I hate this city.

For many years my life has been nothing more than suffering paired with occasional sprinkles of light that never seem to manifest into something greater. All throughout grade school and middle school I've endured many instances of bullying and humiliation, which should've broken me down completely, but I somehow found a way to come to terms with my trauma.

When I applied to this school for a fresh start and to hopefully move on from the past, I was in a car accident the morning of the entrance ceremony. I came to school months later and I was immediately labeled as an outcast of some type, so it was practically impossible for me to make friends with the other students here at school. But I was in one group for a short period of time, but because I didn't have social media, I couldn't contribute to their conversations at all because I didn't know what was considered cool back then. Eventually they kicked me out of their group. It was after that point where everyone had already formed their cliques, so I went back to square one, which was spending my time in and out of school by myself.

Three years later, nothing has changed. I would go to school, come home, eat, sleep, and repeat. I drilled this routine into my head, and followed it every day, every week, and gradually time went on without a hitch. There has not been a single moment during that time frame where I was excited to come to school. Everyone indulges themselves in youth, yet I don't see the appeal.

But even so, Chiba has been good to me for two reasons. Their ramen, and my cat Kamakura. Even after everything that's happened up until this point in my life, it's nice to know that my cat doesn't completely avoid me. He's also good company since my parents work long hours and usually come home around 11 or 12, and by that time I'm already asleep.

I sighed, closing that train of thought, then I made my way to the teacher's room. The new student council members are strict and rule heavily, so more and more people are getting called to the teacher's room to get straightened out.

When I walked into the office, I saw the teacher who called me this morning. He waved me down from across the room. I sighed then casually walked over to him.

"Hikigaya, you know you haven't decided on your university yet, right? It's my job to make sure students are on track with their future plans, and I'm sure you know that."

"Yeah, I know."

"You do have pretty good grades in Japanese, but you're practically failing in everything else. Have you considered working for an electrician company? We can help you find a well-paying job that'll train you on site if you don't choose to go to school."

"I still have time, right? I'll decide later."

The teacher sighed. "As a college prep high school, it's our duty to make sure our students graduate with a good future. We have opportunities for work and school that you can't get anywhere else, so please act soon, because you won't get another chance like this again."

"Yeah, I understand."

"As long as you understand; you're free to go."

With that, I made my way out of the teacher's room and to the main exit of the building.

At this point of my life, I've just stopped caring for the most part, but I'm not a delinquent, alright? I come to school on time every day and I have pretty good grades, even though I'm failing the sciences. But in general I just want to get this over with already so I can move on from Sobu. But even if the location changes, life still stays the same for me, I'll still be alone. At this point, I'll do anything for some positive change in my life.

After I finished that thought, I opened the door to the main exit of the building, and I made my way to the bike rack and unlocked my bike. I began to ride in the bike lane without a thought in mind. Usually when you're occupied with things that require your concentration and attention, such as driving, thinking seems to subside.

As I was riding, I abruptly stopped my bike as I was about to pass by an alley. There were two people, a boy and a girl. The boy had the girl pinned against the wall against her will it seems.

"I don't know why it's so hard to understand that you are obligated to send me my money every other Friday morning. It's either I get my money, or somebody gets hurt. It's that simple, so please don't make it any harder than it needs to be."

So even stuff like this happens at our school too, huh? I guess I'll see how this plays out for now. The girl was clearly cowering in fear. He grabbed her by her hair and raised her head.

"Ah, so be it. We agreed on a deal and I'm a man of my word, so don't take this personal, alright?"

The girl began to shake as she braced herself for whatever came next in this moment. I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night if I witnessed a girl get beat up like this, so I decided to record the situation for leverage just in case anything happens. And right as that happened, the boy happened to notice me from the corner of his eye.

"A fellow Sobu high student, huh? How long were you there for?"

I didn't say anything, I just kept eye contact with him for a few seconds before he quickly realized something.

"Wait, you're Hikigaya Hachiman, aren't you?"

He didn't say anything, instead he chuckled to himself before he brought his attention back to the girl.

"Give me your phone, I don't want you recording anything."

He then slowly proceeded to close the distance between us, he unleashed a devastating right hook that I just grazed the left side of my cheek. He recollected himself quickly and threw his left arm at me, which I couldn't dodge so I had to block it with my right arm, which hurt a bit. Like before, he recovered quickly and went for a shot in my abdomen which sent me to the ground in pain.

I was on the ground, feeling a large part of my body vibrate in an excruciating amount of pain. Before the boy went down to the ground with me, I quickly got up and delivered a punch to his liver, but he parried it and released another devastating blow to my face. I fell to the ground, and the staggering pain coming from my abdomen was still incredibly painful.

"Ughh…"

What the… hell.

I first noticed the pain in my head, then I quickly took blow after blow to my face. Moments later, he stopped the onslaught.

