What's going on everyone? Hope you guys are doing well.
I was able to work through the week for an update and here it is.
To the reviews from last chapter. First of all, thank you very much for checking out my stories! It means a lot! Same goes to the ones who followed and favorited!
I am glad that my writing was kind of able to help you visualize the way 8Man hoops. That's what I was worried about a lot, if I would be able to write out Harden's playstyle in words. And thank you for pointing out the way my dialogues sound. Yes, whenver I am typing, I typically write out 'I am' instead of "I'm" most of the times. It has become a habit at this point but I will work on trying to match the dialogues to the personalities of the characters. (I think I did that typing thing just now lol)
And for Yukinoshita family paying the hush money, I wasn't really trying to paint them as 'villains' but rich people who like to get stuff done quick without complications. If the whole thing with 8Man was taken into the court, it'll be a headache from both sides. But yes, some people (aka Komachi) might see them as 'villains' for doing such. And I am happy you liked the interactions I included with Shizuka and Shiromeguri.
And 8Man's height while he is slouching is a bit over 5 foot 9 inches. But when he is standing up straight, it is safe to say he is a little over 5 foot 10 inches. What helps him dunk though is his lengthy wingspan.
Now that I'm done with my yapping, please enjoy chapter 3!
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 here are my OCs.
"I am definitely coming back here!" The sound of Shiromeguri's voice made its way into Hachiman's ears as he walked alongside her. Both of them were outside of the Saizeriya they had just left.
"Good for you," said Hachiman while he kept his eyes around in the environment, observing everything going on within it.
"You'll be coming with me, of course!" Hachiman's eyes were pulled off from focusing on their surroundings and they zoomed into the smiling expression of his senior.
"No…" groaned the young man. His response brought a cute pout onto the face of the Second Year student, which many would likely say was cute had they seen such a thing.
"Pleeeease? For your dear senpai? Don't tell me you wouldn't…" A saddened look took over her expression as she looked away and into the ground. Her dismayed mien tugged on his heart and made Hachiman feel bad. He was annoyed to the brim with such a continuous thing happening over and over again between him and Shiromeguri.
Hachiman tried his best to hide his better grades from his pseudo tutor, but he failed. Not because Shiromeguri used her advantage as the Student Council President to discover his rankings. It was due to Hiratsuka ratting him out during a meeting with the Student Council when she had a small talk with the President. This was how she found out about this thing and wanted to congratulate him by buying him a meal. It didn't even make sense since it should be the other way around. Her help had aided him in getting better results so he should be the one buying her a meal but he didn't complain. At first, he vehemently declined her offer but she kept resisting and urged him to come with her. It went to a point where he had to strongly say no and she finally agreed. Only then she had a look of utter unhappiness and small tears gathered around her eyes.
He kept telling himself to not give in like someone would in a 'normie' culture, and stay true to the values he established for himself after he started attending Sobu High School. As much as he didn't want to believe it, Shiromeguri's kindness had wormed its way into his reserved heart. Subconsciously, he had already considered her a friend and someone he made a connection with. As Makoto wrote in his last letter, there would be people, genuine people, who would love to be friends with him. After being around her for weeks and observing her mannerisms, Hachiman was confidently able to accept that Shiromeguri was not a 'nice girl' like he initially believed and was honestly trying to be friends with him. Hachiman then decided to stop denying the truth and accepted her offer after apologizing to her. This caused her upset mood to brighten up in an instant and both of them agreed to go to Saizeriya. Hachiman suggested it only because of how cheap their food was and to the surprise of the other teen, paid for both of them.
"Fine. Only once," Hachiman sighed. His response prompted his senpai next to him to pump her fist in success with a look of determination.
"Yes! I'm finally breaking through Hikigaya-kun's cold exterior!" the Student Council President said with vigor. Hachiman sighed once more as he stared at her but his dead-fish eyes lightened up just a bit at her behavior.
After walking Shiromeguri to her home, Hachiman began his journey back home. In the late afternoon, the warmth of the sun comforted his face as he walked through the town. He tried not to think about anything but he couldn't get thoughts of Makoto out of his head. It was just one of those days. Sometimes, he couldn't stop thinking about the emo young man that had made his young life better only for a short amount of time. He thought of the times he shared with his older brother figure and how much fun they had. Reminiscing such times only brought dark thoughts to his own head and made him feel the pain and melancholy to a higher degree.
