Yo! How's it going y'all? Hope life is treating you guys well!
Unfortunately, can't say the same about me. The past two weeks have been extremely rough. Not only due to an exam but also big projects that I got as assignments. College life is kicking my ass right now. Not only that, I've also been busy with other stuff that's going on outside of college. That's why this update took me a while to prepare. For that, I'd like to apologize to keep you waiting.
Regarding the reviews from previous chapter,
- Thanks for your confidence booster with your reviews, everyone. I'm glad that my work is to your liking.
- I appreciate you guys sticking with my story even if you don't really follow basketball. That motivates me even further to continue pumping out new chapters!
- Zaimokuza is still Zaimokuza with his eccentric habits. Ebina isn't really replacing him but her interest in writing is being given more importance in this story since she is one of the major characters.
- Finding Meguri fics in this site is really a rarity. This was why I chose her as one of the bigger characters when I wrote the OG version
- Yeah writing in way too many characters from other franchises really ended up screwing me over in the previous version of this fic. I might still bring expies but chances are fifty-fifty. Writing and remembering way too many OCs is difficult, ngl
- And yeah, I jinxed the Rockets when I mentioned their win streak last time. Also put the nail in the coffin when I bet the over for Jalen Green vs Dallas lmaoo. At least we'll get a very interesting Play-in tournament in the Western Conference.
Alright I'll shut myself up for now. Without further ado, please enjoy this new chapter.
I do not own My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. It is the property of Wataru Watari.
The sun was absent from the sky in the town of Chiba on this Monday. It was due to the clouds making their appearance. The gloomy weather drove many people away, mainly students, from exiting the school building of Soubu High School. Enjoying their lunch within the school's structure seemed rather enticing at the moment. However, two exceptions to that general consensus mentioned earlier were located on the rooftop. In the form of Hachiman Hikigaya and Hina Ebina, the two exceptions could be seen sitting next to each other with a bit of distance between them. Both students were silent as Ebina enjoyed her homemade lunch and Hachiman could be seen reading a notebook with an opened can of MAXX Coffee near him. Ebina eyed the beverage while taking another bite of her lunch.
"I tried that one time. It's too sweet for my taste," the girl commented. Hachiman hummed to indicate he heard her but didn't make a vocal response. Ebina looked at Hachiman afterwards, who kept his eyes on the notebook for a few more seconds before putting it down and looking at Ebina.
"So…how was it?" She asked with an expectant and anxious gaze directed at the other teen. Hachiman remained quiet for a moment, mostly to gather his thoughts, before answering her.
"It's not bad. Grammar is good. Vocabulary is really advanced. Dialogues seem fine," Ebina's eyes held a look of curiosity at the young man's words.
"Since you said, "It's not bad.", I'm expecting to hear something I need to work on," her words managed to bring a small nod out of Hachiman.
"You are overusing figurative languages. Too many idioms and hyperboles here. Sometimes, it can be a mood killer for some readers. I suggest you cut them down a little. Plus, you're alternating between using advanced vocab and regular words too much for a single character's perspective. Stick with one. Other than that, you got yourself a good story in progress," Hachiman explained while grabbing the notebook he was reading earlier. He then held it out for the girl sitting next to him, so she could take it back. Ebina looked at Hachiman in amazement while taking her notebook from him. She never expected him to talk this much since he always kept his speech short and blunt from what she knew of him so far.
"I see. I'll keep your words in mind. Thanks a lot, Hikigaya-kun!" the teen smiled at Hachiman, who only acknowledged her words of appreciation with a silent nod.
"Now I believe I owe you something," Ebina spoke as she took hold of her bag next to her and opened it to search for something. As Ebina scoured her bag, sounds of footsteps approaching the door of the rooftop was heard by both of the First Year students. Ebina joined a bit later Hachiman in staring at the door in front of them as she halted her search. It didn't take too long for the culprit to show themself to the two teens.
"Ah! You're Sagami-san, correct?" stated the girl with eyeglasses. She stared at the newcomer with a blank expression, no clues on her face to relay her current inner feelings at seeing the other girl.
The short-haired girl froze in her spot once she noticed who was occupying the rooftop. She made direct eye contact with the gloomy teen sitting next to Ebina. Hachiman figured she was here to eat her lunch since he took note of the school-bought lunch pack in her hands. It was understandable. No one really associated themselves with Sagami after the scandal she was recently punished for. This meant she either sat at a lunch table by herself or ate her lunch in the classroom by herself as well. In Hachiman's head, she probably figured there would be no one else up at the rooftop due to how cloudy the sky was but her most likely assumption ended up being incorrect.
"S-Sorry! I'll just go…" Sagami murmured weakly before turning back and walking away. Ebina kept her stare at the spot Sagami was standing at for a few seconds before shrugging and going back to looking through her belongings in her bag. Hachiman took a few sips of his MAXX Coffee in the meanwhile.
