As Expected He War More Warped Than Most
If an object was to benefit your life. Would you accept it if that object was given to you in vast quantity? Even if you knew that too much of that object would do more bad than good? Would you willingly drown in it with regrets as it slowly destroys you starting from your bank account then onto your daily life?
For someone like Kotomine Hachiman the answer would be, Yes. Yes and Maybe? Unfortunately it was already too late to wonder if he made the right choice. But judging by the slight smirk he felt on his face as he slowly placed one MAX COFFEE on top of another in his mini fridge, he simply did not care. The golden colored steel containers glimmered slightly by the built in light in the mini fridge which Hachiman could not help but appreciate. The single rack on the very bottom was kept in order to preserve whatever food that might have been left over from a previous meal. Why bottom you ask? Well if the leftover food were to spill somehow and fall over his precious MAX the containers would lose their visual appeal by 40%. Which in turn could possibly effect the sweet taste of MAX. That must be avoided at all costs.
But speaking of meals...
"When you had offered me dinner I was expecting to be taken to someplace for food." he asked without turning to the person behind him while continuing to bask at the glory of the well positioned MAXX in his fridge. Their logo was facing towards the door, simply waiting for him to pick one up and consume with rigorous vigor.
"I did, didn't I? I took you to a convenience store and bought groceries for you." a feminine voice, unsurprisingly belonging to the woman that was behind him, said.
"Let me rephrase then." He said, turning to the woman this time after closing the fridge. "When you had offered me dinner as an apology for hitting me with your car yesterday I had not been expecting to be the one preparing dinner for you and I."
"But there isn't anything open at this hour." The woman protests. "Besides, you said you live alone right? You're bound to know how to cook so what's the problem?"
"By that analysis, as a woman you should be capable of cooking as well." Hachiman raised an eyebrow at her. She in turn groaned then lied down on the tatami mat floor and rolled away from him. Odd considering the blue dress she was wearing, which did not look cheap by any means, one would think a woman like her would rather sit or even stand to avoid wrinkling said expensive dress.
Now Kotomine Hachiman was certainly as apathetic as most that knew him would claim but he was still a male. A male that would certainly not mind having the company of someone of the opposite gender, provided that they were to meet his criteria in a woman of course. Even though her slightly exposed backside did nothing for his primal urges he still had his limits.
"But I'm too pooped after the gathering my family arranged for our business partners." she whines. "Besides, isn't being able to spend time with a beautiful woman like myself enough, Hachi-kun?"
"As an apology? No. It is not. I am grateful that you bought groceries for a full day but I see no reason for you to be here, in my home which to you is the home of a stranger." Hachiman rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Didn't I tell you that's not my name Yukinoshita Haruno-san?"
The woman, Yukinoshita Haruno turned back to him with a pout that certainly did not fail to make her look cute. "But it's so much cuter though. Calling you 'Kotomine-kun' just doesn't feel right to me."
"You can call me Hachiman as well Yukinoshita-san." Hachiman pointed out. Haruno for her part, looked at him with a playful smirk.
"Fufufu. To think you would let me use your given name so freely. Are you falling for me by chance?" her smirk did not falter as she sat made herself comfortable next to the wooden table. The only furniture in the room. One hand resting next to the other which she used to lean her head on. "I have to warn you though I am a very needy woman."
Hachiman resisted the urge to groan. This woman had somehow gotten a rise out of him, however slight in the span of two days. How that happened he did not know and something told him he did not want to know. "Names are powerful, provided that they hold weight to the person speaking or listening. However there are over seven billion people in this world. It would be foolish of anyone to think that he or she has a name fully unique to him or her. So it does not matter to me what you address me as there is more than likely someone else out there with the very same name as I. So to answer your question, I am not falling for you Yukinoshita-san."
The smirk on Harunos' face fades and Hachiman could not help but feel a little bit proud of himself for some reason. However that did not last long as the smirk, now returning as a slightly teasing smile spread across her face. "Okay then. How about a compromise. I call you Hachiman-kun and you call me Haru-tan?"
If he was bothered by her proposal he did not show it. "To call you that would imply we are close friends Yukinoshita-san. We are barely acquaintances that have only known each other for two days at most."
