Chapter 3 - Drastic changes

Chapter 3, finished and uploaded.

I read through the reviews and I noticed some opinions some of you have. Yes, I will be adding Iroha to this story. In fact, I planned to introduce her in this chapter! There was also a mention of how this story was similar to 'Shiori-san to Hikigaya-kun'. To be honest, I tried writing several stories before, but I couldn't decide on what type it would be until I read that one.

Also, my chapters have been quite short, so I'll try my best to make them longer. Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Leave more if you want, it will really help me in pointing out my mistakes and anything opinions you all have.

Just a warning, my characters may be a bit OOC since I can't replicate their personalities that well. So, the next chapter.

Hikigaya Hachiman POV

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

With a groan, I woke up to the annoying sound of my alarm clock. Why do these things exist anyways? Why do I even have one of them? Alarm clocks were made just to annoy you so much so that you'd smash them in pieces. Then you'd realise that your clock was broken and you'd have to go out to buy one.

In fact, maybe that's how the clock business makes money. They indirectly compel people to break their own products, which they bought, and make them go out to purchase more of them to help them wake up early in the morning. Cool, a business that runs on the destruction of its own products. If I'm going to work, I should at least join the clock business.

However, being a house-husband is way better than sitting inside some store waiting for customers, growing insane due to the endless ticking of the clocks. Well, let's just put it at 2nd place of my future job lis-.

My phone suddenly rang, causing my eyes to dart towards it. I was wary of who'd be contacting me, and my experiences with the device hadn't exactly helped. With a sigh, I picked up my phone and answered the call. "Hello-"

"Hikigaya!"

"Sensei!?" Why would Sensei be calling me? I haven't slept in class for the past few days, nor have I not handed up any homework. Is it something to do with the Service club? If it was, then why would she call me right now instead of addressing it to everyone after school? "Hikigaya! Where the heck are you, you dipstick?"

New insult. Thanks, Sensei. "I'm in my bed. Why are you call-"

"In bed?! Right now?! Get out and come to school quickly!"

"Hmm? What's the rush? It's still-"

"Have you seen the time?!"

Let me speak woman! Isn't it plain rude to the interrupt the speaker during a conversation? Someone needs to teach you manners. No-one's going to want a girlfriend like that, let alone a wife. "No. Why?" I looked at the clock and saw that it read 8:15 am.

My first thought was, oh, so that's the time. My second was, why's that important? My third thought was, OH GOSH IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR SCHOOL WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP KOMACHI I'M GOING TO BE LATE AAAHHHHH!

Jumping out of my bed, it took me approximately 5 minutes to change into my uniform, put on my shoes, grab a can of MAX coffee, get on my bike and start running like crazy to Sobu High. I couldn't bike since the roads were laden with snow-white snow. The whole time, my phone sat in my pocket, with the voice of Hiratsuka-sensei repeatedly saying, "Hikigaya? Hikigaya!".

As I ran, the clouds were starting to gather up above, blocking out the sun and turning a dark-greyish colour. The wind also slightly picked up, making the snowing winter much, much colder. For some reason, I felt a chill run up my spine. An ominous warning from the weather, perhaps? Whatever the reason was, I couldn't waste anymore time thinking about it.

I quickly checked my watch. 8:27. Wow, had I really run that fast? I guess adding a bit of daily exercise into my schedule was showing its effect.

I kept running and running, not slowing down a bit. I was tired and panting. My whole appearance was in a mess. I was covered in snow and I wasn't able to change into my jacket. My shirt and pants were crumpled and I was even wearing my right sock over my left foot! I was about to lose hope of making it on time until I saw the building of Sobu High come into view. Beep. This train has reached its final destination. We hope you enjoyed the ride and have a pleasant trip.

I ran inside school and started to climb the stairs. One step, fifteen steps, a thousand steps. The concrete ground and walls passed by in a blur as I took two steps at a time. Reaching my floor, I made a dash to the left and sprinted. 2-A, 2-D, 2-F! Seeing my classroom in sight made me slow down and started to walk. Now that my classroom was there, I could just walk normally and take my time. In the end, i'll only be a few minutes late.

Actually, my legs and sides are killing me. I was sweating and huffing despite the cold weather that lingered outside the school walls. Maybe running was a bad idea after all, it probably would have been better if I had just walked normally and came two hours late instead. Sure, I would have been scolded and threatened mercilessly by Sensei, but if it came at giving up this horrible feeling of complete exhaustion, i'd gladly take the risk.