Just when I wanted to help someone, God smites me down with all his might.

"What a waste of time. I only do this kind of thing when there's something in it for me, I don't go around the school just fighting everyone I see like a delinquent. But this… this is so much fun! Taking advantage of this opportunity to go ape shit without repercussions, it's just too much!"

He laughed sadistically as he was about to finish me for good, then I heard subtle footsteps coming toward us. The boy noticed too, but before he knew it, he was clocked in the head with a large rock. He took a lot of damage to his head before he went to the ground, staggered and in pain.

"Shit, ugh… and here I thought you weren't going to help this bastard."

He tried to ignore the pain as he was about to charge the girl, but I quickly got up and kicked him back to the ground with all of my strength, further elevating the pain he has in his head. This time, he couldn't ignore his injuries, so he dropped to his knees. He was groaning in pain, and defenseless and open to every angle. Instead of continuing to hurt him, the girl quickly grabbed her phone from his back pocket which prompted me to ditch the scene. I ran with my bike while she followed behind me. We took several turns before we stopped to catch our breath. While we were resting, my eyes went to her uniform, she's a second year here. Then my eyes went to her face. She had short light brown hair and a relatively cute face.

"Umm, thank you so much for helping me. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up."

She bowed her head at me for some reason. And her voice throbbed in this softness that was pleasing to my ears.

"Don't sweat it. What's your name?"

"Isshiki Iroha, class 2-B. What about yours?"

Now that I got a better look at her, she was the petite type, and she definitely had the aura of an underclassman. She had short, light golden hair that was different than the usual dark black or brown hair that I'm used to seeing.

"Hikigaya Hachiman, 3-C."

After I said that, she delivered a quiet 'Oh' as if she realized something. "I was saved by a senpai, huh…"

Usually in these kinds of scenarios, some sort of attraction would arise and that would be the birth of a rom com, but this is reality. She thanked me, and that's it. It would be delusional to think anything else would happen.

"Yeah, I guess. Well, get home safe now."

I jumped on my bike and began to ride at a high speed to compensate for the loss of time. This wasn't the change that I was looking for, but at least I managed to save a junior from getting hurt in an alley by herself.

The following day, I found myself going down to the cafeteria to get some food along with all the other students in the hallway. As soon as I stepped into the cafeteria, I noticed that I most likely would have to wait at least 10 minutes or so before it was my turn to order. But by then, all the good stuff would be gone and there would only be anpan and disgusting sandwiches and hotdogs. But I really had no other choice but to wait in the line, hoping that there would be something other than anpan and sodium filled hotdogs.

I was waiting in line trying my best not to lose my sanity. Everyone is so loud, and some people are so impatient that they can't help but try to cut people in line. When you face those types of people, they will cut you if you let them, but they'll usually back down if you confront them.

After waiting in line for five minutes, I managed to purchase a pork cutlet sandwich and chocolate milk.

"Umm, excuse me."

As I was about to leave the cafeteria, I felt like I heard someone call out to me, it sounded like a female voice. I turned around and I was surprised to see that it was the girl from yesterday. She was also surprised to see me, but her eyes peeled to my cutlet sandwich.

"Oh, hey."

"Oh, it's the senpai from yesterday."

"Yep, what do you want... Isshiki, right?"

"Yup! Can I have that cutlet sandwich, please senpai?"

What the hell is this? Does this girl really think I'll just hand over my lunch because she asked with a sparkle in her eye? I dealt with types like her before, so I know better than to fall for this sham.

"200 yen."

"Wha? Cmon! How about this, I'll give you my phone number if you give me that sandwich."

A low effort tactic like that is only effective at manipulating loser guys who are ignorant to everything in the world besides their video games.

"If you really want this, then follow me."

"W-Wait, where are we going?"

She proceeded to walk on my side as we ventured down the hall in the direction of my lunch spot outside.

"If you want this sandwich, then you'll have to earn it. So please follow me."

"I guess that's fine, just don't do anything creepy, alright?"

She sounded like she actually meant those words for some reason. Well, we just met today and I'm taking her to my lunch spot away from everyone in the building, so I guess it's to be expected. When we opened the gates that were near the courtyard, I sat down on the steps and Isshiki joined me.

"I'll drop it to 150 yen."

"How about I just give you my phone number instead? You can text me whenever you want, you know?"

She smiled at me with a lot of energy, in an attempt to pull my heart out of my chest and stomp it into the ground. I must admit, this girl is charming. Anyone would mistake this behavior for attraction, then they'll inevitably pay the price for their ignorance.

"I don't want your phone number. 150 yen, and now I want your anpan as well. Take it or not."

She flinched very subtly then contained herself as she went into her bag and gave me the correct amount of change. We then exchanged meals and began eating.