Haruno blinked at him. Most would jump at the chance to be 'friends' with her. Then again she was expecting a response like that. "How about Haruno for now then?"
"Haruno-san." he nodded at her, ignoring her pout he turned to the kitchen. He never knew the usage of a simple honorific could make someone react like that. He'd have to write it down on his notebook later. "I'll make something quick so you can get home faster."
"That's fine! I will sleep here with you!"
"No."
"Pleaasseee."
"I only have one futon."
"I'm willing to share~"
"No means no Haruno-san."
"Aww."
Kotomine Hachiman was tired. Fortunately not physically tired. But mentally tired. Haruno had certainly wore him down last night. The subject of Yukinoshita Yukino never came to their conversation. Neither mentioned it and Hachiman saw no need to bring it up. Yukinoshita Haruno knew him as Kotomine Hachiman, the young average member of the 'workforce'. And as far as he was aware she had no reason to snoop into his private life.
"Kotomine-kun." he looked up to see Totsuka in front of him. The boy(girl?) stared down at Hachiman's sitting form. "Do you want to play tennis with me? I've trained really hard these past few days."
"Let me finish this first." he shook the can of MAX COFFEE in his hand, it was a little over halfway consumed. Totsuka flashed him a bright smile that made Hachiman glad that Totsuka was not a sun. He'd rather not be blinded at his young age.
They were helping Totsuka train today as well. But currently they were taking a break. Unfortunately like the days before Zaimokuza could not be here with them even though it was club hours. Something about the gym teacher telling him that helping Totsuka was no longer a viable substitute for PE class and other students would try to flunk out of PE by using similar flimsy excuses. Unfortunate indeed, especially now since Hachiman had already finished those light novels Zaimokuza lent him the other day when the Service Club was aiding Yuigahama with her request. Even the Gameboy Advance game he borrowed from the large teen last month was close to completion. Totsuka sat next to him, wiping away the sweat on his face with a wet towel.
"We like, have permission now!"
Hachiman turned his head to see the same group of people from two days ago. Save for two boys. Aside from Miura Yumiko the rest were wearing the same thing as last time. The blonde herself was wearing what appeared to be a half sleeved t-shirt and a tight mini skirt that revealed her legs. His eyes were drawn to them for a fraction of a second before turning to the MAX COFFEE to take a sip.
'Curse blonde women and their long legs.' His mind wandered to one of the few things he 'regretted' in his life. But now was not the time for that. He gave the group a questioning glance. Tobe turned to talk to the short haired girl next to him, effectively avoiding Hachiman's gaze but Miura stepped forward.
"We got permission from Wakabe-sensei to use the court too." she said and Kotomine nodded.
"See Sai-chan? With everyone's help you'll definitely get better at tennis. Yumiko even made it to Chiba's Junior's Tournament in middle school!" Yuigahama tried to cheer up a slightly worried Totsuka.
"Thank you for having us. I hope we can all have fun this time." Hayama flashed them all a smile. Miura turned to him with a cheerful smile, agreeing with him.
'Hopefully I won't have to play at all. With this many people around there shouldn't be any reason for me to enter the stage.' Hachiman went to take another sip from his max but turns out the bottle was empty 'Darn it'. He mentally cursed. Totsuka seemed to notice it and grabbed onto his sleeve, giving him a hopeful stare. Off in the side Yuigahama could be seen talking to Yukinoshita. Hachiman could barely hear what they were saying over Miura's chatter with Hayama. But it was most likely about Totsuka's training routine being changed now that there were more people helping.
"Yuigahama-san says Miura-san is a good player. You should go ask her for help." he attempts to dissuade Totsuka into leaving him.
"But I really want to play with you." Totsuka protests. Hachiman could literally feel his defenses being worn down slowly. This was bad, it was only a matter of time till he could no longer resist.
"Are we going to play or what?" the two males(one male and a Totsuka) turned to an annoyed Miura Yumiko."Let's play double. Me and Hayato against... whoever wants to play against us."
Doubles? Well... Knowing Yukinoshita's stamina she would probably faint after a few minutes. And considering how clumsy Yuigahama was would more than likely fall down and get herself hurt. In either case he would be forced to either take them to the infirmary or be forced to stay by Hiratsuka till they woke up in an attempt to make him socialize.
