Yui."
The brown-haired girl smiles and nods before heading over to the car and getting into the back seat. She waves to them as the vehicle drives away.
Hikigaya and Yukinoshita stand next to each other awkwardly.
"Well, I'm going this way." He says as he bumps past her, knocking their shoulders together.
"That's unfortunate. I'm going that way too."
The assassin does not wait up and continues his trek forward as she follows a few metres behind. There are a few cars on the street but for the most part, the pavements are empty. It's just about dark and the moon can easily be seen in the sky. After a few minutes of walking he abruptly turns a corner into an alley filled with cardboard boxes and large garbage bins.
"Where are you going?" She asks curiously.
He turns to her and pulls a small rod out of his jacket pocket. Hikigaya flicks his finger over a button and a blade extends out. Her blood runs cold as she watches him examine her knife.
"I had my suspicions it was you. This equipment is hard to come by. I've only seen it twice: On a train a few months back and on Friday last week."
"You picked my pocket…" Yukinoshita says, as she laughs in defeat.
"You're a good fighter. Krav Maga, Mauy Tai, Silat. You're proficient in all of them, just like me."
"That's right."
They look intensely into each other's eyes.
"But you're not a killer, like me."
She stays silent, knowing being alone with him in an alley at night puts her at a disadvantage.
'Do I run?'
"I'm not looking for a rematch, Yukinoshita." He says, almost answering her question. "It's clear you care for Hiratsuka. I don't know why, and it's also not my concern. I don't need to kill you and you don't need to try and kill me."
"I suppose you're right." She says anxiously.
He tosses her the knife and she catches it.
"I guess you're angry I killed Haru Kaito. Maybe he was your family, maybe he was your friend. I'm going to turn my back to you and walk away now. You can try and attack me, like you did last week, or you could leave and go home, then we'll see each other on Monday and pretend like none of this ever happened."
Yukinoshita clutches the knife and feels the same adrenaline pumping through her blood just like when they fought for the first time.
"If you choose to attack me, I will retaliate."
Hachiman turns around and puts his hands in his pockets before walking away from the wealthy-girl. Yukino scowls, feeling the urge to fight him, but she suppresses it.
'In the end, I want Hiratsuka to be safe. So if his mission is to protect her, then attacking him again would be unwise.'
As she rationalizes her decision in her mind, she sheathes blade and returns it to the pocket the assassin stole it from. Yukinoshita takes a deep breath, before turning and walking down the street. Whether or not this uneasy truce will last is unknown to both of them.
Tokyo Skyscraper – 21:07
A man dressed in a white suit with no hair or eyebrows sits behind his desk as he looks through a ledger. The room he sits in is dark, with only a lamp in the corner of his large office. The lamp has a white light and only slightly illuminates the room. A ding goes off as two elevator doors open and a man holding a file walks into the the office.
The man is Taiwanese and wears a dark-blue suit with an ascot. He steps up to the desk, as his footsteps echo throughout the tiled room. This man is an assistant, and upon reaching his boss, he places a folder on the table and sighs.
"What's wrong?" The hairless man asks as he sits in front of a massive window that has a endless view of Tokyo behind him.
"Komanda It appears we have a problem with the assassin you hired to kill Shizuka Hiratsuka."
The man at the desk leans back in his expensive chair and raises his brow.
"What exactly is this problem?"
His voice is deep and gravily.
"We heard through the grapevine that he gave up the name of one of his old employers to someone in the Yukinoshita crime family."
"Why would he do that? Yukinoshita's handle drug trade. What would they need with an assassin's old employer?"
"We believe the assassin was hired to kill a relative of the Yukinoshita's. They tracked him down."
The hairless man puts his hands together and nods. On one of his fingers is a ring, with a gold star.
"This isn't good. If he's willing to give up someone his worked for in the past, then it's only a matter of time before it happens to us as well."
"We need leverage, sir."
"Do you have anything in mind?"
The assistant smiles.
"I looked into his records at The Farm. He's got a sister that he seems care a lot about."
"Go get her. We'll make sure this boy knows we are a force to be reckoned with."
"Will do, sir."
The Taiwanese man turns around and walks back towards the elevator, ready to put a plan in motion.
Authors Notes: Yukino and 8man make a truce? Haruno threatens Reo's family? Yukinoshita's handle drug trade? Komachi being mentioned? Look at all these reveals, if you can call them that. Things are heating up. New chapter next week!
