Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.
Previously on Match Point: Two lieutenants have been taken care of, and 8man has reached out to the detective pursuing him. What will happen next? Find out!
Friday – Chiba Park – 07:49
Rorona chuckles loudly, as he kicks a bright pink ball over to the end of the freshly cut green field. The ball passes several people sitting down on blankets and walking around, before finally arriving by a small boy's feet.
This boy is Deishuu, Rorona's kid.
"Kick it back!" The older of the two yells out, as he jogs to the side.
Currently, Rorona is wearing a blue polo-shirt along with jeans. His kid is dressed similarly, with shorts instead of jeans.
Suddenly the ball flies through the air once more, this time arriving by Rorona's feet. He smiles, before kicking it hard – causing it to fly right over Deishuu's head and roll several metres away. The kid quickly chases after it.
"Enjoying yourself?" Someone asks, walking up behind Rorona.
He turns around, only to see a bony man with a scar on his lip and long black dread locks. The guy is wearing a white sleeveless vest and baggy cargo pants. It's safe to say he looks rather grimy; quite the contrast from the other people in the park.
"Oh… Shit…" Rorona reacts, backing away slightly.
"Oh shit indeed. How long has it been since we last spoke? Six months? More?"
"Listen I can ex-"
"Nah, Nah…" The man puts his palm up and grins. "No need to explain anything; people lose contact all the time. It's a good thing I've tracked you down."
"Right…"
The man licks his dry lips and takes a deep breath.
"Did you forget about me, Rorona?"
"Forget? No… Of course not, Mad-Dog. I've just been busy."
Mad-Dog nods and gets up close to Rorona. He then pulls out a switchblade from his pocket and takes the knife up to Rorona's throat, pressing the metal hard against his skin.
"Busy? That's good. Now tell me, where the hell is my damn money?"
"Listen I'm working on it but-"
"No… Don't try and play me Rorona. I'm not some dippie you grew up with. I'll cut you up and feed you to yourself."
Rorona smells the alcohol and tobacco on Mad-Dog's breath, as they stand face-to-face.
"Maybe I should jog your memory…" Mad-Dog suggests. "Last year you came to me desperate, said you needed some money. Now, me being the goddamn saint that I am, I said yes. I told you as long as you could cover it later, I'd be happy to help you out. Now it's later, and I've come to collect."
Mad-Dog pulls the knife away and takes a few steps back. He then points over to two guys eating hotdogs while watching them.
"I've got plenty of men Rorona, so you can either help yourself or screw yourself. Which is it gonna be?"
"I-I'll get the m-money…"
"Good, good. You have until tomorrow."
With that, Mad-Dog turns around begins walking away. After taking a few steps, he raises his arm and turns back.
"Actually, on second thought; I won't feed you to yourself Rorona."
He looks over at Deishuu running towards Rorona with the pink ball.
"I'll feed your kid to you."
Mad-Dog then heads off down the field. Rorona watches with a terrified expression as Deishuu catches up.
"Hey, who was that?" The child asks, tugging on his father's jeans.
Rorona doesn't respond, simply staring into the distance.
Chiba Streets – 08:10
Hikigaya and Yukinoshita walk side-by-side along the pavement, as people and cars pass them. The morning birds are chirping, along with the cool early day winds blowing about.
"So I've been thinking…" Yukino states, as she holds a large bottle of Coca-Cola in her hands.
The bottle is so big she has to use both hands to keep it suspended off the ground.
"You've been thinking?" Hachiman responds, while he holds a large bagel in one hand and a Mars bar in the other.
Currently the two of them are having a secret liaison, and have decided the best way to not arouse suspicious is to pretend as if they're having breakfast together. Of course, neither of the two wants to eat breakfast with the other – leaving Yukinoshita awkwardly holding the coke, with Hikigaya's Mars bar and bagel out in front of him.
"You're still working to take down Komanda, right?"
"That's right."
"Given who you are as a person, I'm sure your reason for taking him down is selfish and has little to do with Hiratsuka's life being at stake."
The assassin roles his eyes as she says this.
"To that end, I believe it's my duty to help you out on occasion."
"Help me out?"
"Yes… It pains me to say it, but you and I made quite a dynamic team in Switzerland. I believe if we worked together here, we could take down Komanda more efficiently."
"Rorona and I have been doing fine on our own so far. We've taken down two lieutenants, and hurt his supply of money and men."
