"Alright, shows over. Pack up!"
"Yes."
It was the third day of spring vacation, and the Astronomy Club had decided to wrap up their extracurricular activities. Had it been any other club, they probably would take their sweet, sweet time enjoying nature. Unfortunately, their status as the children of Japan's elite meant that even during vacation, their desire to explore meant less time spent in one place, being lazy.
As such, after the successful stargazing event of the night before, they immediately packed up in the morning to travel back to Tokyo.
"Hachiman, did you have any other plans other than heading straight back to Chiba?" Momo asked.
"Mmmh, Nah." Hachiman said, "I was thinking of visiting Miyuki in the countryside, but maybe not."
"Why not? Let's go there." Momo grinned excitedly.
Needless to say, Ryuuju Momo truly was an adventurous girl. If there was a chance to see something new, she'd take it in a heartbeat.
"Is that really fine?"
"Sure it is!"
As Momo left to instruct the rest of the members, Komachi looked at her with pure amusement. "Momo-san is getting softer isn't she?"
"Huh?"
"Momo-san smiles a lot more often now." She elbowed Hachiman, "Did something happen while I wasn't looking?"
"Nah."
"Really?" Komachi prodded, "Then again, it's Onii-chan after all. So even if something did happen you'd probably panic and stop things midway."
This, of course, made Hachiman rather pissed.
The biggest insult that hurt the most was an insult that was actually true. And Hachiman wasn't immune to this, even despite his bouts of self-deprecation. Hachiman was fine with insulting himself, but having others do it?
Because Komachi was his dearest sister, she knew him all too well. And because she knew him all too well, she always struck where it hurt the most.
The truth of the matter was that Hachiman was known as someone who was an open book and didn't lie. Well, that wasn't necessarily the full story. The reason why he was often perceived as honest was because in many situations he wouldn't lose anything by saying the truth.
A person who has nothing to lose is also the most fearless one of all. That was how Hachiman had obtained courage and confidence to mingle with the dangerous elites of Shuchiin.
Hachiman DID lie from time to time, such as in a situation where his pride was at stake. Especially his pride as a man in front of his naughty little sister...
"Something lewd did happen though."
"...eh?"
Nothing serious happened of course.
"Haha, what do you even mean by that Onii-chan." Komachi dismissively laughed.
"I might have managed to restore her confidence as a young girl." Hachiman scoffed, "That's why she's so much more feminine now."
Komachi twitched.
"Onii-chan you..."
That's right.
This was one of Hachiman's greatest skills; one that he had developed ever since he had become friends with Shirogane Miyuki and become the unofficial liaison of the Shuchiin student council.
Building an impenetrable lie by piecing various truths and half-truths together with the false impressions made by other people.
Human beings are prone to bias and prejudice. By filling incomplete information with their own assumptions they can feel a sense of understanding rather than confusion. As smart and crafty as the Hikigaya siblings are, they're not completely immune to this effect.
Komachi had the impression that Hachiman was always a straight-laced gentleman, a coward who was unwilling to make an aggressive move, or maybe even a bit of both. Either way, him doing something improper with girls that weren't his girlfriend, Komachi couldn't that possibility at all.
By introducing chaotic elements into established 'common knowledge', it was very easy to bend existing information in a different direction. Even the manipulative liar Komachi wasn't immune to this kind of precision attack.
"When did that even happen?" Komachi desperately calmed herself, "I mean we even slept in the same room!"
"Really?" Hachiman goaded.
The more Komachi tried to convince herself, the more she realized how much time Hachiman had spent with Momo.
In complete privacy.
Like... on the very first day of their arrival, Hachiman and Momo went to take a bath together. And then there was also Hachiman skipping dinner together with everyone, and Momo went to bring him his meal instead.
And the morning after... Momo became more clingy to him for whatever reason. Komachi liked to think it was just Momo beginning to understand her own attraction to Hachiman, but what if something more drastic had happened?