"Found it! Here it is, Hikigaya-kun!" Ebina was holding out a copy of a light novel towards Hachiman. It was the same one that he wanted to purchase over the weekend. Hachiman took it from Ebina and skimmed through the first few pages. The wear down and the yellowing of the pages was able to help Hachiman conclude that Ebina had this thing for months or a couple of years, probably.
"Thanks. I'll be taking my leave now," After putting the book inside his own bag and putting it over his shoulder, Hachiman stood up from his sitting position while making sure to grab the half emptied Maxx Coffee can and the empty wrapper of filled bread by his side. Hachiman was able to take only a few steps before the woman within his vicinity called out to him.
"Wait! I forgot something!" Hachiman shifted his body around to meet Ebina's eyes. His curious look transformed into one of confusion when he noticed her holding out a small and fancy bottle out to him.
"What is this?" Hachiman, out of curiosity, took the bottle offered to him and observed it. It was a clear bottle but within it contained some dark purple material. It didn't take him too long to realize what he was viewing at the moment.
"Nail polish?" Ebina's face formed a smile at his correct deduction.
"I had two of these at my place. This one was catching dust so instead of letting it waste away, I decided to give it to you. Plus, it matches the color of Soubu High School's athletic teams," The First Year female student informed.
The dark purple color reminded Hachiman of the times Makoto would paint his nails purple or blue. The gloomy teen had only used black so far for himself but was interested in this dark purple variation. After taking another look at the bottle, he was able to safely guess that this thing was not cheap either. He wanted to give it back to Ebina but she herself said that she already had another bottle of the same thing. Deciding not to let this likely expensive product wither into trash, Hachiman put the bottle into his pocket before looking at Ebina's smiling face.
"Thank you," The teen said honestly. Ebina's smiling face slowly turned into one of mischief before she began giggling with a gleam in her eyes.
"Oh! I wonder how Hayama-kun would react to Hikigaya-kun's nails on their next secret date!" she cackled while her eyes stared into blank space, which was enough to let Hachiman know that she was truly deep into her fantasies right now.
An expression of exasperation and disgust took over the young man's face at the girl's actions. Without replying to her, he simply turned around and began to continue his way to the exit doors. Smashing that gift Ebina had just given him looked very tempting to the teen right now.
"Ah, so this is what Shiromeguri meant when she says you are in the school gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school," A voice spoke out after Hachiman took a step back for a three point jumpshot.
Instead of running for the ball after missing the shot, he turned towards the doors of the gym to see his Japanese Literature teacher standing there with a grin. She was wearing her usual outfit with her lab coat on and a bag she held with her right hand. Hachiman, who was wearing a black tank top and blue sweatpants, stared at his teacher. He figured it was most likely she was done with her work early since she had her belongings with her at the moment.
"Hiratsuka-sensei," Hachiman acknowledged her presence and jogged towards where the ball was rolling away. It rolled right into Shizuka's feet, who crouched down and put her bag aside to pick it up herself before Hachiman could get it. The teen stood across from his teacher as she held the ball. The woman noticed a peculiar change in the teen's appearance once she took a closer look and decided to address it verbally.
"Oh, you painted your nails purple this time? Suits you, if I am being honest," Shizuka said as she held the ball. Hachiman remained quiet while looking at his teacher with annoyance in his eyes.
"Hmm, want it back?" the teacher smirked. Hachiman sighed and responded by holding his hands out to receive the ball. The teacher pushed both of her hands forward while holding the ball, intending to pass it. The student expected the ball to reach his hands only to slightly stumble forward a bit but stand still in his position after a second passed. Shizuka had only pretended to pass the ball as she brought it back to herself, giggling at her student's reaction.
'That's embarrassing…' thought Hachiman as a small hue of red appeared on his face. He didn't expect his teacher to pull such a stunt, which he realized was his mistake.
"Ha! You fell for it, fool!" maniacally laughed the older woman, making Hachiman's eyes twitch in annoyance at her behavior.
"Aren't you too old to be referencing that kind of stuff, sensei?" As soon as those words left Hachiman's mouth, the ball zoomed in on his face at the speed of light. However, his reaction time was able to help him catch the ball before it collided into him with force. After grabbing the ball and holding it away from his face, the First Year Student was able to look at the unamused face of his teacher.
"I am still a young woman, thank you!" she roared at him. Hachiman didn't pay her any mind before going back to continuing his drills. He heard Shizuka follow him from behind but didn't turn around to see her. Walking back to the center of the three point line, Hachiman did a left to right crossover before stepping back and shooting a three, which rimmed in and out of the basket. The ball bounced off towards his teacher yet again, who was standing to his left after he took the shot. She grabbed the ball and turned her face in his direction with a giddy expression. He noticed that she had taken her lab coat off and put it on top of the bag.
"Hey, let me shoot the ball!" She asked excitedly. Hachiman was annoyed at the woman interrupting his routine but didn't let it bother him too much.
