WARNING!
THIS STORY FEATURES ADULT THEMES FOR MATURE READERS!
PLEASE DISCONTINUE READING IF YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE AND DISTURBED
October 27 2023
A Scandalous and Forbidden Desire
The Meeting
After another long and tiring day at the university, Hachiman makes his way back home via the public transportation system of Chiba. It is a warm and humid night, an occurrence that is becoming apparent in the spring as he walks the busy streets. Unlike a large percentage of college students, he is taking extra classes to get the needed credits for a goal that he has in mind. Thus he has little time for himself and is always busy which is parallel to his days in Sobu. His only respite is on the weekends when he can finally rest and take a breather.
He steps out of the train along with hundreds of people going home. Most of them are exhausted corporate slaves - with rampant inflation, protests in the capital, rising housing costs and cost of living, and the complete subservience of the Japanese government to occupation forces regarding economic and foreign policy, it is a difficult time to be a Japanese man of military age as any time they might be called. The region is on the brink of war with Japan on its way to becoming a proxy right on the doorstep of two great superpowers of the world. The last four years were rough on the whole country with unemployment at its highest in the last fifty years due to massive layoffs and many companies announcing bankruptcy.
Hachiman passes by homeless people huddled together on the sides of the halls of the train station, innocent victims of difficult times with the government turning a blind eye to the millions in a similar state all over the country. They are carrying signs which show their work experience, credentials, diplomas and other important personal information as they wait for a potential employer amongst the crowd. Most of them were construction workers, taxi and truck drivers, fishermen and farmers. Hachiman even sees a few nurses, teachers and accountants among them. They did not beg and he passes by a young man talking to a mechanic who lost his job. The sight is similar to the Great Depression which happened in the United States of America more than a century ago. To see such a thing in Japan is almost incomprehensible six years ago.
Going above ground, he sees less of the indications of the poor state of the country going into recession for two years straight. Still, he sees many business establishments closed and Office spaces devoid of occupants. Chiba is still a large and modern city after all but outside in the rural areas and villages many are empty. The sharp economic and social decline has drastically slowed the birth rate and sped up the death rate of the entire country - a large and morbid percentage of it from suicide which is now at three digits daily all over the Japanese islands. A truly horrible and tragic number which the government vehemently refuses to acknowledge.
His phone rings and he smiles when he sees who it is.
"Yumiko, what's up?"
"Hey Hikio, we need an extra hand here. You interested?"
He shakes his head, "Sorry, just got out from classes. I'm beat."
"Really? Don't overwork yourself okay? Just because I'm not beside you anymore doesn't mean that you can tire and burn yourself out like this." Yumiko berates him like she always does whenever they speak.
"I'll be fine, thanks for asking."
"Okay, goodbye."
"Bye." Hachiman sighs and puts away his phone just as he arrives home. Komachi arrives not long after he finishes cooking dinner for them and their mother after her.
"How was school today?" Hikigaya Hitomi asks her two children when she finishes eating.
"Took a bit longer to finish at my part-time job…" Komachi mutters as she stares blankly at her unfinished food and then decides to give it to her brother to not waste it.
"Same as usual for me…" The mood around the table is quite sullen since the three of them are exhausted from work and school. They barely have time to spend together as a family and they usually come home late at night. And in the mornings, they take turns making breakfast before going their separate ways. After taking a bath, their mother retires early for the night as usual and leaves her two children to clean up the table and kitchen.
Hachiman lies on the sofa watching T.V. with Komachi cuddling on his side while rubbing her head with his hand. Their house is completely quiet except for the news anchor giving her nightly update and he sighs deeply as he listens.
"State police have suppressed another protest held near the embassy which resulted in the arrest of hundreds and left many more injured. Protesters, demanding the immediate departure of occupation forces numbering one hundred thousand and with the intent to use the Home Islands as a launchpad for war, dragged fifteen state police and brutally beat them to dea-"
"Big Bro…" Komachi whispers. Hachiman understands the unspoken request and turns off the T.V. as another deep sigh escapes his chest.
"Good news is such a rarity these days…" He says and throws the remote to the other couch as Komachi nuzzles her face on his chest while closing her eyes.
"You promised to take me out on a date yesterday…"
Hachiman sighs and shakes his head. "Sorry, our law professor got to class late. I'll make it up to you next week."
