Yo! How's everything going, guys? Hope everything has been going well for y'all!
Sorry for such a long wait for the update. I had a lot of things going on the past few weeks (mainly college stuff) and they were stressful. But I was able to work on this update slowly and in the past few days, made sure to complete it.
I really appreciate all the love and support from the last chapter!
Now about the reviews:
- Yep, 8Man has had terrible luck in running into people he recognizes, especially in his "non-dates"
- I try to have some type of basketball content in every chapter but last chapter's flow went in a way where I wasn't able to include more. But I appreciate you for pointing it out. And yeah, Sagami faced a reality check in the form of consequences for what she tried to do
- I haven't really thought of any pairing in this story but maybe that'll change later on. And Shiromeguri would definitely be a top candidate if that were to happen
- Welp, your prediction was right as Phoenix, LA, and NOLA all made the playoffs but it's funny now considering all of them got eliminated and two of them even got swept lmao
- Yukino and Yui will probably show up later on rather than earlier if I am being honest with you
- Thanks for reading my Oneshot man! I am glad you were able to enjoy it!
- Yeah. Most of the other basketball stories I encounterd, even in other sections, always include like Generation of Miracles from KNB or some out of this world athletic type players. I wanted to stray from that and made Hachiman someone who was gifted with above average height and very lengthy wingspan, which are tools he used to work on himself to become a great basketball player.
- ¡Te agradezco que revises mi historia nuevamente! Lo siento si mi español parece un poco raro aquí ya que estoy usando Google Translate. Y sí, captaste los detalles prácticamente a la perfección. Dado que Hachiman en realidad tenía un mejor amigo antes de ir a Sobu, sus gestos son un poco diferentes en comparación con el canon debido al desarrollo fuera de la pantalla. E incluso aquí trato de mostrar un mayor desarrollo a través de sus interacciones con otras personas. Y también tenías razón sobre Kaori. Pensó que Hachiman se quedaría callado como solía hacerlo en la escuela secundaria, pero no tomó en cuenta cuánto había cambiado con el tiempo. Y una vez más, ¡gracias por escribir reseñas detalladas! ¡Realmente lo aprecio!
Yet again, I really appreciate all the support from y'all! Now that I am done with all of my yapping, let's head into the new chapter!
I do not own My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. It is the property of Wataru Watari. The only thing under my ownership here is my OCs.
It has been some time since the bell rang to dismiss the students of Sobu High School. Hachiman Hikigaya, with his school uniform jacket already off, nonchalantly stepped his way towards the doors of the school's gym. The memories of events from yesterday's encounter with Orimoto and her short haired friend were still fresh in his mind. He didn't know why, but it seemed as if he was fated to mentally suffer this week. First, the thing with Haruno Yukinoshita interrupting the outing between him and his Japanese Literature teacher happened on Tuesday. Thankfully, this was resolved rather easily as Shizuka was very understanding and brought a sense of relief to his mind only for a little bit.
Due to Orimoto barging into him and Ebina during their caffeine break two days after Haruno Yukinoshita's little cameo, all of that was easily changed. Plus, her ramblings hitting his nerves minute by minute added more to the erasure of the relief from his mind and replaced it with turmoil. Despite trying to get out of the situation smoothly, he did come off a little intimidating as he basically told Orimoto and her friend to get lost not so nicely. Although Hachiman chastised himself later on for letting Orimoto's behavior entice such an aggressive reaction out of him, he didn't have a hint of guilt about his actions, contrary to the incident with Shizuka. Shizuka was someone his heart had given importance to, unlike the shallow girl in the form of his old crush from his junior high school days.
Trying to forget about the unpleasant thoughts, Hachiman entered the school's indoor basketball court without a care. Looking ahead, he was surprised by the lone figure that was occupying the gym right now and stopped moving from his spot.
"Hikitani-kun! I've been waiting for you, bro!" Tobe grinned excitedly and jogged up to the stoic teen, who remained frozen in his position. Tobe got near Hachiman and brought his hand forward to offer it to him so the standing teen could shake. Hachiman looked at the hand for a moment before lazily bringing his own hand forward. However, to his surprise, Tobe grasped it strongly and pulled him a bit forward to give him a half hug. As soon as the energetic First Year student released his hold, relief washed over the other teen.
"You want to play that one on one, right?" sighed Hachiman. Tobe seemed surprised at the fact that Hachiman already knew what to expect.
"Right! I was hanging around here after practice. I actually have something else to talk about with you, man," chuckled the teen with dyed hair. Hachiman's brows just rose after hearing the last part.
"How may I help you?" boredly asked Hachiman. Tobe looked nervous for a few seconds before finally coming clear.
"Listen…uhhh…our seniors on the team, all of the Third Year Students specifically, quit the basketball club…" Tobe noted Hachiman's perplexed expression and continued right after.
"Although our team is mainly defensive-minded, they were really the only ones who could smoothly run the offense. Plus, we don't really have that many players on our team either. After they quit, it went from 11 total players to 7 right now. Only one of them has been a starter since the start of the season," explained Tobe. Hachiman didn't waste much time questioning the other teen regarding what he was confused about. Although he had an idea where this conversation was heading, he tried to fish for more information.
