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

Previously on Match Point: After the Christmas Festival, 8man is left conflicted. As he questions what to do, Black Tiger returns and offers some guidance. During the next day, he and Shizuka are confronted by a man with a gun. Rorona quickly deals with said man, but a stray bullet hits 8man right in the stomach. What will happen next? Find out!


Saturday - Sobu High School Parking Lot - 07:41

A tall man casually strolls through the school parking lot. He is wearing sunglasses and a charcoal black suit with a red ascot. The man has long bony fingers that are covered by a pair of white latex gloves. It takes him about a minute to walk from the gate to the middle of the lot, where he finds a pool of blood and a dead body. Oddly enough, the blood is about ten metres away from the corpse.

'Interesting…' He thinks to himself, as he kneels down by the body and examines it.

The corpse's head has been twisted abnormally far to the side, and there is a fedora and bandanna that have fallen off to the ground. The tall man reaches into his blazer, pulls an iPhone out of his inside pocket, then dials a number. It rings for a few moments, before someone answers.

"Is it done?"

The person on the line speaks with a deep gravelly voice.

"Negative. The information was right. It seems the assassin was here earlier, but now there's just a pool of blood and a dead body." He responds, speaking with an Australian accent.

"Whose body is it?"

"Judging by the outfit, I'd say probably some street thug hitman. Nothing professional."

"Hachiman Hikigaya attacked one of my compounds and killed several of my men. He needs to be dealt with immediately. I hired you to kill him, can you do it or not?"

The man stands up, and looks at the pool of blood.

"Calm down Mr. Komanda. If I were to guess what happened here, then I'd say he's got more enemies than just you. Someone probably got some low rate hitman to kill the boy. Said hitman confronts him in the school parking lot and puts a bullet in him."

"So does that mean someone else killed the assassin?"

He walks up to the blood, and looks at the area around it.

"I don't think so. Perhaps he wasn't alone. If the assassin was shot, this amount of blood-loss would put him well out of commission. Some of your surviving men said he works with a partner. Maybe the partner killed the hitman, then got him outta here."

"Where would he go?"

"Good question. According to my brief, the teacher was supposed to be here too, so I'd imagine to keep things discreet, they'd head to her apartment."

Komanda sighs through the phone.

"The teacher and the assassin have caused far more trouble than they're worth. I'm sending the chain-users to Shizuka Hiratsuka's home to finish them off once and for all. You get rid of the body at the school and clean up the mess."

"Understood sir."

The man ends the call and gets ready to follow his orders.


20 Minutes Earlier

Hiratsuka screams as she looks at her student lying on the ground with blood gushing out of the hole in his stomach. Rorona runs up to the two of them, as she drops to her knees.

"Shizuka Hiratsuka you need to listen me to very carefully!" He says, crouching down next to her.

She looks over at him, while her eyes become wet with tears.

"W-Who are you?"

"I'm a friend of Hachiman's."

"F-Friend?" Hiratsuka repeats, looking at the assassin and then back at Rorona.

"I mean 'friend' is kind of a strong word. We're more like business partners. You know what, honestly he's more like my boss…"

Shizuka begins breathing fast, which snaps Rorona back into focus.

"Right. Right. Right. Right. Right… Listen: We need to help him right now! I've seen a lot of wounds like that during my time serving, and if we don't do something, he will bleed out and die. Do you understand?"

She nods, as her jaw trembles nervously.

"We should take him to the h-hospital."

Suddenly, her arm is grabbed by Hachiman. He squeezes tightly, before speaking.

"Please... No hospital..."

He struggles to get the words out, feeling blood entering his throat.

"What? Why?"

"Just trust him." Rorona advises, with a dead serious look on his face.

"Uh... Alright." She says, still panicked and scared.

"Help me get him into your car."

Rorona slides his arms under Hikigaya's back, then lifts him up. Hiratsuka stands up as well, and runs to the backseat of her car. She begins throwing out the food items to make space. The teacher's heart beats rapidly as she does this.

