3rd POV

"…Maybe I should just turn back around."

Hachiman, wearing his Sobu school uniform albeit not up to school standard with his tie foregone and black shirt underneath the dress shirt, shakes his head for god knows how many times on his journey to school. He leans against the outer school walls while gazing at the school with tired yet murderous eyes.

"Again, can't, they'll most likely suspect I did something to the nurse…" He quietly mutters, "If it wasn't for you then I would have just skipped today." He clicks his tongue then pushes himself off from the wall.

He slowly walks to the gate while surveying the area to see if anybody is around, "…Isn't there supposed to be – system." He lets out a short yet irritated sigh, "Looks like detention isn't in the system agenda…"

He passes by the gate with nobody in sight then makes his way to his class without any disruption. He takes out his phone in front of the class's door, "Eight forty-five…" He stealthily looks into the room by the window, "Sensei is already in there…"

He quietly clicks his tongue, "Fuck it." He puts his phone back into his pocket then casually opens the door.

"-somebody to show the school around." Shizuka, with her mouth still open, glances at him, "Hikigaya, you're late."

Hachiman lightly bows at her, "Sorry for coming late."

Shizuka, seeing that he has no intention of continuing, squints her eyes at him then sighs, "You're lucky I am a kind and considerate woman. Go sit down and don't –" She cuts herself off, with her eyes going hazy for an instant then back to normal, then glances away from him.

"Actually, you came in at the perfect time." He slowly lifts his head up to give her a raised eyebrow, "A new student just transferred here. Go and show her around here." She glances at him with a smile, one that you should not go against unless you're ready for death.

Or in this case a punch. A deadly punch.

He sees the smile then slowly gets up from his bow with a huff, "Alright…" He turns around with the intention of scanning the room, "Who's the –"

"Hacchin!"

As soon as he hears that familiar yet unwanted nickname, a faint chill runs along his spine that freezes his body while his face turns pale as his eyes land on a certain red head that suddenly appeared in front of him, "…Shiro…?"

Shiro, wearing the female version of the uniform in a way that gives off a royalty vibe, thought that it would be fun to get up from her seat then hide behind him to surprise him, daintily laughs while her right hand covers her mouth as she sees his shock, "It's nice to meet you again, Hacchin…" She then quietly mutters while pushing away a stray hair from her face, "Really… Really nice..."

She notices that he's not responding, prompting her to snap back to attention, only to see his paleness and horrified look, "Hacchin?" She concernedly asks while reaching out to him with her right hand.

The other students, most of whom were intently watching the drama at the front of the class, some looking away, and a certain somebody sighing, manage to keep quiet as they see Hachiman stumbling back from her with his face scrunching up. After the last time, they have come to an agreement on ignoring whatever the hell that the loner called Hikigaya Hachiman does, so long as no one gets hurt, courtesy of a few members from the most popular clique in the class asking(ordering) them.

That doesn't mean that they won't enjoy a show when it presents itself.

"Woah there Hikigaya." Shizuka, who stops him from crashing into her, lets out a sigh, "Look, if it bothers you that much, then –"

"No… No, I can show her around," He cuts her off, earning himself a glare but he doesn't notice it as he keeps his attention on Shiro, who is awkwardly looking at him while slightly fidgeting.

"…Alright." Shizuka loudly clears her throat, "Now, go back to your seat and let's start class."

"…Right." He keeps his head down then slowly walks past Shiro, who's expression crumbles as he passes by. She raises a hand to stop him but it merely brushes against his back.

Just like last time.

"…What happened to you… Hachiman…?" Shiro quietly mutters to herself then slowly walks to her seat, all the while trying to ignore the pain threatening to swallow her.

*PKRPKRPKR*

"Woaaaahhh, finally it's break time!"

"Shut up Tobe. You almost ruptured my eardrum!"

"Whoops, sorry bout that Ooka."

"As long as you understand… Yo, Hayato, want to go eat?"

Hayato apologetically smiles at him, "Sorry, I got something to do, why not you three go first?"

"…Wait, why only us thre –"

"You got it, Hayato! We'll save you and the girls a seat. Come on, Yamato, you too Tobe."

Ooka pushes both Yamato and Tobe out of the door, amidst their complaining. Hayato awkwardly watches the scene then lets out a relieved sigh when he can't see them.

Yumiko raises an eyebrow at him, "What's with the sigh, Hayato?" She gets up from her seat then crosses her arms together.

He opens his mouth to say something but Yui talks first while getting up, "Ehh, he's probably like tired, Yumi." She glances at the door to see Hachiman and Shiro walking out, "Anyway… Those two really seem close with each other…"

Yumiko opens her mouth to say something about Hayato but stops herself then glances at the door, "Yeah… Most likely his friend or something..."

Both of them keep quiet for some time, to the point that Hayato opens his mouth to say something, but he stops as he sees them looking at each other at the same time.

"Follow them?"

"Follow them."

The 2 quickly make their way to the door, though they almost collide with a silver-haired classmate. They talk with each other for a bit then nod at the same time before going outside.

Hayato tilts his head then scratches his head, "…Is my help really needed…?" He shrugs, "Oh well, this works out too." He whips out his phone to do something then quickly puts it back into his pocket.

*PKRPKRPKR*

A/N

...Welp, apologies for the delays. Moving on, I felt like doing a third-person pov since I wanted to explain some things and I'm satisfied by how this turned out. Anyway on to the comments!

Sebas602 - yep. You'll see soon (hopefully)

Dimiel - selamat Hari Raya to you too. Lol. She's got a lot to offer, both good and bad

LuuSlost3 - welp, this was something I was planning to make since I never read a dating sim fic that really showed the horrors of it. I try to keep the essence of 8man in the story but I change him little by little since he's not at the state I want him in. Also, as long as you post a review or pm me, then I would see it and respond lol, so no worries, and I understand that you don't like the path

Mata1 - ikr, even I got bored of writing 8man having mental breakdowns but I deem it necessary so that he change. Personally, there is substance happening in the previous chapters but it's up to you to make sense of it. No worries, as long as you don't hurl insults at me and unfounded criticism, then we're cool and I like to hear my readers personal view, both good and bad

CrazyxEnigma - yep. Yep. *REDACTED*. Lmao, treat it as more of a people seeing interesting things irl. *REDACTED*. And oh boy, she will