The teen gave a small nod to grant his teacher her request. He watched as she walked her way to the top of the key inside the three point line while holding onto the ball. An idea suddenly entered his mind and it was too good to let the chance slip. Sneakily, Hachiman carefully stepped along and positioned himself right behind her. He watched as Shizuka bent down while holding onto the ball with both of her hands. He ignored his temptations to stare below and took a deep breath to move forward with his plan. As she slowly jumped up to release the ball, Hachiman put his plan into action and raised his right hand while getting ready to jump along with Shizuka's shot attempt.
SMACK!
Shizuka, who did not expect this at all, stumbled forward and fell on her face. Hachiman watched as his teacher slowly picked herself up in a few seconds and stood up to turn around and face him. She threw a mean scowl in the student's direction while gritting her teeth.
"You brat! What was that for!?" She growled at him. The teen nonchalantly looked at her while shrugging.
"Payback for earlier," Hachiman said dryly. He then began jogging up to where the ball was resting and grabbed it after reaching it. Shizuka, who was looking at him the whole time, caught an unexpected pass from him.
"Go ahead. I won't block you this time," reassured Hachiman. Shizuka pouted and huffed in return.
"T-Then stay there! Don't move!" Shizuka pointed at him as she voiced her demand. She scrutinized Hachiman for a few more seconds afterward for any doubt, after which she went back to her previous position and took a shot. The shot was so bad that it missed the basket entirely and hit the side of the backboard. Her face became red at the result of her attempt and she gazed into Hachiman's face once more, who had no visible reaction whatsoever.
"Y-You better not laugh!" she ordered. Hachiman sighed and nodded before walking forward to where the ball was bouncing around. He grabbed it before making his way back to the three point line, intending to continue his drills.
To the surprise of the First Year student, his teacher had followed after him shortly and stood in front of him. Hachiman groaned at not being able to shoot around in peace but accepted the situation. Shizuka got into her amateur defensive stance but it was tight. Hachiman noted this and shifted backwards while taking a dribble with his left hand. Afterwards, he went into his size up dribble moves. He slowly alternated between crossovers and between the leg dribble moves from left to right and right to left respectively. Shizuka seemed to be extremely focused on him, aiming to not let him score at all. Her focus is what caused her to be frozen in her spot once Hachiman pulled a quick crossover from left to right out of nowhere. With the space he generated from his crossover, he exploded towards the rim while taking hard dribbles with his right hand. Once reaching near the rim, Hachiman finished the play with a gentle right-handed lay up.
"Dammit I let you score," commented the teacher as Hachiman brought the ball back and faced her from behind the three point line.
'More like you can't guard me,' thought the teen as sighed before he started to dribble again.
As he expected, his teacher wasted no time to get back into defense. This time, Shizuka moved even closer and started to reach in a lot. Even though these were obvious fouls, Hachiman doubted his teacher would stop even after pointing it out so he just rolled with it. Doing a couple of low between the leg dribbles, Hachiman began moving fast to his left while dribbling with his left hand. Shizuka kept up with him and moved along while she had been trying to reach in to poke the ball loose from his control. However, Hachiman had put his right hand between the two earlier to protect the ball. As he kept dribbling, Hachiman suddenly stopped on the left wing. Following up instantly, he did a between the leg dribble move from left to right and stepped back with a hard right-handed dribble. Shizuka never expected the change in motion and direction, which resulted in her flying away until she fell on the ground. Hachiman gazed at his teacher's direction after breaking her ankles for a couple of seconds before taking a deep three point shot.
SWISH!
The ball hit nothing but net as it fell on the ground and bounced around a bit. Shizuka, who had picked herself up once more, didn't stand up and sat in her position while shooting Hachiman a dirty look.
"This is the second time you made me fall on the ground. And of course you had to make that one, didn't you?," she grumbled, addressing his previously missed three point shots as well. Hachiman made no verbal response and jogged after the ball to bring it back.
"You know, I am the one in control of your grades for Japanese Literature class.." she continued. Hachiman stopped and raised an eyebrow at her indirect threat.
"Smoking is prohibited within school grounds," he replied boredly before going into post from mid range and shooting a turn-around fadeaway. Shizuka's face paled at his statement and sighed before getting up to stand.
"When are you gonna let that go?" she questioned before going into the sidelines and sitting down comfortably.
"I'll just sit here until you are done. After that, we'll go grab a bite somewhere. Are you down for it?" she informed and asked the teen, who stopped to look at her.
"Sure," he agreed before going back into his drills, with Shizuka as his audience this time.
