Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.
Previously on Match Point: Touma's investigation moves forward, while Rorona and 8man prepare to take down the next of Komanda's lieutenants.
Saturday – Chix & Dix - 20:24
Hikigaya heads around the strip club building, walking towards the back to look for another way in. Unfortunately, his skills in assassination can't boost his age.
As he strolls along the side of the building, a conversation catches his attention. He follows the voices, walking further as the speaking gets louder and louder. It doesn't take long for him to reach the end of the side of the strip club, and he promptly peeks his head around the corner to see what's going on.
At the back of the building, a couple of cars can be seen parked up against a wall. Walking around the cars are several women dressed in very skimpy and tight clothing. Judging by their appearances, Hachiman surmises these women are prostitutes.
"Listen you've done well, but this week you're short…" A man wearing a large blue jacket and matching hat says, leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
"No please… I did everything you asked. Thirty-four clients. Multiple men per day. What more could I do?" One of the prostitutes asks him desperately, as she speaks with a thick Chinese accent.
"Don't disrespect me; look at who you are. You'd be in the gutter without my help. I told you how much to bring me and you didn't get enough. Why would I pay you?"
"Please, I told you! One of the men stole my money yesterday… I had no time to make it back!"
"Not my problem. If you want, I can bring it up with Miyuki and we'll see what she has to say. How'd you like that?"
"No… She's insane!"
"That's right, she is. So either get back on the corner and make some money, or get out of here."
"But I need to eat!"
The man chuckles and shoves her out of the way.
"You'd be good to lose a few pounds."
With that, he opens his car door and gets inside. The car is a black Cadillac, and is soon moving backwards in reverse, then driving out into the adjacent street.
After he leaves, the prostitutes all walk up to each other and stand in a circle discussing the conversation that just took place. Hikigaya pays little attention to them, and heads out from behind the corner and into the back parking area of the strip club.
Some of the women begin staring at him, as he looks around at the windows and doors.
"What you doin'?" One of the them asks, prompting all the women to face him.
Hachiman shifts his gaze towards them and sighs, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small role of cash.
"Take a walk; all of you." He says, as he tosses the money to one of the prostitutes.
The woman catches it, then pulls off the rubber band keeping the money together. After counting each bill, she looks at her peers and nods. A moment later they all begin walking away.
Now without witnesses, Hikigaya casually strolls up to the back door of the club and pulls a lock pick out of one of his pockets. It only takes a few moments, and soon the door is unlocked and ready for entry. Hachiman puts his tools away, then reaches out and grabs the knob. However, before he can turn it - someone grabs his arm, surprising him. He quickly turns around and backs away, getting ready to fight.
Interestingly though, the person who grabbed his arm is the prostitute that was being threatened earlier.
"You're him right?" She asks with wide eyes. "You're the assassin?"
Fuchū Maximum Security Prison – 14:35
Detective Touma walks down a long prison corridor, as he is guided along by two guards. The short walk leads them to a thick metal door, that has a small box next to it.
The guard to his right pulls out a key card, then swipes it against the box – prompting the locks on the door to magnetically open. With that, they push the door forward and enter into a large open room filled with round tables and chairs. By some of the tables are civilians sitting across from inmates.
The inmates are dressed in green jumpsuits, and most of them are chained by handcuffs connected to ankle bracelet restraints.
As he enters the visitation centre, the detective is quickly sat down by one of the empty tables. The guards then leave, but return shortly with a prisoner by their side. They seat the prisoner on the other end of table in front of Reo, then back away and stand with their hands at their sides.
"Detective…" The inmate says, acknowledging him.
"Hello, Hiroshi."
"What are you doing here?"
Touma takes a folder and places it in front of Komanda's now imprisoned lieutenant.
"I wanted to ask you a few questions."
"I already told you what I know about the fight club…"
"This isn't about that. I need to know some other things – off the record."