"I'm not telling you to bring me along on your endeavours, I'm just saying if you ever need a helping hand – I'll be there."
"How noble of you…"
Yukino scoffs.
"Typical. I try and be nice and am treated like an enemy."
Hachiman sighs and looks at her.
"Alright… I'll bring you on if we need you."
There is a brief silence, before the wealthy-girl nods.
"Okay…"
Just then, Hikigaya's phone begins vibrating in his pocket. He quickly drops the bagel and Mars bar in a nearby trash can, then pulls out the device with his now free hands.
"What is it?" Yukinoshita asks curiously, as he stares at the screen.
"It's a text from Rorona; he wants to speak to me. I better go…"
"But we aren't done."
He looks at her, then at his phone.
"We can speak again tomorrow."
"Where?"
"I'll text you a location."
Abandoned Basement – 09:01
Hikigaya climbs down the stairs to the basement, then walks through the door. As he enters, he notices Rorona sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.
"Is something wrong?" Hachiman asks, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms.
Rorona looks up at him, not even trying to hide the anxious expression on his face.
"I-I need your help."
"With what?"
The older of the two hesitates to answer, before standing up beginning to pace back and forth, collecting his thoughts.
"What is it, Rorona?" Hikigaya insists.
"You know me, right?"
"Uhh… Yes…"
"Then you know I'm not a bad guy…"
Hachiman frowns, wondering where this is going.
"Yes…"
"When we met, I was hired to capture you; that's not exactly the type of work a 'good guy' would do. At least it's not the type of work I would normally do. The reason I took the job, was because I was in serious debt with a loan shark – and the job I was offered paid well."
"Okay, why are you telling me this?"
"After we began working together, I sort of forgot about the money I owed the loan shark… Earlier today, he tracked me down."
"And?"
"And he threatened me! He said if I didn't get the money by tomorrow… That he'll hurt my kid."
Hikigaya takes a deep breath and runs his hands through his hair. Rorona looks at him with a worried expression, awaiting his response.
"I still don't understand why you're telling me this, Rorona."
"What? I need your help! I need you to give me the money I owe…"
"Give you the money? The small donations Yukinoshita's been giving us is just enough for food and supplies. We don't have enough to pay off a loan shark."
"We can rob a bank or something!"
The assassin laughs out loud and shakes his head at Rorona.
"Are you hearing yourself? I'm not going to rob a bank for a you; if you're in debt, that's not my problem. We're here to take down Komanda, not deal with your personal issues."
"But we're partners… We're friends!"
The air in the room goes quiet, as Hachiman stares Rorona down.
"I don't know what gave you the impression that we're friends, because we definitely aren't… You are a glorified subordinate. I keep you around out of convenience, but there are plenty of other people I could find to help out."
Rorona's eye widen, and an angry expression appears on his face.
"Screw you! I saved your life! You would've died without me…"
"I owe you nothing. If you don't like it, leave."
The older of the two looks down to the side, then back up at Hachiman.
"Fine, I'm gone. See how you fair by yourself."
With that, he stomps off past Hikigaya towards exit. The assassin doesn't even watch him leave, and simply walks towards the bed to sit down.
Chiba Streets – 15:35
Rorona walks down the pavement with both hands in his pockets. In the sky, the clouds slowly darken and become a grey-ish black colour. Not too long after, small drops of rain begin falling down.
It doesn't take long for the drizzle to become full on, and soon he is drenched in water. The hard rain also obscures the street around and ahead of him, making it look rather misty. Several people run past Rorona, all trying to get out the rain. Instead of running as well, he simply continues slowly walking towards his destination, trying to prolong the inevitable as long as possible.
After quite a long walk, he arrives at said destination – an old apartment block. Rorona walks up to the front door, then bangs loudly, trying to get the attention of the people inside.
A moment later the door opens, revealing a bald-headed man standing in a coat.
"I'm here to speak to Mad-Dog…" Rorona says loudly, as rain hits him hard.
The man looks at him for a moment, before moving to the side and letting him in.
Rorona enters and is guided down a hallway to a door, leaving wet footprints on the floor. This door leads him into a large room, where four men can be seen sitting around a table playing poker.
One of the men is Mad-Dog, the same man who threatened Rorona earlier in the day.