When Hachiman was finished with his drills, Shiromeguri came into the gym to lock the doors and was surprised by Shizuka's presence. The teacher offered the Student Council President to join the two but she declined, saying she was busy with Student Council stuff. It was a Tuesday afternoon in the town of Chiba. Shizuka and Hachiman could be seen seated at a restaurant. Both were seated next to each other in stools with most of the other customers seated at tables behind them. The stools around the duo were mostly empty. Shizuka had brought Hachiman to a curry place today. Shizuka had ordered herself some beef curry while her student decided to go with katsu curry. The two didn't talk much as they enjoyed their food in silence. Shizuka ate fast while Hachiman decided to enjoy his food at a slower pace.
"How is it?" The Sobu High teacher questioned after swallowing her food. Her student didn't look at her even after being addressed.
"It's alright," answered the teen stoically. Shizuka hummed for a second and then fired another question.
"Do you prefer this place or the ramen shop?" This time, Hachiman turned around to face her.
"Ramen one is better. I think I can make better curry than this," he glanced at his portion as he spoke. Shizuka's eyebrow raised at his claim and a smile formed on her face.
"Is that so? Then you gotta make me curry sometime so I can be the judge!" she suggested excitedly.
"Buy the ingredients and maybe then I'll cook for you," Hachiman wasted no time to fire back. Shizuka sighed but smiled nonetheless. Even if it seemed little, Hachiman was opening up to her bit by bit and this fact made her happy.
"Oh my! I didn't expect your single life to affect you to the point where you would take your own student on a date!" a new voice interrupted the teacher and student duo's conversation. Both of them looked towards their left to see a young woman smiling in their direction. Shizuka held a hint of recognition in her eyes but the same couldn't be said for Hachiman, who raised his eyebrow curiously. The beautiful woman had shoulder-length black hair with triangular earrings dangling from her ears. Her clothing consisted of a pair of white pants and a white blouse under a baby blue jacket. Her affluent appearance was enough for Hachiman to know she was probably from a wealthy family. The woman sat next to Shizuka on her left and her blue eyes fell into Hachiman's presence from the other side.
"Haruno… What brings you here today?" sighed Shizuka as she looked at the newcomer. Hachiman glanced at the woman, who he learned was named Haruno, sneakily as he slowly ate his curry.
"I was just passing by, haha! And to my surprise, my vision lands on Shizuka-chan on a date! With a High schooler nonetheless!" chirped the other woman in an outgoing manner. Hachiman felt as if her behavior seemed unnatural for some reason.
"Stop. It's nothing like that…" Shizuka groaned before speaking up once more.
"So, how is everything?" followed up the Japanese Literature teacher. Haruno just smiled at the question.
"You know, the usual! Say…won't you introduce me to your date?" the woman stated cheerfully. At least that was what Hachiman believed she was trying to pretend to be, cheerful.
"Once again, this is just my student. Hikigaya, meet Haruno Yukinoshita. Haruno, meet Hachiman Hikigaya," as soon as Hachiman heard the last name of the woman, his mood turned from nonchalant to an unpleasant one.
In a rare occasion, all four members of the Hikigaya family were able to have a meal together. This uncommon gathering took place last Sunday, when both his mom and dad were home from work. After the meal, his parents were delicately holding onto some papers and envelopes, which were left in the living room momentarily. Hachiman took advantage of their absence and scanned through the papers his parents were oddly behaving over. Taking a look, he was able to see that a check of a good sum of money was placed in an envelope with his name on it from someone named Yukinoshita. Due to his curiosity, Hachiman researched the Yukinoshita family and learned that these guys were one of the most prominent and richest families in Chiba. Along with that, he was also able to deduce that they were also responsible for the accident he was involved in months ago.
With his eyes slightly narrowed, Hachiman looked at Haruno Yukinoshita, whose eyes somewhat widened for a few seconds after she heard his name. However, they were back to normal soon. She had her default smiling face right after the little tweak in her expression.
"Hikigaya-kun, was it? I am Haruno Yukinoshita. Pleasure to meet you!" she said with enthusiasm layered on her tone. Hachiman just stared at her for a second before giving a small nod. Shizuka, who viewed the interaction between the two, sighed and turned to Hachiman with a frown.
"Say something, you disrespectful brat!" Shizuka demanded while slightly nudging him with her elbow.
"Hachiman Hikigaya," was all she could get out of the young man as he focused more on eating his food, seemingly a lot faster than before Haruno barged in on them.
"Ufufu! Your boyfriend sure does seem rebellious, Shizuka-chan!" Haruno giggled. The teacher's face grew red at her comments as she groaned.
"I told you already. It's nothing like that!" She forcefully stated while poking at her food, lost in thoughts.
"You know, if you told me that you were interested in younger guys, I would've already introduced you to a lot of my colleagues from my college," teased the other woman even further. Shizuka responded by just covering her face in annoyance and distress.
"It's nothing like that," Hachiman interrupted the two women strongly, barely holding back the venom in his voice. Haruno looked at him with her head tilted in curiosity while Shizuka picked her head up to glance at Hachiman in concern. She was slightly hurt from the way Hachiman had strongly denied the teasing from her acquaintance regarding her love life.