Sighing mentally he stood up and picked up one of the rackets resting against the cage he gave Totsuka a side glance. "Pick up a racket Totsuka-san. You and I will be playing against them."
Totsuka picked up a racket and stood next to him with a smile. "R-Right! Let's do our best Kotomine-kun!"
"Hey isn't this a bit unfair?" Miura began. Making them all turn to her. "Like you're both guys and I only have Hayato on my side."
The boy in question could only smile.
"I-I'll play against you Yumiko!" Yuigahama spoke up. But a glare from Yumiko seemed to make her stop talking. It was clear to everyone who the blonde wanted to play. Why this was the case Hachiman didn't know. Then again, he didn't really care. The look she gave Yukinoshita did nothing to make him believe otherwise.
"No you will not." Hachiman told Yuigahama then turned to Miura. "There is no point for us to be here if Totsuka-san does not play to increase his skills. Besides, you have played tennis in a semi-professional level and Hayama-san has been captain of the Football Club since the start of second year. If anything it's us that are at a disadvantage."
Miura bristled at being interrupted by Hachiman again. Hayama, being the 'nice' person he was stepped forward and convinced Miura that they would be fine. Her mood took a complete 180 much to Hachimans' bewilderment. 'Women are mysterious creatures.' They would always be a part of the many things he could never understand he supposed.
Minutes later Hachiman and Totsuka were positioned at one side while Miura and Hayama were on the opposite side. Yukinoshita was asked to be the referee and Yuigahama sat in a bench in the sidelines, conflicted on who to cheer on. Tobe and the girl he was talking to previously sat on the bench beside the one Yuigahama was sitting on. Cheering for Hayato and Miura in their own way.
Miura glared at them from the other side, making Totsuka whimper slightly. Hachiman idly wondered why she liked to glare so much. Did she expect her glares to make whoever she was glaring at spontaneously combust? He would never know. Hachiman glanced at Totsuka then threw the ball at Hayama. Hayama gave him a confused look but prepared to start the match.
"Totsuka-san." He turned his head to the intimidated boy. "The time for practice is over. Show me what you've learned." he gave a slight nod at Totsuka. Totsuka blinked at Hachiman and smiled with vigor.
"I won't fail you."
"Begin!" With that the match had begun.
The serves were swift and even slightly frightening. The frightening ones were mostly from Miura. Usually thrown at him but some went to Totsuka as well. He answered with far less strength, just about enough for the ball to go back to their opponents side. The momentum of the serves doing the rest of the work for him. Hayama didn't seem to be having any problems keeping up judging by how his smile had yet to falter. Totsuka was sweating slightly. But it was nothing compared to how much Hachiman himself was sweating. But that was because Hachiman was still in full school uniform unlike the rest of the players. None of their breathing had yet to labor.
"40-20." Yukinoshita announced when the Miura-Hayama team scored once again. Totsuka frowned after catching the ball that was thrown at him to resume the match. Hachiman noticed this but said nothing. The match continued and minutes later their enemies scored once again.
Hayama walked forward and put a hand forward. "Good game. You two played really well." The group of students that had formed outside the tennis court's cage slowly began to disperse.
Seeing the hand Hachiman nudged the dejected boy next to him to go forward and shake hands. Hayama frowned inwardly but did not object. The results of the match left most participants and even spectators disappointed. As for Hachiman himself...
He wasn't sure.
He knew for a fact that he wasn't disappointed in the results nor did he feel regret in holding back. If anything he was more than content. He hadn't wasted more tired than he needed to be able to efficiently work later and he didn't feel the need to eat so too many calories wasn't spent either. However...
As he watched Totsuka shake hands with Hayama with slightly watery eyes Hachiman couldn't help but feel... a sense of... nostalgia? What? Why would seeing Totsuka's sad expression make him feel nostalgic?
"Hayama-san."
Hearing his name being said, Hayama looked at Hachiman with his eyes widened. Surprised that of all people in the entire school, Kotomine Hachiman spoke to him without a visible reason. And just when he thought he had a firm grasp of his classmate's personality.
