As Expected He Was More Warped Than Most
Bright and sunny mornings were one of his favorite things in this wonderful world. Perfect for a morning walk. In fact there were few things he hated. Wait was there anything he hated? He didn't remem- oh wait. Cats.
He hated cats. Darn those annoying things with their superior attitude. And it didn't help that many humans liked them more than his kind. Which makes them even bigger meanies! They were terrible to talk to in the shelter and had absolutely no interest in playing with him. Yep, that's why he hated cats. So he swore to annoy the heck out of the next cat he would ever see. Yup, chase it around for a while. Then play with it's owners while it would look away even though the jealousy would be clear as day. Yes, a diabolical plan from his cutesy self. No one would suspect a thing. MWAHAHAHA- Oh wait, his leash just came off.
HIS LEASH JUST CAME OFF! It wasn't that he hated his human, it was just that running around without a leash didn't hurt his neck as much as running around with a leash on. Sure he didn't have a leash on when he was home but home had so little space to run around in. Actually there wasn't much to run around in at all considering the last time he did that something broke and his human scolded him a lot for it. He was sure his human wouldn't mind though. She was very nice and lenient like that. So, He dashed forward without a care in the world.
"Sable, no!"
The dog's, Sable', small legs stopped pushing it forward. The sound of tires screeching roared in its ear but it didn't move. It didn't move even when the black limousine less than a feet away from it honked it's horn a couple of times but the bipedal creature payed it no mind. It tilted its head to the side as it analyzed the thing in front of it. It didn't understand what it was seeing. The thing in front of it turned its head towards the dog. The dog jumped back and barked suspiciously. It's tail wagging for a couple of precious moments, to see if the creature was a playmate. The creature did not respond in kind. Was it a meanie then? Sable' chocolate brown eyes narrowed as it analyzed it's target.
"Sable!"
The dog's owner picked it up and apologized to the people in the limousine through the one way mirror. The mirror did not roll down and the limousine sped away. Her dog barked again. "Sable, what's wrong?" she followed its view and saw a boy wearing a school uniform on a bicycle, staring at the dog as it barked once again at him.
"U-um..." she squeaked when the boy's dead fish eyes instantly zeroed in on hers. "Is something wrong?" she asked nervously.
"..." the boy stayed silent for multiple seconds, making the girl nervous. "You should hold onto that leash tighter. Your dog could have died back there." His voice held a weak hint of disappointment though his expression remained the same. The disappointment was so unnoticeable that she completely missed it. Her dog growled at the boy under its breath before letting out a whimper when the boy looked at it again. The boy looked back at the girl. "Or get a better leash at least." The dog was confused again, not that either humans could tell.
"Oh-uh. Of course!" the girl nodded with a nervous smile. This was her first time being scolded by a stranger. The stranger nodded back in return before peddling away on his bicycle.
"Wait a minute. Wasn't that a Sobu uniform?" she asked herself. No one was there to answer her. She positioned Sable so that the dog would face her. "Don't think I forgot about you mister, you could have gotten really really hurt-"
Her dog licked her nose making her giggle before cooing. "Aw I can never stay mad at you Sable."
-A Month Later-
Middle School students fantasize being in High School. And similarly High School students fantasize being in College. But unlike their previous selves, College students did not fantasize about being Working Adults. Because by then they realize that everything still worked the same way and the difficulty just gets harder over time. Minor aspects change but the majority of things tend to remain the same. But that was fine. Familiarity meant not requiring to suddenly adapt. It also provided a sense of security. And while the sense of security was appreciated considering some of beatings he took in the past, change was something he wanted. If it meant he could become normal then a few beatings was more than a fair trade in his opinion. And if nor normal, then at least another step towards his purpose would be fine as well.
The teacher wrote two names on the blackboard before leaving. One his own and the other belonging to one of his classmates. Students began filing out one by one as did he. But unlike the rest he didn't have his bag with him. That was because unlike the rest he wasn't going to his apartment. Speaking of which. Even though it had been months since he moved in, it was still empty for the most part. Aside from some silverware, the only thing he had was a futon. He intended to buy a table soon though. A mini fridge too perhaps. Having to cook three meals from scratch everyday was tiring and time consuming. And unlike last year, he didn't have much strength left when he got from from work. Nor much time. Once again, because of work.
He returned to the classroom, two brooms and a mop in one hand while the other had a bucket of water and a dustpan. He held onto one of the brooms and laid the rest down on the corner of the room then began to sweep the floor in silence.
Out of the three remaining girls, two left and the last one turned to the broom resting in the corner of the room. "Ah? How did this get here?" he heard the other person in the room ask. She did not see him bring the brooms. That was expected, few people ever payed attention to him. Fewer noticed him. The sound of footsteps of the other students had faded into the distance which made the sound of him sweeping much more noticeable. "Kotomine-san? Did you bring that here?" He turned to the pink haired girl and nodded once before returning to the task at hand. "Oh-um. Thank you." he glanced at her once, acknowledging her gratitude but didn't reply. She joined him in sweeping the floor. A minute rolled by without either speaking anymore words. A rhythmic sound suddenly interrupted their silence. He recognized it that was not the ringtone that was set on his cellphone. He glanced at the girl once again. She was pulling out her cellphone. He returned to sweeping.