"Everything alright?" The teacher asked, to which he never responded. She then noticed how quickly her student had finished his food, despite eating a lot slower than her at the start.
"You're done already?" Hachiman once again remained silent and quickly stood up. He then took out his wallet and slammed a few bills of cash on the surface of the pub table, surprising both of the women with his actions. The amount of money he put there was more than enough to cover for both himself and Shizuka.
"What the? Wait, where are you going? I'm gonna drop you off back in school! And didn't I say it was my treat?" Shizuka spoke in confusion as she noticed Hachiman getting ready to leave. Her words did manage to make him turn around and look at her with exasperation, which hurt the teacher yet again.
"I just remembered something I had to do. Take care," he said icily before rapidly walking out of their vicinity. Shizuka and Haruno both knew that the teen was lying. He didn't turn around even once and ignored Shizuka's calls as he made his way into the busy streets.
Hachiman knew that what he did just now was absolutely awful. His Japanese literature teacher had been nothing but kind to him and even offered him free meals. She had done her utmost best to help him go through his first year as a high school student. No other teacher had done such things and cared for his well being to this extent like Shizuka had. And he had just stood her up. He left the money to pay for both of them, hoping it would mitigate his teacher's anger at his actions. In reality, he knew he was just telling himself that to make himself feel better and lessen his own guilt. He considered this one more reason why he hated himself and his existence. Not only was a hypocrite and a liar, he was also an exploiter. All of the things that had happened throughout his life, he believed that he deserved it due to how much of a bad person he was.
His thoughts then lingered onto the woman who had decided to jump into the peaceful silence between him and Shizuka. Hachiman had gotten up and left out of nowhere since he couldn't bear to be near Haruno Yukinoshita any longer. Her presence had made him way too uncomfortable and brought on too many bad thoughts within his head. He knew she was probably not even directly responsible for the accident. Despite knowing that, he couldn't help but get upset. All of the preparations, hopes, and expectations he had on the first day of school, only to make his late friend proud, were crushed due to that accident. Sighing, Hachiman tried to steer away his thoughts into a different direction as he continued on his long walk back to Sobu High School's campus, where his bike was still locked safely.
The bell rang to signal the end of Wednesday class at Sobu High School. Hachiman, who had a plastic bag in front of him, threw the strap of his school bag over his shoulder and grabbed the smaller plastic bag before heading out. As he stepped his way to the exit, he noticed that some students still gave him stares from the Sagami and Yukko incident but it wasn't as bad as it was at the start. Majority of the student body knew he was falsely accused by Sagami, who was now an outcast. It's just that the ones who blamed him for these allegations were too ashamed to come forward and apologize to him directly. He didn't care about their apologies or how they thought. To him, it was just a little less annoying to deal with stares as he walked around the school building.
"Hikigaya-kun!" Just as he stepped out of the classroom, he jumped up in surprise due to a familiar voice calling his name out. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Hachiman turned around and sighed as his eyes met the culprit's.
"Ebina-san," he said tiredly while moving ahead. The female student just smiled at him as she tagged along right by him.
"I was waiting for you," she claimed happily. Hachiman's eyebrows raised in curiosity at her claim.
"Do you need the book back?" Hachiman stopped and brought his bag out to set it on the floor and put the plastic bag nearby. Before he could open his bag, he was halted by Ebina insistently waving her hands.
"No no, you can still keep it. I just wanted to hang out with Hikigaya-kun," she smiled. A groan of displeasure escaped from the teen at her reasoning for her appearance.
"Go hang out with Hayama or Miura," he picked his belongings up and started moving forward once more. To his dismay, Ebina kept following him.
"Hayama-kun is busy with the football team. Yumiko-chan now has a part time job. Tobe-kun, Yamato-kun, and Ooka-kun are all hanging out somewhere by themselves," explained the fujoshi.
"Then go to your other friends," suggested the gloomy teen. A blank expression appeared on the girl's face at his words.
"But I want to hang out with Hikigaya-kun," Ebina voiced while tilting her head. An annoyed expression came over Hachiman's face at her answer.
"We're not friends," he challenged but Ebina shook her head with a smile.
"Of course we are! We are manga buddies!" Hachiman decided to ignore the girl next to him as he made a turn in the hallway and walked up the stairs. He walked fast but still heard Ebina's footsteps behind him, annoying him further. Hachiman stopped once he reached the hallway of the upper floor and turned around. Ebina did the same as she stared back at Hachiman.
"Why are you still following me? I said that I don't want to hang out with you," The female student only smiled teasingly in response to his words.
"I'm going my own way. It just so happens that Hikigaya-kun and I are on the same path," Hachiman kept his annoyed gaze on the young woman while she giggled. She stopped once something caught the attention of her eyes.
