I've been thinking how to structure out this story so I decided to use a different style of multiple short stories in a chapter, one connecting to the other. If it works and you guys like it, then I will continue writing it that way. If it doesn't, then I'll just use the same style as I did before, long chapters.
He is no Longer There
"Komachi."
"Yes, Gomi-chan?"
"You're the best imouto in the world."
"And Komachi will always be kind towards Gomi-chan! Ah, that scored me a lot of points!"
"Not as much as I did."
"Bleh! I scored more!"
"Alright, Komachi. You scored more."
The smile he had, she never knew how special it was. The kind expression adorned to his face, how he softly ruffled her hair as he pats her, his praises...all of himself. She never knew how special she was to have someone like him in her life.
And now, he's-
"Komachi." She opened her eyes, drowsiness still persists as she rubbed her eyes. "Come on, it's time to pick up your brother. He'll be happy to see you."
Komachi wanted to say something, but she didn't. Because she was hoping that was the case with...how her brother is now. After all, amongst the Hikigaya, Komachi is the brightest and the most naïve due to her more pleasant social life and being the youngest.
So when Hachiman one day wakes up and screaming as if he was about to be killed, it shattered the reality Komachi once had. Her brother, not even recognizing her and looked so...horrified, it was a very foreign look for her.
Komachi's world were torn apart when, as she got into his room, he attacked her and choked her. The animalistic yet desperate look on his face as he strangled her until he realized that Komachi wasn't fighting and that tears formed in her eyes. He stopped, as if his sanity returned before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and fainted.
She had to call both her parents and ambulance.
The few days after that they found out that Hachiman had some sort of traumatic experience strong enough to cause survival instincts deep within him to sprout forth. It was so traumatic he also received amnesia, he didn't remember any of his family or places. All he remember were moon, and a dark place in which name he never mentioned. It was a PTSD so traumatic it was unheard of.
And the apparent weapon he had which was a katana of foreign design. He held it tight, never wanting to let it go and it was quite a lucky stroke for anyone who had to take care of him to not have him abandon it...or take it from his being. Because the doctor also mentioned he could easily prone to violence to anything he deems a threat.
The katana he held was...a pillar of support for his collapsing mental health.
So the doctor had therapy to help with his case.
Though, it may proved to be far difficult with his current mental state. But it took him months to be relaxed and even then he was still quite tense. Hachiman would slowly learn that not everything was against him in the world, at least he seem he was learning it. He still kept his katana but it was plastered by his side.
The therapy was going well, as well as it could be which frankly was not by much.
A few months had passed by and the doctor deemed Hachiman to be stable enough mentally to walk in society. Komachi and her parents waited as Hachiman was discharged from the ward.
Komachi didn't know what she was expecting, she wanted to see those eyes which although seem dead still had light. But what greeted her were the same dead and lifeless eyes devoid of any emotions aside from unfathomable contempt towards the world.
He was walking towards them accompanied by a nurse who seem tense yet happy.
He had the katana on his side, like a samurai. His eyes trailed side to side, seemingly taking in his environments and looks as though he was trying to predict ambush of some kind. Not before long, his eyes landed on her and immediately, Komachi had this instinct that made her hop towards her father and held his sleeves, scared.
He stood before them, he might not seem like it, but his eyes had traces of unfamiliarity that the Hikigaya patriarch noticed. He did not know them, they don't even seem familiar to him. He did not recognized them.
"Otou-sama, Okaa-sama.[1]" He greeted, the mother widened her eyes. "I'm back."
Komachi's eyes widened, she finally realized.
"Welcome back, Hachiman." The parents force out a smile. "Let's go home."
"..." Hachiman at the mention of home, somehow had this nostalgic look into his eyes. "Yes, of course."
She finally realized that the Hachiman, the older brother she loved...
"May I find my worth in the waking world..." He chanted quietly, almost as if he was in a trance.
He was gone.
In Between Silence and Blood
The waking world is a strange place.
Hachiman had that thought over and over again.
It was indeed a strange place.
There were no mythical properties to speak of, and the lack of horrors or blood or beasts at all was a foreign concept to him. But he did no let his guard down because those...those things can only be perceived by those who embraced madness.