Komachi's face became beet red in the process.
Hachiman smacked the back of her head to bring her out of her delusion. "Ow!"
"I did say something lewd happened, but nothing serious happened." Hachiman said, "Don't jump into a wrong conclusion just yet, you perverted student council president."
That would surely teach her.
"Onii-chan, you're so cruel, playing with my pure maiden heart like this." Komachi feigned tears in response.
"Ahhh your acting skills have improved considerably, I guess the path to the idol world is assured, now..." Hachiman said in pure disappointment.
"You really hate showbiz, don't you?" Komachi sighed as both she and her brother made their way to the bike.
"Not necessarily. It's just that the J-Idol scene is a farce, the Koreans and Chinese are laughing at us as we speak*." Hachiman said, "Father's especially making the worst of it, by pushing undertalented idols and even old hags** into the limelight in the name of character diversity and personal charm."
"...No wonder Director Mishiro likes you so much! I'm shocked actually, considering how often you two clash in opinion."
"Is that praise, or an insult?"
"I guess it's because Onii-chan is too kindhearted and too rational, that's why you're so cruel to them." Komachi smiled, "You don't want to put these idols into an inescapable corner and face insurmountable challenges, that's why you'd rather tell them to quit."
"Director Mishiro would do the same, but purely because she considers it more efficient and profitable."
Hachiman looked away and blushed slightly. Indeed, that was one of the reasons Hachiman didn't get along with his father either. His father was, to put it simply, a naive fool when it came to women.
The belief that every girl is equally charming and worth pushing onto the stage with the right motivation and training.
Was there any doubt about how he got scammed into debt in the first place? His father might be a gigantic, prejudiced asshole to other men and boys, but in the face of a woman he was nothing but putty.
Though Hachiman probably had no right to call him out about that, considering his current life as Shuchiin errand boy. But Hachiman at least had self-awareness.
"Even so, that doesn't change the fact that Father's made their dream come true." Komachi winked.
"Well... I'm not Miyuki, that's why." Hachiman cryptically said as he put a helmet on.
Come to think of it, Miyuki's temperament actually resembled Hachiman's father's somewhat. They were both boastful, yet insecure. Also, they both loved to challenge the impossible no matter the cost and encourage others to do the same.
It was actually kind of a horrifying realization.
Granted, Miyuki could be annoyingly arrogant sometimes, but he wasn't really an asshole like Hachiman's father was.
"I don't know what you guys are talking about, but there's no need to compare yourself to that wimpy president is there?" Momo suddenly jumped into the backseat and hugged Hachiman. Tightly. Tight enough to make him squirm from pain and embarrassment.
"...Can't breathe!" He flailed.
So something DID happen. Komachi twitched.
"Uh, oh. Momo-sama, there's an urgent call." One of her bodyguards shouted out to her
"Huh? Okay then." Momo was handed the phone.
"WHAT?!" Her voice boomed which startled Hachiman, "Idiot!"
Momo jumped off the bike with solid irritation on her face, as if she wanted to murder someone. At times like this, even Hachiman didn't dare ask.
"Ummm, Momo-san, did something happen?" Komachi did ask if only out of concern.
"Yeah, my old man was caught in an accident and hospitalized, and I'll need to be present in a group meeting in his stead. There's already a helicopter en route from Tokyo, not quite a request I can refuse." Momo said as she rattled her teeth, "That fucking idiot should just go ahead and die!"
"I'm sorry to hear that." Komachi winced.
Momo finally calmed down after she got a cold drink for herself. She picked up her bag from the sidecar's baggage compartment. "Well, give my greetings to Shirogane in that case. Let's meet again after vacation."
"Sure, see you later." Hachiman nodded.
And so Hachiman and Komachi went their own way, separate from the others. Their destination was the countryside where the Shirogane grandparents live.
It was relatively closer to Gunma than Tokyo or Chiba was, so it could be considered a detour on their way home.
