Chapter 2- The Hardworking Kouhai

Hachiman frowned as he looked at the remaining bills on his wallet. Thumping his head on the wooden desk, he sat groaning irritatingly.

This… this was bad.

He didn't know if he can hold out for a month without his precious Vita-chan. His old one apparently short circuited and was impossible to fix without going to the local shop. The thing is the price for the repairs was not worth it as opposed to buying a new one. Luckily, he managed to find a new model not outrageously overpriced from the mall a few days back.

The only problem was that if he did buy it with his allowance, he wasn't quite sure if he could survive the week.

Asking for additional money from his parents was a no-go. He had to wait at least a month for his next allowance. And Komachi was barely scraping by with her own money. Not including the few cash that she had already borrowed from him this week.

All in all, he had to think of something.

Hachiman sat and thought of his situation, until a dawning realization popped from his head. He bit the insides of his cheek as indecision flooded him.

On one hand, his personal motto: to work is to lose, keeps him from giving unnecessary effort to things he wouldn't need to do. Like getting a part-time job where he had his own allowance from his parents. It goes against his beliefs.

On the other hand, he has to suffer a whole month without Vita-chan…

Small fish eyes slumped with defeat.

The choice was obvious.

So the next day, here was Hachiman leaving the train and setting his eyes on the station. Straightening his back, unlike the usual slouch, he breathed deeply as he practiced the words in his head. Before setting out and trek down the stairs.

Good thing that Yukinoshita ended the Service Club quite early. He had a head start with his plan as he knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park.

He also decided to try his luck on the next town to not let any of the people in his school find out where he would work. He didn't want the hassle of being recognized and certainly didn't need an unlucky encounter.

His unexpected meeting with Orimoto in a café taught him that after all.

And somewhere close enough to not consider travelling as bothersome. So it was a win-win on his book.

As Hachiman was absentmindedly stepping down the stairs, his ears perked up from a sudden click accompanied with a pained gasp as he turned his head around.

…To only meet a pair of big round orbs spearing towards his face at breakneck speed.

Oh, it would definitely break his neck alright.

His body immediately reacted. Well, stumbling for a lack of better term, when he was distracted by the sudden sight and a body crashed onto his own. Luckily, he managed to tip his head upwards as the two round orbs smacked him under his chin. With a startled gasp as if he was choking, he immediately held onto the rail guard with one hand and reflexively encircled his other around a feminine waist.

With a grunt, he grounded his feet to the floor to at least absorb and lessen the impact. This effectively stopped him and the person from falling down dangerously towards the floor. But that didn't stop them from both tumbling and landing on their rear.

"H-Hey, are you alright?" Hachiman quickly stood up and quickly let go of his grasp, realizing the compromising position. What the heck was that? That was incredibly scary and dangerous.

He couldn't believe how a pair of breasts at terminal velocity could be so frightening.

"Ow, ow, ow"

Now that he could get a good look at the person without the risk of pain. The girl had short brown hair in a bob cut; two strands were braided with a simplistic yet neat touch. One of her cerulean eyes was closed in a pained grimace. She was also clutching her foot that he presumably guessed was the cause of the painful gasp from earlier.

"I-I'm fine. I'm fine. S-Sorry for- ow~" The girl tried to laugh it off but couldn't quite hide a wince from the statement.

"You're clearly not" Hachiman sighed before offering a hand.

"T-Thanks" The girl smiled before taking the hand. Hachiman hoisted the girl up but the latter quickly stumbled and needed to lean towards a wall to steady herself.

"I'm really sorry for that. Truly, I am" Came an apology once more. Tentatively, stepping her sprained foot to only withdrew from the sudden pain. "Now what do I do? I shouldn't have run so quickly" The girl muttered helplessly.

Hachiman managed to hear the words but was at a loss on what to do.

Now, he could just leave the girl here. It didn't really have anything to do with him and he thought he had already done his part in lessening the damage by catching her.

But he didn't think that was possible from the way how the girl was sneaking hopeful glances at him.

The cynical loner sighed.

The girl didn't know what to do.

She was late for her shift. All because she made a slight mistake on her new schedule. She miscalculated how long the train arrived in this station coming from her new residence in Chiba. And in panic, she tripped on the flight of stairs and could have gravely hurt herself if not for the person that caught her in mid-air. Though, her foot slipped at a strange angle and now her ankle was sprained.

She herself clearly knew that there wasn't anything she could do in her situation without a little help. Her ankle was hurting bad. She also knew that going to work today was definite no-go.

