(Tomoko POV)
I arrive home at around sunset. Although I do appreciate the freedom you get from having an apartment to yourself, I can't help but feel a little disappointed returning to a cold, dark, messy, lonely home. I miss coming home to find mom cooking or cleaning or doing something homely.
Still. All things considered, I think I prefer it this way. I have the freedom to do whatever I want. I can play games anywhere. Console games in the lounge, handheld games in the kitchen. I also get to choose what I have for dinner every night, though I'm on a limited budget. It would be nice to occasionally have a home-cooked meal, though.
I used to leave the cleaning to mom. I would only help out whenever I was asked directly, or if I felt like my parents were losing patience with me. But I can't help but feel obligated to at least keep this place in order when I'm here. It's a tiny apartment, anyway. I've got one bedroom, one bathroom, and a lounge which is also a kitchen. Not that hard to maintain.
I don't even worry about dinner. I've already eaten, and I'm not a big eater after all. I decide to have a light cleanup before sinking into my games again.
Later, I'm sprawled out on my couch, playing a game. It's an otome game, and I'm halfway through conquering the delinquent guy. I can't focus on the dialogue at all, because my mind is still replaying the events of today.
Hehehe, I made a funny joke. He laughed. We laughed. I can't help but grin just by thinking of that moment. My first day at Sobu was an experience I'll probably never forget. I can't help but whisper the punchline to myself. 'no deal!'. God, I'm glad I'm alone. I know I'd be creeped out if I saw myself right now.
My phone buzzes, which is rare. It's either the phone service provider, Yuu-chan or my mom. I check it and it's Yuu-chan. Ooh, good timing! I want to share my day with her.
[Hiya Mokochi~! How was your first day at Sobu?]
Ah. Of course she'd ask. You're so nice sometimes you little slut.
[Awesome! I already have a boyfriend!]
Pathetic. Already making up lies. Yuu-chan doesn't deserve this.
[On the first day? That's amazing, Mokochi! Is he nice?]
Ah, dammit. What do I do now? Now I have to describe him. I really didn't think this far ahead when I made up that lie. Then, I get an idea. I'll use Hikigaya as a base for my farce. Sorry, Hikigaya, I'm gonna put you in my lie. Hopefully you never have to find out.
[Well, he's nice to me. Says he doesn't like most people, though]
Hmm. Was that believable? I think it was. I've done this before, and I know the hard part about stacking lies is making sure everything matches up in the end.
[Oh that's so sweet! What's he like?]
Okay, I think I can pull this off.
[He's got dark eyes and a mysterious aura. I can't help but be drawn to him.]
In a way, that's actually kind of true. His eyes are dark, but kind of lifeless. He's mysterious because I know basically nothing about him. I'm drawn to him because he's the only person I feel like I can talk to.
[Wow, you're so lucky, Mokochi! I wish I could have a romance like that]
Huh? What happened to your boyfriend?
[Don't you have a boyfriend?]
[Didn't I tell you? I dumped him because he was playing around with other girls]
WHAT!? HOW DARE HE TOY WITH MY YUU-CHAN! I'LL CRUSH HIS FUCKING BALLS INTO BALL PASTE AND MAKE HIM EAT IT!
[That scumbag! I'm so gonna kick his ass! Nobody fucks with my friends!]
[He's not worth it, Mokochi. I'm over him anyway. But thank you so much for caring 3]
What? Obviously I care! Why would you even say that?
[Of course I care Yuu-chan. You're my best friend]
Why can't I be this sincere all the time? I hate being a habitual liar.
[I love you so much Mokochi 3]
What? A confession? Since when? Hold on, my heart isn't ready! I have to give an excuse to buy time! What can I say? Wait, didn't I just tell her about my fake boyfriend? I'll use that!
[Sorry Yuu-chan but I have a boyfriend now. You should have confessed sooner.]
Oh, this sucks. I don't want to lose my only friend over this. Why does this have to hap-
My phone buzzes. I'm almost too nervous to read the message.
[Haha, you crack me up Mokochi. Thanks for making me feel better]
Oh. Right. It was that kind of love, and I misunderstood. Luckily, my reply was somehow able to pass as a joke. I breathe a sigh of relief.
[Anytime Yuu-chan]
[I'll text you tomorrow, Mokochi. Thanks again]
[Yeah. cya]
I wish I was able to have normal conversations like this in person. I think I'd be a much happier person if I could.
My phone buzzes again. Hmm?
[Almost forgot! I'm coming to Chiba the weekend after next! Maybe I can meet your boyfriend?]
Fuck. Well played, Tomoko. I think there's a saying I could use right about now. Something about making my bed? Still, there's no way in hell I'm gonna back out of my lie now. I have to roll with it. The weekend after next is plenty of time for a relationship to fall apart. Especially a fake one.
[Yeah, looking forward to it. I'll tell him to be nice to you.]