While he was so engrossed in his thoughts, Hachiman was already walking past the one place which he made sure to avoid ever since the passing of Makoto. It was the basketball court where he and his best friend had made unforgettable memories. Hachiman knew it would hurt a lot had he walked past or near this place. However, fate had different plans for him this afternoon as he was treading on the left side of the court. Unfortunately for him, the court was occupied by some people as of the moment, who did not fail to recognize their acquaintance.
"OI! HIKIGAYA!" The sudden shout pulled Hachiman away from his inner thoughts as he frantically looked around for the source of the voice. Once he realized the familiar surroundings around him, his heart shook with trepidation and anxiety. His breaths became faster in a rapid manner and he forgot all about the person who had called out for him.
"HIKIGAYA! LOOK OVER HERE MAN!" A different voice called out this time. Hachiman regained control of his breath by taking a couple of deep ones. Sweat formed around his face as he looked over to the court.
"Finally you noticed us, man! It's been a while!" spoke a teen, seemingly older and taller than Hachiman by a couple of years and inches respectively. He sported a buzz cut and wore a smiling face as he made eye contact with Hachiman. This was one of the people that played basketball with him and Makoto often. His name was Takeda, a fairly nice guy most of the time and an acquaintance of his.
"You look so different, bro! You even grew your hair out a bit!" spoke another teen, younger than Takeda but older than Hachiman. His dark brown hair was tied into a man bun and he grinned at Hachiman's direction. Just like Takeda, this teen named Sasaki was also an acquaintance that played with Hachiman and his late best friend.
The two older teens began walking over to Hachiman as he stood still in his spot. He berated himself for getting pulled into a situation that he tried his utmost best to avoid for months. However, his efforts proved to be vain as he watched the two young men stand in front of him with smiles on their faces.
"We haven't seen you for months! Where have you been?" Takeda questioned. Hachiman didn't reply for quite a bit and his silence began to make the other two feel a little uncomfortable.
"I just had to…get used to my life. At least what it is now," Hachiman answered with a quiet voice. The gloomy look on his face and his painted nails were noticed by both Takeda and Sasaki. The two looked down at the ground with rueful expressions.
"We understand…it hurt when we heard about Matsukawa going out the way he did…" spoke Sasaki as Hachiman's reaction had become even gloomier at the mention of his friend's name.
"We were worried when we didn't see you for such a long time. But it's good to see you again, man. Really," the older teen with shorter hair gave Hachiman a comforting smile and gently put his hand on his shoulder. Hachiman kept his gaze away from the two males, his thoughts and feelings all over the place.
"I should get going now," Hachiman spoke up before he began walking away, Takeda's hand coming off of his shoulder in the process.
"Wait! We were trying to get a 2 on 2 here with this kid but we need one more person…" Hachiman stopped and didn't turn around as the two teens behind him awaited his answer to the unasked question.
"Sorry…not today," his answer disappointed both Takeda and Sasaki but they didn't let it bother them too much.
"We get it. But when you are ready, do show up here. It's fun playing with you, man," Takeda voiced before he began walking back to the court. Sasaki looked back at his departing companion before looking back at Hachiman.
"He's right. Until then, take good care of yourself, alright?" Sasaki worded before following Takeda back into the court. Hachiman watched as the two went back into the court to join a kid, around Komachi's age, and start shooting around with him. Sighing, Hachiman looked away and began his journey back home yet again.
"My glorious companion! It is pleasing to see you in good health once more!" a boisterous voice loudly announced among the students that were in the gym, wearing the traditional gym uniforms for Sobu High. People surrounding the owner of the loud voice scooted away and shot him odd looks as he maniacally laughed.
"Please shut the fuck up…" groaned Hachiman in a tired tone. He also had his gym uniform and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.
"Your mannerisms remain unchanged! That in itself informs me of your good health, my brother in arms!" The voice replied once more. It belonged to a fairly tall and chubby teen with his white hair put into a ponytail. This was none other than Yoshiteru Zaimokuza, Hachiman's gym partner, to his dismay and annoyance. This man was still stuck with an '8th Grader Syndrome' into his days of high school. The fact that Hachiman himself used to suffer from the same thing in the past made him even more embarrassed.
"Don't embarrass yourself any further," Hachiman told Zaimokuza out of second hand embarrassment. However, it seemed his words didn't concern the other teen as he continued his maniacal laughter, as if he was some final boss in a video game.
"Listen up, kids," One of the Physical Education Teachers, Atsugi-sensei, spoke up. The murmurs, chatters, and giggles among the students were put to a hold by his voice.