After the last box is removed, Rorona puts Hachiman's body into the back seat and climbs in next to him. He then takes both his hands and presses them against the bullet wound, trying to stop the blood. Hiratsuka runs to the front of the car and gets into the driver's seat, before quickly starting the engine.

"Do you have anywhere we can take him?" Rorona asks, as the backseat gets soaked with blood.

"M-My apartment!" Shizuka responds, putting her foot on the acceleration pedal.

The car begins moving, and she drives towards the gate, then out of the lot and into the street.


Touma's Apartment – 07:03

BEEP

BEEP

The detective's eyes flutter open, as he hears his usual alarm go off. He quickly reaches over to his phone and swipes the screen, prompting the beeping sound to stop. His bed is medium sized, with a thin blanket covering him. Next to the bed is a small cabinet and a chair. The floor is tiled and the walls are concrete.

On the cabinet is a framed photo of two children. They're both on either side of Touma, smiling widely. He glances over at it for a moment, before pulling the blanket away and sitting up. After getting his bearings, the detective heads to the bathroom and takes a quick shower. He then puts on a dark-blue dress shirt and jeans.

Touma walks over to his small kitchen, and grabs a half-eaten pie out the fridge, then slots it into the microwave. He turns a small dial, and the machine makes a loud humming noise, as the food inside begins turning on the glass plate.

DING

A minute later the microwave makes a ding, indicating the food has been sufficiently heated. He wastes no time and quickly takes out the pie and eats it at his kitchen table. Not long after that, he heads back to the bathroom and begins brushing his teeth. Reo considers shaving as well, but decides it's not worth the effort. The detective exits out the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He grabs his trench coat off a chair and puts on.

This is his routine almost every day. Wake up, shower, get dressed, eat some left-overs, check his closet, and then go to work. The closet-checking step is less mundane than it sounds, and for Reo it is arguably one of the most important parts of his day, as it gives him more motivation and energy than any caffeine could.

Touma walks up to the closest and pulls out a small key. He slides it into the lock and gives it a turn. There is a clicking sound, and he promptly grabs onto the handle and pulls the closet door towards him. Instead of it being filled with clothing, the closet houses a white board, which has been nailed to the back. The board has several pictures on it. Some of the photos are of crime scenes, while others are of people.

A photo of Hatake Bar can be seen on one corner, with a photo of the warehouse Hikigaya met Rorona on another. Each photo is of a piece of evidence the assassin has left behind. Under the pictures is writing which is numbered to specific case files and documents Touma has. In the middle of the board, there is a photo of none other than Hiratsuka. The image is a portrait, which Touma found on the Sobu High School website. Below her photo is a picture of a question mark, which has the words "Assassin" written next to it.

'That woman threatened my family.'

He sighs, and looks sadly at the whiteboard, remembering his run-in with Haruno.

'But she said I can investigate the assassin so long as I leave Hiratsuka alone.'

Touma pushes the closet door forward and locks it.

'The teacher must be the key to finding the assassin, but I can't do anything about her right now. Not even the police captain can help me.'

After grabbing his car keys and wallet, he begins walking towards his apartment door.

'I don't have a choice. I have to do something, or this killer will stay on the loose.'

He unlocks his door, and begins heading downstairs towards his car. As he walks Touma feels determined to catch Hikigaya, as he wrestles with the idea of whether or not to pursue Hiratsuka. One day, he will decide.


Hiratsuka's Car – 07:29

Hikigaya feels both hot and cold, as his eyes gaze at the material on the car roof. On top of that, he is unable to hear anything, and all sounds around him seem muted. He looks to the side, and sees Rorona kneeling on the car floor and putting pressure on his stomach. His focus shifts to his bullet wound, where he recalls the man in the fedora and bandanna. Hachiman feels something thick in his chest, before coughing up some blood. As it comes out of his mouth, the white noise in his ear fades and he hears the car's engine.