"It's okay. We're both busy anyway…I have my part-time job while you have classes." Komachi replies, her voice muffled by his shirt. Hachiman decides to close his eyes for a bit and when he wakes up, it is already four in the morning and Komachi is gone and has placed a pillow under his head. He usually gets up at seven and is at school by eight. He sits up, letting his body adjust to the sudden change in posture, and then walks to his room and closes the door behind him. He takes off his shirt and pants until only his boxers remain and only then does he lie down on his bed. Another deep sigh escapes his chest: another monotonous day just ended a day feels the same as any day that came before it. He feels as if he is stuck on a loop and honestly, thinks that his days won't get any duller than this.
Hachiman walks through his familiar neighbourhood, the place where he grew up for his entire life. It was another day for him on his way to college a day like any other - the sun and sky being the same as always. There are few cars on the road nowadays with the cost of fuel rising exponentially, it is much more practical to sell your car and just choose public transport or use a bicycle to go to work or school or any place that one needs to be. Even his family rented off their two cars because of it and they were not alone. Many cars that belong to families in the neighbourhood were also sold off and disposed of by their owners and as he walks past the houses he sees that the garages of many of them were vacant. Some of the houses themselves were even vacant the neighbours had moved some time ago unable to afford to live in a city that demanded high costs of living like Chiba. He passes by a playground in poor condition and sees that there are some homeless people in the makeshift shelters around the area. These people are usually gone by the day since they have jobs and take a bath and the public bathrooms before they go to work and have their used clothes sent to the laundromat. During the night they come back to their small tents and rest for the day. These unfortunate men can sustain themselves but don't have the means to have a roof over their heads and they are the most numerous group that takes a large portion of the homeless population in Japan. They are good, decent and educated people who fell on hard times.
There were many advertisement posters on the wall and the street posts for job vacancies. He watches them idly as he walks past looking at them with little interest. One of them caught his eye - it was a neighbourhood notice for employees needed for the neighbourhood grocery, street cleaners, daycare and other jobs that someone like him can easily adapt to. Hachiman sees that they were by the neighbourhood community organisation itself which his mother is the current chairwoman. In his high school days, he used to volunteer at the neighbourhood daycare where he took care of the kids, now it seems that they are accepting and paying those willing to work. He stops and takes a picture of the poster just for future reference and maybe one of his friends needs the job.
After classes, he meets with two of his friends at the park. He chose a location where the three of them could meet easily and not far away from their schools. Hachiman studies at Chiba University while Yui and Saki are enrolled in the public college. Saki studies hotel and restaurant management, Hachiman is a student of economics while Yui studies education. Hachiman has kept in touch with his friends from high school but these three are the ones that he meets quite regularly because of their proximity to each other.
"What's new with you guys?" He asks.
"Oh, nothing just the same as always."
"Same here. Oh well since you asked, my father was transferred to another city because of work." Yui says while eating a piece of bread that she bought from the convenience store.
"So it's just you and your mother? It must get lonely now that he's gone."
"I can imagine. You and your father are quite close aren't you Yui?" Saki adds.
"Yeah but it can't be helped, he does what he needs to do to support us." The young woman with peach-coloured hair sighs.
"How's your part-time job coming along at the bookstore?"
"Great! I get to read books when I have the time." Yui says with a smile. She was not the most bookish person back in high school but now in college and with education as her chosen program, she needs to read as much as possible to get herself ready to become a teacher in the future.
"Which reminds me. Hachiman, I heard from Taishi that you sold your family cars, is that true?" Saki leans forward to see his reaction.
"What? Did you sell them? They were nice cars too!" Yui exclaims with surprise and her voice.
Hachiman nods sadly. "We had them rented off. We did we don't need them anymore to be honest, not with my father not around with us. And let's not even talk about the price of gasoline these days."
His two friends sigh and shake their heads.
"There he goes again talking like an old man."
"I swear he's always complaining about everything."
He raises his hands in his defence. "Hey I can't help it - it's what we literally learn at school." The two young women don't seem convinced and just stare at him with hollow eyes. After spending another hour at the park, they decide to walk home together. It has been some time since they met: both Yui and Saki have part-time jobs and work as much as they can without burning themselves out. Like the gentleman that he is, he walks them home to ensure their safety even though there is no threat of such crime in their community and as thanks, he receives a kiss on the cheek from his two friends.