Discretely looking up, she was uncertain if she should ask the person she bumped into. It would be fine if she could at least go where she worked and apply first aid. But with her injury, it would be a rather slow and extremely painful road ahead of her.

Mustering her resolve, she was about to do just that when she was interrupted.

"You're in a hurry right?" Hachiman asked, deciding that they shouldn't stay at the station. "Let's go find a place to at least patch that up before it gets worse" He pointed at the girl's ankle.

The girl looked momentarily surprised. But nonetheless nodded gratefully from how Hachiman didn't ask more questions and took into account her own situation.

"There's a close cafe here that I was going" The girl stated, uncertain. "It's just two blocks from here" She pointed in a direction as Hachiman nodded.

"So, can you walk or-" Hachiman stopped himself. "Of course, you can't" He muttered. Quickly deciding so that this could be over with, he knelt on the ground and looked back to the girl. "Here, I'll carry you there. We can save more time and energy rather than making you walk" He supplied. He could only hope that the girl doesn't find this weird.

Oh, and prepare himself from the inevitable stares.

"O-Oh. Okay!" The girl immediately agreed before removing herself from the wall. She then quickly latched herself on the back of our protagonist. Her arms encircling his neck. But not too tight to strangle him.

Hachiman deftly ignored the two sensations on his back. And the softness in his hands under her thighs.

"Okay, here we go" Hachiman lifted himself up and proceeded to walk in a modest pace. Not going too fast to frighten the girl and not too slow either as he picked up the pace.

The two were silent under a rather awkward air. The fleeting stares on their person didn't quite help them in their conundrum.

"T-Thank you for doing this. And sorry again for earlier" Hachiman just shrugged from the girl's apology.

"At least it didn't really get worse. Just be careful next time" The girl nodded shyly as she made herself comfortable on his back and kept her sprained ankle from bumping into his leg.

"Oh. My name's Sayaka by the way. Sayaka Harada. But you can call me Ai-chan" The girl now known as Ai-chan introduced herself.

Hachiman's eye twitched.

Really? A nickname?

If he had been his younger self, he would be over the moon. A girl suddenly giving him permission to use a rather cute nickname would have sent him over the edge.

He would absolutely confess and get rejected on the spot.

Luckily for her, the girl met Hachiman 2.0.

"Harada-san then? Name's Hikigaya Hachiman" He could feel the pout forming on the girl's face from even here.

"Just Ai-chan. Everyone calls me that" Ai-chan repeated, pouting.

"Hell no" Hachiman immediately denied with a straight face.

"Muu~ Why not Onii-san?"

"Look, you can't make me call you tha- wait, Onii-san? I'm not your brother" Hachiman slightly turned his head to look behind. He had enough of a certain bug calling him that.

To only came across the smiling face of Ai-chan.

"Call me Ai-chan then" She challenged.

Hachiman clicked his tongue before facing forward.

"Do whatever you want. But I'm still not calling you that" The girl in his back giggled.

"Hm~ Then that's fine, Onii-san" Hachiman sighed as he shook his head. Deciding to just focus on the task at hand to finish this quickly. His back was beginning to sore.

The two talked while walking. Well, Ai-chan did, while Hachiman answered with shrugs and nods. That didn't seem to discourage the girl much to the latter's annoyance.

"Hoooh~ So Onii-san is a senpai from the same school" Ai-chan chirped. "It sure is a coincidence. I only just transferred to Sobu so I didn't recognize Onii-san there" She stated in thought with a little smirk.

"Stop calling me that…" Hachiman sulked a bit exhausted.

Ai-chan simply grinned before briefly asking. "So what were you doing here?"

"Tsk. What makes you think I'll tell you?" Hachiman snarked before suppressing a yelp when he felt a pinch in his hamstrings. "H-Hey! Quit it! I'll drop you!"

"Really? I don't think Onii-san can~"

Oh, he definitely can and would alright.

"Can you at least give me a hint?" Ai-chan asked with a smile. Hachiman gave out a sigh, defeated. He should just get this over with.

"I'm looking for a part time job" He briefly answered.

"I see… So Onii-san really is dependable" Ai-chan muttered under her breath but it was easily heard by Hachiman who just snorted slightly from the remark.

"I'm just doing it for a short time to buy a new gaming console" The loner easily admitted in a bland tone of voice. He didn't want the girl getting in her head that he worked just because he wanted to show how 'responsible' he is. If he had a selfish goal, he wouldn't waste time sugar-coating it just to impress a few.

"Hmmm… I see" Good. Glad he could make things clear.

Not long after, they arrived to the place that Ai-chan worked in. Hachiman setting his sights on the plaque written with "Café & Bakery Tawawa". He was impressed with the modest yet appealing look of the building.