As I neared the classroom, I could hear a large comotion happening inside. What's happening, some kind of festival? Keep your voice down! How am I supposed to sleep peacefully if you all keep screaming? Dismissing the reason for the clamor, I stopped in front of the door before a voice came from my right.

"They're all talking about you, you know. About what you did."

Woah, what was happening? Why was there a girl right there? I didn't even see anyone. Was she talking about the incident with Sagami? My mouth, however, wasn't under my control anymore. "It's for the better."

"For the better?! I hate it!"

With a start, I realized I had seen her before. Long, blue hair fell in front of her face. Water flowed down her face and onto the ground… no, not water. Tears. From green eyes.

"Why did you have to do such a thing, huh?! I hate it! I hate them! Their sympathy, their pity, their comforting words… I hate it all!" By now, she was flat out screaming at me. Who are you? What are you? An imagination? A dream? A memory? Who?

"Trust me, you don't want to associate yourself with me. Ending things this way was much better. It is better." I couldn't move, I had no control. These words were from my mouth, yet it wasn't me who was saying such a thing. "I'm doing this for both of us."

"I was much happier before it all happened! Idiot! Jerk!" I opened my mouth to respond, to explain my actions, to reason out my side of the explanation. To tell her why it had to happen. Why I had to do what I needed to do. I opened my mouth to speak-

A loud shout came through the door. I was suddenly greeted with a vision of me about to grab the door handle. What just happened? Wasn't I just talking to someone just now. I turned to my left, hoping to see who exactly was there… but I was met with nothing. Just the long corridor I had just ran through. Where was that girl? What was happening to me?

Was I daydreaming? It felt so real to me though. Then, a flashback was the most logical explanation. But I didn't remember having such a conversation. Neither did I remember that girl. The only person I knew from middle school was Orimoto, and I knew for a fact I never remember seeing her around Sobu.

I sighed. Maybe I should see a psychiatrist. Then, what should I do if he tells me to fix my past? I'll have to travel back in time to repeat the last 17 years of my life, making other choices and causing a ripple effect with results in me travelling into another universe where i'll have to be the unfortunate sidekick to the main hero protagonist! Wait, Hachiman. You're going too far. This is real life, not another one of those Chuunibyou delusions you made up back in high school.

Reinforced with my confidence that I was okay and not becoming mentally insane, I straightened out my attire and opened the door.

Instantly, the sound of my rowdy classmates ceased as I walked inside the door. What did I do? Refocusing my vision at the front of my class, I almost collapsed there and then. There were two people standing up in the front.

One of them I was very familiar with. Hiratsuka-sensei glared at me. The other one though… was staring right into my eyes. With a jolt, I realised that the ominous feeling must have been trying to give me a warning.

"Hikigaya, this is…"

This was not love at first sight. I recognized her the moment I laid my eyes on her. My dream, flashbacks, memories.

"...your new classmate…"

Top in school. Best model student. Blue hair. Emerald eyes. Familiar, yet forgotten.

"...Ichiro Megumi."

Ichiro Megumi smiled in my direction and bowed slightly.

"Hello, Hikigaya-kun. My name is Ichiro Megumi. Please take care of me."

"Hikigaya-kun, where are we going? Call me Megumi, by the way."

To say I was a bit nervous was an understatement. Hiratsuka-sensei, after Ichiro-san's introduction, had pulled me aside and started talking to me. Apparently, her reason for frantically calling me this morning was so that I could show Ichiro-san around school. Turns out, it was the same request Sensei gave only yesterday. So now, I was walking around school, showing the different places and layout to a girl who was currently latched onto my arm.

"We're going to the cafeteria, Ichiro-san."

"Jeez, I told you to call me Megumi."

"We've barely known each other 15 minutes and already you want to be on a first-name basis with each other?"

"Yep!" Stop smiling, your making me flustered. You're too much like a less happy, but only by a bit, Meguri-senpai. "Is there a problem?"

"There's a million ways it's a problem! First, you don't know me at all."

"Hmm? Of course I do."

Creepy. Was she some sort of stalker or something? Maybe she's keeping tabs on me like how a security guard keeps tabs on its prisoners. I'm not a criminal! "Oh, of course I know that."

Another mind reader?! Someone help me! "Oh yeah? How do you know that? In fact, I could do a lot of things if it was just me and you in an empty classroom."

A little trick I learnt to keep people away from you. Make them hate you and they'll never want to be within 10 miles of you. It's one of the few tactics I employed back in middle school so that no one would bother me.