"What do I do with all of that?" asked the gloomy teen. Tobe let out a sigh, contradicting his usual outlook, before answering him.
"Coach said that right now, we need all of the help we can get. Meaning new players being able to join late into the season…" Hachiman had a feeling that is what Tobe was going to ask but he had to confirm it. If he was offered such a thing on the first day of school, he would've accepted it instantly. However, a lot of time had passed since then and that time had changed a lot within him. Makoto surely would've wanted him to join but things always went wrong for him in his life. So with that in mind, Hachiman wasn't sure if he wanted to join. Him joining the team might end up screwing him over one way or another too, just like always.
"So…what do you say, bro?" expectantly asked Tobe. He was unanswered for a moment before Hachiman spoke up.
"Why did the guys quit?" he inquired. The young man was surprised since Hachiman was talking a lot more than he expected. On their first meeting, the teen was too quiet and scary for him but that didn't seem like the case here at all.
"It's a long story, man. To keep it short, the guys missed a team meeting to go to a mixer with girls from Oihama HIgh. The meeting was right before game day and all four of them slept in the next day. We had to start bench players and we ended up losing the game badly. The coach punished them by benching them for the next two games. This ended up escalating to the point where the senpais decided to focus on their future and handed in their resignation forms. We played one game since they left and I had to stay in the whole game. Since I'm the only one big enough to play center," explained Tobe with a disappointed look.
"How's the season looking?" Tobe was surprised since Hachiman was actually showing interest in Sobu's season and decided to entertain him, hoping he would actually accept the offer.
"I'll be honest with you. We are kinda mid. We have 5 games left. We need at least 4 more wins to head into the playoffs," informed the taller teen. Hachiman only nodded along with his words.
"Why me? Aren't there others you can ask?" Tobe smiled at the inquiry before replying to him.
"Nakamura-sensei, one of the physical education teachers, is actually an assistant coach of the team. He recommended you to our head coach. I was surprised since I was gonna say your name as well when we were asked to find players. So the coach told me to tell you about the open spot," Hachiman remained silent for a moment, which prompted Tobe to go on.
"What do you say man? Are you willing to join?" Once more, an anxious Tobe asked. Hachiman sighed at the teens' question.
"I'll…think about it…" Tobe had an understanding look on his face and gently put his hand on Hachiman's shoulder with a smile.
"Of course, man. Take your time," the gentle aura that had surrounded him was gone in an instant as an excited grin took over his face once more.
"Now let's play that one on one game we were talking about!" he giddily suggested. With a sigh, Hachiman gave in to the request.
"Give me a minute to change," requested the gloomy teen before he jogged into the locker room.
Tobe already had the ball set at the center right behind the three point line arc. He waited for around a minute until Hachiman was out holding his bag in his new garb, which consisted of a red pair of shorts and tight short-sleeved black shirt. He jogged up to the sidelines and put his belongings over there. Since he had already stretched prior to arriving here, he jogged up to where Tobe was standing. Tobe stood to the side and watched Hachiman warm up for a bit before their game.
Grabbing the ball placed on the floor, Hachiman dribbled around for a few seconds before lazily driving to the rim and finishing a right handed lay up. He then grabbed the ball and went behind the free throw line. He stopped there and bent his knees to shoot a proper free throw, which he made easily. He then grabbed the ball once more and headed behind the free throw line. He stopped and took a shot from there while holding his follow through with his left hand. It ended up missing and Tobe was right there to grab the rebound. After getting the ball, the teen turned around to face Hachiman with a grin.
"Warmed up, Hikitani-kun?" Hachiman only gave a small nod in response.
"It's Hikigaya. And go shoot for the ball," Hachiman instructed. Tobe gave a quick nod and ran behind the three point line for his shot. As he shot the ball, Hachiman took notice of the slightly awkward shooting form Tobe had. He watched the ball fly up and hit the square designed behind the basket before it went in. Tobe had a surprised expression at his shot attempt's success but grinned in excitement right after.
"Damn! Guess it's my ball! How many points are we playing up to, bro?" questioned Tobe while Hachiman stepped right in front of the teen.
"Let's do 8. One's and Two's," replied the stoic young man. Tobe's grin widened at the response.
"Got it! Watch out, man. You can't cook me easily like you did Hayato!" worded the teen with confidence before checking the ball with Hachiman.
Tobe started the play by immediately putting the ball on the floor. Hachiman slightly shifted himself backward and let the teen shoot another three point shot if he wanted. However, Tobe didn't do such and instead, began driving on the right side of the court. He took hard dribbles and used his shoulder to create space. He felt the strong resistance from Hachiman but decided to take two steps before trying to shoot a right handed lay up over the other teen. After going for the lay up, Tobe realized that he didn't take Hachiman's lengthy wingspan into account beforehand, which helped his adversary get a good contest on the shot and force a bad miss. Right after the missed shot, Hachiman took the ball out to behind the three point line with Tobe wasting no time to catch up to him.
