Hello, everyone.

It's been a while since I made an update to my stories. College life and some personal life problems kept me away from writing and ultimately, made me lose my passion for it. However, I've been enjoying writing again recently. I went back to the original version of this story and noticed many things that I did not like. For example, I included way too many characters in general and even at that, they were from other works/fandoms. It was way too much to keep up with at some point and I knew that I had to scratch the OG version and rewrite the whole thing. I'd just be torturing myself if I kept updating that one. So with that thought, I made the executive decision to start over.

I really appreciate the supportive words from the other day. It means a lot. So thank you very much from the bottom of my heart!

Now a BIG note. This version will be a bit darker than the OG story.

Without further, please go ahead and start!

WARNING! SOME OF THE FOLLOWING CONTENTS MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. SO DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

I do not own My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. It is the property of Wataru Watari. The only thing I own in this story is my OC.

Loud noises of squeaks, constant footsteps, and balls being bounced were apparent outside of the large gym doors at Sobu High School, located in the Chiba Prefecture. If one were to peek into the gym through the large doors, they would notice that the source of these squeaking noises and footsteps were easy to pinpoint. The combination of the friction from sneakers worn by most of the occupants inside the gym against the polished and shiny floor, who were also either running or jumping the entire time made up those noises . The sounds of bouncing balls were due to all of the dribbling that was happening at the indoor basketball court. These noises however were gradually slowing down as people began exiting through the gym's doors. Majority among the ones that were leaving were teenagers aged from 15 to 18. Some were breathing hard and huffing as they walked away fast while others were walking much slower along with their friends, chatting and laughing as they moved along. After their leave, a couple of adults left the gym building.

Once a couple of minutes passed through the now quiet hallway that led to the indoor gym, a figure could be seen walking towards the large doors while crouching. If one were to observe the appearance of the figure, most observers would probably take a step back in fear of the figure's eyes due to how dead they looked, almost like the eyes of a dead fish. The figure was a teen male of a somewhat tall height for their age, around 5 foot 9 inches or 176 cm at their current pose. His arms were very lengthy if one were to take a close look. The teen had his nails painted, which was very unusual in his environment for a guy. The teen's hair was medium-long and black with a prominent and very noticeable ahoge on top. If one were to pass by him, they would clearly notice the depressive aura he had around himself. He currently wore a gloomy and downcast expression as he slowly walked through the doors of the gym and entered. This was a First-Year student of Sobu High School, Hachiman Hikigaya. His uniform violated the dress code of Sobu High as he omitted his tie from his outfit.

As he entered the gym, Hachiman's dead fish eyes immediately started scanning around the entirety of his view until he stopped and eyes slightly narrowed at a certain spot. While looking at the spot, he began taking steps toward his destination and stopped when he finally reached it. Crouching down, he picked up the only ball that was left in the court at that spot. He then retraced his steps and walked back towards the front of the gym. Putting the ball down right behind the free throw line, the First-Year student walked to a corner of the gym near him to put down his bag. Hachiman then took off his jacket and white button up shirt, which revealed a white sleeveless top being worn by the teen. Underneath the white button up and over the sleeveless white top, a silver chain with a locket of a mamba snake swirling the number 8 was also placed around his neck. Going back to the ball he placed behind the free throw line, he grabbed it and dribbled it around lazily before dribbling near the rim, right under the basket.

Grabbing the ball with both of his hands, Hachiman shot a right-handed lay up from right under the basket. The ball hit the right top corner of the box designed above the rim before falling through the net. He got his own rebound and dribbled to the low-block on the left side of the court before positioning himself behind the line. In a fluid motion, he let the ball fly and it bounced around the rim before finally falling in. With a nod of success to himself, he got the ball back and dribbled behind the second block and a little further away from his last position. In the same manner, he shot the ball and this time, it went in after it hit the rim once. Repeating his previous actions, he jogged to get the ball and dribbled towards the left elbow and a little further away from where he shot the ball previously. Once again, he shot the ball in a fluid motion but unlike the last two instances, he held his follow-through left hand. The ball hit nothing but the net as it went through. He got his ball back again and positioned himself behind the free throw line. In a smooth fashion, he shot the ball and held his follow-through as the ball swished once more. Hachiman then continued shooting the ball but in the reverse order on the right side of the court. This drill was known as "Around the world" to many. This was one of the first things that helped Hachiman become better at shooting from close range.