"Haha…" He giggles softly.

"Hell of a time to be laughing." Rorona says, with a concerned look on his face.

"W-Where's... Hiratsuka?"

"She's driving. Don't worry about that right now."

Hikigaya feels himself spacing out, as he looks back at the car roof. It's grey and appears as if there are patterns on it. His mind starts seeing shapes and images which causes him to laugh even more.

"Is he okay?" The teacher asks, frantically driving through early morning traffic.

"Uhh... He's reacting interestingly..."

A few minutes later, the car comes to an abrupt stop, as she parks the vehicle at the back of her apartment building. Hiratsuka opens up the driver's side door and runs to the backseat to help Rorona.

"Th-There's a staircase we can use to get him to my apartment. The cleaners haven't arrived yet, so the way should be clear."

Rorona nods and picks up the assassin. Upon entering the building, they begin making their way up the staircase. Hikigaya feels his body bounce up and down as Rorona sprints up the steps. The lights on the ceiling catch his attention, and he stares up at them. The lights are bright and hurts his eyes, but every time he passes one, he wants to look at the next.

About a minute later, the three of them arrive in Hiratsuka's apartment's hallway. They jog to her door, and she quickly scrambles to unlock it.

CLICK

The moment the key turns, she pushes open the door and runs in to her home, followed closely by Rorona. On the couch, Yukinoshita and Yuigahama are sitting down, dressed in casual clothes, watching television. They jump up when they see Hiratsuka and the strange man behind her carrying Hikigaya.

"Oh my god…" Yukino says, with wide eyes.

Yui is speechless, as she sees the blood covered Hachiman.

"Take him to my bedroom! It's over there!" Shizuka yells, pointing to the side.

Rorona nods and runs into the room, before placing Hikigaya down gently on the bed. Yukinoshita looks at him through the doorway, then at her teacher who is shutting the front door.

"What happened?"

"Someone shot Hachiman while we were pr-preparing for the festival."

Hiratsuka rubs her bloody hands through her hair, as she shivers nervously.

"What was he wearing?" The wealthy-girl asks, with a worried expression on her face.

"It all happened so fast… I think he had a hat and bandana or something."

Yukino closes her eyes, then puts her head in her hands.

'That idiot. I told him to take out the target when he was alone!'

"And then this guy came of nowhere. He said he's a friend of Hachiman's."

"A friend?"

"Well they're more like business partners. Actually, I think the guy works for him… Whatever that means."

"Hey, I need some help here!" Rorona yells from the bedroom.

Hiratsuka, Yuigahama and Yukinoshita run in, and see Hikigaya lying on the bed. His right hand is shaking and the grey blanket has become a light red colour.

"We're going to need to cauterize the wound."

"C-Cauterize..." Shizuka repeats, with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah…"


Touma's Car - 7:21

Detective Touma drives down the road with his foot pressed gently against the acceleration pedal. Suddenly, the police radio to his left goes off, and the dispatcher on the other end begins speaking.

"All units in the area, we have a code 10-71. Single gunshot fired in or around Sobu High school. Any available officers, please respond. Over."

The dispatcher's voice sounds robotic through the speakers and is accompanied by low-quality static.

Upon hearing the mention of Sobu High school, Reo raises an eyebrow, before quickly reaching out and pulling a small palm-sized microphone device off of a hook on the radio, and bringing it up to his face.

"This is Detective Touma, car A14, en route."

"Copy that. Enjoy yourself Touma." The dispatcher says casually.

Police procedure has become relatively lax lately, due to Japan's low crime rate.

He quickly returns the microphone to the radio, before making a sharp u-turn on the road and heading straight towards the school.

'Shot fired at Sobu High. Same school as Hiratsuka. Coincidence? What the hell else could it be?'

Blue and red lights begin flashing at the front and back of his car, along with the standard police siren blaring out. The detective has no plans to let any leads slip away.