Hachiman starts thinking about the things they talked about as they walked. Specifically, about the topic of part-time jobs. He muses that he does have some free time if he adjusts his schedule, especially on the weekends.
"Hm… I it doesn't hurt to give it a try..."
He arrives at the community centre early morning on the following weekend. There were around forty or so people who had shown up and it was still an hour before the start of the orientation. There were mostly housewives and grandmothers, a few of the former knew him because his mother was the chairwoman of the neighbourhood community organization. So far, he seems to be the youngest person here and so he decides to help organizers distribute coffee in paper cups to the attendees.
Once they were officially called to sit down on one of the two groups of chairs, Hachiman chose his seat on the second column right beside the pathway at the centre. The seat to his left is vacant when the orientation starts.
Fifteen minutes into the program he hears a pair of footsteps enter the venue, after a brief pause, he hears it get louder and then he sees someone sit down next to him from the corner of his eye. It is a woman, and she adjusts her purse before making herself comfortable on the seat. He was about to refocus his attention on the programme when a pleasant and familiar voice graced his ear.
He turns to his left and sees a youthful-looking woman bearing a striking resemblance to one of his closest friends. They were almost completely identical except for the fact that the woman's hair to his left had a more noticeable orange hue compared to her daughter's pink ones and that she is more mature and womanly.
"Hikigaya-kun?"
"Oh, Yuigahama-san. Good morning." He smiles and bows respectfully to her in a low tone - he did not expect to see anyone he knows here so seeing her is quite the surprise for him. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
She smiles back warmly and touches his arm, a habit that Yui got from her without a doubt. She wore a simple pink blouse and jeans and applied little makeup on her youthful face. At first glance, you would never expect to believe her to be the mother of a 21-year-old. And when side by side with her daughter in public, many onlookers would assume that they were sisters or cousins because of how much they look alike.
"Good morning to you too. Did your mother send you here?" she asks.
"No, I came here on my own. I was a bit interested in the posters around the neighbourhood and decided to check this out." The scent of her perfume tickled her nose and although he is nose sensitive to strong odours, he admits that she does smell quite nice. They whisper as they talk to each other to not disturb the other people around them. Hachiman wanted to solely shift his focus to the program but the woman next to him seemed very eager to continue their conversation. And given his personality, he decides to leave things be for now. He is not as averse to friendly conversation unlike his younger self.
"Is that so? I never expected you to be the type to be interested in jobs like this."
He shrugs quite amused at her words "Yuigahama-san, I didn't know that I left that kind of impression on you."
She chuckles and lightly holds his arm again in a friendly manner. Hachiman does not mind and smiles in response and admits that the gesture of little chuckles does sound quite cute. "Oh please you know what I mean hehehe."
After a few more minutes of talking, they tone down and shift the focus to the program. Hachiman found out that the scope of the work was wider than expected but nothing that he couldn't handle. He has done similar things back in Sobu as part of the Service Club and Student Council, especially after succeeding Shiromeguri Meguri as the Student Council President.
The two were eating in the corner of the community function hall when a thirty-minute break was announced and snacks and juices were distributed.
"Have you decided if you're going through with this Yuigahama-san?" He asks her curious to hear her thoughts and feelings on the matter.
"I think I will. What about you?"
"I'm still thinking about it…" An amused giggle escapes from her pink lips when she hears him say that.
"Come on, let's give it a try! It's only on the weekends! We can be partners in this!" She nudges him playfully with her shoulder.
Hachiman chuckles at the gesture. It's been nearly a year since he last saw her - the previous time when they bumped into each other with Yui - and here she is acting as if they are best buddies. At least he knows where Yui got her cheerful and friendly personality from.
"Well, I do have free time…"
Hello dear friends it is I, Ivanov!
The themes of this story is still relatively new to me - this is my first voyage into uncharted waters so to speak. This is the story I was talking about in the Writer's notes on Chapter 66 of my main Fic!
Buuuuuuut... I think you all know where this is going.
Anyway, I hope I did well on the first chapter. Leave a comment in the review section so I know your opinions and areas where I can improve!