A gasp reached his ears. He paused and looked at the girl again with a raised eyebrow. The girl turned to look at him with an expression that he could only describe as... fear? He blinked in confusion and looked around for anything that might be considered as scary. But there was nothing inside the room out of the ordinary.
"Kotomine-san!" the girl called out his name. By the time he turned to her she was already in his personal space. He opened his mouth to ask her what she wanted but she beat him to it. "Something terrible happened!" His lips closed as she continued. "My dog suddenly started throwing up. Mama took him to the vet but I'm still worried." She looked like terrified. Hachiman blinked as his eyes took in her pain. The edges of his lips twitched briefly. "I... I need to go see him. Can I go see him?" She was asking for his permission to leave since just like him she too was on cleaning duty. But he was still relishing in her 'suffering' for his brain to completely register what his ears heard. She saw his lips curl upwards a little and took it as a sign of affirmation before bolting over to her desk and running out with her bag.
Now alone, he stood in the room, his lips returning to the thin line they almost always could be seen as.
His brain had finally caught up to the turn of events. He walked over to the windows and saw the girl running away from the school grounds. He turned back to the empty classroom and returned to sweeping in silence.
-The Next Day-
Kotomine Hachiman, first year high school student, sat on his assigned seat. His body had yet to properly adjust to his schedule even though it had been a full month since his daily routine had become what it was today. Why was he thinking of this? Well that's because today he woke up ten minutes too early and as such, came to school ten minutes too early. Those ten minutes, while not important in any other time of the day was extremely important in both mornings and nights. Because those minutes could have been used to sleep ten minutes longer. Returning to sleep may have looked like a good choice at the time but he couldn't risk it. The possibility of oversleeping was low but it was still there. He sat silently in his seat, listening in on the conversations everyone else had around him out of having no choice. His ears worked too well so the only way for him to not overhear their conversations would be to either leave the room or cut his ears off. But what would that accomplish besides being an unnecessary hassle for him? If they didn't want their conversations to be overheard they could either quiet down a little or not talk at all. It was just that easy. Nevertheless, he sat there, patiently waiting for their homeroom teacher to arrive and start cla-
"Yahallo Kotomine-kun."
'What in the...' his ears worked well, better than most actually so he was sure that he didn't hear wrong. He looked at the person that had said his name with his eyes as empty as they had first opened. It was the same girl that was supposed to be on cleaning duty with him from yesterday. Much like the names of his other classmates here he remembered her name as well. Yuigahama Yui was her name. Why was she talking to him? And what in the world was a 'Yahallo'?
"Thanks for letting me leave early yesterday. It was food poisoning. Sable is okay now." she smiled at him. She opened her mouth to continue
"What was that?" he suddenly asked, his voice even. Yuigahama knew little about Kotomine Hachiman. In fact, other than that one time he went to Karaoke with them and the times he had spoken up to inform their teacher of his presence in class they never saw him speak even.
"W-What?" she was confused, unsure of what he meant by 'that'.
"Yahallo." he replied. "What was that? What does it mean?" his question was born from mild curiosity yet his tone was flat, emotionless and even strict in a sense.
Yuigahama flinched back a little but answered. "W-Well it's a greeting. You know like English greeting 'Hello' and 'Yo'? Combine them together and you get Yahallo!" Now Yuigahama Yui was not the smartest tool in the shed, she had known and accepted that part of herself a long time ago. But she didn't need to be to see that her classmate, Kotomine Hachiman did not share the same enthusiasm she had in her 'Yahallo'. In fact he looked somewhat bemused even. That flat look alongside his facial scars made him look a little intimidating even.
"Yuigahama-san." He stared at her unblinkingly. "That is not an actual word nor any form of slang. Please refrain from butchering the English language like that. It is an insult to the person you are speaking to as it is to yourself." He admonished her without remorse.
Yuigahama reeled back before apologizing to him and proceeded to her seat with a frown.
"Ignoring that, Hello to you as well."
Yuigahama stopped as she looked back at him in mild shock. The frown on her face turned into a small smile.
With his lunch consumed Hachiman sat down on his desk then cracked his neck and massaged his sore muscles. He woke up, as some would put it, on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Though his question remained unanswered, his sleeping schedule had gotten back to normal about a week ago. That was a good. Especially because their Semester Finals had started at that time. Falling asleep during a test or even writing the incorrect answer despite knowing the correct answer would have been bad. But at least it was all over now. Their results should be posted up on the bulletin board by the time classes ended today.
"Hachiman!" feminine in everything but the area where gender is determined, Totsuka Saika walked up to him. He looked at his classmate and friend. "I heard we were going to group up for our field trip next long homeroom."
"Shouldn't you be wearing your school uniform instead of that right now Saika?" by Totsuka' request he addressed the silver haired boy by his given name.
"Oh you're right!" Totsuka looked surprised, as if he hadn't noticed he wasn't wearing what uniform till now. "I should go get changed before the bell rings." He quickly walked out of the classroom.
Upon his exit came in Hayama Hayato along with Ebina Hina. Hachiman paid them no attention. His phone, which was in vibration mode started buzzing. He pulled it out and checked the caller ID before accepting the call. "Good Afternoon Haruno. How are you?" With his eyes facing forward and ears focusing on the words Haruno spoke from the other side of the phone call, he was not able to notice Hayama glancing at him with wide eyes.
"What's wrong Hayato-kun?" Ebina, who was behind Hayama asked the taller teen. Hayama shook his head and proceeded to the rest of their clique.