Compared to the beauty of Gunma's northern forest, the scenery of a farming village was downright mundane. Nevertheless, riding on the almost empty road was refreshing in its own way.
やはり, 彼らが望む告白は間違っている.
As expected, the Confession they want is wrong
Original Story by: Watari Wataru and Akasaka Aka
Written by: ZeroXSEED, Co-Writer/Editor: GoukaRyuu
Chapter 15 - Hikigaya & Shirogane Part. 1
"It should be here." Hachiman checked the GPS coordinate that Miyuki sent him before.
They found a fairly sizable traditional house on the roadside, surrounded by what looks like a vegetable garden.
"Oh, that's Kei!" Komachi, noticing the girl as they pulled up, jumped out of the sidecar, "Kei-chan!"
"Oh? Komachi-nee!"
A young girl dressed in baggy clothes and a giant straw hat waved back in response.
"Are you harvesting the vegetables?" Hachiman asked as he removed his helmet.
"Eh, uh, Hachi-nii?"
Kei looked seriously embarrassed when she realized Hachiman had been there all along as well. It was stupid for her to not realize that! There was no way Komachi would ride a bike with a stranger, after all.
"Awawawawa!" Kei tried to hide behind Komachi, which didn't work at all considering she was taller than the older girl in the first place.
"Don't worry, girls who are working hard always look cute," Hachiman said flatly.
It wasn't really meant as enticement, but Kei would take whatever she could get!
"What about boys?" Komachi asked.
"They're just obnoxious," Hachiman answered, not even caring about the irony of him saying that.
"Oh, Hachiman, long time no see."
Hachiman saw a muscular man picking vegetables alongside others, that face couldn't be mistaken for anyone else. But there was something really weird.
He looked like five years younger than before.
"Oh, Shirodaddy***," Hachiman called back to him, the seriousness of his face and the silly nickname were jarring to say the least.
"Shirodaddy is here indeed." The man hummed, "If you're going to see Miyuki, he's in the chicken farm next block over."
Of course, this being a farming village, the definition of the next block is actually a vast amount of distance. However, there wasn't much in the way of buildings and each one easily identifiable.
Still, he asked anyway.
"Which chicken farm?"
"Hmm, there's a small pickup with this plate number." The man told him the license number, "That's our family car."
"I see." Hachiman said, "I'm going to pickup Miyuki, so you go ahead."
"Alright!"
And so Hachiman rolled ahead and found the chicken farm in question. As he entered, he saw Shirogane Miyuki examining chickens and then putting a label on them.
"Are you dividing them for slaughter or what?"
"These chickens stopped laying egg so they're going to be separated according to meat quality." Miyuki answered seriously, "Due to old age and overwork, they don't usually give out quality meat, regardless when you reach a certain number of culling there are always exceptions."
Shirogane raised a chicken with the label having a golden strip, "Godlike meat can be found anywhere, anytime."
That's correct.
Shirogane Miyuki was a certified professional in the art of Chicken Appraisal.
"I'm just about done, so wait for me." Miyuki smiled.
So Hachiman went to wait.
When Miyuki was done, he drove the small pickup car that was generally used to transport a small amount of produce to market.
"Yahallo, Miyuki-nii!" Komachi greeted him, "Is it really alright for a sixteen year old to drive a car like this?"
Miyuki huffed proudly as he pulled his wallet and open it, a literal chain of licenses unfold before Komachi's eyes.
"Small to medium motorcycles, small cars, small special vehicles, and a small boat license also." Miyuki cackled, "I maxed out pretty much every license that I could get as a sixteen year old."
"This idiot is also a genius in his own twisted way." Hachiman remarked, "I don't think there's anyone in Shuchiin who has job skills as diversified as he does."
"Surely men must be ambitious." Shirodaddy remarked, "You've truly learned from your daddy."
"You mean learning from your mistakes?" Miyuki smiled, but his tone was bitter. This made his father cry inside.