"We have been participating in different kinds of sports and activities like football, tennis, swimming, and volleyball for this class. As you already know, we are currently going over the basketball curriculum in your gym course. Our last two classes were focused on rules of basketball and how you play. Today, we will move onto actually playing basketball. Get with your gym partner and organize both of yourselves in two lines, you and your partner in the same line. One line on the right and the other on the left," the students automatically formed two lines at the instructor's directions. Hachiman let Zaimokuza stand in front of him around the middle of the line on the left side.
Hachiman sighed as he stood behind his gym partner. During the process of teaching students the rules of basketball in the last two gym sessions, Hachiman tried to the point where he would get a satisfactory grade. He didn't do anything too crazy. As he waited on the line, Hachiman eyed the students being called up from both lines. The gym teachers were setting up a 2 on 2 basketball game between two pairs of gym partners. Majority of the pairs consisted of both students being the same gender but there were a few pairs where one was a male and the other a female. The pair on the right line went on offense first and the left on defense.
One of the Gym instructors would act as a referee and see the game happen. Each instructor held a clipboard in their hands and would write down things on the paper attached to it, most likely the grades for the students playing. Hachiman didn't notice enough to confirm how many points the games were played up to due to how many games he observed at once. Since there were four different backboards being used due to the large size of the indoor basketball court, the line in front him got smaller within minutes. From what he observed so far, the games seemed to be only played until whoever scored two baskets first but he couldn't confirm. He didn't have to wait too long until he and Zaimokuza were in the front of the line and got called up to the basket behind them.
Walking up to the destination they were called to, Hachiman noticed that their upcoming opponents were a pair of girls. He recognized them both from his homeroom class but he couldn't remember their names. One was a girl with long and dark brown hair and the other one was a short-haired girl with reddish brown hair.
"Oh, Minami-chan, look! It's the weird guy from our class! He's actually wearing nail polish!" The girl with longer hair whispered and pointed it out to the other girl, whose name was revealed to be Minami. Minami looked towards where the other girl was pointing and a snort came out of her.
"Yikes! He's even weirder than I already thought with his ugly eyes! Guess birds of a feather do flock together, Yukko-chan," commented Sagami in a whisper while the two girls discreetly sneered at both Zaimokuza and HIkigaya. The two girls believed that no one was hearing them but Hachiman's hearing was keen enough to hear whatever was exchanged between the two. Their statements didn't hurt him whatsoever as he lazily eyed the two.
"Right! Any guy that is weird should definitely fall into a hole and disappear forever! Especially the ones that paint their nails! Yuck!" Yukko replied while reeling in her laughter. This comment was also heard by the black-haired boy and this time, he was in a foul mood. Not because they were talking about him, but the fact that the other girl was stomping on Makoto's memories and indirectly insulting him.
The teacher that was overlooking their matchup came to get their names and was slightly disturbed and put off by Hachiman's worsening mood.
"Hikigaya-dono, a strategy for this upcoming battle has been formed by yours-" Zaimokuza couldn't finish whatever he was trying to say due to an interruption.
"Zaimokuza?" Hachiman asked in a low voice, slightly frightening the larger teen.
"Y-Yes, my comrade?" Zaimokuza noticed Hachiman turning around to face him and the anger that was barely being held back in his eyes terrified him.
"I will defend whoever has the ball. You stick with the other one. On offense, whenever you have the ball, If I tell you to shoot, shoot it. Otherwise, pass it to me and get out of the way.," commanded Hachiman, to which the chuunibyou nodded vigorously.
"U-Understood, Hikigaya-sama! We will commence into the battlefield utilizing whatever strategy you decide!" Zaimokuza's agreement prompted Hachiman to look back at the two sleazy girls, whose names were being written down by the instructor. After that was done, the two looked back in Hachiman's direction and had smirks plastered over their faces. He was initially going to do enough where his efforts would be met with satisfaction to get him points for the class. However, one of them had done something unforgivable, which was insulting Makoto. Now Hachiman decided that he is not going to let this slide and do his utmost best to annihilate them.
"Hmph! Yukko-chan here is on the girl's basketball team. If you two want to give up right now, I wouldn't blame you. You would probably lose to anyone else, anyway," Minami intentionally stated this fact loudly so both Zaimokuza and Hachiman could hear it. Zaimokuza was still a little more nervous than earlier but Hachiman was unfazed. He responded to the girl's warning by standing in front of them, which forced Zaimokuza to stand beside his gym partner.
"Tch," Minami huffed with a frown. Yukko sighed and looked back at her friend.