Well, I may have signed my own death warrant, but at least my execution is a couple of weeks away. I forget about my impending doom and return to my game. My thoughts later return to Hikigaya, and the day just past. I'm anxious about seeing him tomorrow, yet with that anxiety, I feel an odd sense of anticipation.
(Hachiman POV)
I arrive home at around sunset. Komachi's already home. I know this because my parents couldn't possibly be home yet, and somebody (Komachi) has whizzed around the house, turning on every light available without a single care for power conservation. Wasting power, raising the electricity bill, costing this family precious money. Keep wasting money and we could lose the house you know. Our parents will probably divorce, and they'll argue over which one gets custody of you.
Ah, but our parents will blame everything except you. Thanks, mom and dad for both being daughter-cons. Did you know you have a son too?
The TV is on, thanks to the irresponsible home-wrecker, and the sound fills the house with a comfortable ambiance. Well, I guess the extra expenditure is necessary to make a house into a home. I take my shoes off and head straight to my room to change into ordinary clothes. I'm still a little hungry, and if Komachi is making curry like I think she is, then dinner will probably be pretty late. I decide that I want to snack before dinner.
Before I do, I collapse onto my bed and roll onto my back. I breathe out a heavy sigh, and I feel like the day is over. I think back to Kuroki again. Seriously, what the hell was that? Where did she come from, and how did she manage to get further inside me than I've ever gone before? She's able to draw out a side of me I never thought possible, and the concept honestly frightens me.
Ah, I don't want to think about it anymore. I get up from my bed, and head down to get something to eat. I turn around at the stairs and I spot Komachi. As soon as I do, Thoughts of Kuroki are banished from my mind and I feel like my life is back to how it always was.
Thank you, Komachi, for being my anchor. I sure will appreciate it when you get a job and support me some day.
"Yo." I make my presence known.
"Ew! Who are you? How did you get in here!? My Onii-chan will be home soon, he's gonna kick your ass, creep!" Komachi recoils in mock horror. I decide to play along.
"Hoh? He's the one who let me in, you know. And I know your parents work late. It's too late to apologize now." If I had the energy to spare, I would have flashed a perverted grin. But I'm too lazy right now so I'm only half-heartedly playing along.
"What? That scumbag sold me out! Stupid Onii-trash[1]! I hate you!"
"Yeah yeah. Is there anything to eat?" I've already given up on the gag, and now I just want what I came for.
"Hmph, you're no fun Onii-chan. There's some sushi in the fridge, which I was saving. I'm not hungry so you can have it. Ah, that's worth a few points." You know, Komachi, those points are worthless if you distribute them to yourself at your own leisure.
"Would have been worth more points if you said you were saving it just for me." I suggest. Even though I was too lazy to keep the last gag running, I can't help but get cheeky when it's concerning Komachi.
"Ah, you're right! Actually, Onii-chan, I-" She tries to correct herself, but I'm having none of it. I interrupt her.
"Too late. I've already documented the amount of Komachi points for this session. Maybe next time."
"Ah, well, that's fine. These moments with Onii-chan are more than enough for Komachi. Oh, would you look at that, I'm already due for more points!" She beams happily.
Dammit that was good. Okay, I'll let you have that one.
I contemplate going back up to my room and reading a light novel, but I decide I don't want to be left alone with my thoughts. I wonder what's on TV?
"Anyway Komachi, what's on TV?" I ask.
The response I get is unsatisfactory. "I dunno. How am I supposed to know?" She furrows her brow a little, and pushes up her bottom lip. I don't know why I suddenly remember this, but when she was a baby she'd make this face when she was crapping in her diaper.
"Well, you left the TV on, didn't you?"
"Ah, that's just because I like the background noise." She says in her defense.
Oh, so you were just wasting power, huh? Wasting power, raising the electricity bill, costing this family precious- wait, didn't I already have this monologue earlier? Actually, I did kind of appreciate the homely ambiance of the television when I got home, so I'll forgive your wasteful expenditure just this once.
"Well, since it's already on, I might as well go find something to watch."
"Aren't you going to offer for me to join you, Onii-chan?" She asks, a little too innocently.
"It's your house too. If you wanted to join me in sitting around and staring at a device, you could just do it."
"But still, it'd be nice if you offered, you know. You don't understand girls." She pouted. Wait, did I miss a cue here?
"Ah, sorry. Do you want to come watch TV with me?" I offer apologetically.
"No. I have to get started on our dinner. But I have a suggestion, do you want to join me?" Komachi makes her counter-offer. Sneaky! This was your plan all along wasn't it?
"Nice try, but it's your turn tonight. Besides, homemaking is a good skill for a woman to have."
"Oh? I intend to be a working adult. You're the one who wanted to be a househusband, Onii-trash. You need the practice more than I do." She snarks. Hmm, fighting dirty today are we? Unfortunately you picked the wrong opponent.
"Well what a fantastic start you're making. Already using excuses to shirk your responsibilities. If you get caught, you're sure to be fired immediately, and then where will you be?" I return snidely.