Hachiman conversed with Haruno on the phone. The topic of her absence these recent dayss had come up. Turned out she was unable to come or call because of her exams which had started not to long ago and that even she needed to focus on studying to keep her grades up. Combine that along with her duties as the heiress to her father's company made it impossible to get much free time. The entire time Hachiman was unaware of Hayama listening in on his replies to Haruno. He hung up before Haruno who for some reason made a displeased sound when he did that.
"Oi Kotomine."
He blinked before looking at Kawasaki. "Yes Kawasaki-san?"
The buxom teen was used to his flat look by now. "My brother wants to talk to you about something." She saw him raise an eyebrow at her. "Something about his classmate. Said he would call you later today." Hachiman' brows furrowed but he still nodded at her.
-Service Club-
Hachiman quietly took a sip from his tea before placing the cup down and reading from his notebook. He had ranked thirty fourth in their overall year. Not a stellar result nor terrible as it wasn't the worst he ever ranked but not the best either. He was okay with the results. Considering the amount of time he even got to study since after Summer Camp it was rather surprising he didn't fail. Actually considering how 'eventful' these past few months have been it was a miracle he passed. Among other things of course.
'Hmm?' he looked at the other two in the room and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Our field trip to the Kyoto. What are your plans for it?" Yuigahama asked him. From her side, Yukinoshita peered at him as well. Both were curious about his answer.
"My plans?" He asked, Yuigahama nodded. "On the field trip?" Yukinoshita nodded this time. "I have no plans. I'm not going."
"What? Why?" Yuigahama was quick to ask. Though she wasn't the only one that was surprised with his answer.
"We need the signatures of our parents to be allowed to go. Mine didn't allow me to." That was a lie. In truth he couldn't go because he didn't have anymore sick days to spend this year. If he missed work he would be punished for it. And he'd rather not get a pay cut. Takeshi was a nice boss and according to some of the others at work, far nicer than a lot of other bosses they had seen, but even then there was a limit to the amount of things the older man could look away from. Not to mention winter was approaching. Winter was the time of the year they couldn't let go of workers even if they wanted. Had he the sick days left then he certainly would have gone. Kyoto was not a place he had ever been to and meeting new faces meant meeting people that might recognize the person he was before. But he couldn't go and he had to accept it.
"E-eh? Why not?" Yuigahama stammered. Hachiman could only shrug at her. He had no real answer for them. The girls seemed put off by his lousy answer.
"I'm certain I can convince them to let you come." surprisingly it was Yukinoshita that said that. Hachiman glanced at Yukinoshita.
"It's no use." even she can't convince people that didn't exist. "It's best for you to forget about it and make your own plans. There is no club request to deal with so it's better for you two to have 'fun' while you're there. No use dwelling over what you can't change." Normally they would argue. But his tone left no room for that. The atmosphere in the room metaphorically dampened which Hachiman found odd. Was his presence really that necessary in their field trip? Oh well, nothing to be done about it now.
Suddenly his phone started ringing, he pulled it out to look at the caller ID. It was a number that he did not recognize. He stood up. "Excuse me for a minute."
The girls look at his retreating form and shared a look. It was still rare to see him receive phone calls. Both were wondering who called him. One thinking of a way to subtly ask who the caller was.
"Who do you think that was, Yukinon?" Yuigahama asked.
"I do not know. Maybe it's that girl he met up with before the athletics festival." she guessed. Silence followed after her suggestion. It had been weeks but they still couldn't believe someone like Kotomine Hachiman could... would actually date someone. If it was possible to measure it then the emotional capacity he had displayed over the course of them knowing the boy could easily be counted with a single measuring cup. So the question remained in Yukinoshita' head. 'What kind of person would want to date Kotomine-kun?' Unknown to her, Yuigahama was pondering a similar question.
"Hah. Maybe..." Yuigahama agreed nervously. "... Do you think they're gonna go out for another date today?" Yukinoshita had no answer for that.
The door to the Service Club slid open and in came Hachiman. But something was different about him. He looked at them for a couple of seconds before proceeding to the chair he was sitting on before he left and pulled his bag up. "I must leave." they were used to the his voice being even, but this was different. There was an odd weight behind them. Something neither of the two expected. He didn't elaborate further as he started packing his things in haste. Well, it was 'haste' was an overstatement but compared to his normal pace the word somehow fit.
"You can't leave yet there is still some time left." Yukinoshita' protest was ignored as the boy packed his things and left. There were no loud sounds of footsteps as he exited meaning he wasn't running. So at least he wasn't breaking any school rules by his rush to his 'date'.
The room was silent after his departure. Yukinoshita didn't know what to say. She looked at Yuigahama who was fidgeting visibly while glancing at the window. Her thoughts were quite obvious. "Want to follow him?" The idea of basically stalking someone did not appeal to her though she did admit that her curiosity was greater than it had ever been before. Ultimately that curiosity along with the look on Yuigahama' face was enough for her to cave. 'I am getting soft.' ... She was unsure if that was a bad thing.
The two girls quickly packed their things and rushed out. Yuigahama went out of the building before Yukinoshita who had to hand in the key to the club room to their club advisor. The pinkette managed to catch a glimpse of Hachiman as he rode his bicycle out of the main gates. Of course following him on foot was impossible. So Yuigahama waited for Yukinoshita to come out.