"Don't worry, Minami-chan. I'll end this quickly," reassured the girl with longer hair. Hachiman's eyes narrowed at this statement. Yukko received the ball from the teacher and she handed it to Minami right after.
"Pass it to me once it starts, okay?" The short-haired girl nodded before the teacher spoke up.
"When I blow the whistle, the game starts," the sharp noise of the whistle being blown was heard shortly after and Minami immediately passed the ball to her friend.
Zaimokuza noticed that Hachiman was already getting closer to Yukko with a defensive stance as she held the ball, so he followed their plan and was standing near the unmoving Minami. Yukko eyed Hachiman and had a smirk before she faked a shot from behind the three point line. To her surprise, Hachiman didn't take the bait and kept his defensive stance. Despite the height difference between the two favoring the male, she decided to drive towards the basket and start posting him up on the left block near the paint using her left shoulder. Feeling barely any resistance from Hachiman, Yukko decided to shoot a hook shot over him after a quick fake. Believing her fake would get him to bite, she was confident her hook shot would go in with ease.
SMACK!
The noise of the ball being slapped away with immense force was so loud that other people looked towards the direction of the noise. Yukko just stood still in her position, in disbelief that Hachiman blocked the shot and basically embarrassed her on the court . She was in such disbelief that she let the ball roll over to Zaimokuza, who picked it up and passed it to his teammate. Once Hachiman received the pass, he dribbled over to the outside of the three point line. He then looked back at the teacher who was acting as the referee for their game. The teacher himself wasn't too surprised since he believed Hachiman had great instincts and his height advantage helped him get the ball back. But his interest was tugged and he eyed Hachiman carefully as the teen dribbled the ball.
"Do we just continue?" asked the teen, who received a nod from his teacher. Right after, he looked at Minami trying to shake her friend off of her stupor and pointed towards him. Yukko then had a look of determination and basically ran up to guard him. Zaimokuza, who looked lost at the moment, noticed Hachiman putting his hand up and motioning him to stand where he was right now.
Yukko began to reach in as she tightly guarded him. Some of her reach ins were fouls but the teacher acted like they didn't occur. Hachiman simply narrowed his eyes and went into his size up package of between the legs, behind the backs, and double crossovers. This shocked not only Yukko and MInami but also Zaimokuza and the teacher overseeing their game. None of them had any clue that Hachiman was skilled enough to the point to be able to do advanced dribbling with such ease. Yukko tried to stay in front of the male and reached in a few more times but to no avail, she couldn't steal the ball off of him.
Hachiman then did a hesitation dribble towards the left, making it seem like he will start dribbling to his left with his left hand. Yukko shifted her body to counter his upcoming movement only to be stunned since he pulled a quick left to right crossover after his mini hesi. After crossing up the girl from the basketball team, Hachiman began driving to the rim on the right side as he took hard dribbles with his right hand. He noticed Minami running at him at full speed, intending to bulldoze into him as he drove to the rim. Once she was close enough, Hachiman did an in and out dribble with his right hand while slightly moving to the right a little more. This move forced Minami to trip over herself and fall into the ground. He then had an open lane to an easy layup but decided to pass to Zaimokuza, who was standing just outside of the paint. He only did it after stopping in the baseline and faking a close range shot himself. This made Yukko, who was chasing him down to block him from the back, go flying past him. He then passed to Zaimokuza, who was just standing with the ball in his hands cluelessly. Noticing Hachiman pointing to the basket, he shot a layup and made it in after hitting the ball off of the glass.
Minami had gotten up off of the floor after Zaimokuza's shot and glared at Hachiman viciously. Yukko had gotten back to join up with her friend and she looked at Hachiman with contempt as well. The teacher, unlike the last time, was surprised at Hachiman's skill level and was a lot more interested in this game than he was at the start. Hachiman then looked at him once more and before he could ask his question, the man had already decided to answer it.
"Yes, it is your possession again," the instructor relayed the information Hachiman was looking for, which prompted him to look at the two defenders in the upcoming possession. The two girls had chosen to stand a bit closer before the whistle blew. Hachiman noted this and turned to look at Zaimokuza, who was standing near the paint.
"Move to the corner," Zaimokuza nodded and moved to the left corner. The teacher blew the whistle right after and as expected, Minami and Yukko both ran at him to double team him. Hachiman made a quick pass to Zaimokuza, who stood in the corner with the ball in his hands. He then noticed that Hachiman was putting his hands up to get the ball back again, so he passed it back to his partner. Hachiman made sure to run up and catch the ball before either of the girls tipped the pass and stole the ball. He immediately went into a triple threat stance and waited a second for the defense to come back again.