"How about another match in ten minutes." that was not a request, Hayama understood that much. He nodded with a smile then walked to Miura who had taken this time to go and rest on the empty spot in the bench Tobe and the other girl sat on. Presumably to inform them of the next match.
"Are you sure Kotomine-kun?" Totsuka looked wiped away the tears forming in his eyes along side sweat in an attempt to hide their presence. "We don't have to play again. It's clear to me that I still have a lot of work to do to become good at this."
"It's okay." Hachiman said to the shorter boy. "You've played well. Better than you were from before. That's progress. Your goal is clear, strengthen your conviction and keep pushing forward."
Totsuka heard the words of 'encouragement' but did not look convinced. "But Kotomine-kun..."
"Totsuka-san." Hachiman turned away from him. "Keep your focus and remember what you've learned. I've ask you to show me the fruits of your labour and you did plenty well. Now I ask of you to show me your conviction." he walked to the bench Yuigahama was sitting on and sat next to her. Yuigahama was caught off guard when he did that and her cheeks managed to mimic her hair color.
"Is everything alright Totsuka-san?" Totsuka who was still staring at his classmate, stunned at what he said turned to Yukinoshita who got down from the refs chair. "I hope Kotomine-san did not say anything rude to you. His rotten eyes and scarred face often makes him look intimidating."
"N-No Yukinoshita-san!" Totsuka's defense for Hachiman was not what Yukinoshita expected to hear. "Kotomine-kun was giving me a pep talk is all. Nothing to worry about."
'A pep talk? From him?' Yukinoshitas' gaze trailed to the boy in question then returned to the short boy. "I see. I have overheard the agreement of a rematch. Good Luck."
When the time came for the rematch the players and Yukinoshita stood up and made their way back into their old positions. All except Hachiman.
"Is something wrong Kotomine-kun?" Yuigahama asked him. He glanced at her once and shook his head. But then he began to take off his cloths.
"K-Kotomine-kun?!" Yuigahama gasped and stood up. Loud enough for everyone to hear. They turned to see what was going on.
"Can you look after these for me?" Hachiman asked Yuigahama, handing her his blazer. She took it, in a slight daze and yelped slightly when he began to take off the white shirt mandatory to their school uniform.
He took it off, handing her the white shirt too. She took it with slight hesitation but did not protest. With both blazer and shirt off his upper body was somewhat visible for all to see. A silver chain necklace with a somewhat large christian cross hanging at the end and some band aids on both his arms were seen on his body. Judging by how the black t-shirt hung onto his form anyone with eyes could tell he was more fit than most teenagers their age. Heck judging by how muscular his arms were, he was probably even more fit than any other second year in this entire school, maybe even some of the third years. And that included the sports clubs. Considering how he always slouched whenever they saw him everyone had always assumed he was scrawny. When he straightened his back, the slouching posture was gone and he gave off a different vibe compared to before. After cracking his neck to rid the soreness in them he began to may his way to his position.
"Kotomine-kun!" Totsuka exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "I didn't know you were so fit! Why didn't you tell me sooner? You could have given me some tips for training!"
"There isn't much to say. I live pretty far from here and biking can become a nice workout when covering great distances if you do it long enough. Keep to your diet and train regular. In due time you too will have a 'fit' body." he purposefully did not mention his job at Takeshi's shipping company. Carrying heavy crates on a daily bases was also a decent way of working out. "It was getting hot in there so I had to take those off."
No one noticed Yuigahama staring at the two articles of clothing in her hand. Blushing when she realized that she was holding his slightly wet cloths from sweat. She sat back down and draped them over her legs. Hoping no one noticed her blush. Off in the side, no one noticed the far less shocked Tobe and the grinning girl that sat next to him. She secretly took photos of Hachiman in his slightly less dressed and sweaty state. Glancing at Hayama and doing the same again.
Yukinoshita was the first to recover, properly sitting on the referee chair she announced the start of the match.
"What? Did you think getting comfortable would let you win against us?" Miura spoke after recovering. Hayama shook his head to gather his bearings.
"No." Hachiman states. Following Totsuka to their own side. "But I will be pulling my weight this time."