Hachiman took a few dribbles and did a few between the leg dribble moves before driving to the rim on his right side. Tobe made sure to play smart defense and not give him space at all. Hachiman forced Tobe up to the middle block on the paint's right side with his sheer strength as he dribbled and drove. He then stopped there and shifted his body around to make the other teen face his back, posting him up. Tobe was surprised when the teen suddenly began using his right shoulder on his chest to back him up but he made sure to play good defense. After posting him up for a few seconds, Hachiman did a shimmy and slightly shifted his left shoulder further to the left with the ball in his hands. Tobe fell for the bait and contested right there, giving Hachiman enough space to easily turn around from left to right. This allowed him to make a one handed push shot with his left hand and give him a one point lead.
"Nice shot, dude. So, winner's ball?" Hachiman silently gave a nod in response to Tobe's words. He saw the other teen grab the bouncing ball and walked back to the three point line. Tobe had jogged up right in front of him and checked the ball to start the new possession.
Before Hachiman could continue with the game, Tobe decided to share his thoughts out loud with wide eyes.
"Hikitani-bro, I just noticed. Are your nails painted? Damn, that's so weird!" laughed Tobe as Hachiman stood in his spot. The teen stopped laughing as he felt the temperature around him drop by a couple of degrees. He faced forward just to see the cold and unamused stare of Hachiman, terrifying him.
"S-Sorry man! I didn't mean it like that. I promise!" urged Tobe with a nervous tone.
"Shut up and play defense," Hachiman ordered sternly, to which Tobe nodded in a rapid manner.
The two checked up the ball once more to restart the play. Hachiman went into a triple threat stance right after checking the ball. Taking a few quick jab steps to the left, Hachiman noted Tobe not falling for it. Hachiman then slowly took a few dribbles with his left hand and Tobe shuffled his feet to keep himself in front of him. Hachiman then did a hesitation dribble to the left before quickly crossing over to the right and then crossing over back to the left right after. Tobe had no answer for such a quick double cross and could do nothing as Hachman blew past him. He turned around and saw Hachiman gently laying the ball up with his left hand. Hachiman brought the ball back with him to check up again and noticed Tobe staring at him in awe.
"Your crossover is lethal, Hikitani bro!" He complimented, which Hachiman ignored by checking the ball up once more.
Tobe spread his arms wider and lowered his stance to play better defense this time. Hachiman took note of it and went into his size up moves while keeping his eyes on his opponent. He slowly dribbled between the legs from right to left and followed that up with a crossover from left to right. Seeing Tobe shuffling his feet and momentarily bringing his right foot ahead of his left, Hachiman went into action. He burst to the left out of nowhere and had Tobe keeping up with him. He then stepped back with a left to right dribble between his legs and created space. His adversary noticed Hachiman seemingly set himself for a jump shot and instantly jumped up to contest the shot attempt. To his surprise, it ended up being a hesitation dribble and he was unable to stop the teen from dribbling forward and finishing with a finger roll. Tobe moved himself back to inside the three point line arc so the two can move forward with their game.
"You got me there, man," chuckled Tobe. Hachiman remained silent and checked the ball to continue.
After checking the ball, Tobe stepped backwards to give Hachiman a ton of space. His eyebrows raising at the teen's action, Hachiman slowly dribbled with his left hand while moving to his left. He noticed his opponent trying to stay in front of him while still making sure that enough space was left between the two. Shrugging, Hachiman stopped dribbling around the left wing of the three point line and took a jump shot. The two young men watched the ball sail over them and hit the bottom of the net gracefully. The sound of the shot brought a sense of satisfaction in Hachiman. This time, Hachiman went back to the center behind the three point line empty handed since Tobe held the ball.
"You're destroying me out here, Hikitani-kun," nervously chuckled Tobe as he checked the ball. Once again, Hachiman didn't answer and remained silent.
As soon as the teen got a hold of the ball, he immediately released it from deep for a three point shot. This time, he missed and Tobe was able to get the possession back. Hachiman moved himself in front of his opponent as the energetic young man brought the ball back to the three point line. He noted that Tobe just stuck with simply dribbling with his right hand and chose not to do any other moves. Unlike Hayama, Tobe's stance while dribbling managed to indicate to him that the teen was much more experienced on a basketball court. Hachiman stayed in front of the teen as he dribbled.
Tobe put his right arm forward and began moving to the left after a between the leg dribble move with Hachiman guarding him. The bigger teen put his shoulder against Hachiman's chest as he drove while feeling resistance from his opponent. He stopped around at the middle block on the left side of the paint and began posting up. Hachiman set his feet and did his best to not let Tobe back him down. Hachiman could feel his opponent's strength being much higher than Hayama's but didn't let that interfere with his focus on defense. Tobe posted Hachiman up with his left shoulder against his body and after backing him down for a few more seconds, turned to his left for a right-handed hook shot. Both First Year students looked at the ball rolling around the rim of the basket for a while before it finally rolled off of it, to Tobe's dismay. Since Hachiman was closer to the basket, he grabbed the rebound with ease and dribbled back to the outside of the three point line for his own possession.