"He went that way." Yuigahama pointed the direction she saw Hachiman go.
"How predictable." Yukinoshita was almost disappointed. Almost. "Saizeriya then. My driver should be arriving any moment now." And her driver did. They entered the vehicle. At that same time, a single pair of legs stood in front of the Service Club and knocked. Completely unaware no one was inside.
-Saizeriya-
The girls entered the family restaurant, looking as casual as they could be even though they were technically committing a crime. A quick look around was enough for them to spot Hachiman. Said boy was sitting in a booth. There was no one with him though. But Hachiman didn't look bothered. They saw him pull out his phone and put it back. By the looks of it, he hadn't noticed them yet.
"There's an empty booth over there." Yuigahama pointed out. It wasn't too far away from the booth Hachiman was sitting on so that was fortunate. It should also be just close enough for them to overhear the conversations he would have on his date.
"Excuse me."
An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind them. A shiver crawled up their spines simultaneously. The two teenagers parted and looked behind. But before they could take a good look at the man's face he had already moved passed them. From what they could see from their current angle. The man was tall. Taller than the average Japanese man. Six feet tall at the very least. If not taller.
They heard the man say something but they couldn't quite tell exactly what. Maybe they misheard it?
"A foreigner?" Yuigahama heard her friend mutter. She looked at said foreigner. He was a tall man with near shoulder length dark hair and was wearing a... robe? It was way to long to be a shirt. Both her and Yukinoshita' brows furrowed when the foreigner stopped in front of Hachiman' booth. Hachiman looked up at the man then wordlessly stood up and bowed respectfully. Then they sat down on the booth Hachiman was in till now. The girls followed their example and sat down on the empty booth they spotted earlier.
"Who do you think that is?" Yuigahama asked her companion.
"I... am not sure." Yukinoshita couldn't even haphazard a guess. From their angle they couldn't see the stranger' face. They could see Hachiman' face though. His face remained unchanged but he kept staring at the taller man without blinking.
"Are you ready to order miss?" the waitress whom they hadn't noticed till now asked them. The girls, not expecting the sudden question from an outsider almost jumped. Yukinoshita was first to recover.
"We haven't decided yet." she replied politely then picked up a menu. Yuigahama did the same with a nervous laugh. They peered at their target(s) from above the menu. It seemed that Hachiman had yet to say anything as he remained in the same position he was before the waitress came and interrupted their investigation. He didn't blink either. The waitress had gone up to the duo of men and asked for their orders but after the second she did, she looked very uncomfortable. From their angle they were able to see Hachiman and the unknown man stare at the woman without blinking even once. They didn't say it out loud but even they found it to be creepy and they had known Hachiman for quite some time now. The waitress left them alone, whether she took their order or not the girls couldn't tell.
Hachiman returned to looking at the man sitting across him. And was visibly seen taking a deep breath. He said something to the older man then waited for the older man to respond. Presumably the older man responded with something because Hachiman blinked in confusion then looked down. Whether it was out of dejection or contemplation they couldn't tell. It was never easy to deduct what their only male club mate was thinking about. He looked up and spoke again.
"I can't hear them." Yuigahama whispered to Yukinoshita. Yukinoshita didn't respond for a minute as the two men they were spying on conversed. Her shoulders slumped as she looked at Yuigahama and shook her head.
"I can not hear anything either." she replied afterwards. Both found it odd, they weren't close enough to hear everything but they should at least be able to make out a word or two of what they were talking about. "But at least we can now be certain he isn't on a date." That was obvious considering Hachiman' previous statements of desiring certain things from the womanly body. Yuigahama was a little relieved. Her relief showed on her face which made Yukinoshita raise an eyebrow.
"Yuigahama-san." her name being called out made her perk up. "Do you perhaps... like Kotomine-kun?"
Yuigahama' face heated up. "W-what? No! I mean... I like him but not like him, you know?" she denied instantly. It was a terrible lie that Yukinoshita saw through with ease.
"You can be honest with me Yuigahama-san. I'm your friend remember?" Yukinoshita smiled at her. Her words made Yuigahama' eyes widen before a smile presented itself on her face. Despite their friendly behavior towards each other Yukinoshita had never once called her a friend. Till now at least.
"... Maybe a little." Yuigahama admitted.
"I can't quite say I don't see what you see in him." Yuigahama was not surprised by that. She knew that her friend too had a cru-. "However I find myself hard pressed to accept that as enough a reason to like someone in that manner." That surprised Yuigahama.
"R-Really Yukinon?" Yuigahama blinked in confusion. "But... But I thought you liked him too."
Now it was Yukinoshita' turn to be confused. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, you've always been a little mean to him. Some girls show affection like that." that answer made Yukinoshita deadpan at her.
"Yuigahama-san... I am not some generic elementary school bully that thinks hurting the person I like would get his attention." Yukinoshita' deadpanning expression faded. A sigh came out of her. "I had been...'mean' as you put it to him in the past because I believed him to be a narcissist. Those kind of people need to be constantly reminded of their flaws lest they let their egos get to their heads and they do something they regret and bring others down with them." She shook her head. "I do not think I can ever like someone like Kotomine-kun. Not like that anyway."
Yuigahama let out a sigh in relief once again. She was glad that she didn't have to go against her friend for his affection. Especially considering she didn't think she had the ability to actually beat her to begin with. "Sorry. I guess I jumped to conclusions."