"Heh. That won't do you any-" Miura's racket hit the tennis ball. " good!" The ball sped towards him.
"15-Love!"
Everyone blinked, it took a second to process what happened.
"W-What?!" Miura turned, facing the cage behind her to see the ball that stopped rolling, on the ground. Looking back at Hachiman who had his left hand on his right shoulder, casually massaging it. Looks like he hit harder than he intended to and was facing the consequences.
"That was amazing Kotomine-kun!" Again Totsuka had stars in his eyes.
"Focus." Hachiman's words had an air of authority. "I had no intention of taking this seriously. But since I already am let's make this worth it." He was surely going to regret it later. So might as well make that regret worth having.
Totsuka and Hayama seemed to take his words to heart. Adopting a far more serious stance for this game. Miura frowned slightly but her competitiveness took over as she picked up the ball.
"You're still going to lose though." she smirked then served again.
Hachiman yawned. His muscles were slightly sore from the extra strain they went through during those tennis matches. Combined with work and bicycle rides to work and now home he felt far more tired than usual. His pace slowed down and halted to a stop. It would still take him at least another 10 minutes riding to get home. But there was no rush seeing as tomorrow was a weekend and no school to worry about. Taking a minute to get his breath back he took a moment to appreciate the still night and the silence it brought. He sighed, looking up at the moon with narrowed eyes. Wondering why he felt so 'nostalgic' of all things seeing the saddened face of Totsuka Saika. Why he couldn't stomach that when there was so many other things he had turned a blind eye to in the recent past. Normally such expressions on others would even bring him plea-
A car drove up from behind him, he payed no mind to it till it stopped right next to him and the window nearest to him rolled open.
"Hachiman-kun~ Fancy seeing you here." his shoulders slumped and he inwardly groaned at the prospect of a headache being added to today's list of troubles. "What's with that look? You don't look happy to see me."
"I don't see why I should be Haruno-san." He avoided her question.
"Weeell, me potentially offering you a ride to your apartment is a decent enough reason don't you think? You live pretty far from here don't you?" Hachiman contemplated her offer. A car ride definitely sounded tempting. There wasn't anything else to focus on so the feeling of sore muscles was gnawing at the back of his mind. The sooner he stopped abusing them the sooner he would recover. "Or would you rather come over to my place instead?" She interrupted his musings with a playful tease.
She smiled at him in a way that made him rub the bridge on his nose with a troubled expression. She giggled at his reaction. "That was a joke. A joke. Put your bicycle in my trunk, it's big enough, I'll drop you off at your apartment."
"Thank you. Haruno-san."
-Chapter End-
A Wild Haruno Appeared! We started with Haruno and ended with Haruno in this chapter. Unfortunately there was no Hiratsuka-sensei this time :( Just a heads up, from now on I'll be referring our 8man as Hachiman unless someone is addressing him as Kotomine. For the sake of most of our sanity(tbh when I think Kotomine I end up visualizing Kotomine Kirei, and imagining Kotomine Kirei playing tennis just makes me giggle uncontrollably for some reason. It might be because I imagine him playing with Black Keys instead of an actual tennis racket)
So I have a bad news for you guys. Yesterday at work when I was thinking about this fanfic, I had somehow stumbled upon an idea. The idea of an 'Oregairu' and 'Katekyo Hitman Reborn' crossover fanfic. Why is this a bad news? Because writing multiple fanfictions at the same time is a stupid idea of course. And while I am confident I won't start writing that before finishing this, I don't trust myself. Most people do it due to being incapable of holding in them plot bunnies then they end up taking way too many projects than they can handle(eventually real life happens and none of those fanfics get a proper ending, effectively blue balling everyone. Or even getting a rushed ending which leaves everyone unsatisfied). Why am I telling you this? Because if I manage to finish this I want to remember about the Oregairu and KHR idea.(Got trouble remembering things sometimes). So if I write it down somewhere I can't lose it(I'll read this after I finish it just to cringe at some things I wrote) I should be able to find it eventually.
Changes from the original: Hachiman's Vita-chan replaced by GameBoy Advanced to better fit the timeline. Hachiman's pep talk to Totsuka changed. A couple of spelling errors fixed. A handful of lines removed+added.