The double team of Yukko and Minami returned very quickly as Hachiman began jabbing to the left while using his right foot as the pivot foot. However, the defense forced him to hold the ball above his head. The two girls were hounding him from the left and right, trying their best to make sure he had no space to operate. Throughout their efforts, he was being fouled here and there but yet again, the teacher decided not to call it. Due to how well he protected the ball while taking jabs, the girls couldn't steal it off of him. Bringing the ball down while protecting it, he took a quick and hard jab to the left. Hachiman then took one hard dribble with his left hand before spinning around with another dribble. Right after, he faked a step back with his right hand dribbling while he moved backwards a little. In an instant follow up move, he pulled off a right to left crossover, freezing Yukko once more. Minami tried to reach in at that moment but failed to get the ball back as Hachiman pulled a hard left to right behind the back dribble before exploding towards the rim.
Yukko noticed her friend trying to defend and instead of double teaming Hachiman again, she chose to run to the rim before he got past Minami. Seeing that Hachiman was driving to the rim after getting past Minami, she settled for a charge right under the rim. However, her attempt at such a thing was futile as Hachiman took off for flight once he reached the middle of the paint and yammed the ball into the basket. He held onto the rim and hung there for a bit. Yukko looked at the entire incident with shock in her eyes and fell backwards and onto her behind to avoid Hachiman legs, which were swinging around a bit. Hachiman took a few seconds to hang onto the rim and comfortably jumped down onto the floor. He then eyed the girl that was on the ground, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Try to be more quiet when you whisper again," Hachiman spoke with a low voice. Yukko was surprised since the quiet teen talked to her. But her eyes went slightly wide as she understood his words instantly and realized that he heard her and Minami talking behind his back.
'And NEVER poke the bear again,' was the mental message Yukko received from Hachiman's narrowed eyes, terrifying her to the point where she began whimpering. Hachiman turned around and started walking. He looked back at the teacher, who was staring at him with wide eyes, before speaking to him.
"I am assuming it was only up to two points?" The teacher broke off his stare and cleared his throat before nodding.
"Yes. You are free to leave now, Hikigaya," nodding to his instructor, Hachiman began walking towards the exit, ignoring the wide-eyed stares he received from the students who witnessed his actions.
"Look at him, walking around as if he did nothing wrong."
"His eyes are so scary."
"Of course he has no friends. Who would want to be friends with someone as scummy as him?"
"I don't know what they are saying, bro. I didn't see him do anything like they are saying he did."
"I have no clue which side is right or wrong. I'm staying neutral on this one."
Hachiman sighed as he moved along the hallway that led to the exit towards the back of the school building. From after the gym class until the end of the day, Hachiman kept sensing the gazes he received to the back of his head. Most of these gazes were thrown at him in contempt. And the mutters among the students weren't too hard to hear whenever he walked past the ones talking about it. It was annoying but nothing he couldn't deal with. Elementary and Junior High had already prepared him to deal with stuff like this. His life was meant to be miserable, from what fate had thrown at him throughout his life. This was his internal belief. This belief made him more prepared for cases such as this. During classes and after them in the hallways, Hachiman had dirty looks shot in his direction throughout the rest of the day.
A part of what he did during the gym class spread like wildfire. Apparently, Yukko was so terrified that she began crying after he left the gym, at least that is what he heard from the people whispering around him. This explained why he didn't see the girl in his classes after gym class. Minami did return and with her popularity and power, she twisted the information to make it seem like he cheated while they played against each other. He apparently 'tripped' Minami and swung his leg out to make Yukko fall to the ground when he hung on the rim after a two-handed dunk. The reasoning they said behind his 'cheating' was that he was 'jealous' of Yukko being a better basketball player than him despite being a girl. Around half of the First Year students, most of them who didn't even attend the same gym class as him or even knew of his existence, believed the lies of the short-haired girl. The other half were confused since the majority of them saw what happened in the gym class didn't match Minami's story at all. Still, they couldn't make clear confirmation of what happened in the gym class and didn't care enough to counter with the truth. To their eyes, Hachiman wasn't someone worth the trouble for the effort to do such.