Here, the madness he had embraced was slowly dissipating thanks to the therapy sessions he had been attending but not by much. Still, even when he first awoke in the hospital, he could not see anything. The lack of those creatures greatly concerned him. What games are they playing? Were they watching him from afar? Are they waiting for him to let his guard down?
He couldn't risk it.
And the constant images of the dark alleys of Yharnam and its inhabitant haunted him still.
He could still hear the screams, the howls of beasts, the shouts of scared men and the roars of the horrors.
It was still fresh in his mind.
Even after all these months.
The time he spent in Yharnam was merely one night yet the experiences he had eclipses everything. It was unforgettable, a huge burden weighing on his mind, on his body, his being. This...is a curse.
Yet, despite all the experiences he had, he still finds the waking world to be a strange place.
For a learning institute or a school was not as bad as he thought. Byrgenwerth has really twisted his perspective on learning institutes.
There were quite a bit of students laying around still...sane, and not hostile hunters hungry for subjects. Or slime scholars for that matter. It was strange to see his peers going around casually and talk peacefully, somewhat. He could still sense some sort of unknown hostility in the air but compared to what he felt in Yharnam, this was nonexistent.
But his peers are avoiding him he noticed.
He could not blame them, he was carrying Chikage beside him which although covered with a clothing still is strange for them.
But Hachiman could not care less.
He only thinks of his own safety.
"Hikigaya-kun." The teacher snaps Hachiman out of his trance.
He blinks and stared blankly at his teacher, "Yes, sensei?"
"Have you been listening to my lectures?" The teacher asked.
It might not seem like it but Hachiman did listen, and compared to the knowledge and mind-blasting grimoires in Yharnam, the lecture was just a simple text he memorized just from hearing it once.
"Yes." Hachiman replied.
"Then solve this problem."
Stares.
A lot of them.
He quickly took glances at those peering eyes and found out that nearly everyone around him was staring at him with some sort of expectation. He recognized those expectant looks, they were expecting him to fail.
It was the same as the ones he received in Yharnam but also different. Different in a way that it feels like they were mocking him for something...superficial than actual aspect like strength or being an outsider.
He did not like that look.
Hachiman went ahead and took the chalk from the teacher, Chikage still by his side as he writes the answer to the question the teacher posed rather easily too. The teacher look in awe as Hachiman did not just wrote the answer but also wrote every possible way to solve the answer as well.
He placed the chalk down and went back to his seat quietly.
Those looks died and was replaced with confusion and awe.
"A-Ahem. Well done, Hikigaya-kun."
Hachiman merely replied with a nod.
"What's with that? Is he arrogant?"
"Tch, what a nerd."
"Does he think he's cool or something?"
Small whispers, he could hear them. It was not the same hostility, but they held some sort of contempt towards him and because of superficial reasoning too. How does one held dislike towards someone without it actually being a real thing?
A question not worth answering.
"Hikigaya."
Hachiman still looking blankly right in front of him merely rolled his eyes to his left, seeing the girl that was to be honest too nice for his taste calling him. She had been bothering him these past few days. Before that, no one really bothered him as he was mostly left alone unless it had something to do with schoolwork.
"..." Hachiman only gave silence.
The girl only smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Good job."
That was it?
She was just giving him a small congrats?
Weird.
Hachiman nods before looking back to his front. He was not interested in getting intimate with anyone, he learn that lesson the hard way in Yharnam when a girl his age he tried to save were devoured by a beast right in front of him. Had it not been for the Good Hunter, one of the newest arrivals in Yharnam like him, Hachiman would've died trying to save someone whose fate was sealed.
Now thinking about it, did he survived the night of the hunt too?
"Don't be like that, we're friends aren't we?" She said to which he ignored.
Friends?
They barely talked.
And she talked to him due to some game she lost with her friends so her trying to interact with him felt more obligatory and fake than the lies told by the Healing Church with their "miracles".
A weird girl who unlike him followed her surroundings rather than actively going against it. Being one with Yharnam means becoming a beast, and a beast is a mindless creature. This weird girl to him is also mindless, why would she go out of her way to listen those around her when they give nothing in return?