"I wouldn't mind it."

See, I told you it… huh? What did you say? "Umm, Ichiro-san…"

"Hai?"

"You did hear me, right?"

"Yup! Loud and clear."

How am I supposed to react? Is this the end of the world? Is is time for me to die and be sent into the eternal abyss?

"In fact, we can do it right now?" With her hands, she suddenly pulled me into a dark storage closet. I don't even remember a storage closet being there. Was it by coincidence that one just happened to appear?

I felt my back pushed back against the wall and two arms wrap around my neck. Repeated breaths of air hit my neck, and I realise that Ichiro-san's face was buried in my neck. "I-Ichiro-san?"

"I missed you so much."

What?

"Everyday felt like eternity, before it ended and another one began."

"Ichiro-san, y-you're too c-close." I haven't been in such close contact with another girl except for Komachi and my mom. This was a foreign situation to me!

"But you're back. In my arms. You're still the same person. Even after all those years."

I gulped. I so desperately wanted to remove her from me right now. But there was something I had to do first. "Ichi-"

"Megumi." Seriously? Fine, I give up.

"Megumi?"

"Yes~?"

"You keep talking about our time together and after all these 'years', but I don't remember you at all. Did we know each other? Are you sure you have the right person?"

The last sentence appeared to have broken her out of her trance-like state. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. The same eyes I saw right outside my classroom, even though it wasn't real.

"You know how much it hurt to be away from you?! How I felt when I could no longer see you?! When I moved away from school, I was hurt! Broken! You are the right person, because you are Hikigaya Hachiman! I didn't want popularity or-or cliques and whatever popular people should have! I just wanted to be with you, to be near you!"

I appeared quite calm on the outside, but I was mentally freaking out in the inside. I was certainly the last person you'd expect to be alone with a crying girl, but I was still here. If someone walked through that door now, they'd probably misinterpret the situation and think I was taking advantage of her. Let's go Hachiman, calm her down.

"There, there. It's okay, just calm down.", I said, patting her head in the process.

Yeah, I know it's lame, but I have no experience in calming down hysterical girls. Except Komachi.

Fortunately, it seemed to do the trick. She stopped crying and the tears stopped falling. A few sniffles could still be heard. After a few moments, she looked up at me, no longer sad and smiling.

She pulled my arm towards the door. "Come on, Hachi!", she said before giving a short giggle, "You still haven't finished being my tour guide for today!"

Ouch, stop pulling on my arm! It hurts, are you trying to dislocate it. And who's Hachi anyways? Last time I checked, it was just the two of us.

To make a long story short, I took Megumi back to class after the tour, we had lessons, ate lunch together, went back to class and finished school. That explanation seemed quite long though.

After the bell chimed, signaling another day's worth of lessons to end, I immediately grabbed my back and went out of the classroom, stopping at the corner to wait for Yuigahama as usual.

When Yuigahama came, she seemed surprise that I was there. What, did you expect me to be like Tobe?

"Umm, Hikki, are you going to club today?", she asked nervously.

I raised my eyebrow. This was different from her usual cult greeting or her reprimanding me for not waiting for her. "Yeah? Why?"

"I-uh, I-I have to go ahead! Bye!", she stuttered, rushing past me. Weird, she usually doesn't act like this. Have my eyes become worse?

"Hachi! There you are! I've been looking around the whole school for y-, eh? Is something wrong?"

Without a word, I started to walk away towards the clubroom.

"Wait, Hachi? Are ignoring me?"

Megumi, it was still so hard to say that name, was still calling out to 'Hachi'. Not wanting to suffer, I walked away as fast as I could. May the romcom gods be with you, Hachi.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. "There you are! I've been calling you this whole time!"

You were? Then where is this Hachi fellow you were calling earlier?

Tired from today's events, I ignored and her and kept on walking. A warmth then surrounded my right arm, and I knew it was Megumi hugging it. She had literally been attached to it the whole day. If she had dense metal for a brain, does that mean my arm's a magnet? Or can it attract metals? Like Magneto.

Trying to occupy my brain with these thoughts did me no good as I felt all my blood rush up to my cheeks. Her, well, chest wasn't that flat. In fact, it was- NO HACHIMAN! We are not walking down that road again.

Walking in complete silence with a girl humming what I assumed to be a song was awkward. Not so much because none of us were talking, but because it was hard to not think about- STOP IT!