"Oh my, that purple nail polish looks beautiful on your hands, Hikigaya-kun," Ebina complimented. Hachiman then remembered that she was the one who had given him that nail polish bottle. Taking a deep breath, Hachiman made his response.
"Do what you want," he lazily stated while continuing his way forward. The girl near him kept up right behind the teen.
The two walked in the upper floor's hallway until Hachiman stopped near his targeted destination. Ebina followed suit and a look of curiosity appeared in the girl's face.
"Teacher's lobby? Are you in trouble?" she asked the young man next to her. Hachiman knew she could follow him inside and know what he was here to do. He didn't want her to know since it was kind of embarrassing for him. Also, with how imaginative her mind was, the fujoshi next to him might come up with even more terrible fantasies and write them into her stories, something he wished not to lay his eyes upon. Sighing, he decided to go ahead with his new plan.
"Just…wait out here for a few minutes. Then I'll take you to this cafe I know," Hachiman was only doing it for the expensive bottle of Nail polish Ebina gifted him the other day. That was what he told himself as he voiced his offer to the girl. It was only an equivalent exchange in his head so that he wouldn't owe her anything. To him, it was nothing more, nothing less.
"Oh? Ok! I'll wait!" Ebina was surprised by Hachiman's sudden acceptance but smiled nonetheless at his offer. She stood outside of the teacher's lobby as the other teen made his way in.
Walking into the lobby, Hachiman maneuvered his way around the office until he was right in front of a certain table. Shizuka, who had her lab coat off and was going over some papers, looked up to see her student. Her eyes went wide for a second before staring at the teen in concern. He had not spoken with her personally today. It was awkward for him to continue on as if nothing happened after yesterday's incident.
"Hikigaya? What happened yesterday? Are you alright?" she questioned as she eyed his body over. She noticed him holding onto a wrapped small plastic bag, which caught her interest.
"Yeah. About yesterday, sorry for leaving like that," apologized the loner. Shizuka kept her eyes on him for a moment before shaking her head.
"No no, it's fine. Don't worry about that. I just want to know if you are doing okay," reassured the Japanese Literature instructor. Hachiman set the small plastic bag he was holding in front of the older woman, who only raised her eyebrows in interest.
"I made beef curry in the morning and brought some for you. Take it as a token of apology…" Hachiman's eyes were looking away from the teacher while a small red hue was spotted on his face. Shizuka was surprised Hachiman would go so far for her and a warm smile formed in her face.
"Heh. This is really touching. You even remembered that beef is one of my favorite foods. I'll definitely enjoy it for dinner tonight, Hikigaya. Thank you very much," she grinned. Hachiman finally looked back at her and cleared his throat.
"I'll get going now, sensei," he uttered before turning around to leave.
"Wait!" Hachiman turned back once more at his teacher's request. She brought out her phone and unlocked it before holding it out to him, which confused the teen.
"Put your number in my phone," Shizuka nonchalantly asked. The First Year student was surprised at his teacher's actions.
"Is that alright?" Shizuka groaned at the teen after noticing his questionable look.
"Yes it's fine. I just want to make sure that you are doing well and everything," she replied. Hachiman eyed her phone for a few more seconds before shrugging and doing as she asked. After putting in his number, he returned the phone back to his teacher, who smiled once more.
"Perfect. I'll send you a text so you can save my number," said Shizuka. Hachiman gave a small nod in return.
"Got it. I'll be going now," the teen turned around again to leave, this time not being stopped by his teacher. Shizuka kept her eyes on the back of the teen with a warm smile as she watched him leave the teacher's lobby.
"I didn't know you came here too, Hikigaya-kun!" Ebina cheerfully commented as she watched Hachiman lock his bicycle. After finishing his business in the teacher's lobby, Ebina followed the teen outside and was brought to a cafe Hachiman was talking about. The two were entering the establishment now and Hachiman only grunted in response to her earlier words, letting her know that he heard her.
"That table in the corner is empty. Let's go there!" Instead of leading, the teen let the girl take the reins this time and followed her to the small empty table. Seating themselves into their spot, the duo didn't have to wait that long for someone to take their orders.
"Welcome to our coffee sh- Ah! Ebina-san!" Hachiman merely raised his brows at the tone of familiarity the waitress used with the girl in front of him. He knew the waitress worked here due to his prior visits but never spoke with the woman.
"Hello, Nishikawa-san! I'll be having the usual!" Ebina smiled. The waitress then turned towards her other customer and her face had a look of slight surprise.
"Oh my, I recognize you too, young man. Are you perhaps Ebina-san's date?" she teasingly asked the teen. Hachiman just sighed in annoyance at her implications while Ebina giggled.
"No, it's nothing like that. Hikigaya-kun already has some-" as soon as he began hearing her second sentence, Hachiman knew where Ebina was going with her words.
"I'll take a cup of caramel mocha with extra sugar," Hachiman interrupted the girl. The waitress nodded and wrote it down on her pad.