Tobe didn't hang around and sulk at the unfortunate outcome of his hook shot for too long and ran back to guard his opponent. He made sure not to give Hachiman any space as soon as he put the ball on the floor. Hachiman, who was slowly dribbling, looked up to intensely stare at Tobe. He didn't dribble slowly for too long as Hachiman suddenly began driving to his left with immense force out of nowhere. His adversary did not expect this at all but kept up in front of him to prevent the teen from scoring. The black-haired teen took a few hard dribbles with his left hand while moving against Tobe, who seemed a bit slower than he was at the start.
As soon as he reached the outside of the paint, Hachiman pulled a spin move from left to right with two steps and finished with a reverse lay up with his right hand. Despite the late contest from Tobe, Hachiman's lengthy arms helped him gently hit the ball on the top corner of the square on the backboard and make the shot. After that, Tobe just stood under the basket with wide eyes as he kept his gaze in Hachiman's direction, who already had the ball and was waiting outside of the three point line. He then tiredly walked up to his opponent to continue the game.
Both of them were silent this time as Hachiman checked the ball once more. Hachiman looked at his opponent yet again. He could hear Tobe panting while his chest moving up and down with him heavily breathing. He also noticed the teen sweating a bit more than he currently was. It didn't surprise him since Tobe was coming off of a team practice that took longer than an hour. He thought this might have helped him get such a huge lead over him right now but didn't let it distract him further. Hachiman decided to try to end the game with one more play and got to work right after.
After standing around with the ball in his hands for a few seconds while he mused, Hachiman finally started moving. He began jabbing to the left while using his right foot as his pivot foot. Tobe, who was already tired, was focused enough to keep his defensive stance wide and tight. He made sure to be extra focused when he noticed Hachiman started dribbling slowly. After a few seconds, just like last time, Hachiman changed speed and direction while moving with the ball. He did a little hesitation move to his left and began dribbling to his left. Tobe was not caught off guard this time and despite his low stamina, kept up with him. Hachiman dribbled to his left for a bit before pulling a left to right behind the back move around at the left wing outside of the three point line. He then quickly stepped back with a right handed dribble and jumped up for a three point shot. Tobe jumped forward to contest as well but he was too late to disrupt his opponents shooting flow. While contesting, Tobe couldn't stop himself from stumbling and he toppled over Hachiman. Falling on top of him, both Sobu students were laid down on the court. Both of them, although miniscule on Hachiman's part, were grateful that a certain female student that wore glasses over her eyes wasn't here to witness this.
'SWISH!'
With a gobsmacked expression, Tobe slowly got up and off of Hachiman. Hachiman laid on the ground for a few more seconds before getting up, slapping off any dust that might've gotten on his body after falling down. Hachiman finally looked up to make eye contact with the other teen, whose facial expression hadn't changed. The two stared at each other silently with the exception of the ball slowly bouncing up ahead. This silence was finally broken by one of them.
"Bro, how did you do that!?" Tobe demanded in wonder while pointing at Hachiman. The teen in question just gave a small shrug in response.
"Good game. But damn, I couldn't score one bucket when Hayato even got a point on you," an imaginary cloud of darkness seemed to float around the student's head as he pouted in disappointment. Hachiman sighed and didn't reply before jogging up to where the ball was. He picked it up and then dribbled over back to the outside of the three point line so he could continue his drills.
"Bro, want a rematch?" Despite being noticeably out of gas, Tobe jogged up to Hachiman to play once more. Hachiman stopped dribbling and looked at Tobe as he stood nearby.
"You're tired. Go home and rest. Maybe next time," Hachiman denied his request before getting back to doing different types of dribbling moves. Tobe let out a sigh and agreed to the teen's answer. He then walked to the sidelines to grab his own belongings and started walking towards the exit doors. After opening them, he turned around to look at Hachiman once more, who looked back at him.
"Please think about the offer, Hikitani-kun! Have a good one!" he grinned before finally walking away. Hachiman kept his gaze in the direction of the doors for a moment before going back to continuing his drills, a lot of thoughts running around in his head.
It was late in the afternoon as Hachiman was walking towards where he placed his bicycle. He looked around his surroundings and as expected, no one was here. Except for the presence next to him.
"Tobe-san, the First Year student, actually reached out to me today," Shiromeguri spoke while looking up at Hachiman, who just raised his eyebrows to show his interest in her words.
"Is that so?" he questioned while the two got closer to his ride.
"Yup! And he asked me to convince you to join the basketball team…" she replied as she stopped due to Hachiman crouching down near the rack and unlocking his bicycle. She only heard the younger teen hum as he focused on his task.
"He asked me as well," Hachiman's words caused the Student Council President's eyes to get slightly bigger.
"Was he playing in the gym with you?" As she asked, Hachiman was finished unlocking his bike and he curiously looked up at his senior right after.
"How did you know?" the Second-Year student just smiled at his response.
"It was just a guess!" she confessed. Hachiman sighed as he pulled out his bike and pulled it alongside him from his right while the older teen walked next to him on the left. Shiromeguri suddenly had an excited expression while looking at her junior with a smile.
