Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.
Previously on Match Point: After a loan shark from Rorona's past tracks him down, he and 8man get into a brief argument. In a rash decision, Rorona attempts to take down the loan shark solo, failing miserably.
Saturday - Mad-Dog's Safe House – 17:49
"WAIT!" Rorona yells out in a panic, as one of Mad-Dog's guards restrains him.
"I don't want to hear it Rorona, you brought this on yourself."
The other guard opens up a drawer and pulls out a pair of pruning shears – two sharp blades connected to two thin handles.
"We can make another deal!"
Mad-Dog chuckles loudly.
"You aint got anything I want, except my money."
The guard walks over to Rorona, grabbing his arm. Rorona continues to struggle as he feels the blades wrap around the edges of his thumb.
"I do have something! I have something you want! Just give me a second to tell you!"
Sweat begins dripping off Rorona's forehead, while he pants in terror. The guard with the shears hesitates for a moment, and looks over at his boss. Mad-Dog stares down at Rorona, before nodding.
"You have ten seconds, and if what you're offering ain't something I really want. Say goodbye to your other thumb too."
Rorona sighs loudly, as his panting slows down.
"O-Okay… You know… Recently… There's been a new player in town?"
"A new player?"
"Yeah… There's been a guy going around busting places affiliated with gangs and the like…"
Mad-Dog curiously raises his eyebrow and folds his arms.
"There was a guy who hit one of my arms dealers a couple months back; he shot my guys in the legs and ended up getting them busted. That who you mean?"
"Yes! Yes! He's also responsible for taking down the prostitution ring and recruitment centre…"
"Okay… What about him?"
"I know him… I know where he is! I can g-give him to you…"
Rorona takes a deep breath and looks down at the ground, thinking about his son's life being endanger. Mad-Dog grins at him, before scratching his chin – as if in deep thought.
"You know Rorona, for the screw-up that you are… Sometimes you really do come through."
"Yeah…"
"So tell me, where is he?"
Beano's Café – 19:57
Hikigaya takes a sip of his coffee, as he looks at Yukinoshita sitting across from him. The two of them are currently seated at a booth in the corner of a café.
"It feels like we meet up a lot lately…" Yukino says, holding her warm mug.
"There's a lot to speak about."
"Well, you called me and told me to come here; I'm here, so what else is it that you wanted to discuss?"
The noise of patrons speaking softly amongst each other fills the small building, along with the strong coffee bean smell.
"There was a man I met a while ago. He was sent by Komanda to kill me and Hiratsuka. I believe that he is still waiting for the right opportunity."
Yukinoshita tenses up as she hears this, then takes a breath.
"Okay…"
"When I met him, he mentioned something about not being able to make a move on Hiratsuka because of you; something about the Yukinoshita's and the Yakuza. I was hoping you could shed more light on this for me."
Hikigaya takes another sip of his coffee, awaiting her response.
"It's kind of complicated… The Yakuza and Yukinoshita's have a long history in Japan. It goes back to the 1600's even."
"What kind of history?"
"A power struggle. The Yukinoshita's have always taken a more subtle and silent approach to our endeavours, where as the Yakuza are and have been a lot more hands-on.
The Yukinoshita's names have been essentially erased from history, but that's by our design. In the past, libraries that contained potentially incriminating documents or accounts about us were burned to the ground, witnesses were intimidated into silence, and we maintained an iron fist over Japan.
Then the Yakuza came along… Since they were more direct, we quickly fell to the wayside for a while, however we've used the digital age to our advantage. Secrecy and information are power now, and we have plenty of that.
Haruno's good with computers, as are most of the people in my family. With these skills the Yakuza were pretty much crushed, but our power didn't last too long.
When Komanda came, he offered my parents a choice – work with him or die. They picked their battles wisely, and now we work closely with him. Komanda's power also prevents Yakuza and Yukinoshita's from fighting.
From what you've told me, I imagine that the reason Komanda's assassin is stuck, is because if he were to attack me - then my parents and family would retaliate. This would create problems in the criminal underworld, and lose Komanda tons of money."
"If this assassin gets to Hiratsuka, then all the work I've been doing will be pointless. It sounds like the only thing standing between him and her, is you..."
Yukinoshita takes a deep breath, then looks Hikigaya straight in the eye.
"You can count on me to keep her safe for now."
Abandoned Basement – 23:59
Hikigaya lies with his arms spread out on the bed in the hideout. On the floor next to the bed is an empty can of MAX coffee, along with his karambit and submachine gun. Currently, his eyes are closed and he's trying to catch some sleep. His attempt at sleep is broken however, when the door to the basement opens and Rorona walks in.
The assassin opens his eyes, and looks over at his now ex-partner.
"What are you doing here?"
Rorona frowns and slumps his shoulders.
"I'm sorry…"
"For what?"
"You were right, I shouldn't bring my personal problems into this."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah…"
Hachiman sits up from the bed, resting his arms on his knees.
"So, is everything sorted out? Are you ready to get back to work?"
"Yeah; actually I just got a lead that one of Komanda's lieutenants will be meeting an arms dealer later tonight. I'm thinking we can go bust them real quick."
"Where'd you get this lead?" Hikigaya asks, raising an eyebrow.
Rorona looks to the side slightly, and scratches the back of his head.
"You know, old friends…"
Considering that Rorona's never lied before, the assassin accepts this answer and promptly stands up from the bed.
"Fair enough, let's go."
As he heads to the door, Rorona follows behind with a nervous expression on his face.
The car ride to the location the lieutenant is said to be at is quiet, with Hachiman sitting and staring out the window the whole way throughout. Occasionally Rorona would glance over at him, but for the most part kept his eyes on the road.