That's right. The father of the Shirogane family, he was a jobless bum who moved from one part-time job to another after the factory he worked in shut down.
He was part of the reason why the family was living in an extremely destitute condition. Barely above homelessness.
Shirogane learned the hard way that sticking solely on a fixed career path was just waiting for your own doom.
"That's fine! Part of parental duty is also to show a bad example not to follow." Shirodaddy recovered and returned back to picking the vegetables again.
"I'm very sure that's not how it works." Kei sighed, "Come on, we can eat some watermelon inside!"
"Is this even the correct season?" Hachiman questioned but decided not to complain, after that fairly long trip, cold watermelon would be a nice treat.
Kei returned a bit late since she cleaned herself beforehand and came back relatively light dressed, which made Hachiman question her. "Aren't you cold wearing that?"
"Eh, uh."
Komachi pulled a slipper from his pocket and hit him with it.
And so they began sharing their tales of vacation to each other.
Miyuki whined, "Huuh, I wish I could go."
"We can always go later," Hachiman said.
"Miyuki-kun, where's the key for the car, I'll send the vegetables to the usual grocer." His father asked.
"Here." Miyuki threw it to him, "Be careful."
"Your father sure works hard," Hachiman remarked idly after the man had left.
"Yeah right, if only he worked this hard in Tokyo then we'd probably be better off." Kei grouched, then she realized that she could come off as rude in front of Hachiman.
"Assuming he can." Hachiman didn't criticize her, rather, he was coming back to his usual cryptic talking.
That meant he was thinking hard about something.
Miyuki blinked, "What do you mean with that, Hachiman?"
"There are adults who have nothing else in their lives but work." Hachiman said, "Whether they enjoy their work or not, it doesn't matter. Those people always put their life on the line."
"But there are adults who can only work hard when doing what they like as a job."
"That's true." Miyuki smiled as he ate his watermelon, "Even I have times where I enjoy my work hard enough that I almost violate my own schedule working."
Kei wasn't old enough to qualify for well-paying part-time work, that was why she couldn't really understand what Miyuki was saying. The best she could do was deliver newspapers on her way to school.
The pay was complete crap for the time and energy invested, that was why she despised her work.
"Speaking of which, what are you even doing for work, Onii-chan?"
Komachi still wondered, even now, where exactly Hachiman could get so much disposable money.
"I'm a courier." Hachiman grinned, "Delivering important stuff is my job, and that pays really well because speed is more important than anything on the crowded streets of Tokyo."
Komachi remembered that Hachiman also transported idols from Shuchiin to work, at times. So he probably got paid by father for that.
Or so Komachi thought.
The truth, that Komachi didn't know was that Hachiman didn't get paid for delivering people, even if he offloaded his expense on them. He considered giving a ride to other people as something of a personal obligation.
He only accepted real payment for delivering objects. Which he did, a lot, for the students and faculty of Shuchiin and their family members. His bike gained a whole lot of mileage, thanks to the crowded streets of Tokyo in combination with a very restrictive drone traffic path.
"Ahh, I remember that one time Hachiman was ordered to send a very important replacement chip to JAXA from Shuchiin University because the one they had was faulty and they were running out of time." Miyuki nodded.
"Ah yes, the bastards actually had me delivering a chip at the last minute on a strict deadline." Hachiman explained, "Couldn't use a helicopter or drones due to the no-fly zone, so a bike was really the fastest they could afford."
"Huh? JAXA?" Komachi blinked.
JAXA, aka, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is basically a Japanese counterpart to the American NASA and European ESA. They're a government agency focused on space development, research, and exploration.
"That was hilarious. He was scared shitless." Miyuki cackled, "Pretty sure he broke a traffic law or two."
"You're one to talk, Miyuki. You were working with rocket fuel at the time for the test satellite launch. Weren't you." Hachiman rudely pointed his fork.
Komachi's jaw dropped while Kei's eyes almost popped out.