After finishing his first warmup, he then dribbled to the half-court line. He then began doing dribbled moves as he moved close to the rim. He did a left to right between the leg dribble move and then a right to left following that. He kept alternating between the two types of move and after entering inside the three point line, he stopped and moved the ball to his left hand. He took a couple of hard dribbles as he drove to the rim before laying up the ball softly with his left hand. Hachiman then dribbled his way back to the half-court line and started the same drill. But this time, he started with a between the legs from right to left and followed that up from left to right and dribbled until he made a lay up like last time, but with his right hand this time. Hachiman alternated between the two of his routines for around 5 minutes. Sweat drops were visible around the teen's forehead and neck as he kept continuing his drills.

After the between the legs dribble moves, Hachiman switched over to crossovers. Just like the previous drill, he dribbled over to the half court line and did a double cross each time he moved up. And yet again, he made a gentle finish at the rim in many different ways. Sometimes he would use the opposite hands to finish, do a reverse lay up, or even euro steps. He continued that drill for a couple of minutes and then stopped. He then went to the left corner behind the three point line and attempted five three point shots from there. Although he held his follow through, unlike last time during his first drill, he couldn't make the shots easily due to the farther distance between himself and the basket. He made one out of five from the left corner and moved over to the left wing. In a similar fashion, he did pretty badly and managed to miss all of his shots. He then moved to the center and made three of his five shots. He followed up with a single shot made at the right wing and two more shots made at the right corner. He did the math in his head and realized he only made 7 out of the 25 shots he attempted in total. Hachiman shook his head in disappointment but didn't let it deter him from the next drill in his routine, which was freestyle.

Putting himself in different simulations in his mind, Hachiman would imagine there was a defender in front of him and make a move accordingly to get points. Since he was by himself while he did this, there was no way he could utilize one of his strengths in a basketball court, which was his vision and passing. So he would do different types of moves to put the ball in the basketball. He began by positioning himself in the left wing behind the three point line. He did a couple of jab steps from left to right while using his right foot as his pivot foot. After doing a couple of jab steps, he took a couple of dribbles with his right hand towards the right side of the basket as he moved nearer. Right before he got too close to the rim, he did a spin move from right to left while also taking two steps and smoothly finished a left-handed lay up with a soft touch. Hachiman then grabbed the ball and dribbled back to where he started in the previous position, which was the left wing behind the three point line. Just like he did in the previous imaginary situation, he set his right foot as the pivot foot and took one jab to the left before dribbling towards the basket. Instead of continuing the drive to the rim like last time, he pulled off a left to right crossover and stepped back before shooting the ball from mid-range, which hit the rim and bounced right under the basket. Shaking his head at his failure, Hachiman jogged up to the ball and grabbed it before placing himself in the middle of the distance between the rim and the left wing. He pretended that there was a defender guarding him and he posted them up. He used his right side of his body and his right shoulder to post up while using his left hand to dribble. After a couple of hard dribbles, Hachiman did a shimmy before shooting the fadeaway shot, which flew up and hit the rim to bounce around a bit before falling in through the net.

Hachiman continued this freestyle routine for around 20 more minutes before he finally stopped. Sweat was visible around his entire body now that he had gotten a bit of a workout. Huffing and hard breathing was visible in the young man as his chest moved up and down in a rapid manner. Hachiman sat down near where he placed his shirt, jacket, and bag to take a breather. He took out a bottle of water from his bag and took a couple of sips before his breathing finally reached a normal state. Lots of thoughts played over in his head and some of them made him want to scream out in anguish but he held himself back. Hachiman attempted to cease his thoughts by trying to distract himself with other things. Hachiman then took out his phone from his bag, which he had placed there before entering the gym.