It's similar to succumbing to the crave for pure violence inside, it would only lead to her downfall.
Hachiman nods again. He couldn't really face her as the lecture was far more interesting than whatever game she was playing with him. This kindness she showed to him was not real, none of it was real. And he did not like that at all.
Hachiman widens his eyes for a split second before closing it quickly, taking a sharp inhale and controlling his breathing. It was coming back, the flashes of the sights he saw in Yharnam. The experience, brand as new. His lips quivered as he exhaled.
Not good.
The weekly therapy sessions were not enough for him to think straight.
This girl just caused him to have flashbacks which is not good.
He could be extremely violent when those flashbacks occurred.
"Sensei." Hachiman raised his hand.
"Hikigaya-kun? Is something the matter?"
"I'm not feeling well, can I go to the nurse's office?" Hachiman asked, he needed to be alone for a brief period of time.
"Ah, I see. Very well, you can go."
After what Hachiman did, the teacher couldn't possibly stop Hachiman. He is quite a smart student if what he did earlier was anything to indicate. It's only been a few months since he attended school and his grades weren't actually clear since there were no exams in between those times.
"Thank you, sensei."
He stood up-
"Hikigaya, are you alright? What's up with you all of the sudden?" The girl asked, causing him to flare his nose.
"Orimoto, I just need to sleep for a bit. The headache will go." Hachiman replied, he really doesn't want to interact further with the girl.
"I see, I'll visit you later then."
I wish you don't.
Hachiman just quickly went out and head towards the nurse's office. He grabbed Chikage and held it onto his being, controlling his breathing as he made his way through. This was one of the ways he used to calm himself down when he has those flashbacks.
A hunter always hunts.
He gnawed his teeth together, what an unpleasant memory.
When he arrived at the nurse's office, he was glad that the nurse wasn't there so he could just go on ahead and rest on one of the beds but not before closing the curtains to enclose himself from the outside.
He climbed onto the bed, and sat, hugging both his knees and Chikage. He closed his eyes, the silence began sinking into his ears. Not before long, he could hear it. Home, the violins serenading in the background and a sense of security kicks in.
The Hunter's Dream.
A place where he could actually breathe.
Nowhere else is as safe.
Not even the waking world.
They are always watching.
"I should get some rest." Hachiman commented once he calmed down.
With the Chikage still close to his chest, he lay his back onto the bed and shut his eyes.
Hikigaya Hachiman is an Anomaly
Orimoto Kaori is a nice girl.
Everyone knows this, even herself.
And everyone likes her, she puts in effort to make it so she doesn't get hated by her female peers due to the male attention she get from being popular.
However, the one known as Hikigaya Hachiman was an anomaly to her. For while he knows she was nice, he did not like her. She figured, by giving him attention, he'd at least appreciate her and develop a little crush but no. All she was greeted were cold shoulders and looks of disinterest which was strange.
Hikigaya Hachiman is strange.
He carries some kind of bokken like he was a member of the kendo club. Some people thought he was a chuunibyou[2] but the way he acted indicates he was not. The teachers had been advising the students to not bother him much as he has some sort of mental condition but it was kept private.
But from the times she interacted with him, it only seem to her that he was just cold.
Like a tsundere, or a kuudere.
So she kept bothering him. It's only been a few months since they've interacted and it did not change much. Still, she could sense some sort of discomfort from him. Like he didn't want her to be around him.
Sure, she did all of this because she lost a bet to her friends but after first talking to him, he was far more interesting than she initially thought. He voiced his thoughts without much reserve and although he comes off as polite and distant, there were times where he can be bold too.
So she sticks to him like a glue.
But...there were times when she felt like there was something wrong with him. It didn't happen often, it's incredibly rare but there were moments when she felt this sense of foreboding. Like earlier when he asked the teacher to excuse him as he had a headache, there was that sense again. It felt...out of this world.
She didn't know how to describe it.
Alas, despite what she felt, she still remains persistent in getting his attention.
"Hikigaya?" Kaori called as she peeks into the infirmary, seeing one of the beds occupied evident by the closed curtains. "Oi~, Hikigaya~" She whispers.