"Can we not talk about this?" Miyuki shivered, "I stopped doing dangerous and time-consuming jobs since then. Granted, the pay was handsome but not worth sacrificing my time studying."
That's right.
Shirogane Miyuki was a certified Hazardous Material Engineer, thus he was qualified to handle dangerous chemicals like flammables, toxic components, and even nuclear fuel and waste!
Following the resignation of Ryuju Momo, there was a measurable though not critical increase in the student council workload. Even with Ishigami working from a distance as a rushed replacement, there were a lot of financial documents to review regardless as Ishigami wasn't officially a student of Shuchiin High yet.
That's why Miyuki was now stuck to 'normal' part-time work instead of the high-end stuff that pays well.
"My father once said that to work is to lose." Hachiman said, "But that asshole would still work hard, even in-spite of saying that, because he loves his job more than anything."
More than his family, perhaps. Or at least more than he cared about Hachiman.
"I see." Miyuki suddenly turned serious and quiet.
"Miyuki-nii?" Kei asked, somewhat concerned.
"I wonder." Miyuki said with hesitation, "If Father likes to farm, Kei?"
"Eh?"
"That's right." Komachi said in agreement, "Don't you think uncle looks younger now?"
And it was what, only three days since they had come from Tokyo? The Shirogane patriarch was fairly young himself, but his unhealthy lifestyle and lack of passion caused him to look much older than he was.
"As if." Kei huffed, "He'll probably go back to Tokyo at the end of the week and laze around like always."
"That's a pity." Hachiman stood up and stretched his arm aside, "I mean, if he stayed here, then you two don't have to work hard anymore and just focus on your studies."
"That sounds like a good idea, to be honest." Mr. Shirogane suddenly entered. "I forgot to take something along, sorry for eavesdropping."
"Ah, no, that's fine," Hachiman said, somewhat awkward. "I didn't mean to intrude into your family business."
"Well, it's not as if my parents never entertained the idea." Mr. Shirogane said as he went deeper into the house and came out with a toolbox. "My parents aren't getting any younger, and I have no siblings to speak of either. But... If I stayed here, what about Miyuki and Kei?"
"I live alone and I've turned out fine." Hachiman scoffed, "Miyuki and Kei-chan are much more mature and reliable kids than I am. They'll manage somehow."
"What do you know..."
Hachiman widened her eyes when he saw Kei lowering her face.
"Kei-chan?" Komachi asked.
"What do you know about me or Miyuki-nii, Hachi-nii?!" Kei burst out of the room crying for some reason.
Hachiman almost reacted purely on reflex and tried to chase after her, but not before Miyuki grabbed him. "No matter what, don't let her get away. And if something happens to her I..."
"You can punch me in that case." Hachiman was completely pale, yet, his strength and resolve didn't waver as he ran off to chase after Kei.
Miyuki slumped on the floor again, leaning to the wall and not knowing what to do.
"Miyuki-nii, sorry about that." Komachi apologized, "Hachi-nii doesn't normally poke his nose around like that."
"I know, all the more reason I'm confused." Miyuki said, "Was Hachiman's relationship with his parents that bad?"
"Onii-chan and father in particular." Komachi bit her lips, "They were distant enough as it was before but... it deteriorated ever since Onii-chan got accepted into Shuchiin through the scholarship."
"Deteriorated?"
"Mother has always been fairly amicable with both of us. She doesn't really favor one of us too much. Even though she's still fairly busy and distant she's always made sure she had some time to talk with Onii-chan as a mother but..."
"Father has always been spoiling me too much and harsh on him in return." Komachi explained, "Onii-chan grew to resent him, but Onii-chan was quiet and well-behaved when he was younger so he never talked back."
"It all changed when Onii-chan got accepted into Shuchiin..."
1. SCMP article "Why Japanese pop idol trainees are no match for South Korean rivals"
2. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of idols from 346 Pro that would have been considered far too old for debut as an idol. The oldest being Reiko Takashi and Shino Hiiragi (31 Years old).
3. In English