He scrolled through random things just for it to serve as a distraction. He stopped only when he noticed the clock on his phone. He noticed that it was about time he should leave. Putting his phone on top of the bag, Hachiman cleared his mind as he got up and walked towards the ball to grab it and perform one last move before he left. Dribbling towards the center of the three point line, Hachiman dribbled hard and moved fast. When he reached the middle of the paint, gathering all of his lower body strength, Hachiman's feet left the ground as he flew up until he was able to put the ball through the net. Before gravity took control and brought him down to the floor with force, Hachiman grabbed onto the rim and hung there for a bit.

While his grip on the rim of the basket was pretty good, he almost slipped off of it and would have fallen to the ground but he managed to hang onto it instinctively. This happened due to the sound of clapping suddenly reverberating throughout the entirety of the indoor basketball court. He berated himself for his lack of awareness since someone had managed to get into the gym while he didn't even notice.

An annoyed Hachiman, while still hanging, looked around to find the culprit, who was standing right in front of the exit door.

"Wow! You are really amazing!" While still clapping, the culprit was revealed to be a female in a Sobu High School's uniform. Her brown hair was tied in two braids. She kept smiling at the young man, who at this point let go of the rim and carefully landed back onto the floor. He then looked at the girl once more, recognizing her as the Student Council President and a Second Year student at Sobu High School, Meguri Shiromeguri. While he was too busy doing a simple two-handed dunk, he missed the fact that she had actually entered the court.

"Weren't you supposed to come here around 10 minutes later or so?" Hachiman asked as he looked at the young woman.

"That would be the usual case but today, I finished all of my tasks for the Student Council early and am here earlier to lock the doors," the Student Council President smiled at Hachiman before she spoke up once more.

"Ah- I almost forgot! I'm Meguri Shiromeguri, a Second-Year student and the Student Council President! And you are…" After she introduced herself, the young woman waited for Hachiman to do the same.

"Hachiman Hikigaya, a First Year student," Hachiman replied with a short answer.

"Oh, a kouhai! Nice to meet you, Hikigaya-kun! By the way, did you stay here after practice to shoot around? If that's the case, why do you have your school uniform pants on right now?" Shiromeguri asked in wonder. At this point, Hachiman realized that he was basically full of sweat and had only a sleeveless top. All of that in front of a girl that he had never interacted with in his life before. A small blush of embarrassment grew on the First Year student's face as the realizations hit.

"Sorry about all of this, senpai. Please give me a couple of minutes to clean up and put my shirt back on," Hachiman requested before running towards where he set his stuff down. Grabbing them, he jogged off in the direction of where the locker room and the showers were. Shiromeguri watched as her junior ran away just now.

"He didn't even answer my question…" The young woman said mostly to herself.

"Wait, you are not a part of the basketball team?" Shiromeguri asked Hachiman in shock as the two walked towards the Student Council's office. Hachiman noticed that she had been kind of struggling to carry a box filled with papers to drop it off at the office before heading home. Hachiman, mostly to make up for the embarrassment from earlier, offered the girl to help, which she accepted after a little hesitation.

"No, I know that you lock the doors of the gym around an hour after the guys from the basketball team leave. So in that gap of a little under 60 minutes, I just dribble and shoot around for some time. And I leave like 10 minutes before you usually come up here," Hachiman's explanation made sense to the older girl but she still had one question dancing inside her head.

"I see…but how do you know all of this?" She asked him. Hachiman cleared his throat before answering her.

"I missed the first month of school and had to stay late in school to make up for all of my missing assignments. Around that time, I'd take small breaks by walking around on different hallways of the school campus. I noticed you usually lock the doors around an hour later after those guys from the team leave. This happened on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I passed by that hallway near the gym," Shiromeguri was impressed at how deductive Hachiman was.