It was usual for the nurse to not be in the infirmary for reasons unknown but thanks to that, she could visit Hikigaya without any permission. Kaori entered and peeks into the curtain, seeing the sleeping figure of Hikigaya Hachiman who was holding his "bokken".
"Oh, he's asleep..." She blinks before walking in slowly as to not awake him.
Kaori took a chair and placed it beside the bed, sitting and watching his sleeping figure. It wasn't like she was going to staring at him, but his sleeping face is a breath of fresh air since he's constantly frowning and have these hollow eyes. Seeing it now, he looks...at peace.
"He looks much better when he's asleep." Kaori smiled as she took out her phone, fiddling with it whilst waiting for him to wake up at some point.
But then, when she was staring at her phone, she noticed something. Kaori blinks as she saw the cloth that was wrapped around the "bokken" Hachiman was carrying seem to have come loose. She was even more surprised to see that it didn't seem like a bokken, more of an actual katana...
Kaori puts away her phone and reaches for the cloth, hesitating for a bit but was mesmerized by the color it emits. It looks like a katana but the handle seem to have been designed entirely different, looks more western than eastern. Still, the color of red...blood? It glowed magnificently.
She grabbed the cloth, carefully eyeing Hachiman's sleeping state before focusing back on the "bokken". She slowly unwraps it a bit, her eyes becoming wide in anticipation. It wasn't a bokken at all...it was-
"Kyah!"
Kaori didn't know what happened, it was so sudden. She felt herself getting yank and in one quick motion, she was on top of the bed as she finds herself staring in the cold and empty eyes of Hikigaya Hachiman. He was clearly glaring at her and was holding her hand with quite a strength.
"H-Hikigaya?" She blinks before wincing at his tight grip. "Y-You're hurting me, you know?" His hand moved towards her neck and she finds herself widening her eyes. "H-Hikigaya!?"
Just then, when she called out her name in a slightly higher volume, his eyes widened. He blinked before realizing his hand was on her neck. He quickly removed them and backs off.
"Apologies..." He muttered, before directing a glare on her once more. "Orimoto...what were you doing?"
"E-Eh?" She gets up but looks away in guilt. "I was..."
Hachiman quickly saw his unwrapped "bokken" and rushes to wrap it back. "You...saw it, didn't you?"
"...Hikigaya, I..." Kaori was quick to perform a dogeza on the bed, showing her sincerity, "I'm sorry, Hikigaya! I didn't mean to!"
She sits up but refuses to look Hikigaya in the eyes. Kaori knew she was in the wrong here since she touched something that wasn't hers, and without permission as well. She has the common sense to at least apologize to Hachiman since what she did was beyond rude.
"It's..." He closed his eyes as he kept his "bokken" close. "...fine." He looks at her, eyes not glaring anymore. "What were you doing here?"
"I wanted to see how you're doing..." Kaori replied.
"...what is it to you?" He asked warily.
"We're friends, aren't we?" Kaori replied.
Hachiman turned to look at her, she couldn't read what he was thinking. But he seemed...disinterested, like he finds her statement to be incredibly idiotic. That kind of hurts her a bit but she didn't expect less from him. He is, after all, a loner.
He stood up, "I'm going to get something to eat." And proceeds to walk away.
"H-Hey, wait up!" Kaori gets off the bed and ran after Hachiman. "I said I'm sorry, alright? Don't be so cold!"
Yes, indeed.
Hikigaya Hachiman is an Anomaly.
[1] Otou-sama and Okaa-sama is technically the most formal way you can call your parents, usually used by polite children or rich people.
[2] Chuunibyou, otherwise known as Eighth-Grade Syndrome. It's technically people who acts based upon their fantasies which can either be created by their own or stole from original works (lol).
So uhhh...I might've rushed Kaori's part so I might rewrite it one day. But my focus now are in...well, IRL. Lots of things happened but I'm making it out alive and well. Writing is a hobby, but it is a passionate one. I will keep writing but I don't know when I continue this one.
But I do have a plan on how to continue. The next chapter should be long, like, really long (I hope so at least lmfao) and might be titled "Shounen H". If you know what it is, then it is what it is.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I always appreciate any reviews.
See ya.