"Neh, Hachi? Where are we going?" I stayed silent, eyes completely focused in front of me. I didn't sense anyone in my vicinity except the one walking next to me. All of a sudden, I felt a finger poke my cheek. Facing the perpetrator, she looked at me with her head tilted 45 degrees. Wait, have you been taking lessons from Isshiki? "I asked you a question."

When? I didn't hear any question. "Could you repeat it again?"

"I asked you where we were going."

"I'm going to my club. Where are you going?"

"I'm following you, you know?"

I'm sorry, Yuigahama, Yukinoshita. Please put up with this person at least for this afternoon. It'll all be over quickly.

As I approached the clubroom, I heard voices coming from inside. Two… no, three voices. Our president ice queen, residential airhead and sky student council president. Yukinoshita, Yuigahama and Isshiki. What are they talking about?

For a moment, I considered leaving, but decided against it. I already missed yesterday and it would be suspicious if I didn't come today as well. Even though every time I entered, conversations would cease and eyes were averted, which would result in me and Yukinoshita bantering while Yuigahama tried to mediate.

"Hikki's, well, really gross and creepy."

I paused. Was that Yuigahama? I debated whether to head inside or not. On one hand, this could be another one of her usual insults to me. On the other, I was curious as to what they were talking about. In the end, I chose the latter option and stayed outside.

Someone tugged on my arm. "Hachi, wha-"

"Shhhh.", I whispered, pressing a finger against her mouth. Her eyes widened before nodding her head, then she blushed and shook her head again, seemingly embarrassed about something. No time to dwell on the matter, though.

"I highly regret letting Hikigaya-kun into the Service Club. In fact, I wish he and I never met each other. It was because of only Sensei that I met one of the biggest problems in my entire life."

Yukinoshita. I clenched my fist, shaking with anger. Her holier-than-thou attitude was really pissing me off. I looked at Megumi, only to see a dark aura surround her. Can't blame her though. Finally, Isshiki's turn.

"Yeah! Senpai is really creepy, especially his eyes. I really hate it when he always looks at me with those eyes if his! Thankfully, I can make him do a lot of the student council work for me and he doesn't even suspect a thing!"

These… these… have they forgotten everything I did for them?! All of the deeds I've done and problems I fixed?

"Hikki is really annoying. He even waited for me to go the clubroom with him!"

"Thanks to Hikigaya-kun, my life is more troublesome now. My sister keeps asking me about him and my reputation is tainted because of him."

"Hayama-senpai and I could have been together already if senpai didn't interfere with us!"

So this is what they actually felt. Towards me. A problem, an obstacle, a thing. To them, I was nothing more than a tool. Nothing. And I was angry. I hated them. They don't care about me, so why should I care about them? Brimming with rage, I grabbed the door and pulled it as hard as I could, slamming it loudly.

All three of them were startled. Yuigahama fell back, Yukinoshita dropped her cup and Isshiki jumped up. They all looked towards the door, only to see me standing there. I don't know what expression I was making or what aura I was excluding, but they all started shivering.

"Ah, s-s-senpai, h-how l-l-long-?"

"Cut the bullshit.", I answered venomously, making all of them flinch slightly. "I heard everything."

"H-Hikki…"

"I was stupid, wasn't it? I am stupid. So this is what you all really felt towards me, huh?" Just a problem, a bad omen, a tool. I was nothing more, not even after everything I've done for all of you. To be honest, I'm disappointed with myself. I could see through Haruno like a glass, but you all wore even better masks than she did."

"H-Hikigaya-kun, wait…"

"Why should I? Why the hell should I? When you asked me to 'save' you, was that a lie? Was every compliment, apology, request every single damn word you said to me a damn lie!?"

I raised my voice, literally roaring at them. Anyone nearby could hear me right now, but I didn't care. I needed to say what was on my mind, to voice out my feelings.

"None of you ever cared about me, did you?! I was nothing to you, wasn't I?! Now I see, my 'genuine' thing can't be here. Not in this room. Not with any of you."

They were all cowering, probably in fear. They has tears in their eyes, but who cared? Me? No.

"I'm leaving the Service club. Goodbye."

In two sentences, I walked away, ignoring the pleas and begging of three voices behind me.

The time was 3:57 pm.

The moment where my life drastically changed.

So that's it. Chapter 3 is finished. Did any of you expect that to happen? You probably dad (Insert sad, melodramatic music). It's longer than my other two chapters so far. What do you guys think of it? Good or bad?

I'll (hopefully) put up chapter 4 before Tuesday. Hopefully. Not 100% confirmed.

Bye!