"Hikigaya-kun! There's this vendor selling soba in his food cart. Would you like to join me?" she offered with a big smile. Hachiman kept his eyes on her for a moment before sighing.
"Sure. I'll just walk with you there," Shiromeguri's eyes scrunched up in confusion at his reply.
"Why? Don't you want to have some soba?" she asked while tilting her head. Hachiman shook his head in return.
"No…" the First Year Student said nothing else as the two students continued walking. Shiromeguri frowned before the look of realization finally appeared on her face.
"Ah! It must be because you don't have money, right? Don't worry! Your senpai will pay for you!" she beamed at him. Her reaction flattered Hachiman and it was enticing to him due to the prospect of free food. However, she had brought him drinks and lunch in the past out of her own will and he didn't want to take advantage of the innocent girl any further. Plus, her assumption about him not having any money was only half correct.
"No. It's fine, senpai," he reassured her but she didn't agree.
"Nope! I will-" before she could finish her sentence, another voice called out in the middle of her reply.
"Hikigaya!" The two turned around to see a jogging Shizuka, with an extra layer of a black coat over her lab coat, running up to them. Hachiman and Shiromeguri both remained in their spots and let their teacher catch up to them. Once the woman reached them, she panted for a few seconds before a serious look took over her face.
"Hiratsuka-sensei?" the teen girl questioned. Shizuka only looked at her and gave a nod before looking back at Hachiman.
"That curry you gave me yesterday? It wasn't good," she started off. Hachiman's eyebrows rose before an expression of acceptance glazed over his eyes.
"I'm sor-" once again, Shizuka interrupted one of her students.
"It was amazing!" The Japanese Literature Teacher's serious expression turned into one of cheerfulness as she grinned. Hachiman wasn't surprised at this kind of behavior from his teacher but nodded nonetheless.
"Thanks…" he murmured. Shizuka then had a warm smile on her face and put her hand on top of his head, ruffling his hair.
"You have a good heart, Hikigaya. I promise to take you to this nice sushi place next time. I have to go now. See you tomorrow. You take care as well, Shiromeguri!" The teacher bid her farewell and started walking to her parked Aston Martin with rapid steps. Hachiman's eyes remained in her direction for a few seconds before looking back at his companion. He almost jumped back at her expression since for some reason, she was pouting.
"Senpai, what's wrong?" she only huffed and looked away in reaction, making Hachiman confused.
"I want some too…" she quietly said. Hachiman's confusion grew further at her comment.
"Want what?" he questioned.
"I want some curry too! You made it for Hiratsuka-sensei, right? Then your senpai also wants you to make curry for her!" demanded the Second Year student. Hachiman kept his eyes on her and thought about how his old self would have reacted to such a demand from someone like his senpai. He would've been flustered to no end but those days of innocence were unfortunately over for him. Sighing, he gave the girl a nod.
"Right. Let me know when you want it," Shiromeguri beamed at him once more before speaking up.
"You must also let me buy you soba!" she added right after. Hachiman didn't object to her demands and walked along with her. After having some soba, he would make sure to walk her home and then ride back to his own place after.
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Let's go take a walk!" Komachi excitedly suggested with vigor and pep in her steps. Hachiman, who had gotten out of the cafe the two were out from behind her, sighed and nodded. It was a cold and sunny Friday afternoon and Komachi had basically begged to hang out with him after school today. Contrary to how he used to deny her similar advances, he accepted this time. He vowed to be a better brother and chose to act like it. He walked to where he had locked his bicycle with his sister right behind him.
"Give me a second," he murmured while he worked through the lock system. Once he touched the metal part, he felt the freezing temperature of it. Winter break was nearing and as it did, the atmosphere had gotten a lot colder. Both siblings had an extra coat over their school uniforms to combat the weather.
"Thanks for hanging out with me, onii-chan! A thousand Komachi points for you!" beamed the younger sister as Hachiman turned around with the unlocked bicycle. Her expression made his heart feel slightly warm and brought a small smile on his face.
"Right. Let's go," Komachi practically skipped forward with her older brother following her from behind while pulling his bicycle along with him.
"Onii-chan, I noticed some of the waiters giving you weird looks. Is everything okay?" Hachiman heard her tone turn into one of concern while walking right behind her. Just like she mentioned, he did too. It was no surprise. It was the same cafe where he brought Ebina along with him. Some of the employees might have recognized him due to what happened a few days ago.
"I go there often. They might be surprised to see you with me today," Hachiman mixed in some truth with his lie. Komachi didn't answer for a few seconds but nodded afterwards.
"You're probably right! I'm just the best sister in the world, right?" giggled the younger teen.
"Absolutely. Thousand Hachiman points for Komachi," Hachiman stated automatically. Komachi suddenly stopped and turned around to look at him with shock. This forced Hachiman to stop and look at her with an odd expression.
"Everything alright?" he questioned in confusion. His confusion turned into concern in a flash as he noticed a little amount of tears filling up his sister's eyes. However, contradicting that, she had a big smile on her face.