"Wow, this is really good!"

I didn't say anything to her, I just simply noticed her energy in that moment. Well, I got the sandwich thing taken care of, but now my lunch spot has been occupied by a manipulative underclassman.

"You're a senior, right? What's it like being a senior?"

Isshiki scooted a bit closer to me as she said that, focusing all her attention on me.

"You study a lot,"

My words were dry, and they barely contributed to the conversation at all. But regardless, Isshiki replied to them.

"Yeah, I totally get that. Some of the upperclassmen I know are soo busy with studying that they barely have any time to have fun. Your name was Hikigaya-senpai, right?"

What was the point of asking me what it's like being a senior when you already know the answer?

"Yep,"

"Okay, can I call you Senpai, then?"

"I don't see why not. Can I call you Kouhai, then?"

"Ugh, no thank you."

Clearly disgusted by my words, Isshiki scooted herself back to her original position. The two of us ate in silence while Isshiki hummed to herself to liven up the silence.

"Hey..."

While we were emerged in the silence, Isshiki muttered that one word out to me. So I guess she's the type of person that can't stand delayed social silence like this, huh?"

"What is it?"

"We didn't meet in the cafeteria by accident, by the way. I was seeking you out, senpai."

"Really?"

"Well… yes. I wasn't comfortable going to your classroom, so I figured you would be in the cafeteria. Luckily for me, I found you rather quickly."

"What do you want, then?"

"I would like you to protect me from Sudo-senpai for the rest of the school year; the boy from yesterday."

So that's his name, huh? I think I heard of a student here called Sudo Takashi who's known as a delinquent, but also known as a troublemaker outside of school.

"Is that so?"

"I want you to protect me from him for the rest of the school year."

"That's a tall order, you know? And can't you just report him to the school if that happens?"

"… I can only do that if there's evidence. Umm, you don't know this, but I had to work every day to generate income so I can give him his money or else he'll… expose me."

"Does he have blackmail on you or something?"

"Yes… I had only shared it with one other person, but I guess she betrayed me in the end."

Normally, I would pry further and ask her what's the thing she's so worried about getting leaked, but I think the fun part is trying to figure it out by asking her. Maybe she sells pictures of herself online, or perhaps she poisoned her school bully and some people found out about it.

"Right. You just want me to protect you from Sudo, then, right? I don't mind doing it, but what's in it for me?"

"I don't plan on quitting my part-time job, so I can give you a portion of my paycheck if you're okay with that."

"That's perfectly fine by me."

"I see, please protect me then, senpai."

"He did beat my ass last time, you know? Please don't judge my security based on fights with powerful opponents."

I'm not a trained fighter by any means, but his attack potency was beyond that of an average high schooler. That blow to my abdomen nearly reaped my consciousness, and here I thought it was going to be a dog fight, but he had technique, speed, and strength on his side, while I had luck.

"As long as you hold him off long enough for me to run away or take a video, we'll be okay."

"Is that so…"

I wonder when it's a good time to bring up the audio evidence I recorded yesterday. There's no rush, so I don't think I need to worry about that too much. But I'll probably visit the student council tomorrow and show them the recording.

"Yup. Under your contract, all you have to do is walk me to my job whenever I ask. Oh, and maybe a walk back home whenever I ask."

"Wait, there's more to this than just standard protection? Tch, I guess it's not going to be entirely free after all. But you're asking for a lot, you know?"

"That's why I'm giving you 15,000 yen every time I get paid. It's time to get your money's worth, senpai."

If I get lucky, I might be able to get a fraction of that amount. I can suspend or even expel this dude with this recording, so I won't be walking her back for that long.

"That much, really? I guess I can't complain now."

"Now it's time to exchange numbers. Please give me your phone."

She held out her hand like a child expecting candy from their parents. I can't tell if she was serious or just playing around.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Why must you be so difficult, senpai? Don't you want to talk to me every night before you go to bed? I reply quickly, you know~?"

"No, word of mouth is more than enough."

She sighed. "You must be a loner or something, right? Because any normal guy would have accepted my number without hesitation."

"Yep, I am. I don't want to be bothered by you unless it has to do with work."

"I guess that's reliable in a way. So, you're a loner, huh? Which means you don't have any friends, right?"

"Yep, sounds about right."

How is this girl still continuing to talk to me when I'm clearly showing nothing but disinterest? Her social skills are far above anything I ever dealt with before, even the likes of Orimoto and Yuigahama.

"Hah... I don't know why you're proud of that, but you are. I can be your first friend if you want?"

"Just in case your hearing is impaired or something, I said I don't want to be bothered by anything that isn't work-related."

"So bitter... maybe that's why you have no friends, senpai."

She laughed to herself as she said that. That probably could be the main reason why I don't have friends, but I just don't give a damn about anyone at this school, so I deliberately secluded myself from everyone.