Hiroshi raises an eyebrow, as the detective opens the folder and takes out a few photos, before putting them out to see.
"Do you know this woman?" Reo asks, pointing at a picture of Hiratsuka sitting at a bar counter.
"No… She's hot though."
Touma ignores the remark, and points to a photo of Rorona sitting next to her.
"How about him?"
Hiroshi takes a good long look, before nodding.
"Yeah, he was that guy helping the kid who took me down."
"You pleaded guilty to get a reduced sentence, and in your statement you told me that it was a teenager who infiltrated the club – with the help of an accomplice – then recorded you and shot you in the arm."
"That's right…"
"Please describe the teenager to me."
"Why didn't ask me about this when you were investigating the club?"
"Like I said – I want this off the record."
Hiroshi chuckles and nods, understanding what's going on.
"You know exactly who this kid is, don't you Detective? That's why you're being so inconspicuous, you're scared of him…"
"I have reason to believe that this person is a highly-trained and highly-dangerous assassin for hire. I believe someone payed him to bust you. If you help me find this assassin, perhaps I can get your sentence reduced further, or move you to a more comfortable facility."
There is a brief silence, as the ex-lieutenant considers the deal.
"Sorry, Detective." Hiroshi says, shaking his head. "I aint a snitch; and this assassin you want so badly – I recommend you drop it, because there are powerful forces who want him dead. If you were to catch him, these forces would steamroll you without hesitation."
"Is that a threat?"
"No… It's a warning. I gave up the club, because it didn't mean much. It's replaceable - But this assassin is one of a kind. You best leave him alone."
Hiroshi stands up off the chair and turns to the guards. They walk up to him, before guiding him away from the table and out the visitation room.
Touma begins packing up his photos, unsatisfied.
Chix & Dix – 21:05
Rorona opens the office door and stumbles out into the hallway. On his face is a blank expression, along with several different kiss-shaped lipstick imprints on his skin. His shirt is completely unbuttoned, and only one arm is through the sleeves. As he heads out, he begins buckling up his belt, trying to keep his pants up.
"You got the job, Sweetie!" Miyuki yells out from the office, followed by laughter.
He pays no attention and just leans against the wall, getting his bearings.
"Goddamn…"
To the side, he begins to hear knocking against glass. Rorona looks to the direction the noise is coming from and sees Hikigaya banging against the window.
Without hesitation, he runs up to his partner and opens up the window, allowing him in. Currently Hachiman is balancing on an air vent, while hanging off the ledge; this window does happen to be several metres up from the ground.
"The back door led to a guard room, so I had to climb up the building…" The assassin says, as he looks at Rorona's face and clothing. "What happened to you?"
"Just get inside…" Rorona responds, before helping Hikigaya climb through the window.
The two of them then proceed to walk down the hallway, until they find an empty room to speak in. The room is small and dark, but it's good enough, and they quickly head inside.
"I'll ask again – what happened to you?"
Rorona sighs.
"I walked in on Miyuki's office. I panicked and pretended like I was there for a job interview. She made strip!"
Hachiman supresses a smile, then nods.
"You'll survive… Did you get the job though?"
"Did I get the job?! She could have killed me! There's no way I'd work here."
"Calm down, this could give us leverage. If you pose as a stripper, you'd have full access to the building. I bet you'd be able find something."
"Hell no! I'm not built to be a stripper!"
"Well the lieutenant seems to disagree. Are you gonna do it or not?"
There is a brief silence, before Rorona concedes.
"Screw it… I guess so…"
The assassin smiles and pats his partner on the back, before walking a metre away and leaning against the wall.
"When I was outside a hooker approached me." Hachiman begins to explain. "She knew who I am and what I'm doing here."
"What? How?"
"Apparently, Miyuki is running illegal and underage prostitution outside this club. This girl in particular overheard a phone conversation between Miyuki, a pimp, and Komanda himself. They were speaking about me, and how I might be coming here."