"That's okay. I have recently learned it's rather easy to do that." Yukinoshita was not one for comforting others, seeing as how she hadn't had a friend to do that for in many years. She bumped her shoulder against Yuigahama' lightly as a gesture to which Yuigahama giggled. "Speaking of Kotomine-kun. We should probably leave. It's clear this isn't a date and we shouldn't spy on him any longer." after all, that's why they were here in the first place. Since he wasn't here for a date this was clearly a personal matter. Yuigahama looked towards the boy in question.
"What is he doing?" Yuigahama asked. Yukinoshita followed her gaze and quirked an eyebrow.
Currently Kotomine Hachiman had both his eyes closed. His normally stoic face had the barest of resemblance to concentration. His eyes suddenly opened with his chest visibly puffed out and shoulders broadened. He had taken a deep breath in. Two seconds later his body relaxed and he said something to the man sitting across him. Once again, they couldn't quite hear what was being said. Not even hushed whispers or barely distinguishable words. They saw the older man lifting up his right arm and placing it on the table before putting it back down. The girls couldn't tell what the point of that was. Then Hachiman looked out the window and said something causing the man to look out the window as well.
The waitress returned to their table and asked if they had decided yet. Yuigahama hadn't but Yukinoshita ordered for both of them. Leave it to Yukinoshita to remember that they actually needed to order. "Looks like we're stuck here a little longer." they could only hope Hachiman wouldn't look towards their direction. But knowing him and his one track mind, so long as they minded their business and didn't say anything to him, even if he did notice them he was likely to ignore them and leave. The man stood up. Hachiman following suit and bowing once again to the man. Hachiman didn't say anything even as the man turned to leave. The girls hid their faces behind the menus again. Since they were closer to the entrance of the family restaurant the man would have to come towards their direction in order to leave. And since Hachiman was still staring at the man he might end up seeing them as well.
"Hah."
They heard the sound of a disappointed sigh come from the man but didn't dare look up for some reason. Their hearts pounded in their chest. Was it from the fear of being caught spying on someone or something else entirely they didn't know. The sound of the doors opening and closing came to their ears. They dropped their menus and released the breath they didn't realize they were holding.
"Have you two ordered yet?"
They screamed in terror, both suddenly clinging on to the other for safety.
"...?" Hachiman who was now sitting across the two girls looked at them questioningly. He was obviously wondering why they screamed like that. The two separated, a shade of pink flashed across their faces from the embarrassment.
"Is everything alright here?" the waitress returned with their orders and placed them in front of the girls. In truth neither Yukinoshita nor Yuigahama were hungry. But fortunately Yukinoshita only choose drinks. A strawberry sunrise for Yukinoshita and a chocolate milkshake for Yuigahama. "Here's your order." She even placed an Iced Coffee in front of Hachiman.
"Yes. Sorry for the inconvenience." Hachiman told the woman who bowed at them before returning to do her own thing. Hachiman said nothing for a moment before giving the girls with a look.
He sat silently, waiting for them to start. To explain themselves.
"Ko-Kotomine-kun. Fancy meeting you here." Surprisingly it was Yukinoshita that stuttered. 'This is why I can never see him in that manner.' Yukinoshita swallowed the lump in her throat that had formed. "We were following you." Yuigahama looked at her friend incredulously.
"And you were following me because?" he asked then took a sip from his ice coffee. He vaguely remembered them telling him that 'following people' was an invasion of privacy and was immoral.
Yuigahama' shoulders fell dejectedly. It was no use to hide it at this point. "We thought you were on a date and wanted to see your girlfriend."
Hachiman' brows furrowed. "Date? Girlfriend? What are you two talking about? I haven't gone on a date nor had a girlfriend since middle school."
"But you said you were going to grab a cup of coffee with a girl you knew from middle school last month before the Athletics Festival." Yukinoshita responded.
Hachiman blinked twice. "I was... unaware two individuals of the opposite sex catching up with one another over a cup of coffee was also considered a date. I was told there was more to it than just that. That meeting was not under the subtext of a romantic pursuit. I apologize for causing a misunderstanding." he idly made a mental note to update his notebook then... Now that he thought about it, how long had it been since he opened that little thing again?
"Ah nonono. No need to apologize Kotomine-kun. We just wanted to see who you were meeting is all." Yuigahama said. "If anything it should be me that's apologizing."
"She's right. We were in the wrong here Kotomine-kun." Yukinoshita glanced at Yuigahama for what she said. Her expression suddenly changed to something more akin to nervousness. "But since you are already here. Would you tell us who that person was?" That man, whoever he was, frightened her without even looking or saying a word to her. It wasn't that she was angry over that. Just that... something inside her. A sixth sense of sorts told her that she should avoid that man at all costs.
"..." Hachiman kept his silence for a full minute as he kept wondering what to tell them. "That man... He is a relative of mine." the lie rolled off his tongue with ease. Just because he didn't normally lie didn't necessarily mean he didn't know how to. And it helped that his lies were never caught unless that lie was looked deeper into. Haruno said it was something about the way he normally talked. To this day he didn't really understand what she meant by that.
"Is... that so." Yukinoshita responded, she would have had an easier time believing him if he hadn't taken an entire minute to answer.