"You have some wonderful observation skills, Hikigaya-kun! By the way, if you don't mind me asking, why did you miss the first month of school?" The Second Year student asked.

Hachiman heard her and was in a dilemma. He had given up on the idea of making friends and adhering to the social norms not too long ago. This was one of the reasons why he didn't want to talk to her right now and get home as quickly as possible to spend some time either by himself or with his PS Vita. Fate had made it so that he would suffer all by himself, so he didn't even bother making any connections. Even when the lights at the end of the tunnel looked bright for him at one point in his life, the light's switch was heartlessly turned off right in front of him. Even on the first day of school, when he was ready for a new start, that chance was taken away from him with no remorse at all. It seemed as if the world was not for him to make any long lasting friendships that were genuine. It was for him to endure hardships all by himself.

Getting back to the present moment, Hachiman took a look at his senior, who was expectantly staring at him. Despite his inner beliefs and current motto of life, Shiromeguri was the first person outside of his gym class partner that actually wanted to talk to him out of their own volition. Sighing, Hachiman decided that it wouldn't hurt to tell her why he missed school for so long.

"I got run over by a car on the first day of school. I broke my leg and had to stay out for almost a month before I could start attending classes," Shiromeguri had a horrified look at the information Hachiman just revealed.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Are you doing okay nowadays?" She asked as she looked at the teen in concern.

"Yeah I am fine now. After I was good to go, the doctor told me to stay away from strenuous activities for at least 6 months," Hachiman reassured her. Shiromeguri calmed down but had another question when she processed the last piece of information she heard from her junior.

"Wait, if the doctor told you not to push yourself too hard for at least 6 months, then what you did at the end while you were inside the gym is something you shouldn't be doing, right? At least not currently?" The Student Council President's eye twitched as she referred to the dunk Hachiman did. Hachiman inwardly groaned and wanted to ask her why she even cared. But he did not want to get in trouble with the Student Council President at all so he sighed and responded.

"I guess adrenaline took over. Sorry, I won't do it again," Shiromeguri sighed but smiled at the First Year student.

"Please look out for your own health. By the way, if you would like, I can get you a form to join the Sobu High Boys basketball team. I think the team can still use two more players from what I remember on the last report. Of course you will be cleared to play after your Doctor gives the permission," Hachiman shook his head at her to deny her offer.

"It's too late. Maybe if it was the beginning of the school year, I would definitely try but now, it is too late," a scowl appeared on the First Year student's face as he offered his reasoning.

"What do you mean it's too late?" a confused Shiromeguri questioned.

"Groups of friends have already formed during the first week of the school year. And it is the same way for any clubs, including the basketball team. Since I missed the first month of school, if I were to partake in any of that, I would be considered a stranger or outsider everywhere," Hachiman didn't know why, but he told the Student Council President his true thoughts towards his school life automatically. Shiromeguri, after hearing his words, suddenly stopped in the hallway. Hachiman, while carrying the box of papers, did the same and looked at the girl in confusion. The Second Year student then looked at him with a face of determination.

"I'll be your friend, Hikigaya-kun! I think you are really interesting! I'll even help you study if you need any help in your academics!" with vigor, the older student offered this to Hachiman. While stunned, Hachiman still managed to make his reply pretty quick.

"Please don't. You would just be wasting your time," Hachiman didn't want someone like Shiromeguri to waste her time on someone as worthless as him. Plus, he had a feeling that she was guilt tripped by his words, which was NOT his intention whatsoever.

"B-But I want to. Do you want to make your senpai cry?" Out of nowhere, mini teardrops began to form around the corners of Meguri's eyes.

'I can't tell if she is serious or this is all a pretend act. I initially thought of her as a 'nice girl', but she doesn't seem like it,' as his thoughts ran a mile a minute, Hachiman sighed before letting Meguri hear what she wanted. If she thought he would just make plans for them to hang out or do stuff that friends do together, she would be getting the wrong idea. He'll just let her hear what she wants and leave that there.