Beside the table is a couch, where some other men are sitting with their arms folded. On the table beside the couch, is a bag of cocaine and a handgun.
"You got my money?" Mad-Dog asks, looking up from his cards and at Rorona.
"Uhh… No…" He responds, as water drips down his clothes.
"Then what the hell are you here for?"
"I-Uh… I'm not gonna be able to get the money…"
Mad-Dog begins laughing, causing some of the other poker players to laugh a little as well.
"That's funny Rorona, now tell me what you're really here for – 'cause I know nobody is dumb enough to come into my place, and say that shit to me for real."
"It's the truth… There's no way I can pull what I owe out of nowhere… B-But, I can you pay you back another way… I can work for you!"
Mad-Dog laughs again and leans back in his chair.
"You? Working for me? Look at yourself… You 'aint got the stones to handle what my men do. Plus, why would you think I would even want some pissy boy who can't even handle his debts, working for me? Get out and get my money, you still have until tomorrow."
"B-But-"
"Leave now, or I'll have Asahi start cutting off your fingers. Which is it gonna be?"
Rorona sighs in defeat and turns around. As he begins to head out, he carefully looks at the layout of the room and the way in.
Mad-Dog and his friends watch him leave, before laughing and mocking him to themselves.
Saturday - Abandoned Basement – 17:37
Hikigaya stands patiently in front of the whiteboard. With his right hand he strokes his chin, while with his left he taps against the picture of the third lieutenant.
"Hmm…"
Just then, the door to the basement opens and Rorona walks in. As he does this, Hachiman turns to him and smiles.
"Good, you're back. I need some help with th-"
"I'm not back." The older of the two interrupts, as he walks over to one of the crates and pushes off the lid.
"Then why are you here?"
Rorona shakes his head, choosing not to answer. Taking the hint, Hikigaya goes back to staring at the whiteboard – which has a map of the Chiba Harbour pasted on. After grabbing a couple guns, flashbangs, and a ski mask, Rorona puts all his items in a duffle bag, then proceeds to head out. The assassin looks at him once, watching him leave.
Back on the street Rorona quickly jogs over to his car, throwing the bag in the back, then getting in the driver's seat. He then starts the engine and begins his drive down the road. The drive is tense, and thoughts of anxiety bounce around in his head rapidly.
Upon reaching his destination, Rorona backs his vehicle up in an alleyway, before getting out and walking over to the rear seat.
'There's no other way…' He thinks to himself, as he opens the door and grabs the balaclava.
He promptly puts it on, then grabs one of the submachine guns and slings it over his shoulder. After taking a pistol and flashbang as well, Rorona breathes a deep breath and looks over at the building across the street.
This is the same building he was in yesterday, aka Mad-Dog's hideout.
Rorona racks the slide on his handgun, then subtly keeps the pistol by his side as he jogs over to the front door.
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
Just like yesterday, the guard on the other side opens the door – except this time, the guard is met with a gun in his face.
"Get on the floor now!" Rorona yells out, as he brandishes the pistol.
The man says nothing, opting to simply follow the threats and raise his arms in surrender, before kneeling down and laying on the ground.
Rorona considers shooting him the leg like Hikigaya does, but decides it'd be overkill.
Using his memory, he begins running down the hall to where Mad-Dog should be. It barely takes a minute, and soon he arrives at the door to the room. Rorona takes another deep breath, then kicks it in.
As it flies open, Rorona sees Mad-Dog surrounded by guards. Said guards quickly stand up and raise their guns. Rorona fires a shot at one of the mens' legs, but misses miserably. He then fires higher, getting a lucky shot by the man's shoulder. His luck runs out however, when the other guard rushes him through the doorway and tackles him to the ground.
BANG
The gun accidentally fires as Rorona clenches his fist during the struggle. Unfortunately, he is quickly overpowered – considering guards like these are hired specifically for their muscle.
Rorona groans in frustration, as he's put in a headlock and disarmed.
From the table, Mad-Dog slowly stands up with a furious look on his face.
"Oh Rorona… You really screwed up this time."
The guard continues to hold him down, as Mad-Dog shakes his head and sighs.
"Cut his thumb off, then feed to him." He says, turning to one of the guards in the room.
Rorona widens his eyes, trying to think of a way out of this.
Author's Notes: Looks like Rorona's really messed things up for himself. Will he get out of it? Who knows. Chapter 44 will be up next week!