"Yes." this time there was no delay. "A distant relative." It was odd really. Hachiman knew that was not true. He knew it was a lie and knew that he had no familial connection to that man. Yet still he felt an odd kinship with him. 'Is this what they call a 'bond'?' No, that shouldn't be possible. For if he thought about it, he had talked to that man only a handful of times over the course of the time they had known each other. And even then it was mostly about finances and his 'search'. Though it did always confuse him how the man always knew so much about Hachiman' day to day life.
"Distant relative you say? What did he want with you?" Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow. Not at Hachiman, but at herself. Her eyes slightly widened. She was surprised at how she asked such a personal question. Prying into personal matters of another was not something she did. Not usually anyway. She needed to find a way to make it look like she wasn't prying. "Was it about you not going to the trip to Kyoto?" Yuigahama perked up when she heard that.
"No." Hachiman' reply caused Yuigahama to deflate. "He just came to ask of the things I have been up to lately." That was not a lie. His 'relative' did come for that reason. But there was more to it, not that he was going to tell them. And he couldn't tell them even if he wanted to, his 'relative' had told him not to. "There was not much to talk about, so he left."
"Ah." Yukinoshita nodded, there wasn't anything she could say to that.
"Are you sure you can't come Kotomine-kun?" Yuigahama suddenly returned to the conversation. When his eyes landed on hers she looked away, her cheeks flushing pink. "I-I mean I heard Kyoto is a great for sightseeing and stuff. If you came then we could have... gone... together! The three of us I mean!" she stuttered.
Yukinoshita looked at Yuigahama with slightly widened eyes. 'She might as well just confess her feelings already.' Yuigahama basically did confess in indirectly. Although, it did intrigue her as to why her friend became so straight forward about her feelings all of a sudden. 'Is it because... of me?' Had Yuigahama been holding back this entire time for her? She felt both flattered and... saddened by that revaluation. She internally frowned. Under the table, her palm grasped the helm of her skirt tighter.
Hachiman didn't understand why Yuigahama was so insistent on his presence at the trip. He shook his head. "I'm sorry." There was nothing that could be done. Besides, he was needed somewhere else tomorrow. Not that he could tell them about it.
Yuigahama' shoulders slumped, visibly dejected at his refusal. "A-Ah. Too bad then."
From the corner of her eye, Yukinoshita noticed Yuigahama' saddened expression. A plan formulated in her mind. "Then perhaps to make up for it we could go somewhere after the Kyoto trip." The other two in the booth looked at her questioningly. "It will not be the same. But it would be the next best thing wouldn't you agree?" Well. Not quite. Since she wasn't intending to show. But they didn't know that. "How does that sound?"
Yuigahama, who didn't know of Yukinoshita' plan, cheered up a little. "That's a great idea! What do you say Kotomine-kun? Could you spare a weekend for us?"
'Very insistent.' Hachiman looked at Yuigahama and then at Yukinoshita with his stoic face. Several seconds went by, the silence began to concern the girls. He closed his eyes and nodded. "Alright then." He was missing something here, that much he was sure of it. He had an a vague idea though, but he was not one to jump to conclusions without all the facts. Nevertheless, He didn't have anything to do next weekend. And with his new living arrangements he didn't have to worry about cleaning his abode as much as he once did. "Where will we be going?"
Yukinoshita blinked. In truth, she wasn't sure. Romance hadn't interested her since she was a child so she had little understanding of the topic. But she did have some knowledge in the art of courtship. Mainly from the many novels she read now and then. "How does the Zoo sound?" the moment she suggested it, she remembered something. Something she had forgotten. Her carelessness astonished her to untold levels. Especially because the Zoo, for a short period of time, had- . "I heard that they would be allowed to exhibit the Pandas that arrived at their Zoo recently. From what I gather the Pandas would be taken back to Tokyo next Sunday morning." She had to bite back the wince as the words 'Pandas' and 'taken back' came out of her lips.
Problem was that since Pandas were very popular in Japan, the lines for actually seeing the pandas were massive. She had heard word that it would often over an hour to see the pandas in Tokyo. If the lines were anything like that here than even if she did go to the Zoo on a school day, by the time she would get even close to the panda exhibit, the zoo would close. She hadn't gotten to seen them yet! And they would be gone soon! The only surefire way for her to get a chance to see them would be if she went on... Saturday. The same day she had setup Yuigahama' date with Hachiman. The date that she wasn't planning to intrude on. Till now... 'No! No!'... She internally sighed. 'What a conundrum.'
"I have no problems with that." Hachiman agreed.
"G-Great! Though Yuigahama had yet to know of Yukinoshita' plan she was still happy with the turn of events. It was rare for them to see Hachiman outside of school. To her, even after all these months, the fact that they knew so little of him had always bothered her. 'Maybe I can use this chance to make him open up.'
Hachiman finished the remainder of his drink. "If that's all I shall be leaving then."
"Okay! Bye Kotomine-kun!" Yuigahama spoke towards his retreating form. "I'll see you in class on Thursday! Instead of responding verbally he raised an arm to let them know he acknowledge her words.
When Hachiman exited the building Yukinoshita turned to Yuigahama. "Yuigahama-san. Listen... About that trip to the zoo..."
All in all, save for those few minutes that man was here for, this day was an uneventful day. Then again, it wasn't over yet. There was still a couple of hours left till midnight. Currently Kotomine Hachiman was at work. Doing the thing he normally did while at work.