"Fine. I'll be your…acquaintance," Hachiman grinded the words out while inwardly cringing.

"Yay!" The Student Council President's demeanor suddenly did a 180 and she beamed at him.

'Don't get too excited…' Hachiman grumbled within his mind.

After dropping off the box at the Student Council office and saying farewell to his new 'friend', Hachiman began walking to the back exit of the school building. Shiromeguri basically annoyed him into giving her his LINE contact before she headed out towards the front exit of the school, saying a couple of her friends would be waiting for her. Relief washed over him when she made a mention of her plans and he quickly walked away in the opposite direction. As Hachiman made his way to his locked bicycle, lots of thoughts were bouncing around within his head.

This was the first day he had actually had a real conversation with someone within school grounds. Zaimokuza, his gym partner, and Hiratsuka-sensei, his pseudo advisor, weren't really counted in his view since they spoke to him out of necessity. Zaimokuza had to speak to him due to neither of them having any partners during gym class and unfortunately, it was a requirement to have partners in that class. Hiratsuka-sensei had guided him through his missing assignments and acted as a pseudo guidance counselor, thus conversations taking place between the two. But Shiromeguri-senpai, the Student Council President, had (kind of) forced him to become her 'friend'. Although he told himself after he started attending Sobu High that he would not get socialized into the 'normie' culture, he still exchanged contact with his senpai.

Although he should be hating himself for allowing such a thing to happen despite the self declaration he made regarding the youth of society, a small part of him was glad that someone actually called him a friend. This fact in itself made Hachiman loath himself even more. He couldn't be honest with anyone, not even himself. Before his focus circled around these dark thoughts lingered for longer, the buzzing of his cell phone in his pocket grabbed his attention. Taking it out, he noticed the caller was none other than his favorite person in the world right now. Accepting the call, Hachiman raised the phone up to his ear.

"Onii-chan! Is everything alright? You're still not home!" a worried voice of a young girl spoke from the other end. It was the younger sister of Hachiman, Komachi Hikigaya.

"Komachi, everything is okay. Your big brother was hanging around the gym a little longer than usual. That's all," Hachiman lied. He didn't want his sister to interrogate him about today's events if she learned of it.

"Oh…I see…If that was it, then you should've called to let me know! Do you know how worried I was?" reprimanded Hachiman's younger sister as he grimaced.

"I'm sorry. It just slipped my mind," Hachiman apologized.

"Hmph! Negative Komachi points!" Komachi stated from the other end of the call. Hachiman just looked down at the ground in dismay but still spoke to his younger sister in a somber tone.

"I promise I'll make it up somehow," Komachi didn't speak on the other end for a little but finally replied to her brother.

"It's okay! Komachi forgives her loving onii-chan! Restoring the Komachi points lost right now! But please come home soon so we can eat dinner!" Komachi had somehow figured out the face of her brother must've looked right now and her sudden excitement caught Hachiman off guard. But he had a tiny smile on his face.

"I'll be back home soon," the young man worded.

"Okay! See ya then! Please be quick and safe!" Komachi then cut the call as Hachiman began putting his phone back in his pocket. As he put his phone back where it was before, his painted nails, which were colored black, caught his eye. His expression became one of melancholy as he kept looking at his painted nails.

'Why did you do it, Makoto…?' Hachiman asked in his inner mind as he unlocked the lock in his bicycle and got on it before riding away as the sun started setting.

Flashback: 2 Years Ago:

The day was very sunny and warm and all around, a day that would allow the people of Chiba to get out and get some fresh air. Many people were out around this time, the town buzzing with the noise of many people talking and laughing. The basketball court at the park was also a pretty popular location that attracted people, mainly young males. One of those young males could be seen standing right outside of the out of bounds line. It was none other than Hachiman Hikigaya, who was attending a Junior High school around the time. Although he was standing outside of the court to get picked up for a game, it was a rare occurrence. The only time he got picked up was when a team needed a last team member to fill up the squad. And even when he got picked up to play, he barely got the ball passed to him.