"You….I haven't heard you say that in months…" she quietly spoke while rubbing her eyes dry with the sleeve of her school uniform. Hachiman only looked down on the ground in guilt. It hurt him to see how much pain he caused his sister and that made his self hatred grow even further than it already was.
"...I'm sorry…" he uttered while still facing downwards. In a few seconds, he felt two arms around the middle of his back and something nuzzling into his chest. He noticed Komachi had made herself comfortable with the hug and let her do as she pleased. They stayed in that position despite some passersby looking at them. They did it without moving for a while before Komachi finally looked up at Hachiman with a huge smile
"Now I'm happy to know that onii-chan still loves me. Hehe! More points for me!" she giggled before finally letting go. Hachiman sighed but had a satisfied look on his face. Once Komachi began stepping forward to continue, Hachiman began moving as well while following her. The two continued on their way with Komachi mostly asking questions and Hachiman indulging her with short answers.
The sibling duo had walked around the town for around less than an hour but more than half hour. The sky had changed its color to indicate the upcoming evening being not too far off. Komachi made a stop at a convenience store earlier to get a canned drink. Hachiman didn't object to her getting more beverages even after having some tea at the cafe earlier. In fact, he had bought himself a can of his favorite canned drink, MAXX Coffee. Paying for their drinks, the two had gotten out to continue their walk once more. After getting the drinks, the two walked in silent serenity through the town. Komachi and Hachiman both enjoyed their drinks while walking through the town.
As the two Hikigaya siblings walked through the town, Hachiman was suddenly aware of their current positioning. It was the place that he avoided the most in the town for almost a year now. And unfortunately for him, he noticed two familiar occupants in the place he made sure to avoid like a plague.
"Oi, Hikigaya!" two familiar voices called out to him but they weren't the only one loudly calling someone out.
"Hikigaya-san!" a voice that Hachiman couldn't recognize also called him out towards his direction. Komachi had a look of surprise and confusion at all of the voices calling out their family name. The two siblings looked to their left to see three young men jogging up to them. Hachiman recognized Takeda and Sasaki among the group but didn't know who the other teen was. The teen looked to be around Komachi's age and had also called his name. His mind suddenly made a quick realization and turned to his sister, who had seemed to recognize the other kid.
"Taishi-kun!" she grinned before walking up to the other teen. Takeda and Sasaki oddly looked at his sister and the other teen, named Taishi, before walking up to Hachiman. Both had excited looks on their faces.
"What's up man? It's been a minute!" Takeda grinned as he gently put his hand on his shoulder.
"Good to see you bro," Sasaki added with a smile. When they realized Hachiman hadn't responded yet, they noticed his intense gaze into the direction of the other two younger teens. Takeda had to slightly shake Hachiman off of the long stare he had in the direction of Komachi and Taishi, who seemed to have a great conversation going on right now.
"Yo," Hachiman dryly said. Hachiman did not appear to be amused at all to the two older teens. The two then turned back in the direction Hachiman was staring at just earlier and had curious expressions on their faces.
"That's your sister?" Sasaki asked, to which Hachiman gave a small nod.
"Ah, it seems like she knows our new friend! Remember the kid we were asking you to play with the last time we met? That's him!" Takeda happily informed the teen. Before the two could continue, Komachi had run up to Hachiman with the other teen right behind her.
"Onii-chan! Meet my friend, Taishi Kawasaki! Taishi-kun, meet my older brother!" She excitedly introduced the other teen. Taishi, on the other hand, looked nervous as soon he made eye contact with Hachiman, whose eyes were narrowed and were boring into his soul.
"P-Pleasure to make your acquaintance, onii-san," Taishi bowed to Hachiman. Hachiman remained silent while looking at him for a moment before finally responding.
"Don't call me onii-san…" he replied. Taishi only looked back up nervously and gulped at Hachiman's scary aura. Sasaki and Takeda looked scared for a second but not due Hachiman's reaction but due to a whole different reason, it seemed.
"Onii-chan! Stop making Taishi-kun uncomfortable!" pouted Komachi while smacking on her older brother's shoulders playfully. Hachiman's narrow gaze was broken off by Komachi's actions and he sighed before looking away.
"That's your sister, Hikigaya? Well, nice to meet ya! I'm Takeda!" the short haired older teen introduced himself.
"Name's Sasaki. Nice to meet you!" the other teen followed up. Komachi looked at them curiously before speaking up.
"Komachi Hikigaya! By the way, do you guys play basketball with my brother?" she asked. Both of the young men nodded to her question.
"Right! Hikigaya is a great player! We miss playing with him!" Sasaki responded. After hearing the last part, Komachi looked at her brother, who was looking away into the road.
"Speaking of that…Hikigaya, I think you already know what I was gonna ask you," Takeda eyed Hachiman as well. Hachiman sighed and was about to answer but got interrupted by the entry of a new presence.
"Taishi? Ya know them?" an unenthusiastic feminine voice interfered. Hachiman looked up to see a young woman around his own age with a Sobu High uniform on. Her pale blue hair was tied into a ponytail. However, the way she had equipped it had made her seem like a delinquent. She wasn't the only one as a chibi clone version of her had her hand being held by the Sobu High student. He also noticed Takeda and Sasaki becoming a little paler and their slightly shivering feet at her appearance for some reason, which kind of baffled him. He thought about the chances of them being scared off by the girl in the past, which most likely raised their fear of her.