With it being early morning, the night sky is dark and street and head lights are all that allows people to see where they're going.
As the car pulls up outside an old sawmill, Hikigaya unbuckles his belt and grabs his door handle. He and Rorona then get out the car, and head across the street. The sound of footsteps echo against the tar, as Hachiman's feet tap against the road.
"So what now?" He asks Rorona, as they come up next to each other.
"There's an entrance over there."
Rorona raises his arm and points over to a door next to a large shutter.
After a quick walk, they arrive in front of it. The older of the two pulls on the handle and opens it up, then walks into the sawmill. Hikigaya enters as well, looking around.
"What exactly is this place being used f-"
His sentence is abruptly cut off when a man hiding behind a machine sneaks up behind the assassin and hits him in the back of the head with a crowbar, instantly knocking Hachiman out. Rorona watches as his now unconscious body drops to the floor, feeling guilty.
"Help me move him." The mans says with a grin, looking over at Rorona.
Sunday – Rorona's Apartment – 10:09
With Hikigaya now captured, Rorona goes home. Despite this being for what he would consider the greater good, Rorona simply can't shake the feeling that he's made a terrible mistake.
Upon arriving at his street, he gets out the car, heads inside the building, then begins climbing the floors to his apartment.
'This had to be done… There was no other option…'
As he reaches inside his pocket to grab his keys, the sight of his front door slightly open catches his attention. Rorona raises an eyebrow and slowly begins walking towards the entrance. From a closer look, it's clear the locks been broken – likely from the door being kicked in.
Rorona quickly rushes into the apartment, looking around frantically. As he enters, he sees a man sitting on his couch drinking a beer.
At a loss for words, he stares with wide-eyes at the man.
"What's up, Rorona?"
He doesn't respond, staying completely still. This causes the man to chuckle, before taking a sip of his beer.
"Yeah, that kind of reaction is expected…"
"W-Where's my son?"
The words just barely come out this time.
"Your son? Oh yeah, my boys just took him a little while ago. Don't worry, he's safe… Kind off. You're lucky he was here though, or we might've had to give your ex a visit."
"M-Ma-Mad-Dog said…"
"Mad-Dog changed his mind." The man interrupts, standing up. "He decided that you could be of some more use to us. Giving us that guy was good, but we still want the money. Pay us back – with interest – and maybe you can see your kid again."
"Y-You lied…"
"What are we in a high school? This is business Rorona, get over it."
The man then takes the last sip of his beer and tosses it onto the apartment floor.
"You're nothing but trash Rorona, and that's all you ever will be. No friends, and if you don't pay us back, no family either."
With that, the man walks past Rorona to the doorway, patting him on the back.
"Good luck, since-"
Before the sentence is finished, Rorona grabs the man by his fingers, then suddenly snaps the bones.
"AHHH!"
He screams out in pain, dropping to his knees. As he does so, Rorona kicks him hard in the face, knocking several teeth out of place. Blood begins pouring from the man's mouth, as he wreathes around trying to get his bearings.
With a blank expression, Rorona kneels down and grabs the man by his collar, then proceeds to drag him across the floor and out the apartment doorway.
Sawmill – 13:45
Hikigaya slowly opens his eyes, as he feels a pounding headache come on. The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is his thighs, which are sat down on a chair. He feels ropes connecting his ankles to the legs of the chair, with his wrists bound behind the back. The strong lumber smell catches his attention, making him feel almost sick at its potency. The next thing he notices is the sound of people speaking.
His head is currently hanging limp, as he is pretending to still be unconscious. If he were to look up, it'd be revealed to any onlookers that he's awake.
'Last thing I remember is arriving at the sawmill with Rorona… Then everything's blank. It's interesting that I'm alive though…'
The assassin slowly turns his head, trying to get a better view.
"What are we gonna do with Rorona's kid?" One of the voices asks.
"I'm thinking we sell him, or throw him into the ocean."
"Bit much don't you agree? I mean, it's a kid…"
"What do you think we should do with him?" The other voice replies, sounding annoyed.
"I mean I don't know…"
"Exactly. If by chance Rorona gets the money, we'll let him see his kid one more time for taking them both out. No witnesses."
"Goddamn…"
Hikigaya sighs softly and clenches his fist, silently cursing Rorona under his breath as he begins to understand the situation.
One of the men standing a few metres away, sees Hachiman's lips moving and walks over to him. Without hesitation, the man grabs him by the hair and pulls his head up. Hikigaya opens his eyes, staring up at his captor.
This man is Mad-Dog, and he has a less than pleasant grin on his face.
"My men and I have been looking for you for a while now, ever since you robbed one of our storage centres."
The assassin says nothing and continues eyeing Mad-Dog.
"What did you do will all those guns anyway? Sell them?"
"Hey boss, can we just kill this clown and get over with it. I wanna go home already." One of the grunts says, leaning against a pillar.
Mad-Dog looks over at his man and scowls.
"Kill him? This is why you idiots aren't where I am. This guy's worth a million bucks. Komanda will owe us big time if we hand him over to the Five-Stars."
"Yeah boss, I didn't think of that – sorry."
As Hachiman feels the grip on his hair release, he closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath.
"But before we give him away, we're gonna have a little fun."
Mad-Dog then reaches behind his back and pulls out a wrench he had stuffed in between his jeans and his belt. He swings the tool straight at the side of Hikigaya's face – knocking him and the chair over onto the ground.
Some blood drips from his cheek, but Hachiman takes the hit – opting to see where this goes.
Author's Notes: Chapter 45 will be up next week!