Lately, due to lack of some of the meaner kids at the park, Hachiman was able to be picked up for games a bit more than usual and given a chance to show off his skills. It wasn't much compared to the other kids already playing, but it was obvious that the young teen was determined and played very hard. Hachiman, just like the usual days, was waiting to get picked up for a game. However, today, fate decided Hachiman to encounter someone that would change his life forever.

As the black-haired kid waited for his turn to play, another young man stood alongside him. Hachiman gave the other person near him a mere glance and almost stepped back in surprise at their appearance. It was a young man in his late teens who had his nails painted, wore thick eyeliner, had long and dark red bangs that were straightened, and a ring placed on the right side of his bottom lip. He had a plain white shirt and a baggy pair of blue shorts. All in all, it was an emo boy who, just like Hachiman, was waiting to get picked up by someone to play basketball. Hachiman wanted to scoot away from the guy at first but he thought to himself about how he felt when others did the same to him at school, so he stood still at his current position.

It didn't take too long for the two boys to get picked up on the same team. After the game started, it was clear to everyone that young Hachiman was tenacious and ran around like a wild dog on defense, making it hard for the other team to get points. He'd scrap for every loose ball, box out to get rebounds, and return the favor when the player he guarded decided to get physical. It was impressive to the older kids around Hachiman as he was successful in some of his efforts despite being the youngest and smallest here. And on offense, Hachiman was able to pass well and dribble somewhat well. He was just not a great scorer.

Some of the players on the court knew how hard Hachiman played so it wasn't really a surprise for them to see him play so hard. The real surprise on the court was the emo teen, who introduced himself as Makoto Matsukawa. Everytime he got the ball outside of the three point line, it seemed like he made the three point shot every time. He was also pretty good at finishing at the rim while taking contact. And just like Hachiman, he was pretty good on defense but not as tenacious as the younger teen. The special thing Makoto and Hachiman had in common was that both of them were lefties. This was especially rare in a Chiba Basketball court at the park and this fact was taken notice of by both Hachiman and Makoto.

After the game ended, the two underdogs had the same thought as they approached each other.

"Hey! I noticed you are a leftie just like me!" Makoto grinned at the younger man.

"R-Right…" Hachiman agreed with a nervous tone.

"No need to be shy! I'm Makoto!" the emo teen held his hand out for Hachiman to shake it.

"H-Hachiman Hikigaya," with some hesitance, Hachiman introduced himself and shook Makoto's hands.

"Nice to meet you! I don't really have many friends around. Would you like to be my friend? I'd understand if you say no due to how I look," Makoto ended off in a sad tone. Hachiman was shocked. He was someone who was always bullied at school and couldn't make friends. But this guy in front of him wanted to be his friend and was afraid Hachiman himself would deny being his friend.

"Are you sure you want me to be your friend?" Hachiman asked with caution. Makoto looked at him in confusion.

"Why wouldn't I?" Hachiman looked down at the ground gloomily.

"It's because I have disgusting eyes and am very ugly. That's what everyone says at school," Hachiman explained. After he said his piece, he felt a hand ruffling his medium short hair. He looked up to see Makoto smiling at him.

"Welp! Whoever says those things are so dumb! They don't realize how cool you are! Especially as a fellow leftie!" For the first time during the entire conversation and outside of home, Hachiman let out a genuine smile.

This started off a genuine friendship between Hachiman and Makoto. Whenever Makoto was out of High School or College classes and Hachiman was out of school, the two would hang out. They would meet up mostly at the basketball court to play for fun. Makoto would teach Hachiman the proper form to shoot a ball and tricks to making more layups. Hachiman's tenacity would inspire Makoto to improve his own skills. The two didn't always win games when they played pick up together but the main thing was that the two had fun. Hachiman had even helped Makoto learn how to swim. Despite Hachiman's hard times in school, it was easy to put them to the back of his mind whenever Makoto showed up. Hachiman looked up to the older teen like an older brother and Makoto felt the same way about Hachiman as a younger brother figure.

