A/N: For those who doesn't want to read chapters 2 and 3 (which is mostly about 8man's survival), skip to chapter 4, there will be a short summary of those chapters in the Author's Note if you still want to know what happened.
A/N: IMO, This chapter was quite hard to do, since I've never really thought about 8man's survival seriously before people mentioned it in the revs, but did I tried to wrap all of those up in this chapter.
"I'm sorry but.. what?!"
"Uh, did I say something wrong?"
"No.. I mean, what's your name again?"
"Hiratsuka, Hiratsuka Shizuka, nice to meet you once again, Hikigaya-kun", she said and then giggled.
As wind started blowing south, causing her black-raven hair to flail backward along with the current, I just stood there, speechless. Partly, I was confused, and partly, I was shocked.
'What is this girl going on about? How is it possible that she could be the Hiratsuka-sensei, and this young, no less?', I thought.
Then a sudden realization of something hit me in the head, but it was one that I did not want to think of as being sensible; only possible in the reality of fiction. Those two words just conflict with each, other doesn't it? It was the same as me; what was going through my senses, be it vision, auditory, and even smell, was just conflicting with my thoughts and beliefs.
'Don't try to mock me – only Otakus would have believed anything like this easily.'
Still in the stage of rejection, hundreds of questions made their way to my brain, but I did eventually found one of them that could confirm this whole thing once and for all. Whether or not I could accept it is another story, however.
"Hey, do you know what's today's date is, including the year?", I asked, trying my best not to sound like some science fiction fanatic.
'If this is really the first time we meet, or rather, the first time she meets me, her first impression of me would be a classmate who she didn't know exists. If I make a wrong move here, she might take me for a retard'
"That's quite a weird question, but okay? It's the 10th of November, 2003"
At that point, I should haves been shocked and died from heart attack, but somehow I was already used to the fact that I may have involuntarily made my way through space and time. Her reply only served as a confirmation to what I called a "theory" (but it really was just some random thoughts mashed together). It was an attempt to calm myself down and preserve what was left of my sanity.
"What's wrong? You sounded like a guy who have just leaped through time"
Bingo, lady, your guess was just spot on.
"iie, sensei, sonna koto wa ariemasen (that sort of thing isn't possible, sensei)" [1]
But, really, I couldn't really tell her that her guess was correct; she would think I was crazy!
"Why so formal?.. and sensei?", she said in a genuinely confused manner. [2]
"Uhh, no.. I mean, arienee yo, sonna koto wa (that sort of thing isn't possible, dude)", I said once again, this time in a much more casual language. [3]
"Well, yeah. Let's get on to the station, or else we might be late", she said as she started walking ahead.
Whether or not I will be late to school didn't matter; to the government, Hikigaya Hachiman was a seven year old kid, so showing up to a high school then claiming to be some brat wasn't going to be the best move. But due to the fact that Hiratsuka was the one person I knew at least slightly, I had to rely on her on getting around. On top of that, the service carrier I subscribed to happened to be founded four years from now, and to make things even worse, my phone was released five years after that.
'Dang, I'm literally holding the future! Well technically, I myself am also the future..'
Good thing that the train system remained pretty much the same over the years, and surprisingly, my prepaid card still worked. Because of that, walking to the train wasn't so challenging. The door closing beeps sounded quite weird, though – it was kind of higher pitched, and repeated at a slightly slower interval. 'Now we know, train updates that costed hundred thousands only contained changes to the beep'
'This Hiratsuka-sen.. wait.. it's just Hiratsuka, isn't she? This Hiratsuka doesn't have a clue that she would become a teacher. She does not have any of the memories we shared in the past, or in her case, the future. Yes, now I do admit, although half-heartedly, the fact that this is ten years prior to the time I was from.'
"Hikigaya-kun, what is that in your hand? A PDA?", she asked. Did I mentioned I was holding the future?
"Ah, well, something like that"
"Mind if I have a look?"
'If I hand it to her, she'll start asking questions non-stop, I'm sure of that. But with the situation I'm in, I really have no choice, do I?'
So I handed her my phone, the device she believed to be a PDA. Surprisingly, though, she didn't ask many questions, probably because she wasn't into technology. Well, she did become a Japanese teacher, after all.
"Hikigaya-kun", she spoke up suddenly as she handed my phone back to me.
"Y- Yes!", I said, but stuttered a bit, thinking that, from looking at my phone, she might have gotten some clues that I was from the future.
"Thanks for saving me."
"Ah, don't mention it."
"No, I really mean it, Hikigaya-kun. Hadn't it been for you, I think I wouldn't be able to go through the intersection", she said as she gave me a warm smile that reminisces that of the older counterpart. I couldn't really reply, and as such, caused the conversation to go on halt for the entire right.
'All things considered, I have to try clinging on to her. Even though the idea sounds extremely creepy, I have no choice. I don't know how or why I ended up here, and I don't know whether or not I could go back either'
We arrived at the station where I usually got off when going to school by train. The only difference from the norm was the fact that from where I live (or will live), I can just bike to school, but the problem was that my trusty bike did not travel through space and time with me. In fact, most of what I owned didn't make it; all I had on me was my bag, which contains the worksheets from the curriculum that will be implemented into Sobu High ten years from now, and also some spare clothes from the club last activity, luckily. I also had my wallet, which contained cash enough for two months survival.
"Hiratsuka-sen.. uh, I mean.. Hiratsuka, I will be doing my admission related papers at the administrative office, so head to class without me"
Emphasis on the word "survive"; I wasn't going to be living a luxurious life like that of a Riajuu.
"Really? How long do think it'll take?"
"Probably the whole day, so see you then"
"Wait, Hikigaya-kun"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for saving me earlier. I mean it"
"Ah, that again. Like I said, don't mention it. See you later, Hiratsuka"
'For the shelter, I know of a place. Its not ideal (considering it's winter), but I need to make do with what I have'
There's a place behind the cafeteria where two incinerators are stationed; I always go there when there's no other place where I can be alone. If I create a bonfire here during the night, no one would get suspicious as they came in the morning, because they would think someone is using the incinerating something.
As for hygiene, once again, thanks to the last Service Club's activity where I had to sleep over at school, I had all the daily routine set in my bag, including those for bathing. The river just behind the school fence isn't completely frozen, which means I could do all cleaning there.
"I have to put up with the cold, though", I murmured to myself.
"But at least I'm done with sheltering – for now, at least"
[1], [2], [3] – For people who would like an explanation: ariemasen is a polite version of arienai, or "to not be possible", where in intimate setting, nai sometimes will be contracted to nee
A/N: I wrote replies to all the reviews from the previous chapter, although, I don't know how to post it since I can't really reply directly to each revs. I also can't post the review somewhere else because I can't use links here. I'll try to get the replies out as fast as possible through other means.