"Alright. Please give me a couple of minutes to bring your orders. Thank you for visiting our shop!" The waitress then left the two students. After her leave, Hachiman turned his gaze towards the fujoshi in front of him with a frown.
"I am a heterosexual male, thank you very much," he muttered strongly. Ebina eyed him for a few seconds before smirking.
"You don't realize it yet, Hikigaya-kun, but true love between HachiHaya will eventually prevail!" As soon as she was done with her piece, a small stream of blood escaped from her right nostril. The young man only stared at her in disgust and took out his phone so he could focus on his device and ignore the ramblings of her weird fantasies. The two spent the next couple of minutes in silence until their orders arrived. Hachiman eyed the cup of matcha tea his companion ordered. Not paying it much mind, he then began sipping on the sugary drink he ordered for himself as he went through his phone.
"Isn't that stuff too sweet for you?" Hachiman heard Ebina ask. He sighed before answering the young woman.
"Sometimes life is too bitter so at least something in it should be sweet," he replied without looking up. He heard nothing for a moment before Ebina began chuckling. This caused him to glance at the girl in front of him in interest.
"That's…something an old man would say," the teen only stared at the chuckling girl for a few seconds before going back to his drink. Hachiman was only here to make sure he owed nothing to Ebina for her nail polish bottle so they will be on even terms. To him, this was not an outing born from friendship but debt relieving.
"You know…you do remind me of myself in some ways, Hikigaya-kun," despite his inner insistence of not wanting to be friends with Ebina, her words just now had piqued his curiosity and once again, he looked up from his phone to fully face the girl. However, before she could continue, the two were hit with an interruption from an outside interference.
"Hikigaya? Did I just draw an ultra rare card? That's hilarious! I never expected to see you here! You look so much different too!" a voice followed by a pair of footsteps closing in on him from behind their table stopped Ebina from what she was about to say. Hachiman recognized this voice instantly and his heart started beating faster in anxiety. His mood worsened and a lot of terrible thoughts began to fill his head up. Ebina noticed her companion's rapid breathing and the sweat that began to form in his forehead. Her worried gaze at him went unnoticed by the teen, who was trying to calm himself and stay steady.
"Kaori-san, is this the Hikigaya you talk about sometimes?" another voice added on. This voice was unknown to not only Ebina but Hachiman as well.
"The one and only," the previous voice chirped in response. Hachiman took a deep breath to relax and to rid himself of his bad thoughts. After that, he turned around to meet the ones who came up to his and Ebina's seats. He recognized the girl with shoulder length brown hair. There was no way he could forget her face, to his dismay. It was someone he had foolishly asked out during his junior high school days. However, he failed to recognize the short haired girl that was accompanying the familiar girl. Hachiman noted that both of them were wearing the same uniforms from different schools.
"Hikigaya-kun, do you recognize them?" Ebina asked curiously as the two girls were standing near their table with smiles on both of their faces. Unfortunately for him, two seats were vacant on the table occupied by him and Ebina and the girls decided to make themselves comfortable here. Kaori sat on the chair to his right and her friend across from Kaori and to his left. Since Hachiman didn't give an answer to Ebina's question, the brown-haired girl began speaking.
"We went to junior high together! Wait a minute…is that a Soubu High School Uniform?" Kaori mentioned while taking a look over the two other teens. The other girl with her had her eyes get wide for a split second before speaking up.
"It is! If you two go to Sobu, then that means you two know Hayama-san, right?!" Excitedly asked the other girl. Ebina reacted by merely tilting her head while Hachiman tried his best to hide his worsening state of mind.
"Nice, Chika! You caught on to it just like me!" Kaori complimented her friend, who only smiled proudly and let Kaori continue.
"Knowing Hikigaya, Hayama probably hasn't even heard of him," laughed Kaori nonchalantly. Chika joined her friend right after. Not only was Hachiman's mood worsened after this, but Ebina's as well due to the behavior from the two girls.
"Hayama-kun and I are very good friends. And to let you know, Hayama-kun and Hikigaya-kun actually play basketball together sometimes for fun. Hikigaya-kun, you haven't introduced me to your friends yet," Ebina shot a strained smile towards the girls and then turned back to Hachiman.
"Kaori Orimoto. I don't know who the other one is. And we are not friends," frowned the gloomy teen as his level of discomfort kept rising. However, in the back of his head, he appreciated Ebina's reply to the shallow girls.
"Hikigaya, that's hilarious! You barely talked back in Junior high and now you're cracking jokes! And to Hikigaya's date, I am Kaori Orimoto! And meet my friend Chika Nakamachi, both of you! We both go to Kaihin Sogou High," Orimoto cheerfully introduced herself and her friend.
"Since you two are actually acquainted with Hayama-san, can you introduce us to him?" giddily requested Nakamichi while her eyes were locked with Ebina's.