Hachiman knew what was going around the school campus regarding his reputation but didn't care. As long as he knew the truth, he didn't really care what happened to his reputation. The fact that he 'punished' Yukko for disrespecting Makoto's memories was enough for him to be satisfied with his behavior during gym class and he didn't regret his decision one bit. Plus, it couldn't even be considered a bullying situation. He didn't mistreat the girls. In fact, they were the ones that badmouthed him at the start. He had simply responded by playing hard and letting them know that he was aware of their actions. And the only reason he did that was not because he was being mocked, but the fact that they were making a mockery of his late friend.
Hachiman was walking his way to the exit to get home when he heard a pair of rapid footsteps behind him.
"Oi! Where do you think you are going?" A foreign voice called out from behind him but he didn't stop walking. Hachiman was walking in a hallway where there were no people nearby, which indicated that it was him that was being addressed.
"Stop and face us, you coward! We need to have a chat!" Another voice joined and this time, Hachiman did turn around this time and lazily stared at the ones who called him out. It was two guys, most likely first year students. One of them had medium length black hair and the other one had short brown hair with a pair of glasses over his eyes. He did not recognize either of them, meaning that both were from a different homeroom class. The two of them were huffing after running up to him and seemed to be fuming as Hachiman stared back at them nonchalantly.
"What do we need to 'chat' about?" sighed Hachiman. His reply apparently pissed off the two guys even more as they caught their breath and were finally able to reply after a minute.
"You are asking us that!? You think you will get away after what you did to Asato-san and Sagami-san?!" the teen with the glasses growled.
"The school authorities may be overlooking this incident but we are not going to let you off the hook so easily!" The other teen added after his companion. Hachiman just stared at the two stooges with a blank stare.
"What exactly did I do to the people you two just mentioned?" Hachiman asked with a tone of curiosity. He knew his response popped another fuse among the likely sycophants he was facing right now.
"Stop pretending you don't know! Take responsibility for your actions and apologize to the girls!" the First Year Student with black hair demanded.
"Be a real man and do what is right!" his friend with glasses joined in. Hachiman sighed and looked at the two students in front of him.
"Were you in the gym class when that incident took place?" Hachiman asked in a bored tone.
"What does that have to do with anything? Stop changing the subject!" The idiot with glasses shouted.
"Just answer me and then I will give you an answer," replied the teen with painted nails.
"No we weren't! Now tell us when you will apologize to Asato-san and Sagami-san!" commanded the other student.
"Never. You weren't even in the same gym class as me or the two girls. That means you heard rumors from other First-Year students and believed the nonsense they are sprouting. And you thought that if you made me apologize for whatever I 'did' to those two girls, you will get plus points and in that way, get closer to them. I know how the brains of simple-minded guys like you work," the way both of the aggressors widened their eyes was enough for Hachiman to know that his theory was correct. Hachiman hated talking for too long but he had to test to see if his thinking process was right in this situation. After they took the bait, it was clear that they really were nothing but simps.
"I am not apologizing for something I didn't even do. Better luck getting the attention of your crushes in a different method," Hachiman stated in a tone of mockery before he turned around and started walking back to the exit. After taking a few steps, he felt a hard grasp in his shoulder and was pulled back, which forced him to turn around. He looked into the livid expressions of the black haired teen that pulled him back and his friend sporting a similar look on his face.
"Guess we have to teach you a lesson, you ugly little shit!" Roared the teen who pulled him back before stretching his arm out with his fist and shooting it at Hachiman's face.
Hachiman's eyes narrowed and he dodged the sloppy punch thrown at his head, forcing the aggressor to stumble forward in failure. The other student didn't just stand around and tried to elbow his nose. Hachiman just leaned his body to the right and pushed the attacker away. This caused the teen with glasses to elbow his friend, who had just turned around, right in the mouth. Both of the teens fell onto the ground and cried in pain as one held his mouth and the other held his elbow. Hachiman stared at the two fallen teens and sighed. A piece of advice from Makoto suddenly resurfaced within his head.
'Hachiman, listen to me very carefully. Sometimes, words are not enough to make some people understand. Whenever that's the case, the only way to go forward about it is to beat the 'understanding' into their skulls. Literally.'
Hachiman then looked at the two teens, who were still moaning on the ground. He decided to put the advice from his friend into use and put his bag against the wall to his left. He was about to take off his jacket and then roll up his sleeves afterwards as well, but he was interrupted. Before he could continue forward with his plans, a new voice made its entry into the empty hallway.
"What do you think you are doing?" Contrary to her usual cheerful outlook, Shiromeguri had a look of fury in her eyes as she glared at the two students on the ground.