"Yo kid. Help me out over here." came the call for aid from one of his coworkers. An average sized man with dark blue hair and emerald green eyes. His name was Kojiro. He was standing between two large shelves that were placed close together. In front of the man was a decently sized box and by the looks of it, it was too heavy for him to carry by himself. Hachiman went over to the man and knelt in front of the box.
"Ready?" He asked and Hachiman nodded and grabbed the box along with the man.
The man in front of him grunted in annoyance. "I swear I'm gonna punch the moron that put this thing here. Don't they know to not put heavy things like these in narrow places? Can't even get the Pallet Jack in here" Hachiman didn't respond to that declaration with words and just nodded along. He didn't want to get punched after all. "Just help me pull this out of this narrow space."
Hachiman nodded. The two of them steadily walked out of the narrow space. Hachiman backpedaling and the older man slowly marching forward. Suddenly the sound of a ringtone blared. Due to the lack of sound prior and the current hour itself, the entire warehouse echoed. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at where the sound was coming from. The two of them stopped as well. The older man stared at Hachiman, from whom the sound was coming from, with an annoyed glare. For it was his cell that was ringing. Hachiman didn't respond. He just stood there in silence, though his left brow did twitch briefly. The ringing ceased and the two continued moving.
After helping the man with his task, Hachiman decided to see who the caller was. He went outside with the pretense of getting some 'fresh air' and pulled out the device. The caller was...
... he had no clue who this number belonged to. By the looks of it, it was not a commercial number. "A wrong number?" he muttered while staring blankly at the caller. It looked like a telephone number though, not that of cellular phone. With a shake of his head he put the device back into his pants pocket and turned around.
Only to have his phone ring again.
Hachiman was certain that most people would have gotten mad by now. Unfortunately he wasn't like most people. He pulled the device out. Again. And checked the caller ID. Again. It was the same one from before. Raising a brow, he accepted the call.
"Aniki!"
'Ani-what?' he blinked a couple of times. When the word properly registered in his head he blinked in confusion. Who called him that? No one as far as he could remember. 'Definitely wrong number.' His spoke. "Sorry, wrong number."
"No, Wait! It's me, Kawasaki Taishi."
"Kawasaki Taishi?" he parroted, taking a moment to remember that name. "Kawasaki Saki's little brother?"
"Yes!" the boy exclaimed. "I needed to talk to you about something. Nee-chan probably told you about this earlier, right? Do you have some time?"
The answer to that was yes but honestly he couldn't care less about what the boy wanted to talk about. He checked the time, it was 10:30 PM. "Shouldn't you be in bed right now?" He asked Taishi. Taishi responded to his question with a yes.
"I was going to bed but then I remembered that I was supposed to call you." Taishi continued with a nervous chuckle. "Is this a bad time? I really need to talk to you." Hachiman closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose."It's about Komachi."
Suddenly, to Kotomine Hachiman, every word that was about to come out of Taishi' mouth felt like they were more important than his very livelihood. "I see... Go on."
"She stopped coming to class about a week after that day at the festival. Even before she stopped coming she just had this... look on her. I'm not sure how to describe it. Sensei said her parents informed him that she was sick but..." the younger boy trailed.
"That was over a week ago." Hachiman finished for the younger boy. Without even realizing it, he frowned. 'To miss that many days of school. Her illness must be severe.' there was a weight in his chest that Hachiman couldn't quite describe.
"Y-Yes! I went over to her house the other day to give her the homework she missed along with some notes but no one answered, so I thought there was no one home." Taishi explained further.
"Her parents often work till late night." Hachiman surprised himself by that answer of his. He couldn't even remember Kawasaki Taishi' name nor voice. Taishi, whom he had talked to no more than a month ago. Yet he still remembered that conversation with Hikigaya Komachi which happened, what?, nearly two months ago? Maybe more?"So her house is usually empty. Save for her."
"I... didn't know that..." suddenly Taishi' voice made him sound uncertain. "Wait, doesn't that mean she was home? Is she skipping school because of... me? Do you think she's... ignoring me? Was it something I did?"
Hachiman had no clue what Taishi was being insecure about. Was that a normal people thing? No, wait. He vaguely remembered hearing something similar in the past. Co-incidentally, what he remembered also had a boy and a girl involved. And that boy had a crush on that girl. "Perhaps, I wouldn't know." He heard the boy gulp at his respond. There was an odd form of 'pleasure' in him when he heard it. Which was odd, considering the boy didn't sound like he was in any form of 'despair'. Now for what reason could he have felt that small spark of 'pleasure'? "And this all relates to me... how?"
"You two seemed really... um... close back at the festival Aniki. I kind of hoped you knew anything about it." Taishi sounded a little uncomfortable when he said the word 'close' back there.
"I do not know what you mean." Hachiman answered. "And as for me knowing anything about her recent behavior. No. I didn't even know until you just told me about it."
"O-Oh." Taishi sighed. "Thanks anyway. Sorry for wasting your time Aniki."
"Don't worry about it." Hachiman wasn't upset over the time lost. Always try to help those that are younger than you. As long as it is within reason. That was what Satoshi and Takeshi once told him. '... Does that apply to bugs as well?' A thought for another time. He hung up first then went back inside the warehouse.
-Chapter End-
Hello from the other siiiiiiide!