Rorona looks down nervously, as he listens.
"The girl told me that she wanted to help. She was smuggled here from China and forced into this work. According to her - there is a ledger, along with a few other pieces of evidence, currently being stored at the Chiba Police Precinct. If I can get this evidence, it'll be more than enough to bust Miyuki and her operation."
"How do we know we can trust her?"
"She was desperate, Rorona. I'm the only one who can help."
There is a brief silence, as the older of the two considers things.
"So if you can get evidence, why do I need to do this stripper job?"
"There's still the possibility that she might be lying; if what she says doesn't pan out, I'll still have you working here."
Rorona nods, understanding the plan.
"If everything goes well, we should have this place up in flames by the end of the tomorrow."
Fuchū Maximum Security Prison – 14:51
Hiroshi walks down the hallway towards his cell. The guards beside him match his pace, as the sounds of prisoners speaking and yelling can be faintly heard from other rooms.
"That detective's a nobody." He says, looking over at the guard on his right.
The man smiles and nods at Hiroshi, before pulling out his key ring and unlocking the door to the cells.
"Call up Komanda, tell him I need some better accommodations. A TV in my room should suffice for now."
As the large metal door opens, the three of them enter into the cell block, where several rows of prison cells can be seen stacked on top of each other. The ex-lieutenants cell is in the far right corner, just next to the stairs leading to the balconies for the other cells.
"Open on seventy-five!" The guard yells out, as they arrive at the room - where another prisoner can be seen inside.
From the control centre, a guard presses a button and the bars begin to slide to the right.
Hiroshi walks inside, then sits on the bottom bunk bed. While he does this, his cellmate walks up to the bars – that have now begun to slide closed – and has something whispered to him from the guard.
After the guard leaves, Hiroshi's cellmate takes a deep breath and walks up to the bunk bed. A few moments later, he grabs his pillow, then backs up and stands in front of Hiroshi. The ex-lieutenant looks up at him and raises an eyebrow.
"What's wrong?"
"Komanda says your time's up." The man responds emotionlessly.
Hiroshi's blood runs cold and he widens his eyes.
"I-I didn't say anything…"
"No… But you will."
The man then kneels over Hiroshi and stuffs the pillow onto his face. Hiroshi struggles hard, but the man easily over-powers him, smothering him with the pillow. It takes about four long minutes, but his body soon falls still.
From outside the prison, Touma gets in his car and prepares to drive home – completely unaware of what has transpired.
Sunday - Chiba Police Precinct – 07:56
Hikigaya sits on the roof of the building opposite the Chiba Police Precinct. Unfortunately, he hasn't had a chance to sleep as all night he's been studying the blueprints to the precinct.
It's lucky for him that the public library keeps records of old structures, and that this precinct has been around for a long time. According to the internet – there haven't been any significant renovations throughout its life span, so his information should suffice.
The assassin wastes no time, and after having everything prepared, he heads down to the street. After that, he quickly – and inconspicuously – jogs around the alley and to the back of the building.
As expected, it's filled with garbage cans and mice. Above the garbage and on the wall of the building however, is a fuse box with a big danger symbol above it. Hachiman reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his karambit. He then uses the knife to break open the lock, giving him access to the wiring.
Instead of fiddling with it himself, he simply takes an old packet of chips off the ground and begins sprinkling the crumbs inside the box. This catches the attention of one of the rats, who quickly runs over to eat some of the crumbs. As it does this, it chews out the wires – causing several electrical sparks to fly from the box, as well as a loud zapping sound.
Hikigaya smiles then backs up out the alley and heads towards the front of the building. The glass panes on the front doors offer a small glimpse inside, and as far as he can see - it's quite dark.
Considering Japan's low crime rate, the government has been cutting the budget of precincts all over Tokyo. As the money decreased, the folks over at the Chiba Precinct opted to get rid of their backup generator – leaving their lights and cameras vulnerable, but saving money.