"O-Oh! S-Shiromeguri-senpai! It's a miracle you are here! Do you see what this delinquent did to us?" The teen who had his mouth bleeding suddenly changed his tone to one of fear and tried to blame Hachiman. His companion on the ground picked up on the ruse and did the same while fearfully looking at Hachiman. Hachiman, in turn, just raised his eyebrows and watched in curiosity to see how his senpai would react.
"Do you really believe me to be this foolish!? I saw the whole thing with my own eyes!" Her glare intensified at the lies she was told and the idiots on the ground suddenly had a realization, which made them actually scared this time compared to their acting at first. They knew that they had been caught by the worst witness possible in their situation.
"What are you laying down there for? Scram before I do something I might regret!" The Student Council President's yell struck fear into the two idiots, who nodded rapidly before jumping up and running away. Shiromeguri kept her glare on the two until they ran out of her field of vision. Right afterwards, she quickly turned around and her look of anger turned into one of concern and worry as she looked over her junior.
"Hikigaya-kun! Are you alright? They didn't hurt you too much, did they?" frantically asked the young woman as she searched over his body for any injuries. Hachiman, who had watched Shiromeguri pop off just now, was still slightly stunned at her outburst.
"Yeah, I am not hurt in any way. No worries," a sigh of relief escaped the Second Year Student at Hachiman's answer.
"Thank goodness…" The smile she usually wore returned to her face as she looked at the First Year Student.
"I am surprised you could pull off something like that, Senpai," Shiromeguri looked confused for a few seconds until she caught onto what Hachiman was talking about. Her face reddened at the somewhat amused stare of the young man.
"A-Ah! H-Hikigaya-kun saw me in that kind of mood. This is so embarrassing, ahaha…" she chuckled nervously before continuing.
"B-But I couldn't just let those two treat you like that! Especially not over something for which you are not even at fault!" Hachiman's eyebrows rose in interest at her words.
"How can you confirm I am not guilty?" His reply prompted the older girl to pout.
"Of course I know you didn't do anything! I know you, Hikigaya-kun. You are not the type of person to do such a thing. Plus, I have the evidence on my phone. Sorry that I waited this long to intervene but I needed to get some proof of this incident. Just wait till tomorrow. Your senpai promises that she will pull you out of this mess," smiled Shiromeguri.
Hachiman heard her and didn't really care about what she meant by her words. He knew she wasn't talking about the two stooges but the rumors surrounding him. The only thing he thought about was how much trust she had in him. She didn't believe the lies like normies despite how many people are against him due to the claims made by the frauds. This only solidified the fact that Shiromeguri was definitely the type of people Makoto mentioned in his letter. Genuine people who would love to be friends with him. His heart felt light for the first time in months and he looked back at his senior.
"Thank you, senpai," Shiromeguri was shocked to see a tiny smile appear in the face of the distant teen and this brought out even a bigger smile on her face.
Hachiman was getting ready to leave his classroom as the bell rang to indicate the end of the school day. Since the day was a Thursday, he prepared to go up to the rooftop. That was where he usually waited until the boys basketball team was done with their team practice so he could use the court himself. He usually spent the time on the rooftop getting his homework assignments done or enjoying nature whenever he could. The only time it was impossible for him to do such was on rainy days, where he would just stay in his classroom and do the same. Thankfully, the day was nice and sunny out right now so he could continue with his usual plans.
He was still getting dirty looks sent in his direction but it wasn't as intense or common as the day before. His incident with Minami and Yukko were probably overshadowed by something else the First Year Students' eyes caught. After exiting the room, he walked his way to a certain vending machine to buy his favorite drink, MAXX Coffee. Although people would say it was too sweet, it was the best to Hachiman. If life was too bitter, which in his case was, then at least coffee should be sweet.
After getting his can, he opened it and took sips periodically as he walked towards the hallway that led to the stairs connected to the door of the rooftop. While he was making a turn in a hallway, he noticed the Student Council President, seemingly searching for someone. Her eyes landed on his figure in an instant and it reflected on her face, which had a big smile on it.
"Hikigaya-kun! I've been looking for you!" Shiromeguri informed the young man as she walked forward to get near his vicinity.
"Hmm? Why?" asked Hachiman, to which an expression of childish glee appeared in the older girl's face.
"It's a surprise~" she said with a tone full of mirth. Hachiman just raised his eyebrows in curiosity while taking sips from his can of MAXX Coffee.
"Alright…how may I help you?" He questioned. The Second Year student just turned around and began speaking.
"Follow me!" she commanded giddily, to which Hachiman shrugged but he did as he was told.
