Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.
Previously on Match Point: Detective Touma comes in contact with a mysterious fixer hired by Komanda.
Tuesday - Abandoned Basement – 15:03
Hikigaya slowly opens his eyes, as he feels himself regain consciousness. He attempts to move, but stops when he notices a blanket covering his body.
'I'm in a bed.'
The soft mattress below him sinks slightly, as he sits up.
'The basement…'
He looks around, and notices all the changes from the last time he was here. Next to the bed is a small table with a plate of food on top. The food appears to be a half-eaten sandwich and baked beans.
Suddenly, Hachiman feels a pain near his abdomen. It's concentrated to one specific area, though it still affects his whole torso. He pulls the blanket off of him, and looks down at his waist.
Currently, he is shirtless and wearing the same pants as when he was shot. His shoes have been removed, leaving him with just socks on his feet. There is a bandage wrapped around his stomach, being held up by another bandage tied over his shoulder.
He promptly stands up off the bed, before stumbling down to his knees.
'My legs must be dead…'
A moment later, Hikigaya pulls himself back up, and sits down on the mattress with his legs hanging over the edge. He begins to sway them back and forth, attempting to get the blood flowing properly.
CLINK
The sound of a door being unlocked and opened echoes throughout the basement, and he turns his head towards its origin.
"I see you're awake." Yukinoshita says, as she enters from the steps and walks into the large room.
Despite it being his classmate, the assassin is anything but relaxed, given what Black Tiger told him.
"Hi…"
His response is emotionless.
"You've been asleep for a two days, in case you were wondering."
This time he doesn't respond at all, and they stare at each other awkwardly. Yukino is wearing a loose black skirt with zebra stripe leggings and beanie on her head. She also has a dark purple coat and grey V-neck shirt on.
"I suppose you want to be filled in on what's happened?"
He nods, which prompts her to walk over to the swivel chair and roll it to the foot of his bed. She sits down and crosses her legs, then looks intensely into his eyes. Hikigaya has yet to move from his position.
"After you were shot, you were taken to Hiratsuka's apartment, where Yui and I were. Some men arrived in a black van and forced their way into the building. Judging from the weapons they used, they were sent to dispose of us quietly. I helped that Rorona person get you back to Hiratsuka's car. He drove us here, where Yui gave you some blood."
With the exception of the blood transfusion, Hikigaya recalls all of this.
"After that, we had a discussion about what to do. I told Hiratsuka to turn you over to the police or a hospital, but she refused. Yui and Rorona agreed with her, and I was hopelessly outvoted."
They continue staring at each other.
"It was too dangerous to take Hiratsuka back home, so she's been staying at my apartment. On Saturday, her, Yui, and I went to the festival and sold drinks like nothing had happened."
"Great."
There is a brief silence, before Yukino sighs and clenches her fist.
"I hired the man who shot you."
He raises an eyebrow.
"I see."
"You make me sick. I hate looking at you. Watching you die would bring me nothing but pleasure."
She takes a deep breath.
"At least that's what I thought, but when you were in agony on the bed, all I wanted was for it to stop… Because it wasn't just you who was hurting. I saw Hiratsuka's face, and it broke my heart. I never want her to feel that way again."
He looks away, then down at the floor.
"I'm telling you this because I want you to know: I won't do it again. Whatever motivated me to want you dead is gone now. It's in the past and I want us to move forward."
Hachiman slowly stands up, and begins walking towards her. Yukino's heart starts beating rapidly, and she backs the chair up, then reaches into her purse.
"I have a handgun in this bag, if you attack me I'll defend my-"
"It's fine." He says, cutting her off. "I believe you. If you really wanted me dead, it'd be done. You've had ample opportunity I imagine."
She stands up off the chair and nods at him.
"That's right. I've come here a couple times to see if you'd awoke yet. Hiratsuka told me she wants to know as soon as you did."
"I guess I should speak to her."
The assassin looks around, and finds some clothes laid out on a crate. He takes the black dress-shirt and slips his arms through the sleeves, before buttoning it up.
"Are you going to tell her who you really are?"
"Yes."
"Why don't you just lie?"
He looks at Yukinoshita.
"There's no coming back from this, but even if there was: I'm done lying."
There is another brief silence.
"Alright. I rode the bus to a stop a couple streets from here. We can use the same route to go back to my apartment."
"Where's Rorona?"
Yukino picks up her bag, and begins walking towards the stairs.
"He said he had to go something."
Hachiman puts on his shoes, and catches up behind her.