'That's step one…' Hachiman thinks to himself, as he strolls up to a parked police cruiser.
Inside the vehicle are two uniformed officers, each enjoying a nice warm cup of ramen. However their meal is brought to an end, when Hikigaya kicks the passenger side window as hard as he can.
Given that it's a police vehicle – the glass doesn't break, but the kick does leave one large crack down the middle. The officers inside look at him with shocked expressions on their face, before quickly getting out and grabbing their batons.
"Are you insane?!" One of the officers yells out, as he angrily stomps towards Hachiman.
The assassin says nothing, and simply allows himself to have his hands handcuffed. The officers waste no time, and quickly march him into the precinct. As they enter, the officer behind Hikigaya looks around with a confused expression.
"Hey Jo, what happened to the lights?"
"I don't know man, Karen went to check it out. We may have to call an electrician."
"Damn… This psycho kid just tried to assault me and Take; He needs to be processed."
"Just take him to the holding cells for now, you can do it later."
The officer sighs in frustration, before roughly guiding Hachiman around the desks and to the stairs. A few moments later, they take the staircase down to the basement – where the holding cells are.
After a short walk down the hall beside the cells, the officer stops and takes out his keys. He quickly unlocks the gate and pulls it open. Hikigaya walks inside, seeing a someone inside the cell staring at the ceiling while sitting on one of the benches. The gate is quickly shut, and the officer walks off.
Due to the lack of lights, the cells are pretty dark – lit up only by a couple candles that have been placed about.
"What are you in for?" The assassin asks, walking up in front of his new cellmate.
The man looks at him lethargically and grins.
"I saw the moon man… It was scary!"
"So, drugs then?"
"If by drugs you mean the key to my psyche, then yes – A shit load of drugs."
Hachiman smirks and raises his hands up to his mouth. He quickly takes a small metal key out from behind his gums and presses it into his cuffs. After a jiggling at the lock for a few moments, they come loose. He then reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a wad of yen.
"Want to make some money?" He asks, brandishing the notes in front of the guy.
"Hell yeah…"
"Scream as loud as you can."
The man doesn't even hesitate, and begins yelling like a crazy-person. Not even ten seconds later, the policeman guarding the holding cells jogs up to them.
"What's with all the commotion?!" He asks, raising his hands and looking at the screaming man, then Hikigaya. "Hey! How'd you get out of your restraints?"
The officer pulls out his keys and unlocks the cell, before walking up to Hachiman to re-cuff him. Unfortunately, when he reaches out – the assassin quickly kicks him in the shin, then punches the man in the face, knocking him unconscious. After that, he kneels down and rips a few pieces of material off the man's uniform off and proceeds to tie-up and gag him with it.
By now the drug-guy has stopped his screaming, and is enjoying the show.
As soon as the officer has been dealt with, Hikigaya grabs his keys and heads out the cell.
'According to the library, there is a big open room connected to the cell block. This is the most likely place evidence would be held. Let's hope I'm right…'
He quickly walks up to the door at the end of the basement and begins trying each key on the ring. After several attempts, the lock successfully turns, and Hachiman enters into the room. A quick glance around confirms his theories, and several boxes of evidence can be seen stacked on the shelves. He makes his way around the room, checking the different tags.
'According to the girl – the evidence is filed under her pimp's name. So that would be…"
Hizachi, Haru. The name is written in bold letters on a file sitting on top of a dusty box.
'Perfect.'
The assassin takes the file and puts it under his shoulder, then turns around to head out – however, a name catches his attention just as he turns. He looks back, and sees the words "Hikigaya, Hachiman" labelled on one of the other files.
Author's Notes: Chapter 42 will be up next week! For now, let's respond to a review.
I saw a question about the ships in Match Point, so I will speak about those for a moment.
There are no ships that are set in stone, as that's not really the focus of this series. If I see positive reactions from the readers to certain pairings, I will likely add that in.
Thanks for reading!