"Hmm…maybe. Tell me, how do you know Hikigaya-kun, Orimoto-san?" Ebina directed her question towards the other girl, who only laughed. Hachiman's eyes widened in anxiety even further and dreaded how Orimoto was going to answer.
"Hikigaya actually asked me out back when we were in junior high school. However, I had to reject him. Now…I actually might even give him a shot, haha! By the way, you are…?" The revelations surprised Ebina but she didn't let it affect her too much.
Hachiman, on the other hand, was filled with disgust at Orimoto's words. The fact that she made his junior high days a living hell seemed to fly over the girl's head and she was acting as if nothing happened. He wasn't angry at the fact that she rejected him back in the day. He knew he was younger and stupid for even considering such a thing back then. Especially with a popular and 'nice girl' like her. She was never going to accept his confession because there was no development between them. He had only asked her out because she was one of the people that exchanged contacts with him and was nice to him during his time in middle school. What rubbed him wrong was the fact that she stood as a bystander as her friends made it their life mission to make his school days even more unbearable after they heard about the whole thing. Lots of false accusations were thrown at him along with unrealistic and nonsense allegations by other kids in Junior high. However, Orimoto just remained silent throughout that entire fiasco. And now, she was acting like everything was smooth between the two in the past.
"Hina Ebina," Hachiman's mind was snapped from his thoughts as he heard Ebina simply stating to answer Orimoto. His eyes were glued to the unfinished coffee on the coffee cup below him after she made her answer. After a moment, Hachiman took a deep breath before finally speaking up.
"It's not a date," corrected Hachiman as he looked at Orimoto with a narrowed stare. His expression caught her and the girls off guard. However, it was only a split second for Chika specifically as she pointed something out right after.
"Wait, do you paint your nails? They look wonderful!" gushed out the boyish girl while keeping her gaze on Hachiman's painted nails. Hachiman was a little surprised by her outburst and her actions stripped his mind away from being engulfed in the bad thoughts like it had been for minutes now. Chika Nakamichi had unknowingly made the tension that was growing within their atmosphere less tense with her observation.
"Right! I just noticed! You even grew your hair out! Damn, Hikigaya! You changed so much, haha! Maybe I should've said yes back then!" chuckled the brown haired girl. Hachiman remained quiet while thinking about how to smoothly get out of the situation he was in. However, he couldn't think of any way to do so. Plus, Orimoto kept pissing him off with her shallow mindset.
"Ebina-san," Hachiman's voice stopped everyone from their actions and made the two newcomers look back and forth between the young man and Ebina.
"I'll pay for both of us. And then I'll go on. You can stay here if you wish," Hachiman picked up his bag and took out his wallet to pay up at the front. Ebina quickly drank the rest of her matcha tea before getting up with her belongings as well.
"Wait! You barely said anything. At least let's talk for a bit," Kaori put her hand on Hachiman's shoulder to stop him. As soon as she did that, Hachiman turned around in a zoom and shot her an intensifying glare. This reaction from the gloomy teen made Kaori and her friend Chika shuffle back in surprise. His narrowed stare was gone in an instant but he still kept his gaze locked on Orimoto, who was frozen in her spot.
"Talk? I don't want to talk right now. Not with you of all people. Shallow minded folks like you disgust me," firmly spoke Hachiman before roughly getting her hand off of his shoulder and continuing. Ebina looked back and forth between the two forces in front of her and then followed her companion. Some nearby customers watched the scene in interest but looked away quickly, minding their own business.
The two teens walking away missed it, but Orimoto had a hurt expression on her face following a look of realization for a split second. While Chika seemed conflicted, she tried to reprimand the teen as she saw him walk away from them. To her frustration, she couldn't find any words to defend her friend. She didn't know if it was due to his intense stare or the fact that he had unknowingly made an impact on her without her realizing it in their small interaction right now.
Hachiman ignored the girls behind him and made it to the register to pay with Ebina right behind him. As she watched Hachiman pay for both of their orders despite her protests, Ebina was able to make a realization. Hachiman Hikigaya and herself had a lot more in common than she initially expected.
Well...thoughts? Me personally, I think I could've done better if I didn't have such a busy past two weeks.
8Man's week was also rough in this chapter. First, Haruno ended up disrupting the peaceful meal between him and Shizuka and then Orimoto ran into him on the next day.
The reason Hachiman kind of snapped at Orimoto was due to the accumulated frustration caused by how his week was going.
Not much basketball in this chapter compared to the other ones.
I might have a lot of mistakes and weird sentence structures on this one since I was kind of rushing through sometimes while working on this chapter. If you do see something, don't be afraid to point it out. Same with any plot holes and grammar mistakes.
Who do y'all think is making it out of the Play-in in the West? I'll say Lakers and two teams among Suns/Pelicans/Warriors. I don't think the Kings are making it this year.
I will stop my yapping now. Today has been very dreadful for me today and I really need to sleep. Hope you guys enjoyed this new update.
Until next time!