Chiba Police Precinct – 15:32
Detective Touma sits at his desk, typing away on his computer. Right now, he is finishing up a report for a gang bust he took part in. As he works, a lady in her mid-thirties jogs up to his table, and leans over it towards him.
"What's up, old man?" She greets, turning her head to see what he's doing on his computer.
"Writing a report, Karen."
"Sounds lame."
Karen is wearing a white polo-shirt and jeans. She also has short brown hair and a few freckles.
"You should be doing your reports too."
"No time. I had to run that background check for you, remember?"
He stops typing, and looks at her.
"How's that going?"
Karen raises her left arm, before placing a folder in front of him. Touma quickly reaches out to grab it.
"What's this?"
"It's the background check."
He opens the folder, and pulls out a single sheet of A4 paper. The document lists things like age, blood type, name and there is an image of Sobu High School's logo at the top.
"This isn't a background check… Are you joking? I need driver's licenses, family, friends, employers, pre-schools. I need everything."
The female detective sighs.
"Sorry Touma… All you gave me was the name 'Hachiman Hikigaya' and all I found was that… There is no driver's license, family, friends, employers or pre-school. Just a single piece of paper from a nurse's office."
"Dammit… That guy screwed me." Reo says angrily, as he clenches his fists.
"What guy?" She asks curiously.
The detective sighs.
"Thanks Karen."
Despite being annoyed at him ignoring her question, she simply shakes it off and stands up.
"You should read me in on this case you're working. We are partners."
"Yeah… I know."
"Is it related to that Shizuka Hiratsuka lady by any chance?"
"No." He lies.
"Well, call me if you need me."
Karen smiles, and walks off. The detective continues staring at the piece of paper she gave him, hoping to use it as a lead.
Yukinoshita's Apartment – 15:58
Yukinoshita unlocks her apartment door, and walks in. Behind her is Hikigaya with his hands in his pants pockets and a bored expression on his face.
On the couch inside the apartment is Hiratsuka, who has a stack of papers sitting on her lap along with several other stacks of papers on the coffee taper in front of her. Given the threat to her life, she has had to do all her work here instead of at home.
The teacher turns her head towards the door, and notices her student walk in.
"Hi Yukino, any n - Oh my god!"
She stands up as she sees Hikigaya, and runs towards him, letting the papers fall right off her lap. As the distance between them closes, she wraps her arms tightly around him. The assassin places his hands gently on her shoulders, not really hugging back.
A moment later, she pulls a way and looks at him with a warm smile.
"You're okay!"
"Yeah." He responds nonchalantly, which causes her to laugh and hug him again.
"Someone shot you and then there were criminals after us! Then we went to this basement and-"
"Yukinoshita told me."
She pulls away again, as he interrupts her.
"Right. How are you then?"
The dark-haired girl frowns seeing Hiratsuka so close to him, and walks off to her bedroom. She promptly shuts the door behind her.
"I'm fine."
There is a short silence, before he walks past her and stands over by the couch. Several loose pieces of paper lay by his feet.
"Hiratsuka, we need to speak about what happened."
She smiles, and sits down on the couch, looking up at him.
"Go ahead."
From the other room Yukinoshita listens to them speak, sitting with her back against the door.
"The man who shot me was a hired hitman. He executed the job in broad daylight, with a witness in clear view: So, I'd guess he was on the low end."
Hiratsuka stays silent as she listens.
"My memories are vague, but I recall Rorona being there. I imagine he dealt with the hitman, then rushed over to me after I was hit."
He takes a deep breath, and looks away from her.
"The reason there was a contract out on me... Is because I am a professional assassin. I aggravated someone, and they tried to have me killed."
Yukino looks at the ground guiltily.
"After that, several men came to your apartment. They were sent by someone else: A man called Komanda. He runs a criminal empire, and I aggravated him as well."
Shizuka frowns for a second, before beginning to giggle.
"What?"
Hachiman sighs, and puts his head in his hands.
"Four months ago, Komanda hired me to infiltrate Sobu High School and gather damaging information on you or your father. Once I found it, I was to execute you."
From the bedroom, Yukinoshita stands up angrily and looks intensely at the door.
'Execute her?! He told me his mission was to protect her!'
Hiratsuka stares at him, and her mouth widens slightly.
"Several events occurred during this mission that I could not foresee. One of them being the police getting involved in your life, and another being my sisters capture. I had to act quickly on both of these, which caused a rift with my employer and I. At this point my mission with him is done, and I have no plans to fulfil it."
"W-Why are you saying this so matter-of-fact?" The teacher asks, as she stands up and backs away.