"You're here, Onee-san?" asked a surprised Taishi.
"Yeah. I took Keika-chan out on a walk and see you here with your…friends," replied the teen girl.
"O-Onee san, meet my friend Hikigaya-san. And her older brother as well. Hikigaya-san, onii-san, please meet my sisters,," Taishi introduced them to each other. The older sister merely raised her eyebrow at Komachi while she had a hint of surprise on her face when noticing Hachiman's uniform and then his face.
"I'm Keika! Are you big brother's friend?" the little girl cutely questioned with wonder. Komachi basically melted in her spot before crouching down and smiling at Keika.
"Yep! Komachi Hikigaya! Nice to meet you!" Komachi grinned while introducing herself. She made sure to rub the top of the little girl's head, who seemed to enjoy Komachi petting her.
"Saki Kawasaki…" groaned the older girl while looking at the younger Hikigaya sibling. She then turned her attention to Hachiman, waiting for him to speak. She decided to continue once she noticed the lack of response from the gloomy teen for a moment.
"Are you mute?" scowled the young woman. Takeda and Sasaki looked at Hachiman in concern and Kawasaki in fear as the girl spoke to him.
"Onee-san! You can't say something like that!" an embarrassed Taishi reprimanded her with a blush.
"Hachiman Hikigaya," Hachiman stoically responded while ignoring everything else.
"First Year student of Sobu, right? I've seen you on the rooftop sometimes," Hachiman was surprised to hear this from her but didn't let it show on his face.
"Okay…" Both Hachiman and Kawasaki looked away due to their awkward conversation. Thankfully, this awkward moment was interrupted by someone.
"Oi, Hikigaya? How about a two on two for old times sake?" Sasaki suggested. Hachiman wanted to say no but he remembered how much fun Makoto used to have with all three of them. It was too painful to remember those moments but they also brought some sense of joy to his reserved heart.
'Remember, Hachiman. Even during dark times, doing what we enjoy can allow us to escape our reality for a short moment. Although it's not a permanent solution, it's okay. Sometimes, we should be able to feel joy. And that sensation of joy for a small period of time can help us clear our mind of bad thoughts and slowly work towards finding a permanent solution for whatever problems we are facing.'
After that small advice from Makoto resurfaced within his head, Hachiman knew exactly what to do.
"So…ya in the same class as Taishi?" Hachiman heard Kawasaki as his sister while he was busy locking up his bicycle on the fence. Komachi, Kawasaki, and Kawasaki's little sister made themselves comfortable in the bench a few feet away from the out of bounds line of the court.
"Yep! Taishi-kun and I hang out almost everyday!" Hachiman stopped locking his bike after hearing Komachi's answer for a few seconds. His younger sister was hanging out with a boy a lot. Although the boy was from her class, it still made Hachiman a little concerned for his sister's well being. However, he then thought that he shouldn't stop his sister from making friends and make her life difficult. Sighing, he continued locking his bike and finished quickly before Kawasaki spoke again.
"What is the extent of your relationship?" the older girl demanded in a serious tone. Hachiman was taking off his coat and school uniform shirt while he heard her. He was able to figure out that just like him, Kawasaki was also concerned about her younger brother.
"We're just friends!" Komachi nonchalantly replied, not worrying about what the older girl or her older brother might be thinking.
"Okay…just….I better not see Taishi get hurt because of you…" Kawasaki quietly replied, which was heard by Hachiman. He was about to approach the group and confront the girl for indirectly threatening his sister but was stopped by an unexpected obstacle.
"Ha-chan! Ha-chan!" Hachiman looked down to see Keika was petting his left leg to stop him. He then realized that the nickname she used on him was the same one that his mother used to call him back in his childhood days. It wasn't as common nowadays for her to call him that and the little girl saying it reminded him of wistful thoughts from his own childhood.
"Yes?" Hachiman questioned while trying his best to have a gentle expression on his face. He then noticed a sunflower in her hand. The sunflower had also brought a sense of nostalgia within him. She then raised her tiny arms towards him, offering him the flower, making his eyebrows rise in curiosity.
"My teacher said sunflowers mean happiness! And I think Ha-chan looks sad. And I don't want to see Ha-chan sad! So take it!" she demanded cutely. Hachiman's eyes went wide at her declaration as another small memory played through his head.
"Sunflower? What are you giving it to me for?" A young Hachiman, sitting on a bench at a park, enjoyed his ice cream in the sunny weather of Chiba. He wasn't the only one on the bench as his friend, Makoto Matsukawa, was doing the same thing while sitting next to him.
"You're always sad, dude! And it pains me to see my new best friend in such a state! No one should be sad except for mean people!" the teen with the emo appearance explained. Hachiman was flattered by the older teen calling him his best friend and his face grew a little red at his words.
"Okay…but what does a sunflower have to do with it?" questioned Hachiman with a curious gaze. His friend only smiled back widely before indulging him with the answer.