It was quite a sight.

"Let's go to the backdoor. I'll call Mrs. Manager there" Hachiman simply nodded before making his way around the building.

"You can put me down now. I'll knock" Once he reached a door, Ai-chan called out. He did just that and carefully knelt on the ground so that the she can stand.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Wait a second" A faint voice came from the back of the door. Until it opened, revealing a late middle age woman. "Ai-chan! I'm glad you can drop by even after recently moving. Oh, what's wrong?" The manager stated as she noticed Ai-chan's foot.

"I accidentally sprained my ankle on the flight of stairs in the station" Ai-chan admitted whilst looking down.

"Oh, that's not good. Here, let me help you come in; I'll get the first aid" The manager stated as Ai-chan nodded gratefully before assisting the latter to stand.

She then turned to Hachiman with a smile. "You must be the one who helped her. Thank you for bringing Ai-chan here. I hope it wasn't a bother"

"It wasn't really… at least not entirely" Ai-chan sent him a pout but he ignored that.

"Oh, please do come in. I'll get you some snacks as thanks" The manager offered with a kind smile.

Free food!? Well, don't mind if he-

*Ring* *Ring* Raising an eyebrow he picked up his phone and looking at the screen.

A text message from Komachi.

Opening it, he quickly read it before his face became progressively pale.

From: BestImouto4Life

Subject: BAKA ONIIIIIII-CHAAAAAAN!

Onii-chan where r u!? Yukino-san dropped by 2 day and waiting 4 u in the living rum! RIGHT. NOW. She told me she had to talk u about something important. She also brought homemade snacks as a home visit gift! Kyaaaaah!333 This is it Onii-chan. Maybe I can get her 2 be my Onee-chan now! Try ur best okayyyyyy? Oh, and aym also eating all the snacks right now! Tee-hee! ; Anyway, get home right now and don't keep Yukino-san waiting!

What the heck? What is that woman doing in his house!? Can't she just talk to him by phone?

Now that he remembered, he didn't really have her phone number. So, it was probably true she didn't have his as well.

But couldn't she just get Yuigahama call him or something…?

"No… no thank you. Sorry, something just came up. I really need to go" Hachiman hesitatingly declined as he pocketed his phone. So much for the free food. And he had to temporarily postpone his job hunting.

"Oh, I see… Well, you're welcome here anytime dear" The manager stated before looking at Ai-chan who was visibly wanting to say something. "I'll give you time for you to talk to him. But make it quick so that I can treat your injury, okay Ai-chan?" The manager turned to Hachiman with a mysterious smile before letting herself in.

Hachiman's eye twitched, catching that glint in the matron's eyes.

Was she misunderstanding something? Or possibly trying to set them up? Sorry in advance, but "Ai-chan" here is totally way out of his league. He was lucky enough he didn't get slapped by touching her earlier. All the kids back in middle school didn't want to touch him because of hikigerms.

Wait. That sounded absolutely wrong.

"Sorry if I made you waste your time. Was it something important?" He was shaken out of his thoughts from the words of the obvious regretful girl.

"No, it's fine. It's not exactly an emergency or anything" Hachiman reasoned. Just another verbal spat if he didn't get home quicker. Yukinoshita can be really snappy sometimes. Source: Him.

"Don't worry about it" Hachiman lightly shook his head. "More importantly, focus on treating your injury for now. You'll feel significantly better if you just rest today. Your part time work can wait; it wouldn't be that bad to miss a day or two if it means you can walk again" He lightly reprimanded just like how he scolds Komachi when she does some rare mistakes.

As in rarely, he knew his little sister was a lot more mature than him. And he takes pride in that.

"Y-You're right. I'm really sorry. Sincerely, I am" Ai-chan bowed her head.

Sighing, Hachiman softly continued. "Well, since you're the one who got injured and it didn't really escalate. I don't think you should worry about it anymore. So, its fine" The girl perked up from that.

"I will! Thank you again Onii-san!" Ai-chan gratefully stated with a bright smile.

"Stop calling me Onii-san dammit" Hachiman sulked as he shook his head. Turning around, he raised his hand as he waved awkwardly. "Well, see ya" He bid goodbye as he started walking away.

With his back turned, he didn't see Ai-chan looking at him for a long second. The smile on her face going softer and softer.

She was really grateful for earlier and wanted to repay the youth for his effort. Maybe she could talk to her manager for that new waiter position in the café. He did say he was looking for a part time job.

It was the least she could do to thank the rather dependable Onii-san for helping her after all.