He says nothing and simply looks at the coffee table in front of him.
"I don't understand."
The words barely come out, as she feels her heart begin to race. Just then Yukinoshita walks back into the living room.
"Calm down, it's okay. Everything he is saying is true."
She looks at Yukino and then at Hachiman, before running her hands through her hair.
"What do you mean it's okay? This is insane."
"He was the one who killed my uncle in 2017."
Hikigaya nods slightly.
"You're a murderer?"
"Yeah…"
"You were gonna k-kill me?"
There is a moment of silence before he answers.
"Yes."
"But you're only fifteen!"
"I was raised with my sister in a special facility. We were trained from birth to be efficient killers."
She leans against the wall, and feels her bottom lip tremble.
"And you're just okay with that?!"
"I haven't given it much thought, up until recently."
The teacher looks over at Yukinoshita.
"I saw you fight those men. Are you…"
"No, I'm not an assassin." Yukino says with a chuckle.
"How is this funny?"
Hachiman stands up.
"It's not. I came here to tell you the truth, because this is the last time we're ever going to see each other."
"What?"
"My mission is over, I have no reason to stay."
Her eyes get slightly wet, as the older woman crosses her arms and turns away. Hikigaya looks over at Yukinoshita, then begins to walk around the couch and to the door. He glances at his teacher for a moment as he passes her, before reaching out to grab the door handle.
"Wait!" Hiratsuka yells out, facing him again. "You said we'll never see each other again, right?"
"Yes." He confirms, still looking at the door handle.
"Good. You're a liar and... A monster. Stay away from me, from my father, and from Yukino."
The assassin sighs, and looks over his shoulder at her.
"No problem."
They make eye contact, and he sees the look of shock on her face.
A few moments later, he pushes the door open and walks out, leaving Yukinoshita and Hiratsuka alone. As he walks down the hall he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
Chiba Police Precinct – 15:41
'Hachiman Hikigaya… Who are you?'
Touma sits at his desk, staring at the document.
'Is this the assassin? Perhaps it's an alias, but that doesn't get me any closer to finding him.'
The detective leans back and looks around.
'First Shizuka Hiratsuka, then a shooting at her school, and now this. They're connected, but I don't know how.'
After thinking a little longer, he gets an idea and opens up a drawer under his desk.
'Before my investigation was halted by that woman, I was going to look into a guy…'
Reo rummages through some files, then pulls out his notepad. He begins flipping the pages, before finding what he's looking for. The top of the note has a name written down: Rorona Kobayashi. Touma puts the pad down in front of him, then quickly types the name into his computer.
There is a short loading screen, before an image pops up along with several boxes of information.
"Rorona Kobayashi, age 24. Divorced with one kid. Former corpsman for United States Marines. Now a Japanese citizen. Interesting."
BRRR
BRRR
Touma feels his phone vibrating in his pocket, and pulls it out. He then swipes at the green symbol, answering a call.
"Hello?"
"Hey. That blood we got from Sobu High School didn't come back with any matches. Sorry Touma." The person on the other end of the line says.
He sighs.
"Yeah, it's okay."
There is a brief silence, before he leans forward.
"Can you tell me something, Lee?"
"What?"
"What blood type is it."
"Uhh… A-Positive. Why?"
"Just give me a second."
Touma looks over at his computer screen, and checks Rorona's blood type.
'B-Positive. Not a match.'
He then looks over at the document from Sobu High School. There is a section titled 'blood' for Hachiman Hikigaya.
'A-Positive…'
"Hey Lee, I'll speak to you later."
"Sure…"
Touma ends the call, and grabs his notepad. He quickly writes down how the blood from the school and this Hachiman Hikigaya person's match.
'It could be another coincidence, or it could be exactly what I need. Better check in on Rorona Kobayashi, and see what he's up to.'
Abandoned Basement – 21:05
Hikigaya lays on the bed, with the back of his head rested on his palms. He has one leg bent, and is looking up at the ceiling. The sound of someone walking down the stairs catches his attention, and he looks over at the door, before seeing Rorona walk in holding a laptop and a sandwich.
"Hey." The older of the two greets, as he places his laptop down on one of the tables.
"Hi."
"You feeling okay?"
The assassin thinks about everything that's happened.
"No."
"Yeah well a bullet to the stomach will do that. You're lucky to be alive."
"It's all thanks to you." Hachiman says candidly.
Rorona chuckles and nods.
"Yeah it is, but it's all in a day's work you know? I wasn't about to just let someone bleed out even, if it wasn't you."
"It doesn't matter. Thank you."