"One of the things that a sunflower symbolizes is everlasting happiness. And I want you to have that! So this is basically my gift to you as a good luck charm!" Hachiman looked at the sunflower that was being offered to him and took it. He took a moment to admire the flower.
"Oh…thanks, Makoto-san. I really appreciate it," Hachiman had a small smile on his face, which was returned by Makoto.
Hachiman tried his best not to tear up at the memory but some were already gathered around his eyes. He took the sunflower and then crouched down to Keika's level, who tilted her head at him. He had a small smile on his face and wiped his eyes with his sleeves before gently petting the young girl on her head.
"Thank you. It means a lot," for the first time in months, someone other than Komachi, Hiratsuka-sensei, or Shiromeguri-senpai had managed to make his heart feel warm. Hachiman used to feel this way with his friend and ever since his departure, he had missed this feeling. So whenever he felt such sensations nowadays since Makoto left the world, he always cherished it.
"Keika-chan!" Hachiman heard from behind the little girl and looked ahead to see her older sister and his own sister walking up to them. He then decided to get up and go to the court to play, like he planned, but was held back by Keika. She held onto some of his fingers on his right hand before he could walk away. He looked at her and noticed the impressed expression on her face.
"Wow! Ha-chan's nails are so pretty! Look, big sister!" Keika announced with a big smile. Hachiman did nothing to stop her since he noticed Kawasaki already crouching down to meet her younger sister's height.
"Yes, they are pretty. Now let go of his hands, Keika-chan. It's not nice to hold onto other people without their permission," Kawasaki reprimanded the little girl before managing to make her let go of his hand. He sighed and nodded at Komachi, who was standing near the two sisters, before heading onto the court. Takeda, Sasaki, and Taishi were all waiting for him.
"You sure you could play on that?" Takeda questioned while eying Hachiman's school pants and shoes. The Sobu High student had only taken off his school button up shirt to reveal a white shirt underneath.
"I'm fine. So…what are the teams?" Hachiman responded.
"I'll play with Taishi!/ I got TaishI!" both Takeda and Sasaki yelled out at the same time. Both then looked at each other before having a glaring contest.
"I said it first!" Sasaki stated firmly.
"No! I did!" Takeda replied in the same manner. Hachiman only raised his brows in confusion at the odd behavior of the two older teens while Taishi just groaned.
"It's…Onee-san. These guys were destroying me in a game of Twenty One a couple of weeks back. Takeda-san made a layup over me and I fell to the ground while defending him. Onee-san saw it and since she had no clue about the rules of basketball, she gave them an earful…" Taishi confessed to Hachiman. Hachiman now had an idea of why the two seemed so fearful of the older Kawasaki sibling ever since the start. The similarities of her outward appearance to a delinquent didn't help either. If either of them are on the younger teen's team, they wouldn't have to worry about playing against Taishi. And in case things got a little physical, dealing with his sister's wrath afterwards was not something the two wanted again.
"I think I understand," sighed Hachiman before grabbing the ball and dribbling it a few times, stopping Takeda and Sasaki from their bickering and making them look at Hachiman.
"Shoot for the ball and whoever makes it first, chooses the teammate," Hachiman suggested before giving the ball to Taishi.
"You want me to shoot first?" Seeing Hachiman nod , Taishi dribbled up to behind the three point line and released the ball with grace. Hachiman noted the good shooting mechanics and the smooth flow of the form of Taishi's jumpshot. This was enough to let him know the kid was a good shooter, maybe even better than him. The sound of the ball hitting the bottom of the net only helped Hachiman confirm his theory.
"Alright, Taishi! Who do you wanna play with?" Sasaki questioned with an expectant look. Takeda had a similar expression on his face as they all waited for the answer.
"Umm…I choose Onii-san," Taishi said after remaining silent for a few seconds. Hachiman didn't know why the kid would choose him since he had never seen him play before. Takeda and Sasaki, on the other hand, groaned with looks of dread on their faces.
"Fine. We get the ball first then!" Takeda demanded as he ran after the ball with Sasaki nodding alongside him.
"Alright. Taishi, you go defend Sasaki. I got Takeda," instructed Hachiman. The younger teen nodded and got in front of Sasaki while Hachiman remained in front of the other teen.
Sasaki checked the ball with Taishi to start the game with three viewers acting as their audience. Just like that, Hachiman's first game at the park since before the passing of his best friend had begun.
Hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter!
Thoughts? Me personally, I think I could've worked on the last bit a little better.
Yeah, Hachiman cooked tf out of Tobe after he was offered a spot to join the team late into the season. Is he gonna join? Stick around to find out :)
Kawasaki and co finally made an appearance here. And Hachiman is going to play on the park for the first time in a while with Taishi as his replacement.
Have you guys been watching the NBA Playoffs? It's been a whole cinema the entire time. If I had to predict the future NBA champion, I'll say the Nuggets again but look out for the Wolves, those guys are hungry
If there is any plot hole or grammatical errors that you notice, feel free to lmk thru a review or a PM.
That's it for now. Until next time, take care!