The two walked around different hallways of the school building for a couple of minutes before finding their destination. Shiromeguri just entered a room on the left in a hallway, which was familiar to Hachiman. Without saying much, he followed her into the room and he was greeted with the sight of Shizuka, sitting on the chair behind her table. To her left and his right were standing four students. They consisted of the two stooges that tried to pick a fight with him the day before and the girls who had been spreading false information about him, Minami and Yukko. All of them had uneasy and apprehensive looks over their expressions. The girls kept looking down at the ground and the guys were sweating too much.
"Senpai, I think I know what is going on," Hachiman told Shiromeguri, while holding onto his can of MAXX Coffee. The addressed female just smiled in his direction in return.
"Glad to see that Shiromeguri was able to find you easy and quick, Hikigaya," spoke Shizuka before she looked at the four gathered students with disappointment, which seemed to make them appear even smaller.
"Even though you have a suspicion for why this meeting is happening right now, I shall explain the situation once more," Shizuka looked at Hachiman before speaking once more.
"Yukko Asato, Minami Sagami, Akira Yamamoto, and Natsu Hasegawa," At the mentions of the four different names by the Japanese Literature teacher, the four students slightly quivered in their positions.
"The Principal learned of this entire mess and gave me control to resolve this matter. In our school, we take bullying very seriously. After a thorough investigation, the four of you have been discovered bullying First Year student, Hachiman Hikigaya. Any objections?" The teacher's eyes narrowed as she glared at the students, who were shaken up by fear and couldn't let any words out.
"Nakamura-sensei, who was overlooking the match during gym class when you two played Hikigaya and his gym partner, has offered an official written statement. His words are completely different from what you were sprouting, Sagami," the mentioned girl began sweating and she still couldn't look at the teacher. Shizuka's attention then switched to Yukko, who shut her eyes tightly.
"Although you were not the one leading the spreading of misinformation, you were still an accomplice in this incident. Mind explaining yourself?" Yukko suddenly had a glimmer of hope in her eyes for some reason and vehemently nodded, which confused the girl standing next to her and earned Hachiman's curious gaze.
"Y-Yes! M-Minami-chan told me that she'll make sure I lose all of my f-friends if I don't keep up the lie with her," spoke the whimpering girl. A look of disbelief and betrayal appeared on Sagami's face at Yukko's 'confession'.
"WHAT!? Sensei, she's lying! I never sa-" The short-haired girl tried to challenge but was stopped with a look from Hiratsuka-sensei. Hachiman watched the whole thing and rolled his eyes. He knew the girl was most likely lying since she probably thought that throwing Sagami under the bus would lessen her own punishment. He didn't even care about this whole thing anymore. He had enough satisfaction by 'punishing' Yukko in his own way. Sagami wasn't even the one he was originally upset at. She was salty about what happened in the gym and decided to pull off this entire hoax.
"So…you just couldn't come forward with this information to a teacher?" Yukko then suddenly began bawling. The insincerity of her actions were immediately noticed by everyone surrounding her except for the two boys in trouble, who looked at her in concern.
"I-I didn't want to be lonely. If I r-ratted this out, t-then M-Minami-chan said she'd m-make sure that I would l-lose all of my friends…" Through her 'crying', Yukko had managed to get the words out. Sagami could do nothing but stare at her 'friend' in shock and anger.
"No! I never did such a thing! You agreed to do this whole thing with me! Stop lying, you backbiting bitch!" Minami hatefully laid it on Yukko, who's 'sobs' intensified even further. She realized her mistake and looked around to see everyone staring at her in disappointment except for Hachiman, who looked too bored to be there. Even the two stooges were giving Sagami skeptical stares.
At that moment, Minami Sagami truly knew that the rest of her High School days were screwed over for good. And funnily enough, it was because of her own actions that she was in her current predicament.
How was it? Good? Mid? Should I stop cooking? Hope you guys aren't disappointed.
So Zaimokuza never made an appearance in the OG version but he is here in the rewrite. I tried my best to portray his character but I don't know if I did a good job.
Yukko is an actual character from canon. She is one of Sagami's friends. She didn't have a last name from what I know so I just assigned one to her.
Now Sagami's high school days are screwed because other's will end up knowing her 'forcing' Yukko to her demands, which will paint her as a 'bad guy' and make her friends stay away from her.
If you have any confusion about the basketball stuff, or want to point out grammar errors/ plot holes, please feel free to do so.
I'll try to make the next update A$AP. Otherwise, take care!