They smile at each other, before Rorona opens up the laptop and turns it on.
"I visited Hiratsuka earlier, and told her everything."
"Damn… You didn't kill her, did you?" Rorona asks, only half-joking.
"Nope."
"Well that's progress for you." He says sarcastically, taking a bite out of the sandwich.
"I'm done being an assassin anyway."
Rorona looks at him.
"Really? Why?"
Hikigaya sits up, and stretches his arms.
"Had some personal revelations the other night."
"So now what?"
There is silence for several seconds.
"Komanda will still want Hiratsuka and I dead. We're loose ends. As long as he's alive, her life is in danger."
Rorona takes a deep breath, and walks up to the assassin.
"That means this isn't over. We'll have to get rid of him."
Hachiman nods.
"If we're going to do this. Then let's make it official. Partners?"
There is a short silence.
"Yeah, partners."
The two of them shake hands, before the younger of the two stands up.
"There's one more thing I have to do today."
Rorona raises an eyebrow, and moves out his way.
"What's that?"
Hikigaya sighs, as he walks to the exit.
Safehouse – 21:51
After a long and expectedly painful walk, Hikigaya finds himself back at the apartment he and Ryuzaki have been using throughout this mission. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key, then pushes it into the door. A few moments later, he unlocks it and walks in. The home is very bare, with just a couch and TV in the living room.
"Ryuzaki." Hachiman says loudly, trying to get his handlers attention.
The older man peeks his head out from the kitchen. There is some cream on his beard, and it appears he's chewing something.
"You've been gone for a while." He says, as he walks into the living room.
Hikigaya smiles and raises his shirt, revealing the bandage.
"I got shot in the stomach, almost died."
"Good to see you're back on your feet then."
"Yeah…"
Ryuzaki raises an eyebrow, as he sits down on the couch. Hachiman – still standing by the door – takes a deep breath, before speaking again.
"Is Komachi home?"
"She left yesterday."
The assassin frowns, and looks at his handler.
"Hachiman, is something wrong?"
There is a short silence.
"I'm done being an assassin. I quit."
"Huh?" Ryuzaki reacts with a chuckle. "You've been shot before, surely that's not enough-"
"I don't want to kill people anymore. That's all there is to it."
A thick tension develops in the air, as they look into each other's eyes.
"I'm sorry to spring this on you. You did a lot for me, teaching me everything and helping me get through life, but I just can't do it anymore. This'll be the last time I speak to you, since I won't need a handler. Feel free to clean out the bank account and keep my contract money."
Hikigaya turns around, and puts his hand on the door handle. Before he can leave, the older man stands up.
"What do you think will happen now?" Ryuzaki asks with an annoyed tone.
"What do you mean?"
"Assassins get sick of this job all the time. There's a reason I'm a handler. You don't have to quit. Why not take a break? Go back to The Farm."
"The Farm is shit, to say the least. I hated it there and you know it. I'm done being an assassin."
"So where are you going?! What are planning on doing tomorrow? Next week? Next year? In ten years? You think you can readjust into the world after killing your way through your childhood? People like you and I have no place in society. Think this through!" Ryuzaki yells out angrily.
He shakes his head.
"This is what I want. I don't know what will happen in the future..."
"I do. The Farm will not accept this. They'll send an assassin after you. I know you didn't get that bullet wound in some freak accident. Was it your current employer? He's not happy after you assaulted his assistant and took out a building full of men. If it wasn't him, then that means someone else wants your blood. Do you believe that you can really handle so many people wanting you dead?!"
The assassin turns back around, and stares angrily at his handler.
"I'll be fine on my own!"
Ryuzaki looks at Hachiman with disappointed expression.
"I can't stop you. At the end of the day you're free to do what you want, but the next time we see each other will likely be at your funeral, where you'll be buried under a false name, because like I said: You Hachiman, have no place in society."
"If that's what's going to happen, then that's what's going to happen."
With that, he opens the door and walks out. As he exits the building, Hikigaya drops his key in a trashcan. The walk back to the basement is long and tedious, and throughout it, he thinks about the year that's past and everything that's happened.
The robbery at Hiratsuka's apartment, saving Yuigahama's dog, dealing with Haruno, rescuing Komachi, and almost dying a couple days ago. The memories play through his mind one by one, as cars and people pass him.
Whether or not his decision will lead him to his death, Hikigaya doesn't know, but he does know two things: What he's going to do, and why he's going to do it.
Author's Notes: 8man has revealed himself to his now former teacher? Crazy stuff. Chapter 34 for will be up next week! Be sure to leave a review once in a while!