The two even discovered that their mothers were colleagues at their jobs. This led to each of them being introduced to the others' families. Hachiman's dad didn't really give much thought about his son making friends but both Makoto's mom and dad were happy to see their son making such a close friend in Hachiman. It was the same case for Hachiman's mother, who was overjoyed to see her distanced and gloomy son slowly exiting his shell with the help of Makoto's friendship. Komachi however felt jealous of Makoto at first. She internally believed her older brother was being stolen away by the emo teen but Hachiman assured her that it was not the case. The young girl was convinced after a ton of persuasion from her brother and she began to notice how much of a positive impact Makoto was making in her older brother's life.

The two continued their close friendship for a while, even into the time Hachiman was approaching his graduation from Junior High School. They had even gotten each other gifts for each others' birthdays. Hachiman used up his savings to buy Makoto a jersey of his favorite basketball player, Jimmy Butler. Makoto had gotten Hachiman a nice chain that had a locket of a black mamba slithering around the number 8. To their families, it seemed as if they would remain best friends forever. After New Year's Day, a couple of months before he would start going to high school, Hachiman approached Makoto with the idea of visiting a video game store. Makoto agreed to go with Hachiman and the two went home after the agreement. At least that is what Hachiman believed.

The next day in the morning, Hachiman's phone calls to Makoto weren't going through for some reason. After calling him a few times, the young teen was slightly upset and stopped calling his friend. He sat down on the couch of the living room, visibly not happy. This was picked up by Komachi and his younger sister looked at him in concern. Hachiman began to think of all of the possibilities. Including them were the thoughts of Makoto abandoning him because of his dead-fish eyes and admitting that he was only friends with Hachiman out of pity. Quickly shaking his head to rid himself of the stupid ideas, Hachiman grabbed his phone and walked out of his home to go over to his friends' place.

The two went over to each other's home all the time after they became friends once they realized how close they actually lived. Makoto would have his gaming consoles ready so he and Hachiman could play games that the younger teen hadn't experienced before. Hachiman would offer his older brother figure different types of manga to see what he liked the most. Thinking those thoughts as he entered the street Makoto's home was located in, Hachiman had a small smile on his face. He never thought he would be able to make friends since elementary school but Makoto had changed all of that.

Approaching the door to the entrance of his friend's house, Hachiman knocked a couple of times. He didn't receive any response for around a minute so he brought out his phone to call his friend again. But before he could press the call button, the door swung open and Hachiman was greeted with the sight of Makoto's mother, whose eyes were puffy and red. Her appearance was extremely disheveled and the marks down her face under the eyes didn't take too hard of a guess to understand that she was suffering. Seeing Hachiman's face, Makoto's mother let out a sob but tried to hold herself back. She failed as a few tears escaped from her eyes and the entire scene left Hachiman stupefied and concerned.

"M-Matsukawa-san, what happened? Is everything alright?" stuttered the black-haired teen. The woman didn't respond with words but just grabbed him in a hug. The feeling of dread Hachiman started to feel had become intensified.

"M-M-Makoto…was…found dead…last n-night," the woman got the words out through her sobs of anguish. It looked as if time stopped moving for Hachiman and his entire world shattered. He couldn't and didn't want to believe it but he knew that was just denial. The state of Makoto's mother at the present moment was enough to let him know that his friend was no more. After the reality hit him hard, Hachiman ran off when Makoto's mother released her hold on him. He ran as tears fell from his eyes. Nearby pedestrians just glanced at him in confusion as he kept sprinting with his face down.