Within minutes he arrives outside the school gates and quickly parks his vehicle next to the pavement. As Reo gets out, he begins jogging through the parking lot with one hand on his holstered firearm. It doesn't take long for him to come across the pool of blood left behind by Hikigaya. The pool of blood however is all there is, and the other man's body is nowhere to be seen. The different food items that were being packed into Hiratsuka's car are similarly missing.

Touma pulls out his phone and dials a number. It rings for a few seconds before someone answers.

"I'm at Sobu High School investigating a possible shooting." He says, as he looks at the blood. "I'm gonna need a forensics team down here now."


Hiratsuka's Apartment – 07:35

"The bullet's still inside of him. I'm going to need to pull it out, and when I do we'll cauterize the wound."

"How do we do that?" Hiratsuka asks, standing in the doorway.

"We'll need something hot to melt the skin around the hole into itself."

"Melt the skin…"

"Do you have an iron or something? We'll also need some alcohol."

The teacher nods and runs over to the kitchen. The two girls stand in the bedroom, watching as Hiratsuka and Rorona frantically try and save Hikigaya. Yukinoshita clenches her fist at the incompetence of the hitman she hired.

'He wasn't supposed to be with Hiratsuka when he got shot. For ten million yen you'd think he'd offer a better service.'

Her gaze shifts over to all the blood. It makes her feel sick and scared. There's a reason she tried to have someone else do the job.

"The man who did this, where is he?" Yukino asks, as she leans against the wall with an annoyed expression on her face.

"He's dead." Rorona responds emotionlessly.

Throughout this exchange, Yui stays quite and watches as everything plays out in front of her, feeling helpless.

"Why didn't you call an ambulance?"

"Can we just focus on saving Hachiman's life right now?"

Just then Shizuka runs in holding a half-full bottle of vodka and a hair-straightener. She quickly plugs the device into the wall and turns it on, letting it heat up.

"Do you have tweezers?"

"Yeah…"

Hiratsuka opens one of her drawers and pulls out the desired item. She then hands it to Rorona, who proceeds to close his eyes, and mentally prepare for the next step.

"Get a towel and put it in his mouth."

"Why?"

"He'll need something to bite on."

Hiratsuka follows his orders and grabs a pink towel from the bathroom, folds it, and then awkwardly tries to put it into Hikigaya's mouth. The assassin feels the material rub against his face and opens his eyes. He sees what she's trying to do and raises his right arm, then grabs the towel out of her hand.

"I know the drill. Get it done." He says, looking over at Rorona.

The older man nods and rips open Hachiman's shirt, revealing his chest and stomach. There are several scars, cuts and bruises all over. A concerned look clouds Shizuka's face as her eyes study every wound. Yukinoshita looks at her teacher's expression, and feels a pit in her stomach.

Rorona uses his left hand to pick up the alcohol and pour it over the bullet hole. He then uses his right hand to press the tweezers into the wound. Hikigaya takes the towel and stuffs it into his mouth, as he groans loudly from the pain. It a takes a minute, but the bullet is eventually found and pulled out. Rorona drops it on the floor, then stands up and grabs the iron.

The blood has now begun gushing out the wound faster than before, and the assassin feels himself getting weaker and weaker. Rorona takes the tip of the red hot hair-straighter and gently presses it against the bullet hole. Hikigaya clenches his fist and bites hard into the towel, as he feels an agony he has never even imagined. The skin on his stomach begins to melt, then coagulate. Yuigahama cringes, and buries her head in her friend's shoulder, before beginning to cry.

Despite seeing Hikigaya in so much pain, Yukinoshita doesn't feel the happiness she imagined she would.

'This person killed my Uncle. Taunted me in class. He… He stole Hiratsuka away from me!'

She looks intensely at him, as his body convulses.

'So… Why do I want his pain to end? Why can't I enjoy this?'

To her left she hears quiet sobbing. Yukino turns her head, and sees her teacher standing there with tears streaming down her face.

'What have I done?'


Author's Notes: Chapter 32 will be up next week!