One would expect moving on to a new high school year would change things, every student being shuffled across classes that make you see a lot of new faces and personalities to get aquainted with.

For a loner like me? My biggest concern was getting an inconvenient seat and a normal homeroom teacher rather than my new classmates that I'll have to spend an entire year with.

I'm not sure about the new homeroom teacher but atleast my new seat placement is pretty neat. Sure, it's not the classic main character window seat that I had hoped for but sitting right next to the exit door is arguably just as good.

Looking around the classroom with a lazy gaze I watch everyone else already socializing with each other and forming cliques. Murmurs and giggles come from all directions as I sigh to myself.

I had hoped around the beginning of my first year that I would also be one of them... but I guess some things aren't meant for natural loners like me.

I've simply learned to accept this part of my life by now. By doing so I've realized that I don't really have any need for superficial relationships or 'friends'. I can live just fine with my consoles and Komachi. I bet that earned me a decent amount of points...

Who am I talking to anyways? Am I just lying to myself and in reality my loneliness has conjured an imaginary entity in my head in order to fill the void in my heart...

Before I could continue my inner crisis, the classroom door suddenly flew open with a sharp creak, with a brief whoosh of air accompanying the swift motion, drawing the attention from basically everyone in the room.

"Safe!" The mysterious student exclaimed, stepping into the classroom with heavy pants, sweat dripping down his face as he looks around the classroom with confusion.

I look at the weirdo that broke my inner rambling with his sudden appearance in mild amusement as he looked to be alarmed at the lack of many students in the room, a puzzled expression plastered all across his face as he breaths in and out.

"Heh...? Am I in the wrong classroom?" He mumbles to himself before turning his head to look at me, "Hey, this is Class 2-F, right?"

"Yeah... this is 2-F." I answer as casually as I possible could at the sudden question. I'm usually not prepared to talk to strangers considering how much of a strange occurance it is.

His face slowly shifted from confusion to an expression of realization. With a sigh relief, he plopped himself down on the seat right next to mine, melting into it as I catch him muttering something like, "Fix this stupid watch," under his breath.

I glance at him with amusement before almost going back to staring into space. Yet a small part of me compelling me to do something I would never think to do before, my body moving on its own as I pull out a bottle of water from my bag.

"Here," I speak out with my arm half extended towards him, holding the water bottle in my hand in his direction.

I couldn't tell you what force in this world made me do what I just did. He probably has his own water, doesn't he?! Second year in highschool and I'm already about to embarrass myself in front of this social looking guy.

My inner turmoil is suddenly broken by the guy accepting it right out of my hand with a bright and appreciative smile on his face.

"Appreciate it, man! I actually forgot my own bottle running all the way..." The genuinely thankful tone with an awkward chuckle at the end catching me off guard considering this really isn't something I'm used to receiving.

'This must be the renowned Riajuu aura passive skill..!'

I awkwardly nod at him as he completely chugs down the water in one gulp, eventually wiping his lips off with his sleeve before having the realization.

'He must be reaaaaallly thirsty, huh...'

"Ahahaha... I'll pay you back for that at lunch," he says with an embarrassed chuckle, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it, I always keep an extra just in case." I wave off his concern when, in fact, I did not have an extra bottle... yet I blurted it out in the moment due to reasons I couldn't explain.

"Nah, I insist. I'll definitely get you a drink or somethin'," He smiles in a way that is a bit too cool for my tastes, he must be one of those 'main character' type people that others naturally gravitate towards, how scary...

He certainly looks the part. He's already slightly taller than me which makes him taller than everyone in this class. The buttons on his blazer undone and a black tie loosely worn. And his medium-length dark hair, with part of it tied back, only makes him stand out more... yeah, he's definitely one of those people.

"If you really want to, then I won't stop you."

It seemed like he liked that answer as he simply shows me a thumbs up with an excited nod in response. I won't deny free compensation if the other party insists upon it, so I guess I don't mind it all that much.

"Yo, this is actually where I'm supposed to sit, ain't that a neat coincidence," he breaks me out of my musings as he slightly laughs in surprise. "Guess we're spending the year together, huh?"

"Haha... I guess we are." I awkwardly chuckle, unsure about how to feel about having such a... personality sitting next to me for the rest of the year. But then again, he might just forget about me by tomorrow...

He extends the back of his fist towards me, a confident smile on his face. "Ishikawa Ryou," he says in a friendly tone as he looks at me expectedly.

Is this how the riajuu make friends with everyone? Is this some sort of initiation test? I guess I'll just have to play along.