Sorry, couldn't resist. Been a while eh? I got back from my 'trip' about two weeks ago and have been engulfed by some stuff since then. But I'm back now so I'll be able to churn out chapters again.
(P.S: If you started reading this fanfic after November 2021 then just skip this and read the bonus scene+omake)
Now, I have some news. Sort of important but not necessarily(again, feel free to just skip to the bonus Scene+omake if you want to). You see, I've noticed something. Or more specifically, remembered something. Thing is, I screwed up. We don't have an actual timeline for Oregairu but we can assume that the events of Oregairu happened at the early to mid 2010s due to The Oregairu(LN) originally coming out at 2011. While the events of Fate(Zero and then Stay/Night) happened at 1994 and 2004 respectively. Therefore certain things just won't match because of the vast differences of how things were in 2001(that's the year the events of this fanfic is taking place) and in 2010s. So you're probably wondering, what does this mean for this fanfic?
For the most part? Not much really(what, did you think I was gonna abandon/delete this and start over? I've read fanfics like that in that past. The writers say something like 'I dont like the way I wrote this' or 'I made a mistake' and then they reboot it... Let's just say I was less than pleased during those moments cause more often then not those 'mistake' fanfics were pretty well written.). It's just that, as a guy that gets confused easily and is very adamant about keeping the 'timeline' of things easy to understand. I've been literally haunted by the need to 'fix' some things of the previous chapters since I realized it. All in all, I'll be editing the previous chapters. Changing small things and using this chance to fix some spelling errors I made in the past as well. What the end result will become... I have no idea. It might get better or it might get worse. The next chapter won't be delayed by this though. Expect it by the end of October along with the 'revamped' chapters. (Rest assured, I'll be 'revamping' the previous chapters in a way that won't require you to re-read this from the first chapter. In reality this is more for me than you guys. Just thought I should let you know in case any of you decided to re-read from the beginning and get confused/mad.)
Bonus Scene(Title: Not a toy.)(Warning: Semi-mature theme ahead)
Kotomine Hachiman entered his shared apartment. Currently it was passed midnight. And all he wanted to do was just have dinner and go to bed. There was light in the living room. 'Is she still awake? At this hour?'
The answer was a resounding no. When he entered the living room he was met with the sight of his esteemed teacher in a state of dress unfit for a woman that lived with a male roommate. "She got drunk and forgot I lived here again." This had happened before, much to his chagrin. It was one of the reason why he needed an 'escort' so soon after the incident with Kawasaki and her little sister. There was something else in the room. Or more specifically, on the floor. Hachiman was able to notice it only because of the light from the television.
It was a... zucchini? 'What's this doing here?' he grasped the vegetable.
His brows furrowed in confusion. "What?" he whispered. The vegetable was... sticky?... He blinked twice as things became obvious... Almost painfully so. The grip he had on it loosened but it did not fall from his grasp. His torso turned to the sleeping woman in mild annoyance. "This is food..." of course the woman didn't respond. Her soft snores reached his ears. "Not a toy." once again, he was met with silence. A thought came to him. One so fiendish that he was sure it would make Haruno proud... Or laugh uncontrollably. "... This is going into your breakfast this the morning."
Omake (Title: Trust me, I'm him.)
He stared at her. His dead fish eyes not leaving her jittery form. "So... what do you think?" she asked him. Yet he still remained silent and unblinking for several moments.
"So, the Yukinoshita-san of your world has claimed the heart of the Hikigaya Hachiman of your world. But you are still in love with him and want him to return your feelings." Kotomine Hachiman surmised. "Am I correct so far Yuigahama-san?"
"Y-Yes." Yuigahama nodded. Though she did not feel right about attempting to take the boyfriend of her best friend she still liked that version of Hachiman.
"And you've come to me in order to get some advice on how to win his favor." KH said, crossing his arms across his chest. How the girl had come to him nor why she thought someone like him could be of any assistance he did not know. But she was here now and was likely not to leave till he gave her an answer.
"Yes!" this time, her resolve was stronger. KH raised a brow at her before sighing.
'The original version of me sure is living the life.' compared to KH, HH had only been hospitalized once and had a normal life. Had Normal emotions. Nearly half a dozen love interests and even had his sense of taste working in full capacity... If KH were to say that the words that were about to come out of his lips were not spoken from jealousy then he would be lying.
-Several Minutes Later-
Yuigahama was conflicted. "Are-Are you sure about this? I'm not doubting you but it sounds kind of..." she trailed. Not sure where to begin about the 'advice' KH gave her. She eyed the riding crop KH' presented her wearily.
"When Yukinoshita-san and Hikigaya Hachiman-san first met they had traded words of henious nature for no reason. And through such means she had eventually captured his heart. If you were to do the same then surely you would have been in her position right now." KH internally smirked. Haruno was a really bad influence on him. "But since she is his current girlfriend you'll have to do something that is similar but a little... more." KH paused. "It'll work. Trust me, I'm him."
Yuigahama reached for the riding crop and grasped it with both hands. She took it and gave KH one last look before turning around and leaving.
"Aim for his ass! He'll love that!" For a moment KH actually believed that, after all HH still let his girlfriend insult him on a daily bases, though lacking the malice they once had, insults were still insults. Who's to say HH wasn't a closet masochist? KH chuckled to himself. "The original Kawasaki-san was right. All of you are retards."