Running into the entrance door of his house, Hachiman found it unlocked and opened it before taking off through the stairs and getting into his room. He ignored the calls of concern from his mother and sister as he locked the door. He then laid face down onto his pillow and released all of his sorrow into it. Tears kept bursting off from his eyes as he thought about how he was all alone now. His best and only friend, Makoto, was taken away from him. He had stayed in the same position for hours. His mother and sister came to knock on his door after they heard the news but Hachiman never answered and still stayed in.

He had gone the entire day without eating or drinking anything. His father even came up the stairs after returning from work to knock on his door, a rare occurrence, and tried to check on him. But he was unsuccessful in his endeavor. Hachiman's mind reflected upon the times he and his friend spent together and they would trigger even more tears to fall out from his eyes, but there were no more tears left. He had drifted off to sleep at last after getting tired from the entire day's happenings. The next morning, Hachiman had gotten up and still stayed in his room, ignoring his mother and sister again as they begged him to at least have some food.

Hachiman felt numb and ignored all of his surroundings. He had brought his knees up to his face and laid his face down on top of them as he tried to forget about everything. It was only a couple of hours later did Hachiman get off from his bed after his mother had slid in a letter through the gap underneath the door, saying that his friend had written it before his demise and it was addressed to him. Hachiman just stood still and stared at the letter. He didn't want to read it due to how painful it would be but he steeled himself and wobbled a few steps forward before crouching down and picking up the letter. He unfolded the letter and began reading.

Dear Hachiman,

Oh boy….where do I begin? I just want to start off by saying that I am so grateful for having a friend like you. To me, you are the little brother I never had and the best friend I wished for since I was a kid. Growing up and aging into my college years, I've never really made any good friends. Most people would stay away from me due to how I expressed myself in how I dressed and whatnot but those that actually did call me their 'friend', they were not honest with themselves or me at all. The friendship those people provided me wasn't genuine. I never thought I'd get to experience a genuine friendship. Well, that was the case until I encountered you.

The last two years, you have brought excitement into my life. Excitement that I never thought I would get to feel. Shooting hoops with you, playing video games, and reading manga are moments that I cherished all the time. Our families coming over and us two exchanging gifts are stuff that filled my heart with overwhelming happiness. Your genuine friendship was what kept me going for so long. But unfortunately, I think it's time for me to go.

I've never felt happy throughout most of my life. My hatred for my own existence had almost taken over my being until right before I met you. Your existence was something that extended my life for months. I'll always be grateful for your kindness, Hachiman. Please forgive me for the decision I am about to make. Please do not blame yourself when you read this. Just know that you were the only shining light in my tunnel that fought off the darkness for the last two years. But the darkness has achieved victory at last. I am sorry if I put you through pain but I must do this. Please find it in your noble heart to forgive me. And I apologize for not being able to go to the mall to get video games with you. I've written letters to my mother and father. I told them that whatever gaming stuff I have, they should be given to you. Take it as a last gift from your best friend as a token of apology for my actions And at last, make new friends, Hachiman. Even in this shitty world, I know there are people who have good hearts and would love to be friends with you. For now, this is goodbye.

Your dear friend,

Makoto

The letter slowly flew downwards until it hit the floor. Hachiman fell on his knees to the ground and yelled in anguish as newly formed hot tears flowed away from his eyes.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this rewrite.

And, please, PLEASE, if you need any help, seek it. YOUR LIFE MATTERS!

Now about the story, Hachiman is a lot more heartbroken and melancholic in this version due to losing his only friend, my OC, Makoto. He paints his nails black as a form to honor and remember his best friend. You'll see a lot more OOC 8Man actions in the future that basically is honoring his late friend.

I tried my best to describe the basketball drills 8Man was doing at the start but still, if you need any help understanding them, you may leave a review about it.

This version will not have as many characters as the OG version. But for Hachiman's future teammates (of course he will play on a team), I can either create OCs or bring in only a few characters from outside of Oregairu. You guys can suggest who I should add if the latter is your choice. So please let me know.

If there are any grammatical errors or plot holes, please let me know about them as well.

Other than that, thank you for taking your time to read my stories. Take care!