"Then I just have to never get caught! Anyway, if I ever lose it all, I'll still have my dependable Onii-chan to rely on, right?" Yeah right, kid. You can't make an enemy of me and do imouto-eyes at me at the same time.
"Since when have you ever seen me as dependable?"
"Ah, you're right about that." She backs down. Actually, it's kind of rude to give up the exchange at that particular point. Don't agree with me here of all places.
"Precisely. So don't depend on me to help you with dinner." I win, imouto-chan. Triumphant, I walk off to the lounge.
"Ah! you tricked me, stupid Onii-chan! I hate you! Come back here!" She sulks at me. She's always been a sore loser.
"Yeah, yeah. Remember your Onii-chan has a cat's tongue. He doesn't like it too hot." I say coolly from the lounge. I plop down on the couch and revel in my victory.
Kamakura is already lazing around on the couch, and I have an epiphany. Kamakura is the real winner here. He got everything he wanted with the least amount of effort, and for no reason other than who he was born as. It's a life lesson I begrudgingly take on, and I'll probably remember it for the rest of my life.
(Tomoko POV)
It's the next day, and I awaken. I'm up earlier than I was yesterday. I went to bed earlier because I got tired earlier. The day before yesterday, I stayed up because I dreaded going to school. I'm definitely feeling better today. Still, I've never been a morning person. I roll out of bed, and begin my morning ritual.
The first day wasn't bad at all. I'm still no good at talking to people, but for some reason I don't feel as...judged as I did back at my last school. I'm probably still gonna get some attention because I'm new, but I've soon fade into the class once everybody realizes I'm a shy person.
At least I hope I seem shy, and not creepy or weird.
Time passes. I go to school, I attend class. I spend my morning break in class, because it's too short of a break and I don't know if he goes there at morning breaks. It's then that I realize that I've been thinking about lunchtime the entire day.
Mid-morning classes are entirely too long. Considering it's my first history lesson at this school, I should probably pay more attention. Come to think of it, why are we learning about something as pointless as history? Whenever in our lives is it going to help us to know about the feats of some balding old men some 1200 years ago? Never, is the answer. It should be good enough that a handful of people remember the facts about the past, and everyone else can save the brain space for more useful things.
Like the walkthrough for Tatsumi's route on my new otome game. Heheh.
Suddenly, the bell rings. It's lunchtime. Finally. I get to return to that place. I get to see-
Wait. Is it really okay for me to go back there? He didn't say anything about it. What if I'm annoying? Was he just putting up with me because I took his spot? Ah, dammit. I don't know if I should go anymore.
While I'm stewing on this dilemma I decide to head to the cafeteria for some lunch. He said the cafeteria was garbage, but I completely neglected to prepare lunch so I'd rather dumpster dive at the cafe than starve to death.
I get some immemorable food. It's really unimpressive. I wish I got something from town yesterday. I turn around from the cafe counter, and now I have to come to a decision on where I'm gonna eat. Finally, I gather my courage and decide to head towards the place I ate yesterday. He's already there. I take a deep breath and heave it out. I walk over.
"Hi." I greet him. He was facing the other way, and only realizes I'm here when I speak.
He turns to me. "Yo." Greeted, I take a seat on the side of him.
We don't talk nearly as much as we did yesterday, but we have snippets of conversation as we eat. It's peaceful, and comforting. I almost feel like I stepped out of my own life and am taking a breather in another world. Even after we finish eating, we stay there, on those stairs around the back of the school. The conversation picks up a little, but we don't talk about anything in particular.
The bell rings, and it's time to return to the world. We stand up to leave.
He says "Bye Kuroki."
Reflexively, I say "See you later, Hikigaya." It's funny how I said that on reflex, yet I very rarely, -if I ever- have said that to anyone.
Just as I'm taking off, he raises his voice. "You coming back tomorrow, Kuroki?" I freeze in place. Is he inviting me, or is he looking for a way to say 'don't come back'?
"...Can I?" I ask nervously.
"Sure. Come around as much as you want." He offers.
"Okay." I reply curtly, and walk off. My insecurities regarding Hikigaya have been completely laid to rest. I feel a deep sense of satisfaction, as if I've just completed a difficult job. I return to class, feeling different than I did before.
Okay, that's chapter 5 pumped out. I have quite a few scenarios and moments floating around in my head, but they're all sort of disconnected and I haven't planned how to put them in the story yet.
Also, I got a cover image now. Wasn't even looking for it, but I stumbled across an oregairu/watamote/tomodachi crossover and I couldn't help use it. If anyone knows who owns the original image, can you let me know so I can ask for proper permission to use it?
Also, while writing one of the scenes, I realized there is an inconsistency between the anime and the LN. In one, their living room has a couch. In the other, they have a kotatsu.
[1] in the LN, Komachi occasionally calls her brother Gomii-chan, which means something like worthless-chan. The translator reworded it as onii-trash.