"Hikigaya Hachiman," I hesitantly reciprocate the gesture before pulling back my hand.

I can't help but feel a mix of uncertainty and curiosity about the person who might just become a significant presence in my second year of high school, I guess it would be right to call him my... friend, right?

"Um–"

I almost speak out before I notice, Ryou is already confidently walking over to a few other students in the classroom, seeming to be his friends from first year, waving as he cheerfully greets them.

'What am I thinking... of course being friends with someone isn't that simple. He's just a nice guy, friendly towards everyone just for the sake of being nice.'

I sigh, shaking my head as I curse my naive self for getting excited over simply being aquainted with another guy. I take a look at my watch, 5 minutes remaining until the class fills up and our homeroom teacher introduces herself. Time flies by fairly quickly as everyone goes back to their designated seats, including Ryou.

The classroom door flies open with a sudden loud thud as it hits the stopper, a tall woman with long luscious dark hair confidently walking in with exaggerated strides, wearing a lab coat over a well-fitted black vest with a dress shirt underneath, black pants that fit the rest of the outfit and a navy blue tie.

"Hey there, everyone! I'm Hiratsuka Shizuka," The woman confidently speaks up as she turns around and writes her name on the board before looking back again. "I'll be your new homeroom teacher for this year and your modern japanese teacher, and I'm also the school's guidance counselor."

I owlishly blink in surprise at the eccentric entrance of my new homeroom teacher. It seems like my wish for a normal homeroom teacher was a bit too much to ask for.

As she continues to speak, I briefly glance to my side towards Ryou, only to see... are those stars in his eyes?

Ryou in his seat seemed to be in a deep trance, eyes wide with visible stars on them and his mouth slightly open looking directly towards our homeroom teacher in amazement.

'Oh... he's also one of those guys, huh...'

I sigh to myself before looking back at the homeroom teacher, listening to her speak. This year was definitely going to be annoying, that much was certain.

(After school hours, Random Path)

Well, it looks like it took that guy less than a day to forget about my existence considering he didn't even buy me that drink that he wanted to get me.

Of course, I expected it to happen so I'm not too put off by it. It is pretty rude to promise someone a drink and then forgetting about it though... I was really thirsty during lunch, I could've used something like that.

I kick a rock off the path as I continue walking down the road. Eventually reaching my house as I open the door, "I'm Home."

"Welcome back, Onii-chan! How was your first day, did you finally find friends to talk to?" Came the excited voice of my little sister as she runs down the stairs.

"It was just another day, Komachi," I say in a dry tone as I take off my shoes, "And why would I need friends when I have you?"

"That's really creepy, Onii-chan... please refrain from saying things like that in my presence..." She says in a disgusted tone as she narrows her eyes at me. That hurts me Komachi, you definitely lose points for that!

"Yes, yes. Now go, prepare your Onii-chan a nice bath, will you?"

"Okay!" She skips away cheerfully as if she didn't just verbally attack my soul a second ago.

I watch her go upstairs as I shake my head with a chuckle, amused by her usual silly antics.

'Yeah, this is fine'

(Next Day, Class 2-F)

"This is fine, right?"

"...Huh?"

"I wasn't really sure about what to get you, I don't really know what you prefer," Ryou chuckles sheepishly with a random beverage can in his hand held towards me, "And I'm sorry about forgetting yesterday! The others just kept me occupied the entire time..."

I slowly blink at him before shaking my head and politely accepting his offer, looking at him with a nervous stare, "You didn't have to get me this, I didn't really think much of it."

"Nah, I promised you I'd pay you back, didn't I? What sorta friend would I be if I couldn't even do this for you."

...

...

...

'Friend?'


That's the first chapter of whatever this is folks or maybe this is a one-shot and the future is for you to imagine or write to your own imagination just in case I can't write further.

I really just opened up a doc and started writing the first thing that came to mind because even though I'm not the best at it, I really enjoy writing. Fuck, writing is so fun.

So I decided to write this, a basic lighthearted story featuring my boy Hachiman and a new character, Ryou. You could imagine him as an OC or you could self insert yourself into it, it's really upto your own imagination.

The intention behind the idea was just me thinking back to my high school days and just wondering what would change if 8man just had one dude alongside him to simply just... do shit.

Because sometimes all a guy needs is just one friend, and I guess this is something like that? I dunno, I'll figure it out as we go.

Let me know your thoughts and maybe if you enjoy my writing style (if I even have one idk) you could suggest something for me to write in the future. Who knows, maybe I'll be into it and I'll make it happen.