"The value people put on friends is seriously skewed nowadays. What's the point of having 10 different friends if they're all fake as hell? At that point, you'll much rather be alone than entertain everyone's bullshit."

I spewed those words out and to my surprise, Isshiki was stunned, as if she was still trying to process what I said.

"What? That's the truth, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well... never mind."

After she said that, we ate the rest of our food in silence with the breeze occasionally blowing in our direction, and the frequent humming coming from my kouhai.

When we finished eating our food, there was about five minutes left until the next period. The two of us got up and made our way to the door.

"Are you okay with meeting by the north gate after school?"

As we were going to venture down the hallway, she threw a question at me. "That's the main entrance, isn't it? I guess I don't mind. When does your shift start?"

"4:30. It's about a 15-minute walk from the school, so as soon as school ends, I go straight there."

"Oh, okay. I'll try not to be late, then."

"Yes, try not to."

We didn't say anything after that as we continued to walk side by side with each other through the hallway until we eventually reached her classroom. She waved me down and then walked inside her classroom, leaving me alone with a few minutes left until the next period.

As soon as the school day ended, rather than waiting for the chaos in the hallway to die out, I immediately made my way to the north gate of the school where Isshiki should be at. After a minute I joined the other students at the gate and made my way outside where I spotted Isshiki leaning against a cement pillar. She didn't notice me, so I went to unchain my bike before I went and approached her.

"Hello, Senpai!"

"Yup, hello."

She gave me a smile before we began to walk to her workplace. We were taking a common route back home, so the sidewalks were packed with students and their conversations.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?"

Well, of course. Just based on observation alone, Isshiki is most likely well-known amongst the second years, so she's probably used to continuous conversation. Unfortunately for her, I simply do not care about the awkward silence that many people try to avoid.

"Kind of. If there's something to talk about, I'll talk about it. I don't have anything to talk to you about, though."

"Hmm," She put her hand on her chin as she dove into thought. "Do you like sweet bread?"

"I don't humor meaningless babble like that, so don't bother."

She didn't like that response too well, probably because she tasted the bitterness behind my words.

"Hmm," She put her hand on her chin again. "How about coffee? Do you like coffee?"

"Actually, I do. I'm guessing you do, too?"

"Yup!"

"I see. Most people who say, "I drink coffee for the taste," are liars. In general, I believe most people drink coffee for the energy that the caffeine gives them. It's all fun and games until you have to take a tolerance break."

"Are you talking about yourself, by chance?"

She looked at me as she said that. "Pretty much. I drink coffee at least once a day, sometimes more."

"A bitter senpai who's addicted to coffee… you're turning out to be quite the interesting character."

"What do you mean?"

She put her hand on her chin and collected her thoughts for a moment before turning to me with an answer.

"You're addicted to coffee, you have no friends and you look very unapproachable. But you're also brave and not too bad looking as well. I've never met a person quite like you, senpai."

Even as she listed those negative points about me, she balanced them out with positive things about me, things that I never described myself as before. I've also never met a person outside of my family and teachers who wasn't disgusted by my presence, or someone who actually acknowledged my existence without unconsciously labeling me as the creepy loner that everyone avoids. Those people only followed along with the masses so they don't get dropped down to my level, to save their own asses from suffering, but this one stands out from those people in a way.

"I see, thanks. I guess."

She smiled then the two of us walked silently to her job.

After about 10 minutes we arrived at her job. It was a local bookstore that was popular around the area, I know that because I come here occasionally on the weekends. This isn't the most popular area in the city, as most people tend to go more west to hit the shopping centers and the markets.

"You work at a bookstore, huh? I wouldn't have thought a loud girl like you would choose a bookstore as her occupation."

"L-Loud? I'm not that loud! And for your information, I actually like to read on occasion, so that's why I chose this place."

I find it hard to believe that this girl reads. She looks like she'll get bored with reading anything in 5 minutes, but I guess appearances can often be illusions, so maybe she does like to read.

"Is that so? Well, anyway. Do you need me to walk you back?"

"No, that won't be necessary. Maybe tomorrow, but I'll let you know."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep, see you later, senpai!"

She then walked inside the building with confidence and elegance, leaving me free to ride back home at my desired speed. I passed by the buildings at binding speeds and quickly got myself back into the residential areas closer to my house.

Starting tomorrow my reality will ultimately shift. Actually, it already shifted. But starting tomorrow I'll spend my lunches most likely with her, and I'll have to walk her to her job and back home. I'll be getting compensated for this, so it all pans out in the end, but even so, it's not the change that I sought.

AN:

A few things. First, Komachi doesn't exist in this story. Not a single thought about her at all.

And two, there will be weekly updates on this story, probably every Thursday.

I hope everyone enjoys the story, and the oc, heh.